Misfits, MOO and Mahem

When I first met J, he had a set of MISFITS cards from his childhood and I knew we were meant together because:

1. I also had the MISFITS game as a kid
   
2. I still had my game (but for different reasons ... mostly being a packrat)

(photo courtesy of Etsy seller sushipotparts)

In any case, he kept his set of MISFITS for many years hoping to get a client to buy an idea that used them. He finally managed it when he designed this book cover for Knopf. Not sure the book did all that well ... but he realized his MISFITS' dream. So, it didn't come as a huge surprise to me that J would think it would be cool to use MOO MiniCards as a modern day way of creating a new MISFITS game (complete with Angelina Jolie and Woody Allen). So, first he created some misfits,

then he borrowed Nick and Jacqui's cat - Walter - then came the filming .... below is the result. A cat, some silliness with a dash of MOO ;)

Not exactly the London Fashion Week Sale

I knew it was going to be a marathon shop as I didn't leave for the Natural History Museum (home of the London Fashion Week ) from Stokey until 2pm on Saturday. I finally got to the sale by 3.30pm, so I knew I was going to have bolt crazily around the stalls snatching up unique and stand-out fashion finds - I was ready for the challenge.

Sadly, the burly security guy looked at me with absolute horror when I told him I didn't have a ticket. He basically laughed in my face reinforcing his power. Dejected and embarrassed, I slinked away.

There I was in the other side of town locked out of the fashion heaven that the London Fashion Week Sale can be. I had to drown my shopping sorrows somehow. So, I thought I would do something I never ever do... go down to Harvey Nicks and see if there was something on sale. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

Instead, I got sucked in to good old Zara on the way to Harvey Nicks. I must admit Zara is amazing for cheap but fashionable finds (I felt like Erin as I walked around snatching up items to try on in the fitting rooms). I had her voice in my head the whole time - "don't buy something that doesn't fit, you'll never get it altered"

I ended up buying about 5 things. Here are a few I found:

1. Silky Top - with 60s design
First off, I was thinking about an upcoming wedding (evening one) and wondering what I might be able to wear with my raw silk black tulip skirt purchased for a Yahoo! Christmas party 2 years before. So, I gravitated to a number of silky shirts. I'm not sure this shirt really works with the skirt ... but I like the bold design and bought it.

I also love the easy construction of this top which I plan to knock off if I ever get my sewing machine out again. It is so simple to make it is ludicrous they can charge any money for this thing. While my top wasn't on sale, I thought it was a good deal for London - £29.00 (ok i'm still having rotation issues on blogger - please help!) Blog participation: Do you think the black skirt will match in style? I'm not convinced. Other ideas?

Orange Shorty Swing Coat
Here is the next incredibly cheap deal. I bought this little jacket - ORANGE - on sale for £12.95. For those of you not hip to the exchange rates to US$ ... that is about $25.00 Whoohoo! I felt like Erin (my shopping fiend friend). Now she would also point out to me that I look terrible in Orange which was in fact reinforced as J told me that perhaps I should wear a bit of make-up with it :), but hey, I'm addicted to orange. What do you think? Good buy? Or bad purchase?Here are the other fun finds of today (i need to upload a shot of the dress because i'm still on the fence and need all of your input - 100s that read my blog ;) Here they are:

• Gray Silk Dress (perfect for all my upcoming weddings) It has empire waist and feels a little deconstructed but need to show it to you for your advice- required some kick-ass, high heeled shoes... really high
  
• Gray leather handbag - every day big leather bag, rectangular in shape with short shoulder straps (not so cheap £89), but my laptop can fit in it if i need to get everything in one bag for carry-ons
• Burgundy jersey long-sleeved top - cheap £6 (i'll need to throw out the one i have that has bleach marks on it which means i can only wear it with a vest)
  
• REALLY pink, v-necked cotton sweater - cheap £9.99 (perfect to go under my orla kieley vest with pink around one shoulder)

So, what do you think? I think I made up for the fact I got pushed out of the London Fashion Week Sale... :) It was a Happy Ending.

In fact, I came home to an amazing meal prepared by J and then we went around the corner to an evening of jazz at the Vortex with Gilad Atzmon (highly recommend ... in fact we bought a CD for Paulie -lucky Paulie)

If I can't ski, I'd rather bike

Having grown up in Ontario, Canada, I still find it incredibly surreal to be able to bike and walk without wearing gloves in February. This photo of a Magnolia bud was taken yesterday.

To give you a sense of winter while I was a child and frankly up until 3 years ago, here is a shot Tania took in Toronto just last week. While I love the snow, I need to be close to a mountain for some skiing. So, I'm not sorry not to be in Toronto ...


Now here in London, England, this weekend brought blue skies! Both Saturday and Sunday were filled with clear sunny skies only scarred with airplane vapour trails. Plus the good old gulf stream made sure we could easily spend all day outside --around 12C (yippee!)

The blue skies also meant that I wasn't going to sit in front of my computer, it dictated a day(s) out. Yesterday, as soon as we managed to wake up (we had been up late visiting with Matthew and Alex), I suggested a trip to Kew Gardens and J quickly agreed. So, after the prerequisite latte and croissant from Belle Epoque, we jumped on the train to Kew Gardens to see the Henry Moore exhibit.

I'm sure the exhibit would have been amazing on any day, but add in blue skies and relatively warm winter weather (i.e. 12C) and you have an "I love life" kind of day.
We just arrived at Kew and bought some fudge :) But it is disappointingly not anywhere as good as Niagara-On-The-Lake's fudge. Beware!

Can someone tell me how to make sure blogger doesn't rotate the pics. Sheesh!!



Here are a few shots from the exhibit and the day... I hope they make you smile and hear me say "miluju zivot!"

I think the best part of the day was as we walked from Kew to the train, some entrepreneurial young girls were selling yummy pink cupcakes. We passed by only to stop 10 feet past their booth and J ran back to get some -- yum yum. Only 50p each.

Now today (Sunday), J and I decided to give each other an early Valentine's Day present. FLOWERS!! As if Jonathan needed an excuse.

Today, I noted in the market (Columbia Street Flower Market) that it doesn't take an HP like J to buy flowers for himself. In fact, all guys here seem to find it invigorating. I was pleasantly surprised to see how at home the most tattoed, piereced and muscle-bound east-ender looked with an armful of lillies or tulips in Awww so sweet.

Believe it or not there were other great moments this weekend .. but feeling a bit weary from all the goodness. I hope you had a memorable one too.