Spring is scarce but spring shopping is in full flight!

Some people measure success by their grades, salary or number of friends. Some measure it by the size of their house, the type of car they drive. Others measure it by their family and the love that surrounds them. Some people even feel the sheer ability to get up another day is a success - healthy preferrably.  I can relate to most of these choices but I still haven't truly been able to define my success.
  Deep down I think my success will be when I truly stop living for a salary and do what makes my heart sing. However I don't know when I will be in that ever comforting position that I could feel negligible towards a good salary and feel secure in reaching for my dreams. I definitely think I can't attempt it alone, Mike would surely have to be a willing participant, and push me.

I have fun targets, I wouldn't say they are success points. Things I would like to do or see or have, as materialistic as it sounds.
Is that fulfilling?
What does it mean to be fulfilled?
Content, worry-free, secure, assured, healthy, sound. Those words feel like fulfilled to me, I think they almost describe me right now. There is the occasional I am turning 40 in two years and I am not getting younger feeling, but that one doesn't last too long.

  Must our lives need to revolve around success? Do we need to stand for something in the end? Is living a decent, fun life good enough? Did I have enough fun...thats a question I ask myself now, not when I am dying. I suppose I could have more fun, but I am past the age of breaking the law. Besides, I have a salary to keep me stable until I get the nerve to let go of it.

Dolly

 Until I find the courage to pen my first book, I will stick to the good ole fashion fun.
Speaking of fun targets, I'd say buying my first pair of couture shoes is one of them. Its time I treat myself a bit.  Starting with the throw back fashions of Miss Charlotte Olympia, she has such an amusing and quirky style and still many of her shoes are elegant and timeless.
Check out her 2015 Spring/summer collection, http://us.charlotteolympia.com/spring-15/ you will fall in love.
"Apache" my personal favourite with the peek-a-boo bird on the heel, love it. Shoes for me are similar to art. If I could, I would store my shoes on the walls of my home like a museum.

KidsPlay

My next gift to myself was "kidsplay" by Stuart Weitzman. These fun weekend booties are stunning with skinny jeans. Thanks to Mike who found my perfect pair of skinny jeans and made me try them on, I now know I too can wear skinny jeans. Now if I could only lose those 20 lbs...ah one thing at a time.

My husband beat me to the punch with his gift to me this week. He realized one of his dreams of buying me my first pair of #Louboutins. Sounds silly but they are gorgeous. The red scarlet signature heel and the crazy animal pattern.


I love that he indulges me so. That is our measure of success I suppose, the silly treats we give each other and meaningful wishes of love. That and growing old together forever, success to me is being with the man I adore and never wanting this feeling to end. Never wanting to go away, ever.

Highlights, Conditioner and a silky Shampoo....

   I never know what to do anymore with my hair. I envy the six o'clock news anchor woman with her immaculately manicured hair. If I had a stylist team making sure I looked like a million dollars every day I would find something else to complain about.                

  But truly are we woman being taken for a ride with all this hair care nonsense? It will never look as good as it does when you walk out of the salon! Face it!   

   And why is it every time I pay a fortune to have my hair styled, its like hurricane Hannah outside?

Let's face it we can not twist that roller like they do, we can not blow dry like they do. We don't use the right amount of wax, smoother, lotion or oils like they do. It is like the freaking magic of Disney. You don't know what it is specifically, but it works and you're buying!

   Today I had highlights and low lights applied and something that I apparently needed in order to ensure I don't embellish the highlighted root too much....????

I don't care and I am so glad you spent a fortune to figure it out at your cosmetic school...now get rid of the grey! The hair speak....is lost on me.

I bought a new product, any of you out there tried Kevin Murphy products? I need a hydrating miracle for my hair. 

                  

 Peak-a-boo...do you see a difference? No!

But I do, my thirties are now about chasing the sixty grey hairs on my head. I should be good for the next 90 days. Good night friends.

A little inspiration goes a long way...

  I am not materialistic at heart....feel free to correct me out there friends, but sometimes a device no matter the value, can push you in a direction you'd otherwise left unattended some time ago. Take for instance the Fitbit Tracker, Mike was catapulted into a fitness frenzy with that device and lost 30 lbs as a result. Obviously his will played a big part but that little step counter linked to a whole social tracking and networking site lead him down a path of positive health choices. Gadgets work!

   Which is why I am here today finally writing a blog post again. I've been having some technical difficulty trying to figure out how to get back into my Blogger.com account. The culprit being multiple email accounts, I have tried previously and had given up countless times. Then I got this little device from Mike as a gift, my MacBook Air and suddenly I am re-ignited to go after my publishing site so I can continue my life long mission to communicate with the outside world, share a message and eventually write a book. I figured out which email account was associated to this darn (ahem) account and here we are. Freelance and barefoot once again. The world is once again whole. Stay tuned friends, I might be far, but I have a voice to share with you. I hope you are still listening.

Frustration is....

When you spend the last hour creating a blog post only to have your iPad lose it before you get to save the draft. :-( 

Technology has its downfalls. 

I would rewrite it again but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Cinderella needs her rest.

Goodnight friends....

The upside to moving

I guess there are some positive sides to moving, take for example my collection of sample beauty creams from Estée Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Lancôme, Vichy and Avène. I have been hoarding them away in small cosmetic bags promising myself to try them some day. Today those bags were emptied into a basket like Halloween candy. My wrinkles are already thanking me for the ultra rich moisturizer and my pores seem smaller from using that Arbonne toner. Eventually, like every woman, I will find that magic beauty routine that will send my face back 8 years ago. Here's hoping ;-)...

Le Clan Panneton got it!

 What do you do the day before a big move? I took full advantage of wood furniture empty without knickknacks littering their surfaces and polished them with love. A love they rarely see on a normal day. I did every last bit of laundry! Why you ask? It's not like I don't have a machine in the new place! I also got a pedicure for the last time at my spa Caroline Legault, and a haircut for the last time with Mel at St. Laurent Trends. 

Yep, that's what experts around the world diagnose as abnormal and slightly crazy. It would have been full on crazy if I started polishing the silverware too.

Polished me and our belongings ready for the final move out event. I have to say at Clan Panneton http://www.leclanpanneton.ca these guys do what they say and say what they do. In addition, they're very inexpensive. Friday morning experienced movers' (22++ years) Alan and Eric had our "abundant shit" moved out in just over 4 hours. Impressive! 

 They were off and running to the Ontario border whilst I was moping the floors before we left and that's when Mike realized he was missing his car/house/condo keys!! 

"Call the movers!!" as we quickly realized it was packed away in his jacket on the truck! 

Hmmm change locks on the house or go find the movers and get those keys back!!? Option B, luckily they were only down the road at Tim Horton's having lunch.

As my faithful brother Adam headed out with some items to store in his garage and become the new owner of other items, Mike and I started the task of feeding Gravol to Vickie and Ellie. 

 Stowed away in separate rooms I prepared 1/3 of a Gravol per plate hidden within some wet food and brought to each of the cats to devour. The veterinary said it was the best option for their age to make them drowsy for the long drive. Be warned it's not effective on all cats but it's better than having two anxious cats on a five hour car ride. 

 Vickie in true form ate all her food as if it were the last supper. Ellie on the other hand nibbled her way to the pill and stopped at its distasteful likeness.

It left us with no choice but to give it to her the old fashioned way, open mouth, close and stroke chin until swallowed. Except this stubborned pill that was already moist from the food sat in her mouth dissolving which made Ellie produce copious amounts of saliva to counter the sourness. So much that when she shook her head it was as if a St. Bernard was there, as loads of her spit flung everywhere around her. Freaked out and thinking we poisoned poor Ellie I called the vet for advice. 

The vet technician assured me Ellie was just creating saliva to get rid of the Gravol's taste and no harm was done. Relieved I finished cleaning Ellie's saliva off the walls, floors and Mike's shirt and into the car they went. Separate cat boxes smoothed up against the front seats wedge between frozen food and computer equipment. Vickie is going to love this....

As we made our way down the 401 it was very clear which cat the Gravol worked on and which it did not! The constant "meow" to remind us that this was not part of the deal for Ellie would only subside after about 1.5 hours into the drive. It was a grand test of Mike's limited patience, luckily she gave up and starred hopelessly outside.

Upon arrival at their new home I sprayed a pheromone product Feliway in all the rooms to give them a calming familiar sense. The cats walked out of their cages and quickly covered the entire condo taking in all the new smells and dimensions. Mission accomplished, now we order food and wait for our precious crap to arrive in the morning. Our first night in our new home as one family, Ellie still slept at my feet and Vickie in her bed. Some things stay exactly the same, no matter the province you live in.

Last night...

It's our last night in our first home and it feels like I am taken back to five years ago. Lying in an empty bedroom, boxes littering all levels of the house waiting for their new placement.

 It's strange how the end often has the familiarity of the beginning. I remember our first night sleeping in the new home, our first meal in the new home, our first sunny morning starring out into a grassy backyard for the first time. 

The first time that freaking neighbour's dog barked or shat on my lawn. The first time their lovely recycling flew aimlessly into my backyard, holding onto my fence for dear life...Taunting me....ahem. 

 Now we leave our little slice of suburbia paradise for a condo in the sky. Big city lights and bustling traffic. Colourful passengers meandering to their work or school through the city streets like mice in a maze.

 I will miss our "Mysteria Lane" but I have to say I am not completely sore. Those who know me well remember five years ago when I said, "One day he will loathe the grass cutting and will want to return to urban cement and conveniences."

The girl who preferred condo shopping to home shopping (wink).

It's a lot like shoes...the black flats are practical but colourful heels make life more interesting.

 Firsts of newness are now replaced by, it's our last meal, it's our last time to put out our own recycling bin, our last vaudreuil party, it's our last kiss in our first home.

You know what, it's ok. Life is full of important firsts and not so vital lasts. What matters is the memories made, the growth our couple grew, the friends, the successes, the ability to have courage to create and turn the next chapter of our lives. 

What is most remarkable to me is the finesse in which my man and I step to the beat of our crazy drum. 

With such synergy, grace and respect. I am so lucky to commence this journey with him tomorrow and always, until death do us part. 

Rock and roll baby, let's do this! 

Mini ménage á Toronto.

Leaving on a Saturday morning at the ungodly hour of 6:45am to drive to Toronto for a weekend full of cleaning our new condo! (Wait for the cheers...) 

Well at least we can say the 10 hour (5 hours each way) drive would not be a total loss, as Mike never saw our new home before. He was pleased with the space, albeit small, it seems I made a good choice for us. Phew! 

I know what we will be doing at night, gazing out at the Toronto skyline. Reminiscent of what we like to do in South Beach, Miami (thank you Iman and Robert).  

The broker who met us to provide the keys to our condo and run off with tens of  thousands of dollars in rent cheques laughing their ass off and yelling "start the car!!" ....Yes it's that bloody expensive! 

She showed us our newly installed laminate flooring and explained how they cleaned. Ah hun.

I noted the island stools were gone, she explained they clear the apartment before the new tenants arrive. Note to self, ask to keep obviously useful items in deal. Sigh.

Then this woman proceeded to clear her conscience by asking me, a grown woman, to keep my animals space clean because when she went into another tenants condo she found the cat smelled. 

You know when you think of all the clever things to tell people after the situation passes? Yeah, I was on fire this morning!  (the morning after)

What I actually told this bitch is, "Don't worry I am a very clean person, thanks".

 

The goal Saturday after all was to clean the entire condo, but first we had to drop off some seasonal items at our new storage unit. 

Driving through the neighbourhoods surrounding us I remarked as if we were in the streets of NDG or Outremont. We took a detour to avoid traffic.

First lesson in Toronto, find the road less travelled and add 20-30 minutes to arrive to your destination.  

We found our inexpensive storage in a less than desirable neighbourhood. Second lesson in Toronto, cheap means cheap. Expensive is everything else.

I digress on the rest of my storage unit experience. I will leave you with this, it's a good thing I don't have a strong attachment to our Christmas tree!

After what seemed like an eternity at the storage due to poor customer service, ok ok I am over it...we went to get lunch, starved and somewhat irritated we both could use a break from the drive.

That nagging fact that now we have nothing to sit on was also a new preoccupation in our minds. 

We stopped at a Lowes to see if they had furniture and to eat at their convienent SUBWAYs. 

Every time I eat at SUBWAYs I think it's for the last time and then these situations arise. Jared and his oversized jeans are filthy rich sure, but their sandwiches are really not that good.

Fastforward, Lowes has no furniture. Nor did the Brick or this strange no name place I entered desperate for cheap bar stools. No one was home in the musty smelling, dilapidated store. A tv was playing a soap opera and the radio was playing classical music.

Remember cheap is cheap. Apparently, I am not that desperate!

Last stop Walmart! The king of "you need it we got it out of a Chinese shipment container". You can't go wrong and we did not, we bought the same bar stools our bitchy greeter removed from our kitchen. 

I need a drink, next stop LCBO and luckily found next door, thank you Google Map gods. A lovely red to go with dinner.

It's late afternoon and still no cleaning has begun. 

Low on energy but high on spirits we make our way back to our side of town.

After three good hours of elbow grease we made a dent in the beige dust that littered doors, hinges, cabinets and every crevice due to the floor installation. 

Bathrooms, ceilings to floor and kitchen cupboards. Starting to feel more like home. 

Exhausted, it's finally time to relax on our new stools and order some new local pizza and calamari to go with our wine.

Nothing to watch we listen to the Habs game on the internet radio. Our favourite team made the trek with us to Toronto! So sweet. They lost 5-3 to our hated rival Maple Leafs. 

Next time we will be at the Air Canada Center to cheer them on! Go Habs! You can move the girl from her beloved Montreal, but you can't change the girl!  ;-) bisou mes amis! Xo