Beautiful Bride
How gorgeous!!!! I could only have hoped to look as graceful + stunning as my mom did on her wedding day!!! 
My dad is a lucky man!!!! Read more
Archive for
Nov 30
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Happy American Thanksgiving!!!
I say Happy American Thanksgiving because Canadian Thanksgiving takes place in the beginning of October. People say, “Weird! In October? Do Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving? Were there Pilgrims in Canada? I don’t get it!”. I didn’t either, but I did some research + there’s lots of different reasons for Canadian Thanksgiving – “Jour de l’Action de Grace” in Canadian French thankyouverymuch. Read more
My So-Called Occupy LA
When Jeff was visiting, we were taking a walk to the MOCA museum + decided to give the 99%ers a visit at City Hall. It’s only a few blocks from my house + we thought we’d go see how the movement was chugging along. All I can say is: ew. Read more
Pardon Me?
Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. Working night shoots for the past couple weeks has been interesting. You would think that if you were acclimatized to working nights week after week, it would be okay, but you still feel crazy. It’s not natural for human beings to stay up all night + sleep during the day. I’m not a bat for god’s sake! I need vitamin D!!!! The good thing is, everyone at work feels crazy, so you’re all in the same boat. Wait, I don’t know if 200 + people feeling crazy is a good thing… Read more
Lofty Goals
Jeff is coming to visit this weekend!!!!! He arrives tonight at 6:45 tonight + leaves Monday at 9pm. Very quick trip. The main goal was to paint + do last minute fix ups to the condo which we assumed would be rented by now. Still no takers. Kind of a bummer. But I’m still glad he’s coming to visit because I won’t see him again till the day of Christmas Eve. I just can’t wait to have our own home in Canada!!!!!! AAAAAARGH!!!! Read more
Working on a Night Train
Being freelance, the hours I work are always unpredictable. This week, I’m working all nights + it’s surprisingly easy to acclimatize to an all-night schedule. What you have to do is: take a nap for a couple hours in the evening, set an alarm to wake up around 1-2am, force yourself to stay up till about 8am, go back to sleep till your alarm is blaring at about 2:30pm. Easy breezy!!! The good thing is, everyone at work is just as loopy as you are, so everyone is boarding the same crazy train together. Read more
American Indian Arts Marketplace at the Autry
Saturday was the much anticipated American Indian Arts Marketplace at the Gene Autry museum. It is one of my favorite events of the year + usually happens in the fall. Debbie + her mom Naomi were my dates! Naomi is visiting Debbie from New York, + before the Marketplace, I went to Debbie’s house for lunch. I love when Naomi visits because she always makes yummy, healthy + fresh Korean food!!!! 
For all of you that think Korean food is all bulgogi + meat – you’re wrong!!!!! Naomi uses lots of greens + everything tastes so light!!!! Lunch was buckwheat noodles on a bed of spring greens, cucumber kimchi, daikon leaf kimchi + spicy rice cake. YUUUUUUUUUUM!!!!!!! Thanks Naomi! My compliments to the chef!!!!
I was so excited when we arrived at the Gene Autry that I started hyper ventilating! I’ve been waiting a whole year for this!!!! I put on so much turquoise, y’all!!! 
Inside the tent there are vendors selling everything from turquoise, art, photography, clothing, etc. Here’s Debbie in front of a beautiful beaded pow wow costume.
Even though we had a big lunch, guess who was hungry again?! I had to get some frybread while I was at the Marketplace! It’s a sin to leave the Marketplace without having frybread! There were three food trucks outside, because food trucks are really trendy right now. I remember when they served the frybread from under a cramped pop-up tent.
When I was placing my order + gave the girl my name, this guy behind me said, “Shelli? Shelli Morningsun?”. I was like, “Excuse me?”. He replied, “Is your name Shelli Morningsun?”. I was like, “No.”. He apologized + said, “Oh, I thought you were Shelli Morningsun. She’s a really amazing vocalist + she’s performing on stage later today.”. That was pretty funny. 
Somebody at work the other day asked if I was American Indian. I think all the turquoise plays mind games on people.
Check out this frybread!!! Frybread is like a Native American taco. Fried, doughy goodness with chili ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato!!! And since I was with a couple of Koreans, we doused it with so much Tapatio hot sauce, it was a fiery mess!!!! More salsa! Oh, I will be sad in Canada without salsa on every table….
This was my favorite thing at the pow wow! These were raised beadwork souvenirs from Niagara Falls made during the Victorian era by women of the Tuscarora Nation. The guy was really excited when I told him Jeff’s aunt lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Isn’t it gorgeous + amazing!? I really want one. The technique is called a “hump stitch” or “rope stitch”. This creates the three dimensional shapes by sewing beads in raised arches or by sewing beads over beads. Drool.
This gal was making these ridiculously awesome dolls + was in the process of beading moccasins + a vest for the male doll. Me want these too!!!!!!!! 
Debbie + I were obsessed with these scarves that you’ll see us wearing at the end of the post. We were making such a big deal about them that the lady in the red + black jacket next to Debbie’s mom had to get in on the action. They’re so cozy – we love them!!!
We ended our day by watching the dancers perform. Look at their beautiful costumes, beads + turquoise!!! Double drool!!!! 
There’s the statue of good ol’ Gene Autry in the background. The Autry is one of my favorite museums in Los Angeles. They have a great permanent exhibit about the development + expansion of the west, stories about gunslingers, the ethnic groups that immigrated to the United States, you name it! Their non-permanent exhibits are always really well curated too. Go visit!!! http://theautry.org/
What a fun day! I did not purchase any turquoise! My restraint was world class!!! Here’s Debbie + I in our beloved scarves. They are warm as heck.
Technology Saves Relationships
People ask me often how Jeff + I keep in touch, considering our entire relationship has been long distance + still is. It sucks. But we’ve never experienced anything else, so to us it’s sort of normal. I miss him all the live long day, but I pretend that he’s “on location” + psych myself out that way.
In the beginning, when we first started dating, we would just text + email. Then, we graduated to buying phone cards + skyping. It all sounds so archaic now! Here’s pictures we texted to each other during our respective holidays 2009. 
Can you see I’m trying to convey a sense of, “Hey, don’t I look fun?”. I look a little uncomfortable doing it. My friends had to force me to take this picture + send it to Jeff. We had met at the end of November, so at this time I was still trying to woooooo him with my charms.
Jeff’s 2009 holiday photo to me with Matt + Tobin. Don’t they look so little?! Isn’t it crazy how fast kids grow up?! What do you guys think? Jeff better with or without a moustache??? With, of course!!!! That’s the answer!!! Mother Jean would definitely NOT agree!!!! My mom LOVES his moustache because she thinks it’s macho. 
Mas Macho!!!! Does anyone remember an ad campaign from Camel cigarettes in the 70s about “The Turk”? I totally don’t. But it’s amazing!!! Jeff + I saw an art installation with The Turk in it at the MOCA “Under the Big Black Sun: California Art: 1974-1981” exhibit. Hot!!!! What’s not hot about panning for gold?! http://www.moca.org/black_sun/
Sorry, I always get distracted on the subject of men with moustaches. Ok, carrying on. Jeff + I would also email photos of what we had been up to in our separate lives.
Here’s Jeff bowling. This was when his facial hair evolved into this weird Wolverine style. I was like, “What the heck is going on with that hair on his face?”. But it was too new in the relationship for me to say that. Now, I’d be like, “Yo, do something about that. It’s weird!”
So weird. I don’t even know what inspired him shave like that. I should maybe ask him. 
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. So hot. I love me some Hugh Jackman. Distracted again. Sorry. 
Here was me at the San Juan Capistrano mission. In the picture I was probably trying to convey, “Hey, I enjoy California history. And aviator sunglasses”.
Once Jeff got an IPhone that revolutionized our long distance relationship. We basically FaceTime almost every day, if our work schedules allow it. Seeing your significant other’s face while talking is very important in my book. I’m no couples therapist, but in my opinion it is a huge deal. Some other vital tools for being in two different countries is to get the Whatsapp + Viber apps. My techy savvy friend Kim has a boyfriend who travels out of the country often for work + she was aghast that I didn’t have them. They use up data on your phone, not minutes. So you can basically text, send pictures + talk for free if you have a wirelss connection or 3G connection. My sucky AT+T plan only lets me send 100 texts to Canada a month. Lame-o!!!! These two apps are a must for long distance relationships!!!! If you + your guy/gal have smart phones, get these apps stat!!!! http://www.whatsapp.com/ http://www.viber.com/
We also send a picture of ourselves every day to each other.
I can’t WAIT to live in the same country + under the same roof with Jeff!!!!! It’s getting really old, y’all. I really hope our immigration paperwork gets processed without any delays or complications. And no, we haven’t turned it in yet. 😦 Jeff is coming to visit for Remembrance Day ( a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty since World War I) + we’re going to put our heads together + work on it because I think I have all the documents I need now. Come to think of it, I flew to Calgary on Remembrance Day in 2009 for work + that’s when I met Jeff!!!!!!!!! Wow, I just realized that because when we landed all the Canadians were wearing red poppies + I thought, “Oh how nice the Canadians are with their red flower pins.”. I had no idea what they were for, I just thought they were cute. The red remembrance poppy is a symbol of Remembrance Day, due to the poem in “Flanders Fields”. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, + red color represents the blood spilled in the war. This is probably going to be on my citizenship test!!! One question, down! 
how's it going, eh? 