Breaking the Financial Fast

Last month, during my casual, end-of-month assessment of my formerly getting-to-be-concerning financial habits, I noted that after three solid months of abstaining from any purchases that don’t qualify as the necessities of this (good and kind of spoiled) life, I was actually starting to have difficulties parting with my hard-earned funds.  As in I really didn’t want to, even for the necessities.  Becoming unnecessarily tightfisted, I was!

And so for April, my birthday month, I vowed to loosen the purse strings a little, not just in the procurement of some fun birthday gifts, but also to remind myself that so long as you keep a critical eye trained to your spending habits (like Mad Eye Moody’s, only it susses out boneheaded money mistakes) you can occasionally treat yourself, even while pursuing other financial goals.

Of course, this almost zen-like approach to finances has been made all the easier this month by a major influx of parentally-provided birthday funds – hard to be bitchy about the things I’d like to buy when I’ve been given the means to do just that.  And do that I most certainly have, nabbing a pile of new clothes from a favourite online retailer during a well-timed sale, as well as some nice new nail polish and two streamed seasons of a favourite show (Misfits seasons 1 and 2, and I’m actually kind of miffed about it because in the version I purchased, at least half of the original songs have been swapped out for what I’m assuming are less copyright-protected tunes.  Misfits is a show with a very strong, very specific (mostly electronic and Brit Pop) musical presence, and these amendments change the entire tone of the program.  In hindsight, that’s money I very much wish I had not parted with.)

This month I continued making good progress towards melting down my scented wax stash, although there were some top-up additions courtesy of a lovely gift from my blogging buddy Jay of The Scented Library.  It was in this scrumptious-smelling and completely unexpected package that I found April’s pick for favourite melted wax, an entire freaking loaf of one of Vintage Chic Scents’ marshmallowy Jackie O-based blends!  VCS, an insanely popular indie vendor, has some of the hardest wax to get your hands on.  They also don’t ship to Canada.  As such, I have always been quite lacking in the VCS department – but not any more!  My house is gonna smell like cake for days.  Plus it’s just so stinkin’ pretty with those delicate little rose inlays that shatter apart when you slice into it.  Thanks again and again, Jay – you’s good people. 🙂

Misfits

My husband was recently on a rather extended business trip, and faced with long nights with naught by Neflix and unlimited bandwidth to keep me entertained, I started watching just whatever struck my fancy (Monte Carlo? Soul Surfer?), including a few programs I’ve been recommended and just never got around to watching.

There entered Misfits, and there went any semblance of productivity I hoped to accomplish over the next week and a half. Life seriously ground to a bit of a halt while I devoured the first six-episode series and desperately tried to stay away from the second so my husband and I could watch it together. Premiering in 2009 and spanning five seasons, Misfits, for the unenlightened – it shouldn’t need saying, but you really ought to get enlightened – is a British show about five screw-up young offenders who, on their first day of community service, are caught out in an electrical storm and struck by lightning, after which they discover they’ve developed super powers. Wackiness ensues (as does charm and that delightful sense of British humour, to say nothing of heartbreak and loss and some genuinely touching pathos.) It’s fast paced and crass (owing in large part to one character, Nathan Young, the walking, never-stops-talking embodiment of the young male id) and so funny, there are scenes that have put me into actual stitches, doubled over on my couch from lack of oxygen. But it’s also sad and contemplative and DARK – questionable morals are what the Misfits are all about. The soundtrack also kicks eight kinds of electronic and Brit Pop ass.

I admittedly haven’t watched much of the third season, choosing instead to compulsively watch the first two series for reasons I shall keep to myself in the interest of not spoiling the story for you – did I mention that you should be watching this show? 😉 – but the first two seasons simply crackle with energy and chemistry, and it’s such a delight to watch. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

And so with Misfits dominating my life for the past two weeks, I thought I should give it the nail art treatment. Here I tried out Chalkboard Nails‘ smoke effect manicure, in which you paint a lightning design over top of a dark polish, immediately blotting it out with a flat-sided nail art brush dipped in acetone. I then painted on a few fine strands of super power-inducing chain “laaaightnin'”, as the character of Kelly would say, and gave my thumb the logo treatment. An ever so slight mis-fit for my Misfits.