Fringe Festival!!

So back home in Edmonton you can count on me to be at the Fringe every night (and most days) while it is on. I love the atmosphere, the live theatre and the people.  I was so incredibly excited to learn that the Fringe also comes to Victoria! Better yet, it comes after so we can see the reviews in Edmonton and choose from there!!
The only sad thing is that here it is all about the shows. No festival grounds, no wandering through the shopping tents with a lemonade in hand, no dodging the random juggler as they go a bit out of their circle. And while I do understand that the festival is all about the (amazing) shows, I miss the buzz. We were talking to friends who have lived here for 8 years and they hadn't ever heard of the Fringe. If you move to Edmonton it is one of the first things you hear about!
But nonetheless, we saved up some money to go to shows (I found out it was coming in April....) They have 10 show passes available for a serious discount on entry so we went that way.
Today we went to 3 of our 10. They were:

Grim & Fischer: A Deathly Comedy in Full Face Mask
-A little like the movie UP- the lady's husband passed away awhile ago and death is now ready to take her. But she's not ready to go.
- Created in Portland by Wonderheads theatre group.
- It was held over in Edmonton and I can see why- we went from laughter to tears and back a few times. We both really enjoyed it. The characters are wonderfully expressive, which is a feat when the plot is all communicated by actions, lighting and sound effects.

Tara Firm & The Lunar War Chronicles
- Tara is the newest pilot recruited for the lunar war but she didn't want to be a pilot. After taking over the job she's forced into she makes waves and discovers a few new facts about the war.
- Created in Victoria by Launch Pad Productions
- This was Jon's favourite of the day- it was fun and had some great references to history. Also, incredible props that took a ton of imagination to make. The 5 cast members perfectly pulled off all the roles.

The Smell Of The Kill
- 3 wacky housewives find themselves in an odd situation that can seemingly solve all their problems (and husbands). But do they have the guts to go ahead with the plan?
- Another locally produced show! This one is done by Dragon Monkey Theatre Group. I hadn't seen any reviews for it but we had already done 2 shows at this venue so we just stayed there for the 3rd!
- This one came out as my favourite for the day. It was fun and gutsy and kept me guessing.

No Good

Love it!

Question #12

Wow, I got off track with these questions!!! Time to get back to work on the project!

Day 12. Write about what wears you out as a woman.

There is only one thing that I can think of that really wears me out. Women are mean. Especially to other women. Especially when looking at other women's appearances. Society is so based on visuals that we judge instantly based on looks. Even quick trips out of the house require a shower and a decent outfit. Work requires a ton more time to get out the door. Days at the spa sound relaxing but the only reason i'm there is to look nice.
My workplace has a semi-formal to formal dress code so most days i'm in dress pants, a dress shirt and heels. 8 hours a day in heels on walking around on cement is just mean. But even they can't really help it. Our store sells medium and high end products- we have to look the part. It would be hard to convince people to spend $5000 on a sofa while wearing grubbies. Since finding out about the baby I have been wearing flats (self preservation at it's best) and I have picked up some maternity dress pants but I still have to dress up.
Men have it easier in this one (as I've learned living with Jon) They will leave the house in almost anything. They will hang out with their buddies in their comfy clothes and not care. I think we should learn from them.
We have to be willing to look at people and see past their outfit. We have to see past their hairstyle. We need to see them. We need to learn to connect with people and embrace them for being themselves and being stunning inside. Maybe that's why I like blogging so much. I can connect with people while I am in my pj's (like today). I can start conversations with people that I may not ever talk to in person. I can get advice, criticism, kind words and honest answers without worrying about that that person thinks about my hairdo or outfit. I don't have to pretend to be anything other than me.
Can that happen more in our day to day lives?

Million Reasons

One of the million reasons I love our new city-

The hummingbirds are flying around my patio eating breakfast while I sit here and watch!!

Gluten hates me

I am stealing the lovely Marlow's blog title for this post!
I have been gluten free for 5 years now and have been amazed at how much better I feel. But gluten got me this week, it snuck into my fridge and attacked! Maybe attacked is too strong of a word...
We had a crazy weekend- Shannon came into town for a surprise visit on Friday and we hit up a karaoke bar with my cousin. Once the bar closed down we came home and played board games (yes, we're that cool!) We ended up climbing into bed around 5:30am. We slept in a bit and then Shannon and I hit downtown for some girl time and shopping (including trying on ridiculous sunglasses!) She had to be up-island for family dinner so once we explored the market and I brought her to my favorite places in Victoria she dropped me off and headed back.

I made a quick dinner and then had an early night. We had an amazing wedding anniversary....a nice relaxed day together. We went to Sauce for lunch, wandered through the Miniatures Museum, took a horse & carriage ride through Beacon Hill Park and then went to Blue Crab Bistro for dinner. Both restaurants were awesome- Sauce sources all their food locally so it's always really fresh and they are really conscious about gluten allergies. Blue Crab was also awesome, a bit pricey, but I had a gift certificate from the Tourism award and some anniversary money from my parents. We had a huge seafood platter for dinner along with a bottle of wine.

So much food! But it was so good and all Kelly friendly. The gluten monster got me on Monday night. I was still really tired from the weekend so by the time I got home from work all I wanted to do was order takeout. We decided on Thai and we searched online for a place that delivers. We ordered our two standards- Pad Thai & Tom Yum and then tried out a pineapple and chicken curry. It was all really good but I woke up feeling even sicker and more tired than on Monday. By Thursday I wasn't feeling better (but was diligently eating the leftovers which usually go bad in our fridge) It was only when I went to the Doctor and he said it looked like strep did it register that one of the first clues of a reaction for me is strep symptoms. I called the restaurant back and apparently they use wheat noodles for their Pad Thai (which is traditionally rice noodles) Today is the first day I've felt human this week...although I am still a bit wonky.
So that is my week. An amazing weekend and then an evil gluten ninja attack.