Wednesday Winners!

Dress and chain bracelet: ASOS; Gladiator Cuff: House of Harlow; Necklace: Forever 21; Bag: Mango; Boots: Modern Vintage

I got this dress (not a skirt or top but a dress) from ASOS after eyeing it for quite some time. It was supposed to be "inspired by" Nicole Richie...so I decided maybe I should pair it with Nicole's House of Harlow jewelry line cuff and just go full on Richie. Only thing I am missing here is the headband (which I refuse to do...so far).

So before I get into the draw, I just wanted to ramble incoherently about nothing in particular...

**My man and I are road-tripping it to Oregon next weekend (a long weekend). I haven't been down the coast since 2002 or something silly. We are spending Friday night just outside of Seattle, Saturday night in Portland and Sunday night in Seaside, by Cannon Beach. For the latter, our hotel is RIGHT on the beach which is awesome. You know what else is awesome? Oregon has no sales tax! And Portland itself is known as the vintage clothing capital of the world or something...if anyone has any suggestions on specfic stores I would really appreciate it...I've been looking through the online guide and it's so overwhelming!

**My accountant is finally doing my taxes from last year and the last couple of years (while I was at school) and I'm getting a whopping amount of money refunded! Like enough to go on an African Safari or something like (or two tickets to New Zealand, where I am actually going). However, I am planning to be a good girl and plunk them down on my credit card and pay it off - but not before I get myself (finally) a Digital SLR camera! For someone who went to school for photojournalism and who loves photography, a digital SLR camera is something I have been sorely missing! I am not getting a high range one because I don't have the money, but I am getting a Sony Alpha A200K 10.2MP DSLR SLR Camera With 18-70mm Lens Kit one which is apparently great bang for the buck (on sale for $430CND) and is perfect for someone who is just starting out with SLRs. Plus the lenses are exchangeable with old Minolta ones (like my dad has). I pick it up from Best Buy tomorrow and I am SO excited!

**My parents finally got a new dog. If any of you remember, our beloved Ellie was killed last year in Palm Springs when a car hit her while she was trying to save my mom - it also hit my mom and my mom is still in the process of suing the heartless old wench who did it(you can read the terrible story here *sob*) - now there is no dog that can ever replace Ellie (or Duke, our previous dog) and I am happy to report that Duke and Ellie are often in my dreams as if they never went anywhere, but my mom went to a rescue shelter with her friend last week just for fun. All the dogs seemed so scared and shut but they saw this little scruffy dog who ran right over to my mom. She jumped into my mom's arms and started licking her all over. Well, that did it. My mom had to rescue her right there and then. The dog is called (get ready for it)..MUFFIN...and she's 8 years old, so she's not a pup. But she's very lively and I am so happy my parents are giving her a good home, it's not fair that the older dogs get neglected and eventually put down because everyone wants puppies.

Anyway, Muffin is doing great, getting used to my parents and the fact that she's got a home now and won't be sent back. The only thing my parents are worried about is taking her on the boat - the boat is a huge part of our lives and all our dogs adapted to it. We are hoping she will too (btw she is a Havanese and Bichon mutt but looks like a scottie dog with a very long tail...)

**My online shopping ban is going great, two weeks or so into it. It's hard though, there is so much I wanna buy but I've stopped looking at the sites so there is no temptation. I've just allowed myself to look at net-a-porter because I can't afford things there anyway! I also went out shopping last Friday night - I forget that Vancouver's main shopping street (Robson) is a 8-minute walk from my house. I checked out Payless but didn't see anything cute in my size (why does size 5 or 5.5 get the shaft?). Then I went to another store and found ALL the shoes I had been eyeing online...Sam Edelman, Steve Madden, Blowfish, Dolce Vita, Report, Jessica Simpson, etc. I had no idea that our stores carried them. Anyway, I looked at all of them but found that I don't have much impulse when I shop in person. I would have snapped it up in a second online but now, I just took my time and decided that I didn't really need or want any of them.

That was until I came across another shoe store where I found the perfect pair of nude Michael Kors cork wedges....

Wish I had found these sandals ages ago, because they are what I have been looking for (but have been unable to find so I've just been buying other shoes to make up for it). So I feel like my shoe-shopping is done! For now...

**Last but not least, I got my iTouch 8G. This is just the best thing ever and so much better than an iPhone (I say that because I don't use my phone that often, I am happy with my current carrier and all my friends with iPhones pay huge bills each month). I am in love with my virtual koi pond and the aSleep function is awesome...I program it to make beach sounds and it turns off in 40 minutes, perfect for someone like me who needs noise diffusion at night. Most exciting of all is the Closet Organizer app but I have to take pics of all my clothes first before I can get that to work....sounds like a Friday night to me! The only beef I have with the iTouch is that many apps need a wi-fi connection...to Starbucks I go!

**Thanks for all the comments on the hair - honestly, I really am a hair spazz and I can't do ANYTHING with my horrible thin flat hair, so if I can do this, anyone can. I am thinking about doing a step-by-step tutorial just to show you how easy it is :)

All right, enough of that...on to THE WINNER!

*drum roll*

AMELIA! of that blog name that's really long and I can't spell it properly ;P Congrats Amelia, you have wone the NWT Forever 21 dress!!!

Also, I did a second draw for a "secret prize" and that winner is: CopperOranges!!

Ladies, congrats!!!! Yay! Please email me your address so I can send the items on their way :)

Congrats again to the winner....oh and to answer a few questions from last post, yes some say I look like Jessica Simpson (won her lookalike contest, got to meet her, etc) but I don't see it so much anymore (speaking of Jessica Simpson, I totally called it - I knew she "gained" weight on purpose so she could lose it and then get magazine covers...cuz what else does she have going for her now??) and no I'm not an actress, I've just done some background work, some more prominent than others and some that did involve some acting (but luckily not much because I suck ass at it :)

PS - Thanks to ALL your submissions on the "fashion pet peeves" - it was a riot to read! And yes, I found out I cause some people's peeves as:

I do wear huge wedges, I do wear sleeveless shirts when I in fact have flabby arms, I'll throw on Lululemon pants (but they make my butt look nice when I am running errands at 8AM!), I do wear bootcut jeans with high-heeled boots (but bootcut jeans are meant to be worn with boots!), I have bra straps that show, etc.

All in all though, great list and it's fairly obvious that you ALL have a vendetta against Uggs and Leggings (and yet I see this ALL the time - I'm tempted to put a picture of a friend up here as she is a repeat offender!). I also had to agree with someone's hate of blinged out Guess bags, trackpants with heels, and the most horrifying....Uggs with gym shorts! Who the hell would do that??

PPS my dad wears crocs and won't stop.