Blog Archive

Reinventing Comfort

October 22, 2014

The world is a terrifying place. Damnit. Sometimes it takes a deplorable event, a rush of blood to the head to remember that our routinely existences aren’t much of a reality at all. There is much, much more to the world than meets the eye – and although we live in a world of wi-fi and cell phones where all news stories are immediate and zoom into your brain at 140 characters – we often go about our everyday lives thinking that it’s all puppies and lollipops and rainbows.

Well guess what – it’s not. And I’m sorry. It’s a sad reality. It’s a grown-up reality. When we were little, things were puppies and lollipops and rainbows. And Barbie dolls. And Sega Saturn. And sandboxes. Life was sugar coated and because our minds were young and innocent and only just developing – that was perfectly fine.
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Blog Archive

Count Your Blessings (Even the Tiny Ones)

October 8, 2014

Featured music: “Nothing Short of Thankful” by the Avett Brothers

Ah, the Thanksgiving season. It’s funny that we wait for a certain time of year to really take inventory of our lives, and reflect on what we’re thankful for. I know I’m guilty of this. Life buzzes by. We wake up, eat, go to work, come home, sleep and repeat – and whether you absolutely adore your routine or you don’t – that rolling pattern becomes ingrained in your head – and in some cases becomes oh-so automatic.

Oftentimes I forget to stop and appreciate how that pattern in life flows – or that it even flows at all. Up, down, sideways, sometimes backwards – it doesn’t matter how things are moving – (or what road bumps and challenges appear) they still are. Not everyone can say that and I’m infinitely grateful that I can. And maybe it takes a holiday like Thanksgiving to remind me to hit the pause button and count my blessings.

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Blog Archive

Quick Note: Slow Down

September 29, 2014

Featured Music: “Slow Down, Jo” by Monsters of Folk

October starts this week, and the days are getting noticeably shorter. The sky is getting drearier and my mornings are lacking that sun that usually percolates through my blinds.

I’m not going back on anything I’ve already said – although it’s dreary, I can’t help but adore everything about it. A certain beauty is suspended in the air right now, a beauty that is nonexistent in the wild and irrational days of summer.

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Blog Archive

Risky Business

September 24, 2014

Featured music: “Brother Down” by Sam Roberts

When is it an appropriate time in life to stop taking risks? When your bones are creaking? When your face is weathered and your hair is graying?

I’ve always been fearful of change. I like having my feet cemented into solid ground. I like knowing that the people I count on will be there when I need them and that my consistent and comfortable places never change and hearts never wander and feelings never sour. Oh, also that Steven Tyler is going to knock on my door to hang out and that unicorns exist. The fact is – time flows rapidly. Time flows rapidly and wears down its path, shaping and transforming anything that gets in its way. And fact: the older you get, the more rapidly it flows.
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Blog Archive

Autumn: the Apple of my Eye

September 16, 2014

It brightens my whole world to know that when someone thinks of lovely, crisp produce – they think of me. Recently I had two different co-workers give me fresh autumn produce – one was a special delivery (right to my door!) from the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market and another one was a whole bag of apples from a tree in her yard. I can barely describe this feeling – it’s like receiving a bar of gold. (..pretty close, anyhow? Maybe?)

I think that the gift of food is so meaningful and this is the best time of the year for it – both for the palate and also symbolically.

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Toronto When it Sizzles (Or 5 Things I Learned in TO)

September 11, 2014

I just spent the last five days in Ontario’s capital city (partially for work, partially on holiday) and I am still exhausted. But like – a good exhausted. Like I rode a cyclone and came out okay on the other side. My legs are a little wobbly but I’m quite content with the experience.

Remember how I mentioned before that in the last little while, I’ve been learning a lot? The learning didn’t take a break while I was in Toronto. I’d be delighted to share with you some things I learned (or re-learned .. remembered?) while I was there. Be warned – some may seem ambiguous – but they are concrete lessons and observations. Sometimes you need to be taken away from your home to absorb things differently.

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Blog Archive

Being Alone vs. Being Lonely

September 1, 2014

Featured music: “The Boxer” by Jerry Douglas feat. Mumford & Sons

One has to love lazy days like this – bright and sunny – a tiny chill in the air. A holiday. The first day of September. Hot drinks on the couch (thanks to a dear friend’s suggestion, I mixed some pumpkin spice into my BUTTER PECAN coffee grinds this morning – delightful) and incense burning and movies on Netflix droning in the background. Man I LOVE Catch Me If You Can.

Maybe I allow myself to think too much sometimes, to get into my own head. I wake up appallingly early (without fail), tackle a run, then scurry home and put on a cozy oversized hoodie and go through a couple French presses of obscenely strong tar coffee. I start a few pages of one of the seventeen library books I have checked out right now and scroll through Netflix selections and clip my nails and read a few more pages. But mostly I’m wondering – How can I be productive today? How can I, myself, be productive and also enjoy the sluggishness of today?

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Nouns and Books and Show & Tell

August 29, 2014

Featured music: “We’re Going to be Friends” by The White Stripes

Hate me all you want for wanting autumn to come RIGHT now. And I will hate the weather all I want for teasing us with lovely (comfortable) chilled evenings but still consistently pushing warm days. It doesn’t really matter which side of the argument you find yourself on, the fact of the matter is that September is right around the corner. And for many that means BACK TO SCHOOL!

Oh man. I get a huge rush walking into stores lately and gulping in the fragrance of rubber erasers and bouquets of fresh pencils – which is not as pungent in the age of laptops and iPads but it’s still there! I feel like I’m looking through a portal in time when I see the kids tugging at their parents’ pant legs and hoping they’ll agree to the pricy fabric-covered binder with the zipper. (Can’t you just use the one from last year? NO. I NEED A NEW ONE.) Seriously – those were the days. Cue the All in the Family theme right now.

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Blog Archive

Use Your Noodle

August 24, 2014

Featured song: “The Wind” by Cat Stevens 

I am so glad I have a place of refuge I can escape to when I really need to. A place to clear my head, soak in some memories, soak in the countryside, surround myself with nature. If I didn’t have it, I might go mad. You probably have a place like this too – whether it’s your bedroom, your cottage, your study, your porch. Somewhere to go when you just need to check out.

The farm is that place for me, and after a Friday night chock full of debauchery (and some careless mistakes on my part – still hoping something very near and dear to me is returned in one piece) – I so badly needed that escape. Alcohol is an awful, awful depressant and I’m starting to dislike it more and more. Luckily for me, the farm is a fantastic mood enhancer.

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Blog Archive

Guts Guts Guts

August 23, 2014

Featured song: “Let’s Be Still” by The Head & The Heart

Let’s talk about guts. I absolutely hate talking about insides. Blood. Organs. It makes me squeamish. But yeah, let’s just go for it. Let’s talk about guts.

You know when people say ‘Go with your gut.’ What the HELL. The funny thing is that now I’m coming around. Now I’m starting to really hear people out. It must be a coming of age thing. All of the times people told me to go with my gut, they were 100% right. And that means .. I was 100% right. A lot of the time.

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