My Thoughts on the Anthro Ordeal

I'm sure most fashion bloggers have heard about the controversy that's unfolded in the past few days.  I don't really feel the need to re-explain the whole situation since it's plastered on blogs and forums.  If you're interested, here are a few links:

GOMI Discussion
The Pursuit of Hippyness: Her Personal Experience
Anthroholic's True Colors
Effortless Anthropologie's Post (read the comments)

I'm really new to the fashion blogger world.  I only started reading the majority of these blogs a few months ago before I started my own blog.  I unfortunately don't blog often, but I do read posts every day on my breaks.  I have been a fan of Anthroholic's blog for months, and even posted at the end of August that I was featured in one of her Reader Outfits posts.  I wasn't even aware that she offered a personal shopping service.  I only knew about recent contests on her blog because I entered a few.

I have a lot of sympathy for the countless victims of this deception.  There is no good reason that this should have happened, and I really hope that everyone receives the refunds they are entitled to.  The manipulation and quite frankly abuse of those affected is wrong on every count.  I fully understand why the victims kept believing the lies and deceitful messages they received, because the impression Kim gives on her blog is one of a sweet girl who's unequivocally in love with fashion and Anthropologie.  When you read someone's blog and exchange messages for a long enough time, you start feeling like they're a friend, and therefore someone that can be trusted.  Unfortunately, this situation has rocked a lot of people's confidence and trust in the fashion blogger world.

In all honesty, I'm just surprised it took so long for all of this to come to light.  If a seller was doing this on any of the clothing exchange sites (Lululemon Exchange or Ebay for example), they would have been banned a long time ago.  I'm just glad this got exposed before even more people got affected.  Whatever the true reason is for why this happened (debt, personal problems, mental issues), the fact of the matter is that it is inexcusable.  The victims deserve more than the apology given on Kim's blog (which isn't even up right now).  I just hope that she can find the help she needs.

I'll close with some links helpful posts from Effortless Anthropologie and J. Crew Aficionada detailing how to avoid getting scammed online.

Alert! Protecting Yourself From Online Transaction Scams - Effortless Anthropologie
Make Sure You Are Protected With Online Transactions - J. Crew Aficionada

Recent Adventures

I know, I promised I'd post a few days ago about my adventures.  But then I went and had more adventures!

Let's start with some Jenga action.  My boyfriend and I were at a going away party for some friends of ours who are leaving Canada for Australia, and one person at the party brought Jenga.  Jenga is one game I can't pass up.  The guy who brought the game had a record for 31 levels.  Of course, we had to beat that.  During our first 3 attempts, I kept knocking the tower over (which led me to refer to myself as the tumbler).  On our next attempt, we made it to 31 levels, with one block missing.  It was my turn.  I was really worried that I would knock it over again.  Fortunately, I managed to handle it like a champ!  Here is my victory photo:

32 levels of awesome.  Unfortunately, the tower fell over during the next turn.

I also went and saw The Help on Friday.  I'm very thankful I went with some girls, because the movie was such a chick flick.  I think 12 guys were in the theater.  Regardless, the movie was great!  I heard the book was amazing, and women we talked to afterwards said that the movie is definitely on the same level as the book, which is rare!  The actresses were all great, especially Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer.  Bryce Dallas Howard was definitely believable as a villain.  The movie sucked me in, and I am very glad I saw it :)

I also went to the Pacific National Exhibition with my boyfriend over the weekend.  We checked out the Superdogs show, went on a few rides (including the super awesome wooden roller coaster), and indulged in deep fried oreos and deep fried pop tarts.  We could only do a few bites of each, but we mostly did it for the experience.  The oreos were definitely better than the pop tart.  My boyfriend also won me a pink domo from the midway (he popped balloons with darts like a champ!).

On a different note, I got featured on Anthroholic's Reader Outfits!  This was really exciting since I read Kim's blog all the time.  You have to scroll down a bit, but I'm beyond excited to be on there.  I'll have to make another outfit and submit it soon :)

I plan to post more soon, particularly about what I learned from not succeeding at my mini happiness project.  I also want to post more personal fashion!