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!

Like this photo on Instagram!

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!

Press the Pause Button

I heard this quote in today’s ‘Daily Calm’ in the Calm app and it stuck with me. I got out of bed went right to my computer looked it up, found the author, and got his book on Audible. Finished my latest read yesterday and wasn’t sure what to read next but usually, when I least expect it, something happens to inspire my next read or listen.

“When you press the pause button on a machine, it stops. But when you press the pause button on human beings they start,” argues my friend and teacher Dov Seidman, CEO of LRN, which advises global businesses on ethics and leadership. “You start to reflect, you start to rethink your assumptions, you start to reimagine what is possible and, most importantly, you start to reconnect with”

― Thomas L. Friedman, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations

I’ve been working on more of a slow-living type of life and honestly, it’s bringing me so much joy. Exercise, more sleep, good food, less drinking, and lots of time with my thoughts. Slow living means going through your life in a more thoughtful, meaningful way. Before the pandemic, I was always on the go, for like, my entire life. That 2-year pause we all went through + living up north in the woods, taught me so much about myself. I am resilient, creative, and determined. I’m thankful for each day and there is so much happiness to be found in what you already have, who you are, and the people around you.

In other news, today I signed up for a course starting in January that I am so excited about. I’ll share what it is soon. If you can guess I’ll give you a prize.

Until then, leaving this thought with you, take a pause in your day: look at the sky, feel the rain, smile at a stranger, and appreciate the simple things. Change your attitude, change your life,

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, back to blogging.

Lol ok bye.

Ontario Voted Today

Ran for the first time in ages and I missed this feeling. Next, I got ready for the day and went to the polls just before they opened. I was the first person my elections attendant had for the day so there was a little learning curve but everyone was nice. Was back home in 30 min including the walk & wait time.

I’m excited about this week. We’re recording two exciting episodes of Cast of Creators and there’s a new episode out on Wednesday. We also have an Instagram for Funday now, follow @fundayagency.

In other news, John Tory is Mayor again.

Geary Art Crawl 2022

Went to the Geary Art Crawl with Sean this weekend.

Had a nice walk taking it all in.

Good vibe and cool things to buy/look at.

TIFF 2022: Twitter x The Woman King

I didn’t go to many TIFF events this year but I hate to miss a Twitter event! I had the day off from work to prepare for Lauren’s wedding so it worked out perfect that Twitter hosted a TIFF lunch that day for ‘The Woman King’.

It was a panel Q&A w/ Academy Award winner Viola Davis & the cast of the upcoming film. Joining Ms. Davis were four other stars of the film: Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega, & Sheila Atim. Leveraging the important themes from the film, this panel conversation was focused on celebrating Black women & how we can all #TakeUpSpace.

i can’t even begin to explain how powerful the conversation was. Twitter’s global director of culture and community God-is Rivera (@GodisRivera) was the moderator and TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey (@cameron_tiff) was also there to introduce the guests and give opening remarks.

After, I took a stroll with Natalie before going to Yorkville to pick up Lauren’s dress. Traffic was insane, it took me almost an hour to get from Yorkville to my place in Dundas West.

I look forward to seeing The Woman King in theatres., Find your local times here! Thank you Twitter Canada for another amazing event!