OH MY GOSH did I ever need this past weekend. Life has just been coming at me a million miles an hour lately and by the end of last week I must have been a total treat to be around... Sarcasm, my friends.
This was EXACTLY what I had been needing. Emily, Melanie, Kathy, and I met up *early* on Saturday morning (thank you, Paul!) and began our roadtrip down to Minneapolis. I seriously think we talked the entire way there, pausing only to sip some Starbucks or have a quick bathroom break.
Have I mentioned recently how much I love drama-free girls? The only drama on the way down was the nasty-looking sky. I've never been more worried about a tornado in my life, and after arriving safely in Minneapolis, we saw on the news that there had actually been a couple of touch-downs in that area just after we drove through. SHUDDER. The weather was ominous in the city and the sky was black as night in the middle of the evening, but we were troopers and headed out to Ikea anyway (hehe).
After a bit of a lazy start, Sunday was spent at the Mall of America and then at Lilith. Ah, Lilith... You did not disappoint me in any way. We took in performances by Metric, Kate Nash, Court Yard Hounds (two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks), Heart, Mary J Blige, and Sarah McLachlan. It would have been fun to see ALL the performers - there were a few more earlier in the day - but there was no way I was up to that. The ones we saw were incredible, the only exception being Kate Nash. Her voice was awesome, but honestly, her attitude was so repulsive that the music didn't even matter anymore.
I was struck by how these musicians - with the exception of Kate - were all so grateful to be there and so in love with what they were doing. They were all STRONG women, in their own totally unique ways, and sharing their incredible musical gifts in their own totally unique styles. We heard almost every kind of music, without a single bad note. It was awesome, and the little bit of feminism that resides in my heart was smiling. There was a lot of singing, a lot of dancing, and a lot of screaming. Awesomeness.
After the concert, we caught the train back out of downtown and stopped off for a late-night snack before crashing WAY TOO LATE. As a result, the morning was a little sluggish, but we were on the road in decent time and did some moderate damage at the outlets in Albertville before hitting the road for real. We were again delayed because of bizarre (and kind of dangerous) circumstances - there was a major accident that shut down the I-94 and forced us to take a pretty major detour. We eventually arrived home, tired but happy.
It was a great weekend. It reminded me how important it is to maintain my own friendships and take time out for myself every once in a while - reconnecting with the things I loved to do before I was Lindsay the Wife and Lindsay the Mom, and just be Lindsay for a bit. I forgot how much I like her. I laughed a lot this weekend.
Cheers to Kathy for braving the hotel lounge with Mel and I in yoga pants and no makeup... hehe. It meant so much to be able to spend some real time with you, my friend. You are one of the most beautiful people I've been lucky enough to know.
Cheers to Mel for helping me sing my way through most of the Glee soundtrack on the way home. Life has gotten so busy, and you are one of those friends who I don't see nearly often enough - but when we do, it feels just like always. I love that.
Cheers to Emily for being your lovely, flexible self and for an entire weekend of Lindsay + Emily time. I miss you so much when we get so busy. You're one of those friends who just loves me unconditionally exactly where I am, and that's *so* special.
And, of course, cheers to Geoff for giving me such an incredible birthday gift :)
Now that we're less than three weeks away from my girls roadtrip weekend with Emily, Kathy, and Mel to check out Lilith Fair in Minneapolis, I can't resist putting together a little 'Countdown to Lilith' series. Can you tell that I'm just a LITTLE BIT excited? :)
First up is the lovely Kate Nash. I have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with Ms Nash. I'm relatively certain that I would have been a huge fan if she'd appeared on the music scene when I was a teenager. But she didn't. And so she's become a little bit of a guilty pleasure artist for me when I'm in the right mood. In the right mood, I quite enjoy reliving my college years in all their glorious angst. In the wrong mood, she's an annoying little sister and I REALLY want her to practice her guitar in the garage instead of in front of the mirror in the bedroom we share.
That said, her style is kind of adorable and her songwriting is creative and fun. It will be interesting to see her live because she's definitely on my list of artists who I have my doubts about... She could surprise me and be incredible live. Or she could sound like s#*t. And happily, there is only one way to find out.
My very favourite Kate Nash song is 'Nicest Thing' - to me, it's one of the most honest 'I wish you loved me back' songs ever. And if you've survived your college years, you know that there's always room for one more song like that (pass the Arbor Mist and a box of tissues, please... hehe).
For the past couple of years, my good friend Mel has organized a team for the MS Walk in honour of her mother-in-law. I have always wanted to go and support them but it never seems to work out. We're always busy that day or gone for the weekend or SOMETHING. This year, the calendar was wide open - other than Geoff working all weekend - and so I signed up to participate with Briony.
It was pretty much as hard as I thought it would be. I'm sure there are moms who would scoff at the idea that going and doing a 3k walk that starts and finishes less than five minutes from your house could be 'difficult'... But it was a big deal for me. EVERYTHING is a big deal with you live with chronic disease + a toddler. Getting through one day at home alone with Briony always leaves me crying happy tears on the couch at the end of the day because it's such a massive accomplishment. And so I knew that this would be big.
So we woke up, had breakfast, and got ready to go. We got there without any drama at all, Briony giggling and chattering away in the backseat, and I even managed to swing through the Starbucks drive-through. We met up with the rest of Team Irma and Briony did great until about half a kilometre from the end of the walk. Her late bedtime the night before was catching up with her big time. Between my friends Kathy and Emily and I, we carried her the short distance to the end.
The entire team went for brunch after the walk and Kathy came with me to help get Briony and the stroller and all our assorted baby gear into the car (and then back out again a few blocks later). Briony didn't do great at brunch - it was SERIOUSLY nap time - but she managed to pretty much hold it together until we were finishing up.
The whole morning, I was struck by the enormity of our village. Not our literal village, of course, but the incredible people in our lives who will just step up and help without even thinking about it. While we were all there for Irma, it was good for my soul too. Some of us walk very difficult paths, but we are never walking alone. Irma saw that demonstrated physically today as we all walked together to support MS. But I saw it demonstrated in a thousand tiny and practical ways today. It makes me realize that I can absolutely do this - but not on my own. And I think that's how it should be.
As a special bonus, at one point this morning I realized that I was walking with the three girls who are coming to Lilith Fair with me this summer. It's going to be an awesome weekend, and I can hardly wait :)
Briony + Mr Whiskers at the MS Walk, hiding from paparazzi.
Briony + I are signed up to participate in the MS Walk on Sunday, April 25.
I'll be walking alongside a group of friends in support of a wonderful woman named Irma Bergen. Irma is the mother-in-law of my good friend Melanie (and connected to our family in a list of other ways that tend to happen when you're from a small town like Niverville). It's scary how much MS can steal from a person, and how it affects an entire family. We need to find a cure. And I think it's super important to let these families know that they're surrounded by people who are walking alongside them.
I hope that you'll consider supporting our cause. As a member of Team Irma, I'm trying to raise $125 this month. Click here to make a donation in any amount - nothing is too small. That's the most amazing thing about these types of projects... All those tiny little donations add up to accomplish so very much. (Of course, I won't turn away a non-tiny donation... hehe.) Thanks in advance for your support, on behalf of the Bergen family.
Congrats to Marc & Mel, and big brother Malakai! Allegra Mercedes was born at 4.47 am this morning - 8 lb 12 oz and 21 in. I'm thinking that with those stats, we might be seeing some chubby cheeks in the forthcoming pictures... :)
So happy for you guys. I know she was worth the wait. Can't wait to meet her!
So my band - Jasper Walls - is participating in the 'Quest for the Best' contest, sponsored by Quest Musique, Avante Records, and CHVN 95.1 (our local Christian radio station). The contest is to pick the best worship band in the province, and the winner will perform at the Red River Ex in June, record a song for an upcoming worship compilation CD, and some other stuff that I don't remember right now.
The winner is determined by online votes based on a demo each band recorded... So guess what I want you to do :)
Go visit ManitobaChristianOnline.com. Join the Halo Advantage Club (yeah, I know, but I had to too - and it's free). And then click on 'Quest for the Best' and go vote. For us! You can vote once a day until the contest closes in two weeks.
We *should* be Song #9 - but double-check before you vote. Our song starts with some piano and then a single female voice singing 'any crown I've ever worn...'
I can brag about how good it sounds because I had to miss the recording session that happened earlier this month... So let me say that the girls - and everyone - sound grrreat!
I am an absolute fan of every one of the incredible people I make music with. It's a little bittersweet for me, because I'll be leaving the band this summer to better concentrate on everything else going on in my world this year - and they are my amazing sisters and friends. I've been singing with some of them for a full decade, since I was in high school. It's the end of an era, and I still get emotional when I think about it - even though I know it's the right decision.
My mom is home, fed, drugged, and sleeping. And my dad is taking amazing care of her - which kind of gives me permission to relax a little and be at work and doing normal things today without feeling like a terrible person / daughter. I don't think he has any idea of the impact his dedication to my mom has on my life - now more than ever.
I've been secretly plotting a late afternoon trip to Starbucks ALL DAY, where I fully intend to cheat on my diet and indulge in a Caramel Machiato.
Gap Maternity is shutting down their Canadian locations. Which sucks, except for the tiny little detail that they have currently marked down EVERYTHING and plan to clear it out this month. Three cheers for cheap fat pants!
Headphones. I've been working in my own little world for hours, and hit some old school goodies on my playlist: Lisa Loeb, Oasis, and The Cranberries. It's making me pretty happy. How could it not?!
Also on my playlist today: Songbird by Eva Cassidy. It made me all teary and sentimental, because I can still hear Mel singing it when I walked down (up?) the aisle in September to marry Geoff. It was such a perfect song for such a perfect moment. And it made me think for the nineteen thousandth time that I married an incredible man with infinite patience for me.
Christine (my co-worker) found me an organic spinach-and-feta frozen pizza that I can eat AND tastes delicious. Sweet.
I am cruising through today's to do list, which makes me hopeful that Friday might actually be a day OFF - not just a day of working from Niverville via laptop and cell phone.
How's my week going? Thanks for asking. It's 12.34 am and I'm taking a break from working on writing a massive annual media strategy for one of my clients. That's how my week is going :)
Let's see how efficiently I can catch you up, so that I can get back to my fun (I'm only being half-sarcastic for once... I actually really like writing these suckers. It just takes a heck of a lot of time that I seem to be sorely lacking lately):
THE BAD STUFF - New herbal meds are rough. I feel icky on them. I'm taking half doses right now to try to ease myself onto them. - I am NOT sleeping well this week (as you can tell!). Monday, Tuesday, and tonight were/are all bad nights where I was up really late. Last night, I CRASHED and actually slept for 8 or 9 hours. But now it's back to bad sleeping. I really need to fix that, and fast. I know how important it is. - Just kind of generally feeling tired. No, scratch that. I'm exhausted. No big surprise given my first two points here, I guess :) - My pain levels are inching back up, which I was expecting. But I'm still allowed to be a little bit frustrated, I think. - Lots of work stress this week. Changes and decisions and all kinds of things that just kind of generally make a girl feel slightly on edge. I know that at the end of these transition periods, you always look back and are grateful that things are constantly evolving. But I still hate being in the middle of them. - Lenny Kravitz is sick and has postponed his concert dates for Canada. I'm not changing my ticker on the side of the page here, but I will as soon as the new date is announced. It's just too depressing to take it off.
THE GOOD STUFF - My nails are pretty again. Don't underestimate how much better that can make you feel! - Although Geoff is working nights all weekend (that's not on my good list or my bad list - it just IS), I've planned a bunch of fun things: Cocoon Girls Night here on Saturday, and an Oscar Party here on Sunday. - One of my suppliers surprised me with a Starbucks gift card this week. He certainly knew the way to my heart... The skinny cinnamon dolce latte was already guilt-free from a caloric perspective, but to also remove the financial guilt? Coffee has never tasted so sweet. - Lots of emails from friends this week. The kind where you know that you're somehow just in tune with each other, because they came at EXACTLY the right time and said just what I needed to hear. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by all the amazing people who are a part of my life. This last week or two in particular, I really felt encouraged by Alison, Mel, and Emily. And - as usual - Baden managed to distract me from my own woes by dishing about his :)
It's officially Friday. So that's 'good stuff' too!
And I think that I finally decided to like my haircut. It's never taken me this long to adjust before, but I'm starting to really love it. DEFINITELY a case of better late than never. I liked it for a day, then I HATED it, then I was kind of indifferent. And now it's all good. Other than Saturday mornings when I would seriously kill for ponytail-length locks, just for an hour or two. Don't pretend you don't know what I mean.
Okay. Forget this document I'm supposed to be finishing. It's so close. And I will finish in the morning. It's time to drag my fabulous, beautifully coiffed self to bed. I'll thank me for it tomorrow :)
Sharing the journey that has taken me from being a single girl in the advertising agency world to a married mommy running my own freelance writing and consulting business (and every random adventure in between).
THINGS I LOVE: Thunderstorms, power ballads, princess camping, exploring new cities, Jon Stewart, greatest hits CDs, clever ads, packing for a trip, George Clooney, impractical footwear, movies about spies, Starbucks, reading an entire book in one sitting, a house full of friends, movies about spies, buying presents, a perfect French manicure, warm modernist architecture, getting flowers for no reason, being faux brunette, Mary Poppins, making lists on Post-It notes, decorating for Christmas, having a brilliant middle-of-the-night 'aha!' idea and then actually remembering it in the morning / THINGS I HATE: People who whine, wearing sweats in public, 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, birds, American tourists in foreign countries, taking down the Christmas tree, poems that rhyme, the misuse of semicolons, being lied to, unpacking after a trip, being closed-minded, naming your kid something common but then spelling it stupidly, cowboys, overly cautious drivers, fake curse words, ridiculously long surnames, strangers who start awkward conversations with you in places you can't readily escape
