The More Things Change...

The more they stay the same. Now that may sound like a cliche, and I'd ordinarily agree and never even think of using it in this post but in the case of the new and final chapter in the original Gossip Girl series it couldn't be closer to the truth. I finally ordered in online when to my dismay no one bought it for me for my birthday or for Christmas, Yes I am a twenty year old English major and this is technically a young adult/teenage read that my professors would probably be appalled that this made the cut so high on my reading list but meh! It's a guilty pleasure that I am not willing to give up. Seventy Seven pages into Cecily Von Ziegesar's brand new masterpiece, "I Will Always Love You" and I've been transported back to the days before the TV show, when I sat in my room and instead of watching TV and talking on the phone I was enraptured in the likes of "Would I Lie to You" "It Had to Be You" and "Nothing Can Keep Us Together". I was slightly apprehensive about picking up this book, after so many years, could Cecily be able to recapture the essence of the characters? After the It Girl and The Carlyles, would I be as in love with it, or have I matured too much. (Ha, that's a laugh) Turns out, I'm just as much of a kid now as I was 6 years ago when I opened my first Gossip Girl novel. I wish these books could live on forever and find it quite strange to compare it to the TV show when (except for the accurate depiction of Blair) everything else seems so far removed. Thankfully the images of the characters I'd created in my head all those years ago have remained unscathed by the small screen adaptation. To all avid Gossip Girl lovers alike: we may all have to grow up sometime but even if it's just for now pick it up and give Gossip Girl one last read. You know you'll love it xoxo.

Downtown Disaster

So in 2009 there've been countless letdowns in the fashion industry between the bailouts and the bankrupcies. With designers playing it safe, fashion lovers have been the ones taking the risks, but not with our pocketbooks -- we've been digging into the back of our closests to find those clothes (tags still on or not) that we'd thought we'd never wear again refashioning them into some vogueworthy pieces. Possibly one of the biggest shocks of all was when Christian Lacroix filed for Bankruptcy. Now with a few days before the New Year Chickdowntown has filed for the big B too. I'm sad to see it go, it was one of my favourite fashion find sights for pitches for my freelance projects. Even with all this downsizing despair nothing can cheer a girl up quite like a sale, get your hands on all the remaining stock on Chickdowntown.com with an additional 50% off using the promo code Friend50. Did I mention they've got all the labels I love, from Foley and Corrina, Alice + Olivia, Guiseppe Zanotti, Calypso, MARC by Marc Jacobs and so many more!

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I decided to check back on Chickdowntown.com this week & I'm happy to report it is back up and running! =D (06/06/2010)

Toni Toni Toni

So I've been quite a bit nostalgic these last few months and as much as I idealize my childhood I know full well that aside from the fact that everyone can admit to loving Backstreet Boys, NSync, Britney Spears and Spice Girls, and therefore commiserate on our bad choices (and laugh fondly and belt out one of our favourites at Karaoke) the elitist in me is quite ashamed of almost all of my young music tastes, save for one or two artists. To most people I'm still quite young, but to the younger generation, the fact that I've seen the phasing out of both cassettes and CD's means I'm ahem "Old". If you ask me what I was raised on I'll tell you a mix of probably what ever adolescent in North America was in the 90's and an added measure of the Jamaican stuff that to this day I love with no hesitation or sense of shame (i.e. Bob Marley, Third World, Buju Banton & Peter Tosh, all of which are male mind you) and why would I? Rifling through all the keepsakes and memories I've held onto over the years (you better believe that it's a lot, I will grudgingly admit to my packrattyness) somewhere between the Spice Girls Posters and the costume I wore for my first self choreographed dance performance at camp -- Backstreet Boys "Everybody" (don't laugh, I still think that it was an outstanding showcase of talent) I found the old cassette that I all but burnt a hole into playing over and over (and over) again in my aunts car growing up and on that cassette that I treasured more than life itself is a medley of two female artist -- Toni Braxton and Mariah Carey. Now as much as I'll always love Mariah she's pretty much sold out to the new R&B/Pop Genre, yet there's something about Toni that is just as soulful as the first day I heard "Another Sad Love Song" or "Breathe Again", I can't stop playing her new single featuring Trey Songz "Yesterday" and the funny thing about it is that considering the fact that they've been singing for over 15 years (regardless of how much plastic surgery they may or may not have had) these women still look phenomenal and sexy too, leaving me with hope in tact that I'll be able to age that gracefully.

Resolutions

So this year I've been really bad with keeping up on my blogging, so the first resolution on my lengthy list is to keep this blog going and start a new blog about my quarter life crisis. Who says that at 20 years old we don't have a care in the world. Since the clock struck 12 on my 20th birthday I've been bombarded with the complexities of life after 19. A - I was no longer a teenager *a fact that made me somewhat happy until my sisters friends proceeded to inform me, as only shreiking teenager girls can "You're OLD!!!", B - I was and am now halfway to 40 (a notion I was all too happy to point out to my older friends, but made me less so when it came to me), in ten years I'd like nothing more than to sign my emails, and proffessional documents Chanelle Sicard, Editor-in-Chief of (insert name of some uber successful Fashion Magazine here). Lauren Conrad had crows feet at 21, so even though I'd like to think it's premature I shallowly inspect my face every morning for even the slightest trace of a wrinkle. Reality has been hitting me hard, both in the months leading up to and the months following my big 2-0. I've developed a seething impostor complex, as if at 20 someone's going discover I'm a fraud of some sort or another, even though I'm not even sure what exactly it is about me that's remotely fraudulent. Between graduating, the impending move to the concrete jungle, my life in retrograde and enough men problems for 5 women I think I've met and exceeded my drama quota for 2009 and 2010 put together. My resolutions this year are appropriately not so much New Year's Resolutions but Resolutions for my 20's. I'll be working on a resolution that by 2020 I should have achieved, tackled, and dealt with as appropriate.

Feet Relief

Okay, so even with the best foot cushions money can buy, there comes a time when your instep can no longer take the unnatural position courtesy of your stiletto heels. Those used to be comfortable Ellie Tahari heels are posing a health risk, and beckoning for a trip to the chiropractor to undo the damage. It may be two months away but I've already started making my Christmas list, and number one on my list are Footzyrolls, the perfect compact shoes that look great and give your feet the much needed relief they crave after a night on the dancefloor. They beat walking barefoot with heels in hand any day, and I'll never have to worry that my feet won't make the next two steps to get through the doorway.

The Arsenal

Every girl has her fashion and beauty must haves, the old faithfuls that she'll always go back to no matter what. A concept that makeup companies sometimes don't understand, especially when they decide to discontinue something. Up until I started university the use of makeup was foreign to me, I relied on one thing good old vaseline (the all purpose lip gloss, moisturiser, and sometimes even make up remover). Those days seem so far removed today when my beauty kit is practically overflowing (and in need of some spring cleaning now that I think of it), I've reached the point in my life where I've determined at the very least, half of what works for me, and I've begun to compose my very own arsenal.

The Back Saver
Maidenform's backless bra

As a pretty well endowed female I'd come to hate the backless numbers that looked so cute but offered no semblance of support. I'd written them off as something I wouldn't be able to wear, but thanks to maidenform, that's a song I no longer have to sing, the backless bra actually works, so now I can feel free to show off my nicely toned back muscles (if I do say so myself)!

The Lash Master
Lash Blast from Cover Girl

Forget all the hightech gadgetry with the vibrating wands and the circular shaped tip (my absolute least favourite), nothing makes my thick but not so long lashes pop quite like this baby. I remember when it came out, a friend of mine had chastised me about my mascara obsession and kept me from buying it for months, but I knew even before I'd tried it that this was the answer to my lashful woes.

The Magic Maker

Vasanti Magic Liner

I stumbled upon this treasure during my internship at Sweetspot.ca. As a girl who hates using average colour combinations and loves to make liner out of all of her shadows, I've finally found my (not so secret) secret weapon. Before this gem popped up out of obscurity I was confined to mixing a little visine with my shadows and an eyeliner brush (a perfectly adequate solution if you can't get your hands on this baby).

The Gam Poser
Hue StockingsI've admittedly hated my legs for most of my life, and as I move up into adulthood and accept my toned yet huge thighs I have found their must have accessory, from the lace flowers to the diamond prints to just plain old blacks and blues, Hue gives my legs that extra something that makes me look past how big they are and for lack of a better word sexifies them.

The Foot Doctor
Airplus Foot Cushions

As a shorty standing at 5 foot 3 inches I wear heels as much as I can, which can wreak havoc on my feet, after the Fall LG Fashion Week earlier this year I discovered the most amazing cure to my tootsie troubles. I can wear my heels anywhere, dance the night away and (almost) never have to be that girl walking out of the club barefoot with shoes in hand. These gel cushions give me that extra comfort I need to make those extra ten steps to my door after a night on the town.