A Year Ago Today...

... I craved creative community and put it out to the Universe.

After writing that post last March, I reserved a few vacation days at work for a mystery creative retreat just in case something came up. A friend sent me a link to a workshop in Italy taught by Kelly Rae Roberts and Mati Rose McDonough, but alas Italy was too tall an order for me at the time.

A few months later I saw Andrea Scher's reminder for Squam on her Superhero blog and registered, not knowing what to expect. Not long after that I found out that Kelly Rae and Mati Rose would be speaking at the retreat.

Today I still connect with many of the creative women I met there.

Funny how things work out sometimes isn't it?

Grateful Saturday

I've many things to be grateful for today, but I thought I'd keep it focused on my Christmas trip home to New Brunswick. As I recounted my week to a colleague, he exclaimed, "It almost sounds idyllic!" In hindsight, I guess it almost was.

Here's my list:

• arriving to and from destination safe & sound
• Sis, Bro-in-Law and his mum arriving safe & sound
• witnessing a shooting star the morning of the Winter Solstice - feeling at one with All
• Mom's chocolate chip cookies, fricot (chicken & dumpling stew sans dumplings) and meat pies
• poutines râpées - a traditional Acadian Holiday treat
• Grenache caramel spread on my toasts EVERY morning
• crackling fires in the fireplace
• feeding the chickadees on my parents' deck
• communal crossword and jigsaw puzzles
• snowshoeing on Mom & Dad's 100-acre piece of land with D, and a bonus trek bushwhacking through the woods at our neighbouring National Park
• Holiday Inn, A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, The Chronicles of Narnia
• spending the week in one house with six other people, sharing meals, stories and space without cramping each other's individual style
• listening to the scratchy sounds of Gene Autry, Rosemary Clooney and Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas on Dad's record player in the basement
• sharing and laughing with D during the car ride there & back, listening to CBC Radio
• stopping one last night at Château Vaudreuil on the way back, treating ourselves to a suite with a jacuzzi after 11 hours in a car

So many things for which to be grateful - and there are even more that didn't make it here 'cause the list is already long! I am, and continue to be blessed.

Merry Merry

pole dancing Santa

It's five am and we're just about ready to leave for New Brunswick to spend Christmas at Mom & Dad's. It's special this year 'cause not only are we going, but so are Sis, Bro-in-Law and his Mom.

So now that we've packed our jingtinglers and stuffed our flimfongers, it's time to grab our hoohoobers and head out the door (with many apologies to Dr. Seuss)!

Sending you love, warmth and peace, wishing you a Merry Merry Christmas ...

Steph
xox

Saturday Gratefuls

I have so many things for which I am grateful this week. Here are a few ...

• my cozy home, slowly but surely getting decked out for the Holidays
• camping out on the sofabed in the living room last night with D and Cassie, falling asleep by the glow and sound of a crackling fire in the fireplace
• not one, but two Christmas/Winter trees!
• an evening of jazz presented by Ottawa's Impressions in Jazz Orchestra, inspired by a famous 1938 Benny Goodman concert at Carnegie Hall - I was so giddy when they performed Sing, Sing, Sing I thought I was going to burst!
• winning my very first blog giveaway at Wonderings and Wanderings (merci Jeanine!)
• dinner with a dear friend spent gabbing, giggling and pondering modern-day questions & quandaries
• a few good book finds at St. Vincent de Paul's thrift store
• tickets to tomorrow's reading of A Christmas Carol by local CBC personalities - set in a church and combined with a Christmas singalong it's a beautiful way to welcome the Holiday season

Blessed am I.

Birthday Wishes

(photo by Bonnie Findley, Ottawa)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!!!

Wishing you a great day - see you soon!

Steph
xox

Cocooning

I have many wonderful things to recount, special moments to re-savour and fun projects to start. There's apple sauce to be made, fall photos to be uploaded and words to piece together - but not tonight. Tonight I feel like cocooning. I feel like curling up with a stack of newly purchased magazines and a bowl of popcorn laden with melted butter.

So that's exactly what I'll do.

But before I go, I will leave you with a list of things for which I am grateful on this beautiful Thanksgiving weekend:

• sunshine, warmth and blue skies on a mid-October day
• a few days spent exploring the area with D - discovering new trails, stopping at our favourite cheese factory, playing with our cameras
• a stack of new magazines to savour
• the fresh, organic veggies we have delivered to our door every Friday
• my home
• the breathtaking oranges, yellows and reds that grace the landscape at this time of year
• my experience at Squam workshops - the women, the laughs, the connections, the support, the learning, the cabin, the sharing, the art, the space, the food, the giggles, the colour, the love, and so much more ...
• an amazing circle of friends and family
• Cassie and D

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Love Steph
xox

Cassie Love

Just 'cause ...

note: this one's with Auntie (?) Sheba, D.'s Mom's munchkindog

Birthdays and Silver Linings

For the past few days I've been feeling like the weather - dreary and grey. But today brought a silver lining: dinner for two at the Wellington Gastropub to celebrate D.'s birthday.

Bonne fête mon chéri! :)

A Catch-up Post

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since my last post!

The trip to New Brunswick has come and gone. A few highlights include (and there are too many to list here): gabbing with Sis for almost twelve hours on the way there, seeing a childhood friend who now lives in Calgary, DIGGING FRESH POTATOES FROM THE GARDEN, and singing in front of a mic for the first time in 18 years (this summer's Shanghai karaoke incident excepted).

I kid you not, I think digging up those potatoes, washing them and eating them less than an hour later made that trip (no offense Sis!).

The past week was spent gathering last-minute supplies for my workshops at Squam: acrylic paints, rubber stamps, various painting stuffs I've never seen or used before. I'm off to New Hampshire bright & early tomorrow morning. It should be fun!

On a less pleasant note, the past day and half was spent accompanying D. in and out of the emergency room and doctors' offices. Unfortunately he ran into some health issues, but thankfully with good and timely care treatment is under way. He should see improvements within a week.

Et voilà, the past two weeks in a nutshell.

I feel tired from running around and am worried about D. I feel nervous about Squam, but look forward to it too. To alleviate the swirl of emotions, I'm trying to take it one day at a time. Tonight, I sleep. Tomorrow morning, I grab my bags, my coffee, my maps & hit the road to New Hampshire.

I'll see you when I get back.

Inspiration

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
- Anne Frank

If she could believe it, couldn’t we?

On a side note, I’m leaving bright & early tomorrow for this year’s Sisters on the Road Trip to NB. For a third year in a row, we’re heading out to Mom & Dad’s for a weekend of music, fun, and good ol’ r&r. I look forward to it. See you when I get back!

Fun at the Shanghai

"Oooh we have a karaoke virgin people, be gentle. Be GEN-tullllll..."

And before I knew it I was looking out at a full restaurant belting out Rodgers and Hammerstein's Do, Re, Mi with Lala and China Doll. Oy. I should've known something would happen when Lala and I ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio instead of a glass of house white each.

To think that I had just been sharing with her that I've been feeling dull and boring lately, like I've lost my edge; that I've been wanting to recapture even a portion of that zest for life I had two years ago when I moved to Elgin Street and spent the summer expanding my comfort zone, trying out new things and letting loose for some fun.

Well last night took care of that.

Do, Re, Mi incident aside, my evening at the Shanghai restaurant was a hoot! The atmosphere was one of family, friends and merriment. The karaoke was just a fluke of good fortune on our part too - someone booked China Doll for a birthday party so Lala and I got a surprise karaoke treat with our dinner! Regular karaoke night is Saturday and you can be sure I'll be checking THAT out.

What an awesome way to kick off a weekend and what an awesome way to tap into that zest for life I know I have in me. I guess it's just a matter of finding opportunities like these to let it out.

Road Trip to NB - A Few Pics

It was fun, full, and way too short. Here are a few pics from the road trip itself and a stop at a local beach in Neguac, NB. I miss it already. I really do.

rest stop picnic on highway 20

Côte à Sullivan - can't you just smell the sea air?

Côte à Sullivan - feet firmly planted

Côte à Sullivan - streaming to the sea

ribbons of gold on the 132

Road Trip to NB!

D. and I are off to New Brunswick this weekend for the annual Arthur-à-Johnny Savoie family reunion and I can't wait!

I've been homesick for a few months now and I look forward to seeing my parents, my aunts & uncles, my cousins. I also look forward to seeing my beloved East Coast and taking in some intoxicating salty sea air.

The coffee's brewed, ready to pour into the travel mugs; lunch for the trip is ready to load into the cooler (Southwestern chicken, Boursin pepper cheese with rosemary and sea salt bread crisps, Vachon caramel cakes for dessert and much, much more); and the suitcase is being carried to the car as I type.

We were supposed to be halfway to Montreal by now, but I forgot to set the alarm. Oops! :) So we'll leave shortly and get there when we get there.

See you in a few days!

Notable Running Feats

Hats off to Bro-in-Law who ran Marathon #13, his second in two weeks, yesterday at Ottawa Race Weekend!

And hats off to Sis who ran her first 10K two weeks ago in Mississauga!

You guys rock!

!!!

Ready for a Party

It's been a crazy week full of fun and exciting distractions that took me away from my writing; I thought I'd post a quick update to let you know that I'm still alive and kicking!

D. and I are busy prepping for tonight's Housewarming party. My Martha factor is coming out in spades, and for a while so was my crankiness in trying to get everything perfect (I'm sorry D.!). Perfectionism and vacuuming aside, I LOVE the process of prepping for a party: the food, the music, the décor. I take pleasure in finding the perfectly shaped plate to serve the Peperellos D. loves so much, in finding just the right shade of towel to pick up that funky hue in the powder room's Matisse print, or in finding the right-coloured napkins to complement the deep chocolate tablecloth.

What I look forward to the most though is the raison d'être for the preparations: welcoming friends and family into our home for sharing, laughter, and merriment. That my friends, is the biggest pleasure of all.

Party on!

Prayers for the Living

Last November I requested good vibes for a former colleague struck with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Yesterday he passed away. He will be missed.

I send my prayers to his family and no doubt many friends.

Snow Angels

A huge thank you to Bro-in-Law who, after a two and half hour run, dug out my car this weekend. And a huge thank you to D. who, after recieving a plea from a very overwhelmed yours truly, drove from Barrhaven to downtown with an extra shovel to help me out.

I'm so blessed. And so was D. that day - by the time he got here Bro-in-Law was done. I've never seen a man handle a shovel that fast!

A Few Gratefuls

I've been nursing a cold for the past week and have been taking my non-working hours very easy, hence my lack of posts. Now my week is over and I am enjoying the prospect of a three day weekend.

I felt like sharing a few gratefuls tonight ...

• Work is going well. A team I helped coordinate should be ready to deliver a project they've been working on for more than a year on Monday - on time.
• As of January 23rd I'll be receiving an increased paycheck due to a temporary promotion that will continue until the end of August.
• D. and I are moving into this beautiful house mid-February.
• D. put his house up for sale on the market yesterday and got an offer this afternoon for full asking price with a closing date on our move day.
• My apartment is warm and toasty.
• I've been eating well and drinking lots of water.
• Despite my nursing a cold I feel a newfound energy.
• Cassie is staying with D.'s brother while his house is for sale so we can hang out in my urban digs more often without him having to worry about going home to feed her or let her out.
• Last night I spent almost two hours giggling and gabbing with a friend I hadn't seen in over a year. It felt like we'd spoken last week.
• Saturday I'm going to a Wii potluck party.
• Tomorrow is my day off.

Many gratefuls today and many gratefuls to come. Today I don't think I could ask for much more.

Merry Christmas!

In a few minutes, D. and I will be heading out to spend a few days with his family for Christmas. I wish you all a marvelous Christmas full of laughter, rest, music, yummy treats, and most of all peace.

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.

Steph
xox

Cassie Digs Blue Man