Saturday, November 12, 2011

Greys Anatomy...tv makes you think

What do you take for granted?....Make a list...Reflect....and remember that every single thing on that list can be taken away from you at any time...and when that happens that will be the moment you want what you've lost back more then anything....that will be the moment that you feel like you would take a million days of stormy rain just to have that one thing back....that will be the moment that you wish you would have said the words I love you...or walked along the beach every day while you lived there...or taken the dog for a run more. or used your monthy gym membership..or cooked the food in the fridge before it went bad ..at least you had food in the fridge....it could be the simplest thing or it could be the strongest part of you ... whatever is on your list...do something right now to utilize what you have in your life...remind the people you care about that you care...enjoy every moment even if the moment sucks...remind yourself that those moments are the times that make the good ones that much sweeter....let yourself cry its healthy and necessary but DONT feel sorry for yourself...let tears be the strength of what pulls you through to your next experience... don't be afraid to care because when the time comes when caring doesn't matter..thats the time you'll wish you had cared the most...It happens all the times in relationships..the 2 individuals get so used to having each other around that they take their time for granted and forget the little things that matter...It happens all the time in day to day things like having the tools for success in front of your face but choosing not to use them ...we all have friends we never call to say hi even though we might think of them often...we get busy and distracted and we forget.....

Take a breath...be grateful for that moment...now make a list,,,the power of attraction is strong...if you remind yourself what you have, you will naturally appreciate those things more.

happy thinking!
-c!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

October 2011 reflections...




I cant believe another monthhas passed....

October 2011 ...LIVED.. can check that off my list of things to do...

lets do a backwards recap...

-Halloween...last minuite costume throw together as usual.... got myself a wig and have decided i highly enjoy being a red head....but to chicken to color my hair so I might become that girl who sports wigs.....thats me and one of my best buds dale to the left before we put on our masks!



-Great meeting with Lisa Heinricks...some really cool stuff coming up so please stay tuned ;)

-Did a Photoshoot for her new Urbanbuckles.com line with some really co
ol yyc peeps pictures will be posted soon this is a pic of the photo shoot group!


Boy&GurL released the
ir masquerade music video Take me Away!!!! directed by Kyle Thomas! here is the link please take a moment to check it out and share with your friends ;)


Boy&GurL hosted their FIRST ever Write2Dream Workshop!! and it was a huge success...we are really excited to do more!!

I had an allergic reaction to peanuts!!! Im deathly allergic...wa
s at a restaurant to be nameless and ended up in the hospital. I survived..again......that set me off track for over a week and now I am still scared to eat out!!!

I have witnessed success in the music students I teach! it is so inspiring to watch people grow as individuals and artists and excites me to inspire them to con
tinue on their musical paths!!!

I had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend....with friends and family...lots of laughter...lots of laughs directed at me...I seem to be the centre of everyones jokes...hahaha but I do get myself in silly situations often soo I can't blame them! Went pond hopping in Bragg Creek/Kananaskis... lived freely and enjoyed every moment.

I went fishing....well I went and watched fishing....I sat glamorously in the chair...sadly no fish were caught...apparently they don't like cheese...worms....cherry nibs...or corn....

Went to a FULL Flames game in Calgary lol although we left during overtime to get a good spot at the craps table in the casino haha...but i think that still counts as full

I have been reminded that its not a good idea to take
many weeks off from running...my body hurts more being lazy then it does being in pain from exersize...

I was reminded how important it is to have faith...and to care....even if it seems like the hardest thing in the world!

there is alot more that took place but those are the first things that come to mind...oh and that i watched 10 episodes of drop dead diva....IN A DAY omg ahha

Its so funny so many times we forget to acknowledge the times we have had and the memories we have made with people...we so often think of tomorrow and not the today and the moments that have made us feel good to bring us too today!!! Sooo make a list challenge yourself to list your successes and great moments of October!! and enjoy that moment of reflection ;)

time for sleep to wake up to November!!! Another month that will shape the rest of my life!!!
-C!
Dancin on my own ;)




Tuesday, October 25, 2011

FAITH

Believe...Vision...Have Faith...in everything you want in life.

Nothing comes easy and Time is usually essential.

You can either worry. OR You can have faith.

Either way it's going to be ok.

Because it has to be.

Have FAITH it's much easier on your mind body and soul.

VISION 3 months from now how you want it to be.

BELIEVE it will unfold that way.

Theres hope for the hopeless.

If we just have a little Faith.

You can take the POWER out of your FEAR.

Strip it down.

Fear of the unknown is controllable.

If we have FAITH in our strength to make it through.

We always make it through, we were built to survive.

I BELIEVE in the VISION of my FAITH.

Enjoy Today

Just Breathe and Smile.

;)


Some of The Simple Things in Life to Never Forget:

Pictures I Took in July 2012


Montreal

 The Open Road

Boston ;)

 More Boston...see you again in 2012
Peace

Comfort

Compassion xox

Breathless

Faith

Baseball ;)

City Streets

On the Road Again

Anchored.

Best Friends that remind you
of FAITH!




Monday, October 24, 2011

Inspiration

Today was a very Inspiring day for me, I got to do something for people that someone did for me years ago. To give the gift of inspiration to a group of people is something money could never buy and provides this gratifying feeling that you just know everything that your doing in life even if it's taking longer then what you may have anticipated is the right thing. That feeling is so rare and I am so lucky that I get to experience it and share it with my business partner who at the end of the day shares my vision and will do whatever it takes to make it happen. Jarred and I (Boy&GurL) created our own organization titled "Write2Dream" (www.boyandgurl.com/write2dream) which we created to subsidize the costs of music workshops to be made available to schools, charitable organizations and to the general public at no costs. Today was the first workshop and to be on the teaching side of a songwriting workshop was a really cool experience! We got to fuel the fire for peoples minds to be inspired and open up new doors for their thoughts and images to be released!

I remember my first songwriting workshop was with Laura Doyle in Vancouver, and I remember being in the workshop full of so much inspiration just by surrounding myself with like minded individuals and hearing others opinions and thoughts, with the thought going through my head " I can't wait to one day bring people together like this". That was in 2005....6 years later we made it happen! That to me is a huge reminder Never Give Up! Persistence is what will get us all through even if we have to wait years for the timing to be right!! I bet ya if you write down a few things you want to do with your life, in 5-10 years time you look back at the list and I bet you will have completed the majority of the list if it was something you truly desired!!

Today in the workshop it was so inspiring for me to watch people overcome their fears of sharing their most personal thoughts with the group, to give them the confidence that it's ok, your writing can't be wrong! It was so inspiring to have people share their gratefullness towards Jarred and I for putting the workshop together, creating an opportunity for people to collectively come together to be inspired and to learn something new!! It's something that we don't even think twice about doing and the fact that the one afternoon of conversation and brainstorming could potentially affect someones life in such a positive way is an amazing feeling, and I am so grateful that I am in a position to be able to inspire individuals and to share the experiences and challenges I've gone through to educate people!! I think the most exciting thing for me is that this is just the beginning.....The early stages of some great things to come for Write2Dream and Boy&GurL.....and to envision inspiring people for the rest of my time is a thrill I can't even explain!

Pick up a piece of paper....write for 20 min no music..no tv...just you..a piece of paper and a pen...dont even think about it just write! even if you write down I don't know what I am writing! Start the free write with..."If I could do anything...."

Good Luck ;)
-C!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Make it Rain!

Make it Rain!

Right now....I am sitting in bed..listening to a mix of Adelle and the peaceful breeze coming through my window...I can seriously hear nothing but breeze from outside probably because if the house was moved 1 mile to the north we would probably live outside the city limits...so different from when I lived in Vancouver in Yaletown where there was a constant buzz of movement...or in Atlanta on Peachtree Street (Yes there really is a street called that...its not just a tv channel aha) where there was constant traffic ..once there was even a marathon with thousands of people running below my building at 6 am that was fun to wake up to...speaking of marathons I've been doing a lot of running lately pulling muscles I never knew I had and constantly failing at finding ways to stretch them!! Pretty sure I want to run in a short runathon aha as Im not sure id pull off a 40k marathon at this point!...theres a walk for water coming up in calgary someone always writes in sidewalk chalk about it on the path we run on ..i should google that and perhaps partake!

It seems as though I need to be inspired by something/someone or moved by music to sit down to record a song and upload it to youtube....its so silly...like it takes half an hour 45 min..to learn the song ...record the song..upload the song...but yet I somehow always put it off....Its something Im continuing to work on ;) and here I uploaded a song of just me and my guitar!
I was driving the other day after buying the Colbie Calliat CD...and this one song came on called Make it Rain...it was pouring Rain well hailing actually...and there is just something soothing about listening to a song with really good lyrics in the middle of a storm...so thats what inspired me to learn this song love it..hate it...share it..please ;) Make it Rain Music!!!

heres the link





Do you ever sleep in your gym clothes to be motivated in the morning when you wake up??? Because I will admit I do.

Would you rather know the answer to a situation....or just enjoy the ride and let it be???

Good night Wurld...
xox....u know if you mistaken the letter x for the letter to the right on the keyboard you get a totally different meaning of a word...just saying..

-C!



Saturday, June 25, 2011

A lil inspiration

I love to be inspired by hearing something new to me thats old in the universe!! Its so cool to me to be introduced to something thats been hidden amongst the talent of the world!! Tonight Jarred was showing me music that had inspired and moved him from years ago!! Thats usually my fav music the stuff from 7-10 yrs ago...music that moves with feeling!!! raw and vulnerable...sometimes I feel that Ive been trained to protect my heart and emotions from breaking so its easy to mask a true emotion when I write....but the songs where I just let it all out and am honest with a feeling or a moment...they turn out to be the best...people want to connect with the truth...and as an artist its my job to remind myself and listeners that its OK TO FEEL!!! its not a bad thing to feel love...or sadness...or pain..or joy....embrace the feelings you get to experience daily and live them large...because at the end of the day thats what life is about! Today in a conversation with a friend i said "Sometimes you have to fall totally apart before you can come completely together" Enjoy the falls for they make the successes that much better!!

Heres 2 artists Jarred Familiarized me with tonight!
Click to see some of YouTube Videos of inspiration!!!

Sheila Nicholls ---- on itunes check out her song Elevator....theres a very interesting line that made my jaw drop!! -----

What did you do today to change the world?!..... I hope to say I inspired 3 people to act on a new idea ;) I accepted.


Good night xox
-C!

RANDOM PHOTO OPP...

This memory makes me laugh...we've judged singing contest...and this guy Eric was one of the judges with us once...We got to the lounge the contest was in and I may have had one or more beers with ZERO food in me that day and he had a plate of Yam fries(My fav..especially with Chipolte Mayo) without even really knowing him I dove in and ate his fries....LOL we were instant friends after that.. you can tell by the bonding in the photo...haha






Old Pic of me & 2 of my favorite Boyzzz

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Whats my name






Whats My Name....Well they call me Crystal...or GurL...Crys...CEE CEE...pervstallion....stallion...lassie....and I used to call myself Cicle....

Tonight me and Boy(Jarred) from my band Boy&GurL...went to the Rihanna concert...so amazing..and totally inspiring..that girl knows how to work it..hot...I decided I need to take some kind of stripper dance lessons so i can work a pole like the classy gal I am during a pe
rformance...gotta keep up with the times right?.. I thou
ght so...strippersize here i come!! moms take that class so it can't be that bad haha!

This weekend was an amazing weekend Boy&GurL played at the Utopia festival in Edmonton with some amazingly cool artists including..Ani DiFranco....Lights...Suzie McNeil and David
Usher! really cool mix of people and music!!! To see footage from the show check out www.youtube.com/boyandgurlmusic I got to rock out the guitar and belt out my favorite notes..and Jarred got to make sweet love to the keyzz and sing his favorite notes....we even took the stage for an encore to our next single Take Me Away!!! that was fun!!! Got lots of response and fan mail saying our brand new song we threw in the set for some spice ti
tled Blame was a SMASHING success!!! im totally pumped to make a new
album again!! even tho theres still life in Love Crimes...I just love NEW...as humans we are always evolving and changing and becoming Better!!!



this is Boy&GurL in our dressing room....





what else can I tell you about the weekend....it was Jarred's Birthday...
One thing I lo
ve and must stress to never take for granted about being a performer not going to lie...but you ask for som
ething and someone is there to help you....I said I wanted to surprise Jarred with a bday cake..I couldnt leave the venue .but like magic within 45 min there was a vanilla cake with a personalized message in the backstage area and we all got to sing to him!!!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you to everyone who is ever at events doing the running and making things happen and people happy....you are the people that don't get thanked enough and you are the people that keep everyone in good spirits so this blog is dedicated to the runners and those who listen to lists of riders.....Thank you xox
The Birthday "Boy"

My Music Listening Update...

I have not really listened to the collection that Im supposed to be listening too..lol buuut heres why...Ive been listening to new stuff..
Fefe D
obson's album JOY...track 5 and 7 ...are my fav...11 and 12 are good too ;)
Christina Perri...all in all im gonna just say I had higher expectations...track 4 is great tho all about Keeping Distance from someone you care about and whispering the words I love you.....its sad kinda to think about how often that must happen in life we are trying to protect our hearts and other people that we might just forget to enjoy the moments we are given...love when we can even if it might hurt the next day....I admire people who can fully indulge their lives in Love... for at the end of the day...All you need is LOVE....
The Script...Also great album... good to drive too ...and I drive alot...


One..or I...this is what the Boy&GurL team were discussing as I opened the car door to make a One..ironically my album is not called "1" it is "I" reason behind that is individuality..inspiration...ignite...influence...I...its a record about me..its my first record...and you know what...I was being indie...lol theres another I word..indie...haha
speaking of indie...I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about recording some new music...and I was saying how when I write alone it usually comes out folk...but I cant be a folk singer..because i like to sparkle to much hahaha so we coined a new genre...IndieVogue is the new Crystal McGrath ahhahaha well see what happens with that...Im just throwing it out there...and perhaps it will manifest!!!!

Wellll time for zzzzzzzz;s I meant to go to bed hours ago until my hands just wouldnt stop typing haha
gnite all xox
-c!


Monday, June 13, 2011

My Musical Journey

Im a musician....but somehow I am lacking the knowledge of song titles and band names.....I get razzed about it all the time so a friend of mine gave me his cd collection..... And I am taking it upon myself to blog about my musical findings...today is day 5 of having the collection...day 1 of writing about it...heres what I've discovered so far ..after having a brief listening party I have realized that 70 percent of his lifes music collection is from Britain.. no wonder I'm a stranger..clearly I'm of asian descent...Ive never seen a "Travis" song in a karaoke book....or on a laser disc...ahhh childhood basement memories...

So the first disc was Texas. greatest hits..good album song 5 ...inner smile..was my favorite brought me back memories of a movie like Three men and a little baby....which also had one of my all time favorite songs in it "Waiting for a Star to Fall" of course Im not sure who sings it...suuurrrprise....

next up.....seriously was I dropped on my head as a child? or in my sleep on a nightly basis??? i did wake myself up the other night grinding my teeth... so who knows what else I do...buut I do know Im having the hardest time remember disc 2....i could get up and look but that might defeat my purporse of trying to train my memory to remember things.....yahhhh Im coming back to disc 2....

disc 3...The greatest POP Ballads to drive to...EVER.......featuring the worlds greatest POP BALAD PERFORMER...Meredith Brooks with BITCH....HUH?!!!! pop ballad...whats wrong with these british folk...they think they can just throw this and that on something claiming to be the best EVER!!!!! and bobs your uncle??? lol .... but none the less great song i was quite pleased it was on there..it made me want to cut off the roof of my car let my hair flow wildly and sing at the top of my lungs...i opened my sunroof...my hair was in a wet bun and i hummed along with my early morning man voice....maybe sounded slightly like Louis Armstrong....i think im hearing a future....REMIX maybe??...haha probably not....i did find out however that song was rated the #1 song to drive too when it was released in the UK apparantly thats why its on the cd....Oh and did i mention track 1 was a nickleback song...hmmmm needless to say I may have been slightly thrown off...especially when its followed by the original I drove all night track......that was disc 2 of 2...theres still disc 1 to come from the album!!!! woo..?

disc 4....Travis.....aw a band made of brothers...and friends...honestly I had no idea it was a band until wikipedia informed me....i thought it was a dude named Travis ....lol but no that would be to simple...there is actually nobody named Travis....no dog, ferrat, fish, or mouse named Travis...no grandpa or parent....but just from a movie character from the movie "Paris, Texas"...this is similar to me as my band "Boy&GurL" well obviously we are a boy and a girl...buut the idea came from the movie "Once"...the characters had no names...at the end they were credited Guy... and Girl.... nameless faces that viewers could all connect with...see titles don't define us...actions do.. ...lol anyhow amazing movie if you haven't seen it please do.

disc 5...Pop songs....ok I must say this is giving me a realization of how MUCH pop music has evolved from what they called POP even in the 90s...to today...whats going to happen in 10 years!!! Its so strange to me that they probably thought 15 years ago that Wow this is so great weve done all we can do theres no way it could ever get any better" and now here we are today listening to it all amplified and produced to the max giving the people something to feel and move too!!!! I cant wait to be a part of whats next!!!!!

disc 6....thats tommorows task haha ....and disc 2 omg my mind is still totally blank...he was in a band with Robbie Williams once annd his name is......................Mark Owen!!!! ok mission solved I can go to sleep now...

but firrst I have to share with you my excitment!!! this week i get to play a festival with Ani Di Franco....Lights...Suzie McNeil and David Usher!!!! I am soooo excited I almost feel like i did when I was a kid and Dad would take us to florida for disney world!!! Ohhh and I also get to play my new warm bright sounding Black sparkly guitar from Daisy Rock..as I am now currently sponsored by them...also exciting...especially for a GurL who loves sparkles and guitars!!! rock on! lol or sparkle on.... take ur pick lol

ok excitment is out and tomorow and sleep time has arrived!!!!

xox
-c!





Whats your Favorite Elton John Song?