I hate construction…I miss you, blog!
Been trying not to update the blog while it’s under construction. Should be working on construction but a break to write feels nice. Plus I’m super stoked on some stuff.
Have you heard of Buying Shots for Bands?
They are a small group of writers, photographers and above all, music fans who interview some of my fave bands (and do shots with them). Pretty rad idea to me.
They are celebrating their 1st birthday this year with a Bands vs. Blogs dodgeball game! It’s going to be so much fun! I’m playing with some of my teammates from the Parkdale Dirt Squirrels (two time 1st place champions of Toronto Sport & Social Club)! I’ll be playing for this blog, and some of the other squirrels will be playing for the Four Treasons blog. I’ve missed dodgeball.
How do you feel about some guest-bloggage here? I know I mentioned it on Twitter and all, but Elissa (yes, hetero-life-partner Elissa) is going to be in 4 different states in like, one week or something! And I think that number may actually be 5 because she drove from New Orleans, Louisiana to Austin, Texas and I think she may have driven through Alabama on her way. When she gets back from all of her travels, I’m hoping she’ll write a guestblog on her travels. Elissa is wicked cool, and travels so much. Plus she’s a great writer and since and talk about her so much she should really make a personal appearance on the blog. I’m hoping she’ll share lots of her smarts and funny things she encountered living in New Orleans, driving to her new apartment in Austin, taking a trip to Montana and then visiting her mom in her hometown East Lansing. Girl has been (and lived) everywhere!
Going to have to have my American Girl sign me up for a Spotify account too so that I can use it!
I’m going on a real camping trip this weekend – no glamping!
(But how gorgeous does that look?!)
Heading to Algonquin so I’ll be off the grid for awhile. Going to roast marshmallows, make spidey-dogs (while trying to overcome my fear of the real-life spideys), hike, swim & climb. Most importantly, I’m going to relax and enjoy sounds. Like the sounds of a nice cold beer opening.
When I come back, the new blog is going to be PIMP and ready for your eyes!
We Built This Blog on Rock N’ Roll (and WordPress CMS)
Since buying my own domain to host my blog going forward, I’ve spent the last few days doing lots of building and hard, sweaty work.
(Except in reality it just looks like this):
So excuse the rough appearance and slower updates while I pretty things up in here. Should only be a couple more days…
Ever Creep out an MLB Player? Me either.
Since a ton of people find this blog everyday by looking for “Travis Snider’s girlfriend” or “does Travis Snider have a girlfriend” (which I assume could only be fueled by this post), I figured I might as well fuel the fire.
I have always been a fan of baseball. I played when I was younger and my dad was the coach. To anyone who thinks that would mean I’d get special treatment – let me tell you how my dad said I was too much of a space cadet to pitch and I would get hit in the face by the ball when I’m not paying attention. He could have gotten that idea from the fact that I spent most of my time in the outfield picking dandelions and running from bees, or he could have just made it up. I’ll let you decide.
I don’t claim to be a sports fan by any measure. Let’s get that straight first. But I like going to games, paying $12 for beers, and cheering for the Jays. And of course I have my favourite players…
I’ve been watching Travis Snider for about 2 seasons now, and although I don’t really understand baseball stats, I knew he was doing well for his first couple years in the major league. I also like that he played for the Lansing Lugnuts because heterosexual-life-partner Elissagrew up in East Lansing.
I also really like Snider for his looks.
It’s pretty unusual for me to fan-girl out over guys. After my childhood obsession with Devon Sawa and then pre-teen obsession with Leonardo DiCaprio, I never really got back into decorating my whole room with pictures of guys I liked.
I should also be clear that the famous guys I find attractive have absolutely NO bearing on the guys I find attractive IRL. I’m not sure why, that’s just how it goes. I’m also not that in to muscles, but part of the reason why I like Snider is because he’s a real beefcake of a man, and not in that disgusting Jersey Shore way. Not a big fan of mustaches (other than for comedic value), but Snider has one and I love it on him. Remember his mullet too? Also not something that makes me weak in the knees.
Yesterday the Blue Jays held an autograph session at the Jays Shop in the Eaton Centre with Travis Snider. Lindsay, a friend from work, and my younger brother got me all excited about going and getting his autograph. Again, not something I would normally do, but the Eaton Centre is a 2 minute walk from work and he would be signing during my lunch break. And did I mention I think Snider is incredibly attractive?
So I went!
I joked with my boyfriend before going that I was going to squeeze his biceps. Then it became this huge joke and I kept tweeting about it and suddenly I was in front of the REAL TRAVIS SNIDER asking “Can I take a picture with you? Can I touch your bicep in the picture? Okay thanks.” *SNAP* *REMEMBER TO BREATHE*
He totally flexed for me.I’m pretty sure I’m blurry because I touched him and melted and he’s fake-smiling like “get this girl outta here”.
That night, Snider’s play definitely improved! He got 5 RBI and a home run and I cheered from the bathroom where I happened to be both times somehow.
If any other professional athletes are concerned about having played a bad game and need my special bicep squeeze to inject some extra swag into their play, I’m here to help you out.
TO #heatwave playlist
Today was hot! We got up to 37 degrees, feeling like 49 with humidity. That’s hotter and more humid than it was in New Orleans today and that is crazy!
Since temperatures don’t seem to be getting much cooler until at least next week, I thought I’d put together a #heatwave playlist to help enjoy the #helterswelter. (P.S. That was trending for a bit today – I like it!)
I got some great suggestions from my Twitter friends:
Amy suggested Johnny Cash’s – Ring of Fire, Corina opted for Hot Town Summer in the City and Casey suggested the bumpin’ This Is Why I’m Hot.
And I added a bit of my own flavour including Drop It Like It’s Hot, Nelly’s Hot In Here and some Island riddems.
This is the perfect playlist to dance to next to the air conditioner or to make you forget about the heat and enjoy the sunshine!
You can listen to my playlist by clicking here.
What else should I add to the playlist? Let me know and I’ll update it!
I wanted to listen to “Hot in Here” allll day at work, but was worried about getting a bit too…inspired.
I made some fun weekend plans to help me enjoy this great weather. I’m thinking a night at the drive-in with friends and a picnic on the Island. It’s only Thursday so let’s see what other kinds of trouble I can get into…
The Lazy Blog #WeekendWrapUp
I just lost this whole post when I hit “Publish” so now I’m angrily re-posting. Silly Jamie…you should know better!
Did a lot of this since I was ordered to keep off my feet due to a nasty infection in my leg last week. I blogged it. And complained a lot on Twitter.
I’ve loved having my downtime and lots of puppy cuddles, but I miss walking my boy. It relieves stress. Puppy hugs and snuggles are also a good stress release – you should try it!
I always blog about Moe – poor Troj wants to be internet famous too! He caught the nap bug too and took a catnap in the afternoon sun.
On Friday evening I had an appointment at Evoke Salon. I haven’t had a hair cut since my hair was a short bob more than 6 months ago.
Ryan hooked me up with a great cut to help me grow my hair out and we got along so well! I’ll be honest, I’m easy to please in the stylist’s chair. But one reason why I’ve had a hard time finding a stylist I like in Toronto is because I need to feel comfortable sitting in their chair and talking to them for an hour. Ryan was easy to talk to and I never felt like we were making dumb smalltalk to help the time go by faster.
Evoke – you just may be seeing my name in the appointment book again soon!
How awful are these tan lines?! Yes…I’m normally that pale. I guess? Don’t worry, I got rid of those suckers later on in the weekend.
My parents seriously saved my butt this week. Mom sat in the waiting room with me at the hospital twice (and drove me to and from the hospital since I spent a disgusting amount on cabs).
This is me driving my Dad’s car (sunroof! Holler at your girl!). He had to carpool home from work so that I could have a car to drive to my appointments. If I had to take my crutches I would have never made it!
This is where I got rid of those awful tan lines. And here. Mom and I sat by the pool while we waited for Dad’s roast supper to be ready. My dad’s Yorkshire’s are better than your dad’s.
I NEED MORE PICTURES OF MY FAMILY!
I went to famjam on Saturday for my aunt and uncle’s 25th wedding anniversary. Can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures…again! I get so caught up in talking with my family that I always forget to take pictures. Hoping for some good ones from my cousin’s boyfriend’s camera.
The boys were pooped Sunday night. And they don’t even have to go to work on Mondays…
I Got Chills…They’re Multiplyin’…
In my last post, I mentioned that I had gone to the beach last Sunday and got a bit of a rope burn on my ankle from the dog leash. Was a tiny scrape, and then I decided to go swimming in the lake (Yes, Lake Ontario). If you have been following me on Twitter, I apologize for all my whining but considering how clutzy I am this is by far the worst thing that’s happened to me health-wise in a long, long time.
By Monday night the scrape turned into a bigger wound. My ankle started to swell. I figured I may need to go to a clinic, but I would go in the morning. I called Telehealth and they agreed. (Telehealth is an awesome service by the way! You talk to registered nurses who are always so sweet and they give you advice such as “See a doctor in the next 24 hours if your condition does not improve” or “Take some Advil or Tylenol and get some rest”.)
Tuesday morning I went to the walk in. SUPER cute doctor prescribed me some antibiotic and told me if it got any worse to go to the ER for some IV antibiotics. At this point, walking was painful but I could do it without really looking like I was in pain.
By the time I had gotten home from work my ankle was huge and red and my leg was swollen up to my knee. It took me ages to walk from the streetcar to my house because I could barely put any weight on my foot. My flats were stuck to my swollen foot and my foot had swelled over it. I texted my mom to let her know what was up and she immediately called my aunt who is a nurse. I still wasn’t positive I wanted to go to the ER, so I called Telehealth again to get their opinion. The Telehealth nurse agreed that things were progressing too quickly to wait and that I needed to see a doctor ASAP. My mom called me back right away saying she was going to come down and sit with me in the ER waiting room. My aunt (the nurse) also had agreed that I should probably see someone.
I waited for almost 5 hours in the emergency room. I don’t complain about the wait because HEY! It’s free, people! And I was treated nicely for the most part. I was glad my mom came to sit with me because we caught up, eavesdropped on other people’s ailments and people-watched the hell out of all the crazies that the emergency room brings in. One woman even tried to attack a paramedic and was laid out by security and some paramedics.
They said I had cellulitis which is something you should never Google Image if they say you have it. Basically a bad infection. I didn’t think it was that serious but I guess sometimes it can be. I got IV antibiotics, got my tetanus updated (ouch!) and some mystery pills that made me crave french fries (also, not that mysterious…they were a buffer for the antibiotics to help them stay in my system longer).
WORST PART: I was to come back the next night for my IV antibiotics, and then for another week a nurse would come to my house and administer IV antibiotics and change my bandages. That meant they had to leave the shunt in my arm. I hated it…I felt like I could dislodge it at any moment which was terrifying only because the nurse sprayed himself and the room in my blood when he put it in.
This is the shunt – the hottest fashion accessory for summer 2011:
(Not the whole thing anyway – the nurse wrapped it up so instead of looking like a hospital outpatient I looked like I had attempted suicide)
Being sick/immobile is a full time job! My family and friends are amazing and called non-stop to offer their support and services such as pho delivery, hard drives full of movies and their company. It only took me 2 days to get super grumpy about not being able to do anything. Plus on that second day, the nurse was supposed to come to my house and when I called to see why she didn’t show up they told me that they hadn’t received my paperwork from the hospital and that I would have to go back to the ER for the IV. I was kind of upset because when you can’t walk and don’t have a car, stuff like getting to and from a hospital is annoying, especially when you’re already feeling helpless. In the end, I spent well over $100 in cabs in 2 days. (P.S. On that day when my homecare nurse didn’t show up, Dr. Mom drove in to drive with me to the hospital again! She’s the best Dr. Mom and took care of me all weekend too!)
I wasn’t all too impressed with the communication (or lack thereof) in the emergency room. I had to ask three times if I should continue taking the antibiotics prescribed by the doctor at the clinic and never received an answer. My other nurse/aunt works in some sort of regulatory capacity at a hospital and she’s part of this initiative to improve communications between doctors and patients re: their meds because there is a real problem apparently. She wasn’t really impressed to hear about my experience.
I also found that there was a HUGE difference in the way I was treated when I went with my mom and when I went with my boyfriend. Could just have been a coincidence, but the two times I went with my mom I got my own bed and privacy curtain and was actually spoken to by the nurses and they explained what was going on.
It’s been exactly one week since I got cut and went swimming and my foot is still swollen, I’m on antibiotics, my nurse comes 3 times a week until god knows when, I’m on crutches and I am REALLY missing being able to do things for myself!
Now please go ahead and call me a whiner…and flog me for complaining about having to relax with my feet up.
Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky #WeekendWrapup
After this blog post and tomorrow’s #TOTweetUp, I will only exist online for the remainder of this week. I’ve got my big exam on Saturday morning so I’m going to lock myself in a room and shove my head in my books.
Most importantly, I promised myself a month ago that if I pull up my socks and study for this test then I get to reward myself on Sunday by buying my domain and get working on a new site to have fun from so there’s a fun, multi-coloured, creative light at the end of the tunnel.
Now excuse me while I #WeekendWrapup:
Kept the sunscreen industry in business at Edgefest 2011. Went with these awesome people, plus 4 more. No line up at guestlist willcall, no line up at the gates, no line up at the beer tents. After some major complaints about last week’s Tragically Hip Canada Day show, it looks like Downsview made some improvements that really worked.
Saw the Arkells, Gentlemen Husbands, Hollerado, Sheepdogs, Monster Truck, and Weakerthans and had SUCH a good time!
This is one of my fave bands, Gentlemen Husbands, covering Tom Petty’s American Girl. I took the video for hetero-life-partner Elissa since she’s back living life in the Big Easy and couldn’t make it. Decided it was about time I had my own Youtube account and posted it there. It’s bare bones right now but will be prettifying that too.
Someone told me attendance was at over 70,000. I was always bad at guessing the amount of gumballs in the jar but does that sound right to you?
Felt guilty about leaving Moe at home all day while we had fun at Edgefest, so on Sunday we compromised and brought him to Cherry Beach 🙂 Was a bit overcast but the sun came out while we were there. Moe’s a big chicken and is scared of the water but had a blast at the beach anyway.
This is the scene of the awful leash/rope burn on my ankle. 24 hours later and my ankle is cut up, swollen and disgusting. Can’t bend my ankle. Eeek! No time for hurt!
Went to a dinner party like a real grownup and took this creepy pic. I get all excited when (famous) people have the same name as me because growing up there was only ever Jamie-Lee Curtis (ew). Never even had songs with my name in it ‘cept this one.
Real grownup dinner party with a fantastic cook. Had chicken and shrimp, homemade falafel, greek salad, tabouli, fresh baked bread and a delish pecan pie for dessert. Everything was so delicious that I’m scared of my turn to host one.
Okay, back to the #homerunderby. Cheering for Bautista! #beastmode
Calling All My Artistic Friends #CVCollective
Calling all my super, spontaneous, creative, artistic friends…because I just found out about this cool opportunity to have your art displayed on three high traffic Toronto billboards! You can also submit your art for the chance to have it displayed at one of those uber trendy galleries you see on Queen West, courtesy of the Courvoisier Collective.
Am I the only person who immediately thinks of this every time they hear the word “Courvoisier”?
Not gonna lie…was fully expecting a party like that to break out when I had my first sip. It wasn’t ghetto fab, but it was pretty damn good.
I know it’s not surprising for me to be talking about a liquor brand in this space but I think you guys would be really interested in what Courvoisier has been up to since we’ve been singing “Pass the Courvoisier” with Busta (and even way before that). Courvoisier is committed to the revolutionary spirit, craftsmanship and innovation that led to their own cognac’s success. This is why they want to support the local artist community and renew the revolutionary nature of art. Plus, the connection between liquor and art is quite obvious, am I right?
Okay, enough of my lollygagging so you can get to the drawing boards. If you want your art to be considered for the BILLBOARD FREAKIN’ SHOWCASE you need to submit by TOMORROW! I know, I know, it’s last minute. But I know you artistic folk thrive under pressure and maybe you’ve already been working on something that fits the theme for this really awesome opportunity. Did I mention there was also CASH PRIZES?
But maybe you’re busy right now and you don’t really like billboards. Totally not your style. I get it. You can still submit your stuff to be showcased in Gallery 1313 from August 11-September 4, 2011. The deadline for that isn’t for another week – July 15, 2011. You can even sell your work at the show to raise some extra duckets for yourself.
So let me get down to the nitty gritty deets:
Artists are asked to explore the theme of “Renewal” in relation to the revolutionary role of art. You can explore the theme either with respect to art’s capacity to revolutionize its own content and form OR art’s potential to challenge the status quo. EASY, RIGHT?!
You can explore a bunch of different mediums, whether you’re comfortable with photography, painting, mixed media and printmaking, etc. All you have to do to submit is upload an image in digital JPG, GIF, TIF, or PNG format at www.courvoisiercollective.com. It’s super easy, and you can see what other people have submitted there too.
So get on with your artsy selves! I want to see your art in public! I want to take pictures of me in front of your billboard or me checking you out in Gallery 1313! And I want you starving artists to make some money so we can all go out for drinks 🙂
Jamie-Leigh T.O. 
