All the fun in Fuchsia (The Wedding of Lindsay and Krishna)

After a wonderful week of wedding festivities, Saturday June 29 was certainly a day to remember (I told Lindsay over the weekend that it was probably one of the best days of my life). I woke up at 5:30am, filled with excitement and joy like a child on Christmas. It seemed that I wasn't the only one feeling this way as Linz and I started imessaging one another with many a silly wedding emoji around 6am. The anticipation was building and we still had 4 hours before we were due to get our hair done and 10 hours before Lindsay and Krish were scheduled to get married!

The team at Evoke was amazing. I had been there once before to get a haircut and was really looking forward to the experience. They paired me up with Chris and the two of us just clicked. He immediately was on board with my rockabilly updo aspirations. The end result was a mega fun morning spent laughing and talking about musical theatre and an incredible updo, complete with a custom made fascinator from my sweet friend at Elizabeth Victoria.

Lindsay's vision for the bridesmaids included fuchsia dresses, black shoes and black & silver accessories. She gave us a lot of flexibility on dress style as long as we stayed within a range of fuchsia (which we've discovered is the colour that men cannot see). I found an incredible dress by Trashy Diva that was the perfect colour, fit and interpretation of my personal style. Elizabeth did an amazing job with my custom fascinator and somehow matched the fuchsia perfectly!I chose a pair of black sparkly peep toe heels that I had bought a couple years ago for a show, and found a stellar bracelet and ring from my sweet friends at Damzels. I was so happy with how everything came together and it was a lot of fun to be in a bridal party where we were encouraged to express our individuality.

We headed back to Linz's parents house to continue getting dolled up. I had stopped by Belmonte Raw the day before the wedding for fresh juice and yummy lunches for Linz and I to make sure that we were happily nourished in a gluten free, vegetarian fashion for the big day. Carol did an amazing job hooking us up with incredibly food and fresh green juices to make sure we were well fueled and ready to go.

Watching Linz get ready and seeing her in her dress for the first time was truly magical. The bridesmaids' had had a sneak peek at the dress at one of our gatherings in the months leading up to the wedding, but that did not diminish the feelings I had that day. Thank god for waterproof mascara.

She was stunning.
And glowing.
And radiant.
And exuding so much joy.

It was such a beautiful thing to experience and many times over the course of the day I reflected on how thankful I was for her friendship and what it meant to be able to stand beside her as she married her love.

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day - the sun was shining, traffic was easy and we arrived at the venue with the sounds of Pride happening two streets over. We hurried into the bridal suite and waited for our time.

The room for the ceremony was full of people from all over the world who had come to see Linz and Krish tie the knot, and the love in the room was palpable as soon as we walked in. I think I probably started crying around the time I started walking down the aisle. Seeing Krish waiting for Lindsay was so moving, and all of us bridesmaids were doing a terrible job of keeping our emotions in check. Being at the front and having a perfect view of Lindsay walking down the aisle with her dad was another really special moment that I'm going to cherish for a long time.

The ceremony was beautiful and very reflective of the couple. They incorporated great readings (including a sweet Ogden Nash poem that Shaun, the best man and I got to read), beautiful music, and handfasting into the ceremony.

With the ceremony over, we were whisked away for many fun photos with the bridal party and familias. 

Following the photos, we made our entrances to the reception for an incredibly delicious gluten free & vegetarian friendly Indian buffet feast from Bombay Palace (why doesn't everyone have Indian buffet at their wedding?), great speeches, a kransekage wreath cake and a whole lot of dancing and shenanigans. 

Aside from briefly setting the head table on fire(!) and having to sew the bustle back onto Lindsay's dress on my hands and knees in the rest room, the evening went off without a hitch. Everyone was thrilled to be celebrating Lindsay and Krish's union and were ready for a great night of merriment. It was truly a spectacular day, and I'm incredibly grateful that I was asked to be a part of it. Congratulations to Lindsay and Krishna - I wish them nothing but happiness as they enter this new chapter of their life together!!

Photos from my iphone, Instagram feed & Wedpics - an amazing app for weddings!

Sweetness To Leave The Not So Fun Stuff Behind

There’s been a lot of fun stuff happening lately… and some not so fun stuff too. I’ve really been lucky to have such amazing people in my life to help me through that not so awesome stuff.

Fun thing #1: Belmonte Raw with the ever fabulous Dani & Miranda. Those gals are just all kinds of awesometown. And Carol’s food is seriously some of my favourite fare in the city.

Fun thing #2: lying in parks reading books, a trip to the AGO for Picasso and gluten free vegan fare & mojitos on a patio in Kensington with someone who makes me smile.

Fun thing #3: a visit from my beautiful friend Rosie all the way from Chicago. That girl has been such a great source of support, laughter and encouragement and it was such a treat to have her here in the city. I can’t wait until she comes back and when I take a trip to Chicago to visit so we can talk more about the real meaning behind Moosehead…

Fun thing #4: new blog design by the amazing My Girl Thursday. Chantilly has been nothing but brilliant in this process. She’s creative, patient and thinks outside the box. I think what she’s come up with is absolutely beautiful and oh-so-me and I can’t wait for you to see it. New blog design also means a bit more direction on this blog and a whole lot more posting. I’ve been saving stuff for unofficial relaunch, so I guess that’s fun thing #4a.

Fun thing #5: discovering new music that makes me want to squeal with joy. I had planned to attend a show at the Drake a few weeks ago to support the oh-so-talented Paula Perri who was opening for a band called Pearl and the Beard, who I had never heard of. Paula just blew me away (as expected) and I decided to stick around and see what this trio was all about. They were wonderful!! Seriously sweet tunes, beautiful harmonies, interesting mix of instruments and fantastic banter and connection with the crowd. The whole night was stellar and I’m so happy I discovered some new music that I’ve been obsessed with ever since. They’re the best.

Fun thing #6: the lilacs are out. I love them.

Fun thing #7: singing my little heart out, learning new music, being inspired and meeting wonderful new people in Tracy Michailidis’ Songbook Lab. Tracy is a fantastic performer and a generous, warm, challenging teacher. It’s been a treat to be back in class with so many talented people and I can’t wait to take it again to keep working on my audition book.

Fun thing #8: by the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to NYC! (maybe I’ll find more men in uniform??) Last week when I got a notification that Jonathan Reid Gealt was hosting a master class along with people like Adam Guettel (responsible for brilliant musicals like Light in the Piazza and Floyd Collins) and Tituss Burgess (the man is incredible), I knew I had to be there. I emailed Jonathan right away and less than 10 minutes later I was planning a trip to New York. The weekend is going to kick my ass and frolicking in NYC is going to make my heart sing; I couldn’t be happier.

I’m not going to get into the less-than-fun stuff right now, and instead focus on all this sweetness and everything great that is to come as a result of some big changes. The always amazing Jessie helped me to write a list of good things to make me happy when we were together last week and a lot of things from this list were on there. I’ve been carrying the list around with me and glancing at it from time to time as a reminder of how many good/fun/awesome things I have to be thankful for right now. Big NYC post when I return!

Belmonte Raw aka My New Love

A few months ago I heard that there was going to be a new raw food place opening up in my neighborhood and I got pretty excited. Last weekend when I had brunch with Lisa and Carol that anticipation started to build as Carol told us more about the restaurant and then it grew even more so when I saw the Twitter updates of the doors being open.

On Saturday I finally got to visit and was blown away.

Belmonte Raw is everything that I hoped it would be and more, especially since it’s down the street from my house in the heart of Leslieville at 1022 Queen St E. The decor is simple and pretty and our server was positively delightful. The dine-in menu consists of mains that will rotate each week along with 2 daily salads plus an assortment of juices, smoothies and desserts with a commitment to local and organic produce.

I met up with Dani and Lisa by chance when I arrived, and both had opinions on what I should order. My meal got off to a lovely start with a Happiness juice

which was an amazing mix of grapes, grapefruit and pear. It was all kinds of awesome. For my main, I opted for the burrito

It was unbelievably good. A collard wrap with jicama, tomato, veggies and a nut-based taco filling served with dehydrated tortilla chips and 3 dips. The cheezy sauce that came with the chips was out of this world. Why bother eating cheese when you can have sauces that are cashew based and taste just as rich and creamy with so much depth of flavor?! The wrap was amazing too.

I find that sometimes raw food can be way too heavy when it relies heavily on nuts and seeds to make it good. Belmonte Raw has found a great balance between food that is delicious, nutritious and going to keep you full. At the end I found myself dipping the collard wrap in the cheezy sauce because it was just that good.

Dani and Lisa told me that I had to try the chocolate, and who was I to argue?

It was like the best Reese Peanut Butter cup ever without the crap they put in Reese Peanut Butter cups, because it was entirely raw. I loved every single bite.

My meal was the perfect fuel for my crazy Saturday (pictures and video from the Ashleyx2 cabaret to come!) and I even grabbed a beet salad to take with me for later. I didn’t end up eating it for dinner, but the next day, and it was delicious as well.

I told Carol that I’m vying for her best customer award since it’s right down the street and an amazing option for healthy, scrumptious, take away food close to home.

Found this great reminder to “live what you love” in the rest room and took that message to heart as I headed to my show!

Belmonte Raw, it’s official: we’re in love and there’s no turning back!