December 30: Hier

An honourable mention from yesterday:

A. Isabelle helped me take several bags to Goodwill
B. after our delicious meal of Italian veal sandwiches
C. followed by fruit (raisins, that is, in a butter tart).

December 29: Demolition

1. 10am: My dad helped me demolish the kitchen.
2. 5pm: My neighbour helped me remove the rubbish.
3. 8pm: My missing burgundy Syrian scarf reappeared.

Then some Tudors...

December 13: Duprees

The Corporate Party:

My dinner companion shared her beef with me. (I always order salmon because it's ostensibly healthier, but as soon as beef is set on the table, I am like the family puppy.) That is my 1, 2, 3-in-one.

The Creative Party:

1. On telling the organizer I was a ‘guest of a guest’ – this was true – she replied that she appreciated my honesty, let me stay and even gave me a drink ticket.

2. A storyteller named Roger met Julia and Neil, whereupon they – all three possibly Duprees – voted on naked business cards and told each other stories.

3. At the end of the night, this to me from the remaining guests: ‘Hi, we're a bunch of straight guys and we just wanted to tell you that we totally looove your shoes.’

November 22: Fertile

One free poster. ‘Canada, the Most Fertile Country in the World’

Two new pairs of All Stars. It was high time, indeed – before I baked something!

Three (or four) business cards from willing retail sponsors (for an upcoming fundraiser).

November 21: Tips

1. Perfect parallel parking, courtesy of yours truly.
2. Lots of Las Vegas tips, courtesy of the boss man.
3. Help brainstorming sexy Canadian personalities, males, 40-60 years old, courtesy of my colleagues. This was a real challenge. Not because we don't have sexy Canadians, but because our celebrity culture isn't that strong. We universally agreed that Pierre Trudeau was the perfect Canadian sex symbol, alas, he is no longer with us.

November 20: Passcard

Random 1. It was quite warm outside, so I biked (again).
Random 2. A girl at work swiped me in with her passcard.
Random 3. Leftover mini-cheesecake, coffee bean on top.

AND my brother called me tonight. Myliu, broliuk!

November 19: Respite

1. Respite: running late, but meeting cancelled.
2. Vehicle: dad finally agreed to let me use his.
3. Insta-outfit: got my forgotten blazer back.

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.

October 8: ‘Sole mio’

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia

A. The clock tower in the Public Gardens is chiming midnight 15 minutes early. It is beautiful, yet perplexing.

1. Feeling it as I am welcomed into several extended Korean-Portuguese families.

B. Email from old friends, wireless internet connections, chlorinated pools, hair straighteners, control top nylons, Titanic marine museums.

2. Feeling it as everyone helps me get to where I need to go in a hurry.

C. The privilege of hearing ‘Sole mio’ sung in Italian - with extraordinary feeling - from a husband to a wife (‘you are my sunshine’).

3. Feeling it as the Portuguese Adam Sandler (à la Wedding Singer) plays a Christmas carol over dinner.

September 27: Hugs

1. Thanks: Dad set up the trailer from the cottage for my move.
2. Thanks: Mother Nature waited until after I moved to let it rain.
3. Thanks: Ron listened to my sob story at the local coffee shop.

Plus my two nephews, who came running into the coffee shop in their little dinosaur raincoats. Wet plastic hugs never felt so good!

September 1: ‘G’

1. The ‘G’ for ‘group’: many hands made light work.
2. A woman caught up to me crossing the street to return a piece of paper that had fallen from my pocket. ‘Gee, thanks!’
3. Gelato with R; Guinness with I.

August 29: Picnic

1. Listening to my nephews' voicemail messages to me.
2. Picnic brunch at a tucked-away lawn bowling club.
3. E, for documentation in an administrative nightmare.

August 21: Aftermath

1. I called out in anguish on the street to no one in particular, ‘What day is it today?!’ And a nice guy replied, ‘Tuesday!’

2. After my bike ride, Paul took me into his home and offered me grapefruit juice - which happens to be my favourite.

3. In the Aftermath of Paul, I lingered ... in a good way ... and I got more free legal advice! Damn, that's the best kind.

August 19: Silhouette

1. Arriving: to a new job, boss greeting me with a hug.
2. Sharing: men's washroom, door being guarded for me.
3. Biking: relaxed, buzzed, on a warm evening, across the city. My friend A answers her phone and invites me in when I spy her silhouette en route.

I love this dresscode: ‘Don't show your bits.’

August 14: Ideas

A1. Free wireless internet in the restaurant.
B1. Over lunch: Building on ideas born of a midnight moment.

A2. People-watching on a sunny patio corner.
B2. Over coffee: Idea stories unfolding live in the flesh.

A3. Phone call from my one-and-only Ula.
B3. Over email: Even more ridiculous ideas!

C. Free legal advice!

August 13: ¡Hola!

1. ¡Hola! Bumping into my Spanish teacher y su madre en el banco.
2. ¡Hola! My friend's brother served me a large green tea ice-cream for the price of a small.
3. ¡Hola! ‘I'm so excited to have you joining my professional world. Just let me know if I can do anything to help!’

August 8: Advice

1. Fashion advice from my (exasperated) dad.
2. Career advice from a seasoned professional.
3. Industry advice from a friend who knows:

‘Don't accept any drinks and don't buy any land! There are a lot of film people out there who'll whisper sweet life-changing promises in your ears, and then the next morning you'll be waking up next to the Pillsbury Dough Boy looking for your shorts and wondering why you have a title deed to a swamp in Florida.’

God bless you, R, G and E!

August 3: SOS

I made a huge error in judgement and wore closed heels on a humid, sweaty summer day.

3pm - Starbucks Barista showed mercy. Provided first-aid kit bandages for my blistered heels.

4pm - Ditto for the Barista at the next Starbucks.

5pm - The drugstore cashier forgave me $0.57 on the bandages and told me I could pay her back next time.

My predicament, it turns out, was not nearly as bad as that of my colleague's. She taped her blistered toes in transluscent Scotch Tape! She went into raptures when she saw the box of bandages.

I am now wearing my new Havaianas.

July 29: Putty

12 hours with my habibis!

1a. Clean-Shirts Journey: Julija helped with the downtown-bound ‘Tunnel!’ ‘Train!’ ‘Station!’ adventure. Lucky for us, the seats at the back of the last subway car were available.

1b. Dirty-Shirts-Covered-in-Popsicles-and-Chocolate-Milkshake Version: My brother helped with the homeward-bound trip. Even if the seats had been taken, I'm sure they'd have freed up quickly...

2. Mothers will appreciate this one. Little Lukas fell asleep the second we entered the restaurant for lunch; he woke up the second we exited, 90 minutes later.

3. Thankfully, the swimming pool was still open when we got home. We all jumped in and washed the day away.

Free silly putty and musical keychains also went a long way. Not to mention Starbucks, which is highly reliable for diaper stops. No wonder ‘Starbucks’ is one of Lukas's first words.

Happy Birthday, Yee!

July 26: Boondoggle

1. Fresh: Over lunch, a Beautiful Berliner taught me to spread the sour cream onto the fresh bread.
2. Fresher: A friend gave me two Advils for my day-after headache.
3. Freshest: My new, comfy kitten heels, laced with gimp! I have just learned that gimp is also called boondoggle.