Chelsie Style – Christmas Decorating, etc.

I really like these tights and people always ask me where I got them. The short answer: Winners. The longer answer: they were on clearance and missing their packaging, so I have no idea what make they are (also no internal tags), but they are so comfy and I adore the print. I am also loving these shoes/booties, which can not be seen very well. I found them while on our road trip through New Hampshire this summer.

Back in the summer we found this french door which we put at the top of the stairs from the side entrance (which we use as our main entrance). Before it was a solid door and with the french door the hallway and main floor seems a bit more open and airy. We painted the entrance a light green yellow (Sarah and Millie might notice the change). I found the above mirror at a garage sale for $5 this summer. It was painted navy and I repainted it white. It is quite solid and heavy and placing it in the hallway makes everything look bigger as well. It is also pretty and I can see it from the couch in the living room.

We got some parsons chairs for the dining room table, and I’m not completely sold on them yet. We also hung some ornaments on the pendant lamp and they look pretty. You can’t see them so well in the picture though.

And we decorated this weekend! The little tree is up, and I hung up purple-magenta and green bulbs in the windows (I bought them on clearance after last Christmas). I broke two of the green ones in the process. Initially I had bought these ornaments to hang on the big maple tree in front of the house, but when I realized they were glass I thought the better of it. With all the wind I think they would get knocked around too easily and I would worry about them breaking or exploding shards of glass on pedestrians. Lawsuits would ensue…

Is anyone else watching The New Girl? Is that show awesome or what?! Have you decorated for Christmas yet?

Saturday is for…

Santa Claus parades, drinking buy one get one free Starbucks Christmas coffees, watching Empire Records and painting.

Sneak peak:

CIL Mystic Purple – I know, I live dangerous!

What are you doing to live dangerously this weekend?

Tuesday Tunes – Lana Del Rey

Handbags, Now and Historically

Isaac Cruikshank (1756–1811) - "Parisian Ladies in their Full Winter Dress for 1800", an over-the-top exaggerated satirical Nov. 24th 1799 caricature print by Isaac Cruikshank, on the excesses of the late-1790s Parisian high Greek look, and the too-diaphanous styles allegedly sometimes worn there.

Earlier in the year I heard about a book following the evolution and history of the handbag. I was intrigued. I was also never able to remember or find out what the name of the book was. Handbags, historically, are intriguing to me. Prior and into the 18th century, handbags were mostly satchels worn inside your clothing. They were akin to underwear. So purses and handbags of today, are a relatively new accessory.

In high school I was always drawn to more utilitarian purses or bags, and never wanted to stand out too much, teens are generally self conscious and I was no different. Looking back I could have made some much better handbag selections. In my second year of university I had a roommate who had a huge handbag selection, triggering me to realize that I too could rock multiple handbags, and they could look awesome too.

I only consciously started looking for the perfect handbag on later shopping excursions with Katie. And there were some beautiful handbags seen on those excursions… So, I find myself looking for a new bag, the search is on, and I am nothing if not discriminating. I actually expect this to take many months.

Do you settle for any handbag, or do you stick to your guns and wait until you find the perfect one? Do you change bags weekly, seasonally, or to go with your outfits?

Want to read more about handbags and how they are truly essential to our existence as women? Read Rebecca Willis’ article Applied Fashion: Handbags, Essentially.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Like Unicorns in a Field {but not really at all….}

Yesterday on my way to work I saw a man jogging while juggling.

Driving a PT Cruiser feels like driving a sofa.

I made a wreath. I want to paint the front door, but what colour? Suggestions will be taken into consideration.

For the wreath form I used that pipe foam insulation stuff you put around pipes, pulled it into the circular form and duct taped it. Then I cut about 7 or 8 pieces of letter sized paper into teardrop shapes (kind of randomly – not all the exact same) and folded them in half to give them some volume, and used glue gun to put affix them, overlapping a bit, onto my foam circle.

Do you ever keep a list of things you’d like in your mind, and keep an eye out at thrift stores thinking one day you might just find it? Or on the side of the road for random discards…? Me too!

I finally found a chalkboard for a dollar, perfect for the kitchen. S. had been wanting one for a while. Now it is hanging in a frame collage in our kitchen. Here is a photo series of it’s transformation.

Spooky Specters – Cemeteries and Death

It’s starting to get colder out. It seems as though Katie got snow, and I believe we got our first frost here. Yesterday I stripped all the tomato plants of their green tomatoes, and gave the flowering ends odd looks, and brought in all the summering indoor plants plants. It is definitely fall here now, and next week Hallowe’en. So in honour of the holiday of candy, the season of bright leaves and cool breezes, we will explore graveyards!

First up, the historic Highgate Cemetery in London, England. This oozes a historical Victorian-Gothic-garden look and feel and I would love to visit this place. The cemetery was built in 1839 to help deal with the rising death rates coinciding with the growing population pushing past 1 million. The cemetery overlooks the city and quickly became fashionable. Notable residents include George Eliot and Karl Marx.

benleto via Flickr

benleto via Flickr

Another gorgeous, sad and slightly disheveled, photo here.

Highgate’s landscape is full of gothic buildings and monuments, filled with trees and wildflowers and shrubs, which grow without human interferences. As a result it is rich with wildlife, including birds and small animals. Its popular history includes an alleged resident, the Highgate Vampire, who haunted the cemetery in the 1970s.

Next up, the Natural Burial Movement. Has anyone else heard of the Natural Burial movement? It seems to be a newer trend, where bodies are buried free from embalming fluid, in simple plain pine (or biodegradable) caskets. The area surrounded the cemetery is naturally vegetated (surrounded by trees or meadow), necessitating minimal maintenance. I did see one link to DIY caskets that can be used as bookshelves during the interim, but I won’t be building one of those.

I personally find embalmed bodies upsetting on the viewing level. While It reinforces that a loved one is passed, it looks unnatural, which seems to upset me even more in what is already a fragile environment. I like the idea of a natural burial and a more wild garden like surroundings, but I also like the old look of tombstones.

I will leave you with a couple articles, Planning a Green Funeral of Burial by the David Suzuki Foundation and How to Keep the Burial Process Lean and Green from the Toronto Star.

What are your thoughts on old Victorian/Gothic cemeteries, or more current burial trends? Does anyone else want to visit Highgate Cemetery with me, and maybe afterward the catacombs in Paris? I promise we can hit a wine bar or two… or three?

Chelsie’s Decorating Inspiration

I’m no mad genius, but I’ve slowly been decorating my house, which we moved into last June, on a budget. The whole process started about two years ago, when we started blogging, and I started following decorating and other DIY style blogs. We were living in a condo in the city when I started finding items by the trash outside (the furniture trash found outside apartments and condo’s can bring you some great free finds, just like cruising the curbside on certain garbage nights – I would probably stray from picking up upholstered goods though, unless I tore the guts out of it outside before letting it into the house). First I painted a cabinet bright green for the television to sit on, then we found an old French door, being ripped out of a condo being gutted, and refinished it and gave it the stained glass treatment and hung it above the bed as a floating headboard.

Here is what my living room looked like when we first moved in:

And this is what I living room looks like now. The biggest kick start to pulling the room together was getting new couches, editing out furniture, and bringing different pieces in (like sewing machine tables for side tables):

The rooms in my house are by no means finished, and there are always little things that get on my nerves, but my goal is to find things I love, or see potential in, and jazz them up. Like an ornate piece of woodwork you usually find on a piece of furniture, like a hutch, painted and hung on a wall.  I also cruise the thrift stores a lot, go to garage sales in the warmer months, sometimes attend auctions, and visit antique stores. And I try to never buy things unless I actually need them, and even then I check for quality first – solid wood, dovetailing on drawers, quality materials, etc.

Initially my colour scheme started with a print I acquired five years ago, modern with bright avocado green, black and white, and kind of expanded from there. Personally, I’m currently loving mid-century modern, mixed with more modern prints. I like the simplicity and clean look of a good mix of whites and soft gray shades. Sometimes though you just have to make a list (I like to keep mine in my head), mull it over, and keep an eye out. That’s how I finally found curtains I liked at Wal-Mart of all places. Other times you just have to be creative. I could not find curtain rods long enough to hang curtains in my front window, so instead of buying a more expensive extension rod, I used an extra curtain rod I had, that was a bit slimmer, and fit it in the middle of the rod that was already there.

I have been finding if difficult to find fun, bright and modern prints, so I have taken to purchasing outdoor fabric, which I have found especially great for upholstering furniture, as well as its affordability. Its magical cleaning properties should also be noted – this stuff is tough. We had a guest spill red wine on a cushion and it came right out with a light wipe! The heavier canvas texture might not be for everyone, but it’s working for me right now.

Where do you get your decorating inspiration? Artwork, magazines, blogs…? I find posting things on Pinterest helpful. Are you also addicted to Pinterest? Do you always have a multitude of projects on the go? Me – GUILTY! I’m also guilty of reading multiple books at the same time though.

Fancied Up Plants

It has started to get a bit cooler outside in the evenings, even though my prodigious tomato plan is unaware of this and continues to bloom and provide lots of cherry tomatoes. About two weeks ago I threw in the shovel (literally) and dug up my rosemary for it’s indoor wintering. The greenhouse lady said to take off a third of the roots from the bottom, and give it a similar haircut. I also kind of pruned and shaped it for good measure (and looks). Next to it is a very sad looking pot of lavender. Initially I had them sitting in their own dirt, but that started getting a bit messy, so I took out some glossed up ornamental rocks and really liked the result. I bought my fancy rocks from the dollar store.

My avocado plants really need some new pots, I think they are outgrowing these. Of course the ones I have my eye on are much too expensive, so I will wait. I also put these hens and chicks in a pot with tiny pebbles. Putting the fancy rocks in the planters was an easy thing to do, and visually it looks quite a bit nicer now.

Chelsie Style – A Classy Combination of Wool and Lace

I particularly liked this sassy number. At first I thought to myself, lace tights on a Wednesday? But then I thought, LACE TIGHTS ON A WEDNESDAY, bring it on! I mean, it was quite chilly on my walk to work… but that just means I can pull out ALL my blazers. I think I’ve been collecting them. Also, in a season 2 episode of Mad Men, I believe I discovered that one of my blazers is actually a riding jacket. Interesting… Not this blazer though, it is from the infamous “basement”.

This dress is from a strange little shop, open twice a week, usually, where nothing is priced, but the owner shouts out prices as you are looking at items. I think the prices must be a bit negotiable as well, but they were quite alright. This vintage virgin wool dress only set me back $5. The place must be legit though, she has a debit/credit machine.

P.S. Those orbs of light are not some supernatural apparition, but just a reminder that I should clean the camera lens someday.

Does anyone else have goodwill collection from their doorstep, where every couple months they drop off a bag in your mail and give you a date and time, and if you have stuff, they just take it? I love this, because I can just always be pairing stuff down and throwing it in bags in the basement, and not bother to drive it somewhere.

Happy Thanksgiving my classy Canadian broads!

Fashion Timeline 11 (Europe in the Fifteenth Century)

Europe in the 1400′s, the period just before the Renaissance, just after Medieval period. Dressing still defines status, from serfs at the bottom of the pyramid, peasants, lords, nobility, clergy and royalty. It seems like a lot of fairy tales probably are perhaps set in (or near) this time period.

Inspiration: Cinderella (peasant), Little Red Riding Hood (Peasant), Cinderella (peasants meets nobility/royalty), etc.

At the bottom of the Fifteenth Century the arts experienced a insurgence in popularity and funding, leading to further interest in fashion. The economy also experienced some stabilization at this time, increasing  accessibility to resources, like textiles, to the masses. Fashion became more less focused on utilitarian needs and more on artistic expression.

Early Fifteenth Century: Long flowing robes (houppelandes, to be technical) were in, from neck to toes, for men and women. Men were just starting to choose hose, breeches and tunics, and light capes and overgarments were common with men and women.

Earlier Fifteenth Century clothing featured more flowing robes with billowing skirts and arms.

Late Fifteenth Century: A better selection of textiles was available. Men started wearing more fitted hose and doublets, and the codpiece and shoulderpads were in – actually, men started wearing a lot of padding to prove they were buff (Kind of like in that episode of Modern Family where Mitchell wears the padded superman costume to work under his suit). Women’s dresses lost the front gather and billow, and became more fitted in the waist and arms. The skirt hoop starts to make an appearance.

Later Fifteenth Century clothing was was more fitted.

Slashing and dagging were in. That is the slashing of an outer fabric to reveal a fancy contrasting fabric beneath, sometimes taking the fabric underneath and poking it through the outer slashes for dramatic effect. Dagging being the cutting of patterns in the outer fabric for the same decorative peak-a-boo result.

Hairstyles: Men rocked the bowl cut with a clean shave. Fun fact: it was illegal for men to rock a mustache according to 1447 English law. The sugar-loaf hat was where it was at. Women covered their heads once married, but prior to wore it super long, braided and piled up. In the late Fifteenth Century men started wearing their hair a bit longer, – risque!, and feathers became popular (in hats). Women slowed the wearing on their conical hats (as seen in old fairy tales), in favour of smaller headdresses, while hairstyles became more complex, with fake hair added, hair dying, and wigs increasing in popularity.

Makeup was understated, perfumes were natural powder based, and bathing as infrequent. Necklaces, jeweled collars, rings, belts and gloves were worn, and shoes varied from simple moccasins, to ornamented pointed shoes and boots. Shoe competitions to see who has the longest shoe was not unheard of. Near the end of the Fifteenth Century more chunky shoes were where it was at, squared toes were in, decreasing odds of winning a pointed shoe competition.

So, what do you think, could you embrace Fifteenth Century fashion if you were sent there in a time machine? Or would you want to come back to the present and wear the current clothing a la mode? I feel like there was an increased style accessibility, choices and colours during this time – I could dig that. Lack of plumbing – couldn’t dig that, especially knowing what we have today, I would be ruined.

“Europe in the Fifteenth Century.” Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3: European Culture from the Renaissance to the Modern Era. Detroit: UXL, 2004. 445-464. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web.

Chelsie Daily Story – What’s Under Your Car Seat?

Five adults squished into a car. Of course I’m in the middle of the back seat. My mom is sitting next to me and asks my brother, in the front seat, to get her water from under the seat.

My brother reaches under the front passenger seat to find the water. He finds: a sugar bowl that was given to my mom by a relative. A wine glass, securely stashed and wrapped in a napkin for safekeeping under the seat. The wine glass, it was explained, is for emergency wine tastings, since if you bring your own wine glass, tastings are free in some parts. You always need an emergency wine glass, am I right?! We all laugh.

Next he finds the matching creamer to the sugar bowl. Oh, here is another wine glass, this one is for my father of course. This is starting to seem like some sort of crazy magician’s bag, but let me assure you, my parent’s car is not like something you’d find on Hoarders, it is very nice and clean.

Finally, he finds the bottle of water. Mission accomplished. And we continue our cramped car trip.

Do you have anything funny hidden in your car? Any unorthodox emergency supplies? Or maybe just something your forget to take out of the car? I have a habit of grabbing large amounts of paper napkins and avoiding eye contact with staff if we stop for somewhere for coffee or a quick bite to eat.

Chelsie Daily Happy: A Hollyhock Fence

I’m always meaning to take a photo of this flower hollyhock fence when we drive down this particular country road. It is gorgeous!

The fence basically follows the property line along the side of the road, with four rows of hollyhocks, and it goes on for two field lengths of about 50-100 meters each.

S’s mom is going to try doing this along her country property line next spring. If it works out it should look gorgeous as well!

Chelsie Daily Style – BFF’s, Summer Thrifting and Junk Hauling

I think I got this skirt sometime in the late nineties. I remember being in high school and having money to burn with my BFF at the time. It is nice and light and stretchy, without being too rough and jean-y. I dislike rough jean texture. I think I went through more BFF’s than BF’s now that I think of it…

No close up photos here (I didn’t want to scare you with the vibrant orange silk shirt), but I bought this belt while we were away on vacation earlier this summer in New Hampshire. It says cobra on the back, so I believe it is a snake belt. The scarf, although not seen very clearly is another more local thrift find, Anne Klein for Vera. It’s mostly soft pink with brown and orange ends framed in the light pink.

The shoes are from my parent’s basement. I have been wearing them practically all summer.

Behind me is our shed of secrets, hiding all out unfinished furniture finds. Currently in residence, a brass bed frame (brass to be vanquished), a cute upholstered chair, and an ugly mistake chair that we picked up on the side of the road during one of our crazy, we have a big pickup truck, let’s pick stuff up phase. Luckily we are back to the old car, so we have kept out emotions in check with hauling stuff home.

Do you also like bright orange and silk? Do you find fantastic pieces of clothing in your parent’s basement? Do you also feel the need to pick up stuff off the side of the road without thinking it through completely?

Adventures in Chair Reupholstering

Want to see how this:

Became this?:

Me too! More after the jump.

Chevron Madness

I have been obsessing over chevron patterns for the past couple months, but other than pinning pillows I like over on Pinterest, I just couldn’t figure out a way to incorporate the sassy zigzags into my house without adding more furniture. Enter the Seussically coloured armoire in need of a makeover (previously a bright purple with grey/blue framing), and it’s makeover back to white and terrible attempt at glazing (I wanted to give it that ‘antiqued’ look, but it went soooooo wrong!). Needless to say, I won’t subject your poor doe eyes to that atrocity, but instead regal you with my three day, 8 hour endeavor into the chevron armoire makeover!

Calculator and ruler – check! I measured and drew on this grid. After starting to tape the first half of the chevrons my arms got tired. I was also about 5 hours into this project and there was a lot of bashing in of walls upstairs, but the noise stopped, so I thought it might be safe to go upstairs.

The next day. House intact, no large holes in walls upstairs, but new wiring for entrance inside light going well, phew! Finish chevron taping.

Now on day 3. Paint in the lines my pretty silver chevrons. Silver paint from dollar store. Paint 2 coats, wait about an hour.

Taking off the tape while it was still damp I got some pretty clean lines. In some areas small amounts of silver paint peeled off, but those were easily touched up. Now that the paint is cured that silver paint is not going anywhere.

I may still have my grid in these pictures, but I used a white eraser and scrubbed all those marks off. I really like how it turned out. It’s still simple and elegant, not too busy as I feared. I wouldn’t want it to become a circus!

Step 1 in my basement spare bedroom decorating missing completed! Step 2? Painting the brass bedframe we found at a garage sale last weekend a delightful and happy peacock blue. Next step after that, finding a bed.

It has been a busy summer of home projects, and furniture makeovers. Currently our shed holds these projects: 4 antique doors, 2 chairs to be reupholstered, 1 bedframe, 1 frame… and I’m sure there is more.

Do you have a DIY fever? Chevron fever? Taking on too many projects? Busy upcycling, crafting, or addicted to Pinterest? Tell!

Chelsie Weighs in on Librarian Stereotypes

Yes, I’m a librarian. So I will judge these stereotypes. And because I like judging.

via the wikiman

1. Has hair in a bun. There are hardly any librarians wearing their hair in a bun, unless it is a messy bun. But personally, I think it has to be a stylishly done messy bun. Who am I to judge? EVERYONE!

2. Says shh! I admit, I would have to tell rambunctious young-in’s and old-in’s to quiet down, but that’s only because I could hear them cranking their iPod’s way up, or having loud and boring conversations I didn’t feel like listening to. But I never shhh’d in a finger over mouth kind of way.

3. Is meek. What?! In library’s you deal with everyone, from the nice, to the mean, to the indifferent, to the mad and crazy. You need some sort of guts to face these people and the crazy that will ensue. Me, meek – NEVER!

4. Likes cats. I HATE cats. I think they are indifferent and they have claws, claws people! They are also sneaky. I feel like I would try to outsneak them and chaos would ensue. Most librarians I know do not have any crazy cat obsession, though I have met one, but who hasn’t met one of those people, really…

5. Likes order. Who doesn’t?

6. Loves social media. I wouldn’t say I love it, but I am agreeable to it. Are you a fan of your local library on Facebook? I thought so.

7. Wears cardigans. I have two cardigans I generally do not wear. Eh, I don’t agree.

8. Is a leftie. First of all, I’m right handed. Secondly, how do political views count here? I guess agree with the hypothesis that librarian have liberal political views.

9. Likes knitting. What?! I don’t even KNOW how to knit. Also, everyone seems to like knitting these days with the resurgence of arts and crafts, so deem this IRRELEVANT!! P.S. I hate scrapbooking.

10. Has a love of gin. I’m acquiring a taste.

Interview Follow Up

Job interviews. I have a lot of experience with those. Two years ago I’m pretty sure I went to over a dozen within twelve months. Crazy, right? I’ve worked a bunch of contracts in the past three years, but I cannot recall having emailed or mailed a thank you letter after an interview. I was just reading that 1 out of 5 managers, are less likely to hire a candidate that did not write a follow up letter.

More than one in five hiring managers also said they are less likely to hire a candidate who didn’t send a post-interview thank you note. That’s because they say omitting this step shows a lack of follow through and sends a message that the applicant is not really serious about the opportunity.

A hand written note is still the gold standard, but most managers are perfectly happy to get an email from interested applicants. And if there were multiple interviews, each interviewer should receive a personal note.

I think all cases vary, but do you always follow up with a thank you to interviews? Inquiring minds want to know, have I missed out on job opportunities due to my lack of fancy card sending?

Chelsie’s Interior Design Crushes and a Surprise

I recently discovered Lonny Magazine, a bimonthly interior decorating magazine published online. Bonus! You can access all the back issues.

Some readers, and my fellow Interrobangs, will recall my displeasure for certain celebrity chefs. So it may come as a certain surprise that I actually really liked Gwyneth Paltrow’s new cookbook My Father’s Daughter. I found I could relate to a lot of the recipes and ingredients, and while she would push organic meets and veggies, I didn’t find that part too offensive. She also provides alternative versions of recipes if you can’t find those more expensive organically refined products. She does have quite a peculiar over enthusiasm for  anchovies, but that can be forgiven.

Books I’m crushing on:

Garage Sales are my Summer Thrifting

I can’t get enough garage sales in the summer! I have picked up furniture (chairs, tables and mirrors), home accents, clothing, and small appliances. For success you just have to have a bit of a creative vision and a rough list of things you are looking for. Pretty much like thrifting, but the findings can be so diverse.

We tend to go out around 8 on a Saturday morning and make the rounds nearby local towns and countryside. Afterward, as we are running errands or visiting people throughout the weekend we will stop by at random sales we spot along the way. It always seems like the most unlikely places that provide the greatest finds. On Sunday evening at 8pm we spotted a yard sale on a rural road and picked up an antique chair! You never know what you will find.

I found this side table painted dark brown and gave it makeover, my offer of $2 was accepted. Never to be the solidest or heaviest table, but I love the front cutouts. The ceramic horse is missing an ear and had normal colouring, but a coat of glossy yellow Tremclad gave it a fresh modern look. This horse left it's country home for $0.50.

Reasons to love garage sales:

• You can barter for lower prices
• Later in the day = better prices, so don’t feel bad for sleeping in
• Cheaper prices than thrift stores
• You never know what you’ll find!

Do you live for the garage sales in the summer, or do you prefer to sleep in on the weekend? What is your best garage sale find? Do you have names for different kinds of garage sales? (We assess and drive by Kids Crap sales) Have you picked up furniture from the side of the road? Let’s have it!

The Bra Fitting Revolution

It seems like every time there is a discussion about bras it inevitably ends up, “Are you wearing the right size?,” “It’s probably two sizes too big,” “You should get a fitting.” Did Oprah suddenly have an exposé where she found out her bra was two sizes too small? (at least that can’t happen again, I hope.) Or did the bra industry decide that it was time to sell ladies more bras and have then second guess their current bra sizing, going for the money grab.

“8 out of 10 women wear the wrong size bra”

Reflecting back on purchasing my first bra, I do not recall a multitude of fittings, but rather gathering a bunch of bras, trying them on, and going by look and comfort. Does it feel too tight? Does it keep everything in? Does it remain invisible after clothing yourself?

When I got my second bra fitting a few years ago it was revealed I was wearing the wrong size. I went in because I felt that the wire was digging in a bit so I suspected the fit was off, and it had been a year or two since I had my last fitting, so this result was not awe invoking and a choir of angels did not sing and rejoice. The lady told me I was a 32C. But the C size of that store’s brand was simply too big (vanity sizing), and the 32 circumference felt like it was cutting into my ribcage and leaving marks. What?! I went to a larger department store that carried a multitude of the usual bra brand suspects, and found that the C part was fine with most of those bras, but I left the 32 behind, and went for the 34. Bra fitters may not be mystical creatures after all, I pondered. Naturally our body weight is in constant flux, making having a constant ‘perfect’ bra size practically unachievable.

“After two Oprah episodes featuring dramatic “bra interventions” and even a Dateline investigation into the problem, American women are embracing bra fittings.”

On a whim I thought maybe Oprah had started this new wave of bra fitting and misfittings, and it turns out she may have. It seems to have started in November of 2005 and Oprah aptly named it ‘The Bra Revolution‘ featuring two episodes on the subject. These episodes emphasized looking sexy (to some extent) and being bustier than you thought (this being projected as a positive), as opposed to what should be a practical, so some extent, and utilitarian piece of underclothing, with a hint of frilly should the individual desire. Ultimately, free bras were given away and financial profit was gained. Now every lingerie store and department store boast bra fitting services.

Oprah made the procedure sound like something halfway between winning the lottery and discovering your fairy godmother: “Every woman watching, this is going to change your life. Everyone’s talking about it. And I’m revealing a beauty secret that literally performs miracles.”

In conclusion, I do believe Oprah’s promotion of this topic has influence bra fitting and the bra market significantly, and that bra fittings are designed to help find bras and ensure proper fit, and to gain money as a result of bra fitting epiphanies.

Have you had a bra fitting? Did you agree with the results? What’s your take on the bra fitting revolution? For profit? Altruistic? Mysticism?

I will leave you with a National Geographic episode on “The Secret History of the Bra.” Make sure to check out the “Bra Facts” tab!

How to Take Over the Ottoman Empire

No, we are not fighting the Turks, but celebrating the completion of the large footrest and coffee table that is now filling out the giant gap in my living room.

I can not claim all the glory of creating this piece of furniture, but I can accept most of it. I did find this treasure on the side of the road and convince S. to pick it up.

I did successfully pester S. to make it into an ottoman and was the creative director and visionary of it’s new form.

I did do some sanding. Keyword, some. I offered a lot of creative direction. Creativity is everything!

I stained this sucker.

Then applied two coats of polyurethane to give it this glossy look, sanding between coats.

And I sourced the fabric and lead the upholstering process.

That is the story of how our new ottoman was made. I know you are inquiring minds, so yes, the wood is maple. I know, you’re in awe.

Thrifted Lamp Makeover

About a month ago I posted about these trophy style lamps I bought, and I’m pleased to say, my DIY transformation is complete!

I took off the old accordion shade, leaving behind the frame and the inside of the the shade, then I gave the shade new life and shape with this gray fabric I picked up from a local thrift store. The lamp base was sprayed with white glossy Krylon. I am really enjoying the look and feel of these lamps. They are providing a much brighter light than the previous living room lamps, which though very nice, have now been relegated to the bedroom.

And now for the inferior before picture.

Millie will be happy to see that I’ve finally settled on two new fabrics for my next living room decorating projects. The first one will be for the ottoman/coffee table, and the second for the sofa pillows.

I have really been drawn into decorating lately, and thrifting and garage sale hunting for the home.

A final note to Canadian eyeglasses wearers, Clearly Contacts is giving away 10,000 pairs of free glasses tomorrow. You’re welcome! (I got mine two weeks ago when they had the same promo).

Pottermore, or Less?

J.K. Rowling’s mysterious Pottermore website has been on several radars this past week, with increasing speculation.

The latest information (scoop, gossip?) is that it could be “a sophisticated online game that contains clues to prizes that are hidden in the real world. These are an unstated number of magic wands secreted in Britain and America, and possibly other countries.” How cool would that be? I could totally see people getting into a complicated puzzle solving, geocaching game – I mean, we have seen the evolution of muggle led Quidditch teams.

Of course this could be a marketing ploy, but nevertheless, the mystery of Pottermore.com shall be announced tomorrow. Until then, the world will keep revolving.

The Cheddaring Process

While eating many a cheese sample there was a sign that said cheddar cheese has no lactose because it is separated in the cheese making, or what I will call ‘cheddaring process’.

Getting Crafty – Lamps With Feelings

I saved these lamps from the thrift store, and they will be receiving new life. The biggest draw was the trophy like body on these, and don’t be mistaken, they are quite solid. And heavy. Let’s see what they looked like before.

Brassy!

Those accordion shades had to go. I ended up cutting them off and leaving the lining intact. I liked that the shade was nice and simple, basically a drum. Actually the circumference of the top is two inches smaller than the bottom, and after the shade makeover, they do look a little more curvy than they did with the accordion shade. The accordion fabric was pretty sketchy after I cut it off, dust galore!

These lamps are pretty large, and I have not yet decided if they will live in the living room (and compete with the dining room pendant lamp), or the bedroom.