* wallflower magazine *

The wallflower editorial team (i.e. me) is headed off on a backpacking adventuring around Western Europe so, unfortunately, posting for the month of July will be non-existent.

I apologize to all you devoted readers (i.e. Em) and cannot wait to get back into the swing of things in August.

Until then, check out my vacation blog, which I hope I will have enough time to post on regularly.

See you in a month!

In this hilariously wonderful show, two (fat) ladies, Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson, drive around the UK on a badass Triumph Thunderbird, with Paterson at the wheel and Wright in the sidecar, cooking delicious meals for all sorts of people. The show lasted three glorious seasons, throughout which ladies filmed in many beautifully rustic locations, cooking with kitchen tools that look more like our own than the latest line-up from Williams Sonoma. The ladies were full of interesting facts, charming anecdotes, and a passion for food that is a refreshing change from the glammed up, money-driven celebri-chefs of today.

Clearly, this show would never survive in today’s uber-health conscious landscape, as the ladies had little regard for things like fat content or vegetarians. In one episode, Paterson explains how Kedegree, a dish of fish, rice and eggs, used to contain lentils until a Colonel’s maid brought the dish to England and omitted lentils from the recipe. To this, Clarissa exclaimed, “Hurrah! Get rid of all lentils. You’ve no idea how randy they make vegetarians.” Paterson was also a heavy smoker throughout the show and often took time to have a smoke and a drink at the end of the episode, something that would never fly today (probably rightfully so, see next paragraph).

In 1998 Paterson was diagnosed with fatal lung cancer and was hospitalized immediately, and the show was forced to a close. Not long after, at the age of 71, she passed away. Though there were rumours that the ladies were not actually friends, after Paterson’s death Wright heartfelt-ly conveyed, “Our lives were that much poorer.”

Thankfully, the show, which until now has survived on VHS, can now flourish through it release on DVD. Hoping that nostalgia seekers like me will not be the sole basis of sales, I highly recommend you give this wonderful show a watch. Still, not convinced? Then I will leave you with the show’s adorable opening sequence, sung by the ladies themselves, which will surely have you hooked.

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. I stapled my finger at work. It was not a good day. I am glad it is done.

Apartment Therapy posted on
Residence Antilia: The World’s Most Expensive Home.
Definitely worth checking out.

I am a lover of all things home decor. Plain and simple. I experienced a brief rebellion in grade three when I refued to clean my room all year, but other than that I have always loved really beautiful spaces. This internship has deepened by obsession with all things home, and strengthened my resolve to ultimately end up as a home editor at a women’s magazine. So it seems only appropriate that I give some love to the home blogs and all the beautiful things they offer.

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As a wannabe DIYer, I was instantly hooked by yarnstorm. After discovering this amazing site through Bluelines (another great home blog), I spent the better part of a Saturday absorbing all the posting I could possibly bear. Author Jane Brocket describes herself as “domestic but not domesticated” and blogs about all things home, from cooking and baking to gardening and sewing. Her first print book, The Gentler Art of Domesticity, was published in 2007 and the second one, Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer, is on the way next month. I highly recommend this blog, if for no other reason than appreciating the beautiful, vibrant photography, all of which Brocket shoots herself.

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Apartment Therapy is where I go to admire the hipster home style I wish I had. With posts on amazing and innovative products like the Food Map Container and this beautiful chair from Dwell on Design, they celebrate people who create things that are both beautiful and functional, which I can definitely appreciate. It has always been my motto that a great living space increase your happiness by a thousand, and this blog is my escapist indulgence.

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My last recommendation is super cute Oh Joy!. Designer Joy Deangdeelert Cho has always loved “the mix of refined designs, handmade influences, texture, pattern, and color”, and in 2006 she launched Oh Joy! Studios. Since then she has worked with such diverse clients as Vanity Fair, Mattel, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and even consults with brides-to-be. So you can imagine how cool it is that Joy shares all about her favourite fashion and home finds with us in this super stylish cyber-space. She describes her blogs as “about inspiration, design, style & other cool things.”

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There are at on more that didn’t make the cute, whether because tackling a blurb on them was too daunting or because I just haven’t discovered it yet. But rest assured, if won’t be long till I am bursting with home blogs to share with you, and we will do a little home blog whoring again.

“He’s just not that into you.”

This no-nonsense, one line answer to dating seemed almost revolutionary when Berger uttered the words to Miranda as she pined for a first date who still hadn’t called her back in Pick a Little, Talk a Little. He gave it to her straight and he won our hearts in that very instant.

However, those words actually belonged to Sex and the City writer, Greg Behrendt, who as a brother, a friend and a reformed jerk, is well versed in the mechanics of boy behaviour. Not long after the words entered the public consciousness, Behrendt had secured a book deal with Simon Spotlight Entertainment. (Disclaimer: I have not actually read the book, though many have recommended it to me. I pre-judged it as too fluffy and self-helpey for me to ever enjoy it, so I never even gave it a chance. Horrible, I know. It might actually be good.) But it just seemed that behind the clever writing lay just another attempt to capitalize on the money making capabilities of Sex and the City. And we figured that any attempt at a movie was probably going to be the same.

So when Annie told me that she had seen a preview for it before Sex and the City, and it didn’t look terrible, I was shocked. And still unconvinced. However, after having just seen it for myself, I can safely say that the movie (which rocks an amazingly all-star cast) doesn’t look half bad. Leave it to Drew Barrymore (and Flower Films) to make something pretty lame into something potentially awesome.

Fave preview moment? When Drew and her male co-workers are listening to a cute singing message from a guy she met, only to have him accidentally dial her number again and leave the same message (but with another name) on her answering machine again. Wow, my LAME transcribed moment did not do this scene justice, but trust me, it was hilarious and adorable!

The Cast

Key Players: Ginnifer Goodwin (looooveable Margene Henrickson in Big Love), Drew Barrymore (actress, producer and generally badass chick), Justin Long (see Drew), Sasha Alexander (Pacey’s older sister Gretchen who deflowered Dawson) and Kevin Connolly (who, along with Bret from Chonchords, makes up my perfect boys club).

Cast Member About Whom I Feel Ambivalent: Jennifer Connelly (was alright in Blood Diamond), Ben Affleck (who I don’t love, but am crushing hard on his wife and daughter) and Bradley Cooper (who was Will in Alias, but also Rachel McAdams douchey boyfriend in Wedding Crashers).

People for Whom I Do Not Care: Scarlet Johansson (still stinging from the Ryan-Alanis split) and Jennifer Aniston (looooved Friends but have trouble accepting her as anything else, regardless of the coolness of the script, ie. Friends with Money ).

The movie doesn’t hit theatres until October, so this (p)review is a little early, but I get so excited about a stellar cast that I just have to share. Ensemble casts rock my world.

What are your thoughts?

If you haven’t heard of this site yet, you are obviously not the insane Internet time-waster that I am and it is time you joined me on the dark side. At Stuff White People Like, Canadian blogger Christian Lander paints a pretty hilarious caricature of us kooky white folk, with entries like “Dinner Parties”, “Outdoor Performance Clothes” and “ Arts Degrees”. Much to the dismay of my editor, I am sure, I have spent the better part of today reconnecting with this hilarious blog and doing very little sidebar writing. It is rather embarassing how many of the posts I can totally identify with.

Though this blog has been on my radar for a while, it wasn’t until a recent post, entitled “Grammar”, that I actually felt compelled to post about it. Reading this entry actually caused me to chortle (yes, chortle) out loud at work (a somewhat embarrassing misstep because the “pod” system here means that everyone definitely heard me sounding like a total creep). But I just couldn’t help it! This post was so ridiculously familiar that I swear Landers must’ve sat in one of the great grammar debates that were witnessed during Copy Editing class, which Amelie and I lazily enjoyed from the back row buzzed from our Friday lunch beers. And I really do have an obsessive love of the rules of language (something which may not be evident here, since most of my posts are written in the fifteen minutes of blogging-time I am allotted between work (internship), work (minimum wage part-time job), or worse, during) and the semblance of a life I struggle to maintain).

Many of my friends growing up were horrible spellers or gramma-ticians, and it drove me insane. One time my friend Katie and I were making a card for our daycare teacher, Lorraine, and she demanded that she write because her printing was neater (which was probably true, but ouch!, nonetheless). Then she totally misspelled “birthday” and “Lorraine”. Way to go Katie! Messy printing is waaaay less offensive than bad spelling. I was so furious that she had just ruined all of our hard work that I punched her in the arm… hard! And then I was sent to the corner.

Of course this is not the most PC website, but it is kinda fun to just go on and laugh at all of the offenses you or the people you know are guilty of. Apparently funny enough to warrant a book deal because Stuff White People Like: A Guide to the Unique Style of Millions is already available for pre-order here.

The Food Map Container

Apartment dwellers can finally join in on the celebration of gardening season with the Food Map Container by designer Jon L. Wilson of Food Map Design. The container is made of post consumer recycled materials and mounted on rubber casters to adapt to changing weather and sunlight conditions, whether in the kitchen, on the balcony or out in the yard. And while it may not be the prettiest of home items, the smell of fresh herbs, tomatoes or even flowers growing underneath the kitchen window make this item a must-have. Pick one up here.

The Breast Cancer site has combined corporate and consumer power in an amazing initiative to help cure breast cancer. Users can simply surf over to www.thebreastcancersite.com and click the big pink button (below) to help donate at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. The site does this by directing users who click to a Thank You page adorned in ads from the site’s sponsors, guaranteeing the sponsors exposure to a targeted audience. This simple act of clicking (and then ad viewing) is all the sponsors ask in exchange for generous donations to the site’s cause.

However, recently the site is having trouble meeting their quota. The initial hype created by the site’s unique business model began to die down and clicking has declined. Unfortunately, this slumps falls just at the kickstart of their “Make June Survivor Month” campaign. Throughout the month of June, the site is striving to meet their ultimate goal of 8 million clicks, at which time bare necessities (a great lingerie company) will donate $10,000 to their free mammograms program.

So, head on over to the site and do your part. Where else can you support a worthwhile charity with just the click of your finger? And if for the month of June we all made this site our homepage, we could have that $10,000 in the bag! So please do your part and click as often as you can. It only takes a second and it is totally worth it.