Happy New Year 2026 in Post-Its; 2025 Reading Resolution Recap

Happy New Year! 

May 2026 bring good things to you, my friends and dear readers! Thank you as always for being here with me! 

I'm a couple of days behind, due to much-needed downtime over the past week, but rest assured, you haven't missed anything! We've mostly been staying in. However! As you can see by these pictures, we got our fancy on for New Year's Eve. 

Let's take a look, shall we? 

As you knew from my Party Planning day back a couple of weeks ago (here), I wore my Post-It Notes dress. 

• Sheer ruched top - no label, thrifted; last worn here in October for a bronze brunch
• Silk/cotton Post-Its dress - Tangerine Jill, consignment; last seen here (2nd outfit) in September 2022
• Shoes - Mellow Bossa Nova embellished by me; last worn here (3rd outfit) to the Fluevog Formal Flummunity Fest in October
• Unsafe Tiger coat (below) - Marciano for Guess, consignment, Powell River; last seen here on Christmas Day

I added the long-sleeved, ruched, sheer top for warmth and just to have good coverage. 

Tights on the bottom, matching shoes and voila! I was dressed. 

Felt like some goofy posing. 

I'm holding a giant cat in each hand? Maybe! The kittens are growing fast! 

Rar! The Unsafe Tiger came out to play. 

It was a cold and crisp, but clear, night, and this was all just right for our walk to town and stagger home in the wee hours. 

Done up and with a bag full of drinks, chocolate and popcorn (my needs are simple).

Whateley is getting the hang of photobombing. 

The stuff: 

Imagine my delight when I discovered these customized-by-me shoes were the perfect match for the dress! They fluoresced under the black-light - my friends were wowed.

• Hat - gift from Tammy
• Brooch - Monet, vintage 80s, vintage fair
• Rabbit fur head-band - Danier Leather, thrifted
• Thinsulate gloves - thrifted

Minimal bling: 

Big hearts to all! 

• Silver S cuff - Mexican, consignment, Sidney
• Silver/crystal ring - Soul Flower
• Crystal earrings - vintage fair
• Lucite/silver bracelet - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
• Silver chain ring - Mexican, consignment

Bags:

I had my wallet and lipstick, etc. in my pink purse - I shoved it into the black bag on the way home. 

• Vinyl tote - Ed Hardy, vintage 00s, consignment, Powell River
• Leather purse - Michael Kors, consignment

L and I worked together to create his outfit, which is a mix of vintage, secondhand and my sneakers (yes, you do recognize them! I took the insoles out and they fit L perfectly - but they're still mine!). Converse sneakers - last seen here on US Thanksgiving.

Long shiny jacket is vintage 00s, as is the vest. The khakis are the infamous Tweed magazine pair. 

He wore a vintage shiny 1950s shirt, his step-dad's hematite bolo tie, and his own homegrown vintage 80s Grim Reaper pin. 

Ready to party down...and do some karaoke! 

Justin and Vero hosted us at Limbic (the last time we saw in the New Year was here in 2019/2020, and I didn't post any pictures of the evening), complete with a custom karaoke set up.

Randall started us off with "Chantilly Lace" by the Big Bopper (a classic!). He killed it! 

Appreciative faces! I didn't take any of these pictures, so many thanks to Cat, Yvonne and Caro for sharing theirs.

I LOATHE karaoke (as does Nick), so we are not in many of the pictures, as we were hiding from anyone who might try to push us into doing it. Nope, nope, nope. 

Chris pulled off Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" with panache! 

Yvonne is getting right into the "in my arms" lyric in her fabulous striped/pleated Calvin Klein dress that she thrifted in Sidney on our trip. Carolyn is wearing a silver dress and a vintage haori, and those are Vero's kitty ears in the foreground. 

Me, hanging out on the deck, enjoying the me-not-doing-karaoke thing. 

We used to be able to see that building with the red top from our condo, but more towers have been built in the last few years. I barely recognize downtown.

L killed a rendition of "Momma Said Knock You Out" by LL Cool J! 

That is a very complicated song! Bravo, my love! Linda, Justin (seated, manning the controls), Ali, Chris and I were cheering and singing along. 

Well done, sir! 

Life goal = achieved! 

Ronnie and Caro doing a number. 

I'm in the back chatting with Yvonne, then Jenn, Cat and Ross, Brad and Linda, Vero in front of them, and Ali on the left. 

L and Ross givin' er! 

Ross is wearing one of L's ties that I moved along - it's a Jerry Garcia design. 

Me, Linda, Caro and Ron.

I have a mouthful of peanut butter/chocolate bars (one of Chris' specialties, and freaking delicious).

L and Brad chilling out on the couch. 

Happy New Year, my dears! 

A group shot-ish. 

From left: Vero, Ron, Caro, Nick, Ross, Linda, me, Cat and Chris and Ali. This is post-midnight. 

I took this picture on our way home. 

Goodbye, 2025! 

And now, what you've all been waiting for (ha ha)....

2025 Reading Resolution Recap

As I've done for the last several years [I even copy the text over from last year's post!], I make the identical New Year's Resolution: Meet or Beat the number of books read the previous year. I've been tracking my reading for over 10 years; here's last year's New Year's Eve outfit(s) and books, if you're interested.

Last year I read 39 books and this year, it's...UGH...24. What happened? 

Here's my list - NO books got a 5/5 this year, but I've bolded my favourite books (some 4s, a 3 or two) and would recommend any of those. As I'm willing to read pretty much anything, and I pick up a lot of old vintage paperbacks when I'm out thrifting, and those can bring down my ratings. I rated only 1 book 1/5 this year, which was one of those "found" paperbacks.  Any books labeled "(BC)" are ones chosen by Book Club members.

1. Grave Peril - Jim Butcher - 2/5
2. Villager - Tom Cox - 3/5 (BC)
3. Ninth Street Women - Mary Gabriel - 4/5
4. The Measure - Nikki Erlich - 2/5 (BC)
5. Summer Knight - Jim Butcher - 2/5
6. Rules of Civility - Amor Towles - 4/5
7. Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler - 2/5 (BC)
8. Finch - Jeff Vandermeer - 3/5
9. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within - Becky Chambers - 4/5
10. Phantom - Jo Nesbo - 2/5
11. Gods of Jade and Shadow - Sylvia Moreno-Garcia - 2/5
12. All Fours - Miranda July - 4/5 (BC)
13. The Diamond Eye - Kate Quinn - 4/5
14. The Empty Family - Colm Toibin - 2/5
15. Daybreak - 2205 A.D. - Andre Norton - 2/5
16. The Traps of Time - edited by Michael Moorcock - 1/5
17. Freezing Order - Bill Browder 2/5 (BC)
18. House of Hollow - Krystal Sutherland - 3/5
19. The Chanel Sisters - Judith Little - 2/5
20. 50 Fashion Looks That Changed the 1990s - Paula Reed - 3/5
21. Happy-Go-Lucky - David Sedaris - 3/5
22. A Fatal Thin Happened On the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome - Emma Southon - 3/5
23. Blob: A Love Story - Maggie Su - 2/5 (BC)
24. The Mountain in the Sea - Ray Napier - 3/5

So...there are two big reasons why my reading was down this year. 

• One, I'm on Substack now, my first full year of writing...and READING. More of my discretional reading time during the day has been spent in reading the longform articles and essays there. I also spend more time writing, which has eaten into my regular reading time. 
• Two: Ninth Street Women! This was a gift from dear Ally of Shybiker many years ago, and was a massive (over 700 pages!) hard-cover tome of non-fiction. I started it in late January, but didn't finish it until the end of March. It could not be read in a big "go" or even several larger chunks, and I didn't put it down, determined to get through it before picking up another book. So 1/6th of my year was spent on one book. Don't get me wrong: I loved it! But it was a LOT. A heavy hard-cover book is a challenge! 

Other Notes and Observations: 

• I finished the Becky Chambers series (#9), and would recommend them. 
• I'm done with Jim Butcher's books (#1, 5). I haven't read them in order (just as I've found them when thrifting), but they are all kinda the same. 
• Mom loved the Kate Quinn book (#13) and has gone bonkers over her other titles. I love when that happens! 
• One-quarter of my books were for Book Club, so thank goodness I have that to sustain me and keep me honest and reading actual books! Villager (#2) was my pick, by an author I "discovered" through Substack. Book Club continues to bring interesting picks, and opens me up to other titles by those authors (like Becky Chambers, and Amor Towles (#6), both favourites this past year). I was already a fan of Miranda July (#12) and was excited to read All Fours, which I really loved. But it's not for everyone! 
• Disappointments: I should probably stop buying crappy old fantasy/sci-fi books. The Andre Norton (#15) and short stories edited by Moorcock (#16) were mercifully short. I'm also done with Octavia Butler (#7).
• I read 4 non-fiction books this year (#3, 17, 20 and 22), with one of those being a fashion-focused book. I really liked the one about murder in Rome (it was written in a very breezy conversational style), although I could not keep all the names straight. 
• Best books: Although I rated 5 books 4/5, when I look at them now...none of them are books I would read again, but I would absolutely recommend them.

In conclusion: Well, that's why I have a "meet or beat" goal! Better get crackin' and dig into my piles of books (which have gotten smaller, really!). Next year will be better! 

Have you read any of these? Any books rock your socks off that you'd recommend? 

Some pictures of the kittens for you. They are recovering nicely from their surgery (snip-snip), none the worse for wear. 

"I ate the lights. And a pen cap!"

Barnabas has ruined a set of fairy lights (arg). On the plus side, he does return the missing things (like the Doodle Art pen cap, the stripped light bulbs) a few days later...

Whateley has been very affectionate and now will sleep near me on the couch.

"I'm just buttering you up before I Godzilla your jewelry collection."

I am going to have to rethink my jewelry storage, as it's currently living under a cardigan to keep little paws from grabbing things.

Two little "angels"...

"I love this place!"        "We're totally worth it!"

Such adorable little scamps!