This dress is my (So-Called) life!

This ModCloth dress makes me want to crack open a fresh box of Crimson Glow, bolt over to the parking lot of Let's Bolt, over-think my decisions and moon over Jordan Catalano's so-beautiful-it-hurts-to-look-at-him leaning abilties.

DO YA LOVE IT?!

Mood Music: "Everybody Hurts" by REM

A flannel-licious double feature..

Over the long weekend, I watched two kickass movies: New Waterford Girl and Singles. In theory, they are both very different (first off, one is extremely Canadian) but they share one majorly mutual characteristic: a sense of pure awesomeness.

Let's start off with New Waterford Girl. I had seen parts of this quirky coming-of-age flick in the past, but nothing compares to seeing the whole thing in it's East Coast Canuck glory. The movie revolves around Moonie Pottie (played by One Week's Liane Balaban), a teenage girl who is the perfect smorgasbord of the rebellious yet introspective adolescent heroines I love and identify with. She's part Angela Chase, part Lindsay Weir and a whole lot Nomi Nickel. That is, if these girls moved to New Waterford, Nova Scotia.

Throughout the movie, Moonie attempts to make her way out of her super small town so she can see the world, most notably New York City, the home of an art high school she has been accepted to. The whole thing is very A Complicated Kindness. That is, if Nomi dropped the Mennonite thing and got a nice thick Cape Breton accent. Even the time period is the same (the 1970s). I'm sure this similarity made me love Moonie's story more, but even if it didn't have an eerie resemblance to my favourite Miriam Toews novel (if not my favourite book of all-time), I know I would love this loverly slice of Eastern Canadiana.

From the get-go The New Waterford Girl has this breezy - and almost folksy - feel that I crave in movies. It's the type of movie that makes you want to crawl under a plaid blanket, sip a cup of semi-warm tea and fall completely in love with it. I might even say that you would want some nice dark chocolate to along with it, but really, the movie already has the bittersweet thing covered. It's hopeful enough to give you that cinematic warmth in the pit of your stomach, but real enough to keep you grounded. Oh, and it features a smokin' cameo from none other than Andrew McCarthy, playing a semi-creepy yet kind of entirely endearing teacher (I'm not one for sideburns (see: my distaste for Kevin Jonas) but the man works em' so h-core here, I can't resist! Maybe that's just the thick East Coast air talking, but I seriously doubt it). In other words, it's strangely perfect.

While New Waterford Girl focuses on growing up on the East Coast, Singles looks at things from a West Coast perspective. I knew I was going to like this movie from the moment the it started. First off, it's a Cameron Crowe movie. Secondly, it's set in 90s Seattle. And finally, it features the strange hotness that is Matt Dillon. What I did not know was that I was going to fall in L-O-V-E with it.

The movie is all about a group of 20-somethings in an apartment complex trying to find love. It's pretty simple when it comes down to it, but there were just some moments, that really make it something else. Like when Matt's character talks about his band, Citizen Dick and their endearing song, "Touch Me, I'm Dick". Or when you realize that Eddie Vedder is part of his fictional band. Or when you look at Bridget Fonda's character and you realize how many people copy 90s grunge style to a flannel tee today. Or when you realize how flippin' amazing every single (he he..) song on the soundtrack is. Or when you find Campbell Scott's friend in the movie to be a 20-something coffee shop rat version of Matt Nathanson.

I could go on and on, but honestly, I don't want to. Just rent the movie and see it for yourself. If you're anything like me, you'll be floating on a 90s nostalgia high for days. Hence, why I'm wearing flannel in the midst of May. Actually, when I think about it, my sudden urge to plaid-it-out might also be because of Moonie's awesome red plaid jacket. Either way, I think it is obvious that both of these movies are most definetly worthy of a spot in your next long weekend movie marathon.

Mood Music: "You'll Accomp'ny Me" by Bob Seger

To infinity and beyond with Charlie the wallflower...

Recently, I re-read one of my all-time favourite books (alongside A Complicated Kindness, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Color Purple), The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I cannot explain to you how beautiful this book is. You have to experience it for yourself. It is like My So-Called Life if Angela were a boy named Charlie and she listened to a lot of The Smiths.

I feel like this book was written for me and about it me. I mean, my name isn’t Charlie (but that is my all-time favourite name for a boy). And I’m not a boy And my life isn’t nearly as tragic as his is. But, Stephen Chbosky writes what I think and what I feel.

Here are a few words of Chbosky wisdom:

We accept the love we think we deserve.

Sometimes I look outside, and I think that a lot of other people have seen this snow before. Just like I think that a lot of other people have read these books before. And listened to those songs. I wonder how they feel tonight.

I walked over to the hill where we used to go and sled. There were a lot of little kids there. I watched them flying. Doing jumps and having races. And I thought that all those little kids are going to grow up someday. And all of those little kids are going to do the things that we do. And they will all kiss someone someday. But for now, sledding is enough. I think it would be great if sledding were always enough, but it isn’t.

I think it was the first time in my life I ever felt like I looked “good”. Do you know what I mean? That nice feeling when you look in the mirror and your hair’s right for the first time in your life? I don’t think we should base so much on weight, muscles and a good hair day, but when it happens, it’s nice. It really is.

Do you enjoy the holidays with your family? I don’t mean your mom and dad family, but your uncle and aunt and cousin family? Personally, I do. There are several reasons for this. First, I am very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other.

Maybe these are my glory days, and I’m not even realizing it because they don’t involve a ball.

There is this one photograph of Sam that is just beautiful. It would be impossible to describe how beautiful it is, but I’ll try. If you listen to the song “Asleep” [by the Smiths] and you think about those pretty weather days that make you remember things, and you think about the prettiest eyes you’ve known, and you cry, and the person holds you back, then I think you will see the photograph.

There's something about that tunnel that leads to downtown. It's glorious at night. Just glorious. You start on one side of the mountain, and it's dark, and the radio is loud. As you enter the tunnel, the wind gets sucked away, and you squint from the lights overhead. When you adjust the lights, you see the other side in the distance just as the sound of the radio fades to nothing because the waves just can't reach. Then, you're in the middle of the tunnel, and everything becomes a calm dream. As you see the opening get closer, you just can't get there fast enough. And finally, just when you think you'll never get there, you see the opening right in front of you. And the radio comes back even louder than you remember it. And the wind is waiting. And you fly out of the tunnel onto the bridge. And there it is. The city.

Quoting from The Fountainhead: 'I would die for you. But I won't live for you." Something like that. I think the idea is that every person has to live for his or her own life and then make the choice to share it with other people. Maybe that's what makes people "participate".

Patrick started driving really fast, and just before we got to the tunnel, Sam stood up, and the wind turned her dress into ocean waves. When we hit the tunnel, all the sound got scooped up into a vacuum, and it was replaced by a song on the tape player. A beautiful song called "Landslide". When we got out the tunnel, Sam screamed this really fun scream, and there it was. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. Sam sat down and started laughing. Patrick started laughing. I started laughing. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite

And my all time favourite: After the song finished, I said something. "I feel infinite." (NOTE: I swear to god, if I ever get a tattoo, those words will be it. I’m dead serious.) And Sam and Patrick looked at me like I said the greatest thing they ever heard. Because the song was that great and because we all really paid attention to it. Five minutes of a lifetime were truly spent, and we felt young in a good way. I have since bought the record, and I would tell you what it is, but truthfully, it's not the same unless you're driving to your first real party, and you're sitting in the middle seat of a pickup with two nice people when it starts to rain.

From one wallflower to another, Charlie, I love you.

Mood Music: “Nights in White Satin” – The Moody Blues