The polar vortex has arrived, and with it, snow. As polar vortexes go, I feel like it is really not that bad, and can’t figure out if I’ve turned into Lieutenant Dan on the shrimping boat in the storm. IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO? I’m not complaining, by any means. I’ll take a mild polar vortex any day. In any case, it’s really pretty right now.

It’s been a bit of a dull week around here; it’s that late-January, not-much-is-going-on feeling. I thought I would take this opportunity to answer some of the very fun and light questions that I received on my Ask Me Anything, which is still open, by the way! I’m happy to answer anything you might want to ask. This week, it’s all about Fun Stuff! Thanks for the very fun questions, friends!

Food, Glorious Food

Elisabeth (HI ELISABETH) asked: If you could eat one meal for a month straight, what would it be? This is a very easy question to answer; I decided to take the soft lob right out of the gates. Greek salad and hummus with pita, that is my answer. I could easily eat that for a month straight; when the guys went to Alaska for ten days, I ate it for six of those days, and the other days, I was visiting my parents. It is my favourite, I never get tired of it, and it’s nutritious and nourishing too. Add in a few glasses of red wine, and you have my perfect Friday night. If we are talking about food that I don’t personally prepare, there is an amazing local place called Aida’s Bistro that has the greatest Lebanese food you could ever hope to eat, this side of Beirut. We don’t order there frequently because a) we don’t often eat out, and b) it is super hard to find parking around there, even just for take-out, but people. PEOPLE. They have a sandwich called The Mouh and if I could eat that, along with their dip sampler, on a weekly basis I would be a Happy Woman. Well, I’m already a Happy Woman, but the eggplant, my god, the eggplant. That is not even a euphemism. Mr. Boyhouse already provides the eggplant aplenty, if you know what I’m saying, but wow, do I love their Mouh and baba ganoush. Suzanne (HI SUZANNE) asked: What are your desert island foods? and I would reference all of the above, but also let’s throw in some salsa and chips, maybe a few Macintosh apples, and definitely a nice Lindor.

All The World’s A Stage

Elisabeth also asked: If you could pick any job and magically have the necessary skills, what would you choose and why? This is also a fairly easy question for me. I would, absolutely, choose to be a theatre actor. And if we are fantasizing here and believing that everything is in place for the magical career, then I’m going to say a Broadway stage actor. Let’s add in the ability to sing and dance, and maybe I’d be a Schuyler sister? When I was young, I was in several plays and I loved everything about them; I loved learning my lines and blocking the scenes and the endless rehearsals and, of course, I loved the performances. I am a performer at heart and even just remembering my stint as Amanda Wingfield, with the lights and the sound and the audience, well. I smile in warm remembrance.

YOU MUST CHOOSE

Suzanne (HI SUZANNE AGAIN) asked: If you were forced to endure eternity without hair removal services for ONE body part (this does not count your head or eyelashes (Nicole note: DAMMIT)) what would you choose to grow to luxuriant lengths? Now, I know that no one is actually going to hold a gun to my head, screaming YOU MUST CHOOSE, but wow, I gave this thought like that was going to happen. I am a near-daily leg-and-underarm shaver, a very frequent client of the lady who does my bikini sugaring (in fact, I see her tomorrow!) (god, remember when I tried to do my own bikini wax? Some things are best left to the professionals), and my eyebrows are a mess that require constant work, so I am going to say MY ARMS. You might think that is a cheat, but you would be wrong. I wax my own arms a few times a year, usually before a vacation. Hey, I’m half-Scottish and my body thinks it is still in the Highlands and must be kept warm via body hair. However, if I’m giving into one fuzzy part, it’s going to be my arms.

You Probably Think This Song Is About You

Suzanne also asked: What is your number one karaoke song? That honour belongs to You’re So Vain, which is my absolute favourite karaoke song, but last summer in Mexico I sang Before He Cheats and honestly, that was a blast too. If my friend Jen (HI JEN) is with me, I coerce her into singing Hold On by Wilson Phillips. One day I am going to serenade my husband with You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, a la Top Gun. Some of you may remember my fortieth birthday, when one of my husband’s colleagues dressed up in my husband’s Top Gun flight suit (doesn’t everyone have one of those in their front closet?) (see also: eggplant) and started the serenade, becoming one of my favourite people ever and fulfilling the dream I’ve had since seeing the movie in 1986, in the Orpheum Theatre in Estevan with my cousins.

Boogie Shoes

Another fun question from Suzanne: What song would get you on the dance floor every time? There isn’t much that wouldn’t, but for sure anything disco would get my boogie shoes going. If there were girlfriends, or even female acquaintances nearby, I would be grabbing their arms and dragging them to dance if I Will Survive came on. But honestly, it doesn’t take much. I’d do a conga line or the hustle or YMCA or even get low, low, low. I need someone to invite me to an old-school wedding, clearly. I’m always happy to, as the Black Eyed Peas say, get it started.

Weekly Reading

After all those mysteries last week, this week I delved into more usual Nicole reading!

Dear Life. After talking about my favourite authors, I had a strong craving to read Alice Munro, and so I chose this collection because it’s one I have read only a couple of times before; most other collections I have read many, many times. This one is very interesting because Munro notes that the last four stories are not really stories, but more autobiographical reflections. Many of her stories contain elements from her own life, but these ones are specifically autobiographical, which I find fascinating. All of the stories here show the moment that a chance encounter or a choice occurs for the protagonist, and shows how life changes from that moment. This is something that I am genuinely fascinated by in my own, and other’s, lives. We are where we are in life because of choice and encounters, and it’s interesting to think of what could have been.

Home of the Floating Lily. Short stories? Check. Woman author? Check. Introduction to another culture? Check. Theme of ordinary life written in an extraordinary way? Check. This lovely debut collection checked all my boxes of things I look for in a book, and I really enjoyed it. This book deals with Bangladeshi people and their experience living in Canada, as well as their home country, and I am here for it. The title story was the one I liked the least, but I will be thinking about the story entitled All The Adjustments for a long time. It follows a widow who is living with her in-laws in Bangladesh, as is the custom. Her late husband’s brother brings a wife home to live – also the custom – and the new sister-in-law is Canadian born, half-Bangladeshi. The household changes on her account, and it is just such a good story. I am personally fascinated by arranged marriages. I think, like all marriages, that some work and some don’t. There’s no telling that arranged marriages are worse or better than Western “love matches,” I think. But I find it fascinating, the process and the idea behind it, and so I actively seek out books that discuss it.

The Jetsetters. Let me preface this by saying that I love my new Kobo; I love syncing all my library “shelves” and seeing books pop up. However. I guess I now have an algorithm based on the few e-books I have read, and the library suggested this one as I had read The Lifeguards by the same author. Here’s the synopsis: dysfunctional family goes on a Mediterranean cruise, won by their mother, and (spoiler alert!) gains an understanding of each other. It’s like having a sandwich for lunch: quick and easy, somewhat satisfying, will totally forget about it tomorrow.

Love and Saffron. Engie (HI ENGIE) and Lisa (HI LISA) both recommended this book, and it really is a lovely and sweet book made up almost entirely of correspondence between two women in the early Sixties. There is a large age gap, and they live in different places and have different lives, but they become close friends, supporting each other through difficult times. There is an underlying theme of food and the introduction of international cuisine and flavours, which I loved. The author’s note states that she based this on her own friendships, and people that she knew, writing this warm-hearted book during the pandemic. It’s just a light, sweet book that will make you smile.

If you have answers to these very fun questions, please feel free to share! I’d love to know what you’d karaoke or dance to, what food you could eat exclusively, and even what body part you would allow to get as fuzzy as fuzzy could be! Have a wonderful week, friends, and if you are being Polar Vortexed, may it be a mild one. xo