This past weekend was fantastic! I am finally starting to feel like myself again. We went snowboarding at Cypress, saw Alice in Wonderland, did a ton of house cleaning, and booked up all our Greenpoint campsites for the entire year early this morning at 7 AM for surfing in Tofino this summer. I think I pretty much kicked my cold too, FINALLY.

Cypress was amazing. It was turn after turn in deep powder.

It was a little foggy, so we rode trees all day. Felt so good to get back in the snow again.

In other news, the costume design by Colleen Atwood in Alice and Wonderland is absolutely incredible.

I quickly decided that I am going to be sewing a dress from the movie for Halloween this year. The question is… which one?

The dresses are rich, lavish with tons of layering and detail. This “Alice Red Court” dress is stunning.

As much as I love the Red Court dress, I think the one I absolutely have to sew is either this “Blue Scrap” dress…

… or this off the shoulder piece. I can’t decide! They are both beautiful. Can’t wait till they release proper stills for the movie.

Believe it or not, I’m actually no stranger to sewing my own dresses and clothes. It’s true, they aren’t to the level of Colleen Atwood’s designs, but they were still fun projects to work on and wear!

I sewed this layered casual shirt and bow for a New Year’s house party one year.

Here’s a silk draped dress that I made in 10th grade in high school.

Yes, there were some fashion faux-pas that I unfortunately made in university for formals. Haha. But hey, I still sewed it!

But probably the most challenging project I’ve ever done was my graduation dress for the end of high school. We had no money to buy a proper grad dress, so I scrimped and saved and put together the dress of my dreams!

It took several months to sew all the tulle layers underneath the dress and drape all the satin.

It turned out though! And it held together for the event as well, which I was crossing my fingers for.

I still have it, and I am so glad that I did.

So, I’m really looking forward to getting back into sewing and putting together an “Alice” dress for Halloween… the only question is… which one?

I’m super stoked on a couple new gadgets I’ve picked up recently, and I thought now would be a great time to do a product review with some photos!

First up, the Amazon Kindle. This device has singlehandedly rekindled (ha ha) my love of reading. Yes, I realize there is an Apple iPad coming out. I’m not concerned. The reason why I chose the Amazon Kindle is for one purpose: reading books.

The e-ink is amazing, and it is EXACTLY like reading a book. It looks exactly like ink on paper, but with a thin protective cover over it. This is why I will not be using an iPad for reading. Yes, I may use it for web surfing, but not for reading. I do not want to read on a backlit screen when I have to sit at work all day looking at a computer screen.

The device itself is gorgeous. It’s extremely light… lighter than a paperback book. Unlike a normal book where you need two hands to hold the pages open, I can read my Kindle with one hand. After reading for 8 hours straight, this is a huge benefit. I love the design of the Kindle.

The back is also really pretty, with brushed metal and a little bit of rubber for non-slip. I should note that this is the 2nd Generation Kindle, but it is not the Kindle DX. The Kindle DX is bigger and harder to hold in one hand… it’s better used for magazine/newspaper reading. Also — the Kindle is hooked up to 3G Wireless in Canada, so you can buy a book wirelessly no matter where you are. There is no data plan or package you have to buy… simply load up the Amazon store on the device and buy a book, and be reading within 30 seconds!

Since I purchased my Kindle a couple months ago, I’ve read 16 books and read over 13,000 pages (yes, the Wheel of Time series is long and took up a lot of that page count). The Kindle is also VERY thin. I bought a Flexstand Bookstand from M-Edge (pictured here) so that I can read it in bed or while eating without having to hold it up. I highly recommend this accessory.

Here’s a photo of all the accessories I have for my Kindle. I bought a pink leather sleeve for protection, a New Yorker leather cover for traveling or when out or about (it hooks into the Kindle deftly so it can’t fall out), and the Flexstand Bookstand. All from M-Edge Accessories.

Needless to say, I’m in LOVE with my Kindle. If you’re a book reader, I would say it is a MUST buy at only $250. After buying 10 books, you will have saved yourself back the cost of your device since e-books are only $5-10 compared to $10-30 for physical books. You. Will. Love. It.

Next up… my new Blackberry Bold 9700. I’ve tried so many different phones, from Nokia to different Blackberries and yes, even the iPhone. But Blackberry just does it right. Everything about a Blackberry is perfect for the type of user that I am. I am completely in love with this phone.

It’s fast, the new trackpad is great compared to the trackball, and the new OS is incredible. I love the new features. The new Blackberry Messenger is much improved, and since 60% of all my friends have Blackberries, it’s the perfect and quick way to communicate with most of my friends.

It’s really small and light. The new grippy back is a nice feature as well. I upgraded from my Curve 8900 to the 9700, and it’s not a huge difference. The 3G is a really great upgrade, and the new OS is too.

There are now tons of apps for the Blackberry, and Blackberry World is very slick. From budget software to games, I haven’t found anything lacking on the Blackberry that I’ve wished for that was on the iPhone. And the keyboard is a big plus. I can type faster than any iPhone user and much, much more accurately. Yes! I challenge you to a type-off. But seriously, I find typing on my phone an absolute pleasure. Everything I’ve ever wanted in a phone, is in my new Blackberry Bold.

So that’s it folks! My new gadgets. Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!