December 23: Tuesdays

1. Precious sleep: ‘There are twelve hours in the day, and above fifty in the night.’ - Marie de Rabutin-Chantal

2. Silver Tuesdays: All I wanted was a pair of low-rise, boot-cut jeans. Easy? Not so! After a painful hunt, it ended where it all started (thank you, Jean Machine).

3. Happy convert: $150 (plus tax) buys a 1hr facial in a fancy hotel; $50 buys that same facial - for 1.5hrs - in that same aesthetician's home.

‘If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.’ - Dale Carnegie

December 19: Escalator

1. Table, Restaurant: Looong lunch with Ms. Heather.
2. Escalator, Subway: Chris ascended as I descended.
3. Sofabed, Apartment: Late-night Ocean's Thirteen.

December 12: Timeslot

1. Colourist agrees to refine her highlights in an open slot.
2. Dude at Laura Mercier examines her shades of plum lips.
3. Babe scores some fancy corporate toilet paper for herself.

Corporate TP is the most enduring and endearing. Snag a roll from work and test it at home. It lasts twice as long. I'd like to know where to buy this stuff. Toilet paper should not be soft and squeezable, of puffy air and no longevity – it ought to be a solid roll of consumer product!

PS - Just went here for a fantabulous surprise.

November 27: Privileged

1. to be imparted valuable perspectives from Canada's aboriginal community,
2. to hear a speech by Stephen Lewis, former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa,
3. to spend an afternoon in a sauna and spa, followed by a 90-minute nap.

December 1 is World AIDS Day.

November 23: Red

1. At Yoga, I had to be a Fish - and I was feeling it.
2. At work, I had to meet a deadline fast - and I did it.
3. At home, I had to unwind already - and I succeeded.

Thanks to:
1. relaxation,
2. motivation, and
3. half a bottle of red wine.

November 10: Passion

1. Smiled at an exhibit. I really liked the photograph of children playing hockey under the ‘passion’ section.

2. Cried in Parkdale. I was invited to watch some site-specific theatre. Very moving. lullaby is being staged by Dark Horse Theatre until November 18.

3. Laughed at home. I watched I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Sophomoric? Yes. Laugh out Loud? Yes!

November 9: 1983

55 mins: Super-duper fun Latin fitness dance class.

2 hrs: Unwinding with my dear friend Rita, who also hooked me up with a ride home (this is a 2-for-1).

1983 AD: I didn't ask, but was granted a new birth year by someone in power, for a youth rate on a pricey package.

November 8: Calls

1. Re-Call: After falling asleep to a meditation CD (one track was titled ‘developing a loving kindness’), vivid dreams and self-awareness.

2. Wake-up Call: J and J, two friends, meet as colleagues and call me together via speaker phone from their office.

3. Call of the Wild: Hot-diggity-dog! Partying with Americans and Japanese, including a photo shoot with all thems all.

6 noviembre: Almuerzo

1. Hora del almuerzo con mis amigos latinos.
2. Paseo en la ciudad universitaria en la tarde.
3. Tiempo en la noche para acabar mi tarea.

November 3: Oil

1. Brains: My instructor stayed behind in class to answer our questions. I'm not a University of Toronto alumna (though I attended in utero), but it's got my respect for Brains. What a world-class, top-notch school.

2. Stomach: My strategy for eating pizza is to ask for the freshest slice. I don't care what variety, so long as it is fresh from the oven. When it's pepperoni, like it was this time, I am extra happy.

3. Fingers: Chili oil dripped off my pizza slice, conditioning my cuticles and moisturizing my hands, which remained exceptionally soft and smooth for the next 24 hours.

October 10: Lemons

My employer blocked access to my blog and webmail. How flattering that someone is watching over me so closely.

1. Hence the opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons.

2. Lessons from a man who made lemons out of lemonade:
‘Those who talk don't know what is going on and those who know what is going on won't talk.’ - Larry Speakes

3. I once lost a lot of weight and significantly improved my health by drinking hot lemon water every day. The benefits cannot be overstated. I'm bringing back the almighty lemon!

October 9: Chili

1. Urination: I have a beautiful new bathroom!
2. Consideration: I was asked whether I had any ‘philosophical objections’ to meeting for a coffee at Starbucks.
3. Salvation: I found a can of chili in my empty kitchen.

August 28: Gluteus

1. Urban Beach: Chilling outdoors at hTO.
2. Gluteus maximus: It's-about-time massage!
3. Motion: While the West End slept, propelling through darkness like oxygen through blood. Late-night biking through empty streets and dark, warm, windy pockets.

August 26: Audra

If I could name today, I'd call it Rejection. Among its lights:

1. Waking up to the September cover of National Geographic magazine. Look at his eyes!

2. Jung and Benson met me in Kensington Market (where the incredible Nunca Antes, Brazilian Maracatu drummers, performed).

3. My wonderful friend Audra listened to me spilling my heart out from a payphone booth, folding bike parked outside, cell phone dead.

And I kept biking and biking, all the way home...

August 7: Romeo

1. ‘All the world's a stage’ – A woman was pacing through the streets calling out over and over, ‘Romeo!’ I'm not making light of it; it was beautiful.

2. ‘And all the men and women merely players’ – There really are good-looking gardeners all over suburbia.

3. ‘They have their exits and their entrances’ – I left the house late; I arrived at work early.

‘AND...
...one man in his time plays many parts’ – Thanks to my dad, who scanned Sunday’s Letraset. I added some colour and am quite pleased. Click here to view the result.

April 18: Brilliant

1. Hip! Yee did my dishes for me tonight (gracias).
2. Hip! My dad's lightbulb replacements are brilliant.
3. Hooray! Well, thank goodness I do not have lupus.

April 13: Honky-Tonk

1. Free samples: gel masks, pineapples scrubs and tingly rubs.
2. Hope among the pages: downtime to read several newspapers.
3. Chillin' in a local honky-tonk bar: a pint of goodbye with my sister.

Friday the 13th - No bad luck!

March 31: Higher Power

3. A higher power gave me a terrific compliment.
2. A higher power gave me the strength to work all day.
1. A higher power gave me her turkey sandwich.

Bonus: Charlie

Charlie made my day and I made his. He is the elderly gentleman in the wheelchair who is my neighbour. He and his wife knew my grandparents; he helped my ill grandfather. Today I said hi. His face lit up! He told me that I might laugh, but that our five minutes were like an injection of medicine. How the four walls at home hate him so much and don't want him to get up or out. How it's lonely. How talking to someone else, even for a minute, makes all the difference. Nothing I was busy doing mattered as much. Five minutes.

March 13: After

1. After the Rain: it's not laundry, it's bliss!
2. After the trip: the boss went easy on me today.
3. After the LOL: a new spot in the business district called H.I.T. claims you'll get a workout in four minutes. This I have to see.