Super Flea: Faster than the silver bullet PT.1

My first encounter with boarder cross snowboarding was when I was living in Whistler. One day, while taking a cruise through the park, I made a detour to a small trail opening. As I rode down the narrow path, I was then taken over roller after roller, followed by a beautifully transitioned table top. It was fast, and I loved it. It made me want to do it again and again.

The following year I saw a poster for a competition on Blackcomb. I was working for Whistler Blackcomb at the time and thought, hey, I'm on these mountains more than the average person, so why not? So, I registered to compete. I think I had been riding about 17 years at the time. 17 years of snowboarding is quite a lot (mind you, it wasn't year after year, as I stopped for a few years, as my youth got the better of me). After a certain amount of time, well, you can only progress so much, or go pro. And I wasn't about to go and pursue the latter.

As I arrived for inspection and the first qualifying round, I couldn't help but size up my competition. Which girls would I be competing against, and who should I look out for? I noticed one girl right away. She was hard to miss as she had football gear on under her suit. I decided that her name was "The Tank". As we each got called to do the first round, I quickly got butterflies in my stomach. Well, here goes nothing, I thought. And that was it, the gates went down and away we went, one girl flew by me so quickly I couldn't believe it. I was so taken by how fast she was going that I ended up riding right off the course, falling 10 ft down.

I wasn't off to a good start.

Once I finally got to the end of the run, I encountered the fast girl. She was a small girl wearing all black with silver goggles on. I decided I'd call her "The Bullet". The Bullet was laughing at me as I got to the end, asking if I was OK. And the only thing I could do was laugh at myself. I mean, how can I take myself so seriously? I then told her I was impressed with how fast she was. She told me she had been to many competitions in Japan.

Great. Good for her. I'm screwed.

Well, that didn't stop me from dusting my sorry shoulders off and going back up to the top for round two. Even though I felt quite disconcerted, I still made my best efforts to show my pearly whites. And off I went. First roller, second roller, third roller, BAM, I make it around the sharp corner, and all of a sudden the silver bullet eats shit right beside me! I quickly moved out of the way as she fell hard to the ground. THIS IS IT, I thought, I HAVE A CHANCE!!! Boy was I happy. As I looked behind I saw The Tank, but she was far enough away not to concern me.Here it was, my chance to make it to the final round. GREAT.

This was it. My last run. The Bullet was officially out. I can't say I wasn't sad she got hurt. I mean, come on, the bitch was laughing at me falling off the course. Even though I grinned and bared it - she still laughed. So here I am, neck to neck, with The Tank, some other girl and myself. I didn't see the other girl compete, because she was in different heats. But, as soon as we were off, I saw her, alright. I saw her back the entire time. That fucking girl was fast. I tried my best to catch up, but it wasn't happening. I managed to stay about 2 seconds behind her. In competition terms, that's an eternity. She whizzed by the finish line, as I followed behind.

And so, that was it - I came out 2nd.

Who would have thought? Certainly not me! I felt proud, relieved and spent. That experience was a fucking blast. And I wanted to do it again.

2012 Fashion Fleasolution's

Welcome to 2012. A New Year, filled with new possibilities. I'm sure everyone took at least one small moment to look back at their year, and maybe even thought about what they'd want to do for the next. Looking back at my year, I'm pretty happy. But, we are our own worst critic, aren't we? Regardless, I'm satisfied with my accomplishments. From educational, to professional, to personal, I'd say I covered a lot of ground in the categories that are important to me. What does that leave me with? The not-so important things, like, fashion. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love a good outfit, or bad outfit, at that, but when it boils down to it, fashion is simply a materialistic addition to the world. It's pure fun. Nothing more. Nothing less. It adds colour to our lives, gives us confidence and helps us in expressing ourselves.

So, I've gone ahead and made some Fashion Fleasolutions for 2012. Here are my top 5.

1.) Be less boring and more daring.

2.) Wear more colours.

3.) Purchase more second hand clothing.

4.) Save major seasonal shopping for Florida Outlets.

5.) Host a clothing exchange event. 

Les Faux Pas – The remaining batch from 2011

The last few months have proven to be busy times. As I'm sure it has for everyone else. But, I couldn't start off a new post for 2012 without sharing my remaining 2011 snapshots. It will almost be a year that I've been writing here. It's interesting to look back and see the evolution. A good friend of mine recently bought me a book to write in, and on the cover it says "We write to taste life twice".  I can easily say that this is the main reason why I write in the first place. Not only because I enjoy the process, and find it fun and relaxing, but more so because I can look back and have somewhat of a tangible memory. Kinda neat, eh? Ok. Enough with the sentimental bullshit. Let's look at some of the remaining beauties of 2011.

It seems as though there was a pattern of hair victims. But are they really victims? For their sake, I hope they are. If not, well, 

god bless them, and their hair follicles. 

I see this woman everywhere. And she makes me smile. Some days she actually puts herself together quite well. Her look fascinates me. I would love the opportunity to interview her about her thoughts on style, her favourite colours and patterns. Maybe one day I'll ask her. 

This picture doesn't do justice for the size of this women's hair. It was bigger than three of my heads put together. How she washes and drys it is beyond me. I sympathize with those who have a lot of hair. In her case I'd probably go see a hair stylist who was able to thin her hair out using those special scissors. I find many people with hair like this are frightened of trying different things. They stick with the same stylist they've had for years who give them the same cut time after time. I think this hair has the potential to be rather beautiful. 

Here we have a fuzzy troll doll. Poor her. Fuzzy hair is never good. Especially when it's thin and fluffy. It's not like she can put product in it to solve the problem. Hair like that'd be tough to manage. Thumbs up to her for supporting its unfortunate state by rocking a grunge look.

Hot pink jeans, muffin top pudge, adorned with a white sweater wrapped around the shoulders à la golf style. Sexxxxy lady. Ungh. She puts a new meaning to the term "age appropriate".

And my favourite. Not only is she representing the vagina coat club, but she's also wearing STUDDED leggings. What a masterpiece! And it's at McDonald's (yes, I was there, I'll have you know that I ate my apple pie with a knife and fork). These leggings are what did it for me. They are a complete disaster. There is nothing stylish about them. Not only do you look ridiculous in your vagina coat, but you're also winning the prize by sporting such a hideous piece of material. Bravo, girl! Thank you for providing entertainment to my eyes.

That's it, that's all. Not sure what the next year is going to bring about with this here, fashion flea, but, I can already tell you I enjoy doing it more and more every time. I wholeheartedly wish everyone an even better year than the last. lots of love and sloppy wet kisses xx ff

The Fleece Family Christmas Tradition

For the past, I don't know how many years, our family has followed a tradition at Christmas. A ritual, if you will. This ritual takes place at my father's house on Christmas eve. The usual suspects are there, my dad, step mother, sister Lauren, brothers Thomas and Matthew - and his wife Emily (who is also my sister! and pregnant with a little baby on the way).

Christmas eve day, we arrive in good time (before dark) - and there's music playing, drinks to be had, animals to be played with and some last minute gifts to be wrapped. A fire is usually on and there's an unspoken excitement floating around in the air. The Christmas tree is always quite the sight, with a plethora of gifts spilling out from underneath it.

Each and every year, we have a fondue. We've never had a turkey, roast or any other traditional style meal. For as long as I can remember, it's all about fondue. And each year, my step mother steps it up with her cooking skills. The past few years she's added Guinness beer to the cheese fondue (you can now wipe the drool from your mouth). Yes, that's right. We start off with a cheese fondue. With steamed veggies and an abundance of fresh bread. 

Next up, we have a meat fondue with chicken breast and steak. There's plenty of delicious sauces for dipping and the table is usually a huge mess at this point. But, we're laughing, having fun - and more importantly, enjoying each others company. Lastly, we finish off with a chocolate fondue, with fruits and marshmallows. It's nothing short of sheer decadence. 

And finally, the finale. Every year we get to open one gift on Christmas eve. And every year it's the same gift: Pajamas. This is probably my most favourite part. We each tear open our new pajamas, in anticipation of the new threads we'll be wearing for the next year. And within minutes of opening our gifts, we all run to change into our new found sleep wear. As the night comes to a close, we usually prepare hot chocolate with Bailey's and cozy up by the fireside while watching a Christmas classic. It's simply heart-warming, isn't it?

Pajamas are my absolute favourite. I'm not sure how many I've gone through in the past 10 years, but I can say that it's been about 20 pairs. Fleece, cotton, silk, synthetic, you name it. Leopard, pink, polka dot - it's all there for the taking. My current favourites are an X-Large pair of leopard fleece my mom bought for me. Soooo sweet. Here are my top 5 for this year:

The red plaid classic. These will never go out of pajama style.

One piece. Cute and comfy. 

Sexy and sweet. The boys will love this set.

Pink satin. Smooth and sultry. For special occasions.

Lastly, leopard. I couldn't post my favourite pj's without'em.

Merry Christmas to all! 

Love, fashionflea xx

Annnnd it's a Green Light for Intercourse

Birth control is never a subject that gets talked about enough. I mean, between ladies, sure, we talk about it - but solutions, tips and tricks, well, they don't really exist for the most part. You either take the pill, use condoms, practice the "rhythm" method or you simply play Russian roulette. That or you have an IUD. We are all very much aware of what our options are.

I have always struggled with birth control and my options. I hate taking the pill. I don't like to have to take a pill that I don't really know how it effects me. Not to mention having to take it every day, at the same goddamn hour. Remember when the pill patch came out? WOAH breakthrough. Ya, for all of a few months. I mean, come on, a patch? Ugh. So not sexy.

And so, due to our limited sexy options, millions of women opt for the birth control pill. This scares me. There is just something not right about it. The amount of estrogen that goes into these little tablets. It can't be good for your body. Day in, day out, millions of women across the world are peeing estrogen into our toilets. Isn't that slightly disturbing? To me it is.

What I find really interesting is what the pill has done for women in the work force:

"Claudia Goldin, among others, argue that this new contraceptive technology was a key player in forming women's modern economic role, in that it prolonged the age at which women first married allowing them to invest in education and other forms of human capital as well as generally become more career-oriented. Soon after the birth control pill was legalized, there was a sharp increase in college attendance and graduation rates for women. From an economic point of view, the birth control pill reduced the cost of staying in school. The ability to control fertility without sacrificing sexual relationships allowed women to make long term educational and career plans." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_oral_contraceptive_pill

I know this is no new news, as the pill was released in the late 60's and has been going strong since then. However, I was recently sent an article that made me think there could be a change. A very ingenious change, at that. I now introduce you to Lady-Comp: The fertility monitor. This incredible little gadget is able to detect when you are fertile. The only thing you do is press a button once a day, which takes your temperature orally. It takes merely seconds. Red light means you're fertile, yellow means you're probably fertile, and finally it's a green light for intercourse. Amazing! With a bit of a hefty price of $500, it's not the cheapest of options. But when you think of your body, what you put into it and what that's worth, this is

priceless.

www.lady-comp.com

The Movember Movement Part 2: The 'Staches

What a successful Movember month this has been. I have never in my life seen so many moustaches in my life. And just like that, poof, they're gone. There was all but one man in the office left with a 'stache. The rest were proudly wearing their hair free face today. I feel liberated for them too. We can all move on. This past Movember was definitely at it's most successful this year. But, it's December now, so we can all move on without the awkwardness.

Before we do that, let's have a quick look at a few I spotted:

Man on subway. I missed my stop trying to snap this one.

The nice guys at the bar. They were just nice guys.

The dude. 'nuff said.

The Bro. Yo.

My bro. Literally, yo.

The well-kept, tidy moustache. I'd say this is my preference. It doesn't look as ill-placed as the others. I must say, this young man wears his 'stache very well. Kudos, buddy.

And finally, a special shout-out goes to Blair De Verteuil, a colleague of my best friends husband. He raised over $17,000 for prostate cancer. His original goal was $10,000. 

Impressive.

Blair De Verteuil's Mospace

Vagina coat, oh vagina coat, won't you please go away

This right here is a requisition to stop the vagina coats from spreading. It might just be too late, but something has to be said. Vagina coat, you say? Yes, it's called the Vagina coat. Its furry collar that's purposefully wrapped to mimic a woman's labia. And, of course the head looks like its being birthed outside of this god-awful collar. It is a disaster. Not to mention, what the hell kind of warmth is that going to provide to your face? Stupid. Awful trend.

Must go now. 

*Special credit goes out to my brother, Matthew (one of the funniest people I know), for suggesting to write about this*