A funny thing happened on the way to the AGO

I ended up not going to work yesterday because I woke up with a terrible earache in my left ear and sea-lion-esque cough. I don't know what I felt worse about, missing work on my second week or being so sick. I have a tube in my right ear right now and have had them in my left ear so I don't like to mess around when I feel any pain in them so I bundled up and walked to a clinic in the rain. Turns out I was correct, I do have an ear infection. I got some antibiotic drops and then spent the rest of the day in bed.

I woke up feeling a bit better but I stayed in bed until almost 11. Then I got up and got ready to go meet Shelley from Forest City Fashionista for lunch. I figured I'd have lunch and if I still felt up to it I would accompany her to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

I decide to wear my new Merlin dress since it seemed like a good thing to do on a rainy Saturday.

Dress: Volt Design from Brava on Queen Street
Shoes: Fluevog Presence | Impel (last worn on Thursday)

Shelley and I ate at the Queen Mother Cafe (or The Queen Mum) and I was still feeling ok so we walked down to the AGO.

On the way there, a strange thing happened. A woman looked at us and said "I love your blog." So we stopped her and said "Which one?" Apparently she meant mine! That has never, ever happened to me before. And she let me know that my leather bracelet was made by Susana Erazo (not Grazo as I mistakenly guessed). Thank you to my blog reader for the information and for making my day! Wish I'd gotten your name.

The exhibit that Shelley and I went to see was Lost in the Memory Palace: Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.

I'd never heard of Janet Cardiff but Shelley knew her from school in small town Ontario.  I was pretty blown away by their installations. They were visual, audio and some messed with me psychologically. And most seemed to include telephones.

My favourite was The Muriel Lake Incident where you had to wear headphones and it was like sitting in a movie theater. In one ear you head the sound of the film. In the other, you heard the voice of a woman in the audience speaking to her companion. Very cool. Cool isn't an appropriate word but I'll stick with that for now.

Here's proof that Shelley and I did indeed meet.

Not a great shot of me since my hair does not like the humidity that's in the air but Shelley looks faboo as usual. Photos do not do her boots justice. They are so very, very awesome.

Tomorrow we're meeting up again to go to a vintage clothing show. I wish I had something vintage to wear but all my stuff is still in Halifax (hopefully I'm moving into my new place next week so I can be reunited with all my stuff). In the afternoon I'm meeting another blogger, Rachel from The So-So Sewer. We're going to hit Kensington Market.

I'm so glad I moved her. So much to do, so many people to meet. I miss my friends and coworkers in Halifax terribly (and my cats) but I think this change has been good for me. 

Sunday in the city

So yesterday I went to the Bazaar of the Bizarre. I didn't take any pictures because I wasn't there very long. It was good, and I like the stuff the vendors had on offer, but there weren't very many of them so it was a pretty quick visit. I did, however, ride the subway and the streetcar so I can say that I'm learning the transit system.

Today I decided to take the streetcar even further west down Queen Street into Parkdale. When looking for a place to live people didn't seem to think Parkdale was a good option but there's a lot of funky vintage stores up there so I thought I'd see what's what.

I ended up buying two dresses and a jacket, having lunch, buying some groceries and then taking the streetcar back to the Trinity Bellwoods area.

Here's one of the dresses I bought.

Dress: Pi Organic bought at Chartreuse Style  
Necklace: Curious Oddities bought at Fresh Collective
Hosiery: Wolford (last worn here)
Shoe: Shoe the Bear  (specifically these ones) bought at Heel Boy

First, yes you can buy flats at a store called "Heel Boy". I bought these to walk to work. I just can't bring myself to wear sneakers. I don't even own sneakers other than my sequined ones and I can't wear them every day. I've worn the heck out of these since I bought them. And the brand, "Shoe the Bear"? Such a cute name and logo!

I didn't mean to buy this dress. I tried on another one first which fit me perfectly so I knew I was going to buy it but this periwinkle one also caught my eye.  The last time I wore periwinkle was when I was a bridesmaid in my sister's wedding. I've always thought that it didn't do much for my pale complexion but I kinda fell in love with the back of this. I like how it blouses out at the top.

And comfortable as heck! It's mostly bamboo so it should be comfortable in the muggy Toronto summer. I tend to be a sweater so anything breathable is thumbs up in my book.

Here's a closer look at my necklace. What a harlot! Snogging with a man with her leg slung over the oar. It spoke to me.

Here's the jacket I bought at some vintage store. I'm not sure the name of it - oh well.

Anyway the tag says "Pant man. Made in Canada". I love the colours and look how perfectly the Zig-zag patter matches up at the button edges. Amazing!

I'll have to have this dry cleaned before wearing it since it has that musty vintage store smell to it. The pockets are still sewn up so I think it might be deadstock.

This next dress is one I bought and I can't wait until I actually wear it out to show it to you.

I'm going to call this my "Merlin dress" since the cat reminds me of my sweet black cat Merlin.

It's by Volt Design and I bought it at Brava on Queen Street.

ERMAGHERD this designer has such cute and creative designs. How would ever think to put a cat on a dress bodice, right between a woman's boobular region?

And then again on her bum-ular area? When I saw this I was all "bhbhbhbhbhbh...must have crazy cat dress."  I already have two crazy cat lady dresses but this one takes crazy to a whole new level.

Not sure if I can get away with this at work. I've got to wear it soon though since it's fabulousness should not be allowed to languish in my closet.

























 In closing, here are a couple of things from around my temporary apartment.