Maid of the Missed Opportunies

Dear Madonna,

Regrets, I've had a few....

I'm sorry I didn't get Mike Topel to dance with the two pregnant Madonnas during JulieFest.

And I'm sorry I didn't come up with the descriptor "thunderous finish" during our wine-blending team-building event in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The above photo was taken of our group on the Maid of the Mist tour boat, with the Canadian Horseshoe Falls in the background. Have you ever done it? It's a blast, but you do get very wet.

I was very surprised that Shelley seemed to like the Baby Tattoos I gave her as a shower gift last weekend. I thought they'd be my 'get-out-of-babysitting-free' card for sure. Perhaps she was just being polite.

We had our first Epplett Award Fund Steering Committee meeting last night, with a lot of great ideas and some concrete actions for the first "Eppies". Someone - who shall remain nameless - suggested that *you* may be eligible for an Honourary Eppie....

I'll send you a postcard from Cancun.

Julie

61 days, 3 hours, 52 minutes

Dear Madonna,

Did you know that there's an on-line birthday countdown on the Blog madonnasworld.com? It's accompanied by an annoying "Happy Birthday" sound bite. Oh well. I'm sure they mean well.

In this weekend's Globe and Mail there was an interesting article by Johanna Schneller, one of their movie reviewers, about the pre-ponderance of films this summer featuring mid-life actors. You got a mention, too, for your 4 Minutes video with featurig "pipsqueak Justin Timberlake" being crushed by your "mighty yoga thighs". LOL!

My life has slowed down to a dull roar following the excitement of JulieFest. I've gotten my bike on the road in the last week and been having some fun in the great outdoors, despite sudden downpours. (Bad for the hair, but at least it's not cold.)

'Till next time, Madge.

Julie

Desperately Seeking a Reply

Dear Madonna,

It's Sunday night and I'm watching 'Desperately Seeking Susan' on TLN. We're just at the part when she meets up with Roberta's husband and they're dancing to 'Get Into The Groove'. Love it!

Speaking of dancing, I was in Niagara Falls this week on a bit of a business junket an met up with a friend to go dancing. We ended up at Rumours on Clifton Hill (just about as old school tacky Niagara Falls as you can get.) Anyway, I wanted to make a request but couldn't figure out how to get to the deejay's booth so I hand-signalled from the dance floor:

I held up four fingers, then pointed at my watch.

The deejay got it and played 4 Minutes for me!!!

And we danced....

Julie

You missed one heckuva party

Dear Madonna,


It's now two weeks since the JulieFest weekend and the Madonna-inspired Fabulous Floor Show (which you missed!) and I'm finally able to catch my breath and drop you a line.

The turn-out for the dance workshops was excellent and Mike was amazing...as always. The show was fun, and my Papa Don't Preach/Sisters piece with Shelley, pictured above, went really well. Andy Haslett provided Cava for a toast after the show, and I was completely overwhelmed by the surprise presentation of a plaque representing the creation of The Epplett Award Fund. (Or as Mike coined, "The Eppies").

Hard to top, but the party continued the next day at The Gladstone Hotel with the Dear Johns - they were awesome! - and a guest appearance by Elvis. Best of all was just hanging around the hotel with friends and family, including my "sister by choice" Penny and brother, Andy.

Cava Karen stayed a few more days and we played tourist a bit, going to the Museum of Contempory Canadian Art (mocca), the CN Tower, and a final, fun cocktail hour at the Rooftop Bar of the Park Hyatt, where a "Mr. Zorro" bought us a bottle of champagne.

More pictures on my Facebook page. Friend me.

Julie

JulieFest Official Kick-off Party Tonight!

Dear Madonna,

Cava-girl Karen arrived yesterday, and she got a sneak peak at the opening number of the Madonna-inspired Fabulous Floorshow taking place this Saturday.

Mike Topel arrives today, and we'll be dancing to Karaoke at Noah's Ark tonight. (The address is 2777 Danforth Avenue at Dawes Road in case you arrive late and want to direct your limo on how to get there.)

Still many details to attend to but everything is coming together and everybody seems to be really looking forward to the weekend.

Still hoping you'll surprise us and just show up. Looking for a hotel? I recommend the new Hazelton Hotel in Yorkville. They have some beautiful suites, and it's within walking distance of my place.

Gotta run! I'm taking Karen to Christine's (my gym) today for a work-out.

Julie

Sticky & Sweet

Dear Madonna,

Diggin' the new album, and thanks for sending along that advance info about the concert dates. So glad you're making a stop in Toronto this time. Where are you staying? Will you be at the St-James again in Montreal? That's a such a gorgeous hotel.

I'm looking forward to playing '4 Minutes' tonight at the Toronto Swing Dance Society's Friday night dance. I'm teaching a couple of short lessons then deejaying part of the evening. It'll be one of the last opportunities for me to talk up JulieFest...which is now less than a week away, can you believe it?

Any word from Antonio (Bandaras) about whether he can make it? I'm still looking for Tango dancers....

Miss Julie

(The 'Miss' is an affectation I picked up in New Orleans)

Trashy Diva

Dear Madonna,

Just back from New Orleans. It was a good trip but I'm glad to get back to my own bed, and Zouk and Liza of course. (They're my cats and they really miss my lovin' when I'm away.)

The New Olreans trip was business, though I did fit in a night out dancing at Club Silouette in the suburb of Metarie hosted by local West Coast Swing pros Shawn and Kristen Moody.

I also managed to buy some souvenirs, mostly gifts. I read in a guidebook about a store in the French Quarter called "Trashy Diva" specializing in in clothing and handmade corsets. Woo-hoo! I bee-lined over there during one of our lunch breaks only to discover that they now only sell vintage-inspired ready-to-wear, and no lingerie. Oh well.

And, of course, I was nowhere near a record store on April 29th so will have to go out to HMV tomorrow to pick up my copy of Hard Candy.

Any word from Antonio, yet?

Miss Julie