this is it actually.

hi! i'm back with a bonus episode! i'm heading to SUMMERFEST to collect stories and memories about my hometown from the people who know it best. for the first 20 years of my life, my whole existence and all the parts that made up me, everything that happened to me, good and bad, were all based out of one particular place. a sweet and serene small town called meaford. with special guests: j...

our wee family of 3 is hitting some serious milestones this week and of course, as it goes, that led me to thinking about the bigger things attached to 'endings'. and listen, i'm well aware that endings bring on new beginnings and even though it's sometimes sad to move on, it's usually where the good stuff lives. but that doesn't make it any less emotional or challenging. t...

you're going to love today's episode! i want you to meet my friend madison tevlin. i mean, you probably already know who she is. she stars in the movie CHAMPIONS and she's blowing up on social media. (a recent tiktok about potatoes has over 6 million views!) she always says that down syndrome is the 'least interesting thing about her', and trust me when i tell you, it's tru...

my sister and brother in law gave a camcorder to my husband and i when my oldest daughter was born. 17 years ago, this was a giant GIFT. two babies born and 1 divorce later, the girls and I stopped using it in 2017, when the tapes ran out. for years i have been meaning to get the tapes digitized. a million excuses later, i finally found a young woman through facebook who does it as a side project...

i'm a big fan of voicenoting... i mean, have you met this podcast? sending a voicenote is like the updated version of leaving a voicemail with zero time restriction! (which, let's be honest, can be quite problematic when you fancy yourself a storyteller) i met my friend jess many years ago working on canadian idol. we rekindled our friendship in the pandemic and basically picked up where w...

josee cormier and alicia stafford are doing things their way. and well, your way too actually. hear me out. they are two women who needed to heal their relationship with food. it’s a thing, right? i don’t think i knew until much later in life that all relationships require attention and ya, work. not just love relationships, not just family, but money and health and food and work and clothing and...

embarrassing & unfortunate things happen in life. we try things and they don’t always pan out. sometimes life happens TO us. i mean, unmentionables are all around. in relationships, at work, parenting, family stuff, just being out in the world. i loved this conversation because we cover a lot! from hemorrhoids to broken penises to parenting pitfalls to companies profiting off of women's in...

sharron & i met a million years ago through mutuals. but our relationship really turn a left turn when she saw me on a dating app. that’s right. and she swiped right. ok ok, not in THAT way – but more in the ‘i’ve seen you and now i need to acknowledge that i’ve seen you cuz you’re probably gonna’ see me too’ and then she texted me immediately after to say she wasn’t hitting on me. from that h...

ivanka siolkowsky is a former teacher who is actually certified in the KonMari way of life. that’s right, she’s marie kondo certified. she’s a professional organizer and de-clutterer, so she totally understands my life with 2 teens. she’s an author & TV personality. she created and runs a children’s organization program – an online life skills camp for kids. when i told a girlfriend about this...

today’s episode is a doozie. it’s got a tonne of things that i love. stories… obviously. a stranger. big feelings - there’s heaviness and lightness - tears, laughs, and connection. on may 5th, 2021, i found out that my ex-boyfriend had committed suicide. on may 7th, 2021, i sent a message to his ex-wife, asking if we could talk. we had never met and i wasn't even sure she would know who i was. thi...

hey hey! it's season 4! tiia is back and i'm so excited about the episodes i've got on the docket. i'm going to be talking to some amazing people – covering GRIEF, CONNECTING WITH STRANGERS, GIVING BACK, CLEANING UP, DIET CULTURE, DATING AFTER 50 and i'm also going to be chatting with my ex-boyfriend’s ex-wife – we met over grief and his suicide - and my hope this season is jus...

what can be said in new year rhymes • that’s not been said a thousand times? the new years come, the old years go • we know we dream, we dream we know. we rise up laughing with the light • we lie down weeping with the night. we hug the world until it stings • we curse it then and sigh for wings. we live, we love, we woo, we wed • we wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead. we laugh, we weep, we hope...

i like good laughs. people with kind faces. when i see someone talking to a stranger. a wave from the car if i’ve let you in. goodness. (and that can mean so many things). humility. grit. compassion. the helpers. big or small, it doesn’t matter. funny people. i’m not an easy laugh but when you get me – when you find my funny bone – it’s actually the best. ooh, good manners. so sexy. good listeners...

a tradition is described as an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behaviour. this can come from religious or cultural practice, social customs or even from family and friends. i've thought - on more than one occasion - that i've done a pretty crap job of establishing traditions in my wee household. i don't cook big holiday dinners. we're not 'regulars' in any resta...

we grew up with a christian mom and an atheist dad. we said grace before dinner and i prayed before bed. i mostly just asked for stuff, cuz, you know, kids. it was made very clear that there was a heaven and a hell – they were sold as places that you go – one up, and one down, like we would literally look in those directions when we thought of them – but we never really talked about spirituality o...

happy holidays! let’s talk about sex!  this is my second episode on the subject and there’s obviously more to say, cuz hello, it’s sex. first times, good times, memorable bad times. friends with benefits, one night stands, long term love affairs. sexologists, sex educators, films about sex. finding bliss & more than ever imagined on OnlyFans. talking it out, figuring it out & a call f...

i met a new friend on instagram back in september – we did a deep dive on each other's pages and we were loving what we were seeing so we started complimenting the crap out of one another and then one of us said “it would be great if we could talk to ourselves like this too”. go figure. so i suggested we come up with 3 things we love about ourselves before the end of the day and she was like ‘way...

drag began back during shakespeare times, around the end of the 16th century.  at the time, the church was super connected to the stage and would only allow men to perform - like honestly, what IS that… ugh, anyway, that’s how the female roles ended up being played by men dressed as women. the word ‘drag’ itself is believed to have been born in the theatre too. the dresses that the men wore t...

ok so this probably doesn’t seem like the most uplifting topic to dig into and maybe some people will completely avoid listening to this episode for fear of grief or sad memories or just a general aversion to death talk. trust me, i get it. i love avoiding tough topics!  but death is a THING. i mean, right? it's the one thing we cannot steer clear of - no matter how hard we try. and don't we...

i can’t do impersonations. i’m a terrible actor. i don’t play an instrument and my singing leaves a little bit to be desired. i don’t have 2 different coloured eyes or any cute patterned freckles, and i’ve never had an overly wacky or weird job – though, i was once asked to be a phone sex operator, but i never did it.  ooh, that would have been good for this episode.  i thought i'd have...

meet michelle wolfe!  she has a podcast - MUVE FORWARD, an activewear line - MUVE LIFE, and a great general philosophy - KEEP MOVING. we dig into a lot. health and wellness, living without moms, being a responsible but partying teen, how to be a good human and how a simple 'whatchya doin' can change a stranger's day. (& yours too!) my special guest: @themichellewolfe. find michelle at www...

this is my second episode on FOLLOWING BLISS & it's a hot topic whenever i'm searching for guest stories. everyone wants to talk about their bliss and that makes me very happy. bliss begets bliss & all that jazz. following your bliss means trusting that everything is going to work out, even if it’s not in the ‘perfect’ way you imagined. it's all about believing in your happy thoughts &...

ah marriage. it's a funny one. some people are ALL IN, and some won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. some people are one & done, and some people go back again & again. there's the religious and traditional and cultural side of it. there's family pressure. there's second go 'rounds. there's sticking in it far past the point of expiration. oh, and there's love. remember love?! it's a hot topic & i th...

i was raised by good people. so, what’s my definition of ‘good’ in this situation? well, it’s kind. generous. hardworking. selfless. humble. but those seem to be pretty obvious when it comes to what we think of as GOOD & maybe even a little antiquated, 'cuz like everything in life, GOODNESS changes. as a little girl, i couldn’t possibly have known that later in life, goodness would include jus...

ok, so if you’ve been listening to this podcast for any amount of time at all, you’ll know that the idea of doing an episode on the things that no one knows about me seems pretty laughable. it’s going to be a very short episode.  but for real, as much as i talk a blue streak - my stories & my personal stuff - there's also a lot that i keep to myself.  some things seem silly to share...