I just finished spending a fabulous week with one of my favourite people. Shawn and I spent the past week and a bit house/cat sitting for my friend Gen and her husband Steve while they jetted off to Italy. A well deserved vacation and much needed break from life for someone who has been busting her behind all summer on her ever growing new gig as a photographer. Fifteen:Fifty-One Photography has been booked solid for this summer wedding season, along with some maternity shots and family portraits. Italy came at the perfect time I think.

Now she's back (YAY!) and her stories have made me ache even more to just get the heck outa dodge and see more of the world that is waiting for me to see it.

Anyhow, back to the wonderful man I got to spend my down time with for a week. It was a great experience. It's probably the most time we have spent together since we began dating almost 4 months ago. Things with Shawn have seemed to just easily, so easily, fall into place. We clicked practically from day one. His open and warm smile, and his (lame) jokes are the first thing that brought me in. It took him 2 weeks to pop the date question. On one hand, it came outa no where, but yet, at the same time, I thought "took you long enough!".

Now almost 4 months later, it feels like I've known him for longer than I've known most of my closest friends. He's also fit in quite well with the closest of them, which has been very important to me. My girls are the pillars in my life. There's family and then there are those who are like family, just as close as family, and I have some pretty amazing people in my life whom I count in that group. I love them and I don't know what I would do if they were to disappear.

Shawn - well he's made life interesting since he came into my life. For a couple of 4 months we have actually had a couple of ups and downs that we've both weathered through mostly unscathed, and I have little fear of what is to come for us next. We have talked really openly about where we are at right now and at time where, in the past, is often when I get cold feet and jump ship, I feel glued to this spot and I don't want to move. And "playing house" for a week in a beautiful home, pet included, things were pretty...nice :) Making dinner together, taking walks, doing chores together, just spending down time with each other... and...oh especially BBQing - my favourite as I live in an apartment where we can't have BBQs or grills on the balconies - things just felt right. I know 4 months is early, but I already know that Shawn is someone special and someone who I know will stay in my future.

Thank you Gen and Steve for allowing us to watch over your beautiful home while you were gone. If it wasn't for not wanting to live on Reactine any longer, poor Tugger would have been kidnapped home with me!! You have a lovely home. And p.s. I love my little piece of Italy, Gen. You can never go wrong with jewellery with this girl. ;)

Ohhhh and before I go, a few updates...

A new book is on the go thanks to Kate (I may have mentioned this in a past post)...I've been slowly going through it as August has been a crazy month, but with fall I feel curling up with a book will be done much more easily, especially will the fresh weather we've been having since last week.

I also hit my two recipes a month goal this time around. An Oreo-Cheesecake for dessert the night Shawn and I were at Gen and Steve's prior to their departure. I also tried my hand for the first time at cabbage rolls. Verdict = good but I did not season the meat enough. Should have used a bit more salt. They cooked well, but it just needed more...taste. But overal, I'm pleased. I was worried they would turn out uncooked or just....a mess. Next...I've got my eyes set on making Moussaka and maybe...Lasagna...? Or another dessert... Baking has always been my favourite. My dad mentioned they were "low" on oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Just a hint I guess!

Back to the 'real' world

Working in Marketing and Communications for the better half of my time, as well as on the web team here at the Gallery, I recently decided that it was important for me to brush up on my social marketing skills. I started a Twitter account a while ago but let it fall by the wayside (much like my little blog here). I will be updating regularly again, so please ch-ch-check it out if you tweet, too :) @jamiemcglashan

I'm also going to try and be really really good with my blog posts from now on. Fall will mean (a little) less time outside and more time for sitting down and letting my words flow out freely :) My 101 Things in 1001 days project will not work on itself.

Song I can't stop playing this week :D Its a goodie. Jay-Z feat. Rihanna and Kanye "Run This Town".

**update** my apologies, had to remove the link here due to copyright.

A bit of a stretch

I feel like after reading the entire Twilight saga in a week that I went through a reading detox. Things got so busy with the weeks leading up to our surf trip, and even after coming home it was always something every week. Either a birthday, an amazing day out in the country taking pretty pictures, random (crazyfun) roadtrips, or another birthday here and there, and reading just didn't factor in. I have honestly had very little "me" time lately. Summer has been a blast but sometimes we just need to decompress.

In June, while on our trip, we had a fair amount of down time. Surfing was both physically and mentally exhausting and on occaisions we'd take a couple hours out - pretty much a necessity - and nap, play cards, or read. I brought along with me one of the 3 novels Shawn had lent me. Two of these are James Rollins, his favourite author. I had never read or heard of him but they are comparable to the Dan Brown novels (also whom I have not read but thanks to Hollywood, he's on my radar). Shawn insisted it might be something I'd enjoy at least to try it on for size. So I chose The Judas Strain to start.

Now...I have always been someone with a very active imagination. I can spend hours a day dreaming coming up with various plots or scenarios on pretty much anything in my life or stemming from pure fantasy. Well, this book ceretainly awakened that active imagination subconsioucly, and after a few days of reading, the suspense and action started top seep into my dreams at night. I was always running from something, or looking for something, and it was always a dire situation.

The Judas Strain is the first action/suspense/mystery novel I have ever read. Its brilliant. However...it was almost too much for me. There is so much going on in every page, I felt like I was watching a movie unfold infront of my eyes. So many details, so many key players, and several locations. My brain often felt in overdrive! I think this is why it took me nearly 2 months to finish this novel. I could only ever get through a handful of pages before I would feel like I needed to put it down, breath, and move on to something else before I went crazy.

I read the last quarter of the book in the span of 2 days while I was sick from work. I thought, ok here comes the end of July, and I have definitely..shamefully...dropped my 2 books a month quota, so lets at least get this under my belt. Reading something so far out of my realm was a challenge but also thoroughly satisfying. After a few fluffy books I think I'll be ready to take on the next James Rollins sitting on my book shelf. I have picked up one of the books Kate lent me months ago to start on. Bitter is the New Black. Its a 'chick-lit'. And I have no doubt I will devour it in a matter of days. Might meet my monthly quota afterall!!

If you want to learn more about James Rollins and his novels, you can check out his web site here http://www.jamesrollins.com/.

A few things ticked off the list...

I recently updated my first post with some things I've been able to cross off my list in the past month.

- I learned how to surf on my holiday in North Carolina, where I also camped for the entire week. Thats two birds with one stone, woot!!
- I have recently picked up a new sport. Shawn is teaching me how to play tennis (not so much teaching as he has sorta thrown me into it saying "you can do it!" and me hoping I don't hit myself in the face with my racket)
- I saw a couple of shooting stars while star gazing at Pam's during her graduation party in early June.
- I went to a favourite band, No Doubt, in concert in Montreal on June 17th.

:) You can check out my progress with my day zero project by checking back to that first post every now and then.

This weekend I will be doing some more camping for my birthday!! I'll also soon be able to check-off my outdoor concert goal with Bluesfest starting here in Ottawa next week!! I am very excited to see Our Lady Peace!! Um..and Ice Cube?!? For real??? haha. I have the amazing opportunity to see all of the shows this year thanks to a very generous birthday gift :) This will not be wasted, I can't wait!!! :D

Coming soon...

Just a quick note to say I am, in fact, still alive. I have been explaining to Gen that for some reason unknown to me, everytime I come to do a proper update, words seem to escape me and they just aren't flowing out the way I want them to. I have started about 4 entries that are all sitting untouched on my desktop.

You can expect a handful of entries in the next week, I have much to update you on. Like my surfing trip with Steph and Brad, and how amazing it was and how wonderful they are. Like my mid-week break with my sister to Montreal last week to see No Doubt (another thing to cross off my list!), and how amazing the show was, and how good it is to have our quality time.

I am also dying to tell you about how fun it was working with Gen on the design(s) for her Fifteen:Fifty-one Photography (http://www.fifteenfiftyone.ca/) logo and business card, and how much fun it is to play model for her from time to time. We recently had a great weekend in Vars on a farm, and I got to bring two of my favourite people with me. In addition to her personal blog here, you can also check out her 15:51 blog here!

So that is just a teaser as I am not feeling the words coming the way I want them to. But I know there are some of you who are waiting to have something to read. I promise - it will come soon. Am waiting to find the words, though I feel like maybe its the words that are waiting to find me.

It is not a lack of inspiration. Far from it as I am surrounded by individuals who continue to amaze me with their talents, passions, and everyday brilliance. It is simply what feels like a lack of time to put things down, and missing the right voice. I know I will soon hit my stride again. Thanks for following in my journey :)

And since pictures can sometimes speak louder than words...in the meantime......

Aloha!

13 hours....and I will be packing myself into Brad's already packed-to-the-hilt Vibe and setting off on a 15-hour (potentially longer) drive to North Carolina. That's right....my surfing trip has finally arrived :) Steph, Brad and myself are heading down to catch some waves for a few days next week.

I am:
hoping I don't drown;
hoping I don't get eaten by a shark;
hoping I don't break something;
getting nervous butterflies;
sooooo freakin' excited I can't sit still.

I know:
that this is going to be THE best trip ever, with two of my best friends;
that surfing will be a fun and - something tells me - a humbling experience;
that I can't wait to sit on the beach and soak up some rays;
that I am looking forward to the campfire dinners and toasting marshmallows;
that I really should have started packing last night....

This is the first full-on long distance road trip I am taking with friends and not my family, so I think this ads to the bubbles of excitement in my stomach right now. A little backstory: While I wasn't in on the conversation initially, what I remember is that it occured at the Honest Lawyer here in Ottawa in November over one of our happy hour get togethers. Brad and Steph must have been talking about Australia and surfing (as my flatmate had lived there for a year and had taken it upon herself to learn how to surf, smart girl) and both agreed they wanted to do a surfing trip in the near future. Why not? Locations were discussed and a few options were singled out but nothing concrete was made, other than a promise that they would indeed follow through.

Some of us throw these suggestions out with no follow through but this, this is not characteristic of either of them. I know both of them are the types when if they've set their mind to something, then its going to be done, somehow, someway, eventually. Indeed, this idea would turn out to be more than just happy hour talk, more than just a pipe dream (ba-dum-bum!) :) Surely enough, a few weeks later Steph suggested I should join them as well in planning the trip. That was all I needed :) Planning began - magazines were bought, websites consulted (a favourite being this fun jem: www.riptionary.com), stories with friends who share a passion for surfing were heard (special thanks on my end to Krysia for her lovely words of encouragement and reminder that surfing is about the journey, and about respect, for the people and the ocean) - and Steph came up with a beautiful plan to hit up the east coast, close to home, not gonna break the bank per se. And so we were NC bound as a few months ago.

Which is why I can't believe we are leaving tonight. Its finally here. The email from the surf camp this morning requesting my age, height and weight to ensure they prepare the right equipment for me added just that extra jolt of excitment to my morning. Honey, Zimzala and Brosef (that's right..I picked out our surf names...) are south bound as of midnight tonight. Thanks to everyone who have left me friendly send-of messages for a safe and happy trip. Trust: there will be many many many photos. I will do my best to not disappoint on that front.

Aloha!