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".

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.