Meet The Lady Behind the Blog: Part 2

Well, well, well, fancy meeting you here! Welcome to Part 2 of my blog series, Meet The Lady Behind The Blog. If you missed Part 1 or want a recap, check out Meet The Lady Behind The Blog: Part 1. As promised, in this post, I’ll be talking about my relationship, music loves, and a few other bits and bobs that will help you get to know me better.

So, let’s get started!

Mati + Petey = Love Forever

Corny headline? Yes. Accurate? Also yes! I should say that his name is Peter, but I call him Petey. However, I will NEVER call him Pete, which is what he goes by professionally. I don’t know why, but calling him Pete sounds so weird to me.

Anyway, I met my other half when I was 23 years old, and it would be an understatement to say it was a quick courtship. We went on our first date on February 21, 2010, and within two weeks, we were saying, “I love you.” Fast-forward to May 5, 2010, and we were engaged. I know, I know, for some of you, this is just crazy talk. But that saying “when you know, you know” rings very true for our relationship.

We didn’t get legally married until June 2012, and you can read all about that and our big wedding ceremony the following year in Ireland in my previous post, Size Doesn’t Matter. Since getting married, we’ve seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but no matter what life has thrown at us, we’ve managed to come through it stronger together.

What does life look like for us after almost 12 years together? We’re proud dog parents of our Old English Sheepdogs, Agnes and Edith, have a house that we’ve made into a home, and we continue to support each other in every facet of life. I still think he’s ridiculously good-looking like I did when we first met. He still has his Irish accent, although he believes it’s become more subtle since moving to Canada. I don’t think so, but we’ll have to wait and see until our next trip to Ireland when his friends hear him talk.

He brings out the very best in me and continually makes me want to be a better version of myself. I honestly don’t know where I’d be without him! He even indulges me with my blog; check out An Interview with my Forever Valentine to better understand what I mean.

Let the Music Play

Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way let’s get back to some of my other interests. Music plays a big part in my life. It helps regulate my mood, inspires me, and lets me have random dance parties with my dogs when I have writer’s block.

For the most part, I’ll listen to any music; it just depends on my mood. Lately, I’ve been listening to lots of Chuck Berry, Broadway musicals, and Billie Eilish. But really, it changes week to week, and I’m fortunate enough to have a fantastic vinyl collection that allows me to switch it up when I need to.

Something I used to love doing before the pandemic was going to live concerts. My first concert was with my friend Laura in the summer before Grade 8. We saw N’SYNC for the first of many times. I’ll never forget my poor dad having to endure her and me screaming at the top of our lungs how much we loved J.C. and Justin. As I got older, I attended a few more N’SYNC concerts, along with other artists. But it wasn’t until Grade 10 that my music preferences started to expand. I began to appreciate jazz, rock, folk, and more.

Nowadays, as I said, I’ll listen to pretty much anything. But I now consider my favourite band to be Coldplay. I’ll never forget seeing them for the first time in Montreal with my friend Darrell. We took the bus from Ottawa to see them at the Bell Centre, and it was AMAZING! I’ve seen them several times since in Toronto, and each damn time I find myself crying at some point during the show. Yes, I’m that person. But why does Coldplay make me cry? Well, there are two of their songs that hit way too close to home for me lyrically. So when I hear them performed live, it brings me back to not-so-pleasant times and makes me think about how far I’ve come. And that’s when the floodgates open. I talked about it in a post after their last Toronto stop, if you want to learn more about that.

Curious about my current Top 10 songs on Spotify? Here they are in no particular order:

1. Alexander Hamilton – From the Hamilton musical
2. Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
3. Summertime – Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
4. Fix You – Coldplay
5. Gone – Coldplay
6. Sissy That Walk – RuPaul
7. Lovely – Billie Eilish and Khalid
8. Just a Gigolo – Louis Prima
9. A Real Hero – College and Electric Youth
10. Dangerous – Big Data and Joywave

Tattoos with Meaning

While my mother disapproves, I absolutely love tattoos. I have three of them so far. The first tattoo I got was back in 2007. It’s a libra sign on the back of my neck. I know, how original. Don’t worry, I know some of you are rolling your eyes at that, but I thought it was a great idea at the time for a first tattoo.

My second one came in 2010. I had been thinking about this tattoo for quite some time and finally got the nerve to get it on a whim. I got the tattoo when Peter and I were way too early for a Nada Surf concert at Lee’s Palace. Following a bit of window shopping, I mentioned to him that I had the urge to get a tattoo while we waited. He was all for it and asked if I had something in mind, which of course, I did. The tattoo, which is on my left wrist, reads, “They may say that I’m a dreamer…”

You see, many may think of the John Lennon song, Imagine, which, yes, inspired it. However, I changed the lyrics from “You may say I’m a dreamer” to “They may say that I’m a dreamer..” Why? Because for me, the tattoo was a reference to all the people who thought I’d never get better – with my eating disorder, mental health, any of it. It’s my constant reminder that I can do anything, no matter what others might think about me and my abilities.

Finally, my third tattoo is on my right forearm, and it’s of four elephants. This tattoo is probably the most meaningful tattoo I have. While many look at it and think I got it because I love elephants, but it’s so much more than that. Each elephant represents a baby I lost due to a miscarriage. I chose to represent them through my favourite animal, the elephant, so I didn’t have to explain the true meaning to some random person. Because really, a stranger doesn’t want to hear the sadness behind the tattoo. They want to hear something as simple as, “Yeah, I love elephants.”

I have a couple of more tattoos that I want to get, but for now, I’m not sure where I’d put them. But when I do get my next tattoo(s), I’ll be sure to share them with you!

I think that’s enough for this post. Stay tuned next week for the final installment. I’ll be talking about food, quick facts about me, and my future hopes and dreams.

Until next time!