day one hundred fifty-one

five months down, just one to go! here's what my dresses and i have been up to in the month of may:

* shared with the class
* did a book report
* told you things you might not know about me
* got something off my chest all passive-aggressive style
* wrote a love letter
* had not one but two potential (perhaps maybe) celebrity sightings
* spent an awful lot of time in the car, talking about cars, and/or looking at cars
* expended extreme amounts of willpower

i can't believe there is only one month left. i am so amazingly grateful for the two generous donations i received this past month. my hopes for the final month are to raise even more money for almost home and to enjoy the final time of this adventure. it's been equal parts fun and challenging so far. please help me spread the word!

*****

today's look while gearing up for the finale:

purple dress? super-sized t-shirt? nightdress? under dress: the dump (free)
jeans: value village, a year old ($20)
butterfly-print scarf worn on head: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)

grand total:
about $20.08

kimberly's deja vu boutique
sommerville centre, 6835 highway 62 north (1 mile off the 401)
belleville, ontario k8n 4z5
613.966.3352

day one hundred thirty-one

dear anonymous,

i was driving behind you the other day. you were driving a white sedan. you were driving very slowly despite the fact that we were both on a back road in what feels like the middle of nowhere. you were driving very slowly despite the fact that the posted speed limit is 80, and no one would have caught you if you went faster. for some reason you were driving many notches below the speed limit. maybe you were old and just out for a nice afternoon drive. maybe you were looking for an address and were worried that you might miss it if you drove faster. maybe you had a fight with your wife earlier in the day, and you didn't exactly want to rush home at that moment. i don't know what your reasons were. all i know is that i wanted to get home quickly, and there was an annoying solid yellow line and some hills keeping me from passing you. i hate tailgating, so maybe because i wasn't you couldn't sense my urgency. when i played hanna/no hanna, you didn't turn down hanna, and i silently cursed you for it. once in a long while, your foot must have felt a bit tired or you weren't paying as much attention, and you would speed up a little. but then you'd notice and your speedometer needle would return lazily to its comfortable position.

the reason i wanted to pass you and the reason you had me muttering under my breath was because i wanted to get home to see my family. the family i used to have hours upon hours to spend time with. now those hours have dwindled to one-and-a-half to two short hours and when i can't get to them as soon as possible, it gets me a little frustrated. it gets me cursing strangers insulated in cars that can't even hear me. it gets me impatient. so i'm sorry, driver of the white sedan, for silently cursing you. i'm sure you had your reasons for impeding me, none of which were personal. i hope you had a nice drive.

*****

today's look while resting against a tree:

brown shirt under dress: secondhand (free)
patterned top over dress: remade by me from a skirt donated by coral sproule for this project - thanks! (free)
jeans: value village, about a year old ($20)
black ruffled platform sandals: if footwear, about a year old (about $110)

grand total:
about $130.08

day eighty-nine

dear anonymous,

you don't know me. i don't know you either. we both know of each other but have never met. nevertheless, you seem like the kind of person i wish i actually knew. i think we'd get along.

did you ever have a penpal? remember those? when people used to actually sit down at a dining table or the corner of their bed or, if they were really serious, a writing desk. they would pull out a favourite pen and jot down their thoughts on a fresh piece of paper or two. then they would take these pieces of paper, fold them neatly in into an envelope, and mail that package full of feelings and soul-barings and current life events to a person - a stranger - who lived a city or a country or a continent away.

now we have the internet which is amazing if you sit back and think about it. but it has two faces. when it's feeling angelic, it can show you people and places you would otherwise have never known existed. it can do great things for amazing people. it can unite and bring happiness and enlighten. but when it's off catching a whiff of the devil, it can show its nasty face. it can lure and weave otherwise good, normal people into nasty strangers who have nothing better to do than mess with others. it can turn the high achievers into the schoolyard bullies.

i know that's what you are struggling with now. but i would have never known of you if i hadn't been led over to the good side. the sweet side where you and your writing reside. and having discovered you, you have inspired a stranger in more ways than you know. i admire you and your honesty and bravery and independence. Please don't let the bullies get to you.

but if you ever decide down the road to chuck it all in, we should totally exchange addresses and become penpals. 'cause like i said, i'm pretty sure we'd get along. and i'd definitely miss your words. inspiring words written by a person i don't really know.

*****

today's look while reminiscing about the good old days:

grey shirt under dress: donated by my sister for this project - thanks! (free)
brown skirt under dress: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
embroidered tie around waist: refashioned from a t-shirt my sister donated for this project - thanks! (free)
green toque: gifted about fifteen years ago (free)
brown knee socks: zellers ($3)
black platform shoes: aldo, two years old ($125)

grand total:
about $128.08

kimberly's deja vu boutique
sommerville centre, 6835 highway 62 north (1 mile off the 401)
belleville, ontario k8n 4z5
613.966.3352

day fifty-four

dear anonymous person in my life,

we have been friends for just over sixeen years. we became friends via an anonymous post-it note that you stuck to my computer monitor when we worked at the same company saying "reminder: tomorrow's my birthday. don't forget!" or something along those lines. since then, we've shared countless weekend breakfasts in the market, chatted over dim sum, shopped till we dropped, and hung out at your cottage (which, no matter what you say, is still really actually a gigantic house in the suburbs to all of us regular people). we've shared heartbreaks and karaoke stages, cups of coffee and heart-to-hearts. we haven't always lived in the same zip code, but we've always stayed in touch.

you have an amazingly generous soul. you are always there for me no matter what, and i will always be there for you too. you are my true friend and you hold a very special place in my heart (don't let it go to your head).

and so on this your special day, i wish you a very happy birthday. thanks for sixteen years of great memories with lots more to come...

xo

*****

today's look while blowing birthday wishes across the miles:

purple dress over dress: liquidation world, about seven months old ($7)
purple tights: zellers ($10)
green crocheted hat: value village, nine months old ($4)
purple flower pin and tie around waist: recycled by me out of an old t-shirt (free)
winter boots: aldo from last year (about $75)

grand total:
about $96.08

p.s. - don't forget about my contest!

day forty-eight

dear anonymous person in my life,

i sometimes wonder why the only time you ever email me is when you want something. whenever i reply back or write to you randomly to try to keep in touch and see how things are going, i never hear a word. this has gone on for many years.

i think i am breaking up with you. i wish you all the best. sorry it didn't work out.

goodbye...

*****

today's look while movin' on:

brown sweater over dress: donated by my sister for this project - thanks!
jeans: stitches, about four years old ($30)
brown boots: zellers, about three months old ($20)

grand total:
about $50.08