Myths About Being Canadian, Eh

Because it's Canada Day on Monday and this long weekend is dedicated to celebrating all things Canadian, I think it's only appropriate to talk about all the myths surrounding Canada and what it means to be Canadian. Some rumours are so preposterous it makes me laugh and scratch my head; others may have some truth to them. So let's get started.

1. We Live In Igloos.

Now while this picture may look cool and realistic, it's not. I do not live in an igloo. I've never even seen an igloo in real life except for the snow forts my brothers and I used to build in the winter when we were younger (although it seemed so at the time, they were nowhere near as cool-looking as these).

This is my house (ok fine, my parent's house). See? Completely normal, no ice, no snow, grass, trees, sunshine.

2. We Say "Eh" and "Aboot".

Half of this one might be slightly true. I do find myself saying "eh" at times, but definitely not all the time, and not as much as people think. So for example, I might say, "It's so hot out, eh?" or "People think such weird things about Canada, eh?".  I definitely do not say "aboot". Never, ever.

3. We Drive Dog Sleds.

This is another one similar to the igloo story. Not true at all. Yes, in very remote parts of Canada way, way, wayyyyyyyy up north, people do live in igloos and drive dog sleds, but that is not the norm. Just like an igloo, I have never seen a dog sled in real life.

Found on yumfy.com

4. We Are Somehow Less Intelligent/Sophisticated/Technologically-Advanced/Knowledgeable About Health Care, etc, etc.

This is the one that probably bothers me the most. Where in the world does this come from??? Just because we are nice and considerate people, does not make us any less everything-I-listed-above-and-more than anyone else!

Have you ever heard of kerosene? the electron microscope? a little thing called insulin? been to an IMAX theatre? cooked on an electric stove? read Anne of Green Gables? used a telephone? written on a piece of paper? used a light bulb? have Java installed on your computer? used an alkaline battery?

All from Canada. You're welcome.

If you want to read more about Canada's contributions, click here, here, and here. 


5. We Have Real Police.

Yes, we have mounties. Yes, I have seen them in real life. Yes, they stroll down the middle of the road like they own the place (they actually do, they are real police, they will arrest you, don't be fooled). But we also have regular police who wear regular uniforms and who drive around in regular police cars arresting all the bad guys.

6. We Have Snow All Year Long.

As you can clearly see from the picture of my house above, that is not true. It starts to get warmer around April and summer weather usually lasts from June to September, and then the snow starts again in November. I live in Southern Ontario and the summers here get very hot. Today, for example, is 25 degrees Celsius but feels like 30. The only problem with the summer weather here is that it's very humid. Having curly hair, I don't enjoy it at all, it's a big pain the ass, but I try to remind myself that at least it's not snowing. That's something that I've wondered about. If the weather was nice all year long, would I really appreciate and enjoy the summer when it comes?

Just as a point of reference, where I live in Ontario is farther south than the following places:

• most of Wisconsin, North/South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Maine, and parts of New York
• England, Ireland, most of France, half of Italy, Germany, Poland, Russia
• all of the Scandanavian/Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, etc)

Winter vs. Summer

7. We Are Behind In Entertainment News

I know when you go to certain countries, Australia for example, you hear songs that came out 3 years ago. That doesn't happen here. We hear songs, see movies, hear about current events at the same time you do. The new scandalous Miley video? Despicable Me? Aaron Hernandez's murder charge? Check, check, check. 

8. Everyone Speaks French.

I don't, but I wish I did. I wish I spoke another language in general. I think it's such a cool and useful quality to have.


So there is my rant for all of the stupid, silly, sometimes completely untrue, sometimes true, myths about Canada. Now I'm going to go enjoy a hot summer day that includes barbecuing and wine drinking. Whatever country you're from, embrace all of the weird things about where you live. This Canadian does, eh?!

Eyelash Extensions

So let's talk extensions. I'm talking eyelash extensions. This is something I've thought a lot about. I used to wear strip falsies. You know, for New Years and my birthday and such events. Looking back, I looked like a fool. Nothing natural about them at all. Just big gobs of black spikes on my eyeballs. Here I am with my not-so-subtle look.

I hated the whole strip lash process. I didn't trim them so they poked into my eyeballs. I used too much glue and you could see it. If one corner popped off (which happened frequently), I squeezed some more glue in there and shoved it back on. I didn't clean them properly. I ripped them off at the end of the night. All in all, a terrible experience and a terrible look.

I gave up on lashes for years and figured I was just stuck with the little stubs I was born with. I starting curling my real lashes, which I never did before, and I was happy with that for a while. Then when I tried Maybelline Falsies, I loved it so much that I was actually ok with having stubs. With a curler and some mascara, they weren't so stubby after all.

This is what I thought were long eyelashes. These just look like slightly longer stubs with tons of mascara scraped on them. I still had eyelash envy. I would scour celebrity photos obsessing over their long lashes. I was amazed at how long theirs were. I legitimately thought that other people just had amazing natural lashes and I just got the short end of the stick.

Little did I know it was all thanks to lash extensions. It blew my mind when I first heard about this little miracle. I thought it was heaven sent. Long luscious lashes just glued onto your own and they stayed in for weeks?! Sign me up! I was all gung-ho about it. Then my friend got them... and hated them. Then another friend got them... and hated them. Then I started reading reviews online... and people hated them. Tales of horror filled my mind: my own eyelashes falling out, burning eyes, itchy eyes, blindness. I imagined it all. And then you add the price on top of that. And then the price for fillers that you need every month. What started out as one of the best discoveries ever soon turned into a huge letdown. It was back to the drawing board for me, which meant learning how to love my little stubs again.

Then one night while browsing the makeup aisles in Walmart, I walked past the false lashes section. And then I turned around and walked back over. And then I remembered my past experiences with them and kept on walking. And then I thought, it was years ago, maybe they have new improved ones so I turned around again and started looking. As I was reliving the head-shaking missteps of my past lash adventures, my bestie, Cait, walks over and looks at the package in my hand. She says, "Those are the lashes from the MMandL video. They're supposed to stay in for a few weeks." Now, if you don't know who MMandL are, click that link and go obsessively watch all of their videos like I did when I first discovered them. But read the rest of this first!

My first reaction was disbelief, but then I started to feel the hope creep in. I thought and thought and thought about it. Could Walmart lashes really be that great? Am I just another fool falling for some marketing gimmick? Should I wait and do my research at home before buying them? Nope, not today. My impulsive-Walmart-shopper alter ego took over and I scooped those babies up. The good thing is they are less than $10(!!) so if they sucked, I was ok with that. I was planning on trying them out right away, but I was exhausted when I got home and fell right into bed. I decided to wait until the weekend when I could dedicate a good chunk of time into the process. I thought about them constantly for the next three days. Just sitting there on my dresser, waiting for me to try them, taunting me almost. 

The big day finally came... I tried them... and... I can't decide if I like them!

My first thought was holyyyy, I have longggg lashes! I was so excited! But then I noticed that they didn't feel that sturdy. I thought maybe the glue hadn't settled yet. But then hours later, they still felt that way and when I lightly grabbed one, it fell right out! 

I think the problem was that I was so afraid of using too much glue that I didn't use enough. So I pulled off a couple loose ones, dunked them in more glue, and reattached them. I decided to wait until the morning to see how they would hold up overnight.

I was surprised and delighted to find that they were all still intact! My hope was glimmering again. The only problem now was that when I put my glasses on, they were way too long and poked into my lenses. Ughhh, damn you, first world problem. So I curled them. And I didn't like them as much. I felt like they were a little less natural looking.

Note: There's a weird shadow on my face from my iphone. Just ignore that. It's fine.

So overall, I do like them. The only thing I don't like is that they still poke my glasses and they're not as natural looking as I would like.

I'll do another update to let you know how long they lasted for. I'm going to keep them in for as long as I can just to see if they live up to their promise.

Have you ever tried lashes?? Let me know how your experience was and recommend any that worked for you!

Walmart Spending and Makeup Saving

Ok, so there's something I need to talk about. I don't know why I have such a problem, but it's something I should address. You see, every time I go into a certain store, I end up leaving with armfuls of items even if I didn't need anything to begin with. Now this sometimes happens in other stores, but this one store in particular gets me every time. And that store... is Walmart.

Now let me just clarify something. I live in Canada and, until recently, we didn't have Target. Now my Walmart spending has turned into Target spending.

From makeup, hair products, shoes, clothes, anything really. I turn a corner and I find something else I like.

I can't help it. I find so many things I like and they don't cost that much! Except when you add them all up and your bill ends up being over $100 every time you go there. Sigh..

That is exactly why I have become a fan of dupes. What are dupes, you say? Knock offs, rip offs, imitations, look-alikes, and what have you. They are a diva-on-a-budget's friend. I don't mean the kind of knockoffs you have to go down a back alley to buy or buy out of someone's van. Don't go getting yourself in trouble trying to save a buck. I'm talking about drugstore versions of pricey items. I love drugstore makeup. I hate the idea of spending so much money on something I'm just going to wash off at the end of the day.

The first dupe I love is Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Light. It's matte with just a hint of sheer shimmer. This is a dupe for NYC Sunny but I've never tried their version. I found the Rimmel bronzer before I even realized it was a dupe. Score one for me!

I love Maybelline's Falsies Mascara. It's been my favourite mascara for a while. It lengthens enough that my little puny eyelashes actually look nice and it's only $7! While that's nice, it doesn't thicken as much as I would like so I might switch it up next time.

Like my eyelashes, my eye brows have a tendency to disappear in pictures. They're blonde-ish and tiny. I fill them in with a pencil right now and I like that enough, but I really wanted to try something else. Cara from Maskcara recently did a whole bunch of posts about eyebrows (go check them out!) and she recommended MAC's Omega for blondes. As excited as I was to finally have a good product recommended from someone whose opinion I trust, I was disappointed at having to shell out $15 on a little tiny eye shadow. Well, after some googling, I finally found a dupe! Maybelline's 70D Browntones. Unlucky for me, I can't seem to find it anywhere, so I'm still on the hunt for that one.

For blush, I currently use Sephora Blush Me in Rose Rebelle No 1. I know it's not drugstore, but I love this colour. It's just the right amount of pink to not be too overwhelming, but enough to give you a natural flushed look. It looks pretty shimmery in this picture, but it's not really.

What are your favourite dupes or drugstore finds?

Bestie Fun!

Tonight my bestie in real life and I are going out for dinner and I can't wait! The last few days at work have been a teensy lot bit stressful and I need to relax with a good friend and a glass or two or three of crisp, cold wine.

The friendship my bestie, Cait, and I have is a little strange. Not that our relationship is strange, but how we became friends. See, we didn't become besties or even really friends until after we had known each other for years. We had the same group of friends but we weren't really friends. I think it came down to a few different reasons: 1) we both have the same standoffish attitude, 2) we both had preconceived notions of what the other was like even though we had never really had a real conversation. Since those first years of knowing each other, we've both grown up and our personalities have changed a little. 

We first starting talking because we were both going to the same college and little ole me didn't have a car yet so I would bug her to drive me. Neither of us were thrilled at the idea because of said non-existent friendship, but we wore each other down. We started to realize how much we were alike and most of our conversations were so silly and ridiculous that our stomachs would hurt from laughter after.

Here is a recent photo of us at our friend's baby shower. She looks awesome and I can't stop staring at my awkward pose and knobby knees. 

So this just goes to show that you can't judge a book by it's cover because you never know who your bestie is going to turn out to be. If we hadn't taken that leap and basically forced our friendship, who knows what would've happened. Who would I drink copious amounts of wine with? Who would I go to the new Target with? Who would I tell my ridiculous stories to and know that I won't be judged because her stories are just as ridiculous? Who would I make togas with?

Don't mind the terrible quality of this picture. It was back in the day when you would actually bring a camera and a phone out with you.. no iPhones for us yet!

Here's to besties, fun adventures, trying new things, and of course, wine! Cheers!