An Equation

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(on a slightly smaller scale, with the flames inside the stove)

I realize it wasn't a forest fire, but I was reminded nonetheless of this fantastic childhood commercial:

-hilary

Baking

I love baking.

If I could, I would bake cakes and loaves and cookies all day long. I wouldn't do any work, I would stay in the kitchen, listening to happy, upbeat music and bake delicious smelling things.

Take right now. I am sitting in the house surrounded by the delicious smell of chocolate chip cookies and only a couple of days ago I baked a wonderful banana-chocolate loaf and muffins.

Why does life have to get in the way of cookies?

-ariel.

Ooo La La

My journalism assignment for this week: Find someone different from myself and introduce them in a 400 word profile.

Voila!

Scantily clad in lacy, purple polka-dot lingerie and shiny black stilettos, burlesque dancer Koston Kreme captivated audiences with her flirtatious style of dance Saturday at Ottawa’s Sexapalooza, but it wasn’t her outfit or her routine that had people in Lansdowne’s Exhibition Hall amazed.

In front of a few hundred people, Kreme writhed, wriggled and stripped down to a pair of shiny purple pasties, all while seductively spinning a shiny silver hula-hoop around her trim torso.

The 26-year-old is a member of the Ottawa area burlesque troupe Rockalily, and has been perfecting her unique style of dance for the past 2 years.

Kreme says she realized her knack for the hula-hoop while trying to get back in shape after a nasty break up. She says she remembers being skinny as a kid, so decided to do the things she used to do when she was young – and thus began her mastery of the hula-hoop.

“I learned how to take my clothes off while I was hula-hooping because it gets hot when you hula-hoop in your apartment in front of the TV for too long,” says Kreme.

After hearing about Rockalily from a friend, Kreme, who’s always had a passion for burlesque, says she originally wanted to work behind the scenes.

“I didn’t think I’d have the…guts to do that, but it looked and seemed like so much fun, and all the girls were really confident so I figured I’d try it out,” she says.

Now, she says the only problem she has with her burlesque dancing is her family’s reaction to the occasional publicity she receives.

“My family found out because we were in the Ottawa Citizen and my grandma read it,” she says with a laugh. Since then she’s decided to take her mother’s advice and only use her stage name Koston Kreme in public.

So what’s the best part of burlesque dancing? Kreme says for her it’s the confidence boost she gets after performing. “Everybody always gets off the stage and feels amazing about themselves.”

Kreme says that the ladies (and one man) of Rockalily plan on expanding this year. “We’re trying to make our shows bigger and maybe a little more often,” she says, adding that the troupe plans on adding a Montreal show to their line-up and possibly embarking on a mini tour.

“We try and have a…variety of people…we don’t want a bunch of skinny little girls,” says Kreme of Rockalily. “Everybody in our troupe is completely different and brings something completely different to the troupe.”

- alex

The Bachelor

Being a house full of six girls, we are obliged to indulge in some girly, giggly, man-crushing time at least once a week.

With such a commitment, we were all extremely happy when a new season of The Bachelor premiered a few weeks ago! As I type, Amanda and I are sitting on the futon waiting to see what psycho things these girls are going to do to get this "perfect man" (who needs to be on a tv show to find his soulmate, hmmm...)

The sad part is that I think we all genuinely like the show. Half of it is us being pathetic girls and loving sappy shit like this (the bachelor just kissed a girl while hanging from a bungee cord after jumping off a bridge, how stupidly cute is that?)...the other half is us LOVING watching the overly-dramatic things these girls do to try and impress Jake (bachelor).

The Bachelorettes are all, obviously, super crazy (with the exception of the one we all like - the one sane girl in the house). We all really like that Jake cannot detect the crazy in some of them, and seems completely oblivious to the crazy-eyes he gets from some girls. Especially this one:

Ridiculous, right? How can he not see it?

And I would like to end this post with a quote:

"I just had the best date of my life today. The only day that will top this one will be the day I marry Jake."

I JUST BARFED EVERYWHERE (and sadly love it).

-hilary

Suit up!

As some people may know, I am a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother. After recently watching the last episode, with a very lovely tribute to suits, it got me thinking: suits are awesome. Not only does every man look infinitely more handsome in a suit, they also look more put together, more charming and altogether more desirable. So, here is a tribute to my favorite men in suits...

Alec Baldwin.

Not only is he hilarious, but the man can wear a suit. No matter how old he is getting, his voice keeps getting deeper and the suits keep him looking good.

Robert Downey Jr.

He is Iron Man, Sherlocke Holmes, a badass and can rock a suit.

Jimmy Stewart.

He is by far my favorite old-time actor, and boy can he wear a suit like it's nobody's business. Notice the TWO women on his arms.

Neil Patrick Harris.

As Barney Stinson he was the inspiration for this post, he brought the suit back. Suit up!

Jon Hamm/Don Draper.

When I think of sexy suits he pretty much epitomizes it. I'm sorry Cancer society, but there is absolutely nothing better than a man wearing a suit, holding a scotch in one hand and a cigarette in the other...

ariel.

Horoscopes are grand aren't they?

So on a Sunday night what is there to do? Catch up on my studies? Watch more How I Met Your Mother? NO! Sunday night is the best night to catch up on your horoscope! I googled mine for January and THIS is what my month is to entail:

Your ruler,the Sun conjunct Uranus this moon darkening. Expects the unexpected and see self via new eyes now. Just on for your temper affakkelen do at the flaw at optimism you off. Do not give the doubts of other belief on this moment. At the sun darkening,your ruler is square to Pluto. Enjoys your unlimited possibilities and are very gratefully for each occasion that geplaveid is your way to success. Life is PIGLET now. A holiday,trips afar take. Take your Light on the way!

NICE! I can't wait for my life to become PIGLET!

-N

Back Alley Photoshoots

The Carleton University student newspaper, The Charlatan, is usually just that - a newspaper, however once in a while it decides to publish a snazzy little thing called a magazine.

Shocking, right?

Anyways, for this last issue I was the photo editor. My favourite part of this position was making my friends dress up in ridiculous costumes and pose for photoshoots in the back alley behind our house. Thank god they are so willing to help out, huh?

These are my faves; the theme of the magazine was "subcultures and the fringe movement" and with such, my rad roommates perfectly portrayed their roles as hippies, ravers, beatniks, greasers and punk rockers.

THANK YOU FRIENDS!

Love, Hilary

Interior Decoration

In an attempt to reverse the horrible karma I experienced this past semester, I decided to re-organize my room. Yesterday evening, because we basically (and I say basically because there are no assignments yet) no work I called up my trusty twin Ariel to help me move around the mess that I called my bedroom. Let me just say that underneath a bed can get surprisingly dusty over the course of four months. 5 Swiffer pads later, my bed, desk, chair and everything else was moved. And turns out I didn't fail my poli sci exam; see, good vibes already! Also, putting my bed against the far wall has given me infinitely more floor space and therefore room for about 6 people to have a comfortable dance party, and 10 if we squish.

In Hilary's semi-last post she mentioned her favourite things, one of them being this interior decorating blog called Desire to Inspire which I myself showed her. It's written by a few people and showcases different interior photographers as well as up-and-coming trends in interior design. Needless to say, after following this blog for a couple months, I have amassed enough pictures to basically describe my ideal house. Not too shabby. Here are some of my favourites and if you still know me roughly (and hopefully) 10-15 years from now, this is what my house will look like:

So I guess I'm really into clutter and chandeliers, who would have thought?

-N