Best staycation at Blue Horizon Hotel

This is a sponsored post, but I tell 'ya, I am absolutely delighted to write it. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Question: When best friends come to Vancouver for a visit, is it be better for me to go home every night to sleep or stay with them at the hotel? Duh!

Thank you, Blue Horizon Hotel, for an excellent weekend of hospitality lavished on me, Suzanne Carillo, Patti of Not Dead Yet Style and Sherry Dryja of Petite Over 40. Sue from A Colourful Canvas also joined in a couple of times.

me, Suzanne, Patti, Sherry (photo by Sue)

F O M O  no more!

(FOMO means fear of missing out)

A staycation has never been so much fun. Blue Horizon, a boutique hotel, was the perfect home-away-from-home for our visit. We had the pleasure of experiencing one of its private bedroom suites. 

Below is what the living room looked like when I arrived, pristine, except for my little wheelie cart on the right. There was a Keurig coffeemaker, a kettle with complimentary tea, and a fridge for storing our leftover nibblers and other snacks. Chocolate treats and chips were in constant view for spiritual training purposes.

Located on the southwest corner, our room was flooded with natural light, which is always good for style bloggers armed with cameras and their most fun outfits, but there were blackout curtains as well. Isn't that a groovy armchair on the left? Of course I had photos in it. 

I call this shot by Suzanne, Upholstery Camouflage. I could have stayed in the room for weeks without anyone noticing I'm there. The groovy vintage jacket and pants were a gift from Suzanne in the summer.

photo by Suzanne

Below, a mirror selfie of me grinning in anticipation of my friends' arrivals from planes, trains, and automobiles from Toronto, Florida, and Seattle. 

And, gulp, check out that view, stunning from our balcony on the 29th floor. The green area is Stanley Park and that main drag is Robson Street, one of Vancouver's preeminent shopping areas. The hotel is walking distance from it all, including the Art Gallery, fantastic thrift stores, the Convention Centre, and more.

Along the water's edge on the left is English Bay, where I sometimes pose with big logs. Heh.

The only thing better than a view like this...

...is a view like this with friends, Suzanne and Sherry.

We enjoyed sunny skies for part of the weekend, but it also rained and even hailed. If we were outdoor athletes, it would have cramped our style, but indoors? Meh, nothing cramps our style except too-tight, sky-high shoes, even then we grin and bear it.

And there we are united on the sofa. I set up my tripod with the remote for this one.

Left to right: me, Sherry, Suzanne, Patti. 

The private bedroom with a king-sized bed was spacious and bright with it's own private bath. The living room area also had a mini wing with a private washroom. Having two facilities in our room ensured peace and harmony throughout our stay. 

You know you're having fun when the photo above starts to look like the one below, and that's just part of it.

I brought two large suitcases stuffed with clothes to play with for our photo shoot. As a local I didn't have luggage restrictions and hotel attendants happily provided extra hangers.

We made full use of Blue Horizon's pool, fitness area, and lobby during our stay. You'll have to wait to see what I mean by that in a follow-up post. Heh.

Our room was set up well for hanging out but we also spent quite a bit of time in Abode, the hotel's restaurant and coffee/cocktail bar. Below is the view from the dining area toward the lobby.

The food was delicious and the service was fantastic. This server is from Australia and we had the pleasure of her camaraderie and care on a couple of occasions.

photo by Sue

It's possible that below we were discussing Abode's famous apple rhubarb crisp with ice cream. I (and someone else - Suzanne!) ordered it twice during our stay. She'll probably post about it. Her photo was waaay better than mine.

photo by Sherry

There's Suzanne with her buddy "Marilyn" in the elevator. The blue patch is a reflection of my phone. Each lift features a fun photo of "Marilyn" in a series of speak/see/hear-no-evil poses. Hahaha! You can read more about her on the hotel website, here. 

There is also a large back-lit cibachrome colour photo of her with curlers in her hair and a martini in her hand in the lobby. Can you think of anything more welcoming and appropriate for our group? I found this partial view in one of my photos. Isn't she great?

Finally, there I am on the last day, captured by Sherry on the balcony.

Truly, getting away, even in my own city, staying at a place that took good care of me, and spending time with good friends gave me a fresh perspective on the world of possibilities ahead.

photo by Sherry

Thank you again, Blue Horizon Hotel, for your role in making this such a memorable weekend. The only complaint I have is that our time was too short. We'll have to do it again!

Stay tuned for our photo shoot post!

I'm still HERE!

They came. We saw. We conquered.

Who? Suzanne, Sue, Sherry, Patti, and me.
Where? Vancouver, BC.
When? June 1 to 3.

And conquered what exactly? Limitations, I suppose.

It was a rare weekend of connection, a time to join with like-minded women, all of us eager to lift ourselves above the quotidian, to dream big, dig deep, reach high.

Of course there was good food, great shopping, laughter - lots and lots of laughter - but I think it was the talking, really getting to the heart of things that matter to each of us, that will stay with me most. I can definitely say that the feeling of empowerment I got from the weekend has come in handy in the days since then.

This is a rather sober summing-up so far, so I have included the following arty video I put together with clips from our time together.

We have photos, photos, and photos! And instead of duplicating them here, pop over to Suzanne's blog where she has done two stellar wrap-up posts: Strike a Pose Blogger Style - Blogger Meet Up 2018 and Breakfast at Tiffany's Prom Do Over. [Edit: Sherry of Petite Over 40 also made a stellar post, HERE, "Blogger Meet-Up Proves Vancouver's Got Talent." You have to check out the video she made too!]

It wasn't until after our meetup that I realized we had played like champion 12-year-olds. Vamp in alleys? Sure. Mock wedding in Talize thrift store in Delta? Why not? Recreate prom and Breakfast at Tiffany in the streets and fancy hotel lobbies? Yep. March together in purple sequin band uniforms at House of Vintage thrift store? Oh, definitely. Sigh.

I like to think that if I had had a daughter, she would have said, "Whoa, Mum, can you organize my next pyjama party?" Hahaha.

So all this happened in early June.

Below are some outfits I have worn since then.

The above vest-y jacket is from Suzanne.

What else?

On April 27, I was in the Irish Examiner newspaper, which I forgot to mention before. The article, "Over 50s slaying it on Instagram," is HERE. I love the photo they used. Heh.

I had a post all planned out long before this one but then that GDPR thing hit the web. The penalties for non-compliance are formidable: 1) Up to €10 million or 2% annual global turnover – whichever is higher. Okay, I can only dream that 2% of my annual global turnover is more than €10 million. The whole exercise made me feel irrelevant. And oh so tired. So I ended up taking an unplanned blogger holiday. Plus I needed a break anyway.

I'm more rested now. But about GDPR, I have a privacy policy almost ready. But please know that if you want to unsubscribe to my email posts, just click the link at the bottom of the email from Bag and a Beret.

One last thing. I was interviewed by Margaret Manning of Sixty and Me a couple of days ago. We did four little episodes. The first two are open.

Fashion After 50 *SHOCKER*! Should We Borrow From Men's Style?

Fashion After 50: The Search for Funky Treasures

It was fun. It was a lot of work too because I like show-and-tell style, but, as usual, I wasn't organized enough to show you 70 percent of what I had ready. Hahaha.

That's it for now. Big hugs to all of you. If you have come back to read this, thank you! And thanks for your patience.

I'll link up to Patti at Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine at Not Dressed as Lamb for #iwillwearwhatilike.

How to pose the RIGHT way. A meetup. And Marie Claire magazine.

There have been lots of posts around lately about blogger fatigue. (See list at the bottom of this post.) To that I say, of course we are sick of blogging, and the reason is clear: simply, we're not doing it right. We're bad posers and we don't wear the right clothes. Fear not - help is on the way!! This week I share with you some excellent posing tips I picked up online.

So yeah, we may hate social media, but it's also our mythical highway to Viral Nirvana - or, in my case, a gravel road shortcut with pot holes, dead-ends, construction, and signs saying "No gas for 10,000 miles," and my favourite, "Treacherous conditions. Does anyone know you are here?" But best not to worry about that. Our GPS says to take the road less travelled and it is never wrong.

WRONG POSE
Below. Oh no, oh no, oh no. I am looking normalish! Bad. This is a prime example of bland, I-can't-believe-I-ate-the-whole-thing-shock, if-I-don't-move-I-will-remember-everything, nothing-going-on-in-there posing. Who wants to see that? I can already hear screamy Frau Farbissina: "NEXT!!!" (She is from the Austin Powers movies, ex. here.)

RIGHT POSE

Get your "squinch" on. I learned about squinching from New York/LA photographer Peter Hurley in his YouTube video, "It's all about the Squinch!" He's great! And he uses exclamation marks. 

He didn't explain it like this, but the trick to a good face is to think about chocolate, plots, and sexy secrets. Think about ways to adapt your leaf-blower into a duster. Think about what's under Fabio's gold lamé shorts. Okay, better not. Think about how fast a train must travel if it leaves point A at 11:00 and needs to arrive at point B at 1:03 if B is 7,031 km away, and will Sarah bring apples?

I know this pose but I always called it something sleuthy or high-noon cowboyie.

Squinching is a squint, but only using your lower lids; your upper lids aren't supposed to move. See? My face is sooo much better now: a face of intrigue, of mystery. It says, yeah, I ate the cheesecake, what are you going to do about it? Viewers will stop and stare, then say, we better get outta here, she's up to no good. Much more fun.

If you go extreme, it can look like you have indigestion, which can happen along that lonely road.

Below I am squinching again. And again, it looks like I've got stuff on my mind: how can I fit in a couple more hours of sleep, that workout really sucked, I have to write another blog post?!

But this photo is not for demonstrating the squinch. It's to show you Hurley's next tip, which he calls, "Hold Your Sub to look slimmer in photographs!" for upper arms. The "Sub" refers to a sub sandwich about 5 feet long. This is really brilliant.

WRONG POSE
Note my upper arms. Simple flesh bags. Nothing wrong with that, but they could be better.

RIGHT POSE
I didn't have any 5-foot subs left in the fridge so I decided to Hold the Broom. Just hold the broom. Okay, frig - I just wanna ride the broom. (It's an old broom and I don't know why it's still in such good condition!?)

Note how my upper arms curve inwards at the top now, looking waaaay more toned than reality. It's the best kind of non-fake fakery. I told you it's a good tip. I think Hurley really meant this pose to be for upper body photography, with the sub off camera, but why limit ourselves? We could all carry our brooms everywhere, look fabulous (at least our arms), stop sweeping our floors (check!), and open a bar called Coven.

In the next photo I am doing dramatic squinching and Holding the Sub Broom. It's like you can read my mind: what do you mean brooms are for sweeping? Are you a doofus?

Hurley has another video called "It's all about the Jaw!" about how to create a defined jaw line, which requires sticking out your neck and chin and putting your forehead forward. In real life it looks ridiculous, but it looks great in photos with young models. When I try it, I get fantastic definition too - of my jowls and string neck.

The amazing photographic 3-D effect of sticking out my neck.

Plus, sticking out a neck with poultry-like tendencies is not a good idea, especially around Thanksgiving. I suspect that doing this pose while standing on my head would be a big help, although I'd have to watch out for bags over (under?) my eyes.

And there you have it. By employing these simple techniques, soon we'll all see tons of traffic on our blogs and sit waving to each other on the backroads to Viral Nirvana. If you get a clean break, be sure to honk as you go by. I'll cluck back.

Stay tuned for Part 2 on how to dress right.

In all seriousness, I love Peter Hurley. He is funny, engaging, and knows how to make people look their best. It's good entertainment and information. Have a look.

AND... A BLOGGER MEETUP!

Carolyn of blog Handmade by Carolyn was in Vancouver from Australia and we local blogger gals rallied. It was like meeting a star! - Carolyn of the handmade clothes, of the handmade shoes, of the handmade boots! Revered sewista of finished seams. She and her husband C had been travelling on the Northwest Coast of Canada and the US and, happy day, they fit in some hours in Vancouver. He took this photo of us.

Left to right: Sveta of blog Sewing Sveta and IG @svetadolsi, Barbara of IG @vancouverbarbara, Sue of blog A Colourful Canvas and IG @acolourfulcanvas, Louisa of blog Damselfly's Delights and IG @damselfly.ca, Carolyn of blog Handmade by Carolyn and IG @handmadebycarolyn, and me.

We played hard in what little time we had, including a trip to some fabric shops and one of my favourite local alleys. I'm putting in this photo below so I have something to link up with Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed as Lamb. More photos are on Carolyn's and Barbara's social media.

It's so cool too that Carolyn was also wearing her loupe from O. We were loupe-de-loupe! See HERE on Barbara's Instagram.

PS During "brunch," we (except Barbara, driving) had grapefruit mimosas and I had bacon and egg porridge with maple syrup, the perfect drink pairing. Interesting.

AND FINALLY,
Some months ago I sent photos to Marie Claire Netherlands for an article they were doing. I was very excited, naturally. And then I heard nothing. I thought they killed the story. Then on Instagram recently, I got a comment from @roosevaels saying she had seen me in there!?

I wrote to MC again and they said, "Yes, so sorry, we forgot to tell you." So I'm in the May print issue of Marie Claire Netherlands, which is happy news. Bwahaha! Along with Sarah Jane Adams @saramaijewels, Lyn Slater of Accidental Icon and @iconaccidental, and Helen Van Winkle of @baddiewinkle. HUGE THANKS to Marie Claire for including me!!!

Because you can't buy the issue now, it's from May, I'm including the piece on me below. In Dutch, I don't know what it says. "She loves smelling stinky running shoes and eating ladybugs!" Don't believe a word of it. (Bacon in my porridge was true, just that one time though.)

EDIT: Greetje of No Fear of Fashion has translated this article. Thank you!

The machine translation said "All that beige and stretch will bump you off." Hahaha. Close.

And that's my report, done. Yippee!! I know, I know, this could have been several posts but I like doing it in one fell swoop. I hope you made it! 

This is not squinching.

And I'm not really done-done - I've been to other great blogger meetups and to an excellent Slow Clothes fashion show, where Vivian, my personal style client, strut the catwalk. She was soooo good, like a younger Vivienne Westwood.

Okay, NOW I'm done!
May your days be filled with hope and good food! Also, I have responded to all your comments from the last several posts. I really enjoyed it. You guys are the BEST!

-------------------------------------------------------
The posts about blogger and/or social media fatigue are here:
Suzanne Carillo: Why Bother Writing? Why I Love To Hate Social Media
Samantha at Fake Fabulous: 5 Reasons I Don't Like Social Media
Shelley at Forest City Fashionista: I've Lost The Will To Blog

Room for change, change room, presto chango

The change room - not so unlike Superman's phone booth. You go in, make a quick change, then emerge with superpowers, at least in the ideal scenario, including the uncanny ability to see bulges as muscle. Heh. 

Faster than a woman swiping the last chocolate croissant, more powerful than matte lipstick, able to leap scummy puddles in a single bound in skyhigh platforms. Look! Up ahead (photo below) -  It's a mutant orange! It's a giant cheese! No, it's Melanie! 

Below is my latest superpower dress, Le Traffic Cone (sister to my traffic cone coat), which I picked up during a blogger shopping spree at Talize Thrift in Delta, BC, with Suzanne (SuzanneCarillo.com), Sue (A Colourful Canvas), and Sherry (Petite Over 40), post on it here.

Photo by Sue, A Colourful Canvas. l to r: Sherry, my back, Suzanne

I spotted this piece in the size 20 dresses. It ticked all the right boxes.

• Audaciously big? Check. 
• Pockets? Check. 
• Nuclear orange? Check. 

I wore it for the first time yesterday, which happened to coincide with the downtown kickoff of Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Imagine my delight at being able to bring traffic cone safety to all the lovely people attending this musical street party. 

Sadly, weakling pixels can't possibly capture the neon-ness of this piece, nor the heavenly swish, but it's all I got. An exciting bit of news is that the Vancouver Art Gallery plaza, closed for renovations for ages, had finally opened for the festivities. Hurray!

Those red sandals are from Talize too and are now a wardrobe staple. They are by Liz Claiborne, not to be confused with the movie Dolores Claiborne, which has one of my favourite lines, "Sometimes being a b*tch is all a woman has to hold onto." Scene here. Brilliant. The blue sunnies came from a vintage shop downtown a year or two ago.

The next photo was also taken at Talize. I challenged myself to wear kyrptonite, I mean beige. I made friends with beige in a previous post, "Clothes the colour of porridge," but decided to test the endurance of our detente, and, yes, our peace treaty endures. Except I didn't like this outfit enough to buy it. Maybe if I had to jet suddenly to England to solve a murder at a village fete, I would wear this.

Photo by Sue, A Colourful Canvas

Below is another change room, this one at Nordstrom. This is like Superman visiting his idyllic home planet, Krypton, before it exploded.

I know, I know, I only go to Nordstrom SPACE for eye candy but during a mega-sale it doesn't hurt to have a taste test, right? Or does it? This top didn't exactly hurt, but it was super prickly and clingy and cloying, and the skirt's lace and tulle were prickly with an expensive falling-apart quality. 

For modesty, I photo-edited-out my underwear under the lace skirt, which also features huge gaps in the front and sides by design (the skirt, not my underwear).

Although this ensemble is sweet, it's too much treacle for me, even with its propensity for scandalous wardrobe malfunctions. This outfit makes me proud of my farked boob cooler t-shirt here - scandal without the prickles, price, and tangle. But I know this piece will look fabulous on somebody else, which was why I was drawn to it in the first place.

Below, now we're talkin'! Comme des Garçons or a variation thereof [Junya Watanabe], the top of course. It was an ordeal to put this on too: a leather harness contraption with origami-ed filmy fabric bits forming an ethereal cage. Did I love it? Yes, I did. It was $3,100 Cdn marked down to $1,100 Cdn., but I balked, like a chicken, balk balk-balk-baaaalk. Nunh.

And I tried on a Simone Rocha dress, just a sliver of it showing on the left; again, too prickly for my comfort level but a very sweet dress. 

I don't fully comprehend why I was drawn to these sweet prickly pieces that day, and a feminine blouse on the left above as well. Maybe it's because they are as out of form for my style as the whole trying-on-new-things experience.

What did I find out by visiting Krypton?: 1) designer pieces can be dreadfully complicated and prickly; 2) I still don't have a strong desire to possess these things. I like farking my own looks; plus, I have a penchant for electricity and food and shelter at the moment. But the deals were certainly there if I change my mind with a brain transplant.

And finally, to round out this post, a photo of me and Sue called Running With the Bulls from when Suzanne and Sherry came to town. Heh. Why isn't Sue more afraid? I had a brief meetup with Sue this week too. I got to see her latest dress (here) in person. Awesome!

Photo by SuzanneCarillo

That's all for now. You know what's next, don't you...?

I'll link up with Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed as Lamb.

Stay cool or bundled as the case may be. I'm heading out for a little jazz fest enlightenment in a fruital jumpsuit and then it's time for work work work. See you next time. Thanks for stopping by!!

mwah

PS - I must pass along a big thank you to Lisa of Amid Privilege for her reference to me and our brief meeting in Vancouver in her thoughtful post, "The Salubrious Effect Of Someone Else’s Friendly Eyes And Someone Else’s Stories," here. Much appreciated.

Blogger meetup with zombies and opium

Suzanne Carillo and Sherry Dryja (Petite Over 40) of Toronto and Seattle came to town and met up with me and Sue (A Colourful Canvas) this past weekend. The times we had! 

We are proof that you don't need tons of money to have a blast, only a meeting time, a few great outfits, an imagination, a camera/cellphone (we had 3), a thrift shop or two, and a generous dash of bravado. We didn't need the photos but they sure added gasps and hilarity. 

Photo by Sherry, Petite Over 40

Day 1. We hopped the SeaBus to North Vancouver to explore a few thrift shops. Of course we worked up an appetite and stopped at Lonsdale Quay, an indoor market, for nibblers.

Photo by Pizza Shop Woman

On the way back to Vancouver Sue knew exactly how to secure an unobstructed view of the advancing city skyline: the man-spread, such an exemplary example - she really nailed it - but the photo self-destructed. Hahaha!!

That night Suzanne, Sherry, and I went to the Comedy Mix to see some stand-up. The most laughs came when it was over and we discovered that all three of us wanted to walk out; we didn't because we were afraid the comedian would beat us up and laugh at our injuries. In fact, we found ourselves in the next days frequently riffing on his vicious rants, then wondered with alarm, does that count as success!?

Day 2, off to Talize thrift store in Delta by elevated train and bus. So many modes of transportation! Happily, Sue was able to join us.

Photo by Sue, A Colourful Canvas

Of the outfits above, I think only Suzanne bought her dress. Note the squared wings sticking out at my hips - always a flattering look. They were designed to be tucked in and tied inside at the front but I liked them out better. Now I regret not getting this dress, but we had two shopping carts piled mile high with options.

Our intrepid photographer takes a break on the bench conveniently located outside the change rooms. Man-spreading was not required. Sue made that fantastic duster.

On Day 3, in the morning Suzanne, Sherry, and I went on a 90-minute Sins of the City Walking Tour, "Vice, Dice, and Opium Dens," hosted by the Vancouver Police Museum. I highly recommend it. The two others on offer are Red Light Rendezvous and Walking the Beat.

Then in the evening we met up at their hotel dressed roaring '20s style (brilliant idea by Suzanne) to go to the club "Speakeasy." But first, since Suzanne and Sherry had scouted cool locations for photos at the hotel the night before, we needed to explore our inner divas fully. So many great shots...these are only a few.

Photo by Suzanne I think

Of course luxe locations in a fine hotel make it easier to set up interesting scenes, but that wasn't a prerequisite for getting good footage. Sherry farked and posted one of my favourite clips on YouTube. Warning: DON'T WATCH THIS AT WORK!! She calls it Copy of Dancing for Real. I call it Roaring '20s Zombies on Brain Detox.

We filmed this right downtown, a prime example of what I meant by "a generous dash of bravado." Heh. They are awesome!

We also swanned over to another hotel lobby for photos. This place has always been a favourite.

And then we went for a late bite. We tried flirting with our handsome server, aged 24(?) but that was simply wasted energy. He did, however, crank up the charm just before handing us the bill. Do we look that gullible? Heh. 

Later, after we had gone our separate ways and called it day, we realized that we had totally forgotten to go to the Speakeasy. Hahaha!!

On Day 4, we went to My Sister's Closet thrift boutique, of the famous $5 rack, followed by brunch. Then Suzanne and Sherry both returned to family. In this photo Suzanne is wearing the gold booties that she, Sue, and I all tried on during her last visit, HERE.

Whew! Blogger meetups are the best! It was the first time meeting Sherry and I can't wait for us to get together again. It was also a special meetup because Suzanne was celebrating her birthday. By chance my schedule was fairly free too - it's something I can never be sure of in advance - so I could take full advantage of their visit.

That's all I've got for you this week. It was a good week. There are many more hilarious photos from Talize. I dressed in BEIGE, on purpose. And Suzanne, Sherry, and I all tried on gowns - Suzanne was Molly Ringwald from Pretty in Pink, Sherry wore an '80s Dynasty series dress, and I was Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman. If nobody else posts them, I'll post them later - already this is photo-heavy.

I'll link something up to Catherine, Not Dressed as Lamb, #iwillwearwhatilike. Patti is on a break.

What would you do? Big tip or little tip for the last-minute-suck-up server?

Life beyond the screen

Oh look - I'm a real person! With real friends! Bwahaha. Thank goodness for friends. It's one of the big reasons I keep blogging.

I met up with Sue of A Colourful Canvas before Christmas and we had lunch at Vancouver Art Gallery before hitting the streets. We both happened to be dressed in screamingly bright colours. Not really a surprise. I mean, she's not called Sue of A Bland Canvas, is she? I'm wearing my Norwegian onesie. That's the gallery behind us.

After a lot of blah, blah, blahing, laughs, and startled guffaws, we marched down to the fabric store, Dressew, where we drooled all over their fabrics, so much goodness, especially in the faux fur section. Then, we stopped at swanky fashion retailer Holt Renfrew to ogle their merchandise. Sue tried on this adorable beret/hat with a pom pom thingy on top.

I really love Sue's hot pink puffer coat - so refreshing to the eye when most people are wearing dark outerwear.

And I tried on the humongoid hat below. Of course we didn't buy either of these hats but shopping is most of the fun. Holt Renfrew has recently completed a big renovation project so it's much more spacious and deluxe. It's a good thing - Nordstrom a block away is on the offensive. I'll let them duke it out while I do my real shopping in vintage, thrift, and consignment shops, although Sue and I got lots of inspiration here for our own projects.

Our meetup was the perfect way to brace ourselves for the holidays. If it's true that laughter is the best medicine, we were both satisfyingly doped up by the end of the day. Mwah, Sue!

And then I had my first booze of the new year last week when I met up with Sandra of standard.deviations for, uh, booze - a glass of wine during happy hour - accompanied by a pile of fries smothered in too much raw garlic and salt. Slightly pitui, but I forced myself, heh. I tried ordering a shot glass of wine, but they don't sell it in that size.

It was frickin' freezing outside afterwards. This is a picture of me looped and Sandra keeping her cool. The instructions for this photo were: DON'T MOVE YOUR HEAD! [maniacal laughter] My camera was perched on the post box on self-timer for this shot in the dark. But we wildly swung our arms around - just because, hey, wonder what that will look like. Now we know.

We are in Yaletown, Vancouver's warehouse district turned trendy. I remember club-hopping at gay bars here in the early '80s because that's where all the best dancing was. When I returned here after living abroad, everything had changed. Me too, I suppose.

And Sandra again below. Check out her BEAST!! She told me about this coat earlier that week and that's what inspired me to check out the menswear section where I found the traffic cone coat I wore in the previous post. Sandra's coat is probably made of the elusive blue faux mountain mink.

These are just two of the meetups I've had recently. While I was chatting with Sandra on a street corner one morning a while ago, Vancouver Barbara tore by in her sexy little car, beeping wildly, and I flapped a big wave back. I love these chance encounters.

I look forward to more meetups this year. The friendships I've made through blogging are the best thing about it.

I'll end this post with this photo from Yaletown.

In my wine-addled state, at first I thought an alien ship had photo-bombed our shot. But no - using my magic loupe, I realized that this looked creepily like flesh! Ghost hand?! Or had my own hand become so obviously rhino-hided this season I hadn't even noticed? It couldn't be a bicycle seat, right?

Then, using my superior powers of deduction, I realized that my camera on the post box had tipped downward on self-timer for an excellent shot of my leather glove tucked under the lens to prop it up. Brilliant.

Why don't they sell shot-glass sizes of wine? Why?

There are some outfit photos on my Instagram if you're interested. HERE. That's all.
Have a great week all youse guys.