Thursday, July 17, 2008

Bracelets- but will it fit?

I have heard from a number of women that buying bracelets online can be a real pain in the well rounded tushy. If your wrist is under 8 inches around, then any bracelet that says it is 8 inches long should fit right?

Well, in a word, No.

I am linking to a post that has information on why not all bracelets fit, and how to find out if the one you are looking at is a reasonable option for you.

Ask not "How long is the bracelet?", ask instead "What is the inner circumference of the bracelet?".

I present to you

"The Mystery of Bracelet Sizing" Courtesy of D L Pom LLC Handcrafted Expressions.

Monday, July 14, 2008

My vacation

Last week my mom, my sister and I went away for a 3 day "girls mid-week weekend to Montreal. We took the train in, stayed at a hotel, went out to eat, and shopped like mad. Ok, not exactly like mad as none of us really have too much money to blow, but certainly at least like somewhat-crazy.

Never having been on a train before I was a little nervous about the whole seating thing, but I needn't have thought twice about it. No seat belts, wide comfortable seats, and at least 3 times the legroom of an average airplane made it a very comfortable (although somewhat boring... trains are a lot more fun and romantic in movies!) 5 hours.

Funny how airlines are cutting back and cutting back and cutting back and the trains are still giving out free toys for kids (And me- I brought back some fold and assemble trains for my husband and daughter).

In fact, the whole weekend was rather liberating. I went shopping and got some gorgeous new stuff. Shopping with my sister always pushes my limits and makes me move out of my normal comfort zones clothing wise- not that I eve regret it after because she really does know what she is talking about. She convinced me into a green shirt (I never wear green) that gets compliments left right and centre.

I also got a neat dress (made out of bamboo!), a really funky black and white knee length print skirt, a few layering tanks in black and white and some headbands (and socks because I forgot to pack any).

It was not all peaches and roses though. The first store we went to only went up to an XL, and it was a fairly small XL. It fit my fairly average sized mom. I looked at accessories, but mostly felt like I was sticking out like a sore thumb. My mom (or more likely my sister) saw how frustrated I was so we went to a store "just for me". We went to Addition-Elle.

Ok, first of all the service was better than I have ever had in any AE store here. I mean, there WAS customer service! It was great. I felt a little like a freak show at first with my mom and my sister just sitting around waiting for me, but by the time we had left they had found a bunch of pairs of pants between them that they were taking as well. With my sister guiding some of my choices it actually turned out to be more fun than I remember having shopping in a long time.

Then came the big step off the weekend. I chopped off my hair.

When I say chopped I mean it. I cut off almost 10 inches. It went from the middle of my back to the nape of my neck in the back and to my jaw bone in the front. I still cover the whole top so nothing much changed up there, but I think the rest of the change is actually rather dramatic. I was really nervous about the whole thing, but actually I really love it.

The whole thing was very "What not to Wear" -like, but it was a good thing. I was feeling so confident I actually went swimming in the hotel pool, by myself, without wearing a t shirt on top! Ok, that may not sound like much to you, but for me it was an adult first! Not sure if I would do it again here where people know me, but it was somewhat liberating in any case. No one said boo to me about it either. I shmoozed with people in the hot tub, played with a kid in the pool, and all in all felt totally and completely "normal". No one came to cart me off to the "ugly people assylum" or critisized me in any way. I was just another person there because it was insanely freaking hot outside (and I did not want to stay in the hotel room watching Dr. Phil with my other traveling companions!)

Other than that, we went to Old Montreal and went on a horse and buggy ride (seriously, if you are in Montreal go and do it. It was my favourite part of the trip. We went at sundown so we started it was still lights, but as we went on all the buildings started lighting up and it looked like something out of a fairytale! My sister and I got henna tattoos and all in all we had a really great time.

I have to add that we had some of the best food ever. El Moroco and Morty's were hands down two of the best places I have ever eaten. Seriously, steak to die for!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008