Happy 2019! Out With a Bang, and Books Read in 2018

Happy New Year!

 Welcome to 2019! Here's to another year of:

• Cat pictures
• Groovy outfits
• Colour experimentation
• Rash purchases
• Fabulous finds
• Rambling text
• FUN WITH CLOTHES!

That's my blog resolution, anyway - my personal resolution has been the same every year for a few years: Meet or Beat last year's book-reading total. How did I do for 2018? We shall see...

 But primarily, this is an outfit blog, featuring pictures of Vizzini, my shopping expeditions, my travels, my friends, and anything else I feel like including.

• Dress - Tangerine Jill, consignment; last worn here in July 2018 for Pride Week
• Booties - Lena Parfait Luxury Freeze, Fluevog; first worn here in October 2018 with my PANK dress
• Coat (below) - Apparence, vintage, thrifted; last seen here in December 2018

It's basically a blog of my life, since 2008 (that seems so long ago!).

 And I thank you all so much for following, reading, commenting, lurking, and connecting with me this way.

It's been a blast so far, and I see no reason why I should stop, so another year? Bring it on!

 Speaking of blasts, I wore my firecracker dress for New Year's Eve! Let's go out with a bang! I had fully planned to wear this outfit (as seen here) for New Year's, then as I was getting dressed, I thought about how I did not want to be fussing with a long dress all night, and I said, "SCREW IT!" and changed to this comfy dress.

I'm so glad I did. I felt so much more "me" and more comfortable chilling out with my best gang of friends in this fun piece.

 I did my hair up in hot rollers for the occasion (I am klassy that way!), and I asked L to take a few shots for me.

Make sure to get in all the rings (I wore a lot of them).

 Okay, we're good, stop taking pictures!

You are still taking pictures.

 My pursed lips - that means "Danger!" My mom is laughing right now.

Just take a picture of my curly-ish hair!

 It doesn't stay this way for long, even with all the miracle products my hairdresser can push on me.

Look how nice the back looked!

 I was left with a few curls (just my usual) by the end of the night, which was at 3am, in case you were wondering.

Yvonne and Randall hosted our gang, and plied us with food for hours. I feel like a slug today.

 Elegant outerwear shot, there. You know I didn't actually look like this.

• Cashmere beret - Club Monaco, thrifted
• Fur scarf - thrifted
• Leather gloves - consignment

The stuff:

 My friends were delighted to see these shoes in person, and they all had to try them on. I practically had to pry them off of Caro's feet. Give back my shoes!

Ring bling:

All my faves, including my rarely-worn engagement ring from 1996. I bought it myself (ha) and wore it for several years, but a bit of the gold around the sapphire has pulled away, and I'm worried it will snag and fall out, so I seldom wear it.

• Cuff - JPA, vintage fair
• Earrings - vintage fair
• Silver thumb ring - thrifted
• Engagement ring - 1996, locally made
• Pearl ring - Erth, consignment
• Amethyst/gold ring - Frances Jewellers, Dad's, 1965
• Swear rings - Wendy Brandes

What I really looked like, all bundled up for our walk to Yvonne and Randall's house.  

"What about me? I feel so left out."

Aw, the Unsafe Polar Bear hugs the Velvet Man. 

Look how awesome my guy is! So serious! 

 I bought him the burgundy velvet jacket and the floral shirt for Christmas. So dapper!

With the jacket undone.

"I'm right here! My turn!"

Thank you for being my partner in everything, my dear L.

Can't forget you, buddy!

"Happy New Year to all my fans."

As noted above, I always review my books read every year. I did not meet or beat my total from last year (here), which was 36, but I was close! I read 33 books, with my last one finished on Dec 31st (I spent the whole day reading - heaven!).

Here's what I read. Most of them were my choice, but some were my Book Club books (marked "BC"). I have been writing down all the books I've read since late 2007 - the ratings below are out of 5. I'm a hard marker - not many books get a 5! I strongly recommend the 5/5 books (in red), and really enjoyed the 4/5 ones (bolded); you probably will too!

1. Men Walking on Water – Emily Schultz – 3/5 (BC)
2. The Turn – Kim Harrison – 2/5
3. The Rule of Luck – Catherine Cerveny – 2/5
4. Homesick for Another World (short stories) – Ottessa Moshfegh – 5/5
5. Light Lifting (short stories) – Alexander Macleod – 4/5 (BC)
6. The Frozen Thames – Helen Humphries – 4/5
7. The Book of Cthulhu (short story anthology) – 2/5
8. The Everything Box – Richard Kadrey – 2/5
9. Whit – Iain Banks – 3/5
10. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Land – Lisa See – 3/5 (BC)
11. Dangerous Women (short story anthology) – 3/5
12. Sleeping Beauties – Stephen King and Owen King – 3/5
13. Bait: Off-Color Stories for You to Color (short stories) – Chuck Palahniuk – 3/5
14. My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferriante – 3/5
15. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan – 3/5 (BC)
16. Complicity – Iain Banks – 3/5
17. The Fifth Heart – Dan Simmons – 3/5
18. How to Build a Girl – Caitlin Moran – 3/5 (BC)
19. Dr. No – Ian Fleming – 3/5
20. Eileen – Ottessa Moshfegh – 4/5
21. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen – Lois McMaster Bujold – 2/5
22. A Borrowed Man – Gene Wolfe – 3/5
23. Emerald City (short stories) – Jennifer Egan – 3/5
24. All the Birds In the Sky – Charlie Jane Anders – 4/5
25. American Gods – Neil Gaiman – 4/5 (BC)
26. The Fifth Season – NK Jemisin – 5/5
27. Hard Candy (short stories) – Harlan Ellison – 2/5
28. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards – 2/5 (BC)
29. The Obelisk Gate – NK Jemisin – 4/5
30. The Stone Sky – NK Jemisin – 4/5
31. Galaxy Jane – Ron Goulart – 1/5
32. Nightlife – Rob Thurman – 2/5
33. This Book is Full of Spiders – David Wong – 4/5

Any that you've read? Two of my new favourite writers - Otessa Mossfegh and NK Jemisin - are represented, and are well worth seeking out. Mossfegh has a talent for the weird and beautiful (I have one more book by her that is on the shelf to be read soon), and Jemisin is a writer in the sci-fi/futurist genre - all three of her books noted above (they are called The Broken Earth Trilogy) each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, 3 years in a row! I bought them purely on that basis (a reasonable risk), and I will be getting more by her for sure.

Other favourite writers represented here are: David Wong, Jennifer Egan, Dan Simmons, Iain Banks, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk - I have a backlog of books to read by them still. I'm also a fan of Harlan Ellison (been reading some older books/short stories), Neil Gaiman (re-read American Gods for Book Club, but I've read everything by him), Lois McMaster Bujold (I'm a fan of her Vorkosigan series, but this was a weak one), and Kim Harrison (the Rachel Morgan books; this was a story set in that world, and not as good). I tend to read my favourite authors, with some branching out. Book Club gave me 7 books this year, with mixed results, but I love that it pushes my boundaries with authors/genres that I wouldn't normally be drawn to.

I'll be back to my regular daily posting schedule again as I head back to work tomorrow (UGH), but I'll leave you with one last shot that L took. 

"Okay, stop, give me the camera!"

All the best for the New Year! Here's to 2019!