Frankfurt Layover

Well, I've made it to the EU. I am sitting in the Frankfurt airportwaiting for my connecting flight to Prague. It was a smooth flight over, and so far all of the airport hoops have been easy to jump through.

I have been feeling all of the feelings in the past 24 hrs. When I left Becca T at a Starbucks this afternoon, I got a little choked up. I had a great weeklong visit w her and I will miss her. The days when she lived a couple subway stops south of me seem like forever ago.

When I was waiting for my plane in TO, I felt sad because if my mom was healthy, I bet she and I would have traveled together sometimes, leaving my hermetic dad home with the cat.

I got choked up watching the movie "Labor Day" on the plane. It was a pretty good movie; I'd read the book earlier this year, and it was a decent adaptation.

I also was destroyed while reading "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" too. What a very nice little novel; I highly recommend it to all book lovers.

However, even though I've been feeling all of the feelings, I've feeling super excited as I look through my Prague travel guide. It looks like a beautiful city and I can't wait to see it in a couple of hours.

Halfway.

As I write this post, the clock just turned to August about 27 minutes ago.  That means that my summer, the time I sometimes think of as my "real life", when I can be myself free of most responsibilities, pressure, and deadlines, is half over. 

It's been a really chill July for me.  I don't think I've taken it this easy in several years.  I've tried not to over-extend myself socially as I tend to.  I love my friends and hanging out with people, but a day or two to myself is a luxury I love.  And I've had a few of those in July which has been good.

Right now I'm sitting half-drunk on my couch with Becca T, listening to a rather awesome playlist that I cooked up on my iPod, as she plays Plants v. Zombies on her iPad, and I write this on my laptop.  Our friends Jane and Elaine came over this evening, and we drank wine followed by cider, and ate cheese crackers and veggies.  When the crackers ran out, we started to put brie on celery, which is rather delicious who knew.

Yesterday I drove Rilo to my parents' house for safe-keeping while I'm in Europe.  She is always happy to be there, although she hate the car ride. This morning as I was getting ready to go, my dad was moving the cat carrier, and Rilo thought it meant that she was getting packed up, and she made a bee-line for my bedroom to hide under the bed.  It was hilarious.  As if I would go to all the trouble of packing a cat and her accessories for an overnight trip.

I drove back today through awful traffic.  Leaving Toronto is never all that bad, but coming back sure is.  I was frustrated when I got back, so I took Becca T for sushi, then to Starbucks for coffee, then I had a nap, and I felt better.

Tomorrow I have to get some last-minute stuff done before my trip.  It's list-making time, yay!

I took you for granted when you were all that I needed.

I'm listening to the new Jenny Lewis album right now.  It makes me want to go to California, 'cuz it's totally got a laid-back, sun-soaked vibe.  So far at least.  I'm still on listen #1 because I keep getting stuck on this song:



This song stood out to me when she played it at TURF.  I love it, and I think we've all felt this way before.  Becca T and I have had some deep conversations about how messed up Facebook is, and how it makes everyone's life look awesome and sparkly and perfect, and it can bring you down when you are looking at perfect pictures of other people when you are in an emo-mood sitting in your pjs wondering WTF.  Of course, I only post the shiniest, happiest photos online to make my life look perfect too.

Oh, the internet.  It's kind of like alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

Today was a super fun day though.  The weather is unseasonably cool for July in Toronto, which is typically hot and humid.  Becca and I went for a run together, and then I took her to see Begin Again (#2 for me) since I knew she's love it, and I was down with seeing it again.  We did some light shopping, and then met up with Mathew for sushi, and then headed back to my place for an old tradition (circa 2009): watching The Bachelorette finale.  This season has been super boring, and I haven't been paying much attention, but it was fun all of the same laughing at the show.  However, then it got rather depressing watching someone getting his heart broken.  Then, during the After The Final Rose special, things got super awkward and all I have to say is that the sexual politics on that show are messed up (unsurprisingly). 

Admittedly, I was way more into the baseball game that we turned to during commercials.  Jays: 14.  Boston: 1.  Vengeance for about a week ago when that score was flipped.

I can't believe I leave for my Europe trip in less than a week.  Amazing.

There is no blues that could sound as heartfelt as mine...

AKA what I'm into these days, where #1 is...

1) Listening to Los Campesinos! loudly on vinyl as Rilo Kitty makes this face

For a cat named after an emo-ish band, she does not tolerate my emo moods with loud music.

2) This song by Sia from her album "1000 Form of Fear".  My favourite song is "Elastic Hear" because, sigh, it describes my life.  But good album overall.



3) Rainbow Rowell - She wrote the amazing YA book "Eleanor & Park" which *everyone* should read.  Male, female, old, young, whatever.  If you have a heart, you'll love this book.  I just read one of her adult novels, "Attachments", and it was warm and fuzzy, yet not lame, and made me feel happy.  Imma gonna read every one of her books.

4) Beer - I used to love wine, but these days, I prefer beer.  What the what?  Also, I was in the LC (I prefer Manitoba lexicon folks), and a lady was asking an employee to help her find Corona Light (what that exists?), and he said they didn't carry it.  Then, she said "okay, where are your light beers, you know, beers for women?" And in my eavesdropping head, I wanted to say "wha??  All of the beers are for women!  You are just looking for the subsection of beers for lightweights, which does not include me, who is a woman."  Ugh.  Everyday sexism.

5) Becca T is here!  It's a nice day when your BFF/roomie for five years is staying in your home like it is almost university and it takes a good ten-plus years off of your age, and you stay up gossiping about boys like you are 21 years old.  Good times.  And tomorrow we will shop and watch movies.  I want to take her to see "Begin Again" which I saw last week, but is the perfect movie to see with your music-loving BFF.

Watching.

I've been watching a lot of stuff this summer.  This is great.  I feel like I'm always behind on TV/movies, and although I still am, I'm glad that I'm getting some good screen time in.  I'm also making great use of Netflix.  I love Netflix, but there are entire months that go by during the school year when I watch nothing.  Here are some of the notable things I've been watching.

TV Shows1) OITNB - Last summer, I binge-watched season 1 of Orange Is The New Black in a weekend.  I was so excited for season 2, but restrained myself when it came out in June, while I still had a tonne of marking on my plate.  I knew that if I started while I had deadlines at work, it would end up with me being called to the principal's office for not having my report cards done.  And, I made the right choice.  Season 2 is amazing; I can't believe how the plot and characters were so much more enriched than season 1.  One day I think I watched about eight episodes at once because I realized that nothing was going to get done until I got through that show.

2) Dateline - Okay, I will admit it.  One of my new weird obsessions is Dateline NBC, and it's all because of my friend Mathew, who likes the show a lot.  Personally, I liked the SNL sketches with Bill Hader that parodied Keith Morrison's creepiness, and I started watching because my friend talked about the show all of the time, and I secretly really enjoy Keith Morrison's creepiness.  Anyway, I've used the summer to catch up on episodes of this show.

It's paid off I guess, because on Friday Mathew, some friends, and I went out for drinks after the Jays' game and we had a great conversation about murder, based upon Mathew's and my Dateline obsession.  It was hilarious.

And, this is the best parody of Keith's creepiness, done by himself.  This is really why I love Dateline.  This bit is one of the highlights of my summer.



3) The Mindy Project - I just started watching this show last night on Netflix and I love it!  I can't believe I didn't start earlier.  It's nice to find a comedy that you can related to.

4) The Bachelorette - I watch this damned show every season.  This season has been rather boring (it could be because I haven't been drinking whilst watching this year), but next week is the finale, and yes, I'm going to make a night of it.  I'm not taking any social appointments that evening.

Movies

1) Chef - I saw this on Saturday and it was a really nice movie.  Highly recommended to any foodies out there.



2) Begin Again - I wanted to see this movie on Saturday, but we went with Chef again, so I took myself to see it this afternoon, because afternoon movies are a great perk of being on vacation.  I LOVED IT.  It's written/directed by the same guy who made the movie Once, and it's an indie rock musical.  Both of the lead actors (Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo) are amazing, as are the songs.  So far this is my favourite movie of the summer.




3) An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story/The Central Park Five - These are two documentaries about innocent people convicted of crimes that they didn't commit.  Basically, they are like episodes of Dateline, without the added bonus of Keith Morrison.  Both docs are very well done, and will make you very angry at the legal system, and amazed at how strong and peaceful the people who were railroaded are.  It's so tragic that in each of these cases, there ended up additional more victims of crime mainly because law enforcement just wanted convictions, and not the truth.  Both are on Netflix.

Bonus Music Find:

I've been obsessively listening to the album Strange Desire by Bleachers.  It's great summer music.  It's even got guest vocals by Grimes and Yoko Ono (!) on a couple of tracks.  I highly recommend this album.

#100happydays

100 days ago, I began the #100happydays photo challenge over on my Instagram page.  I'm happy to say that this was my first successfully completed photo challenge.  (In 2013 I tried to do a photo-a-day challenge but I failed because some stuff in my personal life exploded, and I no longer felt like taking any photos for awhile.)

Anyhow, I'm super glad I attempted and completed this challenge.  The idea is simple: each day take a picture of something/someone/someplace that brings you joy.  Some days it was extremely easy to find that happy moment, like the first day of my challenge back on April 10th, when I saw The National at Massey Hall.

Or when I completed my Simpsons Lego set:

 

Or when I finished my first half marathon,

 

Or when I visited St. Louis:

Or when I made my dad take a selfie in our matching St. Louis bird-on-a-bat hats:

 

Or when I had beer at the AGO in front of a Monet during one of their first Thursday events with a pal:

Or when I Field Tripped with my pal Matt from Wpg:

Or when I ran into Ace at a Jays' game (I love that bird):

Or when I was a bridesmaid in my friend Wendy's wedding:

Or when I went to the Skydome on Canada Day and got to see an exciting baseball game and a big ol' flag:

 

Or when I TURFed with my friends Paul & Eric:

But what was almost more valuable than capturing these super obviously fun and happy moments in photos was finding a happy moment on those days when I wasn't feeling overly happy.  Those days were challenging.  But, I forced myself to look for something on those days that made me happy, even if it was just a song that I was listening to, a bowl of cherries, or Rilo making a funny face.  Or, even better, I would make myself go do something happy.

Like on parent-teacher interview day, which is always very long and exhausting, I was sure to treat myself to a cup of tea at the mall:

Or one day when I forced myself to go out for a run in cold weather, even though I just wanted to chill on my couch, and I felt so much better after the run:

Or one day when I treated myself to a beer and a really bad book on a patio to unwind from a long day of marking:

Today was day #100.  I went to a BBQ with some of my work friends' at my dear work spouse's house.  The company, food, and laughter were all fantastic and heart-warming.  To capture the day, I took a photo of the My Little Pony paper plate that I was given to eat my food on.  I loved it, and started to laugh really hard when I got it, and decided that the silly plate captured the mood of the evening perfectly, because friendship is magic.   (Bahaha, if you've seen the new My Little Pony series, which is called My Little Pony Friendship is Magic you would have laughed at my joke there, I'm sure.  But you would have only gotten that if you hang out with five-year olds a lot, or are a bronie.)
 

I leave this challenge feeling immensely grateful for my life: I am lucky enough to have friends, family, and a job that bring me joy.  I get to travel, go to concerts, baseballs games, run races, collect Lego and records, and have an eccentric cat friend.  I have so much to appreciate, and even on days when I'm not feeling appreciative, I have the means to go do something about it.  It's so important for everyone to recognize the happy in their lives, and I'm glad that this photo challenge made me do it.  I might not photograph it, but I want to be sure I end end each day reflecting on the good and happy moments in my life and being thankful for them.

Scribble something down quick; try to make the words stick.

This is my favourite song these days.



Do you ever wonder how the hell you became an adult?  I often feel that I am completely ill-equipped to be a grown-up.  A friend of mine posted some article about the difference about being in your twenties and in your thirties, and while yes, I can relate to many thirty-something stereotypes, like a love of sleep, and not being able to stay out as late as I used to, I still have a lot of twenty-something qualities like my kitchen pretty much just being the place where my microwave lives, and the fact that I still have cast-off dishes.  I could buy nicer dishes, but using that money for oh, a train ticket from Vienna to Munich, always seems like a better idea.

I get so busy during the school year, that I can often use that as an excuse for hiding from adult responsibility.  When summer comes along, however, I have time to do all of the adult things, and I've tackled some of them lately.  In fact, this awesome blog post from Hyperbole & A Half always comes to mind whenever I decide that I'm going do some responsible adult stuff. 

 This was me today:

After my financial wheeling-and-dealing, I rewarded myself with a beer on a patio.  Then a nap.

The other adult task I tackled this summer was finally getting my eyesight checked after goodness knows how many years.  I was pretty sure that I could see fine, but good to get a professional opinion, right?   Who knows what kind of ocular disorders could be developing?

I found myself an optometrist down the street from me and made an appointment for my first eye-exam in a long time.  He did one test where a picture of my eyeball was taken, and I got to see my optic nerve on a computer screen!  (science nerd alert)  After all that, I passed all of my tests with flying colours, but I am a bit hyperoptic (far-sighted).  He wrote me a prescription for reading glasses that are supposed to help me avoid tiredness and headaches when I'm doing close-up things like reading, looking at a computer screen, and (ugh) marking. 

I got the glasses today and I think they make me look a little bit Liz Lemon-y.  I guess I should wear them if I ever feel like getting my night cheese on.

The older I get, the more I realize I think we're all just playing along at this adult-game because we have to.  As I've grown-up, I realize my parents were making it up as they went along, my teachers made it up as they went along, and now I'm totally making it up as I go along.

And now that I've gotten some grown-up shit done, and some philosophical thinking, I can curl up again with my YA book, because I'm all about the YA fiction these days.  I'll have to write a post about it later.

Lately...

I've been reading a lot, watching baseball, soccer, and Dateline.  Went on a traditional cross-border shopping trip in Buffalo with friends from work, and even though I swore I'd buy nothing, I got myself some new clothes, jewellery, and towels. Got many fun trinkets and junk food at the American Target.  Ate at the Cheesecake Factory.  Oh man, that place is so good and explains the obesity epidemic in the US.  Had a pint of Blue Moon (love that beer).

Good times.

I've been reviewing my trip itinerary for August.  It's getting close!  I can't wait.

Come on if you're gonna come on.

I was going to blog about the amazing evening I had when I saw Twin Forks for the second time in three days, this time at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, but I wrote to my dear friend Becca T, and I'm just going to post the email because I kind of love it, superfluous exclamation points and all.

So Elaine came with me tonight to see Twin Forks, Dashboard's new band, at the HORSESHOE TAVERN!!!!  She had lots of fun, and it was a great show!  You should have been there.  I am going to look for a random bar concert to go to when you are here, OK?

Anyway, YES, he is still as attractive as ever and his new music is great.  It's like bluegrass-emo!  You should get thee on the iTunes and download the Twin Forks LP.  I bought the vinyl tonight and I'm listening to it as I drink Bourbonade.  (Bourbon + Lemonade which my pal Matt from Winnipeg invented tonight and I named.) 

Also, he played three old Dashboard songs: Swiss Army Romance, Hands Down, and Stolen and everyone sang along like they were on Dashboard Confessional Unplugged (remember how much you hated that?).  Poor Elaine, she was asked me a question when he started Swiss Army Romance and I screamed and jumped into the air, launched into song, and high-fived the beer-hoister* in front of me.

It was a fun time. 

Twin Forks.  Trust me.  It's Dashboard for our thirties.

Seeing a concert at the Horseshoe (or other small-ish venues) on a warm summer's night brought me back to my early twenties because that's what Becca T and I used to do.  I even had the impulse to walk all the way home tonight, because that's what we used to do back then to save money on subway fare, but then I realized that I live much farther away from downtown now, and I have a Metropass anyway. 

*Beer-hoister is a term we use for those who hoist their beer into the air in celebration during a concert. 

You are the best one, of the best ones.

This city does music festivals well.  I hope the summer fests at Fork York/Garrison Commons never end.  After my second year of Field Trip in June, I took in my second year of TURF (Toronto Urban Roots Fest) today. It's a three-day festival, but I chose just to take in today's show with my pals Eric & Paul.

I got there just in time for Twin Forks.  Twin Forks is the new project of Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional.  This dude has pretty much been my #1 rock and roll crush since my early twenties.  I hadn't seem in years, and I was giddy like a teenage girl as soon as he took the stage.

I was so happy when they played a Dashboard Confessional, "Stolen".  (How did this come out eight years ago??  Where has time gone?)



I love the new Twin Forks music, and thanks to my TURF app, I found out that they are playing a little show on the Horseshoe on Tuesday night, and OF COURSE I'm going because school nights don't exist in my July/August world.

One of their songs, called "Something We Just Know" has a line that goes "I use my gut, and my gut don't lie to me."  Earlier in the day, I made a decision using my gut, which I always question, and I felt that this was a sign I did the right thing.  (Usually my gut is right, but I spend so much time questioning it.)

As if my inner-twenty-six year old wasn't pleased enough with Twin Forks, next on the docket was Jenny Lewis, who apart from having a great solo career, is from the band Rilo Kiley, which you all know is Ms. Rilo Kitty's namesake.

I missed out on her first two songs because the printed schedule said she would take the West Stage at 4:30 pm, and my TURF app said 4:10 pm.  We decided that the huge printed posters were most likely right, so I hung out with Eric & Paul at the South Stage watching Noah Gunderson, who was a fave of Paul's.  (This concurrent scheduling meant the three of us had to break up for a bit.) 

Well, the app was right, and I could hear Jenny singing "Close Call" as I headed toward West Stage.  Luckily, I got there just in time to hear "The Moneymaker", a Rilo favourite.  Her set was great: just enough Rilo Kiley, solo stuff, and new stuff to make me nostalgic and excited for her new album at the same time.  Yay!  This song almost brought me to tears.  (Note: I'd also had many beers at that time too, so I was super emo.)



I could have gone home happy then, but we also were treated to a fun set by the Bidini band, and then caught Jeff Tweedy, who was amazing.  We saw a little bit of Neutral Milk Hotel, but then we decided to finish the night with Hollerado.  That was a great choice because they are super fun.   They also fit with the nostalgic feeling of the day, because I'd had a lot of fun seeing them at The Wolfe Island Music Festival in Kingston two summers ago .



After Hollerado left the stage, everyone was clapping for an encore, and they came back out, but couldn't do an encore because all of the mics were shut off.  So the drummer joked that they should lead the crowd in singing O Canada, and everyone started and did the whole song which was a hilarious and fun moment.

What a fun day.

More dispatches from the trenches of summer vacation.

Yesterday I binge-watched Orange Is the New Black season two.  I knew I just had to finish it before I could move on with my life.  It was spectacular.  It gives me the same feeling as reading a really great book, which is saying a lot.

Today was chill.  I met up with a couple of friends and their kids in a random neighbourhood park. 

I was chatting with one friend on our picnic blanket, and I was framing some random story about the past with "back when I dating so & so...." and then I'm not kidding, two seconds later, so & so strolled through this random park.  "Holy shit, speak of the devil, look who is walking into this park," I said and my friend saw.   It was the weirdest thing.   We both started laughing, as my friend suggested that I try to summon Johnny Depp (who is a long-time crush, but I have to admit is looking rather skeevy these days). 

Anyway, I guess this proves that big cities are sometimes smaller than the tiniest of villages.

This evening I went to a bar downtown with my pal Mathew to watch a heart-breaking Jays game on a huge screen.  It was one of those fun nights out with a friend where I laughed really hard, and it's going to provide material for inside jokes for years to come.

And tomorrow's Friday!  I'll admit it's meaningless to me, but happy Friday to those of you in the real world.  ;)

Summer So Far

- Slept in on Saturday.  Read an entire book (We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, a perfect one-day read).  Started another (Maya's Notebook by Isabelle Allende).  Had a great catch-up phone conversation with my dear friend Claire.

- On Sunday, I took myself to see Hawksley Workman in a one-man show based on a Greek tragedy, The God That Comes, at the Tarragon Theatre.  I am seeing this show in Stratford in September, and wasn't going to go to the Toronto run, but then I thought "eff it! it's summer vacay! I shall do what I want" and saw it and loved it.  Good Choice.

- Monday's task was to head to the Apple Store to get my phone fixed.  The sleep/restart button wasn't working, and they just gave me a new phone.  Spent my afternoon setting up my new phone, then spent the evening watching The Bachelorette, even though I'm not digging this season at all, and then starting Orange Is the New Black season two.

- Today was a Jays game, and then more OITNB.  I didn't like the first episode of this season, but then episode two got me re-hooked.  I love this show.  Much not binge too much.

And if I recover.

I can't believe I made it through the school year.  Right now it feels surreal.  The realization that I have no marking, no planning, no quizzes/tests/labs/assignments/exams to write, no meetings to dread, no extracurricular activities to plan, and did I mention no marking, is mind-blowing.  I can't believe I made it to here.

This week has been fun.  At work, I got a lot of cleaning/organizing done.  Teachers are packrats, because we're all afraid we are going to throw out a very important piece of paper that we'll need in the future (fuck, my mother, who has been long retired, still has boxes of papers from her teaching career in our basement).  This year I decided to get rid of all of the binders in my filing cabinet that I haven't touched in a couple of years (essentially all my stuff from 2004-2011).  It's kind of hard to throw away a nicely organized binder that I know I worked very hard on, but the curriculum is out of date, and I've already adapted what I could into the new curriculum.  It was time to purge, and emptying all those binders left me with so much space to store the things I actually wanted to keep.  My workspace will be far less cluttered next year.

On top of that, the evenings of last week were full of fun.  I went to a super exciting Jays game for my friend Mathew's birthday.  They blew a 6-run lead, but then were able to pull off a walk-off win in the ninth.  I want the Jays to make the playoffs SO BADLY this year.  It would be awesome.

Wednesday was a pool party, then Thursday night was graduation.  It was crazy to think that it was my tenth graduation ceremony that I've attended for this school.  Graduations are heart-warming, and such a blur.  It's always hard to come to terms with the fact there are kids that I'm used to seeing on a daily basis who I will never see again.  I tend to keep in touch with the ones that I am very close to (usually through extracurricular activities), but graduations make me think of a quote I once heard that went along the lines of teaching is a profession where you don't get to witness the results of your work.  (That's the gist of the quote; I don't know exactly know where it comes from.)  It's very true; I don't really know what happens to the vast majority of my students, but I do have faith that I was able to make a positive difference in their lives, to the best of my ability.

Today was our year-end staff party (or forced socialization, as I think of it).  It was fun, and afterwards some of my friends and I went to a second location for more drinks, which ended up turning into some light shopping.  I think our days of crazy year-end pub crawls are over, but that's okay.  I was happy to find a cute new top at Anthropolgie, and the willingness of a friend with a car to take me to Target to stock up on kitty-cat supplies.

This week has been one of lots of indulgences.  I look forward to using the start of summer (tomorrow) to reset and recover.  I need to lay off alcohol.  I love exploring new beer, and revisiting old favourites, but I have to lay off of it.  I want to get my bike out, go for some runs, go to the gym on hot days, clean and organize my place, read, and relax.  I'm trying to keep my socializing to a minimum for a little bit.  I need some me time.  On Sunday, I'm going to take myself to a play, and I've considered inviting a friend, but then I decided that after the past month of constant partying, I need some me time. 

I've been listening to a lot of CHVRCHES lately.  (I loved them live at Field Trip.)  This song is where I'm at right now.

You gotta feel it.

I splurged on some new vinyl last week.  I got a used copy of Famous Blue Raincoat: Jennifer Warnes Sings the Songs of Leonard Cohen.  My dad used to listen to that album obsessively when I was a kid, and I grew to hate it from sheer overplaying.  Then, for my sixteenth birthday, he bought me that CD and I pretended to be happy, and I don't think I ever opened it because I swore I never wanted to hear those songs again.

Fast-forward to a thirty-four year old woman with a love for vinyl albums that remind her of her childhood (Bananarama, Belinda Carlisle), and I can't pass it up.  Oh heck, finally, I like those songs again.  It took a long time.

I also decided to pick up Kevin Drew's Darlings because it is my favourite album so far of 2014, and damn, if pink vinyl isn't sexy, I don't what is.

I'm listening to it now, as I write this post.

This weekend was my first wedding of the summer where I had bridesmaid duties.  And holy heck was it a step back in time.  It was for my friend Wendy, who was one of my friends from high school, and on Saturday morning, I had to have my dad drive me out to her parents' farm to get my hair and makeup done.  I hadn't been down those roads in a long, long time.

My makeup and hair turned out quite well, as evidenced by this picture that I'm posting for pure vanity's sake.  I was one of the first in the bridal party to get all done up, and then I had to the pressure to not mess it up for the next three hours.  "Don't touch hair or face.  Don't touch hair or face," was the chant running constantly through my head.

After that we took pictures in the sun by the farmhouse, then headed into Stratford proper for pictures in the park by the art gallery.  Again, talk about a trip down memory lane.  I worked at the gallery for one summer during university, and the last time I'd been to the scenic waterfall by the gallery was before my high school prom, where my friends and I got our pictures taken.

I'm pretty sure all Stratford wedding parties get pictures taken by the waterfall.  While we were leaving, another wedding party showed up, and we joked that we should have a rumble with them Anchorman style.  I have to admit that, or at the very least a dance-off, would have been hilarious.

We made yet another scenic stop for pictures, then it was off to Tom Patterson island where the ceremony occured.  I was beat by the end of the long day in the sun.  After that, was the reception one town over, in the community hall of Shakespeare, Ontario.  Again, that building is a blast from my past because I'd been to various parties in that hall in my younger years.

I had a rather fun time at the reception, even though I was too sun-tired to do much drinking.  I still had fun, and danced to country music despite myself really hating country music.  When in Rome, right?

Watching all of your friends get married and have babies is kind of weird.  I'm often glad that I have my big city-dwelling life of freedom, fun, travel, and selfishness, but at other times it's really hard because I feel that everyone has gotten an invite to a party, but not me.  There days I'd really like to go to that party, you know? 

However, my girl Jenny Lewis (from Rilo Kiley, which is Miss Rilo Kitty's namesake) has a new song out that completely summarizes my feelings on this matter.  And, I get to see her at the beginning of July at the Toronto Urban Roots Festival with my dear friends Eric and Paul (who will get me drunk).  That's way more my style than diaper changes.



On the train to and from Stratford, I devoured Jennifer Weiner's new novel All Fall Down.  I've been reading her books since the late nineties, and I've recently come to really appreciate her through her Twitter presence.  Not only does she post hilarious tweets about the Bachelor/Bachelorette (and makes me feel slightly less guilty for my guilty pleasure), but she's also very vocal about gender inequity in the publishing industry.  She was in town this evening for a talk/book signing.  I went, and really enjoyed myself.  She is a witty and interesting speaker, and really fun.  Yay!

 

So, those were definitely a few fun-filled days.  Tomorrow I'm excited to go to the Jays game for my friend Mathew's birthday.  Also, only four more days of going to school for meetings and cleaning, and that's it.  I can't wait for my low-key July to start!

ps Can you tell that I can put so much more effort into blogging when the marking and prepping part of school is over?

pps Also, this video of a man catching an owl with a swiffer is one of the best things on the internet ever. 

Head-spinningly busy.

Right now, I am sitting on my couch watching the Jays game trying to break in my shiny Michael Kors heels that are my official 2014 bridesmaid shoe.  I don't think sitting and watching baseball will make the shoe more comfy, but it can't hurt right?

I feel like I'm in the calm before the storm.  The next week and a half will be crazy.  I've got all of my term marking done (yay!) and just have three sets of exams to go (two still to be written).  Then I'll do my report cards and the academic portion of this school year will be over.  I've got the next three days to do that.

On top of that, I need to buy a pair of blingy earrings to go with my bridesmaid's ensemble, get my fingers and toes done, and pack my bag to head to Stratford on Friday night.  My friend Wendy's wedding is on Saturday, so that will be a crazy day.

I'm back in Toronto late on Sunday night, and then it's into my last week of work.  I will have mainly cleaning to do, so not that bad.  However, I have a lot of fun stuff to do on top of the year-end clean.

Monday - an author I really like, Jennifer Weiner, will be signing copies of her new book at the Indigo at Bay/Bloor.  I am going to go to that.

Tuesday - year-end student council party, then the Jays' game in the evening in celebration of my pal Mathew's birthday.

Wednesday - graduation brunch, then pool party at my friend Nadine's

Thursday - graduation.  Always a long night.

Friday - LAST DAY!  Then, night out with colleagues.

However, I have very little planned past that. Which makes me happy.  I need to to a clean-eating cleanse and get back into a regular workout routine.  I've had a bad June, but summer will give me a great opportunity to reset my fitness goals.

**I feel like this blog post is more of a reminder to myself of what I need to do over the next week-and-a-half than anything.**

Lazy Weekend.

I did a little bit of socializing this weekend, and went to see Maleficent which I loved.  But other than that, my weekend was filled with marking, with reading breaks in between sets.   (I'll confess: the reading breaks were probably longer than the working times.)

Back to the movie.  Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty was my favourite villain as a child.  I was super excited when I heard they were making a movie about her.  I think they did a really great job.  Angelina Jolie is superb, and I liked the story.  Perhaps the reason I liked Maleficent as a child was because I knew there was a backstory.  Kudos to the writer.  Also, I believe that this generation of little girls is being better served by fairy tale movies (Frozen is another example).  Instead of romantic love being the thing that conquers all (and let's face it, it's usually love-at-first-sight based upon appearances), it's a deeper kind of non-romantic love that's saving the day nowadays.  Thumbs up.

When I got home from the movie, I spent some time watching clips of the classic Maleficent on YouTube.  I love when she says to her henchmen that they are a disgrace to the force of evil.



Seriously, I think I'm going to go see this movie again, because it's so visually stunning that it rocks on the big screen.

In other throwbacks to things I liked when I was younger, I just finished reading the latest Stephen King novel.  In the past few years, I've really come to appreciate King as a writer.  His latest, Mr. Mercedes, is a page-turner, but I feel that his best work is done when he writes plots set in the 50s/60s/70s.  Some of the dialogue he uses in a contemporary setting feels a little bit off.

Sadly, my lazy weekend has come to an end, and it's back to school.  Ten more days of work though, so I can't complain one bit.

Sigh of relief.

And my expectations were exceeded.  Thank goodness we won't have to ride the provincial election roller-coaster again for four years, and an education-friendly party was elected.

Goodbye Tim Hudak.  You've created at least one job: leader of the Ontario PC party.

Nighttime/Anytime (It's Alright)

Six nights out in a row.

Good times, but I'm tired.

As I walked home tonight in the warm weather in my new turquoise wedge shoes from an open-bar year-end celebration sponsored by my union, I thought about how you know, I'm 34 and kind of a mess somedays, but I like my mess, and I'm making a difference in the world and that's okay.  And I have the best group of friends that anyone could ask for, and that's the best.

Hazy, like a Tokyo summer.

Why did I wait so long to get the album Thrash Rock Legacy by Canadian supergroup The Mounties, which consists of my beloved Hawksley Workman, Hot Hot Heat's Steve Bays, and Limblifter's Ryan Dahle??  I loved the song they released last year (Headphones), so why I didn't grab their album when it was released in March is beyond me.

But, I righted that wrong this week, and I'm loving it.  I think Tokyo Summer is going to be my summer jam.



I'm feeling like I'm getting life a little bit under control.  I've been tackling my marking pile and have all of my exams written.  Last night I had a "CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!" evening and I feel better about my clean apartment.  I got to take my new vacuum cleaner for a spin, which made me feel old to be excited about a new vacuum cleaner.

Right now I'm watching the Jays vs. Tigers game and then I'm going to go to bed early.  That's how I roll these days.

And you all want the the lovely music to save your lives.

1) I booked all of my train tickets (Prague -> Vienna -> Munich -> Brussels -> London) and all of my hotels the other night.  Now just to start researching what to do in all of these cities.

2) On Friday, I was feeling the need to just stay in and do nothing.  So I did.  And I treated myself to watching some really awesome (in the bad way) television.  If you were a girl growing up in the 80s/90s, chance are the first sex you ever encountered in literature (I use the term loosely) was in V.C. Andrews novels.  I know it was for me.  Well, actually I read about sex first in the novel Spike based on Degrassi Junior High.  But there was much more detail and creepiness in V.C.  (Not that all sex is creepy... Just V.C. Andrews incestuous sex.)

Lifetime made two TV movies based on the first V.C. Andrews series, Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind, and I watched them both on Friday and holy heck did I enjoy them in a "goodness this is so bad and so wrong and so creepy and so good" way.  The last half hour Petals on the Wind is LEGENDARY.  I don't want to leave any spoilers, but man I will never look at donuts in the same way again.  Also Heather Graham plays the awful mother, and Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn is the evil grandmother.

3) Saturday - went to Burlington/Hamilton for my friend Wendy's bachelorette party.  Pedicures, a sixteen-course Greek feast, and dancing at a country bar were the orders of the night.  And yes, if you take me to a country bar, the only way I can deal is by ordering doubles all night.

4) Today - Jays game!  After two losses, my boys are back on track.  I'm happy and a little bit red from the sun.

5) Tonight - a little bit of marking and a lot of procrastinating.  I'm overwhelmed by life, and I have a bad habit of DOING NOTHING when that happens.  Tomorrow will be productive, I swear.

This week is going to be demanding work/life-wise, and I have a really fun weekend coming up.  Pre-weekend, I'm going to see Sloan play at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  Friday night, my pal Vern is coming down to join to me to see THE BATTLE OF THE BIRDS (Jays vs. Cardinals) at the Skydome.  On Saturday, I'm picking up my pal Matt from Winnipeg at the airport and it's Field Trip weekend for us!

Good times ahead.  Hope there are good times ahead for you too.  :)