....And eventually I was made aware that yesterday was in fact May 3rd and not May 2nd as everyone(me) seemed to believe.  Which means I was actually behind on my photo a day challenge before I even got started. But that's okay.  I'm back now with Day 3:

glass

And of course day 4:

black and white 

The top pic is of the window sill above my kitchen sink.  It is a revolving display of what's happening in my home at any given time, and there always seems to be something sprouting or reviving itself in a glass of water perched up there. I love the little trick of regrowing your green onions in a glass of water.  Why not?

The bottom pic is a close up shot of one of the new shirts I've been working on for The Green Man.  We'll finally be launching them tomorrow, and it's double the excitement around here as The North Lakes are launching their new album  Grand Prix tomorrow as well.  I'll get lots of pics and links and try and post all tomorrow.  Along with my May 5th pic - zoom.

Started yet another photo-a-day challenge.  My sister and I tried doing one together a few months ago.  I did pretty good for the first week or two...

But I'm not about to let past failures stand in my way.  I'm going to try again.  Here's yesterdays pic:

yourself

 Here's the entire list:

Play along!  I'm pretty easy on myself.  I only let myself take a few shots, and I try not to stage anything.  Just find the pic naturally as the day progresses.  I've already found today's!!  Bold Colo(u)r.

Bold Color

These are just a few of the colours from a new mini-collection of shirts I've been working on with Kinza Mae Baker.  We launch on Saturday!!  I'm super excited.  I LOVE the shirts so much.  We've been working super hard to pull this together, and having a lot of fun too.  We'll be unleashing them on Charlottetown this weekend.  I suggest coming by The Green Man sometime around 1:00.  There might be some other happenings happening as well.  Just saying.

Opinionaters - This Time It's Personal

Let me begin by saying I love my Opinionaters.  I truly do.  I send them off a pic or two and try to wait patiently for their replies.  Then a few days later I start hounding them - Hey guys, can't write my post without your opinions!  I thought you guys wanted to help me out! etc.  They rally, opinions are stated, I gather everything together, and then I get kind of busy with a sewing project and it takes me a week or two to get around to posting.  So my apologies to the opinionaters, I do hope they can forgive me and we can all learn to love again.

I decided to get a little personal this time around.  The opinionaters were commenting on MY pants.  That's right, MY pants!  Wow!  It may be why the opinions tend to lean toward the positive, but I don't think so, I think I just happen to have a damn fine pair of pants!   I also have a new Opinionater joining us!  Are you as excited as I am people?   Comic Book Man's fashion opinions are coming at you.

About the pants:  They are vintage. They are home made. When I was lucky enough to find them they were only half finished, leaving me to believe the original owner chickened out half way through leaving this amazing floral print to languish in the back of a closet somewhere until fate brought them to me!  I believe I promised the Opinionaters that I would take better pictures of the pants then the original ones I sent them, well, I lied.  So you are stuck with the crappy pics too.  At least for now.  And here they are, crappy pics of awesome pants!  And my query to the world:   Best pants ever? Or worst fashion mistake I've ever made?  

These really are bad pictures.  How is anyone supposed to have an opinion on them? You can't even tell what they look like!

Bad action shot of my pants.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for....the opinions!!!!

The Shoe Lover
My first thought when looking at these pictures was--oh, no...not a good look. But they grew on me. I actually like them and think that yes, you should wear them. Best pants ever actually won out for me. Personally I could not pull them off but you have that stylish way about you and could pull them off. BUT only with the right shirt, shoes and accessories. That shirt is certainly not the right one to pull off those pants nor are the shoes.

I love the bold pattern and colours of the pants. They scream spring/summer and 'look at me' but in a more subtle way than say a billboard. I suspect that these pants originally had a jacket to go with them and personally I think the matching jacket would be going to far but the pants alone are awesome. The line of the pants is very flattering and the all over pattern certainly hides any body issues a person might have. I give them two big thumbs up.


The Comedian: 

There are all kinds of opinions and philosophies on how to live one's life.  And for every one, there is most likely a counter-opinion that suggests the opposite viewpoint.  One such point-counterpoint, and one, I think, that is apropos of these pants, is "Run away from what scares you" vs "Embrace your fears".

Whether you like these pants, I argue, depends on which of those two camps you belong to.

When I was about 11 years old, deep in the heart of 1970's (lack of) fashions on PEI, where  ratty denims and Greb Kodiak workboots ruled the day, I found myself, somehow, in a pair of brightly-and-multi-coloured vertically-striped slacks - something you'd imagine one of The Monkees would wear in 1967.  I was ridiculed for wearing such things, and I never wore them again.  This episode affected me, probably more than I could ever realize.  As a result of that day, I would say that, as far as fashion goes, I had become more of a Run Away kind of guy.

But that is the wrong way to live.  One must Embrace One's Fears, especially when it comes to fashion.  So, yes.  Yes.  YES to these pants.  While flowered and not striped, these audacious pants remind me of the slacks I wore in 1976's Charlottetown.  And who am I to ridicule what others should wear?  I am better than that.

Best Ever? Or Worst Fashion mistake ever?  I cannot answer to that, but I can say this: 

I am afraid of these pants.  And that is what makes them necessary.

The Skateboarder:

A Stage By Stage Commentry Of The Intellectual Process Of This Opinionator In The Moments After Being Exposed To The Above Images..

Initial, cold-honest reaction: 'Wow! That material would be cool for making a lining out of..' The implication here of course is that it looks great, as long as no-one ever actually sees it.

After a moment's further speculation, fashion-shock absorbers have returned to their normal position and I am beguiled by their hypnotic glory:

'I bet Carmen Soprano could rock those. In fact Wayne Coyne probably owns a full suit that looks just like that.' My sensibilities are defecting to the side of the pants.

'Yeah. I dig those' The floral print has incited me to use the only hippy-ism in my vocabulary.

Afterthought: 'I wonder how people reacted the first time they saw a Kandinsky?' Meaning, Green Man Girl, that if you bought these, you may once more have added some credibility to your cutting-edge sensibilities but if you made them.. well, you're a fucking artist, aren't you?

The Comic Book Man:

Well my first worry with a pattern like that on pants is that the flower will be centered in an unfortunate spot..... No one wants the center of a blossom to coincide with.... well....um.... I remember having a pair of jeans that I repaired some rips with small flags that I had collected.... the crotch had ripped out and put a Canadian flag to cover up the tear.... but...when the pants were on....well...the flag folded over leaving it appearing...well I mean I don't want to spell it out....but I'm sure if you can take a canadian flag and fold the middle you'll get the idea...... So as long as the front of the pants don't have unfortunate flower arrangement.... I think they are pretty cool...but what do you wear with it?  Do you have a top or shoes or accessories to compliment?  What event is appropriate for the flowered pants?  So many questions come to mind but I do have one answer... Yes they are a great purchase.......but mainly because whimsical is a great adjective...

 There you have it.  At first everyone is scared of the pants, but they all come around in the end.    The right accessories are needed to pull these bad boys off.  In my opinion, a fitted short sleeve black turtle neck and a pair of killer high heels - maybe in cobalt?  Well manicured hair, and a bunch of Chanel-y type chains and bracelets.  And yes, I have worn them out, and while I got only one compliment, I was also given half a dozen free cupcakes.  So I will definitely wear them again.

By Yves Saint Laurent. Perfect for an afternoon running errands.

Only in black, but I'll have the same expression because of all the free cupcakes.

Chanel-y chains and an arm party or two for good measure.

Do not be afraid. Wear the pants.

Are you still reading?  Amazing.  I love you.  Here's a chance to help a girl out.  Follow this link and sign up for a Vimeo account - if you don't already have one, then maybe vote for December in Toronto in the Lryical category(if you have discovered this after April 30th you can just go and have a look and delight your senses). https://vimeo.com/awards/vote/lyrical The piece is by Millefiore Clarkes whom gets my full appreciation and support, and the music is by none other then my rock star hubby Roger Carter who also gets my love and appreciation and support. 

Emilio Pucci Pre-Fall 2012

I love anything that is pretty AND rock and roll, and I love anything that's sexy AND demure.  And the Pre-Fall Pucci collection is all 4 of those things.  It's what was in my brain.  And now it's on the runway.  And I love it.  I'm not even going to try and critique this, I'm just going to show off my favourites.  To see the rest check out Style.com.

Yeah, that's right.  A huge cloak and an awesome maxi dress.  I'm wearing it tomorrow.

It's got a peplum, it's blue, and it has lace. Speaking of peplums...

If you know me you have probably already imagined me in this.  That's what friends do for friends right?

And while I'm not going to wear this coat, I am going to wear these pants everywhere I go.  Everyday.  Forever.

Last but certainly not least:

I LOVE it!!  I do.  That's why it's bigger than the rest.

Tea Time

In my last post I mentioned a little photo challenge I gave myself.  In the past few weeks I've had a few photographers in and around the house helping me get some shots for my new Etsy store. -Thank you Matt and Sheri!!- this made me realize a few things:
#1 - I have some pretty great friends who always seem willing to help regardless of what I propose.
#2 - I take very few still life shots.  With three adorable kids I never seem to need to shoot anything still.
#3 - I need to learn to take better still life shots as I can't expect people to take all my Etsy pics for me.
So I decided to take pictures of my daily cup of tea.  Generally tea time happens when the big kids are at school, the little guy is taking a nap, and I am furiously trying to get something done online(and/or procrastinating).  I didn't plan the shots ahead of time, I just tried to find an interesting way of shooting what I had when I had it.  You'll be able to tell that one or two shots were taken a bit more thoughtfully than the rest.  Anyway, here goes:

Sunday - This was an awesome pot of tea.  The kids were at the in-laws, hubby and baby were fast asleep, I had a stack of catalogues from the 1960's, the sun was shining.  It was great.  This tea was Ti Kwan Yin for anyone interested.

Monday - Tea while I work.  I'm not entirely sure what this was...probably a green jasmine combo?  Or possibly green with some mint thrown in? Dunno.

Tuesday - I had a lot to accomplish Tuesday, which for some reason means I decided to play around a bit.  I guess I felt this tea deserved a bit of showing off.  Snowy Mountain Genmai.  Or just Genmai.  The white popcorny bits are popped rice kernels.  It has a deep nutty popcorny flavour.  Probably not a good tea to try if you are new to green teas, but one I enjoy every now and then.

Wednesday - Wednesday's tea was a coffee.

Thursdays tea disappeared for a while.  By the time I found it(hiding in this plant) I had already brewed another one.  Thursday turned into a two teas at once day!  And as I type this I wonder: Why didn't I take a picture of both teas together? Answer: I've really no idea.  This was a  green sencha brewed far too long.

Fridays tea was ghetto tea.  Black tea bag in hot water.  Having taken a few minutes each day to photograph my tea meant I was quickly falling behind on many, many things.  Hence the ghetto tea.

Saturdays tea escapes me at present.  I believe it may be on the laptop which is currently refusing to acknowledge my presence.  If the laptop ever forgives me for whatever it is that it thinks I've done wrong and agrees to turn on again, I will be sure and post it for your viewing (dis)pleasure.  Please don't judge me by the filth of that keyboard...(I would if I were you though, so you're forgiven. Can we be friends again and pretend that you never saw that?).

Disclaimer: Actual days of the week may not in reality correspond to days when photos were taken(I work from home Monday? Tuesday? what's the difference?).