What I did today...

Because I only have two days left of work and I don't really have a lot to do, I'm taking advantage of the high speed internet Rogers supplies their employees with (not like the slow speed internet they supply to their customers...) and doing some research. So today I did the following:
1. Applied for two volunteer positions, one at YYZ (an artist run collective that publishs books on Canadian art and a zine, as well has a pretty great gallery) and Design Exchange (massive design museum and education centre).
2. Befriended multiple coworkers on Facebook.
3. Worked out how I can fit 4 countries into one week in Europe.
4. Worked out how much it will cost to travel and sleep in said countries.
5. Picked out some duty free goods for when my parents come over.

Its been great. After Thursday, my life in Toronto is going to be quite different. The last few months I have had an excess of money and not a whole lot of time to spend it. Its also been super cold pretty much since I've gotten here and the weather has just started to change and I will now be able to appreciate it. I've planned to do alot of things that I haven't ever had time or money to do and now that I won't be working as much I will actually be able to achieve some of my goals here. I envision a Summer of bike rides, new friends, lots of parties and lots of valuable experiences. My time will be spilt three ways between work, volunteering and friendships. For example, my day today included working, followed by a volunteer meeting for Worldwide Short Film Festival, followed by a bike ride down to Queen West for a patio dinner with Kania. If only every day was like that!

On a fashion note, I really like the white and black flowers in this outfit from Facehunter...

Oh I got new glasses in the mail yesterday but I haven't taken a picture yesterday, I will post when I do!

Boooooo

I am sick. I came down with the flu about halfway through Saturday and woke up Sunday morning feeling like death... I don't have time to be sick Mr. Immune System!!! I guess I was counting myself too lucky with not getting sick over winter...
I still got up to some things over the weekend though, including some thrift store shopping (yes I just said thrift store)! I bought two pairs of shorts and two floral scarves, I wore one of each last night to Cloudcult. Faded black denim high waisted shorts and blue scarf with tulips and "Holland" written around the edge. Its awesome. When I feel up to it (and have time) I will post some pictures. Friday night, me, Kania and Kania's coworker David went to the No Cuts, No Splices Super 8 screening/party for Images, it was pretty good although we were all tired and wet after being caught in the rain running from David's apartment to the Gladstone. The screening was a good motivater, alot of them were like hey I could do that, and hopefully over summer we will. This is a still from one of the best shorts, lots and lots of treeeeesss...

So Images finished on Sunday, I couldn't make it to my last shift because I felt so sick :( Hot Docs starts on Thursday night and some good news out of all this volunteering (apart from the 16 screening vouchers I have for Hot Docs!) is that the volunteer coordinator for Images (who is also a theatre manager for Hot Docs) recommended me to be a volunteer captain for Hot Docs! Volunteer captains are kind of like supervisors, they tell the other volunteers what to do and when they can take a break and all that, the job is only ever given to veteran volunteers or people who have been recommended so it was very exciting that she recommended me! Its nice to be acknowledged, especially for something you really want to do.

I don't have much more to add apart from a life update. Being sick leaves me feeling very uninspired. Working at a boring 9-5 job where I do nothing does as well. I'm going to use my spare time today to create a cleaning schedule for our house and work out an outfit that is cool enough to wear to MGMT tonight.

oh you're so silent natalie...

Yes I have been silent! But thats because my life is a crazy ride right now! Everythings happening all at once and I have never been happier!!
This week was volunteer sign up week for both images and hot docs so I signed up for 5 shifts for images and 7 shifts for hot docs. It is going to be intense. During hot docs, I will be working 9-5 at Rogers, 5:30-10:30 at Bloor Cinema, then seeing a 11:45pm show that same night. Its going to be a whirlwind of film!!! The highlight I suspect, will be Wesley Willis's Joy Ride. Oh yes. The highlight of Image may be the suprise bonus live show featuring none other than JENS LEKMAN!!!

Yes that sweet man is suprising Toronto, and me, as I had no idea he was coming and I even knew his touring schedule for the next few months and I have read the Images book like a thousand times! I totally freaked out about it! He thought he could come to a city I'm in and get by me? No luck Mr. Lekman. I have sent many-a-pleading email to my images lady volunteering my time to work at the show, even though I already bought a ticket, anything to get in Jens' good books!! I am beyond excited, I was feeling light headed all day today...

So now to the wardrobe. I am obviously still in the planning stages because I am poor until Friday the 4th of April but I thought I would update you on what I am going to start with. One of the things the article in Elle told me was that you should start with some good quality underwear. Now I don't know if you know this but I think you do, I don't really enjoy going underwear shopping. My large rack makes it hard for me to find things that fit me and I hate that I have to contemplate going into the fuller figure section because I would not say I am fat. But anyway, I haven't bought any new underwear since I left Australia and I kinda need some. So thats first. And they will be smart choices in underwear, bras in colours and styles that will compliment my new wardrobe. I have also picked out a bag at h&m which I think would go with the clothes I wear now but also fit very well into the new wardrobe. And the next item will be some black jeans, probably the same style as my jeans now, just in black. Some other things on my list include
- a blazer (preferrable black and can be worn either formally in an office situation or casually)
- Cashmere cardigans from the Gap in a variety of candy coloured pastels
- High(ish)waisted shorts (I don't think I can do extreme high waist, again a rack problem, but at least high enough so bending over won't reveal anything)
- Floral blouses, tiny floral print, probably in sheerish fabrics.
- Plain coloured button down shirts, kinda Ralph Lauren style but not as expensive.
- Floral skirt, subtle floral though...

Ok thats all I want to share right now, and I haven't even talked about accessories! But for now I think thats all I want. I'm also planning on buying an interim perfume, something kind of cheap but still nice, to hold me over till my parents come. I want to smell like flowers because I'm really into that right now... So I'm deciding between Maybe Baby by Benefit or Amazing Grace by Philosophy. They smell kind of similar so yeah.

Tonight, Kania and I are going to see Beach House, I am very excited. Tomorrow I have a job interview at a hostel, I hope it goes well because it would be super fun to work at a hostel over summer. I have tried to think up a good outfit that will take me from an interview, then to work at h&m and then to karaoke. While I was thinking about this, I was checking Style Bytes which I just added to our blog list. I have been looking at her blog for a while, she has gotten very glamourous lately and I'm always like shit how does she do it! And then I saw this outfit and realised all I need is a tshirt, a pencil skirt and cute accessories and I have an outfit!

Loves it.