Yeah, I know, I know. It’s a wrestling entrance theme, and not even my FAVOURITE wrestler’s entrance theme.
But, dang! It definitely gives off the vibes I want to attack this year with. I’M SO GLORIOUS DAMMIT.
2012 - Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine.
2013 - You Can Dance at Any Age by Broni.
2014 - Greatest Day by Frank Turner.
2015 - Burn by Ellie Goulding.
2016 - Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.
2017 - My Shot from Hamilton.
2018 - Fill Your Heart by David Bowie.
2012 - Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine.
2013 - You Can Dance at Any Age by Broni.
2014 - Greatest Day by Frank Turner.
2015 - Burn by Ellie Goulding.
2016 - Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.
2017 - My Shot from Hamilton.
2012 - Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine.
2013 - You Can Dance at Any Age by Broni.
2014 - Greatest Day by Frank Turner.
2015 - Burn by Ellie Goulding.
2016 - Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.
Oh no love you're not alone
No matter what or who you've been
No matter when or where you've seen
All the knives seem to lacerate your brain
I've had my share, I'll help you with the pain
You're not alone
Just turn on with me and you're not alone
...
Gimme your hands cause you're wonderful
RIP David Bowie.
Update March 2, 2016: Remember that time I started writing a blog post in January then completely forgot about it? Whoops! I just found this sucker in my drafts folder. It looks like I had the intention of writing a little blurb about each film but only finished one and barely started another. So, hilariously it's a little top 5 list where I take a break in the middle to ramble about Magic Mike XXL. Why delete when I can share THAT with the world? Hitting publish... Now.
***
Well 2015 brought the second fail year in a row of keeping track of my new-to-me movie watching, HOWEVER I would still love to share my 5 favourite movies I saw. And (for the first time?) all of my favourites were movies that actually came out in 2015.
5. Inside Out
4. Spy - This movie was not at all how it appears in the trailers. It wasn't the usual "plus size woman is a bumbling simpleton that is the butt of a million fat jokes" but instead "plus size woman is underrated but is a totally capable badass".
3. Magic Mike XXL - This movie is a masterpiece. STAY WITH ME NOW. It's basically a buddy road trip movie but all the buddies are "male entertainers" and they're road tripping to the big stripper convention. I'll let that sink in for a minute... BUT it's also an extremely positive portrayal of female sexuality and shows so many varied types of women. It is SO REFRESHING to see fat women in roles like this - and I say roles with an S because there are MANY plus sized women to be found. Fat women getting all sexy danced on by hot dudes and NOT ONE FAT JOKE IS MADE IN THIS MOVIE. While there are absolutely zero stakes to anything happening in this movie, and the lead actress is by far the least interesting character, this movie just makes me SO HAPPY YOU GUYS.
The perfect companion song to this year's Theme Music...
We're going to have such a good time.
2012 - Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine.
2013 - You Can Dance at Any Age by Broni.
2014 - Greatest Day by Frank Turner.
2015 - Burn by Ellie Goulding.
Happy first day of Autumn! I made you a playlist!
1. Eating instant steel-cut oatmeal. How exciting!
2. Drinking green tea. As I do every day.
3. Craving a mixed combo plate from the new kebab place in town. It is just SO GOOD & perfect for my indecisiveness.
4. Reading this month's book club book - Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire.
5. Listening to a LOT of Spotify playlists, getting inspiration for my own Autumn Mix.
6. Watching the Great British Bake Off! The only show I care about right now.
7. Surfing Pinterest for some new autumn/Halloween decorating ideas. (& collecting them HERE)
8. Wearing a new-to-me plaid shirt that I scored at a friend's clothing swap last night.
9. Making some finishing touches on things for my sister's bridal shower tomorrow!
10. Feeling excited (& a tad overwhelmed) that I have fun things planned for the next 10 weekends straight!
11. Lusting after this app-controlled BB8 droid. OH MAN. Starting my letter to Santa... now.
Just try to tell me that "You cannot police me, so get off my areola" isn't the greatest lyric of our time.
Finding the positives in every day.
To be honest this week was 99% Steel Magnolias. It was tech/show week so besides work in the day, I didn't have time for much else. But it was a WONDERFUL week...
Tuesday May 5, 2015 - Tech Rehearsal. It was a long one, but everyone worked really hard and we got a lot of good stuff done and ready for the shows!
Wednesday May 6, 2015 - Dress Rehearsal! It's all coming together. Can't believe this is the last ever rehearsal for this show!
Thursday May 7, 2015 -- Saturday May 9, 2015 - WOW. Three nights and three absolutely beautiful shows. I could not be more proud of all of the women involved with this show. Of course I cried EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. You'd think after all these months, I'd know how the show ends... The cast party was a lovely gathering, complete with ARMADILLO CAKE.
Sunday May 10, 2015 - A lovely mothers day with the family. Brunch. Trip to the Nursery & Garden Centre. Family dinner. Great day.
Monday May 11, 2015 - I made THIS:
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Finding the positives in every day.
Life has been busy, busy, BUSY!! Hopefully I'll get this back on a regular, every Tuesday schedule once Steel Magnolias is over - tomorrow already! Holy smokes!
April 21 - April 27
In response to some pretty crappy, body shaming comments from a British TV presenter, an amazing hashtag rose up. #WeAreTheThey has been amazing to follow and participate in. So many fab people of all shapes and sizes came out and said "I'm the 'THEY' you're talking about and, no, you won't make us 'feel uncomfortable'. And we look damn good." Also this week was my local TEDx event. It was another insanely inspiring day. I highly recommend you seek out any TEDx events near you. The Friday was the final home meeting of Avengers Club where we watched 2 of my favourite Marvel movies, Iron Man 3 & Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Also I discovered the app MyIdol, and life will never be the same.
#WeAreTheThey
MyIdol weirdness
April 28 - May 4
I got an amazing new profile picture, drawn by artist Matt Cummings, of my most anticipated upcoming comic Power Up! I also had a good chat on Twitter with a "geek clothing" retailer about maybe expanding their women's lines to include actual plus sized options. Initiated by them! I love a company willing & eager to listen! Also, AGE OF ULTRON came out this week! I celebrated with shawarma on Thursday before I saw it that evening, then saw it again the next day with some of the Avengers Club crew in IMAX. SO WORTH IT. And if that night wasn't Marvely enough, when I got home my first Marvel Collector Corps box was waiting on my step! Look for an unboxing post in the near future. Spoiler alert: I LOVED IT. Saturday was Free Comic Book day! I'm really happy with the 3 freebies I ended up grabbing. Gronk: A Monster's Story/Hero Cats of Stellar City, Step Aside, Pops/Super Mutant Magic Academy and Comics Festival. From there I went to my friend's annual Derby Day party. I decked myself out in fantasy theme with a fascinator with tiny dragons, a unicorn & a Pegasus on it as well as my crazy Unicorn dress. Some of us ended up pooling some money and actually bidding on the main race - which knocks another item off my 30x30 list!
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WHAT MUSICAL SORCERY IS THIS?!?
Finding the positives in every day.
April 7 - April 13
MY JAMES HANCE ORIGINAL OF ADAM WEST BATMAN ARRIVED. It is so glorious. I'm going to hang it on my comic book originals/prints art wall but I sort of want to put it somewhere like... my bedroom. Or keep it in my bag. So I can look at it constantly. LOVE LOVE LOVE. Speaking of, my love for the Twitch show Critical Role (from the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel) continues to grow wildly. When I explain what it is to people, the general response is "... how is that entertaining?" but trust me you guys! It is! It's a weekly live stream of a game of Dungeons & Dragons played by 9 insanely talented voice actors. Stop. I can hear your eyes rolling from here. I PROMISE YOU IT IS SO GOOD. If you ever wanted a masterclass on storytelling or character building, this is it. Also, they've started playing Just Dance after the main episode and it was so funny to watch I ended up on the stream til 2am. On Friday I saw a production of the Rocky Horror Show. I'd never seen the stage version and a guy I knew from a musical we were both in a few years ago was playing Frank so I went tot check it out. HOLY CRAP it was AMAZING. Also there was a themed cocktail. The Sweet Transvestite was delish. Saturday my sister, niece and I all wore Captain Marvel shirts to take part in the Geek Walk 5k (which started with a hilarious 0.5k for all the geeks not used to physical activity. There was even a couch set up halfway through.) and that evening was Meeting #1 for AVENGERS CLUB. I set up Avengers Club as a weekly double feature screening of Marvel movies to prepare for AGE OF ULTRON! Meeting #1 included Iron Man & Thor, skipping Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk... Since it was also International Table Top Day we played some Boss Monster and Monty Python Fluxx during the films.
April 14 - April 20
Here's some awesome things that happened this week. Great Steel Magnolias rehearsals. Went to a Quarter Auction for the first time. Had a wine tasting for my sister's wedding wines. Played an awesome new game - Terra Mystica. I could talk about stuff like that. But really all I want to do is WATCH THE NEW STAR WARS TEASER AGAIN AND HOLY CRAP. It made me cry. At work. Awkward.
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It's been a long, cold, lonely, winter!
And I haven't worn a jacket most of this week!
I'm ready for spring florals, lovely things, and sunny days!
Finding the positives in every day.
So.... Definitely missed posting the last 2 weeks. WHOOPS! Rather than a long rambling post outlining the last 21 days I'll just give you the highlights of the highlights. Extra highlighted.
March 17 - 23
This week I went to the Bridal store, got measured up and dropped a downpayment on my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding. Exciting! I saw two new movies - Birdman & The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The later was a lunch date matinee with my mom and grandma which was delightful. My sister, Christine, and her fiance had to go up to the GTA for their engagement photos so I hitched a ride so we could spend some time with my other sister, Courtney, who lives up there. I HAD CHICKEN & WAFFLES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND MY LIFE HAS CHANGED FOREVER. Saturday night we went out for a nice dinner, went back to Courtney's place, had some drinks and watched YouTube videos of music from the late 90s/early 2000s and sang all night. Seriously, till 4am. Sunday had a surprise party for a lovely friend of mine.
March 24 - 30
Another new movie this week. The Theory of Everything. On Friday I got to see Bo Burnham live! He was INCREDIBLE! My favourite part was at the very end. He did an amazing Kanye West-style autotuned rant and I've had parts of it running through my head ever since. I am constantly singing it wandering around the house. On the weekend we had our monthly themed potluck get together of my mom's side of the family. This month was at my parents' place and the theme was all appetizers. I decided to try a new recipe & made Buffalo Cauliflower Wings and they were INSANELY GOOD. (Find the Recipe HERE)
March 31 - April 6
My favourite annual event was this week. It's a night where a bunch of local chefs, wineries and breweries all come together to create and amazing meal with pairings to raise money for the hospital. Always so much fun and so much yum. Courtney came down on the weekend so all 3 of us sisters could spend Easter weekend together. On Saturday we got manicures, had brunch at my favourite restaurant and Courtney went to her bridesmaid dress fitting. We all took turns each night cooking for each other. I made a spicy Asian salmon dish, Courtney made quinoa fried "rice" and Christine made these huge chicken meatballs. Everything was SO GOOD. My niece was at her dad's this weekend but we got to have her for a bit on Easter Sunday. It started as a cloudy day but it turned surprisingly nice so we all went for a walk and played in 2 different parks, which she (and we!) thought was just great. Yesterday was Dungeons & Dragons night and it was SO FUN. We adventured around and took out so many goblins & hobgoblins that we all got to level up! I think I am getting the hang of it!
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Finding the positives in every day.
Tuesday March 10, 2015 - There is a special kind of happiness when you turn someone into a fan of something you LOVE. Especially when you have been dying to have someone to talk about it with. My sister finally gave in to my pleas to start listening to the My Brother, My Brother and Me and she loves it and I AM SO HAPPY.
NSFW!!
Wednesday March 11, 2015 - GETTING. SHIT. DONE.
Thursday March 12, 2015 - Today I had an especially good thrift store haul. Some jewelry, some great books, a fantastic decorative unicorn plate...
Friday March 13, 2015 - Ended the work week with a little slumber party at my parent's with my sister & niece.
Saturday March 14, 2015 - Today I went to a surprise party for a friend of mine. He seemed genuinely surprised so that's always fun. It was superhero/board game themed so I got to play a few games. Because of that, I got to cross off "Play 5 New Board Games" off my 30x30 list since I learned how to play Puerto Rico! Would play again!
Sunday March 15, 2015 - The pure delight of having the first BBQ (homemade) burgers of the year. SPRING, YOU ARE SO CLOSE!
Monday March 16, 2015 - ADVENTURING! After making my first ever character last week, I got to take my Half-Elf Druid on her first outing tonight. I cannot overstate how excited I am to have a D&D group to play with!
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forever in my head...
Finding the positives in every day.
Tuesday March 3, 2015 - Holy smokes. The mid-season premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was SO SO GOOD. Thinking back to the beginning of the series and how far it's come, I feel sad for the people who gave up on it early in the first season. It's really found it's groove.
Wednesday March 4, 2015 - After dinner my mom & I went to my sister's house to watch some Say Yes to the Dress Canada and talk about the hair & makeup quotes for *her* wedding. Woo!
Thursday March 5, 2015 - Got to leave work a bit early with some other people from the office to go out of town for a hockey game. And I accidentally got a buzz on. A couple drinks on the bus... A couple drinks in the suite at the arena... I'm not a hockey fan but it was definitely a lot of fun. And the pizza & wings were pretty great too.
Friday March 6, 2015 - My sister and I went to a Scentsy/Velata open house. I may have impulse bought a crepe maker & a fondue warmer....
Saturday March 7, 2015 - BAD DAY ALERT! The highlight was definitely spending the evening with my family. My sister and I went over to my parent's place and we ordered some Boston Pizza takeout.
Sunday March 8, 2015 - Bad day turns into bad weekend. Ended up going back over to my parent's and my mom & I started watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If there was ever a show to pull a person out of a funk THIS IS IT. I am in LOVE.
Monday March 9, 2015 - NO COAT! Ok, so it was only +2 outside but it's SO SUNNY so I will take it! I went all afternoon with just a hoodie and no coat and life is beautiful. Also, today was Day 1 gathering for my D&D group! Spent the evening creating our characters for the campaign. I am too excited about this.
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