Meh. I haven't been writing on here for nearly two months; not by choice. I don't like leaving my blog forgotten and falling behind with my hauls, but my work involves lots of writing and so does schoolwork, so I end up feeling too lazy to put effort into writing here.
I had planned for my next blog post to be a stationery haul from AliExpress, but I haven't received all of the stuff yet and I reckon it'll be one big haul to set up. So this blog post will only be a brief, sporadic update on my life these past two months. It is to be expected that I'll jump from one topic to another without a clear structure.
My black handbag got altered!
In a previous blog post, I talked about purchasing this vintage-inspired handbag from YesStyle, after an excruciating search on the internet. I mentioned that a part of the handle needed to be cut so that I could hold the handbag on my wrist or in my hand, just like women used to.
Here's the handbag with its new handle:
My father first cut a section of the handle that would definitely not be part of it once shortened. Then I looked at vintage handbags on Etsy to get an idea of the typical handle length on a vintage handbag. After trying different handle lengths (temporarily fixed with hockey tape) and pairing each with diverse types of clothing (coats, dresses, skirts...), I decided to go with a handle of 13 ½ inches.
A professional sewing machine was needed to do the rest of the work, so my father went to the shoe repair shop and they kindly handled my bag immediately (pun unintended).
Also, my mom surprised me with this lovely beige coin purse she found in Magog.
As you can see, there's a lot of storage in this coin purse. All of my cards easily fit in.
The only downside is that it is bigger than my previous one from Walmart. This doesn't make a major difference in my beige handbag, but it does in my black one: my hand sanitizer doesn't fit in anymore. It's not a huge issue as I can always replace it with a smaller hand sanitizer, and thanks to Covid there are hand sanitizer stations in most public places now...
My hair is growing, shedding, fairytailing...
Last summer, I was hoping my hair would reach knee-length by December 2020, but it didn't happen. Pretty sure it's cuz I got a good trim back in September (I couldn't anymore with the fairytale ends), and I guess that I had overestimated the time it'd take to grow to my knees.
I haven't taken pictures of my hair since forever. Oddly, around last fall, it started to get greasy faster than usual. I tried reducing the amount of Moroccanoil I use and applied it first on the ends of my hair, then onto my roots. There wasn't an improvement. So, I haven't really been in the mood to take pictures of my hair. While I'm thinking about it, the brush may be the reason why my hair gets easily greasy since I always use the same one – whether my hair is clean or dirty – though I always operated like this without bad outcomes in the past.
Here's a random pic of my hair I took last November:
It touches the ground when I crouch. Of course, since that picture was taken, my hair has grown longer... My plan is to grow it slightly below the knees so I can trim the extra and still have knee-length hair. When that moment will come, I also plan on trimming the ends more regularly since my main goal will have shifted from growing my hair to growing healthy blunt ends. I'm excited. o(^∀^*)o
Oh, and my hair is shedding; been like this since December. I didn't experience shedding during the fall season like I usually do, so I thought that I was saved for the year, but the shedding just came later. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My hair sheds the most when I'm in the shower or when I brush it after it has dried, but also while I'm simply sitting at the computer. I don't see a MAJOR difference in my hair thickness if I check my whole head, so I try not to get too stressed about it.
Take a look at this cool homemade lint roller:
I got the idea last summer. (I eventually saw that these kinds of lint rollers already existed on the internet.)
I learned through my mom to use regular lint rollers to collect little fabric scraps on the floor. We came to realize it could also be used to pick up hair on the floor. Then later, I thought it'd be amazing if I could use the lint roller with a longer handle to avoid crouching.
My parents found my idea eccentric at first, but they nonetheless found a painting handle for me and managed to fit a lint roller on its extremity. Turns out this lint roller is SO PRACTICAL. I save so much time and frustration now, especially when I want to pick up individual strands of hair scattered everywhere around. Also, it's very gratifying to roll over my hair and see the adhesive roller grab everything. o(≧▽≦)o My mom even ended up making one for her because she finds it catches hair on the carpet way better than the vacuum.
I do have to change the sheet on the lint roller regularly. I do it a couple of times a week, it really depends on how I wear my hair during the day (obviously there is more hair on the floor when I wear it loose.) I haven't counted how many days a sheet lasts on average, but I went through a whole lint roller from summer through February, so it's not the thing that will empty your pockets the most.
I bought something from Petland's website.
(;￣ω￣)
A number of Amazon customers stated in their review that they had received the exact same item cracked. Worried that my order would suffer the same fate, I looked for sellers in Canada (the nearer the better since I wanted the item to travel the less).
Luckily I managed to found one in the size I wanted on Petland's Canadian website. I was still a bit fearful and hoped that Petland would be careful when packing my order. Fortunately, they did much more than I expected and the item arrived at my home without a scratch.
It's a pen! For small animals!
Indeed, I've been planning something for some months now. This pen is to house one – or more – animal(s). I'll probably talk about it once the time comes. Note that this will only serve as a temporary place, not a permanent home.
I bought the pen in size large (8.75 L or 2.25 U.S. gal. according to Petland). The dimensions are 25.5 x 36 x 22 cm based on this Pets at Home listing. I was worried that it'd be too small, but it's bigger than I thought which is perfect.
I had first planned to buy a carrier at my local pet shop, but there were only the ones from Living World with the flimsy lid. The thing was so hard to open and close that I didn't buy it, I could sense I'd break it on my first use. After unsuccessfully looking for other models online, I found this one. The lid is so easy to open and close. I admit it would've been nice if it was equipped with handles, but its principal use won't be for transport anyway.
I believe this blue pen has been around for a long time (pretty sure I had a similar one for my beta fish years ago) and it seems uncommon to find today, at least in my local pet stores. Or maybe I was just unlucky.
Petland even included a handwritten letter and a 10 % coupon with my order.
I don't think I've ever received handwritten letters, let alone letters, from ordering from a chain store. Even as a first-time customer. (*˘v˘*)
Cute Thrift Find
Last weekend I went to Value Village where I found the cutest ceramic dish:
The brush was still in its original wrapping so I doubt that the set had been used before. I thought it was a sauce dish at first, but my mom told me it is used when eating corn for the melted butter. How adorable is this?! *melting* It was only 1,99$ CAD and in perfect condition.
I plan on using it when brushing egg wash (or other) on desserts and dough foods like pretzels before baking. By the way, the brush wasn't on its holder when at the store, it was simply in the dish. It's my mom who later showed it to me. So practical.
I think I found one of its siblings on Etsy, but sadly it's sold out.
Mmm... Food
I ate more delicious food but I only had these pictures stored on my phone.
