Vodka and Soda

weekend update: retail therapy, sick monkey and new product love

 

i'm a little sad about not signing up to be a stylist for stella and dot but i know it was the right decision because i spent all weekend contemplating it when normally, i would just go ahead and do it if i really wanted something.  although the perks are amazing and i could get some really nice pieces out of this, i just don't think i would put much as much effort as i should into building a client base.  what i would really be doing is using the stylist role as an excuse to buy more "inventory" when that really means "more stuff for kathy to play with".  sigh.

so i saved $200 (the start up cost) and instead, got these beauts to make me feel better:

 

nars lip gloss in oasis

like i need more lip gloss but this is such a pretty and natural color i had to have it.  it's rare that i find a color that brings out the natural color of my lips and it was a limited edition so i had to buy it. 

 

josie maran organic argan oil

my friend, steph, has been raving about this product so i decided to give it a try.  it was an impulse buy really, because it was in one of those bins by the cash register (i hate those things).  it was $18 and i haven't been happy with my current serum so i thought what the hell.   you basically massage a few drops into your skin and wait for your skin to transform to the suppleness of a baby's ass. 

i did a little research on this and discovered that it's a naturally dervived oil from the argan tree which is native to morocco.  these trees have been around since the tertiary period and due to the small amount that is naturally produced and in very specific areas of the world, it's considered a rare oil.  by the way, the tertiary period is when dinos walked around; yeah, those trees are that old.    argan oil is reputed to have anti-aging qualities, high in fatty acids and loaded with anti-oxidents so $18 for a historic, rare oil that promises youth seems like a steal to me.  you can basically use this anywhere:  your hair (for split ends), nails and cuticles to give it a boost of moisture.  i slathered this on my face and concentrated on problem areas.  so far, me likey; some of my dry patches are even gone. 

 

stila smudge pot in black

i have an old smudge pot that has lasted a long time without smelling weird but i had to ditch it the other day because it's starting to dry out which is indicative of it finally expiring.  instead of going with a pretty blue cobalt which i figured wouldn't be appropriate for work, i went low key and stuck with black.  stila smudgepots are awesome - once dry, it refuses to budge.  best.

 

then i had to browse my new favorite store, locale, and this is what i found.  dammit.

WANT!  cognac wedge ankle boot $150

i will not buy this boot because i already have 2 pairs but these are so pretty and great for fall :(

 

i've been addicted to this stupid game:

Carnival of Horrors

talk about video game throw backs.  the goal is to plant telsa coils, bombs or use the green glue to trap and/or zap the ghosts and prevent them from crossing the screen.  you can even get all ghostbusty and capture the ghosts in a chamber.   i discovered this while reading some of my tech feeds and this was listed as a top 10 game for android but i don't think my phone is 100% supported since the fucking thing keeps freezing at the most inopportune time.  but, i've read that it works well on other android phones and it's free for a limited time (because of halloween).  it's lots of fun, highly addictive and if it didn't freeze on me so damn much, i'd be playing it right now.

 

kayla has been fighting a cold all weekend which sucks because it's halloween and i'm hoping that she'll be ok for trick or treating tonight.  she had to miss school today which is a shame because the kids are all dressing up but i'd rather make sure that she's not getting bronchitis so we're going to the doctor's this afternoon.  at least she'll be getting the TLC treatment for colds:  snuggling while watching her favorite movies.

randomness.

 

we signed kayla up for gymnastics.  

 

at first she didn't want to participate but after sitting out and observing for a few minutes, she got right into it.  her favorite part?  throwing herself into the foam pit (i loved that too when i was a kid).

 

****

remember my apple cider vinegar post?  well, it's been about a week or so since i started drinking it and i think it does work and by that i mean i haven't noticed any weight loss but it does keep me full longer and prevents me from finishing my meal.  my problem is that i'm diligent about taking it during the weekday but i keep on forgetting on the weekend but starting tomorrow, i'm back to better eating.  i may even go so far and start walking for a half hour on a daily basis but i'm pretty sure laziness will win.  you know, it really feels like i go through this on a daily basis:

 

source:  pinterest

 

i swear, this made me LOL.  i think a lot of people can relate to this, no?

 

****

i've been thinking long and hard about becoming a stylist for stella and dot.   at my trunk show, 3 people said that i should, including the stylist who said she would sponsor me.  and by no means is it because i'm miss.fashionista; quite the opposite, really.  i just love their stuff!   

 

sounds like a pretty good mission statement to me.

so what's stopping me?  i'm just wondering if it's worth it.  the perks are great and the benefits certainly outweigh the risks but really, io haven't come across anything that i'd consider as a "risk".  there are no quotas to meet.  head office doesn't force you to do anything.  you can get online training whenever you want.   they have events and shows where sylists are welcome to attend.  the only thing is that you have to buy pieces to be your samples that you take to shows and they give it to you either free or at 50% and if you decide to stop, you keep everything. i wouldn't even call that a risk.  buying awesome jewelery for 50% off and then keeping it later?  yes please!

my fear is that i don't want to over-commit; my existing job can be quite demanding and i don't want anything to get in the way of family time but i after grilling christina about it, i don't see how that could happen since you're basically on your own working whenever you want.  i'm going to give myself until the end of today to make a decision. 

 

****

kayla got her first set of school pictures, complete with a class picture which surprised me because i thought that was more of a kindergarten thing, not preschool.   all the kids are so cute!  there's jeffrey who is such a nice kid and always says "i'm jeffrey" if he hears you saying hello to the other children; there's daniel who follows kayla around and loves hugging hubs; of course, there are kayla's bff's - logan, amaya and ravi; there's shane who talks a mile a minute and looks like he just finished running around the room and ryan, the escape artist - always trying to break out of the junior room and we constantly hear the teachers saying "ryan! come back here, please!.  don't open that door!  ryan!!" LOL.  these kids are a hoot.

this weekend is going to be all about relaxing; kayla is coming down with a cold (again!!) so we're going to snuggle and finish watching Rio. 

 

hope you all have a great weekend!

photo fridays: 5 years old

 

while reorganizing our office, hubs found this gem:

 

this picture was taken in 1980;  i was 5 years old. don't you love the wood paneling?  and for  real yo, what was my  mom thinking making me sport that hair cut.  talk about lego hair at its finest.

i was at my cousins house and i was wearing my favorite tshirt - my pink pegasus shirt and i wore that every chance i got.  i remember begging my mom to buy it for me at fairview mall in a store that made "custom" tshirts using a hot press.  i remember looking through a big black binder of images, finding the pegasus image, thinking to myself that my life would be complete if i had a pegasus shirt and right after it was done, it had that weird, plastic smell that stayed with the shirt even after several washes.  best.

why pegasus and not something princessy?  because at the time, this was my favorite cartoon and pegasus would sometimes make an appearance:

 

the mighty hercules!   i wasn't really into the girly stuff like strawberry short cake, i had never heard of princesses and i barely played with barbies (maybe because we couldn't afford them).   even at 5 years old, i was a geek and a lover of superheroes;  i guess i know where kayla gets it from.

 at least my bangs hide my exceptionally large eyebrows for a 5 year old kid.  maybe that's why my mom decided this was the best hair cut for me.

stella and dot trunk show

 

my credit card hates me right now.  my husband will too once he reads this (love you, babe! remember - i gave birth to our daughter!!!).   yesterday my friend, steph and i co-hosted a stella and dot trunk show at my house with an intimate group of friends.  it was an afternoon of nibblies, refreshments and frosting ourselves with all the glorious jewellery awesomeness from stella and dot.   seriously, what a great way to spend a sunday afternoon!

 

 

our amazing stylist, christina, brought all of her samples and they were all so gorgeous i secretly wanted to tell everyone to beat it so i could spend the full 2 hours playing on my own with everything.  just kidding.  well, not really. heh.

i had a bad habit of taking the pieces i love, wearing them and pretending they were mine.  then i kept on hearing "where's [insert jewellery here] or  [insert jewellery here]?"  i guess it was sort of hard for chris to put accessories together while half her collection was gone (on me).  oops.

i love everything; so much so that even if i couldn't wear most of it, i'd just wear it around the house while vacuuming or doing laundry and look fabulous while doing it.  

here's what i bought:

 

hematite cupchain bracelet

 

 

clover double wrap leather bracelet

 

 

eternity necklace

 

 

silver nugget wrap bracelet

 

 

madeline pearl necklace.  this is new, from their holiday 2011 collection

 

here's what i'm lusting after.  (husband: if you're reading this, take note)

 

wishing nugget bracelet. i love that turquoise and pave stones.

 

 

river lariat necklace.  love the colours!

 

clove pyramid double wrap bracelet

 

 

copper cupchain single bracelet. the more i look at this, the more i love it.

these goodies will hopefully arrive by the end of the week.  they're all being delivered to my house which i'll then distribute everyone's order.  after i've tried everything on.  that's ok, right?

random update, getting crafty and a trunk show

 

when it rains, it pours and by that i mean work is kicking my ass.  but it's a good ass-kicking because i'm working on a really fun project that brings together my 3 loves:  tv, gadgets and the internet.  my geek boner is huge right now. 

because of said project, i haven't had time to update; i'm on the computer constantly and on conference calls most of the day that i don't even want to look at the computer when i get home.  so instead of blogging, i relax by watching Sons of Anarchy.  If you haven't heard of that show, you needs to get watching, pronto.  You can thank me later.

it hasn't all been lounging around after work; i got my craft on and finally made something - a hanging board for kayla's art work.  i used to hang her stuff on one of those ugly, cheap canadian tire cork boards that i hated looking at so i decided to do something about it and make something nice and by nice, i mean i stole the idea off pinterest.   i channeled my inner martha and used fancy fabric instead of boring paint. check it:

 

it was really easy - all you need is a piece (or two) of plywood, a staple gun, some fabric, push pins and clip thingys that somehow found its way in my bag, some frame  hanging thingys and a husband who will do most of the work since you don't know how to weild a staple gun without stapling your fingers to the fucking thing.  voila!  you have your art hanging board!

i got the fabric from Fabric Land in the drapery section.  i didn't need much so i went over the "end pieces" section and i only paid $1.89 for one meter of fabric.  sweet.  i made two so i hung one in kayla's room above her bed and the other will go downstairs in the basement by her play area. 

 

then on sunday i'm co-hosting a fabulous stella and dot trunk show at my house.

if you haven't seen any of stella and dot's stuff, you need to crawl out from under that rock and get with the program because they have some seriously amazing stuff.  my wallet is going to get molested.  we'll be nibbling appy, sipping refreshing drinks and mingling while we browse and frost ourselves with their glittery and sparkly jewellery.   i can't wait!  i'll be posting an update next week about the event.

home is where the heart is

 

you'd think that after renos are done, you'd be all excited to get things back in order, right?  WRONG.  as a matter of fact, it's a real pain in the ass to be forced to go through shit that you wanted nothing to do with and banished out of sight.  that's where i am now.

i get into this organizing/craft project mode where all i want to do is organize and be all crafty but then part way through, i run out of steam and get lazy.  then i don't want anything to do witih said organizing/craft project and i just put it away so i don't have to look at it and forget about it.

unfortunately, my hubs is not letting me do that.  i gotta give him credit for being very insistent on getting the house in order but i'm pretty damn sure that when i agreed to the reno, he would have to do all the organizing afterwards. so far, i'm not having any luck convincing him we made that pact.   

anyway, here are some pics of the the almost-finished product:

the mancave is pretty much done.

btw, all of those finishing touches like that statue, those baskets of stuff etc... they are not my creative touches.  hubs isn't just handy with tools, he also has a nack for interior decorating.  really what he does is make me look like a bad wife.

 

toys! everywhere!  no matter how much we try and move stuff out of the way, it just keeps creeping up on us and i can't seem to get it under control.

 

my goal of turning my laundry room into a bright  snazzy one like the sort of thing i saw on pinterest didn't pan out so well.  once we get hubs' workshop in order, i'll have more room and move all the other crap out of the way.  and i hate those industrial-looking gray shelves.... but it does the job of keeping stuff out of the way so i guess i can't really argue with that.

 

while i like the bathroom, i will never shower here.  it's too freaking cold!  and the tile guy stained that tile right in front of the toilet with i don't know what and now i can't get rid of it!  i sat there scrubbing that shit with whatever i could find and nothing worked.  where can i find some DD7?

 

we moved the couch and chairs out of the sitting/dining area and converted it into our new office space so we finally have our guest room back. 

i like the fact that i'll have a fireplace right beside me so on those cold winter days when i'm working from home, i can drink my tea by the fire. 

damn, i need to paint my walls.  and hang some pictures.

 yes, this is definitely still a work on progress but it's never felt more like home.

apple cider vinegar and my bowels

 

from age 16-26, i used to work out all the time. but that was many moons ago and now i'm way too lazy to do any such thing because lying on my couch and watching tv is what i'd much rather do.  instead, i try to maintain whatever shape i have through proper eating; although that hasn't been very good these past few days.

a friend of mine suggested that i try detoxifying my body using apple cider vinegar.  her naturalpath recommends a glass of water with a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar before every meal and it's supposed to help with digestion, boost your immune system, helps you stay regular and helps you lose weight.  lose some weight just from drinking liquids?  yes, please!

i'll be honest here and admit that my bowels could use a little cleansing.  i have never done a cleanse and there's probably a nice fat layer of built-up deep fried foods, chips, burgers and a myriad of desserty goodness caked onto the walls of my bowels. 

i actually don't mind the taste of vinegar; i've been known to douse my fries with malt vinegar and i love my salads extra vinegary.  i will report back on my findings after 2 weeks of drinking this concoction 3x/day.

 

weekend recap: happy thanksgiving!

 

 

it was thanksgiving holiday weekend for us canadians and not only did we have 4 fabulous days off, but the weather was gorgeous; like summer-kinda-weather gorgeous.  however, i was unable to go outside and enjoy the sun because my monkey was sick for most of it.  that's ok; we snuggled a lot and after 3 years, i finally let her watch some disney movies.  in a span of 3 days, she watched tangled, cinderella and the little mermaid with some thomas the train in between.  she's much better; although we missed a good friend's wedding, we were the first in line at the clinic to get her diagnosed and her prescription filled.  she was feverish for most the weekend, crabby for part of the weekend and missed her daddy all weekend.   talk about daddy's girl and me being chopped liver. 

by the time sunday rolled around, she was feeling much better and her fever was gone so we decided to take it easy and visited a local farm and pick up some pies.   i love visiting local farms; they have the best homemade desserts and groceries.  i spent the entire time looking at the homemade jams, bottles of pure canadian maple syrup and contemplated buying a few jars of apple butter (yum!). 

 

kayla wanted to wear her fairy princess outfit to the farm; she felt the place needed a bit of sprucing up.

 

hubs and i went on our usual sunday afternoon date after we dropped kayla off at his parents and walked around the mall for a bit.  i didn't let him in on my secret but i was on the hunt and determined to buy a pair of boots from Locale.  did you know that this store used to be Feet First?  yes, the old lady shoe store.  people used to make fun of me all the time for shopping at Feet First but not only did they rebrand themselves, they also grew their overseas manufactures and improved their designs and styles which equals more selection at a lower price point.  suck on that.

i had been stalking their site for a while and went there to try and perhaps buy this boot:

but i wasn't too crazy about the buckle at the bottom of the boot.  i love the color but that strap wasn't sitting too well with me; the last thing i wanted to look like was a misplaced asian cowgirl.  if there even is such a thing.  and i also discovered that cognac doesn't suit me!  so after a bit of humming and hawing and maybe some sadness that i was going to walk out of there empty-handed, i looked up, the clouds parted, the sun shone and the fashion gods presented me with this:

 

i love this color.  i didn't want the typical chocolate brown (which is a beautiful color in and of itself) but this brown is a great shade because it makes the leather look worn in AND they fit over my giant hotom calves which is a bonus.  now, if the weather could be a little cooler, i could bust these out badboys.  you have no idea how excited i am to wear them; i've been breaking them since sunday.

 

i took it easy this thanksgiving and decided against gluttonious gorging.  instead, i paced myself and am bringing half of the pumpkin pie to work so it doesn't sit in my fridge taunting me. 

we didn't have anything fancy; just steak, sweet garlic and honey sausage, baked parmesan butternut squash, baked potatoes and sweet corn.  light yet filling.  YUM.

i didn't realize that it's columbus day in the US so here's a little something for all of my american readers (i mean no offense; i just thought this was freaking hilarious!):

 

hope you all had a great weekend!

september update

 

i've been feeling so lazy about blogging; actually, i've been feeling lazy about a lot of things so i'm just going to randomly spew out my update.

can you believe it's already october?  september just flew by.  september was busy with work and the basement renos and now that they're done, we're slowly moving our things downstairs and getting organized which couldn't have come at a better time because all of my fav shows are back and you can't beat watching vampire diaries on a 95" screen.  it's like damon salvatore is standing right in my tv room.  oh yes.

for us canadians, our long thanksgiving weekend is upon us and the forecast is looking so sweet.  all weekend it's supposed to be warm and sunny but it's likely we won't be able to do anything because kayla is sick.  whatever was going around at her school (strep throat!!) finally caught up to her.  at least this happened today as opposed to the usual long-weekend-all-doctors-offices-are-closed-and-all-walk-in-clinics-are-rammed-sunday-or-monday-holiday-long-weekend-freak-outs.  nearly every long weekend during the fall and especially winter, hubs and i brace ourselves for kayla to get sick.  it's almost like clockwork.  it's amazing how your parental instincts about such things kick in; much like how i just knew that she'd wake up last night with a fever and boom at 2:45am, she did. 

****

a few weeks ago, i signed up for a sparkle swap.  it was totally random; everyone was assigned a swap partner so the person who was sending you a package was not the same person who you were sending a package to.  this was called the sparkle swap so in your package, you had to send 4 things:

1)  something with sparkle

2) something soothing

3) something sweet

4) a surprise

for my swap partner, i sent some great things:

1) for sparkle, i sent her these great bangles (since i've been obsessed with bracelets as of late)

2) for soothing, i sent her a package of my fav tea from David's Tea - chocolate chili chai

3) for sweet, i didn't go for candy; instead i bought her a tube of velveteen hand lotion from cake beauty.  this is such a decadent cream; it smells like cake!

4) for a surprise, i bought her this amazing light-knit scarf with ruffles in chocolate brown.  it was so pretty i went back to the store and bought one for myself!

i love swaps; you get to meet other bloggers  and read their sites and get to know who they are.  my swap partner sent me the following things:

 

1) bath salts

2)  candy (including pop rocks!)

3) some of her favorite organic team

4) essie nail polish in decadent dish

 

**** 

with the cooler weather upon us, i decided to get some cozy slippers and you can't beat a $9 pair from winners.  i also went and bought a pack of pumpkin spice tea from David's Tea.  i love that place! 

 

i've also been obsessed with fall nail colours.  i recently bought essie's carry on which is a gorgeous plum

then in my swap package, i received decadent dish also by essie.  it's a beautiful espresso colour with a hint of shimmer.

this is only one coat but with two, it's so pretty. 

 

i'm at home today; kayla's sick with a fever so we're snuggling on the couch watching tv on the big screen. 

happiness

 

{source}

 

i can't remember the last time i felt sad about life.  certain events will make me sad and my monthly bleeding uterus will make me feel dumpy once in a while but i haven't had those emotional ups and downs and general unhappiness about life in a very long time... like, years long.

it's because a long time ago, i decided that i'm the only person who controls my destiny and ultimately, my happiness.  i realized that i will always have a choice - i can either let a situation control me or i can control the situation.   i went with the latter; a wise decision on my part.   sure, i know how easy it is to look at your life and see the suckage that has somehow crept into it; to let that take over and overshadow all the good things that's going on.  i have sucky things happen to me all the time but i figure that's part of life, right?  it's how we react and deal with those situations that define who we are and how we feel; it's important to take each life lesson and learn from them.  

i've had bosses fuck me over.  in return, i left, found a better job and made a career out of it.

i've had friends talk shit about me and betray me.  in return, i left the drama behind, learned that trust is earned and who my good friends really are. 

i've had boyfriends destroy me emotionally.  in return, it made me a stronger person, grounded me and made me realize that it's better to be alone and happy than with someone in a miserable relationship.  besides, we all have too  much shit to deal with on our own let alone having to deal with someone else's shit too!

i've learned a few things over the years to  keep things in perspective; here are my secrets to happiness:

know who you are and rock it. never mind if someone hates what you're wearing, thinks you look silly with [insert style/clothing/accessory/item here] or just plain doesn't agree with you.  what's important is that you like yourself.  someone at work makes fun of me all the time (in front of people too!) for wearing my bracelets and dark polish.  i just comment back at how awesome it looks and continue wearing it.  does it bother me?  hell  no; i love it and it's all that matters.

believe in yourself.   everyone has skills.  everyone is capable.  know what your strengths are and empower yourself. 

love yourself first because when it comes down to it, only you will take care of you.

remember that no matter what, people will always have an opinion.  you can never stop people from judging you so why waste your time trying to change their minds....or yourself for that matter? see point 1; all the other stuff ... that's just noise.

you always have a choice.  like i said before, you always have options.  know that if you got served a shitty hand, it doesn't mean it has to stay shitty.  if it stays shitty, it's because you didn't do anything about it.

treat others how you want to be treated.  being kind to others, helping someone out and just knowing that maybe you made someone's day just a little bit better will really make you smile.   

you only live once - might as well be happy.  a lot has happened to me that could've turned me into a different person; instead i chose happiness.   as the image above states:  life goes on.  might as well make the best of it so splurge a little, take some risks and enjoy every moment.