Aritzia Clothing Fail and Why I Hate Clothes Shopping

by Debbie Ridpath Ohi on March 10, 2010

Ok, so this is one of the reasons I hate clothes shopping. I don’t buy new clothes often, but yesterday I decided I needed a non-black sweater that I could wear at writers’ conventions and other casual business environments. I say non-black because black matches with everything, which means I don’t have to get as many outfits. At least that’s my justification but in reality it’s because I missed an important class in Girl School and never learned to enjoy clothes shopping the way many other women do.

Yesterday, I decided to make use of a shopping card that Jeff got as a Christmas gift from his workplace, but kindly gave to me. Anyway, another reason I hate clothes shopping is because so many women’s clothes seem overpriced to me. However, I’m aware that fashionistas could say the same about the price of books or original art. In the end, the stores charge what people are willing to pay, else they’d go out of business.

Anyway, after much agonizing at Aritzia in Toronto’s Eaton Centre, I finally decided on a cotton-cashmere sweater and wore it to the Max Raabe concert at the Royal Conservatory last night. When I went to put it away, however, I was surprised to see a big swath of ugly pilling in the lower back. It looked as if I had worn the sweater for years and sat on sandpaper every day. Ugh.

And this brings me to another aspect of clothes shopping I hate — buyer regret. Now I have to go back downtown just to return the sweater. I called Aritzia to explain what had happened, and asked if I could return the sweater. The woman on the phone was immediately guarded, saying there was no guarantee, but that I could try bringing the sweater in for her manager to examine. Sigh. This means at least 2 hours out of my work day but I don’t see a way around it.

I hate HATE wasted time.

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Max Raabe & Palast Orchestra at Toronto’s new Koerner Hall

by Debbie Ridpath Ohi on March 10, 2010

Jeff, Walter, Ray and I enjoyed the Canadian debut of Max Raabe and Palast Orchestra at a sold-out show last night. It’s been ages since I attended the Royal Conservatory of Music, and it was exciting to see the new Koerner Hall. Gorgeous venue! [click to continue…]

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Wonderfully nerdy song for online gamers & their partners

March 6, 2010

Thanks to Nataline Viray-Fung and Daniel Karp for pointing me to this video of Australian group Tripod performing “Gonna Make You Happy.” Heh. If you’re an online gamer or are in a relationship with a gamer, you’ll appreciate this song. :-D

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Zombie

March 1, 2010

Have spent most of the past few days in bed. Still not 100% but have work to do. If I’m behind in your e-mail, please have patience with me…thanks!

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I’ve never been a beach person

February 20, 2010

I so identify with a blog post by Marco Lament (Tumblr and Instapaper developer), who writes about how some people love being completely offline and unreachable, taking a vacation from their computers and cell reception.
To most people, the computer is an annoying tool that they reluctantly use because their job requires it, and mobile phones [...]

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Happy Valentine’s, all!

February 14, 2010

Jeff and I are both catching up with e-mail and unpacking after a fun weekend with my sister and her family. My personal highlight: walking across the frozen lake to the cottage. Here’s a photo of the frosty outhouse. And yes, even that was part of the highlight…always makes me appreciate indoor plumbing. :-)
Hope you [...]

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Debbie’s Filk FAQ: overview, plus topics/questions welcome!

February 14, 2010

Some of you may already know that I’ve been a member of the filk community for…oh, let me think…for about 25 years. I created my Filk FAQ (answers to frequently asked questions about filk) in hopes of helping filk newcomers as well as providing an information guide for those unfamiliar with the term.
I called Debbie’s [...]

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Musicreader for iPad

February 11, 2010

After I posted about the iPad, someone from Musicreader added a comment letting me know that Musicreader is developing an iPad version.
In their poll, they ask if users think the iPad screen size is going to be large enough for reading music. I told them that it would be difficult to tell until I actually [...]

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This is for you, Cousin Joey

February 11, 2010

From Memory Box

As I’ve mentioned before, I used to keep “memory boxes” — a shoebox containing memorabilia from a particular year. Fun at first but impractical as I got older. I finally decided to go through all of my memory boxes, do a lot of purging (what on earth is this thing and why [...]

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Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem

February 10, 2010

My sister’s newest book, Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem, is now in bookstores. And woohoo, she dedicated this one to ME!

If you’re confused about the squirrel reference, feel free to do a search for the word “squirrel” in this blog. :-)
Sorry for the weird lighting in the photos above. I was scrambling to [...]

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