a peek inside the fishbowl

WE HAVE A WINNNNERRRRR! Was it you? Check the comments. :)

Saunders Farm, a longtime Fishbowl patron, hit a very cool milestone this past weekend. Now in its 24th year, Saunders Farm welcomes over 50,000 guests each October for its Haunting Season and Fright Fest. But that’s not the big news. The millionth visitor came through their gates on Saturday. Can you believe it? The Latour and Bimm families found out they were 1,000,000th guests to visit Haunting Season and both families received lifetime passes to Saunders Farm. (Here’s a video of the moment! So cute.)

And here’s something good to know: Saunders is open Thanksgiving weekend, Friday (6 pm – 11 pm), Saturday (10 am – 11 pm), Sunday (10 am – 5 pm), and Monday (10 am – 5 pm). You can invite grandma and grandpa and walk off all that turkey! But if you can’t make it this weekend, you should know that the Farm is also open each weekend until November 1st and weeknights for “Halloweek” (Monday – Thursday) leading up to Halloween.

Related: we have always enjoyed our daytime visits (Sunshine! Hay rides! Jumping pillows! Mazes! Happy pumpkins!) but my youngest insists she’s ready for the scary stuff. I think I’m going to have to send her with friends because honestly, I am a fraidy cat and would likely make a spectacle of myself.

Saunders is kind enough to host a giveaway for family passes here every year, and this year is no exception. Please read the details before you put your name down. Thank you!

• This giveaway is for four one-day admissions that will be given to one lucky winner. They can be used either for day or for night. In order for your entry to qualify, check out the website and leave a comment below telling me what your family would love to see or do at Saunders Farm! That’s it.
• This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
• If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• I will draw the winning name using Random.org at noon EST on October 16, 2015. I’ll contact the winners via email at that time and post the name here as well.

Good luck! And happy Thanksgiving!

I have a confusing and conflicted relationship with The Act of Shopping. I am not a clothes horse, but I do love good clothes. I don’t like cheap clothing that falls apart and I don’t like fast fashion and everything that goes along with it. I will spend money where it’s warranted, on a great pair of winter boots for example, but generally, don’t like to shop. This is why I have one pair of winter boots and wear them until they fall apart.

It is for these reasons that I sometimes like to shop at places like Value Village. It’s inexpensive, good for the environment AND my closet. Mind you, going to ValVill is work. I can only muster the energy to go a few times a year, and I make sure I’m fueled up when I go. Last time I was there was in the summer, and I had one of those ZOMG moments that everyone hopes for when they are shopping in a second hand store. I found a pair of Prada slingback pumps, that were in amazing shape, for $14.99. They were a size 9 1/2, a shade too small, but I couldn’t leave them there, because, well, PRADA.

I realized later it was dumb of me to buy them. They didn’t really fit, no matter how much I tried, and the girls weren’t interested. So they sat in my closet until yesterday, which is when I dropped them off at Dress for Success. (Watch this short video to learn a bit more about the great work they do.) I follow them on Twitter, which is how I learned they are desperately looking for XL clothing and larger size shoes.

So I buckled up and drove them over:

Dress for Success is in the basement of a building on Wellington Street. You park, walk around the building, and trip down a short set of stairs that make you wonder where the hell you are actually going to end up. I opened the door on a pile of clothes and a few people in the act of sorting. My drop off was rather unceremonious. I left the shoes there, and went home.

I got to thinking about how important this organization is to our community. They are helping women get work by a seemingly simple act: by helping them get dressed for a job interview. DFS is more than this, of course. They are cheerleaders, mentors, and coaches too, but the act of suiting someone up is huge. Putting yourself together for an interview is half the battle of job hunting. If you’re well-dressed you feel confident. If you feel confident, you’re more likely to present your best self. And when you present your best self, the work will follow.

Shoes are just as important as the suit, don’t you think? When I saw the pumps at ValVill I immediately saw them for what they were: POWER SHOES. A solid high heel makes you stand tall AND be stable at the same time. They are well-constructed, not a cheapie throwaway shoe, which means you invest and care about yourself. And the colour of them is the icing on the cake: totally unique, with a bit of playfulness that isn’t garish or tacky. Red means “I AM AWESOME AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT.”

I would love to know who ended up with these shoes, because I have a feeling they are infused with some kind of magic. I hope they bring the wearer confidence, happiness and success.

This list is for Binki, a blog reader who noticed that life got in the way and I didn’t post a weekend reading list. (Thanks Binki!) :)

What’s really going on when people give their cats and dogs strange “human” voices: http://t.co/YiSoPcTJir pic.twitter.com/KUl2xGNRbB

— Slate (@Slate) September 30, 2015

• Ellen Page Goes Off-Script, nytimes.com
• Obama Gives Smoldering Statement on Oregon Shooting: “Our Thoughts and Prayers Are Not Enough,” slate.com
• Volkswagen scandal is a sorry sign of the times, davidsuzuki.org
• A real nation would not let this happen, macleans.ca
• How Stephen Harper’s niqab divide demeans us all, straight.com