Warning: Self Indulgent, Self Pitying, Wallowing Post Ahead.

Today is one of those days that makes me wonder if I was a really, really bad person in a past life. I know, I know...I've had a lot of happy things, exciting things, happen in my life. But when things go bad, they're very very bad. In fact, they're horrid. To the point where people have commented on it, on the fact that I seem to have really bad luck. Exhibit A: Today.

After a nice night out with friends, I came home late last night and crashed, only to be wakened very very early for a Saturday morning due to construction. Grumbling, I got out of bed, and promptly stepped in a pile of cat sick. Great. Then I went downstairs to get the mail I hadn't bothered to pick up on my way in last night, and found...a great big electric bill, dating back to October. Turns out BC Hydro decided to finally grant my repeated requests for a bill, and it was a doozy. And as I'm trying to pay back as much of my student loans as I can, as quickly as I can, doozy bills cut into an already tiny budget. Super. Oatmeal for dinner this week.

I was not yet deterred, as I was greatly looking forward to my friends' annual "Live Your Dreams" party tonight, where you dress up as your dream version of yourself. I was planning on going as Lady Gaga, and had blown aforementioned tiny budget last week on a great blonde wig to wear with my costume tonight. I had stashed it in my spare room, and when I went in to find it, it was on the floor, also covered in cat sick. I guess Currie hasn't been feeling well and didn't bother to tell me. So. Off I went to Dressew to find another replacement wig that I couldn't afford. On the way, it started raining. And I didn't have my umbrella. I got soaked.

Good news! They didn't have any more blonde long wigs. Only brunette ones. So, I am going now as Lady "Dada," Lady Gaga's brunette, Canadian cousin. OK. Fine. Not ideal, but not the worst. Disappointing, anyway. And expensive.

Home then, to work on my costume. As I dug in my closet for the sequinned dress I will be wearing tonight, I found a print that I had been looking for, for weeks. I had ordered a custom frame for it months ago, and then had not been able to find the print to put in the frame (which had been VERY frustrating and contributed to a past day where I wondered what the hell I had got up to, that my karma was so very very bad). Suddenly, my day was looking up. However, as I slid the print into the frame, the glass shattered.

Sighing, I pulled out the vacuum, and hoovered up the shards of glass that were everywhere before picking up the large pieces of glass and putting them in a garbage bag. As I cleaned up, I cut my finger. Badly. And so now I'm bleeding profusely and typing with one hand. Fantastic.

Seriously, I do believe in karma, and that what goes around comes around. I've made my fair share of mistakes in my life, but I do try, every day, to be a good person. To be a good friend, a good sister, a good employee, a good daughter. And sometimes, like today, it doesn't feel like the universe is keeping track. Because I've had enough b/s for a lifetime at this point, enough hard times to get through. So, are you listening, Universe? I'm done now. Time for good times: fame, fortune, love and fashion, please. Pronto.

OK. Time to go ice my still bleeding hand. Thanks for letting me wallow. We now return to our regularly scheduled, cheery blog posts.


Team Coco


The last episode of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien aired last night, and I have to admit, I got a little tearful when Conan, ever the class act, thanked NBC for being his professional home for most of his adult life, and pleaded with his fans not to be cynical:

"Nobody in life gets exactly what they think they're going to get. But if you work really, really hard, and you're kind...amazing things will happen."

Words to life by, Conan. See you in September.

Excuse Me for Being Green

Until this morning, I had a new favorite tea place in my new 'hood. Muzi Tea Bar is on West Cordova, across from Waterfront Centre. They feature approximately 60 different teas, which they serve with vanilla milk, steamed apple juice, and all sorts of other lovely things. Basically, it's fancy tea. But I like it. I also totally bought into their sleek white modern interior, and the lovely chai smell that wafts towards you when you come through the door. I've been making a habit of going in every day, either in the morning on the way to work or at lunch, and have been trying all sorts of different teas: Royal Assam with rose petals and vanilla milk, Vanilla cardamom chai with pepper, Matcha lattes...you get the picture.

I am still waiting for my shipment of all worldly possessions, which I believe has been pilfered by Somali pirates, as it's now been almost 12 weeks since I surrendered all my belongings to the slightly-shady moving company in the UK, who insists it's all on a boat. Somewhere. Anyway, amongst my (lost) things is my reusable coffee mug. Early last week I decided I couldn't stand all the paper cups I was using and couldn't wait for my shipment to arrive, so I bought a 27% recycled material reusable plastic travel mug. It's small enough to fit in my purse, but is a 12 oz cup (a "Tall" size at Starbucks). I've been presenting it for the past week or so at Muzi for my daily tea fix, and they have never had a problem accommodating me. The staff are mostly young women, who have all been lovely, and even give me an environmental discount for using my own cup. I often have a chat with them about their day, the weather, whatever. It's nice. It's "my place," or fast becoming my place.

This morning was a different story. The woman who I suspect is the owner or manager, as I often see her sitting in a corner of the bar with her laptop, was on the bar, and did not look happy to be toiling as a mere barista, rather than presiding, as usual, as Empress of the Tea Bar. I ordered a Matcha latte. After eating crap at the Canucks game last night I was feeling like I needed some green tea goodness. The woman looked at my (clean) cup and sort of wrinkled her nose at it. She then prepared the milk and the matcha, and poured the entire jug of milk into the cup. Naturally, it almost filled up the cup and so there was room for maybe an ounce of matcha. Normally, the baristas at Muzi pour the tea and the milk together, so that you get an equal amount of both in your cup. Maybe this means that I get smaller amounts of both, because my cup is smaller than their standard paper one, but that's OK by me, as long as it's equal parts tea and milk. After she had filled it with milk and pretty much no tea, Empress Tea Bar looked at me and sneered, "Um, what is this cup? It must be tiny because I still have a lot of tea here. It must be like, 8 ounces." She plunked it in front of me.

I said, "Well, it's a standard "tall" size at Starbucks. And you are usually able to fit a whole serving size in it for me." She didn't acknowledge that I had said anything, and immediately began preparing the drink for the next customer (there wasn't a line), leaving all the matcha I had paid for in the stainless steel jug in which it had been brewed. She didn't offer to pour the extra into a paper cup for me, or offer to remix it in my own cup so there was more matcha and less milk. She just...pretended I hadn't said anything and that I had disappeared with my silly little environmental mug. The girls on staff didn't know what to do, and, embarassed, turned and began busying themselves with tidying the counters. I know, having been served by all of them, that they understand that by pouring the milk into the cup first, she had basically cheated me out of all the matcha. But of course, they can't cross their boss.

So. I stood there for a moment, being ignored. Then I simply put the lid on my cup and walked out, feeling like an idiot. I'd just paid $4.00 for hot milk and humiliation. What a way to start the morning.

And you know what? I shouldn't have to feel like an idiot. Using a reusable cup is one very easy thing that everyone can do to reduce their consumption. In fact, it's a nothing step. Everyone should be using their own cups. Paper cups should be as taboo as plastic shopping bags are fast becoming. So, I wanted to use my cup. And Empress Tea Bar made it very difficult for me to do so. If I had less conviction I might have said, "Now, that was embarassing. And it was a big hassle. I won't use this cup anymore," and gone back to paper. I didn't get the product I paid for, and I got attitude that I certainly didn't order. But you know what? I'd rather go elsewhere than slink back to Muzi and their white paper cups. Badly done, Muzi. Badly done.