Sorry I can't come to the phone right now, I'm busy nourishing my soul

I write this from the airport on Saturday afternoon as I'm preparing to board a flight and leave all the snow and cold behind! I'm so excited to be off to St Lucia with Meghan Telpner on her 4th annual Nourish Your Soul retreat! I can't wait to tell you all about it when I'm back. Until then, I'll think of you all when I'm basking in glorious sunshine in the beach

The Random Fact Game

My sweet friend Ali over at Not Hip Enough to Blog tagged me in this fun this little game and it’s been awhile since I’ve done anything like this so I thought I would play along!

Eleven Random Facts About Moi

1. An experience with a giant albino catfish that lived in our home aquarium when I was 6 years old made me really afraid of fish. Yes, fish. I nearly conquered my fear but then had another really horrible experience when I was in my early 20’s involving the death of an eel. Aquariums and fresh water lakes freak me out big time.

2. I live with 3 dudes. This surprises a lot of people, but with the exception of a few months last year when Nicole lived with us, I hadn’t lived with females since I was 13. We have a great dynamic in our house and I’m really lucky to live with such cool, intelligent, eclectic people.

3. I wish I had kept up with art. I always enjoyed drawing and crafts and being creative when I was a lot younger, but gave up art class for drama and music instead. One of my goals this year is to get back into that my doing more crafts and I’m planning to start an art journal.

4. I read the book Before I Go To Sleep in about 48 hours over Christmas. It was chilling and addictive. Go read it.

5. Before I moved out on my own, I didn’t know how to cook. It’s funny that cooking and baking has become such a big part of my routine. I started off simple and moved on to more complicated things, but I definitely learned. I’m still don’t have awesome knife skills, and I’m definitely more comfortable when I’m using a recipe, but I think I’ve come a long way.

6. I rarely ever wear pants. Usually only at the gym or lazing around the house, and I wear jeans maybe once every couple months. I’m always in a dress or a skirt.

7. Last year I discovered that I was 5’7. I thought I was 5’6 for much of my life, but at my physical last year my doctor told me I was 5’7. I’ll take it.

8. At the end of February I’m going for a colpopscopy after 2 abnormal pap smears in 6 months. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t freaking out a little bit and have cried more than once over it. After talking with quite a few friends, I’ve realized that it’s rather common (why the f do they call them “abnormal” then?!) but it’s still not fun to have to wait to see a specialist and have an invasive medical procedure done. Think good thoughts for me. I’m planning a blog post about this ‘abnormal’ business.

9. For a long time, I thought twitter was really stupid. Then I got it. And fell in love. And haven’t looked back.

10. My favourite Spice Girl was Ginger Spice. In the eighth grade my nickname was even Ginger or Geri (it also helped that I had red hair and ‘developed’ early) I was disappointed when Geri left the band, but followed her career after her departure. I definitely own more than one of her cd’s, both of her books, her yoga DVD’s and have multiple autographed photos. One of my favourite concerts ever was the (reunited) Spice Girls at the Skydome a few years ago. I danced and sang along to every song, squealed a lot and maybe shed a tear or three. My not-so inner teeny bopper was thrilled.

11. I feel things really intensely. It’s a blessing and a curse.

Ali’s questions for me

1. What is your middle name?
Jacqueline. After my dad’s only sister.

2. What is the best movie you've ever seen?
I love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I love love and the relationship between Joel and Clementine is so crazy, beautiful, tragic and real. I’m lucky if I don’t start crying at the beginning of the movie, but I’m getting better since I’ve seen it many times now. “I loved you on this day. I love this memory.” I’ve experienced love a few times in my life, and even when it ended badly, I don’t think I would want to go back and erase it all.

3. If you could see any band/artist in concert, who would you choose?
I recently scored tickets to Snow Patrol right after my birthday, which makes me really happy.

I would love to see Bernadette Peters in concert. I think that would be unbelievable.

4. Dog or cat?
We never had dogs growing up and while I do love them now, I’m definitely a cat lady.

5. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
That’s such a big question… I think I would want everyone to be more tolerant of one another. Get rid of the bullying, racism, negative stigmas and general judgement. We’d all be a lot happier and the world would be a better place as a result.

6. What do you do to recharge?
It depends. Sometimes recharging means spending time with one or some of my best girlfriends for giggles and dancing and good stories. Other times I prefer to recharge on my own snuggled up with a good book and cup of tea. It depends on how I’m feeling and what it feels like I need.

7. What would an ideal weekend look like for you?
An ideal weekend for me would include time at my Weight Watchers meetings on Saturday morning, followed by a nap in the afternoon and probably some tea. I would then do some shopping at Damzels and Tabula Rasa and some of my other favourite stores in the east end. I would spend time getting ready whilst eating sushi and putting on a dress to head out with my girlfriends for a night of martinis and dancing with probably some live music. I’d have time to sleep in on Sunday morning, maybe snuggle with a cute boy before heading out for a late brunch and enjoy a day walking and talking in the sunshine. Good friends. Good food. Cute boy. Dresses. Sunshine. Win.

8. What is one thing you wish you could blog about but you feel like you can't/shouldn't?
I hesitate to swear on my blog. In everyday conversation I tend to swear a lot more. I keep it pretty PG-13 on the bloggy.

9. How many hours a week do you spend watching tv?
0. I don’t have a tv.

10. If you could do anything with your life to make money, what would you choose?
It sounds really contrived, but just something that made me happy and allowed me to help others in some way. I aspire to keep things simple and keep smiling.

11. What is your favourite smell?
I’m really digging this Vanilla Coconut fragrance by Lavanila I found at Sephora a couple weeks ago. I had been using a coconut body spray for a long time, but this stuff is even better. I also really love the smell of men’s cologne.

I’m totally going to break the rules and not tag anyone… but if you’d like to go ahead and answer Ali’s questions, you’re more than welcome to!

Did you learn something new? Any random facts I should know about you?

nothing happens and nothing happens and then everything happens

I kinda wish I could go back and tell the gal in the top photo (who at the time was really unhappy, stressed, not really healthy and pretty good at keeping all of that under wraps) that everything would work out just fine.

Keep Calm and Sparkle

Happy New Year!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity and so far January is whipping right along. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. As I mentioned in my last post of 2011, I was ready for the year to be over and the was solidified for me in the last chunk of my “vacation”. I did do some really fun things in December though, like hit up the symphony for the Messiah, sing some carols with my dear friend Lindsay, had some gal pals over for dins and made my first ever gluten free vegan donuts.

The donuts were a pretty big success, and I’m excited to make them again. They were another awesome Babycakes recipe!

New Year’s Eve was a blast. I led 3 Weight Watchers meetings in the morning, decked out in a sparkly dress, sparkly nails and tiara

I had a lot of fun recapping 2011 with my members and looking ahead to the year to come. January brings some pretty kick ass energy to Weight Watchers meetings and I’m excited for everyone’s continued success! I enjoyed a great dinner, some Pure2Raw apple pie parfaits for dessert and a really fun party with bubbly and a kiss at midnight.

So far 2012 has been super busy! I’m going to post a food recap later in the week including some yummy restaurant eats and some recipes I’ve made at home, including the delicious dins I enjoyed with my sweet friend Reggy on Saturday night

Some good things coming up on the bloggy – food and fashion! I’m excited about both. Also excited that in less than two weeks, I’ll be nourishing my soul in St. Lucia. Another good thing? My appearance in Hello! Canada this week talking about Weight Watchers.

So far 2012 is pretty okay.

for good

I’m really excited to be heading into 2012.

It’s been quite a journey over the last two years, and for the first time since 2009, I feel like I’m starting off a new year standing on solid ground.

Now don’t get me wrong, there have been a lot of good things in 2010 and 2011, but I really feel like they’ve been two really big years of transition. I really started to realize this after a number of conversations in the last couple of weeks coupled with looking at a whole bunch of old pictures (thanks Facebook Timeline)

The pictures from the end of 2009 make me especially sad. I looked sick. And truth be told, I had stopped eating, so this fact isn’t surprising. I was so stressed and sad and lost and heading into a crazy, new life without the partner that I had spent the last 3.5 years growing alongside. Our break up was absolutely the right thing for both of us, but it hurt immensely and meant that 2010 was an even bigger year of change that I had originally anticipated when I quit my job and decided that I was going to go back to school. While I enjoyed many parts of 2010, I also spent a lot of time figuring out who I was, what I wanted and how I wanted to be spending my time.

2011 brought lots of good things, but was really up and down in a lot of ways. I went back to work full time in March, which made me feel like a big fat failure. Isn’t that what I was fighting against? Slowly I began to realize that I had made the right decision and that working full time as an executive assistant was a pretty okay thing, and that it gave me time to do all the things that I loved. I also realized that I didn’t want to be a nutritionist, and that this fact was perfectly fine. I loved nutrition school, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do as a career. Working 9-5 also meant that I was free to perform, and in the last 2 years I’ve had some amazing opportunities to be onstage with some incredibly talented people in musicals, concerts, and cabarets, including 3 Ashleyx2 shows.

Ash bought me Kristen Chenoweth’s book (gosh, I adore Kristen. I think we’d be such good friends. And how wonderful is Ash for getting me such a perfect gift?!) for Christmas, and I couldn’t stop thinking about this song while I finished reading the book on the train home from Belleville.

“Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good”.

The people I’ve met, the experiences I’ve had, the friends I’ve counted on, the places I’ve been, the tears I’ve shed, the mistakes I’ve made, the victories I’ve had – all of these experiences over the last 2 years have absolutely changed me to be the person I am at this very moment.

Who knows what the future brings, but I’m ready for it.

2012, here I come.

This is my Winter Song to You

The last few weeks have been crazy and awesome and hectic and hilarious. I can hardly believe that it’s December!! This week marked the beginning of what I like to call the Holi-month and I had a blast with a lot of wonderful people at some great events.

On Tuesday I went to Hip and Urban Girl’s Champagne and Cookie Party with my sweet friends Reggy and Christine.

I promise, that if you put 200 women in a room with cookies and booze, there will be madness! There weren’t a ton of gluten free and vegan options aside from the BabyCakes snickerdoodles that I brought

and the delicious cookies that Reggy made (there was almond butter and cranberries involved, they were pretty fantastic) I think my favourite moment in the evening was a toss up between coming upon Christine with a platter of a dozen cookies in front of her, each of which had a single bite taken out of it

or the discussion Reggy and I had with the rep from Ohhh Canada about Tenga eggs making wicked stocking stuffers. Both moments were pretty amazing. Thanks to my Charlie’s Angels for a super fun evening and to Val for hooking me up with the tickets!

On Friday night I headed to the Cameron House with a some of my favourite friends for Graydon James & the Young Novelists’ cd release party.

The show was fantastic. They have some incredible harmonies, heartbreaking lyrics and the whole band is wickedly talented. The crowd at the lovely Cameron House had a stellar energy, which was enhanced for me by the fact that I had one of my besties on either side of me. And did I mention that there were cupcakes and tea goodie bags?? They are a fantastic band to see live and it was a pretty magical evening. Go. Buy. The. Album.

Finally Saturday I had my own chance to be on stage spreading some festive cheer in another Singing Strong cabaret in support of Buddies in Bad Times theatre.

I had a blast singing with some amazing singers (including my dear friend Lindsay), fabulous musicians (including Tara on keys) surrounded by a really fun audience and some great repertoire. There was an eclectic mix of tunes including some musical theatre, pop and jazz along with some holiday favourites that I got to sing lead on including Baby It’s Cold Outside (which is actually a creepy song…) and Baby Please Come Home.

Linz and I also sang Wintersong, which is just such a  beautiful song. It’s an amazing thing to be able to take our friendship to the next level by singing in harmony with one another! I also got to sing Christmas Lullaby from Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for World (which is one of my dream roles) And of course the evening was made even better by the fact that there were some really awesome people in the audience to see me AND I was wearing a Damzels dress, which is always a good recipe for a perfect show. It was a brilliant evening and a great way to kick off the holiday season!

My holi-month continues with a party tonight, at least 3 pot lucks in the coming weeks, some more singing engagements and an evening at the symphony for Handel’s Messiah next week!

Do you have any fun plans for the Holi-month? What’s your favourite holiday tune?

PS – did you know I was nominated for a 2011 BroadwayWorld Toronto award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical? If you have a minute, please vote!!

Saying Goodbye to My Tea Club Gals

When I made the decision to go back to the office world in February, I had no idea that I would:

a) be changing jobs less than a year later
b) have made such an incredible group of friends along the way

It seems that November is a favourite time for change for me and with everything that’s changing, I’m really excited for what’s down the road. The corporate world is a funny place and I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity that fell into my lap, to return to a company where I spent close to 5 years. No, it’s not nutrition school, nor is it a full time performing gig, but it allows me to do everything that I love and gives me some pretty awesome perks.

When I started at this office 9 months ago, I was immediately welcomed by an amazing group of people who I sat with. We weren’t really in the same department, but our affinity for tea brought me closer to their little circle.

And boy, have we drank a lot of tea.

Oh yes, the tea. After NourishTea sent us their line, we made a really great connection with Dan at Herbal Infusions. Dan let me come in and pick out a wide variety of teas for us to try and we had a lot of fun sampling everything over the next few months. We’ve since gone back into his shop many times and there are certain favourites that have definitely immerged.

Amanda swears Lapacho Orange Vanilla and is convinced that due to its antibacterial properties, it has boosted her immunity. In cleaning out my emails at my job I found some pretty hilarious descriptions of other teas “This tea is like a minty fairy. But fairies can be evil when they sit still too long” – of the mysterious minty tea in a pouch, “It smells like…poached pears. And cinnamon. And HAPPINESS.” of the Snow Love and “Drinking this tea is like kissing a boy who uses anise-flavoured toothpaste. Trust me, I would know” of the coolmint licorice.

Kayla loved the Vanilla Bean Chai (and was excited to find that the tea fairy had left some on her desk last week) and Caileigh loved the fruitier teas and rooibos’ like the goji / pear / melon and green rooibos punch. Alessandra and I have stopped by the shop together more than once and Dan has been awesometown in accommodating us.

If you’re in the Spadina/Queen area, be sure to check out Herbal Infusions and go talk to Dan about tea. His blends are awesome and the shop has a wonderful vibe. If you’re lucky, there will be more events like the tea cocktail workshop which will help take your tea to a whole new level!

Tea time gave us time away from our desks to vent, giggle, yell, laugh, tell silly stories and generally bond. I’m so thankful for this time together and the friendships that I’ve made. These girls have helped me get through a lot this year and it made our work environment that much more fun. I’m going to miss our walks to David’s in the PATH, the weekly tea smell fests whenever any of us bought anything new and our daily tea times in the kitchen. I know that we’ll remain friends and have tea time outside of our cubicles, but it just won’t be the same.

And I have a feeling that my new coworkers are going to think I’m a freak when I show up with half a tea store of my own. But who knows, maybe I’ll turn them on to something new!

Cheers to new beginnings and wonderful friendships. I’m gonna miss you gals xo

What Really Happens When Vegan Bloggers Get Together

Other than the obvious delicious food…

We have to take pictures of said delicious food

but at least when you’re doing it in a group it looks less weird. Unless you take off to another table to get better light and background…

which is quite normal in our circle.

Thanks to Carol at Belmonte Raw for hosting an amazing lunch for a wonderful group of hungry vegan gals! It was a fantastic evening with great conversation, lots of giggles, general merriment, tweeting and of course incredible raw food. I’m thankful to know Carol, Camille, Marlie, Candice, Nicole and Dani and love our time together!

To My Mother on Her 50th Birthday

If you were alive, I think you might smack me for announcing that it was your 50th birthday right here on the blog. I wonder if we would have had another surprise party for you, like the one that we had sometime in the early 90’s. I remember playing DJ that night and getting really excited when we played the NKOTB birthday song for you. I think you would have looked good for your age and it would have been a ton of fun to celebrate such a milestone with you.

I posted a picture of us on facebook this week. It was the one taken at Brenda’s wedding when you were wearing that fuchsia taffeta dress and (as someone pointed out) a flower in your hair. People commented on how beautiful you were and how much I look like you. It’s always so flattering when people say that I look like you, because you were stunning, but at the same time it’s hard to hear it too. I wish you were around now so we could compare our resemblance.

I wrote a list this week of all the things I wish I could talk to you about. I’m so lucky to have so many amazing people in my life to talk to, but there is always part of me that wishes I could get that call from you where I could ask your opinion on decisions I need to make or make you laugh with some of my outrageous stories or have you comfort me in the times I need you most. I’ve felt so manic this week due to everything that’s been going on lately, good and bad, and of course today.

Every year I tell myself that I’m going to be fine. November pops up and I decide that the 11th is going to be just another day and that I will reflect on the good memories we had together, rather than your death and continue moving forward. Maybe it would be easier if it wasn’t Remembrance Day because every single poppy reminds me of you and this year it’s even more in my face since it’s 11-11-11. Yah sure it’s “just another day”, but it’s your day and I know that I’ll never forget that.

Ash and I had our third cabaret a few weeks ago, and the theme was people/things that inspire us. While I had sang it at our birthday cabaret, I knew that I needed to sing this song again for you. In our short time together, your existence has inspired me to be the person that I am today and I feel incredibly blessed for the 13 years we had together.

I can’t think of a better gift to give you on your 50th birthday than a song that reminds you of my love. I wish you were here for me to tell you myself.

Happy birthday mum. I love you.

Wanna Win a Spot in Meghan Telpner’s Fab Uplift Detox Program?!

Update: Congratulations to Nicole for being selected as the winner! Please send me an email and I’ll have Meghan & her team send you your prize!

t’s no big secret that Meghan Telpner is one of my heroes.

She is pretty much the queen of awesometown and I’m always excited to hear about her latest and greatest endeavours. (also thrilled that in less than 3 months we’ll be in St. Lucia together!!) I was super thrilled to read about her latest program – The Fab Uplift Detox program and am looking forward to playing along! Registration opens today and 1 lucky reader of Dancing Through Life is going to have the opportunity to join in for free! Keep reading for more details and all the fun…

Even when we know the right things to do - it is so easy to get derailed by the busyness of everyday. Suddenly that time when we can eat the best food possible, look and feel amazing becomes some foggy lensed vision of the way off magical time in the future when we have all the hours in the world.

You know what I'm talking about, right?

Well, Ms Meghan Telpner, the Toronto-based nutritonista you may know from her blog Making Love In The Kitchen is here to the rescue. She has put together the ultimate detox program.

Now this is not one of those lame, cheesy fad detoxes that requires you to starve yourself while pumping your bod full of supplements and laxatives. No way. Not her style.

Meghan and her team have put together a Food Detox! The ladies over there have named it The Fab Uplift Detox Program. And wouldn't you know - she is giving away a few spots in this program!

If you play your cards right (or in other words, enter), you can win one of the limited number of spots in The Fab Uplift Detox Program. The program is valued at $79, though if you register on Monday, November 7th, the cost is just $69 and you can live anywhere in the world to participate.

This cleansing detox is about rebooting your system and getting a fresh start. It is designed to help identify and eliminate hidden food allergens, boost immunity, shed a little poundage but most importantly, support you in kicking those icky food habits and cravings that tend to derail us.

Included in the program is all of the following:

• A full 16-Day Detox Program ebook which you can download immediately upon registration.
  • 4 day pre-cleanse coaching tips and recipes.
  • 8 Day Cleanse program including meal plan, shopping list and recipes.
  • 4-Day Post Cleanse guidelines.
  • Loads of info on why you should detox, what it means to detox, what this detox entails, and how to keep it going after the sixteen days have passed.
• A daily email offering tips and support, progress, and bonus recipes.
• Daily tweet coaching tips throughout the day (follow at #fabdetox)
• Group TweetChat on Sunday, November 20th at 9:00pm EST
• Live stream video chats with Meghan and her team (Scheduled for Friday November 18th and Friday, November 25th at 11:00am EST)
• Email support throughout the main eight days of the detox with Meghan’s resident nutritionists Alexa and Jill
• Extra sweet incentive:  At the end of the cleanse,  send in a before + after on how you feel or a general testimonial and you will be entered to win some of our most fav detox goodies from some of our most fav detox loving brands.

You can get full deets on the program over on Meghan's website. Please leave me a comment below to be entered for a chance to win!

You can earn extra entries by:

• following me (@ashleydtl) & Meghan (@meghantelpner) on the twitter
• tweeting about the giveaway (hashtag is #fabdetox)
• blogging about the giveaway

Be sure to leave a comment letting me you did any or all of the above. Contest closes Thursday November 10th at 11:59pm and I’ll be randomly drawing one winner from all the entries. You can be anywhere in the world to win. Good luck!!