the skirt that dreams were made of

one night last week, i was browsing through my most favourite online shop and happened upon the most beautiful skirt in the world! i was fairly certain this skirt would change my life. but i did the math and realized that with exchange, shipping, and possible duty charges, this skirt could potentially cost me $100 (canadian) or more. i was so tempted but just wouldn't let myself spend that much.

so i visited the skirt online over and over again for the next few days. and then i had a brainstorm...maybe i could find something similar on ebay! and i did... look!


so i set my maximum bid and actually won it! now i have to sit and wait patiently for it to arrive, to see if it looks as pretty in person as it does online. i won't lie...i'm a bit nervous.

it's not a perfect copy but i think it's pretty darn close. i have to admit, i still prefer the modcloth one, especially the waistband part. but i figure i can be creative and make this one work for me.

since the shipping was free (!!), i spent less than $22 (canadian). so in the end, i saved about $80 by not giving in to the skirt of dreams. and i can still sleep well at night....

busted!

what you see above is the last picture i'll ever take at the local t & t grocery store. i went shopping there yesterday to get stuff for making inari and maki rolls for dinner. as i wandered the aisles, i took some quick pics of things that caught my eye. just as i finished taking this picture, an employee came up to me and said "no pictures". i was caught so off-guard that my only response was, "really? but it's so pretty!!"

oh well. at least i got this one last picture before being busted.

and really...isn't it so pretty? i imagine the liquid inside those bottles must taste like fairy water.

i had an itch to go thrifting on friday...it had been a few months since i'd gone and for some strange reason when i get an itch to go, i usually end up finding some good treasures. friday did not disappoint!

- 3 cute new scarves... one is even yves st. laurent and another is by vera with a sweet little print of carrots and peas. woot!
- a pretty luxurious rust coloured cable-knit scarf/shawl...holt renfrew brand. double woot!
- black skirt
- 2 issues of the sadly defunct "blueprint" magazine which i was too cheap to let myself buy when it was still around
- a white porceline dish for displaying my jewellery at shows (3 compartments, maybe for brooches and hairpins?)
- 2 retro oblong melmac-type dishes
- skinny belt
- a small wooden dish for storing my jewellery when i'm not wearing it
- and a happy apple!

here's a closer look:

peek inside my makeup bag

after reading about some of the toxic chemicals in cosmetics about a year ago, i've been trying to make some safer choices with the beauty products i buy. since i'm on a pretty strict budget, i didn't immediately throw away all of my "toxic" stuff...just started slowly replacing them with better choices once they were used up. since i've been doing this for about a year now, i realized that most of my daily products have been replaced. thought you might want to take a peek at what i'm using these days and maybe it will give you a starting point to make some safer choices for yourself.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

maybelline waterproof liquid eyeliner: not exactly "safe" but i refuse to give up my black eyeliner. this one isn't the worst of the bunch so i'm ok with it.

the body shop lip & cheek stain: i only use it on my cheeks and it's my "stranded on a desert island" product.

the body shop concealer pencil: a bit "dry" for using under the eyes. i'll probably replace it with a creamier product once it's gone

weleda everon lip balm: smells amazing!

the body shop loose powder: i had a hard time finding safer compact powder so i went with this. it's ok but i still prefer pressed powder.

the body shop aloe calming facial cleanser: i love this! i was a dedicated "cetaphil" user for about 10 years and it broke my heart to have to switch but for me, this is just as good.

the body shop aloe soothing day cream: love this too! paul even uses it. i even use it under my eyes without any problem. really gentle.

badger sunscreen, spf 30: this is a new addition within the past 3 weeks. the sun protection is great but it leaves the skin with a noticeable white cast. after it warms up a bit on the skin i can usually rub it in better so it doesn't show.

giovanni 50:50 balanced hair remoisturizer: good stuff

giovanni 50:50 balanced shampoo: takes awhile to get used to the fact that it doesn't foam up but that's because it doesn't have sodium lauryl sufate (not a great ingredient). it works well though.

kiss my face olive oil soap: we use it as a regular body soap in the shower. it costs next to nothing ($3) but literally lasts one whole month! it's like magic!

- still need to replace my deoderant with a better choice once it runs out.
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i'm certainly no expert in the area of cosmetics and toxic ingredients but here's a few tips i follow almost religiously now.

1. i've learned you can't just assume if a company has a few safer products everything in their line will be too. for example, you see above that i use some body shop products but unfortunately most of their line is pretty toxic according to the cosmetics database.

2. just because you can buy it in a health food store doesn't mean it's "safe". likewise, just because it's expensive as hell doesn't mean it's safe either. try researching those expensive department store brands or lines carried by sephora. it's kinda scary.

3. i avoid anything that has "fragrance" as one of the ingredients. unless the ingredients list essential oils , chances are the product has synthetic fragrance and that includes pthalates which are potentially unsafe. unfortunately you'll never see pthalates listed in the ingredients because it's considered a company's "trade secret" and they don't need to give that info up. evil!
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* and i should mention a couple of things in case anyone is wondering: one...i am definitely not getting paid to endorse any of these products (i should be so lucky!) nor do any of my friends/family members or i work for any of these companies. two....i've found all of these products using the incredibly useful cosmetics database resource (a non-profit organization called the environmental working group runs the website).

random food stuff...and other random stuff too

i know this isn't supposed to be a food blog, but i guess since it's a general whatever kind of blog, i can post about food once in awhile, right? and since i haven't been doing much other than swimming and gearing up to go back to work on tuesday i don't really have anything else to post about right now anyway.

ok, so first here's a picture of some really pretty eggplant that i spotted at the farmers' market last tuesday.

and today i ventured over to the brand new t&t supermarket in the portlands district. it's a big asian supermarket that just opened up a week or two ago. it was busy busy!!


i went in search of dulp pock. dulp pock is a type of tofu that is soft and pillowy and light as air. i think it's probably been deep-fried prior to being packaged but let's just forget about that ok? i haven't had it since i lived in guelph about 5 years ago. i'm happy to report that t&t didn't disappoint me! i found about 5 different kinds.

tonight we had steamed beans and roasted mini-potatoes (both from tuesday's market visit) and dulp pock smothered in president's choice szechuan peanut sauce. oh my! it was UNBELIEVABLE! the best part was the crunchy bits where the sauce carmelized.

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other random stuff:
on friday, paul & i went to see the square foot show at awol gallery. we were amazed at how many pieces there were in the show. lots of fun eye candy there! wish i had brought my camera...i didn't think they'd let us take pictures.

also on friday, i was driving home after dropping paul off at his band's practice space and i saw george stroumboulopoulos driving an s.u.v. i know...i was sad he was driving a gas-guzzler too.

and the lovely wendy has named me a rockin' girl blogger! thanks, wendy! i guess i'm supposed to nominate 4 or 5 more people? this is hard...i don't like leaving people out. i think i'll just quietly email the people and let them know. is that allowed? i know...i'm so bad at these tagging things.

fun times at 6:30am

once again i'm up with the sun. it feels good, actually. i seem to get so much accomplished these days unlike last summer when i got out of bed around 10:00am most days.

so going through my bloglines this morning i found a new post from the vintage society blog. she showed off a cute little fall outfit she put together using polyvore. this website is almost like playing dress-up!

here's what i put together this morning:


the docs may seem like an odd choice with all the fashion-forward choices on the website but i needed something to try and cover up the boots that came with the tights i chose. and besides, i sort of fell in love all over again with my old docs in the springtime. they're one of the few things i still have around from my leather-buying days. anyhow, i liked the bit of edge they gave to the dress.

anyhow, have fun playing around but be warned...it could become a little addictive!