Farewell, dear friend

It's time.

It's time to say goodbye to Sugar and Gravy.

I started this blog in August 2008, nearly 7 years ago. I started it so I could move on from my LiveJournal, which was very diary-like and emotional in nature. I wanted my Blogger to be light, full of pop culture, silliness, and miscellany. It was! My list of tags ranges from Toronto to Steve Aoki to to Barack Obama to Fitness and hundreds of topics in between. When I had a moment on a Sunday morning to drink coffee and blog about whatever, I would, and it was great.

Now it's a Sunday morning and I'm drinking coffee and I'm blogging, but it's for the last time on this particular blog. I haven't been posting as much as I used to. Occasionally I'll have the urge, but I'm never interested enough in taking action. I feel more often than not it becomes a chore, or something that makes me feel guilty. There are things in life that feel like chores or make you feel guilty, but blogging shouldn't be one of them. It was a fun hobby for me, and now it's not, so I shall say goodbye.

Plus, I've got another blog that I'm getting even more into, which is focused on my line of work, and that excites me a lot. So why not just put my energy there? I will.

But to you - S&G - thanks for all the good times, for being a channel for my musings, and for indulging me always.

Fin.

RuPaul's Drag Race: Start Your Engines II

Last night was the premiere of Season 7 of RuPaul's Drag Race. A momentous occasion.

My girlfriend K. and I recently upgraded our very basic (bitch) cable for this reason. We upgraded and then added the "Lifestyle" package that includes OutTV, because being gay is a lifestyle. OutTV is the channel that RPDR airs on in Canada. We had our cable set, and now we were ready for the premiere.

Almost ready...

We then invited 15 friends -- old friends, new friends, friends we hadn't met yet, female friends, male friends, gay friends, straight friends, couple friends, friends who are related to each other, and everything in between.

Then we ordered 6 XL pizzas, put out some alcohol, our 15 friends brought snacks, we rearranged the furniture (managing to seat almost everyone), and waited for 9:00 pm to come.

It was fabulous! Made all the more so by the fact that we were watching this moment with all these people! Can you remember the last time you watched something air for the first time on television? Like actual cable? The moment it premiered? It's funny because even though not that long ago this wasn't an unusual notion, it's become one! I felt like I was in the 80's, holding a party for a television show's premiere, and actually watching it on television as it aired for the first time! What a trip! And it was such a fun experience: screaming with delight, laughing, "yassssss"'ing, gasping, joking, shouting "Guys, it's back on!!!"

When the night ended, it ended with an open invitation to everyone there to come over every Monday at 9:00. Maybe not another party until the finale, but I definitely wouldn't mind having friends with K. and I every Monday night.

Until next time!


For more of my posts on RPDR, click here!

#maevaflavestaycation

Do yourself a favour and take a staycation if you can.

My girlfriend K. is nearly home (Saturday) from a two-week trip to India. We're not likely taking a big trip this year together, so I've got all this vacation time to use. Since she's away having a blast and experiencing new things, and life is just "same old, same old" for me, I thought, why not take advantage of this time by myself? Why not take 5 days off work and just be here? Here in my apartment, here in my city (Waterloo), here in my province (Ontario), etc. So I did! Today is the fifth day of my staycation, I'm returning to work tomorrow, and I have enjoyed this time off to the max!

Here's what I've gotten up to:

• Many sleep-ins (on my first day off, I slept in until 10:30!!!)
• Much leisure time spent on my computer -- catching up on my personal email inbox, doing some of my volunteer board work, buffering, and I even "went on a retreat" and spent two hours refocusing my professional blog (analyzing traffic, what works, what doesn't, etc.)
• Hanging out with friends and family!
• Eating -- pizza, Thai, panzerotti, Pakistani, sushi, burrito, sub, and more!
• Tasks around the apartment -- laundry, cleaning, organizing, and even little projects like I painted a chalkboard wall in the apartment and another project that I'll reveal later (I want to surprise Kate!)

New chalkboard wall in my apartment!

• Celebrated my friend W's birthday!!! -- first visit to Lahore Tikka House, trampolining at Skyzone, and more time spent with W. & friends
• Gym -- I've had four solid gym visits over the course of the staycation, including an awesome Sunday morning Body Pump class with my sister
• Arts & culture -- I saw Die Walküre at the Canadian Opera Company by myself on Sunday. It was nearly five hours of intense performance and gorgeous singing. I'm a regular opera goer, but still a rookie, so I was a bit apprehensive about a 5-hour opera. I shouldn't have been. I was totally enchanted! I also saw a movie, Birdman, yesterday at Princess Cinemas in Waterloo. I had wanted to see it anyway, but once it won the Oscar, I knew I had to. It was captivating! What a unique film; the way it was filmed, the acting, the meta-ness, the sort of heightened reality... something totally new. I loved it!
• Car wash -- bumper to bumper. This was so incredibly satisfying! My car looks brand new!
• Cooking -- I went for a big grocery shop on Monday night and then yesterday made a dish that yields ten servings!!! I even went out and bought new lunch containers, and then I divided the dish (lentil chili) into its servings and currently have eight (!!!) servings in the freezer ready for next week's lunches (meaning when K's home, I can devote time to being with her rather than cooking for the week ahead!). I also bought the ingredients for a second meal which I'll hopefully cook today!

That's mostly it! Sleep, leisure time, seeing friends, eating, cooking, working out, doing tasks, taking in performances... It sounds simple, but rejuvenated may not be strong enough a word. 

If you get the chance, do it! Now... back to my final 21 hours of staycation!

1 weekend. 3 perfect restaurants.

I will blog more. And I will blog about things I used to like Discovering T.O. and restaurants.

Starting with a weekend I referenced in a recent post that I spent with my buddy K.E.S.P. I grew up in TO, she had spent some time living there, but we decided to do TO Sugar & Gravy's way. Of course that means that there was a lot of time spent eating at fave restos. They were:

#1: Dinner at Banjara
My GF K. and I ate at Banjara all the time when we lived at Yonge & Eg. It is excellent Indian food, but the best part of Banjara - for me - is the combo option. I'm used to getting the veggie combo because K. is vegetarian, and it's definitely the highest value option. For $10.99 before tax you get your choice of any veggie dish and then the combo includes: rice, naan, daal curry, aloo gobi, veggie pakora, and rice pudding! So much food, such a good price, so much deliciousness.

#2: Brunch at Fresh
You can find decent Indian in Waterloo, but you can't find anything like Fresh. KW people would freak if Fresh came here and I wish it would. But I make a point of going there in TO whenever I can. The brunch at Fresh is so awesome! I always get the full breakfast, which is basically a vegetarian (maybe even vegan) version of a classic diner breakfast: scrambled tofu with spinach (instead of eggs), baked beans, home fries, toast, and a choice of vegan sausage or tempeh bacon. Make sure you get their homemade hot sauce. Yum!

#3: Burger's Priest
This is where you go for a burger in TO. It's expensive, but it's perfection. I hear the veggie option (literally called "The Option") is great, but I've never had it. I usually have the blue cheeseburger and fries. The burger is just so simple, classic, and delicious. I love places with quirks and Burger's Priest's quirk is its Secret Menu. You have to answer a skill testing question to access it online. I recommend the Blue Steel. Shhh, it's a secret.

Be it resolved that...

I'll continue to be healthy.

I've made a number of new year's resolutions this year, but nowhere does it say "lose weight" or "eat better". Those are two things that I don't need to do because (a) I really have no more weight I want to lose and (b) I already eat just fine! I do have health-related goals, but they're more specific.

Once again - I've said this before - it feels amazing to just be healthy. It's not something I need to do; it's what I already am. And that doesn't mean it doesn't take thought or effort, but it takes as much thought and effort as it takes to brush my teeth. It's part of my routine, and after about 18 months of being this way, I continue to feel inspired by the second-naturedness of it. More importantly, I continue to feel the incredible benefits: strength, better mental health, better sleeping, better fitness, better endurance, more confidence, etc., etc., etc.

So here's to 2015 and continuing the good habits I've already established!

Sum.

I have plans of making Eggs Benedict for myself for the first time tonight. It's a favourite in breakfast spots, but I've never made it at home before and I want to try. But before I go off to the kitchen to do that...

I had an amazing weekend ripping it in Toronto with my newest best buddy; let's call her K.E.S.P. Today is the final day before I head back to work after a glorious holiday, so it was a delight to spend the weekend having fun with a friend and indulging in a number of pleasures. I got back to Waterloo around 1:30 ish and immediately cuddled with my kitty Spoon (I didn't take off my jacket or boots for at least 5 minutes... Spoonie deserved the attention). Then I felt like I needed a nap, so I climbed in bed and tried to sleep, but I couldn't. I tried to turn something on to watch that I'd hopefully fall asleep to, but it didn't happen. So, I figured I'd just lounge in bed, snuggling with Spoon, and watch something I actually want to watch. That's what brings me to the reason I wanted to post right now...

I Am.

K.E.S.P. watched this documentary recently and highly recommended it, so I was happy to take the time to watch it. It was fantastic!!! I won't bother summarizing it for you, I suggest you watch it yourself. There were so many amazing takeaways, but here's the fact that resonated most with me.

We are all connected. Everything we do has an impact.

I tend to get overwhelmed watching documentaries with big ideas like this one had. I get so wrapped up in the good ideas and want so desperately to implement them in my own life, but being overwhelmed, I often end up implementing nothing at all. So I'm going to take a "small" part of this idea and work to consider it as regularly as possible.

Consider the energy I'm putting out into the universe. 

I know the feeling of walking into a room and feeling an existing tension that you may not have the context for, but you can actually feel. My cat Spoon knows that feeling, too. When my GF K. and I have a big talk (also known as a fight) and we're sitting next to each other on the bed, crying, maybe speaking in loud voices, feeling intense emotions, etc., Spoon jumps up and sits in between us (an example of another message in the movie: that all living things are the same).

The energy that I put out there matters. Big changes happen because of individuals' consciousness spreading enough to translate into critical mass and action. But even if big change isn't my goal, everything I do has an impact, great or small. Do I put enough thought into what I do? Do I consider the impact of my words, actions, and even thoughts and emotions? I think I could stand to be more conscious of those things. And it's not about being hard on myself, or critical, or changing everything I do and everything I am. Increased consciousness is small but mighty, and I'm conscious that I could be more conscious.

Now... onto Eggs Benedict!

Eight Words

DON’T WORRY. JUST BE. LET GO. MOVE FORWARD. 

I can't believe I haven't posted in two months. Life has been crazy, but even still, I usually make time to blog. Looking back though, not only has it been busy, but it's also been somewhat tumultuous emotionally. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I've been having a crisis of spirit, and as of late things have been coming to a head. 

But I'm feeling the shift. I'm feeling the ship slowly but surely changing course. In that spirit, I sat down tonight and wrote a very brief blurb on what I've been feeling and - even more importantly - where I feel I should be going now. I noticed some patterns in what I was writing and as a result of that, I decided to paste the blurb onto a website and create a word cloud with what I'd written. A little over ten words stood out in the cloud (meaning they'd appeared in my blurb a number of times), and then after stringing those words together, I condensed it a little further into eight words. 

DON'T WORRY. JUST BE. LET GO. MOVE FORWARD. 

I have a habit of over-analyzing; it's all good. It's who I am and it's gotten me so far. However, it can become too much. I feel the need to analyze my life and my self, make some conclusions, document it, and then - and only then - move forward. This personal process is ironic given some things that have been frustrating me lately, so I just needed to take some time to sit down and feel it a little bit. I don't want to analyze, speculate, make a certain decision about it all, and then boldly go forward. No!

I just want to live. I don't want to worry. I just want to be. I want to let go of the things I cannot change. I want to keep going. 

That's it.