Thursday, August 28, 2008

Lovin' it.

In the spirit of my new found love of hot yoga and oolong tea, I feel like listing off several other things that make me happy. (Also, I'm kind of lazy today and just feel like writing a list, rather than a long, rambling blog).

Things I love just as much as hot yoga and oolong tea:
  • My hubby. Last night, he was willing to sacrifice and give me the LAST pita bread for my lunch today so I could enjoy a delicious chicken souvlaki. Now that's love.
  • Jeans. I know some people find them uncomfortable, but I have a love affair with the denim. Never want to wear anything but jeans.
  • The fam. Yes, I've gone on about them in previous posts, but it's cause I have a pretty great family. Me Ma, Da and brother all rock. And the best part is, they think I'm great!
  • The fam-in-law. They may be quite different from my family (they can actually have lengthy discussions about waste management and not get bored) but when it comes to how loving and caring they are, they're right up there with my fam. It's nice to have two families and so much love to go around.
  • Goat cheese. I recently had a salad that had goat cheese in it and it further confirmed my absolute love-on for the stuff. It's good on crackers, in a salad, with garlic... basically, it's just damn good.
  • Books that you can't put down. I'm currently on the lookout for another one of these. Love reading. LOVE it!
  • Parties involving beer. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I loves a good party. Add beer into the mix and it's pretty fan-frickin'-tastic.
  • Parties in general. (See above).
  • Lists. As you can probably tell, I enjoy the list-making. Nerdy, I know. But what can I say?

I could probably continue on for quite some time. But I'll save it for "Things I love just as much as hot yoga and oolong tea: Volume 2".

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Product rave

I've made a new discovery. Well, new to me, anyway. I'm pretty sure it's been in existence for a looooooong time. Anyway, this discovery is oolong tea.

Wikipedia describes Oolong as: a traditional Chinese tea somewhere between green and black in oxidation.

I was reading about it in one of my Mom's "You: Living until you're 175 years old" books. And apparently, 2 cups a day of the oolong has incredible health benefits. Or, so says some doctor (backed up by a study. Or so he says).

And of course, me being a sucker for all the new health trends (hot yoga... need I say more?), I hustled out to the nearest specialty tea store and forked over 8 bucks for a teeny tiny package of the leaves.

I'm just imbibing now. And let me tell you, I'm quite pleased with my purchase. It's delicious and nutritious. I can feel myself getting more youthful with each sip.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Who am I?

Lately, I've been thinking about who I want to be. Not so much in a "what I want to be when I grow up" way. More of a "what kind of a person should I strive to be" way, I guess.

I've come up with a few versions of Hez:

Super zen-like/healthy Hez
This type of Hez is the one that's all about healthy eating, working out and living the clean life. I think it's been brought on by my recent discovery (and love) of hot yoga. I'm becoming one with the universe. (Okay, maybe not). But I definitely find myself more focused on eating well, drinking lots of water and respecting my body. I like this Hez. Just not sure if I can forsake all other facets of my personality and let this be the real me forever and ever, amen.

Party, just-wanna-have-fun Hez
Many people already see me as this type of Hez, I think. This is the Hez that likes going out with friends on the weekends, or going out after work with co-workers to enjoy a few bevies of the alcoholic variety. I absolutely, 100% love beer. And this is why I can see myself as the Party Hez. However, as I get older and older, I realize that after a night of partying, I'm pretty much a write-off. Not so much fun.

Suzy-homemaker Hez
This variation of Hez is definitely brought on by my recent obsession with the show Mad Men. The wives stay home and make dinner and look all done-up and pretty and have all the time in the world. Nah... this so is not me. If I stayed at home, I'd live in my sweats and prepare cereal for dinner when the hubby got home.

Anyway... I guess I don't have to be one Hez or another. An amalgamation is always nice. And perhaps, I'll find that I'm many different people (in a non-schizo way, of course).

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Musings on necks


Several months ago, I bought my Mom the book "I feel bad about my neck" by Nora Ephron. Not because I think my Mom has a neck that she should be ashamed of. But because the book made me laugh out loud while thumbing through the pages. And I'm not even the target market.

Nora (I say "Nora" as if we're on a first-name basis. You know... Nor and I... we're tight) writes things like:

"Sometimes I go out to lunch with my girlfriends - I got that far into the sentence and caught myself. I suppose I mean my women friends. We are no longer girls and have not been girls for forty years. Anyway, sometimes we go out to lunch and I look around the table and realize we're all wearing turtleneck sweaters. Sometimes, instead, we're all wearing scarves, like Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond. Sometimes we're all wearing mandarin collars and look like a white ladies' version of Joy Luck Club... Oh, the necks. There are chicken necks. There are turkey gobbler necks. There are elephant necks. There are necks with wattles and necks with creases that are on the verge of becoming wattles..."

I could go on and on, quoting Nora and her funny, sarcastic, natural and friendly writing. She takes the topic of aging and doesn't use any old, tired gags to make it fresh and hilarious.

I strive to be like Nora one day. Not to have Nora's neck, of course. But, to be able to write a funny, relatable book that lots of people want to buy.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Hez goes to Vancouver


I've just heard that I'm going to Vancouver on Friday for business. My partner and I are heading off to brainstorm with the creatives at the general ad agency out west. I feel all lovely and important right now.

Of course, at this important moment in my career, I am reminded that my wardrobe just isn't up to snuff in the "trendy/cool/creative" realm. My dirty converse sneakers, while generally considered a staple among creatives, just ain't going to cut it.

Perhaps a shopping trip is in order. Yes... must find an outfit that says "I'm trendy, yet it comes naturally to me, so I didn't even realize I was so hip when I got dressed this morning."

My neuroses is in overdrive.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Short n' sweet

All of my blogs lately have been really long. So I decided to write a nice, short one.  And here it is, in all it's glory.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone. Tomorrow, I'm heading off to hot yoga: round 2. I'll let you know how it goes.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Me

Here are a few interesting things I've learned about myself lately.

I'm no longer the "young pup" at work.
In the past, if it came up in conversation, I would tell co-workers how old I was. The immediate response was always "Oh, you're just a pup". And so, despite my yearly birthdays, I've always felt like the young one around the office. Imagine my surprise when I was discussing the movie "Jerry Maguire" with a co-worker and she mentioned that she was "too young" for it. WHAT?? And there are several, several other co-workers who have made comments like "Oh, I was in grade 8 when you were starting University" and "What's 'He-Man'? I've never heard of it". Sigh. It's a somewhat sad realization. Which leads me to the next point...

I'm no longer young enough to be considered desirable by male celebs in their 30s.
I was listening to the radio the other day and heard that Michael Bublé (aged 32) has a new girlfriend (aged 23). 23??? That just seems so young to me. And Leonardo DiCaprio (34) has been dating a 23 year-old girl for a long time now. Oh, and while watching TV one night, I saw two characters have this conversation: "I need to set you up with my friend, she's great!" Response from male with slight look of disapproval on face: "Isn't she nearly 30?" Now, I know it's just TV... but still. When did age 30 become too old for men in their 30s?? I think I'm just sad that my chance with Leo is shot. You know, cause if I was a few years younger, I'd totally have a shot.

I'm old enough to know better.
All this being said, I know that no longer being in my early (or even mid) 20s is really great. Because I like where I am in life and who I am. Yes, the grey hairs might have frightened me at first, but I'm growing to be more and more okay with them. And with each year, comes more maturity, which just makes me feel smarter. Take last night for example. I went out for drinks with co-workers. And, instead of drinking myself silly and feeling like a badger's arse all day today, I went out, had a few drinks, had fun and still got home to bed by 10:30. And today I feel great. Ah... such wisdom with age.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

That's a rap

Because this is my blog, and I feel it's a safe space, I can share a little anecdote about myself that I still (at 29 years old) find quite painful to recall.

Anyway - it's about rap. Rapping is not an art form I care for.

When I was 12 years old, I filed into my grade 6 music class one day. And it started out as any other normal class did that year. But about half way through, our teacher announced that we would be doing something different that day.

“Class, I’d like you to prepare a rap about yourself. You know, that music you young kids are all listening to.” She had a proud look on her face. A look that said she thought she had “done good”. I was mortified.

“At the end of the class, you will each stand up at the front and ‘rap’ about yourself.” That was it for me. I couldn’t think of a worse death.

So, I begrudgingly wrote my rap. And it rhymed. It was even kind of funny. But when I got up to the front of the class, something went wrong. I thought to myself “Start rapping now. Go on... just start saying stuff and try to make it sound cool.” But nothing, except for a panicked little breathing noise, would come out of my mouth.

I remember calmly sitting down in the front of the room, partially hidden by the teacher’s desk and not moving for the rest of class. I remember the confused looks on my classmates' faces. I remember starting to cry. And I remember the unfortunate moment when my nose started bleeding. I also remember the kids laughing at me for the rest of the year. I didn't realize it until quite a while later that I had my first ever panic attack.

And to this day, when I hear anything by Snoop Dog or P. Diddy, I get a kind of sick feeling in my stomach.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Damn, that's HOT!

I've recently discovered that my leg issues (from running) have not gone away. And because I have no intention of quitting running, I've got to figure out a cure for these leg problems.

I went to physio. Didn't help. I went to a reflexologist/chiro dude. Was sort of helpful... but not enough.

So now, I've turned my hopes to yoga. Not just any yoga, though. I'm talking about a new-fangled type of yoga that may or may not be considered just a trend among the latte-drinking-downtown-dwelling hipsters. Either way, I tried it out last night... and I loved it.

I'm talking about Hot Yoga. You've heard of this, yes?

This is where you, and many other people in very little clothing, file into a small-ish room and do various stretching and balancing and posing, all in a heated environment. Now, when I say "heated", I don't mean a snuggly warm, toasty, feel-good room. I mean a "feels like you're in the nexus of hell" heated room.

Last night, as I was twisting into a downward dog, listening to the instructor exclaim: "Wow. Like totally just stretch to the sky. Wow. Yes. Reach with all your energy and spirit", I had a moment where I thought to myself "What am I doing??" The sweat was literally (and I really, truly mean literally) pouring off of me. I've never felt my eyelids sweat before last night. My shins were drenched. I didn't even know shins could sweat!

Anyway, at some point in between getting used to all the sweat and wondering if I was going to vomit or not (due to the heat), I started feeling really good. My body felt... good. At the risk of sounding like Moonflower the Instructor, my body felt light. And at ease.

If you think about it, I had been stretching for about an hour. In a heated room, so my muscles were instantly warmed up, meaning I could stretch further for longer. No wonder I felt so good.

Anyway, so now I'm hooked. And I am totally putting the "hot" into "hot yoga", baby.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Music to my ears

I'm back! How much did you miss me?

To celebrate my return... I've decided to do an analysis of these stirring lyrics:

Katy Perry: I Kissed A Girl

I kissed a girl and I liked it Ooo... aren't you just so shocking! You bad girl, you.
The taste of her cherry chap stick I'm sorry, but nobody uses cherry chap stick anymore, Katy. Seriously - if you're going to be "shocking" at least make it believable.
I kissed a girl just to try it Yes, I like to just try things, too. Like heroin. No harm in "just trying" stuff. Trying stuff is fun. We're so alike.
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it Umm... he's a guy right??
It felt so wrong
It felt so right Ah yes, the "so wrong but so right" dilemma.
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it Whoa... okay, we get it. You liked it. Saucy lady.

No, I don't even know your name Good, good. No need for silly things like introductions.
It doesn't matter,
You're my experimental game That's right, be all liberated and stuff. Experimentation is grand!
Just human nature, Wait... is it experimentation or human nature? I'm confused.
It's not what, Good girls do Hey now, no need to judge. Judgey.
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused Well, yeah, you've confused me, too.
Hard to obey

I kissed a girl and I liked it This line should really be "I kissed a girl for male attention".
The taste of her cherry chap stick And this line should be "And now I'm going to sing about it to get young 20-something girls to do it, too. Because it's fun. And it makes me all attractive and junk to guys. Cause my Daddy didn't love me enough. Oops - did I say that last part out loud?"
I kissed a girl just to try it Oh, Katy. You're a sad little creature. Let me hug you. C'mere. I'll hug you. It's okay. Mama knows, child. Mama knows.

Yeah... that's it. I can't subject myself to the rest... Hope you enjoyed!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Hug me

I was going to take this opportunity to rant about how disgusting and vile our world can be at times:
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/470913

But instead, I think we all need a little bit more of this right now:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Seriously. Watch that second link. It'll make you all warm and fuzzy inside.

Oh, and I'm off for my cottage vacation next week, so you won't hear from me for a while. Try not to miss me! I'll think of all my lovely readers as I lounge on the dock.