I’ve moved to a new space!!
I needed an update guys. I’ve been having a blast coming up with an all new look and name! Please come on by.
Thank you for all your support over the years. Love to you, readers.
This post speaks to me today. Any one else? Check it out!
I found this on PicktheBrain.com and I am a true believer of these 10 suggestions. Few examples: 1. I will be the first to tell you I have the HARDEST time getting ready everyday. But when I do, I feel 110% better, more confident, and more alert. 2. In college, the only way I could get through a class was to sit in the front row. I felt more confident about the subject and in my relationships with my professors. 3. Speaking up in school and at work has built my confidence tremendously. No, I was not always right… I had wrong answers a lot of the time. But most professors will say “yes… but…” to lessen the blow. hehe This also gets my mind going, constantly thinking of ways I can contribute. And my favorite piece of advice: Compliment others. “By looking for the best in others, you indirectly…
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I’m broke so I’m shopping with my mind.
This is what I’d buy if I had two dirty green bills to rub together. Well, I have some pennies saved up, but I’m talking about money that doesn’t have “tax man” or “insurance payment” written all over it. Instead of going to the mall and making myself miserable in public about how I can’t afford any of these nice things, I thought I’d make myself sad in the comfort of my own home. I’m going to call this the “winter blues” edition of “Shopping with my mind”. It’s cold and grey in my neck of the woods. I feel like buying fun things makes winter go by faster, right? Also, I’d like to point out, that I couldn’t actually wear this cape coat or those rubber boots here right now. It’s too cold. I’m a baby and I wear parkas; zipped up with a hood and scarf wrapped around my neck. This is for “fashion winter”. That’ll hit these parts in about 2 months or so. Oh god.. winter.. blues.. send help.
1. Lately, all I want to wear is stretchy, skinny, dark jeans and comfy t-shirts. I also love stripes. I love wearing as many types of stripes as possible all at the same time. I have a white and black striped scarf I would wear with this here shirt.
2. Red. Hunters. Come on. I WILL own these one day. I love Hunters. They are classic.
3. I had a crappy version of this bag and when I was in NYC, the first day, the strap just snapped. Like as I was strutting down the street mentally high fiving myself for looking awesome in NYC, it just fell on the ground. I actually thought I was being mugged or something. New York wanted me to buy a new bag. It wasn’t my fault. This bag is way prettier than my old crappy one.
4. I have had my eye on these Steve Madden boots for some time. Classy, classic, low heeled. I need a pair of black boots because I already have 2 pairs of brown boots and NO BLACK ones! What? I know, useless right?
5. The cape coat. I love this coat. I want to live in a place where winter is merely a fashion suggestion. Hey, girls, it’s like not t-shirt weather, why don’t you sport a sassy cape and pretend it’s winter out? Ok!! PS- Canada didn’t get that memo. I still want it.
What are you loving these days? Want to come on a mental shopping trip with me?
Christmas Recap.
1. Tried to channel Chelsea‘s wonderfully creative nail stylings this Christmas. Looked great for less than 24 hours then it all chipped or peeled off. Can’t say I didn’t try.
2. Little brother, myself, and dad at Nathan Phillips Square for the New Year’s Eve countdown! Lots of family fun this holiday. It was lovely.
3. My new cousin Jessica. She’s the girlfriend of my older Aussie cousin Ryan. They all came and stayed with us this holiday.
4. Cracked out the heavy duty boots for some tobogganing. They’re cute, and heavy as sh*t.
5. Pretty proud of the tree this year. I took a lot of time adding ribbon and bow details this season and it paid off with more depth and texture than usual. I looked forward to turning the lights on every evening. I wish we could have white lights up around the house all year long.
“You want to work here? Close”.
So this speech from Glengarry Glen Ross was brought to my attention by this article. I think I just felt my whole world view shift.
It’s all about how the world owes you nothing. I’ve always heard this said about theatre and show business. “Show business owes you nothing. It will spit you out when it’s done with you”. But not about life. It’s all about when we say “I’m lonely/don’t have a boyfriend/don’t have the job I want/don’t make enough money” it really comes down to “I don’t have anything to offer that makes people need me around”. And it’s NOT about “I’m a nice person”. As the author says.. That’s the bare minimum people! It’s about things, skills, talents, that make people want to have you around. Because you give them what they need. We all need something. What can you give me? What do I bring to the table?
I live in world full of hopes and dreams. “Broadway dreams, Sawyer. We’ve all had ’em”.
But as my friends’ therapist said, “You can’t live in a world full of hopes and dreams”. I’ve translated that to mean, we can’t use them as currency in our lives. We can hope and dream the night away, but it doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t propel us forward. We have to DO things. We have to CREATE things. We have to work hard at improving the skills we have that people NEED. Otherwise, dreams mean nothing. All those quotes floating around the internet mean nothing as we stare at them on Pinterest and don’t act.
Wow, I’m all jazzed up.
I have been feeling so low. That’s the thing with this business (world?), when it’s up, you’ve never been higher, but the lows are crushing. And I’m low. Show’s over. No job. Living with my parents. But you know what? I can DO something. Anything. I can write this post. I can pick up my guitar. I can cook a nice meal. All these little things are helping to make me into a person with skills people need in life.
I know it’s not as simple as all this, but these points and the way they were laid out really resonated with me. I can sit around and be sad about my situation, or I can act. I can create. And I will.
Thank you for listening.
Do you get what I’m laying down here? Go read that article NOW!
42nd Street: Behind the Scenes.
This past summer taught me so much! I feel like I could write a hundred posts about all the lessons I learned. But before I go into all the details, I wanted to catch you guys up on the comings and goings of theatre life. Of how fun and off beat all the people I get to spend my days with are. The weird and wonderful things we get up to. So here goes!
We did a Gangnam Style video and it got like a ridiculous amount of hits. The guy who put the video together got invited to the Gangnam guys concert in Toronto. It was crazy!! The Artistic Director of the festival is in it as well as Peter Mansbridge!! Crazy!
Just your average intermission with crazy showgirls!
Stratford in the fall was so beautiful!
Just a knitting showgirl before we busted our butts in “We’re In the Money”. That number killed us every time!
Thanks for stopping by!
NYC so far..
I’m in NEW YORK CITY right now living it up and seeing shows! I auditioned for A Chorus line today, I’ll tell you that story later…
For now, here’s a small taste of what I’ve been up to!
Don’t miss the Moose.
loving having my little red car Tommy back in my life. Although he is very expensive to have around..
running around town getting ready for my NYC trip.
enjoying the mild “winter” weather in Ontario right now.
planning on making a plan for the rest of my life one of these days.. taking suggestions.
daydreaming about times gone by when things made more sense.
celebrating the fact that November is over (always the worst month if you ask me)
clearing cupboards and closets and drawers to make room for stuff that doesn’t fit.
driving to NYC with some girlfriends!
buying nothing. I put myself on a spending hiatus during November. It was tough.
trying to stay in the moment.
listening to podcasts like they’re going out of style!
sewing buttons on shirts to help out my mama.
appreciating every moment, easy or hard.
looking to the horizon. That’s all we can focus on for now, what’s on our horizon. We can’t plan ahead further than that, or we’ll miss the moose that’s right in front of us.
What I Ate.
Good Morning All!
This kind of post floats around the internet quite a lot, and mine is no different than all the rest. Except, that it’s mine! I had a request from a reader to show a day in the life of my stomach, so here it is. It was really fun for me as well to plate my food a little more carefully, and really contemplate what I was going to eat today. I would say, this is a pretty good day for me. A little more thought out and planned for than just an everyday “Oh god, eat something before I die of starvation/eat a huge bowl of popcorn because I’m bored” kind of day. Here goes!
Breakfast:
-I was heading out the door to go to 9:30 body pump so I had a small breakfast before hand. A piece of toast, natural peanut butter, a banana (half smashed on, half eaten on side) and a sprinkle of sea salt because it tastes amazing and I live dangerously. Also, coffee. Always coffee.
After Body Pump Snack:
-a protein smoothie with: 1 scoop protein powder (don’t love my brand otherwise I’d name it), strawberries, blueberries, a couple of banana slices, spinach, splash of orange juice, and filled up with water so it will blend. 
Lunch:
-this is a new go to of mine, the box of soup with add ins. I had a boring veggie soup, so I sauteed onions, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, and black beans in a pot then added the soup. It was a bit thick, so I added about 1/4 cup coconut milk to thin it out and make it creamy. I served it with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and pita (which I ended up eating with hummus too). This is a great way to enjoy a quick and healthy meal that’s not boring in the least! It’s a great middle ground between homemade and store bought options. No one can eat perfectly all the time. This is the type of compromise I don’t mind making!
Tea Time:
-organic stormy night from DAVID’S TEA with blue diamond almond coconut milk and an m&m cookie I made last night. The recipe is from HOW SWEET IT IS and it blew my mind. I highly recommend it.
Dinner Time: (PS- do you say ‘dinner’ or ‘supper’?)
-I was in a rush because I was off to the opening night of Miracle on 34th Street at The Grand Theatre. I made another go-t0, a pita pizza! Take a whole wheat pita, spoon on some pasta sauce, absolutely cover in veggies (spinach is a great option because it wilts to nothing, there was like 2 cups on this bad boy), then top with cheese and bake at 400F until it’s crispy and melty (about 10 minutes, watch it though, it’ll burn quickly). This fills me up and help me get in a lot of veggies when I don’t feel like eating a salad. Cut it like a pizza when you’re done and enjoy! There are infinite ways to personalize this, too. I once added a balsamic glaze! Using something like hummus instead of pasta sauce and feta on top! Dream it up and make a pizza out of it! Oh yeah, fruit on top is a good idea too, like apples. I want another pita pizza now…
Wine Time: (shouldn’t there be a time for wine, similar to tea time during every day? Thought so.)
-Just a beautiful glass of Cabernet Sauvignon by Jackson Triggs while watching a jazz trio waiting for the show to start. Small pleasures people.
I had a lovely time congratulating my lovely friends in the cast! Like Matt! He was in 42nd Street with me too. Isn’t he handsome? And that’s my friend Jen who saw the show with me! Although, she was in 42nd Street with me too! Reunion!
When I got home from the theatre, I was starving! So I made a bowl of air popped popcorn which I ate while watching TV shows and winding down. Did you guys know you can pop regular kernels of popcorn in the microwave in a paper lunch bag? It’s AMAZING. Coat 1/2 cup kernels in 1tsp oil in a bowl, pour into brown paper bag, fold over top, pop in microwave for about 2 minutes (watch it!) and enjoy! So easy, so cheap, feels like a treat to me but it’s not full of weird stuff like most microwave bags of popcorn, and I don’t have to ruin a pot every time I want popcorn on the stove! Love it!
For my own benefit, I plugged in my food to the “lose it” app on my phone to see where I was at (very roughly, of course).
Calories Eaten: 1,747
Calories Burned (in body pump, according to website): 429
Net Calories: 1,318
I find, for me, counting calories once in a while is a really useful trick! I followed weight watchers for a long time, and this kind of number game really works for me. I totally recommend the Lose It app on Iphone for on the go tracking (again, not daily). It even has a scanner to scan in barcodes from packaged products. Knowledge is power for me. I’ve been in the place where I stop paying attention and find myself 10 lbs heavier! That’s no fun.
Again, I want to stress that my eating patterns are a little all over the place depending on the day. This day was a pretty good one for me! Lots of veggies, protein, and fruits! Limited sugar, fried foods, or chips (they are my favourite thing in the world!).
Thanks for stopping by!
Are you going to try the pita pizza? Do you agree with a “wine time” similar to “tea time”? Do you track calories?
Pictures from my Birthday.
So this year, I celebrated for about a month. All of October. This particular celebration above actually happened in September because it was the only time I could get all my high school girlfriends together any time around my birthday! It was a big deal! I haven’t been around for a birthday in years! And this was a big one. Thank you to all the lovely ladies who danced their faces off with my all night!
The Best Things Happen ... while you're dancing 