Listening to

"Crystalised" – The xx

Listening to

This 10-year-old girl from Toronto has the most incredible, soulful voice I've ever heard. It's kind of mind blowing! She just signed a record deal with Simon Cowell. But I almost feel sorry for her – she's going to get crazy famous, and undoubtedly lead a pretty messed up life because of her fame. Because let's be honest, what young celebrity ever turns out normal?

Heather Russell – "Every step of the way"



Heather Russell – "You're beautiful"

Listening to

"Song for no one" – Miike Snow

Listening to

"Rolling in the deep" — Adele

Listening to

"40 Day Dream" — Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Listening to

"Treats" — Sleigh Bells

Ew, what's that?

.... It's the worst commercial on television these days, that's what it is...

Listening to

"Mouthful of Diamonds" – Phantogram

Our wedding video

Listening to

"I know what I am" — Band of Skulls

Listening to

"Skinny love" — Bon Iver

Listening to

"The Cave" – Mumford & Sons

Listening to

"Midnight Room" – Blaudzun

Celebration of Light: Spain's Finale Fireworks

For any non-Vancouverites, the Celebration of Light is an annual fireworks show that happens on various nights throughout a few weeks in the summer. Different countries compete to put on the best fireworks display set to music. And let me tell you, people LOVE it. On Saturday night I had front row seats watching from my cousin's balcony.

We watched the masses of people flooding into English Bay to watch the fireworks.

At one point we saw a sea of foam floating down the curb's edge and followed its origins to a kid getting his beer dumped by the cops. We had a few more drinks on the balcony and waited for the sun to set.

The darker it got, the more people crowded onto the beach and the grassy areas below. We were feeling pretty good about our spacious spot on the 23rd floor.

With the throngs of people came boat after boat...after boat. The waters surrounding English Bay and Stanley Park were packed with party boats, yachts and tipsy sailors. 

After a few pre-show teasers, the fireworks began, the music blared, and we watched from our perch. 

I caught the finale on video. I like to think of firework finales as the time when the designers look at the giant pile they have left after planning the bulk of the show, then blow everything they have left at once. 

The Social Network: aka the Facebook movie

Watching movie trailers is like a drug for me, so when I took a few minutes in the midst of a particularly drab workday to check out this one, it was well worth it. "The Social Network" is about the creation of Facebook and the scandals surrounding it, and if the eerie trailer featuring a children's choir rendition of Radiohead is any indication of what's to come, the movie is going to be powerful, revealing and all-round fantastic. I'm a lover of social media and I'm fascinated with the way it's shaped an entire generation of people and changed the way we live, love, build relationships, do business, communicate, and project ourselves on others. And so many other things. It would be cool to see a movie—maybe a documentary, for that matter—with a larger scope, covering more than just one social media outlet and how it shapes the lives of people from different generations. It may already exist, I just haven't heard of it yet.


The Social Network trailer

The Intern, the Bride and the Blogger

Lately my brain has been so occupied with work and wedding that I've barely had a chance to think like a blogger. Usually I'm grasping at paper and pencils every 5 minutes because I can't keep up with my internal dialogue of blog writing, but lately it's been nothing but crickets up there. However, that's because my everyday life dynamic has changed in the past month. The blog writer is sitting there scratching her head and picking knits from her hair, but the intern and the bride are running around, arms flailing like a mom on the dance floor. And the grad student is studiously working on her thesis in the backdrop, trying to keep to herself.

I'm knee-deep in the second month of my internship and 11 weeks out from the biggest day of my life (until, that is, we start with the baby making). My 9-5 is filled with writing, reading, editing, html and other fun webby magazine things that require enough brain power that I can't be simultaneously writing blog posts. My evenings are consumed with little wedding details that I churn out until they defeat me and I collapse with exhaustion in my bed that is never quite soft enough to catch my tired, heavy limbs.

It's been busy, but it's been good. And the strange little things that always seem to happen to me still happen, I just haven't had the will and the wit to jot them down. Like when one of our neighbours stole the quarter out of my laundry basket (filled with my, ahem, delicates).  My basket was waiting in line beside the washer and some crazy decided to snatch my shiny laundry money. I'm not pointing fingers, but I'm going to just assume it was the panflute player. I put in an honest effort to blog about that, but then I'm quite certain I fell asleep with my eyes open. But life goes on, I got another quarter and I'm telling the story now.

I'm writing an article this week for BC Living about Luc's and my hike to the peak of the Stawamus Chief in Squamish – which I will post a link to when it's done – so for now I've got this amateur, made-in-one-hour iMovie of our trip to the top.

So while I try to balance life as an intern, bride and blogger (and grad student, eek!), please amuse yourselves with this little ditty.



Update: check out the full story on BC Living.

Lost unanswered questions

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Lost finale, but it did leave me with more than a few questions. I appreciate the inherent mystery that exists in order for Lost to be a good show, but really....they could have given us a bit more to work with. This video is painstakingly accurate with regards to the feelings of millions of viewers like myself. I only know the answer to the very last question, and the answer...is a resounding NO!

Sleepy meerkats

We've been watching BBC's new series called "Life", which I just think of as "Planet Earth" 2.0. The best segment so far has been on meerkats. Check out this video of meerkats falling asleep standing up when they're supposed to be on the watch for predators. Too cute. Too. Damn. Cute.

Listening to

Home - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Going on around the web

The trip home from work these days usually leaves me with my feathers a bit ruffled. It's a one hour and fifteen minute two-bus, bumpy journey that frequently involves running for and missing buses, suffering through stinky co-passengers, and coffee-umbrella-book-bag juggling acts. Today, however, was pleasant as can be and has left me in a great pre-long weekend mood. To put a cherry on top of the seamless bus ride home,  I stopped in at Cobbs for a butter croissant. I crossed paths with a friendly neighbour on my way into the apartment and had a great chat. I'm in such a great mood and wearing such a big smile, and I want to pass on the pleasantry with some fun stuff I've been enjoying this week from all over the web.

Baby portraits: the perfect balance of looking like an adult yet being a baby makes these both eerie, adorable and hilarious.

An amazing boutique hotel on a rock face in Jamaica.

The new Wintersleep album

The cool monthly market I'm going to visit this weekend.

Some priceless commentary and photos on the fashion-impaired citizens of Vancouver.

A super-dorky, yet somehow endearing kid whose photo I stumbled across at work while doing some image research for an article.

This ultra-quirky music video for Grizzly Bear's song "Two Weeks."