Friday, September 24, 2010

Flashback Friday: Going way back!

Okay this week I am really going out there and showing you my most embarrassing video. In my defense I was young 13 to be exact, inexperienced, and the clothes were just not great. I remember when I got this job I was so excited. It was going to be awesome and Fredrique was going to be there for the panel after the fashion show. I thought that was going to be awesome. Plus, this was also the first time I realized I wanted to be a model. I was in fact a tomboy and didn't know anything about girlish things or how to walk or dress or do make-up. So here it is. Watch out for the dancers, the guys, the cheesy acting, and of course me be a dork. I did edit out like half of it, but it is still long and totally worth it for the laughs. See if you can spot me.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Embrace the Camera: September 23, 2010





So this week my monkey was sick, but luckily he is much better today. We tried the self-timer today which he enjoyed getting to press the button and all. As you can see I am a little tired today, didn't even put my eyes in, but I had to get in some photos with my little guy. He actually got really excited about the camera coming out to play again. I have been taking it easy since school started.








Sadly his attention span didn't last that long. Barney was on and that seemed to be more important. He leaned over gave me a kiss and said, "All done!".



Check out Emily and Embrace the Camera with us!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Foie Gras Farm

I almost forgot about these pics. They were on my phone. I found it so exciting that I had to take lots of pics. I know I am a country girl living in a city probably too long, but this is definitely only found in the country. I stopped here to get a birthday present for a friend. I heard it was supposed to be really good. Foie Gras. If you haven't had it before it is goose liver made into pate with truffles. I bought three containers and then as she was kindly putting them in a great brown paper sack she told me she had a farm that was open to the public out back.

I had seen the geese when I pulled up and actually thought to myself, "Isn't that convenient to have the shop right at the farm". I quickly said yes and we ran out back. As you can see we found a lot more than just geese. (chickens according to Maddox)

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McKayla found her family! She is calling out to them.

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The nice man opened the gate and held one so that the kids could pet them. McKayla loved it, but Maddox was a little uncomfortable with that idea.

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Much better when there is a fence between us don't you think?

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These had gotten out, but McKayla was a good shepherd and got them back inside the gate.

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They were happier here anyway there is a pond.

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After seeing this big baby I was in the mood for Thanksgiving. The guy feeding them said that here it is puffing up itself to look really big so we would get scared away. He did look pretty mean I was going to test it.

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They opened the cage so that the kids could pet the rabbits.

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But as you can see they didn't want to go near my kids.

I think it was a perfect way to end our trip in St. Agapit and the recipient of the foie gras seemed happy for the gift. So we piled in our car and hit the road again. I think it is good for my city kids to get out in the country and experience a slower, quieter pace of life. I think it was a hit! Thank you friends for making it a great vacation!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Flashback Friday

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So for Flashback Friday this week it is in Thailand. My first time. My first commercial. My first time actually getting to bring my mother with me! She kept saying we are so close to Vietnam. I was thinking I hope one day I can go there with you.

I actually booked the job while I was in New York. I think they auditioned me like 7 times before I actually got the job. I thought it was never going to happen. As I have now learned sometimes that happens and projects get delayed. I ended up dancing the "Macarena" on video and that won me the job! I know, but it was 1997 and everyone was doing it. Shooting got delayed because one of the girls didn't make it from Hawaii so we had to wait for her. Lucky for us we got to do some sightseeing which hardly ever gets to happen when you are working.

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We went to some old palace on the beach. It was neat there was a garden with huge topiary animals. I know I have a pic of me under an elephant, but I can't seem to find it.

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I saw my first wild monkey, very cool.

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This I think was one of set production guys he was cute and always blushed around us so we took a pic with him.

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Us girls with my mom. She was so shocked with how they just build sets out of nothing only to tear them down after shooting! We were shooting in a hotel that was being renovated. It looked like someone just set off a bomb on the 20th floor. It was scary, but they built a beautiful set.

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I am really not sure what we are doing here other than singing I think. But there is a camera so I am assuming we are shooting or rehearsing. Although I don't remember singing in the TVC. Lots of dancing around though. It was for Citra, which is a lotion as you can see I am holding one of the bottles. I got to do all the hand modeling for the commercial. My friends back home got a kick out of that because I am not really known for having the nicest hands.

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I almost didn't put this picture. I am way to happy, but you cannot sensor your past so here it is. We are with the crew. Choreographers, production team, hair and make-up artists, and stylist all putting on our picture poses. Some a little more animated than others.

Coming from a small town these wonderful Thai people are not what you expect to find. Especially industry people. My mom was enlightened and pleased because the people were so nice to us and treated us like royalty. She was happy to know that when I go away people do take care of you. (side note: doesn't always happen that way I was lucky)

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This is at the wrap-up dinner. So yummy and so much fun. I did it my first TVC!! I wish I had the reel. I would share it with you, but I don't know what has happened to it over the years. Hope you enjoyed this post. I enjoyed thinking back about how awkward and new I was at everything.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Embrace the Camera: September 16, 2010




So these are really the last of my vacation photos. This is in Montreal and a fabulous friends backyard. The sun was setting and I ran to take as many pictures of the kids I could. It was hard since they wanted to play, but they did cooperate.

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And Marcus even took some photos of me with Maddox and McKayla. Not perfect, but he did a good job getting us in the photo.

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I actually took better pics of kids that were not my own, but since they are not my own I will not post them. Our vacation was fun and I tried to make a conscience effort to be in as many photos with them as I could. Seeing as I didn't have hubby with me I think I did a good job. Makes me happy because my little monkey sees these pictures and it puts a smile on his face. Then, he starts to babble about what? I really I don't know, but I know it is good.

Thanks for joining me and you should really join Emily and embrace the camera with me.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday

So I decided to start Flashback Fridays, which is essentially flashbacks of my life. Which may or may not be interesting to you. I realize that I am not really a fascinating person.
Maybe I had the potential to be one, but I decided living my life with my kids was more important. I definitely had a lot of fun in my youth.

I was able to travel the world and still do on occasion, but don’t go that far for that long without my children right next to me. And in all honesty no sour grapes at all I am happy I did it. They are definitely my best accomplishment.

So anyway this won’t be just from my travels and work, but my childhood in a small town in Oklahoma, which was perfect. I only wish that my children could grow up like I did free to roam and explore without the terrifying idea that something terrible could happen to them. Sadly in the world today that is hard to find.

I didn’t really know where to start. If you can believe it I still have a trunk which my dad made for all of us girls sitting at my moms. I think I will finally somehow get her to ship it to me. It is filled with all of my memories. Travel diaries, pictures, and all sorts of great things. But once again I do not have access to those memories just yet, but I do have some that I can share.

(insert photo from childhood)


I guess I will start with a moment in my life when I knew that I was in love with Singapore. It wasn’t the food that drew me in although that definitely brings me back as often as I can, it was the fact that it is so close to so many beautiful places in the world. It started with a business trip to Bali. Yes, I know who wouldn’t want to go? I wasn’t in Singapore for a week before I got to hop on a plane and end up in a beautiful remote hotel in Ubud, Bali. Now if you have read Eat, Pray, Love, which I have recently, you would know that that is where she went. In the mountains it was breathtaking. So here are the pictures from that trip. It was for a department store in Singapore as well as a spread in a magazine.

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These first pictures are huge. I wish that I could scan them properly so you could see the whole picture because it is beautiful. (I am talking about the background not me.)

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Photographer Chuon Do took them and he is a genius. I seriously think he could make anyone look good.

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I remember my sister seeing this picture and laughing because she said she could see up my nose.

That green murky water in the background took a long time to get to. I think we trekked like an hour and a half to get to that spot where I could get in the water. I think it was worth it I love these shots.

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If you are thinking to yourself, "Why does she always have her head up?". Well it is the direction the photographer kept giving me and as anyone who is in the business knows we are not paid to think for ourselves. We are paid to do what we are told. So that is exactly what I am doing.

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Is that an infinity pool? Yes, it is. And it was the first time I had ever seen one. I was barely seventeen and I thought it was the most beautiful place on earth.

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This last one is from the resort where we stayed. It was in this private villa so awesome I can't even describe, but none of the pictures we took inside the room really showed its beauty. I think it was mostly about the clothes and the mood. As you can see I was comfortable.

Well I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Embrace the Camera: September 9, 2010




So This week was the first week of school for my two oldest. They were so ready to be back at school with their friends. Their mommy didn't do a very good job in the whole playdate department this summer.

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We got lucky and daddy was off work. So he is the one in all the photos. They are both very happy in their new classes and I can't believe how big they are getting!

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My little girl still let me hold her hand. She also let me give her 3 goodbye kisses! That made me happy. She says she will never be too embarrassed to give me kisses in front of her friends. That makes me happy even though I know it is probably a lie.

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Marcus was very serious as he mostly is. Probably nervous on the inside, but putting up a strong front.

After school I took these shots and they are still happy! Marcus says he was indifferent. Go figure.

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Maddox has had some adjusting this week. He misses them, but he has been hanging out with the kids at the gym childcare. The past two days he has asked me to put him down for I nap. I think because he is bored and has figured out that after his nap we pick up his friends. As you can see at school he was very excited too. I don't think he understood that his life was about to change.

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Embrace the camera here.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Trip down memory lane

Taking a break from vacation photos as you are probably getting tired of hearing about it!! Here is something that has been on my mind.

So guess what was on t.v. last night? The Great Outdoors. I was way too sleepy to watch, but thankfully I have PVR so I just recorded it so I could watch it today. Can I say that it was still hilarious?

I remember watching it when I was little with my family. My dad just loved John Candy and this one is definitely a classic.

I did note that as I was watching McKayla pointed out that Annette Benning's character was smoking right next to her kids. She was in shock and said if that happened to her she would say, "What are you doing smoking that right next to me?". It got me thinking about how things like that have changed. You don't see family movies where that happens anymore or at least not wholesome family movies. Maybe not everything has changed for the worst when it comes to movies these days.

I was actually talking to a friend of mine a while back about how we didn't realize how some of the movies we watched as kids are actually kind of scary and not really something we would let our youngest children watch. Take for instance one of my favorite movies of all time, Labyrinth,

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So awesome I love it, but it took me a while to share with my kids because it is kind of creepy. Kid gets kidnapped by goblins on the verge of becoming a goblin and all sorts of eerie creatures lurking about.

Plus I have to admit something. I kind of had a crush on David Bowie. Seeing as I wasn't even ten I think I can be forgiven for such a thing. And Jareth? I actually was always sad at the end because I wanted her to stay with him. He actually looked kind of lonely and in love with her. Looking at this today and seeing his make-up I am thinking. What was I thinking? You have to admit that the music was fabulous and this song? sigh... "I'll be there for you...as the world falls down" I think that is an awesome thing. Now I am all sappy, but seriously great song.

Just in case you want to hear it. Don't forget to let me know your feelings did you hate the movie? love it? indifferent?



Okay an end to this post, but in closing here is a little homage to John Candy and The Great Outdoors!!



Day Five Quebec: Part Two

So on really our last fun-filled day in St. Agapit we tried to stuff a lot into one day. Horses in the morning, poutine for lunch, and then to the Chute in St. Agathe for the afternoon. (As well as I made a chocolate cake for Mika. Her Birthday was on day three and no one told me!! So using my sister Stephanie's recipe I made a deliciously moist chocolate trifle cake.)



The kids went on an adventure. Climbed up and over rocks and swam in the semi-cold water trying their best to get as close as possible to the waterfall. Monkey and I followed as best we could tag-teaming it up and around all of the rocks.

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As Monkey and I tried to make our way there he was always ready to pose for me. I thought we had some great mommy and monkey bonding moments. He was really good to follow my instructions like "don't move", "stay right there", "be careful", "wait for mommy", etc.

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I was really proud of him.

and then he had a little too much fun.

this is him about 3 seconds before he threw mud on me.

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and yes I was wearing white and shouldn't have. We continued to have a mud fight, but he didn't like the mud being thrown at him. I wonder why?

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The big kids climbed their way back to us and then we had our snacks by the edge of the water and were on our way home. I had to bribe them with the chocolate cake to give Mika and I some peace and quiet in the car!

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mmm...I need another occasion to make it. Thanks sis it was really yummy!