My nephew, Camden, is in a Luvs commercial! He's the second kid (Lucas) and he's adorable as hell in it.
Celebrating 29
Tomorrow I turn 30.
I know, I know - how could this youthful, ageless beauty be turning a fully functioning adult age? Beats me, but it's happening. And I think I'm kind of pumped about it. Why, you ask? 'Cause these past 29 years have been some of the most fortunate ones that any human could have asked for. Really. And I want to list some of the greatest things that I've experienced thus far.
(If you judge me for making this list and/or being proud of it, then I think you might be missing my point here. In which case, skip the list altogether and proceed to the final two paragraphs.)
Highlights Of The Past 29 Years
- I was a co-lead in my fifth grade musical production of Newsies (or the more accurately titled "Extra! Extra! Read All About It!")
- I've learned to play the piano, alto saxophone and bass guitar.
- I've never smoked a cigarette.
- I'm bendy.
- In London, I ate the worst fish and chips known to man.
- In Portugal, I discovered Steak Diane in the Algarve and listened to Fado music in Lisbon.
- A stuffed poodle has slept atop my bed for over 25 years.
- In Spain, my mother and I were chased by gypsies. (Is that a racial slur? I Googled it and opinions are mixed. I don't mean to be derogatory.)
- In North Carolina, I saw a crab bite my dad and as a result - I stayed out of the ocean for the following 15 years.
- In New Brunswick, I saw the tides change.
- In California, I didn't trust how perfect it all seemed.
- In New Hampshire, I flew a glider plane as a teenager.
- I went to a performing arts high school for vocal music.
- I had the perfect childhood dog experience.
- In Grenada, I witnessed some baby turtles hatch in the sand in the early morning sun.
- In Belize, I innertubed through the jungle rivers.
- I've been to Disney Land and to Disney World. (World's better.)
- I've road-tripped to Detroit solely for a concert.
- I've waded in a hotel fountain in New Jersey.
- In The Cayman Islands, I went down into the sea in a submarine.
- In The Bahamas, I was eaten alive by bugs and first saw a pink sand beach.
- In Trinidad, I slept in my mom's childhood home.
- In Tobago, I understood why someone would want to come to Trinidad & Tobago.
- In Barbados, I watched my brother get married on a beach.
- I've hitchhiked in Lake George.
- One time I ate a mustard so spicy that my contact lens popped right out of my face and landed on the sidewalk.
- I interned with my favourite childhood band The Strokes.
- I've seen Bob Dylan in concert.
- I lost my virginity because of the outcome of a World Cup final soccer match.
- I've skydived.
- I've seen a baby's birth firsthand.
- I've undergone a successful cornea transplant surgery.
- I've learned never to take my brothers for granted.
- I met Mike Myers once and he was very nice.
- I met someone who lives in Ireland in a Foo Fighters chatroom about 15 years ago and we still mail letters to keep in touch.
- In Amsterdam, I fell hard for a Frenchman and followed him to Paris.
- In Paris, I celebrated New Year's, ate crepes outside the Eiffel Tower, learned cooking techniques from a master French chef, walked to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, sailed across the river Seine and kissed Oscar Wilde's grave.
- In Venice, I stole wine, rode in a gondola and had a brief (but memorable) Italian romance.
- Acquired the entire Perfect Strangers series as Russian bootleg DVDs.
- In New York City, I've had many midnight rooftop picnics on the Lower East Side, bench-side champagne dalliances in the rain under an umbrella in Central Park, met one of my best friends by picking her up at a bar, had a short play produced and performed in Hell's Kitchen, swam in freezing temperatures in a rooftop hotel pool, saw Woody Allen in his jazz band at The Carlyle, attended Derek Jeter's last Yankee home game and I've been inside the Statue of Liberty's crown.
- In Terrytown, I've had the most luxurious meal of my life at Blue Hill Stone Barns.
- In Cape Cod, I exclusively ate red meat for five straight days.
- In Chicago, I saw great art.
- In Miami, I ate the finest steak of my life at (the now closed) Emeril's.
- In St. Maarten, I went to a nude beach with my parents.
- In Niagara Falls, I stayed in a vice presidential suite and won a ton at the casino.
- In Las Vegas, I rode that roller coaster that Grissom loved.
- In Costa Rica, I went canyoneering, ziplined through the rainforest and saw some sloths.
- I've seen The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway over 10 times and will see it again.
- I have buried time capsules with loved ones.
- In Aruba, I experienced my first all-inclusive vacation and vowed to never go all-inclusive again.
- I have broken both of my feet on separate occasions.
- I've become proficient in pilates.
- In Atlantic City, I saw Lady Gaga perform and roamed the gorgeous boardwalk.
- In Montreal, I listened to more jazz than ever before.
- I have dined and dashed.
- I have never dyed my hair.
- In Ontario, I've made out with strangers on dance floors, had hundreds of sleepovers at my brother's apartment, ate an abnormal amount of poutine, blown bubbles off balconies, learned how to play poker and swam in an infinity pool overlooking the city.
- In Jamaica, I parasailed, helped Nathan learn how to swim and experienced the clearest sea water in the history of mankind.
- I've maintained a daily blog for two full years with some degree of success.
- I'm a (magazine) published writer.
- I became the type of person who enters a dog in a costume contest.
- I've found work as an editor, greeting card store cashier, HMV seasonal employee, video store clerk, management assistant, daycare worker and part time nanny.
- In Florida, I had numerous memorable family vacations.
- I became a godmother.
- For almost six years, I've been in love with a man who treats me so well and happens to be handsome as hell.
If this post seems boastful, I sincerely don't mean it to. I'm so proud of what's happened thus far - and don't think that I don't know for a goddam minute how lucky I am. Everything on this list was possible because of my family and friends. I know how fortunate I am. So what reason is there not to be excited about whatever happens after 30?
If you're to take anything away from this post, I hope that you start to compile your own list, at whatever age you currently are. The bullet points won't all come to you at once, but they'll trickle in over weeks and you'll slowly start to see how fortunate you are in your own life, if you don't already know. It's important to look back on these things and realize we're all immensely lucky in more ways than we realize, I think.
Happy 16th Birthday, Tianna!
Look, I know that I don't (normally) do whole birthday posts for people - so this'll be the one exception.
That lady above? That's my niece Tianna (with Baby Dog) and she's probably the sweetest, warmest, most together teenager on this planet. Look at this face.
When she was a little kid I would tell her stories about how awful a teenager I was and she said to me once, "Mimi, if I turn out to be an awful teenager can I just apologize to you for that now? And can you remember that I used to be a good person?" That made me laugh so much, but it's honestly so telling of the kind of woman she is inside.
Tianna, I don't know if you're aware of how good you are to people, so let's not get into it too much here. But let the record show that you're immensely loved and I'm a huge fan.
Glutton For Gravy: One Man's Journey To The Bottom of the Boat
I'm here to tell you that dreams can come true. My brother, Gary, STARTED A GRAVY BLOG.
Maybe that doesn't seem big to you (and if it doesn't, we can discuss that privately later), but it's huge. He, more than anyone, knows about good gravy. And since it's long been listed among my favourite things to eat, I'm so excited he's started documenting his gravy travels.
He moved to Ireland earlier this year, so the posts will be focused on that general area - but I'm really hoping he'll continue it and expand the posts to wherever he travels from here on out.
How can an entire blog be devoted to gravy? How can he find unique ways to describe his experiences? Can various gravies really taste that different from one another? All I can say is that he has answers for all of these questions. And you should see for yourself.
Siblings
NOTE: If you don't have any siblings, I recommend that you leave this post. It'll only make you feel worse about being an only child.
Now, the rest of you: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LUCKY YOU ARE TO HAVE A SIBLING?! I really hope you do. Here are mine.
I think I've been overly in love with my brothers for about... 14 years or so. It started when I was around 16 years old and they suddenly started treating me like a real person. I used to think of them as polar opposites for some reason (I think that idea was based on the kind of music they liked?) and that I was the link between them that would bring us all together. Kind of a self-centered thought, but it made sense to me at the time.
In any case, there were years when I was closer to one of them and then years when I was closer to the other. This went on for awhile until finally coming to the present day where I like to think we're all in a wicked place with one another. I don't know what kind of person I'd be without them and I'm not sure they even know how strongly I feel about us all.
Actually, I think they know. I'm pretty vocal about that kind of stuff.
What the hell is my point here? I guess it's that I hope you're close with your siblings. And if not close, then I think it's good to have some kind of communication with these people who share so much of your past. I pride myself on not judging people too swiftly, but if I ever come in contact with someone who tells me they have a bad relationship with one of their siblings? Yikes. I almost immediately write them off. Is that wrong? 'Cause I can't stop that feeling.
It's kind of a (previously unspoken, now public) dream of mine that one day when me and my brothers are all married and old and all of our wives and husbands have passed away, then me, Gary and Robbie can live in a house together again. If that can somehow happen, I'll lose my mind I'll be so happy.
Anyway, this was a lot of rambling. Can we just consider this post to be a PSA about maybe giving your brother or sister a call to see what's up?
Coin Purse Photos
If you're a sentimental and/or loving human being, you likely have photos of your loved ones in your wallet. Wait, maybe you don't. I just realized that maybe people only keep photos of their loved ones on their phones these days - and if that is the case, I guess that's fine, too. But if you are amongst the few who prefer a hard copy to carry around, you know that there's a limited amount of space for those coveted plastic cover spots.
Tip of the day? Use your coin slots for extra photo storage like I do!
Also, since you don't see the photo all the time, it's an added little treat to see every time you need change.
Tip of the Day - Family Videos
I know that I won't shut up about how important it is to backup your computer and I'm sorry. But it's so important! The only real thing I would be worried about losing are the hundreds of family videos I've taken over the years. And even though they're already backed up on my one external hard drive, I've recently taken another step into assuring that those videos are safe for the future and it's so simple.
Upload them to YouTube! You don't need to worry about anyone else seeing them as long as you upload them and store them under "private" instead of "public." And they'll be there forever! And an even better idea (thanks Adele!) is to upload them as "unlisted" as opposed to private, so you can share the link with people who you want to see it.
It also frees up so much space instead of just keeping them on your laptop. Is this kind of a dumb idea or am I the smartest person in the world for thinking of it? Get on this!
Merry Christmas!
I'm not going to get weepy, but I have the best family in the world. I'm not sure how we got this lucky, but I'm thankful as hell for these creeps.
However you're spending today, I hope it's fantastic!
Happy Birthday, Ma
Usually I don't devote an entire post to someone's birthday - but if you're my grandmother and you're turning 96 years of age? Get real. I gotta let the people know about that.
Look at this woman! She's amazing. The woman cut cane in the cane fields in Trinidad for decades! This woman had thirteen children! What the hell have YOU done?!
In any case, I'm lucky to know this woman and to have her give me so much love throughout my life. She spoils me more than anyone and tells me in private that she loves me more than my mother does. Simply put, she's the best there is. I'll live out the rest of my life trying to be as good as her.