Three Legged Pig

Well, what can I say about this weekend?  It wasn't without its ups and downs.  My outlaw bro is currently running for a political position in the county where they live and I was (unfortunately) able to bear witness to the ugly side of American-style politics this weekend.  I was just glad to be able to be there for Uncle Rico and my sis, who have done SO MUCH for me and the Dotytron (like, allowing us to host our wedding at their place, and allowing us to use their house as a glorified P.O. Box for all our goods [see below]).  I just wish I could have done more.


This all goes towards my current pet thesis, which is why do decent, hard-working, good people get PUNISHED in today's society?  How does that make sense?  Between me and the Dotytron, we've got like, 5 post-secondary degrees, and every year for the next 6 years, the Dotytron is going to be struggling this time to get a job (most likely) and we have to keep postponing all our home improvements because we like, pay our taxes and don't sponge money from the government and stuff.  How does that make sense?  Meanwhile, I see (or like, I have seen, at least once) contests that reward people for trying to quit smoking with cars and whatnot.  I mean, I get it.  I get that the costs to society of having to foot the bill to treat your emphysema or lung cancer are more than the car, but WHERE'S THE REWARD FOR NOT SMOKING IN THE FIRST PLACE?  So some jacked up fatty carmichael is gonna win a car while I'm trolling sketchy sites of questionable origin for after-market parts for the Captain?!? What the hell?  It's enough to turn you into a Tea Partier...or at least, to see the attraction for people who feel like other people are sponging off of them (ie. like my neighbour, Mad Eye Moody).


I've been a bit of a foul owl lately.  I kind of dislike everyone and I only want to hang out with Dr. Rei, which is kind of the norm anyway, so no biggie.  So sue me for having the best bff, k?

 On the Friday before we left, I made us waffles, with a cinnamon sugar swirl, so they tasted like cinnamon bun waffles.  Yeah, that happened.

 Then on the way out of town, we stopped for rotis and doubles at our favorite place in the whole world.  It's in Etobicoke and it's the ill na-na.  My (boneless!) goat roti was exquisite and the doubles are the best I've ever had, anywhere, bar none.

We ate pretty decent BBQ from this place called the Three Legged Pig.  We had brisket, chicken, ribs, and pulled pork.  The sides weren't the best but the brisket was outstanding.  Nothing really had a deep smoke flavour but the texture on the brisket was that perfect balance between chewy and tender.  I like my brisket to have some texture to it, and this one did.  I think I'm over ordering pulled pork out.  I mean, a proper pulled pork sammy is good, but ultimately, you don't get that much smoke flavour and it tends to all taste pretty same-y.  It's the sauce that sets it apart and the sauces at this place weren't that great (the Kansas-style one was too sweet and unnuanced) except for their South Carolina style mustard-based dipping sauce, which I quite liked.


Here are some photos from the weekend.  My sis' nickname for the Big Yam is "city mouse" and Little Big Cuz is "country mouse."  Both mice were being pretty darned cute.  As were Miss Ramona and Little Ze. Once your kids get to be like, 5 or 7 or so, parenting becomes like, a 1/4 time job.  They just do their own thing, hanging out, maxing and relaxing and bugging each other, instead of you.

Cousins holding hands.

Country mouse kicking back.

Grand Electric, eat your heart out - this is some real street food business.  As you can see, the Big Yam is taking his mayonnaise application task, VERY seriously.

Most of these photos were taken at the Strong Museum of Play, which is basically kid nirvana.  They also have a garden and a butterfly conservatory.

This is a portion of my haul:

Under the Texan Sun dress.  I was fully planning on returning this because I thought it would be too short.  But then I decided: "f**k it"  This summer is going to be about tanned legs and too-short skirts and messy hair.  This number is 100% cotton and the muted-neon orange and grey color combo are impossibly fresh.  It's pretty super-flattering, even with the cap sleeves.

This dress came and it fits like a dream.  Super happy with this purchase.

I also snagged this one.  I thought this would be nice for work, with a navy blazer or a cardigan.  It's a bit crazy, but one of the things I like about my job is that it's okay to wear a "statement" dress like this.  I don't have to be super-conservative all the time.  

That effectively puts an end to my summer shopping.  I'm looking for a pair of cropped pants or a longer pair of shorts and then I'm donezo.  

Tonight was a quickie pierogi dinner on account of the fact that we got in late last night and didn't get a chance to do a proper grocery shop.

So that was me.  How was your weekend?

Fin.

Chuffed

Kinda chuffed guys.  I ran my first 5km (in life) today!  In 33 minutes, no stopping!  That's pretty dece, I think? My motivation was our impromptu Pizzeria Libretto dinner last night.  And the Ed's Real Scoop ice cream chaser.  And the three mini-bags of chips that I broke down and bought from the work cafeteria yesterday when I was getting all stressed out with my question workload and how I had to once again break it to someone that there is NO MAGIC GIANT DATABASE IN THE SKY WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ALL CAPTURED USING THE EXACT SAME METHODOLOGY IN IT.

Thank goodness that magic database doesn't exist, because if it did, while my job would be easier, I probably wouldn't have a job anymore.

Phew.  Let's take a little conspicuous consumption breather, shall we?  I WANT THIS DRESS:

I want it SOOOOO bad.  Because I love a gentle A-line shape.  Because I love a cute military button detail.  And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colours!  Will I break down and buy said dress?  No one knows.  I WANT I WANT I WANT, though!

So yeah, last night was a bit of a tosser.  But we did have a lovely impromptu dinner out which was made all the more lovely by the fact that it was impromptu.  We have a serious Libretto fixation going on right now - we're going again on Sunday with our Supper Club.  That will make it the fourth time in about a month for me, but it's so nice being able to eat there and have it be chill and not all Ossington-strip-y.  You can make a reso!  For a big party!  Yes!  I still love Queen Margherita, but I like the apps at Libretto more and right now, I'm more into the toppings at Libretto, which are applied a bit more generously than at Margherita, which is very classic, Naples, all-about-the-crust-ville.

We have a busy few nights ahead of us.  Me and the Yam tonight, riding solo.  I'm starting to become a bit of a parenting freak.  I looked up parent and tot Mandarin classes today and I think we're going to sign up for Fall 2012.  Then yesterday I was going on about how we should do structured number and letter recognition activities every day for like, 15 minutes or half an hour.  And now I'm wondering whether to put him in French Immersion or not.  I'm also worried about his fine motor skill development and how I don't do enough visual arts based activities with him.  And finally, I started stressing that his toys and play are too gendered.  LOL!  This came about when Momma D was over the other night and I was telling her how much he loves his book with trucks and is super-obsessed with buses and stuff and she said, "See! It just goes to show you that there's something innate in them [meaning boys]" and I was like, "Well, I don't think it's innate because trucks haven't been around for that long culturally, so there's no evolutionary reason why boys would be into trucks."  I also backed it up with anecdotal evidence from neighbs with daughters and other mum friends that their girls are also obsessed with trucks and buses.

At any rate, he doesn't get much (any) TV so he's not really victim to the gender-based marketing that's so insidious.  But it's still hard to fight!  We know someone who basically dolls up their 3 year old for "photo shoots" that consist of lipstick, plastic high heels, pink everything, nail polish, pearls, bracelets and it's very Toddlers and Tiaras.  It makes me want to retch, personally.  So do bikinis on babies, but you already know how I feel about that.  So today I gave him a baby doll and an old plastic Medela baby bottle and asked him if he wanted to feed the baby and he did it for a bit and made those kissy sucking noises and also gave the baby lots of kisses.  Honestly, it's worth doing just to hear him say the word "baby" - he pronounces it really cute:

Tonight for dinner we had this eggplant romesco pasta and a salad.  Back to healthy eating!  Back to making my stupid running worth it!

Tomorrow we're having my friend H over for dinner.  Then the weekend starts - it's the first weekend of Hot Docs so it's gonna be crazy!

Fin.

Jason Wu for Target

Bonus Jonas post on account of the fact that I have to kill time before I go to school!  Besides, I know that when I finally get down to writing a review of The Fault in Our Stars it's going to be pretty bleak and sad and it wouldn't be tonally correct to tack on a screechy style segment to the end of it.  

The look book for Jason Wu's collaboration with Target was released recently.  It's quite divine, if you like looking like a lady (and lately, I doooo).  Here are the things I'm coveting/considering buying:

This gold top and this pleated black skirt are great basics.  You can always use a fantastic shell and a black swingy skirt.

Love the colour and cut and weight of this cardigan.  It will be nice over sleeveless summer dresses at work.

This skirt is what sold me on the collection.  It's PERFECT.  Look at it!  Love the colours, love the cut, love the preppy nostalgia.  Also love the ribbon necked blouse.  Want them both.

Also love this blouse, but I have a lot of long-sleeved shirts already.  I would buy the skirt though.  Again, a great basic that can be paired with a simple shirtwaist or pintucked top for a really smart, professional look.

I like this sweater, but if budgeting gets tight, it might go.  Although this would look smashing with my wide-leg navy pants.

If I stick to a budget, this will probably get axed.  It's jersey, which means it'll be comfy, but jersey can also be super-clingy.  And I don't know if it'll be tailored enough to stand up to work.

Love this.  Already bought it (j/k, but I might as well have).

Love this outfit.  Want both pieces (already talked about them separately above...but look at them together!)

This purse is okay.  It's a little too lady for me.  Like, the purse with the outfit directly above it is too old lady slash Alexa Chung.  I don't consider Alexa Chung fashionable.  

So I've been on the hunt for a nice, cross body, grown-up lady purse/satchel lately.  It's been tough.  Everything has either been too expensive or not precisely what I want and not enough selection, etc.  So I finally went back to my old stomping grounds, Ebay, and came up with LOADS OF CHOICES!  All you have to type in are like, "Gossip Girl" and "satchel" and billions of stuff comes up, most of them priced to sell at like, $30.  Thank you, Chinaaaaa!  I want one (or two) summer ones and 1 winter one.  This is my short list:

1) 

2) 

3) 

4) 

5) 

6) 

I think #1, 2, 4, and 6 are going to make the cut.  

That's all, folks!

Fin.

High-low dialectic

First, I'm going to get all high culture on you and talk about the two last books I read.  Commencing forthwith.

Téa Obreht is a 20-nothing writing juggernaut who makes me green with envy.  She's like this decade's Zadie Smith, though less funny and more sombre and lyrical.  Either way, it's maddening.  When I asked my friend K if she was planning to read The Tiger's Wife, Obreht's debut novel, she responded, "No. I'm not a fan of phenoms."  LOL!  The publication of this book was a bit of a literary event and it's received overwhelmingly positive reviews.  The story follows a female doctor in an unnamed Balkan country, newly emerging from the fog of war (it's widely considered to be about Yugoslavia/Serbia).  Upon learning of the death of her grandfather and after traveling across a newly established border to delivery inoculations at an orphanage, stories of her grandfather's youth mix and mingle with myths and lore to weave a textured tapestry of history, mortality, nationalism, war, kith and kin.  Was I smug about how her editor didn't correct Obreht for using the word "shivering" no less than THREE times in the first 25 pages as an adjective describing the motions of plants?  Of course I was!  "Some phenom!" I scoffed, with the over-sized scorn of the bitterly and enviously untalented.  She is a gifted writer though her writing isn't necessarily to my current taste.  It's a little too mannered in a stereotypical "literary" fashion for my taste.  And I thought certain chapters dragged.  The chapters narrated by the grandfather figure resonated the most.  I would certainly recommend this title, but I wasn't head over heels about it.

Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone came to my attention when it received an A- grade in Entertainment Weekly (my pop culture bible).  Subsequent breathless glowing reports from my sister confirmed that this had all the makings of being able to fill the void left by The Hunger Games in my YA reading life (my sis also introduced me to The Hunger Games, about a billion years before it became zeitgeisty).  This is fantasy-driven YA about a human girl, Karou, who is an art student in Prague, raised by demon-like "chimaera" with no knowledge of her past or of how she came to have this strange family.  Mysterious things start to happen that kick-starts a breach between Elsewhere and the human world that you and I occupy.  Elsewhere plays home to a centuries-long war between seraphim (angels) and the chimaera (demons) and the events of the book follow Karou as she discovers who she is and her role in the battle for this other world.  It is GOOOOOOOOOD, folks.  Like, I read 2 pages and was INSTANTLY hooked.  Like, I read it in 2 days good.  It's got everything - forbidden love, sex, demons, angels, a strong female protagonist, Prague as a backdrop, good, evil, war...all the awesome stuff you want.  I can't recommend this enough.  If you're not susceptible to fantasy then you might be turned off, but all I can say if that is the case is that you're letting irrational discrimination keep you from an excellent yarn.  AND IT'S A SERIES!  I don't really know how I'm supposed to wait until the next installment gets released in 2012...but it's going to be freakin' tough.

I recommended it to my friend, Montréal I, who is the person in my life MOST likely to love it.  We saw her over the holidays and she was lamenting her current single state (she's been single for a while now) and how she's on the lookout for a warrior with the soul of a poet.  It's really funny if you actually know Montréal I, how much that archetype is PRECISELY who she's on the lookout for.  However, as we were trying to think of people (fictional and otherwise) who embodied this - it became pretty tough.  Aragorn from Lord of the Rings is pretty much the standard-bearer and then it becomes pretty slim pickings after that.  Once you get into real people, forget it.  We couldn't think of a single person who personified warrior-with-the-soul-of-a-poet.  

The low culture part of my post comes when I start talking about style.  Here is my newest style tip for you ladies who have to dress business-casual.  When you wear a sweater/cardigan type thing over your blouse and you are concerned about looking mumsy (which this look can very often devolve into) - my tip is: roll up the sleeves of your sweater so that they're 3/4 length.  This very simple trick takes a mumsy-looking layer and turns it into something a little more fashion forward and sharp.  Trust me.  

So, my updated spring/summer work wardrobe is in need of some killer footwear to polish it off (that and the ultimate satchel/purse...but that's proving to be a difficult fight).  Here are some contenders:

SM Reilly Sandal is a more casual entry - not exactly what I'm looking for, this would be more suitable for casual, weeknight/weekending than my every day shoe at work.

Ted Baker's Denoo sandal is almost exactly what I'm looking for.  One of the looks I'm trying to get going is a slouchy, trouser-y khaki pant, rolled at the cuffs with a blouse, a shrunken blazer, and shoes like these to give the outfit some lift.  These are a perfect shoe to elevate a more casual outfit and ground a flirty, flimsy summer dress.  At $119 though, it's a little more than I'm looking to spend on one shoe.

The Adrienne Vittadini Aspen sandal is a more neutral, classy, understated version of the summer shoe I'm looking for.  This would be a more versatile shoe that can support a more dressed up look (ie. a summer wedding - if one was actually happening - or, the favorite fashion magazine event that never happens in real life - the garden party).

You can't go wrong with a patent flat in a neutral colour.  This will be a summer time workhorse when I'm tired of wearing heels (so like, everyday).  These are SM (I think that's what Steve Madden is called now) Gypsi flats in camel.

Finally, Jellypop's Garlie sandal is like a low rent version of the Ted Baker ones above.  Priced to move at $25 - these will be a good substitute for me to try this look instead of committing to the price of a multiple-season shoe.  They're a little clunkier and a little more cheap looking, but at my work, no one really notices these details except for me.

Decisions, decisions!  I probably have it in my budget to get 2 new pairs of shoes...we'll see which ones I end up with.  

For dinner tonight we had cheddar broccoli soup and Ace Bakery olive boule with butter:

Fin.

Guys, I totally love the GAP

It took me a long time to get to this point, but I'm ready to be out and proud about how much I love the GAP. They're kind of amazing. I just bought 2 totally work appropriate and stylish blouses and 1 silk-ish skirt (also work appropriate) for like, $45. That's better than Joe Fresh prices, folks. Buying something full price there is a chump move, but the lack of chumps is probably what's contributing to the instability of the brand. The GAP is in trouble! They're not making enough money! What am I going to do if they go under (what are the chances that they would go under?)??!!??

The stuff that makes the GAP good is also what makes them vulnerable - the insane return/exchange/refund policies (ie. my friend G told me about how she bought her kids' winter jackets in like, August, knowing that this way they could "hold" the sizes they needed, keep the tags on them and then return the jackets and buy it for the reduced sale price in a couple of months - side note: they were advised to do this by GAP staff!!!), the crazy sales, the roomy dressing rooms and knowledgeable and helpful staff. Competition from stores like H&M probably isn't helping the GAP either, but lemme tell you, I was nosing around the H&M at the Eaton Centre before class on Tuesday night and that place is rank GARBAGE. The clothes are totally uggie and so cheaply made and everything is itchy and falling apart and to put together an outfit there (exempt from the garbage classification: kid's clothes and **some** accessories) would make you look like either one of the denizens of Grey Gardens.

I guess this is a plea to save the GAP and check it out and shop there. Or, if you're not going to do that, don't buy any of the Really Skinny Pants so that I can stock up before they go kaput.

In other news: my dodgeball team WON last night!!!!! Which was kind of a big deal because we've been getting our a**es handed to us ever since the season started. We totally needed a big win and we got it - all the more commendable because we only had 6 people show up and we 6 had to iron-man it and play the whole time.

In other other news, my academic book club selected Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie for next month's reading and those books are sick. They totally hold up. This is literally my 10 billionth time reading them both and present me finds them as engrossing and engaging now as 8 year old Karl Lagerfeld did, lo so many years ago. Anne of Green Gables holds up a little more - the story is fantastic and you gotta say this about L.M. Montgomery - the b***h could write. She had a way with simile and metaphor and description that is unparalleled - especially in describing the natural world. The descriptions of Avonlea, the changing of the seasons, the way the tips of firs look against a deepening, darkening sky are so plummy and evocative and rich that you could lose yourself in them for days. So too is her way with human emotions - the passages that describe Anne's feelings of loss when her beloved Matthew Cuthbert dies in particular resonated:

Two days afterwards they carried Matthew Cuthbert over his homestead threshold and away from the fields he had tilled and the orchards he had loved and the trees he had planted; and then Avonlea settled back to its usual placidity and even at Green Gables affairs slipped into their old groove and work was done and duties fulfilled with regularity as before, although always with the aching sense of "loss in all familiar things." Anne, new to grief, thought it almost sad that it could be so--that they could go on in the old way without Matthew. She felt something like shame and remorse when she discovered that the sunrises behind the firs and the pale pink buds opening in the garden gave her the old inrush of gladness when she saw them--that Diana's visits were pleasant to her and that Diana's merry words and ways moved her to laughter and smiles--that, in brief, the beautiful world of blossom and love and friendship had lost none of its power to please her fancy and thrill her heart, that life still called to her with many insistent voices.

"It seems like disloyalty to Matthew, somehow, to find pleasure in these things now that he has gone," she said wistfully to Mrs. Allan one evening when they were together in the manse garden. "I miss him so much--all the time-- and yet, Mrs. Allan, the world and life seem very beautiful and interesting to me for all. Today Diana said something funny and I found myself laughing. I thought when it happened I could never laugh again. And it somehow seems as if I oughtn't to."

"WhenMatthew was here he liked to hear you laugh and he liked to know that you found pleasure in the pleasant things around you," said Mrs. Allan gently. "He is just away now; and he likes to know it just the same. I am sure we should not shut our hearts against the healing influences that nature offers us. But I can understand your feeling. I think we all experience the same thing. We resent the thought that anything can please us when someone we love is no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almost feel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when we find our interest in life returning to us."

I can't find a better description of the guilt I felt immediately after Poppa D died when I found myself laughing at some antic of the Big Yam's.

Little House on the Prairie isn't enticing from en English-language, literary perspective. It's more like a written trip to Pioneer Village. This could be seen as either boring OR fascinating depending on your ideological leanings (full disclosure: I LOVE romanticizing about pioneer times.) I can't believe how different a time it was - how good Laura and Mary are with so few things to entertain them - just some scraps of wool and a dried apple for a doll. As my book club friend said, "Ma and Pa are my new heroes...if only my kids did their chores unasked, just for the pleasure of seeing me smile ever so slightly." LOL! It's all about Ma giving a slight smile of approval and that meaning the world to the girls. Anyway, the book is pretty informative, if your interests lie in knowing how log houses are built or if talk about "sizzling corn cakes" "molasses" and "fried salt pork" set your taste buds a lather (full disclosure: I mainly read the Little House books for the description of the food.)

Last night for dinner we had braised pork chops and apples, braised with onions in a mixture of apple cider and beer. Served alongside roasted garlic mashed potatoes (is there a more comforting dish on a blowsy, sleety weeknight than bowl full of mashed potatoes?) and kale chips.

Tonight for dinner we had spicy grain soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with the roomie, who came over for dinner.

Fin.

Step by step style

Step 1: read fashion blogs of regular people (somehow usually Mormons?) with good style on a budget (as opposed to say, fashion blogs for people who worship at the altar of Hedi Slimane)

Step 2: listen carefully when fashion blogger X tells you that a great way to be thrifty and fashionable is to shop in the boys section of your local thrift store and get a boy's blazer there for the perfect shrunken look

Step 3: dutifully go out to Value Village and buy a boy's black blazer for $6.99

Step 4: try on the (itchy, heavily synthetic) blazer at home.

Step 5: realize you look like a new immigrant boy on their way to a classmate's bar mitzvah.

Looking good isn't easy, folks.

Tuesday's whole wheat farfalle with spinach, mushrooms, and gorgonzola cheese

Tonight's dinner of shrimp baked in a garlicky tomato sauce with feta, served with roasted garlic oil croutons and string yellow and purple beans tossed in lemon juice and a bit of butter.

I've been on a tear lately, buying stuff for me, the Dotytron and the Big Yam for back to work/daycare. New shoes, sweaters, baby gates, sleepers - basically digging us ever-deeper into debt. The Big Yam is wearing size 18 month stuff now, without blinking an eye.

Fin.

schadenfreude

don't worry, i haven't been rejoicing in the misfortune of others...the term has just been popping up everywhere i look, lately.

i forgot to post monday night's dinner. it was a cream of cauliflower soup that i topped with leftover toasted breadcrumbs from the giant braised lima bean dish. we had this with an ace focaccia sandwich with cheddar, roasted peppers, and a bit of the oregano pesto also left over from the braised lima bean dish (the dotytron: "are you sure about that? it's quite herbaceous" [in his stupid know-it-all voice]), pressed on the panini. the sammy was good! it kind of ended up tasting like a pizza sandwich.

yesterday we had the roomie and l'army over for dinner. it was really fun! we had a lot of catching up to do.

i put out the last of the rainforest crisps, the leftover pear chutney thing, some leftover fresh goat's cheese and the last of the murcia al vino.


for dinner i made a quick pasta of guaciale, crisped and rendered, with some of T's chilies, chili flakes, roasted cauliflower, a lot of grated pecorino and a bit of chopped parsley tossed together and loosened with the pasta cooking water. i also made a crunchy salad of cucumber, red peppers, and celery with some red onion and sliced scallions in a cumin vinaigrette. the vinaigrette is supposed to have mint but we didn't have it on hand. it's a great summer salad generally, when you want something cool and crisp and crunchy.

so my favorite retailer of late, modcloth, is driving me crazy! look at all the lovely things they have for spring and summer that i've wish-listed:

i have NEVER been able to resist the allure of crisp white eyelet in the summer. i tend to go either very preppy, very kind of 90s raver, or very mrs. roper in the summer but this skirt would look DIVINE with a fitted sherbet coloured lacoste polo (preppy). am i getting too old for eyelet? i worry sometimes.

this dress would be perfect at the beach/cottage as an easy cover-up with some flat black strappy sandals (aka my birks...lol!) so summer! along with my favorite straw hat it's the definition of easy like sunday morning. standing in line at the short film festival, eating greg's ice cream, wearing that. so perfect.

i'm actually less into this the more i look at it. i feel like it's skewing a little young for me and would probably make me look blocky. plus, i need a casual summer dress the way i need a new hole in the head (for those of you who aren't familiar with that little ancient colloquialism, that is to say that i don't in fact need a new casual summer dress at all).

i thought this would make a good work piece that would transition well into fall, with some tights. i've decided that next fall i'd like to invest in some chunky, open-toed heel shoes - all the better to showcase my dazzling array of tights.


this is another grown-up lady piece for work that would function well all year round.

this is my piece de resistance. i've got two fall weddings already in the pipeline and well...wouldn't it be nice to wear this dress? with my vintage, patent, peep-toe kitten heels and a black lady cardigan with some jet beading and my feathered head piece? WOULDN'T IT?!??!!!! if i get anything from the above (and keep in mind, that's only a SMALL SAMPLING of what's on my wishlist) i will get this. even though i have a closet full of fancy dresses. that i have no occasion to wear. but still!!! one of the weddings is at the king eddy! *rampant justification alert* i haven't bought clothes in forever! *this is a lie* i'm a little concerned about the slight puckering to the satiny material you see on the shoulder part...but that's nothing a meeting with my iron wouldn't fix, would it?

between modcloth and social butterfly (for when i feel ambitious enough to actually contemplate TRYING ON CLOTHES IN A STORE AND NOT HAVING THEM ARRIVE IN A TIDY PACKAGE ON MY DOORSTEP) - it's nice knowing that all my sartorial needs are covered.

that's all for me today and probably the rest of the week, too. we're having perogies baked with bacon, onions, mushrooms, and chopped kale tonight for dinner. the dotytron is in charge of dinner duties. i'm getting a 1/2 hour massage. yay! then we're packing and sorting things out because tomorrow, after i spend all day at this librarian conference and the dotytron gets home, we're going to take our harvey's coupons and get harvey's for dinner and then hit the road for a long weekend in geneseo!

yayayayayayayayayayayayayayay!!! so excited! there's a "scrabble scramble" for some literacy charity where we're going to be on a team competing with a bunch of other brainiacs to make the highest scoring scrabble board in 45 minutes. you have ALL the tiles at your disposal and i think you have to work around and incorporate few words they set up for you on the board. apparently the judge's research students (this is the judge who officiated our performance - very good-naturedly i might add) compete and they're all like, super law school kids. nothing gets my competitive juices flowing like having my siblings take on post-secondary grads at board games!

s-dawg will have been watching the kids on his own from tuesday night until we arrive late thursday. hopefully the haven't turned feral in the interim.

fin.