Mel:
Tonight is Dale's opening night on the mainstage at Second City. When we were just starting out, we used to go see the Second City shows and we'd delight in how great our careers were going to be when we were that famous... we'd cheer "LEE SMART ROCKS!" every night, and talk endlessly about our fledgling careers.
I wish I could be there in person tonight, but I know she knows I'm there in spirit! (Well, the giant ambush of flowers in the dressing room couldn't have hurt either. :D) Also, to have seen the show in previews, and realize what a gem Dale has become as a performer - well, it made my heart soar.
I'm lucky to have such a great friend; I'm luckier to have had such a great friend for ten years, and I'm luckiest to have such a great friend who has become exactly what she wanted to become.
I am SO proud.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
September 28
Mel:
You know what's great? Sitting. Everyone enjoys a good sit. These chairs rock. Fat Fat is curled up in one, and I'm curled up in the other, watching the rain outside the window. Thank you, chair man, for the manna that is these chairs. We are delighted.
Gramma called yesterday to say the clan have rounded up an assortment of wonderful things including possibly a loveseat, a television and, nearer to Christmas, a larger table and chairs with a hutch and corner shelf for our dining room. Apparently that's quite a story, as things usually are in our family! We're just glad people are thinking of us. I was grateful to hear from my Gramma and know she's just "up the road" now; it was nice to just talk about everyday normal things and not try to cram everything in to a 20 minute conversation. I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with the MacRae side and not have to rush out and miss dessert to catch a plane. Gramma, if you're reading this, I had a dream last night that you made a pumpkin pie. *cough* Hint, hint. *cough*
You know what's great? Sitting. Everyone enjoys a good sit. These chairs rock. Fat Fat is curled up in one, and I'm curled up in the other, watching the rain outside the window. Thank you, chair man, for the manna that is these chairs. We are delighted.
Gramma called yesterday to say the clan have rounded up an assortment of wonderful things including possibly a loveseat, a television and, nearer to Christmas, a larger table and chairs with a hutch and corner shelf for our dining room. Apparently that's quite a story, as things usually are in our family! We're just glad people are thinking of us. I was grateful to hear from my Gramma and know she's just "up the road" now; it was nice to just talk about everyday normal things and not try to cram everything in to a 20 minute conversation. I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with the MacRae side and not have to rush out and miss dessert to catch a plane. Gramma, if you're reading this, I had a dream last night that you made a pumpkin pie. *cough* Hint, hint. *cough*
Sunday, September 27, 2009
September 27
Yesterday we became the proud owners of two retro 70s living room arm chairs! They're orangey-brown, corduroy, worn in all the right places, and after a day's worth of steam cleaning, they're AWESOME.
Our bedroom carpet is a shade cleaner too, thanks to Neil's steam cleaner. Seriously though, we could have sent the contents of the return water to CSI for analysis. It would have made for some compelling drama.
Tomorrow's agenda: steam clean the office carpet. Whee!
On another note, tonight Mel made a pad thai reminiscent of the Red Room. It made us a little homesick.
Our bedroom carpet is a shade cleaner too, thanks to Neil's steam cleaner. Seriously though, we could have sent the contents of the return water to CSI for analysis. It would have made for some compelling drama.
Tomorrow's agenda: steam clean the office carpet. Whee!
On another note, tonight Mel made a pad thai reminiscent of the Red Room. It made us a little homesick.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
September 26 - *now with PHOTOS!
We are really on our way to getting somewhere here... Earlier this week, Catherine (Melanie's mom) came by with a microwave thanks to Aunt Brenda and Gramma & Grampa MacRae (it's apparently "been in the family" for some time now!) and the tv stand that Mel's family used when they were kids in Greenfield. It was a great throwback. You can even tell it came from Ikea; from a time when they HAD Ikea in Halifax...
Mel: I remember the ball room!!! The balls were amazing!!! It was like going on a field trip, and coming home with happy parents and furniture!
Brad: Ikea was lame. We only went when I was a teenager. We drove for two hours to get to THIS? And then we just go home? Why didn't I just STAY home?
Brad went out with Catherine, Neil (Catherine's whatever-you-call-a-boyfriend-after-high-school) and Kirstan, Melanie's brother, for Kirstan's birthday. Melanie is jealous.
September 25, later... - *now with PHOTOS!
Tonight, Theresa and Glenn came over - with gifts!!!
They had a little bistro-style table in tow for us, one we found on Kijiji and they picked up in their super-hybrid-vehicle. It's beige with a glass top and coffee cup cutouts in the backs of the metal chairs and around the frame of the table, and it's absolutely perfect. They also brought two folding card chairs from Theresa's and a coffee table and two end tables care of Cheryl & Bruce, Theresa's parents. We're getting there!!!
Then they stayed and we shared some Sheridan's coffee liqueur and Disaronno (which, by the way, if you haven't tried yet - seriously, what are you waiting for? Christmas?) and had a wonderful time sitting around our new little table!
So now we have a place for you to sit; when are you coming over?
UPDATE:
I don't know what the heck I was thinking, but Glenn, Theresa and Theresa's niece Brianna and I had the most delightful day at the Discovery Centre! I have the photos to prove it.
A walk along the boardwalk
Making bubbles!
Playing with blocks
Not a professional engineer, thank god...
Air ambulance driving... hands-free!!!
And the funniest series of photos I've ever taken, and if you've seen my collection of signs from Chinatown, you'll know that's a hefty title.
It took three separate shots to capture this gem.
Watch as Brianna enthusiastically runs full-tilt... into the crash mat.
We all had fun!
They had a little bistro-style table in tow for us, one we found on Kijiji and they picked up in their super-hybrid-vehicle. It's beige with a glass top and coffee cup cutouts in the backs of the metal chairs and around the frame of the table, and it's absolutely perfect. They also brought two folding card chairs from Theresa's and a coffee table and two end tables care of Cheryl & Bruce, Theresa's parents. We're getting there!!!
Then they stayed and we shared some Sheridan's coffee liqueur and Disaronno (which, by the way, if you haven't tried yet - seriously, what are you waiting for? Christmas?) and had a wonderful time sitting around our new little table!
So now we have a place for you to sit; when are you coming over?
UPDATE:
I don't know what the heck I was thinking, but Glenn, Theresa and Theresa's niece Brianna and I had the most delightful day at the Discovery Centre! I have the photos to prove it.
A walk along the boardwalk
Making bubbles!
Playing with blocks
Not a professional engineer, thank god...
Air ambulance driving... hands-free!!!And the funniest series of photos I've ever taken, and if you've seen my collection of signs from Chinatown, you'll know that's a hefty title.
It took three separate shots to capture this gem.
Watch as Brianna enthusiastically runs full-tilt... into the crash mat.
We all had fun!
Friday, September 25, 2009
September 25
Mel:
I found a cure for the blues. Her name is Sally Ann.
It's raining out, and the internet was lagging something fierce (thanks Bell Aliant, that 21-day wait was sure worth it!) so I got frustrated, put on my shoes, and marched down to the Salvation Army for some retail therapy. Not something I'm usually prone to, but there's really something delightful about the old treasures (a pleasant euphamism for "other people's crap from the 80s") you can find there.
So I spent a whopping $45 bucks (I was really lonely!) and here's what I got:
I found a cure for the blues. Her name is Sally Ann.
It's raining out, and the internet was lagging something fierce (thanks Bell Aliant, that 21-day wait was sure worth it!) so I got frustrated, put on my shoes, and marched down to the Salvation Army for some retail therapy. Not something I'm usually prone to, but there's really something delightful about the old treasures (a pleasant euphamism for "other people's crap from the 80s") you can find there.
So I spent a whopping $45 bucks (I was really lonely!) and here's what I got:
- a 1.5 quart crock pot, new in the box - I'm going to pretend it's a rice cooker from Chinatown!
- two scotch glasses - so Brad and I can both drink at the same time
- two of those Irving glasses you used to get at the gas station, the ones with the puffin and a really ugly grouse on it
- a pint glass with a seal on it that says "Make mine a Smutty" from Smuttynose Brewing Co, in Portsmouth, NH. (I thought it was hilarious. A seal?!)
- two gorgeous little antique dishes with silver edges and hand-painted flowers
- the New York City Ballet workout video - hey, I gotta have something to do by myself!
- a pair of great brown leather fall shoes, practically new - I'm lucky, in that I happen to have those "magic-every-size" feet :)
- a gorgeous loose brown knit bat-wing sweater - the kind I've been coveting for like, a year now
- four super-cute shirts since I couldn't go to the last clothing swap!
- a pair of 1969 Gap jeans and a pair of Gap cords, both brand-new, tag-on
- some really, really great laughs. :)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
September 23 - back "home" - *now with PHOTOS!
Mel:It's so good to be home!!!
The film festival was... well, weird. Apparently Mercury was in retrograde and that's supposed to explain why everyone and their dog was a complete a-hole to me... but I had a champion group of select teammates who made it all bearable. Fun, even. Thanks especially to Kat, Melanie, Trevor, Disco, Jenn, Rob and "Rush" Steph for keeping me laughing. Thank god for the lot of you!!
Fat Fat was a champion on the plane. He didn't make a peep. In fact, he wanted to make friends with all the people in security. Surprise.
Still no furniture. We're working on it, so for now we're still sitting on afghans in the bay window ledge eating dinner off a cardboard apple box. It's actually quite romantic, but it's getting hard on the butt. No pun intended.
People here are SO NICE. A homeless person asked me for change; I said "sorry" because I think it's rude to not acknowledge them, and she told me not to apologize; I hadn't done anything wrong. Hilarious.
Brad is loving school. If you're in architecture at U of T, I urge you to reconsider. There's a whole world out there! He's beyond happy. I've never seen him so excited. You can almost even tell he likes it!!!
I'm going to walk to the grocery store to get something to make for lunch, just because I can. Which one will I go to today? Hmmm... yesterday was Sobeys' 10% off student day, so maybe I'll hit it up President's Choice style. Hooray for our little village!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
September 19
Brad:
So my first week of school is over, and I'm definitely in the right place. It's really interesting when a bunch of nerds with the same focus all come together, having intelligent discussion about the merits of Mies over Le Corbusier and stuff like that. It's pretty great. I'm going to enjoy this.
On another note, we still don't have a home phone or internet; I spent all day yesterday waiting for a call, and when I finally called them at 5pm they told me a technician had left me a message, to which I replied that I don't have voicemail. They apologized and said they were sending someone right away, but it turns out that was a big load too. So tomorrow. With any luck.
On a third, and more exciting note, Melanie's coming home tonight! And Fat Fat! And I get to pick them up at the airport, because Catherine (Mom MacRae) loaned me her car. I haven't driven standard in a while, so it may not be a smooth ride, but a step above the bus for sure.
I can't wait.
Peace out.
So my first week of school is over, and I'm definitely in the right place. It's really interesting when a bunch of nerds with the same focus all come together, having intelligent discussion about the merits of Mies over Le Corbusier and stuff like that. It's pretty great. I'm going to enjoy this.
On another note, we still don't have a home phone or internet; I spent all day yesterday waiting for a call, and when I finally called them at 5pm they told me a technician had left me a message, to which I replied that I don't have voicemail. They apologized and said they were sending someone right away, but it turns out that was a big load too. So tomorrow. With any luck.
On a third, and more exciting note, Melanie's coming home tonight! And Fat Fat! And I get to pick them up at the airport, because Catherine (Mom MacRae) loaned me her car. I haven't driven standard in a while, so it may not be a smooth ride, but a step above the bus for sure.
I can't wait.
Peace out.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
September 13
Brad:
Spent all of yesterday dropping off resumes at every restaurant in downtown Halifax. keep your fingers crossed. The lady at blockbuster tried to offer me a video game rental discount card because I've rented two in the last week, but I said this would probably be the last time i rented one, as my girlfriend is back in a few days. She then made fun of our joint email address. What a jerk. I think its perfectly reasonable.
good luck to tba auditionees, and auditioners... watch out for half-deaf sereal killers.
Spent all of yesterday dropping off resumes at every restaurant in downtown Halifax. keep your fingers crossed. The lady at blockbuster tried to offer me a video game rental discount card because I've rented two in the last week, but I said this would probably be the last time i rented one, as my girlfriend is back in a few days. She then made fun of our joint email address. What a jerk. I think its perfectly reasonable.
good luck to tba auditionees, and auditioners... watch out for half-deaf sereal killers.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
September 12
Mel:
I'm so exhausted.
I got to hang with Dale and Trevor and Rose today; we drank iced coffees and sat outside at Second Cup at Charles and Yonge. It was so good to see all of them! Tonight I'm prepping for TBA auditions - they start tomorrow. I expect to see you there. I also expect to see guacamole, *cough* Ernesto *cough*. *Cough*.
I'm so exhausted.
I got to hang with Dale and Trevor and Rose today; we drank iced coffees and sat outside at Second Cup at Charles and Yonge. It was so good to see all of them! Tonight I'm prepping for TBA auditions - they start tomorrow. I expect to see you there. I also expect to see guacamole, *cough* Ernesto *cough*. *Cough*.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
September 11 - Back to the T-dot - *now with PHOTOS!
Mel:
Day one of the Film Festival. I called Ben Mulroney "this gentleman", which made everyone laugh. Pretty damn hard. I wish Brad was here so I could tell him about it; he'd laugh pretty hard too, I bet.
Dylan & Suba deserve mad props; I'm not sure who's getting the favour! I'm sending out all my good energy towards Autorickshaw as they adventure around Europe!! It's been great to have a place to stay that's so full of good karma. Wish Brad was here to share it with me.
Art & Amy made me dinner, and I am indebted to both of them for keeping me alive, fed, and sane. Big hugs to great friends. We all wished Brad could have been there.
So, Toronto just isn't the same without Brad. Who's going to bringhog Home?
Day one of the Film Festival. I called Ben Mulroney "this gentleman", which made everyone laugh. Pretty damn hard. I wish Brad was here so I could tell him about it; he'd laugh pretty hard too, I bet.
Dylan & Suba deserve mad props; I'm not sure who's getting the favour! I'm sending out all my good energy towards Autorickshaw as they adventure around Europe!! It's been great to have a place to stay that's so full of good karma. Wish Brad was here to share it with me.
Art & Amy made me dinner, and I am indebted to both of them for keeping me alive, fed, and sane. Big hugs to great friends. We all wished Brad could have been there.
So, Toronto just isn't the same without Brad. Who's going to bringhog Home?
September 9
So it’s been one week since we landed in Halifax, and what a week it has been. We’ve painted, and sorted, and stocked up on all the crap you don’t realize you need until you have to give it up. Right now we’re sitting in a windowsill because we have no sofa (and one of our stupid camp chairs broke, stupid cheap Canadian Tire) and writing in installments because we have no Internet for two weeks (stupid jerk Rogers and their third-party call centers), but we couldn’t be happier. Both of us are covered in paint, even Daedalus got a bit messy, but the place looks great. Maeby helped by climbing the ladder, but she wasn’t so good with the roller, so we need to do another coat in a few places.
Mel’s heading back to Toronto for the film festival, and we’re both terribly sad; we’ve spent every waking moment together for the past two weeks, and as disgustingly cute as it is we’ve never actually spent more than one night apart. Wish us luck.
Mel’s heading back to Toronto for the film festival, and we’re both terribly sad; we’ve spent every waking moment together for the past two weeks, and as disgustingly cute as it is we’ve never actually spent more than one night apart. Wish us luck.
September 8
So, we learned our lesson about shopping before a holiday. Also, apparently everyone else did too. Neither of us have ever seen a grocery store so busy, and Brad worked in one for four years!
September 7
Labour day 2009. Halifax is a ghost town. Hope we have enough food in our fridge to live through the night.
September 6
Just had a great time hanging out with Kirstan, Damian, and Emily. Thanks for dinner! And laundry!
September 5 - *now with PHOTOS!
Holy crap. Where do we begin? Thank god we got the bedrooms painted; what a gong show. We’ve never really had movers before, so we looked up how much to tip them, and one site said “as well as a monetary tip, some light lunch style food is often appreciated.” So we ran down to Sobey’s and got materials to build turkey sandwiches for the movers. They loved it. So did we. We’re both tired of freezer pizzas and take-out. They were very impressed with our packing skills though, so that felt good. Now to get sorted.
September 3 - Painting begins - *now with PHOTOS!
Priming and painting. Took an entire can of primer for each of the bedrooms, but what a difference it made. Who paints a bedroom red? or purple-black? We’ve made friends with the guy at Blockbuster by renting season after season of CSI (the original, of course) to paint with. He told us he’s a Law & Order guy, and we bonded over Blockbuster not having any. Jerks.
September 2, late late at night - *now with PHOTOS!
We finally made it. We took the “scenic route” getting to our apartment, but it was awfully nice of Mom to offer to pick us up. The air mattress has a mad leak and Daedalus thinks we blew it up for him, but we don’t care where we sleep, so long as we’re sleeping. Welcome home.
September 2 - The Send Off - *now with PHOTOS!
Art and Amy are fantastic hosts; thank you both so much!! Cali did a remarkable job of putting Daedalus in his place. Maeby says she’s sorry she didn’t come say hi, Art, but she found a piece of string under the bed and couldn’t give it up. Arwen really does love popcorn! What a great night spent with friends. Thanks again for the hospitality, the soft bed, some good laughs, and a great send-off.
Fat Fat and Kat are getting along famously! Well, that is if you count “sleeping on her head” as getting along famously. He wasted no time making the place his own. Turns out all it took was a piggy in a blanket and he was all set. We’re glad he’s happy, and we’ll miss him so much.
Kat and The Fish drove us to the airport (well, The Fish drove, and Kat came along to see us off). We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends! I can’t imagine what Daedalus would have thought of the TTC.
Taking cats through security is… a Big Adventure all by itself. Apparently those signs that threaten “DO NOT TAKE YOUR ANIMAL OUT OF THE CAGE” are a load of bunk. They made us take both cats out of the carriers while they jerked around talking about what they’re going to get for dinner. Best Moment Award: Brad clutching Daedalus while trying to keep him from escaping and simultaneously removing his belt while the wand-lady just stood there gawking.
Note: if you’re looking to eat at the airport, Casey’s is about the only place that doesn’t grab you by the balls and demand your wallet. The food was actually pretty good, too. Daedalus and Maeby slept under a small tree and it was nice to relax for a minute.
That box? Yeah, it's got 4.7 lbs of our stuff in it,just so we wouldn't have to pay the "overweight" cost.
Kat and The Fish give us thumbs upas we re-pack our luggage.
We'll miss our friends!
September 1 - Goodbye, stuff - *now with PHOTOS!
I can’t believe how little we own when it’s packed tightly into the last eighth of a moving truck. These guys are amazing! This is our shout-out to Home Port Moving from Middleton, NS. Don and his team were absolutely stellar. They were professional, quick, nice, swore a lot, and they all play in bands. We were delighted. Now let’s hope our stuff actually arrives…
Turns out Daedalus hates riding in taxis. Apologies to the taxi driver who thought he was killing our cat.
Turns out Daedalus hates riding in taxis. Apologies to the taxi driver who thought he was killing our cat.
August 31 - T minus 1 days and freaking - *now with PHOTOS!
So it turns out the movers are coming tomorrow. Close call. It is now 2am, and we’re still working on the fine details of cramming our lives into liquor store boxes. There is no way we could have been ready last night.
The process of choosing what gets to come along for the ride and what gets left behind is really something else. “We don’t really need a printer, do we?” That’s what we decided after it wouldn’t fit in a liquor store box. It went on top of the pile in the yard that our neighbours have been farming for the last two weeks. There is a random lady up the street who runs a perennial yard sale; she has tried to sell us our leaky kettle twice now. Each time the price goes up. It’s really neat to see what other people will take, and what they won’t. And watching as people drive away with your stuff is kind of cathartic. Depressing, but also cathartic. Someone bought our half-working coffee station today for $30, but I couldn’t get rid of the microwave which works perfectly for $10. What a weird world.
The process of choosing what gets to come along for the ride and what gets left behind is really something else. “We don’t really need a printer, do we?” That’s what we decided after it wouldn’t fit in a liquor store box. It went on top of the pile in the yard that our neighbours have been farming for the last two weeks. There is a random lady up the street who runs a perennial yard sale; she has tried to sell us our leaky kettle twice now. Each time the price goes up. It’s really neat to see what other people will take, and what they won’t. And watching as people drive away with your stuff is kind of cathartic. Depressing, but also cathartic. Someone bought our half-working coffee station today for $30, but I couldn’t get rid of the microwave which works perfectly for $10. What a weird world.
August 29 - Going Away Party - *now with PHOTOS!
So if it wasn’t clear from the fact that last night’s party was themed “going away,” we are moving to Halifax. Surprise! It was fantastic to see everyone last night, we had a wonderful time and we’ll miss you all very much. We enjoying playing host for Jake and Veronica, it was great practice for when you all come visit us in Halifax…
We thought that a so-called “blog” would actually be a really nice way for us to stay in touch with everyone back home, so follow along as we go on our big adventure. Hope you enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
