I've been asked how come I won't blog about my beliefs as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. This is an excellent and valid question which I truly relish the opportunity to answer. Sure it might seem like the perfect way to dispel some of the common (and many!) misconceptions about us Witnesses, and yes, I have considered this, many many times in fact, considering that I do invest a considerable amount of my time blogging, ok, forgive the pun. But seriously now, the more I thought about it, the more misgivings I would have, this reluctance stemming from fear - fear that I might inadvertently misrepresent our organization in any way and that alongside posts on the particulars of my everyday life, our message, that is truly of the utmost importance, would be trivialized, or that anything else on my blog, anything at all, might detract from the information presented.

Of course, I could always set up another blog, the sole and express purpose of which intended to disseminate Bible "Truths," but it still wouldn't be the right nor proper medium or means, since the time-tested method of preaching from house-to-house that Jesus Christ set the precedent and actively and zealously engaged in himself and later on instructed his followers to do the same, remains as the main and has proven to be the most effective way by far to convey our message - an activity that each and every single Witness, without exception participates in on a regular basis.

It's not a question of being resistant to change or a stubborn refusal on our part to adapt to our ever-evolving world. As a matter of fact, we fully utilize advancements in technologies to further our message, maintaining state-of-the-art printing facilities in key locations around the globe, instrumental in the production of Bibles and Bible-based literature including the most widely-read and distributed (by house-to-house) publication in the world, The Watchtower. (All publications are available too in other multimedia formats such as MP3, CD-ROM, DVD,etc.) No minor feat indeed, everything funded by voluntary contributions and accomplished entirely by volunteers, and yet, all credit for this achievement is ascribed to whom it duly and exclusively belongs, God, in imitation of Jesus Christ who also directed all glory to his Heavenly Father.

Moreover, to complement our preaching activities, weekly meetings, which feature in part, Bible discourses, are held at places of worship called Kingdom Halls located all around the world. Assemblies and conventions which also follow a similiar program of Bible-based talks, symposia, etc. are held periodically as well at larger venues - all open to the public, monies never solicited as this would be tantamount to "peddling" God's word, which goes contrary to Bible directives.

Therefore, I honestly believe that if I were to begin to write about my beliefs on this existing blog, I might downplay the importance and sanctity of our message and furthermore, to set up another blog exclusively to the same end of getting our message across, would just be redundant and superfluous, serving no real and worthwhile purpose other than to hyper-emphasize Biblical topics already adequately expounded and thoroughly explained in our publications distributed through our door-to-door ministry.

As such, all issues to be addressed in this blog will continue to be mainly secular in nature, however, any request made by anyone expressing the desire to pursue random Bible discussions or even systematic Bible Studies with myself will be entertained, to be handled by myself personally and/or my husband as deemed appropriate or as the circumstances require, arrangements for other qualified Christians to contact and call on such interested ones will be made. Thanks!

Step up or step out?

A certain author/authority on writing whose name exactly I unfortunately forget (sorry!) said in effect and not necessarily in so many words, that "writing is probably the most useless profession unless one actually writes about something worthwhile." I honestly must say that I couldn't agree more. And yet, the past couple of weeks found me blogging about my compulsive shopping habit with posts like "My Exploits into Retailville," "Galliano Bags" "Canada Goose Obsession," etc., which *some* found to be "annoying" - a rather stinging comment, the honesty of which, though, I actually truly appreciate and is something I'm graciously accepting in a wonderful display of sportsmanship because it's too late now anyways to retract my words when I said that "I welcome criticism, constructive or otherwise." So, I've taken up the challenge to step up (or step out!) and write about weightier and even controversial things, although, I will NOT apologize for my most recent "metro" installment ;) - even my "worst critic" said that that one was pretty good! Now, I had promised that I would write something editorial-worthy, but that was probably too ambitious a promise to make because I can, in the words of one of my favorite writers, Jessica Zafra, only "do so much bluffing" - a sentiment I share! And because I actually have no idea what the world's present state of affairs is like right now, although again, I can confidently venture a safe and accurate guess summed up in merely two words: it's bad! (But, oh, apparently, Wikileaks is exacerbating America's really unfounded, hence called, paranoia complex, these days - Dude, I *like* know that much!) And so instead, I wrote some prose on a topic dear to me and very close to my heart, uh, next to shopping, of course, namely, writing! I Kinda lost Kumar there when, in response to his question in the middle of the night as to what I was writing about,"this time," I said "writing." "You're writing about writing" He neatly recapped - more of a statement than a question - slightly confused, his mental faculty still somewhat fogged up from sleep. "Yes" I chirped, after which he shook his head, non-committaly mumbled something incoherent but what I think, in retrospect, remotely sounded like "you're nuts" and then rolled over and went back to bed...

On Writing - a Love Letter...Seriously!

I can't believe that already three months had elapsed since my mom's passing. Thank God for this blog! As I had explained in the past, it had and continues to serve as a way for me to cope with my grief, as some kind of distraction, the writing, that is. There's an actual term for this whole process - *sublimation* - as coined by Freud, where basically, one diverts the more natural self/other-destructive inclination and takes all the negative emotions within ones' self and channels it into something constructive and worthwhile. In my case, instead of, I don't know, plotting some evil but to my credit, intricate, heist or at the very least, losing all inhibitions and dancing on top of tables (!) (that was a joke) I wrote and wrote and by the same token, my brother took up playing the guitar again (and songwriting!) and played and played. And while we both personally derived comfort from these activities, by far, the best thing ever that came as direct result from this, were the priceless smiles we got out of mom - my mom - who by profession was a nurse, and had worked as one her entire life because as she would so self-deprecatingly say, "that's all I knew how to do." She was obviously quite pleased to see that at thirty-eight and thirty-three years (young!) respectively, my brother and I, her two able-bodied children out of three, seemed to have found our true (?) callings, our vocations, as we took turns entertaining (and amusing!) her on her hospital bed with the products of our sublimation - with my brother strumming away and serenading my mom with his original compositions and me reading out loud to her, maybe mincing some of my bolder words, some of my second-rate prose! She loved it, so much so that, once, obviously influenced by her cocktail of painkillers, she (proudly) introduced me to one of the staff as a writer! But I didn't dare burst her bubble then and there, I mean, how could I cast another pall over her already pitiable condition? It was only later and well out of her earshot, that I explained to the nurse (who seemed quite impressed!) what my mom had meant, and in what capacity I actually wrote or write (lol) namely, authoring this silly *personal* blog. Needless to say, with my mom being completely computer illiterate, my explanation of what a weblog was went right over her pretty head, but it didn't matter, though, to her I was a writer, "point final" and my mom's maternal loyalty & devotion to us kids
made me both smile and bleed inside...

What constitutes *writerhood* anyways? Try Googling it up and your screen will be inundated with inordinate amounts of info. The opinions vary & differ and are subjective, of course - some argue it involves having published a certain amount of material, others assert that it simply means loving to write and having the ability to string words together into coherent sentences. I won't even try to offer up my two-cents' worth - no, I can't count myself among the company of the literary elite, well, not yet! But I will venture a guess: that writerhood is somewhere happily in between where someone meets those two conditions. To whose opinion I will readily subscribe, though, are of those who recognize as fact, that, all writers - aspiring or established, fledgling or seasoned - contend with self-doubt every now and then if not all the time and that writer's block is a real and not just an imagined insidious affliction marked by a drought and interruption in the flow of creative juices! But probably the cutest fact of them all - in my opinion, at least and my personal favorite - is that each writer has her/his own unique and distinctive "voice" - how true!

Space FB

These past few weeks have been all about rediscovering things/people, it seems. From writers/authors to singers, and most recently, a homegrown Montreal boutique/designer called Space F(rancois) B(eauregard). When his Les Cours Mont-Royal location was taken over by another retailer, a few years back, I was brokenhearted, to say the least because to purchase his clothes meant paying a visit to his other still-existing boutique along St-Laurent - hardly convenient and quite the undertaking for a mother of two little ones. What you've got to understand is, come wintertime when you're indoor bound, malls become "the" hangout place. And why not? With lots of free parking, those best-kept secret family rooms which you never knew existed until you became a parent yourself, the foodcourt, etc., all under one roof in a perfectly climate-controlled environment? Now compare that to pushing along those clunky contraptions called baby strollers and negotiating slushy sidewalks, jampacked with other pedestrians whilst exposed to the elements? It's a no-brainer. So for the past years, putting my kids' comfort before my own, I've relinquished being understatedly fashionable decked in FB, in favor of the convenience of the mall with their very commercial & cookie-cutter boutiques:(

The other day, Kumar, mentioned to me that he saw a nice coat for me at Space FB. "What do you mean"?? I asked, bewildered as I swung around to face him. "Were you around St-Laurent"?? "No" he replied, "...at Les Cours." "No.Way. What do you mean? Didn't they close years ago"??? "Yeah, but they've re-opened last summer." My jaw dropped, "And you're just telling me this now, months after the fact"?? I demanded. "Well..." he shrugged, a bit sorry for having opened his mouth...

So I made a mental note to check the boutique out at the next chance I would get. That chance came a few evenings ago. After dropping off the kids' at Grandma's and heading downtown with the intent of meeting Kumar after he got off work to have dinner somewhere, I found myself conveniently at the mall, with plenty of time to kill. So I made that famous beeline, well, no, actually I had to look for the boutique.
Sure, it had re-opened alright, but at the obscure Northern end of the mall, that unfortunately doesn't see too much traffic. I walked into the modest-sized minimalist boutique that must occupy an area of around two hundred square feet, max. And it took me about two minutes to go through their entire winter collection in dark shades of black, grey, blue and browns, predominantly in a cotton stretchy blend material, interspersed with a few numbers fashioned out of tweedy heavier fabrics. If I honestly had my way, I would've bought everything in there, but especially from having been set back a couple hundred bones by the famous (and ridiculously ubitiquous) Canada Goose that Kumar got me, I settled on one LBD that fit me like a glove and that had been marked down to $29.00! In chatting to the sweet, quippy and petite Cristina, who was minding the store all by herself, and who turned out to be Filipina, also, I learned that Francois Beauregard, really does cater specifically to petite women of slighter proportions (my euphemism for diminuitive persons like me!) but by no means limits his creations to fit only the vertically-challenged! Cristina asked me to get the word out, that Space FB is back at Les Cours Mont-Royal and I promised that I would. So here goes: please support local designer Francois Beauregard! If I'm able to persuade even just one person, I would be delighted to know that I'm able to effect change at least in a little way through this even littler blog....

-

Must I chronicle and document my entire life on this blog, I've been asked...the answer is this: Yes, I must, but know that this all but skims the surface...

To Kumar my hapless and yet willing *victim*...thanks for pleading my case and championing my cause...in a world of variables you are my constant!

Thank you!

Last week I got a short pm on Facebook from my good girlfriend Candice wanting to know two things: 1.) Whether we were free Saturday (yesterday) and 2.) Did we like oysters. Well, Kumar and I, we will pretty much eat anything, but to be completely honest, I might have had some very slight misgivings about the oysters, I mean, it's not necessarily your everyday fare, but we relished the thought of the company of Candice and her husband Irvin's, their two beautiful children's, Stella and Kingston who are roughly the same ages as Maya and Jaden, and her lovely parent's, and yes, we were free!

So as what usually happens when we get invites on a Saturday, I packed the kids into the car and picked Kumar up downtown after he got off work and then made our way all together to the de la Cruz' cozy home in St-Hubert. Upon arrival thereat we were greeted by the wonderful pervasive smells of Irvin's (who is a professional chef!) cooking. He was still in the middle of cooking up a storm while Candice' other guest Anabelle, who I had met once before, was shucking the oysters away. About forty-five minutes later we were gathered (and drooling!) around an amazing and beautiful spread of predominantly Asian delicacies: Irvin's own recipe of traditional Filipino "Lumpia" or eggrolls with a sweet chili dipping sauce, a pile of the steamed oysters, doused with soya sauce and scallions, Chinese dumplings, jumbo coconut shrimp with a sweet and zingy marmalade-wasabi dipping sauce and what might have seemed a bit incongruous beside the rest of the dishes but worked so perfectly to clean our palates between delectable mouthfuls of everything else, the classic Italian staple of tomato, bocconcini & basil salad, pre-tossed with a *reduced* balsamic vinaigrette, and then beautifully arranged...

All that (lol) just when I thought we were going to be slurping on oysters and downing shooters all evening, I mean that would've been perfectly fine, too, are you kidding me?! But that spread, well that was one insane treat and a half!!!! Irvin, you've outdone yourself yet again, and all other credit goes to Candice for making it possible for you to do your magic in the kitchen. Thank you, guys for your warm hospitality. We love you all so much!!!

M BRGR, etc...

Now that Jaden and I aren't so attached at the hip anymore and that I am no longer his sole source of nutrition and that he has sprouted his first molars and finally eats neat little mouthfuls of our steak and potatoes (and fish & rice!) staples, I've been enjoying a measure of freedom and have been taking full advantage of grandma's willingness to take care of the kids for us. Yesterday, I decided that it would be a perfect night for such an occasion, to go downtown and meet Kumar to enjoy a much tamer and toned down (as parents!) "night on the town." Now how's that for spontaneity? lol, I try! But of course, I had to kill time in the meantime, so I thought I'd go shopping, lol, how convenient!!!

We've been meaning to try M BRGR for awhile now, and while for some reason all of my other restaurant reviews or references to them have always been of the more chi-chi upscale ones, M: Brgr is totally worth blogging about for a mid-scale specialty (burger) resto. It's a very cool place that you wouldn't feel embarrased to take friends from out of town to, to just hang or even watch the game. When we walked in, Kumar and I were greeted by a friendly and pretty seating hostess - and of course, like anywhere else, reservations are recommended, especially if you're coming with a group of friends, luckily, we didn't get turned away, but the first seats that became available were by the bar. "Do you mind sitting at the bar," the seating girl asked, and Kumar and I looked at each other and shrugged, "No" we replied and immediately were led to the bar, I thought it'd be cool to pretend that we were strangers and entertain each other all evening with the worst ever pick-up lines we could come up with, but I kept getting distracted by the other resto's hpatrons passing by that kept brushing against my brand *spanking* new Canada Goose and right when I was about to lose it (lol) the sweet seating girl (God bless her!) approached us to tell us that an actual table was free, and so we transferred. Yaayy!

Now perusing through the menu at first can be a bit overwhelming, but you quickly realize that you're supposed to create or build your own
trademark hamburger: you start off by choosing the basics composed of the patty, e.g. AAA, vegetarian, etc., next, the bun, e.g. brioche,
whole wheat, etc., then the cheese - you get the idea, and then comes the more interesting extras with which you get to let your creative juices flow to personalize your burger - things like fresh horseradish mayo, grilled portobello mushrooms, um...for the life of me I can't remember the choices off the top of my head...anyways, by default the burgers come with LT and pickles, and, oh, then there are the crazy expensive extras you can have added on too, like truffle shavings if you so fancy...

Also, for ease of ordering, if you're pressed for time, and can't be bothered to construct a burger and for cheaper, too, I may add, you could always just have the classic all dressed "Big Zac" which as the name implies, is like a Big Mac, but only because with two patties, it's humongous, otherwise, in all other respects, there is simply no comparison, lol. There's also the "Little Big Zac" with just one patty which is what I had since I'm not as much as glutton as Kumar is, haha. For sides, Kumar had French fried onions which he thoroughly doused with Tabasco and scarfed down by the forkful while I had the sweet potato fries which is a nice departure from the regular variety. They were
awesome, and I decimated them leaving all but, let me see, one, two, three, I think it was, fries that came in the largish bowl/ramekin thing they were served in. It's funny, because we like to believe that sweet potatoes are healthier, well, they probably are, uh, steamed, that is, nevertheless, given the choice between the regular fries and them I think they still are a tad healthier lol, like the lesser of two evils, I mean, I don't think I've ever had a cleaner colon than as I write hahahaha...

Our waiter went out of his way to ask the bartender to make Kumar a blackberry mojito, which the guy recommended, at Kumar's asking. Needless to say, it was wicked. We kinda thought of trying one of their desserts: a freshly baked deep-dish chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla ice cream -how sick is that? But we were simply too full by then, so maybe next time! Yup, so the food was awesome, the burgers were *mean*, succulent and juicy, the buns fresh, the sides addictive, the staff attentive and friendly, the decor, simple and hip...one wall was hung with a panoramic sepia photograph/wallpaper/mural of Montreal, which I thought was London (hahaha) at first, but as Kumar pointed out, was in fact, Montreal, duh...all in all, I'll give M BRGR a whopping (not whopper!) 9 out of 10.

Allow me to conclude my post with more Canada Goose obssesion. Yes, having become so sensitized to them by now, it's crazy to see how many I had spotted last night within a span of so much time and space, the mall was teeming with kids wearing them, I mean the ratio must have been 1:5. I saw a lot of bombers which seem to be extremely popular among the younger set and a few ladies here and there in anoraks and parkas of both the "Expedition" and "Montebello" styles to be specific but none in my "Resolute" (hah!) which I had previously explained at length is more utilitarian. I'm glad that at least for now, I'm still relatively original in the midst of this totally ubiquitous fad! Yes, I heart my "firefighter/constable" parka - it gives me an air of authority, that the all five feet of me, otherwise lacks...lol...Have a Nice Weekend, everyone...

Let me guess, Canada Goose?

OK, so I really, really heart ♥ my Canada Goose from Kumar. So much so that these two very unfortunate outcomes of that fateful-flash/freak-snow-show around two weeks ago which led me to #1.) break my record Facebook "fast" of two months and "diss" "Mother Nature" herself on my status update, and far worse, #2.) break my own innocent child's spirit by telling her how I thought that snow was Winter's brat child (well, maybe not in so many words!) most likely wouldn't have happened if I had my parka at the time. I mean, I've never ever been so toasty warm in such frigid Montreal weather! I'm telling you, who cares if I look like I'm ready to put out fires or arrest someone?! Warm is totally the new black!

I know, I know, I had promised that I would move on to another subject but this apparently seems to be of interest to a lot of people. In fact, quite a few of you (besides, of course, my loyal followers which I must always acknowledge first!) had stumbled upon my post when Google turned it up along with the volumes of info out there after searching "Canada Goose and counterfeit/fake" and shockingly even elicited an actual comment... or two - awww, thanks, guys! Allow me to redirect you though to a more professional and journalistic take on the matter - this article's very informative, terrificly written and relatively objective as opposed to my post which was slightly/heavily influenced by virtually impossible to control and just naturally carelessly calculated female hormonal surges/shortages and not to mention by the less than seamless interplay of other naturally-occuring body chemicals like serotonin and endorphins that vacillate between abounding and dangerously low levels in my brain (which I fruitlessly attempt to regulate and create a semblance of balance of with scary amounts of chocolate and negligible increments of exercise!) and of course by some external factors as well - a dizzying recounting, in part, of my (continuing) Canada Goose adventures. Just enjoy that other article which was written by a man, not subject to this madness:)

Canada Goose - Chalking it up to experience and one happy ending, blah, blah, blah...

So in my impatience, frustration, desperation, *naivete*, downright stupidity, (and need for instant-gratification!) I ended up ordering a Canada Goose online, through some random site after not being able to find any in my size anywhere in the city! I figured for 252.00 USD I was getting a really awesome deal for the real McCoy. Of course, they processed my card upfront, but because I've never had any previous bad experiences buying stuff over the Internet, I didn't think of it as a cause for too much concern when after two weeks after placing my order, it was still "pending." And right away, after logging a follow up ticket, I heard back from them with a tracking number "profusely" apologetic for the delay and "pleased" to inform me that the parka had been shipped out. So again, my excitement began to build!!!

So, it arrived last Thursday at the office where I had it sent to since no one's home to receive the package during the day anyways, and without wasting another minute after claiming it from Bessie, tore it open in front of a puzzled and curious Sema & Sheryl only to find out that I had ordered a men's parka by mistake!!! And to top it off, the thing was sooo fake with the funny looking fur ruff around the hood and its obviously inferior overall craftsmanship, having been shipped out fresh from probably some underground black market operation in China! I stuffed it back into the bag it came in and didn't look at it again. Yesterday, I decided to take the parka home in case Kumar might be interested but of course, he turned up his nose to it (although it did fit him like a glove!) having both a real bomber and a vest which he got through a special *package* exclusive to Harry Rosen (which is an authorized retailer of CG) employees only, of course, and excluding greedy wives, too!!!

I ended up checking out Canada Goose's *official* website, which I really should have done from the get go before I even toyed with the idea of getting one online, and read up on a whole section the site devoted to the subject of counterfeiting - a "scourge" as the company called it that they've had to contend with lately (and sadly something that all "iconic" brands must deal with) brought on by the recent exponential rise
in popularity that the brand (that has been around for half a century now) has been enjoying. I felt rotten for having inadvertently purchased a knock off! I promise, it was unintentional! I never wanted a fake jacket, for first of all, who knows what it's been stuffed with, yuck! I just couldn't find the exact color, size, and style I wanted this late into the season when only odd colors like canary yellow and sizes are left available and after finally having made up my mind that the jackets are the gold standard in outerwear, when it comes to functionality, the real purpose of the jackets (before they took the streets of all major temperate cities by storm) being intended for use under extreme Arctic weather and that, I, of course, *must* have one! Hey, if they're good enough for them Arctic expeditioneers, they're good enough for me! That's why I had resorted to purchasing online where they seemed to be readily available. I should have known better! Anyways, I'm returning the fake at my own expense, and will be getting a refund from the rogue site, if they give me a hard time I'll just threaten to blog and expose their cheating rears, whose activities adversely impact us. I am very
intimidating, you know, all five feet of me!

Feeling bad for me, Kumar asked me why I looked so dejected last night as I walked out the door to go and workout downstairs to run off my frustration. No, I wasn't sulking over the silly parka, heck, no, well, ok, maybe partly because of that, among the other far more important matters weighing on my mind, these days. But this morning I got a call from Kumar, asking me whether I liked the "Resolute" model of parka, because that one they had at Stylexchange in my size! The Resolute is a bit more industrial looking with reflectors to ensure that you're visible, perfect for when you're negotiating icy sidewalks in the middle of the night and find yourself in the path of those crazy snowplows and
with loops you could either hang, I don't know, things like jack knives, CB radios, compasses (??) or lipgloss. It honestly looks like something you could probably wear to put out fires with (but still very nice!) without singeing a single (body) hair! Did I want it, he asked. I hesitated, knowing it didn't come cheap, but as their official site also made clear, CG isn't offering any promotions or discounts at this time and that too-good-to-be-true deals such as the one I found, are simply that, too-good-to-be-true! They insist that their jackets are investment items, the quality of which they stand by and guarantee complete satisfaction of. They already have a core market of Arctic experimenters, so they really don't need to lower the price. And so I said "Sure, but wait, isn't it early? Are you on break? I asked "No, I came here straight, 'doing this first thing, for you." Kumar replied and got me my parka, putting an end to the sad and freezing, CG-less existence, I've been leading (lol). My husband's thoughtful gesture brought me to tears! But I also know that, I'm going to have to wear blinders whenever we hit the mall from now on because I won't be getting another coat from him in a good while, and that's totally fine by me! My Canada Goose makes its grand debut tomorrow - man, I've never looked forward to subzero weather like this before!

M(ore) M(etro) M(usings)!!!

11. You know you're Metro when inspite of being stricken with a debilitating case of stomach flu, you're overcome by a nagging sense of social responsibility which compels you to render a public service by sharing an excellent article from your local newspaper on the dwindling number of men who wear ties in an admirable last ditch effort to encourage a renewed interest in the sadly dying age-old gentlemanly art form over Facebook.

This time I'm referring to a good personal friend of ours and co-owner of the fine bespoke tailoring shop of his namesake, Pellegrino Castronovo who is the second runner up to my title "favorite metro" because he's probably the only other one I know (strictly speaking!) besides Kumee!

I've actually been asked why I am such good friends with Peter's better half, Patty, considering the polarity of our ethnic backgrounds. The answer is in fact, quite simple: we both have something in common, namely, Metro husbands! It takes another girl married to a metro man to fully understand the full import of Metrosexuality and the pressure of, in Patty's own words, keeping up with men who are "constantly conspiring to look better than we do!" and not looking like "doorknobs" beside them - sentiments that I totally share and dig!!! But what's probably the most unfair thing about this is, after all that "conspiring," our respective husbands quickly forget about the time they had spent getting dressed in the morning, and carry themselves for the rest of the day with grace reminiscent of that of Fred Astaire - without any awkward fidgeting, yanking at their ties, loosening of their collars, letting out of their waistbands after lunch or (God forbid!) "adjusting of themselves" (lol) !

This "keeping up" poses less of a problem to Patty than as it does to me. Being Lebanese, her more than the usual attention to personal grooming and appearance as compared to her average non-Lebanese contemporary is almost innate and works well to her advantage. If you ever walk into Adonis, you'd think the ladies were having audience with her Majesty, the Queen, rather than with their friendly neighbourhood
butcher for some, I don't know, Kafta or pre-marinated Shish Taouk (??) with their carefully painted faces and perfectly coiffed hair. But that's really not a bad stereotype to have and I can't be critical either of Patty for the time she takes herself to get dolled up, because the end-result is virtually flawless (airbrushed!) perfection!!! As for myself, looking presentable alongside Kumar, admittedly, can present a little more of a challenge and a few times I've had to beg him to "dress down" a bit, but I wouldn't say that I'm that hopeless, either, I mean, I take
care, too, but the time I spend less than expertly wielding my hairbrush in one hand and my hairdryer on the other and fumbling clumsily with my wand of mascara is more or less reasonable, and then again, I have two kids...

I'm glad that Peter had shared that article yesterday highlighting the downhill trend towards overly casual dress that a lot, if not the majority of men these days have taken, even in settings and contexts that normally call for a measure of formality. The overall tone of the piece is sad and you sense the author's nostalgia for a time long past when men simply dressed in a way befitting of "real" men and not boys - a loss that Peter, Kumar, Patty and myself, and no doubt, every other metrosexual (and their better halves!) share and mourn, too...

t-o-m-o-r-r-o-w, got it;)

When I say that I very much welcome, comments and criticisms constructive or otherwise, I really mean it, even if they are to point out typos, grammatical errors and misspellings, please, feel free to comment away!!! Like I said, it's bad enough that some won't publicly declare that they follow my blog and choose to do so anonymously because they are too embarrased to be openly associated with me in any way, but really, true friends, well, they're supposed to care enough to tell you that your fly is open or you've got something stuck between your teeth or (more importantly!) tell you that you've misspelled a word, so can I count on you guys for that? You see, I'm not a very good speller - it's no wonder that I've always fancied myself as being Lois Lane working for the Metropolis' Daily Planet and would you look at that!!! I did end up marrying my Clark who wears non-prescription faux horn-rimmed glasses "just for fun" because he has 20/20 (super) vision and has no inkling as to how it's like to be practically legally blind because of a dumb genetic predisposition towards bad eyesight as a Filipina. I'm seriously considering to get an eye laser procedure done, and while I'm at it I might as well get a tummy tuck, too for my post-two-babies stretchmarky belly. Whenever I tell Kumar this, he tries to score brownie points with me by telling me the lamest cliche that he loves me "just the way I am," but I know he just doesn't want to dole out so much moola. I've reassured him though that I will get the latter thing done once I finally find a plastic surgeon who will do it, uh, pro-bono....

So, about the spelling thing, today, no, I mean, yesterday, I spelled the word "tomorrow" (confused yet?) with two m's. That's pathetic. Do you know why? Because t-o-m-o-r-r-o-w isn't even on the list of the one hundred most commonly misspelled words, which means, the majority of the English-speaking world's population has absolutely zilch problem poperly spelling the word, making me a sorry exception. Now, as much as my poor spelling skills is a mental deficiency, so is it an attitude problem...I think the use of spellcheck tools is *beneath* me (lol). Hence *this*. But, they say not to be "independent when it comes to spelling "independent," and ask "help" to know that it's spelled with an "ent" or "don't show your ingnorance" by suffixing it with "ence" (lol), so I might have to adjust my thinking. Gosh, I love play on words (and Freudian slips!!!) But in my defense to yesterday's slip-up, at least I caught my own mistake, it did look kind of weird staring at it on my Ipod (from which I write most of my posts, which is supposed to be upgraded to an Ipad courtesy of my most handsomest hubby wink, wink!!!) and at least I can spell Mississauga...I pride myself in the fact that I had that down pat from day one, or grade two, can you???

Re: The Lacoste belts. For the record, no, it's not some kind of black/grey market or "back of a truck" operation I'm involved in here. It just so happened that a friend of mine works for a company on Chabanel (that normally doesn't sell to end-users) that had a sample sale over the weekend. I had explained to my friend that (as she already very well understands!) it's unfortunately quite the undertaking to lug a pre-schooler and a reluctant toddler to these kind of things all by myself, but I was really interested in the belts for Kumar. So what she did was that she so kindly brought the sale to me! At $20 a piece, Kumar ended up getting four and I ended up getting one (measly) belt for myself to make it a nice round figure owed. I got a gorgeous medium width genuine patent leather one in mustard yellow, reversable, the flipside being canvas with the same leather trim, a handsome brushed stainless steel buckle with a "lacoste" cut-out - I'm like totally pitching!!!

Because my friend had been nice enough to bring me the goods, I mentioned to her that if she was looking to sell more, I thought I might have a niche market for her so she put a lovely assortment together for me from which my friends can choose from - sizes aren't 100% guaranteed to be available, but they have quite a bit in stock.

So that's the skinny on the whole belt thing. So, no, I don't work for the mob, Chinese or otherwise, nor the Japanese Yakuza, thank you very much, the last thing I need is to be served up a malotov cocktail! The belts are authentique and my supplier's legit. And finally, let's exercise discretion and definitely not on company time:)