Happy Birthday, MCL!

Holy whoa. Two blog posts in less than 24 hours. Rare but necessary as I just realized that today is the one year anniversary of My City Lives and I just have to send out my love. For those of you who don’t already know, MCL is an online platform that lets you capture and share your daily experiences around the city on video. Presented on an interactive map, these web stories show exactly where each video was filmed so you can learn more about the city based on the stories of others. It's unique and poetic and downright brilliant.

I had the pleasure of collaborating with MCL on behalf of blogUT to shoot some videos exploring the University of Toronto campus. I live and breathe that campus and this city and I just loved being able to document the everyday spaces that make for those simple but extraordinary moments that is la vie.

With MCL Co-Founder Adil & blogUT video partner, Coleman.

I often blog about my travels and love for other cities (see below) but the truth is, Toronto is in my blood. The vibrance of this city just makes me swell with pride and a quick scan through the many videos on the MCL website will show you just what I’m talking about. From our many coffee shops (a staple in my life) to the spaces of innovation, from the obscure spots to find your hipster girlfriend to our Corktown "ukelele jams", MCL captures what makes this city, well, live. It's more than a website, it's a place of discovery.

So with that, happy birthday, MCL! Thanks for bringing in the human dimension that makes our city the pure awesome that it is. Here’s to growing old and grey and taking on more cities than that interactive map of yours can even handle ;)

Sending my love to my friends at MCL (apologies for my sad Photoshop "skills")

Kiva + Me = Birthday Love

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 21st birthday and as a present, I asked my closest friends to invest in an entrepreneur in any developing country using Kiva, my new found love. I discovered the awesome of this organization a couple of months ago when I made my first loan to Tarcila, a woman in the Philippines who makes and then sells furniture (blog post here). Ever since then, I've wanted to get more friends involved in it. And my birthday presented itself as just the perfect introduction I'd been looking for.

Shiyoen Chum groupThanks to the amazing generosity of my best friends of nearly 13 years (!!!), five entrepreneurs from all over the world have been given the chance to develop their business and potentially lift themselves and their families out of poverty. From the Philippines to El Salvador and from Cambodia to Peru, our entrepreneurs are involved in all sorts of different trades and industries, including baking, transportation, fishing, and retail! It's pretty awesome stuff.

But in addition to warm, fuzzy feeling of doing good, what I loved most about this year's present was that I learned something new about my friends along the way. After making their loans, I asked them to share their reasons for choosing whoever it was they ended up choosing...

LuciaMarisa chose Shiyoen Chum's family of fishermen from Cambodia because she wanted to invest in something that reflected health and nurturing. Val chose Aida who runs a motorcycle service in the Philippines because it struck her as a unique and innovative service. Carm invested in José, the baker from El Salvador, because she too is an aspiring baker. Cynthia chose on the basis of necessity, which Lucia's fruit and vegetable store provided for the members of her community. And finally, Gloria invested in Alejandra, who operates a buy-and-sell business, because she knew that Alejandra had to support three young children and would need the money to put them through school.

Honestly? Listening to these reasons was one of the most rewarding parts of this little initiative. Why? Because it gave me a deeper glimpse into who these ladies are and for me, it was an affirmation of how well these ladies know themselves, as their choices brought to the fore aspects integral to their personality.

So thus made my 2010 birthday! Who knew that this simple act of investing would reap so many wonderful rewards? 

Oh and did I mention that October is also Kiva's birthday month? A happy coincidence with wins all around : )

Thanks ladies for actually taking the time to actually educate yourselves about the organization, the process, and the individuals that you invested in! So happy to be on this microfinancing journey with you!

José Pedro QuinterosAlejandra Montejo Aida Navajo

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 21st birthday (legality all over the world, holla!) and as a present, I asked my closest friends to invest in an entrpereneur in any developing country using Kiva. At first they asked me if I was sure that there was nothing else I wanted. Believe me, this wasn't some kind of selfless act, I asked myself that question long and hard too before making the ask. I won't deny it I am absolutely the kind of person who loves being spoiled and showered with gifts on her birthday. But honestly, this time around, there wasn't anything else I could think of asking for. I'm priveleged enough to say taht at this moment, I have evverything that I could possibly need and that there's nothing more that I want. It's an odd but incredibly liberating feeling!

And so enters Kiva...my new found love.

I discovered the awesome of this organization a couple of months ago when I made my first loan to a woman in the PHilippines who makes and buys furniture (blog post here) and ever since then, I've wanted to get more friends involved in it. And my birthday presented itself as just the perfect introduction I've been looking for.

Now, thanks to the amazing generosity of my best friends Carmen, Cynthia, Gloria, Marisa, and Val, five entrepreneurs all over the world have been given the chance to develop their business and potentially lift themselves out of poverty. Investing in countries all over the world

More than that, what I loved most about this ask was that I learned something new about my friends along the way. After making their loans, I asked them to share the reasons for who they chose and that in itself was a wealth of learning. Marisa chose the fishing group because



The Carousel

I am absolutely in love with Mad Men. I think it's one of the most brilliantly crafted television shows on air right now. There are so many precious but fleeting moments...the knowing glances, the slow and enveloping sips of scotch, the long drag off a cigar, and of course, those silences. Then there are the not-so fleeting moments, the ones that really punch through the seemingly calm and cool ambiance of the show...like when Peggy tells Pete she had his baby or the time when Joan so efficiently took care of that guy who got run over by the lawnmower at the office. Then there are the masterpiece moments when the Mad (wo)Men work their advertising magic...defining feminity ("a basket of kisses", anyone?), making you sing and laugh (bye, bye birdie!), juxtaposing celebrities of the time (Jackie O and Monroe), and yes, pulling at the heartstrings. And below is a video of one such moment. It gets me every time...

No Greater Love

If you ask me what the highlight of this most recent trip was, I won't say the enchanting canals of Venice or the nights spent listening to music at the Piazza San Marco. No, it wasn't the breathtaking sights of the Alps or the random wandering in Vienna...all those things were unforgettable but there's a certain little moment that'll stay with me for quite some time. A snapshot better than any I took with my camera...

It was the night my mom, some friends of ours, and I decided to go to a heurigen. I had never been to one before but my mom was hyping it up, telling me how nice those little wine taverns were and sharing stories of how she spent many nights at those places way back when she was doing some training in Austria. So off we went to enjoy a night of traditional Austrian culture and wine. The place we went to was certainly lovely but it wasn't the place, the food, or the wine that made the night what it was...

It was her.

With a violinist and accordion player performing the most romantic of songs, my mom was in her element. There she was, this vision...singing, swaying, and dancing to the tunes she raised me with...Historia de un Amor, Besame Mucho, Strangers in the Night, Love Story. I sat there watching her in awe...she was so happy, so elated, so absolutely radiant. For that moment, I got a glimpse of my mom as herself. I saw her not as a mother, a wife, a sister. Not as a friend or a grandmother. For that moment, she was just Jocelyn. Completely stripped of all other titles and attachments. And let me tell you, I wouldn't trade that one moment for a thousand others. I felt so lucky, so proud to have been sitting there knowing that this woman was my mother. And though she probably doesn't know it, it wasn't just me that was taken aback by her loveliness...I know that all eyes were set on her as the violinist played by her side as she playfully (and maybe even flirtaciously) sang and snapped along to his rendition of Fly Me to the Moon. And honestly, if you were there to see it, you'd wonder how anyone could ever keep their eyes away...

If it were just for that one moment alone, that one unforgettable snapshot...I can honestly say that the entire trip had been worth it. But it was that and more, so what more can I possibly say? I spent two weeks with this incredibly lovely lady who just so happens to be my mom and my best friend. We explored foreign lands (and waters), got into some heated fights (all part of the ride, right?), and shared some pretty sweet moments together (iPod breaks at Schonbrunn, picture-taking in our hotel room, remember?). We've got a thousand more pages of memories to add to our already jam-packed story and there's still so much ahead...

Happy Mother's Day, Mama. I love you!