October, How I Love Thee. YES I know it's November

I keep forgetting to update weekly so instead I'll just keep writing big 'ol update posts. Most of you are on Instagram, (even my mom is on it now, which is a whole other post), anyway most of you that read this follow me on Instagram and are keeping up with #thegaulinlife as that's where I tend to post most of my stuff nowadays.

If you are in fact following me on IG you will already know that October was a packed month for Kyle and me.  We started off seeing Dave Chappelle when he was up here on tour.  Let me just say he has not lost it one bit.  I was laughing so hard I was in tears — the whole show.  A couple weeks later we saw Chris Cornell on his "Songbook" tour.  I cannot say enough times that this was hands down one of the best shows I have ever seen.  It was simply amazing, this guy is talented and can sing his ass off.  He sang "Imagine" by John Lennon, this is one of my favorite songs, when he stared to sing it, I about fell out of my seat.  It was just a great vibe all the way around.  

The most exciting thing that happened in October though was going back home!  We were on such a whirlwind tour and it seemed liked every day and every night was packed with things to do and people to see.  I loved every minute of it!  We stayed with my brother the first week and then stayed down in Laguna our second week.  I loved being able to spend time with my Nephew.  I miss all the little moments with him. We had our Annual Italian Family picnic that has been going on since I was little and years way before that. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so lucky to have the family that I do.  I love these traditions and I love my family.  It was so great seeing everyone. I really felt like I got good family and friend time in with everyone we could see.  I was sad to leave but when we got home Fall was in full swing and I have to admit I was pretty stoked on my surroundings.

Vancouver wins best Fall hands down in my opinion. Everywhere you look the trees are on fire with reds, oranges and yellows.  It really is an amazing sight!  People have been walking up and down our street taking pictures of all the trees. One weekend we headed out to one of the many working farms here in Vancouver and went apple and pumpkin picking.  You see, I found this "Fall Check List" on Pinterest and damn it if I don't take that list to heart.  I am on a mission to do all the Fall things and poor Kyle is such a good sport he'll do them with me!

The last bit of exciting news that most of you may already know is that I decided to take a break from the ad agency world for a while.  I'll still get my fill of project management at home (Kyle loves this about me), but I really needed a change of pace and have decided to concentrate on other things in my life. Kyle is already working such long hours, we were becoming two ships that passed in the night and that is no way to live — at least not for us.  I have always wanted to get into VFX  and had a great opportunity to join one of the best studios in the world.  Yes, I said world and with movies like TRON, Benjamin Button, Titanic, X-Men, and most recently co-producing Ender's Game you can see why I threw out such a hefty claim. Oh I shouldn't forget to mention that they brought Tupac back to life at Coachella.  I couldn't be happier and more stoked on this opportunity and feel blessed to have been given the chance to do something totally different. I work with an amazing group of people.  When I left Team One I prayed I would find that feeling of loving coming into work everyday and I do believe I found it.

I've rounded up some of my favorite shots from the month of October (and a few from past family picnics), hopefully I can get my shit together and update more often.

~Mrs. G

This is my grandpa at one of our Italian Family Picnics back in the day!

Anddddd this is his daughter-my mother at our picnic last month.  We always have games for the kids and the adults and she always comes prepared for the water ballon toss. 

And just because I think it's funny, here she is at a family picnic in the 80's. She really embraced  the whole neon thing.  This is also the time we started calling her "Monochromatic Mom."

We are F-A-M-I-L-Y

My insanely perfect nephew holding Uncle KyKy's hand, he LOVES Kyle.  Also there's the people that made him!

I mean...…

My Pops

This motley crew is also my family. We're such a melting pot of beautiful ladies aren't we! 

She makes my dad so very happy, we are lucky to have her in our lives!

Two of the three men in my life :)

Goodbyes are never easy. I love this for so many reasons.  

My other brother Mikey and Caroline

Lucky to have these amazing girls in my life.  Truly the best of the best right here.

The best of the best part deux!  I LOVE these trouble makers.

This is Mikki, I've known here for over twenty years.  A sleepy morning in Venice turned into a photo shoot, rooting through trees, backyards and local shops on Abbot Kinney- more on this photo shoot soon. 

We only had one night with the Dereks, it was not nearly enough.

He is perfection isn't he?

Fall  in full swing here in Vancouver.

My favorite street to walk down - Trafalgar. Voted one of the prettiest streets in Vancouver.

Clearly I can have fun most anywhere.

My love and I on our date night out to see Chris Cornell. 

My amazingly handsome Husband...

Vancouver, Seven Months Later.

I couldn't think of a better title, remember when I said I wasn't a writer? Anyway, we've been here for seven months and here's a bit of a recap as well as my observations so far...

You can go to any number of grocery stores for your shopping needs and of course we have tons of farmer's markets and local produce stands for fresh veggies but the government says we have to buy our alcohol here

or here, but it will cost you more.

And you always have this with you

This is Caesar country and Bloody Mary's are the devil

I love walking through my neighborhood, which I now spell neighbourhood

to get to this, which I take nearly everyday

and this has never happen to me, thank god.

We got rid of this, because we didn't need two of them.

When you live here

you complain about going here

because you'll have to cross this to get there.

This is how we picked where we wanted to live, we asked ourselves do we want to look at this














or this everyday









We chose the mountain views.

In the winter you can ride here













here

or here

and it'll only take you 40 minutes from the city.

At night this is your view

or this.

And this AMAZING place














is less than two hours away.

I have become quite involved with the yoga community and volunteer twice a week.

One of the locations I volunteer at has this view

And I think I look like this when I am practicing

I hear that when it rains (which is a lot) you really don't use one of these

So I guess Kyle and I will just walk around like this

This rainy season I will live in these



















and my dogs will live in these

And I totally expect that this is what our Christmas is going to look like.

And this is Maggie, wishing you a Happy First Day of Fall!

Love,

Mrs. G

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight

Weekends Stateside

Not too much is going on over here in Vancouver.  Kyle is working away, being very important.  He is heading to Tofino next weekend to go on a surf trip with his work crew!  I have decided that it is officially fall and tried to put out decorations this weekend.  Kyle put a stop to that but as I just mentioned, he'll be in Tofino next weekend so I'll be sure to have the house decked out for his return home!  I am counting the days until we head home next month!  It'll be 8 months since I have seen my family and most of my friends so I can't wait.  I miss my nephew the most and the weekend Facetime chats are just not cutting it.

Last weekend I did however get out of town to see one of my best girlfriends who was up from LA, staying at her family lake house in Washington. I packed my bags, grabbed Maggie and we headed on a mini road trip for a weekend with the girls!

Mapquest said it would only take three hours, but what mapquest didn't account for was the border traffic, me pulling over three times to see if Maggie would like to sit in the front seat, then the back seat, then the back seat with the seats pulled down making her an extra big bed.  You see, where I love road trips, Maggie hates them.  I have never had a dog who is scared of being in the car. I love a solo road trip because I can make as many stops as I like.  See that little kiosk on the side of the road selling crap, I'm going to stop there.  Beef jerky on the side of the road, I think I'll pull over and buy some.  Need another coffee or water or magnet for my fridge?  I'll pull right over and go to the gas station/rest stop/restaurant. And let's not forget that this is where I can sign my heart out. I swear in a past life I was a breakdancing singer that went to a performing arts school. But I digress, as usual.

Five hours later (damn border traffic and beef jerky kiosk),  I found myself at Puget Lake at my friends house that is right on the water.  To say it had a stunning view is a major understatement. I was in heaven. Any stress from everyday life just melted away. This house is very special to my friend, it was so nice seeing where she spent her summers and holidays growing up. We had such a great weekend and I cannot wait to go back to this magical place.

~Mrs. G

Heather relaxing on the deck.

Peaceful.

A girl and her dog.

Amy and I discussing the route for our race.

Maggie wanted in on the race.

She did not help me paddle the boat.

Taking in the view.

Beautiful.

She knows who to suck up to.

Turns Out I'm A Total Chicken Shit

When people went on and on about the rain in Vancouver, they left out the part about the thunder and lightning storms.  As I was laying in bed last night watching hours of the live feed from Burning Man (you knew that was going to make it's way into this post), a massive storm came through.  I grew up in Southern California where it rains four days a year and maybe you'll get some thunder here and there.  Turns out I still hate thunder, I hate lightning even more and I totally believed the house was going to cave in from all of the rain.  The dogs came running over to my side of the bed for comfort and all I could do was hide under the covers.  Yes, I'll admit it, I was hiding under the covers like a big baby.  And my Husband?  Snoring away. Where he grew up they had massive storms just like this everyday in the summer as well as hurricanes.  Well, that's reason #404 I would never live there.  I always love the next day after a storm though.  I love the way the air smells.  Its damp and cold outside right now, just the way I like it.  I love summer, don't get me wrong and we had amazing weather this year, but fall is just around the corner and that is without a doubt my favorite time of year!  Fall in Vancouver! Time to throw on your boots, grab your camera and capture the beautiful colors of the season.

Speaking of weather, I watched a massive dust storm on the live feed that engulfed the playa yesterday and it made me miss home (my Black Rock City home that is).  I always loved a good dust storm out on the playa. When it hits and you're away from camp you take cover wherever you are and just wait it out-it's always an adventure.  Again, you knew I was going to try and find a way to talk about Burning Man!  Yes, the man burns tomorrow and I cannot wait to see all the photos and hear all of the stories from my dusty friends! I'll try to post tomorrow in honor of burn day, but for now I'll leave you with some dust storm pictures from my past years!  Following the pix, there's a link to the Ustream site that is showing the burn live for the next few days...

The hair really says it all.  Covered in dust since 2004!

My playa partner-in-crime for many years!

Tamiko riding through the storm.

My pops: AKA as the Big Cheese dancing in a storm.

This was one of the worst dust storms I had been in.  I love this shot because after hours of waiting it out we saw a double rainbow extended over the playa.

In case you want to see what it's all about, here is a link to watch the live stream: http://www.ustream.tv/burningman

~Mrs. G