Save. Spend. Splurge.
April 11, 2014

In the world of Save. Spend. Splurge.

ONE.

As someone who is naturally skinny in all the ways you can imagine :

  • fast metabolism
  • hate the gym but I do like yoga, walking and biking a lot
  • kind of eat whatever I want if I wanted to

I also tend to eat stuff that is good for me, my favourite cuisine is Japanese and I don’t really like greasy, overly sugary things, but I am pretty lucky in that I don’t look at a piece of cake and gain 10 pounds.

…so to hear a self-proclaimed curvy girl tell me that there are worse things than skinny shaming, I acknowledge that.

However I have to also point out that I don’t do certain things like:

  • eat whatever I want even if I wanted to — I don’t go out to restaurants every week, let alone once a month
  • eat fast food / junk food / fatty fried things — I avoid them partly because it’s gross
  • snack in between meals — I really don’t do this but I have seen that it does cause people to gain more weight than needed
  • drink sugary drinks — this is the worst offender of them all because it’s just empty calories with no nutrition
  • drink alcohol — this is just because I don’t like the taste of it, but it is also a prime cause of that beer gut / belly
  • skip meals — when I am hungry, I eat
  • eat meals that are not filling and don’t have protein/fiber/fat — just salad leaves? no thank you

With that said, there is a difference between being healthy and curvy versus riddled-with-health-problems and obese, just as there is a difference between healthy and skinny, versus having-a-serious-eating-disorder-problem and skinny.

It’s just 2 extremes on the same coin.

TWO.

Parents and kids swapping clothes.

I loved these two outfit swaps!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/11/qo-zop_n_4762677.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/11/qo-zop_n_4762677.html

If you’re interested, check out these quick hacks to make your clothes last longer.

The only 2 I’d actually try:

  1. Getting a new leather jacket slightly wet to break it in
  2. Baby powder to remove oil stains from clothes

As for the rest, I shower at night (I hate going to work with damp hair, and I don’t own a blowdryer), don’t drink wine, avoid angora anything like the plague, and already have an actual shoe stretcher.

THREE.

More reasons why women don’t join tech firms, or self-select out of technology as a career, it has everything to do with the way the company sets the culture and tone of the way it does business.

Luckily, as a woman in STEM, I am not dealing with young guys who enjoy inside jokes and names like the “Bromance Conference room”.

FOUR.

I wonder if I’d be allergic to micro pigs if I had one as a pet. Would they have the same dander as a cat or a dog? hmmm..

Also, using those ubiquitous bidets in Europe that everyone installs but NO ONE USES, as a bathtub for these pigs is a brilliant idea.

FIVE.

Is the American Dream dead?

Another good post from Charles about growing up in America after having fled the poverty of Vietnam.

Personally, the American Dream is not dead, but not many Americans are actually bothering to take advantage of it, then on top of that, those who DO want to work hard, may not have had the opportunities to have climbed very high in life and/or are unable to apply the knowledge they’ve acquired, which is a new skill for our future generations.

It’s not enough to work hard.

SIX.

how-to-tie-a-scarf-cupofjo-blog-joannagoddard

Here are 3 ways to tie a scarf, I already knew the other two but the first one is one I am trying out ASAP for spring.

It’s easy and a nice twist on the way I normally wear it.

SEVEN.

Very cool dream home items. These are my favourite ones out of the bunch:

viralnova-cool-dream-home-items-stained-glass-door

viralnova-cool-dream-home-items-herb-garden-kitchen

My only problem with this herb garden is reaching the herbs at the top…. I wouldn’t want to have to constantly climb on a ladder or a chair to get to them.

EIGHT.

What an effective advertising campaign to get people to stop smoking. Utterly brilliant.

NINE.

I agree with everything Critical Finance says here about children and how lazy we’re letting them become.

TEN.

If I am going to spend $15,000 on a dress, it better not look as hideous as this.

I get that it’s a tradition but… seriously?

ELEVEN.

Where is the ‘straight talk’ for men who are single? Why are women the ones being targeted to hunt down husbands?

TWELVE.

I’ve always worn what I want to wear, and I dress for myself, not for anyone else.

I’ve been like this since I was a child (you should see the outfits I came up with to wear to school after raiding my mother’s closet!)

If this means NOT wearing sky scraping 4″ platform heels, squeezing into bondage dresses that won’t let me eat, so be it. I like dressing up once in a while, but not all the time.

So it’s no surprise to me that comfortable, practical dressing is on the rise in the fashion world.

I myself, am particularly enamoured with the styling of the brand Vince and rather masculine coats from Smythe. Even as I age, this is how I plan on dressing as I get older, none of these stretched out sweatpants and baggy stained t-shirts, thankyouverymuch.

THIRTEEN.

coco-rocha-supermodel

I love Coco Rocha, and not just because she’s Canadian.

That is all.

FOURTEEN.

Remember, the internet is forever.

FIFTEEN.

So true. I get some of these comments when I am at work, most notably:

  • You’re being a bit bossy.
  • Side eyes when I am dressed super stylish but appropriate for work — this is all the time, but dresses evoke a reaction
  • You probably only got this job because you’re pretty and flirted your way in
  • So how does it feel to be the only woman in your field?

GAH.

SIXTEEN.

Time to eat some humble pie when you see some of these childrens’ bedrooms.

Bilal, 6: Wadi Abu Hindi, The West Bank

http://elitedaily.com/envision/these-photos-of-children-and-their-bedrooms-around-the-world-will-make-you-appreciate-all-that-you-have/

 

Yes. That IS a kid’s bedroom..

///

26 Comments

  • Anonymous
    April 15, 2014

    Ah here it is about that Yale student who was given a hard time for being skinny. Hopefully posts right this time.

    https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/yale-university-drops-threat-to-kick-out-student-for-being-too-skinny-180302055.html

    Reply
  • Chris Grande
    April 15, 2014

    great stuff as usual…I think conversations with you would be fun and out of control!

    Reply
  • A Money Goddess
    April 13, 2014

    You ALWAYS have the most interesting links!

    Were you able to the find the original WSJ of the response (without having to pay or subscribe?). It’s hard to believe (but not really) that certain individuals still have such a non-sensible view of relationships.

    Reply
  • debt debs
    April 13, 2014

    I’m trying to have a relaxing Sunday morning so I’m not going to comment on any controversial stuff (but thank you).

    I have a fourth way to tie a scarf. It’s a variant of the one provided, but I like that one too, so I’m going to try it.

    Reply
  • MelD
    April 12, 2014

    Enjoyed these, even the OTT southern dresses – but then I always loved the Sissi movies with Romy Schneider and her empress dresses, so romantic…. 😉

    Seven: have you seen the Jaffa apartment (search on Minimalissimo…)?
    Loved that jewel-like door and the light!

    The kids bedrooms are shocking, though not unexpected – not only poverty but also different culture, however, the army kid shocked me most 😮

    Reply
  • SarahN
    April 12, 2014

    SO much great content.

    I’d love the herb wall.

    I definitely think ‘hard work’ isn’t enough in the US to have the dream. I find it hard to understand the dream in this day & age.

    The Helen Mirren dress was great, but unlike you, I also like the big bouffant debuttante numbers too. I just like a chance to go so far from today’s normal, but would I spend that much? Probably not!

    Hate the ‘find a husband’ thing. It reminds me of a lady at church saying I shouldn’t cohabitate without marriage being promised. Interesting, little does she know I have most of the assets! There’s so much wrong with her assumptions, imo.

    Reply
  • Michelle
    April 11, 2014

    # 3 drives me crazy! As a woman that spent 11 years in the Technology field and has been interviewing to get back into it, I cannot stand it when someone interviewing asks…well, you’re a woman, do you think people will take you seriously? Do you have the technical knowledge? GRRRR!! No, I just configured servers for customers, build my own computers and have a networking certification for the hell of it. Geez boys, relax a little!
    Can you tell it’s a touchy subject for me? 😉 I was really miffed at that interviewers comment thinking that because I’m a woman in tech people wouldn’t take me seriously.
    #11 was hilarious by the way…why are there so many cliches for women but guys have none? Stereotypes need to go away! I guess I’m worthless then because I have no husband…and I’m 38!!! So I must be wayyyy in trouble according to this lady. Oh my!

    Reply
    • save. spend. splurge.
      April 12, 2014

      I wish they’d take women more seriously in STEM. You can look pretty and know your stuff. It’s annoying to be undermined just because you aren’t a man.

      I just saw a commercial today for Match.com and it was ONLY women saying: I joined because I wanted to find love, bla bla bla

      I was thinking: WHERE ARE THE MEN? It’s like saying that only women want to get into a relationship so they’re hunting men on Match.com? SERIOUSLY?

      Reply
  • Anonymous
    April 11, 2014

    1. Ah I wish I had your metabolism. Did you hear about that student from Yale who is naturally skinny, has a hard time gaining weight and Yale medical officials were given her a hard time about it? They finally got off her back but I felt bad for her. Leave the girl alone, some people are that way.

    http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20804535,00.html

    Reply
    • save. spend. splurge.
      April 12, 2014

      No I haven’t heard about her but I’m going to Google and take a look.

      The only way I gain/keep weight on is to eat a cake and 2 batches of cookies a week.. give or take about a pound of butter and sugar.

      Reply
  • Charles@gettingarichlife.com
    April 11, 2014

    Thanks for the include, don’t give the potheads ideas with that herb garden. You’ll have a lot of injured people climbing that.

    Reply
  • Tania
    April 11, 2014

    All the “naturally skinny” girls I know actually eat pretty healthy and don’t inhale junk food or goodies all the time. They just don’t think about it much, have always been like that, it was how they were raised. That said, I’m 1/2 Japanese and 1/2 German/Danish and I do feel like it is easier for me to look “soft and mooshy”, especially in the booty area, and I’m more prone to cellulite than my full Japanese girlfriends. But I also have curves they covet so I say we all should just work with what god and our parents gave us.

    I love the clothing swap. I do feel fortunate that we are not expected to dress a certain way with age now, as long as we dress in a flattering way for our body. Of course too fast fashion trendy/revealing is for the young but we can rock contemporary/ethic/edgy/fashion forward at any age.

    I like the Vince styling too. I lean more minimalism tomboy/sometimes boho now, used to be very very girly until I hit 40 and then it felt a little silly to have a bustle bow on my butt and ruffles up top. But it might also be my minimalism/simple living lifestyle changes too, longing for nice clean lines. I was however disappointed with a recent Vince top that faded so quickly (black). Construction/fit was great quality but it faded as quickly as a teen fast fashion top. For that price, ugh. James Perse is one you might like too.

    Love Coco too, her instagram feed is fantastic. Ok, I’m off to check out the scarf link.

    Reply
  • Alicia @ Financial Diffraction
    April 11, 2014

    okay, I have so many comments 🙂

    1. Thank you for linking to my post.
    2. I just did my scarf the way it was in that picture. Super easy, but it forces it to lay straight down the front which I love (it minimizes any potential cleavage issues).
    3. Those pictures of family swapping clothes are great.
    4. I would totally plant the indoor wall of herbs if I had the space and the light in the kitchen. There is a living wall at work in the main lobby and it is so refreshing. Makes the air feel so much better in the building.
    5. Those comments on how you got your job are so aggravating. God forbid you might be more than their idea of a woman… you might actually know what the heck you’re talking about!

    Reply
    • save. spend. splurge.
      April 11, 2014

      And I have so many answers!

      1. You’re welcome

      2. I love learning new scarf tricks too. There’s a book out there that teaches you how to tie all these different knots but I tend to stick to 2-3 styles as my peabrain cannot hold any more information on that topic.

      3. Isn’t it!? Although thinking about if my mom had to wear my skinny jeans she’d freak…

      4. I wonder if a living wall would stink or smell too earthy after a while.. especially indoors.

      5. Tell me about it. It’s discrimination at its worst.

      Reply
  • Clarisse @ Make Money Your Way
    April 11, 2014

    I love the parents and kids swapping clothes, maybe in the future we should try to switch clothes with my daughter! I like dressing up once in a while too, sometimes I wear hair extensions and wear high heels but all the time I wear my flat shoes because I’m more comfortable on it.

    Reply

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