Sandagonal (Adj): How a sandwich should always be cut

There's a small deli by my work that I started going to for lunch.  It's around the corner and not too pricey compared to the froufrou-sheshe restaurants in the neighbourhood.

The first time I went there I was greeted by a friendly Asian woman behind the counter.  As soon as the words "How can I help you?" escaped her lips, I felt uneasy.  She had one of those shrill voices that always ended on a high note.  It was almost as if she was deliberately trying to sound extra perky/Asian/feminine.  I don't know what it was, but it didn't sit well with me.

I rushed through my order so that I could keep our conversation short, but she kept asking me for details like "White or whole wheat" and "Balsamic or Italian" and with every new question she posed, I cringed more and more.  It took will-power not to respond in imitation.

But it was when she started making my lunch, a grilled cheese sandwich with a garden salad, that things changed.  All it took was the cut of a knife in a diagonal motion on my grilled cheese for me to dissolve all hatred towards this innocent woman.

Because anybody who has their head in the right place knows that a sandwich only tastes good when it's cut on the diagonal.  Or Sandagonal, as I like to Ingafy it.

Suddenly,  she was my favourite lunch lady in the world and I've been going there ever since for my yummy and affordable lunches.

It was a sandwish come true.

Catching Fire (noun): Film with a lot of perks

This week it has been all about the Hunger Games.  I went to the Canadian premiere for Catching Fire (and my first premiere ever) on Tuesday and the marketing team spared no expense to make it a memorable night.  Outside of the Scotiabank Theatre a tent and hot chocolate station was set up on the street for fans who had been there since 5 am.

5 IN THE FRIGGIN' MORNING.

That's all I'm going to say about that.  Inside, the stairs leading up to the second floor was guarded by Capitol guards.  On a normal day I try to avoid taking those stairs (have you seen them - how has no one fallen yet?!) and had less of a desire to do it with ominous figures staring at me on my way up.  But it did make for a cool shot from the escalator.

At the top of the stairs, two drummers dressed like the ones in the movie during the chariot scene stood in front of a huge CF poster, while pounding on huge drums.  I knew one of them from the comedy world but decided against waving at him as to not throw him off his serious beat.

Before the movie started, the actors who play Joanna and Finnick came out to greet the audience.  I'm glad to report that Finnick is not short in person.  I won't get into the details of the movie, but needless to say that it was a great sequel with lots of action, emotion, and special effects.  And Effie's outfits - OMG - I wanted all of them, even the big fluffy lilac dress that hit people in the face as she walked by.

But the PERKS!  That's what it's all about.

Thanks to some awesome work connections, I was given some Hunger Games inspired product including...

A box of 12 Wild Ophelia chocolates, each inspired by one of the 12 Districts.  Infused flavours include Sea Salt & Coconut (District 4- Fishing), Beef Jerky & Smoked Mesquite (District 10- Livestock), and Mined Salt (District 12 - Mining).  Yummmm.

And Covergirl make-up inspired by the many interesting looks in the Capitol.  While I was tempted to grab a gold eyeliner a la Cinna, I decided for more toned down colours.

So basically, I'm going to get fat but have a really dolled up face by the end of the week.  Yay me!

May the odds be ever in your favor to catch the movie this weekend!  Good luck fighting for seats with hardcore teen fans.

Ford (Noun): Every cats nightmare

Lewd comment made by Mayor Rob Ford

+

Quick online search for "Room full of cats"

+

Hasty search for "Rob Ford standing"

+ 

Photoshop

=

A way to explain to your kids what he meant...

I claim no ownership over any of the pics I found online to create this.  But I do pat myself on the back for coming up with the idea.

Panono (noun): Throwable, Panoramic Ball Cam

AND I WANT IT!

Niagara Falls (noun): First big gig

I don't want to make it a big deal or anything... but I'm in a band.

A ukulele band.

Yeah, that's right, it's pretty hardcore.  And to make it even more bad ass, our ukuleles looks like fruit (pineapple, kiwi, and watermelon to be exact) and we call ourselves The Fruity Ukuladies.

It doesn't get more hardcore than that.

Over the last couple of years, we've been putting up videos on YouTube, and slowly growing a fan base which we never expected to happen, considering how "serious" we took ourselves.  We even managed to land a few local gigs through our YouTube channel for weddings and bridal showers which was even more unexpected.  So imagine our greater surprise when Long & McQuade, Canada's largest chain of musical instrument retailers (and not-so-coincidentally, the store we all bought our ukes) got in touch with us to perform at an event they were hosting in Niagara Falls.

Ummm, yeah!

So on Friday, the Ukuladies (minus Watermelon Ukulady, sadly- for us- because she's currently in England for work) and my hubbie aka our roadie for the evening, took a bus down to the Falls.  We were performing and staying (thanks L&M!) at the Marriott Fallsview Hotel.  The event took place in one of the presidential suites and we were set up on the second floor loft looking over the main room.  It was a really cool set-up and made us feel a bit less nervous about being the center of attention.  And the view was amazing!

We performed a lot of songs we've covered on our Channel, like 8 Days A Week, Fat Bottomed Girls, and Single Ladies.

Yes, it is possible to make a Beyonce song sound pretty decent on the ukulele :)

Between and after our sets, we had a chance to meet some of the music teachers and enjoy the free wine and cheese.  We even managed to hand out a few business cards which we made in a hurry earlier that day (and a big thank you to the woman at Staples who made them for free!!).

While talking to some of the organizers, we found out that the reason they heard of us was because one of the sons of Mr. Long (of Long & McQuade) was a fan and wanted us to perform.  That was pretty much the icing on the cake for us and our heads were a little bit bigger after that.  See - we even did a pretentious shot of us looking over the Falls.

And I learned two things that night:
1. The Marriott's new state-of-the-art elevator system SUCKS.  Ask me why and I'll tell you.
2. TGI Fridays doesn't have specials on Fridays.

Halloween 2013 (noun): A year of overestimating my abilities to sew

Happy Halloween gals and ghouls!

It's a rainy day in Toronto, le boo, but the spirit is alive and strong.  This year, I decided to bring out my new-ish sewing machine and sew my costume.  I use to sew a lot in high school with the help of my mom and grandmother, both experts in the craft.  But that was over *cough* 10 years ago, and suffice to say, I had definitely misgauged my abilities to pick it up again after so long.

My goal: to sew from scratch the dress that Sally wore in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Rag doll type dress - how hard could it be?

Riiiiight.

Without a pattern, I decided to make my own with some used brown wrapping paper (thanks to a local fabric store on St.Clair).  I used a simple dress as my outline and then drew in the different cuts of her dress. My thought process - I just had to cut out the different pieces twice, sew each side and then connect the front and back together.  Easy peasy.

But I forgot to keep two things in mind: (1) I have boobs (2) I was using a stretchy cotton dress as my guideline and my fabric was non-stretchy cotton.  Thank goodness for buying extra fabric and extra pair of hands (my husband) to help me figure out what I needed to fill the wide gap that revealed my tush.

Once the sewing was complete the rest was pretty easy.  I used black yarn to hand sew big stitches where the different fabrics met and I drew in the pattern using a permanent marker.

Finding a long red wig proved to be a bit of a challenge so I ended up getting a long white wig and a can of red hairspray.  One can turned into 3 cans to cover the whole damn wig.

The end result - a pretty sweet Sally costume made with love, tears, and a few f-words.

Unagi Travel (noun): Travel agency for your teddy bear

When I was a kid, my whole family went on a two month trip through Europe in the summer (both of my parents  were teachers at the time).  And by my side always was Patchy, my brown yarn haired, dimple faced Cabbage Patch kid.  Patchy slept in hotels in Paris, ate on a train dining car en route to Germany, and walked (aka dragged along) the streets of Prague.  The doll was well traveled compared to most living beings.

Fast forward to present day.  While cleaning out our guest room closet, I found Patchy stuffed in a cloth bag, still wearing the dress my mom bought her from that trip.  To think of all the places this doll had been, only to end up in the back of an Ikea wardrobe.  While I've had many adventures of my own since that family trip, it made me a little sad that Patchy's adventures had ended as soon as I hit puberty.  Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that was the case, otherwise I'd be that weird woman who carried a Cabbage Patch doll with her everywhere.  That would have been particularly awkward on my honeymoon 3 years ago.

BUT - there's still hope for my childhood companion, thanks to Unagi Travel - a one of kind travel agency that lets stuffed toys travel the world on behalf of their owners.  Weird and unusual, yes, but also a really cute idea!  The agency will send you pics and updates of your dolls travels and at the end of it all, you are returned your doll, more worldly and relaxed than before.

Looks like I'm going to have to update Patchy's passport :)

Pumpking Carving (Verb): A good way to spend a lazy Sunday with family

3 MORE SLEEPS UNTIL HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I'm excited?

I love holidays (and yes, I consider Halloween a holiday).  Any chance I get to decorate the house, get a new outfit/costume and plan a party - I'm in!  This year we kicked off our Halloween season with a house party with a Mad Scientist theme.  More pics and stories on that later this week.

But for now, I just wanted to show off the awesome pumpkin we carved yesterday with the help of our 2 year old nephew ("help" came in the form of picking out pumpkin seeds one at a time - the kid's meticulous, what can I say?).  Admittedly, while I appreciate a well carved pumpkin, I don't actually enjoy the doing of it.  Which is why I usually take care of drawing on the template and my husband takes care of the hacking...I mean, carving.

This year, because of my costume (waaaait for it), I decided on a Jack Skellington face template.  Those were easy enough to find online, and we decided to use this one.

Easy enough and it didn't take very long to create...except for the seed handling as mentioned earlier.

And the end result - one kick ass pumpkin, ready to be displayed proudly on our porch this Thursday!

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween...Pumpkins scream in the dead of night..."

Moving On (Verb): Leaving behind an old job for new adventures

Ingalish has been quiet for the last few weeks but for good reason.  Last week I started a new job for a big player in film distribution.  Although it's still in entertainment (an industry I've worked in for over a decade), it's a far cry from the kids' promos I was producing for the last 7 years.

Funny that when I started my old job, I never imagine that I'd be there longer than a couple of years, a sentiment shared by many who work in television and film.  But also like so many others - I got comfortable.  And the problem with comfortable is that while it's safe and reassuring, eventually it evolves into boring and stale.

I needed change.

I don't want to discredit all of the awesome experiences I had at my old job.  I really enjoyed what I did and I did it well.  But there was no real next-step-up for me.  So a few months ago I started scouring the internet job sites looking for jobs, the first time in 7 years.  And it wasn't easy.  Partially because there were slim pickings,  partially because the competition was so high and partially because admittedly, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.

I had a few job interviews, some for places I could really see myself excelling and other places where my gut feeling was telling me it wasn't the right move - but hey - at least I got to practice my interview skills. But no bite.  And trust me, after a while I started to feel discouraged in looking anymore.  If not for the gnawing feeling inside telling me that I had to move on, I probably would have given up and stayed with comfortable.

And then *poof* suddenly all the pieces came together.  I landed an interview for a very cool job and it went well.  And then the following week they called me in for a second interview, and it went even better.  And then before I knew it I was negotiating salary, vacation days, and start dates.  Weird how it can go from nothing happening to everything happening at once.

And the minute I signed my agreement, I felt this sudden wave of calm and I knew I had made the right decision.  My last two weeks went by and surprisingly without any tears.  And the following week (last week) I was the "new girl."  It was weird not taking the same route in the morning, walking down different halls, and sitting in my own office (I had a kinda-cubicle before).

I'm on week two and I'm getting use to the change.  I'm learning a lot of new things in general which I think my brain is grateful for.  If there's any advice I give to those starting a new job - ask questions.  The worse thing you can do is pretend you know what people are talking about and admit 3 years down the line that you had no f'n clue what P & A stood for (Prints & Advertising, as I learned).  There's still a lot yet to be learned and practiced but I'm ready for it.

Goodbye comfortable.

Old Business Shirt (noun): New Cat Accessory

I've got another crafty equation for you...

1 old collared shirt (check with male counterpart first)

+

Pair of Scissors

+ 

One Manly Black Cat

+

Surprisingly little restraint

=

It's Business Time!

YouTube Video Night (noun): An event for social media nerds to gather and drink free booze

Last night I visited Google's Toronto office to attend their YouTube Video Night.  It's a night...to watch YouTube videos.  Pretty straightforward.  The added perks were the free drinks, sliders, mini hot dogs, and the candy bar.  Mmmmm, the candy bar.

Oh yeah, and getting to meet some very cool YouTubers who basically make it their living to produce videos for the site.  The event was curated by 4 guests, including YouTubers/Musicians Andrew Huang and Corey Vidal.  The fact that these guys make their own videos - just 'cause - and can make a living out of it is so cool.  But it wasn't something that just fell on their laps.  Both guys have been dedicated to putting out well produced content for years and eventually they got the attention of companies looking for ways to push out their brands in creative ways.

Check out Andrew's video, where he teamed up with a jeans company and made music with denim:

Cory Vidal has made such a name for himself, he was asked to be speaker at a TEDx event at York University! (And for some reason I can't post the video, but you can check out the video here).

These guys prove that it pays to be creative and a bit of a social media nerd.

It was a fun night of watching YouTube videos (a regular Friday night at our house) and at the end of the event, they left us with one last perk:

Dog Rescuing (verb): Just your average Sunday morning routine

I woke up freakishly early on Sunday morning, unable to take advantage of not having to be anywhere in the morning.  After lying in bed for 20 minutes staring at the ceiling, I did what any normal married woman would do.  I woke up my husband.

I had a lot on my mind which is why I couldn't go back to sleep so he suggested that we go for a walk and grab a coffee at the Starbucks about 20 minutes from our house.  As soon as we stepped out of the house, our unforeseen adventures began.

We saw a border collie running across the street towards us and then back towards the park across the street.  We found it odd since our street has quite a bit of traffic and no one should be letting their dog run across it unattended.  We decided to follow it into the park and it didn't take very long to realize that the dog was without its owner.  It frantically ran from tree to tree sniffing its way around.  It almost ran back onto the street but a man walking his dog was entering the park and the two dogs stopped to sniff each other.  That's when I called out to the guy to grab the stray dog's leash.  We ran over and explained the situation and took hold of the collar.  The guy was nice enough to offer to go back to his house and get an extra leash (thanks Manuela!) while my husband called the 1-800 number marked on the poor pup's collar.

And just for the record - calling that number was a complete pain in the ASS.  It was fully automated and unless you carry a pen and paper on you at all times, it was near impossible to memorize all the numbers the message was telling you to call.

Luckily at that moment, the owner of the lost dog showed up.  He was a young guy on his bike and explained that the dog had escaped out of a window.  I wasn't really interested in hearing his story but we were sure he was the owner because the dog recognized him immediately.  He thanked us several times over and we parted ways.

Quite a stir for a Sunday morning, right?  Well, it doesn't end there.

We continued on, grabbed our coffee and talked about what a crazy morning it had been (so far).  And when we left, not even a MINUTE after stepping out of the Starbucks, we saw ANOTHER stray dog running on the streetcar tracks!  My husband and I looked at each other in  WTF disbelief, but since we were already experts we decided to go on another rescue mission.

This experience was a lot scarier since the little pup was running in the middle of the tracks and then onto oncoming traffic.  Luckily a few people on the street took notice and helped us keep the dog off the street.  And eventually we were able to corner it into an enclosed bar patio.  A young woman named Stephanie went back to her house to grab a collar while an older woman named Wendy brought her dog in to calm the pup down.  Unfortunately there was no collar.  Stephanie mentioned that she was sure she had seen the pup running on her street hours before, s it was at least on it's own for  good 4 hours!!!

Wendy offered to bring the pup back home with her to feed it and my husband and I wished her luck in finding the owner.  If the right eyes are reading this, this all happened on St. Clair near Christie.  I wish I had remembered to take a picture but I found a pic of a similar dog online:

What I learned from this experience:
- It's easier to catch a stray dog if you have a dog with you
- The Toronto Animal Services hotline SUCKS if it's an emergency
- There are some amazing citizens in the west end of Toronto
- And some TERRIBLE dog owners

I hope the second pup finds it's way back home soon but at least it's in good hands for now.

L'Oreal Privee (noun): Free Make-Up at TIFF

I love free. 

I love being pampered. 

And I got both at L'Oreal's temp set-up at TIFF. Open throughout the festival, ladies (and gents - it's a new world baby) can check out the company's new line, Privee, exclusive to TIFF. The trendy nude line includes a lipstick and nail polish inspired by some of today's leading ladies including Jennifer Lopez and Eva Longoria.

                                       

After a short wait (like anything, get there early to avoid the long lines) and a quick survey to fill, I could choose one of the three stations they had set up: one for hair, one for nails (below)...

...And a third for lips.  I decided to do the lip station because it wouldn't take as long for the application and getting a free lipstick seemed like the best deal.

I'm not gonna lie.  I actually visited the booth on two separate occasions (yay for multiple e-mail addresses) and scored two lipsticks, the JLO and Eva colours.  I figured since they were closest to my skin tone, their lipsticks would suit me best and I was right.  I'm not much of a lipstick wearer but I liked that the colours were subtle and lipstick was really creamy.  

After my second visit I had a TIFF movie to go to afterwards, so I was all glammed up to sit in a dark theatre for 2 hours. But at least I knew I looked great the whole time.

Thanks L'Oreal!

Amazonia (noun): Life through the eyes of a capuchin monkey

This week, I thought I'd write about all things TIFF.  I saw my first film, Amazonia, last Sunday with my husband, brother, sister-in-law and 2 nieces.  After three days of religiously checking the TIFF site in the morning, I finally managed to get tickets for something I was actually interested in.  There are slim pickings when you buy as late as I do.

I'm no movie reviewer but here's an attempt anyway...

The 3D movie tells the story of a capuchin monkey once raised in captivity (assuming he was a show monkey because his cage was sitting on top of a wagon marked "Circus") who is transported by a plane, only to crash in the Amazon jungle.  It's like the show Amazon " but with a better story line and way better acting...from a monkey.  And that's saying a lot considering that I was on that show.

Before the movie started, my two under-10 nieces were less than impressed that this movie would not have any dialogue or "Spy Kids" gadgets.  I reminded them that it was at least in 3D, but that wasn't helping my case.  But as soon as that plane crashed and the little buddy was left to fend for himself, I could hear the girls "awwwwe" in their seats.

SUCCESS!

The film did a great job with telling a good story and the footage was incredible.  I mean seriously, how did they get shots of some of the animals?!  And when our little hero finds another capuchin money buddy, my heart melted.

It' a great film for the whole family to see and well worth the price of admission.  It has one more run at TIFF on September 14 so if you're interested, you can get tickets here.

Cascade (noun): A group of hot dudes from France who can kick ass

Another fun show that I watched at the CNE was a performance by Cascade - a group of stuntmen from France who combine martial arts, dance, story and music in their show.  As they were being announced on stage, I was really surprised to find out that they were semi-finalists in last year's Britain's Got Talent.  Apparently even Simon loved them which means they were going to be good.

At first, I didn't know what to make of the slapstick comedy - the story was about a group of soldiers that were being disciplined by their superior.  There was a lot of "Who farted?" miming and banana peel slipping, which the kids in the audience loved.  When they eventually got more into the martial arts, that's when it really showed off their talents.

This is my favourite shot:

I checked out their audition for BGT, and I'm a little disappointed that they weren't shirtless for the CNE show like they are for the audition.  But think of the children, Inga.

Right.

Here's their first appearance on the show, complete with salivating female judges.

Granola (adjective): To be healthy only if it basically tastes like dessert

Here's a fun and easy recipe for homemade Ingalish Granola.  Double the amounts and you should have enough for an entire week.  Or a couple of days, depending on how much you love it.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

Combine 2 cups of rolled oats, 1 cup of Colorado Trail Mix, 1 cup of shredded coconut, 1/4 cup combo of sesame and poppy seeds, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, 5 tbsp of honey, and 5 tbsp of olive oil into a baking dish.  If you have matching Nesting doll measuring cups and spoons, it makes it that much more fun to make.

Put it in the oven for 30 minutes and make sure to mix it every once in a while.

Take it out and let it cool.

Scoop 1/4 cup and add milk/yogurt/nothing.  Eat like a madwoman.

Tightrope Walking (verb): A stunt that you should perform only if you come from a long line of tightrope walkers.

Do you ever look up at tall trees, a couple of lamp posts, or some building downtown and think to yourself "I think I'll walk on a tightrope between those today"?

Yeah, me neither.

I've tried it before, albeit 2 feet from the ground, in High Park and it was not easy. Some Brazilian dude had it set up between two trees and left it open for others to try out.  I figured it couldn't be that hard since the the fear of falling from a high distance was eliminated.  Yeaaaah, no.  Finding the right balance was really difficult and even then when I thought I had it, I only managed to walk forward a couple of steps before I "eeped" and jumped off.

But this isn't about my amazing feat as a tightrope walker.  This is about The Flying Wallendas - a family circus act that has been performing highwire acts without a net for 7 generations.  And I had the chance to see them in action at the CNE, their first performance there since the 1950's (I didn't pay attention to exact dates because I was too busy biting my nails out of nervousness).

I'll let the photos do the talking.  And remember: There was no safety net. Nada. Nikto. Kein.  And some perspective: The guy doing the headstand and SITTING ON A CHAIR ON THE HIGHWIRE is the 60-some year old father...

The act was only 30 minutes long which was just fine by me because I was basically shitting bricks for the performers the entire time.  But it was AWESOME!

Spaghetti Squash (noun): New favourite vegetable of the summer

Oh why oh why has it taken me so long to get to know the spaghetti squash?  Had I known how fulfilling it was to bake it for an hour and end up with ready-to-go strands, I would have done it ages ago!

Thanks to Mama Earth, this week's delivery included one lovely Ontario grown Spaghetti Squash and a great recipe.  And more importantly, a simple and idiot-proof recipe, which I'm gonna share, Ingalish-style.

Take one squash, halve it and remove the seeds.  Place the halves face down on a greased pan and let it bake for an hour.  You'll end up with this:

While the squash is spaghettifying, work on the sauce.  You'll need a pint of Saladette Tomatoes, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tbsp of olive oil, 1 can of white kidney beans (drained and rinsed), pinch of salt and pepper, and 3 tbsp of chopped parsley*.  Mix everything except for the beans and parsley and put in the oven for 30 min.  If you time it right, the squash and sauce will be done at the same time. After around 20 minutes mix in the beans and parsley into the sauce and leave it in for the remaining 10 minutes.

Then take everything out, scrape out the strands into a bowl and top it with the sauce.

Voila.  Yummy and healthy dinner is ready to be consumed.  You may find yourself eating like a starving animal, it's that good.  But if you made it at home, who cares what you look like eating it?!


*I should mention that the recipe also called for 1.4 tsp of hot pepper flakes and 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar but um, I kinda forgot to add those in.  But it was still delicious, I swear.

Fan Expo ( noun): A gathering of nerds with a lot of money to spend

My husband and I decided to check out Fan Expo last Saturday.  While we expected it to be crazy busy, we did not anticipate for the hour long line-up for tickets that started on the south end of Roundhouse Park and took us down a winding underground driveway that eventually led to an entrance to the south building of the Convention Centre.

The one saving grace were all the people dressed up in costumes that also had to wait in line, which gave us something to look and comment on.  Including one bonafide Tardis, complete with a Doctor who gladly took pictures with those waiting in line.

And then we finally got to buy our tickets and found out that it was $50 per person.  Whoops and ouch.  If only we had the Tardis to bring us back a couple of hours to research the price before we got there.

Because - here's the thing.  We're nerds and we were looking forward to checking out Fan Expo for the first time.  But for the price we paid at the door, and considering that basically everything at the show cost something, it didn't seem worth it.

Alright nerds, before you poo poo that comment, let me remind you that I'm on your side.  I totally understand that the artists should be selling their stuff.  We bought a signed print from a guy we didn't even know but we just liked his work.  But I don't think you need to have to pay for over priced bite sized Pizza Pizza, $5 Fan Expo tote bags to carry your prized possessions, or $30 to get a picture with Jason Priestly. He's great in Call Me Fitz, but not $30 great.  I also don't think that all those that put so much time and effort into costumes should even have to pay at all!  I had way more fun looking at homemade Sailor Moons, Banes, Thors, and Doctor Whos - they totally added to the feel of the show - and the fact that they had to wait in line like the rest of us shmucks didn't seem fair.

One highlight for me was meeting Dan Parent, one of the artists for Archie.  Having grown up on Archie comics passed down from my older brothers, it was pretty cool to meet him.  But again, like everything else, nothing's for free at the expo, and I had to buy a comic in order for him to sign it.

Things that didn't cost anything at the show: line-ups for food and washrooms, walking shoulder to shoulder at every turn, and sore feet.

Ok fine, now I'm just being an butthole.  There were a few cool things that didn't cost anything including building an X-Wing at the Lego area (I heart Lego), trying out new video games, and taking a picture with this guy:

Cat Bunk Bed (noun): A memorable birthday gift that officially makes me a "Crazy Cat Lady"

Despite June having some pretty rough patches, I had a GREAT birthday near the end of the month.  My husband organized a luau complete with a roasted pig and I was surrounded by some of my most favourite people.

There was no shortage of pig, tons of spiked fruit punch, lots of laughs, and the day was complete with one super-awesome homemade gift from my friend and her husband.

A Cat Bunk Bed.

I mean... COME ON!

Hurley is sitting on the top bunk, while Mischa shoved herself as far back as possible on the lower bunk.  Although I actually placed them there for this shot, they do use it on their own every once in a while, and every time I see them in it, I squeal.  My husband does not share my excitement.

I should clarify that there is a back story.  A week before the luau, I happened to stumble upon a photo of a cat bunk bed online and showed it to my friend/co-worker.  I thought it was cute and silly and I guess she understood that as "deep want."  Because that weekend, the day before my party, she somehow managed to convince her handy husband to make one with scrap material. A day before.

Wrapped in Justin Bieber wrapping paper (there is no back story for that, it was just random), they made me open it on my front porch when they arrived because they were too embarrassed to have me do it inside with people watching.  Which was a good thing 'cause I squealed pretty loud when I saw it.

I don't squeal a lot, but I seem to do it a lot on my birthday or when it has to do with this bed.

Knobs (noun): Easily screwable in the most non-sexual way

Here's an easy equation.  You don't need to be good at math, I promise.  But you will need a few things to get the answer:

One piece of driftwood from my friend's cottage (thanks Karina!)

+

3 Antique looking knobs on sale* from Timbuktu 

+

Not enough patience to accurately measure distances

+

2 Hands

=

Fits perfectly on the back of our bedroom door and works well with the Beach theme.




* In fact, it's a CLOSING sale.  The location on Yonge Street, just north of King is closing for good!

Run (verb): An attempt to look and feel better while huffing and puffing

Last Saturday, I completed my first 5km run with my husband atThe Midsummer Night's Run on Toronto Island. "With" in the sense that we started the race together, otherwise he finished a good 10 minutes before I did. But finishing it was my main goal, and that's what counts.

I consider myself a short distance sprinter (I placed 4th in the 100m race in grade 8, so I'm kind of a big deal), so the idea of running around a track more than once was daunting. Luckily, my husband's sister and her husband are avid runners and they gave us some great tips for training. We trained for about 3 weeks before the race, increasing our running intervals by a minute every week. By the last week, I was comfortable running for 5 minutes with a minute off walking.

Things I learned from the race:
- Runners for the most part are very supportive of each other.
- If I needed to slow down, I held my hand up to indicate I was moving off to the side.
- You should not mess with an 80-year old running veteran. He means business and you should get out of his way.
- There are, albeit a few, non-supporters who will actually go out of their way to create an obstacle. I'm talking directly to the 3 hippy teens that stood right in the middle of a path and refused to move. The 80-year old was NOT happy.
 - Always finish in style. Even if you've been running at a slow and steady pace for the whole race, speed up for the last 50 meters so you look like a rock star when you cross the finish line. I did, and I felt amazing.
- All these races support charities, but the best ones give out finisher medals. Yup, even though I didn't place in the top 3, I still got a medal just for FINISHING the race!

I was on such a high after the race and felt amazing for the rest of the weekend. We ended the night with some beer and pulled pork sandwiches on Olympic Island, while cheering on the 30km runners. A huge shout out goes to my husband for all his support and my sis-in-law and her hubbie for all their tips and encouraging words!

Blog (noun): A virtual space to unload your thoughts, passive aggressively complain, and show off how great your life is

Welcome to Ingalish. Yet another blog on the internet that addresses issues on STUFF. But it's MY stuff or the way I see stuff, so maybe it'll be something new and refreshing for your reading pleasure.

The last few months have had some especially hard challenges, and what led me to start a blog today was clear perspective and renewed hope. I know that sounds wishy washy and I'm being vague, but come on, I just met you. I may be a lady with a blog, but I'm still a lady.

I had actually set up Ingalish back in 2008 and was only reminded of it today when I was scrambling to come up with a witty name for the blog. I wanted it do with something happy related or what makes me happy. "Happy" as it stands is already taken. Which is sad because when I went to that blog the top post was titled "Hail Satan."

Riiiight.

So after unsuccessfully coming up with something new and original, I decided that my brain from 5 years ago was way sharper and that I should just resurrect Ingalish for present day use. And I figured it could still work because this blog is about life defined by me. What makes me happy, giddy, excited, sad, nervous, pissed off and bored.

Hope you'll enjoy what I have to say and share. And if you don't, there's always this: