My Broken Heart is Worth More than $30

Some of you might recognize the image above. The necklace. THE necklace. The necklace my ex-boyfriend gave me for Christmas for our first and only Christmas together. I was over the moon when he gave it to me - mainly because no one, especially a boy, had ever given me a piece of "real" jewellery before. I wondered why he spent so much. Why me? Why now? He must really love me.

When he broke my heart 5 months later I gathered all memories of him - framed photos and such - and threw them in a bag and shoved it to the back of my closet. This necklace was among those items. I spent months crying, and a year feeling numb because of this stupid boy. The bag remained in my closet.

Recently, my mom and I were sorting through some old jewellery - some broken or missing stones, and some that we just didn't like anymore. It just made sense to de-clutter our lives and sell it. Once I had a small pile set aside it dawned on me that this was an opportunity - an opportunity to rid myself of the necklace that caused my heart to ache whenever I thought about it. It was so pretty and sparkly - but it had no real meaning to me, not anymore. I couldn't wear a necklace - especially a heart shaped one - that no longer represented the love between two people. That meaning was dead and buried at the back of my closet. I dug it out and put it in the pile.

Today, I went with my mom to a store recommended to us to sell the gold and silver. Earlier this week I'd decided that I'd donate half the amount I got for the necklace to a local women's charity - aimed at helping abused women and children. I made this declaration on Facebook with pride that I was going to overcome the ghosts of my past relationship by ridding myself of the physical object, then in turn using a portion of the money I got for it to help women in need. This plan was brilliant - the perfect way to part with this bad memory.

When I got to the store, I set out all the items on the counter. The women separated everything into piles - 14k gold, 10k gold, and stirling silver. She then took it to the back to weigh. She came back with the total price of $457. I then asked her how much I was getting just for the diamond necklace and she checked again - $30. Seriously - only $30. Turns out this place is only interested in silver and gold and couldn't give two shits about diamonds. They just melt it down for the gold. I decided to pass on selling that piece and took the $427. As much as I wanted to just leave it behind, I couldn't part with it for so little. I'm going to attempt to sell it myself as a whole necklace for more. 

I will keep my promise and donate half of what I get for it to charity - I just want to give them more than $15,

Hello Goodbye

Hellos

• I did my 2nd consecutive Oasis Zoo Run at the Toronto Zoo. I did the 5k and finished in 32 minutes and change, which is great for me, since I'm still coming off injury.

• I got to see the two pandas that came to the zoo in the Spring. One was sleeping and the other was just being fed. He (I think it was the male) was so cute munching away on bamboo. Totally worth standing in the rain for.

• I got to see the polar bears active. Whenever I've gone in the hot summer, they're usually lounging around in their caves. It was nice to see them up and moving.

• I have a new baby cousin - born in England. I probably won't get to meet him till he's nearly one, but I'll see photos on Facebook I'm sure.

Goodbyes

• We got to see the elephants for the last time, as they will be relocating to California just after Thanksgiving (Canadian thanksgiving...in a few weeks).

• Summer is officially over, but I'm loving it. Goodbye summer! I love living in a place where I get to experience the seasons. I could never live somewhere without a proper autumn! I'm (hopefully) going to my cottage up north for Thanksgiving (again, in a few weeks) and can't wait to see the changing leaves reflecting in the lake. I can't wait to canoe, and drink tea on the deck and just look out at the water.

iTunes Playlist Tuesday #219

I ran the 2013 Oasis Zoo Run this past Saturday, so this is my zoo themed playlist! Enjoy!

1. Lions of the Kalahari by Sam Roberts

2. Honeybear by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

3. Animal by R.E.M.

4. Wolves by Whale Tooth

5. Howl by Florence + The Machine

6. Slow Cheetah by Red Hot Chili Peppers

7. Elephants by Them Crooked Vultures

8. The Snake and The Crown by Raine Maida

9. Fish by Holly McNarland

10. Sealion by Feist

iTunes Playlist Tuesday #218

This playlist can be paired with my last post about bridesmaids dress shopping + car trouble. An odd theme, yes - but I'm running low on ideas.

1. Wedding Dress by Wil

2. Open Window (The Wedding Song) by Sarah Harmer

3. No You Girls by Franz Ferdinand

4. Sister by Holly McNarland

5. Highway Slipper Jam by Broken Social Scene

6. Long Road to Ruin by Foo Fighters

7. Always Crashing in the Same Car by David Bowie

8. Money Tree by Walk Off the Earth

9. We're Going to Be Friends by The White Stripes

10. How Late, How Long by The Sheep Dogs

Bridesmaids 2: Electric Boogalo

Look at me, I'm actually wearing makeup!

I just realized that my last three (maybe more) posts have been playlists! This means I haven't written anything "real" in quite some time.

There isn't too much going on in my life right now, aside from a few road races and work stuff. Basically the next 9-10 months (no, I'm not pregnant!) will consist of random posts about being a bridesmaid. The first major task was semi-completed yesterday, when all the girls met up at the out-of-town bridal shop to get measured and try on the sample dress.

I'm not going to lie, when my future sister-in-law sent a picture of the dress I hated it - like really hated it. It looked seafoam green and strapless. My nightmare was being the stereotypical "fat" bridesmaid - looking like a beached mermaid in my dusty aqua gown. This turned out to be only half true.

Better than one of these, from the "Breaking Dawn" collection.
No joke - there are actually Twilight brand dresses!

The seven of us (that's six bridesmaids and the bride) arrived at the store and waited for the attendant to pull the dresses for us - or should I say dress (singular). As it turned out the story only had one dress to try on - and none in any other colour - just one. To break it down, the wedding party consists of a very tall and thin maid of honour, a pregnant sister who won't be pregnant by the wedding, a tallish very thin girl, an average sized girl with a larger chest, another average sized girl with a smaller chest, and me - a bigger, curvier girl. To be honest the dress only really fit one girl well - while it practically fell off some of the girls, and was too big in some areas on others - it wouldn't even do up for me. This was my fear. No one wants to be the only girl in a group of girls who can't get into the dress. To make matters worse for my body image, when I was measured they told me I would order one of two sizes - one that might be slightly tight in some areas and one that would be maybe slightly big. I selected the smaller of the two - mainly because the larger size would actually cost more! Yes, I was one size away from the point of having to pay more for the damn dress! How humiliating.

Oh well, once that was over - I made myself feel better by ordering a very unhealthy brunch. Yep, I ordered  hazelnut and amoretto french toast - but hey, it came with some fruit on the side. I know, not really helping my whole weight issue. I truly am my own worst enemy.

So after we all parted ways, I got into the car with my ride - one of the other girls lives in the same city as me. We had gotten to know each other on the ride up and we're pretty comfortable with each other - which was very good for what was going to happen next.

It was about an hour from the store to home, which wasn't too bad. We were just getting off one smaller highway to connect with another - seriously less than 10 minutes from home - when we heard a rumbling. The driver was like, "What's that noise? What's that smell? Where is that smoke coming from?" We suddenly realized that it was us - something was wrong with her car. She moved over lanes and pulled over onto the soft shoulder. Cars were flying past us, shaking the car - narrowly missing the driver's side mirror. I carefully got out on my side and inspected the car - it was the tire. The whole  back passenger side tire was shredded and practically off. It smelled of burning rubber and there were remnants of black rubber trailing behind.

Um, hi - where is the tire?

Lucky for her, I had CAA - a roadside assistance membership - so we could get a free tow. The woman on the phone said they'd dispatch someone soon and we'd get an automated call giving us the driver's ETA. We waited...and waited and there was no call. Finally a tow truck pulled up behind us, so we lowered the window.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

"Um, are you CAA?"

"No, but I can get you out of here in five minutes for $50."

"Well, no, we called CAA - they'll tow us for free."

He seemed a bit sketchy so we weren't really sorry to see him go. But the five minute rescue did seem tempting. An hour after pulling over we saw flashing lights - it was the police. The officer told us to pop the truck, he'd put the spare on.

"This is a really dangerous spot here girls, I'm gonna get you out of here."

Even though our tow truck was on the way, the cop insisted that he at least get the process started so we could get off the highway as soon as possible. This is where it got slightly comical. You see, the owner of the car teaches a sports program for kids. Because of this she had a lot of equipment in her trunk. Hula hoops, plastic hockey sticks, balls, plastic golf clubs and stuff like that. The officer proceeded to pull these things out and set them on the gravel behind. We were laughing so hard at the prospect of people driving by and seeing a pile of hula hoops on the side of the road while a police officer rifles through the trunk.

Finally he got the donut on, and we were able to drive to a mechanic. I got a ride home and the nightmere was over.

Here, I thought the most stressful part of my day would have been the whole dress thing. That's life for ya!

iTunes Playlist Tuesday #217

I'm housesitting by the lake for two weeks - so really it's like I'm pretending I have a better life than I do for two weeks. It's a three story townhouse with a beautiful rooftop patio with a view of Lake Ontario. The weather has been great, so still nice enough to spend some quality time outdoors staring out at the water. Also, yesterday morning I witnessed the most intensely beautiful sunrise I've ever seen!

Enjoy my "view" songs.

1. The View by Modest Mouse

2. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing by Jack Johnson

3. Fire in the Sky by Jukebox the Ghost

4. The Pretender

5. Orange Sky by Alexi Murdoch

6. Circle of the Sun by Serena Ryder

7. Morning Song by The Lumineers

8. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? by She & Him

9. Sweet Lazy by Holly McNarland

10. Cicadas and Gulls by Feist

iTunes Playlist Tuesday #216

I (finally) got Can't Hardly Wait on DVD - one of my favourite 90s Hight School Rom-Coms, so this playlist is devoted to the soundtracks from it and movies like it.

1. High by Feeder (Can't Hardly Wait)

2. Stay by Lisa Loeb (Reality Bites)

3. Sugar High by Coyote Shivers (Empire Records)

4. I Want You to Want Me by Letter's to Cleo (cover) (10 Things I Hate About You)

5. The Rockafeller Skank by Fat Boy Slim (She's All That)

6. Alright by Supergrass (Clueless)

7. You Can Do It by Ice Cube (Save the Last Dance)

8. My Hero by Foo Fighters (Varsity Blues)

9. (I Just) Died in Your Arms by Cutting Crew (Never Been Kissed)

10. Tricky by Run-DMC (Can't Hardly Wait)