White Jeans In The Summer

FullSizeRenderIt’s summer and wearing white jeans seems, well, so obvious.  But, this wasn’t the case for me until last summer.  I used to think white jeans were impractical, meaning hard to keep clean and just too ‘fancy’ for every day wear.

Well, I was wrong because I’ve practically lived in white jeans for the past two summers.  Here are a few reasons why:

White jeans just spell summer.  What comes to mind are photos of people boating and walking along the beach, wearing white jeans with navy tops, striped tops, boat shoes, running shoes, etc.  You get the picture.

Note that when I say white jeans, I mean white jeans,  not white pants.  What I like about white denim is that it’s thicker than linen or other cotton pants, giving the pants a sturdier feel.  You don’t have to worry about ripping or snagging the jeans because of their thicker material.  Plus, you don’t have to worry about them being as delicate or as see-through as linen or thin cotton pants.

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Celebrating The Feast Of The Assumption In My Lebanese Family

Our Lady of Lebanon
Our Lady of Lebanon

Today is August 15th, The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It sounds like quite the esoteric topic for a post, but I wanted to share this day with you in the form of pictures and anecdotes because it’s a big deal in my family!

In Lebanon today, it is a statutory holiday and it is highly celebrated.  You go to church, you visit and spend time with everyone named Mary, and you even give them presents.  And, because my name is Mary, today is my day!

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Feast of the Assumption celebrates Mary when, upon her death, she was ‘taken up body and soul into heavenly glory’.

Our Lady of Lebanon
Our Lady of Lebanon

When my grandmother was alive, this day was her day, too – basically like a birthday celebration.  August 15th was bigger for her than any other day of the year because her name was Marie and she was very religious.  We would go over to her house and exchange gifts and have lunch with the extended family.

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Insta-Lately And That Summer Feeling

IMG_9720Are you in full summer mode?  What gives you that ‘summer feeling’?  And, what do I mean by that?

In this post, I’ll take you through some of the pleasures of summer, as seen lately on my Instagram feed.  I hope you’ll be inspired to take advantage of the remaining summer weeks and do some things you’ve had on your list.

It’s hard to believe it’s almost mid-August, which means that summer is two-thirds over, technically speaking.  In Toronto, it’s starting to get a tad bit cooler in the evenings and the sun has shifted lower in the sky as it moves from east to west. Daylight hours are dwindling slightly.  But, let’s forget about that for now and concentrate on the summer feeling I know we are all loving!

IMG_8532Summer is my favorite season – not even a question.  There’s something about being warm that I crave all year, living in Canada.  But even before I moved here, summertime was my favourite, anywhere I lived.

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Cirque du Soleil and Content Creation

Cirque du Soleil's Luzia at the Toronto Port Lands
Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia at the Toronto Port Lands

Let’s face it: we all crave new content constantly, be it on TV, at the movies, eating out, shopping, or traveling.  Our attention span is low and we want to be doing or experiencing ‘the latest’ – a result of the (social media) world we live in.

Furthermore, with limited time, we are pickier about where and how we spend our dollars and our free time.

Having said that, this week when my daughter and I went to watch one of Cirque du Soleil’s newest shows, Luzia, in Toronto, I knew that the company had to have made some serious changes for me to be impressed.  Cirque du Soleil did not disappoint!

It’s been ten years since we saw a Cirque du Soleil show and a lot has changed.

When we saw Corteo in 2006, it was a show of talent with beautiful costumes. The acts were more classically circus-like with juggling, hand-balancing, vaulting, and tightroping.  This time around, Luzia has progressed to a Cirque du Soleil show with more insightful interpretations and deeper meaning to the acts.

Screen Shot 2016-08-04 at 9.44.49 PMLuzia is ‘a waking dream of Mexico’, focusing on the migration of the monarch butterfly from Canada to Mexico and on Mexico’s architecture, mythology, and climate.  The show has a Broadway-like feel in terms of the costumes and stage sets.  This isn’t your old-fashioned circus, not that Cirque ever was that; it is more about visually understanding the creative nuances via the costumes and acts.  It is also more dance-oriented in some segments with a ballet-like feeling. Continue reading

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