I’m by no means an expert in resume writing. For whatever reason, the writer in me has issues both verbally and interview-ally expressing my exceptional work ethic. But, shocker alert, this isn’t really about my work skills, it’s about yours.

I work at progressive, full-service ad agency in Toronto and as of late, it’s been my responsibility to sift through the 70+ resumes and cover letters we get on a daily basis. And as of late, it’s been a highlight of my day.

This morning while waiting for the streetcar, a man beside me was yelling irately at his cell phone. I say he was yelling at his cell phone because I’m making the fairly basic assumption that what he was talking to on the other end was not an actual person.

“GIVE ME AN OPERATOR TO TALK TO, A HUMAN OPERATOR.”

People were snickering all around him - myself included - and it wasn’t until I got to work this morning that I realized just how alike he and I are.

Working in advertising, I find myself more adept to visual aesthetics than I used to be. “Bad” advertising irritates me. “Good” advertising inspires me. But either way, I find myself far more in tune with consumerism’s reach than I ever have. Maybe it’s just because I live in Toronto and wake up staring advertising in the face every morning.

Or at least I used to, until three men sawed the recycled plastic ad bench in front of my apartment in half and walked away with it.

I’m by no means an outdoorsy kind of girl. I’m a princess by nature and I accepted this a long, long time ago. But when you have friends with cottages and relatives with cottages, its impossible (and pretty ridiculous) to decline a weekend of great outdoorsy fun just because your blow dryer doesn’t fit in your overnight bag.

This past weekend, for me, was no exception. I had my foray into low-maintenance and it couldn’t have been a better weekend. However – there’s always a however when it comes to being girly – there are some things I couldn’t have survived without.

You’ve been told we’re in a recession. Everyone’s been told we’re in a recession. So even though everyone knows there’s this big, nasty recession going on, the first thing people did when the LCBO even so much as whispered the word strike, was to run, green grocery bags in hand, to stock up. Times may be tough, but not as tough as they could be if everyone was forced into instant, cold turkey AA.

The recession has likely affected almost everyone in some way or another. Me? I still have my job and I’ve gained something to boot; a plethora of unemployed friends.

When I first moved to Toronto a year ago, I was in the exact same boat. No job, no job prospects and relatively little experience in my chosen field of study. I got bored. And I got bored fast.

It seems that monogamy might be on the verge of extinction.

Regardless of whether or not you enjoy Scarlet Johanson as an actress, if you’re a woman, it is quite likely that you disagreed with her character in He’s Just Not That Into You. Her character, that movie and pop culture in general all contribute to changing common relationship ideals, giving headway to a new era of promiscuity and the mystifying “open-relationship”.

Chances are you know at least one person who is anti-Starbucks. Being an ex-Starbucks employee myself, I know that cost (especially) is one of their major pitfalls: amongst the drinks being overly complicated to order and pronounce, and the slightly pretentious atmosphere.

Remember when you were a little girl and you used to play dress-up in your mom’s fancy clothes? Pam Chorley has taken a childhood pastime, mixed it with a bit of old Hollywood glam, and thrown it into a boutique on Queen West.

If you’ve been anywhere between Soho and Spadina, you’ve probably noticed the enchanting window displays: boas and pearls and gloves, oh my! Pam Chorley’s Fashion Crimes stands out in the Canadian Fashion industry as flashy, feminine and fantastic!