What does joy look like?

This. And this.


Definitely this.

Prayers

I was having a conversation with my friend today about the power of prayer. For some the word "Prayer" can be a turn off but they still find comfort in 'positive thoughts' or 'positive vibes' being shared. Yes prayer is to a higher power and asking for intervention or strength/peace etc. But sometimes just the idea that someone is thinking about you and wanting good for you can be a powerful thing.

I only bring this up because my Grandma fell ill tonight and has been taken to the hospital. It's likely just an infection, but she's older and not well so an infection can take a turn for worse. So I ask for your thoughts/prayers/well wishes that what may be may be.

Canuck Christmas Part 2

Every year at Christmas time my oldest girlfriends have a potluck dinner/reunion (I bring wine). Josephine and I have been friends since we were four with the rest of us forming friendships throughout elementary, junior high and high school.

Though we are all living across Canada and the US now and don't keep in touch as often as we'd like, we still try to get together at least once a year to catch up and see each others' beautiful faces.



There are 8 of us and this year we were only missing Jen and Heather. We missed you guys!!!! (ps. The reason I looked so schlumpy while my friends were looking good is because I came directly from the ski hill!).

Canadian Christmas Part 1

One of the benefits of living in Calgary is that you are 1 hour away from the Rocky Mountains, perfect for hiking, camping and skiing. Of course when I lived here I didn't take advantage of that- and though I learned to ski as a teenager, I took an 8 year hiatus from the sport.

Now that I've moved to NY (??) I've stared skiing again and for Christmas I thought I'd engage my friends/family to see if they wanted to "hit the slopes".

Yesterday we went to Nakiska for the day. It's not as good of a hill as Sunshine or Lake Louise, but it's also only an hour out and much more manageable for the first time of the season skiing.

It was a beautiful, awesome day with great skiing. The only (minor) downside is that it was freezing cold, though it was only -10C. And I was not dressed properly even though I looked like this:


Here is my aunt Shawnee skiing against the backdrop of the Rockies.


This is my aunt Claire, uncle Al and me ready to go down the hill.

New York Hasn't Changed Me!

I was at a shoot earlier this week. We were doing a commercial featuring an American celebrity chef- "Tyler Florence". Won't go into details because I don't want to give anything away before the campaign launches. However here we are after the shoot getting a picture together. Tyler is in centre. And I'm the New York asshole to his left who couldn't get off the phone for 1 minute to take a picture. (I was on a conference call and they dragged me in).


To be fair, we did get a picture without the phone and decided to take one with - just to make fun of me. I'm not that brutal (yet!)

Running Progress

It's not going well.

I haven't run for two weeks.

I had back problems (because I'm an old lady) and decided to give myself time off to repair. Then I went away. Then I went away again. Then I got sick. meow excuses meow.

Clearly I'm not committed.

I will run tomorrow night and see how it goes. I didn't ever get past 6 miles (though I need to hit 13) so we'll see how much I've lost in the last two weeks.

Only 7 weeks to go and I'm a little bit scared.

Maybe I'll make it to Miami, do the fun run (5k) and just cheer my friends on.

Busy Little Elves

Last week I decorated my own apartment.
This week I decorated my Grandma's apartment.*


We both have wall hangings.


We both have trees.


We both have love and festive cheer courtesy of J.Samuels (my Mom!).

*Posting these pics to prove to my Mom that I actually did what she asked!

Cramped quarters

One thing about visiting the rellies is that they want to hear about NY and the details of my life. This time around they wanted to hear about the new apartment. (Of course they do. They are my relatives. They care about me. They are interested- or at the very least act interested.)

No one can quite believe how small my apartment is. It's roughly the same size as my Grandma's private room in her new home. Life goes full circle and all that....

Though I haven't got pictures of the apartment here is a picture of Olivia practicing to live in a NYC apartment with a cave-like sleeping loft like mine.

In the Lane, Snow is Glistening

All of the winter stereotypes for Canada came to fruition this weekend. This made me happy as I miss the snow and it doesn't appear very often in NYC.

This is Day One in Moncton after 8 inches. Unlike Toronto or Calgary this is a city that knows how to handle snow.


I was using a hockey stick to help Jen take the snow off the car.

This is Day 2 with the blue skies. It was so beautiful. It really does feel like Christmas when everything is blanketed in white.

Bad Men

What is the deal with the show "Mad Men"?? It's gotten all of these awards and rave reviews. I bought season 1 (very cheap) on it's reputation alone and I have to tell you... not impressed.


They smoke ALOT. But that's not acting.

Yes the 60s references are interesting (no seat belts, kids playing with plastic bags over their heads) but not compelling. And while the behaviour might seem outrageous "Look at us- we have 3 martini lunches!" - the "women are stupid" joke gets old pretty fast.

And January Jones is a HORRIFIC actor. So bad I was yelling at my computer screen "YOU ARE A TERRIBLE ACTRESS!! HOW DO YOU HAVE A JOB?!" last night...

So I guess it did generate a passionate reaction from me. That's something right?