I was going to skip Episode 4 and wait until next week to do a major GoT recap, but the more I sit with that episode, the more I need to vent about it. Jane Austen will have to wait, I need to get a few things off my chest. Rant incoming!

I have been saying this for ages now, but the show began declining in storytelling quality once the plot advanced past the books’ timeline. Season 6 was initially exciting because it confirmed some long-held theories of book fans, but the slide accelerated in Season 7 and is in full effect in Season 8. At this point, I’m not even mad anymore – ok, maybe a little cranky – and instead, I’m just giving up on the idea that we will be getting the kind of ending I always believed this story deserved.

After Episode 3, I was disappointed by the show’s apparent dis-investment in all things prophecy-related but I decided to keep an open mind. Even so, Episode 4 felt cheap. And it’s not even because, suddenly, everyone is pivoting to Jon as their next King (Cersei excepted, of course). Jon is a something of natural leader – he inspires people to want to follow him – but he’s a sh*t ruler. I still can’t quite believe that the reason why he was brought back to life was just so he can sit on the Iron Throne, but okay. Fine. Whatever. With a good Council, he can hopefully stay out of trouble. The North can be quasi-independent. Cool, cool. I guess the two Mad Queens will battle it out, and Jonny boy will pick up the pieces or something.

Unless he gets randomly killed in some totally inconsequential way because … why not. That seems to be the writers’ mantra these days.

Let’s talk instead about the other WTF moments in Episode 4:

• Poor Ghost. I know, I know … CGI budget blah blah. They did both Ghost and Jon dirty on that one. Book Jon would not have left his direwolf without so much as a backward glance.
• I guess House Baratheon is suddenly un-extinct. Alright, fine, but what the hell was that proposal?! I know Gendry is not the sharpest tool in the shed, and obviously he has no chill, but why on earth would he assume that the woman who just single-handedly killed the Night King thus ending the Great War would have any interest in being Lady Anything? This whole sub-plot is dumb. Why couldn’t these two just have had a little fun and went their separate ways? Ugh.

• Sansa rationalizing her abuse as a growth opportunity. I know some folks are arguing that’s not what she meant by her conversation with the Hound, but that’s what it sounded like. Ugh.
• Jaime and Brienne in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N -you get the point. Look, I’m not just salty because of Tormund, I promise. Realistically, Tormund and Brienne didn’t make sense either, but it was nice to joke about their giant, hypothetical babies. But Jaime and Brienne make even less sense to me. What they had going on was a beautiful friendship based on mutual respect. It was and should have always remained platonic. What do TV shows have against platonic male-female relationships?? I may be in the minority, but I felt zero sexual chemistry between these two. And the fact that the show insisted on showing us Brienne crying over a man? Ugh.
• Bronn as future Lord Tyrrell. Bronn can f**k right off. If anyone deserves Highgarden, it’s Ser Davos. Ugh.
• Rhaegal’s demise. The whole set-up was beyond dumb. Airborne Dany can’t see the ships that are within clear striking distance. The first 3-4 shots annihilate one dragon, the next 20 can’t even scratch the other dragon. Instead of flying around, and attacking Euron’s fleet from behind, Dany just … doesn’t. Ugh.
• The showdown with Cersei. This may have been the biggest WTF moment. Why did Dany’s side willingly come to a meeting where their opponents were basically armed to the teeth and in a perfect position to destroy them completely? If this was supposed to be a parley, it should have happened on neutral ground, with Cersei and her gang accompanied by a small complement of soldiers but without archers, guns, etc. This was just a set-up for Dany to watch her BFF get murdered, thus hastening her Mad Queen-ing … but, damn, it was stupid. Also stupid for Cersei not to actually take advantage of her superior position and kill Dany and/or her dragon right then and there. Ugh.

Let me add, as a postscript, that I ended up digging for spoilers online after stewing on Episode 4 for a while; having lost all faith in the writers’ abilities to steer the show, I decided to prepared myself for whatever was coming. And let me tell you: if the current (seemingly legit, but who knows) spoilers are correct, Imma gonna be in “burn it all down” mode come May 19.

With the amount of snow showers we had in the latter part of April, I am expecting an EXPLOSION of flowers this month. Nah, that’s just me trying to strong-arm Mother Nature; let’s face it, May in Edmonton could mean 10 inches of snow as likely as plus 20 degree Celsius weather. Sometimes, we even get both in the same week! Lucky us.

Speaking about April, it was all werk, werk, werk, GAME OF THRONES, werk. Thrifting was mediocre, but I got a couple of cool craft projects done. I am currently on the lookout for more ideas, especially as I’ve now finished all 4 seasons of Elementary available on Prime TV (sad face). I am probably going to take a break from other TV shows until GoT is over (sad face), but I have some promising books lined up (Normal People, and 4 Boris Akunin mysteries). Additional suggestions always welcome!

On to the clothes:

April didn’t really have a theme; I mostly just wore things I had recently thrifted, mixed in with older favourites. Overall, I am pleased with the line-up even though it’s somewhat less cohesive than previous months. I’m going through a phase where I’m more excited about my casual outfits than my work ones, and I can’t quite put my finger on the reason. By way of comparison, here are some of my recent weekend lewks:

I think it might just come down to the pieces involved – some of my recent favourites are definitely casual options (although I’m happy I’ve been able to get some, like the leather Zara skirt, to pull double duty). That hasn’t been an intentional thing on my part – such is the nature of thrifting, alas – but it’s making me feel like I need to up my game when it comes to work wear. That being said, in my current mood, while I still care about what I wear (I *always* care!), I don’t feel like putting any effort into planning what I wear. Winging outfits works … some of the time. We’ll see if May is full of (metaphorical) flowers or a wash-out.

Well, friends, I did it. I succumbed to the siren call of subscription services and signed up for the FabFitFun box. I blame my boss and LOL dolls.

Let me explain.

FabFitFun boxes have been all over my social media for a while; a few of the people I follow on Instagram subscribe to them and I have watched their unboxings with interest. I never took the plunge myself for a combination of reasons. I figured that the boxes were bound to be expensive and, more importantly the products over-priced; I am not averse to frivolous spending, but I am pretty picky about what I buy and thrift stores have skewed my perception of prices. But, it turns out, it didn’t take much to overcome my skepticism. My boss, who also happens to be a good friend, mentioned to me one day that she had just signed up – herself inspired by another mutual friend, who has been subscribed for over a year. J was very excited about her customized box and, in pretty short order, so was I. In my defence, J has the kind of natural enthusiasm that could sell a trip to the North Pole to an Edmontonian in the dead of winter. Furthermore, my resistance had already been weakened as a result of my exposure to LOL dolls.

Those of you not acquainted with any girls between the ages of 3 and 10 may be wondering what an LOL doll is. It’s no joke, let me tell you – only the most brilliant marketing ploy in recent toy history. An LOL Surprise is a plastic ball, wrapped in several layers of plastic, housing a small plastic doll and its tiny plastic accessories wrapped in plastic baggies. There are different “series” of LOL surprises, each with dozen or so different dolls. [There are even tinier versions of dolls called “little sisters” as well as “pets” for each of the big dolls, but let’s not proceed down this rabbit hole farther than necessary.] What doll you get is … yes, you guessed it, a surprise. The whole thing is about $2 worth of plastic, at best. Retail price: $20 and up. Per doll. They are insanely popular, as attested by the endless stream of YouTube videos dedicated to all things LOL.

My daughter currently lives and breathes LOL dolls and I will confess that her father and I have enabled her to what is probably an embarrassing extent. But here’s the more embarrassing confession: I secretly enjoy opening the surprises as much as my daughter does. A friend of mine who has a daughter of the same age recently made a similar confession to me. And it reminded me of my own childhood; I used to save up my pennies to buy “mystery packets” of stamps for my philatelic collection, and the best part was always the surprise element. Times (and hobbies) change, but human nature doesn’t.

Which brings me back to FabFitFun. For me, it’s like an adult version of the LOL doll. With an annual subscription, each box costs roughly $80CAD (including shipping). Or, if you like, 4 LOL dolls.

So … is FabFitFun worth it? I recently received my first box (Spring 2019) and here are my thoughts.

I like the packaging a lot. The box is cute and perfect for reuse if I ever have something to ship.

Ooh, everything looks nice.

I think this was the “mystery” item I ended up selecting. [I ordered my box late in the game, so some of the customizable options were no longer available.] It’s a shine spray – presumably an updated fancy version of the 90s glitter gels we all used. It will be a fun thing to try, but nothing special in my books. Retail value: $20+USD.

Verdict: I’ve tried it but it’s not something I’m going to use long-term. I may try it on my daughter’s hair for special occasions. Meh.

This I am excited about. I don’t buy fancy skincare but I am always game to try some. I’ve heard a lot about Tula on social media, so I am curious if it’s any good. This is a full size product, which is nice. Retail value: $28USD.

Verdict: I like this but I don’t think I would pay full price to buy it again. My optometrist (of all people) gave me a great skin cleansing hack, which is much cheaper and seems to work just as well, so I will probably go with that once this Tula is finished. But I’m glad I got to try it and see what the fuss was about.

This is one of the products that everyone got in their box. My hair is drier than usual because of the perm, so I am looking forward to seeing if this product is any good. Retail value: $26USD.

Verdict: I liked this a lot too! Be forewarned that it smells strongly. I don’t typically mind fragrances in my products, but this stood out to me in terms of intensity. I got used to it over time. It seems to work great as a conditioner; it leaves my hair soft without any greasiness. Not sure I would pay the full retail value; it may depend on how long a bottle lasts.

Another product that was in every box, and more fancy skincare to try. I don’t know if my eyes need de-puffing, but I am game to find out. Retail value: $42USD.

Verdict: Honestly, I’m not sure it does much. Maybe I just don’t have puffy eyes.

This was one of the main reasons I was excited for this box. I know I could get a similar bottle on Amazon for $30CAD, but on its own, it feels like too frivolous an indulgence. As part of the box, I can somehow justify it. Don’t ask. Retail value: $20USD.

Verdict: Love, love, love this! I use it every day and it’s increased my water intake significantly – a much needed improvement. I went and sprung for a second bottle, so I could have one at home and one at work.

I had originally selected the other Quay sunglasses (a cats-eye shape) but they were sold out, and so I received this pair instead. I am a fan of this brand, so I was pumped about these. I am not sure if this aviator style works as well on my face shape, so I may give these to my husband who is perpetually short a pair of sunglasses. Retail value: $60USD.

Verdict: These went to my sister-in-law, who scooped my husband (her brother). She loves them.

This champagne and charcoal scrub also came with every box, and it’s the sort of bougie thing I would never buy for myself. But, YOLO! Looking forward to trying this with my new Japanese wash cloths (remind me to tell all about them another time, they’re fabulous). Retail value: $24USD.

Verdict: Im enjoying this but it’s not something I plan on replacing when the jar is done. I don’t know if it’s doing anything for my skin, but it makes my showers feel more pampering and indulgent. I hope I get something similar in a future box, otherwise I will be hitting up Winners.

Last, we have the canvas backpack. I really like the look of it, so I was excited to select it as one of my customized options, but the quality is disappointing. The canvass part is decent quality and lightweight, but the faux leather straps feels cheap AF. No way anyone would pay the retail value of $75USD for this. It looks cute but I am not sure if I am going to use it much.

Verdict: A miss.

All told, I am pretty happy with my box; between the water bottle and the sunglasses, not to mention the chance to try some new skincare, I feel like I received my money’s worth. For the next box, I am going to have the opportunity to customize much earlier and will hopefully not run into any issues with certain options being sold out.