Vote for J and Win me a Pair of Shoes

First off thanks to my millions of readers for voting for J's ad. It paid off. He is in the finals. Now, the voting really counts. Please do the following:

1. go to www.doritos.co.uk
2. visit vote area
3. select MEXICO IN YOUR MOUTH
4. vote for MEXICO IN YOUR MOUTH
5. tell all your friends

Please. Please Please.... he has promised me a great new pair of shoes if he wins and I really want a pair of these.

Mexico in Your Mouth

Huh?

It will all make sense if you watch this video. It was conceived, directed and animated by J. He is submitting it to an ad competition put on by Doritos. I would LOVE it if he won (£20,000 - we'll all go for drinks) ... so world-wide readers, when you have a moment please go to www.doritos.co.uk and rate it. It is called (surprisingly) Mexico in Your Mouth.


The cool Mexican guitar was created and performed by Mark Barlow (my old Yahoo! colleague) Go there now and rate!

Wobbly Legs

I have twice fallen in public places when I was completely sober. Once in the busy intersection of Queen's University immediately after handing in a paper. I blame it on lack of sleep.

The second time occurred when I worked at Ogilvy in Toronto. I was running along the 11th floor accounting hallway and bam I was down. No warning nothing.

When I saw this, you would think I would be compassionate given my sketchy past and my own fashion victim status. Nope, I whooped with laughter. I hope you do too.

Sexy Legs

As you all know this blog really does not have a focus. It originally was going to track my goals and ironically that didn't happen. Then it meandered in to our life in London and at other times it is a world-wide marketing platform for the latest and greatest from MOO (see yesterday's post).

But, today we move in a new direction. Today, I'm going to talk about sexy legs.

It starts with an introduction to the coolest little online shop called the Shop Floor Project. It is jam-packed with loads of funky but incredibly expensive finds. Within minutes of entering, I found myself salivating over everything and strangely I found myself attracted to all the products showing off sexy legs. I guess I'm a Legs woMAN.

What do you think? Tea with Sexy Legs A brand new take on the tea party.

Designed by Tina Tsang

And, what better accessory for your sexy legs tea cup but a pair of your own sexy legs. Here is the perfect solution to add some sex appeal to the old jambes (also found in the same shop) - these beautiful tights adorned with Peacock feathers.

Designed by:
Chloe Patience (do you think that is her real name?)
& Mhairi MicNichol

Now I need to find an event to justify these purchases. I hear another MOO Tea Party maybe in order.

Is your ________________ naked?

In my mind, you are not dressed unless you are wearing at least one accessory and it should be stand-out, memorable and preferably a conversation starter. Well how do you think your ________ feels? You know your __________. There it is all naked and boring without one accessory. That's just cruel.

Well, I have the answer for accessorizing your _____________. It's a sticker or better than that it is a collection of stickers. Imagine it. The creativity, the comments, the conversation -- all due to some stickers.

Here's the easy answer on getting some really cool stickers. It's a full book of stickers designed by 90 different designers from around the MOO world. Check them all out and now your ________________ (fill in the blank - Laptop, mobile phone, notebook, oyster card etc.) will be dressed. Here is a Ready Made pack of 90 stickers. Go check them out:

Stickers $9.99
Buy this on MOO.com

Otherwise, make up your own pack choosing from other designers or use your own pics/designs. Go Crazy, but don't go naked.

Travelling is Understanding

It's interesting what travelling does. Big revelation here ... it teaches you something about your home.

J and I are in China (my pics). Currently, We're in Shanghai but we have also visited Hangzhou and Xitang (all within a few hours of Shanghai). All three places exposed us to new experiences -- the people, practices and prawns (I needed another p word). But, what keeps amazing us is the fact that visiting China has taught us about our neighbours back in Canada.

In Toronto, we live in an area filled equally with young white families (2nd/3rd generation Cdns), Portuguese and Chinese immigrants. I must admit we've always pondered some of the aesthetic renovating decisions of the last two.

Now that we have visited both places and marvelled at the beautiful tile work in Portugal (we went last May with my parents) and the pagodas and red lanterns here in China -- we get it. We also understand way more about the funny personal traits that seemed wrong to us. But of course they weren't wrong, just different.


Here goes:


1. Clean Clothes are more important than the aesthetic of Laundry Lines. You see it everywhere here. In the polluted city of Shanghai to the picturesque riverfront of Xitang. Laundry is hanging out constantly. Everyone does it. Why? To clean your clothes of course. A colleague of Martina's asked her how could her clothes possibly be clean if they weren't allowed to dry in the sun. It's part of the cleaning process. Ahhh. I get it. I still don't like the way it looks hanging off the front porches of our little Toronto neighbourhood, but I understand it now. Hmm. Not enough sun in London.

2. Spitting is not a slight. It has always disgusted me how in Chinatown you'll be walking by a fruit salesman and you hear a deep gutteral horking sound. I always thought it was a slight at me. Not so. It's just acceptable (but don't you dare point that teapot spout at me - bad ediquette)

3. Butting in line is the best way to make a train. Yes, as a WASP, I was trained to wait quietly in the queue. Here it is mayhem. We first encountered it at the airport when we arrived in Beijing. We had to get our bottle of Whiskey re-packaged. So, we found the line and waited patiently. Then out of nowhere a little old granny marched to the front with 6 bags to be packaged. What??? We were here first. That's the way the cookie crumbles here. Not to worry. We used the same granny technique when we almost missed our train back to Shanghai from Hangzhou (we jumped a queue at least 300 people long). In fact, J was quite good at it given his height. It felt liberating.

4. There is always a better price to be had. Well I knew that at the markets here we would have to haggle. [ed. NEVER EVER go with J if you want a good price. If you know him (perhaps you are his client), you know negotiating isn't his strong skill.] However, the negotiation even transpired for our water in Xitang. Crazy. Now I know that I could probably negotiate a better deal in some of the Chinatown shops. I must remember. Tania? Maybe you should try.

5. PJs are acceptable street wear. I often wondered why I would see Chinese men wearing pajamas on the back streets of Chinatown. I still don't know why, but I decided to give it a go in Xitang. Of course after a number of glasses of wine and a need to go buy candles it felt great. I think I looked rather chic and I fit right in. In fact, coming towards me was a man wearing his flannels. We exchanged knowing looks.

6. U turns and driving in the opposite lanes make a more harmonious driving environment. It is often said (not by me of course as my driving sucks) that women drivers are bad but Chinese drivers are worse. Now I understand it. It isn't that Chinese drivers are bad. It is just that as new immigrants to Canada they are driving Chinese style. Here everyone drives using their own rules. You'll constantly encounter cars doing U-turns, driving in opposite lanes, sitting on their horn etc. What is the most amazing thing is I didn't hear any squealing tires or yelling of profanities once. NOT ONCE. I think it is because the Chinese drivers (cars, trucks, mopeds and bikes) are basically like bats. They come really close to one another but never hit. They have an amazing radar system. The problem really occurs when you insert a Western driver or you move the Chinese to a Western city like Toronto.

So. Basically, everything makes more sense and it make me think that our London neighbours must look at us and say "what the hell!" I know for a fact you don't ask for doggie bags in London (Pasha Moment).