What not to say... ever.

Here's a useful note to all men with girlfriends or wives on what NOT to say to your lovely lady...

My husband and I walked to the mall this weekend. We walked into the Bay and were heading to the elevators when my husband looked at me and said, "is it humid out?"
I suspiciously reply, "what do you mean?"
"I don't know, is it humid outside today?"
"Why??"
"Because your hair is acting as if it's humid."

Nice, huh?

aluminum starch octenylsuccinate?!?!?!

I ran out of my usual Body Shop moisturizer so I went searching through my closet in a drawer where I keep cosmetic odds and ends. I figured that not having my usual product would force me to use up some older stuff before they get so raunchy that they grow legs and crawls away. I found a small sample tube of Olay body lotion that looked like it would do the trick. It's called "quench therapy". For some reason I looked at the back and noticed the ingredients list was incredibly long. I also noticed there were only about 3 words I could recognize as English. Then the word, "aluminum" caught my eye and that's when I decided NOT to use this product or even give it away for someone else to use. I looked the ingredient up called "aluminum starch octenylsuccinate" and found what I expected... bad news.

http://www.ewg.org/chemindex/chemicals/24922

I can't believe Olay would make something containing something even remotely harmful that women, including pregnant ones, rub into their skin and absorb. I'm thoroughly disturbed by my discovery but also grateful. This experience has made me a bit more thoughtful. I will definitely be on the lookout for something a little more natural for my next purchase.

Winter

Today is officially the first day of Winter. Not according to any calendar, just according to me. It started to snow lightly last evening when Husband and I left the office. This morning when we looked out at the city, everything was covered in a beautiful fluffy white sheet. Winter for the most part seriously sucks but there are a few moments that are sincerely beautiful. Moments that I would miss if we moved to L.A. A fresh snowfall is one of these moments. Another such moment is the night after a fresh snowfall when the streetlights are on, the light bounces off the white snow and creates a beautiful glow.

The time between these moments are gray and wet and slippery and freezing. Pretty much awful.

On an unrelated note, we watched Hotel Rawanda last night. It was great. The only problem was the intense guilt afterward knowing that this movie was not based on fiction. Man, the world is a f$%#ing nasty place. Great movie. Also loved The Last King of Scotland. James McElroy is so H.O.T.

Movie Review: Constant Gardner

The Constant Gardner constantly sucked.

The election is DONE.

I'm totally speechless about the whole thing. When CNN announced it, I couldn't stop myself from crying. It's incredible how emotional this win was. I didn't feel like such a wus after I saw Colin Powell, Steven Cobert and several other grown men tear up on T.V.

These are the pictures I took at home to capture the moment...

On our way to New York

Well, I'm on my way to New York today. We booked our trip with Porter airlines which is a 5 minute taxi to the Toronto Island Airport from where we live instead of 40 minutes to Pearson. So far it has been such a pleasure. There are no line ups, you don't have to walk 4 football fields to get from A to B, and the people are friendly. To be fair, we're traveling on a Saturday which is generally a calm day. I don't think we'll travel the same way ever again. Our lives have been altered forever. Sorry for being so dramatic but there are free gourmet lattes and cookies. I have to say, it's very nice to walk up to a fully stocked fridge without a lock and take out anything your heart desires.

Tonight is my sister's Halloween party which is what prompted us to book this trip. My husband can't wait to mingle with interesting upper east side republicans. He really gets off on talking politics and hearing what people think. On Tuesday I'm going to be a guest on The 404, a CNET podcast. Remember the first time my phone message got on the air? I've left a few more messages and have become a bit of a regular. They suggested that they wanted to call me on the air and I asked if I could just come to the studio in person next time I visit my sister in NYC. So, I'm booked and very excited. I've been thinking up things to talk about and making sure that I'm up to date on pop culture and tech news so I will have something to contribute. I would hate to get so nervous that I blank out and giggle for 40 minutes. On Tuesday night we have reservations for my favorite restaurant, "Sushi of Gari". OMG I can't wait for that. On Wednesday night we're going to The Moth. Then, we leave on Thursday. All the times between plans will be spent walking around, eating pizza and S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G.

Ok, what else here is free that I can eat?

Innocent Car, Assaulted

Yesterday we went down to our parking lot to find that one of our car windows had been smashed in. The strange part is that it wasn't one of the front-side windows or even backseat window... it was the little tiny window at what I like to call the "backy-back". This person must have seen something they wanted and decided that instead of breaking the driver side window to unlock the doors (like a thinking, rational person NOT on drugs), he/she would break the little window and just be able to snatch something from the top of the pile. The pile of stuff in the back of the car is a combination of stuff we purged from our apartment to give to charity plus we're moving our office so there's a bunch of Staples and Home Depot bags back there. Nothing of any value. In fact, we can't even figure out if they took anything! They would have done us a favor to take more. I'm not upset that the window is broken. I'm just disappointed that someone would do it. It also robs me of a bit of security I felt in our own building. Maybe I shouldn't venture down to the car at night? Maybe I shouldn't play with the cat in the hall when my husband's not home? Ah, this is the price we pay to live in downtown Toronto. ...and it's totally worth it. ;)