If Only...

Weeks ago on Delurking Day, I told my Delurkers that they could ask me any question they want. Well, Ashley over at Turquoise Ribbons had one.

Here's a question for you: If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

Well, I can tell you that I likely will always live in Ontario. My family is way too important to me to move far away, especially now that Mom's been sick. But we're going to pretend that family ties don't factor in here, nor does work/money. Here's my shortlist:

1) Greece.

St John by nicolas.gr

Watching the movie version of "Mamma Mia!" has left me with an intense desire to live in Greece. Go here to watch my favourite song from "Mamma Mia!" - SOS and check out the background... beautiful! Apparently it was filmed in Skopelos. That picture above, that's a chapel. How amazing is that? I love the idea of living on islands and boating around. And will you look at that water?!

2) Spain.

Roseta by Pablo Germade

I was a History major back in university, and Canada has nowhere near as much history as Europe does. I love beautiful old buildings, and the opportunity to walk on places where the events I read about occured. Spain has the perfect combination of history, a beautiful culture (I have a soft spot for Flamenco dancing), and warm weather (the Mediterranean, oh yeah!)

3) Tortola, B.V.I.

Tortola by turtlepatrol

I've been on two cruises of the Western Caribbean, and on my first cruise, Tortola won my heart. No island I've been to since has compared. Small, friendly, not overly touristy, with historic buildings, surrounded by the beautiful sea. It was perfect!

4) Australia.

Back under the Australian starry nights by El Fotopakismo

This could just be jealousy due to the fact that I am going to drop my sister off at the airport to go there tomorrow, but I would love to go there. I have a slight obsession with "Crocodile Dundee", and readers, if you have not seen Danny Deckchair, get your butts to the video store and rent it immediately, it is one of my fave movies that I can watch over and over again. I find Aussie accents completely charming, and the exoticness/wildness of the country makes me want to go explore it. And the stars are completely different there! I've wanted to see the Southern Cross ever since I heard a story about it as a child at camp. Also, I find the names of landmarks and cities hilarious - Wollongong, anybody?



Well, there you go, readers. Those are the places I would live if I had the option to live anywhere in the world. There seems to be a theme here: warm and not North American.

Thanks, Ashley, for your question!

Readers - do you have any other random questions for me? Leave them in the comments and I will respond!

Life Isn't Fair...

In two days, my sister will be leaving to go to school in Australia for a semester. After a short visit to New Zealand, she will be living in Brisbane. That means she will be here:

Image from here.

While I am stuck here:

Image from here.

Yeah, completely not fair.

Interview with Erin

Lily of Lily Speak did this Interview meme and I wanted in on that. So I had her interview me, here it is:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1) I know you're a big Dave Matthews Band fan. What's your favorite song and why?
Oh man, I have to pick just one?? I don't know if I can! How's about I tell you about a few of them:
Crash Into Me - this has been my favourite from the start. Granted the lyrics if sung by anyone other than Dave would be a little creepy, but I think it's super romantic. Remember the video?? Beautiful! The lyrics "you wear nothing, but you wear it so well" are amazingly romantic, I think, they show true love and acceptance of a person. That would be one of the most fantastic pre and/or post sex complements a guy could give me.

Pig - I discussed here. "Wash out this tired notion that the best is yet to come" - it's all about how I want to be living my life, being able to seize the day and not waste it.
You Might Die Trying - I discussed this one here. It reminds me that if I want to change the world and make a difference I need to take action by getting off my butt and doing something, even if it is only something small, it's better than being frozen and doing nothing.
But there's Everyday, and Grey Street, and Tripping Billies... awe man!

2) Other than your parents' jewelry shop, what other jobs have you held?
I've had a few, here are my two most exciting/longest from the past:
I've been a camp kid since I was a young teen, starting as a CIT, then a counsellor and then senior staff. I miss K-Camp crazy amounts...


During university, I worked at the art gallery on campus, a little bit as a gallery attendant, but mostly I was in charge of contacting (or attempting to contact) all of the over 2000 artists whose work we had in our collection to get them to sign copyright forms thanks to Canada's new copyright laws.
And now, I work at the youth shelter.

3) What extracurricular activities and/or sports have you done/played?
I've never really been a terribly sporty girl. As a kid I tried ballet and figure skating, and failed miserably at both. When my Aunt and I both lived in London, I went to the flamenco classes that she taught. In elementary school and high school, I did Brownies and Girl Guides and Youth Group out of my church, and Drama Club out of my high school. In university, I volunteered with a fantastic organization called Best Buddies, and at a local elementary school in a classroom for kids with special needs. I also took sign language classes at the university.

4) Let's say you have the chance for a little threesome with two of your fave celebs. Who would you pick?
Dave Matthews.

Crap, I have to pick another? Hmm, perhaps Lee Pace of Pushing Daisies.


Or, if I could go back in time, Pierce Brosnan and Harrison Ford, my old man crushes. Heck, the back in time bit isn't completely necessary.


5) What was your favorite game as a child?
My sisters and I used to play Barbies all the time. We also played our share of hide and go seek. On camping trips, my family would always play Monopoly. With my friends, we played a lot of games in the pool, and we played boneyard in the neighbourhoods around our houses.

Alright, anyone who wants to be interviewed can leave me a comment!

Her Morning Elegance

I saw this video over at Jiscilla.com today, and it is amazingly beautiful. You all need to watch it, again and again, like I have been doing.

Erin's Red Carpet Round-up

Well, it's that time of year again: Red Carpet Season. The Oscar nominations were announced the other day, and I have to say, I'm a little bit ashamed of myself this year... Usually I manage to see at least a good chunk of the nominated movies, but this year I have not seen a single one. Actually, scratch that - I saw bits and pieces of The Dark Knight when the kids watched it at work. Pathetic, I know. Here are the nominated films:

Nominated Films from Oscar.com.

That means I have about a month to catch up. What do I want to see for sure? Australia (because I heart Baz Luhrmann, the idea of the country, and history), Defiance (again with the history thing, and Daniel Craig can't hurt), In Bruges (I've heard good things), Rachel Getting Married (again, good things), Slumdog Millionaire (people have been raving about it/ it's won all the awards so far), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (um Brad Pitt. Enough said.), The Wrestler (saw a clip on Conan tonight, looks interesting), and Vicky Cristina Barcelona (looks good). For a full list of nominations go here.

Any thoughts / suggestions / recommendations, guys? Any movies that were missed by The Academy that I should still see?

An Update in Photo Form

I finally bought a feather headband! I got this one from Urban Outfitters.


Thanks to Doniree, I got to make my very own Obamicon!


In other news, Thunder Kitty is still cute - even with creepy camera flash eyes. He's back on weight control kibble, but I think it's weight control because it doesn't taste good, he hardly eats it!

What I Do on the Internet

This week's Friday 5 is about Net Habits. It's been a while since I've done a Friday 5, so I thought I'd give this one a shot.

1. What types of blogs do you usually read?
Toooo many... there are 182 in my Google Reader. Mostly, though, they are personal blogs or art/design blogs.
Here's a few you should go read if you don't already: Bliss, Classy in Philadelphia, LilySpeak, Me Melodia, Snapshot Chicago, Stylish Handwriting, The Holly & The Ivy, The State That I Am In,The Transformation of Kern, Turquoise Ribbons, Writing to Reach You, Yes and Yes, and You Are My Fave.

2. What kinds of products do you usually buy when you shop online?
The last two things I bought online were my Matt & Nat purse (which I am still waiting for... stupid UPS...), and my Mole Book.

3. What kinds of online videos do you usually spend time watching?
Here's my fave YouTube videos:









Hope you enjoyed those.

4. Besides Friday 5, what weekly memes do you particularly enjoy?
I don't really do any weekly ones, just when the mood strikes me.

5. Where do you like to go for streaming online music?
Well, I've heard fantastic things about Pandora, but unfortunately, those of us North of the Border aren't able to listen to it. If I listen to streaming music, I usually go to AOL Radio. I will also listen to music on YouTube, which reminds me, I was doing that the other night and rediscovered the video for Crash Into Me by the Dave Matthews Band. I love the song, but it had been a while since I saw the video, so I had forgotten just how beautiful it is. Y'all need to go here and watch it (because embedding is disabled). It's like the most gorgeous dream. Seriously, go watch it.