Bookcases gone by

Ever get nostalgic for furniture you used to have?

I found this pic yesterday of a custom-made blue bookshelf an ex gave me - romantic eh?

The same man hauled two Barrymore loveseats in mint condition out of the trash for me.

Shoulda married him.

This was from a client of his, whose entire house was blue.

The bookcase is so big it's been in Ottawa for five years. I miss it. I want it. I need to find a way to get it up here for cheap. I don't drive. I'm reliant on the kindness of bookcase-hauling strangers .... Wah.

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Spring closet cleanout

I want to stay home today and stare at my newly organized closet and drawers.

Busy weekend. Worked, cleaned, worked some more - then, in an effort to avoid more work, cleaned out my closet and big chest of drawers.

Every time I opened this chest of drawers I got depressed. It was so messy. So I put everything on the bed and sifted through the tees and tops.

Some went into the donation bag; the rest were folded neatly in the drawer.


I also changed over my closet, which entailed moving the winter stuff to the left side and transferring the summer items to the right side, which is more accessible as I've placed a mirror over the left side.

Doesn't this look pretty? Look at all those colours! I don't even want to think of the hidden winter side - it is dark, dark dark.

I didn't employ any fancy organizing techniques here; I just took every thing out, organized it, did some handwashing, and put everything back in in an orderly way.

There's nothing like a clean, organized closet - great for state of mind, I'd say. And hey, it looks lso pretty it's like giving my closet a mini decor makeover!

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Thrifted outfit at OCNA awards

This is part of the work gang at the OCNA or Ontario Community Newspaper Awards ceremony last night in Toronto, where the newspapers I work for, Town Crier and Vaughan Today, were finalists in six categories!

Who says thrift can't take you to an awards ceremony???

I'm wearing a gorgeous retro pink brocade jacket I picked up for $9.99 at a Goodwill 50 percent off sale, and under it is a TeenFlo made in Canada LBD I found for $6.99 at Goodwill.

This has nothing to do with being a Grunge Queen unless you want to get really literal about it, but I just had to get a shot of myself in the john chatting on the phone that was in there!

I loved this outfit as it was so retro chic, jazzed up with the contemporary shoes and nude fishnet stockings.

Don't know if you can make out the handbag on my lap, but it was given to me by someone at work.

It says "Meyers, Made in the USA."


Here's a closer look.

Don't you love the shape, and the detailing?

I love it that my pal Andrea thought of me when she was getting rid of this bag, which used to belong to her mother-in-law!

All of my outfit is thrift here with the exception of the shoes and stockings, but I am a firm believer in thrifted accessories making or breaking an outfit.





Take this Perry Ellis silk scarf, which I picked up on the fly yesterday before the awards for 99 cents at my local thrift shop.

I loved the birdies and the bright colours. Even though it's red, when I was scouting around for a last-minute accessory to wear with the pink jacket this leaped out at me. I threw it on and it looked just bang on with the jacket!

And when it got too warm I simply tied it around the handle of my handbag - oooh la la.

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Trash rehash: magazine rack turned purse holder

I plucked this from the curb a few weeks ago as I was waiting for a friend to pick me up for an event.

I really had no intention of using it as a magazine rack, but I didn't know what I would use it for until I was looking around for a place to store it.

Necessity is the mother of invention: the only space I had for it was my bedroom, where several vintage purses have been scattered about on the floor and on a chair, poor bags without a home.

Well looky looky, now they have a place to hang out!

Effortless projects like these are at the core of my Grunge Philosophy - guess I'm too lazy and not crafty enough for the projects that require uber talent and zeal. But I do have an ability to see, rather on the fly, how certain items can be re-purposed. I'd like to think that approximates a certain kind of creativity - at the very least I sure hope it inspires others to get their creative ya-yas out without feeling they have to be Martha Stewart perfect!

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The Storm Window Saga

A walk by the trash bin close to my place yielded this little gem this morning: old wood window panes.

My immediate thought: ahh, storm windows.

See, every spring when I was growing up in an old 1950s A-frame house, my Mom and Dad would engage in the Storm Window Ritual.

It entailed lugging a good 20 storm windows out of the garage, which had been stored there all winter, and cleaning them before putting them on the outside of each and every window in the house.

The Storm Window Ritual was one my sisters and I quickly learned to avoid partaking in when we grew old enough to understand what the saga of the storm windows was all about.

Mom and Dad would invariably end up fighting. Dad would get impatient with Mom, and Mom would get impatient with Dad for getting impatient with her.

But, seeing those windows, I became slightly nostalgic for not just the Storm Window Ritual, but also those old wood windows.

I wonder where such windows would have come from in apartment land, where I live at the moment?

Check out these three holes at the bottom of the window (the window is turned on its side here).

You flipped up that little lever to - wait for it - let the air in through the screen! So quaint! Hardly workable, though.

I have memories blowing smoke through the screens contained by old window frames such as these; I was a teen in my bedroom doing what teen invariably do ... blow smoke through windows.

But I also remember peering out them and seeing and hearing the huge trees across the road toss their treetops around in the wind at night before sleep ... so magical.

So amazing what a bunch of old windows in the trash can evoke.

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Barbie house for a fiver

If I had a Barbie I'd so be keeping this.

For the chic uptown girl: a modest mauve townhouse with pink and green accents; two levels only, but look at that front door - talk about curbside eye candy. And the front window in the master bedroom? Barbie's drooling over it already. Quelle natural light and south-eastern exposure!

If Barbie were real, this may cost half a mil.

In the 'real' human new retail world, I'm guessing $100+.

In the Grunge Queen alternative universe: five bucks, at my local thrift store, Stretch Thrift.

It folds out to reveal a kitchen and living room on the lower level, and a bedroom and bathroom on the upper level - the green bed isn't folded down here, oops, Barbie you need to work on your housekeeping skills.

Ok, so maybe Barbie's downgraded to the recession version of Barbie high-life with this abode.

But that didn't prevent my nieces - and my nephew - from loving it.

I didn't think they'd love it so well, but they played with it all night - even though there wasn't a Barbie to be had. They haven't quite discovered that phenomenon yet, for which I'm sure my sis and bro-in-law are grateful.

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Borrowed bling for Innovators' Ball at Ontario Science Centre

Tip: if you're an aspiring Grunge Queen and don't want to spend the cash on bling, here's a cheap strategy: get a loaner!

Toronto jewellery designer Rita Tesolin kindly offered me some pieces from her Fall 2010 collection when she learned I was going to the LG Innovators' Ball last week at the Ontario Science Centre.

Needless to say, I was thrilled. The beaded twisted chain was heavy metal glam all the way and totally rocked with my simple black dress by Toronto designer Mark Foreman.

And look at the ring to match! Heck, who even needs to wear a dress with these sparkly statement pieces!

The look was perfect for the event, what with its "Midnight Spell" theme complementing the centre's Harry Potter exhibition.

I'd like to think I stood out among all the short, tight dresses worn by women much younger than me.

Sad to think that "that age" is approaching where we must now be, well, less exhibitionist, shall we say?

Maybe not. I'd like to think my borrowed bling, coupled with my sexy crochet stockings picked up at a warehouse sale, were enough of a ... statement.


Here's a more pro shot with me and my date - gee, come to think of it, this good looking gent was the man who took pics of me for the Toronto Vintage Costume Jewellery Club Show & Sale promo shots. Joey Cee
also took the two pics of me above.

We kind of match, don't we?

As you can see, I wore a velvet jacket over the ensemble, a thrifted Goodwill jacket made by a Parisienne designer.

Oooh la la.

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