GratiTuesday (on a Friday...) #11 & #12

Finding the positives in every day.

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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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Play along by posting in the comments, blogging your own GratiTuesday or tweeting with #BestThingToday!

GratiTuesday #1

Last week on Twitter, my friend Jim made the following posts...

After getting shushed by @TrinAndTonic, I suddenly got an idea to do a tiny blog that simply noted the highlight of my day, every day. Hmmmm

— Jim Reaper (@BlackSymbiote) February 9, 2015

I wonder what kind of results I'd get? Most days seem forgettable. I would keep it entirely positive too. Seems healthy for the mind.

— Jim Reaper (@BlackSymbiote) February 9, 2015

I thought this was the BEST IDEA EVER. So we committed to keeping each other accountable. Every day we would take notice of all the good things. He's posting his daily at his blog, while I decided to tweet them with the hashtag #BestThingToday and then post a weekly roundup here. Every Tuesday. Mostly so I could use that horribly cheeseball title. Because I am a cheeseball. I am okay with this.

These posts will usually cover the previous Tuesday to the Monday, but since we started this journey last Monday, this one's got an extra day. (Hopefully future posts will also include photos and videos, but for this week it'll be just a text dump. Sorry!)

Monday February 9, 2015 - Obviously - Jim & I committing to looking for the highlights in every day. I feel like this is the start of something big! Also, it was announced that Spider-Man is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Coincidence? I think not. Also, also? I won a free coffee.

Tuesday February 10, 2015 - I won a free donut! I'm on a roll (unintentional pun). Also, this afternoon I purchased an item of clothing I've always wanted to try but thought that, as a fat woman, I would never be able to pull off. I got myself an awesome jumpsuit! This is going to be perfect for summer concert season.

Wednesday February 11, 2015 - My sister offered to make me dinner tonight. I got some great food to eat and the absolute delight that is getting to hang out with my 4 year old niece. She is just the best.

Thursday February 12, 2015 - Had a great 'character study' discussion at a great local coffee shop with the director/the 2 actors playing my favourite characters for the play I am Assistant Directing (Steel Magnolias). I am so excited for this play. When I got home, after a struggle with my computer, I finally got a load of new albums loaded onto my phone. Yay new music!

Friday February 13, 2015 - The simple but pure pleasure from a good bubble bath. I used the magical blend of a Unicorn Horn bubble bar and Northern Lights bath bomb. PERFECTION. Afterwards, I used an extensive amount of different face products (aka magic potions) and it was just a delightful night.

Saturday February 14, 2015 - Valentine's Day! Even as a chronically single lady, I really love Valentine's Day. Mostly because I get to celebrate the one I love. ME. Got up early(ish) and went to the grocery store to get some ingredients to cook myself an awesome brunch. I had baby naan bread with mashed avocado, egg whites and sauteed crimini mushrooms. SO MUCH YUM. I spent the afternoon reading comic books in bed. Then, one of my bests picked me up so we could get some Heart-Shaped Pizzas for dinner. We headed back to her house where I brought out my surprise activity - FLAVOUR TRIPPING (blog post to come). Afterwards, two other fab ladies joined us and we watched some episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal and played the GameCube game Donky Konga (1&2) and then Mario Party 2 on N64. Best. Valentine's. Ever.

Sunday February 15, 2015 - There is something to be said for having an all day pajama day. Especially when you were up till 2 am the night before playing Mario Party...

Monday February 16, 2015 - Today was my dad's 60th birthday! We all went out for brunch at one of my favourite restaurants then spent the rest of the day at my parents house. We FaceTime'd my other sister in for cake & present time and it was just a lovely day. HBD Daddio.

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And there you have it. My first week (and a bit) of taking note of my favourite part of every day. I challenge you to do the same. Let's see where this takes us.

Be sure to follow Jim's posts too, at Positively Jim!