Holiday Tip #5: Don’t Sweat the Wardrobe Malfunctions

Take it from the gal that has had unexpected and embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions at pretty much every social gathering this holiday, that they aren’t worth sweating.  Best to just find the humour in them, as opposed to letting them destroy your holiday moments.  Here’s some practice – just laugh at my moments.

Moment #1 was relatively tame.  Arrived late to a dinner with friends of my parents, only to have the zipper to my jeans break 10-seconds after entering. Locked myself in the bathroom for 10-minutes trying fix it.  No luck.  Quietly ask the hostess for safety pins.  She didn’t have any.  Meanwhile the truly evil unknown cashier, saw everything and with a wicked little smile commented as loudly as she could, “They’ve probably broken from too much use.”  “Do you wear them when you dance?”, she added ‘oh so innocently’.  I decided to make a quick escape to the door for a quick fashion change, when my lovely, but oblivious father pipes up with, “Where are you off to, you only just arrived?”

Broken Zipper by you.

Moment #2 is much more dramatic and really belongs in my ‘Blonde Moments’.  I got all dressed up to go and see our yearly Christmas musical with my family.  Drove with my sister and her husband, as its important to her that he get to know me better.  I guess I am not as embarrassing to her as I’d previously suspected.  Well get to know me better he did.  A whole lot better.

Gale force winds had whipped when we got out of the car to walk across to the theatre.  My brother-in-law and I quickly ran across the road, but Bella was just standing there, yelling “My hat, my hat!”  It took me a second to realize what the problem was.  Her hat, one I’d knit for her, my most favourite hat that I’d ever knit, had blown off and was lying on the ground on the other side of a 10 foot iron gate with jagged spikes on the top.

old iron gate by CoreForce.

Photo by Falk Lademann

Before I knew it, I’d tossed my purse and camera at my sister and was scaling the gate.  It wasn’t until I was at the very top and my highly religious brother-in-law was standing right underneath me that I realized I was wearing a skirt and a short one at that.  Happily had discovered that he wasn’t quite the prude I’d previously suspected and did have a sense of humour after all.  There was a greater problem at hand now though than him seeing up my skirt, I suddenly realized that scaling tall gates in dress shoes wasn’t quite as easy as in runners.  Who knew!?!  And to complicate matters, the gale force winds had now blown my skirt up over my head.

DSC_7532 by Mr Ferguson.

All potential suitors will happily know that luckily I narrowly missed impaling myself on one of the top spikes of the gate, sex and children are still possibilities in my future.  Thank God!  A life without sex would be like a life without chocolate or wine.  A reality that I will hopefully never have to face.  Didn’t get by totally unscathed though, as I literally toppled over the top of the gate.  Huge blow to my tomboy past, but thankfully, like a cat, I did land on my feet, so no ambulance needed calling.

Retrieved the hat and was half over before Oh Religious One and Bella realized they were holding my camera with video capabilities.  Thankfully for me and sadly for you they were a little slow on the uptake and recognizing the danger of my current situation, my tomboy skills had returned for the scrambling down.  So there is no photos or video of the fated moment.

I did, however, discover that the back of my leg was a bloody mess when I arrived in the washroom.  This was quickly rectified by removing my torn and bloody tights, mopping up the wound and all the women in the theatres restroom banding together to find enough bandaids to prevent my skirt being stained with blood during the performance.

The War Wounds:

Fence Climbing Caper War Wound by you.

Fence Climbing Caper War Wound #2 by you.

Destroyed Stalkings from Christmas Fence Caper by you.

Such acts of human kindness and the realization that it was damn cold with no tights on, reminded me that not everyone is as lucky as I am.  A lot of people don’t have warm winter toques and other clothes to chase when they blow off or warm theatres full of goodwill to hide out from the cold in.  To pass along a little of this kindness to others this winter, give winter clothes that you no longer wear to those in need, donate cell phones to groups like Fearless City that give them to those living on the streets improving saftey, or support groups like Beauty Nights that helps those that are less fortunate feel sexy too!

Kisses,
Emme xoxo

Holiday Tip #4: Dress for the Weather this Winter

It's Cold Ouside - Cover Up by you.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

With mistletoe kisses from Emme, Lola & Kittyn

Holiday Tip #3: Dinner Conversation

We have all spent holiday dinners where we’ve discovered that our family still hasn’t a clue as to what we do, who our lover of over a year is, just what our best friend or business partner’s name is, or are inadvertently criticized.  At one time, I use to let such conversations get me upset, set off a fight, take hugely personally and end up in tears.  Somewhere along the way somethings shifted within me.  Maybe I just realized that it’s not all about me and not meant personally, or maybe it’s just that I’ve grown up and realized that there are real stresses in this world and such moments should not be made into a stress.  So rather than turning such moments into fights or tears this Christmas I am turning them into laughter.

Dinner Table by Zolotkey.
Photo by Zolotkey

One moment earlier this week whilst enjoying a pre-Christmas dinner party at the neighbours, my Dad announced to the table that I no longer play any sports.  Rather than taking this into a totally irrational translation of ‘you’ve become a lazy couch potatoe’, before I knew it out of my mouth came, “No Dad, I still play sports.  I do pole dance after all.”  Needless to say this had the whole table laughing and is unlikely to be forgotten in the neighborhood for years to come.  I’m now ‘their pole dancing daughter from Vancouver’ – that is what Vancouver does to a gal after all.

Here goes nothing by you.

Perhaps the moment that my Mom and I enjoyed the most, however, was Dad asking for the kazillionth time who Lola was.  Lola one of my greatest friends of all time and one of my writing partners!?!  Mom started to respond with “her partner”.  And once again, my mouth opened, “Yeah Dad we thought it was about time to tell you that there’s a reason why I have yet to bring a man home.  Thought it was important for you to know now as wee little m, isn’t your only grandchild.  You have two other granddaughters too, as it took Lola a while to recognize that she was a lesbian.  Don’t worry you’ll get to meet them shortly, they’re all coming for Christmas.”  Sadly Lola, I gave Dad a quiz after all of this and dear old Dad still doesn’t remember your name or that of your daughters.  He is happy that we’ve found each other, however.

laughing Emme by Lola May.

So my suggestion this Christmas is don’t take dinnertime conversations personally, it probably isn’t meant that way, and it’s far more enjoyable to laugh than to fight.

‘A Very Sexy Christmas’ – Holiday Photo Contest

Here it is  – drum roll, please – our first contest involving a ‘real’ prize (aside from my admiration, of course).

A Very Sexy Christmas by you.

The Details

Contest Name: A Very Sexy Christmas

Contest Location: A Very Sexy Christmas Group on Flickr

What?: A Photography Contest on flickr that focuses on the lighter side of the winter holidays and whose sole goal is to make you smile and cause a chuckle or two.

The Photos: Any photos that in some way involve a winter holiday (Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s .. etc) and put a smile on your face.

We say ‘sexy’ in the title, but for us ‘sexiness’ is a state of being. It’s a feeling that makes you feel good about you and because ‘smiling’ and ‘laughter’ are incredibly sexy, any photos that make you smile or laugh are eligible for the contest.

What is not eligible are pornographic shots (these really aren’t all that sexy in my mind) and nude shots (exceptions are given here, if you can’t actually see any naughty, little bits – such as this photograph that was very tastefully done and is in my mind incredibly sexy and very clever.

Oh and anatomically correct gingerbread men and women and naughty ornaments are highly encouraged as they make the juvenile side of me laugh.

The Prize: a Fujifilm FinePix S2000HD digital camera valued at $300

How to Submit a Photo in the Contest?

  • Join flickr, if you are not already there.
  • Upload your sexy or just plain funny holiday pics to ‘A Very Sexy Christmas’.
  • To be eligible to win, visit Get on the F List, find the Fujifilm FinePix S2000HD digital camera, read about it and find your favourite feature of the camera.  Write your favourite feature of the camera as a comment under your submitted photo(s). *Without this comment, your photo is ineligible*
  • Submit as many photos as you wish.
  • Submissions close at midnight PST on January 4th, 2009.

Voting:

  • You may vote for as many photos as you’d like, as long as they’re not a photo that you submitted.
  • You may also only vote once per photo.
  • To vote, comment on the photo with *You’ve been kissed*. If you are shy about this you can always say *You’ve been kissed by A Very Sexy Christmas*
  • Voting ends at midnight PST on Sunday January 11, 2009.

Ineligible Photos:

  • Any photos submitted by ‘the gals’ from Sexy in Van City, any of their multiple personalities or any of their mortified family members. (Yes – Kittyn & wife of Motor Mouth – this means your both ineligible, despite the fact that I know you’d both love the camera – my only suggestion is to flirt with the distinguished Mr. Ingram & Mr Andersen as they have recently both obtained an extra camera) (We do still encourage ‘the gals’ to post, however.)
  • Pornography
  • Nudes, in which we can see any naughty little bits.

Special Thanks to: Get on the F List for the prize donation.

Happy Posting!  Looking forward to all the laughs and smiles that your posts create!

Holiday Tip #2: Get Help

No – I am not suggesting medical attention or the men in white jackets (well at least not for all of you).  What I am suggesting here is that you take advantage of all the holiday promos that are out there to make the final days of holiday shopping more bearable and less stressful.  I’m done my holiday shopping, but got dragged into a mall by my sister this past weekend and trust me you don’t want to go there and if you do, you want to make it a quick and dirty affair.  Thankfully Bella was quick, so her life was spared prior to full meltdown on my part.

Rockefeller Center Crowds, Pt. 4 by LarimdaME.
Photo by Gene Han

@GetontheFlist tweeted me about such a ‘holiday helper’. ‘Get on the F List‘ is a campaign being put on by Fujifilm Canada to inspire better gift giving, rather than the mad dash of ‘damn it’s the night before and I don’t want to spend the next year in the dog house’.  As a part of this, their site has a simple 5-step Gift Finder to help you brainstorm shopping ideas for the people on your list. What I personally like about this campaign and gift finder is that whilst they do suggest a variety of fuji cameras for the people on your list, they also give you a variety of non-camera, non-fuji suggestions.  In addition, they offer a blog with gift advice from 31 Toronto and Vancouver retailers.

Text-redesign_03

Another gift buying suggestion for those of you in Vancouver this weekend is that the Women’s Winter Faire is back Saturday & Sunday, December 20th & 21st at Heritage Hall on 3102 Main St (by the corner of 15th) from 11 am – 6 pm.  Sad that I am not in Vancouver this weekend as my favourite new Vancouver designers, mother- daughter duo, Jen Hong and Morgan of Salty Bean are going to be there selling their salty critters and critter ware.  Really didn’t get enough critter chains from them at the last fair and should have bought a doll or outfit for my new niece.  Damn Raul for distracting me.  Oh and if it is anything like the last fair there will be lots of other great finds for your naughty and nice lists.  A couple of pics below from Raul’s and my November adventure there!

Oh and if anyone else has any other last minute shopping suggestions, please fire us a note.

‘Raul & Emme DO the November Women’s Winter Faire’

Emme and Raul by Lola May.
Raul & Emme in the beginning.

saltybean table by Lola May.
The Salty Bean booth in all it’s glory.
Don't let your tree go bear this Christmas by you.
To liven up your tree.
The question here is what to use this spread on by you.
For a saucy good time.
Best Buys for the 70+ yr old Gentlemen by you.
For Dad (aka what every 70+ yr old gentleman needs for his office wall)
Raul and Emme by Lola May.
Priceless