Back in March I kicked Babe History 101 featuring some now old dudes (some dead) who were quite the dish in their younger years. I started off with Paul Simonon & Joe Strummer from The Clash and today it gives me much pleasure to feature Mark Wahlberg aka Marky Mark.

I guess nowadays he is best known for being a Hollywood actor but if you were around in the early 90’s you remember him best for his rap group Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch and his wonderful modeling career for Calvin Klein.

And if you weren’t around or don’t remember, here’s a refresher:

Now he’s a father, he’s dropped the thug act and in every interview that I’ve seen he seems to be quite embarrassed of his past. Marky…don’t be, this is why we love you.

There is this Japanese “dollar” store in Vancouver called Yoko Yaya that I discovered a while ago & it is simply amazing. I also tend to call it Yoko Ono or Yoyo Ma because I can never remember its correct name. But it is huge and everything is dirt cheap (nothing over $3) and the best part is you can find some really cute/randomly great items. You’ll probably spend hours in there, sometimes trying to figure out what exactly some of the items are used for since everything is in Japanese.

Yesterday I had some time to kill so I bought a few things that were calling out to me, useless but cute.

Among the items was some Little Babushka writing paper, maybe this will motivate me to write some letters. If you want a letter, send me your address, I’d love to send some snail mail. A floral tin box, I’m pretty sure these are for cigarettes, too bad I don’t smoke. I’m not sure what I’ll put in there, any suggestions? Sweets cosmetic bag, as you probably noticed, I’ve already found a purpose for this little bag and I carry it in my purse, so it ended up not being completely useless!

Oh well $5 for all that isn’t that bad!

You can tell a lot about a girl by what she carries in her purse, basically I think we all tend to carry the same things but with a few variations. I think it’s the styles, colours, brands of the items we carry that tell the tale.

Here’s a peek into my purse:

(From top left to right)
‘A Piece of Cake’ by Cupcake Brown, I’ve seen this book recommended to me numerous times by Amazon & Chapters whenever I’d look up certain books I’ve read, etc. The cover threw me off at first and also the title so I was quite quick to dismiss it until I finally read some reviews and decided to give it a chance. Hey if NY Times claims its a best-seller it’s gotta be good right? Hah! Well I am really enjoying it, it’s an auto-biography/memoir of the author’s messed up childhood. If you like shocking stories, you will like this one.
Urban Outfitters studded wallet
2010 Moleskine daily planner
iTouch iPod
‘Mon Petit Bazaar’ pink case, I received this as a present from my friend Melissa from France. It is super cute and I use it to hold my “electronics”, aka my iPod, headphones, usb cord and memory stick.
Aldo black sunglasses
Rosebud Salve
Plastic ’sweets’ cosmetic case, in which I carry all the cosmetics seen here.
‘Falling in Love’ fragrance by Philosophy
‘Infallible’ concealer by L’Oreal
‘Lip Smackers’ by Bonne Bell
‘Petals & Peacocks’ lipstick by MAC, my new favourite lip colour.
Leather lipstick holder, I feel much like a grown-up carrying one of these around. I used to always remember my grandmother and my mother having them in their purses. Now it’s my turn.
Keys, a cluster yes, also very necessary.
Coin purse, I’m on the hunt for a new one, this one is just not cutting it.
Blackberry Curve, let me just say, pink is not my favourite colour, I don’t know why so many of my accessories are pink, it’s purely by coincidence. That being said, this phone sucks, I need a new one.
Blue ballpoint pen
Excel Mist mint gum, it’s got crunchy bits in it, I’m not sure I am a fan.
Hello Kitty tin, for my pills/drugs & such.

& here’s what I was carrying a few years ago:

Funny how not much has changed.

But there you have it! What you can conclude from all the junk in my purse I am not sure. Just as long as you don’t think everything I own is pink, because it really isn’t.

What do you carry in your purse?

So approximately 4 years ago  around May in the evening,  I took my boyfriend who had recently moved to Vancouver to go see the grounds of Riverview Hospital (the largest mental institution in North America). There are several buildings throughout the 1,000 acres of Riverview. You’re normally not supposed to drive through there but we did anyway. There are security guards that drive around the grounds so we decided to park the car somewhere & we got out. We stumbled upon the West Lawn building. West Lawn is located at the core of the hospital grounds, right beside the active (Riverview still houses several hundred patients) Centrelawn building , which has the pharmacy in it, again meaning more security in that area of the Riverview grounds. The West Lawn building was built in 1913 & was closed in 1983. [Pictured here in 1915] the building was fenced in, so we hopped the fence & took pictures of the building & its boarded up windows. The whole building omitted this creepy aura. We wandered around this huge building for a while, taking more pics. the building was well sealed, with the first 2 floors boarded up almost entirely & then we discovered a window that was boarded up but was slightly loose.So we ripped it off & entered into the basement of this building…

The building, overall, was in quite a state of decay. everywhere, roof tiles and flooring was coming apart and it was almost impossible to find a wall with no peeling paint. The bottom floor was a complete shambles, with most rooms falling and/or torn apart.

Broken glass and other things littered the floors in lots of places. The constant crackle of broken light bulbs underfoot echoed through the halls. Some sections on the bottom floor had been painted all silvery, most likely from when they had done filming in here years ago ( before they stopped access to the building due to the asbestos and deterioration of the building in general).

Please keep in mind when you see these pictures that we did not have any source of light besides the light coming from my boyfriend’s digital camera. I swear this place was haunted.

“West Lawn Building – This building is no longer used for Patient Programs“

This is where we crawled in.

Self-Portrait!

What I think is an elevator…

We should’ve been wearing these, the musty smell & presence of Asbestos was incredible.

I seriously shrieked when the flash went off & I saw what this hallway looked like.

Seeing this made me realize it really wasn’t the greatest idea to be in there without masks

Don’t call Rick, he probably doesn’t work there anymore

This was at the very top floor.The floor was severely decayed. We had to test it first before walking on it. I was so scared that I was going to fall through the floor. This giant room with tiny little rooms. All the doors were labeled with room numbers such as “A. 4.A” as above. The rooms were smaller than a closet. You could not lay down. The thought of people being locked up in there blows my mind.

You guys need to realize we were walking through this in the PITCH BLACK & stupid me was wearing flip flops!

Little crosses hanging on the wall

Hazardous materials suits, hmmm

Tell me how to get to the Tunnels…I want to go!

We were in there for maybe a total 40 minutes, it would’ve been longer but we were quite unprepared, I was wearing flip flops, we had no light, no masks & our lungs/eyes started to really burn. We had plans on going back & exploring the tunnels but that has never happened…yet?

Seriously, what a thrilling experience!

As I get older, I feel the need to get in touch with my heritage and find out about my family history. When I was younger I could care less and then in my teens I was too busy trying to identify with other cultures all the while ignoring my own. I am basically a giant mutt but the majority of my heritage is Ukrainian. I am fluent in French and have also taken Spanish and Portuguese in school but yet Ukrainian is completely foreign to me. My grandmother is no longer around to tell me about things or teach me words in Ukrainian but she did leave behind many things for me to discover. Right before she died she made a trip back to the Ukraine and stayed with family there. She brought back a lot of souvenirs and things, one being my nesting dolls that I cherish to this day. Last weekend I was back at my mother’s house and was digging through old things when I stumbled upon what seemed to be a childrens Ukrainian song/story book.

It makes me realize I really wish I knew what it said, or that I could even make out what some of it meant. I’m going to make it a goal of mine to start learning a bit more about the Ukraine. I remember my grandmother making amazing homemade pyrohy and my mom can even come close but I’m going to be horribly ashamed if that tradition dies by my hand.

So here’s to 2010 & embracing where I came from and trying to keep it alive, maybe I’ll start by making some pyrohy this week.