adventures – Page 3 – hellomelissa.net

I went on a purse bender, and I remember everything

September 29, 2011 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

I love purses. I’ve written several posts about various purses I’ve had over the years (for some examples, see here, here, here, and here). Purses are more than a utilitarian accessory for me. I love being able to find a handbag that matches both my fashion and organizational style, and more importantly, doesn’t cost me a fortune.

Normally, my average “purse bender” (what I call my obsessive shopping trip to find said perfect purse) takes me anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks once I get seriously hunting. I get very focused and spend any spare moments hunting online for ideas and potential bargains on eBay.

I’ve hunted less-than-seriously for the last couple of weeks. My current purse was feeling heavy and I thought I should look for something a little bigger to accommodate my stash of stuff I like to bring everywhere with me (including a recently purchased Kobo eReader that I picked up with my birthday money – I love having so many books in my purse that don’t need a backpack for carrying.

I knew I was reaching bender-status when I spent some downtime hunting eBay. I rarely buy purses online. I like to check them out in person: feel the material, check for spots that might wear easily, look at the organization, and of course try them on.

To stop the online obsessing, I walked to Winners at lunch to see some purses in person. Sometimes realizing that the Perfect Purse™ doesn’t truly exist (for me, or for anyone) can stop a purse bender in its tracks.

I saw some okay bags, nothing outstanding at a price I was willing to pay for. (The joys of working in the Yorkville area of Toronto – the Winners is across the street from several couture/high-end fashion stores, so Winners’ merch can lean a little higher-end at this particular one.)

I have a weird thing for buying pink or purple purses. I’ve purchased them nearly exclusively for almost a decade. I’m a firm believer in colourful accessories – life is too short for all black and hot pink really pops against a black coat. I’m sure I break many fashionista’s hearts when I’m out and about, but it’s turned into a thing and I like it.

Today I branched out a little:

You guys! Look! It’s not all pink! Or purple! It’s pink! And purple! And grey! And turquoise! I’m really stepping out of my comfort zone here!

I almost passed it by, but I liked the shape of it. The colour scheme was just my style. The only thing I had against it was that it wasn’t a crossbody. (I love handsfree purses.) One advantage to it being a regular shoulder bag is that if my regular shoulder gets sore, I can switch shoulders. When I do that with a crossbody, it screws up my entire being and it just Feels Wrong.

So, I’ve branched out here. The fact that it was $29.99 before taxes sealed the deal. It passed the “I can’t put it down while walking through the store” test so off I went to the cash register to pay for it.

Walking back to work, I had a little spring in my step, and not buyer’s remorse. I got all the stuff from my old purse into it and wore it home. Another good sign. The front pockets (the ones that always hold my keys, subway pass and phone) were all easily accessible. Score!

Just for kicks, here’s a picture of all the crap that was in my purse. (My old purse is sitting behind all that crap. It looks a little sad.). I’ve already chucked all the old receipts and bits of trash at this point, but there’s still several odd items I didn’t know were there.

Best surprise items: a nearly-full size bottle of baby Tylenol (caught before the expiry!), and a pair of Flora’s (really, they are clean) underpants (the joys of potty-training). The sad thing here is that I actually knew about the underpants, but had forgotten to take them out after I discovered them last week (I KNOW!). Don’t worry, they’re in the laundry basket now.

Tell me about your tips for purse shopping. Are you as whackadoo about it as I am? If you do shop online, where do you go? (Especially if you’re in Canada.)

We’re back!

July 4, 2011 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

Home again jiggety-jog.

I’m happy to report that my worries about long-distance traveling were blown out of proportion. Flora traveled like a champ. She got good use out of the portable DVD player we bought (more than I would have liked, but it kept her happy) and was generally in good spirits the entire week despite not napping much. (Oh please let this not be the end of naptime though.)

The rest of us traveled pretty well too. No major meltdowns from any of us. Considering that we drove for nearly 18 hours (with stops) before we stopped in Bangor, Maine for the night, that’s pretty remarkable.

New Brunswick is a lovely place. A lot of Sean’s extended family lives there and it was great to see so many of them and in mine and Flora’s cases, meet them for the first time. Flora was a bit shy with most of them, but would usually open up and chat eventually.

Other highlights include:

The cottage we stayed at: ocean view, just big enough for us, lots of books to read and modern appliances (including a dishwasher and washer/dryer. Very different from the cottages I stayed in as a kid)
Whale watching on the Bay of Fundy. It was early in the season, but we saw a couple of finback whales. They were coy though, just flashing a bit of their backs out of the water.
Lobster! Even though Sean chased me around the cottage with one before he put it in the pot.
Watching Flora pet jellyfish, starfish and sea urchins (she’s much braver than her mama, who recoiled in horror at these creatures).

Here are our pictures from the trip.

We drove back on Canada Day and after our longer trip south of the border, I insisted we go through Canada coming home. We were lucky that traffic was pretty smooth most of the way (although it was busy going the other way). I wanted to get some Quebec cheese on our way through and I was thrilled to find a cheese shop on the Trans Canada Highway. It was early in the drive so I felt like I had to rush to pick what I wanted since Sean and Flora stayed in the car. The cheese made it home (even the curd!) and I’ve tried not to gobble it up too fast.

Sean and I returned to work today, but it still feels like a vacation. Flora is visiting family this week – my mum and sister are tag-teaming on taking care of her this week. Sean’s mum is getting some grandkid time too. Judging from the phone call I had with my mum last night, they are all having a ball. Boating, swimming and general fun with grandma and auntie is a good way to top a long-distance trip with your parents. Sean’s mum is babysitting the dog and cat so it’s just Sean and I at home now.

I keep saying “2003 called. It wants its life back”. (We got the dog in 2005, but the cat’s been around since 1998 so it’s not an entirely true statement.)

The break has been nice so far. I went and had my nails done and Sean went to see Soundgarden on Saturday night. We do plan to do stuff together: dinner’s on the agenda and possibly a movie (if we can decide on one we both want to see that’s worth parting with our hard-earned money for – too bad HP7 Part 2 isn’t out till later in the month). Outside of that, our plans are loose. Tips are welcome.

The weather’s been great and it’s shaping up to be a fun summer. Here’s hoping it stays that way.

Are we sure that travel is about the journey, and not the destination?

June 22, 2011June 22, 2011 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

I fear that I have lost my mind.

Sean, Flora and I are traveling to New Brunswick on Friday for a week-long vacation. Sean’s extended family is down there and Flora and I have never been. I’m excited about the trip, but I am freaking out about the journey. We’ve never done this long a road trip with Flora before. Naturally, I haven’t even started packing yet. I’ve thought about what to pack, but I haven’t actually begun the act of packing those things into the various suitcases, totes and bags that we’ll need. I’ve been making lists (mental and written) and every time I say “we need to bring _____________”, Sean says “don’t forget, we’re renting a compact car”.

Sean is also one of those people who will drive non-stop until he has to get gas, coffee or go pee. He has been informed that he won’t be doing that with his wife or daughter in the car, but I fear that we will push the limits of our endurance.

I’ve done the things the interwebs tell me to do: we’ve bought a portable DVD player and loaded up on Dora, I bought some surprise toys for the car and I plan to bring out some old favourites. I will make sure to have the essentials in easy reach: snacks, drinks extra diapers/clothes and blankets. And garbage bags. And this. And that. And lots of other things.

(Pictured at right: the generic-brand MagnaDoodle the interwebs told me was good for the car. It was a hit when Flora tested in Monday night, so I hope it’ll still be good in the car.)

I know this is possible and I’m probably overthinking it to death, but I suspect that this is going to be less of a vacation and more of a test of my parenting and wife-ing skills.

Any tips on how to make this easier for all of us? Either way, if you could just send me some kind thoughts on Friday/Saturday and again on Canada Day (when we come home), I would be very grateful. In the meantime, I’ll try not to have a nervous breakdown packing and I’ll take some nice pictures of our trip for everyone.

Back from NYC

May 31, 2011May 31, 2011 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

Last night, I returned from an extra-long weekend in New York City. I went with my mother, sister and some friends (seven of us in total). It was my first visit there. We mostly stuck to tourist-type stuff (bus tours, Times Square, Manhattan shopping) but there’s a reason those things are done by tourists – they’ve never done them before! We did go slightly off the beaten path for a couple of meals, asking for recommendations from locals. We weren’t steered wrong – both our Italian and Greek meals were great.

Things I learned on our trip:

New Yorkers are incredibly passionate about their city. Anyone on the street we asked for help (directions, restaurant recommendations) were always willing to stop and help thoroughly. This went double for any tour guides we listened to. I know that is their trade, but the amount of knowledge that came out during the various tours we went on was amazing.
In spite of “America’s obesity crisis”, it was difficult to find larger-size souvenir t-shirts for both men and women.
Times Square zoning rules say that the buildings there must have a certain amount of advertising and lights. One Times Square (the building that the New Year’s Eve ball sits on) is actually mostly vacant except for the lower retail floors.

I felt very safe in all the areas we went to. Mind you, we didn’t stray too far from the beaten path. The subway, while more complicated than Toronto’s, was reasonably easy to navigate once we figured it out. It was cleaner and had better wayfinding signage too.

I took a lot of pictures from moving buses (and from a moving boat). I took a lot of pictures of buildings as they were either landmarks or samples of beautiful architecture. The problem is that I don’t remember the significance of some of the buildings I took pictures of.

Now that I’ve given my pictures such a ringing endorsement, here is a slideshow of the ones I posted to Flickr.

Hotel rooms, lists and friends that remind you to do what you said you were going to do

January 21, 2011January 21, 2011 by Melissa Price-Mitchell

The following conversation I had with the lovely @OpinionatedLizz last week got me thinking.

(read from the bottom up to keep it in context)

Conversation with OpinionatedLizz, January 11, 2011

I have never stayed in a hotel room alone and the idea of it really appeals to me. Not for any awful reason – I’m not fantasizing about running away from my family and living a life of luxury in a boutique hotel by myself – at least I’m not right this minute. However, some time by myself somewhere I don’t have to clean up first to enjoy it sounds pretty appealing now.

I keep a lot of imaginary lists in my head: what I would do if I won the lottery, writing ideas, chore lists and so on. Turning an imaginary list of things to do in 2011 that I’ve never done before into a tangible, readable list sounds like a lot of work.

Fortunately, Lizz called me on it.

(again, read from the bottom up to keep it in context)

Conversation with OpinionatedLizz, January 20, 2011

I had asked Lizz (who by the way also has a great blog that you should read) if I could use our conversation as screenshots for a post. She said okay and when I wrote my self-pitying, pay-attention-to-me tweet last night, she reminded me that I had planned to write this post. I hadn’t forgotten, but I hadn’t gotten around to doing it either.

All this preamble, and no list. How’s that for smooth?

I’m not sure how solid my list is. I wrote some lists for #reverb10 and some of the items could apply to be cross-posted to this list too. I spent a lot of #reverb10 pulling things out of thin air though so it’s a tough call.

Here are the things I want to do in 2011 that I’ve never done before:

stay in a hotel room by myself
get the house professionally cleaned (not sure if this would be a one-time or regular thing, but I’ll start small and call it a one-off)
Go to a sit down restaurant alone (I do fast food alone all the time, I’ve been to the movies by myself, but have never done a nice restaurant alone)
Get an evening babysitter that is not family for the occasional date night (which are currently few and far between because the family babysitters are 2.5 hours away so it’s a big deal for them to come)

This is a small, somewhat manageable list. I’m sure there’s other things I’d like to put on this list, but as the goals get more pie-in-the-sky the list becomes less realistic and easier to ignore.

So thank you Lizz for being a good friend and calling me out. Here’s hoping your trip that merited your solo hotel room is great and that we all try some new stuff in 2011.