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A Week in Their Kitchen

June 2, 2010 By 3 Comments

This week, Tim and I are participating in a challenge for the Calgary Food Bank called “A Week in Their Kitchen”.

A Week in Their Kitchen is a week long challenge that will see various members of Calgary’s media and public surviving on the contents of only an Emergency Food Hamper throughout Husky Help the Hungry week (May 31-June 6 2010).

Participants will be blogging about their experience, both with visiting the food bank, and cooking with the items in their hamper, to help give the public a sense of what it’s like to be in need.

As part of my job, I regularly have to refer clients to the food bank, so it is very interesting to view the experience from their position. Please check out the blog, leave a comment, donate to your local food bank, and open your mind to what it might be like for you to depend on a food bank for your nutrition.

http://weekintheirkitchen.wordpress.com

Thanks in advance for your support!

Filed Under: Calgary, charity, food

Fiveblondes (plus a baby)

May 28, 2010 By 2 Comments

Since my boyfriend dragged my across the country a couple years ago, and the rest of the girls are scattered all across Ontario, it is rare for us all to be together at once, and very special as well. In the beginning of May we threw a birthday party for our parents and the girls and I decided it would be best if I was there as well. We also decided it would be best if it was kept a surprise for my parents, so when I nonchalantly rang the doorbell at the Farm the day of the party my Mom was absolutely flabbergasted! We had a great party and it was fun to surprise my Mom and Dad, if only for the weekend.

Luckily we had the opportunity to take some unofficial family photos with the most adorable, perfect, cuddly, magical, beautiful baby in the whole wide world. After all, we ARE “Fiveblondes plus a baby” now.

This is pretty much how I looked all weekend.

But how could you not want to squeeze her until the end of time if she is this cute?

Sigh, the end.

Filed Under: baby, Calgary, Hailey

May is for two fours.

May 19, 2010 By 14 Comments

Canadians are celebrating Victoria Day this weekend, which doesn’t mean anything to me except LONG WEEKEND (which is so, so much needed right now).  In Calgary we call it “May Long” but in Ontario it is better known as “May Two-Four” (and many a two-four is consumed over the weekend, but that’s another blog post altogether…)

To me it means camping! My wonderful cousin and his lovely girlfriend invited Tim and I to go camping with them this weekend and I very exuberantly agreed to come along. The Blondes used to go camping every August with a bunch of other families but I haven’t been camping in for-freaking-ever.

I can’t wait to sit by the fire, to get a tan (unless it snows … which is unfortunately to be expected over May two-four in Calgary), eat hot dogs and possibly consume my body weight in s’mores.

Source

I know many other bloggers will be in Vegas this weekend celebrating Bloggers in Sin City and I am ohmigosh SO jealous of them. What are you doing to celebrate the long weekend?

Filed Under: Calgary, camping Tagged With:

Blah, blah, boys.

April 14, 2010 By 13 Comments

I’ve wanted to write a bit about my relationship for awhile, but I didn’t really know how. Or why it was important. But my relationship with my boyfriend has played such a huge role in the last two years of my life that I would feel like I was ignoring a huge part of me by not addressing it. Plus, we filed for our taxes as “common law” this year, so all of a sudden things are serious, government styles.

Two years ago I wrote about being “that girl” and following my boyfriend across the country. I was unsure if I was making the right decision and I was all messed up inside. If you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ll know that I did follow him. I followed him across the country, but not for a second was I “that girl”. While in University I was undeniably codependent with him. We spent every night together, and when we didn’t and I was anxious I was call him crying, begging him to come over. When we moved to Calgary I thought to myself that life would be perfect. That we would spend every possible moment together and cuddle all night and it didn’t matter that I didn’t have any friends out West because I had him and if I had him, nothing else matters.

Well, I learned pretty quickly that everything else? Does matter. The nature of his job meant that he was working in the evenings, and that he was working a lot. Our relationship took a toll, and we struggled through ups and downs. I reconnected with an old friend and my codependence with my boyfriend dissipated. My boyfriend became less of my best friend, and more of my boyfriend. This is a good thing, amigos.

Him and I have had to work hard to make things work. He still works mainly evenings, so I will come home for lunch and we’ll hang out for half an hour then. I’ll stay up super late and wait for him to come home, and when he gets home the first thing he does is give me a huge hug while I’m reading in bed. I’ve had to be really assertive with my needs, and not let myself feel that I am taking second place to his job. I’ve worked extra hard at making friends and meeting people in unconventional ways.

When Micaela wrote that post last week about the adoration her husband has for her, I broke down. My mind went into crisis mode and I could only focus on the faults in my relationship. All of a sudden, it wasn’t good enough. He didn’t adore me, he didn’t respect me, he wasn’t good enough. Then I shook my head and reminded me that my relationship was just that- my own. That I could compare all I wanted but in the end I had to figure out if it was working for me. And you know what? It is. He may not look at me with puppy eyes every day, but when I wake up beside him every, my life, in that moment, is good.

Filed Under: Calgary, leah, life, love

Gold medal-worthy opening night

March 20, 2010 By 11 Comments

Last night I went out with my cousins and we checked out the opening night of the new Hudsons Taphouse in Calgary. We danced the night away to Lady Gaga, ACDC, Bryan Adams and had an absolute blast. It’s a medium to large sized venue, the atmosphere was very sports pubby, they had tons of TVs and it was full to the brim of stylish twenty somethings ready to have a good time.

Guess who we ran into?
jonmontgomery

(You’d be hard-pressed to find a Canadian who doesn’t recognize this beer-loving ginger!)

Jon Montgomery! Hudsons brought both him and Hailey Wickenheiser to help the patrons celebrate the opening of the bar. He was eager to take lots of pictures with people and while he didn’t ever actually let go of the medal he was very open to shake hands, chug beers and let people hold the (very heavy) gold medal!

Let me tell you, Canada is still not over the Olympics and all of our amazing athletes. Jon and Hailey got lots of cheers and at times there was a line-up to get a picture with Jon and the medal!

All in all, we had a great night, the food was tasty and not at all overpriced, the service was shockingly fast for an opening night and I’ll be back next weekend. (It helps that it’s within stumbling distance to my condo…)

Filed Under: Calgary, leah, pubs, review

Moments

March 12, 2010 By 14 Comments

I was with Tim in his parent’s basement. Laying on the couch, watching a movie, giggling and kissing. He got up, and knelt beside me so he could look me in the eyes. “I love you.” Words that had been swirling around my mind for months, words that I was too afraid to say to a man for the first time were finally out in the open. For that moment, the world was perfect. Nothing else mattered. (2006)

It was 1:30am on a busy Saturday night. I was working at The Pub with another bartender, Geo. Our friends were there, drinking raucously and joyfully carrying on. I was in the pass rolling cutlery while the dishwasher washed the floor. With two full pitchers in his hands, Geo walked through to deliver crisp beer to a thirsty table. He was walking, he was talking and in one second he was flying through the air, the freshly washed floor having created a surprisingly slippery surface. He landed, flat on his back – with two full pitchers of beer in his hands. “THE BEER IS OKAY!” he yelled out to a silent bar, full of witnesses to his potentially embarrassing situation. The crowd cheered and in one moment he became a legend. (2007)

It was the last day of my fourth year of University. I was running across campus in my pyjamas, with an 82 page final project in my hands. I hadn’t gone to bed the night before and I was scheduled to work at The Pub 15 minutes earlier. I was cursing my project partner for not having completed her portion of the project, causing me one last sleepless University night. My eyes had bags under them and my hair was noticeably greasy. I handed the project in just under deadline and drove to The Pub. I burst in to see two of my favourite coworkers and I looked at them and cried. I had just finished University and in that moment, my life was starting. (2008)

I was sitting cross-legged on the comfortable, dated, green leather couch, and Tim was on the computer in the bedroom. I was talking to Kate on the phone, exclaiming about a mutual friend’s freshly announced pregnancy. “I told her my sisters better not get pregnant soon or I’ll have to move home!” Kate, ever so nonchalantly, said “Well, then you’re going to have to move home.” I laughed it off, telling her I was kidding and no one was pregnant. “No, Leah. You’re going to have to move home soon.” My mind dropped and I told her to say it, to spell it out for me. “I’m pregnant,” she finally confirmed. I laughed and screamed and cried. “I have to put the phone down! TIM! TIM COME HERE!” With the phone sitting in my lap, I cried. I was feeling emotions I didn’t even know I knew how to feel. A new life was starting. (2010)

Filed Under: Calgary, leah, life

Because everybody's good at something.

March 10, 2010 By 9 Comments

I spent two days in Toronto last week driving around to random locations to mail things, or meet people for lunch and I didn’t get lost once. I even directed Micaela around, and she has lived in TO for almost a year (she would be lost without me, friends). When I was driving around (and not getting lost) I mentally high-fived myself and called Micaela to exclaim how awesome I was – because I had never even driven around Toronto alone before. It was like Google implanted Google maps into my brain as a magical prototype of human built-in GPS. Well, Google, thank you – being great at navigation really helped me a lot last week.

You want to know what else I am really good at? (No? Shocking. I’m going to tell you anyway). SLEEPING. I love sleeping. I am also really good at it – give me a pillow and a blanket and a hardwood floor and I am golden. Give me a pillow and a blanket and the floor of the busiest dance club in town on a Saturday night and I will snore away.

Since navigation and sleeping are my two best skills, that can only lead to one thing – I should become a professional traveler. A citizen of the world. I will navigate my way around any city or countryside and will sleep on any train, horse-drawn wagon or even the basket of my bicycle.

First up?

Paris. The girls and I went to Paris with our Mom about 10 years ago and I Paris, well, I loved all of France. I would live there in a heartbeat.

Photo on 2010-03-10 at 18.59

Me and the Eiffel tower are like two peas in the pod.

But why would I stop at Earth? I could definitely sleep in a space shuttle, even during take-off.

Photo on 2010-03-10 at 19.00

Me in space.

That is all, my apologies for wasting your time but I drive around a lot for work and these are actually the things I think about while on the road driving from client to client. Sometimes I forget to turn on the radio and then my imagination gets a little weird. And when you are a blogger, you just have to write these things down. You just do.

Filed Under: Calgary, travel

A Discovering Toronto Outfit

March 8, 2010 By 3 Comments

I love reading fashion blogs (and I know I’m not the only blonde who does!) but I don’t often think to write about my own fashion. I love clothes and dressing up or dressing fun, but my fashion sense is not overly keen or groundbreaking. I like clothes that are comfortable and cute, as well as easy to wear. I love finding unique pieces, and finding clothing at secondhand stores, and especially clothes that are surprising.

I’m hoping to do more of this (especially as springtime arrives) and encouraging my sisters to do it as well!

Sweater: Groggy -  from a store in Calgary that is no longer open. //Scarf: Gap // Flower necklace: Forever 21 // Bracelet: Micaela’s dresser // Leggings: Jacob // Boots: Ecco, from another store that is no longer in existence (thanks, economy).

Also, I’m a giant. Okay, I’m 5’10″ but this photo very much accentuates my height.

Messy hair! I kind of like it that way …

A photo that didn’t turn out too well, but I still liked it.

I found some amazeballs boots for Micaela that day and forced her to buy them so I hope she blogs about them soon! (Hint, hint)

Filed Under: Calgary, fashion

Life on the Farm

March 5, 2010 By 13 Comments

Did you know that us blondes grew up on a farm? A pig farm to be exact. I (who currently resides in Calgary) am home in Ontario for a week and promised my parents, who are on a cruise celebrating this girl getting married, that I would help Scottie in the barn. (Scottie McHottie is our farmhand, who rocked the traditional story of farmhand-marrying-farmer’s-daughter when he asked our Kate to marry him years ago).

My best friend is in broadcast journalism school and asked if she could make a video of me doing chores in the morning for a project and of course I agreed. Hello, what great blog fodder and who doesn’t love a vlog? HUGE thanks to my bff Leah – yes, we have the same name – for doing this!

So enjoy taking a peek into my current life, and also what life was like when we were kids and had to go to the barn when we misbehaved.

Filed Under: agriculture, Calgary, farming, life, pigs

Healthcare

February 25, 2010 By 17 Comments

I love Canada, and I love being Canadian. Recently I read  a tweet from an American blogger regarding the rising costs of her health care coverage/insurance (which shockingly went from ~$700 to ~$900 per month) and I was encouraged to write about my personal experiences with the Canadian health care system.

You may remember when I had a health scare in November in which I was experiencing severe pain in my lung and an x-ray showed a lump on my lung. The lump eventually disappeared but I will always be grateful to our health care system for the treatment I had.

The time line and cost went as follows:

1.) Experienced severe pain in my left lung for about a week and a half. Cost: A few missed days of work.

2.) Went to the walk in clinic down the street. Cost: Zero dollars. Waiting time: 10 minutes. Benefit: I got a family doctor at that clinic as they happened to be accepting new patients (and still are – if you are in Calgary and looking for a family doctor let me know, I would be glad to refer you to them).

3.) Doctor prescribed x-rays and informed me that I likely had pleurisy. He also prescribed painkillers. Cost for a referral for x-rays and painkillers prescription: Zero dollars. (I never took the painkillers- if I had taken them there likely would have been some cost incurred)

4.) Went for the x-ray the following day. Cost: Zero dollars. Waiting time: About 5 minutes.

5.) The following week got a phone call from my new family doctor (we had a meet and greet the previous week to go over medical history). Needed to come get the results. Appointment booked for the following day.

6.) Had appointment with doctor, he went over the results with me, what the lump might be and informed me to go back for more x-rays the following day. Cost: Zero dollars. Waiting time: 10 minutes. Benefit: Doctor was extremely kind and understanding. He answered all of my questions and spent a bit of time talking to me.

7.) Went for second set of x-rays. Cost: Zero dollars. Waiting time: About 10 minutes.

8.) Doctor called when results came back – two days later. Booked an appointment for the following day.

9.) Another appointment with the doctor. Results came back normal. Cost: Zero dollars. Waiting time: 15 minutes.

All in all, I spent a total of about an hour waiting for doctors or x-rays and the total cost for the appointments and x-rays was zilch. Thank you, Canada. I love you. I have been receiving mail advertisements supporting a privatized health care system and for what it’s worth, I will be voting NO to privatized health care for the rest of my life, so that my children and grandchildren will get the same kind of support  that I have.

ALSO – Canadians and non-Canadians alike should all read this brilliant post which offers a quick Canadian geography lesson.

Filed Under: Calgary, health
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