Things I Love Today.

One of my new year's non-resolutions is to be more appreciative of the good things in my life that I enjoy, and as such I've recently taken to creating weekly "Things I Love Today" lists in my lovely little leather-bound brown notebook that I take with me everywhere.

Since this blog is basically a virtual version of such little notebook, and it's much easier and less time-consuming to attach .jpgs in Blogger than it is to meticulously cut and paste photos onto actual paper, I've decided to share this week's list with whoever is so inclined to read it...

Thin-tipped Crayola 12 Washables Original. I've a long standing affinity for good writing utensils, and the purple and sky blue in this package are truly heaven in marker-form.

Alex James' autobiography, Bit of a Blur. It's obviously fluff but So. Much. Fun. to read. Because really, who doesn't want to have been a young, sexy, debaucherous rockstar in 1996 in the Groucho in London?
A slice of day-old birthday cake lovingly packed into a tupperware box and placed on my desk.

The new Soundtrack of Our Lives album, Communion. A double-disc filled to the brim with derivative-yet-oh-so-enjoyable rock n' roll tunes as played by a gaggle of really cool Swedish dudes? Yes, please.
Being young, alive, happy, alone, and fabulous, with awesome friends and a lovely apartment and the whole proverbial world at my feet. The Imperial Tea Company's Royal Jasmine Blossom candles. The pitch-perfect scent contained in a surprisingly chic little bronze tin (which there are no photos of on the internet apparently) is really, really gorgeous.

Doing-It-Myself. Hammering my first nail into my first wall. Lifting and tying a mattress to the roof of a minivan. Fixing a faulty drain. It's wonderfully empowering to not rely on other people for anything. I may have no photo for this specific point, but it's the thing I've discovered I love most of all.

Results.

Welcome to Sublime Oh-Nine everyone! I hope it's been everything you've wished for it to be thus far and more, and that this year brings nothing but good things for you. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's going to...but remember, it will be what you make it! And I'm committed to making mine the best year of my life yet.

As promised, here are a couple of [not so clear] photos of my Kate Moss-inspired New Year's Eve look. We had an absolute blast...as evidenced by bleary eyes I'm sporting. But hey, at least the hair turned out!

Tonight's The Night

The new site is being put together rapidly and will be unveiled any day now, but in the meantime I can't help but share my excitement for what is to be my favourite New Year's Eve outfit ever.

Like most every fashion-obsessed woman out there, I've had a thing for Kate Moss for as far back as I can remember. She was my first real female style icon, and what better way to ring in a sublime 2009 than to recreate one of my favourite looks of hers?

It's Ms. Moss' 30th birthday party look (as pictured below); the party was cleverly themed The Beautiful and the Damned, alluding to an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel that deals namely with love, money, debauchery, decadence and all of the usual related suspects. The look of the café society (the OG jet-setters, in case you were wondering) has pretty much been my Winter 08-09 personal fashion concept anyways, so it's not too much of a departure for me to create this specific look. Nonetheless, there are few things in this world that get me riled up more than the prospect of having my three favourite things - a good party, a good outfit and good hair - all rolled up into one spectacular night.

Results of my hair-curled, smoky-eyed, gussied-up self will be probably be posted at some point over the weekend.

In the meantime, have an AMAZING New Year's Eve and see you in Oh-Nine!!!!!

xox

S

Alright, I'm back in business...kind of

Some housekeeping notes, if you will:

You may have noticed that both Hell-Is-Other-People and Modern-Guilt have come 'back online', as I managed to retrieve all of my lost content and successfully import it back into blogger. First things first: go me! I seriously didn't think it was possible and was freaking out at the prospect of having lost a year and a half's worth of work, but such is apparently not the case and I couldn't be more thrilled as a result.

That being said, please note that neither of these sites will be active, and are merely up for the time being so that I can save and edit all of the content within them.

As stated in the previous posts on So For The Time Being, I will be back very, very soon with a brand-new site, so keep an eye out for that!

Wishing everyone the happiest of post-Christmas Mondays!

xox
S

2009.

I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions. I don't believe in Valentine's Day for the same reasons. Gestures and actions and promises put into one tiny day slot on a calendar, full of pressure and expectation, aren't actually indicative of anything to me.

Change only requires will...if you've got that part down, you'll most likely find the way regardless of whether it's December 27 or July 2 or the much-anticipated January 1.

So, for that reason, I don't make New Year's Resolutions. Change comes quickly and change comes gradually and change sometimes seems like it's not coming but always rolls around to anyways, often regardless of whether you want it to or not.

But, most importantly, change is what you make of it. There are, of course, things in this world which you can control and things which you cannot. But, at the end of the day, you are your life. So make it what you want it to be. Pay no heed to the day of the year, the time of the day or the people and places and faces that you believe to be in your way.

Make no resolutions. Make decisions.

I'm excited for a fresh start, both in terms of the website and in other, more personal aspects. It just so happens that this year such change is happening on the cusp of a crazy, messy, glorious 2008 and [hopefully] even crazier 2009, but I won't live my life based on the conditions set upon me by a clock. It just so happens. And so, for the time being, I'll take it as it is. All things must pass. It's what you make of the passing and, more significantly, the starting again that counts.

So this is my HAPPY NEW YEAR resolution to myself.

P.S. New site with more fashion-based content up in the new year! I'm hoping for the 'launch' sometime within the first week of January, so keep your eyes peeled!

P.P.S. I wish all of you the happiest, most challenging, exciting, fabulous 2009's! And an amazing New Year's Eve, of course!

Happy Holidays

I''ll be going to my family's house in but a few short hours to spend the remainder of the week enjoying the holidays and the company of loved ones. It's exactly what I want and need right now, and I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

I hope you all have a very, very merry Christmas and/or holiday season (depending on what you celebrate of course), and look forward to seeing you again before 2008 is through!

xo
S

I've got space and I've got time...

Months and years past of train ticket machines click-click-clashing my passage to and from a place that I knew was my home. I took a train again this morning in a sweater two sizes too large for me, and stared out a frostbitten window knowing that I don't know where that home is anymore.

And, far more significantly, knowing that it's alright to not know.

I expect that having figured everything out at the age of 23 would make for a horribly dull, albeit easier and more manageable existence. I could be wrong, of course, so if there's a 20-something (or 30, or 40, or ever 50-something for that matter) out there who believes that they've obtained such clarity, please send me an e-mail...I'd love to hear all about it.

So, for the time being, I'm unsure as to what direction this is all going in, and I mean that in the broadest sense possible. Past, present and future blogs, schools, careers, homes, shoes, cigarettes, planes, trains, automobiles, holidays - you name it, I've probably not quite figured it out. And the great clarity I've been seeking for a longer time than I would like to recollect kicks in when I remind myself that it's not something I even want. I'm in love with not knowing, and for right now that's good enough.

I saw the coupling of love and the modification of death; I saw the Aleph from every point and angle, and in the Aleph I saw the earth and in the earth the Aleph and in the Aleph the earth; I saw my own face and my own bowels; I saw your face; and I felt dizzy and wept, for my eyes had seen that secret and conjectured object whose name is common to all men but which no man has looked upon -- the unimaginable universe.

I felt infinite wonder, infinite pity.

(Excerpt from one of my favourite short stories which is concerned with close to the same topic, only far more elegantly...The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges)