my favourite little things of the past year (part II)
feliz año nuevo from mexico!
You made it! Welcome to 2023, chicas! If you're like most people, yesterday was a write off, and today begins the real start of the New Year!
What kind of slow living and little things will you take into this new chapter, and what would you like to leave in the dust?
{BTW: Here’s Part I in case you missed it!}
My Favourite Little Things of the Past Year Part II
1. Going to a new grocery store. My favourite thing to do when I land in a new city is get my bearings by exploring all of the grocery stores near me. Even if I'm only in a city for a weekend, I'll still pop into their local market to feast my eyes on all the new products in foreign languages.
As I prefer to live in walkable cities, there is only so much I can carry, so my weeks are filled with multiple trips to buy food, and the novelty of grocery shopping can often wear off. However, my favourite grocery store this year (lol) was the one down the street from my apartment in the 13th Arrondissement in Paris - Monoprix Italie. It had the best selection of food, drinks, cosmetics, and household items! Think of a smaller Superstore/Walmart, and chicer, of course. The sushi at this location was fresher and cheaper than my grocery store in New York!
2. Talking to strangers for hours and then never seeing them again. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember how travelling used to be when you didn’t have a smartphone, and had to hide your large paper map to avoid looking like a tourist and thus fall prey pick-pocketing. If you connected with a stranger (which I’d argue happened way more often when our eyeballs weren’t glued to our phones) all you had was maybe an e-mail address to keep in contact with them.
Call me old school, but I think the mystery of remembering the encounter, but not knowing what they’re up to now, is way more romantic than a Facebook search. Maybe this is because I grew up with the Before Trilogy, but I believe that not everyone you have a connection with needs to turn into someone you stalk unconsciously on social media for years later. No matter where you go, there'll always be kind people that you can enjoy a memorable day with and leave it at that. It lends a lingering faith in humanity that's lacking in today's world.
3. Brushing up on a language I thought I had forgotten. If you're reading this, chances are you had the opportunity to learn a second language in school. Many of us think we've forgotten it as soon as we leave school, but you'd be surprised how many french drills have stuck in your brain from picking up the other side of the cereal box (Canadians will understand this one). Forcing your brain to look under tables and in dark corners for a lost verb or noun is delightful and satisfying when you find it.
One night, my airbnb host in Florence took me out for dinner and drinks at the local bar with a group of older artist friends that were visiting from across Europe for a friend’s art show. After speaking English with a few German ladies, I found an Italian who didn't speak English, and was forced to unlock all of the little sayings I tucked into cupboards from my exchange year in Sicily. When I push past the discomfort of trying my hand at a different language, it feels like I’m tasting the country in a new way.
4. Breezing through airport security. Any Canadian that has gone through American security, and vice versa, knows the feeling of relief of returning to their home country when they don't have to feel like they're being interrogated for a crime they forgot they committed. I just wanted to give a little thank-you to the EU for also making it extremely easy to travel between countries, which makes the ease of exploring so many different cultures in a relatively small continent so enticing.
5. Self-tape auditions. I LIVE FOR THESE! Seriously, the pandemic did actors a solid. We don't have to find someone to cover us at work anymore, and can just do self-tapes at home or at a studio on our own time. My favourite moment was when I was living in L.A. for a few months doing these auditions at my place in Pasadena. As a Canadian without a U.S. work visa, it's always been a dream of mine to go on auditions in L.A., and this was a cute close second…especially when the Oscars were being held on just the other side of town!
6. My 0.38 black Muji pens! I've had a thing about pens throughout my whole life because I've been writing in journals since I could spell. Writing with a bad pen that has no flow is incredibly frustrating and distracting. When I found Muji pens (I wish this was sponsored) in Europe as a teenager, I actually started writing more, and my life was CHANGED! If one of your resolutions this year is to start journalling, I highly recommend you find your favourite pen and notebook of choice. It makes all the difference.
7. Seeing my headshot on the wall while getting a fitting for a role I booked. To some, this might be a big thing, but for me, I hope this will be a little thing in hindsight of what's to come for my acting career.
(For those not in the film industry, you have to get fitted for your wardrobe options before you go on set. A lot of shows that require special costumes for background also require fittings to save time on the day of shooting. A lot of the time the wardrobe team will have a wall filled with all of the actors' headshots printed out for reference.)
I've done background since I was in high school, and I would always stare at these actors' headshots whenever I was getting a fitting and see if I recognized anyone. The previous fittings I'd been to for acting roles didn't have these headshots on the wall for one reason or another, so while I was waiting for the woman to go find a jacket option for me, I looked up and unexpectedly saw my face staring down at me. Finally! I made it on the wall!
8. Holding my oldest best friend's cute squishy baby! Sadie and I met when we were babies ourselves and lived three blocks away from each other for most of our lives. We were in the same class together for 14 years, and I would often spend mornings before school, after school, and weekends at her house too! We spent hours in her basement growing up playing imaginary games, to making up dance routines, to playing the Sims, and eventually pre-drinking with our first loves before a night out. This Spring I was back on the same property with her first baby in my arms! We were JUST little kids carrying DOLLS in our arms and dreaming up baby names for a distant future. Every time I hold her real-life baby, it’s one of those little life milestones that I know won’t be around forever, which makes it extra special.
9. Becoming a paid writer. I can't say much about my day job on here, but I can tell you that it's a full-on dream. I never thought writing would be my "day job", but eventually I got tired of having day jobs that I hated, and learned how to believe that I was worth more than what I’d been doing. When I was given my writer position I was stunned, crying, and so incredibly grateful that all of my hustling over the years had been worth it to lead me here!
10. Finding kangaroos in Paris. Paris became my favourite city to run in for a number of reasons: there are so many side streets to loop around in that it never gets boring; there are tons of delicious bakery smells; great people-watching moments; actual SIDEWALKS (*cough cough* Italy and Mexico, whose sidewalks sometimes just abruptly end with no safe way to cross a dangerous intersection); lots of other fellow runners; lots of parks; and my 10K route was along the Seine to the Notre Dame and back (talk about epic!).
However, my absolutely favourite part about running in Paris is due to where my apartment was. One day I wanted to explore Jardin des Plantes, the massive park I would go home through, so I started doing random loops when I did a cartoon movie double-take at something moving behind a bush. Was that...a kangaroo? Another kangaroo?! And another! To my surprise, in the public part of this park, there's a big caged area where tons of (plutôt petits) kangaroos jump around for anyone to look at! Mic-drop of best running attraction of the entire year- sorry Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Every run I would go on, I would make sure to take my stretching break with my new kangaroo friends. So random, and just another reason why Paris is très magnifique.
The kangaroos! I can't wait to return and see them for myself.