Sad, crazy, wild, fun tymz

November 13/12.

Time to fix the hair again. Yep. Long-awaited appointment with Paul ("Master Stylist") Taylor at I 'N I Salon on Bloor Street West at Bathurst. The place was all decorated for the season, (except for me, looking more like leftover Halloween candy). Paul didn't even dare look!

Once more with feeling Paul, OK?? You can DO it! Stay strong!

The beautiful Jennifer Porritt, (who owns the salon, and is a brilliant hair stylist), brought in a friend of hers over the weekend, - an event planner,

to put up some special sparkly decorations.

LOVE the original idea of upside down Christmas trees hanging from the ceiling! (Auntie Ray would have whole-heartedly approved!)

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And I'm a sucker for shimmery silver!

Everywhere!

I used one of the decorations to camouflage my low-light silver foils! WTF??

Two hours later & Paul's Christmas magic was finished. Voila! - Deck them halls, I was put back together! Like Humpty Dumpty.
LOVE the Mad Men, flippy dippy '60s curls! Bring on the scotch-on-the-rocks, the shaken-not-stirred Martinis and mad (not mild) Manhattans! - Cheers!

Hey, forgot to say, Paul also dyed my eyebrows for the first time! Who knew I'd ever do THAT? I kinda looked like Beau Bridges for a while, but the colour turned out perfect -

just like my own colour in the good old days!

Then it was off to Urban Nails to fix that horrible syndrome known as "cracked shellac".

The lovely, talented, soft-spoken Tran, offered to spend an hour with me, "acetoning" off the old stuff, preparing the nail beds, (sounds like a horror movie!), filing, shaping and

painting on three coats of my fave colour, Rosebud -  plus the "shiny buff" on top, till I could almost pass for a hand model! I'm ready to party! (so WHERE'S the bash?? --

- better call Jaymz Bee!)

OK. What else has happened over the past 10 days?  Let's see if I can remember!

Right! Did my first bit of Christmas shopping at Shoppers Drug Mart. Got some Christmas and Hannukah cards and actually checked out the "high end" aisle! - NEVER DO THAT! Didn't buy anything, but spritzed myself with expensive Chanel perfume. Asked the sales lady - how much is the smallest bottle of this stuff? She told me, 80 bucks. Alrighty then. Moving on.

Their front-of-store Christmas tree left a lot to be desired. Ai carumba. Looks like it just got unfolded from the box and needs more decorations. Come on Shoppers! Spend a little! Jazz it up man!

Another day, we headed for The Mandarin for a buffet lunch.

Took my Dad-in-law, Ben Bornstein out for a visit and a feast!

He had some fun trying on Max's "John Lennon" cap, (lookin' good!) -

and seemed to enjoy hanging out with his grandchildren, despite missing Bubie, who passed away just under a month ago. Dad requested some take-out clam chowder to have later for dinner! (they DO make great soup at the Mandarin! Well, let's face it, EVERYTHING there is great!) My fortune cookie said I should smile more. Ha ha! Will try.

Goodbye goldfish and fake ducks!

See you next time!

On November 7th, Sam gave me a birthday gift - a pair of tickets for Kate and me to see La Cage at the Royal Alex! Fabulous seats in Row C!

We went out for lunch at Tim Hortons on King Street West and then asked a passerby to take a shot of us in front of a truck, carting a huge metal horse,

in honour of War Horse, also playing downtown. (Haven't seen it, but everyone says it's brilliant)!

We were really excited to see this big musical production and got such a laugh when a man in drag came out to entertain us all before curtain time.

She introduced herself as "Lily Whiteass" and did a fabulous adlib/improv cold opening. Kate was the youngest person in the audience! The oldest, was 90! (No WONDER they weren't giving standing ovations! - Hey, I'm only quoting Lily here!) Got in BIG trouble for shooting this pic. (yet ANOTHER case of Auntie Ray's instruction - "Don't ask. Apologize later!") - Lily did a FAB job warming up the crowd!

George Hamilton (the "big name" in the show) was the weakest link. Didn't matter though, because Christopher Sieber - ("Albin") was absolutely breathtakingly bold and beautiful!

His version of I Am What I Am was incredible.

When I got home from the theatre, had to come up with a quick dinner for Max and his girlfriend, Robyn. Made PC Shepherd's Pie. (so easy, and SO good). Had strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. Max made me laugh by pointing to his mouth and indicating he wanted a spritz of cream in it. (something I used to do when he was a little tyke). He took a shot of whipped cream, right in the middle of eating Shepherd's Pie! Ai yi yi. Gak. Egad. Yikes. Gag me. Ha ha!

The next day, off to Gerrard Square to pick up a bunch of things.

Surprised to see Zellers was gone and Walmart in its place. Took a pic out front and then went inside to check it out. FAR from put together, but the doors were open to the public. My very first introduction to the store was the shrill voice of a woman, sitting at a desk just inside the entrance. She must have seen me shoot the photo outside. She yelled out to me, "NO PICTURES INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I thought to myself, - nice welcome to the brand new store! OK LADY! Thanks for your hospitality. Be back to see you soon. (not)!

Hightailed it outta there immediately and headed for Home Depot (where they are MUCH more customer-friendly).

Saw some terrific Christmas toys I could hardly resist. - Awwwwwwwwwww - Alvin! - OK Dave!!

Elves who have been to practice to learn how to wiggle their ears, chuckle warmly and go, "Hee-hee" and "Ho-ho" - and important stuff like that!

And Santa, on the verge of cancelling Christmas! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

(Did I buy any of these famous and familiar characters? - I'll let you guess!)

Another day, I decided the weather was nice enough to go for a run on the Riverdale track. Headed out, hoping to beat my record of 8 laps. But hadn't run for more than 25 days (lack of motivation after the loss of my Mum-in-law), so, could only make it to 5 - (2,000 metres). Better than nothing.

Later that evening, drove my daughter, Kate, to see Amanda Palmer at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Sherbourne with her boyfriend, Damian. I thought Kate looked gorgeous! She says it was a terrific show!

The next day, more errands and shopping on the Danforth. We hit up Loblaws, Shoppers (yep, again), and the weather was stunning!

On Remembrance Day,

watched the CBC TV coverage with host Peter Mansbridge.

 Excellent and emotional, with many shots of the vets.

Stood for the two minutes silence, (as we always used to do with Mum, every November 11th). Had tears in my eyes thinking of the veterans, their families and of all the family members we've lost over the past two years - Mum, Ray, Ev and Jean.

After all the sadness of November 11th, I was happy when my sister, Carrie, dropped by unexpectedly the next day, at our place for a visit. She'd been doing a photo shoot for Tafelmusik and had professional makeup and hair done for the occasion. - For anyone who doesn't know, Carrie is the perfect sister. (duh)

We had tea and cookies together, and before she left, I dragged her down to the basement to hear her nephew, Max and his band mates, Emmett

and Charles, in rehearsal.

Carrie wore noise-cancelling headphones to shut out the ear-shattering sound! I didn't even wear earplugs as I took these shots, (but I should have). LOVE the poster of Alan Alda which Max ordered and paid for himself, as a super M*A*S*H fan. (Hawkeye can inspire anyone)!!

The band - Ghost Daze, wouldn't let Carrie go, without giving her what THEY call their "cheesey" smile and wave! Adios amigos! - The band is recording a 6-song EP on December 8th. Can't wait!

This, that and the other

October 28/12.

When we last left off, back on October 19th, I was trying to catch the final gorgeous golden days of fall before all the colours disappeared.

This pic was taken at Fantasy Farm. I found myself pulling into the driveway (off Bayview), just to check it out. When my grandparents celebrated their 50-year anniversary, (decades ago), it was held here. Thought I'd pay it another visit. (no, that shack behind me isn't the fancy party venue!)

Pretty much every night during Shiva for my late Mum-in-law, family members sent in meals. One evening, our cousins, Linda and Sharon, sent in more Mandarin chinese food than you could possibly imagine! We ended up with tons of amazing leftovers.

Later in the week, my cousins, Marilyn and Kevan, gave me a beautiful bouquet of white roses, (extending my birthday by a few days),

plus a very cute card and a wad of cash! They are always SO generous. Since I'd also received gifts of money from my Father-in-law AND my Dad, I was able to spend up a storm! Love it!

Got new "Rosebud" shellac at Urban Nails, courtesy of the talented nail artist Tran! If you ever want to have a fabulous shellac manicure, go here! They take their work VERY seriously and everyone leaves feeling better!

Took the rest of the cash to I 'N I - my fave hair salon, to see hair master Paul Taylor. (my last appointment, scheduled for my birthday), had to be cancelled, due to circumstances beyond my control, so my so-called tresses, - were messes!

So much so, Paul could barely LOOK! Ai Carumba.

But after his specialty "Bride of Frankenstein" treatment,

(thank you Elsa Lanchester!)

& lots of time and silver tinsel/tinfoil later,

everything was back in place, colour-corrected and flippin' awesome!

Even PAUL appeared happy with the outcome! He showed me a few "tricks of the trade", but I can NEVER do it the way HE does! (he can even use a can of hair spray as a hair roller! You've gotta SEE it to believe it).

Later in the week, had to pay a visit to the Apple store at the Eaton Centre to get a crack in my iPhone screen fixed.

The place is always PACKED. Luckily, I made an appointment.

My good friend, Pam, met me at the store. She was my good luck charm! They didn't charge me a cent to have the crack repaired. In fact, they just gave me a brand new phone! All the backed-up info had to be transferred over to the new phone when I got home.

Afterwards, Pam tagged along to watch me spend more of my birthday bucks - at Mac cosmetics, where I bought my fave Blacktrack gel eyeliner, (can't live without it!) -

then to The Body Shop for a few bottles of sexy vanilla body cream (3 for 2!),

to Fido for a new memory chip card (I think that's what it's called), for $10, since I was told at Apple that the old one looked rather wrecked,

and, naturally, to La Senza, to check out the sales, and some sizzling pre-Christmas sexy stuff. (won't tell you  what I bought! - will only say that whomever invented La Senza, is brilliant!)

It was SUCH a gorgeous day, warm and sunny.

On the way home, stopped at a nearby park for a quick shot. Likely the last "short-skirt-weather-day" for quite some time! Wish it could have been like this for the day we selected to scatter Mum's ashes at Mount Pleasant Cemetary, but it was not to be. Instead, it rained for hours on end.

Mum's ashes have been in a box, wrapped in a green velvet bag at my house (and a few other locations along the way), for over two years. My sister, Carrie and me just could NOT make up our minds what to do with the ashes, but finally decided.

A small group gathered to scatter the ashes in the rose garden. Lovely Maria, extremely sweet and helpful member of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery staff, helped us choose the exact spot and scattered the first of the ashes (which had been transferred to a "scattering urn").

After that, we were on our own. I scattered some,

then Carrie took an urn-turn,

Maria helped with rain-guard!

Kate joined us, as she wanted to help scatter her Gramma's ashes.

and Carrie's son, Lee, also helped out.

The location is lovely, and by next Spring, there will be a stone, with Mum's name, dates and whatever we want to say, marking her grave.

(left to right) - Paul Nodwell, Carrie, Lee.
Carrie conducted a short ceremony complete with the story of how Mum "guided" us through the details with her endless supply of post-it notes, then read a poem, which was a favourite of Mum's and had us all sing a hymn.

(left to right) Max, Kate, Mary Spence-Thomas, me, Paul Nodwell & Carrie. We drank a Rose toast to Mum!

 yep - wine, (and juice), right there at the cemetery!

Carrie brought Mum's favourite stuffed animals with her. Their names were on the VIP guest-list!

It was tough to leave the resting place.

Carrie was the last to vacate the premises.

Following the ceremony, we headed a couple of blocks up Mount Pleasant to The Longest Yard for an early dinner and a tribute to Mum. Have to say, it was really fun! Mum would have loved it. We told stories, looked at some of her crazy art work, read another poem and ate lots of sweet potato fries! Love you Mum. Will always miss you, but you live on in all of us.

Just a couple of hours later, Max and his bandmates, Emmett and Charles, were set to  take part in a live show. (Unlike the last one, which ended in disaster), this one was golden. They insisted on posing for a "cheesy pic" in our basement during rehearsal before heading to the concert at the Bain Co-op. They got a fabulous reception!

Meanwhile, Kate was putting together her Halloween costume. It's fab. She's going out as sarcastic Jane Lane,

the fictional character who appears on the MTV cartoon show, Daria.

(won't spoil Max's costume, till I get a decent pic!)