Songs of the Month for December 2009!

Well, I'm officially in love.

And the songs of the month should make that perfectly clear :)

Outside - Aqualung



Burnin' Love - Dido Featuring Citizen Cope



As Much As I Ever Could - City & Colour



*happy sigh*

Also, if you're interested in fashion, you need to check out this blog. Now that I'm living the hipster life in Kensington, I do the "would this outfit make it onto The Sartorialist?" check before I leave the house. The answer, usually, is no. But I'm working on it!
~g~

Introducing...

My beautiful little nephew SEBASTIEN!!!

Proud Auntie!!!

So Sweet!!!

Proud (but tired) Daddy!

He's just perfect! Great job, Nathan & Sheila!

Welcome, Sebastien! We're so happy you're here!

Loads of love,

Auntie Gillian

Yoga Pics!

My wonderful family humoured me yesterday by driving out into the mountains and posing for Yoga pictures (in front of gawking tourists and everything!) These are a few of my faves!

Yoga Baby Belly!

Thanks SO much for your help, guys!

Love,

Gillian

Song of the Month and More!

Well well well. A year ago this week I moved back to Calgary. Can you believe it? I honestly don't remember most of this past year. It's been a blur of messes, but it's looking up, my dears, it's looking up!

I've been meaning to blog all week, but you know how it is when you come back to work after a vacation? The world is falling apart. It involves overtime and crying in the bathroom. A lot of crying, and feeling like a hack, and absolutely hating going from a beautiful, lovely 9 days of being spoiled in Nova Scotia to being a grown up and working overtime and paying epically huge car insurance bills that mean you're living off white bread and bologna until payday. Dealing with engineers and stinky cats that you're allergic to and shouting neighbours in crappy apartments. So obviously, this has to be the song of the month... OBVIOUSLY.



There's a quote along these lines in a book I'm reading, too!

"The problem is that children believe what adults say and, once they're adults themselves, they exact their revenge by deceiving their own children. 'Life has meaning and we grown-ups know what it is' is the universal lie that everyone is supposed to believe. Once you become an adult and you realize that's not true, it's too late. The mystery remains intact, but all your available energy has long ago been wasted on stupid things." (- Muriel Barbery, "The Elegance of the Hedgehog")

Or in my own words: "growing up... phooey!"

BUT enough moaning! When I feel bad, you know what I do? I head straight to 1000awesomethings.com. Why? Because it's a blog about awesome things, and trust me, you will read them and smile and go "YES! That IS awesome!!!"

Awesome things off the top of my head tonight are:
- People who laugh at my dumb jokes
- "So You Think You Can Dance"
- Concierges in French apartments
- runpee.com

Bed Time!
XOXO,
Gillian

Zzzzzzzzz....

I know it's been ages since I posted anything! The truth is that I've just been so darn tired lately! Part of the reason I've been so tired is that I've been walking to and from work most days. It averages out to be about a 40 minute walk each way if I walk at a brisk pace. It's pretty good exercise and a really pretty walk beside the river, but it sure wears me right out doing it twice a day!

About 25 minutes into the walk my, er... gluteus maximus is feeling the burn and I very much want to nap under the next available tree. At that point I have to turn my ipod wayyyyy up and pray to Poncho Sanchez, who I have deemed to be the Patron Saint of Energy! "SAVE ME, PONCHO SANCHEZ!" This song is guaranteed to get me through the final push. It's a fabulous mix of Blues, Latin and Jazz. It's like the Blues to a Cha Cha beat and it makes me want to swing my hips and get down. So fantastic. And so appropriate, when it's Early in the Morning (7am.... ugh!!)

I couldn't find a video online, so I just made a little video to a picture that I took ages ago. This is what I want when it's Early in the Morning... Thank God for Poncho Sanchez!

(greasy, greasy, greasy!!!)

XOXO,

Gillian

The Wall - Part 1

Well, I couldn't very well expect YOU to do all the work, could I? So I started work on the wall myself and made a bunch of prints of my favourite photos. It already looks SO much better. The middle bottom pic was from my first outside contributor (THANK YOU!) and the rest are mine. There's still a lot of wall to fill up, but it's already getting easier to be here with dear little Tessy and a sandy Belal watching over me, not to mention the handsome Prince Caspian and the charming Miss Claire.

XOXO,

Gillian

My Cry For Help

Hot Mess: Someone or Something that is such a mess... the level of it, is off of the charts. It's past pathetic, past pitiful. (UrbanDictionary.com)

I do love the term Hot Mess. It is just so much more descriptive and accurate, so much more... sticky and unpleasant and difficult to clean up after. I mean, you can vacuum up after a mess... But a hot mess is going to require elbow grease, harsh chemicals and a steam cleaner. My life has been a Hot Mess lately. I can sort of see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it's going to take about 6 months of very Zen thinking and bare-essential living on my part and, well, a little help from you for me to get through this. I'm counting on you here.

This is what I need:

$2,500 and a helicopter.

Okay, but seriously.

I need you to send me some free art.

I have a huge 8'x8'(ish) wall that is completely bare, except for a sad little coffee table housing my TV, 2 sad little shoeboxes full of about 8 books that I couldn't bear to pack, and two shoeboxes of assorted gadgetry. I also have unattractive cords reaching their nasty tentacles over to cable and electrical outlets. The rest of my stuff is packed. It's freaking pathetic and every time I look at it I feel like the world's biggest loser and I start to cry.

In roughly 4 months I will get my stuff back from Nova Scotia, and in roughly 6 months I can hopefully buy a condo, but for now I'm going to have to live in this sad state of affairs and not shoot myself before then. I have the basic essentials to get me through, so I don't NEED anything except for that wall to be a true expression of the love and support you all feel for me (you DO feel it, don't you? No, that's not heart burn!) And it doesn't have to be a masterpiece. It can be something you drew or painted or glued together or photographed. It can be found art, a thrift store find, a poster, a greeting card, a Picasso. I don't care what it is, as long as it's something I can put on my wall that makes me smile. In return, I will take pictures as THE WALL progresses, and post it on my blog. Please help. I'm going to be shameless here. Spread the word to people we know who don't read my blog. I really hate asking for help, but I either need this or a 6-month supply of valium.

Here's a picture of the offending wall to inspire action. If you need my address, then email or phone me or my parents. Thank you in advance for your help! You're amazing and I owe you big :)

(depressing, isn't it?)

Love and thanks again!

Gillian

It's %$&*ing COLD!!!

My Christmas Tree

Good LORD I hate winter! It's been a terribly cold weekend! The warmest it got this weekend was -28 C, with a wind chill of -40 C. - 40 PEOPLE!!! WTF??? So OBVIOUSLY I spent most of the weekend indoors, eating chocolate and watching Christmas specials ;)

...Although I *DID* dance around to The Nutcracker in my PJS...

(Yup, I still have some unpacking to do :P )

AND I baked cookies!

And took silly pictures of me in my terribly cute hat

Then today Nathan, Sheila and I helped my grandma set up her Christmas tree :)

Isn't it pretty?

I hope you all kept safe and warm! It's going to warm up soon, right???

Love,

Gillian

Oooh, Nice!

It's been pretty foggy, so I couldn't get a good shot of the view from my balcony. But the fog has lifted! So here you go! Nice, huh? Downtown-ey!

Love,

Gillian

Song of the Month for November and MOVING!

"Sun in an Empty Room" by Edward Hopper

Goodness, where on earth have I been? Well things have been busy and I spent this weekend moving into my new apartment. Ooooh. And baby? It ain't glamorous! Avocado Green appliances and all... But it's "home"... for now ;)

It is so nice to be back in familiar territory, close to downtown, close to work, closer to people I know. Life being as it is, some new issues have come up and things may be changing again, soon. But for now? Well, I made a little slideshow to show you my new digs and document the move.

The pictures in the slideshow are set to the song "Sun in an Empty Room" by The Weakerthans. It's a song about moving, so it just HAD to be the song of the month. The song is based on the painting "Sun in an Empty Room" by Edward Hopper (as seen above.) Hmm. Looks familiar!

Enjoy :)

~gillian~

YAY Weekends ;)

Number of mini-chocolate bars purchased: 100
Number of Trick-or-Treaters: 4
Oops. Additional oops: I just baked cookies, too. EEK! It's going to be a fattening weekend, I can already tell.

But the real reason I'm posting is because I just found out that Dido has a new album coming out on November 17th! Her first one in 5 years!!! Super excited! Wanna see the video for her new single? I thought you might :)



So I went to Mac's today by my brother's store to pick up some butter for said cookies, and the sweet lady at the till asked what I was making, so I told her, and she asked how you make cookies, so I told her that too. While I was in there, a man came in to the store wearing a gorilla mask. He kept letting other customers go before him, and refused, when asked, to take off his mask. Sweet lady and I were sort of freaked out, but there were a few other customers in the store, so I went back to my car and watched. He wasn't in a rush when he left the store, and no one appeared to be freaking out, so I left. I was driving home a few minutes later and a police car with lights flashing but no siren came tearing in the other direction and I was like "crap... sweet lady got robbed" and I felt SO AWFUL that I had to pull into a parking lot and call my brother to go check on her. I felt like I was going to throw up until he called me back and said it was just a friend of the owners playing a joke. Even now I feel horribly guilty that I should have DONE something, but what could I do in that situation anyway? I guess just hang around outside and call the police if things got sketchy? I feel terrible for abandoning her, so I'll have to bring her some cookies and a recipe next week or something. I'm sorry, sweet lady, and I'm glad the gorilla guy was just an idiot and didn't hurt you!

K, bed time!!!
Love,
Gillian

Volcanic Sky!

Je ne suis pas content, darlings, so I'm not much for the posting right now.
However, tonight as I was burning my pizza I flung the back door open and the sky was all "I totally understand."

Moody!

xoxo,

Gillian

Mmm, Educational!

Today I went to the Glenbow museum with my friend Matthew. This involved much hilarity, especially because I broke out my favourite old game "but not really." (eg: Your friend is eagerly telling you how cool Japanese swords are and you go "uh-huh.... but not REALLY", even though they are. They he defends himself, and you reply to every argument with a "yes *pause* but not REALLY." Yes, it's juvenile, but so much fun!!! "This looks just like Vegas... but not really." Okay, just trust me! Go play it!)

I haven't been to the Museum in years, although I have been intending to go for quite some time. What I didn't know is that they have been busy updating the Alberta History exhibit and have come up with some pretty fantastic local history. I was pleased to see that they'd even saved the old Telstar drug sign, and it now spins in all of its neon glory in the Museum! What fun! I actually learned a lot today about the Social Credit party and a number of philanthropic Calgarians. There's a neat new train exhibit (although it looks like it replaced that really creepy old train tunnel! I loved that thing!) But overall, it has been updated and really well done. Good job, Glenbow!

Yesterday I actually invested in a new Canon Powershot camera. I've been looking for a new small digital camera that I can carry around in my purse. My SLR is so heavy, and I miss a lot of good photos. I tested it out at the museum today and am really pleased with it :)

I stopped caring about minerals. Matthew was still excited... but not REALLY! :P

One of my favourite, favourite, FAVOURITE exhibits is the Asian Art exhibit. Sculpture blows my mind. They used to play really lovely, zen music in there, but no music today. A Buddha was out for repairs, though, so we thought perhaps it was him making the tunage (a la iPod docking station? No?)

This is my favourite Buddha. He always seems on the verge of opening his eyes and singing "Rubber Ducky" *** Nice camera, hey???

He is the ultimate in cool. Just chilling...

Really love sculpture. Really pleased with my camera.

So much fun :) Check it out if you have the chance.

Love,

Gillian

*** When Sculptures come alive and sing "Rubber Ducky":

Yikes, Y'all!

I know I haven 't posted in about a billion years, and I'm sorry. I'm really tired. All the time. I'd like to give you a better excuse, but I don't have one, soooo I'll make one up....

Sketchy business... angry kangaroo in the back yard... had to call in an Australian hostage negotiator who spoke "roo"... there was a ticker-tape parade... happy reunion, but then I had to clean the house. Yikes! Those Australians can PARTY!

Alright, I told you I was tired, it's your fault you didn't believe me. I'm so tired that only two things excite me right now, and I'm going to share them with you.

1. The new X-Files trailer. Honestly? I get so excited that I feel nauseous when I see this. I know that's really disturbing, but ohmygod. OH!MY!GOD!!! IT'S THE FREAKING X-FILES!!!!! ONE MORE WEEK, BAY-BEE!!!


2. The Calgary Folk Fest starts on the 24th. I'm SO EXCITED! It's going to be an awesome time :)

K I'll post more later, but for now? BED.
~g~

I Can't Contain Myself!

Me, worshipping at the Vitamin Water alter.

Last Friday, while elbowing my way through the Stampede Parade masses, I looked longingly toward a coffee shop and saw a beautiful vision hovering alluringly before my eyes! I didn't have much time to register what I saw, since there were 300,000 eager parade attendees jammed downtown, squirming like sardines. Had it been my mind playing tricks on me? Was it just a vivid, glorious dream? I waited impatiently through the weekend, and today at lunch I rushed out of my office and down three blocks to see if it was true. And it was:

Mojo Monk Coffee House sells Vitamin Water. ACTUAL, REAL, GENUINE, HIGH-MAINTENANCE-CALIFORNIA, FREAKIN', HONEST-TO-GOD-GLACEAU VITAMIN WATER. I'd like to say that I wasn't a complete sobbing grateful loser to the cashier as I took my delicacy to the till, but that would be a lie. I gushed. A lot.

Now I know what you're thinking. You're like "Gillian... it's water... you need to relax." And I admit that if you tried it, you'd probably like it, but wouldn't worship it. You might be inclined to buy stock in the company like Jennifer Anniston and 50-Cent, but you probably wouldn't blog about it. I admit that part of the allure for me is circumstantial, because it reminds me of California and Yoga School and happy times. It makes me remember realising that the electrolytes really DO help with muscle cramping, trips to Whole Foods, hummus wraps and a lot of hard, but rewarding work. Plus it's yummy! Plus it has 200% of your daily recommended Vitamin C (overkill? Can one OD on Vitamin C?) I'm happy about it, is all. I'd like to throw a Vitamin Water party. Thanks, Mojo Monk, for rocking my world today.

In other news, we had a weird storm today! The sky got all dark and ominous, so much that I asked a co-worker if it was the Apocalypse. He agreed that we were all going to die. In fact, we survived, but the weather network said that Doppler radar had detected spiraling cloud formations and that there was a possibility of funnel clouds! EEK! So obviously I kept my eyes open, but saw no witches on bicycles OR flying houses *sigh* We never have any fun.

And now, because I have no life, and I get bored and silly and consume a lot of sugar when left to my own devices... here is a picture of me upside-down!


Love,
Gillian

For What It's Worth: An Update

First of all, I have been soooooo obsessed with this song lately! I have listened to it about 4,000 times in the past week, I think.



Oddly, it seems that everyone and their dog has covered "Lamento Boliviano", but I like the Toke D Keda version best (because it's a bachata! Let's dance!) Really guys, tho, you need a new video.

Don't know the bachata? It's easy, just do this:



Not much is new, really. Stampede has started, in all of its glorified craziness. I've been extra sensitive and keep crying when I see dogs (I miss Belal!!!) and I'm really tired. Oh wait, is that new?

Mmmm, still not much to say. I have to clean the house. I'm starting to teach Yoga a bit in the evenings, which is fun. I still haven't named my Jeep. It's green. I'm thinking something Spanish (not Mojito, that's my iPod's name.) Thoughts? Suggestions?

Love,
Gillian

I Could Have Danced All Night!

"Bed? bed? I couldn't go to bed! My head's too light to try to set it down!"

Okay, tonight? Totally made up for last night. It was spectacularly, awesomely spectacular. Well, the first part. Part two was just stupid, but luckily I was still euphoric from the first part so it wasn't that bad. Did you know it's 2:30 am and I have to get up in 4 hours? and here I am blogging? It's the euphoria!

So, tonight. I got all dolled up to go dancing and was kinda nervous cause my friend Kim wasn't coming, so I was like "ugh, am I going to be a wallflower tonight?" I got there and didn't recognize anyone in the hall, so I went to sit at the front with the people I DID know who were selling tickets. Then everyone I know started coming, and they were TOTALLY excited to see me! Next thing I knew I had boys flirting with me from every angle, and was booking dance partners 3 songs ahead... "Okay, first I have to dance with Ian, then Mike, then the striped shirt guy, and then I'll come find you!" I'm not going to lie, it was awesome and I loved every second of it. I'm not a great dancer, but the compliments were flying at me and I was lapping it up. I was booked solid with excellent dancers, and when I took breaks to get some water there was always a complimentary young man at my side to converse with. I don't know how many times I was told that I was "the prettiest girl in the room." It was glowy and fantastic and I was sorry to leave.

But leave I did, and I got in my car and realised that this was the point where I should have known where my headlight switch was. Oops. It was dark, so I started flipping random switches and dialing random dials and miraculously the light inside the car went on and I thought "OH! That helps!" until I couldn't turn it off, and I still hadn't found the headlights. 15 minutes passed and then I got angry and went BACK to the dance and grabbed one of said complimentary young men. He obliged to help, and we fought with it for another 20 minutes. Just as AMA was telling me it would be a 90 minute wait, the young man figured out the lights! LOVE THE YOUNG MAN!

On the road again, and I totally missed my exit. But that was okay until I took the second and third wrong exits and ended up driving very quickly in the wrong direction on Sarcee Trail, saying "ACK!!!" I turned around at some point and arrived home without incident at 1:45 am after leaving the dance at midnight. This is why one shouldn't drive under the influence of euphoria. One screws up the car lights and takes wrong turns and arrives home two hours later.

But the good news is that I don't care, because that was the BEST!DANCE!EVER!!!

Heehee. Night!
Gillian

Let's Have a Laugh, Shall We?

You know how a little while ago I made a vow that I'd never spend a Friday night alone again? Guess what I'm doing. This time is actually not my fault, cuz I had plans and then Mr. Fabulous decided that I wasn't datable. So he bailed on me. But THAT, my friends, is not a story I can share on my blog. You don't need to know that much about me or about the shameful state of Men These Days. But I'm going to go dancing tomorrow night, so forget him. Boys? You suck. Calgary? You suck too.

People keep asking how my new job is and I don't really know so I've been avoiding answering. It's, well, weird. It's fine. The office and people are fine and casual and I can sit and listen to my iPod and learn cool tricks and play in AutoCAD all day and everyone ignores me, which is great, except of course I worry that I suck cuz I make really dumb mistakes and I FEEL that I should be perfect at everything immediately. This is stupid because I've NEVER been perfect at anything immediately, and yet I persist with this impossible standard. I also worry about the people ignoring me and think they're judging me. I'm sure they're just busy but, again, I want people to like me immediately and people just aren't like that. So it's fine, I think. We'll see.

SO between boys and work I've really been appreciating that Josh & Susan introduced me to "What's My Line?" I spend my free time cuddled up with my computer and laughing. What did I do before YouTube?? I get such delight out of discovering that my favourite actors and comedians were mystery guests, I have a crush on Steve Allen and I LOVE the fabulous evening dresses and costume jewelry. So go mix yourself a cocktail and let's have an evening in. Here's is a line up of some of my favourites so far:

Jack Benny


Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz
(during the world series, so some of their questions don't make much sense till you figure that out.)


Lauren Bacall (LOVE this! John Daly has a little crush on Ms Bacall, I think.)


Doris Day (she's so cute! Heehee)


Gene Kelly ("Have you ever lost your address book in a helicopter over the Greek Islands?" HA HA HA!)


Enjoy ;)
Gillian

Cow-Town, Revisited

Well people, I don't really have much to say. It's weird being back in Calgary, it's weird living where I'm living, it's weird that I'm back and have no desire to see anyone or do anything. I'm hoping to be settled soon, eventually, and maybe when I start work tomorrow (ACK!) I'll at least feel that I have a purpose and a schedule. Maybe? More likely, I'll be tired all the time and think I'm in over my head. Let's be realistic.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?

And, more importantly, will I ever make a decision that feels like the RIGHT decision, instead of just flailing around madly hoping that I'm doing the right thing? I'm starting to think that's what being a grown-up REALLY is about. Trying to find the thing that makes the most sense and hoping that it all works out. That there's no such thing as a sure thing, and that the older you get, the less certain you become about everything. Am I crazy, or have we created a very stressful existence? Would we not be better off as hunter/gatherers? Eat or be eaten? I wonder.

Oh well. Now, because Josh and Susan got me hooked on "What's My Line?", here's a cute clip.



Say goodnight, Gracie!

Gillian

Isn't That Something!?

My Yoga Smurf shrine. I had to pack it, and won't see it again for a long, long time.

I can't help but believe that the universe responds to the decisions that we make. When you make the wrong decision, I think, the universe can put up a lot of barriers to point you in a different direction. When you make a right decision, the universe sends you answers to help you on your way. I guess it all goes back to having a focus and direction in your life. The "It's Yoga" philosophy of "write it down and all is coming."

It seems that moving back to Calgary is the right decision, because in the past week I have:

- arranged to rent a really nice, furnished townhouse in Calgary.
- bought a nice car in Calgary.
- gotten a permanent drafting job in Calgary. Starting June 3rd! (and I'm not even done my courses yet!)

I mean, can I say "wow"??? The weird thing is that it all came to me with very little effort on my part. How crazy is that?

Of course, I owe Sheila HUGE, because she was the one who suggested AutoCad in the first place, AND she hooked me up with the job! Poor girl, she'll have to see me every day! But I'm totally going to buy her a pony, so hopefully it'll all work out! Plus the pony will look super-cute in the backyard with Nathan's garden railway :D

So that's my news. This time next week I'll be on a plane to California. I can't quite believe it's all happening. Ahh, denial.

Well, back to packing then!

Love!
Gillian

P.S. If you're interested, the new X-Files movie has a website (finally)! Still doesn't have a trailer up, but I registered for updates, so you will know the moment that I do.

The X-Files: I Want To Believe