Polish & Sparkle: The Year In Review

With 2013's arrival, here's a look back at the best of Polish & Sparkle in 2012:

Body Image

♥ 5 Reasons to be Body Positive
♥ You ARE Beautiful NOW
♥ Body-Shaming Hurts Skinny Girls Too
  
Fashion & Beauty

♥ Comfy, Cozy, Stylish Sweaters
♥ Go For "Baroque"
♥ Matryoshkas galore!
♥ Winter Nail Polish Picks
♥ Like many fashionistas, I looooved colourblocking!
♥ Poodle Skirts & Ponytails -- my 50s-inspired What I Wore post
♥ How To Wear Neon
♥ Simple & Chic in Atlanta
      
Travel

♥ I went to Buffalo, NY-- 3 times!
♥ Niagara Falls (ON): 1 Day, On Foot
♥ NYC's Museum of Sex
♥ Snapshots from my trip to New York City & Washington, DC.
♥ I went to Florida-- one of my favourite places.
♥ Toronto's One of a Kind Christmas Show
   
Finance & Career

♥ How To Get Great Job References
♥ The Smart Broke Girl's Guide To Money
♥ 7 Indispensable iPhone Apps for Bloggers & Creative Business Owners

Mental Health

♥ What To Do When You Can't Sleep
♥ 10 Little Things To Do For Yourself
♥ DIY manicures changed my life!
♥ What is Trichotillomania?
  
Me

♥ I celebrated my birthday in style.
♥ I had a major existential breakthrough
♥ I wrote an open letter to 15 year-old me.

Other Stuff

♥ I explored Health At Every Size & shared why you should, too.
♥ I discovered 11 of the best things about being single.
♥ I interviewed Emilie Autumn.

And I was published at other sites, including Examiner, Kind Over Matter and Florida Homeschooling.

Here's hoping 2013 is even better than 2012!

Link Love 31.12.2012

Enjoy this end-of-the-year bumper edition of Link Love!

Firstly, some New Year's themed links: party ideas, a checklist for your New Year's party clutch (this article is a blast from my past-- I wrote it in 2010!), The Year in Sex, 5 Fashion and Beauty Resolutions, 50 things to rid your life of in 2013, and biz ideas for the new year.

Big failure, big success. 12 people to keep you going.

Tess Munster made a two-part collage of her favourite photoshoots she took part in this year: 1 & 2.

Listening to Ziggy Stardust and sipping Bowie- inspired cocktails sounds pretty glam.

As a queer person who's recently started listening to hip-hop, this makes me happy. Related: Autostraddle lists the top 10 queer female television characters of 2012.

Social Media-inspired crafts you can own?! Yes!! I want them all! I don't even care if that makes me a nerd :) 

Parrots universally hate techno. Hilarious!

Apparently Les Mis is not a musical, it's an 'Oprah'.

I often feel like this. Don't you?

Cake batter milkshakes!

I love funny signs! "I clean my house fortnightly. I'm happy" is my favourite.

Have you seen the latest movie poster for Catching Fire? It's gorgeous! Speaking of which, "eat your way through The Hunger Games"! Yum.

Jezebel rounds up the best nail art of 2012.

Let's end on an inspiring note: this is a great quote!

Happy New Year!

Image: Tess Munster

Halloween 2012: What are you doing tonight?

Me, last year around Halloween

Today doesn't feel like Halloween.

As a kid, I remember decorating my aunt's house with orange and black crepe paper streamers and putting final touches on my costume.

As a teenager, I helped my friend Carmen plan a party with horror movies and plastic bugs and pizzas.

Last year, a few days before the 31st, I went to Disney's Fort Wilderness with my then boyfriend to check out its festive spirit. The day of Halloween, he and his family dumped me, so it was just me, the cat, satellite tv and a bag of Doritos.

Even that felt more Halloween than today.

This year, the weather is dreary (though we in Toronto are better off than America's east coast). I'm too old to go trick-or-treating. I wasn't invited to any parties. I didn't plan my own because I'm broke
and feel borderline anti-social.

My day has picked up since this morning, when I lazed in bed feeling sorry for myself (blech). I went for a walk (forget the rain!), got a hot cup of coffee and bought some 25% off fun size Snickers bars.

My mom and I had tomato soup, cheddar cheese and bagels for dinner and are sitting with the cat listening to Johnny Cash in our fuzzy pyjamas.

This Halloween may not be what Halloween is 'supposed to be', but it's far from gloomy.

What are you doing tonight?

100 Things to do in 2012

I love lists. I love goals. And I love Goddess Leonie's Goddess Guidebook, which totally advocates both of these things. Leonie shared her 100 Things To Do In 2012 list & that inspired me to do the same.

Some of these things are frivolous and fun, while others are more goal-oriented or related to self-improvement or career. All of them are important to me. Let's go!

1. Find the best lip stain for me & wear it beautifully
2. Figure out what 'my drink' is
3. Go for a long hike in High Park
4. Moisturize more often
5. Find the perfect pushup bra
6. Visit a few of my favourite cities
7. Go to the ocean!!!! I haven't been in years and I crave it like nothing else
8. Get over my ex completely
9. Spend more time and energy on loving myself
10. Kiss a girl
11. Kiss a boy
12. Publish an article on Selective Mutism in a magazine or newspaper
13. Have a fantastically indulgent "staycation" with my Maman
14. Get my eyebrows done professionally
15. And a manicure
16. Interview Emilie Autumn when she comes to Canada this year (!!!) 
Read the article here!
17. Meditate more
18. Bake muffins
19. Bring sandwiches to the homeless gentlemen near my favourite library
20. Go to a musical (preferably on Broadway!)
21. Go to a concert (Emilie Autumn). Maybe another?!
22. Dance in moonlight, say spells & be more spiritual overall
23. Get my ears repierced
24. Start a savings account
25. Apply to a college or university program. Probably Journalism.
26. Learn basic typography
27. And html
28. And graphic design
29. Write a short story
30. Try yoga
31. Visit another country
32. Take the train
33. Paint something beautiful
34. Work on my passive streams of income
35. Become more fluent in French
36. Start learning Finnish (again!)
37. Declutter my bedroom
38. Invest in a DSLR
39. And a better tripod
40. Set up my etsy store
41. Write an article on Trichotillomania
42. Perfect the art of the casserole!
43. Send a PostSecret
44. Tell a stranger she's beautiful
45. Go swimming
46. Finish an entire tube of lip balm
47. Go to an opera
48. Share a popsicle (the kind that break in half!) with a friend when it's really hot out
49. Leave a huge tip
50. Visit the Niagara Hershey's Factory
51. Have a slumber party with my best friends
52. Visit Stacy in Ottawa
53. Visit Kayla in CT
54. Ride a ferris wheel
55. Ride a carousel
56. Spend a day at the ROM
57. Spend a day at the library
58. Spend a day writing at Second Cup
59. Buy some fabulous high heels
60. Try quilling
61. Make a cross-stitch sampler
62. Acquire a classic circle skirt to wear with my crinoline
63. Treat a friend to cupcakes at Sweet Escape or Dufflet's
64. Treat myself to dinner in Little Italy
65. Give something fabulous away on RebeccaEsther.com... for free :)
66. Join LinkedIn Rebecca Esther on LinkedIn.
67. Join Flickr
68. Condition my hair more frequently
69. Practice making prints (block prints, letterpress, etc)
70. Print out a bunch of my photos and fill a photo album
71. Improve my photography skills
72. Work on Living Creatively (a new project that's in progress!)
73. Support more independent artists, more often
74. Memorize a beautiful poem
75. Volunteer at a burlesque show (I haven't in ages and I miss that!)
76. Flirt with someone cute :)
77. Get business cards printed
78. Take part in an LGBT/Pride event
79. Do something political, like volunteer for the NDP
80. Eat some chocolate-dipped cookies from Steeles Bakery
81. Not ready to talk about this one, but it has to do with my friend Veronica.
82. Celebrate Shabbat
83. Be my own valentine
84. Celebrate Easter
85. Celebrate Samhain
86. Celebrate Christmas
87. Get all dolled up and go to a bar (solo!)
88. Ace my Human Sexuality course
89. Visit the Smithsonian museums
90. Buy a corset
91. Do something wild & fabulous with my hair
92. Make sea salt or sugar scrub
93. Go sledding
94. Write a guest post for someone's blog
95. Be hired to help a business with copy writing or editing
96. Read a really great memoir
97. Make handmade sachets
98. Buy a huge tote bag or carry-on luggage (for day trips)
99. Find amazing Canadian companies with whom to work
100. Make someone smile every single day

The ones I've done are struck out. .

What's on your 2012 To Do list?

Image Source.

2011: A Year In Review

I know a lot of bloggers are already done their year-end retrospectives, but I've been pondering mine for ages. In fact, I thought I'd forgo it all together. But I don't feel right not tying all the loose ends from last year into a neat, pretty bow to help me move forward. Maybe you'll also get something out of this exercise-- and I'd love to hear about the ups and downs of your year, too.

2011's most memorable happenings:

I fell in love with a boy... who later broke my heart. So I wrote about it. How Taylor Swift of me!

I travelled across the continent all by myself-- twice.

I visited New York City, Washington DC, Richmond & Alexandria (VA), Orlando, Kissimmee & Loxahatchee (FL) and lots more American cities I'd never been to before.

My writing was featured in Love Twenty Magazine, Datingish and others, plus I wrote for EdenFantasys, The Selectively Silent Child & other companies.

2012 is off to a good start.