History Revealed: Augmented-Reality Art + Ancestry

Had such a lovely night last week for the opening of History Revealed, an augmented reality art exhibit that runs till November 11th. Scroll down for ticket details! I saw so many faces I hadn’t seen in ages! This magical moment when I saw Maria was caught by the photographer. I think we screamed and hugged with joy for 30-seconds. We’ve been friends for ages, since before the burlesque era. History Revealed: A Unique Gallery Experience Presented by Anestry.ca, the exhibit shows the works of Canadian wartime artist Molly Lamb Bobak. At just 25, she was the first and only woman to be appointed as an official Canadian war artist. When you walk in, it appears the picture frames are empty, but through the iPads & headphones, the photos come alive and are accompanied by audio stories. The free exhibit runs until Friday, November 11th. Book an appointment to see it here. As part of the opening night, we had portraits taken by George Pimentel. All photos by George Pimentel except my mirror selfies. 😁 Thank you to the team at Coveted Co. for the invite!

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Mean Girls The Musical

My sister and I went to see Mean Girls the musical last week and IT WAS SO FUN. Cute show. Good music. A bit different from the movie but entertaining! Jenie and I got fully dressed up in pink outfits. Getting ready was super fun and we did car karaoke to Taylor Swift on the Uber ride. Was kinda surprised to see most people were NOT wearing pink but tbh that didn’t bother me, I love wearing a statement look! Mean Girls runs until November 27th at The Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. Get tickets here!! Direct from Broadway, Mean Girls is the hilarious hit musical from an award-winning creative team, including book writer Tina Fey (30 Rock), composer Jeff Richmond (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde), director Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon), and producer/proud Torontonian Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live).

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Halloween 2022: Witchy Woman

This year’s Halloween was pretty chill, although I wore a witch costume almost everywhere I went from Friday to Monday. She’s a witchy woman! On Friday night Sean and I were at his office and saw there was a show at Velvet Underground. It turned out to be TikTok star Akintoye and he was INCREDIBLE. Next, we stopped by Baby G on Dundas and saw Fluffio, I hadn’t heard of them but they were GREAT. On Saturday, we took a family adventure to the Parkdale Spooky Market which was fun. The sun was shining and it was SO WARM OUT. We picked up a few things then I walked home. On Monday, I dressed up for our all-hands meeting and wore a family heirloom, this scary old lady mask my dad used to wear to take us trick or treating. It’s a classic with my friends and we always laugh at it. Was fun to see how many people dressed up for the meeting this year! Our Funday office in Armenia carved pumpkins and I ran polls to guess who did each one. I did not get wild on actual Halloween, went to my fav class at the gym, and wore my fav Valfre outfit. Look at me, a workout witch! Abs are coming in! I was really slack with my workouts this summer, feels good to be back on my game. That’s a wrap on Spooky Season 2022, time for Christmas music!

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Blogtober: Find Comfort in Keeping a Diary

I really wish I had thought of this BEFORE the END of October. I know Blogtober is a thing but I had totally forgotten about it until right now. I’m listening to Taylor Swift, in my dimly lit room, surrounded by plants, looking through photos to share, browsing pottery classes, and other winter activities. It’s glorious. The last few weeks months have been weird. I guess everything has been weird since 2020. I haven’t written here much lately but I started writing in a notebook again. Have filled so many notebooks in my life and each is s time capsule, a treasure to find and relive. In high school, I used to document the highlights of each day by writing on my calendar. Blogs weren’t invented yet. In other news, I’ve been enjoying the fall weather, layering, light jackets, mixed prints. This office mirror is a great selfie spot. I’ve taken a lot of photos here. FYI: Blogtober is a blogging challenge for the month of October where bloggers blog every day or blog once a week. For some people, it’s more of a ‘Get Back to Blogging‘ thing and well, that’s where I am. I have been blogging for 17 years. It’s a habit, a hobby, a passion, a business, this is my life (haha! Blog joke). Diary blogs are where it all started, the early days of blogging. Lauren and became friends through our blogs. We talked about it on the podcast recently. When I haven’t blogged in a while, it makes me anxious. I like to sit alone in peace at my computer. I find comfort in keeping a diary of what I’m doing. Each blog post is like a balance sheet for a moment in my life. I guess you could say I’m going, going, back,…

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Friendship Like This is a Magical Thing

Met up with Carmela for a much overdue catch-up. We met in high school and were the best of friends. One summer she spent almost the entire 2 months at my house. We danced, had parties, and got up to some mischief haha. The last time we hung out was about 20 years ago but as soon as we saw each other it was like we never missed a day. Both of us recently got a jumpsuit from Zara kids so we wore them to match, just like old times! Friendship like this is a magical thing. We literally laughed together from the moment we got there to the moment we left. It was nice out so we walked home and I got to see where she lives. LOVE YOU CARMELA!

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Ok, I Like It, Picasso

The weather has been kinda nice and that makes me happy. Can finally wear cute outfits & transitional coats. Totally forgot about this stunning pearl duster jacket I got in New Zealand a few years ago. Had a pretty good week. Spent Thursday/Friday at the Hvr office and Nelson and I are really getting things together for the podcast. I can’t wait to start recording! Shoutout to Flow Water for sending over a case in honour of earth month. Flow has saved 150+ million plastic bottles from entering the environment and they’re focused on replacing plastic bottles with mostly renewable-resource-based, recyclable cartons. NICE WORK. GREAT WATER. Saw this on my commute to the office, ok I like it, Picasso.

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Gladstone House Opening 2022

Last month, I attended the opening of Gladstone House after their huge renovation. The space looks amazing! I’ve been going to the Gladstone for the last decade and it holds a lot of great memories for me. Their last reno was in 2011 and I blogged about it here. It was great to see so many friends and familiar faces. Hadn’t seen some of those people in 2 years! Can’t wait to go back. Thank you Rockit for the invite! It was heaps of fun Lauren and I sang karaoke w/ Tim’s Good Enough Karaoke Band! If you haven’t been to an event w/ them I highly recommend it. After spending the last two years in a pandemic, it’s nice to go out to events again. Even though things are still not entirely back to before pandemic times, it’s nice to have somewhat of a normal experience. I’ve missed going out and being around people. I GET SO EXCITED. Have a few events coming up this week so stay tuned for fun times!

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Bingo Babes!

The other night Natalie and I went to Delta Bingo, it was FUN. We dressed up cute and got to the Friday night game starting at 7 pm. I hadn’t gone to Bingo since I was a teenager with my dad. Neither of us won anything and tbh we weren’t taking it too seriously. We ate a lot of snacks and laughed pretty much the whole time. At one point, a very serious lady player came over to tell us the tricks of the trade. I think she was annoyed at how much fun we were having. Would deff go back again with a few more friends. Hopefully we’ll get lucky! Bingo babes ftw.

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Warmer Weather & All The Things

After what felt like the longest winter ever, spring has finally arrived! I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited for sunny days, warmer weather & all the things that come with this time of year. It’s just over a month until my birthday and this year is a big one. 🎉 One of my favourite things about spring is that it’s a time for new beginnings. Everything feels fresh and new and there’s always so much to look forward to. I love seeing the trees and flowers start to bloom and the days getting longer. It’s a reminder that no matter how dark and cold things may get, there’s always the promise of better days ahead. In other news I’m going to Bingo on Friday so picked up a couple of dotters for myself and a friend. I haven’t gone since I was a teenager with dad and tbh I am so excited. I’m 100 now. It was so nice to be at the office today. I love a good IRL LOL. Requested a full-length mirror for the podcast Studio and Nelson delivered! Sometimes I can’t believe my life is real, sometimes when I look back at the day, It feels like a dream.

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Find Your Calm

There’s something so peaceful about being up north in the winter. You can stand on the lake and listen to the ice move. The cold air is so refreshing. Easy to find your calm. We drove up on Thursday and worked from the cottage Friday. It was the first day in a while that I didn’t close the rings on my Apple Watch but, f*ck it, I earned a break. On Saturday, I shovelled snow, played Nintendo, ate snacks, and finished watching Pieces of Her on Netflix. Good show, Toni Collette is one of my fav actors and does a great job playing this role. Sunday was pretty warm and the top layer of the lake started to melt. I don’t expect the ice will go out until sometime in April. Our lake group usually makes bets on when it will fully melt. I haven’t made a prediction yet! Things I love: long walks on frozen lakes, the smell of a cold winter day, carrying wood to make a fire, and being at the cottage with you. Been on a pretty good track record with the Calm app. I usually do a sleep meditation or Sleep Story at night and the 10 min Daily Calm before I get out of bed. I think it’s helping with sleep and focus. Working hard to keep that calm in my life. Something you might not know about me is that I always check the wind speed. Every day I ask Alexa about the weather and then I ask her about the wind. If it’s over 10 km/h that means no wide brim hats. If it’s 15 km/h + in the summer I’ll opt for shorts instead of a dress. I don’t like running when the wind is +25+ km/h but I love the…

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She’s a Modern Bride!

Never really thought much about my own wedding but I’m super excited to be part of Lauren’s! ? Her and Brock are getting married this year so we went to the Modern Bride wedding show. Tbh not usually my kinda thing but as the official Maid of Honor, it’s my duty! The show had a bunch of vendors and we missed the fashion show but found the wine.? Loved all the photobooths. We can have a good time anywhere and the day was full of fun & laughs. It’s been ages since the four of us hung out!

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25 Days Till Spring

This week I’ve been pretty tired but knowing spring is coming gives me hope. Warmer days will be here in a few weeks and things will get better. We’ve all made sacrifices the past two years and my fingers are crossed that this summer will be different. ☀️ Sending out a little reminder that there are 25 days till spring. Another 25 days after that we’ll be mid-April and flowers will be blooming. Hang in there, we’ll get through this! ? ? ? ? ?

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The Best Is Yet To Come

On Friday I worked from the Hvr office in Yorkville. We’re gearing up for some very exciting things including a new podcast! Nelson and I are co-hosting with a bunch of amazing creators, brands, and business people. We spent part of the afternoon organizing the main office room for our new podcast studio and Nelson ordered all the gear. Also took my new bag from Spruce Vintage out for a spin, fits my computer and work stuff perfectly! ? If you’re not on Hvr yet, what are you waiting for? Hvr turns every webpage into a social space where you can chat with friends without leaving the browser app. Visit this link to download on iOS or Android and skip the waitlist while we’re still invite-only. Here’s an example of one of my posts in Hvr, when you’re on the app, you can comment on any page or post to share with friends. Fun. ? The last few weeks I’ve mostly been at home or the gym. It’s so nice to get dressed up, leave the house and work in an office. Looking forward to spending more time here as we set up the podcast and kick off PR. Idk if I’ve ever been so excited in my whole life. The best is yet to come! Weee!

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Hvr: Where Browsing Meets Social

Right before the pandemic hit, Sean and I spent a weekend hanging out with my good friend Talia and her husband Nelson. I’d met Nelson briefly in passing but we’d never really chatted. Once we got to talking, he shared what he was working on and we bonded over our thoughts about the web, publishing, and social. Nelson grew up in the publishing business as his family were co-owners of the Toronto Star. He and his brother Henry were building an app called Hvr that blends the features of browsing and social, bringing engagement back to websites. One of the first things he said was “We’re making browsing fun again” and from that moment, I was on board. As a long-time creator and publisher to the web, I’d never seen something so exciting! Since 2005 my blog has been my home base on the internet. As social media emerged in 2010, conversations moved to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, taking engagement with them and away from websites. Today, when I hit publish on a blog post, then copy-paste the URL from a browser to a social platform, people will talk about it there. This gives engagement to huge platforms but doesn’t do much for me as a creator or for my website. Fast forward to 2022, the web is changing, social media is just rented space, the best thing you can do as a creator is have a place you own online, a website. Introducing Hvr, Where Browsing Meets Social For the past year, I’ve been working closely with the Hvr team to develop the app by sharing my experience on the web and contributing to everything from design to copy and marketing. We’re changing the browsing experience by making it easy to follow your favourite sites, discover new content,…

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Focus Your Power

The title of this post is a reminder for myself as much, if not more, than anyone else. Focus your power. Believe in yourself. You can do hard things. A couple of weeks ago when I heard gyms were opening up I was keen to get back into one. I got an email with a 4-week special at a spot REALLY close to home so I went for it. To be honest, I was a ball of nervous anxiety before my first class. I didn’t know what to expect, what to wear? If it would be too hard if I would enjoy it. In about 5 minutes of being there, my anxiety was gone. I knew it was a good idea and I made a friend. This is my third week going and I love it. I never really knew how to work out, to use the machines. When I used to go to LA Fitness before the pandemic I did free weights & Nike Training app workouts + running. But NOW I’ve learned to LOVE squats and lifting heavier weights, using ALL the machines. I’m proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something different. I can’t wait for my next workout. ☀️ FOCUS YOUR POWER ☀️ Workout set by my friend! Check out Sasha Exeter x Joe Fresh!

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Winter Wander with Ease

I had such a great day on Saturday. Such a treat when the weekend rolls around and I have little to no plans. Love a Saturday winter wander, stopping into shops, taking in the sunshine, and letting my mind free. Started the day at Othership, my first visit the new sauna + ice bath spot on Adelaide. It was amazing. I’ve already booked to go back again and will share more about the experience in another post. After Othership, a friend and I had brunch at Oretta. It’s the first time I’d been for brunch since at least December 2019. I’m not really a ‘brunch girl‘ but we went for the special and paired our meal with coffee and a mimosa. It was lovely! I spent the next two hours casually walking home through Queen West and Dundas West, before hitting Junction Triangle. It was cold but sunny and I was happy as can be. The past two years have been hard but I’ve really found joy in little things like a nice long walk by myself. As the world starts to open up again, I vow to not get caught up in the rat race like I was. I’m looking for a simple kinda life.

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Cold Therapy Does a Body Good

This weekend Sean and I were up at the cottage. It was the first time I’d been up north since our getaway over the holidays. On Sunday we went to visit a friend on Lake Joe just north of Port Carling. Pat & Miranda have become cottage partners in crime for ice cold dips in the frozen lake. Don’t mess with a girl and chainsaw! ? Ok, ok, to be honest, I only carried it down to the lake (like Baby in Dirty Dancing with the watermelon), Sean is the real chainsaw king. Pat had a hole in the ice already but in 24 hours 2 inches of ice had formed. The boys made a nice fire beside our pool so we could warm up after going in. I know it seems crazy but I absolutely love cold therapy. I was never someone who liked winter but since we’ve started doing cold dips in the ice, I’ve learned to love it. I’m listing a few benefits but please note this is not medical advice, do your research and check with your doctor before you do it. Some Benefits of Cold Therapy Decreased inflammation Improved metabolism and weight loss Mental clarity Improved sleep Boost your immune system My other advice is to always do your dips with a friend. No ice is safe ice and your personal safety is the most important. For anyone following my adventures, I haven’t been able to use our stock tank in the city because the patio door has been frozen. Excited to get back out there soon tho!

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The Magic of Winter

I wasn’t sure if I was going up to the cottage this weekend because rumours of a snowstorm were floating around. Once Friday rolled around, the weather was clear so we headed north after work. Being in the city, I kinda forget how beautiful it is up north this time of year. The cold temps, snow, and ice embody such magic of winter. I love it. A decade ago I used to complain about the cold and count the days till spring, but now I look for joy no matter what the temperature. We went for a nice long walk on the frozen lake and had some fun with a purple smoke grenade. The cold air is so refreshing and the views were breathtaking. WITH LOVE FROM THE WOODS XO

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Bars Are Open Again: Hemingways!

Went for dinner with Erin & Natalie at Hemingway’s. Was nice to be out! I had fish & chips and it was kinda greasy (obvs) but I wanted something that reminded me of New Zealand. Wore a cute outfit and wasn’t out late. Sean picked me up at 8:30 and I got takeaway tacos. My last visit there was summer 2021 when bars opened after lockdown, Natalie and I had a ball of a time lol. If you’ve been reading my blog a long while you’ll know I used to work at Hemingway’s 10+ years ago. I love that place and all the New Zealand nostalgia. Always a good time!

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Plant Stores & Vintage Shopping

Cory and I made a date to go for a nice Saturday walk in the sun. It’s hard to stay positive with the compound stress of seasonal affective disorder, Covid, and general life anxiety, but seeing a friend and getting outside always makes me feel better. One great way to beat winter SAD is to plan a day with plant stores & vintage shopping. The Urban Gardener is my fav local plant shop, I swear just walking in there will boost your mood. It’s warm, green, and filled with beautiful growing plants. I picked up a new lil’ guy to bring home with a nice new planter pot for him to live in. Our next stop was Pictus Goods on Dupont which is filled with heaps of lovely goods for your home, candles, jewellery, and fresh flowers. Super cute shop! Highly recommend checking it out. They also have a GREAT selection of nice cards. Our third stop was a private shopping appointment at Nouveau Riche Vintage which DID NOT DISAPPOINT. Tbh, IDK if I have EVER seen such an incredible collection. They have heaps of items for sale including designer, denim, coats, and accessories. The best part for me was the exclusive rental section we got to check out that’s filled with the best outfits you can dream of. SO GOOD. I didn’t get anything but Cory scored a few goodies. I will deff be back there again!

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Keep Going

This week has been pretty good. I’ve been out running every day except Monday when we had a massive snowstorm. I find it really helps my mental health. I remind myself daily to KEEP GOING no matter how cold it is or if I’m tired. I miss going out and seeing people but I’ve also made new routines that include making nice dinners, taking better care of my skin, and going to bed early. On Sunday I met up with some friends for a hike around High Park, it was cold but refreshing. Didn’t realize there was a skating rink there! My skates are at the cottage and since I broke my collarbone a few years ago, my skating skills are not what they used to be. I’m scared of falling! Trying to not let the winter SAD get me down and am working at finding joy in little things. If you’re looking for some ideas to boost your mood, I wrote a few posts about beating winter SAD. Happy Friday & have a great weekend!

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There’s No Bad Weather

I’m a firm believer that there’s no bad weather if you have a good outfit. Not a lot going on here these days with the panini running the show, but that doesn’t mean you can’t treat the sidewalk like your runway. For most of the pandemic, I got up, got dressed and did my hair. Getting ready always makes me feel like I have my sh*t together, even when I don’t. These days I’m a little more lax on my WFH outfits but I still make an effort. Although we’re not doing much, I love putting on a cute outfit when I go for a ‘mental health’ walk. DAY OR NIGHT. Me and my outfits have deff brightened a few peoples days during this panorama, mostly senior citizens but I’ll take it. You have no idea the power of a great outfit until you put it on. Go for it. I solemnly swear that if you feel like garbage, putting on a whole look and going for a strut will brighten your day. Me and my outfits have deff brightened a few peoples days during this panorama, mostly senior citizens but I’ll take it. Advanced style! The bar for fashion is pretty low in a pandemic. Go for it, you literally have nothing to lose. When I need the motivation to pull it together and leave the house, this song always comes to mind. Do you know it? A Fatboy Slim jam from my party girl days “when they know what is what, but they don’t know what is what, they just strut, what the f*ck“. Works every time to get my ass in gear. Last weekend I walked down to meet a friend on Ossington and went to a winter garage sale. I didn’t buy anything but it was…

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