Tag Archives: spring

We’re halfway to Halloween! Books and Movies to help with the wait (and celebrate spring)

Yes! We’re doing it again! We are putting Halloween into a part of the year it doesn’t usually go! Why? Because it’s fun and we can!

Posted by Karen on Flickr, 2008
Just one example of a scary Easter Bunny costume. Apparently, the user who posted this on Flickr found it in an antique shop. A cursed antique shop?

The end of April and the start of May is the halfway point to Halloween. For Halfway to Halloween, or Halfoween, fans are happy to mark the occasion as we start counting down the last six months of the year to the big day. Kinda like Christmas in July, but awesome! Horror-centric vehicles like Shudder spend all of April celebrating the halfway mark. Some places even have events to give everyone an early taste of scary season. If something like Easterween isn’t really catching on (though I ended up embracing it a little this year, sharing creepy pictures of old-timey Easter Bunny costumes with friends who also love horror) this is still a great way to put some creep factor into your spring season.

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Florals… for Spring?

Image-of-purple-and-pink-flowers-in-a-basket-outdoors

Groundbreaking. Or maybe, actually, iconic? I’d say iconic, especially coming from Meryl Streep, the ever-fabulous embodiment of sass, doing her best impression of the Fashion Giants (which may or may not include former Vogue chief editor Anna Wintour, but that’s a story for another day). This twenty-year-old quote has enough venom-laced sarcasm to still have pop culture power in 2026, and its very own Wikipedia blurb (move over Oscars, that’s the award I’d want). If you don’t know what I’m talking about (which I may only give grace to actual rock dwellers), then let me fill you in on the book turned hit film, The Devil Wears Prada.

Skeptic and fashion failure (taken with a huge grain of salt, it’s hard to make Anne Hathaway look bad in anything) Andy lands a job at Runway magazine as an assistant for the chief editor, which doesn’t align at all with her more hard-hitting journalistic dreams. But that soon becomes a Very Little Problem the more she works with Miranda Priestly-cold, critical, and maybe put in the heart of New York City’s towering office buildings just to make people’s lives worse. Hence the devil wearing Prada (or sometimes Chanel, or Fendi, or any other big-name brand you can think of). Andy’s work drama might make anyone’s typical office woes look small as things from Runway start to boil over into the rest of her life, and she starts to weigh just how important the job is the more she loses her friends, her relationships, and herself to it. It was, for its time, a pretty on the nose critique of the fashion industry despite some detractors who can’t hold up a mirror, and though my description might not make it sound as quote-slinging worthy fun as it definitely is, Streep’s deadpan humor as the titular devil and Hathaway’s endlessly nerdy, down-to-earth charm make the movie more than its parts. You just have to watch it.    

So, now that you’re in the loop, let’s get to how groundbreaking florals for Spring are. Did the season maybe dredge up that quote as a knee-jerk reaction to the word Spring? Maybe (definitely). Do I also have a good reason to bring it up as the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada is finally coming out next month (May 1st!), nearly twenty years after its release? Also, yes. So, to not disappoint Miranda Priestly and earn myself a withering stare over some designer Ray-Bans, I’ve scoured our shelves for books that fit the brief. Florals for Spring. Allow me to break some ground.    

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9 Fun Activities to Spring Into!

Are you in the mood to kick back and relax? Or perhaps you’re like me and want to find a distraction from the Switch 2, rather than obsessively checking the calendar and counting the days until the release of Nintendo’s upcoming console. If you have some time off and are looking for fun activities, then you’re in the right place! Below are some ideas for your weekend planning, ranging from party games to strolls in the sun.

Book cover of "Happy Trails: Biking and Hiking Adventures in the Greater Toronto Area" by Shawn Smith.

The weather has finally been getting nicer and sunnier, so if you’re up for some outdoorsy activities, consider checking out Happy Trails by Shawn Smith! This book can act as your hub for biking and hiking trails, which vary in distance and difficulty. Pick a scenic location and soak in the fresh air and landscape around you! Lake Simcoe Beaches, the 26th route in this book, looks like it’d be among the best places to take a walk at if you love seeing the cerulean lake glistening under the sun. This route entry lists the beaches and parks in the area, in addition to some restaurants in case you get hungry and want to grab a bite or two. If you don’t like sand or the lake, maybe some of the other trails will be up your alley; after all, there’s 40 routes in the book to choose from!

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