It seems that every year I kinda get hyper during the Advent season, especially during the times I've lived in Vancouver. So I've been getting very sleep because I keep waking up super early. As Christmas approaches I just get more and more excited. Also, all the festivities distract me from the crappy weather so I generally feel really cheerful and upbeat. I regain the energy I normally have during the summer for a short month in the dead of winter. And then in January I usually crash. But I'm going to try to avoid that this year.

It just feels more Christmas-y here in Vancouver so I totally get into it. And I'm especially relieved that this year the snow won't paralyze the city as it did last year at this time.

My etsy shop made its first sale over the weekend! Yippee-skippy!

Lotsa things happening...one highlight has been joining the Chancel Guild at church. Our group's turn came up this past weekend so I got to learn the ropes. I've been wanting to be part of the Chancel Guild ever since I attended my first Anglican church, so when I was invited to join I jumped at the opportunity. After having not been very involved in a church for the first year I was back in Vancouver, now I'm very eager to get plugged in at my new church. When I left All Saints Pasadena, which I adored, I thought it would be nearly impossible to find a church that I liked enough to settle down in. But by God's grace I did, and I'm very happy where I'm at. Usually at a new church I hang back for at least half a year before getting involved in anything, but at this current church somehow it's ended up that I've been getting plugged in pretty much from the get-go.

I finally opened up my first Etsy shop! It's called Sugarpush Vintage and it specializes in handpicked vintage goods for the home. It went live last week and it's still very much a work in progress. I have more items that need to be added and hopefully the photos will improve.

I've wanted to have an online store for a long time and finally went ahead with it. I'm very excited about it! And I really love Etsy as a place to do business.

I became a Permanent Resident of Canada! Dreams do come true...in funny, unexpected ways. The man at the immigration office was quite the jovial fellow and seemed more excited than those being endowed Permanent Residence status. Anyway...

What I really want to share about is going to see Dan Savage speak last weekend. I love that man! He is so friggin' hilarious. But what stayed with me more than his humourously delivered sex advice was a tragic story about a lesbian couple vacationing in Florida with their kids. One of the women had to be hospitalized and her partner and kids were not allowed to see her while she was dying in a hospital room. She ended up dying alone. ALONE.

Although her partner had power of attorney and all the entitlements that a spouse would have, the hospital staff ignored all the papers and refused to recognize their domestic partnership because they deemed their relationship illegitimate. At least they could have let her kids see her. But nope, the heartless staff wouldn't budge.

Dan Savage asked, "What heterosexual marriage was saved by refusing these two women to be together?" And I angrily wonder the same question. WTF? The discrimination against gay people in the U.S. is just as appalling as when African-Americans were denied their basic civil rights. I can't believe that this sort of injustice still goes on after all the social progress that's been achieved. I really don't understand.

I never heard of Dorothy Draper until I attended Interior Design Show West back in September, and some panelist happened to mention her as her favorite interior designer and recommended her book. So I searched for the book and discovered that it was published in 1939! But I read the book anyway thinking at least its quaint domestic advice would be give me some good laughs.

Surprisingly, though, I found Draper's ideas refreshingly simple and contemporary. I think most of her principles of decorating are timeless. And her enthusiasm was really inspiring. Although, I wouldn't go for some of Draper's colour and pattern combinations and furniture selection, her advice regarding giving a room balance is very sound and, most importantly, it yields the result you want. Moreover, her approach to decorating is budget-conscious, which would definitely speak to anyone trying to beautify their home today.

Photo by striatic

The other day while I was volunteering at the neighborhood charity thrift shop, an elderly man gruffly tells me I'm not dressed properly. Then he pulls out a red poppy and hands it to me. I smile and say thank you.

Remembrance Day is coming up and so everyone is sporting a cute little red poppy on their coats. Being that I didn't grow up with this tradition in the US, I totally dig this custom.

In regards to volunteering at the thrift shop, the best part has been the characters I encounter, many who are regulars.

The Dude and I sadly didn't dress up for Halloween this year because we were too preoccupied with other things to plan ahead. But we did end up going to the Dunbar Haunted House on Halloween eve. It's been operating for several years now, but I only learned about it last week from someone who happened to be one of the actors whose job is to scare the crap out of visitors.

We waited for over an hour in pouring rain (it's wasn't your typical Vancouver drizzle) to get inside, and I think it was worth standing in the deluge. The scariest room was the one full of clowns, and three of them consecutively jumped out at me. I screamed my head off each time. It was great fun!

We were impressed by how well the house was decorated and all the details that were put into it. The Dunbar Haunted House is actually a private home that the owner decks out in glorious Halloween gore, hires actors to play scary monsters, and opens to the public. Admission is by donation only and all of it goes to various local charities. Pretty cool.

After two attempts to buy furniture posted on Craigslist only to have the sellers flake out on us, we decided that in order to preserve our mental health we should just buy new furniture. Trying to chase down furniture through Craigslist is not worth the time and effort. This makes me sad because I really want to buy used furniture. I find it to be not only budget-friendly but also a sustainable and eco-friendly way to furnish your home, and it's important to me to reduce my impact on the environment as much as I can. I've also tried looking through several Salvation Army thrift shops and only have been successful at finding two dressers so far.

Now I'm aware that it's not realistic to get everything we need used, so we did get a few pieces of furniture from Ikea a while ago. But it looks like we'll have to resort to getting more than anticipated. And I can't help but feel guilty whenever I do buy something new. Oh well.

A little while ago I painted our bedroom walls a pale gray-blue. The colour (I'm beginning to develop a habit of spelling words the Canadian way) is cooler than I'd like it to be. Perhaps I'll repaint next spring/summer. I'm such a novice when it comes to choosing paint colours. Whatever I choose never quite meets my expectations. I'm learning a lot through trial and error, so hopefully I'll be better about selecting the right shades in the future.

I finally finished another painting project involving shelves last week. It took a lot longer than I expected. Next up is painting the kitchen. I'm going to paint the walls yellow, which will be a nice break from all the blue I've been using. I've been very drawn to blue lately, but I'm trying not to overdo it.

The Dude brought back Oreo cookies from his trip to California. American Oreos! Yes, they taste differently from the Canadian version. Significantly different. I'm going to savor each one. Mmmm...

While the Dude was in California, I went on a weekend trip to Victoria to visit a girlfriend. She and I browsed through antique shops, went yarn shopping, and ate lots of yummy food. I really like the Victoria restaurant scene.