Five Question Friday

1. What do you listen to while driving?

Usually, my ipod loaded with all my favorite songs (that I tend to skip through to find the Adam Lambert and Justin Bieber songs; the former because, well, its ADAM-FRIGGIN-LAMBERT and the latter because I live to torment my boys, muahahah). But if the ipod is dead, I go through all my pre-programmed radio channels to find which one is playing the best song. I have to have music to listen to. If the ipod is dead and all the radio stations suck, then I am in agony. Because listening to silence or, even WORSE, kids bickering just really 'drives' me bonkers. (Get it, 'drives', because I'm in the car, huh, huh? Okay, sorry.)

2. What is your least favorite thing about Fall?
Never knowing if its going to be nice out or cold, because then my front entry is filled with a mix of warm heavy coats and light thin coats, mitts and hats, shoes, rubber boots, winter boots, dirt chunks on the floor, mud tracks, bike helmets, rollerblades, hockey sticks, skateboards....

3. What does your dream house look like, inside and out?
Oooo, love this question! I have spent many a time making fantasy lists from the Ikea catalogue of what I want in each room, what color walls I want, carpet or hardwood, themes, etc. For the outside of my dream home, I love the natural look: lots of stone or dark granite/slate, huge front and back yard with tons of trees and flower beds and a little patio with a beautiful sitting area (lots of dark bamboo patio furniture and glass/black metal tables), either dark gray or brown vinyl or wood siding, at least two stories tall, huge attached garage and front driveway, maybe a wraparound deck or at least a nice front porch with a couple of columns, lots of flower pots and hanging plants. For the inside, I'd love a huge front entry with a large spacious coat closet (I love front entries, or foyers for you snooty types, that have cute little tables with a mirror hung above, looks so classy, and of course a beautiful vase of fresh flowers on the table). Open design and vaulted ceilings so it feels light and airy. Giant kitchen with lots of cupboards, two ovens, one of those big fridges that have the freezer on the bottom, like in a pull-out drawer. A big island smack-dab in the middle of the kitchen with shelves and cupboards built in. Don't know what color/type of wood I'd want in the kitchen, but probably something darker with pewter knobs to contrast with the walls, which I would love to be a light mossy green. Lots of plants, hanging and in pots. French doors leading out onto a big deck that leads down to the backyard. You know what, I could continue on for every room in the house but then you'd be reading for hours, so let's just end the fantasy now.

4. Would you ever own a minivan?
I have, it was green and for the time that we had it, I loved it. Lots of room for the kids, had that fun sliding door, lots of room in the back. But it wasn't necessarily the safest kind of vehicle for Alberta winter driving so we switched to the Durango. And now I'm driving my Suzuki XL-7 (Suzi), its a crossover (half SUV-half van), which I absolutely love and adore; it has proven itself to be reliable on the winter roads, its great on gas, looks cute and fun and sporty, not too big like a truck or SUV, not too small like a car (though it drives like one, which I love -- sometimes the Durango felt like driving a bus).



5. Do you wash new clothes before wearing them?
I didn't use to, because I liked how the clothes looked all pressed and neat and perfect. But then my bff Christine told me that she read somewhere that the process used to treat the clothes (giving them that perfect look) uses formaldehyde, which can be absorbed by the skin. So now I'm all paranoid and have to wash them. As for 'new' (to me) clothes from Valloo Vallajhe, YES, they MUST be washed! My hands always smell like pee after shopping there from touching all the clothes as I flip through the racks and it traumatizes me! I've learned to bring wet wipes and hand sanitizer on these shopping trips, and I use them every ten minutes or so. I'm sure I look like one of those germaphobes but I literally shudder just remembering the feel and smell of my hands in that place! Ah well, how I suffer for fashion (and low prices!), haha.