The End of My Hard Knock Life

Annie closed on Saturday which means my life is officially mine again!! Thank you to all who came and watched, I truly appreciate your support. For those of you who couldn’t make it, here are some shots from the show, photos with some visitors as well as some backstage shenanigans.

I want to say a big thank you for everyone’s support on my Crohn’s Week Month posts. It has been great to share my story with all of you as well as the stories of so many others. Together we will continue to raise awareness of IBD.

In IBD awareness related news, I had also mentioned that I had some news to share… so here it goes! Remember when I did the Crohn’s Walk last year and raised more than $1700? This year I will be doing the walk as the Honorary Chair for the Toronto event!! (page not updated for the 2010 event yet)

I’m so thrilled to be a part of the planning committee and look forward to help raise more money and more awareness for this cause that is near and dear to my heart (and intestine…) As honorary chair I will not only be sitting on the committee, but also being a spokesperson for the event, doing local media and leading some of the proceedings on the day of. There will be lots of information about this amazing event in the coming months as well as some fun things on the blog to assist in my fundraising efforts, so stay tuned!!

Coming up in December on the blog…

• New activity chart – I need to get my butt back into gear so I will be printing off my chart (to be posted tomorrow) and COVERING it with stickers!
• Food picture catch up – I have been eating during Annie and want to share some yummy pictures with you
• “Doing it in December” (Or maybe a better name to come when my brain cells return…) I need to get my butt into gear this month and want to assist all you in doing the same. This week we’re going to talk about strategies for dealing with the people we may encounter over the holiday season, as well as tips for including the foods you love into your life! We need to achieve our 2009 goals!! I am going to set some new goals for this month and MAKE THEM HAPPEN!! Are you with me? Is there anything that you would like me to talk about that you require additional support with? Leave me a comment or send me an email and I will do my best to include it!
• The countdown to my new life – school starts in 38 days!!!

Annie was a lot of fun, but I truly feel a sense of relief when a show is over. It’s like a chapter in a book. You enjoy the beginning, middle and end, but you also recognize that it’s going to come to an end at some point. December is going to be a busy month and then I start rehearsal for the next one, so I’m going to do what I can before the cycle starts again!!

The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow...

In my last post I talked about strategies for making it through the busy week I've been going through and today I wanted to continue on that train of thought my talking about something else that has been helping me through:

A positive attitude.

It's been a crazy week. I've been getting home after 12am and going to bed after 1am. Rather than hop right into bed and snuggle with Joey and the fur-babies, I've been getting things done around the house, preparing meals, taking out my hair & bathing, as well as doing Weight Watchers stuff. At the theatre, things haven't been going particularly smoothly (as they often don't during tech week) but I've been trying not to let it get to me.

Why?

Negativity is like a bacteria that can spread quickly and silently through everything that it touches. If I have a negative attitude and become snippy with you, you may be snippy to the next person. When you're wandering around a theatre full of a cast and crew of 30+ people that's a whole lot of bacteria that could turn into an epidemic if not stopped at the source. If I contribute to the negative energy, I'm simply helping it to spread and get stuck in a yucky rut.

So I take it one step at a time.

Even though I'm sleep deprived and a wee bit cranky, I've done my best to put on a happy face. I've tried to apologize if I've been short with someone. I've tried to keep my complaining to minimum and instead worked to solve the problems. I've talked a few of my cast mates down when they were feeling negative or down in the dumps because they messed up lines or forgot cues (because I've absolutely been there too) I've been working on doing the best *I* personally can and trying to live vicariously through the children because they are thrilled to be on stage and doing this show.

It brings me back to part of one of my favourite quotes, that is still posted at my desk at work:

The remarkable thing is that we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we
embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact
that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only
thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I
am convince that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. -
Cynthia Cooper

When I talk to people about things that have happened in my life, many express their sympathies or condolences because they believe that a mother dying at 13, a disease or eating regime is a horrible thing to have to live with.

I don't feel sorry for myself and work to maintain a positive attitude whatever comes my way.

Everything that has happened to me in this life has gotten me to where I am today and there's honestly no place I would rather be. Reminds me of a certain little ditty from a show that opened yesterday:

When I'm stuck a day that's gray, and lonely,

I just stick out my chin and grin, and say...

The sun'll come out, tomorrow

So ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow, come what may

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya tomorrow!

You're always a day away!

We had a great opening last night and I'm looking forward to the 11 shows to come! This week I encourage you to be like Annie: stick out your chin, grin and choose to have a positive outlook on everything that comes your way.

Tips for Maintaining Sanity During Tech Week (or Life)

This week has been absolutely insane.

On Friday I had a date night with Joey. We went for Indian food (delish) and did a little shopping. On Saturday, I led three busy meetings, did two classes at the gym and read my new book. On Sunday I went to Lindsay’s WW meeting, meal planned & grocery shopped, took a Weight Watchers conference call, made dinner then went to the theatre for 6 hours. Since then it’s been chaos as we prepare to open Annie on Thursday.

This feeling has inspired me to share some tips on keeping sane during tech week or just busy times in your life (like the month of December, perhaps?)

1. Be prepared
When performing in a show, it’s not just about knowing your lines, cues, costume changes and choreography, it’s also about planning your life. For me, being prepared is meal planning, having good food in the house, slow cooker meals that are easy to prep and packing everything with me so I can eat throughout the day. That’s lunch (mega salad with mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, peppers, sprouts, chickpeas, hummus & hemp seeds), dinner (potato kale enchiladas from Veganomican) & snacks (apple, banana & pb&j larabar) It requires a little bit of thought in the morning, but for me it is a safety net because I know I have delicious, Ashley-friendly food for the whole day AND I don’t have to spend money.

2. Take care of yourself
I called in sick yesterday because I needed to rest. I took a 2.5 hour nap and it was glorious. (Although I felt like I was back at square 1 again when I got home from the theatre at 12:40am) I also used the time to make a yummy dinner and actually spend some time with Joey enjoying it! Roasted acorn squash stuffed with snobby joes (another Veganomican fav) with some steamed Brussel Sprouts on the side. I also made the effort to go to the gym on Saturday because I knew that it would be a great way to relax (Bodyflow + Zumba) but also because I knew I wouldn’t have time to get back there for a few days.

Onstage, taking care of yourself, also means worrying about your own business. This is a good approach to take in life as well. As Byron Katie says, if you’re busy worrying about other people’s business, there’s no one there to worry about yours!

3. Have fun
Even though you’re tired or cranky or stressed.
Even when you have to get up for work early the next morning.
Even when your hair and make up goes from looking like this:

to this:

Not everyone in the world can say that they get to be onstage, acting singing and dancing up a storm. Performing is something that I find so much pleasure in, yet sometimes I need to be reminded of that after rehearsal that lasts from 6pm-12am! At the end (or beginning) of the day, I’m excited that I get to do what I love!!

How do you prepare yourself, take care of yourself and/or have fun?

Finding a Grounded Place

Between a full time job, part time job, 2-3 shows/year, choir, Joey, friends, family, cooking, eating, sleeping, dancing, yoga, exercising and blogging, it’s a huge understatement to say that I’m a busy gal. And I’m not going to lie – it’s not always easy.

I always feel like I’m on the go, checking my calendar and figuring out where I can ‘squeeze’ in time to see Joey or friends or have a nap. Last weekend before having brunch with Lori & Joey, I had a bit of a mental breakdown because I had brunch, zumba, grocery shopping, and cooking on my to-do list before rehearsal, but realized I didn’t have enough time for everything, yet didn’t know what to cut out. There were tears before I decided that I wanted to hang out with Joey & Lori, that I needed to grab some food and make some dinner and that unfortunately my favourite classes (zumba and BodyFlow) were just not going to make the cut.

Time management has a lot to do with prioritization – what is going to be best for you in this moment? This question has been seemingly challenging for me to answer lately because I feel like I’m running around like around in circles. For example, here’s this week:

This weekend was super busy so I feel like I’ve been going non-stop since Monday October 19. As a result, there are things that are definitely slipping, like housework, laundry and Joey time. So what is right for me now??

Rehearsal ended up being cancelled tonight which has meant some extra ME TIME!! I’m hanging out with the kitties, watching So You Think You Can Dance and plan to do a little journaling before going to bed early.

On the days when I feel like it’s never going to end I’m taking time to smell the flowers and enjoy the beautiful sights of fall….laughing with these beautiful gals who I’m spending a lot of time with as we gear up for our big show….

and talking to Joey who tells me that it’s all going to be okay. I love that. 

I feel like my posts are following a pattern of time management, balance and taking care of yourself – but it’s a huge focus for me right now! I’m sorry if I seem like I’m repeating myself. Writing this blog is something that I do because I love to connect with all of you and reading your comments brings me down to a grounded place.

S is for Soup, Salad, Simplicity and Sleep

Soup (a staple in our house)

Salad (mixed greens, carrot, cucumber, celery, avocado, sunflower seeds, sundried tomatoes, & marinated tofu with agave-grape seed oil-apple cider vinegar-mustard dressing)

The pair made for a delightful on-the-go dinner. 

Simplicity and Sleep
It has been such a busy weekend between all the Weight Watchers excitement on Saturday (thank you for all of congratulatory remarks!!), gym on Sunday (mini run, BodyFlow and Zumba) and then Annie rehearsal. I spent Sunday afternoon chopping veggies for the soup and salad whilst singing along to Annie karaoke tracks in preparation for my evening rehearsal.

With everything that has been going on lately, I’ve really been trying to keep things simple with my eats. Soups, salads and snick-snacks that are easy to grab have been amazing because they require very little thought on my part. I’m trying to find a good balance of work and play and really making the effort to take care of myself. I also spent the day in comfy lululemon cropped pants, tank, hoodie and hairband – no thinking required! And even though I have a million things I could do as I write this (10:34 on Sunday night) I am heading to bed because I need as much sleep as I can get! It’s another busy week ahead!

What are some of your favourite simple things in life? Fav soup and/or salad?

I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here

Thanks for all of your awesome feedback on my make up and beauty stuff post – so many new products to try out! One of my good friends works in the Body Care section at the Big Carrot and is always pointing me in the direction of fun new products. I will remember to post details when I find something good! And please keep sending your suggestions and recommendations my way.

The last few days have been super busy and I have only a few pictures to show for it! I will say again, if you are in Toronto and you haven’t bought tickets for Annie, you need to get on that! I had an amazing 7 hour rehearsal yesterday and I’m absolutely thrilled with the progress we’re making. The Annies are adorable, the kids know their lines better than I do, Warbucks is perfect and I have a kick-ass dance partner who lifts me across the stage like it’s nothing. You’re going to kick yourself if you miss it!!

Yesterday morning before rehearsal, Joey, Lori and I went back to Lady Marmalade for some brunch-y goodness. We waited about 15 minutes for a table but it was absolutely worth it. I started off with some hot apple cider. AH-mazing. Such a lovely way to put a stressful week behind me start my meal. I followed up with a vegan “huevos migas”

Scrambled tofu with tomatoes, scallions, corn tortilla chips, brown rice n beans and pico de gallo salsa. It was incredibly delicious and gave me great fuel for a long day ahead! I think Lady Marmalade might be my new fav for brunch…

Other yummy eats this week included an afternoon smoothie from Sadie’s Diner, spaghetti squash mexicana, and a yummy plate from the Big Carrot. (including kale!)

View Full Album

I had 3 awesome meetings on Saturday where we talked about the importance of taking care of yourself. I’m always amazed when the WW topic reflects what I need to be working on for myself. It’s like the WW gods know exactly what I need!! I’m really taking my own advice and working to take time for myself this week. Remember that by taking care of yourself, you’re in a better position to do all of the jobs in your life and take care of the other people in your life and overall just be the best you that you can be. Do something nice for yourself this week by having a hot bath, making time to do yoga or take a class at the gym, taking time for a proper breakfast, going to bed an hour early or just turning off your blackberry (Yes, blackberries and iphones do come equipped with off buttons. Shocking, but true).

What are some ways that you put yourself first?

Check back later today for the continuation of the ABC’s of Vegan Goodness with the letters N & O. Any guesses??

I is for Ice Cream and J is for Junk Food and Other Things I Thought I Would Miss

Months ago when I first cut out dairy, gluten and a lot of other things, I felt like I was going to be “missing out”. I definitely maintained a positive outlook on all of the changes and knew that I was working to heal my body. but it was still sad to say goodbye to some things that were “staples” in my fridge and pantry. I put staples in quotes because I’ve come to realize that they were only staples because I made it that way.

As a result of changing the foods I eat regularly, I’ve cut out a lot of the processed food in my life. I talked about this paradigm shift very soon after I altered my eating habits and realized that I wasn’t alone. As a result of cutting out gluten, dairy (and more recently, meat) I started to place much more emphasis on wholesome, nutritious foods from the earth. Gone were the diet pops, 100 calorie packs, bagels, cheese and other stuff that I was focusing on heavily. As I’ve pointed out before, my eating is constantly a work in progress and I work to do what is best for me in this moment. When talking to people who are in the beginning of their journeys with Weight Watchers, I often say that it’s really about awareness – awareness of how you’re treating your body by what and how much you’re eating and your physical activity as well as managing your thoughts and feelings.

Awareness has been key for me in this journey and I know it will continue to be a recurring theme. Every day I am learning more and more about food and nutrition collectively, as well as what works and doesn’t work for me. After people ask me “what do you eat?” and I give them the answer, they usually follow up with something like “Oh, I could never eat that way, I like _______ too much”. I take the perspective of “would eating ______ make me feel better or worse?” In the case of items containing gluten, dairy or other things that don’t agree with me, eating ______ would probably make me feel bad so I avoid it. I’ll take feeling good any day!

With all of that being said, some people still look at the way I eat as something foreign and think I’m depriving myself. Last week on my fruit and veggie post, I received the following comment via facebook: I'm glad u like fruit and veggies, but eat a little cake! Today may not be your b-day, but hey what the hell. u can live, a girl must have her cake and eat it too. Smile and stop over thinkin' everything. Relax, enjoy life and be free of what u should weigh, eat, and look like...........you’re great! My response was I live the best life I know how - fruits, veggies and cake included! I definitely still have treats, but they’re just different than they used to be.

View Full Album

And that is fine by me. I love enjoying fresh juice, gluten free baked goods, smoothies, dairy-free ice cream, dark chocolate, raw treats, pudding and tea. All gluten, dairy free and vegan, and absolutely delightful.

I’ve really embraced my gluten free, dairy free, meat free living as a lifestyle rather than a diet (just like I did with Weight Watchers) and I really believe that I’m eating better now (both nutritionally and enjoyment-wise) than ever before. I was tweeting last week about how I was making sounds during dinner, something that I can’t say that I did a whole lot before. Missing out? I think not.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news, the poster for Annie is out and tickets are now on sale!

Doesn’t it look awesome? Tickets are available at www.ticketweb.ca, just search “T3 Productions”. No I’m not playing Annie (I’m a wee bit too old…),but rather I’ll be in the role of Grace Farrell, Mr. Warbucks’ secretary. Tickets are selling fast, so if you’re going to be in Toronto between November 20 and 28 be sure to buy them ASAP!