leaving las vegas... but not entirely

I popped my Vegas cherry this month.

And this wasn't a deflowering of the goin'-steady-promise-ring-back-of-your-Dad's-station-wagon variety. This was a hardcore-group-orgy-girl-on-girl-on-pizza-guy-porn de-virgination (not literally, mom, not literally). In my mind, I'm a jump-in-the-deep-end kinda girl. But, truthfully, these days, age and bruise-memory typically steer me towards wading in gradually. There was no room for wading. We went all-the-way Vegas (it was consensual).

Sure, yes, it was a work trip. CES, in fact. And we worked hard. Full days on our feet, smiling through the hangovers, shaking hands with shaky hands.

 

Proof.

I lost weight from replacing sleep and food with Red Bull (who AM I!?). Something I couldn't  manage to accomplish by eating salads and practicing yoga FOR A WHOLE YEAR. Is being healthy overrated?

(Full disclosure: my yoga/salad routine was intermittent and littered with burrito break-downs and way too much curry. Plus, I don't even like Red Bull.)

And... I gained back every pound in Utah a week later (next blog, peoples!). Back on salads.

So, well, here's the problem: this other facet of me was born (or better yet, re-born, born-again) in this strange, sleepless city. The dormant can't-stop-dancing party girl of my early 20s came alive again. Was I happy to see her? I'm still not sure. She's complicating my life back in the real world. She saw a poster on Pinterest this week that said "DO EPIC SHIT". She liked it. She adopted it as her mantra for 2012. Hubby reacted with a Marge Simpson-esque grunt. He is not amused. He prefers the adult me better, maybe. But will he ever understand unless he experiences it for himself? It's not really his bag. Yet, i didn't think it was mine either.

My overactive imagination has me wondering: was that the REAL me? Is the rest of this just pretending? Panic attack! It's true that I feel like an overgrown child most days. That I'm playing dress-up. I shared these concerns with Alex and he said, exasperatingly,  that I'm having a quarter-life crisis. That perked me up 'cause it means I'm living FOREVER!!! (Or, until I'm 132, to be precise.)

OK, so, it's like this dude I saw on Dr. Phil last week (I was at the gym, OK? Don't judge.). He had infantilism or a "baby fetish", as in he liked to wear diapers and be spoon fed and sleep in an over-sized crib (all "non-sexual" of course. riiiight...). But when the good Doctor asked him if it was hard to keep up the baby act, he said that sitting there in adult clothes sans diaper was the acting part. That the real him was the baby. OK, a severe comparison, maybe. But what if Vegas-me IS me??? Or at least a tiny part of me?

Melodrama. Obvi.

Really, maybe I just need more dancing in my life. And maybe "DO EPIC SHIT" doesn't have to mean base-jumping or quitting my job to pursue a career as an R&B back-up dancer (I WANT TO SOOOO BAD) or moving to Morocco or getting Nicki Minaj bum implants. Maybe it just means being that jump-in-the-deep-end girl that I imagine myself to be. Maybe it's just going out-out more. And wearing my purple sequined hat or my "fashion turban" no matter how many new nicknames I might acquire at work. And drinking extra dirty martinis past midnight on a Thursday. Check, check and check. "Epic 2012" is off to a good start. Getting the Mister on board is my next feat.

I'm committing a big Vegas no-no. I'm not leaving it all behind. What happens in Vegas... follows you home and moves into your house and stays a while? Epic.

Clearly my experience can't quite be explained in words or photos, but I'll give it the good Vegas try. Enjoy.

 

[ Gah. I need to go home. ]

GelaMe

I've left this thing in a terrible state of suspense, haven't I?

Lots of changes since my last post, and while I couldn't spill at the time, I can finally return to my over-sharing self.

So, this is how it all went down:

I accepted a job with Upper Canada Soap sometime in mid-March. It wasn't an entirely perfect fit as the role was pretty admin-heavy with not much room for creative expression. But, I liked the people and there was definite moving-up potential. I started at the beginning of this month, and joined the commuting masses for a 1.5 hour trek (each way!) to and from Mississauga every day. The journey involved: a subway trip to the end of the line, a bus trip to the outer edges of the TTC service area, and a rapist's-dream walk through a desolate industrial/wooded area. Not ideal, but by the end of my 2-week stint at the job, i was beginning to enjoy the me-time. I devoured 2 books and incorporated some Starbucks motivation by getting off of the bus one stop earlier.

However, the job itself wasn't exactly doing it for me. By the end of day 2, I was feeling a bit bummed about the whole thing. Was I not meant for greater things? But, as Alex loves to say, "the Universe provides" and a very unexpected opportunity/rescue mission came my way. At 6pm, I was summoned to a meeting with the heads of GelaSkins and by 8:30, I had accepted an offer.

 

 (Kinda fitting after being an unofficial face of the company for the last year!)

I'm a nice girl, though. I honoured the 2-week-notice clause in my contract at Upper Canada. It was an unbearable thing to start and quit a job within the span of two days. It's not exactly a friend-making move. Did I come to work with a highly contagious rash? Did I engage in a scandalous office affair? Well, no. But I might as well have.

Whew. Done. Now I'm free to blab.

So, I've shaved 2 hours off of my commute, the office coffee is plentiful and awesome (thanks Dark City), and the new job rocks. Officially my title is Communications Manager, but the group isn't big on labels. It's a team effort, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly where I fit. I'm a little piece of jigsaw-puzzle sky. Regardless of what my role really shapes up to be, I am loving it. It's creative and challenging and I'm surrounded by passionate, motivated and funny-ha-ha people. Ahhhhh.

Yes, I knew I was meant for bigger things. I am among peers. I am sufficiently caffeinated. I am thriving.

Wall Street Journal!

 

I've been sitting on this puppy since before Xmas. Can't believe I haven't shared yet (limelight is my sunlight). Anyway, hubby and I were on the COVER of the Wall Street Journal last month. The cover! It's that GelaSkins pic... a photo Ms. Dee took of us on our wedding day that somehow ended up being the main sample on the GelaSkins custom site. Of course, we are so thrilled. Both for our lovely friends at GS, but also for us (another 15 minutes of pseudo-fame!). Click the image above for a larger view... yup, that's us, top-right.

[ via GelaSkins ]

[ via Mashable ]

3 Things.

OK, it's not Wednesday yet, but I already have three things to love this week! 

ONE •

Dolce Vita shoes-shoes-shoes! They're actually affordable. Y'know, for people who have real jobs (my shoe-money these is limited to getting the heels fixed on last year's purchases).

So maybe I'm a tad tall for 5" platforms. "...and I want to be 5'10" like Cindy Crawford." (Clueless) Be careful what you wish for, sister. I'm pushing 6'3 in some of these babies. Whatever, I could pull off 6'3", right? They're too, too yummy. ATTTTTAAAACK of the 50 Foot Woman!

TWO ••

Gelaskins "Peeking Under Leafs" skin. I need a skin for my newly inherited Powerbook, to keep it scratch-free for the day when Joey might need it back. Honourable mentions to: "Kurumachi" and "Toxicity". Ok so actually, I can't decide. Also, problem: the laptop I have is 15" and they seem to only have 12" skins for Powerbooks. Hm.

THREE •••

Fall! Ahhh, cool weather, crunchy leaves, scarves and saturated colour! And... Halloween! And... the Royal Winter Fair. Oh, and we were married in the fall and it was lovelier than words can describe. Yeah, so obviously, I looooove this season.

[ photos: shopdolcevita.com, gelaskins.com, and the lovely Courtney Price (wedding), all others by me/Alex ]

Hop, Skip and a Fall.

I STILL can't tell you my news. Especially since potential-news item #1 fell through (another possible TV crafting gig). Some day. Number two is a bit more likely. Say...90%. But still.

 [ this is me, unusually quiet. yep, OK, a bit smug, too. sorry, lip = zipped. ]

I've been fairly productive this week, despite Alex's attempts to thwart any activity that does not involve him + coffee. But even he has taken his time "off" more seriously lately. He has a lot of idle time between gigs/shooting/touring these days and has taken to a little man-work around the house. Of course, since we're skating the line between "OK" and "dead-broke-and-homeless", he's being pretty crafty about coming up with "found object" renos. Our neighbour left behind a bunch of wood when she moved and Alex has been using it to fix up our "garage" (the space that previously would NOT have held a car, and now would maybe fit a Mini), and to add a little privacy to our back deck:

 [ Julie is our little orphan while her "mom" is in Uganda. Really, she's more like a cat. ]

[ He also found old paint in our basement and decided to paint another red wall in the kitchen. ]

[ Dudley did not understand the concept of "wet paint". If our dog has a pinkish hue to him next time you see him, this is why. ]

And, he hung the "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" poster that he bought me for my birthday. I looooove it so, so much. It's actually an expression of mine: "I'm so attack-of-the-50-foot-woman in these heels." Sometimes I really do feel quite gigantic. In heels I am easily 6'1". OK, yeah, a far cry from 50 feet, but whatevs.

I've been buzzing across the city working on blogTO gigs, too. Bars and chocolateries and fashion boutiques! Lots of new posts should be up soon! 

I'm also finally getting work done on my little pet business. I've created a simple splash-page website, a Twitter account, and a Flickr gallery. I still need to get a ton of new items up in the shop, but I do have a whole weekend to myself, so productivity will definitely increase exponentially.

Also, I had some good news that canceled out some bad news yesterday. I found out that due to an address error (caused by my accountant), I have been missing notices that I owe the government a lot of money. Because I've been missing them, the interest has been incurring. Anyway, I was SUPER bummed, because the money that I would have spent on a laptop (necessary for my maybe-new-job) was now getting gulped up by the tax man. Then: as Alex puts it, "the Universe provides". And it did. Well, maybe one little star in the universe. Joey stopped by to indefinitely lend me her old Powerbook, which is in perfectly fine condition for my purposes. *whew* Saved! I just had to replace the power cord. But $40 is definitely better than $1000. Thanks, lady!

What else, what else? Oh, have I mentioned how much I love-love Fall and all of its fashion wonder?? I will try to forget that I don't actually have a fall wardrobe budget and will be crafty about retooling my current fall wardrobe with some nips and tucks here and there. 

[ Ahhh, tights! Yay! (photo via styletips101.com) ]

Oops, I'm so not being great about Sweet Thing updates, am I? Not much is really happening now, except more chat about the next single/video. Which (sorry) I can't divulge. But, if you do live in Vancouver, you can catch them this Saturday at a FREE show. They're playing for a Joe Fresh store opening party (w/ Divine Brown, Mariana's Trench and Stereos!) Gah, fashion and Sweet Thing? I want to BE there!! Obvs, I'm holding down the fort here, though.  *pout*

Speaking of Joe, I wantsies:

(This is for Alex's benefit - he gets a Joe shopping spree prior to the show, and I am hoping I get a little "present" from it. Hint, hint. Pretty please!!)

I'll close this by sharing a link to another Gelaskins mention (on mashable.com) featuring none other than yours truly + mister. This wedding photo is honestly famous now, I think:

Ta-ta!

xo,

Your Yoko

p.s. I am thankful for my lovely Thanksgiving dinners (x2) and all of the amazing company: Owen, Johnny, Shemeena, Vivek, Sheila, Jess, Katherine, Billy, Tracy, and of course, Alex! 

Where in the WORLD?!

Yeah, sorry, MIA. So where have I been all week? Catching up with my long-lost Mister, of course! Oh, and: job interviews, BlogTO business, sewing, celebrating, pretending to care about politics (more ranting about this later), bootcamp, and watching endless amounts of Mad Men, Hoarders and LA Ink on Netflix (yay). 

And, Alex had a Toronto show this week - the last one of their recent tour, at the Phoenix. I, still coming down from my camera scare, left the poor girl at home and didn't snap any photos of the event. Soo, I had to swipe Sweet Thing fan photos from Facebook to share (*yoink!*). Here are a few good ones from across the country:

 [ c/o Jesse Coker ]

 [ c/o Laura Sheppard ]

 [ c/o Justin Chin ]

 [ c/o Sarah Bradley ]

 [ c/o Justin Chin ]

 [ c/o Erin Deli ]

[ c/o my gorgeous date, Vicky ]

[ ...and a video! c/o Sarah Bradley ]

Speaking of Ms. Sarah Bradley, she's a fellow girl-about-blogs that I finally had the pleasure to meet (albeit too briefly) in person at the Phoenix show. I suppose I need more flesh-and-blood friends, over the www variety. It gets me out of the house. And you know I love my house.

After the Phoenix, Vicks and I headed to the GelaSkins 5-Year Anniversary party (where my music-man met us later). The owners and brains behind the operation are friends of ours, c/o our lovely long-time friend that just happens to be shacked up with one half of the duo.

SO happy to spend time with a small representation of my old high-school crew (and some of my best friends of LIFE). Philam and Andrew even came up from Montreal. The party was swankier than most weddings (cha-ching!), and included a live band (a new favourite of mine! Check out The Pass), and a midnight poutine bar! I admit that I saved myself for it. I didn't even touch any of the ample yummy snacks up for grabs earlier. I may or may not have had 3 poutines. They were small! And I shared #2 and #3. Sort of.

Again, my camera rested from her traumatic swim, and I had to steal FB pics from my friends:

CAUGHT!

 [ photos c/o D.Laing, P.Nguyen, V.Chabot and Shawn Gillis ]

 

I'm currently gathering "research" for my newest BlogTO post: Best Sex Shops in Toronto. Yeah, I'm just happy this one isn't related to carbs and fat! Loving this piece. My last post is up, too: a store profile for Common Sort Parkdale. 

 

Oh, and the interview? At Sears Corporate again. Three times a charm? This one wasn't as terrible as the last two and I think I may have a shot! Waiting for a follow-up... *fingers crossed*.

Alex is off to 2 back-to-back shows this week: tonight, supporting Down With Webster in Brantford, and tomorrow, a private radio listener cruise in Kingston. I won't be tagging along for either. Getting him out of the house means productivity for me. I have so, so many new pet goodies to upload to my new little online shop soon! Can't wait to show you!

 

xo