Nuit Blanche In Toronto

How cool is this!

Think it would fly in Ottawa? I can't make it to Toronto this weekend; maybe I'll try to catch it in Montreal sometime, or maybe in Paris. :)

Never Too Old For A Care Package

Mom & Dad are here. The apartment's looking great. I got all of my cleaning done except for the dreaded tub, but that's ok. They're staying at my sister's so they won't be seeing it.

Mom brought Sis and I each a care package. I just unpacked mine, here's the final inventory:

• 1 pack of green pepper seeds, 1 pack of heirloom tomato seeds and 3 heirloom tomatoes, all harvested from Mom & Dad's garden
• 2 bottles of homemade apple jelly
• 1 bottle of homemade apple sauce
• 1 bottle of homemade chili sauce
• 1 big tin of homemade chocolate chip cookies
• 1 container of Grenache caramel spread

I'm giddy. I skipped with joy as I opened each preciously wrapped item, savouring the surprise of its content. I don't care how old I am, I don't think I'll ever be too old for a care package!

How To Make Housecleaning Fun

1. Crank some tunes.

2. Wear comfortable shoes.

3. Wear a baby pink bob wig.

I finally found a baby pink bob cut wig! I've wanted one ever since I saw Scarlett Johansson's in Lost In Translation. I picked it up yesterday at the Goth store at the Rideau Centre. OK so I'm no Scarlett, but I couldn't stop grinning as I walked home. I kept thinking "I have a pink wig in my bag and nobody knows."

Cool.

Vacuuming Woes

My parents are visiting this weekend, which puts me into pre-parental visit cleaning mode. I've devised a strategy called At-Least-One-Focus-A-Day to get me through the week without feeling frazzled by the amount of cleaning that needs to be done. I've grouped the work into 4 major categories, leaving myself free Friday for miscellaneous loose ends. Today was vacuuming and dusting.

I've determined that I hate vacuuming - with a passion.

My day was going well until I engaged in the Battle Against The Dustbunnies. First of all, I think my vacuum has suction problems. Compound that with the amount of crap that's still sitting on the floor since the move and the record rate at which the dustbunnies are reproducing, and I'm afraid it's a battle I'm unable to win. Maybe getting my vacuum checked would help, maybe getting my stuff off the floor would too, or maybe something even greater would help alleviate my vacuuming woes: getting someone else to do it.

A Clean Office

"You have a nice table here that I've never seen before. And your desktop, it's glass ... it's tempered glass!"

"It's always been glass. You knew my desk was glass."

"No, I didn't."

"Hm."

My friend, who's been coming here since the spring, was pretty impressed when he saw my newly neatened up office for the first time. Since I've moved in 8 months ago, my office has been the apartment dumping ground for wayward objects that didn't have a home. Just this past Monday, Mom was asking if I identified the trail from the door to my computer with little orange ribbons, bushwhacking my way through to my desk. Well Mom, not anymore. The orange ribbons are gone!

Although there's still a lot of work to do, with the help of my sister, now I can see my floor, my work table, and my tempered glass desktop. I feel I can breathe; I can think clearly. THANK YOU Sis for helping me tackle the seemingly insurmountable task of cleaning up my creative space. It feels good.

Urban Vibe On A Friday Afternoon

I just got back from my usual coffee shop / bakery / flower shop run. I spent over an hour leisurely sipping my coffee, people watching, taking in the urban vibe surrounding me. I hadn't done that in way too long. It felt good. I'll have to do it again soon.

A Definition Of Soul Mate

I'd redefined it myself a while back, but I stumbled upon this description last night and it struck me. It's in the form of dialogue - counsel to a friend who's having trouble letting go of a past relationship:

"A true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. ... (His) purpose was to shake you up ... tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life."

...

"But I miss him."

"So miss him ... then drop it."

"So how long will it be before all this grieving passes?"

"You want an exact date?"

"Yes."

"Somethin' you can circle on your calendar?"

"Yes."

"Lemme tell you something ... you got some serious control issues."

- from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

A Few Fall Comforts

In my last post, given my strong association of the fall and country living, I posed the question: How do I reconcile the fall and urban living to make new memories, but allow myself to enjoy familiar comforts that have been there since childhood? Here are a few ways I've done so in the past few days ...

• took a walk along the Canal to breathe in the fresh, crisp air
• went to the Green Door restaurant for the ultimate in vegetarian comfort food and warm ambience; my shoulders drop by about an inch as soon as I walk in the door
• browsed Singing Pebble bookshop for books to curl up with on a cool autumn evening
• walked to my local grocer to pick up necessary fixin's for a homemade barley and vegetable soup
• invited a girlfriend over to share said soup and gabbed while enjoying chocolate dessert and a steaming cup of herbal tea

Voilà. A few fall comforts I managed to fit into my urban lifestyle since my last post. It's not a full reconciliation, but I think I'm off to a good start.

City Life In The Fall?

The fall is my favourite time of year. I love the crisp air, the beautiful September moon, the colours. Unfortunately, right now it's laden with memories from the past that make me sad. I miss my home in the country. I miss the fall harvest, the smell of woodstove fires, the cries of hundreds of Canada geese flying south, piercing the stillness.

So the question is ... how do I enjoy the time of year I've always associated with the country, in the city? How do I reconcile the fall and urban living to make new memories, but allow myself to enjoy familiar comforts that have been there since childhood? Good question. I'll have to mull that one over.

Stratford And Small Worlds

I'm back from a fun weekend road trip to Stratford, Ontario with a friend of mine, to see the Tragically Hip for the first time. We had a great time, great travelling weather and except for the cold, we spent a gorgeous September night rockin' to the Hip at the Stratford fairgrounds with 25000 other fans.

As if that wasn't enough, I had a bonus small world encounter happen to me at the concert ...

As I juggled two plastic cups full of beer, trying to steady my shivering hands to stop it from sloshing all about, I noticed that the folks in front of me were speaking French. I found this unusual, being in Southwestern Ontario in a town that seemed so far from any francophone community. I asked them where they were from. Turns out they were a bunch of Acadians from New Brunswick who work in the Toronto area! One guy was from a village about 20 minutes away from my hometown! How cool is that?

Crisp September fun and meeting up with fellow Acadians in Stratford, Ontario. All & all, another cool weekend spent!

A Weekend Of Wonders

I stole this post title from my sister. Check out her post of September 6th describing this past weekend at Mom & Dad's. I don't think I could've described it better myself. A weekend of wonders indeed.

Thanks Sis!

Memories Of The Heart

This past weekend I heard the term Memories Of The Heart or in French, "Souvenirs du coeur", for the first time. My interpretation? These are special memories that are not only etched in our heads but in our hearts, to be remembered and felt for a long time; I suppose they could be good or bad.

The past few days spent at home in New Brunswick have been full of them: memories from my childhood, memories from my not so distant past, memories in the making. Sad memories, happy memories. It's almost overwhelming.

The weekend was a trip to a sometimes difficult, sometimes soothing past, sprinkled with precious moments lived in the present, and happy thoughts towards the future. I'd love to share some of it with you, but I don't even know where to start. I thought a good place might be an introduction to Memories Of The Heart.