Oh hey, remember when I used to do these posts? Do you know why I stopped? Me either. Did you miss getting a brain dump of my current obsessions on a (sorta) weekly basis? No? Well, perhaps you need a reminder to convince that you did. Yeah? Yes!

Currently Wishful Thinking About: Valentino Garden Print Dress

droooooooool
droooooooool

Searching Google Images is always a dangerous activity. Instead of finding whatever cheap floral schmatta you were looking for, you end up gazing with unrequited longing at something like this. Meanwhile, your wallet is, all, “Lalalalalala, I cannot hear or see anything!”, and your brain is, like, “X yourself outta there, girl! Now, now, now, do ittttt!”, but your heart is, all “And I-eeee-iiii-eeee-iiii will always looooooove youuuuuuuu … uuuuu …”

Sigh.

Currently Loving: Fresh Flowers

Now that parts of our house are starting to look semi-decent and grown-up, I seem to be buying flowers all. the. damn. time. They just make a nice room look even nicer, you know? Plus, flowers are colourful, and we all know my Achilles heel. For example:

springtime in a vase
springtime in a vase

There are not enough purple/blue flowers in the world. I am dead serious. Some florists try to compensate by dyeing poor roses and carnations, but they are fooling no one. These hyacinths are not only the real deal, but smell delicious as well. [Edited to add: the smell is very strong; I ended up having to take these to the office, once they fully opened, because my mom couldn’t stand it. So if you have perfume sensitivities, these may not be the flowers for you.]

sitting pretty in pink
sitting pretty in pink

Prominent among my many “basic bitch” preferences, is my love of hydrangeas. They just look so fancay.

The key to buying fresh flowers often is to buy them cheap, and that means buying them anywhere but a flower shop. The hyacinths came from Costco ($12 for a big bunch), and the (potted) hydrangeas from Home Depot, of all places (also $12, decorative pot not included). I usually buy my orchids from IKEA, for under $20, and they tend to last a good 2 months. Unless you have a brown thumb like me, you can easily get them to flower again in a few months.

Currently Hunting: Tom Binns Alice in Wonderland Necklace

yes, please
yes, please

Speaking of basic bitchness, I adore Alice in Wonderland. I am forever sad to come across things that were tied to the release of the 2010 Tim Burton movie, and which I somehow missed (or was not able to buy) at the time. Like this Tom Binns necklace. Is it a practical choice of jewelry for a mid-thirties professional? Who the hell cares? It is perfection.

Currently Reading: This Article

Seriously, I want to have a lady date with Fran Leibovitz and Frances McDormand. There would be judging involved. It would be amazing. I’d be sitting there, slack-jawed with admiration.

I am also reading All We Know, a biography of three women who lived at the centre of the cultural Zeitgeist of the early 20th century but have since become mere footnotes in other, more famous artists’ lives. It’s kind of in the same vein as Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild In The Twenties, but about less (in)famous women.

If you’ve got some good book recc’s, hit me up in the comments – I feel an Amazon order is in order.

Currently Obsessing Over: Game of Thrones

NEW SEASON STARTING IN TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I have to get that out of my system. Coincidentally, this year’s Corporate Challenge theme is Game of Throwns which … makes no sense, but let’s go with it. I am super duper pumped because it means that my traditional competitive category – team trivia, duh! – will be the best one yet. And I get to be team captain! Or, at least, I think I am. Things got a little complicated recently. See, it turns out that my boss is a huge GoT fan, and an equally huge trivia fan, and there was some last minute, ahem, team shuffling. Our chances of winning have gone up exponentially, but I think my captaincy just went the way of the dodo. Oh well.

Jon Snow will make everything better.

20 Comments on Weekend Shortlist

  2. I love hydrangeas too, but they are usually blue here due to the acidic soil. Our neighbours are moving in a few weeks and they just gave me two large hydrangeas and two orchids for the garden. The hyacinths look great. Also love GoT but have to wait a few days longer than you

    • Oh, I wish we could grow ours in the garden! But our climate here is not always conducive to that, plus I have a brown thumb 🙁

    • I know, I can’t believe 10 months is finally over. Although, it hasn’t been nearly long enough for me to stop being sad about the Red Viper 🙁

  5. Would it help you to feel less sad about the Valentino dress if I were to mention that to me the sheer part on the shoulders and neck just looks like crepe-y, super sun-damaged skin on someone who’s lost a lot of weight and has loose skin? I know it’s not, and yet every time I glance back at that picture I see crepe-y, damaged skin.

  6. With you on the hydrangeas – love. Those and peonies are the best. I was also ALWAYS on the CC team trivia team. They never have enough of the theme-based questions though…and way too many sports questions (who cares about sports anyway). Good luck!

    • We have a designated “sports guy” on the team. I can’t wait!! Also, my husband designed out T-shirts this year, and they’re going to kick a$$!

  8. I love your floral arrangements. Would you consider putting together a tutorial of how you arrange your flowers? I especially liked the white hydrangeas and roses you had for your clothing swap. I know this may seem like a silly request, but my store bought bouquets never look that nice when I plop them in a vase!

    • It’s not a silly request at all (I’m not a huge fan of store bought bouquets either, because they tend to be skimpy), but I’m not sure if I have many tips to share :/ I kind of just wing it.

      I’ll try to take pictures of any arrangements I end up making in the next few months, and maybe I can do a post of those …

  9. I had to stare at the dress for quite a long while – it’s beautiful! Sadly, it’s probably too fancy for any of the weddings I’m attending this summer.

    I had the opposite problem with my hyacinth (bought bulbs last spring) – I had to bring it home because it was too strong for the office. I learned my lesson for this year – I bought a beautiful pink hyacinth bulb with some gorgeous tulips and little while muscari to decorate my Easter table. The nice thing about some bulbs is that you can replant them after! (Not hyacinths, though, I think it’s too cold here for them.) Long story short – I love the flowers too! Cannot wait for gardening season again!

    • I’m so jealous of your green thumb! I basically want to bulldoze over my backyard because I just don’t have what it takes to make it look like an English garden oasis 🙁