Tonight my good friend Marisa and I took to the Regional Assembly of Text for a special letter writing night. The CBC was there filming a doc, so basically we were stars. Typing stars. 

Oh yeah, our monthly Letter Writing Party is taking place a week early this month so we can write our mushy, ooey gooey love letters in time for Valentine’s Day. E-mail me for the locale. Julia the Chemist (a famous commenter around these parts) is hosting it at a lovely Queen’s Park apartment. 

Clickity clack, that’s that.

I caught up with Canada’s George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC’s The Hour, to get his thoughts on true love and his affinity for black (among other things.)

Enjoy this uncut version!

I am off to London tomorrow to celebrate my birthday (April 3,) visit Amanda’s adorable digs, peruse Oxford with the hubby, and savour croissants (pregnancy, the perfect excuse!) in Paris… then home to Vancouver! See you after the 18th.

Streeting in front Toronto’s CBC buildings I ‘ran into’ a guy named George. Turns out he’s a little famous. Hear his thoughts on the ‘centre of the world’ (aka Toronto) and Canada at large.

Camera: Mike Klassen

(For those who have been waiting, Part 2 of the interview is too large a file to upload to Youtube. I’m shrinking it later today and hope to post it soon.)

I fear for the beloved mother corp. Read the news here, here and here.

I fell for the CBC, and public broadcasting at-large, through my liberal communication studies at Simon Fraser University. Reading McChesney’s Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy solidified it for me. Still does. To my mind, these are fearful days. We are on the brink of losing public broadcasting in this country.

As I’m sure other parents will tell you, words can not describe what it’s like to see your baby moving on the ultrasound screen for the first time. My heart was aflutter. There the tiny heart beat steadily. Its body shifting to and fro. My baby. Safe. Healthy. Growing. Inside of me.

I am overwhelmed. God, I thank you for this gift. 

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And just an hour before I met with a hero of mine. One of the country’s best interviewers. With dreamy eyes and a stature settling just below my 5′8.5″ frame, I stood with George Stroumboulopoulos in the CBC Atrium interviewing him. It’s a wild story. On Monday I happened to stumble upon a posting for a lifestyle TV host position with the CBC in Vancouver. The description read like my DNA. I already had tickets to see The Hour that night so, feeling particularly ballsy (and eventually egged on by Annie, my date for the night) I asked George if he’d do a cameo in my demo reel. And (by some miracle) he said YES. The one hiccup was it had to happen before Friday, hence the interview/ultrasound afternoon.

George knows me from my days working for the CBC in Vancouver. I was the special projects coordinator on his first live taping which took place at the Firehall Arts Centre on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. I’ve been to a few of his shows since and check in each time with a friendly hello. But really, he went out on a limb for me and I am incredibly grateful.

I can’t wait to show you the footage.

And girlfriends, I asked him the question we’ve all been dying to ask: “What are you looking for in a woman?”

Today is an enormous day for little ol’ me. First, by some incredible twist of fate, I interview George Strombo. An hour later, I meet my baby at our first ultrasound.

Send me some love.

It’s been a busy week helping Michael prepare his entry for the CBC’s Next Great Prime Minister Contest.

His video entry is now up on the CBC website. Please check out his platform and, if you think he’s got what it takes, please comment on his video. The more comments and more *stars (5 is best) the more votes he gets.

Comments must be made on the CBC website. Here’s the link: www.cbc.ca/nextprimeminister/candidates/michaelcrook.html

You may be wondering what’s up for grabs? $50,000, the title, of course, and some amazing internships.

Thank you Everyone! And thanks to everyone who has already commented. With your help Michael has a real chance of winning this thing!

This Sunday my brother James and his wife Jocelyn came to visit. Michael and I spent the morning prepping for brunch and enjoying a brisk walk around Killarney Lake before picking J&J up from the ferry. While Michael and I cooked up bacon, omelets, bagels and a bodum of coffee, they explored the property. James loved the mini-orchard complete with leaning ladders, the stone fireplace, wooden bridge, brushed stainless and rough counter tops of the Cowper kitchen — a chef’s dream, he said.

After brunch we played Settlers and then went in search of Sicilian donkeys (!!) claimed to be raised at the farm up the road. We found some stray cats, but no donkeys.

Later James whipped us up a pot of butternut squash soup, flank steak, baked squash and risotto — topping it all off with home-canned peaches and vanilla ice cream. Oh the blessing of a brother/chef. ;)

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Jesse Fin Groot.

Yesterday I decided to cut out early, take advantage of the gorgeous Fall weather and my proximity to Whistler, and sped up the bumpy Sea-to-Sky to spend the afternoon with my adorable nephews, Jesse and Reuben. We picked out (what turned out to be a baking) pumpkin and played in the park while mom and dad got a mini-break.

I just adore my nephews. They are growing up far too fast.

Jesse, Reuben, and my big brother Mike.

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In other news,

• I may have landed a gig live-blogging for the JUNOS in Vancouver, March 26-29.
• And Michael is considering the Next Great Prime Ministership. Send him encouragement here.