I was waiting for my boss to call me with a start date this month, but when I wasn't hearing from him I e-mailed him. He wrote back saying he hired someone else who could work full-time. I was annoyed that he didn't let me know earlier. WTF? In any case, I'm relieved because I wasn't that excited about this job anyway. Several times I seriously thought about telling him that I changed my mind about working for his company. And I even interviewed for another job (which I didn't get) while waiting for this one to start.

So now I have to look for a job again. Bleh. Not only is job hunting a painful activity, but the prospect of working for someone simply does not appeal to me. Hence, this makes me not want to look for a job even more. I would enjoy working for someone only is if it's a job where I get to be highly independent or I work with people I really enjoy.

But beggars can't be choosers.

I've been reading Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure by Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. It's not just a book about making your home look pretty. It's about creating a home that promotes well-being and doesn't stress you out. What I appreciate most about the book is that the author names the je ne sais quoi factors that make a space work and look beautiful. The author lives (or maybe lived?) in a 265 square foot apartment in New York City. If you're curious as to how he managed to live in such a tiny space with a wife and baby, check it out here. It's very awe-inspiring.

What I find most challenging about decorating our apartment is sticking to just one style. I love so many looks, that it's hard to commit to just one. But I'm going to try. And I'm going to start by sticking to the 80/20 colour rule. Eighty percent neutral colours and 20% strong colours. There's another piece of advice that I'm ambivalent about though and that's not mixing cool and warm colours together. He recommends sticking to either or when choosing strong colours. But I love the combination of red and blue, red and green, orange and gray, yellow and gray, hot pink and gray, which are all warm-cool colour combos. I think I'll follow Dorothy Draper's advice: if it looks good to you, then it's right.

There are many things I love about Vancouver and living here. However, there is one downfall...it crimps my style, fashion-wise. The constant rain and cool temperatures force me to choose clothes that protect me against the elements rather than wear clothes and shoes that reflect my true style. When I lived in L.A. I could pretty much wear whatever I wanted (which was mostly cute summer and fall clothes) because of the constant sunny weather. And when I had a car I could wear heels all the time. But now I can't wear any of my fun shoes (even flat ones!) because I walk everywhere, and I don't want them to get water-damaged.

I absolutely hate my wardrobe right now. The way I acquire clothes usually involves going on a big shopping spree every few years so that I get to redo my whole wardrobe. And I'm way overdue for a wardrobe makeover. But alas, poverty requires that I continue wearing ugly clothes. Any spare money we have I'd rather spend on beautifying our apartment. We recently bought a couch and an armchair because I got really sick of having an empty living room after 4 months. They're used so they definitely need fixing up. I'll post pictures once their makeover is complete.

It's been a good Christmas this year. A highlight was the Dude playing the role of Joseph at the Christmas pageant. When we arrived at church just minutes before the program was due to start, the priest organizing the pageant asked the Dude if he'd like to be Joseph because no one else had volunteered to do it. The Dude was a good sport and joined the kiddies up on stage. It was hilarious!

It's officially winter now. Hooray! Not because it's winter, but because the days will be getting longer from this day forward. I can already smell the summer coming...yeah, I'm hopeless.

Spent the morning with the Chancel Guild ladies decorating the church for Christmas. I mainly worked on flower arrangements. I've never really done flower arranging so I was a bit nervous, but to my relief my work was approved. And there was a lot of holly left over so I brought home a bunch to to fill our little apartment with some Christmas cheer.

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.