I have now sent 3 text messages.

I have a new phone. It's pink. Really, that says it all. It couldn't be more perfect.

Anyone who has ever tried to call me knows that my old phone did not ring. Still, I loved this phone. It was the LG Chocolate and when it came out years ago I hinted and hinted until the Hubs bought it for me for Christmas. I loved it so much, but right from the start there were problems.

It wouldn't ring when people called. Days later I'd go to use it and I'd get a random notification that I had a missed call. Or, I'd be walking with phone in hand and get a beep that I had a new voicemail even though again, it never rang. On the few times it did ring and I actually heard it, because the ring was so quiet you basically had to be in a library or church to hear it, and I actually picked it up and tried to talk, my (apparently) pointy cheek or hair would set off the touch screen and hang up on the person. When I tried to dial in to check my messages, the keys would stick and inevitably the system would tell me I was entering the wrong password and it would hang up on me.

Needless to say, I haven't talked on my cellphone very much in the last 2 years. I'm not sure why I waited this long to upgrade. I guess it's like a favourite sweater. Even if it's pilly and out of sorts you still wear it because you love it. That's what I did. Until today when I found the shiny pink phone!

And the best part? It rings! So loud that there's a warning telling me not to put the phone near my head while it's ringing because I may experience hearing loss. I bet I could wear earplugs and still hear it ring. I could definitely wear the PINK headphones that come with it. But the even better part? When it DOES ring, all the buttons light up in PINK!

Also, I can send 2,500 text messages a month. TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED! This is crazy, isn't it? Or is it just me? Is this how many texts teens are sending nowadays? Would my 15-year-old cousin look at this plan and say, "Hmmm.... 2500. That seems okaaaaayyyyy...., but I'll probably need to monitor how many texts I'm sending around the last week of the month just to be sure I don't go over the limit."?

Also, I can send 1,000 picture texts. I don't even know what this means. Like, if I wanted to take a picture and send it as a text message? Anyway, whatever it is, I can send 1,000 of them.

So far I have sent 3 text messages.

Text Messages Left To Date (TMLTD): 2,497
Picture Messages Left To Date (PMLTD): 1,000

P.S. An update: There is a Mr. Baz Halloween costume glitch. The item I need is nowhere to be found in Toronto except I did find it hanging on a wall in a restaurant but I don't think the owners would appreciate if I stole the item and ran home with it because then I would end up in jail and do they have sewing machines in jail?? I doubt it, so THEN how would I make the costume in time? So I didn't steal the item. Then today I had a brainwave to buy the item I need to make the item I need for Mr. Baz's costume off eBay. Except, it was going to cost $24 to ship the $6 item and wasn't guaranteed by Halloween. My last resort is New York. I'm headed there Thursday. In one of the biggest cities in the world, surely I can find what I'm looking for?

All my bags are not packed...

But I'm leaving, tomorrow, for France. Or, as The Hubs and I have become accustomed to saying, France in our Pants. Because we will be wearing pants, I suppose. But I'm not packed. Still, there's always time for packing. I mean, do you know anyone who gets to the airport with nothing in their hands and just shrugs and says, "Well, I ran out of time. So I guess I'll just go as is. Who needs more than one pair of underwear?" No, this never happens. Because you always make time for packing. Which is why I'm leaving it to the very last second, and instead, taking time for one last blog before I go. After all, I'm going to be gone for 18 days. Eighteen days with a self-imposed ban on internet, phones, cellphones, email or Blackberrys. I think the last time I encountered such a phenomenon may have been in 1988 when I was forced to go to a Girl Guide camp. I only lasted one night. One raw hotdog (who has patience to stand over a flame and cook it?), 3 raw marshmallows and a sleepless night reading Sassy magazines in my tent by flashlight with my two BFF Girl Guides in Crime later, I called my father and asked him to pick me up -- my friends toughed it out. Even then, I wasn't fully without connection to life since I had my ghetto blaster, stocked with D batteries to get us through the night. But that was enough disconnect with the real world for me.

So, since I won't be updating this blog while I'm gone, I thought I'd leave you with a few random thoughts.

* Lost and Found. I heard about this book on Jennifer Weiner's blog, and picked it up immediately because the story sounded good - the story of a mother & daughter in an Amazing Race-type reality TV show? What's not to love? The story is slightly ironic, making fun of reality TV shows, while delving into the contestants' lives. I didn't love the ending, but I loved the rest of the book, which is a great switch, since sometimes you read a book and love the ending but the rest is just the getting there, so this was a nice surprise to love the actual story. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a quick but good read.

2. Right now I'm reading Ann Brashares' The Last Summer of You and Me. As I'm sure you know, Ann is the author of the Travelling Pants' series, for which I have an interesting tidbit. The Hubs and I were visiting a friend and her new boyfriend to be was over so the four of us decided to have a low-key night with takeout and videos. The first movie we rented was something boyish (I say this because that's what I call any movie with boys, guns, blown up stuff and swearing). The second movie we rented was The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. I hadn't read the books but wanted to see the movie. The Hubs was ALL for it. I mean, what's not to like about a light, fun, easy movie?

So we watched the boy movie first. And then, do you know what happened? I'll tell you. The boyfriend to be left after the first movie. Oh yes he did. He said he was tired, but of course we know he just didn't want to watch The Pants. Which is SO wrong. I mean, how macho do you have to be to refuse to watch it? And even if you HATE it, you'd be spending time with the girl you like, right? I don't think I have to tell you that he did not make it from "boyfriend to be" status to full-on "boyfriend" status. And now my friend is engaged to another boy. All this to say, if you're ever trying to weed out the real men from the too-cool-for-schoolers, you might want to rent The Pants. I'm just saying.

So anyway, this is Ann Brashares' first adult novel and so far I'm loving it. I was supposed to be saving it for the plane, but I couldn't wait to get into it. It reminds me a lot of Judy Blume's Summer Sisters, which was like the best gift ever when she published it, years after I'd run out of her novels to read. Anyway, The Last Summer is the perfect read in this summer-like weather we're having.

* The other books I've packed for my trip are:



* The Accidental by Ali Smith, which my book club is reading -- I've been thinking about reading this for a while, so I'm so glad this was chosen. I don't know anything about it, except from what I can judge by the cover. Either she's very tired or has fallen down. Perhaps from an accident. We'll see.
















* Happy Birthday or Whatever by Annie Choi. I discovered Annie when Meg Cabot mentioned her on her blog and now I'm addicted to Annie's blog. It's hilarious. You should check it out. If her memoir is anything like her blog, I'm set. That is, if the book actually arrives today in the mail. It wasn't available in any bookstores here, so I had to order it online. I'm thinking I may have to go stalk the mailman. Maybe he's reading it and doesn't want to give it up til he's done. I could totally understand why. I would totally do that if I was a mail girl. Which is likely why Canada Post would never hire me. Too bad for me.

* The golf season has come to a close, and I've decided that this is the most useful lesson I've learned this season. It's not just a golf lesson, either, so even if you don't golf, I think you'll agree you can apply it to most any aspect of your life:

When your ball goes into the woods and you go after it, and you find it sitting on top of a used condom, just leave it. A true friend will lend you another ball.











* Finally, I am absolutely obsessed with this product: J.R.Watkins Apothecary Lemon Cream Shea Butter Hand Repair Moisturizer. It arrived on my desk last week and I cannot stop applying it. It's like a lemon meringue pie without the calories but all the indulgence. And you know how some creams smell great but it's like putting a layer of butter on your hands and you can't pick anything up because your hands are so slippery? This cream is totally NOT like that. It actually WORKS. Soaks in. Makes your hands less dry. So much so that I actually end up applying more just because I love the scent so much, even when I don't need any more. It's that good.

So there you go - you've got books to read, hand cream to buy, blogs to read and a lesson to remember. See you mid-October!

The Saturday Six... live from New York!

1. I saw Benjamin Mackenzie. Yes, Ryan Atwood, walking towards me in Soho. He was so very Ryan Atwood, too, with a plain white T-shirt, jeans, boots and a jacket. Maybe they were filming another scene. Extras for the DVD? (And a coincidence that I just saw Adam Brody on Regis & Kelly the day before?) Probably not. I smiled at him. He looked at me, then yawned. I'm going to pretend the two are not at all related, or that that was his way of flirting.

2. I went to Hell's Kitchen. Not at all on purpose. It turns out that if you get off the subway at 34th you're in the heart of tourists (I mean, you've got Macy's and miracles and all that), which as a result makes you feel very safe, if not completely claustrophobic and annoyed at the swaying sidewalkers. Which is where I got off the train and walked west to 11th for a convention at -- where else -- the convention centre. When I came out, I decided I wanted to go up to 52nd to get a pair of pants I'd put on hold, it turns out that if you walk north on 11th, you end up in Hell's Kitchen. I didn't know that, but all of a sudden, everything sort of changed. First, there were empty lots, unmarked auto body shops and a police chase (with 7 cars and two undercover cars!). Which is when I decided to stop walking on 11th and turn down the next available east-west street to head east. That's when I saw horses in an alley, a rottweiler behind a fence, and well, a lot of shadows (which was probably in my head). It was only 2:30 in the afternoon, but I felt like maybe I should just walk quicker and stop looking around. I felt sort of unsafe, even though I'm sure I was perfectly safe. There are, apparently cute boutiques and great restaurants in Hell's Kitchen, but well, maybe they were on a different street from the one I was walking on. I just kept saying to myself, look straight ahead, act like you know exactly where you're going. Which of course I try very hard to do even though, as I said in my last post, I often don't know where I'm going, or I think I know where I'm going, but I'm actually headed in the wrong direction. Thankfully, it all worked out. Also, here's a fact: below W 34th and 11th is called "Bel-Hell" (as in Below Hell's Kitchen). I think, back in Toronto, I'm going to start calling the area I live in "Belle York" as in Below Yorkville. Or "No-Co" as in North of College.

3. Everyone's talking about the Pirate Queen on Broadway. Actually, correction: no one's talking about it in real life but I'm seeing a lot of commercials and subway posters for it. All I have to say is how much ungirlier does it get than a girl who's a pirate? I don't think I'll be seeing this one. Another fact: Legally Blonde is on Broadway. Now, I love this movie, but isn't part of the charm actually seeing Reese in this role? And once you've seen the movie, isn't it sort of done? I mean, it's not like it's a musical (like The Producers or The Lion King) to start with, right? I don't think I'll be seeing that either.

4. It's tax time. Thankfully, I finished my taxes before I came. Correction: I "tried" to do my taxes TWICE. First, on the rough draft copy (my financial advisor, aka The Hubs picks up two copies, just in case I make a mistake) I made up some random number on one of the lines. But as you know, if you make one mistake, it affects all the other pages. Strangely, the amount I'd have to pay was pretty close to being accurate. Still, I wanted to correct the misteake myself. So then I tried to redo it, but the amount I ended up having to pay was crazy. Crazy as in I did not set aside that much money and my NY shopping budget would be seriously affected. Thankfully the expert stepped in and fixed things and now I'm back to paying a reasonable amount. Still paying, but less than I'd budgeted. As a reward I bought a new pair of shoes. If you have your own business, then doing your taxes is always trickier because no one took the tax off for you. It's good because you can write off certain expenses, but it's a lot more work. And if you're like me, that means that you're always going to have to pay when it's tax time. Which I think can be tricky for some people because what if you didn't set aside enough money to pay? Well then, no new shoes, right? On a related note, thanks to Myspace and Facebook, I just re-connected with one of my childhood friends (who always had the best birthday parties and more Cabbage Patch Kids than you can even imagine). She has an amazing business that helps you improve or start your own at-home business. She has a bunch of websites, but my favourites are Financialbreakthrough101.com AND Financialbreakthrough102.com (and you don't have to take 101 to take 102 so you can feel super smart right from the start). Both tell you everything you need to know to make sure your business is a success. Or, help you decide whether your idea is a good one before you start your business. Like whether to open your boutique in Hell's Kitchen, Bel-Hell or in the Meatpacking District.

5. Turns out, when someone asks you what time it is in New York, they don't want to hear "about 4". They want you to look at your watch, even if you just looked at it a minute ago, which is how you know it's "about 4", again, and tell them, to the second, what time it is. And preferably that it's four minutes to four and not four minutes after four. Maybe people are like this everywhere, on a work day, and maybe because I was shopping that I wasn't concerned with the to-the-minute time. Who knows. I guess I'll know on Monday when I'm back at work how I feel.

6. It's sunny and warm and Saturday! What more could anyone ask for?

Heavy lifting

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to the International Anti-Aging show, the place where women go to get everything lifted - eyes, tummies, faces, necks...and spirits! After all, they give away tens of thousands of dollars in free procedures!

But when I arrived at the parking lot, I couldn't find a spot to park. Because of all the trucks.



I was confused. Were female truckers suddenly interested in looking better? Were they all channelling Susan Hawk (aka Survivor Sue), the former trucker turned makeover queen? I didn't know because I couldn't get out of my car and find out. Eventually I found a space, but because the trucks were so monstrous, they'd both gone over the line on their side of the parking space, so the open space was more like a half space. Which would've been fine if I were driving this...


Beep beep!

But I wasn't. I was driving this...



Just kidding. But wouldn't it be cool to have a Jaguar Hearse? Actually, it would've been better to have this type of hearse...


A Monster Truck Hearse!

"You want to roll over me? You're dead meat, man!"

But I didn't. Finally, I found a spot far, far away from the crazy trucks, because I was sure that if I parked anywhere near the trucks, they wouldn't see my car when they went to leave, and they'd just drive right over it, like this:


"What house, officer?"

Finally, I got inside the International Centre, only to find that there was a Heaving Equipment Show going on.



"My forklift can pick up 82 tons. How much can yours?"

And while there was lots machinery to help you lift heavy objects, where was the show that helped you lift your eyelids and your tummy? Had I gotten it wrong?

Thankfully, the Wine & Cheese show was going on in the next hall so I went to clear my head and rid any thoughts of monster truckers bulldozing the building and killing us all. Then, I found the Anti-Aging show, and the needles, Botox and fat-sucking machines. And I felt safe.

On my way home, to celebrate my expert sleuthing abilities, I bought myself this...



A Nancy Drew Journal! Because a good sleuth should always have a notebook to figure out the mystery. Then I stopped in at The 10 Spot to get a pretty manicure (because you never know when you'll need to point a finger at the culprit).

Target is Stuck in Downward Dog!

I love Target, so today, while I was doing a little pre-spring Tarj shopping trip preview shopping online, looking at the things I may not be able to live without... such as ...



this Making Memories Craft Tote! Because really, sometimes a crafty girl's got to feel like she can craft on the go! or this...



super cute laptop bag, which perhaps might be more important, so that I can write on the go! or this...



Thermos, because all that writing can make a girl thirsty...

Anyway, while looking at all these things, I came across
this!

My book...available at Target?!?!!!

I need a minute.

I'm not sure if this means that the book will actually be available in actual Target stores, but I can't even imagine what I'm going to do if it is. I mean, Target?! The store that has a category under Dresses called "Ladylike Polish"?

In related news, Daria Snadowsky's super fun book Anatomy of a Boyfriend just became a Breakout Book! You can see a picture of her at Tarj with her book here (Scroll down to the March 6 entry). Congratulations, Daria!

Mr. Baz, also, is quite excited about the possiblity of Downward Dog being available at Target, since he too, shares my love of the Tarj, ever since I bought him his Isaac Mizrahi golf shirt last fall...