megfowler.com

November 30, 2007

friday love list: man, have you internets been quiet lately! edition

Filed under: love, listy — meg @ 7:54 am

So every week (errr… most weeks) I do a list on Friday of Things I Love.

Sometimes I have a theme, sometimes not. Sometimes the lists are long, sometimes not.

But what one thing do they have in common (besides sweet, sweet coffee and men who wear pants that don’t show off their ankles?)

LOVE.

That’s right. BECAUSE LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND.

LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.

LOVE LIFTS US UP WHERE WE BELONG.

LOVE, LOVE ME DO.

LOVE AND ROCKETS.

Wait, that one made no sense.

But.

I’ve found the internet kind of quietish lately (well, except on Twitter), so I’m thinking that maybe everyone needs to feel a little more love. To be reminded of the things that make us happy. To revel in the WOO! rather than the WTF!

To take a snowblower to that little gray cloud that’s been following us around and say NO, NOT TODAY, LITTLE CLOUD. TODAY I LOVE.

So I’m going to help you out.

I’m going to help you make your own love list.

And I’m going to do it right now:

(Feel free to post your answers on your own blog or in the comments, by the way. BUT DO IT. FOR THE LOVE.)

Things YOU Love:

Song you love:

Food you love:

Thing you love to look at:

Sound you love:

Thing you love to laugh at:

Gadget you love:

Person you love:

Software you love:

Word you love:

Thing you love on the internet:

Place you love to go on vacation:

Sensation you love:

Animal you love:

Book you love:

Emotion you love:

Occasion you love:

Quality you love in people:

Thing you most love to shop for:

And finally…

What you love about today:

GO!

LOVE!

I swear, you’ll feel better just for having thought of it all.

November 29, 2007

seven things I have sworn at — in my heart or out loud — in the last 24 hours.

Filed under: stuff — meg @ 3:53 pm

(see if you can guess which is which!)

1. The Mac swirling beach ball of delay.
2. Boys on the phone.
3. Oprah.
4. A fake lint spider.
5. My smoking blow dryer.
6. My tangly eyebrows.
7. Underwire set free.

five words I’ve used rather improbably in the last 24 hours.

Filed under: listy — meg @ 3:42 pm

1. Rectally.
2. Cottontail.
3. Palaver.
4. Hooter.
5. Clubfoot.

ten things I have tripped over in the last 24 hours.

Filed under: stuff, listy — meg @ 3:33 pm

1. My pantleg.
2. My Mac power cord.
3. A small dog.
4. Air.
5. A rolled up newspaper on the doorstep.
6. My shower curtain.
7. The foot of a man on the bus.
8. The bus steps.
9. A large piece of lint I mistook for a spider. (More of a leap)
10. Logic

November 28, 2007

your source for addictions.

Filed under: getting out — meg @ 1:18 pm

Try it. Let me know how you roll.

November 27, 2007

the megfowler.com online shopping guide PART ONE… because you know, there’s no other online shopping guides on the internet. *cough* and besides it’s just stuff i LIKE.

Filed under: stuff, love, let me count the ways, listy, help a girl shop, linky, christmas — meg @ 2:18 pm

A few weeks ago, I was going to post my own little online shopping guide full of links to things I love — not just for gifts, but for YOU! Then it occurred to me that this was an area WELL realized by about a MILLION AND A HALF other bloggers and sites and web magazines.

So I didn’t do it.

Then it occurred to me — because that’s what I do, I sit around and wait for stuff to occur to me — that none of them would be MY little shopping/lusting guide, and even if I coincided up the wazoo with other sites or my links were dopey or I ended up suggesting things that somehow offended my mother, to thine own self be true, mmm?

So here we go!

I’ll be posting under “Girly Thingies”, “House and Life Thingies”. Because it’s not a gift guide… it’s just stuff I like. And I didn’t really feel like organizing it much.

You’ll see clearly here how eclectic my tastes are, too. Which I think is either a good quality of mine, or evidence of multiple personalities. Either way, it makes me fun at parties.

Enjoy!

GIRLY THINGIES

Jennifer Meyer Jewelry – As with any time of year, I would take ANYTHING from her collection. Gorgeous.

France Luxe Italian Headbands – Perfect width, perfect “holdback”.

Havis — WHY DON’T YOU OWN A MILLION JILLION PAIRS LIKE I DO??

Soia & Kyo Coat — How CUTE IS THAT.

Benefit Powder Pop! — These powders warm and glow like none other.

NARS Night Palette — Love these colours. Perfect winter shades for making eyes come alive.

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
— The one. The best. The only.

Oscar Blandi Olio di Jasmine — Fantastic-smelling, and lush for winter hair.

Theory Sweater Coat — I can’t even handle the cozy.

Coach Bleeker – I have an odd lust for this bag.

Alessi White Mariposa Watch — Love it. So sleek.

MoonVenom — “Celestial” lip gloss? Maybe not, BUT… this stuff has a great opalescent party sheen and a warm cinnamon-y tingle that I love. It’s the perfect “re-apply” at a party when you don’t want to do the whole lipstick rigamarole, because it brings out the natural colour of your lips. Which is probably better at 2 am than Candy Apple Red, yes? But if you really want big lips, try…

TooFaced Lip Injection Extreme — For Angelina’s lips without all the kids.

Orange Button Wood Bangles — I love the tone of these. So warm.

MAC Sheerspark Pressed Powder — Holiday Glow 101. Sparkle without sparkle. Could I be more vague? And I love the sassy compact.

BR Pendant Necklace — So simple, but I love the personal, yet unassuming look of the pendant. Nice with a white shirt or v-neck sweater. And cheap!

Stila Lip Shines — Nice and natural… like lips, but shimmery-better.

Winifred Grace Nesting Dome Earrings — These earrings have the perfect shape to elongate necks like mine (what neck?) and the perfect tone to warm up winter skin. A little (a lot!) pricey, but they’re definitely not earrings you’ll see on everyone else. You can dress them up or down, too, which is something I require in my pieces.

Frederic Fekkai Mini Glossing Kit — Traveling during the holidays? This is your best take-along to keep winter-dry or (in my climate) winter-frizzy hair in shiny, happy condition. I have baby-fine hair, and the Glossing Creme is light enough to keep it in check without greasing it down — but I also know crazy curly-heads who find it works well for them, too. And the best part? It smells like magic.

Marc Jacobs Hobo Bag — I know. Dream on.

Origins SHEdonism Set — I love the warm, soothing fragrance, and this stuff is incredibly moisturizing.

Isaac Mizrahi for Target Shawl-Collar Cashmere Sweater
— Isaac! Target! Cashmere! WIN WIN!

Bloodwood Dome Ring from Studio AMF
— I love wooden rings. The natural texture and warm feel are perfect for sweater-and-jeans days, and the shape and colour of them is modified over time by your skin and the shape of your finger. I also love BIG rings (since, you know, my fingers are about an inch long and clearly I need something giant) and this fits the bill. Perfect statement for tanned summer hands or lotion-covered winter hands.

Philosophy Coconut Scrub
— Pretend it’s summertime. Just do it.

Origins NoPuffery Eye Gel — Post-party perfection.

Comptoir Sud Pacifique Candles — Magical in the bedroom or bathroom. Like me.

Weleda Skin Food — Smells so good, and is a cure-all for dryness in general.

HOUSE AND LIFE THINGIES

cb2 Phantom Table Lamp – I love the simplicity of the design and the round, organic shape. Perfect for a low-key bedroom.

C&B Bamboo Dinnerware — Great for kids or outdoors.

KitchenAid Tool Set — I love the colour, I love the design, and I love the price!

Bodum 32-Ounce Stainless Coffee Press
— Because you need a LOT OF COFFEE.

Pottery Barn Great White Dinnerware – I love white dishes. Food just looks better on them.

Pikku Papers — Just really lovely little designs and whimsical details.

Bed, Bath & Beyond Chevron Throws — The design of this throw adds great texture to a plain chair or couch.

1000 Gram Turkish Towels — Yeeeeeeah.

cb2 Acacia Thick Wood Mirror — I love wood. I love mirrors.

Origo Dinner Plates — Simple design, but a lovely hit of colour for a basic table.

Frette Sheets — This is my favourite set. Goooorgeous.

ThinkGeek SunJars — Store a little sunshine for later.

Tiffin Lunch Box Sets — Cool enough to make me want to bring a lunch to work.

Riedel Stemless Glasses
— I really like stemless wineglasses… fingerprints be damned!

cb2 comma plates — Perfect for messy appies at a party.

Jiti Branches Bedding — 100% dupioni silk with a muted pattern that would fit into a ton of different decorating schemes. A bit of luxury, no?

cb2 peace dove ornaments — A little tree decorated with shiny birds? Yes, please.

notNeutral Outdoor Metal Lantern
— Very chic around your deck or patio!

Soleus Halogen Heater with Remote — Know any chilly souls? This fan-shaped heater fires up fast and runs safely.

Elum Cards — I love good stationery. Love it. And this stuff has such a lovely look and feel. Done your Christmas cards yet?

Campfire Votive
— AAAAAA THE CUTE!!!

good morning, sunshinefaces.

Filed under: questions — meg @ 8:53 am

Okay! It’s sunny and cold in Vancouver (well, coldISH… I could stand to put a - in front of our temperature) and I bought a Christmas mug and I’m feeling all JAZZ HANDS! and THERE’S A LOT OF SUGAR IN THIS PEPPERMINT MOCHA.

So.

1. How are YOU?

2. Are you a holidays person, or no? (whatever holidays you celebrate)

3. How many blankets are on your bed right now?

4. If I told you I was going to bring you lunch, what would you want me to bring you?

5. We can do absolutely ANYTHING you want today. So what would that be?

6. Brunettes: the true fun-havers? Yes or no.

November 26, 2007

about love.

Filed under: love — meg @ 10:54 am

Here’s the whole story: I don’t get love.

I mean, I get lots of love from lovely, lovely people.

But I don’t understand how it works, how you find it, how you keep it, what makes you patient and engrossed with another person for a whole lifetime because of it, and how you overcome all the things you need to overcome to keep it in your heart and in your life forever.

I have dozens of great examples around me, mind you.

My parents are still married after a gazillion years, and I can honestly say they don’t stick with it for the financial benefits or out of habit. I’m lucky to watch them do their thing.

I have many friends who are happily married, too… however that looks for them.

Which could be a clue: it looks different for everyone.

Still, as with assembling IKEA furniture, watching it happen for years and years has brought me no closer to fathoming how it happens.

I don’t buy any of the old saws:

    Love shows up when you least expect it.

    Love shows up when you’re not looking for it.

    Love is just a matter of finding that one person.

    Love is a matter of putting yourself out there.

If love shows up when you least expect it, then a whole lot of people should be experiencing the romantic equivalent of Ed McMahon showing up on their doorstep pretty damn soon. Because they haven’t expected it in a while.

If love shows up when you’re not looking for it, well…. again… a lot of people should be getting startled by true love while showering or clipping their toenails or eating a large bag of chips and watching a stupid movie on TBS.

If love is a matter of finding that one person, we should really be rebounding off all the wrong people like reverse magnets, instead of living with them for years on end until everything melts down, and then spending another few years wondering what the hell we were doing in the first place.

If love is a matter of putting yourself out there, club kids and cougars would fall in love every day.

Then again, maybe they do.

Maybe it’s not that I don’t get love… I just don’t get how I love, or how love is going to look for me when I finally stumble onto it for real. So far, love has felt like a lot of making up for something I lack, or wondering what the other person was thinking, or trying to be everything for someone who didn’t really seem to need half of what I was, or feeling badly that they didn’t have this other person they’d wanted more. And then it felt like nothing.

That sounds bitter. I’m not sure it is, though. Just honest.

I know the things I lack, the stuff I don’t bring to the table. I am not the smartest, the prettiest, the thinnest, the funniest, the wisest, the most peaceful, the least conflicted, the healthiest, the most interesting. I don’t know who is, but it’s not me. And on a lot of levels, I have to be okay with that, because you can’t conjure qualities you don’t have out of thin air. All you can do is try.

But that’s so far from anything I imagine love is about.

Love isn’t about a matching system or a list of compatibilities. Half the couples I see walking around look as though they were randomly selected from a bowlful of people and attached at the hand. I’m sure they love one another, because you can see it, but there’s no obvious outward qualities that really make them make sense.

Which I love.

And which is also why I loathe eHarmony and resume dating and a good portion of the questions people ask one another when they first meet, because I could give you a list of things about me that would impress you, and I could make my life sound great, and I could tell you all the things I wanted in someone else and maybe you would go, “Awesome! Me too!”

Would we really know anything, though? Would we be compatible, or would our fantasies just enjoy going on a date? Would you know the things about me that are actually lovely?

Will it matter to you in thirty years that I can play a mean round of poker and I enjoy the outdoors and I can cook you a meal that will make your eyes roll back in your head and I wear excellent perfume and can flirt like a demon when I try?

Or will it matter more that I can forgive in a heartbeat and will scratch your back when you’re tense and I laugh at even the most stupid jokes and I will think you are beautiful even when you’re not? (Oh… and I’ll be nice to your mom.)

I really don’t know.

Where does love actually begin?

Is friendship based on chemistry where it starts?

Or is sex that turns into genuine like for the other person where it starts?

Is chemistry important at all? It has to be, I think, but how important?

Or is a decision where it starts? And continues? And ends?

Or does it just happen and no one knows why or how but it does and hopefully it happens to you? Huzzah?

My mother taught me that all you can do is be the best person you can be and love others as much as possible, and beyond that, you’d just have to see.

Easy for her to say. She got married at 19, cute as a bug’s ear, and has more talent and love in her little finger than most of us have in every organ of our bodies.

But I know she’s right. And I know I’m not the best person I can be.

So that could be a start.

Oh… and if the key to love is just not thinking about it, well… yeah, I’m done for.

Granted, I am content to let a lot of it be a mystery. Really.

But I wouldn’t mind if love made sense for ten minutes. Long enough for me to dance around in blissful certainty to exactly two love songs.

I think that would get me happily to 40, at least.

Or tomorrow.

November 25, 2007

no. 10

Filed under: love, random, listy — meg @ 1:03 am

10. Lying under a zillion blankets while cool air pours in from my bedroom windows.

I will know I’ve found The One when he does not try and close windows on me.

I’d rather pile on another quilt than shut the windows and let everything get stuffy and stale.

I guess that’s why I wake up every morning with toasty feet and a cold nose.

Like a puppy, really.

November 24, 2007

saturday.

Filed under: love, listy — meg @ 6:20 pm

1. Sleeping in.

2. Talking with a good friend.

3. Cleaning my house top to bottom.

4. Folding warm, fluffy laundry.

5. Peppermint mocha… granted, spilled it all over myself, but what can you do?

6. Watercolour sunset from the deck.

7. Hottest shower on record.

8. Ella Fitzgerald and Jose Feliciano’s Christmas albums off iTunes.

9. Dinner out at a friend’s restaurant.

I’m working on 10. But so far, Happy Saturday.

Next Page »