CAN'T TAKE THE HONKY TONK... OUTTA THIS CITY GIRL

The other night I was relaxing, sipping on a glass of shiraz, and watching the X-factor when a brilliant idea came to me... I was going to start a personal blog!  SOOOO - here we go!

I recently moved back to my home town of Morden, MB (7000 peeps - and 3 traffic lights) after living in the big, beautiful city of Calgary for the 10 years of my 20-something life.  I remember the move to the BIG city so clearly - sentences like "I'm out of here", "I'm never moving back home", and "Why do people even live in this lil town" were definitely said out loud.  Little did I realize that 10 years, numerous jobs , several x-bf's, a handful of x-bestfriends, too many to count martini's, beers, cocktails and shots, and a calendar full of socialite events - I was entertaining the idea of moving "back home".  

Now - the big question I'm asked.  WHY??  Well... it's actually very simple.  I met my man - Kyle.  It wasn't love at first sight (only because I promised myself I would NEVER date someone from home), but the more I hung out with him, spoke or received his texts - I found myself laughing and truly enjoying what life was all about.  That friend quickly became an 'in a relationship' status change on facebook.  After only 4 months of dating - we were looking at houses and ready to become roomies!  The decision to move back seemed justified 2 months before the scheduled move to small-town Southern Manitoba, when we received that phone call no-one ever wants to get.  Kyle's dad had suddenly passed away of a massive heart attack.  I knew at that point that I wanted to be with him, his family - and most of all my own family!  Everything that used to be important to me (social events, malls, so-called-friends) were thrown out the door - I couldn't believe I had been so selfish to not recognize how important family really is and how much I missed them.  

Moving back to Morden was something that I looked forward to - but when I got settled in I was in for a surprise!  It went from mild Calgary winters, to bone-chilling winters in Morden.  From massive shopping malls that were right around the corner from my house, to online shopping.  From celebrity sitings and people watching at Starbucks, to celebrity gossip magazines and old men looking at me funny as I got my Timmy's  double/double.  Fashion shows, Art Openings, Designer launches, film festivals - to fashion television, home-made paintings with my nieces, mom teaching me how to sew and renting movies from video stop.  Not only that - I had to make friends again, I really missed my best friends with no small town drama I had left in Calgary.  That was it - could I handle the change....I had entered a serious state of depression!!!

Anyone that knows me - knows I'm not the give up kind... I make things work for me.  Even if making it work means doing things a bit backwards, quirky or out of the mould.  So I did just that.  High heeled grocery shopping, wedged boots for hiking excursions, designer denim for an afternoon coffee.  I did what works... this is a blog how I brought the city girl to the country world!