Throwback Thursday - Prom Season

I've still got not a heck of a lot in terms of writing for the blog this week. Maybe I'm just getting caught up in the mundaneness of my life, after all, researching and measuring and comparing washer/dryer combinations is just about my favourite past-time, next to watching paint dry.



So I'm falling back upon the "Throwback Thursday" tradition over at Pinks and Blues Girls. You really should check these ladies out if you haven't already; they were among the first of my many *snort* readers, and they have a wonderful blog.



Besides, what isn't fun about posting a picture of yourself when you were much, much, younger, much, much cuter, and so much thinner? I'll admit I stole this idea from the blogosphere, so in honour of prom season, here is me all dolled up for the Senior Formal in high school:

(Please pardon my lack of electronic editing capability; when all else fails, Post-it hails).

The fella in the photo is my very first real boyfriend ever, the one that I went ga-ga over and my parents did not really like... more because he wasn't what you called exactly ambitious, but who is as a teenager? In any case, he was a distraction from studies, and that was all sorts of bad. He was a decent guy, we broke up, had the revolving door relationship, but I eventually outgrew him. Some things are not worth reliving through Facebook.

The dress ...this is the dress my mother wore at her wedding reception, slit up to THERE ... stunning, stunning, I know, and it was made especially to her measurements. I was about 16 in this picture, and the dress was a size less than zero. Mom had a whole trunkload of cheongsam saved up in case she ever had daughters.

I went nuts in high school, because I could actually get into them. The last time I wore anything from her trunk, I was 18 years old, for my grad. It would have been wonderful to be able to wear that at my own wedding, but alas, by the time that came around, I could only fit one leg into it. I actually had my very own made for our wedding reception - a picture that I'll have to dig out from the relics at some point. And I bet I can only fit one leg into THAT one too... I don't even want to go there!

(Edited to add:

for the Prom blog carnival over at Mommy martini's: this was actually my first "formal", in grade 12. We went to Fantasy Farm, yeah, great spot, it was as glamorous as the name. But anyway, it was fun, at least what I remember of it. You see, I think I got really drunk on "Brown Cows" but at least did not mess the dress up.

For my final year grad, I wore a lavendar, flapper style chiffon number which looked as lovely as it sounds, complete with a lace polka-dotted sash. And lace gloves to match my Madonna Asian perm and pull the look completely together. For some reason in my senior year I though the cheongsam were so passe. Guess why I don't have a single picture of that event? I must have burned them all. So the above is the "prom" dress I'd like to remember, mostly because I actually fit in it.

Stayed out all night and headed back to school in the morning in the same outfit. What wild kids we were. Something about growing up in Scarberia; they've graduated to shootings and gangland stabbings in that neighbourhood now.)

Fashion Friday: To Hair is Human

I've noticed that lately there's been a little self-portrait posting going on in the blogosphere. Some have been super-brave and posting pix of themselves first thing in the morning (started by sweetney , but all beautiful women); I don't have the ballzz to do that, but I did see another hair-meme-ish round a few weeks ago, courtesy of fabulous bloggers Rima, Kami and Motherscribe. Sort of a hair-retrospective - I don't know where that genius originated or I would certainly give credit where credit is due.

This one I can handle. So without further adieu, here we go.

It all started out pretty cute.

The bowl-cut has a sort of androgeny which was highly under-rated at the time...

Losing teeth, but the hair is shiny still...

( Okay, I'm totally skipping the bullying-worthy years... after all, this is my blog. Still there are some guffaw-inspiring pics upcoming...)

High school post-braces and after-contacts!!!! Whoo,-hoo- dig that Farrah/Little House/ Leather Bowtie look..

High school grad. No such thing as flat irons yet. This is what happens when an Asian girl with stick straight hair wants to do the Madonna-Like-A-Virgin curl ... and it goes horribly wrong. Nothing like capturing that for all eternity during a momentous occasion... and again on your blog.

Dating, hotness (well, as hot as I got) years ahead...

Jodphurs and thigh-high riding boots! Longer shag-me hair, though.

At one of the various weddings we attended when I so wanted a ring.

Lab 1 guy in all his mullet glory (he's gonna kill me for this one...)

The Married Years

Wedding photo... Bob #1

I did what one of my male friends complain that women all do once they get married. I got shorn. Actually, this didn't look so bad...over a decade before Posh Beckham made it "in" again... I look happy. Must be in Barbados or something...


Oh look, it gets worse! How to look like you're a forty year old suburban mom before you hit 30. Or how to rock the sweatshirt over Dexy's Midnight Runners overalls. Not good.


Bob #2. Grad school convocation with my baby boy as a bonus. Boy L was 18 months old here.

Work function, so looking very coiffed. Also a little bloated from fertility drugs, TTC #2, about 10 pounds heavier than my ideal weight. Thought that by slimming the photo with cropping technology I might look trimmer. Probably not.

Baby girl is 4 months old here as big brother turns 5. Mommy needs a haircut - badly.

And she does it, finally. Baby girl is just over two. Happy bangs.

Bob #3. This was after a summer of long hair. And it's a little red.

I think I liked it better as it grew... I can barely contain myself.

And the most recent cut? Welcome to the house of DORA!!!!!

This is me normally; not so poufed. I'm also thinking about going back to my natural (not grey yet though) colour. For something completely different.

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL WHO ARE CELEBRATING AND FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T, ENJOY THE BREAK!!!

Like father, like daughter

Little G had her first swimming lesson of the season tonight. This time I signed her up for a timeslot that she could share with her Daddy. I've already done three sessions of Parent and Tot with my girlie since she was born. So her daddy was only too happy to take her this time.

In honour of their new weekly Father/Daughter time together, I thought I'd post another brief installment of (check out Pinks and Blues)

Did I mention Ian was a biker dude from a tender age?

Dirtbikes, here we come...

Soccer Star

Check out Pinks and Blues for their weekly photo backtracks. Love those girls!

For my week's throwback, I'm going to a fall season not too long ago, when my boy was developing fab soccer skills, and would play with whatever ball was available. Any time, any place. He was about 18 months old here:


Here is my soccer star now... David Beckham, here I come...



His mother, well, not so into the athletics at his age, but boy did I love ballet - check out the knobby knees!

Throw-Back to School

In honour of a successful back-to-school week for my little boy, here are a couple of shots of me around Grade 1 and Grade 2. My parents used to take us for those studio shots (they probably bought Sears packages for us) every six months.

Here I am in Grade 1 - I'm liking the pink textured turtleneck. I remember wearing that top a lot, the itchy polyester feel of it on my skin more comforting than uncomfortable. Not so much the haircut though. Can you tell my mother did the honours?



This picture was taken when I was in Grade 2. I was very much into jumpers that year (actually, probably for much of my childhood and adolescence). I suspect I may have lost some teeth, hence the closed mouth grin. Shiny cap of hair, though. It grew in quite nicely. Too bad it now has the texture of a horse mane. Albeit a coloured horse mane.

Throwback's Babies

Thanks to Pinks & Blues for this wonderful tradition. I look forward to Thursdays for fun trips back in time! Here we go...

We've been visiting with babies as much as we can this summer, for obvious reasons. So I've been poring over old photos for my baby photos. And there are quite a few, because I was baby numero uno.

This first is a montage of some cute pictures that my folks took very early on...obviously very young, they had me just a year after they married. My mom looks so chic, the original yummy mummy don't you think? I especially like that photo of her holding me in the red dress. Katie Holmes and Suri come to mind when I see that photo, as we're so dressed up! I love my mom's kitten heels. My dad, looks so young ... and tired! The last photo is one of my mom's favourites as she posed me to look like a doll. I like my hair like that, she must have used a lot of my Dad's brillo cream.

Here's my little sister, in a bouncy chair, and birthday hat!! So cute... I think her baby J looks A LOT like her mommy as a baby:

This shot was taken at Expo '67 in Montreal. So I was about 2; I like the hat. Mom was always keeping me in stylin' form as a tot!

Finally, this is a shot of some of my family on an outing to the Ausable Chasm. There's my mom, my aunt and cousin in their cool sunglasses, my next older cousin (cool fashions for kids back in the day!), me, and my grandmother holding my baby sister. So my father took the photo.

My aunt always gets a big kick out of these types of photos from way back. She pointed this out to me one day: "Look at all the people we got into ONE CAR!!!!" Not a minivan either! Obviously, seat belts and carseats for kids were not a requirement back then. Lucky we made it to adulthoood, don't you think?!

A Different World

I've been missing the wonderful tradition started by my lady friends at Pinks and Blues, so I'm happy to participate again. For this post, I'm going to the very recent past - just a stone's throw back to this time last year on a trip of a lifetime with my husband -- WITHOUT the kids. To a place that I had never imagined travelling to as a destination of choice. And now, after a day inside spent crouching, dusting, vacuuming and wiping down shelves, cupboards, and baseboards, I'm yearning again for that lovely part of the world ...

Beautiful ICELAND!

We took the following shot just after we arrived into the capital city of Reykjavik, it was such a gorgeous, clear day:



And I was sooooo happy to be here:



This was a work trip for Ian, and I was only ECSTATIC to tag along. We wanted to optimize our time there (5 days) so decided to take an adventure tour on a jeep, complete with an amazing driver/guide, and four other men. Me, girly me, on an adventure tour. More on that later.

Here's the jeep, our guide, and the spectacular terrain:



Here's me at Pingvellir National Park - site of world's first parliament; started by Vikings no less. And I'm looking happy still:


Gorgeous Hraunfosser Waterfalls:


Deildartunguhver - most powerful geothermal spring in Europe. Yup, I'm full of hot air...


So this is as adventure as I get. We signed up for the optional snowmobile tour up the glacier. Yes, me, who grew up in a hermetically sealed, air-conditioned abode in Scarborough. Opening the windows was roughing it for me. Initially we were going to rent one snowmobile for the two of us, but I was getting so pumped during the drive up the mountain that I convinced myself that I could drive one all by my lonesome. Much to the thrill of Ian, as he fully intended to tear around on his own without a monkey on his back. [He was, after all, a motorcross racer in his youth.]. Do I not look totally amazed that I made it up to the TOP OF THE WORLD!:



Together again... Ian's glad I didn't flip backwards on the skidoo coming up the hill. Looking extremely happy again, but we are missing our kidlets, honestly we are...



We stayed in the chic 101 Hotel Reykjavik. It's listed in several design books as a place to see (and be seen, I suppose). Accomodations were very modern, sleek, white, and there were interesting pieces of artwork throughout the lobby. This is a view of one of the exterior walls looking up from the bar/restaurant. I wonder if this was mammary-inspired? I had just finished weaning the little one, and I've always had breast-envy regardless - could explain why this wall fascinated me so?



While Ian was at his meeting, I took the opportunity to do some shopping and sightseeing. Shopping was great - expensive, as most things are in Europe, and probably more so in Iceland because of the extra transportation to get things there. I had a late lunch and even later dinner all on my own.

Here's a shot of the beautiful interior of Hallgrims Church found just in the middle of town:



Well, G's just woken up from her nap, so I'm back in Reno-land. At least I'm still on vacation from cooking!

Throwback Thursdays # 3 - Summer Vacation

Pinks and Blues girls have got me hooked on this weekly tradition! Only they have been able to convince me to go back down memory lane and revisit some pretty bad hair days.

Here are me, my sister and our surrogate littlest sister Cecilia, who is actually now our baby brother's godsister. Her mom and ours are best friends from the time my sister was born (they met when my mom went to hospital; Cecilia's mom was there at the birth). She is a fair bit younger than us, but was so mature and fun from the time she was born, she was, and continues to be, just like our baby sister. Our shorts even match!
Not that she's a baby anymore, she's a successful psychologist down in Texas now, but continues to be as cute as a button. (I hope you're reading Cecilia - this is but one of the sweet photos we have of you as a kiddie!)



This is us at the CNE Garden centre - don't we look so hot and uncomfortable? Oh the lovely Canadian National Exhibition - bittersweet because it's always held the two weeks just before the end of summer and the beginning of school. I think it's so cute that our baby bro is so tiny between us, even on the step! And remember what I said about matching outfits - I guess I forgot about these unfortunate ones. I'm glad I finally grew into my legs - aren't they ridiculous?!



I love this shot, I think I was about 15, and baby bro about 3. He was always hamming it up for the camera and had about a thousand pairs of overalls. He did look so cute in them though. This was just before we took a cruise through the Thousand Islands on our way home from our annual Montreal trip one year. It's so funny how I'm always carrying a purse! And this confirms where my son's potential bow-legs come from.