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Pav-Lov

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

If you’ve ever heard me sing, consider yourself one of those very unfortunate people who I trust enough to sing in front of. The horror that is me singing – no one should really sit through that. Unless you’re locked in a car with me, then there is no escaping. Alas, I only sing along with those songs I know the words to, which admittedly, are not that many. They, together with Shakespeare soliloquies, and people’s names do not store well in my brain. Unlike myself, others in my family are very musically inclined, play instruments, and even write music. So it didn’t take me by surprise when my cousin’s FaceBook page started to fill up with music. His ‘mixed tape’ arrived today and it made a perfect background music for a day of editing. Somewhat a step away from my regular Indie rock, but a good change. Ahhh, what a pleasure to have talented people in my family! Check out Anton Pavlov and his Pav-lov Music Experience.

Can I just mention how much I love his logo? So stylish.

Pav-Lov Music Experience from A P on Vimeo.

Tags: music, pav-lov
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Golf

Monday, July 18th, 2011

“We’re going golfing!”
“What? Now?” *moment of panic, breath in* What do I wear?” Turns out that I’m a typical girl with a century old problem of ‘nothing to wear’. But it’s true, I don’t own a single pair of shorts, minus the golf-inappropriate short-shorts for the beach. I dug up my only polo shirt, one of those “it’s on a super sale, so I’ll get it, even if it’s not my thing” types of a shirt. Well… I had golf clubs. Golfing was fun, but to put it nicely, I’m pretty horrible at it. My ball kept rolling on the grass instead of flying, at least it went in a right direction, right? I did manage to miss hitting it completely a few times, and lost one in a tall grass. I did learn a few things though,

1. You got to stick your booty way out
2. You can play the whole game with a 7 iron and a putter : )
3. There is a laser that determines how far you have to hit. That’s hardcore!
4. Driving a golf cart is pretty fun, but doesn’t go well with a skirt
5. You can ruin someones putt by walking on the green between their ball and a cup. SORRY!

As bad as I was, can’t wait to play it again so I can say things like “I’m just that good!” when picking up my ball from neighbours fairway.

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Taurus

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

Found this adorable ring on sale at BCBG and it had my name on it, well, almost. It’s funny how sometimes two negatives of I don’t like gold and not a ring person add up to completely in love with it. Usually, I can talk myself out of buying pretty much anything, but there are those rare occasions when no reason would stand. Doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, I fall completely in love with whatever it is and it lasts. I totally blame my emotional attachment to pretty things on being a Taurus.

Tags: jewellery, ring
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On Inspiration

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

I stare at the screen contemplating how to put my thoughts down as coherent sentences and make it sound interesting. Writing and I are not on the best of terms and ‘interesting’ seems to have checked out too. Well, I guess it’s you, me, and good ol’ rambling, while I roll around the room on my chair pretending to have profound knowledge concerning inspiration or lack thereof. I find it fascinating where people get their inspiration, how random it can be, and what triggers that creative aspect in an individual. We all get inspired regardless of being an ‘artist’ and each person has their own puzzle piece that makes everything fall into place. I pay attention to anything from cloud formations, wind playing with hair, to music videos and advertisements. It’s as random as it gets! The bigger challenge is taking that inspiration and shaping it into something else without getting discouraged or apathetic. Ideas without actions are nothing, so when I do get them, I try my best to do ‘a song and a dance’ and make things happen. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. it’s all about trying out new things, learning, reviewing, doing it better. Inspiration usually comes in waves, so for those ‘laying low’ days there is always work to be done. My recipe for feeling uninspired is to sit down and edit.. edit.. and then edit some more. There is something very mechanical about post-processing work; I turn off my brain and daydream while clicking buttons, adjusting sliders, making things look beautiful. Mind wanders, ideas come, I get inspired. What inspires you and what do you do when it’s just not there? That is the question.

Tags: inspiration
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Trois-Rivières

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

This city is as charming as they come. Century old buildings line the streets, cobblestones, churches, statues and everything else I picture when I think of Quebec. To make things even more charming, soft snow was dancing in the air last night making everything seem not quite real. At the shore, Saint Lawrence river was silently moving past the city, carrying the remainders of winter in the form of ice floes.

I’m in love with these rooftops, all different, all original.

Tags: travel, Trois-Rivières
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Random Wednesday – City, Clothes, & Food

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

City: The late spring will be in full bloom with lush greenery and daffodils. I’d wake up early, before the first sun rays hit the horizon stirring the city alive. Put my running shoes on, and venture out into the quiet streets. Jog along the cobblestone towards the park, watch delivery guys make their rounds and taxi drivers slowly circling the blocks. I’d run through the park with clean, crisp air hitting my lungs, in-out… calm and focused. On the way back I’d witness the sun lay warm kisses to the tops of glass buildings. A stop would be made to get a lox cream cheese bagel and a cup of tea, while listening to the tune of the moment. This would be my perfect morning, one of many, when I’d live in New York City.

Tailored: Last week was a weird one in terms of clothes ‘inheritance’… in my size… from boys… and that never happens, clothes, sizes, or boys! Let’s just say that jean shopping and I are not on the best of terms. There is always something wrong with them or maybe it’s just me. The inherited new pair of jeans fit impeccably and was hard to resist. They were, however, the bootcut kind. In less than an hour they went into the ‘chop shop’ and were made into the perfect skinnies by my amazing mommy. The skills that woman possesses are superb and I will always be jealous of her ability and patience. I’m forever thankful for my personal design and alterations department and will never take pant hemming, button attachment, zipper fixing, and flawlessly designed skirts and dresses for granted.

Food: For those ‘in the know’ I am a huge phở fanatic and always on a mission to find the best place in town. The top phở contender was just introduced to me, but it needs a second tasting; I might have been so hungry that even dirt would’ve tasted good. It was fresh, meaty, and delicious and that was just the dirt part! I’ve also tried soursop for the first time ever. Too bad for the diced mango slush, it’s been replaced by soursop! A different place had this little thing called Crème Brûlée and it was ‘hands down’ the best I’ve ever had. There were Mocha, Vanilla, Ginger, and Chocolate flavours with a perfectly breakable crust. If anyone feels like going for some dessert, count me in.

Tags: jeans, New York, pho
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March Randomness

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Did a whole month seriously skip out on me? Again? I need a calendar or something (please do not get me calendars!) I think it has been confirmed that I’m unable to multitask, so when things pile up like fresh snow on my driveway, blog is left behind. It’s time for a random update.

Insanity
Let’s get the complaining out of the way first, and start with the Insanity 60 day workout. Umm yeah, it has been a whole month of jumping around in front of the TV Shaun T style (I wonder what T stands for… ‘to the google!” – and wiki tells me it’s Thompson). My neighbours must love watching me cause I sure look ridiculous and exercise at oddest times including one in the morning. Here is how the whole month went down: first 10 days – can’t walk down the stairs due to calf muscles not cooperating, next two weeks – leaving a puddle of sweat on the floor and trying to catch my breath! It got a lot better in the last two days, but the whole program switched up on me this week and kicked into high ‘max’ gear. Terrifying! Loving the results but I’m physically exhausted. The days are being crossed off my imaginary calendar but April 6th does not look any closer than it did a month ago! I don’t even know what can possibly motivate me to keep this up, other than pure stubbornness.

Carwashes
My idea of a car wash was always a driveway, bucket of water, sponge and some good ol’ elbow grease. How come no one told me about automatic car washes? It’s a whole goodness of yellow and purple soap, spongy things flopping around, and water spraying, fans blowing. Oh, so fascinating! I can go through a car wash every day and still be amazed. Now, they need to add more colour soaps so it will turn out better on photos! It’s all abstract art, you know…

Albums and Prints
Not many things feel better in photography than seeing your work printed! You can make an amazing photo but if not printed it will be lost in a billion folders among different hard drives, on a random shelf in a closet, till dust will cover it all. I swear that’s not where most of my photos end up. The albums are in printing, so are the photos, and I’m very excited about it. So excited I can twirl around the room… in my chair.. till I get dizzy. This year will be all about printing, and I can hardly wait.

I refuse for this post to be picture-less! Here are some birds, even if they have nothing to do with anything.

Tags: insanity, print
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Shout-outs!

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Dear readers,

Guess what? I’ve been spying on you! I sit in my room with binoculars and watch you navigate to my blog! Never mind, I can’t pass for a ‘creepy neighbour’, but I do love google analytics and how the world map is all pretty and green! I’m obsessed with maps: I love reading them, planning driving routes, looking for new places to visit, and ‘discovering’ countries I haven’t seen before. [If I may say so myself, I'm an amazing co-pilot, you'll never get lost with me! ] When a new place lights up on the map, it makes my heart skip a beat and I shriek “Oooooo ICELAND.” Iceland, a shout-out to you! You are my country to visit. Thanks for reading me! Today, I navigated the stats and was amazed that you come to read me from 104 different countries and speak 65 languages! That is completely mind blowing! Thank you so much!

The top five countries are Canada, US, Russia, Japan, and UK. WHOOT! You like reading about fashion, me (I should really change that ABOUT section), jewellery, and personal sections. A whole five per cent of you came back to this blog more than a 100 times! Really? I didn’t think it was THAT interesting, but a huge “Thank You”! Another 5% stay for 10-30min, and whoever is reading from Placentia, CA, you ROCK! Other than the big five in Canada, you read me from Whitehorse, Fredericton, Timmins and places I’ve never heard of, like Radville (an awesome name by the way). A shout out to CA, NY, UT, TX, FL and London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Liverpool. Russia, you totally amaze me and Japan you have my heart! I would list all the small unique places if that was possible, but know that it’s very exciting to see you. I want to hear from you. Let’s get to know one another, if you don’t mind of course. How about your name, the place you are from, and your favourite dessert (cause we can all use more sweet things). I’ll go first.

Name: Katie
Location; Toronto, Canada
Dessert: apple pie! mmmm pie. But you knew all of this already

Once again, thank you so much for your constant support! You make my heart melt!
Lots of love,
Katie

P.s. I used way too many exclamation marks here! <- including this one.

Tags: map, stats, thank you, visitors
Posted in Personal | 9 Comments »

iPhone photos – Mexico

Friday, February 4th, 2011

This would be the last installment of photos from Mexico as well as ‘old school’ iPhone photos for a while. Time to move on to something more ‘professional’. Enjoy.

Driving away from winter

Eh, TO I did not miss you!

Tags: iPhone, mexico
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New Year, new lists

Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

With New Years come new resolutions, or so they say. I completely dislike the pressure associated with January 1st and this drive to turn everything upside down and start something new just because you feel like you have to. So, I take my sweet time and play with different ideas, think, reflect, and make new lists. Just in time for the Chinese New Year, the plans are made and set into action. Yeah! That’s just how I roll (Ahem, nice and slow…). Here is my new list of things that I would love to do this year. It’s not photography or work related, cause there is a separate list for that; ‘numbered items’ and I are best friends, as we all know it. These are just things I want to do, places to visit, new experiences to have. I will make sure to be fully engaged, enjoy the moments, and try to accomplish as much as possible. If anyone would like to tag along let me know. 恭喜發財 Happy New Year!

- must visit: Ireland, Iceland, Mongolia
- travel down the river on one of those huge cargo ships
- go to Arctic
- take flying lessons
- go snowboarding
- go skating
- learn to drive a standard
- drive around southern US
- golf, or learn how to
- learn to surf
- get scuba diving certificate
- hike up a mountain
- visit a national park on the west coast
- go sailing
- trip around Asia with my ‘twin’

Tags: lists
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