Bunny

If you're a Sex And The City fan like me, then you will know my references here when I mention Charlotte and Trey.......and Bunny. I think a lot of my life's experiences and probably most female experiences can relate to at least a few of the different Sex And The City episodes. Am I right ladies?  Okay, so if you are a fan of the show, and remember what Bunny was like, you couldn't help but feel sympathy for poor Charlotte. I mean, Trey was the love of her life, and she had met him in the most perfect and dramatic of scenarios and they fell in love almost instantly. Butterflies, early 'I love you's' and everything. But remember when Bunny (Trey's mother) came into the picture? It was almost a two-for-one kinda deal, wasn't it? Or in Charlotte's case....not really a 'deal' at all. It was hell.......plaid and mallard hell, ha ha! See, for those of you who aren't familiar with the show or when Charlotte was with Trey, Bunny was Trey's mother. Bunny was very close to Trey...almost too close, in a weird uncommon way. She even bathed him at one point, as a grown man! Nonetheless he would do anything for his mother, and vice versa. It was almost like they hadn't quite cut the umbilical cord yet. But Charlotte loved him dearly, and was always in a constant battle to keep him close, keep their own separation as man and wife, and also keep a civil liveable relationship with Bunny.
Bunny made things difficult, Bunny wasn't always the most welcoming of mothers, and Bunny always thought she knew what was best and therefore would indirectly, and very cleverly influence Trey. She basically always had to be the woman of the house. In all situations. Until one day, Charlotte stood up for herself, and for her and Trey's relationship, and put her foot down about how they were going to live their life and carry on in their relationship, with or without Bunny's consent or approval. So this scenario in this television series sort of got me thinking about relationships and how far we as women or men go to please the parents/mother, and how much we are willing to give up and suffer through to keep our significant other happy.
This topic kind of evolved from a topic I had last week with my dear friend Natalie. The topic of relationships and men came up (as this is quite common with women of course), and we talked about our past or current dating situations in correlation to the families of the person we are dating or have dated. She mentioned how she had dated someone who had a seemingly perfect family who absolutely adored her, and she adored them. They all got along so well, and spent so much time together. It was almost like an extension of her own family but in a different way, not the same as her own. Then when her and that boyfriend had broken up, it was not only difficult leaving the relationship with him, but also the relationship with his family because they were just so close. So really, almost like two break-ups. I personally have been in that situation before as well. I dated someone for a long time and his family and I just hit it off from day one, and I had never felt so comfortable and loved before with any other family. In turn my family was the same with him. When the break-up went down, it was all about him/us. But then as months started to slink by, post-break-up, I found myself really missing his family and almost had an extra emptiness.
The point I am getting at, and I guess the inspiration for this blog post is the question of how much are we willing to go through in our relationships to make the family (or mother really, as we ALL know the mother is the only one that matters) happy? How much are we willing to put out or sacrifice to make our significant other happy in terms of keeping the mother happy? Why does the mother become the obstacle? OR for daughters, the fathers are the obstacle? Sure we all know the reason why fathers are the hard code to crack when it comes to guys dating their little girls (believe me, I know this one very well)....but what is it about the mothers? Yes the mothers give birth to us so they're naturally obligated to a bit of attachment, but there comes a time when enough is enough. Just like Bunny and Trey.
I've been in relationships in the past where I have never had an issue with the mother not liking me and as a matter of fact, they have all loved me from the start and I hit it off with every single one of them! Meeting the parents are my thing I must say, and I quite enjoy going out of my way to do nice things for them because they become like family to me, and also because I knew it would make my boyfriend happy. However, in my most latest relationship experiences there have been some scenarios I've had to deal with where I have encountered family drama, and it is not fun at all! So very frustrating. But at what point is it safe to assume that the relationship is what it is and to stop with any further efforts? Do you just accept it as it is, for what it is? Or do you spend the rest of your days exhausting yourself with the idea of what you should or shouldn't do, come special occasions , or simply just times when you will have to put on your happy face, and just be civil? And if that's the case, how much integrity do you sacrifice just to keep your girlfriend or boyfriend happy in terms of family relations before it starts affecting your own? I strongly believe that in most relationships, when you are dating someone exclusively, that you are also dating the family. Even on your most tired of days, or when you are just not in a sociable mood, when presented with the family, you have to 'get it up' so to speak, put on your happy face and basically perform an act. Why? Because you do it for your who you're dating. You're doing it for them, and no one else, and you will definitely be challenged with times where you have to bite your tongue I'm sure. But at the end of the day it's always good to know what you're getting into when you start dating someone, and most importantly to find out how much you are willing to sacrifice for this person and if it's worth sacrificing for. How much love is there to sustain your happily-ever-after? Sure, if you're lucky and blessed with dating or marrying into a family that adores you and that you click with perfectly, then that is simply just fabulous and a breath of fresh air. However, if you're on the opposing side, just make sure you find your inner strength, try keep yourself and your integrity grounded, and make sure you are both on the same team together. Love them, but love you and what you believe in more.

A Little Something I Love To Do

Yesterday I started my very first day as a part-time Stila Cosmetics Representative, and loved every minute of it! For those of you reading who aren't familiar with Stila (mostly referring to my male audience here) , they are a Los Angeles based cosmetics company, created by a top celebrity makeup artist, and are known for their modern, sophisticated, stylish, non-intimidating approach to beauty. Their makeup products are super fashion forward, and they even come in eco-friendly packaging! Can't help but love that part! Stila is also a very popular brand used on the pages of fashion magazines, and also frequents the runways during New York and London Fashion Week.

So needless to say, I'm pretty darn proud and happy to be representing such an amazing company, and in bigger dreams (here I go again with that dreaming of mine) I hope to one day get to meet the lovely CEO Lynn Tilton in New York on one my little NY trips! Seriously though, that woman is an incredible one and has done so much and won so many awards as founder and CEO of Patriarch (an investment firm and holdings company).

Anyhow, being a freelance makeup artist for years has really been amazing, and so much fun! I have absolutely loved all the experiences, and I continue to be offered and presented with more and more. The possibilities are endless, and I love that each experience and each face is unique! I love doing makeup for all events, the variety and endless amount of looks, and even the challenges that can come with it.  That's why when I was offered this role as a makeup artist/representative for Stila, I went right for it!

The thing about being a makeup artist is that you truly have to be an artist. You have to perform transformations, create certain looks, reshape facial features, and enhance the desirable ones.Hence why every makeup artist carries their own brush belt locked and loaded, right on their hip, ready to 'paint'  and perfect!

So I walk in to start my day, and meet all the girls working at that store (ill be repping Stila at different locations, not just one set beauty store) and was totally in my Mecca........well, one of my Meccas.  Bright, yet flattering soft light, beauty products everywhere, fashion icon images, pretty smelling perfumes, and a huge makeup station and every product possible, just for me! My own all white counter, white leather stool, modern square mirror and me dressed stylish in black, coral coloured stick, and my brush belt on. I felt like a kid playing in a sand box. Yep, this was definitely my all-grown-up sand box, and I was loving it! I had just had a really crappy week, specifically the last few days leading up to my first shift and I was desperately trying to get happy, and was hoping I could keep my mind off things. Once I got in there and started doing makeup for women just wanting to look and feel pretty, and being amongst all these other great girls who shared the same passion, my mind was exactly where it was supposed to be. I work as a RMT(Registered Massage Therapist) as my main job, and one of the things I really love about what I do is making other people feel better, making them smile, making a difference, and having that one on one human touch or connection. So naturally the same thing can be said for makeup artists - there is nothing more I love about doing makeup than that moment when my client takes the hand mirror, looks at herself, and is absolutely stunned at how beautiful she looks (some even will shed tears!) it makes me smile a mega watt smile, and I feel really good knowing that I just helped one extra woman in this world feel more beautiful and better about about them self.

So throughout the day, in between makeup appointments, I would approach the odd female customer who would appear confused and lost amongst a wall of selections and testers (even for myself, walking into places like Sephora can be a bit overwhelming with all the choices and colors) and just engage in conversation about different trends, products, being a female in general, relationships even......ya know, shop talk. We'd discuss their beauty concerns, try out different makeup on them, and them before I knew it, we'd be chatting about love, life, and all the greatness that is of being a woman. It was fun, refreshing, and didn't feel like a 'job' at all.

Also in between appointments, myself and the other two young ladies who who were employees of the store, would literally just play with makeup on ourselves and each other all afternoon. Additionally there were huge walls of luxurious smelling fragrances we would spritz and smell, and expensive nail polishes that were in every color you could imagine! (I'm currently wearing a fabulous pink by Estée Lauder that I tried on)

Basically I guess you could say that I had a pretty fantastic day and I cannot believe that I got paid all day to do something I love. Kind of sounds a bit crazy right? I mean, shouldn't we ALL we doing what we love for a living? Would that make us all just that much happier as people? And why does the idea of getting paid to do something you already love doing seem so far fetched? It's actually a very obvious and clear equation, yet so many of us don't solve it. But that's a topic for another day. In the meantime, get busy and tap into those passions you have because you're awesome at it! 
Do what you love and love what you do!

Hello, my name is Amanda!

From time to time I will find myself in different situations where people will ask me to tell them about myself. Phrases like 'what do you do for work?', 'what do you do for fun?', 'what was your childhood like?', and 'tell me about yourself!' come at me in both written and verbal forms. I don't know why I always find myself stumped and at a loss for words whenever I'm faced with having to answer back to "Tell me about yourself!". Even the "About Me" section of my blog here is lacking, and it's not laziness, no, it's rather how am I supposed to fit everything that constitutes 'me' into a tiny paragraph. OR, when someone asks me to tell them about myself, how am I supposed to condense everything that makes up a big portion of me into a short enough response as to not to bore them to death, sound full of myself, or sound like I'm rambling?

Another reason I think why I tend to get stumped is because I quickly scan through my brain wondering what information to share and what not to share, what facts about me would be considered actually interesting and what wouldn't be, and also the person in question who is asking you this - are they looking for a specific answer? (example : if you're in a job interview). Basically, I don't really fit into any 'niche' as I'm kind of all over the place in the sense of where I have a lot of passions, interests, and I didn't come from a normal cookie-cutter family background, so I've had a lot of different experiences and have been exposed to all sorts of interesting things, thus the development of my variety of interests and passions. I find the older I get, the more I tap into me, and what makes me me. After all, we're always growing, evolving, changing, and along the way we need to discover or re-discover the things that make us happy, but also discover who we really are! So.........allow me to share with you a little bit about me! 

Hmm, where to begin? Let's start with family. I grew up in a family of six ; Mom, Dad, and three brothers. Yes, growing up as the only girl had it's perks, but also it's downs. I am the second youngest of us. Being born in 1983 was the best because growing up in the 80s and 90s was prime nostalgia! With my oldest brother being 38, and youngest 25, I grew up with every Nintendo or game system. We had the usual sibling rivalry but we would take it to the next level from time to time, and it always got ugly. Real ugly. I'm talking serious violence, and our house was always that one house on the block that had a cop car at it regularly. Did all this help me grow up to be tougher and more strong? Absolutely! 

My Dad is from Guyana, South America, and my Mom is from Canada....she's a mix of Dutch, Irish, Scottish, and German, so basically a mutt. I just call her white, or Caucasian to be politically correct, ha ha! I was born and raised here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but do I want to stay here my entire life? Probably not. I went to Guyana for the first time ever this past April and had an incredible time! Upon coming back I feel so much more cultured, and even closer to my Dad. Speaking of Dad......my Dad is the best, and I have nothing but mad love for that man. He is truly one of a kind, and everyone who meets him loves him. He is my homie without a doubt, and he never fails to make me laugh. Dad if you're reading this....wipe that tear up right quick because you know we don't cry ;)

I went to Catholic schools growing up, but in this city, that doesn't mean anything in terms of strictness or being rule abiding. After High School, like most, I had no idea what I wanted to do and basically just coasted and hit the bars like any young punk would do. Come to think of it, I still dont know of one thing exactly that I want to do career-wise. I'm very versatile, I'm interested in a lot of different things, and cannot just pick one thing. I went to school to study massage therapy and am currently working as a full time Registered Massage Therapist. I am also a Professional Make-Up Artist. I used to work as a Cake Decorator, and although I bake non-stop, I don't do cake decorating orders as much as I used to (I should probably get back into focusing on that some more again). I love to bake. Plain and simple. Baking is so therapeutic for me, and I just love creating tasting things for people. I own ten aprons! How many women do you know these days that even own one? Ha ha ha!

While we're on the topic of baking, I love sweets of course! I have a ridiculous sweet tooth - cookies and cake are my world. So is anything beauty and fashion related! Like any female, I love to shop. I really do. Retail therapy is the best kind, next to massage therapy of course, and planning and creating outfits and styles is just fun and fabulous! Being a Make-Up Artist goes hand in hand with fashion I think, and so naturally I love applying make-up for women, making them feel beautiful by bringing out their natural beauty, but also fun, trendy, glam make-up for women too! I'm a creative girl, so being able to unleash my creativity in different outlets like that is simply amazing and so much fun for me!

I'm a romantic, indefinitely. I see love in movies, on the streets, amongst my friends and their significant others and it just warms my heart like nothing else. Seriously, I cannot wait to be married one day. I am that girl who dreams about their wedding, and finding that perfect person for me - someone who will be my best friend, my love, and everything else in between. I love 'love'! Yes, "The Notebook" makes me swoon like a huge sap!

I love friendships and have a wonderful circle of amazing friends in my life.I am a car girl -between my 3 brothers and my Dad I have learned and appreciated so much about the mechanics of cars and the overall appearance. Between all of them, they know everything about cars, and Im just always trying to learn more and more. Two of my brothers are in auto body, and them plus my Dad know everything about the mechanics, so it's pretty awesome that I never really have to take my car to a shop. Also now that I know how to change my own oil, and have personally sanded and spray tinted my tail lights, and painted my calipers, I feel pretty darn proud. Along with a love for nice cars, fast cars, comes the famous lead foot of mine - speeding tickets become more of a common occurrence for me than most. Yes, I'm ashamed.

I believe in spirits, and stories about hauntings and exorcisms fascinate me but creep me right out. Basically, I like to scare myself. Horror movies don't scare me however, I'm pretty immune that way, but I absolutely love watching them. I love documentaries, and comedies too, especially the old school ones from my childhood. Nothing beats some good old Adam Sandler, or Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber. Love the newer stuff too though; anyone who knows me knows that I can't get enough of 'Harold and Kumar ', 'Super Troopers', and 'Napoleon Dynamite'. I'm not much of a television watcher, but I was addicted to the(and still am) Sex and The City series, and I do love 'The Walking Dead'.

When I'm trying to be a good girl and stay healthy and try keep fit I do like to exercise routinely, and run. Okay, 'like' is a lie. Do I enjoy exercising? Nope, not really. But when I'm done it, I'm glad I did, and I feel great. As a matter of fact I have always been a very healthy conscious person, even from when I was a little girl, always trying to eat right, and stay healthy and in shape. Tell me how that part of me can have a symbiotic relationship with the baking part of me. How it works I'll never know, but I love it.

As for hobbies, passions, things I hate, things I like, things that make me smile..............well let's see..............

I love music ; r&b, hip-hop, reggae, reggaeton, soca, jazz, classical, rock, I like reading and writing, drinking wine, Caribbean rum, summer time, the color pink, anything coconut, wearing lipstick, chewing bubblegum, and bubblegum flavored ice cream, rims, pedicures. I hate bad manners, and can't stand rednecks and racist assholes. I like amusement parks, hiking, campfires, ice skating, rollerblading, UFC, horseplay, and being double dared. I love being at the beach but I cannot swim (never stopped me from boogie boarding in Honolulu once without a life jacket though - dumb and risky, yes I know, but soooo much fun). I love wearing high heels, but I also enjoy my kicks. I love fashion period, but especially Fall fashion because there's nothing like Fall colored warm knit sweaters/cardigans, sexy boots, scarves and tights. I love biographies, especially Audrey Hepburn and Bob Marley - I think Bob Marley is king! I love flowers, giving and receiving them. I love doing things for people including strangers, just to make them smile. I like creativity, art, style, meeting wonderful inspiring people, traveling, doing spontaneous fun things. New York is my heart, and I hope to live there part time some day because that city is so alive and amazing, and full of everything and everyone. I don't speak any other languages but I would like to learn Spanish and Japanese one day. I love home decor and interior design. I love Caribbean cooking the most, and Vietnamese and Thai, and I believe good hot sauce can make almost any dish even better. I'm a stubborn Taurus, and I'm very organized. I am absolutely terrified of spiders, I have never broken a bone, and I can't wink (this one sucks when you're trying to flirt from afar). I can't stand green beans, raisins, cilantro, bamboo shoots, or turnips. I like drinking fancy lattes and biscotti. Chocolate milk is gold! Breakfast food is the BEST - I can eat it at any time of the day! I have an old soul and believe in a lot of old values. I love dogs but sadly am becoming allergic to them. I enjoy spending time with girlfriends, trying new restaurants, and checking out festivals, and taking each day as it comes.

I am someone who is self-motivated, strong-willed, and passionate. I have a warm heart and soul, I believe in karma, and I believe that we are all whatever we make of ourselves. I also believe in cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.......with a side of milk, and a side of cake, aaaand maybe throw in some more cookies just for good measure.....just in case.

 

Daydreamers Anonymous

So with today being a long weekend here, this is my Sunday, as opposed to yesterday. Sorry to keep all you avid readers on the edge of your seats ;) I hope you like today's post as much as the rest of my previous posts because right now I have no idea in mind of what to write about, or how long or short it will be. Honestly. I am sitting outside on my deck with a cup of green tea, the sun is peeking down at me, and there is a bit of a refreshing morning breeze. We'll see where this goes. Man I love summer. I can't believe we are already in our last real summer month. Here in Calgary our summers are so short lived, and our winters are long and cold. So naturally when summer comes around, no one enjoys and relishes in it as much as we do. In the dead cold of winter, on those days where its -35 degrees, there's blowing snow, and people are outside scraping thick ice off of their windshields........those are the days where I tend to stop and daydream about hot summer days like today. I find it keeps me just that much more sane in midst of our freezing cold winters, to have the warm thoughts and memories of sweet summer time. That's not the only time I daydream. In fact, quite truthfully, I daydream all the time. Yes, I'm a daydreamer.

"Hello everyone, my name is Amanda, and I am a daydreamer".........................

......"Hi Amanda!".

What do I daydream about you ask? Well, just about everything. From the minor, miniscule things like what my day consisted of yesterday, what I'm going to do tomorrow, what outfit I'm going to wear to that event, a potential future conversation I'd have with someone, to things on a larger scale like reliving moments from the far past, daydreaming about my future life, travel, love, adventures, ripping an Aston Martin One-77 down the Autobahn, and what it would be like if I ever met Channing Tatum. Ha ha ha, come on ladies, we know we all day dream about that one.

Some people think that daydreaming is an unhealthy escape from reality. Well I think that they must live a very boring life. Get out of the vanilla already!

Daydreaming goes hand-in-hand with goals; setting goals, achieving goals. If we can't even do that, then what are we living for, right? I think it's important to be able to take a step back every now and then, imagine and place yourself  in different settings and moments in time, different elements, and doing things that make you happy. If you cant even dream it or see it yourself, then how do you ever expect to get it? Even if whatever it is you daydream about isn't exactly feasible or realistic ( example : swimming in an ocean made entirely of Oreos and milk...Mmmmmmmm Oreos! Or marrying Adam Levine and spending the rest of your days laying in luxury, poolside with him in his $3.5 million L.A resort-style villa pad. Nat, that example's for you girlfriend!). I personally think it's fun to have dreams! Not only do I daydream, but I'm a big time dreamer when I sleep. Unfortunately for me though, they're not always sweet little night time dreams.....oh yes, I have nightmares often enough too. Perhaps it's all the twisted horror movies I like to watch? Any of my close friends reading this right now are nodding their heads and smiling because they know that's likely the cause.

For Christmas one year, my good friend Natalie bought me this snow globe. It wasn't just a regular snow globe. This snow globe had a little insert in it from the bottom where you could slip a small photo inside the globe, so it would be  a sweet sentiment, a custom gift   - a snow globe with a photo of a friend or family member or whatever. So instead of putting a photo in, she drew on a little piece of paper. She drew with a black marker a picture of the Empire State Building, and then used red marker at the top for the red light on top of the building. Beside it she wrote "Dream Big". It was so funny when she gave it to me because she immediately was laughing and apologizing at the same time for her "crappy drawing". It looked cute like a little kid drew it, and I loved it! She drew the Empire State because I'm a huge New York fanatic, I'm in love with that city, and so she referenced in a big building to go with dreaming big! That's a perfect example of how something so simple meant something so big, and I keep it right on my dresser and see it every single day. Hands down my favorite gift from her! It's more of a reminder to me that even when times get tough, and my life gets busy, I still have the power of my mind, the will and creativity to dream, and the heart of a champion. 

So tell me, what do you dream about?

"“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”  

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

This Is Why You're Beautiful

In this day and age the definition of beauty has become quite distorted. It's very easy for us to get caught up in what media and society depicts as what is 'beautiful'. It's also very easy for us to be negative about our own selves, to criticize, to find our flaws, and to compare ourselves to others. In our fast-paced days filled with getting breakfast to go, heavy work loads, traffic jams, exhausting relationships, schedules, and obligations.....when do we find the time to slow down, look at ourselves, and appreciate the absolutely beautiful person we are? And I don't just mean beauty on the outside, I mean true beauty on the inside. So I decided today that this was what I wanted to write about - I want to remind you, today, that you are more beautiful than you know. 

Do you know how beautiful your smile is? Well if you don't, go stand in front of the mirror right now, force a smile and take a look. Look past any flaws that you probably naturally wanna gravitate towards, and appreciate it. Your smile is warm, contagious, and instantly elevates your mood simply by the act alone. Whether your smile may be huge and beaming, a devilish smirk, a slight lip curl, or maybe your nose crinkles with each smile, it's just beautiful.....and as Louis Armstrong says "when you smile, the whole world smiles with you".

Let's not forget that laugh of yours. I personally just love hearing laughter. I love it because everyone's laugh is so unique, and laughter is also ridiculously contagious. Seriously, sometimes just hearing the right kind of laugh can make my day. It's unique to you, it's joyful, full of soul, and should never be contained. If something is funny, laugh for crying out loud!!

Another thing that makes you beautiful is your kindness and compassion towards other people. I'm not saying that you may necessarily be someone who is kind and compassionate all the time. What I'm saying is that for those times when you do show that kindness, it reveals the beautiful person you are inside. It doesn't take a lot to be kind to someone, but it does in fact make an impact in that person's day who's on the receiving end. Also I find that when kindness in all it's beauty is witnessed, it will be passed along. Showing compassion is a huge part of realizing you're beautiful. Not everyone can show empathy, but it is a quality that shines above the rest.

Love. That one word that creates such warmth and richness that we can't live without. Your love is beautiful. No matter who you are showing your love to; family, friends, that special someone, or strangers, and no matter how you show it.....love is love, in all it's forms. So don't ever hide it, or hold back on showing it because your love is something only you can offer, and it truly illuminates you. The same thing goes for your friendship - your friendship is valued by at least one person, and I promise you that. The amount of work that goes into obtaining, and sustaining a great friendship through the years, can only be achieved by someone like you. Showing appreciation, and being appreciated, opening up your heart and being there for that person is worth so much more than anything in the world.....again, going back to the root of love. It takes a strong, and beautiful individual to show it, and one who has confidence. That reminds me, that's yet another reason why you're beautiful. In fact, that's the biggest reason why you're beautiful.

Your confidence is what will you carry you through any situation, indefinitely. No matter what you look like on the outside. No matter your skin color, religion, gender, height, weight, how much money you make, what material things you have or don't have, you possess a unique beauty unlike anyone else. When we project confidence, when we believe in ourselves and when we know know how good of a person we are, it's going to show. It's in your smile, your step, your laughter, your touch, and the way you speak. Even if you find yourself having a crummy day, just fake it til' you make it! Hold your head high, and walk with the grace and confidence of knowing just how exquisite you really are, and eventually your head will catch up with the rest. 

You. Are. Beautiful.

Today, and every single damn day.

Is That A Sausage In Your Pants?

Man I love my family! Just this past Saturday night I had a bunch of my cousins fly in from Toronto, Ontario....hence the day delay in my Sunday blog, as yesterday I was completely in Saturday mode thinking it was not Sunday at all. My dearest apologies.
I actually had something totally different in mind for this blog post yesterday (today), but given the good times this past weekend AND knowing the week ahead while they stay with us, man.....I'm going to have stories for days!
So I don't quite know the title of what I will this call this post at the moment, but by the end of it I'll have something quite fitting, and as you are reading this, you'll already have read the title and are probably wondering "Oh dear God, what is this post gonna be about?!"
Anyhow, onto my hilarious drunken story of our family gathering last evening...and might I add and remind you that it was in fact on a SUNDAY night! So during the day my two older cousins and their sweet, awesome little ones were introduced to downtown Calgary. I took them down to Fiestaval which as you could gather most likely from the name is a Latin inspired festival outside. We also went to the Calgary Tower, which believe it or not, as a born and raised Calgarian of thirty years, I have never been there. I must admit it was pretty cool standing at the top looking down on top of a see-thru glass bottom floor. Sometimes doing the touristy things in your own city can actually be quite fun!!
So afterwards we went over to my brother's place to have a barbecue. Everyone was there ; Mom, Dad, youngest brother, his girlfriend, older brother, his wife, her parents and cousin, my cousins. The grill was completely full of all kinds of meat, there was food splayed out everywhere and drinks were a-flowin'!  It was like an good ol' all-American cookout............but in Canada.
Fast forward a couple hours into the evening after everyone's bellies are full, and the liquor is making  everyone feel just that much more loosened up, and verbally expressive in story telling and and hilarious colorful vocabulary. So my brother's wife started it all, without even knowing it I'm sure, by  periodically bringing up the fact that she really wanted sausage. See, these jumbo sausages were being cooked on the grill, and she was apparently really anxious and wanted to try them, so she kept asking when they would be done as she couldn't wait for the sausage. Then , it pretty much all rolled out from there. First came the sausage jokes about how she was craving sausage so bad, and that she should go tell her husband that. My brother needed to open his beer and that's when my cousin remembered that his belt buckle actually doubled as beer bottle opener - so he proceeded to unbuckle his belt. The funny thing was that we didn't know what the hell he was doing and all we saw was Chris unbuckling his pants, saying he would open my brother's bottle. Automatically the jokes started coming out, "Ew Chris, what the..? How are you planning on opening his beer? With your sausage?'....."Look man, I just wanted a beer.... you didn't have to undo your pants for that." So basically all night whenever someone needed their beer opened, Chris would jokingly be beckoned that his sausage was needed.' Then my cousin pulled up this picture on his phone he was previously sent that was an image of an actual package of white sauce mix that you could actually buy from a grocery store in Toronto, it was called 'Creamy White Finishing Sauce' and it depicted an image of a slab of lifeless meat with this white sauce drizzled on top. Next came the jokes and laughs about sausage and white finishing sauce, and you can probably just imagine the jokes and banter that came from having a huge stack of jumbo sausages on the table, and the white sauce jokes. My brothers and cousin started grabbing these sausages , jokingly thrusting the air, bugging their wives/girlfriends....you know, the good ol' boy humor that comes out in every man when they are A) amongst men, and B) slightly intoxicated.
So my youngest brother Robert decides that he wants to dare my cousin Chris. Chris likes to be dared to do things, drunk or sober. And Robert? Well he's kind of the same way, but this time he wanted to do the daring, the betting. A bet of $100.00 apparently is the going rate for drunken wagers.
Robert bet Chris $100.00 to take this jumbo curved sausage, hold it at his crotch in an erect position dipped in sour cream, or the 'creamy white finishing sauce' as we joked. He had to walk down the street, and go not the convenience store, stroll the aisles, and walk back out.....all while holding this sausage with white sauce at his crotch. Well, he did it. He did it with no hesitation, and like a true champ. He paraded right in there, sausage out and all. A few of us, Mom included, followed behind him giggling like children, cameras in hand ready for pictures. My Mom got the best shots, and I can't wait to see them. Honestly, that night made my summer so far. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! The best part about that whole night was because it was with my cousin Chris. My 'bruzzy' as I call him. See, bruzzy is my hybrid word fo r brother and cousin. That's exactly what he is to me, more of a brother than a cousin, and I love him to pieces! I in turn, am his 'sizzy'. Pretty sure you can figure that one out. We have great talks, great laughs, and last night was simply epic. A night I'm sure none of us will ever forget! This one is definitely going down in our family history! We will never be the typical Tanner family (90's kids will get this one) and most of our family holiday dinners involve conversations consisting of toilet humor, some mild profanity, and gross or embarrassing story telling. But at the end of the day, I wouldn't trade my crazy, silly family for nothing!

Testostrogen

Every time Sunday rolls around in the summer, I get excited because I have dubbed it 'Car Sunday'. This is the one designated day where I spend time with Darth (my car's name :P) by washing, waxing, and polishing him up....by hand! I'm serious. I get right down to the nitty gritty and get dirty by cleaning and shining up every single one of his spokes on his sweet 18' rims. I drive an Acura. Or as my friend Natalie likes to call it, a Blackura, because he's completely all blacked out head to toe, inside, and out. I thoroughly enjoy all aspects of cleaning my car, and I have genuine interest and willingness to learn anything and everything about cars. Does this make me a boy? Nah. What if I told you that the smells of summer to me aren't necessarily the sweet smell of flowers or fresh cut grass, but rather that smell upon cracking open and using a fresh bottle of tire shine or high-gloss car wax, or the smell of new tires? Does that make me a boy? Hmm, it's debatable. I love nice cars, speed adrenaline, I want to take lessons and get a motorcycle one day soon (that's definitely on my to-do list)............but on the flip side? Oh, I am oh-so feminine. So how the hell did that happen you ask? Simple. It's the 'testostrogen' ; a hybrid word I just made up to describe a part of what makes me 'me', and to give you a glimpse into what and who I grew up around. My male influences....okay we'll call them brothers plus Dad.
So I grew up in a family of 6.....my Mom, Dad, myself and 3 brothers. Two older and one younger. Being the only girl had it's perks but also it's downfalls. But now that I'm older and see how it has shaped me into who I am today, I honestly would not have had it any other way. I was literally one of the boys, so it was always a challenge being a girl around my brothers. I would have to play Barbies in the privacy of my own room all the time because action figures, cap guns, Tonka trucks, and Nerf guns would dominate. Oh  how I loved being a girl though - I had so many great memories, and a lot of awesome little friends. I loved wearing my Mom's high heels, putting her lipstick on and walking around my room when she wasn't home. Of course I loved my dolls, my precious Cabbage Patch doll, my Easy-Bake oven, skipping ropes, paper dolls, and dress-up clothes as well. But when you grow up around 4 guys, they tend to rub off on you in some ways, and you find that in order to bond with your siblings at all, you have to find a common ground. Would they ever play house, or play Barbies with me? Oh hell no! So I would naturally be the one to have to play by some of their rules, and their games. So basically everything from playing in the dirt, playing with action figures, nicky-nicky nine doors, experimenting lighting things on fire to see them burn, cap guns, to watching horror movies (which I believe that must be where my love of movies came from) and intense play fighting. I use the word 'play' very loosely here because there was nothing really that playful about it. Nope, not at all. I learned to take punches and beatings like a champ, and I guess that's one of the things I am thankful for today from my lovely brothers. In beating the snot out of each other, I had to learn how to take it, administer it, and basically just be tough. Street smarts from growing up in the area that we did, and having to be tough from some of the childhood experiences growing up in my family. And where am I at today in retrospect of my hybrid word 'testostrogen' ? Hahahaha, well..........take the glimpse I just explained, and tie in all these little extras - I love fashion, I'm a makeup artist, I absolutely love to bake, I own a ridiculous amount of shoes and clothing, I can't go anywhere without at least one piece of jewelry, I think dresses are a staple, I love everything romantic in life, getting butterflies, and love letters, I admire Audrey Hepburn to the fullest, I cannot wait to get married one day and have a gorgeous, perfect wedding, I love having long hair, and I think every girl should own an LBD and the perfect red lipstick. *sigh* Geez, would you look at the time? I have a fabulous concert to attend with my gorgeous gals, and I haven't even polished up my rims yet, or put in that bottle of fuel injector. Testostrogen at it's finest.