Cougar Winter Boots (photo essay jk not photo essay)

I'm a little bit excited for when it starts snowing.
Because I love winter! And I want to try out my new boots!



So the folks at Matchstick got the folks at Cougar boots to give me some boots!
Two pairs of boots!

I'm super excited about these boots as I actually technically need good boots for this city. In Saskatoon (where you would think one would be needing the boots) I drove pretty much everywhere in the wintertime, hopping from the car to the inside. But in Toronto I walk everywhere (so much so that I'm getting shin splints this week, haa I'm so weak) and I fiercely need some good boots to wade through snowbanks and slush.



Remember when those sort of fake-suede boots were popular with the buckles on the side? I bought a pair of those a few years ago and I remember wading through a snowstorm to get to my friend's place for an afternoon Christmas crafting party and my feet getting soaked through in the worst possible way and now whenever it snows I can't get that memory out of my head and I get panicked because there's nothing worse than cold feet (wedding day joke here).

NO MORE COLD FEET.


(in this photo you can clearly see the puncture wounds still on my left leg from cat attack, pretty amazing, eh? Also the bruise on my inner right thigh I have no idea where that came from I bruise so easily but it's an impressive one none the less. good thing I'm showing off my wrecked legs so much!)


These boots (Ravishing Black, which come in a couple of different yet similar styles) are guaranteed waterproof and with high activity are good to -30C (!!!!!)
I will let you know how they are holding up when it's actually snowy and wintery but I will say that what I like about them off the bat is that they're not too heavy or cumbersome they seem like they'll be good for walking. Also the soles are pretty thick and cushy but with good grips on the bottom.
I generally buy all my shoes a size too big so that I can put my gel insoles in them (I find gel insoles invaluable for walking everywhere and working on my feet and wearing vintage shoes, etc.).
Also I get all my winter boots a size to big so I can get those heat-reflecting insoles as well and wear thick socks. I am very serious about my foot comfort.
I think I'll probably not need either variety of insole in these guys but I'll probably put them in anyway for ULTIMATE comfort. mmmmmm.



I obviously love that Cougar is a Canadian company with a good reputation, I'm not going to lie.
Also, my mother owns a pair of vintage Cougar (yes yes we all want to make cougar jokes all day we get it how clever) boots similar to these:

and they are the ultimate warmth so I expect these ones to follow suit. Those vintage ones are pretty sweet actually.



Also I like that the foldover (fake) fur at the top can be pulled up no kidding I'm pulling that up to my knees when I wear skirts and tights out all winter (I hate pants) then with my long parka I'll be almost sensibly dressed.


I still have my red "Tibet" rainboots they gave me to review, I'll get that up for you soon! With more ridiculous photos!
Man, it'd be so rad if I had a roommate/boyfriend who felt like taking my picture all day I constantly underestimate how much time/effort it takes to take a billy photos of myself.
Wow, my life is roughhhh.



Just kidding I'm having more chai tea and watching Dexter and making Christmas cards and the cat keeps rolling herself right off my lap.

check out the Cougar boots website for more info on the company and they have a bunch of different styles there's actually a few more I want.. maybe next year...

getting past being bad without giving up

I love the internet!
Okay so a cool vague-friend of mine (and fellow blogger), Nicole on FB today posted a link to this video:

Ira Glass (of This American Life) on the creative process.

MAN THIS HAS HIT HOME.

Okay so what he's saying is that for artists they get into making art because they have good taste. They admire the art form that they are trying to make. TV, film, comedy, theatre, etc etc and so they know what's good and have discerning tastes but when you start to make art there's a gap period where the art you make cannot live up to your discerning tastes and during that gap a lot of people quit. (or make shitty stuff and pretend it's high-brow?????? jk?)
So much sense!

I always feel (like the deservist entitled young person that I am) that I should magically be able to do everything perfect right off the bat. If I have to actually work at something and produce shitty stuff before it's good then I"m obviously not naturally talented and it's obviously not worth it.

I'm going to ahead and blame my mother partially at least on this one because my mother is a genius and was older when she had me so had a lot of time to get good at a lot of different things and so she makes arts and crafts and photography and sewing and even building look effortless. Okay okay not effortless, just not as ridiculously hard as I find them.
Ha, she is still probably 50% more talented than I am except at acting probably and maybe being funny. Except she's funny in a different way. Like more puns. hahaaaa

BUT
the only reason why I'm able to be as good at things as I am now (nowhere near where I'd like to be but still pretty okok) is because she's backed me up on pretty much everything. And is the ultimate best at complimenting my achievements. Plus I'm pretty sure she actually believes in me.

Ugh, why don't I explain why I love my mum some more, eh? grosssssssss
hahaaa my little cousin asked my mum if she were vegetarian and she said something along the lines of
"I'm 95% vegetarian and the rest of the time I'm just a hypocrite"

ahahahaaaaa classic.

ANYWAY
I read this pilot yesterday written by a woman a couple of years younger than me which is TOPNOTCH and it made me want to punch myself in the eyes.
Just kidding it inspired me. I have never been able to take myself seriously like I could never create to the degree which I would be satisfied with so there's no point in trying. But these days I'm reexamining it... I think I maybe do have excellent ideas and I have to stop psyching myself out about it.

YEAH.

Also I reread the first 15 pages I wrote awhile ago of a feature I have in mind and it was surprisingly good. So There.
Now I just need to write another 75 pages and we'll be good to go.

Stole these photes from my SubRosa friend! Ammmmaaazing. I love almost-cute.
Aw man imagine if I met biodad and he looked like this? Adorable. 

Hmm well now I've avoided doing any real work for long enough maybe I'll get to it. Or maybe I'll just make some soup. We'll see!

remember when i met you i couldn't say your name

Wowwow I am terrible when I am not spending enough time by myself.



Even Dollface reminded me that I need "alone timez" last night when I complained of being a bit irritable. Classic classic meredith r. mistletoe.



I got my new COUGAR BOOTS in the mail today, though. The winter boots are apparently good up to -30 if you're active while wearing them.
I am going to be so pleased trying these out this winter.
I walked to work the other day (little italy to union station basically kind of a hike) for the first time in awhile it went surprisingly fast. Fast and easy. I always forget just how much I love walking.
Also it was stormy out and the air felt a bit crazy which is always the best time for walking really.

I try to walk both ways as much as possible all winter and these boots I got seem to have serious grip plus are waterproof man I'm just going to stomp my way down to work with the happiest feet. I kind of wish it would snow. Okok snow in 2 weeks then we can get this christmas party started 'round here, yeah? 



My house is uncomfortably messy right now and I'm glad that I have tomorrow off.
Having a clothing swap in the evening (come! no, seriously, if you want to come you should) and so I want to get the house into shape for showing off. Or at least making a little cozy nest for us to drink sangria in and swap clothes and gossip.



Though cleaning is not high on my list of favourite activities I do very badly need some quiet and that's a good way to get some. Just tidying up and taking care of my space and things.
I don't think I even know if what I'm feeling today is valid or true or if I'm just tired and need some space.



I wonder if I'll get tired of Plastic Bullet the way I'm sort of tired of Hipstamatic (for my own use, I'm still into other people's photos)? So far still love it.

I will for sure not get tired of that tuque I've had it since grade 12 probably. I know the girl who gave it to me regrets letting it go now that I've gotten 10 years of wear out of it. Best hat, though.

too much too do too bad I got up at noon

Good morning!

Oh, I see it is 2 p.m.
hmmm.

Is Bell getting better at customer service and products?
I went by a Bell store to talk to the dude about maybe getting an iphone and when I left I didn't feel like crying?
Weird, hey?

I haven't decided for sure yet but maaaaaybe. The guy was pretty nice and seemed to be offering me some okay deals. Except that I'm sure there's always better to be had. Hard to get them without being a bitch though. I'm bad at demanding things.

If I get an iphone I'm going to cover it in diamonds. Obviously.


Also, I keep forgetting to post this because I am a bad blogger but remember when we went to the Macallan tastings? And I blogged about it here

and here, well please dudes can you fill out a survey about it for me? And if not for me then for The Redwood? The Redwood is a haven for women and children in Toronto needing housing/support/counselling/etc. And if you fill out this survey $2 will be donated to them! Easiest donation you'll make today!
Here is the Survey! It's right here so please click the link and then fill it out okay thanks!


Okay BRUNCH TIME

Macallan Party Town (#2)

Okay, here's the rest of the photos from the Macallan scotch tasting!

Hey, look, it's a friend from shark vs. bear


There was only one draw for the night and it was for a bottle of the Macallan 10, and Poppy won it!


And then while he wasn't looking, he wasn't looking for a long period of time, we opened it and drank some of it!



And he was mad! Which is kind of fair... luckily since I brought him to the event and enabled him to win the prize plus get a nice gift bag I didn't feel too badly about it.

Then JL made some more "origami"




and I hammed it up!




Amazing!
Especially because I look so awkwardly small it's almost like I'm being held up in front of the background as well..





Poppy still wasn't paying attention to us.


so I took a picture of his butt!


He's such an eligible bachelor, ladies!!

Another bit of amazing:


and now for my FAVOURITE picture:::

:
:
:
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I can't not-laugh when I see that. Impossible.


I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to wear my costume tonight but I'm not sure if I'll end up someplace where other people will also be wearing costumes... hmmmm.

macallan party town

uh oh I have about a billion pictures from the Macallan scotch tasting last night!



I think I was pretty much the only one being an obnoxious self-obsessed blogger. By which I mean, I was the only one taking a million pictures of myself and the babes I brought with me.
Speaking of which, there were so many men there! The room was virtually all men!



Though most of the Matchstick people were lovely ladies. Or most of them that I interacted with at least.

I should've brought more ladies with me, but I was stuck with JL

(inspecting the colour - no caramel added!)

and Poppy

Sigh.





It was nice for me to get back to my Scottish roots, ya know?


twittering:


I had fun tasting all the scotches. We had a bunch of different ages all very different. My favourite was the 10. Is that bad?
No, probably not.
It was nice because the Macallan guy was very lovely and relaxed about it and said we could enjoy our scotch however we'd like!
I like that attitude. I should be able to put water or ice or rocks (??) in my scotch if I want to!






(I want more tights like this for Christmas, in case you're wondering...)

I took a picture of this chocolate:

because I was so excited to eat it!

But then...

JL ate it while I wasn't looking!
And I laughed and laughed. And complained. And then the Macallan presenter got me a bunch more chocolate and JL ate most of that as well.. Classic.


He made this heart, possibly to show just how sorry he was. I was not impressed.


nope, yep, I was. My mistake.


Poppy made me a bottle of scotch. He said it was a "cock-and-balls" but a few quick tweaks and it was much classier. I'm like an origami guru.




I didn't get a good picture of the ice-ball making machine, but rest assured - it was a hit.
By which I mean: What the hell??? Who even invents something like that???


Okay I'm saving a few for later. Lucky you!