Not Again!

It has happened again - around lunch today I started to get hit with a head cold. I have been sneezing and blowing my nose for a couple of days but now it has filled my sinuses, made me dizzy, it is hard to breath, and I am achy all over - full blown winter cold! Last year I mentioned that I get sick around Halloween, but last year I didn't really have a lot of plans. This year I'm working, having people over tomorrow on the actual day, and today I am going to a Halloween networking event in the evening. I don't want it to be 2009 all over again, when I had lots of plans but ended up in bed. I should spend the evening cleaning in preparation for having people over, but I think that will get sacrificed for a good nights sleep.

Comic Sans

Kristen's new job is much more about design than she had originally thought; this has lent itself well to font conversations. We actually often discussed fonts before too. She does not share my love for Comic Sans. This makes me sad - it is one of my favourites, the wiki articles says it is used in The Sims, which might be the subconscious base for my love.

Anyway, this rant describes my thoughts perfectly:

I’m Comic Sans, Asshole. By Mike Lacher

What So You See?

---------- from Facebook

The first 3 words you see are what you seek to achieve. 

What do you see? (Click to enlarge)

I saw: Fun, Hope, Success

Breathtaking Images

I wanted to pick one or two images from this series to share on Always Standing before providing the link to view them all - but I couldn't pick. I also don't know how to describe this so am going to use the wiki article:

Jon Rafman (born 1981, Quebec, Canada) is a Montreal based contemporary artist perhaps best known for exhibiting found images from Google Street View.

9-Eyes

I stumbled upon this a while ago and have been meaning to post about it. I found it so haunting - beautiful and not beautiful at the same time. The images and idea stuck with me. I looked through them again now and I found it just as powerful. I really appreciate that the artist doesn't add any text. (I also like that he is Canadian.)

Go To Goodlife?

My gym closed!! I don't know what do now. There are other gyms in the area, including a 24 hour Goodlife, but I really liked the other one, it was in a beautiful loft space too. I should be honest and tell you that basically my membership had become a monthly donation, but I was planning to start going back this week! Then I got an email saying that it was shutting down.

MC & Maid Of Honour

As promised, I am posting a link to the professional photos for Steph and Dave's wedding. You can see them HERE on the photographer's blog. (Also, check out Steph's blog to read about her favourites.) All the phtos are beautifully done! I had no doubts, the engagement/concept shoot was amazing - so, I know that we were in good hands.

When looking through them, note the shot of me writing speeches (MC duty), the sexy picture of an almost kiss with a necklace pull, the one with Teri in the background, and my favourite, the most beautiful picture of Steph getting her earrings put in by her mother. Here is a sweet shot of me tying up Steph's dress (Maid of Honour duty), Steph's sister-in-law is helping me, a flower girl looking on, and Steph's mom is in the background...

Getting Stephanie Ready

Photo Copyright © 2012

By Genevieve Georget/Fifteen:Fifty-One Photography

http://www.fifteenfiftyone.ca/

Who Wants A Springform Pan?

Last night, I went to a big warehouse sale for Kitchen Stuff Plus. I love this store! It is like a Winners but for kitchen, bath, and other household products. Even though I don't cook, I still like shopping! Anyway, I was looking for a couple of things for myself and anything that seemed like a good idea for Christmas presents. Well, I found a springform pan, which is something I have been wanting for a while.

For those who don't know (according to Wiki) a springform pan is a type of bakeware that features sides that can be removed from the base. The base and the sides of the pan are separate pieces. The pan is secured by a latch on the exterior of the wall. This tightens the 'belt' that becomes the walls of the pan and secures them into a groove on the base piece.

I assume springform pans have a few purposes, but for me it is a 'cheesecake' pan. Every now and then I think I want to make a cheesecake, which is an expensive endeavor as it is, only to realise that I don't have one of these pans so will be need to go out and get that first. So, now I have one!

The pan was a great deal; it is a high quality brand and was $9.89. However, that wasn't for just one pan, but three! What am I ever going to do with three of these pans? I can barely picture a scenario where I would use two at once, let alone a third. The quality of the pans is quite good and it would make a nice gift for someone, but unless explicitly asked for it would be a really strange Christmas present. Anyone who bakes probably already has one. It is just too random an item to give someone on a whim, even if I knew they were a baker.

I might give one to Mike, since he most likely doesn't have one and he used to like making cheesecakes when he was younger. I also feel that big sisters are allowed to give random gifts.

First Client - Balachandran Law

Today I worked with Aghi Balachandran to bring his law firm, Balachandran Law, to a wider audience through online marketing. Many people in professional fields are hesitant to move their business into the exciting world of social media. I hope to help Aghi Balachandran ensure that his online presence reflects the sharp and successful reputation he has already developed as a Criminal Defence Lawyer in Toronto.

Beyond social media, he is also planning on revamping his website www.balalaw.ca with a local developer. I hope to also assist him with this as well.

A New Background

With my last laptop I really felt that changing my wallpaper/background would really make a difference and help improve things:
- After getting it repaired
- After reformatting it
My old laptop was not really the greatest and I know logically that the image displayed has nothing to do with how well the thing works.

However, I still take the choice of background very seriously. You have to look at it all the time! I don't like having people, or landscapes; I love roses. So, after taking my time and reviewing some options online, for my new laptop I have decided on the following:

Gulp!

So, umm, this just happened: 

A woman at work asked if I was pregnant! 

That has never happened before; I really need to get started on a weight-loss plan and fast! She didn't say it in a mean way, and she is British so she actually asked, "Oh, are you all spronged?" Which she then clarified meant pregnant, I think it is a more affectionate British version of 'knocked up'. When I told her I wasn't, she back tracked a bit saying how great I look and that she was just thinking it would be wonderful for me if I was... I have only met her a few times, so she obviously doesn't know me well. It is so surreal; I have never been asked that before by a borderline stranger. I don't know what to think.

My Beautiful City

---- from Twitter

City Rising

By Tom Ryaboi

City Rising from Tom Ryaboi on Vimeo.

And She's Back!!

Steph has returned to the world of writing and blogging. She just posted on her main personal blog (The Great Abyss), giving some reasons for her absence. You can read it HERE. I am so glad she is writing again, I have missed it!

It also looks like she has made some adjustments and moved her photography blog over to WordPress. She also has a beautiful website for her company - Stephanie Beach Photography. I know I keep saying this, but I promise I will get the My Links section of Always Standing updated soon.

New Laptop

I finally got around to replacing My Little Pet, the old Acer laptop that stopped working on me a few months ago. I now have a shiny new Samsung! It is very nice to have a working computer again, I was relying on my work computer during lunch hours and my phone the rest of the time - that wasn't really cutting it. I have lost my copy of Microsoft Office and I also don't have photoshop loaded on this, so everything still isn't perfect in my world of computers but this new laptop is definitely a step in the right direction!

Crash & Cry

So yesterday I spent 6:30am to 11:00am crying - for no reason, or for lots of little insignificant reasons, depends how you look at. "I hate myself. I hate my life." When I get that upset, I end up making myself ill; so, I also threw up a bit. It was all really awful and after a crash like that I don't feel like myself for a while. It will take some time to get back to normal. I am functioning today - at work, awake, feeling human.

Lessons Learned (for what feels like the millionth time): My medication is important and must be taken everyday and refilled before it runs out. I need lots of sleep. It is important to eat right and exercise.

CSOL - Christine Sweeton OnLine

After some pressure from my parents and Teri, I have decided to slowly start to brand myself and consider starting a small side business based on my Communications and Social Media background. I work with the business side of social media every day, it is an area of marketing that I am very comfortable with. I am also very confident in my abilities to provide advice and services to others in this area, so it really isn't a bad idea to slowly start to see where this could take me.

And of course, I always like to start with a name:

CSOL - Christine Sweeton OnLine

Mr. & Mrs. Koning

It is my pleasure, to introduce for the first time on Always Standing ....

Mr. and Mrs. Koning!

Photo Copyright © 2012

By Genevieve Georget/Fifteen:Fifty-One Photograph

http://www.fifteenfiftyone.ca/

Steph and Dave's wedding was so amazing! It was beautiful and perfect and an insane amount of fun!! More details and pictures will follow soon, but I wanted to let everyone know how the weekend went - in short, AWESOME!