Keira-anne.com

I just got back from Victoria a few hours ago. I bought myself a souvenir - new Keds. My love affair continues. I got off the bus in Nanaimo where my mom met me, took me to the Bay and bought me these ones too.

I took the first shuttle to Victoria yesterday morning, and was picked up in downtown Victoria by Toni to be whisked away for a killer day/night in the capital city. First we avoided the Harbour crowds, all there to catch a glimpse of the tall ships, and instead headed for the rocky beach on Dallas Road to walk, talk and catch up.

After a quick catnap, we took in Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia at IMAX. True, it was air conditioned, but being that the temperatures soared to 33 degrees on the inner Harbour, our next stop was the cold beer store. After beers on his roof, we stopped in briefly at a BBQ (where I met some truly stellar and ridiculously funny people) before heading back downtown so Toni could work it at the door. He’s a doorman at Lucky Bar. For fun.

I played the role of Lucky doorgirl, which involves nothing more than standing around and batting my eyelashes while the guys check ID.

This morning I opted to spend a bit of solo time downtown, so I made an early morning trek along Oak Bay Avenue to where the action is and found myself amongst the tall ships, the last of which were getting ready to set sail for Port Alberni.

Time spent in Victoria is never time wasted; it’s a truly classy city with wondrous sights to see that never cease to amaze me. Viewing the unique homes is alone worth the trip over. As I sit here in my mom and aunt’s lush, green backyard - Vancouver Islander Lager in hand - I am reminded of how grateful I am to be able to call a place like this home. The only sound I hear is the gentle patter of Charley’s paws on our deck and a few tiny birds distantly chirping back and forth in the trees. Now if only I could do something about these mosquitoes…

It’s doubtful that you’ll enjoy tonight’s post unless you’re of the softer-skinned, lovely-scented, shiny hair variety, but that being said, both boys and girls alike may get a kick out of this. I want to jump around to three different places, so hang on - tight!

Appearance Modification Products

One thing I love about getting back to the Island is suburban shopping; in particular, cheaper shopping. It’s always easier to stock up on the goods a girl needs when in small towns.

First up, I grabbed Nivea’s new Summer Touch body lotion with sunless tanner and firming qualities. Being that I’m still in my 20s, firmness doesn’t concern me, but practicing safe sun does. The lotion promises a sunkissed appearance after five days. I’m on day two and already very impressed. I also snagged a cannister of Skintimate’s new “Lotionized” shave gel. Words cannot possibly express the softness said shave gel provides.

As you can see, I finally finished deciding between skincare products and settled on old faithful, Clinique. Already my skin is tingling in delight, so it’s rather clear I made a good choice.

Despite the rain, thunder and lightning outside my apartment window, summer is around the corner, and now is the time to stock up on footwear for sunny days. If you wait until June or July, I’m guessing you’ll be out of luck. Two pairs of flip flops, one pair black and one pair brown, $7.98 each. Score.

Hot summer nights require cool summer attire. With such a long hem and high neckline, I probably couldn’t have picked a less sexy nightgown, but I love the femininity it oozes. Plus, it’s ridiculously light and comfortable.

I like to call it my Jenny Gump gown.

A Journey Through Vogue

As I sat on the Coastal Renaissance on Friday evening, I found myself flipping through the May 2008 edition of Vogue magazine. For some reason, I especially enjoyed this month’s read; much more than most editions. Here were some highlights that either made me ooh, ahh or chuckle.

Which brings me to my third and final point for the evening…

Eating Well For My Body

Everyone who knows me knows I’m a Jugo Juice addict. In fact, I’ve already brought a couple friends over to the Dark Side. Grabbing a “Skinny Peach” juicie has become a daily habit of mine, so out of curiosity, I went to JJ’s website to look up the nutritional information. Oddly enough, everything but the sugar content was listed.

Photo: Little An on Flickr

Being that, as of late, my mom has become somewhat of a walking encyclopedia when it comes to nutritional information, I asked her to give it a shot and figure out the sugar content. We guesstimated somewhere between 18 and 20 grams of sugar per serving! Sick!

I know that natural sugars are necessary, but that is a huge sugar and carb load all at once. Bikini season will arrive before I even know it, so I think it’s time to cut down the JJ addiction to Saturdays, and only while running errands. (That being said, thank goodness Casey’s getting a haircut this weekend!) Drinking that each day while sitting on my rump at my desk is a bad, bad idea.

Sorry to break the news to you, ladies.

…from everyone’s favourite blonde narcissist.

For those of you who have never commented on my blog before, there is a procedure set up for doing so. Whenever someone is a first-time commenter, whatever they write is immediately dumped into my “awaiting moderation” folder until I have the chance to review the comment. As I sat at my desk this morning, an e-mail notification popped up in my Gmail that there was one comment awaiting moderation. This comment, in turn, referred me to a newly minted blog.

I encourage you all to check out said blog here.

I have to say in all honesty that, despite the intent and content, it’s actually very well written.

Thanks for the publicity, Stanley.

A side note to those of you who may be pondering the idea of creating blogs such as Stanley’s open letter to your humble narrator: remember how, just a moment ago, I mentioned that all new comment contributions to my site are dumped into a moderation folder? The beauty in that is the fact that all IP addresses and a whole cluster of other information is also recorded. Because while you could state that you “stumbled upon” which ever blog you decide to target, the information attached to your IP address is proof enough that you visited the object of your obsession by way of Facebook. And, being that my Facebook profile is entirely private, I suppose this means that Stanley is a “friend” of mine.

Nice, hey?

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In the spirit of all things non-Carrie Bradshaw, today was day two of Army & Navy’s annual shoe sale. Fortunately, Rebecca and I were finally able to make it down there today and scoop up some fine finds for summertime.

Army & Navy’s shoe sale continues now until April 27, 2008 at all Army & Navy locations in British Columbia and Alberta.

Last week’s post about the impending summer season got the ball rolling in my head, and I’m actually finding myself looking forward to sunny days and hot nights. However, thinking about such things has turned into somewhat of a slippery slope. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve put any sort of significant punch of new items into my wardrobe. I got to thinking about what I need to stock up on, and the prospect of shopping has got me rather excited. It wasn’t until I was walking home from the office today and did some mathematics in my head that I realized I might be a few dollars short of what I need want, ideally, to stock my closet.

Photo: cmdrray on Flickr

Let’s do the math together, shall we?

_____ _____ large tote, Coach, $398.00
_____ _____ _____ wedge shoe, Keds, $59.99
_____ _____ skimmer shoe, Keds, $39.99
_____ _____ _____ perfume, Holt Renfrew, $80.00
_____ _____ _____ dress, Bebe, $159.00
_____ _____ hoodie, Lululemon, $80.00
_____ _____ pants, Lululemon, $80.00
(*specifics have been redacted to keep your prying eyes away from my much-coveted items)

In addition to this, I’ll need a couple pairs of dressier sandals (Steven Madden wedges?) as well as a minimum of two sundresses. Creating some cushion for a few random accessories and maybe a couple cute tops to go with my new favourite jeans, let’s say that’s an additional $300.00, all in.

SUMMERTIME GRAND TOTAL: $1,196.98

Sooo…does anyone have any super ideas that’ll put a cool $1,200 in my pocket and fast?

Updated - Where There’s Oil, There Will Be Blood

Being the huge fan of ‘No Country For Old Men’ that I am, I was thrilled to learn that it had won the Academy Award for Best Picture several weeks ago. However, after watching ‘There Will Be Blood’ last night, I am singing a different song. ‘Blood’ was completely robbed. Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance was so brilliant that it was often overwhelming just to watch him on screen. His presence is, very simply, satiating. Kudos to the Academy for awarding him the Best Actor trophy.

What I appreciated most about the film as a whole was its authenticity. Despite the quality production of any given period piece, one tends never to forget that they’re watching sets, costumes and props. Not so in this case. They might as well have transported cameras and recording equipment 100 years back in time and shot this film. The movie was just released on DVD yesterday (in eco-friendly packaging, I might add) so if you haven’t yet experienced Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest masterpiece, do so now.

Photo: Paramount Vantage Pictures on Hampton Roads

Is it not expected that every living, breathing, red-blooded woman has an insatiable appetite for shoes? The same has not always been true of me…at least not entirely.

I love “stuff,” and by “stuff,” I mean gooey, fragranced, soft, silky products that you find beind the mirrored doors of my bathroom cabinet. I love lotions and potions and all things in between; hair creams, eye shadows and glosses to make my lips sheen. One thing you won’t find a voluminous amount of in my apartment is shoes.

Photo courtesy of duygu on Flickr

You see, I’ve never really understood the fascination that so many women have with what I had always thought were “things that go on your feet.” What I’ve come to realize in the last year or two is that the problem was that I never understood precisely how it is that fantastic footwear makes an outfit come together.

Quite obviously, it’s a lesson in fashion I am very slowly learning. Over the past two years, my love of shoes (and therefore my desire to pursue a great pair) has most certainly grown. And oddly enough, I must be a golden goose when it comes to snagging the right pair of boots, heels, galoshes, sneakers or Keds. Even more strange, I have a knack for always getting “the very last pair” in my size and colour (or so I’m constantly told).

It all began two years ago when I wanted a pair of black leather stilletto boots for a good price without looking like a Roxy tramp. Low and behold, I found that so-called last pair at $300 slashed down to $150 at Stéphane de Raucourt on Robson. And you know what? They’re fabulous…

And since then, I’ve added the “last pair” of killer whale Keds, chocolate brown UGGs and even some new silver peep-toe pin-up heels for Saturday night’s affair to my collection. Even more amazingly is that I’ve managed to score every last shoe in my closet at a killer price.

I wonder if I could make a living as a personal shoe shopper for self-indulgent yuppie women…