Lola So Pretty with Pleats

Lola number two enters the world. She's available in the shop.


I LOVE her button.


These pics really aren't doing her justice. I'll take a few more tomorrow maybe.

What Lola Wants...

Thanks Tanya for providing me with inspiration for Lola's desciption found in the shop.


The next Lola will be darker to fit the fall/winter thang.

I can't get enough of these big beautiful buttons!

Lola can be all yours... check out the details here.

Blue Monday

1. Untitled, 2. Just Clouds and Bright Blue Sky, 3. dandelion blue, 4. Blue Oasis, 5. big blue..., 6. The blue tent, 7. a sky divided, 8. blue and white...2008, 9. dried toluidine blue on a petri dish

It was a grey morning and I needed some blue to brighten my mood.

This is what I'm surprised I like

I shook my head while grumbling and mumbling about Mike and his mountain biking adventures before August of this year. I thought he was nuts to throw himself down a mountain on a bike... until I tried it myself.

One trip down Whistler Mountain in BC and I was hooked.
I can't wait to go back next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and the... Yep, I've fallen for biking (literally in the pic above).

Another surprising like of mine:

Thanks photobunny for the sweet onion pic (ha! get it? sweet onion.)

I used to hate onions but love, loVe, LOVE them now. That's probably not all that surprising, I don't think I'm alone on this one. Onions belong in a category along with red wine and fancy cheese, as your tastes mature you learn to love them.

Mmmm now I need a snack. Red wine and onions anyone?

Thanks to Earl and Cookie for the "This is..." theme this week.

I Want One!

Mike sent this pic my way today knowing I would melt when I saw it. I want one.

It's a CAKE people!

I have created some extremely distasteful Halloween props in my lifetime. I can't help but cringe when I think of one in particular that did not amuse my mom... I was dressed as the angel of death and left the house on my way to a party carrying a prop that involved a naked doll, fake blood, a knife and a platter - use your imagination.

It takes a lot to gross me out and Halloween is a time when I think the grossest of the gross is expected and applauded. This, my friends takes the cake (no pun intended) for nastiest cake design ever.


Yes it really is edible. YUM YUM! Interested in making one for yourself? Check out the recipe here.

Weird Obsession

Original Flickr Photos Uploaded By: 1. lets swing :), 2. Two Mills, 3. zero gravity, 4. Morey's Pier, 5. Ride In Action, 6. CNE Swings, 7. Under The Table & Dreaming, 8. Swing in Motion 1, 9. swingtown

I don't know what has gotten into me, for the last month I can't get amusement park swings out of my mind. Bizarre huh? I think I've weirded Mike out by talking about them on multiple occasions.

I haven't been to an amusement park in 8 years (insert sob here) and I didn't even ride the swings the last time I went. What can I do to quench my thirst for a ride on the swings? Will I have to wait until next summer?!

Little Red Lola

I started working on a new design three months ago but have been so busy with school and life that I haven't had time to go any further with it. Last night I set aside the assignment I was working on and picked up the stitch ripper. The bag I started three months ago had the basic shape of this girl but my plan then was not for her to look like this.

I love the big button and the pleats worked out really well. She closes with a magnetic snap and there's an interior pocket as well. This sweet number isn't for sale but I'll be creating more asap and they'll be going up in the shop. If you're interested in one sooner than later please send me an email at ginghamskies@gmail.com and I'll put a rush on it.

Proud Mama

I'm so happy with my latest design! The button is fabulous isn't it? Thanks mom. To give you and idea of the size the button is 1 1/4 inches across. This sweet little lady is all mine but I'll definitely be creating more to put in the shop asap! She still needs a name... I'm leaning towards Lola.

This is my favourite film

I knew someone would eventually choose the topic of favourite film for the "This is..." meme and the day has come. "What's your favourite film?" is one of my lease favourite questions because I don't have a simple answer. I have watched what seems like a million movies in my lifetime and I can't seem to choose a favourite.

Since Hokey has taken the time to pick the topic for the week I'm going to try my best to narrow down my list of loved flicks.

Fav Musical
This one is easy. Some of you may remember my post about the best movie musical ever: Across the Universe. It is by far the best when it comes to musicals. No point in arguing with me because I'm right and anyone who disagrees is wrong with a capital W. If you haven't seen it be sure to rent it and be prepared to fall madly in love with Jim Sturgess.

Hot hot hot!

The story is good, the soundtrack is phenomenal (Beatles all through but sounding better than the originals thanks to these amazing performers) and well, Jim Sturgess.

Horror
I LOVE scary movies. I've loved them since I was a kid. More often than not my evenings filled with scary movies would be followed up by even scarier nightmares. My parents were saints, they would always come in and comfort the maniac child although I'm certain there were many times when they were tempted to smother me with my pillow considering the nightmares were self-inflicted. The nightmares were awful but they were the result of something wonderful: horror flicks.

Choosing one favourite horror movie is not easy so I've narrowed it down to two:

The Exorcist

Poltergeist
I loved the Poltergeist movies when I was a kid, they freaked me out like you wouldn't believe and the clown with the moving head at the end of either the 2nd or 3rd movie caused me to rip the hanging clown on a swing from my bedroom ceiling and worsened my already evident clown issues.

Comedies
Old School is in my top ten for sure



And of course the classic: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Best Raindy Day Movie
My mom's favourite movie is definitely one of mine too so I can't end this post without including The Goonies

I could go on and on but that's enough for today. What are YOUR favourite movies?

Kanga's AQUA Framed Bracelet

I'm sure you have noticed the Fab Pick of the Week located on the right hand side of this page. I am going to continue choosing lovely items once a week to feature but in addition I will be creating a post repeating exactly what you see on the sidebar. This way if you have a burning desire to be reminded of a particular artist/shop you can click on the label of Etsy and see all of the previous Fab Picks. Why I feel compelled to explain this to you I don't know, I'm sure you would have figured it out on your own but now that my fingers have gone to all the trouble of typing this out I don't want to insult them by deleting it.

Onto the stunning feature of last week:

I'm a sucker for anything aqua so when I stumbled across this beautiful bracelet by Kanga I was smitten! Be sure to check out the matching earrings and loads of other stunning pieces at Kanga's etsy shop.

Blogtoberfest Fave Friday

Happy Birthday Tanya!

I'm on a roll of forgetfulness. One of the most fabulous women in my life is living in Russia and it was her 29th birthday on Tuesday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANYA! This hottie decided to tattoo your beautiful face on his beautiful body. I tried to wrap him up and ship him to Russia for you but he refused to fold himself into a packing box. How rude.

I hope you had a stupendous birthday Tanya, you deserve only the best darlin!

Make a Difference

Unless you were just born or have been living under a rock you are aware of the fact that poverty is a serious issue affecting individuals across the globe . It's easy to say that you are concerned but whether you choose to take action to try and make a difference is another story.

I'll admit that I'm guilty of talking the talk and not walking the walk. Yes I want to make a difference but I really don't do much to actually make this happen. I donate food to my local food bank, I donate small amounts of money when people ask for my support for one fundraiser or another, I toss change into an open palm every now and then, and I've talked about volunteering (talked being the key word). I know I should find some time to help out with those less fortunate but I'm greedy when it comes to my free time because I have so little of it.

Basically what I'm sheepishly admitting is that I want to find a way to contribute to change without leaving my couch. It just so happens that I have found one way to do this: Kiva.

"Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world." What better way to help people than to help them help themselves.

Please take a moment to visit Kiva's site and consider loaning some cash to someone who needs a little help. You can contribute to change without even leaving your living room.

Bloggers Unite

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

October 15th (that's tomorrow ladies and gentlemen) is Blog Action Day. Watch the video, visit the site and join the world of bloggers in raising awareness about the global issue of poverty.

VOTE!

originally uploaded by skippyjon

October 14th is election day in Canada so get out there and vote people. You have no right to bitch about Bush-loving Harper unless you cast a vote.

If you haven't registered to vote it's not too late. Head to your nearest polling station tomorrow and bring along government issued photo ID or two pieces of ID (one with your name and address and another with your name and signature), you can register right then and there.

This is...my current reading material.

Photo credits: 1. Water for Elephants, 2. { ضريبـة النجـاح , !, 3. Love.Twilight., 4. Vintage Munchkin

I'm usually a one-book-at-a-time sort of girl but lately I've been reading multiple books at once; it seems to be working for me.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a phenomenal read, one of those books you pick up and can't put down. I read it while applying my make-up in the morning (no easy task), eating, and cooking mostly. Awesome read. Thanks to Reebs and her books club for recommending this one.

Textbooks, textbooks and more textbooks. My bachelor of ed. program forces encourages me to read a zillion pages of material on a daily basis: teaching math, literature and science; child psychology; curriculum documents for all eight subjects; how to create an equitable environment; teaching ELL and MORE! Don't get me wrong, it's all good stuff but there is just no way it's all going to stick in my brain. At least I'll know where to locate the info when a time that I need it comes along.

Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series is one that my friend Jackie introduced to me while I was visiting her in August. Vampires and werewolves?! I'm in. I've always had a thing for vampires. I just finished reading the second book in the series and can't wait to get my paws on the third.

Goggles by Ezra Jack Keats is a children's book that I am using this week for shared reading with my 3/4 class. Would I recommend it? Probably not but it works well for my purposes.

In the next couple weeks I intend to read A Venetian Affair by Andrea Di Robilant and the classic Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I'll be sure to post my thoughts on both.

Thanks to My Champagne Dreams (a fabulous blog that I had never visited until now; I'll be sure to return) for choosing the theme for "This is..." this week.

Still Going Strong

I'm sorry this is so late mom and dad. October 6th was a very special day; 36 years of marriage deserves to be recognized and celebrated. You are my inspiration, I love you both with all of my heart.

Congratulations!!

Your Heart Be Held With Tenderness originally uploaded by Imagemakercan

RIP Henry

I have one full belly.

Dinner at the Charcoal last night to celebrate my beautiful Aunt Sue's 50th birthday followed by Thanksgiving dinner number one tonight at Joanne and Paul's. I'm mega stuffed.

Joanne and Paul named the bird Henry. His full name was *drum roll please* Henry the 8. Get it?

Photo full belly originally uploaded by pinkorchid_too

Bring on the Birds

It is almost a guarantee that come Monday I will be in a self-induced turkey coma so if I skip a day of Blogtoberfest you can blame it on the birds. Yep it's that time again, Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.

Turkey, and stuffing and gravy OH MY!

Photo Talking Turkey originally uploaded by ReyGuy

Tanya ZipIt

A new ZipIt has been added to the shop finally!
A pouch covered in little Russian nesting dolls named after my lovely Russian girl Tanya! I love this fabric!

I'm a Winner!

Yippee for me! I can't believe it, I actually won something. This is the beautiful book that I will be receiving in the mail sometime soon:

Talk about a flashback.

Mega thanks from me to Scribbler at Vintage Kids' Books for the fabulous giveaway. Be sure to stop by her blog if you are a children;s book lover - she blogs about the most wonderful books on a daily basis and the giveaways are an extra added bonus!

Pottery Sale!

Looking for beautiful handmade Christmas gifts? After you visit Gingham Skies and Eterknity you might want to think about checking out the Waterloo Potters Workshop Fall Sale! I'm posting this early so that you can mark the date on your calendar - I'll be sure to post again closer to the actual sale. The sale takes place on November 14, 15 and 16th at RIM Park on University Avenue in Waterloo, Ontario. Check out WPW's website for the specifics.

Here are a few of the lovely bits shown on the WPW site; you might be able to get your paws on these at the sale.

A Teacher in the Making

Today was the first day of my two week block practicum and I survived to tell the tale. I'm in a grade 3/4 split class led by a phenomenal teacher. For the next two weeks I'll be teaching up to 25% of the lessons each day. My lesson plan for Writing today was B-O-R-I-N-G but I made it through the introduction to leads and I'm fairly certain the kidlets now understand what the elements of a good lead are. I know they're permanently etched into my brain after hearing them a zillion times in 40 minutes. Tomorrow's lesson will help me to assess whether the little monkeys really grasped what was drilled into their little beans today.

A few key things I learned from day one of teaching: avoid delivering mega dry lessons if at all possible; creating examples of written work on the spot with the help of 20 eight and nine year olds is more difficult than one might think; tell volunteers what they're volunteering for before selecting them or you might end up with a child looking totally stunned and uncomfortable in front of their peers (thankfully I thought quickly and fixed this scenario before any permanent damage was done); when you've run out of time but still have kids who want to share their thoughts have them turn to an elbow partner for ten seconds of sharing, if you don't do this you may have what appears to be a deflated child on your hands. Oh and just to ease your concerns: no children were harmed during the delivery or this lesson.

Wasting Time While Time Warping

Looking for a way to waste some time while having a good laugh? Yearbook yourself over here.
The couple up above is me in 1968 and Mike in 1984. Check out those locks... hot hot hot. Thanks to my favourite blog How About Orange... for sharing this super fun time waster.

This is my favourtie kitchen tool.

I am just as in love with my KitchenAid mixer today as I was in high school when I first discovered her existence. I know that sounds ridiculous but seriously, I love my mixer.


I remember telling my mom that I wanted a KA as a wedding gift when I was still a teen. There was no groom in sight but I had figured that marriage was a sure fire way of getting my hands on the mixer - don't worry Mike, the mixer wasn't my only reason for marrying you. Sure enough I received a KA of my own as a gift from my mom and a few other family members at my wedding shower. Needless to say I was a very happy bride-to-be. I could go on and on about that yummy bits my mixer has helped me create but I think I've said enough, I'm sure you get my point: I love my KA mixer, she is without a doubt my favourite kitchen tool.

Thanks to Handmaiden for this week's "This is..." theme, an opportunity to brag about one's KitchenAid mixer should always be taken seriously.

Thinking Christmas

I can't believe I'm admitting this but I've had Christmas on the brain for the last few days. I know, I know, don't rush it. I blame it on my mom, Christmas is her holiday and her enthusiasm for it has rubbed off on me. In honor of my festive thoughts I popped over to Etsy to see what I could find that is Christmas themed and I thought I would share one of my favourite finds.

d'Pholk Designs has a beautiful selection of fused glass art in their Etsy shop: pendants, bowls, christmas decorations and more.

I have a thing for stars and this lovely fused glass star in green could be hung all year round. Too early to think of Christmas? Consider it for a birthday or a 'just because' gift.

Will Uncle Hans Join Blogtoberfest?

I don't know if you'll see any posts from Uncle Hans but I have decided to honor my hometown Oktoberfest boozefest in a less toxic way by joining in Big Cat Emporium's Blogtoberfest! Thanks to Two Peas in a Pod for sharing the idea.

Basically taking part in Blogtoberfest means intending to post on a daily basis throughout the month of October - there are also art swaps and giveaways involved and I do intend to host a giveaway here too! It won't be for a couple of weeks but I promise to do so before the month is up. Gingham Skies will have a little something to pass along - hopefully this will encourage some of you lurkers to post comments.

Feel like a challenge? Why not join in the Blogtoberfest fun, there's less chance of suffering from a hangover with this festival.

Two Blogs Too Many?

It seems I'm having a difficult time keeping up with two blogs. I think I might have to dismantle Gingham Skies at least temporarily. Not the business, just the blog. The other option is to move Jabbering Jaime over to Gingham Skies but I'm really not liking that idea. Of course I could simply change my blog name to Gingham Skies but keep the blog address as jabberingjaime.blogspot.com but maybe that would be confusing. The other option is to simply direct any traffic from Gingham Skies over here to JJ and leave everything as is. Argh. What to do. Any suggestions ladies and gentlemen?

Gimme Gimme Gimme!

Tell me these aren't the most adorable little magnets you've ever seen? They look super easy to make and guess what, there's a tutorial available at Angry Chicken. Christmas gift toppers maybe? Moms and sisters (including my sisters from another mister) wipe this post from your memory.

In Between Trapeze Bars

**Sorry about the 'alien speak' - I have fixed the oops and you should be able to read this post now**

No I have not started circus training, although that would be crazy fun wouldn't it?! I did stumble upon a piece of paper that a former colleague (the first teacher I worked with, a man named Jim who I truly admire) printed off and passed my way many years ago. I think he may have given it to me when I was just beginning to contemplate going back to school to work on my degree, or maybe it was was when I began talking marriage... or maybe... well you'll get the point when you read the words for yourself in just a minute.

I remember vividly reading The Fear of Transformation this for the first time and nodding my head thinking just how accurate it was. I haven't looked at if for years and do not remember when I stuffed it into the space next to my CPU but just a moment ago I tipped a pile of CDs over and while grumbling about having to stick my hand into the unknown I found it once again.
It's a little bit long but worth the read.

Fear of Transformation
From The Essene Book of Days

Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings. I'm either hanging on to a trapeze bar swinging along or, for a few moments in my life, I'm hurtling across space in between trapeze bars.

Most of the time, I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my trapeze-bar-of-the-moment. It carries me along a certain steady rate of swing and I have the feeling that I'm in control of my life. I know most of the right questions and even some of the right answers. But once in a while, as I'm merrily (or not so merrily) swinging along. I look ahead of me into the distance, and what do I see? I see another trapeze bar swinging toward me. It's empty, and I know, in that place that knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it. It is my next step, my growth, my aliveness going to get me. In my heart-of-hearts I know that for me to grow, I must release my grip on the present, well known bar to move to the new one.

Each time it happens to me, I hope (no, I pray) that I won't have to grab the new one. But in my knowing place I know that I must totally release my grasp on my old bar, and for some moment in time hurtle across space before I can grab onto the new bar. Each time I am filled with terror. It doesn't matter that in all my previous hurtles across the void of unknowing, I have always made it. Each time I am afraid I will miss, that I will be crushed on the unseen rocks in the bottomless chasm between the bars. But I do it anyways. Perhaps this is the essence of what the mystics call the faith experience. No guarantees, no net, no insurance policy, but you do it anyways because somehow, to keep hanging onto that old bar is no longer on the list of alternatives. And so for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of "the past is gong, the future is not yet here." It's called transition. I have come to believe that it is the only place that real change occurs. I mean real change, not the pseudo-change that only lasts until the next time my old buttons get punched.

I have noticed that, in our culture, this transition zone is looked upon as a "no-thing", a no-place between places. Sure the old trapeze-bar was real, and that new one coming towards me, I hope that's real too. But the void in between? That's just a scary, confusing, disorienting "nowhere" that must be gotten through as fast as possible. What a waste! I have a sneaking suspicion that the transition zone is the only real thing, and the bars are illusions we dream up to avoid, where the real change, the real growth occurs for us. Whether or not my hunch is true, it remains that the transition zones in our lives are incredibly rich places. They should be honoured, even savored. Yes, with all the pain and fear and feelings of being out-of-control that can (but not necessarily) accompany transitions, they are still the most alive, most growth-filled, passionate, expansive moments in our lives.

And so, transformation of fear may have nothing to do with making fear go away, but rather with giving ourselves permission to "hang-out" in the transition between trapeze bars. Transforming our need to grab that new bar, any bar, is allowing ourselves to dwell in the only place where change really happens. It can be terrifying. It can also be enlightening, in the true sense of the word. Hurtling through the void, we just may learn how to fly.

*****

What do you think?
I think it's funny that I found it today because I'm in between bars right now but finally instead of feeling the intense stress, discomfort and confusion I felt the last time I was in between bars (a 3 year gap filled with full-time work and full-time school) I have given myself "permission to 'hang-out'" and it truly is enlightening... I think I just might be learning to fly.

This is: Show Off Time!

What a fun choice for the "This is..." theme this week! Thanks to Katie over at May the Cloth Be With You for the selection.

What to choose?!!

Well since I started school a month ago I have been reminded of just how unbelievably fabulous my wedding & engagement rings are (lots of lovely compliments have been tossed my way thanks to those rings) so I'm going to show them off to the rest of the world here!

If you're struggling to see them just click on the pic and it should blow up on your screen (as in enlarge, not explode - no need to shield your eyes).

Yes Mike does have impeccable taste... he chose me didn't he?
I guess I'm showing off more than my rings by using this photo. I'm showing off my incredible husband, fabulous wedding dress and stunning location too! Yay for weddings in Mexico!

What do you want to show off this week?

Bad Turned Good

I arrived home from a long day at school and opened a bill that nearly caused me vomit. It's not that it was unexpected, it's just that the money that I had planned to pay this particularly painful credit card off with has been held by a certain government agency (no names mentioned) for the last month and I was pretty much convinced that they were going to decide against giving me the money. Long story short, I hopped online to check the status of my moolah after groaning over the bill and hallelujah!! What are the chances that today happens to be the day that they finally deposited the money in my bank account?! Honestly, what the? Needless to say I am one happy woman.

It gets better.

When it comes to material things in this world money is certainly high on the top of my list of wonderful things. Take a moment to think this through before you judge!! I didn't say it was number one on my list of important things in life, I said MATERIAL things and in order to gain material goods you generally need money. Second on my list of material fabulousness is food. Technically this would be number one but without the moolah I wouldn't be eating much.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, me going from near barfage to happy happy.
Mike is away all this week on business which leaves me eating on my own. I have no problem eating alone but lately since I don't get home until late and then have a pile of homework to complete it seems that every time I have had an alone meal I end up eating Kraft Dinner. Don't get me wrong, I love KD, it brings back waves of pleasant childhood memories but eating it more than once every couple weeks is not acceptable. I like to savor it and don't want to ruin the experience by overindulging. Point being, I wanted to avoid KD this week so on the way home from school (pre-near vomiting bill opening) I stopped at Zehrs to pick up a few quick meals.
Oh... my... GOD. Someone told me ages ago to try the President's Choice Thai Green Curry Shrimp meal but I didn't listen. What the hell is wrong with me?! I have found my new favourite thing.
In just 6 minutes (5 minute cooking, 1 minute sitting) I had some of the best green curry ever! I loooooooooove green curry, it's one of my top three Thai dishes so imagine my delight in finding the easiest meal on earth in just my flavor! Amazing! Is it low calorie? Not at all but neither is Kraft Dinner so there.

A great start to my week, let's just hope this luck continues.

This is...

This is what I want to be when I grow up.


A teacher!! I'll be all grown up next May assuming all goes well this year. The next thing I want to be is a mom of course. Hopefully I'll be as amazing at that job as my own mom is.

Fab Find: Slouch Boots for Baby!

Seriously, are these not the cutest little boots you've ever seen?! I'm in love with them and wish they were big enough for me. I've visited MiaJoie's Etsy shop at least a dozen times in the last few days to admire these sweet little things. Too cute!

This is...

This is what I do with a spare 10 minutes.

70%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?
Now that I"m back in school full-time I struggle to find time to do much more than textbook reading but blogging (reading more than writing lately) is still part of my daily routine.

Working on Gingham Skies is my main focus following school but I've been struggling to find time to do anything more than ship products in the last two weeks. Hopefully I can hop on the sewing machine at some point this week, I miss threading my needle.

Thanks to Hoppo Bumpo for this weeks "This is..." theme.

Taking a Five Minute Breather

Wow! I'm nearly at the end of my third week of school and I have yet to post about it. My Bachelor of Education program is excellent; it's only the second year that it has been running so there are still kinks to be worked out but overall I'm really happy with the program.

It's crazy intense and very different from what I have heard about other Bach. of Ed. programs, this I'm glad of. I am totally overwhelmed but managing not to stress - which in itself is a miracle - I think my three years of full-time work and full-time studies was excellent preparation for this program. I'm very happy that I didn't plan to work regular hours while in school this year because there is just no way I could have handled it.

My professors are excellent, they are all retired teachers and/or principals, who absolutely love teaching and want nothing more than to help me and my 67 classmates become the best educators we can possibly be.

I have met some fabulous people in my classes and I have little doubt that after this year I will have gained some new lifelong friends. How great is that?

My placement for the year is in a local Catholic school. I'll spend the first couple months with in a grade 3/4 split, then a few in a grade 5 class and my final stint will be split between a 2/3 and a grade 1 class. This is my dream schedule, exactly what I had hoped for, so I'm really excited about my practicum. Don't get me wrong, I'm full of nerves and actually "scared" would be a fair descriptor, but it's a good nervous if there is such a thing.

Speaking of school, I need to get back to the books so this is a short and sweet update on the life of Jaime.

A New Favourite

If you haven't already read the book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan you need to. Once you get started you'll have a hard time putting this novel down so be sure you have time to spare when you begin. Foot-binding, arranged marriages and the secret written women's language called nu shu are just a few of the reasons this book is worth your time. Not only will you learn a thing or two about rural Chinese culture in the 19th century but you'll fall in love with Lily and Snow Flower, two young girls who are laotong ("old sames"), as you follow them throughout their lives. This fabulous find is now on my list of best reads.

Pearly Whites!

I mentioned a few weeks back that I was given the opportunity to try out Whitening Listerine strips and I had promised to post a week later to let you know what I thought... Whoops! A few weeks have gone already and I nearly forgot to follow-up but here I am, better late than never.

I give the Whitening Listerine strips two thumbs up. Would I recommend them? Sure! Would I use them again myself? Probably not. If I didn't have caps then yes I would use them but since I do I can only apply them on my bottom teeth and those guys are never visible. That being said if I ever have replacement caps put on my top chompers I will definitely consider the strips to brighten my bottom teeth.

If you tend to cover your mouth when you laugh or smile because of stained teeth definitely give Whitening Listerine strips a shot!

My Canadian readers can snag some free samples and coupons for the strips by visiting this link.

Socked in the Face

The long weekend has come to an end and it certainly was not a dull couple of days. For the first time in a very long time I managed to have two late nights in a row and survived to tell the tale; Mike did too but just barely. Let me explain.

Friday night at 1130pm we decided to drive to a nearby city to bowl. Apparently our local bowling alleys are not open past 11pm; why that is I just don't understand. Isn't bowling the happening thing to do these days? Okay so maybe it's not but we had a blast. I've never been ten pin bowling so my first attempt ended up looking (and sounding) more like a shot-put toss than a roll; the second ball nearly took me with it. I finally figured out that there are different weighted balls and then I was on fire. I'm pleased to say that I won one game and Mike won the other two; our competitive pal lost all three. It would be rude to laugh about that so I won't (aloud).

Saturday is when the excitement took place. Mike is an electronic music junkie and DJ's whenever he has the opportunity; he hasn't played out in quite some time so we were both really looking forward to his set. The bar we were at is a bit sketchy inside but has a great patio so I figured it would be a decent night; sure enough a pile of our friends showed up (including a few we haven't seen in a long time) and a fabulous night was had by all. Mike played an amazing set that had the entire place bouncing . The night came to an end and that's when our adventure began.

All of our friends left the bar at about 1:45 am; we left shortly after at 2am after Mike packed up all his gear. Mike and I headed out of the bar and started across the small parking lot located off to the side of the building. As we were walking I noticed three young guys walking towards us, they were talking and laughing, as were Mike and I. Without any warning one of the punks ran at Mike and slugged him in the face. WHAT THE HELL?!

I've witnessed some pretty bizarre things in my life but this definitely finds a place at the top of my list. Mike hadn't even noticed the guys walking towards us, they hadn't been in the bar we came out of, we've never seen them before in our lives. It was a total random act of violence.

Mike managed to stay on his feet, he stumbled and settled himself up against a car to gain his wits while the three little punks sauntered off. Needless to say I freaked out after the slugging. I called the little thug the nastiest things I could think of on the spot and screamed for the people in front of the bar to call the cops (which they did and believe it or not: 911 was busy). All of my yelling managed to attract cops from a street over eventually but of course the guys were gone by then.

The positive in the scenario is that the little bastard used his fist rather than a knife and thankfully none of our friends were nearby because no doubt it would have turned into something much worse if more people had gotten involved. Then again it's unlikely that the little bugger would have had the nerve to hit Mike if others were nearby; I'm certain he was an easy target because of the fact that he had a heavy record bag thrown over his body and a woman at his side.

Mike's okay, he has a nasty bruised fat lip and a sore throat but other than that he's fine. We are both still in shock for obvious reasons.

I wish karma would send me a postcard with a picture of the little beater after she pays him a visit - no doubt he'll get what he's given a few times over and he'll deserve no sympathy. This world of ours is certainly a crazy place.

Minky in Pinkie

I know I've been slacking in the post department lately; I'll try to start posting over here a little more often.

I added a new goodie to the shop today. She needs a little girl to keep her company...

For more pictures of the Minky in Pinkie pop over here. I can't get enough of minky!! It's definitely one of the best textures on earth.