Dear dearest Dad.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

My favorite picture of him.
At his high school graduation.

Lydia and I have to sneak in a lunch-hour (lunch-30-minutes, rather) charity shop run tomorrow because it's only open until 3. And closed on weekends. This town really is filled with the elderly. Lydia is my Summer co-worker at the museum and I think I lucked out! Um, by quite a lot.

Now, back to writing cut-lines. For my other job. Soon to be other other job. Good thing I enjoy money quite substantially.

This devotion is devoid and defunked.

Why. Why. Why can't every day be a vacation?

The thing they don't tell you about studying at UBC Vancouver is: you miss the best part of the year. Summer in Vancouver. Maybe I was just in such fantastic company that anywhere would have done. I like to think not. And I like to think that I'm definitely spending next Summer in Vancouver. Osoyoos is gorgeous and hot and dryyy... but, sigh.



On Erin: hat from a thrift store in North Vancouver.
On Cyril: shades that were my Dad's.



Helloooo Swiss men.



On Olivier: should he read this blog and like to share the origins of his beautiful striped shirt, well... I just might have to go buy one for Cyril.

Perfect accessory: cupcake.



On Erin: thrifted & altered dress, thrifted belt, long necklace is thrifted and other necklace was made by Caroline!

Somebody come visit me at the Osoyoos Museum, please. Please? I can give you a tour. We can go for ice cream after. Or I can make you some cake. Or cookies. Or dinner. And we can go to the beach. Or on my boat. Yeah...

Will you stay with me a while longer?

Say hello to the photos my new camera takes. Hello, you're pretty lovely! Why thank you.
(My parents bought it for me for my birthday)



(Click the 'ol mouse button on the photo to make it larger than life)

Thrifted & altered dress, thrifted shoes & belt, bloomers from my Granny's closet and watch given to me by Granny too.

She passed away in March and the ladies of the family are sifting through things. She had more clothes than she knew what to do with. Four closets. Drool.
It's strange to have her things.

An Ode.

Let's talk about this really cool girl I know. I'm talking really cool, okay. Ultra cool. Mega cool. Fandiferously cool. That's right.

Why is she so cool?

If you click right here and go to her blog, you might get it. I mean, how talented is this girl?

If you peel open only one eye and take a look at those outfits, you might definitely get it.

Or if you take into consideration that she has, hands down, the best collection of Facebook profile pictures on the entire World Wide Web, you might also get it. Here are some examples:











Tip of the iceberg, my friends.

Or if you also consider the fact that we met in Switzerland, you might finally get it. Because really, most girls living abroad are on the high end of spectacular. And she is no exception.

And it makes me think, Kaley, I really need to visit you!

Let the love shine on! And on. And on. Aaaand on.

Officially back to blogging RIGHT NOW.
I could give many (legitimate!) excuses as to why I've been absent, but the bottom line is:
"Honey, I'm home!"

First order of business: my sister's birthday outfit. Rather, the outfit I wore to my sister's birthday. Which happened to be, sadly, exactly one month ago. I am such a bad blogger.



Thrifted & altered dress, necklace a gift from Cyril's mum, shoes are out of my mum's closet.

Today(all day) at work I researched the life of one of the founding families of my town. I have never cross-referenced so much in my life.

Look what I've gotten myself into.

Hollah.
I'm in a magazine.

Ma, look what I made!

Summer Drive from Erin Stodola on Vimeo.

I want to work on more of my videos. This was a really fun project.

K-A-T-E Kate.

Though I shouldn't be, I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself these days. So, in an attempt to cheer myself up, a list of Why I Should Be Happy:

1. I got my museum job!
2. Cyril is coming back on Thursday!
3. The weather is gorgeous!
4. My sister is visiting!
5. I am babysitting a Canon Rebel for the weekend and I have officially fallen in love! Sorry Cyril.
6. This poor, baby deer is so cute!
"Dear Deer" by Kate Micucci (she played Stephanie Gooch on Scrubs)
Thanks to my brother for the introduction.








Cyril and I having fun at the laundromat.

Willy Wonka. Willy Wonka. The amazing chocolatier.

50th post. Nicely done.

I went on a wee vacation with the family, south to America, this past weekend. It's been a yearly thing for those that are able to go and I hadn't for at least 5, 6, 7? years so the highlights of Spokane in my mind up 'til this trip were the pool at the hotel, the hotel and Cyrus O'Leary's restaurant. This time I fell in love with the brick.





It was gorgeously sunny & warm. Some of the things I wore.


UO top, Target skirt (AA replica!), thrifted belt, watch & locket were gifts from my darling Granny.


AA skirt & tee, thrifted belt, H&M flats & shades, necklace made by Caroline (who I miss a lot!)

Know who else I miss a lot? Cyril.
My Swiss guy has been back in the motherland for 23 days now! Cyril, I think that's enough now. Canada wants you back. Oh and me too, just a little bit.

Animal crackers in my soup. Monkeys and tigers loop the loop.

Let's talk about shoes.

I love those words. But not today. I spent the weekend searching Spokane, Washington for my summer sandals. Which are nowhere to be found. Seemingly. Seemingly, because last summer when I was stupidly, duh, not looking for sandals, this style was all ovah thuh place and now it's only: gladiators. Contrary to popular taste at the moment, I hate gladiator sandals. I hate the way they look and I especially hate the way they look on me. So, what's the deal, yo?

Here are the cousins, if you will, of my perfect sandals:



Here in a size 7, boo.



Here in a size 5.5, extra boo.

Wanna hear another sandal sob story? Yeah you do.

All of this winter I came across so many of these babies (pictured below) that I thought, sensibly, nah, I will wait until I come close to needing them. And you really think I can find any now? Also, I can say with total certainty that my mum had a pair of these not too long ago that have since disappeared or been trashed. Is it weird if I cry just a little bit?



Here in size 7, again.



Here in size 7.5 (maaaaaybe).

Shoes, really, where's the love?

STV in English

As a Part II to my last post, the STV issue clarified by my dear friend Jeremy.

"So the two things it changes are:

1.

-In First Past The Post (FPTP) only one person can win a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Its not majoritive in that one does not need 50%+1 of the vote to win, it is a plurality, where the person with the most number of votes wins. This means there could be 5 people running, and if 3 get 20%, 1 person gets 19% and one person gets 21%, the last guy wins, even though 79% of people wanted someone else.

- STV gives the voter the ability to rank candidates, instead of choosing one. This means that if there are again 5 people running, you would write 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 beside their names, instead of just giving one X.

- This means that There will be somebody who has the most No. 1 spots, but there might be someone who gets more No. 2 spots than everyone else. There will also be someone who gets more No. 3 spots than everyone else. However, the person with the most No. 3 spots might also have had more No. 2 spots than the person with the most No. 1 spots.

This is confusing, but essentially it makes it so someone has to get at least 20% of the No. 1 spots, as well as 20% of the No. 2 or 3 spots in order to get elected.

So what does this mean?

It leads me to the second big change that would happen:


2. In BC there are currently 85 ridings, or constituencies. Each riding gets 1 MLA or representative.

- STV would break BC into 20 or so ginormous ridings, instead of the current 85

- Because there are fewer ridings, each riding would get 3 or 4 seats in the legislature.

- This means that the people who had the most No. 2 and No. 3 spots, mentioned earlier, would get a seat in the House

- This means that in one riding, say the Okanagan Valley and West Kootneys (all lumped together) there could be a Liberal, NDP and Green member elected


So what does all this mean?

1. The idea of locally representative government disappears because the ridings become huge, and there are multiple members in each riding

2. It means that a party that gets 12% of the popular vote (as the Green did in the last election) would get 12% of the seats in the Legislature

3. It brings an end to majoritative government in BC where either the Liberals have 50% + 1 seats or the NDP do, as we see an increase in Green membership, and maybe even more radical parties or independents. Essentially permanent Minority Government, but with the possibility for Coalition governments of multiple parties.


So there's a Poli 100 class in a nut shell. I think its awesome because local representatives on the provincial stage don't do much any more, considering all Education, Health, Crime and Welfare are province wide concerns. Also, having the most number of votes doesn't make them the most popular, and this gives rise to people who were everyone's second choice, and thus better for everyone."

Jeremy is hella smart, guys.

I voted.

That's right, it's voting day.
You know what to do, British Columbians. Be cool, like me, and you will get a sticker!





My voting outfit.
Actually it's not so much a "voting outfit" as a "this is what I had on when I went to go vote outfit".

Red Primark jumper, thrifted cardi, Uniqlo trousers, H&M kicks, necklace from my mum & dad.

When I was young, my family used to say that who you voted for was a secret. So, instead of asking: "who did you vote for?" I would ask: "are you happy about who won?" And would think myself very clever indeed for finding out who they voted for depending on their answer. But now they just tell me when I ask the first question.