Skinny Dip, Author at Skinny Dip

Mmmm BED. My favorite place! That’s where I am right now. I just came back from dinner and now I’m snuggled in bed, wearing my goofy polka dot flannel pajamas and it feels awesome.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all the people who have left comments for me, emailed me, followed me on Twitter & joined the Skinny Dip Facebook fan page over the past week and a half. Its been really cool hearing from/connecting with everyone. My comment system is a bit wacky so rather than try and respond to every comment (because I’m not sure you’d receive my reply) here are some follow up comments from me to you.

“I don’t want things to be like this anymore”: I definitely felt really “naked” writing this entry. There were so many people who left really awesome comments that included advice and their own personal experiences. I also received a really sweet email from Sam this morning (thanks!). As Sam mentioned, talking about Anxiety or admitting that you have it, seems to be this big taboo. We should be able to talk about it, so I’m glad I did. I haven’t decided exactly what course of action I’ll take but I know it will definitely include counselling of some sort. Chloe Blossom, I will be emailing you for the info of the MSW you reccomended. I just want to get some tools on how to deal with this so that I can “talk myself down from the ledge” (figuratively speaking) whenever I start having these feelings. But, I am happy to report I’ve been sleeping really well lately.

“Why Women Need Tools”: So, I think by writing this post I inadvertingly wrote a “How to get Laid” guide for Men. This wasn’t really my intention however, this is my advice for the Guys out there: STRIKE NOW! Offer to put together that Billy bookcase you know she just bought. DO IT NOW before more women read this article and start to figure out what you’re up to. And don’t say you heard it from me…

“Who Were you in High School?”: It seems like some people were able to relate to the story of my traumatic first kiss! (lots of great comments on this one too). After blogging about this, I reconnected with a couple of people from high school. One of these people is fellow blogger The Modish Mama. We went to high school together and I think we kind of accidentally collided on Twitter. Although our lives are different, she’s a great writer and its been cool reading her blog. Also I received a really sweet email from my best friend which I confess made me cry. It was really touching. Making these reconnections & receiving this email made me realize that a) I really WAS withdrawn during that time period, obviously that “trying to act normal” bit wasn’t working for me. b) there were a lot of good people around me in high school that I really wish I had been better friends with. I feel like the social fabric of highschool (with all the cliques etc) is designed to keep people apart. I’m sure a lot of us were miserable during that time and we probably could have helped each other out more than we did. Teenagers are really immature. I’m just glad I have a chance to know these people as an adult.

This week has been a bit crazy. I feel like I’ve been running around doing stuff (job hunting + working on another “mystery” project that I’ll reveal soon) but I don’t really feel like I am getting much done. I guess I just feel a bit stagnant. Tonight I self-diagnosed myself with a case of the winter blahs. I always start feeling really, really restless this time of year. Even though I don’t really have a big cause to celebrate, this weekend I am dying to have a drink (read, many drinks!), get dressed up and go DANCE. I really want to go to Louie Vega. In case you didn’t know– I’m a big house music fan (but not in a creepy fist pumping way. That’s not how we roll in Toronto) and LOVE LOVE LOVE Masters at Work. I’m still looking for a partner(s) in crime to go with me. Any takers?!

I have this desperate need to do something that makes me feel alive! (for me that means dancing).
The workouts at the gym with my ipod just aren’t cutting it.

Is anyone else suffering from the winter blahs? What are you doing to combat them?

Recently , I’ve had a couple of different people ask me about my skin care regime. My skin isn’t perfect but, I think it looks pretty good. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned about skin care. Please keep in mind, I’m not a dermatologist or a nutritionist. These are just things I that have worked for me.

1. “Good Skin” starts with what you put in your body.

Oh my god. I cannot stress the importance of this. Right after I graduated university I went through a Quarter Life Crisis. During this time my previously drama free skin went totally haywire . I started to get these crazy break-outs that just wouldn’t go away. I was stressed out and I was eating a lot of foods that were bad for me. Eventually, I drastically changed my diet and my skin did a 180.

-If you have problems with acne or breakouts, try eliminating all Dairy and Wheat (& any foods containing gluten) from your diet RIGHT NOW. You’ll probably notice a difference within a week or so. I did this when my skin was at its worst and it helped a lot. I also used a prescription acne cream on the problem areas to kill off the bacteria. Once things calmed down, I was able to start re-introducing these foods in moderation.

– You can click this link to read about why white (refined flour), gluten and dairy are all not skin-friendly foods . Basically sugary foods lead to inflammation (among other things), which has an adverse effect on the skin. Also, milk is full of iodine & extra hormones that can help make acne worse.

-If you’re going to eat wheat, eat whole wheat. Switch your regular pasta for wholegrain pasta. Choose a bread that is whole wheat & preferably has other good stuff in it like sunflower & flax seeds.

–Omega 3 fatty acids are your friend. Eat them. Love them. Your skin will thank you. Foods that are rich in Omega 3’s: wild salmon, walnuts, miso, avocados, spinach, collard greens, kale, strawberries (you can find more here). I also take an Omega 3 supplement daily just to top things off. Eating lots of these foods will literally make your skin GLOW. If you need ideas for dinner; one of my favorite meals is Grilled Salmon with a side of brown rice & a spinach salad topped with chopped avocado and strawberries. Yummy!

-Drink lots of water. Also, Green Tea is good for your skin so drink it whenever possible.

-Get down with Vitamins: Along with my daily Omega 3 supplement, I also take Zinc, Vitamin B6 & B12, Vitamin D (to prevent flu!) and Cod Liver Oil. Other good skin helpers: Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin B5.

-If you want to know more about how what you eat affects your skin, check out Alan Logan’s book “The Clear Skin Diet” or read a summarized version of it online here. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, his tips really work.
Once I started subtracting/adding these things to my diet I not only noticed a huge difference in how my skin looked and felt but also I noticed an overall improvement in how I felt in general (mentally and physically)

With that said, I still love to eat a Filet o’Fish or some Hagan Daaz every now and then. Who doesn’t? Depriving yourself of things you enjoy is no way to live. If I keep up with the good habits most of the time, I feel its OK to indulge sometimes.

2. Chill out and stop doing so much stuff to your skin.

I used to use a million different products on my skin: masks, scrubs, treatments, anti-aging creams with all kinds of crazy “active” ingredients…all of these things probably irritated my skin more than anything. What I have learned is that its best to just keep it simple. This is what I do now:

I wash my face with Cetaphil and I use Kiehls Ultra face cream, morning and night. I don’t use a toner at the moment but, I probably should. If you’re going to buy toner, buy something alchohol free. I really like the Kiehl’s Calendula Toner. Also invest in a really great eye creme. I love Kiehl’s Avacodo eye cream. In case you haven’t caught on by now, Kiehl’s products in general are pretty awesome. If you have a higher budget I’ve heard the Laura Mercier eye cream is amazing.

I also do a mud mask once a week. I really like the Body Shop’s Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask.

WEAR SUNSCREEN. Don’t go to tanning salons (I’m scared to see what the cast of Jersey Shore will like in 10 or 20 years. My guess is LEATHERY- like a pair of Uggs that has seen one too many winters). And no matter how drunk you get, always wash your make-up off before you go to bed.

3. GET OUTSIDE.

GO WORK OUT.

HAVE AN ORGASM*

All of these things will get your blood flowing and give you a nice healthy glow!

(*If you don’t have a partner to help you with this I suggest you do one of the following things: refer to this post and invite an unsuspecting guy/girl over to help you put together your furniture. As the blog post illustrates this will probably lead to sex (and hopefully orgasms). Or, just get over it and do it yourself. If you feel inspired get some toys. If not, just do it the old fashioned way. You won’t go blind. I promise. I think Alexi from I’m Boy Crazy will back me on this.) Does anyone else have any tips they would like to share?

Personal Confession time:

I’m hopelessly addicted to MTV Reality Shows. It started with The Hills (I blame my sister for that). Then I got hooked on The City. When I found myself one night home alone, watching 16 and Pregnant I knew I had a problem. I feel like watching MTV shows is a bit like shaving your legs–once you start, you can’t stop.

My latest addiction is the wonderful-horrible train wreck, Jersey Shore. I finished watching Season One last night. I realize these are 9 hours of my life that I will never get back. In my defense, over the past few weeks I’ve learned a lot from these kids. I feel its my responsibility to share my new found knowledge with my readers…

Lessons from the Cast of Jersey Shore:

1.“Smooshed” and “Pounding Out” are euphemisms for Sex. Who knew. I can’t believe I almost made it to 30 without hearing either of these. Now lets use the new vocabularly in a sentence:

“Yeah, we Smooshed. But you know me, I want to Pound Out every girl in Seaside”

Ladies, it doesn’t get much more romantic than this.

2. Mike D aka “The Situation”: This guy is a walking Deal Breaker List. The fact that he loves to continually refer to himself in the third person makes him not only a douchebag but, a wildly entertaining douchebag. He’s cocky, juvenile and seems to suffer from delusions of grandeur (in other words he’s perfect for Reality TV). But don’t piss him off. If you do, you might get “excluded from Ravioli Night AND Chicken Cutlet night”. Oh Mike D, you wouldn’t. Or if you REALLY piss him off he may go to the fridge, put together a concoction of mayonaise, parmasan cheese and pickle juice and put it under your bed. Hey, I remember doing something like this….when I was 5.

I would LOVE to meet “The Situation” at a bar just so that I could refer to MYSELF in the third person and say something like this:

“Skinny Dip is rejecting the Situation. How does the Situation feel about THIS Situation?”

3. Ronnie actually seems like a nice guy– you know, when he’s not punching people or knocking over patio furniture.

4. JWoww also seems like a pretty decent girl–when she’s also not punching people.

5. Snooki is full of surprises. One minute she has problems operating a telephone, the next she is doing back-flips across the dancefloor. Total Reality tv GOLD.

6. Thanks to Pauly D. I now know that if you buy Hair Gel in bulk, you too can acheive a ‘do that is “Wind Proof, Water Proof and even Motorcycle Proof”. If I wanted hair that defied the logics of gravity, I would talk to this dude. I wouldn’t however go to him for a Geography lesson. I can’t help but wonder if all those styling products aren’t slowly poisoning his brain. Evidence of this is when his Israeli Stalker/Date asks him if he “wants to go eat Kosher food” and he replies “Yo, I can’t do that. I don’t have a Passport!”.

7. If there was a Jersey Shore Drinking Game (which I’m sure there already is) I think it would go something like this:

Take one shot every time “The Situation” refers to himself in the third person
Take two shots every time someone else refers to “The Situation” in the third person
Take three shots every time anyone says something confusing like “Yo, The Situation with the Situation is like yo, this is THE SITUATION” and you’re no longer sure what the hell they are talking about.

I guarantee that we’d all be wasted before the commercial break.

8. “Gorillas” –more new lingo I can add to my vocabulary. “Gorillas” ( or “Juice Heads”) are big buff guys who are “Tanned. Jacked. On Steroids and Multiple Growth Hormones”. These guys would immediately have a place on my LIST, however for the ladies of Jersey Shore, this is all “a turn on”. Understandable. Because who DOESN’T love a guy with ‘Roid Rage, Shrunken Testicles and chronic nose bleeds.

9. I’m really glad I saw this show AFTER I visited my friend in New Jersey. If I had seen it prior to going to stay with her I would have been scared….very, very scared. I am pleased to report that during our adventures in Jersey, we did not encounter anyone resembling the Shore people. The closest we came was probably the guy who hit on us in Old Navy with what was probably intended as “The Shortest and Most Efficient Line Ever”:

“MMM CUTE BOFF YA”.

Someone needs to get THAT guy a show.

10. Watching the Jersey Shore kids with their fake tans & sparkly Ed Hardy outfits get in drunken brawls is so much more entertaining (and endearing) than watching Audrina & Kristin duke it out in yet another staged cat fight while wearing Philip Lim and ridiculously high Louboutins . Sorry ladies, I used to like your drama but Jersey is where its at now.

So, who’s up for Season Two?!

One of the things most people probably don’t know about me is that I have a fully stocked tool box & own my own set of power tools. And, get your mind out of the gutter–by power tools I mean things like cordless drills, sanders, staple guns (not the “other” kind of fun power tools, although I do have a few of those too but THAT is a completely different blog post!). I’m here to talk about the tools that you get at the Hardware store.

My tool collection is almost as impressive as my shoe collection.

I started collecting all of these things in university after I had a bit of an epiphany (and no, it wasn’t that I woke up one day and decided I wanted to become Bob Villa).

As a 20-something I moved apartments quite a few times. I was a student so, I bought a lot of semi-disposable furniture from places like Ikea. This meant that every time I moved there was always a lot of assembly/re-assembly of furniture. Whenever I’d need help with this kind of thing (or another household task: putting up blinds, shelves etc) my solution would just be to call whoever I was dating at the time (or another random male friend) to come and help me. Eventually I figured out why these guys were always SO eager to come over and help me put together my crappy furniture.

BECAUSE IT WOULD ALWAYS LEAD TO SEX.

This how my ex and I got together. He came over one day to help me put together my newly purchased bed frame. We ended up fooling around on the carpet of my apartment while the bed frame remained in its box, leaning against the wall. This was the first time something like this happened but not definitely not the last.

In my experience, TRIPS TO IKEA ALSO LEAD TO SEX. He drives you out there, you buy a bunch of stuff (“Yeah I’ll totally help you put it together!”), you bring it back to your apartment and then you end up sleeping together instead.

Obviously there is some kind of link between the act of building stuff, furniture & sexual tension.

I’m not complaining about the Sex–it was usually pretty good. The downside was that afterward he’d leave with a skip in his step and I’d STILL have an unpainted wall, a clogged drain, or furniture still in its boxes with nothing but the incomprehensible Scandinavian assembly instructions to keep me company.

(Back then, I decided that my ideal mate would be a guy who actually stuck around after he slept with me, and preferably could read Swedish. This is what you call “aiming low”)

It was after one of these incidents, while I was sitting on my bedroom floor surrounded by half opened Ikea boxes, leafing through the confusing directions, shaking my fist at the sky, thinking “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BUILD A BOOKCASE WITH AN ALLEN KEY AND FOUR WOODEN PEGS?!!”, I said to myself:

“SCREW THIS!”

The next day I called my Mom for advice. I come from a family of very handy Women. My Mom is a home-improvement force to be reckoned with. This is a woman who re-floored our 4 story family home, by herself. I told my Mom that I wanted “to learn how to do things by myself”. She gave me a list of items that I would need to buy from the hardware store. I bought these things and my life changed.

I became obsessed with DIY home improvements. I conquered my fear of the Hardware Store. I bought an electric drill, hammers, nails, sandpaper. Floating shelves off of a concrete wall? NO PROBLEM! I put up shelving units, put together furniture, hung curtains, drilled, hammed, poly-filla’ed and even re-fashioned a bookshelf into a new improved bookshelf. I started to feel really empowered. On Sundays (my only day off from school & work) I’d watch the Home & Garden network for inspiration. Then, I would plan out my project for the day & head out to Canadian Tire. I even became accquianted with the Sunday “regulars”. Mind you, I lived near the Village so the people I met were mostly Lesbian couples, but I thought “Hey! I don’t need anyone else to do these things. I can be my own Lesbian couple of ONE”. The best part: my apartment looked great and I had done it all myself.

A few months later I was on the phone talking to a guy I was seeing. We had been on a few dates. I knew he wanted to sleep with me but we hadn’t yet because I had reservations about him. I’d just finished telling him that I’d purchased a new bedframe & mattress (bed frame #1 had finally bit the dust). You could hear the obvious excitement in his voice when he asked me “NEED HELP PUTTING IT TOGETHER?!”. I felt really vindicated when I told him,

“Don’t worry, I have it under control”

And you can too! Even if your home-handyman isn’t trying to get in your pants, buying some tools & learning how to use them is a great investment. This can be kind of an overwhelming shopping experience so,I’ve compiled a “Skinny Dip Guide” to navigating the hardware store:

First piece of advice: Ladies, don’t buy anything that looks like the tools on the left. Your toolbox shouldn’t look like it was made by Mattel. Yes, these pink tools are “sooo cute!” but most likely, you’re getting charged twice the price for something that is half as good. This just seems to be par for the course when you’re dealing with products “made for women” (anyone who has ever shaved their legs using a Men’s razor will back me on this). Go to the hardware store and get some quality, non-cute tools. And don’t buy the cheapest thing they have. If you need help, ask somebody (or ask me to go with you!). You’ll thank me later.

I’m by no means an expert on this, but here is a list of the basics that I think everyone should have:

1. Cordless Drill: If you’re going to be putting up shelving or art work, you’ll need this. Plus, they’re alot of fun to operate. You’ll see.

2. Screw Driver. Get one with interchangeable heads. You’re going to need different heads for different kinds of screws. The muli-head option saves money & space.

3. Hammer: I’m not sure what kind mine is nor am I an expert on hammers. Try and find one that is multi-purpose and has some weight to it.

4. A variety of screws, nails and wall plugs. I just like to keep these things on hand so if a project comes up, I don’t have to immediately run out and buy hardware. Wall plugs have been my savior. You’ll need these if you’re putting up any kind of shelving.

5. Epoxy. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Epoxy, its a glue—a very strong glue. You can use it for a variety of different things. I used it to permently bond my wall plugs into the wall when I was putting up floating shelves. That Fouis Vuitton bag you bought on Canal street that now has a broken clasp–Epoxy can fix that too.

6. Tape measure (retractable). You’ll need this. Buy one.

I also own a few wrenches, saws, pliers & a staple gun. But, to be honest I haven’t used these items as much as the ones listed above.

This wasn’t meant as some kind of “RAH RAH RAH NOW YOU WON’T NEED MEN” Rant. I’m just saying: learning how to do these things yourself feels really good. And, if it is sex you’re looking for, you can now invite that person over with the piece of mind that at least you have properly put together furniture to do it on. Hey, I’m just saying…!

Also, girls who build stuff are hot. When BF and first starting dating he came over to (yet again) help me assemble furniture (my apartment is more a question of what DIDN’T I buy at Ikea). He showed up tool box in hand, only to discover that I already had a fully stocked toolbox & then some. He admitted me later that he thought “this was awesome and a total turn on”.

So, I’m going to end this here before this starts sounding like something from the pages of Cosmo. If you have any home improvement questions, you can email me.

Are there any other handy women out there? Or women who aspire to be handy? Male readers, do you agree with BF’s comment?

One of the worst things about Canadian Winters is that right about now, when everything is frozen and you’re starting to wonder “When will it end?!!!” designers start to taunt us with their Spring & Resort lines. You’ll be walking down Bloor Street, bundled up in a parka, scarf, hat gloves, snow blowing in your face and look into one of the windows and see….shorts. Its never made much sense to me.
Maybe its meant as a hopeful message to us, “The future is warmer”

The look on the left is by designer Megan Nielsen who officially launched her line this week. Nielsen is originally from Perth Australia and now lives & works in the mid-west USA. Her collection for spring consists of airy, vintage inspired basics at a very affordable price point. You should check out her site, its cute.

If you recognize the model, it’s because it’s Jessica from one of my favorite fashion blogs What I Wore. She styled, modeled and photographed Megan’s look book. Talk about multi-talented!

I’d really like to add the Bethany skirt to my wardrobe for spring. My friend Ukulele Misfit has a similar skirt and I have always loved it on her. I’d totally wear this look in the spring/summer MINUS the knee socks. Although Jessica rocks the socks like a pro, I think on me they’d make me look twelve. And considering my knack for being approached by weirdos & the fact that I already get sexually harassed in this neighborhood while wearing a PARKA, I don’t think the socks would help my situation.

Anyways, that’s my little “Spring Break” for the day. Time to go back to Work and Winter.

What are you thinking of adding to your wardrobe for spring?

Pillow Talk

Beautiful, Sexy Skin (From the Inside Out)

What I’ve learned from Jersey Shore

Why Women Need Tools

Meet the New Designer on the Block!

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