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  1. Life Lately

    Sunday, April 27, 2014

    Oh goodness, what a hiatus I’ve been on. This blog has been embarrassingly neglected! Yikes. So I thought I would fill you guys in on what has kept me so busy lately. 

    The Alberta Legislature

    My new job
    First and foremost, I have really thrown myself into my new job as Communications Assistant for Alberta’s NDP Opposition Caucus, which I started in late February. I am part of a three-person comms team, and work with seven other awesome staffers to support four incredible MLAs stand up for what’s really important to Albertans.  In my day-to-day work, I do a lot of social media and website work, as well as coordinate some marketing efforts - so I’m very behind the scenes.

    I can’t and won’t promise this blog won’t get political from time to time, as politics is now my life. Will you see a lot more orange in my outfit posts? You betcha. Will I start writing long blog posts about pension legislation and curriculum rewrites? Unlikely, as I get enough of that at work. But I will never apologize for talking politics. I know a lot of other fashion blogs that even get the teensy bit political always seem to have some sort of disclaimer at the beginning apologizing in advance for getting a little deep on a fashion blog, which I think is ridiculous. As long as you’re expressing your opinion in a respectful way, I think there is a place for politics and fashion (I love to talk about why I love the 40s because it’s not just the styles but also the deeper socio-economic meaning behind the clothing... but that’s another story for another day).


    So that’s one big reason I haven’t been posting. I love my job, I can get very fired up at work and I am always happy to be there, which means I inadvertently am staying later than I did at my last job. When I first started with the NDP I was so hungry for real work that I was honestly starving all the time and just exhausted, and would fall asleep as soon as I got home. It didn’t help that the proverbial shit hit the fan in the Legislature right after I started (culminating in the Premier resigning). I honestly haven’t sewed, knit or done anything else blog worthy since we went to the Neon Sign Museum (which was the weekend before I started my new job).

    Now that I’ve been at the NDP for 2 months, and with session ending in a few weeks, I’ve fallen into a better routine and am trying to get the rest of my life in order. I went to the pool for the first time in two months on Friday. Ugh, remind me to never do that again! What a waste of $80 to have a gym membership and not go. Not to mention the pain my butt was in after. I’ve also been able to get back into baking, cooking, knitting and sewing.  And, of course, with my new job comes a little bit more money, so I’m able to buy a few more clothes - expect some outfit posts soon.

    Other things I’ve been busy attending to?

    Wedding planning
    Oh yes, that old hat. There are only 195 days (!!) until I am Mrs. Kucerak, and Ian and I have been chugging along quite well in checking things off the to-do list. Despite the fact that we’re not getting married until November, it seems like there are only 4 months until the wedding, since July and August are notoriously fast, people will be on holidays so it will be hard to coordinate things, et cetera.

    Luckily there really isn’t too much “big stuff” to do: the invites are ready to go to the printer, I had my second wedding dress appointment (I’m getting my dress custom-made, and plan on blogging about the experience), the hall, DJs, commissioner have been booked since last summer, and we have an amazing wedding photographer. I expect September and October will pick up again, when we start ordering flowers and cake, making seating charts and finalizing details, but it will be nice to have most things in place over the summer.

    What’s next?
    Well, firstly I have had a post that I’ve been meaning to write since DECEMBER, and am still as excited about it as I was then. How sad is that? I feel terribly, but I really, really hope I will have time to do it soon. It’s one of those things that I’ve been avoiding because I didn’t have the time to do it justice.... but now it’s just time to buckle down and DO IT, for crying out loud.


    Following that post, I will shortly be finishing up a new blouse. All I need to do is attach the second sleeve, hem the blouse and make a fabric loop; it should only take me a few hours (it’s a puffed sleeve blouse, otherwise it would be done already) but sewing is one of those things where I can’t dedicate a few hours to get lost in it, I just can’t do it. I *want* to sew, but can never find the time. Sigh.

    Other than that, who knows! Ian and I are heading to Toronto in 3 weeks (I will get that blouse done for our trip if it kills me!) so there will hopefully be something vintagey to come out of it. We’re going to meet a bunch of his family, hopefully go to the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge and hit up Niagara for a pre-wedding honeymoon.

    Ta-ta for now! Hopefully I will have some more interesting things to post in the weeks to come.