I carry my own sunshine

Usually in clothing form, like this cheerful dress. I actually own two of these All That Jazz dresses now, and in the same size. How lucky is that? I plan on shortening one, so I'll have both a long and mini dress, to give me some options. I'd have often worn this in the summer but it was just too long in the heat. Having a shortened one will be great come the (oh so far away) warm weather.

Dress - Purchased from Reluctant Damsel on Etsy

Wool Tights - Fancy Sox

Shoes - Lulus.com

Necklace - Thrifted from Value Village

I'm so tired today. I was up until about 1am before I finally got to bed. I met a friend for a nice Christmas dinner yesterday, and then she and I did a wee bit of mall shopping. Then late in the evening I met up with another friend who was in town just one day from San Francisco, out on her way to Nova Scotia. I spent a few hours with her and some other great people. But by the time I got home (and discovered my cat had regurgitated semi-digested cat food around the apartment) and took the time to unwind, it was laaate.

I certainly don't regret staying out later on a work night than I usually do though, it was definitely worth it to see my friend. However, I don't think I'll be drinking much wine again any time soon. It did not sit happily in my stomach, to say the least. I did however have an awesome Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout called Winter Beard over dinner which was pretty darned tasty. I might have to pick myself some up for the holidays instead of my usual Guinness.

I really love how my hair looks in this last photo. Which in a way is a shame because my hair won't look like this again for a very long time. That's right... I caved to my impulses and now I've got bangs! Wee! Other than rediscovering my hellishly annoying cowlick, so far so good.

My special someone is coming over for dinner again this evening (hopefully he likes my hair!) and the butterflies in my tummy are having a party over the whole affair. It's just really hard not to put the cart before the horse when the horizon looks so promising. Let's get this show on the road people! Right? Right. Anywho. I hope you're all having a groovy Wednesday. Cheers!

Who needs shoes?

Just because I get dressed doesn't mean I leave the apartment. So sometimes my outfits just don't involve shoes. Socks count as footwear, right? Right? But let's forget about my shoelessness and take a gander at my top! I thrifted it with a friend a while back but I'm only getting around to posting it now. It's one of my favourites, comfy and interesting.

Top - Thrifted from Value Village

Skirt - Purchased at Ragtime Vintage

I've got a lot of clothes with some pretty wacky prints and patterns, but this is the only thing I've got with an actual scene on it. I get to bring a harbor and sail boats with me wherever I go! And before I forget... I've gotten around to getting on Bloglovin' finally, so you can find me there!

I had an absolutely super awesome amazing weekend. I baked a devil's food cake with chocolate ganache on Friday, then whipped up another batch of blueberry cinnamon rolls and spent most of my Saturday at my grandparents'. They're so wonderful and I'm so thrilled to be spending time with them.

Then yesterday I cleaned the bejesus out of my apartment until it was spotless, and had a special friend over for dinner. I'm happy and excited and expectant and things in my life are just going so well recently. I feel very blessed, I have to say. (I also feel like a twitterpated forest creature but I'm probably the only one who relates to the animals in Bambi hah.) Anywho, I'm a happy lady lately, that's a wonderful truth. I hope you are all happy too. Cheers!

Bang on?

I need your help! After hanging out around here, I've got the itch for bangs. Currently they're grown out and blend in with the rest of my hair. I had bangs as a kid up until I was about 12 (I'm the kid on the left, when I was 6, see?) but not since. And now I am contemplating them again. What do you all think? Should I take the plunge and try out bangs again?

Top - Gifted from Heather

Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village

Flats - Aredene's

I'm just terribly worried they'll give me chipmunk-face and I'll hate it. I have never dyed my hair, never layered it, or really done all that much to it at all. It's never been curled and has only seen a straightener twice. I feel like I need some sort of fresh hair change but I'm so worried I'll hate it. And I can't exactly instantly re-grow 5 years worth of hair after cutting it off.

Sorry to those of you who get the heebie-jeebies from snakes! But I do so love my silly Rorschach. He's a spider morph ball python, and a total big baby. He curls up like that when he's frightened. I'm looking forward to Sunday because a friend of mine is coming over to meet the zoo. I always love showing off my peculiar pets.

I'm baking a cake tonight, having dinner with my grandparents tomorrow, and then spending Sunday with my friend... I feel so blessed lately. So many wonderful people and things are coming into my life. It's amazing to be surrounded by so much love and warmth. I hope you all have as wonderful a weekend as I plan on having! Much love to you all, cheers!

Back in Time

The day I took these outfit photos was also our first day of snow here in Ottawa. Funnily enough, the weather now seems to be going back in time and warming up instead of getting colder like it should be. I'm not complaining though, I like a mild winter thank you very much!

Dress - Gift from Heather

Wool Tights - Fancy Sox

Booties - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

This was another of the awesome things Heather sent me in my birthday package. I love it so much! I'm particularly fond of the sleeves. I own several other dresses of a similar style but they all need to be taken in. I've worn this pretty thing at least once a week since getting it!

Snow! Eek! Hopefully I don't see any more for a while. I have some heavy duty winter boots and an extra warm long coat for when the real cold snap comes down, but I am more than happy if things stay as they are! This chick doesn't mind a green Christmas.

My new terrarium arrived yesterday, and it was in usable shape. It had been crated as an extra measure, on top of being packed with styrofoam. But there was still a crack in it. How ridiculous is that? At least it won't stop me using it though, and my snake boy is happily moved in now. I'll be happier when the old cabinet he was in is gone too. I hope your week is going good. Cheers!

Plaid to Meet You!

Happy Monday everyone, I hope your week is starting off well! I had a really fantastic weekend filled with mad dancing, baking, cooking, crafting, thrifting, friends and fun. This was definitely one of my better weekends recently for sure. I thrifted some really great stuff on Saturday, including the yellowest sweater ever, which you will eventually get to see. That and I snagged a thick wool coat, knee length, for just $15! I'd been seeing a lot of them in mall shops, but they were all woefully thin and cheaply made and they all had ridiculous price tags. Thrift store to the rescue!

Red top - Gift from mom, garage sale

Skirt - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

Shoes - Spring

I've had this skirt a little over a year now, but when I originally purchased it, I was considerably heavier and quite a few sizes bigger. When the cold weather rolled around this year, I discovered most of my warm skirts were way too big. After successfully taking in the first skirt, I set to work on this one. I'm quite happy with how it turned out! It fits me better than ever now.

I really love doing my makeup like this but I always feels like it's too much for work. But that's probably just because I work with 40-somethings who show up wearing sweatpants, cheap t-shirts and last night's Cheetos residue. *shudders* And I work in a professional environment!

I'm still frustratingly battling ants in my apartment. You'd think by mid-December the little boogers would be securely hidden deep down in their subterranean ant-lair but I guess my apartment is more appealing. It's not horrible, but to give you an example... I cleaned my tree frogs' terrarium yesterday, emptied it out completely and put in fresh water and bark bits. Not two hours later? Ants crawling around everywhere inside it! They had a little highway going. I put down some poison and they swarmed it, and a few hours later there weren't any ants again but holy crow. Pain in the butt!

Thankfully they seem more interested in exploring the vast expanses of my shower than getting into my baked treats so I can't complain about them too much. Hopefully come spring the problem won't worsen. Anywho, I hope you all have a lovely Monday! Cheers!

Ritual Nights

On the second Friday of every month, all the freaks and weirdos, the hippies and stoners, the lovers and the dancers, we all get together for Ritual Nights. And that's where I chose to first wear the most awesome dress ever. EVER. (thankyouthankyouthankyou Heather!) I can't wait to go dancing there again tonight! But I still need to figure out what to wear... I can't wear this again, it's what I wore last time! ;)

I wanted the first place I wore this dress to really be special. Ritual Nights is a place that overflows with love and happy people! No better place! And it certainly drew a lot of attention, this dress is a crazy conversation starter. And it gets along quite well with black lights too, heh. I had to stand under the A/C unit all evening though... Polyester does not breathe, and I knew this, but I wore it anyway. It was so worth it.

It's snowing and blowing out, and I can't wait to snuggle up with my copy of Watership Down and a hot cup of coffee. I plan on doing some dancing tonight, some cleaning and baking tomorrow, and some relaxing on Sunday. I hope you all have an awesome weekend. Much love from me to you!

Flouncing Around

This awesome skirt was another of the gifts I received from wonderful Heather. It's awesome and flouncy and demands to be spun around in. All the time. Everywhere. So I spend a lot of time twirling instead of walking.

Top - Garage sale, from mom

Skirt - Gift from Heather

Leggings - Who knows?

Boots - A shop on Sparks Street

I'm pretty frustrated. I recently purchased online a new terrarium for one of my snakes. I took the day off yesterday to be home to receive it... only to open the box and discover my $285 purchase had a shattered left side and cracked front. After an unhappy phone call and some e-mailing, the company promised to send me a replacement at no cost, but only because I'd had previous issues with them (someone canceled my original order several days in and I had to re-order) but that usually they'd make me deal with UPS.

They said they'd crate the next one for extra measure but I really hope it arrives in one piece. It's stupid because they say on their website that they aren't responsible for damages during freight, but don't allow the option to purchase insurance. All I know is, that if the next one arrives damaged, I'm taking that company down. It's still small and independent, and in the reptile community, it doesn't take much to ruin a company when it turns out they do bad business.

I noticed in the damaged one's box that the sides only had small squares of styrofoam instead of full ones, and it looks like the smaller size actually put pressure on the terrarium and caused it to break. Seems obvious to me, so if it repeats itself... I will not be a happy camper. There's no reason you can't spend an extra $0.50 for a full sheet of styrofoam and save your clients from receiving a useless $285 box of shattered acrylic.

I really want this work week to be over. It just feels like such a major waste of time being at work. Winter is always the time of year that most makes me hate my job and the way we all live our lives. Society is so maddening. But anywho. I hope you're all having a good week. Cheers!

My Favourite Top

Hey everybody! I hope your week is moving along smoothly. I had an absolutely wonderful evening yesterday with my grandfather and more of the family. He hadn't seen me since I was quite literally still a baby in a high chair. Blood is definitely thicker than water, and I felt very welcomed and very loved. Speaking of loved... That's how I feel every time I wear this top!

Top - Gift from Heather

Dress - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

Belt - Ardene's

Shoes - Spring

I mentioned in my post about the package she sent me, that I believed the items were imbued with her love. And it's true! Wearing this colourful zigzaggy top is like wearing a loving hug all day. Plus, everywhere I went wearing this, people were smiling at me. I guess bright colours cheer folks up eh?

I'm going to try my hand at making one of those secret-compartment book-box thingers this evening, as a gift to a friend of mine. I read a couple DIY's on how to do it and it looks pretty easy. Hopefully I don't bungle it! It should be fun either way though. Wee! Crafts!

And unbelievably, this top is SO versatile. With all those colours, it's like a mix-and-match bonanza! I've got more photos involving my red maxi from Friday's post, and plan to style it with black and pink as focal colours eventually too. But lime green demanded to be first pick. If only this dress weren't such a pain to walk in... I hope you're all having a groovy Tuesday! Cheers!

Science Saturday - Gynandromorphs

What in the world is a gynandromorph? It's essentially any organism born with both male and female physical characteristics. Gynandromorphic creatures can sometimes be very easily spotted in species with sexual dimorphism (when the males look very different from the females) because they will literally be half male and half female, split down the middle (which is called bilateral asymmetry). There are also mosaic gynandromorphs, but their male and female characteristics aren't as easily identified.  Here are some great examples of bilateral asymmetric gynandromorphs.

This chicken's left half is male, while the smaller brown right half is female. Only about 1 in 10,000 chickens are born as gynandromorphs. Turns out, these chickens are born from an egg fertilized with two sperm. Other bird species like pigeons, finches and parrots have also been documented as having gynandromorphic specimens.

 

 

The insect world is another place where dynandromorphic creatures have been found. Butterflies often display sexual dimorphism and so their dynandrophorphs are most easily spotted.

The following example of a gynandromorph is my most favourite yet, and the one that got me started on the subject. I actually didn't believe it was real at first, thinking it must have been photoshopped somehow. But since the photo was posted by a reputable tarantula breeder I've dealt with for several years now, I knew it was no hoax.

So there you have it folks! Gynandromorphs, the amazing result of weird cellular activity. Hopefully all the pretty butterflies make up for the spider at the end haha... I hope you all have a groovy rest of the weekend. Cheers!

Don't worry, be happy!

Happy Friday everybody! I'm so excited for this weekend. I'm going to a Christmas tree decorating party at a good friend's this evening, then I'm meeting up with my women's social group for tea, cakes and talk tomorrow, and finally Sunday I'm going out for breakfast and doing some shopping with other friends. I'm just in such a good mood lately, I don't know what it is, but I'm not complaining. I've decided I want to be a happy person, all the time (or as much as possible).

Dress as blouse - Purchased from Sally Jane Vintage on Etsy

Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village

Necklace - Made for outfit

Flats - Ardene's

I want to be that person that makes you feel better just by being around them, and that leaves you with a little extra warmth in your heart. Maybe it's naive. Maybe it's silly. But I always want to be able to give someone a smile and brighten someone's day and help people let go and be happy.

I'm just filled with this overwhelming amount of joy and love and it needs to be shared. It comes out in warm hugs and home-made cookies and heartfelt notes to friends... I don't know, it's hard to explain. I've just been feeling so many strong, wonderful emotions lately. A friend of mine said its a sign of my growing maturity, and being able to understand things in more depth.

This month is going to be jam packed with activity for me. The thing I'm looking forward to most at the moment is this coming Monday however. I won't explain the story behind it, but I've just re-discovered a long-lost grandfather and more welcoming family than I know what to do with. It's all rather overwhelming and I keep wanting to cry from just how happy and thankful I am to have all these people in my life all of a sudden. And that they genuinely want me!

I want to be a bright sunny light, a gift to them, and everyone in my life. Maybe I'm just doing more growing up or having an epiphany over something obvious. But I intend to love all my friends and family fervently and fully, and to find joy in every moment I can. I hope you all have a really fantastic, joy-filled weekend! Cheers!