Hamilton's Drag Race

I've never really been aware of the entertainment that Hamilton has to offer the LGBT community. I have many friends who are a part of that community, but being straight I guess I just never had the inclination to look into it.

That all changed on Thursday night. I didn't change. I'm still straight, but I was introduced to some awesome Hamilton LGBT fun! I went to embassy for the very first time!! Embassy is one of the gay clubs in Hamilton. I didn't even know that there was another one but apparently The Werx is a good place as well. I mean it can't be bad...it has a leather bar in the basement. Awesome!

My friends David, Ian and I at our first drag show! Exciting! (Ugh not a good hair night :P)

I think the idea that you can go somewhere and not worry that people are judging you or criticizing you is very liberating. Even though I'm straight I felt completely comfortable there and wasn't afraid to be myself (not that I'm usually afraid to be myself...not at all. BUT there have been instances at certain "clubs" where I felt too fat, not fashionable enough or too old to fit in). Of course in a perfect world everybody would feel comfortable everywhere and not be judged. Sadly that is not the world we live in so it is nice to have somewhere people can be themselves and not worry about being hassled.

To my absolute delight Thursday night was drag night at Embassy.  It was very entertaining. The ladies would get up on stage in their beautiful outfits and do a dance or lipsync (for your life). Some real talent was seen. Some of the drag queens made me feel super unfeminine because they were just so lovely. Not only that but there were also drag kings in the mix and that was nice to see them being included as well. There was one imparticular (I'm sorry I can't remember his name) who was an insaaaane dancer. He was all over the place. Chris Brown eat your heart out.

Smooth Moves

After the show (which was raising money for charity) there was dancing and it was it was a fun night all around. Seriously it really made me realize how few "comfortable" places or acknowledgment the LGBT community really has in Hamilton. I mean two bars in the entire city. What if you aren't into the club scene?

There are some things that go on during "Pride Season", including a Pride Festival and even a Pride Service at the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton. But is that enough? Why aren't there events all year? I guess it's a good start, I just didn't realize how little was going on in this area.

I would definitely go back to Embassy, and I'd like to go to The Werx as well. The atmosphere at Embassy was just fun and happy. Check out the Hamilton Pride website for more information on pride events in Hamilton.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

This post has nothing to do with Hamilton OR travel. I just have to share because I think people may get a good laugh out of it. That laugh will be at my expense but I think I'm secure enough to join in the giggles as well.

Alrighty then, here goes the story. This is possibly one of the most embarrassing things to ever happen to me and that is crazy because I usually embarrass myself at least once a day. Let's add some pretext to this story shall we? I'm sure you've all seen that curling hair tutorial where the poor girl (Tori Locklear) burns off a piece of her hair? Well if you haven't I will share it with you right here.

Okay so this video went viral a couple of weeks ago and I will admit that when I watched it I laughed my butt off. I also said things like, "how would you ever manage that?" and, "what an idiot!".

The laughing stopped last Tuesday. Abruptly.

My friend Danielle gave me this handy dandy waving iron. I had never used one before or even seen one for that matter.  To be honest I'm not the most girly girl out there. I can't do hair or nails without messing up. I rarely even blow dry my hair. Anyways I had this iron for a couple of weeks and I hadn't had a chance to use it yet. Then last Tuesday my work sent me home early. I had a whole afternoon off. Time to try this thing out, I thought. This is where karma sat, waiting for me.

When I turned on the iron it smelt kind of funky. I just assumed that my friend had used product or something and it was smelling because of that. I now know that maybe it was malfunctioning or something more of that nature. I proceeded to wave my hair. I did half of my head and although the smell continued I thought it was looking pretty awesome. Then it happened. The very last piece that I curled burnt off. I freaked, but it was hideable so I calmed down pretty quick. Brushed my hair, threw it in a braid and went out for dinner with my friends. If only I had known the horror had just begun.

Later that night I came home and decided to have a shower. As soon as I got in I knew something was wrong. My hair was falling out. I was pulling out enormous chunks of it. I started to cry. This continued for about 20 minutes. My hair just kept coming out. By the end there was a huge pile of hair and I knew I had to be bald. I kept picturing that scene in the movie, The Craft, where Ben Stiller's wife is crying in the shower and her hair is falling out. That was me. That was my awake nightmare.

This is how I imagined I looked while I was in the shower.

"Now Derek Zoolander will never marry me!"

When I got out and brushed it, a lot more hair came out, but I forced myself to look in the mirror and somehow, by some miracle I was not bald. I had lost a ton of hair though and a lot of it was in the front and not easily hide-able. I decided I was not going to go to work the next day and would go for an emergency haircut but in reality it was pay week and I didn't have a lot put aside for an emergency cut. So, I hid my hair shame the best I could and continued on with my week as usual until I could go get it fixed on Friday. It was a horrible week. I couldn't stop worrying about it but also my hair smelt SO bad.

I assumed they would cut all of my hair off. I've had it short before so I wasn't worried that it would look terrible but I was really upset because I've been growing my hair out for over 2 years and I didn't want to start all over again.

I loved my hair short, don't get me wrong but I didn't want to do it again this way.

I enlisted my sister to come with me for moral support while I got my hair cut. Somebody had recommended Total Image in Jackson Square and I had been there for a trim before so I went there and met Felma, my hairdresser/hairfix guru/miracle worker.

She was sympathetic and only laughed a couple of times but she also said the most beautiful words I'd heard all week. "I can save a lot of it."

By doing all kinds of crazy layers and bangs she managed to keep quite a bit of my length. I wasn't sure how I felt about bangs but it's been a week now and I am starting to really like them and have got tons of lovely compliments. A lot of people just think I wanted a style change. They don't know the terrible truth.

I wanted to share this story so that others out there might avoid this fate. If you don't know how to handle hair devices, don't. If something seems off about them, don't use them. If you're unsure of how hot things should be, don't use it!! It's not worth it. I lucked out but even though it's fixed it was still damaged and I am going to have to work really hard to get it back to a really healthy state.

Right after leaving my hair angel, Felma. I was more relieved then I let on.

One week later I'm really into the bangs and learning how to wear it funky ways.

The moral of the story is this, beware when you laugh at others misfortunes. Karma may just come and hit you upside the head. Tori Locklear...I apologize for laughing uncontrollably at you for burning off one piece of your hair. After burning more than half of mine off I can appreciate the turmoil you must have felt...but still...both situations are kind of funny. At least you got YouTube famous thanks to it. If only I had been fiming myself in the shower. Wait...what? No.

Thank goodness I've always been pretty good at laughing at myself otherwise this really could have been a much more traumatic experience.

You Made The List

Dear Anchor Bar,

You made my list. How disappointing for you.

I heard nothing but hype and excitement about this new restaurant in Hamilton. Originally a staple in Buffalo, New York the franchise has now expanded into Canada, knocking local independently owned restaurants like Walt's Grill and Bar by the wayside.

My sister and I were frequent diners at Walt's and were very upset when we heard we would have to find a new place to go on our sister dates. The location was just so convenient. We could easily go for a lovely dinner and then head to the movies in Jackson Square.

When Anchor Bar opened we decided to go try it out in the hopes that we would have a new favourite restaurant in the same location as our old one. Unfortunately all of those dreams were dashed after our very first visit.

At first glance we were very impressed. The decor is fun and there was a big crowd of people in there at 3 pm. We were seated and given menus. They have a really big menu with lots of different choices. Unfortunately Anchor Bar is known for their wings but upon inspection they don't really have anything special about their wings. They were really expensive and only came in normal flavours, except for the suicide and drop anchor flavours which are so hot you have to sign something to order them. We decided we could get cheaper wings another time from somewhere else.

The second thing I noticed was their pops are $2.25 and they don't do refills for anyone over 16. Seriously? That's just ridiculous. Walt's had refills AND free nachos while you waited for your food. We both ordered water. We had decided on  the 6 cheese anchor dip for an appetizer and we both ordered the chicken wing crunch melt for our entrees.

Our waitress and the man who brought our food to the table gushed about how delicious our choices were and how they're the best thing on the menu. It was around that time that we noticed they had brought out our entrees but not our appetizer. Five minutes later our appetizer came out. The waitress seemed confused at our unhappiness. We had to explain to her that an appetizer should come before all the other food and that by the time we would get to it now it would be cold. The lightbulb seemed to go on then and she said that she would take it off our bill and away from the table apparently removing a plate from the table take ten minutes.

By that point neither of us were super impressed with the place but we tried to have an open mind. I turned to my entree which did look interesting. The less interesting thing was that there was hair on my sandwich. UGH. I decided that since it took her 10 minutes to clear our unwanted appetizer it would likely take an hour to get a new sandwich so I decided to eat the side that didn't have hair on it. Luckily for me after 5 bites I decided that it was too disgusting to finish.

My sister (who is 8 months pregnant and eats EVERYTHING) ate less than half of hers. It was not at all what was in the menu. It said it was  boneless wings basted in their FAMOUS mild wing sauce, topped with buffalo mozzarella on a roasted garlic hoagie bun topped with hickory smoked chips.

What we got was rotisserie chicken with lettuce and tomato topped with hickory sticks covered in Frank's red hot sauce all piled onto a foot long hotdog bun. Since when is Frank's mild by any stretch of the imagination? Is it their FAMOUS sauce? Also it made the chips soggy and the chicken tasted disgusting. Their only saving grace was their french fries which were actually decent.

I put that sh*t on everything...so does Anchor Bar apparently.

Our fabulous (note sarcasm) meal was all rounded off by a waitress who didn't bring us a bill but handed me a debit machine...um..."Can I see my bill? Also I'm paying cash..."

When we left the waitress apologized for her bad service and for the possibly poor food quality too. REALLY? What else do you offer? If your service and food is not good what am I paying for? The decor?

To say the least I would not recommend Anchor Bar to anybody. I doubt I will ever return there. If for some reason you are still interested in trying them out you can check out their website here.

Driver's Beware!

I have a confession to make. This won't be surprising if you know me but if you don't...ohhh boy. Okay here it goes!

I can't drive! ...shock, gasp! I know, I know. I'm waaaay too old to not drive but by golly I just never got it. I had my G1 around 5 years ago and had a few "mom" lessons, but I was a disaster. Just terrible. I ran stop signs multiple times and was so nervous that I would end up crying while driving.

I've decided to give it another go.  I have had a few "dad" lessons which have gone great and my aunt even took me out one time, but I start driver's ed tomorrow. I'm taking it at Universal Driving School. I'm terrified that I'm going to be the oldest person in my class. Oh well.

I'm still nervous.. My sister and brother-in-law were in a pretty bad wreck this past summer out near Trinity Church Road, that makes me more anxious than I ever was before. I've realized that I need to do this. I am letting career doors close just because I don't have my license.  That's just pure craziness.

My bro-in-law and sis's car. Thank goodness they were both okay!

Anyways this had a point. My point is that Hamilton roads...SUCK!

Brucedale Rd in Hamilton. AKA. Deathtrap Road!

My street maybe isn't as bad as Brucedale but holy heck it's bad. It never gets plowed and people park on both sides of the street. I was driving with my dad yesterday and it was super. We were all over the place and I felt pretty good and then BAM we came down my street and almost hit another car. Confidence shattered.

That being said I'm glad that I'm learning in the winter because I need to know how to drive defensively. Especially in this city! Ugh.

Apparently Ontario has some problems with roads. So much so that there is an annual vote on Ontario's worst roads. Read all about it here.

So wish me luck as I embark on this terrifying road to a driver's license. I can't wait to have it. People should be worried. Look both ways before you cross the streets!!

I Know Where It's At

A few years ago my friend told me that when I have a bad day or week or month or whatever to write everything that I'm thankful for down on a piece of paper and then read it out loud and I will feel better. I can attest that this actually works. I'd like to bring this idea into the year 2013.

It's true that things have been going pretty well for me lately but I can't help but still feel like my life isn't where it should be by society standards (and my own as well). I'm going to post pictures of the things that I am most thankful for and the experiences I've been able to have thanks to being single, living at home and not having a "career". I'm ready for those things now but looking back I have to say I'm kind of glad they have been a little delayed because I would not have been able to live this exciting life if I had been tied down.

This is not in any order of importance or excitement. I love that I have so many wonderful people in my life and that I have had so many wonderful experiences. I couldn't be any more thankful!

1. Candace convincing me to go snorkeling in Punta Cana with sharks and stingrays. One of the most terrifying and exciting moments of my life.

2. Backpacking through Ireland, Scotland and England with one of my best friends! A true testament to mine and Laura's friendship! 

3.  Getting to live my Harry Potter obsession in England. (attached to number 2)

4. Seeing Stonehenge. (attached to number 2)

 5. Watching my friends and my beautiful sister become blushing brides.

Jenn and Scott

Sarah and Rob

Lindsay and Augustin

 6. Hiking a mountain in Alberta. It was so beautiful and intense. It's hard to find words. I would never have made it up without Laura and Mallory pushing me, and I'm sooo glad I did because it was breathtaking!

 

 7. Going to Europe for the first time to visit my best friend, Jolene! What an amazing trip that was. If I had not done that I don't think I would have become the travel junky that I am today. So thanks for going to school in England and letting me come stay with you :)

8. Getaways with my mom and my sister. Toronto, New York. I love these ladies more than anything and I'm so glad that I will have these memories forever.

9. Watching my best friends become the most beautiful moms.

Me with Jolene's son, Jude. He was so tiny.

Jolene and her daughter Penny.

Leanne with her beauties Olivia and Jemma.

10. Visiting Ian in Belgium and going to Amsterdam! Travel was great but rekindling an old friendship was excellent.

Bruges <3

Brussels

Amsterdam :D

11. Being asked to be in one of my best friends weddings! Of course I said yes! It's this year!!

Andrew and Candace!

12. Having the freedom and time to travel to other cities to see my favourite bands.

Me sitting beside Hanson when they were on MTV Canada! I was totally freaking out!

                            

Detroit with Sarah, Amanda and Laura to see Hanson! (Yes...I realllly like Hanson :P)

Hanson's "Take The Walk" one mile barefoot walk in support of the fight against poverty and aids in Africa. That's me walking barefoot behind Zac Hanson in State College, Pennsylvania.

The Trews

They play a lot of shows near Hamilton so I see them a lot. Here I had caught that cowbell during the show.

 Go check out the Take The Walk website to see what small steps you can take to help!

13. My dream of going to France came true! Trip of a lifetime! Kind of funny that it is number 13 since I was unlucky enough to be REALLY sick the entire trip. C'est la vie.

14. Amazing trips and the loudest laughs with the best friends a girl could EVER ask for!

I look forward to our weekend at Dario's every year! Such fun!

15. Family! Mine's amazing! I hope yours is too!!

Cottaging it up with Dad!

Family Christmas Party Tradition!

Sibling love at Lindsay's wedding reception!

Sister, Sister! My sister is the best woman I know. I love her more than anything! I don't want you to get the wrong impression...I loooove my brothers to infinity but I guess sisters just have a special bond!

Family portrait with Dad!

Time spent with those you love is never time wasted!

16. Zip lining through a jungle in the Dominican Republic! Absolutely incredible!

17. Watching my gorgeous niece Maddison growing up! She's 3 now and quite the little lady. She's probably my favourite person in the world.

 18. Continuing my education. Yes it has been a subject of turmoil and disappointment but I definitely don't regret it as it has helped make me who I am! Learning is never a bad thing. I'm proud of myself.

Graduating from Journalism.

Graduating from Post Graduate Public Relations in June 2012.

 19. Watching my baby sister grow a baby inside of her! I can't wait to meet the little munchkin! 

My glowing baby sister at 30 weeks.

 20. The determination to continue living my life in this way with these people no matter what in my life may happen now. Love, success, money, career, moving on out...whatever it is I can't wait to have new adventures and experiences come my way.

Wow this really did help. I am super spoiled in my life. The friends, the family...just totally spoiled.