the joy and freedom of facebook and twitter

have been stripped. have been taken. have been blocked from the office.  i knew the day would come.  i just knew it. what’s next? i’ve still got myspace but i don’t like myspace. i want my twitter and facebook back. it’s not as fun on mobile.  my new blackberry flip has the short keyboard not the qwerty. i miss tweetdeck.  i miss the computer that went missing and the one that crashed. i miss my old blackberry that jumped off the balcony. my camera battery is dead right now and i couldn’t take any pix on my lunch ride. i want to ride on my bike all day. it’s really hot and lovely outside. had a good meeting last night and then went to the rhino for dinner. stayed at a friends house and wore the same dress to work. total skid. getting my hair done tonight thank god. i want it to be nice and fresh for Pride. new shave.  friend rented a limo to come to the city on sunday for the parade and we’re gonna cruise. god, the weekend can not get here soon enough.

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story: twitter saved the day

I recently tweeted a message asking if anyone knew someone at HP because I had a complaint to lodge. I was ready to rage. Several minutes after my message was out in the world I got an email from someone at HP who is in charge of client relations and prompted me to contact them to state my case.We had purchased a $300 HP scanner that would not work with Vista and wasn’t what we needed. Plain & simple. I waited on the phone for an hour once before getting cut off, 3 weeks passed before I could find the time to ring them again. When I did, the CSR said we couldn’t return itfor an upgrade or different model (past 30 days). She did tell me HP had a program coming out in a few months where I could return it so I would just have to wait. I was like WTF? Are you serious? Well, through some magic and my charm, HP sent a waybill and took our scanner back and now we have a new one that is about $200 more, without paying any extra or shipping. It can scan a ton of pages on auto and is much quieter. It has a special add on thingy to scan negatives too. My rep at HP is named Carl and he is very nice and helpfull. Nice one Carrrrrrrrrrrllll! Thanks HP!

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guess who’s now following me on twitter?

My homeboy Barry Obama!! Once I got this I sent him a message. I wonder is he, or his ‘Twitter updater” will message me back. That would be a dream. Maybe Barack Obama updates his own Twitter and he really is made up of all the wonderful that I think he is. ♥ I’ll stick with that positive mindset.

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She Does The City: Taking The Plunge

Over the holidays I was interviewed by Jen McNeely, founder of She Does The City about cold water therapy. If you’ve been here a while, or follow me on Instagram, you’ll know I’ve been dipping myself into cold water for the last couple of years. It started at the cottage just before the pandemic and when we lived up there in 2020, I really got into it. Check out my interview here.  I’ve got my galvanized stock tank set up on the roof at home and go in it 3-4 times a week, usually after my run and before a shower. I need to get some new lights set up for night dips. If you’re interested in taking a guided dip, check out Unbounded Well or Othership. See my past posts on cold water therapy here. Use this link for a $10 credit at Unbounded in the Stackt Market. Their outdoor experience has cold plunge wells, Scandinavian saunas, a geodesic breathwork studio, and bonfire lounges. It’s great! I’ll be there in the evening on January 18th if you want to join. 😁

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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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Collision Conference 2022

I went to Collision Conference 2022 and it was great! I’d been once 2019 and after two years of a pandemic, it was nice to be in a conference environment. There were 35,000 attendees and 600 speakers over three days + events and more. I shared some tweets from the conference on our @FundayAgency account and soaked up as much marketing knowledge as I could. One of my fav things was the TikTok booth, they had a 360 photo op. I loved it. See the video on Instagram. Nelson and I attended a few sessions in the afternoon and walked the conference floor. Some of my favourite talks were Global Marketing Trends, What’s in for Gen Z This Season, Censorship in the Era of Misinformation, and the Future of Journalism. Also met TikTok & Instagram superstar, Bruce, aka @falafel.kimchi. On Wednesday night Nadia went to the Collision After Dark party at Stackt Market. It was super fun. On Thursday, to close out the conference, Nelson and I did four episodes of Cast of Creators, our new podcast. The first ep we did there was with Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace. We talked about web3, NFTs, connecting with his fans and more. Collision is back in Toronto next year and if you can make it I highly recommend checking it out. I’m thinking about going to their next conference, Web Summit in Lisbon. In other news, making our show is super fun! I can’t wait to share the first three episodes of Cast of Creators with you on July 20th. We have really laughed and had some seriously good conversations.

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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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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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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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Back on My Morning Routine

I’ve been back on my morning routine this week and it feels so good. Running first thing in the morning is an incredible way to start the day! I set out my running gear before bed so I can roll out at 7 am jump into my clothes, grab my AirPods, and hit the road. This week has been kinda cold but once you get moving it’s super refreshing. I love running to the south end of the West Toronto Rail Path and seeing the sun come up over Dundas West. It blows my mind that I’ve been running consistently for over two years. I started on Daylight Savings in 2019 and I’m extremely thankful for starting this habit before the pandemic hit. I feel like it saved my sanity through those hard months. Let this be a reminder, it’s never too late to start a new habit. It’s also ok to skip a day, think long term, consistency is key! In other news, I’ve been listening to Will Smith’s new book on Audible and it’s great, raw, real, honest. After seeing him on tv and in movies for so long, it’s nice to hear him tell stories about his own life. Highly recommend! I enjoy listening to audiobooks on my runs because when I feel like taking a break or slowing down, the words keep me going. Some other celebrity memoirs I’ve enjoyed on Audible are by Mariah Carey, Matthew McConaughey, and Jessica Simpson. Happy listening, reading, or running!

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Day 607: Burn So Brightly

My order from Zara arrived and I’m so happy w/ my latest finds in the kid’s section.? Both this sweater and bright pink jacket are kids 11/12! My post from November 2020 came up in my Twitter memories today, posted a Moonomens IG on that day too. Saw this post by GFDA today and absolutely love following their account, good advice, always. “Burn so brightly that you catch the world on fire”

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Day 565: Sending You Flowers

I’ve developed a slight obsession with colourful cardigans and cute collars. Looking forward to switching over my closet this weekend and rediscovering fall/winter clothes. It’s been a pretty great summer, spent lots of time at the cottage, biking through the city, and meeting friends outside. I was reading an article this week about ‘cave syndrome’ that people are developing after bring home for so long. I’ve really learned to love being at the house and have no shortage of things to keep me busy. I don’t imagine I’ll be doing much over the next few months and tbh, not mad about it. I used to be out soooo much and can’t imagine going back to that life. I feel so much more at peace without the pressure to go places with people. I make time to see the people I care about and that’s about it. I do have a couple of events coming up but nothing like the large in-person events we used to frequent. Here’s to finding personal peace through this crazy time! Sending you flowers!

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Day 554: An Engagement

Got dressed up and went over to Brock & Lauren’s after work. He did a surprise proposal! I’m so excited for two of my BFFs to be getting married! They’re so great together, congrats guys! Sean and I also attended the TIFF premiere of the Triumph film ‘Rock & Roll Machine’. It was nice to be out for an event but to be honest, it was also weird. I’m so not used to being inside an event venue with a large group. Didn’t stay long and went back over to celebrate with Lauren & Brock. Lauren asked me to be her Maid of Honor. I’ve never been involved in planning a wedding before. Ahhhhh! Blondetourage wedding ftw!

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Day 450: I GOT VACCINATED!

Don’t say it..don’t say it…VAX GIRL SUMMER! ☀️ I’M SO HAPPY! I GOT VACCINATED! Sean gave me a tip from Vaccine Hunters that there was a pop-up clinic near at Harbord Collegiate offering the first dose of Pfizer today so I biked over soon as I could. If you are looking to get your first or second dose, check out the @vaxhunterscan account on Twitter, they’re posting vaccination clinics all across the country. I just really want to go somewhere ✈️, hug my parents, have friends to the house, and for this all to be overrrrrrr. Y’know?! ?✌️ One step closer to getting back to some kind of normal.

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