COMMON SORT CLOTHING STORE

The first time I walked into this stacked to the brim clothing bonanza I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. So many beautiful clothes sorted by color like a skittles rainbow burst and settled onto shopping racks for me, you, and magical fairies to shop till we all drop.

This place ladies and gentleman is called: COMMON SORT

There are so many great things about this place but what makes it a Gem in a city full of fools gold is the true feeling of community and love that emanates from; the store, the clothes, and the owner Nicole Babin who is one cool chick.

Right away she greets her customers with care and spends quality time helping them to pick out something that works. Oh yes and it's so amazingly well priced that it'll knock your socks off. I always leave feeling like I was just part of a magnificent Goodfellas style heist. The stores mantra is BUY, SELL, TRADE and anything goes, (meaning not only vintage). It's about style so if she likes it great.

I decided to go in one day with a budget of $80 and have Nicole help me pick an outfit for work. I work in a corporate atmosphere but I still like adding a funky twist to my business attire. I let her go nuts and she was even so lovely as to offer to take my camera from me in the middle of a busy Saturday to help take pictures and document this fun day. Have a look:

FINAL CHOICE

Purchased:

1) Navy Blue Button up Blouse

2) Red Floral Pencil Skirt

It was way below budget so I threw in:

3) Leopard Print Skirt (that is dangling off on the side). This is not for work bur for a night on the town. A guilty pleasure.

Total spent: $58.76

Yes you see that total correctly. I took my 16 year old cousin in and her brain almost exploded in sheer joy. Did I also mention they play good music in the store. Alas a full package deal that is true. Now I highly recommend you take a stroll over to one of two locations and feast your eyes on the lovely buffet. Too bad Mandarin there is a new Sheriff in town. 

Check out the website for more details:

www.commonsort.com

SPY-TFUL ACCUSATIONS!

Hey everyone! A serious blog you say, wait don't turn away quite yet. This morning I woke up to a phone call from my brother letting me know of one of our buddies from back home (Middle East) is being detained in Syria and accused of being a spy. This my friends, is HOG-WASH. You never think these sort of things happen to people that you know and when they do it is frightening.

Mohammed Radwan is a jovial type of guy who is an activist working for humanitarian reasons. He actually makes me feel like I am a lazy person who quite frankly is too scared to open my mouth. This world is turning into a debacle and from the sidelines it's a sad view.

Such a good job has been done over the past decade to taint the word "ARAB" that when things like this happen to people you don't know there is always a hint of questioning whether or not they may be guilty. I am telling you folk in this circumstance its complete nonsense. He is a good guy. Spread the word!

http://www.tarekshalaby.com/2011/03/my-cousin-radwan-detained-in-syria/comment-page-1/#comment-30166

Shafey

HOW TO INDOOR GARDEN IN A SMOGGY CITY...

Hey there folks! One week ago something came over me and I felt like getting close to mother nature. First I entertained the thought of taking a brisk walk in High Park while hugging trees but let's face it I am a true blue city gal! Now let's be clear, I am not a Hollywood replica of Sex in the City, that is just nonsense. If you ever do run into someone pretending to be Sarah Jessica Parker's character, I highly recommend giving them a good, stern talking to. I am a a real Torontonian who:

1) Loves the comfort of my apartment until summer.
2) Loves nature when it's green.
3) Loves fresh greens.
4) Likes bargains.

Combine the four you say? That is exactly what I am doing; growing my own veggies and herbs indoors. I am here to take you along for the trip just incase you want to follow suit. I am a novice so if they don't grow I apologize in advance but who knows maybe we can together create our own little indoor gardens of Eden. LET'S GO!

INDOOR GARDENING 101- FROM A DUMMIE TO DUMMIE'S

1) Music

• Crank up your tunes while you are gardening. Seriously plants like music and quite frankly I want my plants to be "hip" so they taste good when I eat them. My playlist for that day included:
• Jill Scott: Golden
• Iron and Wine: Such Great Heights
• Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
• Eve 6: Inside Out
• Moderat: A New Error
• Ozzy Ozbourne: No More Tears

2) Where to buy the supplies and seeds for next to nothing

• Honest Ed's, Honest Ed's, Honest Ed's
• I live and die by that place. Those flashing lights are there for a reason, follow them and I swear you won't regret it. Ed really is an honest kind of guy!
• Seeds: $.15 - $1.69
• Basic plastic pot with water catcher, (I told you I am a novice. I have no clue what the heck it's called so I am coining the term "water catcher") : $1.99 + $.99
• Potting Soil: $2.99 for a medium sized bag
• TIP: For indoor gardening please make sure you get a pot with some sort of drainage at the bottom (holes) or else the water will build inside the pot and cause root rot. I only know this because when I started I didn't follow this advice and now my chili peppers are growing inside a closed off space. They will most likely battle with the pot they are growing in once fully formed; opps!

3) How to plant

• I emptied each pack of seeds into separate water glasses from my cupboard. I have a clumsy habit of breaking glasses so I am going to be honest with you all. I did use my one year old nephews sippy cup for a set of seeds. Please don't tell him I am not in the mood for a rowdy baby tantrum.
• Leave them submerged in water for 72 hours.
• Fill your pots 3/4 full of soil and place seeds. Cover the last 1/4 with soil and water.
• Use a nice bold Sharpie to label your pots.
• Water but don't drown your plants frequently for optimal growth.

That is pretty much it from my perspective. I am sure there is far more to it and avid gardeners will shake their heads at this blog, but like I said I am a city gal!

Good luck with your gardening!

Love,

Shafey

ONLY A GARBAGE PAIL KID WOULD LIKE THE MOVIE HALL PASS

What recipe sounds like a delicatessen concoction only suited for royalty? I will tell you:

1 part Owen Wilson
1 part Jason Sudeikis 
1 part Jenna Fischer
1 part Christina Applegate
1 part Stephan Merchant

Sounds delicious doesn't it? Well that is a big fat NO! I have never walked out of a movie in my life, never. Ladies and gentlemen it happened today. I went to go see the movie Hall Pass solely based on the cast list and was so disappointed with the script. Not only was the script bad, the acting was even more horrendous. It was evident that the director let the actors riff off of each other but it was as though in the editing room they took the worst of the takes and threw together a meal suited for a court jester. Scraps!

Even more shockingly a few people in the theater were laughing. I have come to the conclusion that anyone that found the movie Hall Pass funny is a Garbage Pail Kid.

Don't waste your money! Go see The Fighter, True Grit, or Black Swan for a royal dish!

Sarah Shafey

WHAT A DAY! WHAT A MORNING! (BIG FONT LOOKS LIKE I'M SHOUTING)!!!!

Top-a-the mornin' t-ya'll! <-- Part silent film part spaghetti western.

I believe there are two things today that are important! Let's get to it than shall we...

1) FIREFOX'S WELCOME PAGE

• Ohh la la! The artwork is pretty neat. It's like a touch of Atlantis meets Star-Wars The Clone Wars. Check it out!

 2) MY OUT OF CONTROL CLOSET NEEDS TO GO

First let's be clear about something, that is a picture of me in the summer. I currently look like "POWDER". Do you guys remember that movie? Anyhow, there are way too many clothes in there and it's time to get rid of some stuff.

I think I have become a dress hoarder and I know the cause; my mom. My mom has the best taste in clothes hands down she is a stylish woman and I love it; thanks Mom. The only problem is that she didn't keep any clothes from her past so when I look at her old pictures, I long for some of those clothes. 

What does this all mean? It means, according to my Freudian instincts (that's laughable that guy was a nut himself), I am trying to save up all my clothes. Why? I think I do it so if I ever have daughters I can throw a parade when they are teenagers and throw the dresses down on them from a film crane. Just like that snowflake scene in Edward Scissor-hands.

I am building an EBAY site to sell some of these things. So check back in sooner rather then later. There will be dresses, jewelery, shoes and stuff. My sister in law, who makes amazing jewelery, will also be selling some stuff on there.

I'll post the link soon!

Take Care,

Shafey

Scott Wolf-Love and V!

You think to yourself, hmmmm why the heck did I ever love Scott Wolf so much when I was 14. Forget about that guy he's gone like a bad ex-boyfriend. That fool left you when you were just leaving pre-teen nightmares and getting aboard the train of woman hood; albeit a very slow train ride. Then you rent a science fiction show called V and all those feelings of undying love and devotion come A-RUSHIIINNNGGGGG BACK! WHAAMMOOO! SCOTT WOLF!

He adorned my walls alongside Devon Sawa and Elijah Wood. My parents must have thought I was nuts for spending hours taking their pictures out of Bop and Tiger Beat Magazines and dancing the meringue with them all, my triage of love.

Ahhhhh... getting back to the show now, V is awesome and you know how I know how? It's because the first episode hooks you and that my friends is called good bad writing.

The End

Shafey

FUN DAY AND FUN BANGS.

Today was a great day.

I Met with my music collective BROAD WAY SLEEP. We have tons of exciting new things happening and quite frankly they are all super dooper people check out the website: http://broadwaysleep.com/

I don't usually do the "HYPE LIKE YOU'RE RIDING A BIKE" thing for myself but I feel this is worth it. Today CBC Radio ONE 99.1FM featured me with host Garvia Bailey of "BIG CITY SMALL WORLD". We talked Egypt and my experiences there. So good. Check out the Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bigcitysmallworld

And Lastly, look at these FUN TIME BANG'S. I feel like singing Nancy Sinatra's "THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING" and driving into the Nevada Desert.

Love,

Shafey