Pretty Please?

Please please please will somebody buy me this Threadless shirt!?! It is called Mister Mittens Big Adventure. In return you will receive my undying love and devotion.
(Ladies 2X fits perfectly, just in case you were curious...)

Oscar Night Faves

If you follow me on Twitter (it's @ewalker9), you know I spent my evening watching the Oscars. I missed the first bit because I was on Skype with my Mom, and I hear the opening was great, as were Tina Fey and Steve Martin. I loved the new format, where for the major awards, past winners announced the nominees. I found it so much more personal, and it definitely made me teary on a few occasions (Best Actress, anybody?). Having only seen a few of the movies in the awards this year (only Mamma Mia and Benjamin Button I do believe), I wasn't hardcore rooting for anyone. However, Kate Winslet winning Best Actress made me really happy because I really like her. And how adorable was her speech?? Getting her Dad to whistle made me so happy!! And acknowleding Meryl Streep's greatness in her speech was so good. Also, Heath Ledger's family accepting the award and celebrating him instead of mourning him was great!
Now, in pictoral form, here are the people and outfits that made me most happy tonight:

John Legend. I freaking love this guy. His voice is beautiful, I kind of wished his performance could have been by itself, he was really stunning with the Peter Gabriel song. And check out his suit! A little retro, a whole lot of hot.


Oh Brad. I'm not a fan of the facial hair, I must admit, but otherwise you are a good lookin' fella. I loved you in Benjamin Button (I meant to post about it, but forgot, maybe I'll do that soon). I think the fact that we can see you getting wrinkles only make you hotter - you've gone from pretty boy to distinguished man and I like it.


RPattz!! I was crazy happy to see you on the red carpet, and then you presented and I turned into a squealy fangirl. And when they did a close up on Mickey Rourke during Best Actor, I saw you over his shoulder, which made the Mickey close up more than bearable. Most importantly, you hair doesn't look like it could eat me or like it contains small forest animals, I like it.


Taraji P. Henson was amazing in Benjamin Button and is super cute in all of her interviews. She looked stunning in that beautiful dress. I would totally consider a dress like that for a wedding dress, I love that classic shape and the un-traditional material!


I have a giant girl crush on Natalie Portman. She is just so freaking cool. She was hilarious with Ben Stiller, and the dress is classically beautiful!


I know it's been on some worst dressed lists, and I know many people (myself included) are not Miley Cyrus' biggest fans, but I freaking love this dress! She looks so grown up in it, and it gives a beautiful silhouette. I just think the dress is gorgeous!


Kate Winslet... another of my girl crushes. I'm so glad she won! I wasn't certain about this dress at first, but the more I saw it, the more I liked it. It suits her perfectly! I usually don't like one-shoulder dresses because it makes your boobs look uneven, but this one works well. I like the a-symmetry and the combination of the gunmetal grey and lace. Way to go, Kate!


And finally, Anne Hathaway. I wasn't sure about this dress at first either, mostly due to the giant gap in the top of it, but it also grew on me. I love how sparkly it is and I love the colour, a daring one for someone so pale (like myself). She looks beautiful, and her expressions during the speeches were adorable, she was so excited and invested, made me happy!

So there we go, those aspects of the Oscars made me the most happy this evening. If you want my other thoughts as it happened, go follow me (@ewalker9) on Twitter. Happy Oscar Night, everyone!

My Own Personal Saga (minus the vampires)

Remember this? Weeks ago I ordered this purse, with overnight shipping. I was so excited for it. Those of you who follow me on Twitter have heard about it every step of the way, but just in case you don't follow me on Twitter, here's what went down:
January 14 - Order the purse from Matt & Nat, blog about how excited I am. Overnight shipping wasn't that much more than regular shipping (as in, a matter of cents difference) so I went for it, expecting the purse to arrive by January 16th at the latest.
January 16 - No purse. The tracking website says there is an exception and it should come Monday. I know I won't be home Monday or Tuesday, but figure they will leave a yellow sticky note at my building so I can go pick it up.
January 21 - No sticky note, no purse, no update on the tracking website. I decide to call UPS. They tell me they don't know where it is, because it has not been scanned since it left Quebec, tell me I have to call the company who sent it to have them track it. I call Matt & Nat, they are super helpful and put a track on it, telling me they will call me when they hear from UPS where my purse is.
January 27 - Matt & Nat calls back, says UPS still hasn't found it, but they will call me as soon as they do.
January 28 - My purse was returned by UPS to the Matt & Nat warehouse in Quebec, Matt & Nat tells me they will send it again.
January 30 - The tracker website says they attempted delivery, but I had been home all day and no one had contacted me. I do not have a working buzzer on my building, so I left a note for UPS to call me when they get there and I will meet them. Matt & Nat, who has been in contact with me the whole time via e-mail, says I had better call UPS and see if that will effect delivery. I call UPS, and they tell me that the drivers do not have cell phones and so can't call me. What?? What sort of 21st century company doesn't have cell phones? The pizza delivery guys can call me when they get here, but UPS can't? I am pissed. The UPS lady on the phone asks if I have a concierge or something along those lines, but I live in sketchville and nobody near me has a concierge, so that will not work. I am close to telling her that I will sit outside the building to wait for it, but I have standards. So she suggests that they could hold the package and I could go pick it up. I say sure, I have a car, that's easy to do. Then she informs me that the UPS building that serves my area is at Jane and Steeles. What??? That is nowhere near my area! I live along the lake on the bottom of Toronto, and the UPS building is literally along the border where the top end of Toronto meets Vaughn. At that point I said fine, I would go pick it up, because there were really no other options and my purse was supposed to come two weeks ago.
January 31 - Dropped my little sister off at the airport, was feeling sad about not going anywhere and saw a perfect Matt & Nat bag at Winners that looks like this, only made of linen with darker pleather trimming, and may or may not have purchased it (I love it! It holds my stuff for work PERFECTLY).
February 2 - Got in the car, drove for about an hour across the city, and finally got my purse! Here it is, in all of it's glory (and the glory of my beautiful loveseat):


Ta-da! It's more of a dressy purse, and I have moved my stuff into it to use for my interview tomorrow at the shelter. I think I'll use the linen one for everyday work stuff, and the new one for dressier events. Perfect!!
And thus the saga ends. No vampires or romance, but a beautiful purse (or two) to call my own!

An Update in Photo Form

I finally bought a feather headband! I got this one from Urban Outfitters.


Thanks to Doniree, I got to make my very own Obamicon!


In other news, Thunder Kitty is still cute - even with creepy camera flash eyes. He's back on weight control kibble, but I think it's weight control because it doesn't taste good, he hardly eats it!

Fancy Dressing

Over at Classy in Philadelphia, Jess asked all of us ladies in blog land to share our formal dresses. I thought that even though I haven't had that many, I'd still share my pretty dresses. Unfortunately, although most people have been to quite a few formals and proms, I've only been to one highschool prom and I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding. That's it. I'm okay with it though, I get kind of awkward when I get really fancy.

Here I am at highschool prom, grade 12. I'm with my BFF Jim and my pretty hairdo is battling the wind here. I was so excited about this dress, but in hindsight I should have either left the gloves or the wrap. Also exciting was the fact that I got to wear my Mom's pearls (after a stern lecture about what would happen to me if I broke them)... from her wedding I believe.


And here's me posing outside of the men's washroom at my church. Classy, I know. I got to be a bridesmaid in one of my elementary school BFF's wedding. She told us what colours she wanted, and we got to pick out any dress style we wanted as long as it was long. I got mine for about $50 which was amazing, but it was a few sized too big so I had to get Mom to take it in for me. Thank goodness she can sew! I was sooo thrilled about my hair - I felt so classy and elegant, even though it took about 1,000000 bobby pins to keep in there. The hairdresser's wife has the same kind of hair as I do, so he was able to make it look amazing - and he attended the wedding and reception, so he was always there to stick another bobby pin in when it started to loosen.


Finally, for your viewing pleasure, photo evidence of the fact that I have always been freaking adorable/stylish!

So, ladies of the blog world, I expect you to show us all your pretty dress photos, hopefully you have more than I do!

A Few of My (Current) Favourite Things

I have zero ambition to actually write a real post, even though I have many things to write about. Instead, I am spending my evening with laundry and apartment cleaning and Don't Forget the Lyrics. So, instead of writing a real blog post, I will share with you a few of my favourite things (that I have purchased) from the past few weeks:

Live and Live Luxe by Jennifer Lopez - they were both at Winners and I was pumped to find them there (for you U.S. viewers, Winners is like T.J. Maxx I think - brand names at a discount). They smell gorgeous and are light enough to wear every day! Score!

My Geode Necklace from Urban Outfitters. It reminds me of the rock/geode/jewel collection that Dad used to have in the garage growing up. I went through a stage when I was super interested in rocks and minerals too, I think it may have been a mandatory stage for a jeweller's daughter to go through, no?

My Foxy Necklace from Montreal-based company Frug. I mentioned way back in October my newfound obsession with foxes, and this necklace is just perfect!

A week or so ago, my lips were crazy chapped. I tried every lip gloss I owned and nothing helped. I went to the drug store in hopes of finding something to relieve my lips, and they hardly had anything. Dismayed, I grabbed one that looked alright, LypSyl with Eucalyptus, and ended up even more disappointed when I realized it was the kind you squeeze and the gel comes out when I thought it would be a soft solid. Well imagine my surprise when I put it on, and it feels amazing! My chapped lips healed up incredibly fast and I've kept using it ever since because of how awesome it makes my lips look and feel. I totally recommend it!

And finally, I splurged on some new body wash yesterday. Olay Botanicals Hydrate is amazing! With patchouli and soy, it smells incredible and helps fulfill my secret dreams of being a hippie (a clean one!).

There you have it - Erin's Current Favourite things, you know, other than the things I have already blogged about (like my new bag and feather headbands).

Fiscal Irresponsibility With Erin Continues

I just got myself a new purse. Or, at least, I will get it in a few days and I can not wait.
It's the Matt & Nat Jorja Small in Coffee Japanese Paper and it is perfect and beautiful. Y'all know how much I love Matt & Nat. (I told you about it here, here, here, here, here, here, and also here. My goodness.)

Please arrive soon, beautiful purse??
Please arrive sooner, paycheck????

'Cause You Might Die Trying

I love this song. Not just because it's Dave, also for the idea behind it.

To change the world,
Start with one step.
However small,
The first step is hardest of all.

Once you get your gate,
You will walk in tall.
You said you never did,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
Cause you---

If you close your eyes,
Cause the house is on fire.
Think you couldn't move,
Until the fire dies.
The things you never did,
Oh, Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.
You'd be as good as dead,
Cause you might die trying,
Cause you might die trying.

If you give, you, you begin to live.
If you give, you begin to live.
You begin, you get the world.
If you give, you begin to give
You get get the world, you get the world.
If you give, you get to give.

You might die trying.
Oh, you might die trying.
Yeah, you might die trying.

The things you never did,
Cause you might die trying;
You'd be as good as dead.
You never did.

It's hard to do something to make change, but if you don't take the risk nothing will happen at all, right?
I love the idea of making a difference and changing the world, but usually when the opportunity to really do something, even something little, comes along, I freeze up and do nothing. I mean, I help people because it's my job when I'm at the shelter, but outside of work I never go out of my way to help people. I need to stop freezing and going on with my day, doing nothing.

I was riding the streetcar to work today. It was freezing outside and starting to snow. At one point, a homeless man hopped on through the back doors without paying, carrying a garbage bag full of cans. His slightly odd behaviour struck me as potentially schizophrenic, and so I got my guard up like I usually do around people with mental health issues on public transit (not without reason, I've seen a few scary incidents). Sitting on a chair was a leather glove that everyone else who got on had ignored. The homeless man grabbed it and tried it on, appearing thrilled that he would now have a warm hand. After a while, a homeless woman got on. They greeted each other and she sat down near him (in front of me). He then told her about his glove, and offered it to her. She declined, saying she was already too hot, but I was really touched by the gesture. This man who clearly didn't have very many things to call his own and who spent his time outside collecting bottles in the cold without proper winter attire, was willing to give away his newfound glove to somebody else who might need it more than he did. He was willing to try and make a difference and help somebody else. Meanwhile, I sat there with my hat and two gloves and scarf and iPod and just observed.

With Feathers in Her Hair

I was perusing the accessories section of Urban Outfitters today and completely fell in love with the feather headbands / hair pieces:





And my favourites...I am trying to convince a friend to have a cowboys & indians themed birthday party so I can justify buying one (what are your thoughts on this, readers, is it racist or a social faux pas, or is it retro throwback-y enough for it to work?).
I'm trying to decide whether or not I could rock one of these in real life, maybe not over my forehead, but in the normal headband position. Thoughts?

Two of My Favourite Things

Urban Outfitters + Free Stuff!

Y'all need to go and get yourself a free year's subscription to Nylon Magazine!

Amazing!

More Fiscal Responsibility by Erin

I went shopping today, as every unemployed student should, and I thought I would share with you my major purchases:
Matt & Nat "Depeche Mode" small bag in earth, comes with a long green across the body strap, exactly what I wanted - something larger than my lovely Roots Village bag, but still an across the body bag, so my hands can be free but I can ride the subway without feeling like my bag could be stolen. And Matt & Nat - we've already covered how much I love them here, here, and here.

And new boots! Kind of like these, only with a buckle instead of the loops and made of leather not fabric. Otherwise basically the same. So comfy! I wanted short boots that were completely flat, because the other boots I bought this fall are a bit too tall and fancy to wear every day - especially at the shelter. These new ones will be perfect for everyday!

I also bought a new pair of jeans from the Gap, and these hilarious Unocorn slip-ons, only in blue and yellow (on sale for $15 at Winners!).

Maybe someday I'll learn to be fiscally responsible... But for now I will be pumped about my new purchases!

I *Love* Mail!

A few weeks ago, I was the WINNER of Oh! How Lovely! Shops giveaway from Picky Picky Designs... AND THE PACKAGE ARRIVED IN THE MAIL TODAY!!
Look!!

I used great restraint in taking the picture before ripping open the package!

My prize is wrapped up underneath!

A beautiful acorn necklace and a personal note from the seller! Yay!

Totally made my day!! Thanks, Sally and Jamie!! Go check out Sally's shop and find yourself something pretty! And, seriously, go to Jamie's site and enter the giveaways, YOU could be the next winner!

Hoorah for Being Fiscally Irresponsible!!

Did I also mention that I bought something for myself from ebay this week? It was my very first for-myself ebay purchase!

I've wanted these beauties all summer long but vowed that I would not buy them full price. Thanks to ebay, I didn't pay full price. They're being shipped to me as I type. Eee! I can't wait!!
Note: This is why I am attempting to be a hermit and spend as little money as possible until my OSAP comes in. I highly doubt I will ever be able to teach my clients life skills around money management. Clearly I can't even handle it for myself.

Y'all Know I Love Handbags

Look!! Handbag Planet is giving away free handbags every hour for 24 hours! Go and enter! Do it!

I like this one.

I'm Losing It Tomorrow...

My Craigslist virginity, that is.

Tomorrow I am meeting up with the seller (don't worry, in a public place) to buy a bag and a wristlet comined for $50.

I am pretty pumped! Anyone who knows me could tell you of my small (ahem, very large) Matt & Nat obsession. Sssshhhh! We're not going to tell Mom about this.

Positivity

Above is the Matt & Nat positivity message. It's printed on all of their products (I have... let me count... 6 Matt & Nat products now... I'm a junkie). I love the "Choose to Make a Difference." That's how I want to live my life - making positive decisions to make things better.

It's Starting to Become an Obsession...

Who am I kidding...starting?? It's been an obsession for a while now.
I'm loving the new Matt & Nat collection for fall. Loving may be an understatement for a few of these bags.

If anybody's feeling especially generous, there's the overnight bag - Streamline, Kravitz and the laptop case - Streamline, Jobs.





Kravitz









Jobs







Beautiful.