The other night, my roommate casually mentioned that someone from Toronto had wanted to talk to him about drafting some blueprints. My roomie casually mentioned that he told this guy they should communicate via e-mail. (this was because, he said, he didn't want to call long distance and charge up the phone bill) I knew that he was feeling me out to see if I would have minded or not. I told him to go ahead and call, it was only 4 cents a minute.
"After a certain time, right?"
I laughed and said no, all the time. Phone companies don't do that "cheap rate" or "Half Price" after six and before nine, every third Saturday and every other Sunday. That's so a thing from our childhood: waiting until after supper, for the clock to click over to 6:30pm so my mother could call her mother, long distance, and have a chat without having to pay through the nose for it.
That got me thinking as I got on the train to go to work, about how much has changed since we were kids. For myself, I can see it all around me but I don't necessarily partake in it.
I was just talking to my mother the other day and she mentioned something that I hadn't heard about yet. I wondered aloud where she had heard it from and she told me that A (my little sis) had told her. "She's so tuned it," mom said, "With that iPhone and the tweets and the updates..." And she really is. And that got me thinking to how much has changed even between people my age and hers (we have a four year gap) and how different it all is and it's all going to be!
Another example? I was sitting on the train reading a book I got from the library (my new favorite pastime) and glanced over to see a very pretty, very trendy looking girl of about 22 reading a Kindle. I couldn't believe it. I do see them occasionally, but not often. That, of course, launched my brain in to the next wave of thinking which encompassed the following two thoughts: Think how many trees we'll save when we all read from a Kindle! and OMG I wonder if my first edition of Summer Sisters will be a collectors item!?
Elsie P
PS-I am thinking about getting an iPad. Seriously cool toy and something that would allow me to blog on the go..!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Panty Hose
What is it about the fashion industry? They insist on mocking women and seem to have made their money making it difficult for women to look good and feel comfortable doing it.
Normally, I wear stockings. But this morning I couldn't find the garters - and as I am writing this I just remembered where they are - to hold the stockings up. (The other trick I have is to just tuck the top of the stocking under the super hold of a pair of Spanx...but I am Spanx-less ATM) So I am stuck with a pair of panty hose. Ill fitting panty hose.
The top keeps rolling and insists on transforming in to something Britney Spears would consider stylish - ultra low rise. Normally, I'd be down for that, but as it happens, ultra-low-rise-panty-hose are not as comfortable as you'd imagine.
I was walking down the hall in my office - side note, my office has 90% glass walls...there is no where to hide - and I could feel the rolling start and gain momentum. Then it happened: The panty hose wave kept going...not bothering to stop at the top of my underwear, not bothering to stop at the bottom of them either. Nope, the hose have decided to head straight for my ankles. With every step I take, the roll gains another 2 inches in the race to the finish. It's now me vs them: a battle to the bathroom. Who will make it to their destination first?? With my money on the 'hose, I discreetly hide behind my desk and pretend to be changing my shoes while I tug, furiously, at the unruly hose-roll and put it back in to place.
Slightly flushed and out of breath, I compose myself and head back to what I was doing.
This isn't the only time this has happened. I have had to excuse myself to the ladies' 3 times today due to Panty Hose Related Malfunctions. No amount of clenching and flexing while I walked had any effect. Forget sitting down and standing up, either. Anytime I stood, I had to incorporate a trip to the ladies' with every trip.
Sheesh!
Elsie P
PS - The crux of the malfunction may have been that the 'hose I was wearing were about 2 sizes too small...God Bless my sister (who purchased them for me) for thinking I was either thinner or taller than I actually am..!
Normally, I wear stockings. But this morning I couldn't find the garters - and as I am writing this I just remembered where they are - to hold the stockings up. (The other trick I have is to just tuck the top of the stocking under the super hold of a pair of Spanx...but I am Spanx-less ATM) So I am stuck with a pair of panty hose. Ill fitting panty hose.
The top keeps rolling and insists on transforming in to something Britney Spears would consider stylish - ultra low rise. Normally, I'd be down for that, but as it happens, ultra-low-rise-panty-hose are not as comfortable as you'd imagine.
I was walking down the hall in my office - side note, my office has 90% glass walls...there is no where to hide - and I could feel the rolling start and gain momentum. Then it happened: The panty hose wave kept going...not bothering to stop at the top of my underwear, not bothering to stop at the bottom of them either. Nope, the hose have decided to head straight for my ankles. With every step I take, the roll gains another 2 inches in the race to the finish. It's now me vs them: a battle to the bathroom. Who will make it to their destination first?? With my money on the 'hose, I discreetly hide behind my desk and pretend to be changing my shoes while I tug, furiously, at the unruly hose-roll and put it back in to place.
Slightly flushed and out of breath, I compose myself and head back to what I was doing.
This isn't the only time this has happened. I have had to excuse myself to the ladies' 3 times today due to Panty Hose Related Malfunctions. No amount of clenching and flexing while I walked had any effect. Forget sitting down and standing up, either. Anytime I stood, I had to incorporate a trip to the ladies' with every trip.
Sheesh!
Elsie P
PS - The crux of the malfunction may have been that the 'hose I was wearing were about 2 sizes too small...God Bless my sister (who purchased them for me) for thinking I was either thinner or taller than I actually am..!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A New Clutch
Well, I have begun to label these posts and I am hoping it will help to keep things sorted as this blog has taken on a very broad spectrum of topics. I wish I could be like BA's blog and label things see, wear, think, do, dream, love but I don't want to steal her idea. (okay so I totally do want to steal the idea, but I think it would be wrong) So I am labelling things sort of as I go...hopefully it works out.
But I digress. The label for this post is "Create" because it is about something that I want to make !! (which is a whole new facet of this blog now!) On a day to day basis I have all these little ideas floating around in my head; some of them hit the surface of my conscious self and I think, "HEY! That's a good one! I will have to remember to do that!" well, I have no problem remembering these little projects, but with no sense of accountability to complete them, I never get around to doing them. So, I am using you, cyber-non-audience, as my accountability.
Today's Create project is actually something I have been thinking about making since November 21st, 2009. I know the date so specifically because it was a wedding, and a girlfriend of mine at said wedding had this absolutely fabulous (aka ABFAB) clutch that I totally thought would be easy to make!! It was beautiful, black satin with just a TON of black feathers. It actually looked a bit like a crow. This isn't a great pic, but it's the best one I have ...
Anyway, I have some sketches of what I want to do, some general thoughts on getting the feathers on to the purse (hand sewn, of course). What I can't decide is whether I should just scour the thrift shops for a black, satin clutch or if I should check out the fabric stores for the clasp part and use the black satin material I have an abundance of, or if I should just buy a clutch from a thrift shop and strip the fabric to use the clasp. Thoughts?
Elsie P
PS - expect completion on this by February ...
But I digress. The label for this post is "Create" because it is about something that I want to make !! (which is a whole new facet of this blog now!) On a day to day basis I have all these little ideas floating around in my head; some of them hit the surface of my conscious self and I think, "HEY! That's a good one! I will have to remember to do that!" well, I have no problem remembering these little projects, but with no sense of accountability to complete them, I never get around to doing them. So, I am using you, cyber-non-audience, as my accountability.
Today's Create project is actually something I have been thinking about making since November 21st, 2009. I know the date so specifically because it was a wedding, and a girlfriend of mine at said wedding had this absolutely fabulous (aka ABFAB) clutch that I totally thought would be easy to make!! It was beautiful, black satin with just a TON of black feathers. It actually looked a bit like a crow. This isn't a great pic, but it's the best one I have ...
Anyway, I have some sketches of what I want to do, some general thoughts on getting the feathers on to the purse (hand sewn, of course). What I can't decide is whether I should just scour the thrift shops for a black, satin clutch or if I should check out the fabric stores for the clasp part and use the black satin material I have an abundance of, or if I should just buy a clutch from a thrift shop and strip the fabric to use the clasp. Thoughts?
Elsie P
PS - expect completion on this by February ...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Hot Tubbing
Don't get too excited by the title.
It's currently 5:06am as I sit at my semi-ancient eMac to send this out to you in cyberspace.
At 12:21am, I thought that I was hearing things; a low, constant hum. I thought that it was just my house making noise...the furnace, or the aforementioned computer left on. It was almost an electronic sound. But it was consistent. It was unrelenting, uninterrupted. Not long after I became aware of this annoying buzz, it had lulled me to sleep.
At 2:36am I thought that I was hearing things. Voices this time. This is getting worse. It's never good to hear voices (even the wizards think so). It was also 2:36am. I wanted to be asleep. I was having a delightful dream about - of all things - playing tennis. I'm absolute crap at tennis. But I do like the outfits. I figured that some drunks were teetering home between the alleyway linking my backyard to the yards of my 'backdoor neighbours'.
At 4:07am I thought the TV had been left on. THAT must be it. It explains the voices, the low, monotone hum. Cursing the other person residing in our house, I rolled over and tried to blank it out. If I got up, there'd be no going back to sleep.
At 4:49am I finally got up. I had lain in a state of not-quite-sleep on the brink of wakefulness for about three quarters of an hour. Somewhere, in the foggy non-dreams of non-sleep, my brain had latched on to the true perpetrator of the horrible crime of stealing one's Sunday Morning Sleep: It was someone outside.
Now, it's -10 degrees Celsius out. Who in their right mind has been outside for over 2 hours? Are they locked out? They sound like they're having a good time. And they are somewhere behind my house. Perhaps I can see them from where I am.
I shrugged on my housecoat, went to my bedroom window and drew back the curtains. That's when I saw it. Steam. And the light that had been on ALL NIGHT shining in to my bedroom window, creating shadows on my wall. I KNEW the moon wasn't THAT large tonight!! There was much laughing, some talking and through the sliding glass door to the home directly opposite mine across the alley, I could glimpse the remnants of a good night. There were two empty liquor bottles - 40ozs. There were innumerable cans of soft drink. As I stood, taking it in, coming to full wakefulness and realizing these people had been at it for nearly five hours (ps - isn't that unsafe? To be in a hot tub for that long!?) my mind boggled.
I got back in to bed and lay there, seething. I was beginning to hate these people behind me. As far as I've been able to tell, the fellow that bought the place is single. He likes grilling and Hockey. Up to this point, I'd never seen a girl there. Always just his buddies. Well, usually just one buddy. I was beginning to think he was gay. When he bought the house nearly a year ago, he completely renovated the kitchen. I guess it was already time for an update; the house had been built nearly three years prior. After kitchen completion, he built a marvelous deck, bought some plants, put up a fence and installed a hot tub. Until this morning, I had never seen anyone in it. In the whole of 7 months, no one has ever set foot in that thing.
As I turned over and tried to concentrate on another sound, my mind wandered to the options I was now presented with to stop the racket and (maybe) deter this from happening in the future. I could open the window covertly, leave the blinds shut and shout out to them...preferably using an accent so they'd never know it was me. Not that I have ever spoken to them before. That won't work. They'd likely not hear me over the laughs and chatter they're having. Okay, option 2 would be make several snowballs and lob them over the fence. Pros to this plan are I have good aim, I'd like land one in the hot tub and could possible hit the siding behind it, it's kind of funny when you think of it, they're drunk and it would likely scare the hell out of them. Cons would be the ever present con to a snowball being thrown blindly at people you don't really know: it could contain a rock which would in turn manage to poke someone's eye out. Also, they could start throwing them back. That won't work. Well, Option 3 would be to call the police. But it's already 5am. So what are they going to say? Is there a noise ordinance that they are violating? I mean, people who have to get up at 5am and go to work make tons of noise and I never complain about them. Likely, though, it's because I too am getting up at 5am to go to work. Okay, so let's say they are breaking some law or the other. If I call the police, what will I say? "Hello, I am just calling as my backdoor neighbours are making quite the racket. It's been going on for the last 3 hours I've only just realized what it was though. The address? Well, that's the tricky bit, I don't really know if you come down [my street] all the way to the end - it's a cul-de-sac - you can get in to the alley from there. It'll be on your right hand side, roughly five houses up from the start of the alley. The street name? Well, having never had occasion to go down that street and owing to the fact that all the streets are named [street name] but with a different suffix - you know, Road, BLVD, Street - I can't say for certain what it is. A joke? No, this is not a joke, sir..." That's how I envision the conversation going.
Well, it's been about 6 minutes, I am now fully and completely awake. I suppose there is no going back now. The only option I can see working would be to get up for the day, start my morning, write a ranting blog about the situation and cross my fingers I can get a nap in later today.
Elsie P
PS - If you rowdy hot tubbers are reading this, last night/this morning was your one free pass. As soon as it's light out, I WILL find your street name and house number. I WILL post it on a post-it in my home office and next time this happens, I WILL phone the police or bylaw services or at the very least, unleash an arsenal of snowballs upon you that I will have stored in my backyard.
It's currently 5:06am as I sit at my semi-ancient eMac to send this out to you in cyberspace.
At 12:21am, I thought that I was hearing things; a low, constant hum. I thought that it was just my house making noise...the furnace, or the aforementioned computer left on. It was almost an electronic sound. But it was consistent. It was unrelenting, uninterrupted. Not long after I became aware of this annoying buzz, it had lulled me to sleep.
At 2:36am I thought that I was hearing things. Voices this time. This is getting worse. It's never good to hear voices (even the wizards think so). It was also 2:36am. I wanted to be asleep. I was having a delightful dream about - of all things - playing tennis. I'm absolute crap at tennis. But I do like the outfits. I figured that some drunks were teetering home between the alleyway linking my backyard to the yards of my 'backdoor neighbours'.
At 4:07am I thought the TV had been left on. THAT must be it. It explains the voices, the low, monotone hum. Cursing the other person residing in our house, I rolled over and tried to blank it out. If I got up, there'd be no going back to sleep.
At 4:49am I finally got up. I had lain in a state of not-quite-sleep on the brink of wakefulness for about three quarters of an hour. Somewhere, in the foggy non-dreams of non-sleep, my brain had latched on to the true perpetrator of the horrible crime of stealing one's Sunday Morning Sleep: It was someone outside.
Now, it's -10 degrees Celsius out. Who in their right mind has been outside for over 2 hours? Are they locked out? They sound like they're having a good time. And they are somewhere behind my house. Perhaps I can see them from where I am.
I shrugged on my housecoat, went to my bedroom window and drew back the curtains. That's when I saw it. Steam. And the light that had been on ALL NIGHT shining in to my bedroom window, creating shadows on my wall. I KNEW the moon wasn't THAT large tonight!! There was much laughing, some talking and through the sliding glass door to the home directly opposite mine across the alley, I could glimpse the remnants of a good night. There were two empty liquor bottles - 40ozs. There were innumerable cans of soft drink. As I stood, taking it in, coming to full wakefulness and realizing these people had been at it for nearly five hours (ps - isn't that unsafe? To be in a hot tub for that long!?) my mind boggled.
I got back in to bed and lay there, seething. I was beginning to hate these people behind me. As far as I've been able to tell, the fellow that bought the place is single. He likes grilling and Hockey. Up to this point, I'd never seen a girl there. Always just his buddies. Well, usually just one buddy. I was beginning to think he was gay. When he bought the house nearly a year ago, he completely renovated the kitchen. I guess it was already time for an update; the house had been built nearly three years prior. After kitchen completion, he built a marvelous deck, bought some plants, put up a fence and installed a hot tub. Until this morning, I had never seen anyone in it. In the whole of 7 months, no one has ever set foot in that thing.
As I turned over and tried to concentrate on another sound, my mind wandered to the options I was now presented with to stop the racket and (maybe) deter this from happening in the future. I could open the window covertly, leave the blinds shut and shout out to them...preferably using an accent so they'd never know it was me. Not that I have ever spoken to them before. That won't work. They'd likely not hear me over the laughs and chatter they're having. Okay, option 2 would be make several snowballs and lob them over the fence. Pros to this plan are I have good aim, I'd like land one in the hot tub and could possible hit the siding behind it, it's kind of funny when you think of it, they're drunk and it would likely scare the hell out of them. Cons would be the ever present con to a snowball being thrown blindly at people you don't really know: it could contain a rock which would in turn manage to poke someone's eye out. Also, they could start throwing them back. That won't work. Well, Option 3 would be to call the police. But it's already 5am. So what are they going to say? Is there a noise ordinance that they are violating? I mean, people who have to get up at 5am and go to work make tons of noise and I never complain about them. Likely, though, it's because I too am getting up at 5am to go to work. Okay, so let's say they are breaking some law or the other. If I call the police, what will I say? "Hello, I am just calling as my backdoor neighbours are making quite the racket. It's been going on for the last 3 hours I've only just realized what it was though. The address? Well, that's the tricky bit, I don't really know if you come down [my street] all the way to the end - it's a cul-de-sac - you can get in to the alley from there. It'll be on your right hand side, roughly five houses up from the start of the alley. The street name? Well, having never had occasion to go down that street and owing to the fact that all the streets are named [street name] but with a different suffix - you know, Road, BLVD, Street - I can't say for certain what it is. A joke? No, this is not a joke, sir..." That's how I envision the conversation going.
Well, it's been about 6 minutes, I am now fully and completely awake. I suppose there is no going back now. The only option I can see working would be to get up for the day, start my morning, write a ranting blog about the situation and cross my fingers I can get a nap in later today.
Elsie P
PS - If you rowdy hot tubbers are reading this, last night/this morning was your one free pass. As soon as it's light out, I WILL find your street name and house number. I WILL post it on a post-it in my home office and next time this happens, I WILL phone the police or bylaw services or at the very least, unleash an arsenal of snowballs upon you that I will have stored in my backyard.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Lookin' Good
It's amazing what a little bit of eyeliner, a pair of heels and some bangles can do to a tired pair of jeans and a black, fitted T.
Just a few weeks ago, I made an investment in some new accessories. Mostly bangles, a few rings and the lovely girl to hold them all for me. I am floored by how different one can feel with a little bit of a spit polish, if you will.
I have been a fan of wearing heels with jeans for a little over five years. I guess it's been for as long as I have been a fan of wearing heels; a day I remember quite well. I was working in a call centre and as any former call centre employee can attest to, you tend to stop caring what you look like a little more every month you work there. This proves especially true if you are dating someone and not trying to impress any of the potential in the pool of germs and recycled air.
I was in a relationship with someone when I bought them. Steve Madden. Silver. Open toed. Gorgeous. And best of all: 75% off. HOW could you go wrong with that winning combination? I reserved the wearing of these heels for M-W wear, as Fridays were casual and Thursdays were special - that's another story. However, one Friday afternoon, not long after I had been surreptitiously dumped, I thought I'd try the Steve Madden's in all their glory with a pair of my favorite Mavi jeans. (It's amazing what wanting to make your ex jealous can do to you..) I will never forget the sound of walking down the pavement towards the door to the "office" with my heels on. If you've never done jeans and fancy heels, you should try it!
So yesterday, I decided to spice things up and for the first time in a few days, I put on makeup. I'm talking a little eyeliner, some shadow, foundation, powder, bronzer on the cheekbones and of course, mascara. I threw on a little clear lip gloss, three of my new bangles and a pair of heels. We are rockin! I could not get over how great it made me feel! Those little efforts were for no one else, this time, as it was just my mom and me hanging out and grocery shopping, and she would love me whether or not I had on eyeliner, heels or clown make up and wedge shoes. (ew).
Moral of the story: do it for yourself. It always feels good to look nice for someone - special or not - but it feels even better to look good for no one other than yourself.
Elsie P
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PS - Here is an almost replica of my first pair of heels...they were silver, though and these are black.
Just a few weeks ago, I made an investment in some new accessories. Mostly bangles, a few rings and the lovely girl to hold them all for me. I am floored by how different one can feel with a little bit of a spit polish, if you will.
I have been a fan of wearing heels with jeans for a little over five years. I guess it's been for as long as I have been a fan of wearing heels; a day I remember quite well. I was working in a call centre and as any former call centre employee can attest to, you tend to stop caring what you look like a little more every month you work there. This proves especially true if you are dating someone and not trying to impress any of the potential in the pool of germs and recycled air.
I was in a relationship with someone when I bought them. Steve Madden. Silver. Open toed. Gorgeous. And best of all: 75% off. HOW could you go wrong with that winning combination? I reserved the wearing of these heels for M-W wear, as Fridays were casual and Thursdays were special - that's another story. However, one Friday afternoon, not long after I had been surreptitiously dumped, I thought I'd try the Steve Madden's in all their glory with a pair of my favorite Mavi jeans. (It's amazing what wanting to make your ex jealous can do to you..) I will never forget the sound of walking down the pavement towards the door to the "office" with my heels on. If you've never done jeans and fancy heels, you should try it!
So yesterday, I decided to spice things up and for the first time in a few days, I put on makeup. I'm talking a little eyeliner, some shadow, foundation, powder, bronzer on the cheekbones and of course, mascara. I threw on a little clear lip gloss, three of my new bangles and a pair of heels. We are rockin! I could not get over how great it made me feel! Those little efforts were for no one else, this time, as it was just my mom and me hanging out and grocery shopping, and she would love me whether or not I had on eyeliner, heels or clown make up and wedge shoes. (ew).
Moral of the story: do it for yourself. It always feels good to look nice for someone - special or not - but it feels even better to look good for no one other than yourself.
Elsie P
PS - Here is an almost replica of my first pair of heels...they were silver, though and these are black.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Insecurities
I learned the other day that we all have our own insecurities.
I was out with my mother and one of my sisters doing some clay painting. It's a really neat little place, you pick a clay piece, you paint it however you would like and then you leave it for the staff to fire, glaze and complete.
I chose to do a replica of a piece they had on display. I literally copied the design verbatim. As I was brushing on the third coat of paint, I couldn't help but think how inept I was when it comes to creative endeavours such as this. I was copying something. It was not my original design, and I was using a rubber stamp to put the actual design - a city scape - on the vase.
My mother chose to paint a sunflower dish and was industriously brushing away, layer after layer, to ensure the accuracy of the bowl's resemblance to the real thing.
My older sister was attempting a new technique involving to colors and some string. Very cool design. And as I sat there, brushing on a solid color, not taking chances, following the directions to the letter, I thought about all the neat things that my mother and sister had done that they'd come up with in their own minds.
Owing to the simplicity of what I was creating (read: duplicating) I finished earlier than the other two and sat and watched them paint, pondering these thoughts of my ineptitude. When the time came for my sister to remove the string, the desired effect was not achieved and she was visibly upset.
Once we left, the truth of the matter came out in the car: Sis felt that my mother and I were these wonderful creators and everything we made turned out and was beautiful, etc etc etc. Huh. No amount of consoling could change her mind.
Apparently, we both were feeling the same way. We all have our own insecurities; we all have feelings of inadequacy. We all compare ourselves to one another and feel as though we don't always measure up.
Elsie P
PS - The city scape is crooked...!
I was out with my mother and one of my sisters doing some clay painting. It's a really neat little place, you pick a clay piece, you paint it however you would like and then you leave it for the staff to fire, glaze and complete.
I chose to do a replica of a piece they had on display. I literally copied the design verbatim. As I was brushing on the third coat of paint, I couldn't help but think how inept I was when it comes to creative endeavours such as this. I was copying something. It was not my original design, and I was using a rubber stamp to put the actual design - a city scape - on the vase.
My mother chose to paint a sunflower dish and was industriously brushing away, layer after layer, to ensure the accuracy of the bowl's resemblance to the real thing.
My older sister was attempting a new technique involving to colors and some string. Very cool design. And as I sat there, brushing on a solid color, not taking chances, following the directions to the letter, I thought about all the neat things that my mother and sister had done that they'd come up with in their own minds.
Owing to the simplicity of what I was creating (read: duplicating) I finished earlier than the other two and sat and watched them paint, pondering these thoughts of my ineptitude. When the time came for my sister to remove the string, the desired effect was not achieved and she was visibly upset.
Once we left, the truth of the matter came out in the car: Sis felt that my mother and I were these wonderful creators and everything we made turned out and was beautiful, etc etc etc. Huh. No amount of consoling could change her mind.
Apparently, we both were feeling the same way. We all have our own insecurities; we all have feelings of inadequacy. We all compare ourselves to one another and feel as though we don't always measure up.
Elsie P
PS - The city scape is crooked...!
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