Catch ya in the 10 spot!

I think it is a perfect time to reflect on not only the last year but the last decade. I have said it before and I must say it again…Life is a myriad of cyclical events and moments that keep us trucking from highs to lows, to lessons and learnings allowing us to live hard and fast. The last 10 years have been a time of so much change and so much growth. 10 years ago my vision of where I would be is so very different from where I actually am. This decade has included a university degree, a year stint living in a foreign country, realizing what true love actually is, enduring many heartaches and a couple heartbreaks too. Realizing the value of a true and real friendships. A career that in all honesty I did not even know existed where I gained so much knowledge about so many things. Realizing the definition of me, and who I wanted to be. I have also endured quite the year that was 09. My slogan for 09 was “09 is all mine” and friends I did everything in my power to own it. In many ways I did just that. I set out to accomplish various things and did in more ways then I could have ever imagined. My main feat for this past year was to take on a marathon and qualify for Boston in a time of 3 hours and 30 mins and friends I did it! I came across that finish line, smiling so big it hurt in a time of 3 hours and 29 mins. That day was maybe one of the happiest days of my life thus far. I still get chills down my spine with the sheer thought of it.
I learned a lot about myself this past year. I learned that change is inevitable and can be challenging and hard but is always for the best. I learned that kisses are definitely not contracts and that to truly love another we must truly love oneself. I learned the true meaning of being true to oneself and that sometimes down time is necessary and needed for ones mental and emotional health. I learned that words can hurt you way more then sticks or stones but one must take away something positive from each hurt and actually learn. I learned that your friends are truly your chosen family and man am I ever lucky for mine. I am sure there are moments that I can be quite a trying and hard person to love and my chosen family never walked away from the good or even the bad. They not only always gots my back but they take such good care of me and my heart. I learned that my real live nation is so damn important and although they do not always get me they always love me no matter what.
This year has been filled with so many laughs, so much loves but also some hurts and heartbreaks. I am taking such a full heart and such a healthy state of mind into the next decade. I am ready for all the funs, the adventures and all the challenges I will get to endure. Thank you 09 for everything. Catch y’all in the 10 spot.
V. xo

Happy Happy! Merry Merry!

twas the night before christmas and you could find surf and turf in our tum tums, some white wine being passed about and gin gynas as a night cap. Wilson Phillips blared while daddyo and V danced around the family room. Bed called and we all tucked in while Santa tip toed about and filled our stockings with much care. Christmas morning noj joined us and the gift giving began.
Christmas morning 09 has come and gone... now for a big turkey dinner with cousins, an aunt and an uncle. There will be more wine and cockers drank and I can guarantee too many laughs and a lot of loves.
May your christmas day be filled with only fun, loves, laughs and surrounded by those you love!

HAPPPY HAPPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS WITH MUCH LOVES FROM MY LIVELY VINGNATION!!

V. xo

Hellz ya

Last night I went out for a killer run. It was one of those runs that gots me going... Super energized, super excited and super inspired. I felt amazing and my love and passion for the run was yet again renewed. Cannot wait to start training in Jan!
Hellz ya do I ever LOVE to run!
V.

in the merriment home stretch

Well here we are in the midst of merriment and the holidays that have left me tis the seasoned out and hollydazed. We are a mere days away from Christmas and my shopping is done. Drinks have been drank, dinners eaten and enough parties to last a lifetime with a few more to attend. My 30ish year old bod is one tired mess. But somehow I am still rocking and rolling. I have seen and caught up with so many friends while making new ones along the way. The fun just does not stop but does it ever?
As you are aware the holidays are tough. Always have been and always will be for so many different reasons for so many peeps I am certain. But friends, I am actually quite excited this year. I am pumped to get cozy in the 'wood with my rents. It shall be a quiet xmas eve at my rents this year with just me as my bro will be spending it with his gorgeous fiancer in the t dot. Like T-gives I always use to have such high expectations of how things should roll out however not anymore. I am just thankful to have everything I have and to be loved so thoroughly by all of those around me. I am one lucky gal to have such wonderous parents, an amazing bro and an even awesomer sister to be. and my chosen fam ain't so bad either. My friends make me warm and fuzzy and fill my heart so full. I give thanks daily for these wonderous peeps in my life. We are in the christmas home stretch with fun and laughs around each and every corner...Weeeee!
V.

This made my Saturday afternoon & Holiday season

On Sats Afternoon I had to run some errands in Yorkville...while westbound I heard screaming and cheering behind me. I quickly turned and what to my eyes did appear but the above. A bunch of running maniacs in nothing but red speedos, cheering and jingling! It made my day and my holiday season!
V.

Eff ya

I love my horo today. Made moody Monday a little less moody if ya know what I mean!

Leo (July 23 – Aug. 22)
Monday, December 14, 2009

Life is producing events at an utterly ridiculous pace. So, move along quickly. You must now shift and sort out as much as you can. You won’t be disappointed. You are about to cross the threshold into a new and wonderful chapter in your life.

Weeeeee!

V. xo

Forever in my heart

Tmo marks the date of a day that will never leave me. One day in my memories that might just haunt me always. It marks the 12th year of the loss of someone I cared for and loved very much. So tmo when the day wakes I will take a moment and think of him, remember him and thank my lucky stars that I gots to spend the time I did with him. He is remembered and never forgotten.
In honor of my lost friend, please take a moment and be thankful for all that you have in your own life, for all those brilliant people whom make your days brighter and your life better because we really are only here a short time. Love the one you are with wherever you maybe or whomever they maybe.
Love big and love deep. I promise you will not regret.
My friend remains forever in my heart and always in my memory.

V. xo

So long. Sianara. On to bigger, better & brighter!

It is funny that only last week I wrote about fear and the future and how change happens on the by to by and you must go full speed ahead with it. I was given a piece of information that was so evident but mostly so obvious. This piece of info has changed something in me. It was not happy or delightful news but real cold hard truth that has shattered the way I see someone. It lit anger deep within the bowels of my heart. It hurt. But the truth does sometimes. Am I different because of said info? No. but my thoughts and feelings are. I always make reference to the fact that life is a funny thing and it is. It really is. There are so many people out there that take and taunt and are out to hurt you. I give second chances. Always have and probably always will—but not in this instance. I always give others the benefit of the doubt. I let them prove me wrong. I believe that there is always good in someone. I have been tested so many times on this in so many ways. For the first time in my life, I am not allowing this someone anymore chances. They have rocked the boat too many times and taunted me for the last time. I am not harsh or hurtful although I can at times be dramatic and in this case I am making it dramatic in my ving nation. I am taking it personally and making my heart feel and see for once that this someone is not worth me.
So here I say goodbye. I say Sianara. So long.
This blog is not a place where I transcend negativity and it will seldom happen where I will rant or rate about such things but I need it to be known. I need it to be heard and understood for my own wellbeing and my own sanity. I already feel better. My heart is already more full and I already feel more alive. Goodbye…Now it is on to bigger, better and brighter! weeeeee!

V. xo

Being Edgy is Positive.

With the full moon early this morn comes some great horos pour moi. I likes. I likes lots.
My fave..."You will see clearly how to alter everything for the better." But also the idea that risky sitch's coax me out of my comfort zone allowing me to be an edgy positive! weeeee!

Leo (July 23 – Aug. 22)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
You need to be a little more neurotic. We all seek harmony and happiness. Surely, there is nothing wrong with that. It mustn’t, however, be allowed to last too long. It’s the arousal of the survival instinct caused by risky situations that coaxes us out of our comfort zone. Being edgy is positive.

Virgo (Aug. 23 – Sept. 22)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Don’t underestimate the power of the transformation that is altering your perception. It may not yet seem significant, but it is leading you into a new and captivating chapter in your life. You will see clearly how to alter everything for the better.

I hopes the stars are on your side aussi!
V. xo

And here we are already into December!

"November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring."
- Elizabeth Coatsworth

Vingnation Reflects on Fear...A 12AM wake up call!

I use to fear the future. I would wake in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat and be worried about what might be or what could be. It was unsettling and disconcerting. I feared everything a girl in her 20’s may fear—the what ifs, the what if nots and everything in between. Such fears constrained me in so many heartbreaking ways...
To read more go to: Vingnation Reflects on Fear...A 12AM wake up call!

V.

(photo courtesy of Matthew George)

WIN AN HP MINI!!!

Great peeps plus great food times a couple cocktails with Windows 7 equals not only a fun evening but also quite a proficient little party.

A few weeks ago my little Vingnation hosted a little get together in honor of the launch of Windows 7! That’s right, on a dark rainy evening 20 of my friends all cozied up in the private room at Marben (488 Wellington Street West, www.marbenrestaurant.com)in the T dot to learn all about the amazingness of Microsoft’s new Windows 7. Everyone got a chance to ask questions, putt away on computers, learning and laughing the night away.

In the excitement of the launch of this new operating system, my little nation is giving away an HP mini computer (see below for details) that YOU, one of my fave readers, could WIN. It is simple! Please tell me by way of message, picture or even video why you think you deserve an HP Mini computer…The most creative and inventive will win and be posted on woman.ca via my column and on my blogwww.vingnation.blogspot.com. The deadline is December 15th 2009 and should be emailed to me at:
vingnation@gmail.com .

Get cracking and you could be rocking the show with your very own HP MINI!

To read more go to: Vingnation partners with WINDOWS 7 for an evening of fun!


V.

Spoke to me.

Here is yet another song with lyrics that speak to me. Could I tell you why? nay on that one. But the words have struck a chord in my ole nation. definitely worth sharing. It is titled Little Lion Man.

weep for yourself, my man,
you'll never be what is in your heart
weep little lion man,
you're not as brave as you were at the start
rate yourself and rape yourself,
take all the courage you have left
wasted on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head

but it was not your fault but mine
and it was your heart on the line
i really fucked it up this time
didn't I, my dear?

tremble for yourself, my man,
you know that you have seen this all before
tremble little lion man,
you'll never settle any of your score
your grace is wasted in your face,
your boldness stands alone among the wreck
learn from your mother or else spend your days biting your own neck

but it was not your fault but mine
and it was your heart on the line
i really fucked it up this time
didn't I, my dear?

V.

Summer is on my mind

There is something about this Saturday morning that has me longing for summer. Sunshine, bathing suits, patio afternoons, weekends up north, insert sigh...summer is on my mind.
V.

1 month 'til XMAS 09--whaaaaa?

Seriously is it already Nov. 25? Peeps I am shocked into awe. I mean wasn't I just planting beautious flowers on my rooftop deck and enjoying pool time? Now its dark by 5pm with snow around the corner and Christmas one month away. I say it often and I assure you I will not stop saying how is it that life moves at such a fast pace. How do the days fly by at such a ferocious speed! Someone said the older you get, the faster time goes...well I must be getting tres old.
I am not going to lie, I miss the old no no november. A month to let your body rejig, your liver relax and your mind to become clear--just in time for the tricky holiday season. By tricky I mean late days out celebrating the season, long days at work with the year coming to an end and trying to keep normalcy in ones daily life...It is tough, let me tell ya. But the way I see it come Jan 1, my focus will be work and training for Boston, with not a whole whack of time for social engagement so I am letting it slide for now. I love the build and the socialness the next month offers. Seeing old friends, laughing the night away cozied up to a warm fire while enjoying a pleasant glass of veines or if you wanna take it to the next level a glorious glass of nog. OR busting out in snowstorms in heels when cabbies even refuse to hit the roads to your local or your bff's local. At the time, very irritating but from hindsight, one of your fondest xmas season celebrating memories. Have one that makes me giggle out loud.
Have I started my xmas shopping? Nope not yet. Do I plan on starting before the 20th, probably not. But that is how I roll.
Am I excited for xmas 09? More so then years past. The laughs, the loves and the fun with fam and friendsies are what make it for me. Tis the season afterall and I have a feeling this year will be full of the aboves!

V. xo

The Past

"The farther behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character." - Isabelle Eberhardt

Hope all of you beautious peeps got outside and drank up the sunshiney Saturday that was today!

V. xo

All is good and even...and well full of fun!

Well hello there friends! how does this find all of you? Happy, healthy, hearts smiling I hope. Sorry I have been soooo mia. Time is flying--as per usual. I have had a tremendously full fall filled with so many bests and wonderous moments. I can hardly believe we are into the second week of November already. My mother called me on Friday evening to discuss Christmas plans?!! I was caught off guard thinking wasn't it only just T-gives!? Minutes are like seconds and hours like days. Time is being such a little sneaky pants. The last few weeks have been a ball full of fun! Things in my life are moving fast...but I am having the best time. I smile to myself on the regular and remind myself of the wonderments in my life constantly.

Banan and the Dale bird tied the knot and we all tied one on to celebrate. I met tons of new friends while laughing and loving the weekend away. It was wonderous but even more wonderous the love between these two newlyweds. I was honored to stand up for them.

I ran a 10K fun run and was actually the first female finisher...It was amazing! I was as shocked as you are now! As I approached the finish line I realized I had not seen any women for quite somewhile. They pulled out the ribbon as sprinted the line and took some funny pics. My prize was not only the new nikeplus sportband but a few months of bragging rights at least. I was on cloud nine for at least a week. Plus my excitement and love of running re-ignited.

I have met new friends and shared some great moments with some old ones. Life is exciting and I just cannot wait for what is around my next corner...

And well that is where I am at. All is good and even... and well full of fun! On that note I am off to the land of sleep.

Promise to write again soon...
V.

Guess who rocked it out at METALLICA!

YOU KNOW IT!! Definitely a memory for the books...
V.

A Case for Hands Free Phones - A Response To "Extreme Fitness BMW Parking Failure" Video

Friends, I am sure you have all seen the EXTREME FITNESS PARKING video somewhere online, whether it be on a Facebook link, via someone's tweets, you tube...
Well today a response video was posted by Canadian Tire. The description is as follows:
This video post is based on the original 'Extreme Fitness BMW parking failure. Worst parking job ever' video. It is a reminder from Canadian Tire that while driving you must use hands free solutions because it is now the law. Come to Canadian Tire and pick up your Blue Tooth Hands free Solution today. For days that could use a hand. Or Two. For Days Like Today.
www.canadiantire.ca
Check it out!

and perhaps we should all get our little buttskis over to Cdn tire and pick up one of thems bluetooth contraptions..who wants a $500 ticket while gabbin and drivin??....PAS MOI!!

V.

Could not have said it better myself...

Bring it!
V. xo

Stumbling on Happiness...YES PLEASE!

I stumbled about this book via a video I watched on TED.com today. From what I have read thus far [see foreward below], my friends, I will BE reading this book from cover to cover.
This book is titled STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS by DANIEL GILBERT and I will be picking up a copy as soon as I possibly can!

"What would you do right now if you learned that you were going to die in ten minutes? Would you race upstairs and light that Marlboro you've been hiding in your sock drawer since the Ford administration? Would you waltz into your boss's office and present him with a detailed description of his personal defects? Would you drive out to that steakhouse near the new mall and order a T-bone, medium rare, with an extra side of the really bad cholesterol? Hard to say, of course, but of all the things you might do in your final ten minutes, it's a pretty safe bet that few of them are things you actually did today.

Now, some people will bemoan this fact, wag their fingers in your direction, and tell you sternly that you should live every minute of your life as though it were your last, which only goes to show that some people would spend their final ten minutes giving other people dumb advice. The things we do when we expect our lives to continue are naturally and properly different than the things we might do if we expected them to end abruptly. We go easy on the lard and tobacco, smile dutifully at yet another of our supervisor's witless jokes, read books like this one when we could be wearing paper hats and eating pistachio macaroons in the bathtub, and we do each of these things in the charitable service of the people we will soon become. We treat our future selves as though they were our children, spending most of the hours of most of our days constructing tomorrows that we hope will make them happy. Rather than indulging in whatever strikes our momentary fancy, we take responsibility for the welfare of our future selves, squirreling away portions of our paychecks each month so they can enjoy their retirements on a putting green, jogging and flossing with some regularity so they can avoid coronaries and gum grafts, enduring dirty diapers and mind-numbing repetitions of The Cat in the Hat so that someday they will have fatcheeked grandchildren to bounce on their laps. Even plunking down a dollar at the convenience store is an act of charity intended to ensure that the person we are about to become will enjoy the Twinkie we are paying for now. In fact, just about any time we want something—a promotion, a marriage, an automobile, a cheeseburger—we are expecting that if we get it, then the person who has our fingerprints a second, minute, day, or decade from now will enjoy the world they inherit from us, honoring our sacrifices as they reap the harvest of our shrewd investment decisions and dietary forbearance.

Yeah, yeah. Don't hold your breath. Like the fruits of our loins, our temporal progeny are often thankless. We toil and sweat to give them just what we think they will like, and they quit their jobs, grow their hair, move to or from San Francisco, and wonder how we could ever have been stupid enough to think they'd like that. We fail to achieve the accolades and rewards that we consider crucial to their well-being, and they end up thanking God that things didn't work out according to our shortsighted, misguided plan. Even that person who takes a bite of the Twinkie we purchased a few minutes earlier may make a sour face and accuse us of having bought the wrong snack. No one likes to be criticized, of course, but if the things we successfully strive for do not make our future selves happy, or if the things we unsuccessfully avoid do, then it seems reasonable (if somewhat ungracious) for them to cast a disparaging glance backward and wonder what the hell we were thinking. They may recognize our good intentions and begrudgingly acknowledge that we did the best we could, but they will inevitably whine to their therapists about how our best just wasn't good enough for them.

How can this happen? Shouldn’t we know the tastes, preferences, needs, and desires of the people we will be next year—or at least later this afternoon? Shouldn't we understand our future selves well enough to shape their lives—to find careers and lovers whom they will cherish, to buy slipcovers for the sofa that they will treasure for years to come? So why do they end up with attics and lives that are full of stuff that we considered indispensable and that they consider painful, embarrassing, or useless? Why do they criticize our choice of romantic partners, second-guess our strategies for professional advancement, and pay good money to remove the tattoos that we paid good money to get? Why do they experience regret and relief when they think about us, rather than pride and appreciation? We might understand all this if we had neglected them, ignored them, mistreated them in some fundamental way—but damn it, we gave them the best years of our lives! How can they be disappointed when we accomplish our coveted goals, and why are they so damned giddy when they end up in precisely the spot that we worked so hard to steer them clear of? Is there something wrong with them?

Or is there something wrong with us?

When I was ten years old, the most magical object in my house was a book on optical illusions. Its pages introduced me to the Müller-Lyer lines whose arrow-tipped ends made them appear as though they were different lengths even though a ruler showed them to be identical, the Necker cube that appeared to have an open side one moment and then an open top the next, the drawing of a chalice that suddenly became a pair of silhouetted faces before flickering back into a chalice again (see figure 1). I would sit on the floor in my father's study and stare at that book for hours, mesmerized by the fact that these simple drawings could force my brain to believe things that it knew with utter certainty to be wrong. This is when I learned that mistakes are interesting and began planning a life that contained several of them. But an optical illusion is not interesting simply because it causes everyone to make a mistake; rather, it is interesting because it causes everyone to make the same mistake. If I saw a chalice, you saw Elvis, and a friend of ours saw a paper carton of moo goo gai pan, then the object we were looking at would be a very fine inkblot but a lousy optical illusion. What is so compelling about optical illusions is that everyone sees the chalice first, the faces next, and then—flicker flicker—there's that chalice again. The errors that optical illusions induce in our perceptions are lawful, regular, and systematic. They are not dumb mistakes but smart mistakes—mistakes that allow those who understand them to glimpse the elegant design and inner workings of the visual system.

The mistakes we make when we try to imagine our personal futures are also lawful, regular, and systematic. They too have a pattern that tells us about the powers and limits of foresight in much the same way that optical illusions tell us about the powers and limits of eyesight. That's what this book is all about. Despite the third word of the title, this is not an instruction manual that will tell you anything useful about how to be happy. Those books are located in the self-help section two aisles over, and once you've bought one, done everything it says to do, and found yourself miserable anyway, you can always come back here to understand why. Instead, this is a book that describes what science has to tell us about how and how well the human brain can imagine its own future, and about how and how well it can predict which of those futures it will most enjoy. This book is about a puzzle that many thinkers have pondered over the last two millennia, and it uses their ideas (and a few of my own) to explain why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become. The story is a bit like a river that crosses borders without benefit of passport because no single science has ever produced a compelling solution to the puzzle. Weaving together facts and theories from psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, this book allows an account to emerge that I personally find convincing but whose merits you will have to judge for yourself. "

V.

Vingnation Truth

I do...I really really do!!!
V. xo

obsessions

This thought inspired me today. How about you?

V.

Heavy Hearted

Some people touch our lives in their own unique way. Some people have a way of making an impression and sneaking themselves in our hearts--well at least mine. Peter Kolisnyk (aka Ole Pete) was one of them peeps. It was with great sadness I learned Ole Pete had passed after a battle with cancer, last week. Ole Pete was an amazing artist but truly an amazing person whom left his mark on all of those he ever met. He was a character with some of the bestest stories I have come to hear. It has been over a year and a half since I have seen or spoken to him but even in those days that passed I thought of him. He was a gentle man through and through. He will be missed greatly. My heart and thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.
He was one and a million and one I shall never ever ever forget. Thank you Ole Pete for all that you were and for leaving your unique mark on everyone whom had the chance to meet you.

Love always, V. xo

oh deary dear life is a funny funny thing! Happy T-giveroos!

Well hello there beautiful people. Can you even believe T-gives is upon us? The last two months of fall have been far from futile!
September came upon me with sass and good times. I can hardly believe we are in the midst of October and on the eve of T-giveroos. Holidays in general are always a bit tough on me. Gone are the days of high expectations and unrealistic presumptions and hello the days of nostalgia and memories. Every big holiday is linked in some way to painful memories or incidences which in someway have shaped who I am today. Ok Ok I know it sounds deep and harsh and even dramatic but it is truth. Christmas is truly the toughest of all and because of that the little things get to me and I can sometimes gut react or get worked up over the sillyest of things. I know what you are thinking--"where the eff is she going with this" or perhaps "what is she even talking about". Well for those of you whom truly know me--you understand Christmas. You understand it from the depths of your hearts and souls. It brings back so much hurt, pain and plain old disastrous change and unknowing. That time of year at one point in my life changed who I am today. Really. No if, ands about it.
T-gives is different. The memories of years past are awesome, some of my very favorite of all times. The nostalgia is painfully real and makes my heart sore. I have changed the way I see days, minutes, seconds even. I use to live too far ahead but now not so much. but at the cusp of such holiday my heart aches for what was and what could have been. It sounds ridiculous with all I have overcome and done but again plain old truth. They say to win you much lose. I have lost a lot the last 16 months but I have also won soooo much. Has it been worth it? But of course. Does it get easier? But of course. But will it always hurt? just a titch. I am real live feeler. I am a sensitive gal with an open heart. To have an open heart, one must feel it all--the today, the yesterday and friends, even the tomorrow. Memories are precious and sometimes they can hurt later. They remind us of all we had and all we have lost. It is funny how the most wonderful times in the minds eye can conjure up sadness. I have truly to begun to learn from my past and from the old me which is barely just a shadow in my minds eye. I am thinking of some very special someones this weekend. I am remembering some very special times, in a very special place. BUT all that being said I am also excited for the memories to be had, to be made in a new special place, with new special someones. Would I have it any other way? Hellz no. Will I take a moment to digest the little bit of pain? but yes. Will anyone even know? No well not unless they read this post I suppose. I revel in the idea of one day having my very own family to share thanksgiving. I also revel in the idea of all to come over the next few days. The inside jokes to be made, the laughs to be had and the stories for future to be made.
So with that thought I want to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. Be thanksful for the turkey in your tummy, the wine in your glass and the peeps on either side of you. Perhaps take a moment and remember your fave tgivers memory--does it fill you with happiness that fills you so full you wish for that moment again? embrace it. That my friends is what I will be doing. One moment for me. Then I will laugh so hard tears will stream down my face while I live in the moment with those around me and be thankful for all that I have right now and for all that once was for without those times I could never have become the me I am today. Maybe years from now the happy moments and memories that are about to be will be the ones I look back on and wish for once more. Oh deary dear, life is a funny funny thing.
Enough gobbling on my end...Go! Enjoy! Happy Tgiveroos to you and yours!
V. xo

Hi-5

Here's a HI-5 just because you are awesome! yep...it is truth. Hope it made your day just like when I found this on the net one day and it made mine.

V. xo

My latest on WOMAN.CA--RETHINK PINK & SAVE THE BOOBS--'Tis October afterall!

One of my columns on WOMAN.CA Helps you RETHINK PINK this October-
Revel in all that is October and start thinking PINK! That’s right, we are on the cusp of the month that is dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness. This October, Rethink Breast Cancer has a line up of amazing pink products that will raise funds to support the nearly 5,000 Canadian women under 50 diagnosed with the disease each year.
To read more go to--RETHINK PINK

And the other talks about the SAVE THE BOOBS Campaign for the BOOBYBALL!-
Sometimes you gots to shake things up or about—literally—to get a little attention! Have you seen the SAVE THE BOOBS viral video created and starring co-chair Aliya Jasmine Sovani of MTV promoting the BOOBYBALL? If not you are one of very few! Once this video hit the web it was viewed by over 1.5 million peeps on you tube! This racy, pool party themed viral has gained not only the attention of the Canadian media but the likes of the lovelies on THE VIEW, the smarties on CNN and was even featured in the pages of the LA TIMES! To Read more go to--SAVE THE BOOBS!

y'all gots to get on the pink-boob saving bandwagon! 'Tis OCTOBER afterall!
V.

Focus on the moments

Someone on FB posted an article titled: What The Happiest And Most Successful Women Do Differently. I was immediately intrigued as I am constantly...just...Happy. Moreso now then ever. I had to share the below passage as my life is all about the moments. The happy, stop you in your tracks, heart ready to explode moments.

"Focus on moments, more than goals, plans or dreams. Certain moments in your life create in you strongly positive emotions--let's call these "strong-moments." Not all moments are strong-moments--some moments spark negative emotions, while some don't spark any emotions at all. But when you do experience a strong-moment, it is authentic. It is true, in the sense that the emotions you feel are true. You may not know exactly what you should do with your emotions, or what label you should give each emotion, but you know how a specific moment made you feel. You know this more certainly than you know virtually anything else in your life.
It could be that moment yesterday when, as you again sat hunched over the year-end results, you found a revealing pattern in the financial report you were reading; or the snuggling of your grandson into the crook of your shoulder as you read him the last chapter in The Magic Tree House book, or that glorious sentence you wrote last night on your blog, or the way you managed to calm down your colleague after your boss changed everyone's schedule.
Whatever you are picturing, it will be a vivid, detailed moment, and as you think about it now, you feel yourself change. You are sitting up a little straighter than you were even a minute ago. Your shoulders are back. You've slowed down your breathing just a hair. Perhaps you are smiling. This moment, and the emotions you feel as you relive it in your mind, is you, in truth.
When you commit your life to being true to yourself, you are not committing to some far-flung destiny, some grand dream, or some disembodied list of values, no matter how worthy. Instead you are committing to the truth embodied in this strong moment, the truth that this specific moment, for no rational reason, energizes you."

To read more go to: What The Happiest And Most Successful Women Do Differently.

Feel the moments with every ounce of you, my friends!
V.

PS I know I used the above image already but my peeps it was just soooo fitting! had to include!
xo

word to words yo.

Sometimes the lyrics of songs speak to me. Sometimes I have to spend hours trying to figure out why....And Sometimes I cannot even figure it out. Nonetheless the following words are speaking to me. There is no rhyme. No reason. But they are thus I must share.

So sentimental
Not sentimental no !
Romantic not disgusting yet
Darling I’m down and lonely
When with the fortunate only
I’ve been looking for something else
Do let do let do let jugulate do let do let do
Let’s go slowly, discouraged,
Distant from other interests
On your favorite weekend ending
This love’s for gentlemen only
That’s with the fortunate only
No I gotta be someone else
These days it comes it comes it comes it comes it comes and goes

Lisztomania
Think less but see it grow
Like a riot, like a riot, oh !
I’m not easily offended
It’s not hard to let it go
From a mess to the masses

Lisztomania
Think less but see it grow
Like a riot, like a riot, oh !
I’m not easily offended
It’s not hard to let it go
From a mess to the masses

Follow, misguide, stand still
Disgust, discourage
On this precious weekend ending
This love’s for gentlemen only
Wealthiest gentlemen only
And now that you’re lonely
Do let do let do let jugulate do let do let do

Let’s go slowly, discouraged,
We’ll burn the pictures instead
When it’s all over we can barely discuss
For one minute only
Not with the fortunate only
Thought it could have been something else
These days it comes it comes it comes it comes it comes and goes

Lisztomania
Think less but see it grow
Like a riot, like a riot, Oh !
I’m not easily offended
It’s not hard to let it go
From a mess to the masses

Lisztomania
Think less but see it grow
Like a riot, like a riot, Oh !
I’m not easily offended
It’s not hard to let it go
From a mess to the masses

Check it. They are making my heart smile real big and wide. click away and lose yourself in the words that are LISZTOMANIA by Phoenix.

LISZTOMANIA in the hizzle yo!

word to words that move you, me and the masses! weeeeee!

V.

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V.

FREE Breaky @ BK!

Hey yos...
What is the best hangover cure around--a greasy breaky! If you plan on taking this lovely Thursday evening to the next level then do I have a treatski for you!!! Tmo Burger King is giving away FREE Breakfast sammies for all you lovelies!
Go my friends to Burger King and get on the Breaky sandwich bandwagon!
V.

Moments

V.

BOOBYBALL 2009-ALL ABOARD!!

Tickets are on sale NOW for Boobyball 2009! They will go fast so get them ASAP! Get your tickets here!
V.

Have a seat . . . Relax . . . And read this slowly.

A lot of truth lies below. Have a seat... Relax...And read this slowly.

I Believe.....
That just because two people argue,
doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if
we understand that friends change.

I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant
that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time
to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with
loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...
That we are responsible for what
we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe....
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you When you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had, and what you've learned from them.....and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...
That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are,
but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find
out a secret. It could change your life Forever.

I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact same
thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of
hours by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, if
a friend cries out to you........you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything.

V. xo

I just could not resist...

Where has the summer gone?? or better yet where the heck has it been?? Anywho..See you all in September! weeeee!
V. xo

Two become One

My heart is smiling in sheer anticipation of all to come over the next few days. Two of the bestest, most awesome peeps whom I loves dearly are getting hitched and I could not be happier or more excited! I shall hit the road to the mighty muskokes tmo to revel in the moments and magic that will be this weekend. Cannot wait! weeeeeee!
V. xo

ME=31

To live is to learn and to learn is to truly live. what a year that has been. So much gained through so much to digest and embrace. I am more free and alive then I have ever been. Sometimes it is scary to think how quickly ones life can go from up to down and vice versa. But these are the moments which remind us we're alive, that we're living. Thank goodness for that!
May the year ahead bring me more challenges and goals to attain and conquer. May my heart smile big and wide and my soul sing loud and strong. May laughter and love surround me and negative intentions melt to the way side. May I never ever settle or be content with anything in my life. May I live hard and fast but be present in every single moment and love the one I am with whomever and wherever we might be.
31 is going to be good. Its going to be great. I can feel it right down to the tips of my toes. 09 is still mine and well I am still working on my 31 slogan. I will come up with something don't you even fret.
Tmo is my birthday and I can hardly wait for not only my celebrations tonight but for all that is ahead.
Off I go to enjoy my most favorite day of the year...Happy Birthday to me!

Lots of love and sunshine, V. xo

PEI stole a piece of my little nations heart!

I am 155% exhausted. My whole body from inside to out is tired. But friends it is an excellent tired. A tired from the best most possible weekend. A weekend where two wonderous, gorgeous, peeps I adore tied the knot. M&J live far far away in Paris France and it is on the rare occasion that I get to spend some time with them. This weekend I was lucky enough to steal a moment from each of them. I shall treasure those moments always. I actually was lucky enough to make it across the pond for a vissy with them in France last summer. A real treat. These two amazing peeps not only tied the knot they did so in a very special place, that may have actually stolen a teeny tiny bit of the ole Ving Nation's heart. PEI. The Gentle isle made my soul whistle and my little heart sing. The peeps of PEI are gentle, kind, laid back and friendly as hell. The place is pure beauty which makes you feel light and relaxed. Sunday morning (ok ok late morning), with a very foggy head I made my way to the red sanded beach in the private community of Kepoche where M's cottage resides. I waded in and dove in. The Atlantic was luscious and luxurious. I splashed about and took every ounce of that moment in...My heart was smiling so big it was laughing. I climbed out of the ocean and lay on the beach for quite sometime. I wanted to not only take it all in but swallow it whole. I lay there going over so much in my head and allowed any stress that still remained to be washed off of me. The beauty of the ocean and all surrounding almost took my breath away but allowed me to fill up with so much happiness.
There were moments of this weekend that were hard. That cut deep. I will not go into the gory details because at the end of the day the weekend was so great, so wonderful, that I will not allow the instances that hurt to overshadow my reasons for being there.
But I will say one thing, sometimes time stands still. We all hustle and bustle through everyday-every week-every month where we are constantly having to change, grow, learn. There are stressful times but they always seem to be accompanied by the bestest of best times. Through such moments, I change, I grow, I fall down and then I always get right back up. This weekend I was reminded of how lucky I am that I can feel with not only the tips of my fingies but in the depths of my heart and my soul. I thrive from change but I always blossom when faced with challenge and I genuinely thank my lucky stars for that.
I shall always remember this past weekend. It was so wonderful to be in PEI and share in M&J's special day. If I close my eyes I can see the sun shining in the reception hall, with the Atlantic Ocean chasing its rays, while the gentle island stretches out and thieves a little ounce me. I can assure you, Pei & I shall be together at some point again.

Congrats M&J. Loves to you both...

V. xo

Dream'n of a gorge wedding on the Gentle Island...

The Gentle Island and I have a hot date this weekend. Yep that's right see you soooo soon PEI! Cannot wait for M&J's wedding this weekend! yayayayayayayaya! Catch ya on the east coast yos! I can already taste the delish seafood...
V. xo

This makes my heart smile

Times 1000! LOB's, good friends, laughter and cockers...sigh it doesn't get much better then that my friends!

Please forgive--It tis the summa afterall!

This post, my friends is looooong overdue! PLEASE Excuse moi! I feel like I am becoming reacquainted with a long lost friend just entering my own site. Please forgive. Pretty pretty please. The last few months have been quite something. I mean it tis summer afterall--though the weather has not really cooperated with the time of year it is still summer which allows for my fave styles and styling. shorts, skirts, dresses, open toed shoes and well you get my point.
It has been a busy time. Weekends in the city by the pool, up north with the fam, and real live mos in the sun via bike or on roof. I made my way back to the frac where I did some living and loving on lake of bays. Gin-gynas and good ole fashion Vingoe Family fun.
I am 2 mos into my new job and I am truly and utterly loving it. The peeps rock and the culture rolls and I am busier then I have ever been. Long hours and challenging moments are putting me to the test--exactly what I have needed for quite sometime.
July was much more uneventful then I had hoped or even expected but ya know it was much needed. I am now gearing up for a busy ass August with weddings to look forward to and my most fave day of the year--my bday. yep that time of year again. I can't wait. tho this year it will be less hoopla it is still my day of birth so I will be up to something where fun and friends are involved. Friends of mine that now live in France will be married a week this Saturday and My very own keeks is 24 days away from her big day. My heart is smiling in anticipation.
Life is swimming along at an amazing pace. I cannot wait for the next few weeks...fun is guaranteed, laughter will most definitely abound and friends will be sharing in the mos right along with me. hoorah for summer! (sigh) oh how I love the days of good ole summa.
V. xo

Take a chance!

V. xo

Check-check-check it out-latest on WOMAN.CA!

Hey y'all its been up for a little but check it out none the less! It is one of my fave posts yet!
Celebrate the Small Stuff!--"09 Is All Mine"
Loves! V.

Well hello there...

I promise to write soon but in the mean time I wish the below to you all!

"May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.'"

V. xo

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What's the diff?

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V.

Such Truth!

The below made me stop and think today! Thus, I must give credit where credit is due. Bras and Ranties posted it and I had had had to share... I am an over analyzer by nature but sometimes overanalyzing is a prohibiter. These words spoke to me and made me realize there is really not as much to it as I might actually think and most times things are just better when left un analyzed.
Merci Bras and Ranties!
V.xo