Notes & Observations Archives

Six Quirks Monday, June 09, 2008 3:15 AM

It was forever ago when I was tagged on three separate occassions by Fruchtzwerg's Island, Fashion Diciple, and K-Line to reveal six unspectacular quirks of mine. I have many quirks, but because my friends and family are used to them, I don't give much thought to my quirks so I had to really think about them. After this, I bet no one is going to tag me again because I took two months to do a simple meme!

The Rules
· Link the person who tagged you.
· Mention the rules in your blog.
· Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
· Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.

1. I often joke I eat about once every hour. I'm about small but frequent meals. However, after ten o'clock at night I'm constantly eating; everything from small snacks to full blown meals. Tonight's late night snacks included: leftover pad thai, carrot sticks with dip, crackers, and Dad's oatmeal cookies.

2. If you tell me your birthday or an important fact about yourself, I won't remember it, but I will remember the random details about your life (ie. the time my friend hid her report card from her parents until after the Foo Fighters concert -- the last time I mentioned it to her she couldn't even remember this).

3. My left hand is used for writing and eating and my right hand is used for throwing, hitting, crocheting, and cutting with scissors.

4. Lever 2000 is one of my favourite scents. Also, when something smells good I can sit there sniffing it forever.

5. One of my favourite things to watch on teevee are infomercials for cleaning products. I love it when the grim and dirt magically disappears with the use of the product that's being advertised.

6. Sometimes I am too embarrassed to tell the server how much cream and sugar I want in my tea because I put in at least four creamers and four packets of sugar. This is because my grandma used to make it for me this way. When I was little I would beg for some of her tea and she'd give me a third of a mug of tea and load it with milk and sugar.

By now, I think everyone who wanted to do this meme already has so I'm not going to tag anyone.

Comments (21) | tags: meme

In honour of Mother's Day, I thought I'd post these photographs of my mom and her friends looking stylishly fabulous in Hong Kong during the late '60s.

Happy Mother's Day to K-Line and to any mothers who may be reading this!

(I realize Mother's Day is almost over but I was busy spending the day with my mommy instead of my computer.)

Comments (14) | tags: family

I don't usually like to make off-topic posts, but lately my life seems to be a series of unfortunate events that have consumed much of my thoughts. Yesterday we had to put our not-quite-eight year old dog, Tim, down. He had a heart tumour that we were not aware of.

Seemingly healthy and lively, up until the weekend, Tim showed no indications of something being wrong inside his body. Last week he was still batting me with his paws, running around the yard, jumping like a puppy, and generally doing things characteristically Timmy. We took him to the emergency clinic yesterday where the vet took x-rays. He said the prognosis was grave and Tim's body was already shutting down. The best option was to put him to sleep so he wouldn't have to suffer. Everything still feels unreal to me.

On a brighter note my grandma might be released from the hospital tomorrow.

My dad took a photo of me photographing Tim in Saskatchewan (2005). I don't have a scanner otherwise I would post those photos.

I had planned to take new pictures of him when the weather was warmer. I had even been thinking of including him in some outfit photos so you could all adore him as much as I did, but I guess he'll be remembered on this blog with these pictures instead.

Comments (26) | tags: family off topic

This afternoon I received the below press release in my inbox for Fashion magazine's Reporter Search 08, a contest targeted at Canadian fashion bloggers. I'm not sure who else knows about this contest, but I thought it would be an interesting opportunity for some of you. Good luck to those who enter!

Calling all fashionistas! FASHION Magazine is looking to add 10 savvy fashion writers to its team of regional reporters. The call for submissions for Reporter Search 2008 begins today and runs until June 1.

A panel of FASHION Magazine editors will select 20 semi-finalists; however, the ultimate decision will rest with the public. From July 8 to August 8, Canadians will have the chance to vote for their favourite Reporter Search candidate at fashionmagazine.com. During this public voting phase, photo galleries, video clips, bios and blog entries will be posted for each finalist.

The top 10 finalists will become key players on fashionmagazine.com for one year and hold the bragging rights of working for Canada's best read fashion magazine (source: PMB 2008). The candidate who generates the most public votes will win a trip to New York City , provided courtesy of NYC & Co.

For more information, click on the above Reporter Search header which I nicked off their website. I hate posting an entry without an image.

Comments (7) | tags: contests magazines

K-Line tagged me to do the 8 Things survey, so here goes!

8 Things I am Passionate About
1. Photography
2. Good food
3. Continuing to improve and not plateau
4. Art & design
5. Mango lychee freezies
6. Random adventures and discovering new things
7. Fashion (obviously, considering the subject of the blog)
8. ...does shopping count?

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die
1. Travel the world (I know, everyone says this)
2. Hang out with panda bears in China
3. Complete, or at least start, all those photo projects I keep thinking about
4. Learn printmaking
5. Attend an opera (soon!) and a ballet
6. Eat delicious pho in Vietnam (thanks to Anthony Bourdain)
7. Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway
8. Learn how to sew

8 Things I Say Often
1. I'm hungry
2. Is there anything to eat?
3. Mmm...(insert name of food I'm craving)
4. Ummm
5. I don't know
6. What?
7. Hoho
8. (sigh) So much for trying to eat healthy

8 Books I Have Read Lately
I haven't done much reading in the past couple of years so this year I decided to embark on the 50 book challenge to check off some books that have been sitting on my shelf for years. I've completely fallen behind and don't have eight books to list. If anyone has book recommendations feel free to make suggestions.

1. Shopaholic & Baby - Sophie Kinsella
2. The Ladies' Lending Library - Janice Kulyk Keefer
3. Living History - Hillary Rodham Clinton
4. Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto
5. Youth In Revolt - C.D. Payne
6. Manufacturing Consent - Edward S. Herman & Noam Chomsky (reading)
7. A Wild Sheep Chase - Haruki Murakami (reading)

8 Songs I Could Listen To Over and Over
1. Living Room Is Empty - French Kicks
2. Fruit Fly - Nada Surf
3. Playground Love - Air
4. Next Exit - Interpol
5. A Track and a Train - Shout Out Louds
6. Parade - Garbage
7. The Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
8. Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends
1. Humour
2. Sense of adventure
3. Indulges in late night food runs with me
4. Shared interests
5. Honest
6. Reliable
7. Mutual respect
8. Not being judgmental when I'm being stupid

I am tagging:
Fashion, Art and Mess
Fruchtzwerg's Island
Hot Off the Sales Rack
Madame Mode

I apologize if you've already done this survey -- I have bad short term memory!

Comments (17) | tags: meme

Over the past several weeks, my little blog was given the Thinking Blogger Award, not once but twice. First, the adorably fashionable Annah from Fashion, Art and Mess bestowed this award on me, followed by the lovely and always stylish Fruchtzwerg over at Fruchtzwerg's Island. I can't find the words to express how honoured I am, especially since my blog is only a little over two months old! Thank you, thank you Annah and Fruchtzwerg!

Along with this award, there are some questions to be answered:

What's the story behind the name of your blog and your nickname?
I'm possibly the worst at titling things so I browsed through my collection of CDs, book titles, etc. until I found something fitting. In this case, Bloc Party provided me with a name. As for my nickname, it's my real name so no story there.

Why did you start blogging in the first place?
I'm an internerd and have had some sort of online blogging presence since 1997. I started a style-related blog because my friends are sick of hearing me swoon over a pair of shoes I'm currently lusting or what my latest purchases are. I began regularly reading a few fashion/style blogs and soon realized there were other people out there that like reading and talking about these sort of things. Also, Fruchtzwerg gave me a bit of encouragement to start a blog.

What has been your best blogging related experience?
What about the worst?
My best blogging related experience would be being able to communicate with others interested fashion and style. As for worst experience...none yet! This community of bloggers have been accepting and inspiring so far.

What do you think will happen to your blog in 2008?
I'm not sure what will happen to my blog in 2008, but I want to continue posting regularly and hopefully people will be interested in reading what I have to say.

I'm supposed to pass this award onto others, which is why I've taken so long to post about this; I wasn't sure who to tag because it seems like everyone has already been tagged at some point. Instead I'm going to conserve my tagging efforts for another post to come soon.

Comments (4) | tags: awards

I will be without internet until the weekend. Posting will resume then because I haven't been able to figure out how to set up scheduled posting.

For now I will leave you with this June 1950 British Vogue cover shot by the great Irving Penn. It's one of my favourite covers.

Comments (4) | tags: irving penn photography vogue

During last night's jaunt on the Forever 21 website, I came across a dress that looked oddly familiar on their US site...

On the left is a dress I bought from H&M in spring 2006. There are some minor differences such as: the F21 dress doesn't have a tie at the back, the bib & neck ruffle both appear a bit shorter, and the pinstripes are a different colour because the F21 website lists their dress as "sage" (mine is navy). I wonder if the F21 dress comes from the same factory.

Comments (6) | tags: forever 21 h&m

So...first post. I've never been good at writing a first post or introductory post. Instead I will talk about this photo (the same as the one in the header).

This photo was taken in New York (2005) when I went to visit a friend. While she was at work I played dress-up with her shoe closet. These are her fabulous yellow terry pumps.

When I was a little girl I used to do the same with my mammy's shoes. I guess some things never change.

I know there are a million and one fashion and style related blogs out there. I'm not expecting to contribute anything new -- there are many well-written and well-researched blogs. This is just a place for my (little) thoughts on things I see and hear and stumble across.

Hello and welcome :)

Comments (3) | tags: childhood little thoughts shoes travel