Month: March 2008

bookmark_borderWhat a nice pair of tweed slacks can hide

Posted on by Christine Elias

I’ve been dressing up a bit more at work lately. I work in an office where, unless I have a meeting or an event, I can wear jeans. Not a jeans and sweatshirt combo coupled with running shoes, mind you. They need to be nice jeans paired with a nice top and/or jacket. But my everyday work wardrobe would not pass muster on Bay Street.

I actually do have a lot of business-like work garb — I buy it, I just rarely wear it. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll have to go to an interview. I have a few suits just in case. Pointy shoes and boots, too. I even have a section of my sock drawer dedicated to hose.

So, I’ve been dressing up a bit. No reason really — I just feel like it.

I went to a meeting this week with a higher up and I dressed fairly conservatively — tweed slacks and a simple blouse. I also had on a necklace with a skull motif. It was noticed and — I think — admired. I said I bought it in Vegas (I did, a few years ago) and the reply was….”it’s a good thing you didn’t get a tattoo as well….”

Oh, what a nice pair of tweed slacks can hide.

bookmark_borderoysters and weeping

Posted on by Christine Elias

I love oysters. An evening with friends and a few bivalve mollusks is something I look forward to with horseradish. My love of oysters is second only to my love of lobster.

In fact, I’m going out for oysters on for my birthday. My favourite place for oysters is Starfish.

My birthday (feel free to send me warm wishes) was last month. It’s not that we are all too busy to celebrate the anniversary of my birth.

No, it’s the damn nightmare that is acid reflux.

It was acting up two weeks ago — then started to get a bit better — and now it’s back. There is no way I can eat oysters until it starts to get under control. In fact. there is no way I can eat much of anything that isn’t soft, non-spicy and very very boring. Eating just hasn’t been much fun lately. Sure, I’ve been getting some compliments — the guys in my poker group couldn’t put their finger on why I was looking so fabulous — but being a bit thinner is a small comfort when soup, soup and maybe soup is my dinner of choice. Really, I’d rather have a few extra pounds and some Palak Paneer in my life.

This upsetting news overshadowed just about anything else of interest that I could possibly write about today.

Well, there is one thing. My friends A., E., J. and I have planned our annual spring trip to New York. (Now that I’m a seasoned traveler, I know that I don’t have to add “City” — New York is just New York.)

I’m very excited. Not only because we’re going to the most fun place in North America — yeah, I’ve been to Vegas — but also because I get to spend some quality time with some really fun women.

I sure hope I won’t have to spend the entire time eating gazpacho and mashed potatoes.