For Our Information

Always gotta keep busy or the voices start telling me to do wild things

It's been almost two months since I've written a post here. My past few days have been spent considering how on earth I can get Happy Cup Day running again after all this time. The weeks before that, however, were spent running around like a headless chicken.

Here are the major events that have sculpted the last eight weeks:

PROM

END OF STAY IN BAIE COMEAU

END OF YEAR IN QUEBEC

START OF LIFE

"SURPRISE" PARTY

HOLIDAY TO DEVON

So this morning I scribbled down a post to let you know I'm still here. I've been getting such positive HCD feedback recently, and it only seemed right that I should let you know that I've not gone anywhere.

On top of that, HCD is going to be overhauled (a bit). Since I started Happy Cup Day, my lifestyle dynamic has changed. So over the next month or so, the dynamic here at HCD will be changing too, and what I'd like most is feedback!

Therefore, if there's anything you liked about HCD, or didn't like, or would like to see in the future, please let me know. You can reach me at happycupday@gmail.com and constructive (and even non-constructive) criticism is occasionally always gratefully received.

Finally I'd just like to say a massive THANK YOU to all the anonymous Spoons (you know who you are) who, for some reason or other, couldn't work the google account and sign up publicly for Happy Cup Day. I'm so thrilled that you've been following anyway, and I apologise for seemingly neglecting you in the past.

There you have it....Emily Jane is back.

Babelcute: Paintbox

The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?

You never realised primary school art class would come in handy? Search deep into the caverns of your memory and try to bring back your Colour Wheel knowledge. Because what better way is there to compliment the impending Summer than with a palette of bright colours?! (Also works to brighten up a cloudy sky...)

This look is firstly about simple, block colours - think primary, secondary and tertiary at a push. Secondly, look to chose colours from across the wheel. We know neighbours typically look good together, now go for a bit of contrast. Be warned - red and green will always be Christmas, so consider fuscia pinks instead. Thirdly, don't over do it. Two colours are sufficient (three maaaaax).

How I do it: Nothing like a bit of sun, sea and sand.

Dress: 725 Walmart

Belt: Matalan

Headband: gift!

Bright idea: Tie in your make-up with your outfit. Go for eyes or lips, and match away. Make sure the colour is identical - turquoise eyes and royal blue dresses don't cut the mustard. This is strictly for the brave at heart.

A better way of doing it:

A look that works just as well from the runway as in real life...and about time too!

Wedding season anyone? We weren't even thinking about breaking the only-the-bride-wears-white rule.

I love LOVE the rule obliterating red and pink combo shoes. If you're going to go for it, make sure it's obvious you know that your pinks and reds aren't the same colour, rather than looking like you've made some sort of classic error...

Black and feature colour? That's where I start sulking because you've missed the point. Remember the paintboxes with little squares of bright colours? Remember what happened when you mixed black with another colour? It went all murky and mucky. Black doesn't belong here. If you're seriously craving, make black your accessory colour and go for a super bright as your base (beware of Halloween pairings...).

The proof: I originally wrote this article by hand in the local cafe whilst wearing the blue and yellow outift featured above. A lady came in and sat at the table next to me.

¨You look like something out of a film.¨

¨Excuse me?¨

¨Taking tea, writing, all beautiful.¨

¨Haha, thank you.¨

¨Yes. I love what you are wearing. Very bright. Yes, beautiful, beautiful. You know who has the best style? How old are you?¨

¨I'm eighteen.¨

¨Exactly. The young women of today, that's who has the best style. If I was young, you're how I would look, how I would dress.¨

Of course, if you want to go all out, there's only one way to do it...

Bright colours = happy mood.

Don't argue with maths.

Or art.

Or me.

Babelcute: Kimono

Akinasu wa yome ni kuwasuna

I am what is known as a Changed Lady. Since January I've been going through a development

that started with Lolita, briefly near Hime Gyaru, through Dolly Kei, onto Mori, and then spread out into God Knows What. I love so many different fashions from Japan, but I'm also branching into more high fashion, and I'm becoming interested in Paris fashions right now...(but that's not the point).

For those who are not particularly interested in fashion any further East than New York, any mention of 'Japanese fashion' often conjures up a mental image of a Geisha, which is not quite what we're about.

But maybe we should be taking the hint...

Kimonos graced the pages of the W*C summer catalogue (thanks to Moments Like Diamonds for the information, check out the post here), and have similarly been on the radar of high fashion...

Alexander McQueen: Royal Kimono from the fall 2010 collection

Again from McQueen, a new approach on the traditional Geisha shoe (ok, so it's not a Kimono, but they're freaking awesome)

Wafrica: Japan + Africa = Ultimate multiculturalism (yay!)

Curly Collection: Pop art colours make for an adorable Kimono look

How to get your fix...

subtly: The Furies - Black Cropped Kimono Shirt

unashamedly: Bodyline - Yukata L053

Want to know what the quote for this post means?

Don't let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants....

Fashion Show

Bravery never goes out of fashion.

Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th of May saw the students of the Polyvalente des Baies, sec 5, parading around, doing ridiculous poses and generally having a hilarious night. Yes, we had a fashion show, and a jolly good one at that. I modeled for two shops, 33/45 and a local costumière.

Of course, all us models were upstaged by Québec's answer to the Backstreet Boys.

33/45 kit with HCD's ninja resident

Carmen Miranda meets Captain Hook from Lili LaBelle, with HCD's Alexe
(Kindly photobombed by Catherine)

Which Backstreet Boy is gay...?

Babelcute: Nom Nom Nom Necklaces

Everything is a miracle. It is a miracle that one does not dissolve in one's bath like a lump of sugar.

Every seven year old girl throughout the nineties knew that the very height of practical fashion lay with the Candy Necklace. Both adorable and delicious (it goes with everything daaahling) no party dress was complete without one. However, the nineties passed us, as have the noughties, and with that elapse of time we’ve come to notice some flaws. For example, we now know that we cannot resist from have a nibble within the first ten minutes of donning the necklace. Of course, it looks odd when your accessories are half eaten, so you absolutely have to finish. So what are you left with? Mangled elastic jewelery, a train of sticky spit on your dress (dry clean only? Don't even think about it) and a rather serious sugar high. How bubble bursting.

Luckily, us grown up ladies (for that is what we are now) have been provided with another option.

Betsey Johnson: You cannot go wrong here. Sweet or savory, necklace or bracelet, I assure you you'll find something to love. My personal favourites are the Swiss cheese necklace and picnic charm bracelet.

Aldo: A healthy option!

Forever 21: Strawberries, apples and pears...oh my!

Fredflare: This adorable ring is genuinely finger lickin' good.

And finally from Fredflare, my absolute favourite of the bunch!

Is it weird that my lunch choice for the day was inspired by earrings?...I think not.

Thirteenth Fan!

Whereupon, at the tender age of thirteen, I set upon the path of playing nothing but hookers.

It's so good to see a new face on the block...well. Not quite a face. A shoe. And an entirely adorable shoe at that.

So a warm Happy Cup Day welcome to the fairly anonymous L-Ro!

If anyone (I'm mainly talking to L-Ro now..) can give me any more information, I'd be grateful (:

Babelcute: Sick Chic

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.

And you thought your cold had gone with the winter?

The sniffles are back with a vengeance. The constant flicking between wet-an'-windy Spring, and almost Summer sunny days means most of us have caught a cold (me included...sniff, cough, curl up and die). Of course, only the most fashionable of the elite can pull of this trend with panache.

So here's how to work Sick Chic.

Please note: if you aren't fashion forward enough to have caught a cold, drinking too much tequila or eating questionable shellfish will also do the trick.

How I do It:

A better way of doing it:

Work your inner Marilyn, and look gorgeous without your make up.

Make like a catwalk queen and venture out in public in your fabulous pyjamas (Ashish AW10)

Time for a cat nap! (Find it here)

You need sleep! I don't think you'd need telling twice with these adorable Tokidoki pillow cases...

If all else fails and you're still feeling miserable, deny all knowledge of attempting to be chic, assume the foetal position under the covers and hibernate until you feel better.

1000 Views

Yay :D

Emily Jane, right now

We hope the "real" person behind the words will be revealed as ignominiously as a shapeless snail without its shapely shell.

It is 12:39 AM.
I am in the basement, using the newly fixed computer. It has an overly massive screen for some reason. And blogspot doesn't work the same way, which means I spent half an hour after finishing my last post just trying to organise the photos, then I gave up.
I am catching up on HCD between looking at election results and feeling nervous.
My hair is freshly dyed, but I'm letting it air dry so I'm not sure what colour it is. More orange than red by the looks of things.
I am drinking caffeinated green tea with mint and resisting the temptation to go make strawberry jelly.
My brain is fuzzy from a seriously long day of end of year French writing exams, election results and jogging.
I spent many dollars today on lovely smelling products, including a moisturiser that makes me smell like a giant, walking, talking (blogging!) blob of marzipan.
The heating is off. My hands are cold.

Only 130 seats left to go...

New York "Coordinates"

Sometimes the more you think about an outfit, the worse it gets

Coordinates goes in inverted commas because, frankly, I didn't put thhaaat much thought into what I was wearing...practicality rules! I didn't specifically take any photos of my outfits, so some of these are a bit dodgy (:

So for the 16 hour journey I went for 'very comfortable yet bright'. I picked up the nickname of 'Miss Coloré' (Miss Colourful).
I Love NY: Times Square (2XXL, shoulders cut)
Leggings: Topshop
Jacket: Eclipse
Slippers (out of shot): Prossy

Change of clothes in a bathroom somewhere near the border...clearly my nickname stuck (:
Dress: Topshop
Cardie: Primark with Beatrix Potter buttons
Trainers: Babycham from Schuh
Head bow: Gift (:
Bag: Thrifted
Bottle carrier: India
Glasses: Specsavers

So this may not be the best photo of my outfit, but Ginger Spice just got replaced, and this was one of the highlights of my LIFE.
Dress: Stitches
Socks: Dollarama
Shoes (out of shot): Batman Converse from Office
Head band: Ardene
Union Jack Scarf (attached to bag, hiding behind Pret a Manger doggy bag): River Island




My last day coordinate was something I bought in New York, which will be featured in an upcoming post :D



For coming home (another 16 hours on a bus) I went for 'I was just in New York, incase you didn't know...and I'm tired'.

Hoodie: Steps, Pier 17, NY
Nightie: Wal Mart
PJ bottoms: Primark

Birthday Highlights

I am a very lucky person.

I am also a very grateful person.

Be warned; this is a bit long...

My 18th birthday was excellent fun. I popped hydrogen balloons, ate pie and had Happy Birthday sung to me at least ten times...in English as well as French.

I'd love to take the time here to write about each present I received, say my thanks yous, give my comments, but I'll save that for my thank you notes (they are coming, just give me time!). I don't ever really make a birthday list. I just drop hints as to things I'd like. So imagine my delight when my friends and family keep hold of these clues, sometimes for months, and then choose a gift according to this sliver of information. The time, effort and soul that goes into everything makes my presents absolutely priceless. From training shoes and sleep masks, through spending money and rainbow scarves, to interesting books and mouth painted cards, they're all appreciated, they're all kind, and they're all perfect.

I will, however, ­­'brush' over the Red Cross Birthday Box I received from my immediate family. I sat on my bed saturday afternoon with my presents laid out before me, labelled 1-18 (I didn't get the significance of that straight away - bravo Emily Jane). Each tag had a personal comment or clue. I was in aawwweee.

I will never be able to thank my family (including Zoe, of course) enough for these gifts. My mother being the catalyst behind the operation deserves a lot of praise. I'm sitting trying to find the words to express my gratitude, but minutes pass without my pen hitting paper; I am physically not able to give voice to how opening them made me feel. Delighted. Inspired. Emotional! The only feedback that I've given to my mum so far was over the phone, and she was in a rush.

'It was like a Happy Cup Day orgasm.'

You see, mummy Emily Jane appears to have absorbed Happy Cup Day by some sort of freaky cyber osmosis.

Does it help that she's the editor? No doubt.

Broken Computer

Love is a medicine for the sickness of the world; a prescription often given, too rarely taken.

Our home computer has been hit by a massively massive virus, and I am forebidden from touching, looking or even thinking about going within a 10 metre radius. We are anxiously awaiting the return of my host brother from university so that he can fix it. Luckily, this will be next week. Due to this, clearly I'm not going to be posting very much, not that I've been posting all that regularly anyway.

Happy Cup Day the blog was started during a time in which I didn't always have a lot to do. It was an excellent outlet, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing regularly. Things started to pick up here, and some of my priorities had to take a back bench. Originally I just started going to bed at 3AM, but for those of you that have experienced 'Emily Jane When Tired', you'll know it's not pleasant. So HCD has been neglected of late, which makes me sad. However, it would be foolish to spend time writing in English, when I have the opportunity to socialise in French (that being The Idea of the trip).

On that note, I can make no promises as to a full recovery of HCD as of May, but what I do promise is to try. I'm posting this now after having braved horrific winds and walked to the library, and I'm planning to do the same again over the weekend. I have some articles in mind including:

• New York Haul
• Babelcute: tourist
• Birthday Highlights
• Lazy Girl's Guide to a LoliShag (haircut!..what you do in your spare time in none of my business...)

Yes, you did read 'Birthday Highlights' correctly. Tomorrow, I turn 18. Right now, I am on the very brink of womanhood.

To be honest, I think I felt more like an adult when I was fourteen...

Back from New York

I am so tired I think my eyes are going to fall out.

More importantly, my trip to NY was perfect. I spent way too long on buses, I didn't have as many showers as I'd have liked to, and I ate like a pig. My photos are a mix-matched collection...sometimes blurry, oddly angled, pouty, posey....I love them.

It was my second time in New York. First time round, it was hot. And smelly. I liked New York, but I couldn't exactly see what the major major fuss was about.

I must have had my eyes closed.

This time round, I fell in love. The diversity, the noise, the personalities. It could be so easy to feel lonely in such a big city, but the feeling of community is so strong, and I felt right at home. Just taking a slow walk around Times Square I was thinking 'This is it, ma fille.'

New York; you're mine...

Stupidly Short

I have minus amounts of time so this is short.

Goodbye!

In one hours time I shall be on my way to New York...17 hour bus drive, here I come.

See you Sunday!

I'm nearly there New York...are you ready?

Hair Cut

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair...

As you may have noticed in the past couple of posts, my hair colour has changed...again. I used Fuxia - Vitality's Art Absolute Pure. You buy the colourant and the peroxide seperately and mix it up yourself. I ignored this, just bought the colourant, deposited it on my head and waited forty minutes. Where my hair has been previously coloured, it's taken rather nicely, but I am still left with a cm of Emily Jane au naturel.

Then today I got a hair cut. The ends of my hair were deady dead dead, so I decided to be severe

and have everything that wasn't perfect cut off. I returned from the hairdressers (half blow dry, then long walk in the wind) looking like this:

which is frankly, a less-than-inspiring hair cut. I got that 'oooooh God, what have I done' feeling in my belly.

However, I am not one to give up without a fight, so 15 minutes and some hair spray later, it looked like this:

What is the moral of the story?

Hair cuts don't have to be scary, and long live hair spray.

Leaving Meal Outfit

Vanity is my favourite sin.

I have a collection of photos taken over the past week or so of various outfits...are a run down of some of my outfits something we're interested in? Leave a comment or get in touch at happycupday@gmail.com and let me know. Of course you could just pull me over in the street. Whatever tickles your pickle.

Dress: Yumi

Headband: Ardene

Tights: New Look

Shoes: Carvella

And this is the make-up I teamed with it.

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most."

I must be on the right track then...

Tarot and goodbyes

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

I've never been a spiritual or superstitious person. When I was seven I broke a mirror, and the ensuing years leading up to my fourteenth birthday were certainly not marred by bad luck. I do have a soft spot for fate however, and the idea of serendipity. This is backed fiercely by my romanticism, rather than anything faith driven. Tarot, I find rather fascinating. Not that I believe necessarily that there is something bigger than us at work when we draw cards, but our reactions to the ensuing results are a fascinating way of realising what we actually want the cards to say. Therefore, we ourselves answer our original question. So when Bridget asked if I wanted her to pull my cards, naturally I jumped at the chance.

Bridge says:

for "the best action to take" you got the knight of swords, who represents obstacles that must be overcome if progress is to take place

it also sometimes represents a man bursting into your life

watch out for that

lol

Emily Jane says:

bursting is always appreciated

* * * *

Sunday night was the goodbye meal for another exchange student, who hails from Alberta. Alexandria has been excellent to have around for the past three months. We've engaged in everything from castle building and biscuits, through whale orientated political parties, to Calamari and piggy banks. Accompanied always (seriously, without fail) by talk of beautiful men. The only person to truly understand an exchange student is another one, so thank you, Alex, for letting me rant, and for yourself ranting in return.

There's no-one here but Alex

I hope you never forget what you have learnt here, and that one day, perhaps, you'll be able to smile without looking stoned.

(I'm working on that too..)