Thursday 4 July 2013

Lately

Vintage event
My boyfriend Jaime and I, courtesy of the Larkspur girls.
Irene & Irene shoes

Jaime's books
Jaime's book stand
Larkspur & Irene
The space we shared with Larkspur (they were on the left)
1940s Dress
Awesome 1940s dress which will be in the shop soon. Can you spot my tiny reflection? The day got much warmer than I expected and I dropped something on my pants, so I had to change, hence the brown 1960s dress.
1930s Night Gown
Fantastic 1930s night gown, in the shop soon too!
Irene & Irene clothing
General view of our spot.

It's been a while, both because of lack of time and lack of inspiration. I don't feel like lying on my personal blog and just say 'I've been ill' or something similarly vague; I've been dealing with anxiety issues since April to the point I'm currently seeing a therapist and taking medication. It's unfortunate things had to go this far for me to take better care of my person and my life, but I'm slowly becoming more aware of what elements cause me distress, and of what I can change to improve my life for the better. I frequently get caught up between what I want to do and what I should be doing, and often get so distressed I end up doing neither. I couldn't shake off the feeling I was supposed to update this blog, especially after the vintage sale, but for a while (and this applied to most aspects of my life), doing anything outside of the basic requirements (even doing laundry seemed like an insurmontable chore, and I have a washing machine in my kitchen!) would fill me with dread. I was constantly tired and worried, and all I could do was to watch movies in bed or go for long walks when my boyfriend would push me to. Plus, I've been living out of boxes for the past few months, I can't seem to get my glasses fitted properly (they're either too strong or too weak, and I can't wear contacts because of allergies, and cannot use allergy drops because ALL prescription allergy drops available in Canada contain the same preservative, to which I have developed an allergy!!! - Europeans have all the luck), and I'm hungry, and I'm too hot, and I'm tired, and boohoo.

However, things are getting better, and while some parts of the past few months have been awful, others have been excellent. I got to meet the awesome Joy (Of Stranger Sensibilities) for coffee while she was in town, and I got to participate to my very first vintage sale. Unfortunately, not that many people showed up, but I'm still really glad I took part in the event. I got to share a space with the wonderful girls from Larkspur Shoppe, and I couldn't have more respect for the organiser, Penny, who secured the space and contacted everyone on top of preparing the most amazing vintage pieces (just organising my stock was overwhelming!). I'll be updating the shop soon enough, especially now that my apartment is better organised and that I actually have a clear desk onto which to put my computer as well as some walking space, which is rather useful when one has to take product photos. Talking about photos, please hop over to the Larkspur blog for more of the event (I've kept things rather selfish over here out of laziness, and they have photos of all that went on, including the BBQ)!

What about you, how have you been? What have you been reading/listening to/watching/wearing?

9 comments:

  1. I'm glad things are panning out for you, anxiety is horrible :-/
    You know, i was supposed to have this year to accrue seom dream pieces for my wardrobe, but turns out i'm still me and can't bring myself to splash on clothes. Not to mention, we were supposed to live, here, in Korea, for two years, so the first year could be a bit more spending. Alas, we have decided to stay only one. This big city, consumerist lifestyle just doesn't feel comfortable with me. I have NO time to do the things I love.
    so rather than shopping I have been saving, and mulling over some general life question...how do i want to live? What lifestyle am I dreaming about if it's not this 9-5, 40 hour, living in the city, buying coffee when I'm bored one? What country might I prefer to live in? stuff like that. It's been interesting!
    Anyway, I also took a long break from the blog but have returned. From pure laziness. And that's that.

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    1. I see what you mean, and feel the same--I find it difficult to invest in material goods if I don't feel like I'm investing in the other parts of my life. Why did you decide to stay only one year? Also, I'm glad you started blogging again, and although I don't comment nearly as much as I should, I really enjoy your posts.

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    2. Well, that's actually a tricky question. I guess living here has made me realise what I want to be doing. And while in your most current post you talk about having time in our lives to do everything, I want to spend the time doing things I actually dream about! I want to visit countries I've longed to see, go camping in my own country and buy a plot of land near the beach and have all my boyfriends and cousins children come to stay with us. I don't want to travel everyday for 3 hours just to go to a job that pays kind of well but that is a little boring. I mean, the students and other teachers a great, but I can't connect with the students in a way I would like because we don't share a mother tongue.
      I'm glad to be able to have this experience, but there are so many more I want to have too! And I long for them!

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  2. I'm very sorry to hear you've been having a rough time. Gosh, I've been through it, so I really know how rough days can be. I hope with the help you are getting, things will get better for you! It was so lovely to meet you and your boyfriend, and I do hope we meet again!

    -Alex

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Alex! And I hope we'll get to meet again too!

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  3. I've also suffered with anxiety in the past few years, so I understand where you're coming from, and serious kudos to you for speaking up about it. Glad things are looking better...I've found that a good combination of medication, distraction and taking care of yourself/examining old habits does wonders :)

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    1. Thank you for your kind words and advice Rachel. I'm working really hard on the distraction/habits side of things at the moment, and it's been making things much easier. I'm glad to hear you've been able to make things better for yourself, hearing other people's ways of dealing with anxiety is really, for lack of a better word, inspiring to me.

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  4. Oh Camille, so sorry to hear this. It never even crossed my mind, so hopefully my little check in about your vintage sale wasn't pressure! But I've got to say, that seeking the help and actually getting meds is so admirable. I had major anxiety and I'm scared its now depression, and what I thought would be an simple enough task of just ringing up a doctor/counselor, has turned into a step requiring more courage than I ever thought. I wish I had your bravery, but I'm still in denial phase. Hope all goes well and you can come back to your blog! xx
    PS- did you see my post on it? had some great links to other inspiring bloggers ;) http://becominglola.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-is-de-rigueur-when-you-arent.html

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    1. Oh no, it wasn't pressure at all! Your checking on things made me so happy, and it gave me a bit of a boost to write down the things I had been thinking about, so thank you!
      I was really lucky with the doctor/counselor situation as everything is provided through my university, but even though it might be difficult and terrifying at first, I think taking the plunge pays off so much it's worth it. I didn't comment at the time because I wasn't too sure of what I was going through or what was going on with me, but reading your post, and the two posts you linked to actually gave me the feeling I wasn't alone, and that whatever was wrong with me could be dealt with. So thank you so much for your honest post, I'm incredibly grateful for it and the effect it had on me. I do hope you'll get better, and get yourself to a health professional as soon as possible--no problem is too small or too big or too terrifying to be taken care of :)

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Dear reader, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I do my best to respond to all comments in a timely manner, and although I sometimes may be slow, you can be sure they will all be answered by the time a new post has been published.