How he proposed and 99 other Sarah secrets

On the right-hand side of this page, there's a little button called 100 Hot Things to Know about Sarah Crosbie. It's pretty old. Item No. 100: "I think the baby is a boy. My husband thinks it's a girl." Well, I now have a two-and-a-half year old – who likes to ask questions, many questions like: "Mommy, what are nipples? Do you have nipples? Does daddy have nipples?" – which shows how outdated that list is. (And, yes, I did have a boy. Ha.) Some of the items still hold very true though:

31. "I love pineapple on pizza."
82. "I love my knee-high black leather boots. I wear them every day in the fall and winter."

For 2009, here is a new 100 list:


1. First thing I read Saturday morning: Corey Mintz's restaurant review in the Toronto Star's Living section. We once had a little chat on his blog. I tried to compliment him. He took it as a criticism, I think. So, we didn't end up pals. I still read it.
2. Ran my first half marathon in Picton in October 2008. Everyone should do a half there. It's beautiful. It took me 2:21.
3. My husband and I have committed to running the half in Ottawa in May. In October I could run 21 kilometres. Now I'm back to the five-k. Need to pick it up starting this week.
4. Love Dexter.
5. Love actor Michael C. Hall who plays Dexter.
6. Love Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Dexter's sister on the show.
7. Find it creepy Hall and Carpenter are married now.
8. It's insane Hall has never won a major acting award (like a Golden Globe) for his Dexter work – and yet Boston Legal and William Shatner have? Houston, we have a problem.
9. Speaking of marriage, I got married in 2007. The BF is now The Husband.
10. No, I didn't change my name. (So on Facebook, I look like I'm still single; I refuse to fill in details like "Married. Looking for friendship." I think that's weird.)
11. Not sure why any woman still changes her name. It's 2009.
12. Speaking of Facebook, I just joined last week. I've been holding out, but now that I have more free time on my hands (keep reading to find out why), I decided to give it a try.
13. Thanks to more free time, I just finished a Canadian novel called A Week of This by Nathan Whitlock. I've been reading it since April. I used to work so much that by the time I crawled into bed at midnight, I'd read one page and then pass out.
14. Watched Oprah for a few minutes a few weeks ago. Will Smith said something I really like and am trying to live by: "I'm tired of wasting my time. I'm tired of other people wasting my time." (I added it to my Facebook profile.)
15. Though I should read more books, I'm about to renew my subscription to Canadian Living. No, it's not the hippest magazine, but damn, they have good recipes. How do you think I learned to make chicken paprikash and spinach strata?
16. Got married at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Best idea ever. No planning. One fax to confirm our reservation, one e-mail to confirm what colour I wanted my bouquet to be and it was done. Seriously.
17. Our wedding dinner took place at Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood. I had nachos with guacamole and chocolate covered strawberries for my wedding meal. It's always ranked the No. 1 buffet on The Strip. Best wedding meal ever.
18. Have a worm-like scar on my left knee from having cyst removed when I was five years old at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. That scar made me a little bit of who I am since kids used to make fun of it when I was little. It gave me some inner strength. This one was in the first list, but I like it so it's here, too.
19. I always buy a Lotto 649 ticket if the jackpot is over $10 million. Ten million is OK. Nine million? Oh, so not worth my time.
20. Love going out to Kingston's best restaurants: Grecos, Aqua Terra, Curry Original. And don't forget about our city's best-kept secret: Amadeus Cafe.
21. 98% of the time I'll order fish when I'm out. The other 2%? Filet mignon, done medium rare.
22. Appetizer always has to be escargot.
23. I originally wanted Hillary Clinton to be the president of the United States because I wanted a woman to win, but Barack Obama's charisma, love for his family and wife, and strength during crisis won me over.
24. Obama did a really interesting interview in Men's Health a couple of issues ago, where he said he works out five days a week and was sometimes criticized for it on the campaign trail, since people thought that time could be better used – which is insane. I'm tired of people, bosses, coworkers, anyone, really, thinking you're only good at your job if your butt is glued to your desk. People who are healthy, who have a life, who are interesting, who get out and do stuff (anything!) are more interesting and, therefore, better employees.
25. Someday I'm going to be a boss and I'm only going to hire interesting people; Interesting people who go to The Screening Room at least a couple of times a year.
26. The Screening Room, along with Amadeus Cafe, is one of Kingston's best-kept secrets. Instead of going to see Marley & Me (does the world really need more Jennifer Aniston?) go to The Screening Room, pick one of the two movies screening there and sit through an independent, foreign, possibly subtitled film. You may not love it, but it will be better than Marley & Me. Or Mall Cop, which is the No. 1 movie in the country. We're in a recession and people have money to go see Mall Cop? Help us, help us now.
27. I was laid off from The Whig-Standard on Dec. 16, 2008.
28. I still read The Whig-Standard.
29. I exercise with a rockin' local company, Body Now 4 Mums and Kids. (See bikini pic in Flickr photos. A few years ago, I never would have done that.
30. My two-year-old son can skate as well as I can.
31. When I was 12, the big thing to do was to go public skating. There were two songs that looped over and over again all night long: Aerosmith's Janie's Got a Gun and Love in an Elevator. I still can't listen to those songs.
32. Just heard a great old song at the grocery store this morning: Back To Life by Soul II Soul. I was buying my bran buds and dancing.
33. One of my old Whig columns was turned into a cartoon by illustrator Ron Lindsay and published in the Ottawa Citizen. I wrote about my son wanting a bucket load of hockey gear.
34. Because I used to be a little bit chunky (fat) I'm addicted to watching The Biggest Loser, even though I know it's absurd to lose 32 pounds in one week.
35. Last time I was at home visiting my parents, my mother showed my son a picture of me taken about eight years ago, when I was at my heaviest (about 50 pounds more than now). "Who is that?" my mother asked my son. "I don't know," he said. He didn't recognize me! (I carried a lot of it in my face.)
36. That being said, coworkers used to tell me: "But you have such a pretty face, Sarah!" Ah, thanks. So my butt? Nasty? Thighs? Make me wanna barf. Arms? Swinging in the wind. But my face looks nice.
37. I once auditioned for a hair commercial in Toronto.
38. Seeing as I am not in magazines, I obviously didn't get the gig.
39. I once auditioned for a TV show in Montreal, Guy Stuff with John Moore.
40. Seeing as I had to watch myself on reruns on Global the other day while working out at the gym, I obviously got the gig.
41. I also got the gig when I was seven months pregnant, so, no, my breasts do not look like that in real life. Sorry guys.
42. My son calls the two moles I have on my face "meatballs." No idea where that came from.
43. He also calls zits the same thing.
44. I just finished reading a piece in The Globe and Mail about what Barack Obama needs to get done in his first 100 days in office. One of his friends said one problem with Obama is he doesn't necessary succeed instantly. He needs time to get his feet wet, assess the situation and get a groove before he's rockin' it. I'm the same way. I need to get warmed up before I can really dig in. Then I'm OK, but at first, I'm quite shy.
45. I was once Tasered by Kingston Police. True story. (For a Whig story, but still true.)
46. I look back on that story now and am mortified at its cheesiness, but you live and learn and become a better writer.
47. I think I like the new U2 song Get On Your Boots that was released today, though at first I thought Bono's voice sounded thin.
48. I laughed really hard in the SNL skit when Tina Fey (Sarah Palin) says she met Bono, The King of Ireland.
49. I saw U2 in concert in Toronto when I was 16.
50. But even better, I saw Depeche Mode in Toronto.
51. My first CD ever was Depeche Mode.
52. My first cassette tape was Fleetwood Mac.
53. No, I still don't own my own iPod. I borrow my husband's all the time though and make him put pop songs on it for my running music. It Takes Two by Rob Bass and DJ EZ Rock is a fave.
54. Jet is also good, though, I admit.
55. Queen is also good for running.
56. You know what's not good? Trying to run and seeing yourself on TV on Guy Stuff With John Moore with massive pregnancy boobs. It's distracting.
57. My combo for my lock from grades 7 to OAC: 57, 31, 9.
58. Can I remember any of the combos for locks we have now? No. But I can remember one that I haven't used in 13 years.
59. My husband's blog is Cancrime.com. No, it has nothing to do with a sexy daddy living his life under the stars. It's about crime. It's really good. We're like Best Buy and Future Shop. We compete but we're related. *Currently, I have more readers. But he has better legs, so we're equal, I guess.
60. I've been to the K-Rock Centre probably more times than most people. Let's count: The Wiggles, The Hip, Avril Lavigne, Sesame Street, Thomas The Train, two Kingston Frontenacs games.
61. I always get the nachos with the orange glue cheese when I go. It's a treat.
62. OK, I also get a soft pretzel.
63. And a Diet Coke. Don't judge me.
64. I love PerezHilton. Yes, I know it's crap, but I'm a former entertainment reporter and editor. I needed to be up on my crap.
65. I also like TMZ. Don't judge me.
66. I got my start at The Queen's Journal in 1999. Ten years later? Laid off. Hmmm. That's not exactly how I thought the decade would end. Let's check back with me in 2010 - or 2009 1/2. Give me a few months.
67. I recently saw one of my ex-boyfriends at a Starbucks parking lot and, I'm not sure why, I hid by slouching down in my seat until he drove away.
68. Maybe it was because I had bedhead and no makeup on. Just saying.
69. Want a REALLY good Thai meal? Try Pat's Restaurant on Division Street in Kingston, just before the 401 exit in Kingston. He was open, god bless him, on New Year's Day. I didn't want to go out for New Year's Eve, but I didn't want to have to cook on the first day of the New Year. His pork dish with spring rolls was delicious. My son loved it too. No, it's not downtown, but the food is great.
70. My car once broke down on Highway 401 near Toronto. For an hour, no one would stop to help me and I didn't have a cellphone. (This was in 2000, before everyone, including six year olds had them.) Finally, a nice guy who said he was from Port Perry, Ont., stopped and let me use his phone. An hour later, on his way back from wherever he had gone, he brought me muffins and bottled water while I waited for a tow truck. Thank you. Seriously. I lost some faith in humanity that day until that guy showed up. (One tow truck driver would only let me use his phone if I gave him my service, even though I was covered under CAA.)
71. You know who else is from Port Perry? Jayde Nicole, the Playboy Playmate of the Year. Who, btw, is dating reality TV star Brody Jenner.
72. I love Harveys because they have veggie burgers and now whole wheat buns.
73. I once flew to Europe to meet a boy. Didn't really tell my parents about that one.
74. Hi, Scott. Sarah :)
75. Have a fear of the dentist because years ago (not in Kingston) I had my wisdom teeth out and I'm not kidding, it hurt more than child birth. Seriously. Even though people always say: "I had my wisdom teeth out and then I ran a marathon the next day, got married and flew to Hawaii on my honeymoon. It didn't hurt a single bit." Good for you. Liar. (Sorry, my mom hates that word.) Fibber.
76. As kids when we were little we weren't allowed to say "liar" – nor were we allowed to go to movies on Sundays but that's another story – so we used to say Fibber Magee and Molly. Who are Magee and Molly?
77. We also used to say "Lord love a duck." Don't know where the duck came from, either.
78. I have asthma.
79. I smoked for 10 years.
80. I'm dumb.
81. In my first 100 list, I said I wanted bubbles at my wedding. I didn't get them. I did however get a mirror ball in my bouquet.
82. My husband proposed in our house. With a mirror ball. (I've never told anyone that before.) (And after a dinner at Amadeus.)
83. For a treat, I like extra hot, low-fat, decaf lattes.
84. Since I'm laid off and all, I might start going to the theatre by myself to see potential Oscar nominees. (They have nachos there, too).
85. Speaking of fun, I recently went to Chuck E. Cheese. I really had a good time.
86. My son went up in a tunnel there to poop. We're working on potty training. He likes to have "privacy." Seriously. But then, again, don't we all?
87. I don't get the Jonas Brothers.
88. I don't get Taylor Swift.
89. I like Duffy.
90. I cried in Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who on the weekend. (I'm a little sensitive these days when it comes to themes like fitting in and having a place you're meant to be.)
91. I have four people I'm deciding whether I should be friends with on Facebook. It's not that I don't like them - it's just complicated, is all.
92. I love the doctors and nurses at the Hotel Dieu Children Outpatient Clinic. Twice I've taken my son there and both times they've been fabulous. (Thank you!)
93. My son is interested in nipples. You can thank his stepbrother and sister for that one.
94. My son can sing the words to Britney Spears' Womanizer. It's wrong, I know, but it's sooo cute.
95. I know all the words to the Wonder Pets: "The phone. The phone is ringing. The phone? We'll be right there. The phone. The phone is ringing. There's an animal in trouble."
91. Backyardigans is also catchy.
92. I think I'm the only person in Kingston who thought the Avril Lavigne concert was Horrible with a capital H.
93. I scored one of the first ever Canadian print interviews with Avril. It was the time she talked about Napanee's La Pizzeria, which became a staple in interviews over the past few years.
94. I once had dinner with Avril Lavigne's mother in Amherstview at Nostalgia Station, the restaurant Ryan Malcolm's family owned and ran.
95. I love Oreo blizzards. I might go get one.
96. I voted for Peter Milliken in the last federal election. I know the Greens and NDP can't win without votes, but Conservative Brian Abrams was good and I couldn't risk having a Conservative MP in Kingston.
97. I once planted a flower basket with Kingston Mayor Harvey Rosen.
98. I can do 15 pushups on my toes. (That's down from 25 last year.)
99. My husband thinks I'm colour blind.
100. I'm not.

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Nothing says Happy Anniversary like Chicken Paprikash

December 21st (or is it the 23rd?) was my one-year wedding anniversary.
We got hitched at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas last year with some of our family, but not everyone could make the trip, so we decided this year to do it up and invite some of our friends and family we would have liked to have at our wedding.
Now, logically, a good place to hold a party would be our home.
Yeah, um, there's a problem with that. You see, I hate cleaning and my husband does most of it (I kid you not, and no, you may not have him.) But what always ends up happening is that the night before the party, I'm up until 3 a.m. madly scrubbing, throwing things in closets and blowing dust bunnies back under the couch so that it seems like I'm helping. And then I'd have to bake and make snacky snacks ... and then it would be more work than fun.
So, we decided to rent a room and throw a little party at a restaurant.
Where to go? We have so many favourites in Kingston, but then I had an "A ha!" moment: Amadeus Cafe on Princess Street.
It always shocks me when my husband and I talk about Amadeus (also known by some as the Schnitzel Haus) and someone will say they've never tried it.
It is one of Kingston's best kept little secrets, I think.
We asked for their back private room and I selected a menu of three entrees for our 25 guests: chicken paprikash, cabbage rolls and, for the youngins, a cheese quesadilla. (Though many people, including my mother, chose the quesadilla and it looked incredible.)
Our little back room was decorated by the restaurant in garland covered in twinkling white lights and our stockings were hung with care. (OK, jackets were hung with care. Twas the night before the night before Christmas you know, when I was writing this.)
The food was divine. Everyone loved the chicken paprikash - "I didn't think I was going to like it, but I loved it!" proclaimed one diner (my dad).
And the drinks were delicious and good on the budget for anyone who's trying to save some money in these trying times. (A frothy hot chocolate piled with whip cream is just $2.95 and a Coors Light $3.50. How about a glass of Shiraz for just $5.25? The same glass of wine would run you $8 in other local restaurants).
Our little soiree ended with everyone sharing homemade crepes stuffed with peaches and accented with whip cream. (Can you ever have too much whip? Well, maybe. See my previous post about my S&M Christmas outfit.)
Amadeus is a sweet little restaurant where my husband and I shared one of our most romantic meals when we were just lovebirds dating. And now that I have this wonderful anniversary dinner to remember, I'll get it in my brain that my wedding anniversary is the 21st and not the 23rd. (Truly, I swear I'm the girl and my husband's the guy, even though he's the one who cleans and always remembers the date).
Thinking of booking a little do? Crosbiemania gives Amadeus four stars. Call Brian there. He'll take good care of you.
And do try the chicken paprikash. It's warm, soft and red – just like love.

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Two-faced Sarah Crosbie (Pretty Ugly)

Before I had a baby, I'd always look at the pictures of celebrities in the fashion and gossip magazines who looked perfecto just a few weeks after having their babies. Their stomachs would be flat, their skin perfect, their hair flowy and gorgeous and their clothes ripped from the runways.
"It's so easy!" I thought to myself.
Ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha. (That's me laughing at myself right now).
Monday to Friday, I do it up. I wear clean (sometimes even ironed) clothes. I style my hair and put on lipstick and mascara. (I dropped eyeliner earlier this year, since I think it saves me a couple of minutes each morning, which I can use to eat cereal or watching Toopy and Binoo.) But on weekends? Oooo, I'm ugly. Or "f-ugly" as the kids would say. No makeup. I don't do my hair and I'm always in runners. But some mornings, it's worse than ugly. Some mornings like in the pic above left, I'm that "Fat Celebrities Without Makeup, Caught on the Beach With Blubber and Celulite Hanging Every Which Way" mother. See this pic you young, unmarried, childless girls? This is what motherhood looks like. It's not pretty, but it's the truth.
However, please see what a little makeup, hair putty and sleep can do for you (right). I'm a freakin' supermodel. I'm just like that Evolution Dove commercial, really. Pretty on the inside, and on the outside? It depends – on the day, on the mood, whether or not I just happen to be posing for my wedding photos.
But know this mothers: We all have our good days and bad days.
I guess what I'm saying is, when you feel ugly? Think of me.
We all have our moments. Good and bad.

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The hiatus is over

So, here's the thing.
Going back to work, having a toddler, trying to keep fit, and have a mini life pretty much sucks all the energy out of you. OK, truthfully, going back to work fulltime sucks all the energy out of you.
That's why I haven't written here in, um, ages.
BUT I am going to do my darndest to give you a little somethin' somethin' frequently.
There is much history to cover, my friends.
Like, did you know I got married in December? In Vegas. Tis true.
Here's a wedding pic.
Click below to see it. It is tasty, I promise.

It's a pic of a salad one of our family members ate before the wedding.
What? You thought you were going to get a dress pic?
Tomorrow. Or the day after. We'll see.

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Red, White and Blue

Stacy London would have a field day with me.
Ninety eight per cent of my wardrobe is black. The other two per cent is made up of a couple of blues and greys.
I have one red sexy Chinese dress accented with black vinyl and safety pins but that's another story.
I don't really like colour and I've been so used to being overweight that I always wore black because, as every woman knows, black is slimming.
The one "colour" that I dislike, a lot, is white.
I had to wear a white blouse for five years in high school when I played in the concert band and that about sums up my history with white.
So, it always seemed logical that I wouldn't wear white at my wedding.
(I also have a baby so that whole purity angle is out of the window.)
A blue backless dress. That's what I've always said I'm going to wear to my wedding. I wanted it to look like the gown that Hilary Swank wore to the Oscars a few years ago.
A couple of weekends ago, I was at home visiting the parents when my dad suggested that I go try on a couple of wedding dresses.
What would be the harm? I'd try on some hideous white monsters, show my parents how pukearama they were and we'd leave it at that.
We went to a very large wedding store where we were instantly greeted by the happiest woman alive.
I hated the place already.
She made me take my shoes off so I hated it even more.
Then she started to lead me around to show off all the bags of wedding dresses.
These things all looked the same in their garment bags. Huge swaths of white. Yawn.
Where was my blue backless dress?
She chose a champagney coloured empire-waist, strapless dress for me.
Were those sparkles?
Oh lord.
I went to the changeroom, with the saleswoman. Apparently she had to help me with the "modesty panel" in the back. I'm not really a modest kind of gal. Did I need something called a modesty panel? It sounds like part of a game show.
"Is this the dress you were thinking of?" she asked.
"Do you have a dress style, a colour, a designer in mind?"
"Are you wearing a veil or a tiara?"
"How high will your shoes be?"
"Have you thought about a train?"
I stared her down.
"No? Haven't decided that stuff yet? Well, no problem, let's just start here. You're one of those brides!"
I wanted out of this princess hell.
Give me some funky, some crazy, even some tacky and help me escape from becoming Tinkerbell.
She did up the dress, put a crown on my head, and led me up to a platform where I could stand to admire my dress.
She poofed out the skirt, smoothed it down, adjusted my crown, and said "there now!"
I opened my eyes and looked at my outfit.
Good god.
I looked -

drop dead freakin' gorgeous!
The dress was beautiful. The bodice fit my like someone had made this dress for me. It sparkled in all the right places; a million little diamonds smiling for me.
Here comes the bride and my, oh, my isn't she lovely. Isn't she beautiful...
But, um, who wants to wear some frou-frou fluffy white doilie? Yeah, like so not me. I'm definitely wearing blue.
Or maybe, just maybe, I'll wear white. And if that happens, I'll also be a little red in the face.

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I now pronounce you ... who?

It's a wonderful thing to be a teenager and a 20-something and know everything.

I vowed as a young girl that I would never, ever have a baby. I was a career woman.

My mother would tell me that one day, when I was older, when I met the right man, I would change my mind.

"Never!" I swore.

Well, OK, she won that one. I do have a babe now. I think it's a good way to tell if you're with the right man or not. If you meet him and instantly want his baby, it's a good sign. I have lots of girlfriends who said they weren't sure they could call their honeys their soulmates, or they weren't sure they wanted to marry them, but they were sure, 100 per cent, that they wanted these men to father their children.

But now comes yet another dilemma that one reaches when you're 30 and engaged.

To change your name or not to change your name. That is the question.

The feminist in me wants to keep my name.
The romantic in me wants to change my name. There's something wonderfully romantic, sweet and dedicated about having the same name as your man.

So, what to do?

I know women who changed their maiden names to their husband's name and then, years later, after spending a lifetime regretting it, changed it back.

I also know a couple of women who decided not to change their names when they got married and then, years after being married, decided they wanted the same name as their husband and children and so they took their husband's name years into their marriage.

Hyphenation seems to be the hot style these days but I'm just not into it, purely for aesthetic reasons. If I had the kind of last name that rolled off the tongue when paired with another, then maybe, but I don't. So that option is out.

Of course, I could take his name and have a professional name and a personal name.

At work, I'd go by Sarah Crosbie.
In the grocery store, I'd go by Sarah MacBarah.*

Oh, decisions, decisions.

What to do?

* Name has been changed to a silly name that rhymes with "Sarah" mostly for fun, but also not to out the Fiance totally. :)

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