Saturday Steals–Apron

by Camille Posted on August 26, 2010

Hello, and welcome to another rousing round of Saturday Steals!

To participate, simply:

1) Steal a steal.

2) Write a post about it on your blog, mentioning that you’re participating in Saturday Steals (you can steal the above image if you so desire), and

3) Add the link to said post to the list at the bottom of this post.

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‘Member how I told you I was lucky?

Well, it’s true. I’ve been having some really lucky luck lately, especially that of the postal persuasion. It seems like every time I go to the Mayberry Watering Hole these days, I leave it with a spring in my step and a glimmer in my eye.

I keep finding delightful packages waiting there for me—and what’s more, I get them for no deserving reason! I don’t know why this is happening to me—heaven knows I’m normally not so fortunate—but when the gods send you a blessing, you don’t ask why it was sent (thanks, Prince of Egypt, for that fine lesson of moral apathy—it will get me far in this world, I can feel it). That the Par Avion gods will continue to smile down on me is my daily supplication.

Dramatic? Yes, but the fact remains—

I delight in packages.

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune of finding one such present in my PO box. What it contained was this:

A delightful package bedecked with pink handwritten notes bearing good tidings of great joy. The purpose of this package? Why, to help me make it through summer school, of course.

Upon hacking it open like the parcel vulture that I am, I was blinded by the brightest, cheerfullest colours I’d seen since the last time I was chillin’ in Anaheim with Walt’s legacy.


And on further investigation, I discovered that my talented friend the Science Teacher had sewn me an apron!

And a lovely apron at that—with scalloped stitchery, two generous pockets and a candy-stripe ruffle, it was everything I ever wanted in an apron.

I vaguely recalled the Science Teacher emailing me for my address some weeks before, but—fuzzy-minded person that I am—the memory had long been lost in a sea of blog post ideas, research paper citations, random Harry Potter facts, and sundry tidbits that are wont to fill my squishy brain on any given day.

Which was lucky for me, because it meant this apron was a total surprise, and a welcome one at that.

I tried it on instantly, having always preferred the look of myself in an apron over any other outfit (all the better to hide the fat rolls with, that’s what I say), and was immediately enamoured:

Then I hung the apron on the hook in my kitchen and picked up my suitcase to start  my voyage to New York and came back and wrote a research paper and took a final exam and went on a brief excursion with Poor Kyle and never even thanked my benefactress for her benevolent deed.

Until now.

Thank you, Mrs. A, for the thoughtful, wonderful gift you made for me—specially for me—out of the goodness of that lovely lovely heart of yours.

It made my day and also my month.

And that’s my Saturday Steal.

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Now it’s your turn! Add your steal to the link list below. It will be open from now till Sunday at 11:59 p.m.


Posted in awesome., friends, Overall Good Things, Pretty Things, Saturday Steals | Tagged | 3 Comments

Bead for Life Necklace Envy

by Camille Posted on August 25, 2010

I’ve been having some amazing luck lately. A few weeks ago I entered a giveaway hosted by Kelly at One Day at a Time, and wonder of wonders—I won!

Kelly wrote about this awesome organization called Bead for Life, which helps women in third-world countries earn money and become more self-sufficient. But you can (and should) read all about it at Kelly’s post.

The necklace I won is a 17-inch green beaded necklace, and I have literally worn it every day, with every outfit, since I got it in the mail last week—with black. With white. With red. I don’t know why, but this turquoisey-teal (are turquoise and teal the same thing?) necklace seems to go with everything!

(Either that or I just like it so much I don’t really care whether it matches or not. I wear it anyway.)

My favourite part is the clasp detail. No finicky mechanisms or frustrating latches (which are impossible for my arthritic fingers to maneuver); just a simple S-hook and figure eight loop. Add that to the tiny embossed charm that reads “Bead for Life,” and it’s pretty much impossible for me NOT to adore this necklace.

And here’s proof of me wearing it with my newest favourite outfit. (Poor Kyle took this picture of me just before we headed out on an hour-long walk a few evenings ago. A day or so later, I ran into my neighbor, Mrs. Flanders, who had apparently watched the whole episode from her front window and wanted to know what it was all about. It just goes to show that in Mayberry the very streets have eyes. You can’t pick your boogers here without half the town knowing about it. But Mrs. Flanders is a dear soul, bless her inquisitive heart.)

Thanks, Kelly! I am delighted with my prize.

Posted in awesome., fashion people, like-it-link-it, Overall Good Things | Tagged | 11 Comments

Miss Philippines 2010’s Answer—Major Major Flop

by Camille Posted on August 24, 2010

Poor Miss Philippines 2010—did you see her answer?

I know how she feels, though.

I had a job interview today and it may as well have been a Miss Milky Way pageant (or whatever) for as nervous as I was. I don’t know, I’m normally pretty confident in my 23 years of existence, but for some reason I was kind of loopy today. My tongue kept getting caught on my teeth, my words sounded fake (and not even the good, convincing fake, but just…bad). I left feeling like I probably wouldn’t get the job despite knowing I would be a great match for it.

The worst part of the experience was that awful question (not unlike poor Miss Philippines’s) they always throw down in interviews:

What’s your biggest weakness?

I hate that question. (I especially hate that I forgot to think of an answer ahead of time. I always think of answers ahead of time, dang it!)

What a stupid question.

Yeah, right, jerk, like I’m gonna tell YOU my biggest weakness!

No Miss Galaxy contestant would never admit getting knocked up at 14, or running a huge gambling debt on her grandmother’s credit card—or whatever her biggest mistake was—on national television. By the same token, I would never tell a future employer how I hate waking up in the morning, or how many hours I’ve spent not only watching but also analysing Gossip Girl, or that I drink a DDP (or more) a day and I think I’m a little bit addicted to it, or that nine mornings out of ten I fail to make my bed, or that sometimes my farts trick me, or that I can’t seem to buy organic no matter what I do, or that I’m awkward.

No way. I would never do that.

And yet, I know you’re supposed to have SOME sort of answer for that ridiculous question…but like I said, I completely spaced it ahead of time. And I spaced it even worse during the actual interview. I mean, looking back, I could’ve at least used some sort of Michael Scottism—”I work TOO hard” or “I forget to take my breaks” or “I’m too awesome,” or something.

But no. I couldn’t even come up with one of those.

In the end, I did the worst thing possible: I basically said what Miss Philippines said during last night’s Miss Universe 2010 evening gown interview question: “There is nothing major major…I mean problem that I have,” or in other words, “I am perfect and you are not.”

Major major flop.

On my way home from the interview I walked around Mayberry hanging up more flyers for piano lessons. I figure one or two more students oughtta make up for my lack of gainful employment this semester.

Posted in failures, mediocrity, woe is me | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Saturday Steals Recap and The Part Where I Become an Enabler

by Camille Posted on August 22, 2010

Thanks to all who participated in Saturday Steals this weekend!

I’ve been neglecting my recap duties over the past couple of weeks. I keep meaning to do them, but then before I know it it’s Wednesday and another Saturday Steals is scheduled in two days and I don’t want my readers getting sick of the Steals series and I am forced to chalk yet another week up to my life’s tremendous failures.

The list grows ever longer.

However. I’m trying to do better. So here is a recap of the most recent Saturday Steals. (And for your very own chance to be featured on my blog [a prize, I assure you, worth its weight in glory, God, and gold and the Virginia Company], all you have to do is participate in Saturday Steals over the weekend. Simple.)

Here’s a run-down of the excellent steals showcased…

DeAnna got scores of cute fabric for cheap at Satan’s Supermarket (but we won’t hold it against you, DeAnna).

Shesten got free shoes, and they’re way cute! Shesten also shared (on a different blog—she’s a die-hard Saturday Stealer if ever there was one) a couple of her recent young adult fiction audiobook steals—definitely worth checking out!

Spencer bragged, and rightly so, about an awesome dinner he got for free—a $100 value (only don’t let the title fool you: there are no pictures to speak of).

Camberly scored a really really awesome vintage recipe book—full of soups and stews! I’m hoping she’ll spread the wealth and share a recipe or two after she tries them out.

And Jacque stole these four shirts for her twin boys (twins for president!) for less than $7…total.

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In other news…

…it has come to my attention that some of my readers may not be aware of something great about Saturday Steals:

Did you know that you don’t actually have to write your steal posts on Saturday?

In fact, you can write them ANY day of the week preceding the Saturday Steals you want to join.

On the Monday before?

Yes.

On the Wednesday before?

Yes.

On the Thursday night so late that it’s almost Friday before?

Yes!

Then—and here is the marvelous part—when Saturday rolls around and you’re too busy to write an entire post (all of you with lives, I’m happy for you, really), all’s you gotta do is link to a previously-written post (and, if you’d like, add a note explaining that you’re participating in Saturday Steals).

Easy.

And if even THAT is too much effort, you can email me any time during the week that you write your post, and grant me permission to add your link on Saturday, and I WILL DO IT FOR YOU.

My mother would call this enabling, and she’d probably be right, but I don’t care—I just want more people to join in Saturday Steals.

Does that encourage any of you to participate who otherwise would not? Or is the whole idea of Saturday Steals so overwhelmingly lame that NOTHING could convince you to participate?

Posted in like-it-link-it, Saturday Steals | 4 Comments

Saturday Steals: There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

by Camille Posted on August 20, 2010

Hello, and welcome to another rousing round of Saturday Steals!

To participate, simply:

1) Steal a steal.

2) Write a post about it on your blog, mentioning that you’re participating in Saturday Steals (you can steal the above image if you so desire), and

3) Add the link to said post to the list at the bottom of this post.

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During my senior (Grade 12, Canadians) year at the hallowed Westwood High, I was forced, along with all my fellow seniors, to take a course in economics.

On the first day of the semester, I walked into class with high hopes: despite the fact that I hated any and all topics related to the word “economic,” I knew it was going to be an excellent class because I had the good fortune to land the awesomest econ teacher in the whole school—Mr. I’ve Long Since Forgotten That Dude’s Name But He Looked Like Chris Farley.

Only imagine, if you will, my shock and dismay to find that Mr. Whomever had his own good fortune of being assigned a student teacher that year! And I’ve forgotten her name, too! And she was not so awesome!

It became a horrid class, and the only thing I took away from those four months of my life (besides the affinity for Evian™ bottles {thanks Afton}) was the phrase, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

Nothing’s ever completely free in this life. Maybe that Chic-fil-A™ deluxe chicken sandwich with extra pickles was free to you (and really, if you had to dress like a cowboy to get it, was it even all that free?), but somebody had to pay for it. Maybe the Chic-fil-A™ corporation got that particular batch of chicken free from a new supplier, but the supplier had to pay to slaughter and de-bone those momma hens.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, dadgummit, so just you wipe that silly little smirk off your face and HAND IN YOUR ESSAY! It’s TWO DAYS LATE!

I really hated that student teacher.

Anyway, I got a free lunch today. Free to me, not to my mother-in-law. She is usually good to celebrate milestones in my life with me, such as completing yet another round of higher education, and this milestone was no exception.

We went to Broxburn Café for a locally-grown organic feast, the likes of which even the strictest of granolas would be proud to digest:

See that salad? Made from absolutely the tenderest butter lettuce I’ve ever noshed on in my life. And those tomatoes? Tasted like candy. And the peppers and shrimp and mangoes in that herb-infused wrap? And that strawberry ranch salad dressing (it sounds pukey but tasted like Handel’s Messiah)? And, and, and? It was all delicious.

And it was all free.

(To me.)

Such a simple steal, but one worth mentioning, I’d say. For all you locals, I highly recommend you take your mothers-in-law to Broxburn soon, before winter is upon us (eek) and summer is but a shadow of sunful glories past.

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And now it’s your turn! Add your steal to the link list below. It will be open from now until Sunday at 11:59 p.m.




Posted in awesome., Green Living, Saturday Steals | Tagged | 5 Comments

Change the Third

by Camille Posted on August 20, 2010

**Housekeeping: Somehow yesterday’s post was up all day with the wrong ending. I think it was fine in Google Reader, but if you read it here on the website and were a bit confused, I do apologise. It’s all sorted out now, so feel free to try again. Really, the ending was the best part. If I do say so myself. Which I do. Obviously.

**Also: Come back tonight (or any time throughout the weekend) with your Saturday Steals. If you want.

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When I look back on my life—

No, too sappy.

I am at a place where—

I am at a place? What does that even mean? C’mon, Camille, say it like you eat it.

All right, fine. It’s like this:

I don’t like school. I am good at school, but I don’t like it. The whole university scene, the bureaucracy, the formulaic research essays, the MLA format, the group work…it all really grates on my nerves.

I’ve always said the first thing I’d do when I graduate would be to flip university the bird and never go back.

Well, it looks like I might still flip it the bird.

But I can no longer say with surety that I’ll never go back.

I’m thinking about getting a Master’s degree in English. And maybe even teaching at the University level after that.

Why not just scratch your eyeballs out with a #2 pencil, Camille?

I know, it’s ridiculous. I already swore I’d never change my major but then I did. And then I swore I’d never take summer school but then I did. And then I swore I’d never go further than a Bachelor’s, but here’s the thing:

As it stands now, getting a Bachelor’s degree in English doesn’t do much for me. Oh sure, I could write, but let’s face it, I’m not tragic enough of a substance addict to be a truly successful writer (unless you count DDP, which I hope you don’t because if that were the case I’d need a rehab clinic of Lohan proportions, stat). Plus, I’ve submitted lots of my writing to lots of publications during the last twelve months, and none of them have been accepted except one (but that was lame).

So I’m giving up.

I’ve failed in life by the age of 23. (But then, I always did want to be a prodigy: World’s Youngest Failure, that’s me.)

And in lieu of that failure, I’ve decided to set my sights to more realistic goals.

As part of the requirements for the summer school class I just completed yesterday (hooray), I had to give a presentation. I chose to lecture on the role of women in Victorian England. I worked really hard on it. I researched it a lot. I spent hours on my outline. I practiced in the mirror. (I did not practice in the mirror. But I did practice.) I bought cupcakes because I wanted to be the favourite.

And I nailed it. I got 100%. And I kind of enjoyed it, too.

A few weeks later, I met my professor at a downtown café to talk about a different research project (yawn much?), and she spent twenty minutes gushing about how great my presentation was, how natural I looked up there, how I would be a prime candidate for graduate studies, how she would love to follow me through my “career,” how it would be a crime if I didn’t teach at the university level. [Suffice it to say she’s my favourite professor I’ve ever had.]

I left that meeting with an inflated ego and an inkling…

…that maybe…

…I should’ve never said never.

Nothing’s set in stone yet. There are a lot of factors to consider, including but not limited to finances, mental stamina, and my prime procreation years. I don’t have a supervisor or a curriculum vitae or a prayer of an idea for a Freaking Thesis (and yes, from this point forth, any time I refer to the horror of higher education known as a thesis it will be a Freaking Thesis)…

…but I do have an inkling.

And also an enormous load of whites to soak on account of all the pants I’ve crapped just thinking about another two years of school.

Posted in change, graduate school, I hate change, my edjumacation and me | Tagged | 10 Comments