It's all about love

You know that saying about do what you love and the money will follow? I don't think it works in all cases, but I finally got to understand its meaning.

Sometimes if I've made a meal where it was just thrown together because I'm tired, hubby might tease and say "I can't taste the love in this." "Yeah, yeah yeah" is my response and I brush it off. The other day though, I went in for a massage because I had a Groupon coupon.

My masseuse was efficient and friendly enough, but it's like all these sushi restaurants popping up all over town. They do it for the money, not because they're passionate about the art of making sushi. These people haven't spent years perfecting the rice, they took a short course on the basics of making sushi and opened up restaurants because, if you build it, they will come. The same was with this last massage.

I've been to a different masseuse in the past, and he and his wife both go learn new techniques and train with the masters once a year. And when these people give you a massage, it's a whole experience. The music they play is soft, the lighting is dimmed, and they give it their all. This last massage I had, people were talking loudly outside the room, the music was classic meets the pound (there was a dog barking in one "song"), and even as I was headed out the door, they wanted to book me for another session rather than waiting for me to say I wanted to come back.

So now I understand, you need to have passion in what you do, you need to do it because you feel strongly and emotionally tied to your craft. That will be reflected in the final product and people will appreciate the effort that's involved.

So enough preaching, I'm off on a two week hiatus because my wonderful sister is visiting.

Taking the Day Off

Since it's my wedding anniversary today, I'm not going to think up anything witty, soapy or otherwise intelligent to write about. Instead, I'm going to look at the menu from Seasons in the Park to figure out what to have for our anniversary dinner tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Patience is a virtue

You know the old saying about patience is a virtue, blah, blah, blah pretty face. That might explain why I don't have a pretty face, mine is more deer in headlights.

I had made a couple of follow-up email inquiries to some people and didn't hear back. I was crushed, I thought, oh great, I'll never hear back again. Imagine my surprise when I did get a response. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it wasn't a no at least. Which means I need to learn some patience when I contact people. Like most everyone else though, I feel that as soon as I send an email, the recipient should respond immediately.

A Good Time Was Had By All

I forgot to write a blog post on Friday. I'd love to say it was because I was getting ready for my friend's wedding, but that'd be a lie. I just plain ol' forgot, altho I have to say I was expending my two working brain cells on remembering what to bring to the wedding.

Our friends got married today (Sunday) on Vancouver Island, and it gave us an excuse to go over. The ferry ride was nice, although getting up at the crack of dawn (we both woke up at 4am) to catch a ferry wasn't quite the way we normally spend our weekends, but it was so worth it. The ferry was only 20% full as we drove up to it, and it showed. We were able to sit outside in the sunshine with very few people around us.  This also meant that the drive into Victoria was relatively quiet.

Playing tourist in our province's capital is something we haven't done in a good many years. It was too nice to do any of the indoor stuff, like the Parliament buildings or the museum. Instead, we decided to wander around Victoria's Chinatown (the oldest Chinatown in Canada) and lunch at an import from our sovereign, the 17 Mile Pub. Thanks to Travelzoo, we booked a room at the Hotel Grand Pacific, a wonderfully central hotel. Once we parked, we could walk all of downtown Victoria without having to drive anywhere to look for parking.

In talking to the locals, we found out that Victoria has the second highest number of restaurants per capita in North America, which means each restaurant has to be top notch in order to stay in business. We asked for a recommendation for a Thai restaurant and was told about The Siam. A family run business, the food was amazing and the service impeccable.

We also got to try out an eatery mentioned on Eat St.; Red Fish, Blue Fish. Hubby had the one piece salmon and chips and I had the Fanny Bay oyster tacones. To me, it lived up to its reputation and because we got there early, the line up went relatively quick and gave us enough time to get to the wedding.

The wedding itself was wonderful (you were wondering when I'd get to it right?) The venue was a beautiful old house built in 1908 with lovely gardens. The bride looked beautiful in a black and white dress, and the groom very handsome. By design, they kept the ceremony short and sweet in the garden and had a reception in the house after. It was an emotion filled event, with very sweet speeches by the wedding party. The food was great, the weather cooperated and the company, of course, was perfect.

Congratulations again to the beautiful couple and thank you for letting us share in your magical day.

I'm in the wrong profession

Reading Super Freakanomics, I realize I could be making gobs of money...by being an escort. Well I couldn't be because I think you actually need to have some social skills and it doesn't hurt to have a killer body. The book was printed in 2010, and at the time of the interview, the escort was making $500/hour.

Another profession that I have no qualifications to do, but makes huge money apparently, are make up artists for East Indian weddings. $2,500 for a pre-wedding consultation and then two make up sessions on the actual wedding day. It's even better money than being an escort, and best of all, you can be truthful to friends and family about what you do for a living.

Soaping will never make me a millionaire, but it does bring me some happiness to know that the people who buy my soaps are clean and smell nice.