The Value of a Good Picture

14 03 2011

Looking through old photo albums it seems like a whole different world.  Everyone went out dressed in their best (matching velour track suits was not an option!) and getting everyone to pose for a photo was the norm.   There’s so much class and history in old black and white photos.

Can you even remember what it was like when taking a photo was a big deal?  When you had only 28 opportunities to take a great photo, so everyone posed and smiled pretty and had their fingers crossed behind their back hoping that this photo would be frame worthy.  When patience was a virtue and you had to wait to see the results until after the prints were developed.  And then, it became a photo party, and you had better have ordered doubles (or even triples) because you just knew you had to share with friends, parents, and grandparents.

It’s almost like taking photos is too easy now.  Even babies know that when a photo is taken they should be able to see the results right then and there. There’s no anticipation, and there’s no need to put your best look forward the first time because it’s the norm to take at least 2 photos if not 3 of the same pose.

Regardless of how long it takes to look at the photos, the value of a good picture still remains the same.  The fact that a little 4 x 6 piece of paper (or digital thumbnail) can hold so many memories and emotions is amazing.  You grow up as a child having an endless number of pictures taken of you and soon you can only remember your childhood based on a series of still photographs.   So always remember that even though it’s important to keep all of those photographs for future generations to look through, it’s even more important to label and date them on the back!

 


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Categories : Vancouver

Where am I again?

3 02 2011

Sometimes I forget that it’s not normal to be constantly traveling from one city, one state, one hotel room to the next.  More often than I’d like to admit, I wake up in the morning and think, ‘where am I again?’ – and not because I had one too many ‘happy’ at Happy Hour! – but because it’s been a whirlwind trip that has taken me to Detroit, to St. Louis, down to Tampa, over to New Orleans, into Alabama, and then back to New Orleans, a flight back to Detroit, then a day trip to New Jersey, a quick bite to eat in NYC, and then a jaunt back to Alabama on the way to Dallas.   It’s exhausting even writing it all down much less living through that much traveling in the span of 2 1/2 weeks.

Wow.  2 1/2 weeks?  That’s all it’s been?  No wonder I walk, key card in hand, thinking what’s the room number again?  409?  No wait 203.  No that was last night.  Aha….312.

This was a real sign!  Just last Thursday in Mobile, AL.  I saw a ripple in the water, do you think it was an alligator?

Here I’ve been thinking that nothing’s happened the last couple of weeks, but I guess potentially seeing an alligator in a hotel parking lot, eating traditional cajun redfish and catfish in New Orleans, and a candle lit dinner in the village in NYC (with some apricot grappa that you could light on fire) is nothing to scoff at.  I’ve just gotten so used to the randomness of daily travel.

Traveling so much you become an expert at small talk.  True to my Canadian roots I talk about the weather a lot, it’s a great ‘go-to’ conversation topic.  And it doesn’t hurt that the weather’s been a hot topic for everyone lately.  And if you’ll note my travel route above, one might say that the storms have been following me around the country!

When you always look like you’re from out of town, but act like you’re a local, people ask questions.  I never thought that answering the question ‘Where are you from?’ would be so difficult.  Most often I respond, “good question” or “[awkward pause]….well my work base is out of Detroit, but I’m from Vancouver, Canada”.   You have to give people a sense of where you’re coming from so they can place you in the overall scheme of things; however, I need to make sure I’m clear that I’m not from Detroit, and that I’m not American.  And if you say Vancouver, BC, no one knows what you mean.   It was even worse when I first moved to the US from Toronto because then I would add that extra detail – ‘well I work out of Detroit, but I’m from Toronto, but originally from Vancouver…..so……yes, that’s where I’m from”.

What is probably just a quick question from someone wanting to do a little polite small talk soon becomes a complicated story of a work/travel/personal lifestyle that’s all wrapped up into one very messy, but somehow cohesive, ball.


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Categories : Miscellaneous

Happy (American) Thanksgiving!

27 11 2010

“It’s beginning to [not] feel like Christmas”….

It’s hard to get into the holiday spirit when the weather is 80 degrees/26 degrees in Orlando, FL and you’re lazing around the pool eating ice cream, thinking it just might be time for a cool dip in the saltwater pool.  To be honest, I’ve become kind of a water bug this week – I swam in the deep end (not to be taken lightly), I jumped into the pool (for the first time in my adult life…those childhood memories are a little hazy), and I tried to sink to the bottom of the pool at the deep end, which didn’t quite go according to plan, it appears that I am too buoyant and Nathan had to pull me down the last 3 feet.

Despite the very un-Thanksgiving weather that we’ve been enjoying the past week, we did our very best to celebrate the holiday with a traditional feast.

We indulged in the standard turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and veggies; however, the Hyatt put out a fancier spread than that and we may have gorged ourselves on crab claws (already deshelled), oysters on the half shell, shrimp, and king crab legs.  There’s something so sinful about a platter of big crab claws, on ice, ready for you to pluck off the platter and drop into your mouth.  No fuss, no muss.  Although, I did dig into the hard to reach places for that extra crab meat, out of respect to the crab of course.

Dessert was just as sinful with a selection of chocolate truffles, chocolate fudge cake, key lime pie, pumpkin cheesecake flan, traditional pumpkin pie, tiramisu, etc.  I left my mark….in more ways than one, since I accidentally dropped a whole piece of the fudge cake on the floor in the corner – I’m sure they’ll find it at the end of the night….

As part of the American  traditions we even took part in the “Black Friday” sales; however, we did not join the crowds at the doors at midnight.    For our first attempt at “Black Friday” shopping we didn’t even make it off the exit the traffic was so bad, and for our second attempt we circled the parking lot and seeing the craziness decided that going to see a movie would be a much better idea.

Finally, at 7pm we decided to brave the outlet malls.  They say that playing Christmas music calms the hysteria of mass crowds……but I don’t think it was working.  Even at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm, people were still running around crazy, grabbing clothes, purses, leather anything, off of the racks and lining up at the register.  The people who weren’t running around were sitting at the food court or the common areas looking dazed with all of their shopping bags scattered around them.

We attempted to do another go around at the shopping frenzy today (Saturday) at a different outlet mall and circled the parking lot for half an hour as we just barely missed parking spot after parking spot.  After we finally parked and walked through the stores, I have come to realize that I like my shopping environments to be neat, clean and well-organized – by size and colour!  So, outlet malls on Black Friday, are just not for me.


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Categories : Orlando

10 Years Older

7 10 2010

I aged 10 years last weekend.

Not because of stress, or because suddenly I had 10 years more experience or because I was 10 years wiser.  But because I went to my very first “kid’s birthday party” – a 2 year old birthday party in fact.  With families and kids running around the house, goodie bags and balloon bouquets, suddenly I was no longer in my twenties.

In fact, I did my very best to avoid the feeling that I was entering into a different life stage – I even changed out of my bootleg jeans into some skinny jeans.  Because, you can’t be a “soccer mom” in skinny jeans right?

Kids party or not, it was a party, and with our social calendar looking mighty sparse, we took the opportunity to bring our best.  Which included BBQ’ing a brisket the day before the party, marinating 14 chicken breasts, making homemade chocolate chip cookies and showing up 3 hours before the party started, in which time I was trapped in the backseat of the car with 15 helium balloons plus a life size “Diego”  balloon (from Dora the Explorer).

It was a funny experience going to a kid’s birthday party, complete with 7 rowdy kids all under the age of 7.  All of a sudden it brought back childhood memories of homemade cakes shaped like cats with licorice whiskers, and the importance of a good goodie bag to send home with all your friends.   Present time was a new experience though.  All the kids crowded around and it was almost like it was their own birthday, they were pretty much unwrapping the presents themselves.  What happened to sitting in a circle?

As gifts were opened and out came a kid-size shopping cart, a ‘Diego’ doll, and other very fun, shiny toys, suddenly that feeling of peer pressure and judgement washed over us.  We looked at each other and said, “I think we might have bombed in the gift arena”.  It’s serious stuff.  The judgement of the room!  Our little barn, complete with plush barnyard animals, may not be up to snuff.

But I am happy to report that the barn was a success and the birthday girl carried around the little horse and cat for at least the time it took to open 3 more presents.  And then the Baby Alive was unwrapped.  And really, who can compete with the Baby Alive when she drinks water and eats peas and carrots and actually pees and poops in her diaper.  Actually, all the kids were fascinated by her – the birthday girl because she had her own little baby to feed and burp and the boys because they wanted to see the baby pee in her diaper.

And….that pretty much sums up the difference between boys and girls.


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Categories : Detroit

When Boredom Strikes

30 09 2010

You know the signs.  You look in your calendar and there’s a lot of blank spots.  You start planning your week to realize that it’s wide open.  And you try to think of something that’s happened in the last few weeks, to come up empty handed and to realize that thing’s are just pretty boring right now.

So I have no grand stories of feeding baby lion cubs, or of watching orca whales in the wild, or of crazy celebrity sightings. But I do have funny little regular life stories – the little things that become big things when there aren’t any BIG things to talk about.

I hit a bird.

Or maybe, a bird hit me.

All I know is that I was driving, in traffic, it was 4pm on a random Wednesday and I noticed a flock of birds flying in front of me.  And then WHAM.  One didn’t fly high enough and it clipped the top of my windshield.  This is a first for me, and all I could think of was that little bird, struggling against the wind, thinking ‘I just need to get a little higher…damn this tail wind!’.  It may have left a little mark on the car.

There was a kitten/cat adoption day at the mall on the weekend.  I couldn’t help but go around to every cat, sticking my fingers inside the cage to stroke some fur, tickle some paws or scratch behind their ears.  And then I did a second lap of the kittens.  And then, as only the true “cat people” understand, I couldn’t help but start a third lap before I was reigned in and dragged away.  They’re just so cute!

And then there was the day that we discovered a new grocery store.  And to be honest, it was a pretty big deal.  It’s like a whole new world opens up when you have a new place to shop, to browse the aisles, and check out the exotic cheeses and the huge selection of olive oil.  Suddenly I felt like I needed everything…like miniature decorative gourds.  It’s kind of like when you first discover Ikea and you come  home with decorative pillows, a lucky bamboo plant and a randomly shaped lamp that doesn’t give off much light.   But, I have to admit, out of this new grocery store came some pretty good meals.

Marinated chicken breasts on the BBQ with mushroom couscous and a vegetable medley

One last thing….It’s POMEGRANATE SEASON!


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Categories : Detroit

Whatever it takes…

30 01 2010

to get through a weekend in Detroit….


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Categories : Detroit, Miscellaneous

Mcflurries are not worth it

30 01 2010

I made a New Year’s Resolution (and I’m making Nathan follow it as well). 

It’s time to curb my sweet tooth.  When I asked Nathan how many desserts/week we had….4…..5, he stopped me right there.  No need to count them, let’s just say….a lot.  In an effort to cut down on our dessert intake we have a couple new rules this year:

1.  No lunch time desserts

2.  Cut back to  2….or should it be 3 desserts/week (to which Nathan said, why did you bump it up to 3 so quickly?)

3.  Nathan’s rule:  Desserts on Wednesday and Friday.  I vetoed this rule.  What happens if we’re on the  road, I will not waste one of my dessert nights on a McFlurry!

4.  All World Famous Dessert places are exempt from the rules.  I vetoed this rule as well – we’re always somewhere with a world famous keylime pie, red velvet cake, etc

So official rules: No lunch time desserts.  2 Desserts/week

Now, you might laugh (as many have when I told them these rules) that we even have to make rules to cut down on our dessert in take.  But what you don’t realize is that I have no self-restraint.  In my previous life I just didn’t buy junk food and rarely bought sweets, so when I went out for dinner I was all about the desserts.  Now, eating in restaurants all of the time, it’s like an unlimited kitchen – so many options and I just can’t help it.  I’m weak!

It’s been 4 weeks and we’ve actually stuck to our new rules.  Although I will admit that sometimes I linger at the chocolate aisle at grocery stores, or gaze longingly at the ice cream flavours.  But, now I look at a dessert menu and say, ‘nope, nothing on this menu is worth a dessert night’.

The funny thing now is that once Sunday comes along, although in the past I felt a sense of dread at a new work week, now, I feel such happiness that the week is over and another dessert week begins!


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Categories : Detroit, Miscellaneous

Camisa Es Roha

15 06 2009

After leaving Mexico and being inspired by a potential Mexican beachfront lifestyle, Nathan and I decided it was time to really learn how to speak Spanish.  We need to know more than the traditional “hola, uno mas cervesa por favor, de nada’ if we’re going to spend more time in Mexico.

So, we invested in the Levels 1, 2 and 3 of Rosetta Stone – each level is supposed to be the equivalent of 2 semesters of university spanish.  BIG expectations!

They believe in total immersion, so there is no english translation, instead you learn through pictures, hearing native speakers and general intuition.  You learn pronunciation, grammer, reading, writing and vocabulary.  The software is a lot of fun, and I flew through the first unit.   So, all of a sudden, I’m at the first Milestone, which essentially tests what you’ve learned.  This Milestone was a series of pictures, and from these pictures I was supposed to know what to say!!  All I have to say, is there were 12 questions (phrases that I was supposed to know how to say) and the only one that I got right was “hola” and that’s only because they said it first and I was just repeating it!!!

So, maybe it’s not quite so easy, maybe I need to focus a little bit more.  I feel like I’m back in school and the pressure is on!  I’m finding that the pronunciation is tough!  They do not let you slack off and if you don’t say it exactly right, you don’t get to pass.  I swear I spent 10 minutes trying to say “tres” despite the fact that that’s pretty much my name.

Anyway, I haven’t been sure awhat I’ve been retaining.  Nathan and I just keep saying “manzanas” (apples), “caballo” (horse) and other random spanish words at each other.  And apparently, my favourite phrase, my “go-to” phrase, is “La bicicleta es amarilla.” The bicycle is yellow.   I don’t think that this is going to come in handy in too many conversations.

I was seriously doubting the success of the software and my learning capacity UNTIL this weekend when we were standing in a crowd watching a show in Toronto and I was easvesdropping on conversations, I picked up “camisa es roha” There was a couple standing beside me and they were talking about someone in a red shirt, or someone beside someone in a red shirt.  Either way, I recognized that they were talking about something about a red shirt.  SUCCESS!


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Categories : Miscellaneous, Toronto

Michigan…My New Home?

3 03 2009

What?  Did I just say that?  No, I don’t really mean that.  I feel like I do in fact live in Michigan now.  I’ve been here for 2 1/2 weeks all by myself.  I’ve been living in an apartment, making dinner every night, packing a lunch every day, and driving a mini van to work.  What?   Have I turned into a suburban housewife? 

All is going well right now.  I’m settling into life in the office and making the 40 min commute to the office.  My first time really driving in the US, and so far, not so bad.  It gives me 80 minutes a day when I am truly on my own and have the freedom to sing along with the radio, and make random comments to myself.  I am quite proud of myself and my proficiency with the mini van and the Michigan roads, which are not the easiest to navigate.  I have now experienced almost running out of gas and having to fill up in not the most desirable neighbourhoods… and lived to tell the tale!

I watched the season finale of The Bachelor last night. DO NOT judge me.  I couldn’t resist.  But, it took me on an emotional roller coaster and I got all worked up, so that will show me to get caught up with reality TV. 

Hope everyone is well!  Fingers crossed that I’m on the move out of Michigan soon…


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Categories : Detroit, Miscellaneous

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