update!

yesterday was a special day for me. i visited almost home to drop off the cheque! i met and caught up with the house manager, the lovely laurie morgan, who is pictured here at the left with tenzin and me.

before we arrived, i got a strange feeling. it felt like drunken butterflies had somehow become trapped in my stomach. i couldn't quite pinpoint the exact cause, but the thought of returning to the place i hadn't visited in two years kind of made me nervous. if i'm being completely honest, i was worried i'd experience an embarassing flood of emotions since that is where i spent three of the hardest weeks of my life. the flashes of memories i have of that moment in time are a confusing mess of emotional opposites: scared stiff mixed with comfort, tears mixed with hope, loneliness mixed with elation. but the constant in all of that was the place that gave me what i needed at the time - almost home.

as it turns out, there was no need for my nerves. as soon as i walked through the familiar bright yellow door and saw the warm smile on laurie's face, i was immediately put at ease. the happiness i felt in reaching what i consider the real official end of this project filled me with a feeling of accomplishment. the past few months of personal self-challenge and sacrifice was all worth it.
i - we - really did make a difference.

and as i walked down the stairs away from the amazing home with the bright yellow door, i set the butterflies and the past free...

*****

have you been wondering about the dresses? the shopping? the ugly betty hair? the blog? here goes...

1) no, i haven't worn the dresses. will i ever? it's looking doubtful at this point, but i can't quite bring myself to get rid of them. i believe it's something to do with a symbolism of sorts. their future is still undetermined as of yet. i am just grateful to be able to wear whatever i want again, especially considering the weather here this summer has rivaled the hotness of jordan catalano circa 1994.
2) yes, i've been shopping. as with the great vegetarian experiment of 2009 whereby i still get excited when i eat meat of any kind, my shopping desires have been a bit insatiable. i must constantly physically stop myself from doing it. something about deprivation just sends me into sensory overload when i am able to return to my old habits. i have recently been banned from internet shoe shopping.
3) i finally took my embarassing self-cut bangs to the hairdresser a couple of days ago. ugly betty has left the building for now at least. after washing out my blowout from the other day, i realize that after waiting over a year to cut my hair and paying $30+, i now apparently have the exact same ugly betty style but two inches shorter all over. the hairdresser was very nice, however, and told me my bangs weren't actually that bad - although when i asked how much she charges for just a bang trim, she says it's free since she'd rather do it herself than have to fix a botched job. uh, lesson learned. from now on, scissors are for sewing, making cool paper projects and all non-hair-related activities.
4) and finally, what about the blog? its future, like the dresses, is still a bit undetermined. i have never had an audience for my writing before. i might go somewhere else incognito or i might come right back here when i'm ready to write again. it might be tomorrow, it might be a year from now. hey, what can i say? if you know me at all, i'm indecisive. woman of mystery, yeah that's me.

what i do know for certain is that The Husband can rest easy: i am hailing this as the official end of the extreme personal challenges segment of my life. amen.

day one hundred seventy-eight

to my fellow 401 travellers today:

- to the guinea pig suffering from rigor mortis in the middle lane: okay, i know you weren't really a guinea pig, but you sure looked like one. sorry, but whatever you were, you didn't have a chance...
- to the police car that didn't stop me when i was in front of you going 130: thanks for not giving me a ticket. (especially since you were going at least 150 after you passed me).
- to all of the transport trucks, pickup trucks, construction vehicles and school buses: thanks for entertaining my two-year-old in the back seat.
- to tenzin: thanks for sleeping for half the time. and not crying. and for the dance party. and the singing. when you were singing that one high-pitched duet with prince, your voices blended seamlessly.
- to the truck with the ridiculous racing stripes, the porsche, and the five other cars that nearly cut me off going across toronto: you're obviously making up for what you lack in other areas, if you know what i mean. i didn't give any of you the finger, but i was shouting at you really hard in my head. i hope you heard me.
- to the girls with the massive sorority sticker across your back window: you probably should have spent a little less time talking and more time looking at the road. but you both had really nice hair and sunglasses.
- to the person driving 80 in the fast lane for quite some time: there were a lot of people that were really really annoyed by you. yeah, you were pretty oblivious.
- to all of the cities i drove through besides toronto: thank you for not being as chaotic as toronto.
- to the city of toronto: thanks for not being a parking lot despite the g20. you had me worried, but you pulled through for me after all.

*****

and, most importantly, to the person who donated today:

thank you so much! it was so generous of you! i'm beyond grateful as always. check out the new total...

*****

today's look while spending even more time than usual in the car:

white t-shirt with hearts: secondhand (free)
jeans: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
green crocheted hat: value village, a year old ($4)
brooch worn on hat: jacob, about four years old (about $15)
brown sandals: aldo, about four years old (about $80)

grand total:
about $99.08

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 seventy-six

i was listening to the radio the other day and heard an ad for a mattress company. so what, right? well, apparently they have a pillow expert. is this an actual job? does this person have a business card that actually reads "pillow expert"? i wonder if there is a secret place somewhere in the world that has a pillow school that hands out pillow expert diplomas.

it's probably the same place you go to learn to be a magic carpet rider.

maybe it's just me, but don't you just know when a pillow is good and when it's not? some people prefer a firm pillow, some prefer soft. some prefer feathers while others prefer synthetic fill. some like a small pillow while some like a full-on body pillow. don't you just try them out until you find one you like?

i imagine that in this particular store, you walk in casually looking to set yourself up with a new pillow because the one you currently own is too firm/soft/ratty/lumpy. you are approached by the pillow expert who leaves a faint trail of stardust in his wake. he offers you a tray of gnocchi and marshmallows (his favourite snacks). like a fine storyteller, he explains to you the origin of the hand-picked duck feathers that were bred in an exotic-sounding country specifically for you to lay your head on. he pulls out charts outlining the quality and thread-count of each pillow. you are amazed by the intricacies of the pillow world that up until this point you were completely oblivious about. you buy the perfect pillow hand selected by the pillow expert and go home and feel like you are sleeping on a cloud.

at least that's what it better be like. last time we bought new pillows, i flung my head into each one while they were still on the shelf, and The Husband actually lay down on the dirty store floor testing them out.

fine, point taken. this is the last time i will mock the pillow expert.

*****

today's look while wishing i owned a magic carpet:

flowered dress over dress: remade by me from a skirt donated by coral sproule for this project - thanks! (free)
green tie around waist: from dressing gown (free)
jeans: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
green crocheted hat: value village, a year old ($4)
brooch worn on hat: jacob, about four years old (about $15)
brown sandals: aldo, about four years old (about $80)

grand total:
about $99.08

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 seventy-four

i stopped buying women's magazines a couple of years ago. i used to buy them all the time, and i'd hold onto them for years. when it came time for decluttering, i'd throw everything out except my magazines. i saw them as a snapshot of the times - the clothes, the stories, the issues. but after a few years, i noticed the trends. they were just so annoyingly predictable.

i haven't picked up one of these magazines in months, but i can pretty much guarantee that any given magazine currently on the racks has titles on the cover like "how to look cool while beating the heat!", "get your body beach-ready in less than a week!", "ten products that will keep you gorgeous all summer long!", "painless swimsuit shopping!", "fake tanner minus the smell!".

lies! lies! lies!

if i had a magazine, i'd tell it like it is. my magazine would be called get real and would have headings like "it's damn hot outside, and chances are you are going to look like a wet cat by the end of the day", "no one will be looking at your juicy lips when you smell like that", "the last time you went swimsuit shopping and enjoyed it you were five. some things never change.", "melancholy reads for the anti-beach set", and "fun things to do rather than getting peed on at the local pool".

hey, sometimes reality bites.

*****

today's look while being bratty:

brown skirt over dress: kilborn's, seven months old ($45)
black tie around waist: found in a bag of wrapping paper (free)
beaded necklace worn as bracelet: stitches ($5 for a set)

grand total:
about $50.08

day one hundred seventy-two

i have never been good at traditional math. i liken math to a foreign language that i will never understand. i remember one specific incident when i was in grade three and we'd been given a math test. i had no idea what to do, so i thought the teacher would appreciate a lovely pencil drawing on the page instead of some badly-done long division. i drew a robot out of geometric shapes, you know, all art-with-an-ode-to-math style. i put a lot of effort into the drawing. as it turns out, my teacher didn't appreciate it at all and i was reprimanded. this didn't exactly endear me any further to math.

but when it comes to my own version of math, i excel. for example, i can translate my day today into math and come out with the right answer:

1 morning stomachache + 1/2 cup of coffee + 2 pieces of raisin toast + 1 peed-on dress + 1 long day + 1 summer solstice party + 2 plates of food + lots of happy kids + 1 tired kid 1 1/2 hours late to bed - not much night left = 1 very tired me.

see? i can even do fractions. but maybe you'd rather i just draw you a picture instead.

*****

today's look while contemplating implications derived from the effects of quantum physics:

jeans: value village, a year old ($20)
brown sandals: aldo, about four years old (about $80)

grand total:
about $100.08

day one hundred sixty-five

please don't take this personally, but you're really starting to bug me. i know you can't help it. i might even be leading you on a bit, wafting past you trailing the alluring smells of dinner that my husband cooks each night. but then you get too close. you sit with your arms on my back or my neck or my leg. and then i feel the horrible zap through my skin.

you bit me...and now i want revenge.

it's a close race. i swat at you, but you keep lunging back at me. i try a spot of shadowboxing. you win the rodeo prize for sitting on me the longest without letting go.

but in the end, i always win.

take my advice: there are much better birds out there for you to chase.

*****

green tank top over dress: can't remember origin, a year old ($30)
jeans: donated by coral sproule for this project - thanks! (free)
brown sandals: aldo, about four years old (about $80)

grand total:
about $110.08

day one hundred sixty-one

the last thought i had before my head hit the pillow last night was how amazing it would feel to sleep in. ironically, this morning i jolted awake five whole minutes before i was supposed to leave for work. turns out the alarm was set but the sound wasn't. unfortunately one doesn't work without the other in terms of performing the needed function of waking me up.

i bolted out of bed, disoriented and confused. i slapped on some makeup, ran something through my hair, power brushed my teeth, and threw on the first thing i saw in the drawer. i heard tenzin say "mama" on the other side of the wall. i was torn: go in, say hi and leave two seconds later causing certain upset or bolt up the stairs and out of the house before he could see me. i chose option number two and felt guilty about my choice all morning.

i drove to work blanking out several minutes down the highway which is always disconcerting. how exactly did i get from a to c without remembering much of b? without any of the usual caffeine streaming through my body, i assume. i jolted to when i saw a dead deer lying on the side of the highway. that's two this week.

i walked down the road to mail a letter in the afternoon. i was waiting at a light and after a moment realized that i was humming. out loud. great, now i've become a crazy girl who hums out loud in public.

i came home. the sound of gunshots was ringing through the air. where exactly do i live?! i don't think i will ever get used to that sound. i went outside to take my daily picture. tenzin decided to come with me. he thinks it's really funny waiting for the timer to go off and then having the picture taken. so the sound was gunshot! laugh! gunshot! laugh! the poor hunter was likely thrown off his game. oh well, hopefully we saved a deer.

soon it will be time for bed again. another day is winding down. tonight i will still dream about sleeping in, but i'll be double-checking that the sound's turned up this time.

*****

today's look while in a bit of a fog:

green t-shirt over dress: donated by marci bruyere for this project - thanks! (free)
brown sandals: aldo, about four years old (about $80)

grand total:
about $80.08

day one hundred fifty-eight

one of my favourite pasttimes is thinking about what other people are doing right now. like, for instance, at this very moment someone somewhere in the world just:

* was born
* got on a plane to go on holiday
* tried something for the first time
* broke a promise
* met their fate
* committed a crime
* played air guitar
* lost their last penny
* experienced brain freeze
* died
* rode a roller coaster and puked
* made a good decision

or maybe even all of those things in one day.

*****

today's look while wondering what just happened to you:

green top over dress: giant tiger, about three years old ($15)
jeans: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)

grand total:
about $15.08

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 fifty-seven

i've decided that i really should work on my sense of timing. my sense of timing seems to have run off somewhere with my sense of direction. i can't seem to find either of them anywhere. they're probably both hanging out watching me from afar and laughing at me.

i used to have a great sense of timing. if someone asked me to be somewhere at, say 8 o'clock, i would be there right at 8 on the dot. not so anymore. i have completely lost all sense of how long things take to do even if i do the same things on a daily basis. if i am asked how long i will take to do something, my answer usually tends to reflect how long i would like something to take as opposed to the actual time required for me to do it.

some things i can do really fast, like ... (an undetermined time later) ... actually, after thinking that over for quite a few moments, i couldn't think of anything except blinking. not a highly useful skill. on the other hand, there are a magnitude of things that seem to take me forever to get done: washing dishes, making food, anything prior to about 8:00 am. hey, i live in a daydream state.

does anyone have any good tips about how you actually get everything accomplished on time? you know, other than hiring a drill sargeant?

*****

today's look while ranting once again about time:

orange scarf around waist: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
orange necklace: aldo ($10)
red beaded necklace worn as bracelet: gift from an old co-worker (free)
brown sandals: aldo, about four years old (about $80)

grand total:
about $90.08

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 fifty-four

one thing i am looking forward to hopefully having at the end of this project is a little more time. just a little. between rushing out to work in the morning to rushing home at the end of the day to rushing around before bedtime and trying to get everything done...well, it all makes me feel like i'm caught in a bit of a whirlwind. each week is whizzing by, and i can barely remember where it's all gone and what i've even done. i try to enjoy the little moments, but i tend to always be thinking about what needs to be done or what i'd like to get done or what might need doing by sometime next week.

i've had a library book out for about five weeks now and i've only read a few pages. i have a sweater that i started making for tenzin back around christmas and it's not even half done. it seems like The Husband and I don't even sit down together until 8:30 or 9:00 each night. and inevitably one or both of us falls asleep about an hour later on the couch. something's gotta change. see? that guy who invented time really is my nemesis.

speaking of which, we have company coming this weekend for a certain little person's birthday, so there's cleaning to be done, a shower to be had, and some final party preparations to be done. if only i could find a few extra minutes...

*****

today's look while wondering if it will ever all get done:

striped top under dress: value village, about ten months old ($7)
jeans: donated by coral sproule for this project - thanks! (free)
pink scarf worn on head: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
brown sandals: aldo, about four years old (about $80)

grand total:
about $87.08

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 fifty-two

random thoughts from today:

* it is actually malarky that a watched pot never boils. just this morning i watched. and it boiled.
* my wrist has been quite sore for the past couple of days. i'm fairly sure it's due to some previous nerve damage, but i kind of wonder if it's from those cartwheels i was doing the other day.
* if you hurt your wrist doing a couple of cartwheels, does that mean you're starting to get old?
* i wonder if anyone actually ever feels their current age.
* i need to work on my patience level. i get anxious if the computer isn't fast enough, but i still count on my fingers, so it's still faster than me.
* is 34 too old to still be counting on your fingers?
* when it comes to superpowers, i'd rather be able to fly than have x-ray vision.
* the person who invented time was, in my opinion, probably really smart but also likely annoying about it.
* he probably didn't count on his fingers.
* what???????? is up with this?

that's all.

*****

today's look while swinging around:

black dress under dress: smart set, about two years old ($30)
bracelet made by me out of secondhand zippers: (free)

grand total:
about $30.08

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 forty-five

this heatwave is a killer. i think my brain is melting. mmmmmmmm...ice cream.

*****

today's look while trying to keep my cool:

black t-shirt: stitches, about four years old ($5)
blue beaded necklace: value village, about four years old (about $7)
pink flower in hair: recycled from a secondhand shoe and made into a ponytail holder (free)

grand total:
about $5.08

day one hundred thirty-nine

happy friday everyone! oh wait, what? it's not friday yet? well, my internal body clock (body calendar?) sure seems to think it's friday. this week is kinda kicking my butt. maybe it's because it's feeling a whole lot like summer out there now, and the heat is filling my head like a helium balloon. a couple of nights ago, i fell asleep on the couch at 9 o'clock. 9 o'clock! oh, i remember back in the olden days (otherwise known as the nineties) when i thought nothing of going out on a wednesday night, staying out till the wee hours and then hauling myself to work the next day. and maybe repeating the next night. eesh. those days are long gone...oh, but they were fun.

*****

today's look while choosing which toothpicks will best hold my eyelids open:

flowered dress over dress: remade by me from a skirt donated by coral sproule for this project - thanks! (free)
grey tie around waist: donated by my sister for this project - thanks! (free)
jeans: stitches, four years old ($30)
black ruffled platform sandals: if footwear, a year old (about $110)

grand total:
about $140.08

day one hundred thirty-three

my day starts in a horizontal line. a slight blip on the clock zaps like lightning straight to my brain, and my body resists each movement required to make itself vertical. my legs carry me up each stair like a slinky in reverse slow motion. the scribbles that form my early morning thoughts slowly unwind into a clear picture as the caffeine works hard to unscramble them. the day has begun, and just as soon as it has been unscrambled, my head is pumped full of sound. sounds of songs on the radio, sounds of voices recounting the news, sounds of birds and the wind and rain and cars.

i spend my days immersed in the world that takes place outside my cocoon. i return to it in the evening. i sit folded in the car, hovering above ashphalt as the wheels under me transport me across the ground. my head is still pumped full of sound.

my body unfolds itself out of the car and i open the door to my cocoon and hear the sounds of mama!, sounds of dinner cooking, sounds of keyboards and the tv and my thoughts loud and clear.

time winds down, and the moon climbs up into in the sky. my legs carry me down the stairs like a slinky. the thoughts in my head slowly deflate and turn themselves back into scribbles. my eyes are closed now. i am horizontal.

*****

today's look while having a quiet moment:

pink t-shirt over dress: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
white skirt under dress: the dump (free)
silver bracelets: secondhand (free)

grand total:
about 8¢ (just the cost-per-wear of the dress!)

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 twenty-seven

i just came across a couple of articles about one of the latest trends in asia: couples matching their outfits to one another. now that would be an interesting twist on this project. maybe i'll have to get a couple more brown dresses whipped up so The Husband and i can get the trend started over on this side of the world.

you heard it here first.

*****

today's look while now picturing The Husband in a dress:

blue turtleneck: old navy, about two years old ($15)
flowered top over dress: t-shirt i reconstructed from garage sale, a year old (50¢)

jeans: value village, about nine months old ($20)
purple bracelet: donated by anne williams for this project - thanks! (free)
black ruffled platform sandals: if footwear, about a year old (about $110)

grand total:
about $145.58

day one hundred twenty-six

you know that game where you are tagged and have to reveal random facts about yourself? i'll tell you some of mine if you tell me some of yours...

1) about 90% of my time is spent daydreaming. unless i am immersed in a conversation with someone, my mind is likely somewhere else. i pretty much live in a fantasy land.
2) i have learned to never say never. almost every time i have thought that i'd never ever do something, i end up doing it.
3) i communicate best in writing. i wish all communication could be done in written form because it gives you time to think about what you want to say before you say it.
4) a couple of years ago, i found out that at one point we had lived on the exact same street as two terrorists that were involved in the london bombings. you know you live in a bad neighbourhood when: your backyard is an alleyway, local wildlife is a stray dog who comes begging for ham, your back door gets attacked with a hatchet, your garbage gets set on fire, the neighbourhood kids pelt passersby with rocks...and your neighbours are terrorists.
5) i am pretty non-judgemental. to each his or her own, i say. do whatever you like as long as you're not hurting anyone.
6) i love handmade things. i love the time, energy and creativity that goes into handmade items. i am particularly obsessed with knitting: things others are knitting, things i am knitting or want to knit next. i read blogs about knitting and get books out of the library about knitting.
7) i was the one who proposed. 30% of me wishes it was the other way around but the other 70% thinks it's kind of kick-ass and other girls should get over their hangups and go for it.
8) i really love dogs. so much so that when i was stopped by a sniffer dog in an airport once, i actually said "cute puppy!" and tried to pat it. don't try that. it doesn't go over very well.
9) i have never known what i wanted to be when i grow up.
10) i have always felt drawn to new york city ever since i was really young. i don't know why this is. i have never even visited there but fear that if i do, i will want to move there and never leave.
11) i really don't like having my picture taken.
12) i still get a little weirded out that i live in the country. it took moving to the country to realize that i am more of a city girl. but it's not too bad. ideally, i'd like to live half time in the city and half time in the country. they both have their advantages.
13) i am extremely self-conscious and always thinks it shows.
14) one of my foremost passions is books (and reading). i love the tactile feeling of books and their pages, and love how words and composition can transport you to another place. i judge books by their covers. it's an important part of the selection process to me.
15) perfectionism kind of freaks me out. quirkiness and individuality are so much more interesting, relatable and genuine to me. unless you are performing surgery - then be as perfect as you like.
16) i am 34 years old, and i still watch the hills. eesh. at least it's the final season.
17) i love garage sales and thrift stores.
18) i cannot dance. i will not dance. i do not do dancing.
19) i feel that luck is on my side. amazingly, somehow things just seem to almost always work out well for me. hopefully i didn't just jinx myself.
20) i drove a tank once. a real live tank. no, not in heels. it was really fun, but i was paranoid the whole time that i was going to knock my teeth out because that's what the guy said could happen if we didn't drive it properly.

*****

today's look while still wondering more about you:

black top under dress: liquidation world, about six months old ($5)
green t-shirt around waist (modified by me): thrifted, can't remember details
smaller green tie around waist: from dressing gown (free)
black dress under dress: old navy, about two years old ($30)
black ruffled platform shoes: if footwear, about a year old (about $110)

grand total:
about $145.08

day one hundred twenty one

one of my most memorable fashion moments stands out simply because it doesn't actually involve any clothes at all - unless a birthday suit counts as some sort of outfit. a few years ago, The Husband and i were in london, england. there was a store that i really wanted to go to so we went to the neighbourhood where it was located, but it was early and the shops weren't quite open yet. i remember it was rush hour. we were just taking our touristy time just walking down a road while commuters rushed past us on their way to work. one of the people that passed us stood out from the rest. it wasn't just her stature, but rather the fact that she was completely stark naked that made us and everyone else who passed her do a double-take. in retrospect, i was a little surprised i didn't stare harder at the beacon of nakedness that sailed right past me. it's actually such a bizarrely out of place thing to happen that you actually just tend to quickly glance while your brain is only just registering the fact that no, indeed that 300-pound woman that just passed you on a busy london sidewalk was not wearing a speck of clothing. from the look on her face, she did not look a) high on crack b) drunk as a skunk or c) like a lady of the streets d) recently attacked or e) (most surprisingly) slightly uncomfortable with the whole scenario, although chances are, she must have been at least one these things. well, either that, or she was just really, really warm.

season after season, designers past and present try to shock us with their runway fashions. they try to create drama and excitement and turn their creations into showpieces. but nothing could ever be more memorable to me than a naked lady walking nonchalantly down a busy london street during morning rush hour.

*****

today's look while remembering a funny moment:

purple dress over dress (dyed by me): donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
jeans: donated by coral sproule for this project - thanks! (free)
wood bead necklaces: stitches, about three years old (about $5 for set)
black ruffled platform sandals: if footwear, about a year old (about $110)

grand total:
about $115.08

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 twenty

where the heck did april go to? just trying to gather my thoughts here and figure it out. in the meantime, this month my dresses and i have:

* encountered the easter porcupine
* discovered a human eyeball container
* reached the triple digits
* profited off drunk drivers
* let you rate me - don't be shy!
* gotten a educashun
* run like hell from a rottweiler
* got a job

and, once again, i haven't been let down in the donations department...thank you to all of you who generously donated both clothes and money! i am thankful and amazed. just a reminder, yet again, that all proceeds raised from this effort will be donated to almost home when this project comes to a close in july. please pass the link to this site along to anyone you know might be interested. i am hoping to raise just as much as i can for this amazing charity!

*****

today's look while wondering where yet another month went:

black cardigan: fairweather, about two years old ($15)
grey top over dress: donated by kimberly's deja vu boutique (details below) for this project - thanks! (free)
keys worn on old chain: from my late great-aunt's house, very old (free)
jeans: stitches, four years old ($30)
black ruffled platform sandals: if footwear, about a year old (about $110)

grand total:
about $155.08

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 seventeen

i have been having a serious case of the tempermental computer tonight. the kind where i don't know if it's the machine or me. all i know is that the predominant sound that's been ringing through my head for most of the night has been a constant "wawawa" of the charlie brown teacher variety. let's just leave it at that.

oh yeah, and remember to smile!

*****

today's look while thinking of ice cream:

purple turtleneck under dress: jacob connexion, about three years old ($15)
green tank top over dress: can't remember where bought, about a year old ($30)
dark-rinse jeans: liquidation world, about ten months old ($3)
brown boots: zellers, about five months old ($20)

grand total:
about $65.08