SUMMER2016

A lot has happened since the last time i made a post here. so i'll just run through them all quickly as a sort of update.

1) fully moved in. 

2) i adopted a bunny who is basically my whole life now. since getting her she's reduced a lot of my anxiety, and i feel a lot better.

3) i am going to mermania2017 to speak on a mers of colour panel

4) mermaiding in newfoundland which was absolutely amazing!

5) oh yes i was in newfoundland enjoying the sights and foods and sounds... and snorkelled with whales and dolphins (got overexcited and i threw up from how tight my wetsuit got.... and after the initial throw up i became super seasick which was my first time ever being seasick. i've been on boats before but was never this bad)

6) i'm now an illustrator and working on handpainting illustrations for a children's book created by a fellow merfriend

7) my first ever block party with the neighbours. we've now established friendship with most of the neighbours and are now having a halloween house decorating contest. i may or may not be working on doing a seawitch themed house. playlist is all ready to go.

8) i still need a proper table and wineholder and dinnerware cabinet.

9) i'm now officially the best cook in the house. and i can actually use my oven. steven calls me the king of the kitchen.

yeah thats about it.

MIA

So... obviously i've been occupied and neglected to update this blog, but thats because i was in the middle of occupying my other mermaid blog.

Yeah. I have another one where I interview authors of mer-books and mermaids who write books. No biggie. :P If you want to read it you can check it out here.

Other things I have been up to:

- Being domestic and cooking food for the husband. Honestly when he says he loves your cooking and appreciates all you do for him you can't help but want to cook for him always. Aw... <3 (also i'm pretty sure that one-liner came from a CLAMP manga....)

- Creating magic at my work place. a lot.

- Watching cooking shows and other TV shows

- Sleeping in. because I like sleep.

- For some odd reason giving relationship advice...?

- Making art!

- Decorating my new home!

- Planning vacations for next year.

and now, I must be off. Time to make dinner!

Canada day and Nonexistant National Pride.

Yesterday I was working from 9-2 at the store, which involved waking up super early. Fast forward to when I got off work and i was so pooped out i fell asleep from 2:30 to 5:30.

So with the rest of the day gone by and nothing else to do, I enjoyed the rest of my day in Stouffville. We ate at a restaurant called Symposium Cafe and we had this amazing server. The food was also amazing. If y'all ever decide to hit me up in the woods, go there to eat. And if y'all need to eat some form of protein, get the mussels marinara. It's delicious. And ask for a server named William. HOLLAH!

Anyway, after we ate, we headed down to the annual Strawberry/Canada day festival. It was a drive and walking distance down to a park... and it was my first time at a community gathering so it was really different, and i wanted to get myself acquainted with the area. Since it was a little town, parking was basically free for everybody in the city. There was food, a small local band covering songs, food trucks, police just chilling, kids riding and running around and their parents just chilling... I'm literally chilling because it was super cold outside. We saw fire works, and that was basically it.

Nothing special about this Canada day really. I didn't even feel the need to display my national pride anywhere on my body...

Mainly because of the introduction of Bill C24. 

Now for those who's heads up in the clouds imma bring you back down into the water/onto the ground where you belong.

This Bill was introduced to us by our "lovely" Canadian government in order to "prevent terrorism," and there is a SHIT TON of things wrong with this bill.


This bill came from fearmongering. If you have dual citizenship, (actually, even if you also DON'T and decide to get one) and if the government feels that you are doing something "terrorist-like", or "espionage-like", they can easily deem you as a terrorist and kick you out of the country, without the judges' consent. Except so many Canadians are immigrants and therefore have dual citizenships. There are literally thousands - no, MILLIONS of us who know someone with dual citizenship or are immigrants, or know someone who have immigrant parents.

I quote from the Global News: "The law as it is could strip someone who is not a terrorist—like Mohamed Fahmy—of his Canadian citizenship, because some court in some other country has said that he’s a terrorist.”

On top of which you could also be easily deported/life-banned if you decided to leave Canada and step foot into your own country.

First of all, under the Canadian charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 7, every individual is equal before and under the law, and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability. The Charter also guarantees our fundamental freedoms of conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression, freedom of the press and other media of communication, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association.

This bill basically removed this right. To deny this right to millions of Canadians, and to legalize this kind of discrimination based on where we are from or who we are, just because the Harper Government fears terrorist activity, is inexcusable, unacceptable, unconstitutional, and moreover extremely racist.

And second, Harper Government, how the FUCK dare you. This so called "BILL" gives the government the kind of power that is common in dictatorships.
If you want to make obtaining Canadian Citizenship harder for people coming into Canada henceforth, fine, be my guest. But don't make thousands of us who ARE Canadian "second class," and then claim US as terrorists. Like what the fuck is this? The middle ages? Using that kind of logic, that must mean every single white person who currently lives in Canada, who has ancestors enslave the indigenous peoples of Canada, are "second class" and are therefore terrorists as well. Which also means Harper is a terrorist because only terrorists remove the rights and freedoms of so many people.

Third, if you don't think this "bill" affects you in any way shape or form, you are highly mistaken. It's that kind of mentality that created concentration camps of Japanese Canadians and Chinese Canadians during world war two. Completely backward in thinking, I tell you. The next thing you'll know is that they'll take away our right to hold property, jobs, education... ugh.

We are a supposed to be a country built on love and freedom. Canada is supposed to be a cultural hotpot where everyone gets along and no one judges each other, and are united because of our individuality. We do not need another reason to judge each other just because of the idiotic acts of a few terrorists.

This entire Canada day weekend leading up to the big day had (and still has) got me fuming and so utterly ashamed to be Canadian. Ashamed that we are repeating the same backwards mentality only meant to be in the history books. Ashamed that this is what Canada is becoming - a once great country being ruled by unconstitutional mind frames intending to inspire fear in us to get us to support their ideology.

"True North, Strong and Free"? Not the case any more.

8 weeks before closing

OK. SO.

It is officially 8 weeks before move date, and I got shit to do. Imma make this post fairly quick.


I've gone to the home presentation, and, let's just say, I don't do well at "adult events."

Incident 1 - I did my best to look as old I possible could (much to my displeasure), and we reached the gallery where the presentation was being held, and there was a free art event for kids.
"I'm a kid" instead of strolling into the gallery to sign in, i went straight for the kid's arts and crafts. BUT Steven, being the good husband that he is, held me back and redirected me inside.

Incident 2 - We went to the booth to sign in but the lady only gave Steven his name tag and kept referring me as "guest." My bitch mode turned on. "But I bought the house too... my name should be there..." Sure enough it was. She gave me my name tag with our unit number on it, and... instead of going to the presentation room i went into the gallery where an artist was being featured.
(Which was incredible by the way. one installation art piece was just stringed pearls, and cloud artwork that hung from ceilings, fungi made from copper, and cloud paintings on rice paper. I HAVE A FEELING that i might be frequenting the gallery more often. It's a straight path from where our new place is, AND THEY HAVE ADULT PAINTING CLASSES. EEEP!!)

Incident 3 - Once we made it into the presentation room, we.... headed straight for the mini-bar and hor d'oeuvres and ordered (wait for it......) ginger ale.

Presentation was pretty brief. Talked about what we should expect what went into the house yadda yadda yadda. I lost focus pretty quick. Made acquaintances with a soon to be neighbour, and his wife and kid. Promptly made asian jokes and scared the child into listening to his parents (or else the asian lady will come after him. I am THAT person). And then question and answer time came and all the asians asked brick questions. just asian people. no one else. Then me and an asian guy at the back were silently like "bitch better have my monehh."
Context about the brick: people who bought vinyl for their house instead of brick immediately got a free upgrade TO brick. But people who already upgraded to brick prior had to pay for the uprade, so all the asian people (i'm assuming y'all didn't read the design/decor contract before actually signing?) ended up asking BRICK UPGRADE questions and if they would be receiving their money back. Someone should've told them, but otherwise it wouldve been included in their pamphlets and tiny cards.. had they actually been reading. THIS IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO READ.

Anyway after that i met with my sales rep who was there and informed her of my last name change and i needed to have two photo IDs to send to her (for lack of the second one, she requested my marriage certificate and so I have to get my passport changed. sigh.)


And with that I will need to start packing. BYE FOLKS!

World Oceans Day 2015

Before I start I would like to say that.. I didn't end up going to the after party for dreams take flight (BOOO) because I can't drive. I was going snag a ride with my lovely fraand (I shall call her Vision) but Vision sprained her toe and couldn't drive (yikes!), so we both sat at home like losers. Well... actually I got excited and did an OUAT belle ootd before she could let me know she was home ridden. If you were waiting for it on my other blog, well... that is why.

So I fancied myself up with nowhere to go. And I currently still feel so horrible about not working.  I packed up my guilt in a bag and went shopping for home supplies. Hangers, work pens.. all boring stuff really...

Anyway, today is world oceans day (seriously everyday is world oceans day for me). So I thought I'd do a quick review of some products I'm using that would normally end up back in the ocean by way of water cycle. Disclaimer: Not sponsored or paid for, by the way. 

About two years ago I started using a vegan product called Arbonne. My lovely friend Laura introduced me to it. After a super long presentation and a little spa night i was convinced i needed to replace all my nasty drugstore products and switch it out. I was quite aware of all the crap i was dumping into the water system but at the time i couldn't do anything to at least alleviate it.

It's expensive but I've had products that has lasted me so long that it was pretty much worth the one time purchase and was cheaper long term. The containers themselves you could probably recycle or re purpose them for something else, but I honestly feel so much better using these products because it's guilt free. 

ANYWHOO let's get started.

FACE

RE9 Advanced Set.

This anti-aging set I have has 6 bottles that include a cleanser, toner, renewal serum, eye cream, and moisturiser cream with SPF 20, and a nightly moisturiser cream.

On top of this set I have two other bottles that aren't included but I make it part of my daily summer/spring routine (cellular renewal mask in gel form, and instant lift gel).

So far I super love the set. I have had it for over 11 months now (holy crap almost a year). Mostly made up or Orange and Almond (and I have a little catalogue/booklet that comes with all the ingredients for every product that my lovely friend gave to me for reference).

FC5 Complexion Revitalizing Set for normal/ dry

For winter or colder weather I need something gentle, so I switch to this set which has a cleanser+toner, SPF 20 moisturiser, and night moisturiser. I also bought a separate scrub (no plastic microbeads, just clay).

And then I use a Clear Advantage Acne Spot Treatment for.. you know. pimples. I've used this set so far for two winters and I gotta say, I think the cleanser+toner is my absolute favourite out of everything I have.

BODY

FC5 Hair

What I normally find when you use regular drug store products is that you get product build-up on your skin, on your hair, and i break out because of it, and it was a hot effing mess. These do not give me product build up at all. I have the daily shampoo and conditioner that I constantly need to repurchase at the end of every two months. I use these as my daily thing if i suddenly have back-acne. Finally I can shower happy!!

Awaken Sea Salt Scrub

This uses orchid extract, avocado oils, nettle extract, birch leaf extract, aloe vera extract, coriander, lemon and sea salt (again, no plastic microbeads, yay!)

Formula is a bit too oily for me but when my feet feels absolutely dry and super sore I let it soak in the tub, and then it feels like butter.

SeaSource Detox Spa Set

Of course because I am a "mermaid" I am always stocking up on this set which is comprised of marine derived botanicals like sea algae, sea fennel, seaweed... sea salt...

Include a body wash, sea salt scrub (again, no microbeads at all), a full body gelee moisturiser that I double up as massage gel, and a hair mask. What? Girl needs to pamper herself ok??

Pure Vibrance Hair Set

I dye my hair (yes thankyou, fully aware of the toxins I'm dumping down the drain. As I said, trying to alleviate it) and I want to keep the colour for as long as possible so I'm using the shampoo, conditioner, serum, and when I style my hair I use hairspray. What's awesome about this set is it retains 93% of my colour after 20 washes. And I have red hair... that shit is hard to maintain. Even after 30 washes my hair colour is still strong.

Main ingredients are rice extract, hawaiian white ginger, horsetail leaf extract, sage leaf extract, and white tea leaf extract.

And then I have an onslaught of their makeup and makeup remover, you pretty much get the picture.

If you were looking to do a bit of change with the products you're using, definitely go with Arbonne (unless you have fruit/nut/flower allergies, then avoid at all costs). Remember that all the products you use on a day to day bases ends up in our oceans. 

Mission Blue said it best: 

The ocean is Earth’s blue heart and it sustains us and all we love. As we commit ourselves today to respect planet Earth, let’s remember that without blue, there is no green.

What have I been up to?

I feel like I have neglected this blog once again! SO get reading for another session of my brain-vomit.

• My mermaid tail from MerberryTails is essentially dead. So I shall be dissecting it and using the monofin inside for swimming, then I'll sew it back up and use it as a second dry tail for any of my friends to use at costume parties :P In the mean time, I've ordered my first silicone tail from SirensStudios.
• I started jogging in my spare time. On top of watching and revisiting Disney movies for work. And blogging on my Disney blog.
• I started a NEW blog! Except it's kind of more like an online Mermaid's library that I started for the community I'm in (well i might as well make SOME use of my Library Diploma). So far I have a pretty comprehensive list of books and magazines and a few movies, and I'm also starting an "author of the month" feature as well. So far I've interviewed 3 writers and I'll be interviewing an author! 
• On Thursday I will be attending the afterparty BBQ for DREAMS TAKE FLIGHT at the Toronto Airport (yay!) I'll tell you all about it on Friday on the Disney Blog.
• On Friday, a friend of mine who is in a band will be playing and I'll be there to support her and help her out at the door (I am a bouncer and money collector. YAAS)
• Then NEXT Thursday I have to go to a presentation for my house, which is basically one of those adult parties where you get to mingle with your soon-to-be neighbours, ask the authority questions about things that might matter, and eat fancy hor d'oeuvres . I guess I have to dress like an adult :| But I'm 24 so technically I AM an adult. No. J'ai Refusé. Sigh. I can already see the judging white-man eye looking over at us and contemplating if we have chaperones with us. Watch me and the husband be the only ones there with all out documents in our hands, and we'll look like we stepped out of a college classroom with our notebooks. Will tell you about all of that next week. 
• Also gathering all my documents together for house warranty. This is scary stuff.
• My older sister is getting married the week I am moving my things into my new house. Coincidentally enough I am booking off the two weeks so I can still be her bridesmaid. Being her bridesmaid is weird because we've never actually gotten along with each other, but I guess she realized I got my shit together... as opposed to the other sister who she gets along with but doesn't have her shit together. But anyway YES. She is getting married. 
• I have 2 new bebe nieces. none related to be in blood. But das okayy ALL MY MERBEBES ARE MINE.
  

Um... I guess that is all for now!

Bert Tait

I don't know if you guys can recall me endlessly complaining about my street name for the house or not,

"Why did I get such an ugly street name? Bert Tait. It sounds like 'Bird' and 'Tit'. It sounds like the name of a paedophile." 

So I decided to do some research on the name this morning as I was contemplating on why we got such a random name. Turns out it wasn't so random.
I found information about a Bert Tait who lived in Stouffville on OurOntario.ca (I'm not sponsored by them btw) using google. I know. So pro.

http://news.ourontario.ca/WhitchurchStouffville/1245774/data


Then, as I was scrolling down, I found legal documents on the naming of the streets in our soon to be neighbourhood. Say WHAAA? Is that allowed?

http://www.townofws.ca/en/town-hall/resources/Documents/Committees/SWC_Minutes_01-Oct-12.pdf

And it turns out that a meeting was held in the city to name the streets. Uhh where was my invite?? So I did some more sleuthing (aka basically scrolled an inch down on the screen). I found another legal document (seriously is this allowed?) just chilling right underneath the previous link. Low and behold, our street names... were actually named after of all the people who have lived in Stouffville and what their occupation was!

https://whitchurch.civicweb.net/document/76985/2013-174-RD.pdf?handle=C4570756BCA34BADAEFF0056EFB823EC


So it looks like Bert Tait was a drover. A livestock mover who moves sheep or horses or cattle from one place to another. And all I could imagine was a shepherd. Then a literal cowboy. Too bad no pictures so all I can really do is picture a cliché stereotypical cowboy from one of those raunchy romance books in my head kinda looking like James Dean.



Hubba Hubba.


I'm pretty much ok with the name now. I can deal.