I don’t know if Santa Claus is going to pay me a visit this Christmas ‘cuz I’ve been a bit naughty. I could redeem myself by driving to school to hit my 4:40 p.m. class but since that would require lots of polluting and even more willpower, I’m staying put on my new Aeromat balance disc cushion. I was in class bright and early this morning and noticed when I hit the cafeteria for my morning cuppa that I didn’t have my wallet with me! Luckily I had just the right amount change in my pocket to cover the cost of my caffeine fix. That’s what I get for not allocating enough time in the a.m. for coffee and brekkie!

I had to head home after class to make sure my wallet was safely at home. Without the wallet I wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything during my 6 hour gap between classes. Yes, SIX!

Just as I suspected, my Ferragamo baby was sitting atop the wooden cabinet in the front foyer of the house. Phew.

I had left my wallet there last night after some more naughtiness. Yep, I went shopping. I was extremely exhausted after class yesterday and not looking forward to the prospect of heading home without knowing for sure that I would get to talk to Dave. Nothing is more frustrating than pining for your true love all day and night only to find an e-mail from him saying that you won’t get to chat until the next day if at all. To save myself from the possible heartache, I hopped over to Winners.

I went principally to search for a birthday present for cutie pie Isabelle who is turning 1! Check out this picture of that I took of Isabelle a few months ago! This is one of my favourite pics ever. This pic made me fall more deeply in love with her (and my DLSR) than I already had!

I had gone to that very same Winners a few weeks ago and had run into an adorable Harajuku Lovers hoodie that would look hype on the wee one. I didn’t buy it last time because it was too expensive and not the greatest quality. Also, I have major issues with Gwen and how she objectifies Japanese women. They’re not dolls, Ms. Stefani. Let’s not talk about the L.A.M.B. princess’ appropriation of Japanese pop culture.

I hate to admit that I was kind of excited when I saw the little Harajuku Lovers’ hoodie still hanging on the rack. Somehow in my twisted mind a Hysteric copycat made for a mini-person still seemed appealing.

Don’t worry, I eventually came to my senses (you know, the ones that abhor visible brands on babywear) and found a couple of cute things for Belly. Those few things included a surprising amount of pink. I usually get excited about gender neutral clothing not because I think that girls should not wear pink; but because of the stupid gendered colour dichotomy and the social meaning attached to the different colours. Pink doesn’t have to equal “delicate” and “prissy” nor does blue have to mean “tough”. Babies aren’t tough. They are innocent sweeties ready to absorb our ridiculous assumptions about what boys and girls can and cannot do.

Also, I’m not into the whole pretty pastels only thing. I think that the babies I know really like bright primary colours.

So anyway, even though pink sneaked its way into the purchases, the clothes are stylish, un-branded (at least visibly so) and utilitarian. Huzzah. Yeah, I bought dark pink PANTS for the little girl. Deal with it.

And being me, I also had to pick up some books. Because it’s never too early to start reading with kiddies! Isabelle’s parents already read with her; and even though Isabelle tends to want to munch on the books while listening, everyone thinks that the books do her good. 😀 Seriously, I wish more people would read to their babies. I am so grateful that my parents read to me all the time when my mind was developing. Even though the book seriously disturbs me now because of its outdated gender roles and weird ideas about communication, I think it is really sweet that in addition to actually talking to my brother about my impending arrival so many years ago, my parents bought and read toddler Andrew the Berenstain Bears’ New Baby.

Even though I was on a mission to buy the baby bday gifty, somehow I ended up picking up a few things for myself. Again, more with the naughtiness! I like to think of them as treats for my health and therefore less evil but I know that’s a sorry excuse.

One of the “healthy” items was the aforementioned balance disc. I have yet to decide if the disc will allow me to avoid buying a replacement to my old “Executive Office Chair” that hurts my back thanks to a partially flattened foam cushion caused by years of service in Montreal. It does force me to sit in a more erect fashion, which is always a good thing.

The other treat was a new watch. Those who see me in person regularly know that aside from earrings and my ring o’ love from Davetron, I am rarely without a watch to match my outfit. Lately, my collection has been failing me because so many of my cheapie quartz time tellers have dead batteries. I should just get all those batteries replaced and put myself on a watch-free diet, but I could not resist this little Nike number: Imara Run. Mine is in the unavailable “Ice/Metallic Silver”. (Don’t you love how someone thought it necessary to add “metallic” to that description? ‘Cuz silver is not enough.)

I hate that it is Nike, but I am a sucker for good, functional design. The new watch is pretty, ergonomic and fits my needs. That doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly started running a lot. Nay, I am a gym rat but not a runner. My knees are thankful. Sadly, my knees are particularly thankful because I’ve been diligent about sporting my *cough* Nike patella band. What can I say? Naughty.

Naughty is the theme of the day. The coffee I bought in the caf? Not the available fair trade organic stuff. I just had to have the hazelnut-flavoured stuff!

On the other hand, the latest batch of beans I bought for home brewing is Kicking Horse, baby! If I’m willing to blow my student budget on a new watch, I might as well pass on my beloved economical Lavazza and just buy pricey ethical.

Since this post is looking to be solely about consumption, I’ll alert you to the fact that this household finally has a coffee grinder. It’s a cheap little Procter-Silex that is amazingly quiet. I guess I’m used to the loud Braun Dave and I had in Montreal. That grinder was so loud, I think it scarred the cats for life. I think the P-S grinder is quiet because it is less powerful. It takes about 4 X as long to grind the same amount of coffee to the same coarseness and doesn’t grind completely evenly, but it is better than nothing! 🙂

Last week, my mother also got me a new hair dryer. Usually, I look like a poofy-haired freak with a hairdo I like to call “toussled natural.” If I’m organized enough I rub in a dollop of Biosilk Silk Therapy and fry my hair straight with my super ceramic BaByliss Pro flat iron.

While in Montreal last weekend, I felt pressure to have more presentable hair since we were staying with the girl whose hair always look good (as evidenced by those pesky post-rehearsal pics in the previous entry.) So one morning, I snuck into Lydia’s walk-in closet and used her hair dryer after a shower. My hair was so soft and smooth afterwards, I thought I’d never have to plug in my straightener ever again!

I don’t know if the “ionic” bit is just a hoax, but I had honestly never achieved such smooth results with a home hairdryer before! So I remembered the model and asked my mother to look out for it the next time she hit Costco. She called me from the warehouse one day and said that she had found a “Conair 1875 Tourmaline” dryer. I kept saying, “Does it say ‘Ion Shine’ on it? Is it red?”

“No, but it does say ‘ionic’ on it. Tourmaline, child! Tourmaline! And it is purple, not red.”

I got excited and she brought the thing home. My hair, when I actually get around to drying it, is very grateful. I am a new convert to the traditional hair dryer!

I don’t know if the ion output or “ceramic technology” actually does anything or if it is just the high wattage that coupled with a concentrator that actually stays on the barrerl that makes the difference. At any rate, I’m ready to give away my old dryer (also a Conair) to any takers. I’ll likely lug it to Isabelle’s birthday party along with other random used goodies in case one of my girlfriends feels like taking my cast-offs.

For someone who usually just goes with the towel- and air-dry method, I own a lot of styling tools. I also own the Conair 1000 Watt Hot Air Styler and their Hot Air Curling Iron. Both have been used to tame my waves. I should seriously invest in Conair stock!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 5th, 2006 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Materialism, The Sacred and Mundane.
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