International Day of Happiness

It’s the second annual International Day of Happiness! I couldn’t think of a better day in which to participate. Although I started off the day a little sore and tired, I think this is a perfect moment to practice gratitude (and list-making!).

Ten things that make me happy:

1. Family
2. Bookstores
3. Really great songs
4. Mornings with Henry
5. Yoga
6. Taking photos
7. Listening to Nick read Henry bedtime stories
8. Good food
9. Relaxing on the couch with Nick
10. Long walks in warm weather

I want to know what’s on YOUR list!

Also, if you’re not doing anything tonight, I highly suggest you watch the documentary Happy.

Happy Canada Day!

Did you know…

• There’s more people in the state of California than all of Canada.
• After the 9/11 attacks, Canada launched “Operation Yellow Ribbon” which took in redirected flights of Americans trying to get home. Then for days afterwards, entire communities took in these 33,000 passengers, providing food and housing.
• The coldest day on record in North America took place in the Yukon: -81 degrees!

This video is perfect for all my curious American friends and even for Canadians who want to learn more about their country and the relationship between Canada and America. (BFFs!)

Animating Your Friends

You know those middle-of-the-winter blues? The ones where you spend your weekends eating too much, drinking too much, or just deciding to tattoo the inside of your lip on a whim? Well despite keeping pretty busy this month, I still managed to find time to get bored, and how did I combat the boredom? By taking this weekend’s most popular app “imadeface” and turning it into a game.

Sarah was my opponent. After creating pretty accurate cartoon versions of ourselves and our friend Karen, we decided to pick a friend to animate, then share our interpretation of said friend at the same time. The results were pretty funny. I hope the friends we cartooned appreciate this and know that we chose them because of their pretty faces.

Round 1: Julia Deakin (photo)

Round 2: Angela Holmes (photo)

Round 3: Jana Neumann (photo)

Round 4: Sarah Townson

It’s funny how to a stranger, these could look like completely different people, but to someone who knows the subject, there’s different features in each interpretation that ring true. I think Sarah won the game, unless anyone can argue otherwise! The imadeface app is available for free in the iPhone app store.

Memory Lane

When I moved to New York, I gave my parents about five boxes to store. Those boxes included irreplaceable things that I didn’t feel comfortable shipping to myself, including my collection of photo albums from the pre-digital camera days. I wouldn’t look at those old photos too often when I had them, but thinking about something happening to the only physical copies of these memories gave me so much anxiety! So this Christmas, while I was visiting my parents, I managed to scan about 300 old photos.

It’s so funny to see how I’ve changed throughout the years…

Bricks and Mortar

Cancer Bats‘ new video makes my heart happy. These hilarious headbangers proudly show off their favourite Toronto restaurants, venues, and shops like Town Moto, Lee’s Palace, The Horseshoe, Bikes On Wheels, Sneaky Dees, Honest Ed’s, Suspect Video, and Sonic Boom. Consider this your guide to Toronto, courtesy of Cancer Bats.

There couldn’t have been a more perfect video for a song called “Bricks and Mortar”!

Happy Halloween!

I think many East Coasters are having the exact same reaction as Nick this morning: “Oh yeah, it’s Halloween.”

It’s hard to get back in the Halloween spirit after the intensity of the last few days, but I think these pictures of my niece and nephew in Oshawa will help.

Feel better? Good.

World’s Coolest Flight Attendant

I hope my flight attendants on our way to Chicago this Friday are even half as cool as this guy. What a way to brighten up a tedious travel day!

{via Swissmiss}

The Happy Movie

I mean, how great is happiness? It’s really a simple emotion, if you think about it. That’s why I’m really interested in this new documentary, Happy. Everyone has the right to be happy, even though happiness comes easier for some than others. Some expect to be happy all of the time, where others argue if you weren’t miserable sometimes, how could you know when you were happy?

All of this reminds me of the speech my Dad gave when Nick and I were married:

“Christina is always happy… or at least working towards it given the circumstance. For several years in her mid-teens, she actually hummed cheerily non-stop during meals. Happy hums.”

I hope you all have a very happy Thursday.

Reasons To Write Real Letters

A big reason to write and mail real letters is to keep in touch and share photos with your little niece and nephew in Canada. If you’re lucky like me, you’ll get a video back.

Wes Anderson’s Best Commercials

Wes Anderson may be known for his quirky, stylized movies, but did you know he’s directed commercials as well? Those quick camera pans, cartoonish characters, and fast, funny dialogue work well in short form too!  Ad Week takes a look at his best, including spots for American Express, Stella Artois, Hyundai, and more. Here’s my favourite:

See all of his commercials here. Get more Wes Anderson here.