This Organization Insanity - Find Your Happy Place

Imagine if you will the sun shining. You're a young girl. Only 8 years old and you're stuck inside your room while your friends run through the neighbourhood. You hear their laughter. You're mad that you're missing out on all the fun. So why are you stuck inside on this glorious day? You have to clean your room and you can't go outside until it's done.

When I was 8 years old I spent the better part of a Sunday inside my room while my mama and Aunt Sharon helped me clean my room. I remember everything about that day - including hearing my cousin Jen laugh outside while she frolicked with all our friends. I vowed on that day to never have a messy room again. Fast forward 22 years and I'm still holding up my agreement with myself. If having a messy room meant I would miss out on playing outside, I was never suffering that Hell again and so I became a sort of compulsive cleaner.

"Compulsive" you say quizzically? You're exaggerating Major Gal. Sadly friends, I am not. I can't relax surrounded by mess. I'm acutely aware of my surroundings and I notice even subtle changes to my belongings. Similar to how Kathy Bates' character knows James Caan's character has escaped from his bedroom prison in Misery because..."Paul, my little ceramic penguin in the study always faces due south." I know when people touch my stuff...and I'm not a huge fan. Especially if I've just cleaned up.

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I also blame my mom. Well not "blame" so much as thank. When she was sick with cancer, we had nurses and cleaning ladies come to the house. My mom would watch the cleaning ladies like a private detective. She knew when they came and when they went. She knew what they cleaned and how they cleaned it. Truthfully, I think she was upset with losing the ability to take care of herself and her home and needed something to focus on. I still remember coming home from school as a fresh faced 14 year old and having my mom tattle on the cleaning lady. "I put a movie case on the floor on purpose. I watched her vacuum around it. She didn't even pick it up!" When the day comes that I can afford a cleaning lady (and truthfully I don't know if I'll ever want one), I'll also set boobytraps for her to ensure the cleaning is to my standards.

I will admit, I can get really particular and borderline Rain Main when my stuff gets moved, used without my permission or messed up. Sorry if I've ever jumped down your throat (siblings, boyfriends, besties, old roomies) for "invading" my personal space. I know I roar flames at times and I apologize. To make it up to you, I'm sharing some of the most genius ideas I've seen online for staying neat, tidy and organized.

Bathroom storage

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Clever shoe storage - let's face it "shoe racks" being sold in most places a) don't hold enough pairs of shoes and b) don't allow for the highest of heels.

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I dream of a laundry room like this. Mine is a disaster.

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Confession: I'm a HUGE fan of to-do lists. I make them weekly and colour coding really helps :)

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More colour organization - this time for books. I saw this in InStyle years ago and have been displaying my books this way ever since.

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Excellent office storage and organization idea from none other than a woman after my own heart - Martha Stewart

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There you have it folks. I didn't include any of my favourite natural, homemade cleaner recipes because honestly, I can't wait to write an entire post about that.! Yes, crazy cleaning gal and I'm not at all afraid to admit it. 

This Bestie Happy Place

Tonight I'm going to Meg's house for pizza and laughs. Meaghan and I have been best friends since grade 6. We're exactly two weeks apart in age and this girl makes me laugh!! The first time we really met we were cleaning up after a school function and we ate sugar cubes. This brought on serious hyperactivity and then I realized how funny Meaghan is. I might have been on a sugar high and maybe she wasn't that funny...but I doubt it. This chick still makes me laugh whenever I talk to her.




I've written about my happy place being with my friends and it's so true that I just needed to write especially about Megs. When my mom passed away, Meaghan didn't leave my side for days. She was the first person I called when my aunts and dad told me the news. She cried before I did - that's how close we were/are. She wasn't just sad for me, she was mourning the loss of her best friend's mother whom she adored. She still talks about my mom and it's so wonderful to share that with her. Megs, I love you and I can't wait to see you tonight! xoxo

This Happy Place is Where My Friends Are

Ever have one of those long days...that drag on...and you can't remember if you fell asleep with your eyes open or not...because you are so bored? Those days occur most often in the summer when half the office is on holidays and the workload is small. I had one of those days today and yet I couldn't think of what my happy place post would be about. Until now.


Tonight my girlfriends are coming to the city for some bubbly, some blush wine and some babe scouting. We're heading to a birthday party, but before that, we're tasked with drinking my condo clean of all booze. For such a task I could only ask a very accomplished group of women. Julia and Steph to the rescue!! We're the single gals and since I'm moving in a few weeks (I don't want to talk about it, my heart is broken) I've decided that our last few weekends in the city before Jules takes off to Europe and I move to the 'burbs must be filled with fun stuff. Fun stuff like dancing around my tiny bachelorette pad to my 80s playlist, pre-drinking as if we're all still in university and broke so we can't afford drinks when we go out, having a night cap when we return to the condo and reenacting all the killer dance moves we busted out earlier and then waking up the next morning and scrolling through BBM conversations and pictures a la The Hangover to reveal the story of how the night unfolded. Yes. I'm putting it out there. We're on a mission to be irresponsible and we're going to have a complete blast while doing it.


Before you get the wrong idea about us, we're not all parties. The fun doesn't only happen when we hit the town, it's mostly fun as soon as we're all in the same place because we're so excited to see each other that none of us can shut up for five seconds as if we're cheerleaders on speed. I love it. I wish Nic was joining us tonight, but she's a married lady and has all the schtuff that comes along with that. Sadly, she doesn't join us on every adventure anymore. Nicolina, I MISS YOU!!!


Being with your friends is just a happy thing. They make you laugh - at least mine always do. They bring the happy place to where ever you need it to be and tonight, my happy place is with my girlfriends.

This Disney Happy Place

As an eight year old girl, I went to Disney World for the first (and so far only) time. I'm still enraptured by it's majesty and I'm 29. I have wanted to go back for over 20 years and can't wait for the day when I return.

What isn't to love about Disney - like really? Although my bestie would disagree - she's a Mickey fan - Donald Duck made my day. I got the Daisy Duck hat and wore it proudly with my thick bangs, scruffy pigtails and scrawny legs. I was overjoyed being there. The best part: I went on my first plane ride and trip to Florida with my cousin Jen, Aunt Sharon, mama and my sweet Nanny. I still remember everything about the trip - especially the day we spent at Disney World.


We spent our time at Magic Kingdom. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom wasn't built and since Jen and I were 8 year old girls (well, she was still 7 since her birthday wasn't for another few months), we wanted to see where Cinderella lived. Fun Major Gal fact: I got a VHS copy of Cinderella for Christmas when I was 5 and it still remains one of my favourite gifts. I felt so grown up to get my own movie. I know every word to the film and right now I'm singing "Cinderelly, Cinderelly. Night and day, it's Cinderelly." I might have to watch this movie REALLY soon. Remember how cute the birds and the mice were?

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So, why do I love Donald so much? Well, he always seemed to have more personality than Mickey. He got angry, he threw tantrums, he had those pesky nephews to aggravate him, but deep down I always felt he was misunderstood. I guess I was always cheering for the underdog. Why did Mickey get all the glory? Mickey never did anything this funny.

Have you been to Disney World or Disney Land? What are your favourite memories? Did you find a happy place today?

This Concert Happy Place

How much do you love concerts? How much do you live outdoor summer concerts? How much do you love getting last minute tickets to shows you've really wanted to see? I freggin' love concerts and I've been to loads. Not as much as serious music people, but definitely more than others. It's money I consider well spent. Last night was my first concert of the summer and it was at the Molson Ampitheatre. Such a great outdoor venue in Toronto. I love seeing shows there and last night was no exception. I will say though, that Ryan mentioned I didn't bring out my crazy concert scream last night. I think I was tired.


Me screaming at the NKOTBSB

The first concert I ever saw was the New Kids on the Block when I was 8 years old. I saw them again recently...21 years later and they were awesome. Tonight I'm going to see Girl Talk and it's even more exciting because it's a last minute event. I love when fun stuff happens last minute. I'm a planner, but I really dig impromptu house parties, last minute vacations and snow days :)

Some of my favourite concerts haven't been by bands that I was super interested in, but a great stage show and true talent always wins me over. I became a massive Foo Fighters fan after seeing them play at the ampitheatre years ago. It's funny, but I'd always sort of resented Dave Grohl for starting another band after Kurt's suicide (as if I was so close to them or something [what a tool I was]) and it wasn't until they released In Your Honour that I fell madly in love with Dave. I call him Dave since I'm pretty sure that's how I'll refer to him when we run away together and have beautiful babies. I'm a sucker for a guy with a great sense of humour and musical talent and I effing LOVE Dave Grohl.


Me and Rach at our first Foos concert

I had a blast at the Paul Simon concert. I adored seeing Celine Dion. I danced to every Spice Girls song on their reunion tour. I got up close to Neil Diamond. I screamed for Britney. I hollered for Pink. I drooled over Justin Timberlake. I was mesmerized by Death Cab. I wanted to become Emily Haines of Metric after seeing them last summer - somebody owes me a tambourine by the way. I met fun people at The Killers show. I was crazy impressed by Jamiroquai's huge band. I got second-hand stoned at Bush X (before and after they dropped the "X"). I was blown away by The Dixie Chicks and much more.

By no means is the above a complete list of the concerts I've been to. I haven't included the really small club shows I've seen or added how many times I've seen Dave live - I've seen him six times - but this is a flavour of how happy being in a live music environment makes me. I'm not musical. I think I survived a few months of piano lessons when I was six with a teacher who barely spoke English. I remember sitting at the piano wondering what I was supposed to do while she looked at me like "Ummm, hello? Didn't you hear what I said?" Actually, no lady, I didn't understand a bloody word. I'm six and I barely understand my own language. So my own talents are lacking but I've always loved music. My mom said that before I could talk I would try to sing along to music she had playing in the house. Music is always playing in my car and there are some songs that hold such dear memories for me that I can be teleported back to times when those songs engulfed me.


Jo and I with Galen from Tiny Danza
If you do nothing else this weekend, promise me you'll add some music to your life. Play an old song that made you happy as a kid or go see a small local band at a bar. You'll have fun. Is there music in your happy place?

This Pizza Happy Place

Here's a little something about me, I freggin' love pizza. Always have and always will. When I was a wee one Mama would order me pizza on the weekends and rent me the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and I'd eat my wheel while watching TMNT. I haven't watched one of those movies in a few years, but pizza is still a part of my regular life. And, you guys know that Mama has been gone for many years so I don't get her homemade pizza anymore, but we're still big pizza delivery people in my family. In fact, when the Pizzaville in my hometown joined up with the times and got themselves on the call centre with all Pizzaville locations, I called and GASP, they didn't know us! I was not impressed. We've been ordering two large pizzas (one meat, one veg) for years from the same shop on Aurora Heights and they'd see our number on call display and know what we wanted. To think I had to tell some stranger what the family and I enjoys on a weekly basis was the end of an era for me. Yes, I blog about happiness but sometimes silly little things make me sad.

I'm living in the city, but my heart belongs to my small hometown of Aurora, Ontario and my little pizza shop. Now that I live on my own, I have my own pizza rituals. The same poor delivery guy is freaked out by my terrifying poodle cross Gigi on about a weekly basis. She must be scary with all that scruffy orange fur and 15 pounds of pure muscle. Tonight my siblings are coming to stay with me and bringing their gf and bf with them. It's gonna be crowded and as any good host, I'm ordering pizza and busting out the paper napkins.


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Ordering pizza on Friday nights is a ritual I love and it makes me really happy. I love eating pizza and I love not cooking so when I can combine the two and have my sweet siblings along for the party, I'm especially excited.

Where is your happy place? Do you go to a great patio in the summer? Do you visit a friend? Maybe take a walk to a quiet spot by yourself? Whatever it is, I hope you get there this weekend. xoxo

This Queen West Happy Place

Aren't we all thrilled that it's Friday? Our American friends have Memorial Day coming up while us canucks had a short week after May two-four. I had last Friday off so it was an extended long weekend for me.

I spent last Friday morning renewing my licence and then heading over to - gulp - traffic court to deal with my first ticket. After all that boring nonsense was dealt with Gigi and I headed west for some exercise and shopping. Okay, there wasn't supposed to be any shopping. I'm weak. I'm especially weak for clothes and accessories from the tiny shops tucked into Queen West.


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After a break at Trinity Bellwoods park (Gigi laid in the grass while I did a phone interview for Flare magazine), our trek recommenced and we popped in to Bicyclette (http://bicyclette.to/). This store is truly a gem. I got a sweet little cream crocheted bag with a long chain strap and a dress with bows (hooray for bows) all over it by a company called Peppermint. How fun?

I had Gigi in the change room with me when I realized there needs to be dog training specifically for fur mamas who shop with their babes. Gigi didn't want to stay in the dainty draped nook with me so she kept sneaking out under the curtain...threatening to expose my partially naked bod as I wiggled in and out of different outfits. We had a successful visit to the store and the shop girls cooed over my precious baby. We both left happy.

We continued sauntering along Queen and then headed north on Ossington for some vintage finds. That's the beauty of a walk along Queen West, you're always going to find something new and interesting or old and lovely. It might be a new store. A cute pup. A handsome babe. A great latte and pastry or a swanky dress to pair with your dancing shoes.

We spent a few hours walking around that day. We walked back from Queen taking Strachan to Lake Shore so we could run through the grass along the water. Gigi isn't as keen on exercising as most dogs. She really takes after her mama. We walked up to a patch of yellow daffodils and I realized how lucky I was at that very moment. I was standing in the sunshine, looking out on Lake Ontario with the city skyline behind me, enjoying a day with my dog. It was such a happy place.




Will you visit your happy place this weekend?




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This Mama Happy Place

It's Friday. The weekend is here and so is my happy place post. This one is a bit different though. This weekend is Mother's Day. It's always tough for me. I miss my mom everyone second of every day and knowing that people are celebrating with their moms every year makes me sad. Today though, I'm imagining how wonderful it will be when I finally get to see her again. That is my happy place...even if it's years in the future. She shows up in my dreams a lot now, but that took years. When she meets me in dreamland, I always know that she's passed away and by the end I'm sobbing and telling her how much I know I'm going to miss her.

I wrote a post a couple of years ago on the eve of the 12th anniversary of her passing. This summer will be 14 entire years I've spent without my mom. Almost half my life. It doesn't seem possible. So, if you have one of those mothers or mothers-in-law that drive you absolutely insane, think about living my life for just a day and how you would feel without your mother. http://majorgal.blogspot.com/2009/07/this-anniversary.html

This Royal Happy Place

It's rare that I wake up when the clock hands are both pointing east (except for flights), but I was up this morning for the royal wedding and it has put me in the best mood. I was singing, prancing around my apartment, talking to Gigi in a British accent, doing my makeup and pretty much vibrating with joy for the royal newlyweds.

Yes, there is news happening all over the world and some of it isn't pleasant, but the coverage of the royal wedding should bring happiness to everyone. It's a joyous time. A marriage for two people so in love...how could this event evoke anything but pure joy?

I can hardly focus on anything besides the wedding today. I want to run out to purchase a fascinator, although I'm pretty sure I have a headpiece I can rejig and add some feathers to and rock my own version. Fascinators are for young women and hats are for the older gang. I've always been enamoured with hats, even if I look silly wearing them. On my first trip to NYC at 16 I had a list of things I wanted to do: get a makeover on 5th Avenue, spend every penny I had and try on a fabulous hat. I did everything I wanted. Years earlier my Mom was taking a business trip to Boston and I begged her for a hat like the ones Blossom wore. She brought me back a black felt hat with a flower on it. I was in love. At 9 years old I didn't have the guts to wear it anywhere, but I coveted the Bloomingdales bag it came in and wore the hat around my tiny room.

One day I'm gonna get hitched and I think my Aunt Sharon will only be thrilled when I agree to wear a killer headpiece for my nuptials. When my cousin was shopping for her dress and having several fittings I was ALWAYS drooling over the blushers and beaded works of art to place atop my head. I'm gonna go Kentucky Derby for my wedding - that much I know even if I don't have a bf.

Off the subject of my future wedding and back to my happy royal happy place, can I just say that the sight of such a happy couple, so obviously in love has made me a blissfully happy girl on this lovely Friday in April. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Celebrate!

Here's just a snapshot of my favourite fascinator from today's event. People are ripping on poor Bea, but I think she owns it.

This Family is My Happy Place

This is gonna be short folks and I want it to get right to the point. Always make being with your family your happy place - or at least try. Life is precious and people can be taken away from us quickly. Cherish the time you have with your family even if they make you want to tear your own eyelashes out sometimes. Your family loves you so let them know you love them back.

This Friday Night Happy Place

There are a few things I really enjoy in life. Fridays. Pizza. Lying on my couch. Watching movies. The list goes on, but if you wrap those four items up, it makes for basically one of my very favourite happy places. Fridays have always been my favourite day of the week. It's better than Saturday because the weekend isn't quite here and everyone is in a (relatively) good mood anticipating the weekend unfolding before them. Impromptu Friday night parties are really the best after a, exhausting work week. Friday nights used to feature TGIF family programming - Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, all fantastic! I miss those shows actually. Anyways, Friday night programming isn't as interesting to me anymore and gone are the days when I can come home from school (high school or uni), toss on a party outfit and dance until dawn. Now, I really enjoy changing into jammies, ordering pizza, - Fridays are pizza days in my family - and watching a movie while sprawled across my couch. Now that I live on my own I get to pick the movie and the pizza toppings. Basically, I get whatever I want and I watch the girliest movies available if I feel like it. When I was a little girl, my mom would order me pizza and rent the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies for me on Friday nights. I'm a creature of habit and always have been. I know what I like and I hate being disappointed, so I stick with what I know. Like TMNT and pizza. My Friday nights really let me unwind. I actually really love falling asleep on my couch with Gigi at my feet and then waking up only to drag myself to bed for another 10 hours of restful bliss. Did you find your happy place today?

This Vacation Happy Place

Hi friends! As I enter my last year as a twenty-something, I'm excited to be blowing out my candles in one of my favourite places: FLORIDA! I'd love to tell you all how exotic I am and how much I love traveling to far and unusual places, but truthfully...this girl loves the good ole state of FLA. Tomorrow I'm hoping on a plane with baby sister, Papa, my Aunt Margaret and my cousin Amanda. We're staying in Fort Myers (I've never been there) and intend on spending as much time as possible, sunning ourselves - well, my Irish fam will be slathered in spf 60 - shopping, eating, laughing and enjoying our time away from this dreary Toronto rain.

So, you'll have to wait a week for me to get back and regale you all with tales of my retail adventures. Boutique Tarjay (Target), here I come! Macy's, lovely to be seeing you again. Bloomies, it's been too long. And perhaps my favourite FLA pal, the sandy beach. Oh, how I've missed my friends.

See you in a week! I'll be the 29 year old gal with the gorgeous tan ;) Have a fantastic week. Spring is on its way, so that means sunshine, fresh green buds on the trees, Easter, the smell of mud - okay, maybe you don't like that, but I think it's great - playing outside again and longer days. Ahhh, let's all focus on that if the weather gets us down, deal? xoxo

This Beachey Happy Place

If you're living in my area, you're probably sick of winter and ready for some sunshine, warm breezes and trips to the beach. As a true Pisces gal, I LOVE water. I want to be surrounded by water as much as possible and although I prefer salt water, I'm happy and at ease when I hear a stream swishing by, see my tub being filled with water and bubbles or jumping into a lake. I even like rain, but since we're looking for happy places today, let's focus on the beach.

What's not to love about the beach? Okay, some people don't like the lack of shade or the abundance of sand but I love it all. In fact, and please don't think I'm crazy for this one, but I have a recurring nightmare that I'm on vacation and nobody I'm traveling with will let me go to the beach. Seriously people, I love the beach and I'm thrilled that I'll be spending my birthday this year on a sunny Florida beach with some of my family - not my entire extended family there's just too darn many of them!

At the beach you can:

-catch up on reading

-get a healthy golden tan

-make sandcastles

-bury your friends in the sand

- scope out babes

-take a dip

- see half naked people

- compare tan lines

- listen to music and close your eyes

- eat from a picnic basket

- float for hours on your back or a blowup raft feeling the water move beneath you

- see tonnes of different sea creatures and birds (side note, I am terrified of birds so this is my least fav part)

- point out the icky people wearing inappropriate swimwear and be happy it isn't you

- smell like suntan lotion

- play Frisbee (I've been told you can play sports on the beach, but my sport is tanning so...)

- do nothing except lie in the sand being thrilled that you're at the beach!

I remember my first bikini. My parents took me shopping and I was so brave at the mall picking it out. When we got home I lost my courage and crammed myself into my old bathing suit. Now, I was a lanky kid (still am) so wearing my suit from the summer of '87 in the summer of '88 was challenging. I think I had an imprint of the suit outline pressed into my body for a week after. I'm over the fear of exposing my midriff now, but I'm still not into nude beaches or going topless. That's just me. If you're into it - bravo, I'm just not ready to share all of me with fellow beachcombers.

My favourite beach is in Southern Cali. Honestly, Laguna Beach is just as gorgeous as it looks on the telly. I also really like Clearwater Beach in Florida and who can deny the great beaches in Mexico? I'd love to travel to the French Riviera, the Greek isles and pretty much explore as many beaches as I can. When I say explore, by no means do I intend on walking for hours along the shore inspecting the area. My goal is strictly tanning on beach vacations. Does thinking about the beach make you happy? It works for me, but tell me - where is your happy place?

This Happy Place

Fridays are now going to feature happy places posts. A while back I wrote about A Perfect Pinky - only my favourite nail salon in the world and it got me thinking about other places that make me happy. Pinky gals, don't worry - you still make me the happiest (:

Keeping with the whole beauty theme, I want to introduce you to The Brow House http://www.thebrowhouse.com/ in Leslieville. I'm a stickler about my brows. I don't want to look like Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon and I don't want to look like I draw my brows on with eyeliner. I want a natural look, with an arch regardless of the current trends. I don't think trends are for eyebrows - but that's just me.

I started visiting the ladies at The Brow House this past fall and I've always been impressed. Their focus is brows. They offer a consultation, shape your brows at the initial visit and keep records of their work so you can maintain a gorgeous groomed look. They also fill you up with the most delish tea while you wait. It's a great experience to walk in looking like a Muppet and walk out looking like a goddess.

For those of you who aren't slaves to eyebrow maintenance, perhaps you're lucky or perhaps you've never had your brows professionally done and don't know what you're missing. I can promise you this, if you're in the area and can snag an appointment in this bustling shop TAKE it!