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Judo was cancelled yesterday, so I went shopping. I went to Sephora, and I'm glad I did, because the shade I had been thinking about buying turned out to look nothing like it had on the computer screen, and would have been a really bad match for me. Conversely, one that I hadn't been sure about looked really nice! So that one's going on the wishlist.

And while I was poking around at the drug store I found some lipstick that I think my mom will like. Her favourite shade has been discontinued and she's been looking for a duplicate for a long time; this one might be right. And even if it's not an exact match, I think it'll look nice.

Later on, I went to the high-end clothing store. They're having a sale, and I thought I might try to find something nice for work. They carry brands that I don't usually wear, so figuring out my size can be tricky. I did find something nice, though! For a really reasonable price, too - I think they're trying to clear their stuff out for the upcoming season. Anyway, it's a lightweight dress shirt in a blue-and-black pattern, and it looks really good. (Honestly, kind of too nice to wear to work... But, well. Where else am I going to wear it.)

I've been really frustrated with myself after the doctor confirmed that I'd gained weight last year. I'd been aware that it was some, but I still felt bad. Now, at the very least I'm starting to feel physically better. Reducing the sugar that I put in my coffee has helped significantly, I think. And also drinking a lot of plain tea.

Honestly, I would rather add more fitness activities, because I enjoy that. But there isn't time available to fit it in, so the change is going to have to come from somewhere else.

I wish I was filthy rich and didn't have to work so I could just have fun working out and going to fitness classes and writing and exploring creative hobbies all day long.

Not gonna lie, the above is slightly sparked by some other things. I've been reading a book about the lives of the upper class in Palm Beach. These people have money beyond most of humanity's wildest dreams, and a lot of them don't have normal jobs, if they have any kind of jobs at all, but they're so miserable! They're so focused on high-school-esque popularity contests and jockeying for meaningless social position. And they never seem happy with anything. Like, don't they have any hobbies? They have fancy boats and they play a lot of golf and tennis but they don't seem to enjoy their boats and golf and tennis games, in part because they have these things as a social status requirement and a need to Be Seen Doing Them. It just boggles the mind.

...Anyway, the point is, I don't want that. I just want to not have to worry about bills or retirement money, and I want to be able to go to a fitness class at 11 in the morning if I feel like it. But that too is a wild dream, so I guess we might as well put that aside.

I randomly remembered recently how, when I was a teenager, I used to love wearing my grandfather's haori. It was bright red and had neat designs on it and was Very Stylish.

Turns out that while vintage haori are expensive, modern ones are very affordable. I think - later, after the postal backlog gets fixed and the weather gets nicer - I might order myself one. Or two. A plain one that'll go with everything, and a red one like my grandfather's. I can think of several outfits something like that would look great with.

I suppose I could just wear my grandfather's again, but since it's vintage I would be paranoid about damaging it. And also, it has writing on the back, and I don't know what it says. Considering the context, it might be a logo of one of the clubs/organizations he worked with, but I have no idea. ...Though now that I think of it, with modern technology, I might be able to use the internet to translate it. I'll have to look into that. I'm not even sure if it's at my house or my mom's place.

- If someone tells you that a polish doesn't need a basecoat, they're BSing you. I don't know about you, but if I want something to keep looking nice (or at least acceptable) until the end of the week, basecoat/topcoat is a must.

- Sally Hansen sucks. All their polish, and even the basecoat/topcat, stains my nails a horrible shade of orange. Could just be my body chemistry interacting with it weirdly, but man, I'm never buying this stuff again. (That's what I told myself last time...)

- OPI Infinite Shine basecoat+topcoat is pretty nice, but if you try to use it with their regular formula polish, it interacts weirdly and chips like hell. I'm going to use up the one Infinite Shine formula polish that I have (+ the basecoat/topcoat), but I own too many in the regular formula to even consider making the switch.

- "Natural" polishes ain't worth the trouble if you want it to look nice for more than a day. They chip if you so much as look at them funny.

- Shellac has its place, but I personally can't stand it. Anything that takes that much effort to remove is something I don't have time for.

- If I had to pick one shade out of all of the ones I own, top of the lot, "If you could only wear this one polish and no others" - OPI Kyoto Pearl is it. Both classy and classic but never boring; goes with everything; looks great all week. Yeah.

My new bag came today. Much earlier than I expected - I thought it wouldn't come in until the end of the week.

It looks really nice! I'm very happy with it.

It's a lot more classy-looking than my current messenger bag. Wish the weather was warmer so it would be worth the trouble of dressing nicely when I go out. Ah, well... in another couple months, maybe.

Ugh, I've been so totally exhausted lately, and I don't know why. Maybe I need to go to bed earlier? Not like, super early, just like... 15 minutes earlier, maybe. I dunno, something's up.

Or maybe I'm just sick of winter. (Too bad, we still have several months to go....)

My nail polish has been chipping like hell lately. I got some new basecoat/topcoat for xmas, and I was looking forward to trying it, but it totally sucks! Which is surprising, because I usually do well with this brand. It's OPI - usually my favourite. But this isn't the regular formula; it's the Infinte Shine stuff, which is supposed to last a week. I've been using it with the regular formula nail polish, since I don't have any Infinite Shine. Hmm.

I normally get ~5 days of wear out of my regular polish, so having stuff get chippy on the second day (on more than one try) really grates my cheese.

I do have a polish order on the way to me, and along with the regular stuff I did find one IS on discount. So... we'll see. If it's a non-matching formula issue, then I'll just use that base/top with this specific one until they all run out, and that'll be that. But if it continues to perform like crap, into the bin it goes.

Shit son, I picked up some jogging pants at Superstore and... my god, these are the most comfortable things ever. I think I might need to get another pair of these.

They're ugly as sin, of course, but they're SO COMFY. (And won't slide down my ass when I'm out running. That's... a big plus.)

It's cold enough now that I can't wear my jogging shorts any more. Which are coincidentally the only clothes that I can actually run in. But NOW... I win, mission complete, HOORAY.

Though the true test will of course be when I actually go out and do it. Which isn't likely tonight because of FUCKING RAIN. GAWD. Could you just STOP.

[/checks weather forecast]

Rain tomorrow too?! Well, fuck me.

☆ The Fort Mac library and rec centre have closed until further notice because of the current COVID-19 issue. What am I going to do now, make my way through my to-read pile? Perish the thought.

We do not have any cases in the city at this time. I'm trying not to worry about things, and just maintaining an optimistic attitude while continuing to practice hygiene (apparently my base-line level of this is higher than the average person) because anxiety in this kind of situation will just make everything worse. ...It's not going quite as well as I'd like, but I am making an attempt.

☆ The Promare cosplay earrings that I ordered finally arrived. Now I can be as stylish as Lio Fotia, haha. <3 I was worried that they'd be a bit too costumey, but they aren't at all. And they're pretty sturdy, which is nice.

A little flashy for the office, but for weekend wear, they're perfect - and nobody will know that they're cosplay earrings unless they're also a fan. I feel like the world's biggest nerd, but I'm very happy. (They're by Clinkorz on Etsy if anyone is curious.)

☆ The Vienna State Opera has cancelled its performances due to current events, but it's going to make select recordings of older performances available for free on its streaming platform, on a specific schedule. I think that's neat.

Think you need an account in order to watch it; not sure - perhaps I'll look into it, because I see the schedule includes the ballet of Peer Gynt, which of course I'm very interested in.

☆ There is a "Happy & Distracting Comment Fest" going on over here, if any of you need a pleasant diversion: https://sholio.dreamwidth.org/1317420.html

Leave a fic prompt, fill someone else's, have fun. I don't have any ideas right now, but I might see if I can fill something over there. :)

☆ I hope you all will have as stress-free a weekend as possible.

☆ Spent some time after work tidying up some drawers in my room, the ones with all the fussy little cosmetics and fragrances and so on. Usually it seems such a big task, but... I did a deep clean in the summer, so it isn't half as daunting as I thought. Mostly it just needed some rearranging. Anyway, I'm happy with this. It's just - I have so many nice things, you know? But I don't use them as much as I'd like, or appreciate them half as much as I want to, because storage issues make it difficult to get at them. I think this helped, though. At least I know where everything is, now.

☆ Speaking of which - ahhh, I found my solid perfumes. Including the ones by FSW. I don't wear solids often because they are a bit more fussy to apply than liquid stuff, but they're so nice. I finally bit the bullet and opened up the refill for "Bird's Nest" that I'd been squirreling away; it was a limited, from what I remember, and it smells wonderful... it's a warm and grassy, slightly sweet and hay-like sort of scent. Lovely. I probably won't be buying from this company again, but I might have to see if I can find a duplicate of this particular scent.

☆ And THAT REMINDS ME. Goddamn, it drives me nuts how hard it is to find unscented things... I bought some wash for my makeup brushes a few weeks back, and though I've used the brand before, they seem to have reformulated everything - and that includes adding a scent so heavy that I can't stand it. Why would something like makeup brush cleaner need to have a strong scent, anyway?! Argh. I ended up switching to some fragrance-free baby shampoo, haa. I suppose I could just use normal shampoo for it, but I feel weird about using the same thing to clean my brushes as I do to clean my hair. It just seems kind of weird.

☆ While I'm on the subject of cosmetic grumping, I'll just throw it out there that it drives me nuts that it can be so hard to find things that are: 1. made in Canada, 2. possible to buy locally, 3. affordable. It's like, impossible to find something that fulfills all three of those qualifications. So annoying! xD

I have reached the "accessorize like your favourite" stage already.

WELL, OKAY....

(Nonsense, I've been wanting a broad-width ear cuff for ages, it's only - oh hell, I have no excuses.)

☆ UGH, IT'S COLD AND I'M SICK OF WADING THROUGH SNOW. I'm so looking forward to a hot shower and going to bed early tonight. ...Fucking hell, I'm getting old.

☆ My order from Sephora came in, which means not only has the thing I ordered for the office gift exchange arrived (and I can stop worrying about it), I also have some a new MUFE shadow to fill the empty single pan that's been knocking around my room. Whoo! Bright vibrant red. Well, technically it's a blush rather than eyeshadow, but it wouldn't be usable that way on me (though it'd probably look awesome on someone with a dark complexion). Can hardly wait to try it out... I'm unsure whether I prefer Urban Decay or MUFE, really; they're both so good.

☆ I've started to put up some of the giveaway posts for my Hetalia doujinshi. I'll be adding a few more batches in the next couple of days, and then do the remaining in the new year. Most of these books are lovely, but I want to reduce my collection to just my favourites... I've wanted to do this since last year, but didn't have the energy to go through and sort all of them before. I'm glad to finally get to it now, or at least get started. (Maybe I should have waited until January, but it's been on my mind.)

☆ I'm going to have Dec 14th-27th off. 8) 8) It'll be nice to relax a little! Hopefully I'll get a lot of things done. (Just watch, I'll end up wishing I was at work instead.)

☆ Book rec: The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo. This is a lavishly-illustrated volume of original fairytales. They're technically part of the Grishaverse series, but you don't need to know it in order to understand and enjoy them - I'm not familiar with the series (though I'm kind of interested in reading it now) and I found it a really enjoyable read. One of my favourites out of the books I've read this year, actually. It just kind of... sucks one in; I found it hard to put down. And there's a strong sense of place, and I really like that.