Stranded in the Nevada Desert Drunk Telling Folk Stories

 Adulthood, its a trial and error of vast levels, like being put in a barrel and rolled down a hill. If you don’t vomit you’ll get that promotion you wanted. I’ve been living the life of the weekend warrior playing socialite and party monster while keeping up an important work ethic during the week. I’m learning more then I ever have and its incredibly terrifying. The learning Im going to have to seek is daunting, but the results are what make me smile in the morning on a rainy Monday.

The love life?

I want it to feel like Lord Hurons new album sounds, I want it to blind side me like the bottle of Basil Hayden’s Bourbon did when I bought it last week. I took it home and basked in its romantic tango with the melodies coming from my new itunes purchase.

I’m describing bourbon and music as my compromise to my failing love life…

I’m figuratively stranded in the god damn Nevada desert drunk telling folk stories.

I’m stubborn as fuck, which makes it hard to settle for anything that doesn’t make me have that “short of breath” feeling. Why not wait and kill time cock blocking your guy friends and coming home to sit in front of your oven patiently waiting for your Hawaiian pizza pockets?

There is NOTHING wrong with that, although your guy friends might start to not include you in their outings. Unless you live with one of them and chain smoke at the dinner table on a Tuesday morning while he’s attempting to seal a deal.

She sounded like Swedish Minnie Mouse, who sounds like that?

Femme Bots, thats who.

If anything I saved his life from his dick getting vaporized, I am such a good roommate and friend.

“Self high-five.”

I’m starting to figure out the balance and shift from the fashion world, I like this new world. I like the creative possibilities and the people that are drawn to it. I feel like I made the best decision I’ve ever made for myself and Im fucking terrified of it. I’m insanely excited and inspired but its like walking blind folded into a mine field. I’m trying to man the fuck up as fast as I can, the environment adjustment is the biggest.

Don’t get me wrong, its the best environment I could have asked for, I was meant to be here. There is not one doubt about that, however finding my place in it all has taken some time. I’m an attentive sweet little lady but I’m also a creative nut bag and realizing during the week I have to balance that is a hard shift. I have the work ethic of a Wall Street banker but if I haven’t fully gotten a system down the creative comes out and wants to wander.

I’ll get there, I’m meant to get there.

This past weekend I spent with my roommate Tim spontaneously getting the number 6 and an arrow tattooed on us with his sister Molly. Prior to this I was drinking champagne in Bellwoods while my dearest Meghan shot a bubble gun at me. The weekends are becoming memories I could never buy, the realization we are all growing up. Bigger moments and benchmark events are beginning to happen, huge chapters are being written.

Meghan’s getting married, every time I think about that I get this feeling I’ve never felt before. Its like being to a country you’ve never been before.

One of those moments you actually feel life happening.

It like that moment you have with your parents where you understand they are human, the hero’s are mortal and there is so much understanding and appreciation for that.

The thing we all have to remember is to keep being spontaneous, keep living in the moment when you have one. Make time for them, from the finger tips of a hopeless romantic I beg you to take chances. Realize moments you would normally be distracted by your phone. Remember at the other side of that dating app is a real human being and live a little, its not a game and its ruining our ability to communicate.

I sink myself into a feeling and this summer I truly believe a lot of us are going to shed the vulnerability and enjoy the wonderful lives we all lead.

Why not?

At the end of it all we are all looking for the happiest we can possibly be.

Thanks for reading Lovelies

Xox

Tunes – Also I don’t know if I’ve said this but these songs are a big part of my writing process. I’m also someone who can’t have silence, I drive my friends nuts with always trying to find a plug in for my iphone.

Elvis Presley – Mystery Train  

Lord Huron – Luisa 

Death cab For Cutie – You’ve Haunted Me All My Life

Max Frost – Let Me Down Easy 

Lord Huron – Fool For Love

St Paul and The Broken Bones – It’s Midnight

Kicked Off the Wrong Train and Zak Miller Lullabies

Fine, fine fine, I’m feeling oh so fine with my life.
Why?
Because Ive been thinking about time and how much time I have. How little time I now spend worrying, stressing out, and chasing things that are not meant to be. When you are aware of your surroundings, when you are making choices with yourself in mind, the rights things come and the wrongs things go. I’ve spent so much time wondering why things don’t work out, why every opportunity seems to fall flat, and why my feet keep going their own way. Its because its not meant to be and the quicker you come to realize this the sooner you can move on to better things. I’m not saying don’t fight for what you believe in, always fight, but know the worth of the fight. You have that choice, to just simply walk away with your goals and place them on a blank canvas again. I’ve had to rebuild my life a few times and I’m only on the verge of 27 years old. It builds a strong sense of being going through so many changes, you come out stronger every time.
I mean it, EVERYTIME.
Or else you my friend are one of those circle people. You are the stubborn, the egomaniac ones that spends their lives doing the same things over and over again. You make the same “safe” choices, you date the same men, and you make the same mistakes. Sound familiar?
Our lives move forward, let it move that way even if its terrifying. I have this feeling that a lot of people in our generation are going to have a rude awakening in the next few years. We do the same actions and expect a different outcome, we stick to the same habits and wonder why we end up in the same place.

You can’t make a pot roast and expect it to come out as a fucking cake.

So take that new route home, go flirt with that coffee guy who “isn’t your type” and stop pulling yourself back into your comfort zones. This advice is brought to you by a lady who has been shoved out of her comfort zone enough times. It usually feels like riding on a train only to be kicked off cause you didn’t have the proper ticket. You knew you didn’t have the right ticket and its a sinking feeling when you get caught. That is how I felt after realizing I had made the wrong choice, I had tried to find a loop hole instead of paying responsibly. If you ignore the signs life gives you, ignore that gut feeling, I’m afraid you will always find yourself getting chucked off moving trains.
The fun part about moving forward is the right things, the fun things, and the meaningful things become clearer. Perfect example of this was last friday when I adventured to the Toronto Island Cafe. From reading my blog you’ll know I went to an art school downtown, and you’ll know I have an incredible circle of talented friends. Zak Miller or Hummus as his nickname was, I can’t remember how that name came to be, maybe we just liked chickpeas a lot. Anyway he play’s in his band called Zakary Miller & The Filthy 5 Brass Band all around Toronto. We got lucky to watch him do his thing in a beautiful garden cafe setting, surrounded by wine and hula hoopers as the sun set slowly. My girls Cat, Meghan, Sarah and I sat around a white picnic table under twinkle lights laughing and enjoying the most lovely music coming from someone who we know and love. Zak even did an ODB rendition of “Baby I Got Your Money” which got everyone singing along. I spent most of the time just taking it all in, seeing how lucky I was and eying the smoking hot bartender that I later realized also went to high school with us. I drunkenly elbowed Sarah and pointed towards the bar but before she could roll her eyes Meghan chimed in loudly proclaiming his name and that we did indeed know him. I sank slowly behind the flower bouquet center piece and avoided eye contact with the younger pretty girls at the next table who had overheard.
What?
Yea I get immediately shy when people find out Im checking them out and then try and act coy by sipping my wine and awkwardly laughing. I find the wine flushes my cheeks more than the embarrassment does, or I just loudly proclaim ” I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM”
The night ended with a lovely last song from Zak and his band, we all gave him a huge hug and gratefully thanked him for such an amazing evening across the lake. That is the beautiful thing about having a school that nurtured us as artists, we never forget that bond we all have. Its been almost 14 years since we all were young artists creating and figuring out who we were and what we could offer. We are still mostly all doing just that, creating and enjoying the art we were trained to do.

Remember my loves everything takes time and you have a whole lot of it. Enjoy getting out of your comfort zones, go see some live music, call an old friend, and take a chance on being out of the ordinary.
A good life takes 3 things in my opinion;
Patience, Passion, and Persistence.

Below are some tracks laid down By Zak and his band so have a listen, follow him on Facebook here and go out and see these lovelies live.

Zakary Miller  – Baby I got Your Money

Zakary Miller – Baby’s A Drink

XOXO

– Casey Jane

A Comedic Life

As far back as I can remember I’ve always had something to laugh at about my life, it’s not normal, it’s embarrassing, everyone in my family is an eccentric in their own right, and my friends continue to warp my sense of humour to the next level.
Before I got into styling as I career choice I was acting, writing, performing, and basically doing the same race just a different craft. I was in a comedy troupe called Um?Like,Yeah! with my friends Matt Foley and Mae Martin, we performed in local comedy venues and bars doing sketch and musical comedy. Mae and I were roommates and Foley was our adopted child, it was an amazing and hilarious time in my life. I started trying stand up and singing more with the help of being roommates with my comedy partners, every day was a new sketch, I’ve never been so shameless and humble.
After a couple years we all moved on and I joined forces with my best friend Kate Morrison a.k.a Kmo and we started a comedy band called Cashmo which we have recently revived. During this time I was also in a troupe called Third Banana, I loved performing with these guys ( Evan Brandon, Ryan Parsons, Hannah Hogan) because they LOVED to use costumes and we all had a great chemistry. They were all fantastic writers, not to mention trained actors, total commitment to being the funniest we could be.
My life was a circus of stages, bars, apartments…it was a scene from The Birdcage. I know learned a lot but quite honestly the flash backs are too funny to be reflective on it, picture Molson cold shots, slap fights, dress up, and the occasional backstreet boy dance off…
Anyway that’s my ridiculous past for you and also I hope you enjoyed the snap shots of me and my former comedians. Kmo and I will be performing Wednesday May 8th at the Magpie 831 Dundas street west if your in the Toronto area! The show is called The Short Notice Show and there are going to be a bunch of comedy acts from some seriously funny performers.

I’m really happy I have comedy back in my life, I needed to start laughing at myself again, it’s humbling…or maybe it’s just cheap therapy, I’m ok with this.

Happy Tuesday Lovelies

– Casey Jane

Tune for today
Kids of 88 – Just A Little Bit

The Red Rythm

On Saturday I had the privilege to experience one of Toronto’s best kept secrets, or maybe it was just my first time of hearing about it. There is this little bar on Dundas and Ossington called “The Communist Daughter”, a very small space that I quickly learned packs up by 4pm by young and old patrons awaiting something I could have never guessed to happen.
Matt and I squeezed ourselves into a booth at the very back and were greeted by a tall skinny older man who reminded me of a cabaret man of sorts, his name was Michael and  he was quick to fill our order and scoot back behind the bar. At the front of the venue stood a clarinet player, a stand up bass, and a classical guitar player sitting on a rusty chair playing gypsy jazz melodies until it happened, Michael reached down after pouring a pint and drew a trumpet up to his lips, played a bit with the band and then began to sing.
We had stumbled upon a little golden secret in Toronto and as we listened in astonishment I realized how important these moments are. Soul food, that’s how my mum would describe it, stuff that makes goosebumps and your brain whirl with ideas and emotions. Matt and I whispered throughout the show about this band, The Red Rythm, being in our wedding, it was perfect, they were perfect, it made me want to get married right there in that little cantina like bar.
This happens every Saturday at 4pm-7pm so if your in need of a little soul food I strongly suggest writing this in your date book, its an experience that cannot be missed. Also the night is pay what you can, Michael puts it into a great perspective, how much is it worth? Well after you hear and see the first set I doubt you’ll be anything else but generous.

Michael Louis Johnson of The Communist Daughter

You can watch a video here of Michael at his beloved bar

Happy Monday!

-Sailor Parc