one of my favorite life lessons came from my home girl, gail - the sassiest 67 year old i've ever met: "don't be poor. it's not easy being poor, trust me. make sure you work hard so you have a little money. and marry a man with a trade, will ya? a plumber or carpenter...not some deadbeat."
hoping to get more gems like this, i decided to pick the brain of another one of my favorite residents, thelma.
the following is a transcript of our conversation: who is the person who influenced your life the most?
my mother - she brought me into the world and was a great mother.
do you have a lost love?
my first husband died before our first son was born. i'll always love and miss him.
is there anything you regret not having asked your parents?
no, but i miss spending time with them. i even miss running their errands - my mother lived with me before she passed and i would do everything for her. i miss that.
what was the happiest moment of your life?
when i got married. i was 18 years old.
what are you most proud of?
my grandchildren.
what is the most important lessons you've learned in life?
everyday is a new day, so don't worry too much about things.
did you receive an allowance as a child?
yes, 50 cents a week.
would you spend it all at once or save it?
save it - you should always save for a rainy day.
what was your childhood dream?
i always wanted to be a momma and have children.
if you could give young people any advice, what would it be?
i would tell them to stay on the right way - to not do anything bad.
how would you like to be remembered?
hopefully they'll say good things about me. oh God, i hope they don't say anything bad.
i wish i could include a photo of my dear thelma but for legal reasons, i'm not allowed to do so.
something about privacy...
hope you're all having a great monday!
:)
vanessa
ps. quick weekend roundup - i took my my three surrogate children to the royal ontario museum on sunday.
after getting trapped in the santa claus parade and begging a police officer to let us across, we finally got into the ROM.
the children seemed to really enjoy themselves - they learned about endangered animals, went into the bat cave and got to see and dig up dinosaur fossils.
grainy bootleg front camera group shot
all in all, it was a great afternoon but can i just say that being a quasi-mother of 3 ain't easy.
i was nominated for a liebster award by the beautiful abbi at 'below the waist' (check out her blog for great hair care and beauty tips!)
i'm not gonna lie, i had no idea what a liebster award was but after a quick google search, all was revealed.
so, enough with the lollygagging.
here are eleven "interesting" facts about me... one - i am a fount of useless information.
for example, did you know before peter pan was written, the name 'wendy' never existed?
or that dr. seuss coined the term 'nerd'?
hey girl, hey!
two - after watching the miniseries "the jacksons: an american dream", i wanted to have a bunch of children so that they could start their very own band.
but i've since come to my senses and now would like 3 or 4 kids.
they can still start a band though if they'd like.
♫ stop, the love you save may be your own... #chune
three - i used to run track back in high school but i don't trick off the track right by school
those bangs though, lol.
four - when i was seventeen, i did a summer exchange to france.
i almost died on my way home but made life long friends, so it was worth it :)
sarah (who is a super talented artist), moi et virginie a montreal octobre 2012.
five - je parle français, oui oui.
six - "more times", i'm just looking for that 'corey & topanga' kind of love.
"topanga, if i had to dream up the perfect woman,
she wouldn't even come close to you."
seven - i love me some musicals and was actually in a production of 'hairspray' a couple years ago.
lil' inez and the 'nicest girls' in our dressing room.
eight - i am celine dion's biggest fan.
hashtag WERK!
nine - that "haunted mask" episode of goosebumps gave me nightmares for years.
*shudders
ten - my childhood dream was to become an olympic figure skater.
i wanted to be the first person to ever land a quintuple lutz - that's right, FIVE revolutions.
i had my whole routine choreographed to celine dion's "power of love" - ♫ cause i'm your (quint lutz and lands) ladayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ♫ - and had actual dreams of people chanting "vanessa, vanessa" as i received my gold medal...
but then my parents recalled this incident with figure skater surya bonaly and decided it would be best to stick with track as it was less subjective, if you know what i mean...
maybe in another life, young vaness.
eleven - i know this entire routine by heart.
♫ by the way, what have you done for him lately?
ooooooooh yeah ♫
now, to answer abbi's eleven questions: one - what's your goal (length or otherwise) for your hair?
ultimately, i just want to be completely self-sufficient when it comes to doing my own hair.
the prices salons in toronto charge are ludicrous and i'm never satisfied, so i would love to be able to take matters into my own hands.
two - what do you love most about your hair?
the color - it's naturally a lighter brown with goldish (?) highlights.
it makes shopping for hair extensions a nightmare but i love it just the same.
three - what's your favorite deep conditioner?
carol's daughter moisturizing hair smoothie in black vanilla - it works and smells delicious!
four - what's your hairstyle at this very moment?
my hair is currently in a high bun.
five - what's number one on your bucket list?
get married and have kids.
six - how many blogs do you follow?
11.
seven - what's on your christmas wishlist?
i really want to redecorate my room, so i'll say gift cards to ikea!
eight - how will you spend this christmas?
with my lovely family eating yummy food :)
nine - name an interest besides blogging.
i quite enjoy acting - i'm fairly boring in life, so i find it's fun to pretend to be someone else for a bit.
ten - one place (country or city) you'd like to visit.
bali or bora bora.
hell, i'll take florida just to get away from this chilly toronto weather.
eleven - have you ever been to jamaica? would you like to go?
i've never been to jamaica but would love to go!
i've had friends who've been to resorts in ochos rios and negril, and their photos look beautiful!
i mean, i'd be fine waking up to this every morning:
* i thoroughly enjoy reading each and every one of these blogs.
whether it's becoming a wife, mother, lawyer or author, these ladies are all working extremely hard to achieve their dream and i find that so inspiring.
so, i thought i'd pick their brains a bit, haha.
the rules: - link back to the blogger who presented the award to you - paste the award on your blog - choose 5 blogs to pass this award to (they must have fewer than 200 followers) - let the recipients know about their nomination by leaving a comment on their blogs - write 11 interesting facts about you - answer my 11 questions
my questions:
one - which person, dead or alive, would you like to have dinner with and why?
two - what is your favorite memory?
three - what new technology have you found most helpful in life?
four - what new technology have you found most annoying?
five - what is an important lesson you've learned, thus far, in life?
six - if you could go back and tell your teenage self anything, what would it be?
seven - what world event has impacted you the most?
eight - is there anything you have always wanted to do but never have?
nine - what's your favorite quote or motto?
ten - who is the person who influenced your life the most?
eleven - how would you like to be remembered?
well, this was actually quite fun to do :)
i'm looking forward to your answers!
and, if someone wasn't tagged but would still like to participate, please do!
i love talking to new people...you learn so much.
although it's monday again (womp), the fact that i had a pretty fun weekend makes it all better.
after work on friday, i picked up my nephew (whom i'm obsessed with) from daycare and went out to dinner with him and my dad at our local kelsey's.
(my phone was dead (typical), so i was unable to snap any photos...)
after dinner, i came home and finally finished the final season of breaking bad (super late, i know) and i kid you not, this was my stance throughout the final four episodes:
*me too, aaron. me too.
such a great series!
i didn't realize how invested i was in it until it was all over because now there's a void in my heart where jesse pinkman used to be, lol.
i need a new show to obsess over and am open to suggestions.
the film was awarded the people's choice award at TIFF (past winners have been oscar contenders like the king's speech, slumdog millionaire, and silver lining's playbook.)
so, needless to say, i went into the movie with very high expectations.
for those who aren't familiar, the movie tells the heartbreaking story of solomon nothrup, a free-born african american who was sold into slavery and is based on his 1853 autobiography by the same name.
director steve mcqueen created a film that i can only describe as a riveting yet uncomfortable experience. chiwetel ejiofor does a phenomenal job portraying solomon northrup and if i were him, i'd get my mantle ready for the oscar that is definitely coming his way.
from the second the film starts, you feel both empathetic yet empowered by the strength and resilience he demonstrates.
the part of the movie that really resonated with me was a scene where solomon is coming to grips with his circumstances and "breaks the fourth wall" - cinematic talk for when an actor stares directly into the camera's lens thus breaking the barrier between audience and film.
mcqueen holds the camera in an extreme close up of ejiofor's face for over a minute as he stands in complete silence.
they say the eyes are the windows to one's soul and in that moment, every ounce of pain and sorrow could be seen through his eyes.
equally amazing and quite frankly terrifying, was michael fassbender's portrayal of slave owner, edwin epps.
whenever this man came on the screen, my body automatically tensed up.
and, i can't lie, i wanted to slap his wife, portrayed by sarah paulson, for her antics.
to quote drake, "worst".
and then there was lupita nyong'o and her gut wrenching portrayal of patsy, a young slave girl solomon encounters during his captivity.
i could talk about this movie all day but i'll just leave you with this - if you have a chance to see this movie, do so!
this brings me to sunday morning which was pretty lowkey.
i went to church where brother ike delivered a thought provoking sermon on the importance of setting your mind right.
after service, my family went out to lunch with a fellow church member, carrie and her mother, diane.
we went to east side marios - my family's favorite - and had delicious italian food while we discussed the upcoming mission trip to haiti my parents and carrie are embarking on at the end of the month.
i got a chance to go last year and would looooooooooove to go back but alas, my exam schedule just won't allow me to do so.
i hope you all had a fabulous weekend!
here's to a great week!
:)
vanessa
ps. i'm not a proponent of war by any means but i do believe it is important to honor and thank the ones that fought and continue to fight for our freedom.
my sister introduced me to tori kelly months ago and i just fell i love with her voice.
if you're not too familiar with miss kelly, she is a singer-songwriter, who like many other artists today, got her start on youtube.
she recently dropped her debut ep and i just love the effortlessness of her songwriting style.
my favorite song on her album is "dear no one".
it has been on repeat for the past two weeks and i don't see that changing anytime soon.
as my other sister described it, it's kind of an in-between love song about being content with life but being ready for whenever that special person walks into it ...
