What makes you smile? I've discovered that it's the simple things, those daily happies that truly make the difference. Here, I will talk about those things and I hope that they too, put a smile on your face. Spread peace. Give love. Always smile.
So, this is something that makes me smile, but it is a rather indulgent something. Most people know that I am a bit of a shopaholic, but most do not know that I actually follow designers and trends and I am addicted to the site lookbook.nu, which is where I find most of my fashion inspiration. Some of my favourite designers include marc jacobs, michael kors (shoes and handbags), leaves of grass (for the hippie/boho chic in all of us) and, of course, burberry, because it's so classic, timeless and, well, british.
Another thing that most people know is that I am addicted to Harry Potter and through this obsession I've deveolped a MASSIVE girl crush on Emma Watson who, coincidentally, is the new face of Burberry. My happy for today is this behind the scenes video of the spring/summer '10 campaign shoot. Check it!
Yes. She is wonderful. I know that many harry potter fans - or non-harry potter fans - don't like her as Hermione, but I think she is absolutely incredible. I would link to a video that would make even the most skeptical of skeptics fall in love, but of course warner brothers has taken it down so alas, you will have to take my word for it.
So, from reading this blog you no doubt know that I'm a huge fan of Christmas. The season just brings so much love and joy to people everywhere and the spirit of the season is one I try and keep the entire year. I am currently studying for final exams so I do not have time to write an extremely detailed blog today, but I really just want to you listen to this song, entitled "I Believe" as performed by Tiffany Thornton (you are probably asking, "who?" Not to worry, so did I and according to google she's on the new Disney Channel show Sonny With a Chance...) and Kermit the Frog. I assume this duet is a result of the Muppet comeback that is clearly happening ("Bohemian Rhapsody" video, anyone? Best. Ever.) but nevertheless I think it is a great song and it brings a little tear to my eye and a smile to my face because it truly encompasses everything that I feel about the season that asks you to put your faith in "fiction".
I read an article yesterday about seasonal affective disorder and the importance of Vitamin D to our immune systems and the ultimate prevention of such an emotional disorder. Vitamin D primarily comes from the sun and although it would take a significant amount of exposure to create enough Vitamin D to aquire our daily intake, the shorter days and cooler weather during the winter diminishes the amount of time we spend outside and therefore seriously detriments our Vitamin D intake, thus making us feel sad... giving us the colloquial "winter blues". Now, I am a huge supporter of the "daily stroll", no matter the weather or the several essays you have to work on - neither of those things are worth being cooped up in your house for an entire 5 months (oh, Canadian winters). I am also rarely affected by such seasonal sadness because I find that there is just so much to be happy about during this season. I mean, there are clementines, christmas carols and one of today's happies: Candy Cane Kisses.
A few days ago my housemate got a hold of a bag of these wonderful seasonal candies and they have been sitting in a bowl on our living room table since then. It's bad for my waistline but my god, I can only eat them once a year so I'm going to indulge when I can. There's something about the combination of white chocolate and peppermint that is so Christmassy and wonderful. And the festive candy cane striped wrapping is just so festive it makes me smile. Thank goodness the four of us (my housemates and I) are so addicted to them that they're almost gone... but I think I am going to have to pick up another bag to get us through the exam season when our sugar cravings usually increase ten-fold - but according to that article about Vitamin D, the more vitamin D you have in your system, the less frequent your sugar cravings. Now, I don't think that strolls outside will provide me with nearly enough Vitamin D to curb my cravings for candy cane kisses, but I think I may have found another solution.
Yesterday, the wonderful Allison Case posted a video on youtube. The video is of her singing and playing the first song she learned on the Ukulele, "Away in a Manger". I don't even think words can describe how wonderful it is, so I'm just going to include it in this blog, because you just have to see it to get the full effect of the happy:
I mean, come on. First of all, she's incredibly talented (like you didn't know that already...if you actually didn't...shame on you). I could honestly listen to her voice all day long. Secondly, she's adorable, especially when she messes up, it just makes me love her more. Finally, she just can't help but make you smile. I cannot believe that I'm not more eloquent in my description of Allison than I am in my description of Candy Cane Kisses, but she's just so wonderful... she's ineffable. She's just such a delight in everything she does...on camera, on stage, on twitter, in her blog, and in person. She's a ray of sunshine.
Who needs the outdoors when you've got her?
Allison Case - Solving Vitamin D Deficiencies Everywhere.
For us Canadians, November is a pretty slow month. Save for Remembrance Day on the 11th, there are few holidays and since we celebrate the real thanksgiving in October (please, no hate mail) we look straight forward to Christmas. I am a huge fan of this situation because there is really nothing that can get in the way of my pre-Christmas celebrations. But, in addition to November marking the beginning of the wondrous "red-cup season" at Starbucks, November to me also means clementines.
I will forever associate the beginning of the Christmas season with the first crate of clementines that lands on our kitchen counter (only to be replaced by the second within a few days). I'm not much of an orange person throughout the rest of the year, but when the sweet little clementines make their first appearance at the Loblaws or Metro I become a fiend for oranges. My fingers always have a hint of orange zest on them and I build up a great immunity to the common cold. I swear, the amount of vitamin C I ingest throughout the holiday season benefits me long into the spring and through the summer and fall until November rolls around again. They are truly a miracle.
Clementines are also a very comforting snack. Call me crazy, but I cannot be the only person who has received a box of clementines in the mail while in residence at university. I remember when I was in first year and I received a magical comfort package from my mom containing a large crate of clementines. It was such a wonderful surprise, especially when you are away from home for the first extended period in your life and you happen to be living in a festering pool of germs and mono. I fit as many clementines as I could into a basket that sat on what limited counter space I had and then decided to share the remainder with my floormates. When I offered them the little gems of hope and comfort amidst the piles of essays, lab reports and mid-term study notes that were scattered on all of their desks, I cannot say that any one person turned down my offer, and no one accepted without a smile.
Clementines, in a way, also symbolise a sense of unity - at least throughout my university campus. I noticed that through the past week, as I'd begin to peel a clementine in a lengthy art history lecture or one of my various english classes that slowly, but surely, several people would begin to peel clementines of their own. Soon, the lecture hall would be filled with an aroma of citrus-y goodness. The idea that other people may feel the same joy and comfort that a crate of clementines brings at the dawn of the holiday season truly makes me smile.
If any of you have made a trip to Starbucks any time between now and last Tuesday, you will have noticed that the coffee chain has decked out their stores and replaced the traditional white and green cups with ones of a more festive variety: the red cups.
If you don't know me it is important to understand that I am a Christmas fanatic. For me, Christmas begins on the 1st of November. On that day my Christmas bedding is dug out from storage and my twinkle lights are strung delicately around my room. Christmas - at this point - has to be contained to my own room and I can only introduce it into the rest of the home in small bursts following the Santa Claus Parade, but that doesn't stop me from being festive outside of the four walls of my bedroom.
When red cups come out at starbucks it not only marks the beginning of delicious, festive, "christmas in a cup" drinks, but it also marks the point in time when my Christmas obsession becomes somewhat socially acceptable. Most people still think I'm crazy, but when I wish them a "merry christmas" or "happy holidays", I can just say, "but starbucks says it's true!" and they take my greetings and leave a little bit happier.
Red cups and the usually festive Eggnog, Gingerbread or Caramel Brulee Lattes and tasty peppermint mochas they contain make people happier. On "red cup day" (this year, November 3rd), I saw countless Facebook and/or Twitter updates expressing their love and excitement for the season and that makes me smile, gives me hope. Christmas fills people with a palpable joy that I wish lasted in everyone throughout the year. To quote John McDermott, "it's not the things you do at Christmastime, it's the Christmas things you do all year through".
This year's campaign that goes along with the red cups at Starbucks encourages their customers to "wish," because if not at christmas, when can you wish for anything you want (save for 11:11 and Birthdays...). I saw one sign in starbucks that said, "I wish that everyone could see how much we all have in common." I thought that was a wonderful sentiment and one that rings true through really all of the current world issues. Why focus on what makes us different when we can focus on what makes us similar? What comes out of such a comparison other than love, family and passion? We truly are all one. If starbucks says so, than it must be true.
If you did not figure out already from my oh-so-original use of onomatopoeia in the title of this entry, today's smile is trains. Now, before you ask, just let me clarify that I am not a train "enthusiast" or anything. Although I am a fan of trains of the "express" variety (Hogwarts, Polar etc.) Also, the occasional train set is, in my opinion, a valid form of entertainment for people of all ages (especially the awesome one in FAO Schwarz in NYC. Models of the Hogwarts and Polar Express-es. So awesome.) This entry is not about those trains. Trains make me smile because they connect people and places. Think about it, no form of rapid transportation connects towns, cities, and counties in the way that train tracks do (except for maybe cars...and highways...but a train is a much better visual so, ignore the fact that we live in the age of oil, not coal, and go with it :P). Trains make me smile because they bring people together.
Today in particular I'm a huge fan of trains because one will be bringing me home to Toronto in about 2.5 hours for the weekend. This morning I just missed my Mom and Dad so I booked a train to go home and surprise them. I'm happy.
So thank you, trains, thank you for making me smile by allowing me to see my Mom and Dad on this day wherein I am feeling rather homesick. You rock.
So, today I had an entirely different smile prepared, but then I came home, saw this video on Twitter of Baby Claude singing Frank Mills from HAIR (as performed by the lovely Allison Case...at the end he hopes that her "hippy feels better" LOVE) and realized that nothing makes me smile more than William, known throughout the HAIR community as "Baby Claude". So naturally, he is the Happy Hippie I will be blogging about today. William first became known among the HAIR Tribe and fan base when Gavin Creel (Claude in the Broadway Revival) posted this video to his twitter this summer:
Needless to say, this made Gavin smile, me smile, EVERYONE smile. Since then, a series of videos have been posted to youtube of him singing various songs from the HAIR soundtrack. Everyone instantly fell in love with William; with his performances, with his love, with his spirit.
William and his Mom, the wonderful Carola (on twitter @caroladelmare )are also involved with Broadway Impact, an organization co-founded by Gavin Creel that aims to unite the Broadway community and together fight for issues that affect the community - mainly Marriage Equality - a battle that is currently being fought in the throughout US. William and Carola were also lucky enough to march with BI at the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. on October 11th of this year. At the march William kind of - by way of his cuteness and overall hope that he represents for the future of equality in america and of the world - became a frequent image of the event throughout the twitterverse and the interwebs. As I followed the march avidly on twitter from the backseat of the car that was bringing me back to reality from a wonderful weekend in New York City, these images of William, of Baby Claude, could not cease to make me smile. If other children his age (only 4!) are anything like him - share any of his belief for peace, love and equality - we will all be living in a much better world.
Gavin said it best when I met him at Stage Door on the Friday before the march when we were talking about the march and everything he's done for Broadway Impact:
I can make a lot of noise, but YOU will be the change.
He wasn't talking about me. He was talking about Baby Claude...about William. HE will be the change, and the thought that he will hopefully, no, definitely be the last generation to know a world without equality for all gives me hope, gives me the happies, makes me smile.
