In which Serena ponders falling pianos, tackiness, and the unknowability of the infinite answer of being. Okay, the first two, not that last one.

I'm up to my old tricks again, this time procrastinating working on my resume. You see, I figure if I don't send any resumes out then I don't risk rejection. Simple as that! Oh dear. But really, it's a combination of fear of failure and plain laziness.

Today, all I wanted to do was wander the city and take pictures and maybe indulge in a little vintage shopping, floating from store to store and just enjoying the sunshine. It's been so beautiful lately. You know when life is so great that you fear a piano will fall on your head... you know, to kind of even things out? That's what the weather has been like. And I wanted to be out there, frolicking and wandering without a care in the world. But I have many cares these days...

Stop.

Enough about sadbad things! Fashion! Today I played with patterns, mixing a crazy bright floral with ladylike houndstooth to a pleasing effect, if I do say so myself. I topped it all off with my saffron yellow toque (not in the pictures). A mid-life crisis white dude driving an SUV with the windows down blaring the oh-so-gangster rap tunes turned all the way around in his seat to watch me as he drove by. I shudder to think that his taste and my taste somehow overlap, that he actually liked my outfit. Rather, I will ignore this aberration and contend that I looked good. This is a fashion dilemma I've never encountered before. Does it hurt my style cred that a conspicuously tacky fellow checked me out? This needs pondering.

finalement, la mode

I finally found a good place to take outfit pictures. I'd been doing them in the hallway by the bathroom door - decidedly less than picturesque. Of course, now that I've discovered said wonderful picture-taking spot, there are dudes working directly outside my window and I feel very odd running back and forth from the spot to my camera, setting the timer and then scurrying back to pose. Ah, well.

This is what I wore on Friday the 13th to get supplies for Valentine's dinner. Actually, I just ended up buying booze (ingredients for kir royale - yum!) and didn't end up following through on the elaborate dinner I was going to make. Instead, we drank kir royale and had a simple creamy pasta.

Abrupt change of subject: I like that I've finally found a place to take outfit photos but I feel like this blog might actually take a turn in a different direction. I'm only working part time at a cafe right now and I really need to find a job but with this recession looming over all our heads, the job market is looking icy and forbidding. I might start documenting my job search (hopefully in a funny/sarcastic way rather than a sad/depressing way). Would that be too boring? Should I do this on a separate blog, or would you like to hear my plaintive cries of, "But I have a degree... why aren't I employed?"?

Let me know what you think!

possible re-emergence of life in the basement

I live in Vancouver. Vancouver is beautiful. High quality of life. Very photogenic. I am also poor. Therefore, I live in a basement suite.

Today, I re-emerge from my little musty den of an apartment. No, not literally. Unfortunately, I am not moving to a cozy cottage for two. No, my mind has been hibernating for the last few months in my little nest full of socks and twigs and feathers in this beautiful, dreary city. I have no excuses. I'm being a bad blogger. But now the sun is out, birds are singing, I'm wearing a tiny dress and all is well. Well, not really. I'm not yet gainfully employed, my writing has dried up and I have no hobbies, but none of that seems to matter when the sun is out. C'est a dire, I'm going out to play in the sun and buy ingredients for Valentine's Day dinner tomorrow.

But I promise I'll be back soon. I even took some outfit pictures. Aren't you proud?

Happy New Year!

Addicted to Polyvore

Oh dear.

My eyes hurt.

But I just completed my first polyvore and it's so purdy!

Okay, time to rest my eyes and get some caffeine. I hope you like it. It all started out with the perfume I'm obsessed with and progressed from there. Polyvore asks you to describe the occasion during which you would wear your outfit. I wrote "to exact my revenge." Because I'm creepy like that.


Lady Vengeance by serenakay

Unguent

As a humungous book nerd, I have come across so many words that I'd like to use in speech but I have no idea how to pronounce them. This is embarassing, but I'll relay this little gaffe from grade 7. Reading aloud in Social Studies class about the Battle of Whatsitcalled, I come to the word chaos. "In the chaos of the battle..." Well, I pronounced it CHAH-oes. No one was the wiser except the teacher, who laughed at me. Damn you Mrs. Sookro! Damn you to hell! How was I supposed to know how it was pronounced? No one uses chaos or epitome or unguent in everyday speech!

Anyways, I just stumbled upon Forvo. It's a site that claims to have all the words in the world, pronounced and recorded by native speakers of whatever language you may choose. Seriously, I pretty much jizzed in my pants. Don't worry, I've calmed down a little, enough to write this post anyways.

Fellow word-nerds, enjoy!

Under the Influence

You know it's coming. I'm a little behind on the times but I just ordered the Olsens' new book Influence. I'm not too sure why, but I really like books on style. Mayhap it's because I just like books in general? The psuedo-academic approach to style and shopping has always appealed to me, probably because I love lists and organization. God, such a Virgo.

I've been thinking about my personal style a lot lately. It's always been pretty fluid, encompassing a little bohemian, some hipster 'chic', some ladylike... but having recently cleaned out my wardrobe, it all seemed so disorganized and schizo. I'm all for experimentation and I've enjoyed trying out different looks, but I feel the need now to narrow it down so I can start buying pieces that will last and will all come together more cohesively. Oh man, I sound like a grown-up. I guess I kind of am. I'm done my undergrad and I'll be hitting the grown-up work world in a matter of months for which I will probably need a suit... Okay, I just shivered a little. I'm not ready for a suit.

Anyways, I was browsing through the Lucky magazine Guide to Mastering any Style and they seem to have gotten my style down. They call it "Posh Eclectic" but I like to think of it as an eccentric and inappropriately dressed European aristocrat who raids her grandmother's attic for accessories. Another style they dissect is the Bombshell. So I guess I'd be two-thirds Posh Eclectic, one-third Bombshell.

The only bad thing about narrowing down my style is that I want to go shopping when I really shouldn't.