Looking Forward, Looking Back

Well 2011 is almost here and I have a hard time believing that 2010 has gone by as quickly as it has! Like many other bloggers whose 2010 recaps I have been reading, it's been a year of many changes and events, and as I look back I can truly say I am really happy with how the past year has turned out and am genuinely excited to see what 2011 will bring my way.

I know I don't often write too much about my personal life here on the blog, but i thought I might mention, this time, a few of the highlights from this good year.

Last year around this time, I was home on PEI for the holidays spending time with family and getting ready to head back to Western to finish up my final term in my Masters of Library and Info Science. It was a super hectic few months with a lot of projects, work, assignments, presentations, and more.

Interspersed with the job applications and the finishing up of schoolwork and preparing to move out of my London apartment was a bit of the above. Or actually a lot, if I'm being honest.

And then in April? Graduation! I finally finished, although I started my first job before convocation and sadly wasn't able to attend the ceremony (so clearly this is not my photo, above, I just thought it illustrated the feeling well).

For my first job after library school, I headed out across the country to Winnipeg, which was definitely a learning experience. I met and worked with some truly lovely and warm people, and gained valuable work experience, but was horribly lonely and homesick. Luckily, towards the end of my time there, some old friends and some new ones improved my outlook considerably.

And finally, I have ended up back in the nation's capital, working as a reference librarian which I really enjoy (although it is perhaps not quite as exciting as the above portrait might suggest), surrounded by great friends, and very much looking forward to what the new year will bring me - hopefully the happiness will continue.

Until 2011 truly begins, I wish you all a very, very, 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you all are having a happy and wonder-filled day of celebration. Since I`m busily celebrating with family and friends today, I thought I would share a few fabulous Christmas-y photos that I`ve been collecting over the past month from here and there that have inspired some Christmas spirit and made me smile.

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here.

Here

Here.

Here

Here

God bless us, every one.
                                       - Charles Dickens

Library in a Bottle

If anyone is looking to send me a fantastic Christmas gift, perhaps this perfume would be the one for the job. Available here, the scent echoes the experience of being in the library and is described as follows:

"In the Library" is a warm blend of English Novel*, Russian & Moroccan Leather Bindings, Worn Cloth and a hint of Wood Polish.

I picture wearing this perfume to work as an accent to my pencil skirt, heeled loafers, cardigan, book necklace, holding a first edition of a book, any book. Perhaps with my hair in a bun... Not sure if I can fulfill the Librarian cliché any more than that, but seriously, wouldn`t it be awesome?

One Great City

It`s hasn`t even been a month since I`ve left Winnipeg for a fresh start and a new job in Ottawa. I only lived in Winnipeg for a little while but I will say that it did grow on me in the short time I was there. Initially, my feelings very much echoed the refrain of the above song from the Weakerthans - "I hate Winnipeg", namely because I was super homesick and didn`t know a soul. But as time went on and I got to know the different neighbourhoods, restaurants, great vintage shops (Vintage Glory and Ragpickers if any of you happen to be in the city), music and arts scene, and start to make some friends, it started to seem a little more like home, for the time being. I don`t know if in the end I felt it was "One Great City" but I certainly liked it a whole lot more than I did at first.

One thing I was perhaps the most delighted and impressed to discover was the amazing local talent of Winnipeg style bloggers. So I asked a few of my favourites to share what, in their opinions, makes Winnipeg "One Great City" (or not one, as the case may be). I`ve followed Meghan and Lana for a while, but I discovered the fabulously talented Raez and Andrew only after doing a bit more research into the Winnipeg style scene, and I was beyond impressed, needless to say. You can check out their answers to what makes their hometown "great" below.

Andrew from Pull Teeth : " I think Winnipeg is great, especially for fashion blogging, because we don't have the resources most of the bigger cities have. Without shops like H&M, Zara, Topshop, and Urban Outfitters, we're forced to be more creative with out style. We search thrift stores and make our own DIY creations. Not only because we want to, but because to some degree.. we have to"

Meghan and Lana of Tjejsajten : It's tough to say why we like Winnipeg. We've moved away for periods at a time, but we always come back because Winnipeg is comfortable. It changes just enough to keep things interesting but still retains the same old charm.

It snowed ten inches last night and we remembered how much we love the winters here (really). In the end, jacket weather keeps us together.

Raez from Cheap Thrills:  I actually don't even like Winnipeg that much to be honest. Maybe it has to do with the fact that my parents moved our family from Vancouver to Winnipeg for reasons lacking logic, but hey, that's just me. Not even going to lie when I tell you that I can always be heard saying stuff like "I hate this place, I'm freezing my ass off and my bus is late again--screw Winnipeg Transit!" And of course, I always make it known that my biggest dream is to leave this city and make it big in TO. But, I also can't lie when I say Winnipeg will always have a place in my heart.  Aside from the fact that I mostly grew up here and that this is where I made my friends and fell in love with photography, I also like the atmosphere. It's not a huge city like Toronto crawling with millions of people, but it's not a teeny town in the middle of nowhere either. It's got diversity, but also tradition and history. You can get lost in it, but it's not likely that you'll be swallowed whole by a moving swarm of people (aka like in Montreal, jeez!) It's not the most exciting place in the world (let alone Canada) but to me, it kind of feels like home--like comfort. You can quote me quoting Goldilocks when I say that "this bed is just right!"


 What little I like about Winnipeg:
It`s cheap to live here
Shopping isn`t good, but that just makes finding good shit a great challenge.
The weather has trained me to be able to live through any other climate on the planet. I`m convinced I can survive the Sahara desert and Antarctica.
It`s both big and small. If there was a zombie outbreak, there`s a chance we`ll fare better than our much more populated cities :)
It's smack dab in the middle of North America!

I have to say that my own feelings most closely echo Raez - I had a lot of complaints while I was living there, but there were certainly a large number of things about the city that really caused it to grow on me during my time there. Certainly there are, as illustrated here, some fabulously stylish folk there. If you haven`t checked out these blogs, you definitely should, as they are well worth a follow, in my humble opinion.  A couple of my other favourite bloggers hailing from Winnipeg are Adrienne at Clzover and Breanne at Flattery who are well worth a look as well.