Hallo all,

2011 sure had it’s ups and downs, but overall it has been one of the most successful years of my life.  I’m not sure exactly how I’d measure such a statistic, but suffice to say, I think that this year is the year I’ve grown the most as a human being and I’m very pleased with myself and my plans for the future.

As it’s the end of the year and all, everyone in the online world is publishing their lists of the 20 most this, 11 most that, or this year.  I didn’t do enough of anything this year to constitute an entire list - but I did see, read and do a bunch of random shit and with this I bring you, PATSY’S VERY BEST OF 2011 LIST! (Yes, I’m just SO self-important that I’ve gone and created a list. Deal with it.) (As I wrote this list, I realized that most of the events that meant something to me were spent with my friends, so I guess I’m a bit less self-important then. Bam.)

10. The Stanley Cup playoffs.  Why were they so awesome this year?  Because for the first time that I can remember, I really cared about Hockey.  For me it wasn’t who won and who lost (although I would have liked to see the Canucks win their first cup…) it was about being with my friends and bonding over our love for our home team.  I can’t count how many games I watched at Yagger’s along with Andrew, Bob, Darren, Red, Keith, Theresa, Sam, KB, Kent, Wade, Marcel, Nikki, Chase and many more from my VFS crew.  It was an amazing time, in an amazing city and while the end came as a shock to us all, the love that Vancouverites have for their city really shined the day after those silly riots.

Look at Marcel celebrating. He looks so happy. (It was also here that he invited me to the Love Party I believe. )

9. Making icing for 300 cupcakes. In a forest. Back in the summer time, one of my former instructors Mary-Ann had recommended me to one of her friends, Amber Butler, to decorate some cupcakes for an Alice in Wonderland themed festival in Squamish.  After speaking to Amber herself, I quickly decided it was a project I wanted to be involved in and the work started then and there.  I sketched, I bought, I practiced, I made chocolate forms and I loved it.  The big day finally came and in a mess of icing sugar, butter, vanilla and candy, I headed into the forest and set to make her dreams a reality.  Although my plans didn’t all work out, I made it through and it looked awesome.

This was one of the most peaceful/stressful moments of my life.  It was awesome.

The finished product.  Of 300 cupcakes, no two designs were the same.  It took a lot of creativity — and lots of varieties of candy — but I’m happy to report that all 300 were gone in a matter of minutes! Successful day.

Thanks again for the referral Mary-Anne

8. Tie : Watching the sun set at Kits Beach with Sam and spending the day at Third Beach with Lauren. In my last few months in Vancouver I spent a lot of time at the beach.  I loved Sunset beach cause it was just a hop, skip and a jump from my place but after months of going only to that beach, I decided it was time to switch it up.

I loved Third Beach because it was home to one of my best beach days with Lauren Martin — and Shaz, Marco and Billy (I think). We agreed to meet there at 1 and in my ridiculous fashion, I decided to walk there from Andrew’s place.  I ended up getting there at 2:30 I think haha, but I was still only the second one to arrive .  I had stopped at the Granville Island Market and picked up some cheese curds, strawberries and peas, and Lauren had brought us peanut butter and jam sandwiches as well as fresh blueberries!  We had a feast on our hands and it was an afternoon I’ll always treasure .  I felt like Lauren and I got a lot closer that day and although it was right before I moved, it seemed to cement our bond, and she was one of the first people I saw when I went back to Van .  She’s a veryyy special lady and she always finds a way to inspire me when I’m around her .

Mmmmmmmmm.  Feast fit for two queens.  

Stuffing our faces. We are too sexy.

Then of course comes my sunset at Kits Beach with Sam Green.  Shortly after I announced I was moving home to Edmonton, she had announced she was going to move home to Halifax for a couple years to go to school.  I was so proud of her for making that decision She always wanted to go back to school to focus more on design work and this was her chance to do it.

We made our way to Kits beach one evening after she had finished work at VFS — and I had spent my day at Andrew’s place sitting around watching Cougar town — where we just sat on the beach for 2-3 hours just watching the sunset — and eventually sitting there in the dark.  We talked about all of our future plans, our greatest memories together, and our plans to see each other again soon.

Phenomenal.

It’s been a few months that we’ve been apart — but with more of my plans for my around the world trip in place, I’ve decided to go visit Sam in Halifax on my way to London .  This happened mostly because it’s cheaper to do it that way haha but also because I was determined to see her again before leaving for 16 months.

I miss you so much every day and I can’t wait to get to see you and meet Tony . 

7. Catering Compendium Vol III. Talk about stepping out of a comfort zone.  I had never cooked for more than 15 people at once, let alone 50! Every day was a new meal and a new challenge and I loved it.  It was also after doing Compendium that I started getting all sorts of other little jobs catering and with that I got to meet more people, make more connections and work on more films.  It really does not get any better than that.

One of the more well received buffets — Taco Day!  I had some help from Antojitos restaurant.  They made the salsa, the beans and one other ingredient that I can’t for the life of me remember lol — but in those two grey containers.  I then made the grilled onions, grilled peppers, grated cheese, tomatoes and ground beef. Oh and those silly salads at the end of the table. Psssh. Salad.

6. Getting my first adult job. Yeah that’s right, I not only have a desk but I have my own phone extension! Boo-yeah! I am an adult now! (One who happens to live in her parents basement and would rather build lego than go out and socialize… whatever…) This job is just what I needed to get to my goal of leaving for London in June and I could not be more thankful to Annie who hooked me up.  Love you forever!

And the most adult thing to do with a desk is decorate it with a bunch of random crap! Right? 

5. Waking up at 4:45 am and hauling my ass down to Rockefeller Centre to sing “Fuck You” along with Cee Lo Green.  (Oh and seeing Al Roker do the weather way up in the air.) When my mom told me that my uncle was getting married in Montreal this summer, some memories of my last trip came flashing back to me — namely that I had stated that the next time I was going back to Montreal, I was demanding someone take me to New York. This time, it happened.  My friend Andy and I drove the 6 hours down to New York City in blazing 42/106 degree weather in a car with no air conditioning.  It was preeeeetty awful.  We got to the city and somehow it seemed hotter than in the car, but no matter, we were in New York.  I have a lot of mixed emotions about this trip — it got ugly real quick — so I don’t want to go too much into detail — and it just means I should finally write a blog post about it — even if it is almost 6 months later… Anyhow. The day after arriving into NYC I got up at 4:45, took a cab to 30 Rock (ahhhhh!!!!!!) and found my way to the Today Show taping.  There was already over a thousand people ahead of me and while I was feeling both exhausted and sweaty — but I decided that I should make the best of it and stay.  It was worth it.

The show’s producers — not wanting anyone to pass out from heat exhaustion — were handing out free paper fans, Cee Lo signs and bottles of water.  I later found out they were giving out free bagels! Not that I like bagels anyways haha but I love free stuff!

Free swag! Er well, kinda swag.  (Also, this is mah strong hand.)

As 5:45 came along — so did Mr. Green.  He came out and performed a dress rehearsal before the show and played almost all of my favorite songs .  He joked about how awkward it was doing a dress rehearsal in front of so many people and then the next thing I knew AL ROKER was kicking about.  And then Matt Lauer.  And Natalie Morales. And Ann Curry. And Hoda!

Al high atop the cherry picker! 

Hoda posing for pics with fans.

All of the hosts / show contributors were interacting with the fans, posing for photos, answering questions and I was really impressed.  Nice to see that they still care .

Another hour or two went by (frankly I have no idea how long it was, I was so exhausted from having about 6 hours of sleep total in 2 days and sweating out any water that was in my body haha) and then the show started!  This time he had all of the instruments in, the back up singers, everything, and let me tell you — he sounded great.  I was worried that maybe hearing him live would be a bit of a disaster (like when I saw Taylor Swift. Don’t hate me, it’s true. I love the girl, but she’s just not the most vocally talented — doesn’t mean I don’t listen to her on repeat haha.) but he was really phenomenal.

The show ended about another hour and a half after that — he only performed 5 minute sets every 20-30 minutes or so — and then I made my way back to the Yotel Hotel.  This is where I lost my driver’s licence in a Walgreen’s lineup while I was getting a bottle of water so I wouldn’t die on my way back to the hotel….. choked. Oh well. All and all it was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to go back to New York City one day — and spend less time doing touristy things and more time eating my way around the city! Chelsea, SoHo, Brooklyn, ChinaTown, everywhere.

4. Watching Dakota play WHL hockey on TV and in person. How many people can say that their 17 year old nephew is a little hockey superstar on the path to greatness? I have no idea, but at least I am one of them! I still can’t believe how fast that kid is growing up.  I just saw him the other day and when I gave him a hug, my head didnt even reach his shoulders! I can’t wait to watch him again on January 27th — and I’d love for my friends to join me! *hint hint*

Seriously. January 27th.

#26  

3. Filming the second episode of Miles Off Track in Vancouver.  While the project died out shortly after, it showed me what can be done with the power of a good idea and the love and support of a film fam.  Every single one of the people who worked on this project did so for free and did it because they loved me and that is the best gift I could have ever asked for.  I can’t wait til the day I make it back to Van and can return the favor to all of those wonderful people.  I love you guys more than bacon. (and we all know how I feel about bacon.)

From L to R we have Lindsay Eeson one of our co-hosts, Amanda from Science World, Justin our Boom Op and Sebastien Dryland, the episode’s producer.  Seb secured us some awesome locations and I was very proud of all of his hard work!!!

(And everyone else’s of course!!! Ryan, Jeevin, Ellie, Greg, Sean, Malin, Sam, Natalie, Jen, Ian and anyone else I might have forgotten ) 

2. Meeting Andrew Menzies.  I don’t know if Andrew the person is my number 2 moment, or more so meeting him and then being welcomed into the Borrowtime family, but regardless, I love that guy.  He’s one of the only people who can cheer me right up when everything is going wrong (usually he’d just reply “Life is Bullshit.” but somehow it was insanely comforting).  We also went on many a grand adventure through our beautiful city of Vancouver, discovering various restaurants, hide-outs, graffitis and other awesome stuff.   I feel like when Bob (♥ love you Bob.) introduced us that it was his informal way of having me become a part of the Bob&Andrew/Borrowtime family and that he needed Andrew’s approval –and I was lucky enough to get it.  I was welcomed into the crew that turned into my awesome film family and I could not be happier.

Also, I could not be happier for he and Betsy, his lovely girlfriend who is the perfect match for him.  I have rarely seen two people make each other so happy and it gives me hope for myself one day . 

The panda and the general.

Can’t wait to celebrate St Patty’s day with you buddy! 

1. Moving home.  Okay. So I still hate being in Edmonton, but moving here was definitely one of the most impactful moments of my life this year.  I decided that temporary happiness (Vancouver) was not going to cut it for me anymore.  I wanted bigger things out of life and in order to get them it was time to make sacrifices.  Being in Vancouver taught me a lot about myself, but coming home has taught me just as much.  I know this isn’t where I’m meant to be, but having the opportunity to crash with my parents for free, reconnect with my mom and start planning this trip around the world has been totally worth it.  It’s also allowed me to be closer to Janet — my world traveling friend who’s full of great advice and tips for planning my trip — but also books, news stories, love and everything. She’s phenomenal.

The other part that was really great about this road trip home was that I got to do it with Mike.  He and I got terribly close over the last two years and it blows me away sometimes just how alike we really are. Can’t wait to see you in March dude!

I miss Vancouver, but I’ll be back one day.  (God forbid it doesn’t fall into the ocean first. 2012! Gna!)  

Oh and the view on the drive from Van to Edmo was preeeeetty phenomenal. 

Well I guess that’s it for my top moments of 2011.  I have to say I am preeeeetty damn lucky.  While being broke, unemployed and stressed, I managed to travel, have beach days, eat amazing food, meet some fantastic people and make friendships that will last a lifetime.  So thanks Mom & Dad for helping me through the last year, I could not have done it without you guys and I appreciate you both so very much. xoxoxoxoxoxo

Have a very Happy New Year! I hope you have a great *and safe* night out if you’re going out for NYE!

Peace&Love.

P.♥