The "C" Word

Is anyone else as confused as I am about the word

CURVY?

Who is curvy? What body shape is curvy?

Am I curvy? ARE YOU CURVY?

When you hear the word -

is it insulting? Or a fantastic compliment?

(Or, as my husband would say,

an Insompliment -

a la "you would be really pretty if you wore makeup",

or "your hair looks so much better than yesterday".

Not quite an insult, not quite a compliment.)

I recently read an article entitled

"Every woman in America is now 'Curvy"

(read it here)

and it echos my sentiments on this issue.

The jist of the article is that pretty much all women

are given the title "curvy",

from a stick thin Taylor Swift, to a much larger Gabrielle Siebe.

This is curvy? Or just a really beautiful thin woman?

This is curvy? Or just a really beautiful big woman?

I can see why I'm so confused.

I get called curvy All. The. Time.

But then I think -

wait? Am I Taylor Swift curvy to you, or

more of a Gabrielle Siebe curvy?

I don't want to be either.

Labels suck.

Being called curvy to one woman is a really great compliment.

To another woman? It's the worst.

The author of the article mentions that,

at one point, she described herself as curvy on her online dating profile.

A "gentleman" quickly replied to her with this:

“P.S. Dont say ur  ‘curvy’ cuz guys will think ur fat ;).”

(He did give a winky face - so he's not a total doucher?)

But really - can I blame him?

When we're told anything from a size 0 to a size 22+ can be

described as "curvy".... who really knows!?

I personally like being called curvy.

It's the truth - I do have curves.

Big hips, big boobs... definable waist.

But to some - I'm huge! 

Point is -

what is the point?

Love yourself? Lame.

Don't let labels get to you? Good luck.

Enjoy your body for what it is? Okay.

Do what makes you happy, let the rest take care of itself? Okay.

It's a struggle out there.

Maybe just see each girl for what she is -

good hair, nice rack, hot jeans, sweet lipstick...

the list goes on.

Or - go with the word "Bombshell".

Bombshell is good.

Side bar - trying to find a "curvy" quote on the internet

was ridiculous and almost made me want to chuck this blog post all together.

So instead, enjoy hearing my favourite song of the moment, which,

has, literally nothing to do with being fat, or thin, or curvy... thank God.

Stompa - Serena Ryder

"People, looking for the great escapeLooking for the greener sideTrying to find a better waySlow down; open up your big brown eyesFeel the rhythm in your heart"

Pumpkin Wagon

Alright, alright world - I'm giving in.

I am now officially on the "pumpkin" bandwagon. 

(This is not to say I'm not a pumpkin fan - in food. I just didn't think

it'd make a good drink flavour) 

Anyways.

We live down the street from a 7-11, and last night

my husband walked down to grab one of their "famous"

pumpkin spice lattes.

I didn't go, because I didn't think I'd be interested.

WRONG!

 He let me have a sip upon his return - Delicious.

I know what you're thinking - 7-11? For lattes?

Calm Down Starbucks snob - they are unbelievable!

And only 2 bucks.  

Trust me - try one.

And on the pumpkin subject,

we went out to one of our favourite pubs on the weekend

where Pumpkin Ale was on tap.

Again - I was on the fence.

NO LONGER! 

Mmm pumpkin - you've won me over.

No Guilt!

Yes.

 

 

Cheers to the enjoyment of life!

Home

I woke up this morning with an enormous sense of being home.

It's only been 2 days, but there's something about this new place.

It's warm.

It's cozy.

It's me. It's my husband. It's my dog...

and it feels so good.

There's nothing quite like feeling content.

 

 a glimpse.

a song.

"I don't like walking around this old and empty house.
So hold my hand, I'll walk with you my dear" - Of Monsters & Men

What's on Your Face?

A friend and fellow blogger of mine recently asked me to write a guest post on her blog 

about my make up and some of my favourites.  

Now that she has posted it, I thought I'd post it here as well.

 _____________________

 

When I was asked by the lovely and talented writer of this blog to guest post about what was in my make up bag, I was all in.  While I, like her, do not claim to be by any stretch a “girly girl”, my makeup bag and the contents therein are sacred to me, and while I don’t claim to be an expert, I do gots my fav brands, yo. (What?)

One (1) – The make up bag itself (Betseyville).  I’m not sure where my animal print obsession started, and don’t worry – I’m not a Snooki look alike, and I don’t wear animal print body suits or anything.  I have a few things – and my make up bag is one of those “ahhhh, I love me some animal print” items.  It’s a little gawdy, and a little trashy, and a lot bad ass.  It has a lightening bolt key pull.  It makes me happy. So get off my case already.

Two (2) – Annabelle Le Gloss in Liquid Honey.  I currently have 3 of these on the go.  It’s a little sparkly, and a whole lot sexy.  It gives your lips that “come hither” look, and I think it’s good for day or night.  Although – I do wear leopard print heels to the office, so take that as you will. 

Three (3) – Rimmel London Quad Eye Shadow in Smokey Noir.  Hello hotness – if you want the smokey eye, it makes the most sense to purchase a quad shadow with smokey in ITS NAME.  From my photo, you’ll notice that the top left square is the one I use most often.  That’s because it’s the darkest and my eye makeup is usually closer to that of a

 lady of the night than a Mary Poppins.

Four (4) – Ah, mascara, my one true love.  I do not have any ties to any particular brand of mascara.  From my photo you’ll notice I have displayed 4 types.  The one I’m most drawn to at the moment is The Falsies Volum’ Express by Maybelline New York .  I’m not overly impressed by Great Lash, also by Maybelline, but I bought it because Carmandy from What Not to Wear told me it was the best... but she lied to me, and I’ll forgive her sometime.  I am lucky in the fact that I have long, thick black lashes.  But don’t you worry! That doesn’t stop me from layering those puppies up with the darkest and most multiplying mascara there is – and don’t forget the curler.   (Heat it up for about 6 seconds with your hair dryer for a truly curl-rific experience!)

Five (5) – By far, the cheapest, most trashy item in my bag, and also, by far, my favourite.  Fantasy Makers lipstick by Wet n Wild in Geisha’s Kiss.  I bought this lipstick for Halloween 3 years ago at the dollar store.  I brought it out a year later when I thought I was cool enough to try a red lip out for realsies.  Turns out – I am soooo cool enough!  I’ve gotten so many compliments on my red lips, and I owe it all to this $1 tube of red gold.  Good find.  It’s not something I do often, and the red lip is not something I’m ready to try at the office or in the light of day.  But throw me some mood lighting, a nice bottle of wine, and some heels, and Geisha’s Kiss is bound to make an appearance.

Six (6) – This brush.  I believe the professionals call it an angle brush.  I use it to line my eyeballs with the above mentioned black eyeshadow, and I would be a lost kitten without this brush.  This one in particular is by Quo. Please do yourself a favour and buy an angle brush!

Seven (7) – And now, my piece de resistance.  Sometimes, it’s the only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning.  I own four of them, and I have been known to leave work when I once forgot to put in on (Shhhh.)  I think all girls should wear it, and I just don’t quite get it if you don’t. BLACK. EYE. LINER.  My absolute favourite kind is Almay blendable eye pencil in 01 Black.  I can’t say enough about black eye liner.  A few days ago, I thought I lost my “desk eye liner” (don’t judge me, it’s legit).  Turns out, I had put it in my pen stash, so all was restored, but for about 15 minutes – heart attack. You may think my obsession is a tad unhealthy – 

but listen, black eye liner is the bomb.

Alright girls (and boys?) that’s my little list of what I love.  You will notice I didn’t add any foundation or concealers – mostly because I am still completely in the dark as to how to tell the difference between the two.  I have about 5 different kinds that I use on any given day – but am not sold on any of them.  Happy Makeuping!

Cautious.

 I think, just maybe, the fog is starting to lift.

Cautiously Optimistic.

Perspective

I'm taking a breather,

and putting things into

perspective.

It's an anoying thing to do sometimes,

but completely a "must"

when your life throws you so

many lemons that you would rather

cut your own arm off than make any more

DAMN lemonade.

mmm, vodka.

So, I didn't get a picture perfect Thanksgiving.

SO WHAT.

Here is what I did have:

- A pretty amazing Thanksgiving lasagna with some

pretty fantastic family members.

- A lovely Saturday afternoon with my sister.

Yay sisters!

- A delicious sushi dinner with a friend.

(I got violently sick after, but that is definitely besides the point)

- A Sunday sleep in with my husband, something that for us and

our work schedules is extremely rare.

- Sunday night dinner with our little family of 3 (third being a dog, not a baby fetus,

in case you were getting ready to gasp)
- Good news that despite us leaving our 3 month old apartment,
we were approved for an even better (and slightly cheaper) one.

So... if I was on the outside looking in,

I'd be all

"what are you complaining about?

What a great weekend!

Really, no turkey? Too bad, so sad"

My quest to not compare my life to others,

for being grateful for what I have,

for looking more on the better side than the bad side

is a learning curve here.

Ah, perspective. 
Try it sometime!

Mr. Wilde always knows what to say...
one of my favourite quotes.