Movie Madness Mondays!
Posted by Kendra | Filed under Movie Madness Mondays
Tags: baby bumb, kendra voth, kristin kreuk, Movie Madness Mondays
Let’s Get Together
Posted by Kristin | Filed under Fab Females
There is something special when women come together. It is such a comfortable, warm and truly inspiring experience. About 15 ladies got together last night at my place, and it was soooo beautiful. We ate, chatted, avoided stepping on the dog, and really just hung out. A lot of our time was spent introducing each other and sharing why we value and love the ladies we brought with us… There were some tears. Okay, a lot of tears. haha… we are such girls. I love it…
So we had Kendra and her belly, which is having plenty of movement these days. K is such a fabulous lady. She has a drive and determination that is very powerful. She talks a lot about being afraid all the time, which is something I do experience with her, but I also see her taking these great chances. I mean the woman has chosen to have a baby and build this company. At the same time. That is pretty balls.
And Tabby was there as well… I see Tabs as a girl who has gone through a lot of shite and has chosen to create a positive and productive life. She left her life (and kitty) in L.A. and came to Vancouver in like two days…okay slight exaggeration, but still. Tabby has a really lovely girlish energy, combo-ed with an ability to call code “beautiful”.
Allie-mack is one of my dearest friends. She has been an inspiration to me in her ability to be open, and to translate her passions to others in a way that they get passionate too. Allison is so great at bringing people together to create. And her commitment to help others is something that we share. I have so enjoyed spending these years of my life in her presence.
And my dear friend Rose… Who to me is the embodiment of woman. She is a pillar of strength and a force of female-ness. Intelligent, holistic and ultimately compassionate… I see so much of the type of woman I want to be. Rose-y is now a beautiful mother of a seven month old girl, and this seems to have brought out a vulnerability in her that I hadn’t experienced before. She is truly amazing…
These are just a few of the wonderful gals that were present. And I say this because I think that it would be so lovely for all of you to get a group of your girlfriends together, learn about each other, connect, share your experiences… That is essentially what GBD is about: bringing females together. I believe that women have an important perspective to offer the world. Now, this isn’t about the exclusion of men, it’s about the focus on female. With men around I think it is more challenging for girls to just be girls. But the more I embrace my female-ness, the more I can appreciate and love men… and other women for that matter. So, get a few or a lot of your gal friends together, and spend time together with the focus on female-ness. And share your experience with us!!!
Love,
Kristin
Tags: friends, Girls Rule!, kristin kreuk
My new bum-sniffing friend…
Posted by Kristin | Filed under General Blog
The awesome new addition to our family! He is too cool… I only had rabbits growing up, and my poor father ended up taking care of them, so this puppy is a really crazy experience. There is a whole new heartbeat in the house, and a whole lot of snorting. Like seriously, you would think there was a pig here! He is going to be a pretty big Frenchie… Right now he is 4 and a half months, and his paws are freakin huge, and he is already bigger than Kernie (Kendra’s dog and GBD mascot–BTW it is Kernie’s B-day today, Happy 5th)!
We haven’t named our little guy yet… What do you ladies (and gentlemen) think we should call him?
love,
Kristin
Tags: Frenchie, kristin kreuk, Puppy
Storytelling
Posted by Kristin | Filed under General Blog
Hi Team!
I was told stories since before I was born. Once I learned to read I never stopped. I was that oh-so-cool kid who broke the rules by hiding under my covers past bedtime with a flashlight reading. I read out loud to my sister and my cousins ALL the time. And now I am an actor. Human stories, stories of humans. Who we are, why we are, how we can be better… Finding the honesty and the depth in all types of people and experiences. I love that stuff. So when I watched this I got soooo excited. What beautiful ways to share and collect the stories we are already telling. What creative ways can you peeps think up to share your stories?? Perhaps we could create something together… Thoughts?
Enjoy!
Kristin
Tags: creativity, kristin kreuk, stories, TED
Newsday Tuesdays: Perhaps Death Is Proud; More Reason to Savor Life
Posted by Kristin | Filed under News Day Tuesday, Uncategorized
This article from the NY Times talks about death, and the importance of truly living our lives.
Have any of you experienced death? What was it like for you? Did it change your perception of living?
Okay– the link: NY Times
Ciao Bellas!
Kristin
Tags: death, kristin kreuk, Living, News Day Tuesday
Genes are Fun! no… really
Posted by Kristin | Filed under General Blog
A few weeks ago I FedEx’ed a sample of my saliva to a bunch of people I do not know. And I am sooo excited to hear back. As some of you may know, I am one of the lucky folks who checks the “other” box when filling out documents asking what my ethnicity is. In basic terms my ancestors come from Holland, Indonesia, China and Jamaica. I am pretty sure my whitey side is all Dutch but I am slightly fuzzy about my mother’s peeps. Coming from this diverse genetic pool has always fascinated me… In Bio class in high school, whenever we did the Mendel shtuff I would get so excited (Nerd! Nerd!). So when I read that normal civilian-types could pay to get their genome, I was like, woot!woot! When it’s done I will share some of my discoveries and give you gals all the details about the company and how it’s all done! To tide you over, I am embedding a video from my beloved TED. Hope you all enjoy!
xo,
Kristin
Tags: Genetics, kristin kreuk, Nerd!, TED
Movie Madness Mondays: Amelie
Posted by Kristin | Filed under Movie Madness Mondays
Ummm… I love this movie. Like, a lot. I love the color, the quirky-ness of the story, the way Jeunet introduces each of his characters, I love her, I love the little gnome (I gave one of those to my dad after I did “Snow White”–they are so bloody fantastic), I freaking LOVE Paris, the music is so beautiful… I will refrain from making a complete list as I think that would be a wee bit tedious for all of you. The point is: I love this movie.
When I first saw Amelie I was in a period of great change in my life. In Amelie I saw a lot of myself: her enjoyment of “little things”, her imagination as well as her struggle to connect with people. To me this is a beautiful story of blossoming. What does it take for a person to decide to overcome a fear? What does it take for a person to open up and to live more fully, with more presence?
For me, at that point in my life, it was a recognition while I was traveling in Nepal that I was not living my life the way I wanted… I was so fearful of simply expressing myself and connecting deeply with others. And while I watched the Nepali people (especially the children), and while expelling whatever little bug had made it’s way into my system during my trek on the Annapurna circuit, I was like, “Dude… really? You’re really going to be afraid your whole life?” And I went home and I started to go out and build friendships, I began the process of understanding that my focus on helping others was also a distraction from my self, I began a relationship, started to buy clothes other than fleece and jeans and changed some of the way I had been. Obviously it was only the inspiration to change things, I can continue to choose to evolve myself or not. To overcome fears takes effort. I really see all of this in Amelie and her journey to herself.
Another thing I love about the film is the illustration of how a person, as a child, can set beliefs that run well into adulthood. Jeunet illustrates this very simply at the beginning of the movie by showing how Amelie’s feeling of being close with a person (the whole heartbeat increase when touched) is bad and could kill her. Do any of you have experiences like that?
Okey dokey… What did you think? So very excited to hear your thoughts!!!!
xo
Kristin
PS This weeks movie has been picked and will be reviewed by the fabulous Mari Hunter, “Mean Girls”
If you too would like to pick a movie and do a review email us an you could be chosen next 
Tags: Amelie, Blossoming, Fear, kristin kreuk, Movie Madness Mondays
Movie Madness Mondays!
Posted by Kristin | Filed under Movie Madness Mondays
“Memoirs of a Geisha”
Interested to see what you all have to say about this… I have not read the book, so I am only basing my thoughts on the movie.
To me this movie was, above all things, visually stunning. It was so beautifully shot, lit and painted that were I to mute the whole thing and watch the images, that would have been enough. So apart from all my thoughts on story, character, acting, ect., there were some interesting parts of female-ness that were explored. The truth of the story is both sad to me and a true reflection of our history as females.
Beauty, youth, and virginity (or alternatively aggressive sexuality) have been a valuable commodity for what seems like a large part of our history. In the old days I imagine it was the best thing for survival of our species, a freshly come-of-age girl at the beginning of her child-bearing years… Worth a lot. So what about now? I wonder if we continue in these same ways ( as well as with much more subtle methods), to link our worth to others?
It’s funny to me that women I know in their mid/late 30’s and 40’s consistently state that those are the best years of their lives so far. How happy they are to have moved through their teens and 20’s when their major commodity, primarily through their own perception, was their youth/sexual desirability. There seems to be a kind of internal shift for them, they seem to no longer view themselves through such narrow lenses, and allow themselves to blossom. Is it even possible for us to take this step earlier in our development, or is it simply a part of our passage as females?
So… that is what I was thinking while watching the movie. At times I think I am a bit random. What did you gals get out of the movie?? Excited to hear your thoughts!
NEXT WEEK: “JUNO“! We do like this movie a lot… Tabby will be in charge next Monday, so fun times are certain to follow!
Love,
Kristin
Tags: Juno, kristin kreuk, Memoirs of a Geisha, Movie Madness Mondays
Ummm… I cut off all my hair!
Posted by Kristin | Filed under Journey
So,
I am assuming there are a few of you who are wanting to murder me at this precise moment… Now, deep breaths, it will grow back at some point. And I think it is pretty darn cute.
For three years I have been wanting to cut my hair. It’s been long for about 15 bloody years. If I had not been working on a television series I would have cut it a while ago. I suppose this is kind of an expression of freedom, haha. Us gals tend to have so much tied up in hair. There is like this emotional attachment to it, and it is apparently a REALLY big deal to cut it all off…in one go. I had a plethora or offers to come with, to document, and I just went in there on my own and Sarah (she is the key hairstylist on Smallville, and is freakin rad) tied it in a ponytail and sawed the sucker off…
And now I have short hair. It feels really different. My head feels different. Washing my hair this morning was by far the strangest experience I have had in a while… Like, there is no hair there. And there was before. And now there isn’t. Really weird. And yoga was fun with no hair. And I can feel the wind rush through, and the sun hit the nape of my neck, and my head feels LIGHT. I am experiencing the world in a new way. Really that is how I feel about this new phase in my life.
Apart from my family, Smallville is the longest relationship I have been in. 7+ years. And it has now pretty much ended. The decisions I am making now are a reflection of where I am in my 20’s. GBD is my primary commitment at this point, as well as my relationships. I have got to admit that it is really strange to not walk into that studio every week. But, there is a whole world of new shizznat that I now have the opportunity to choose. I can grab the proverbial hair goo of life and play… I told you all last week. I am sappy.
Love,
Kristin
p.s. I have never used hair goo until now. I actually need to style my hair now. Oh, the possibilities….
Tags: Girls by Design, kristin kreuk, opportunity, short hair!, Smallville
Movie Madness Mondays
Posted by Kristin | Filed under Movie Madness Mondays
We had movie night here at GBD Central, which was good times… Our inaugural Movie Monday movie was “Real Women Have Curves”. Firstly, America Ferrera is so lovely! We had seen her in travelling pants and she was really sweet in that too. Since this isn’t really a traditional review, we aren’t going to get into the details of our artistic evaluation of the movie.
This character’s mother was pretty intense. Like VERY intense. The lengths to which she went to get her daughter to do what she wanted was kinda devastating…and yet hilarious(really these behaviours are kinda funny when you aren’t making them into too much). Yet one of us, who shall remain nameless, was like, “This is like watching my day to day…” I think a lot of parents use the guilt factor on their kids at some point. You know the whole, “But I have sacrificed so much” or “Look at everything I have done for you!” And honestly, I think they are doing their best and trying to keep us safe. So in this story our lovely lady chooses to pursue her ambitions without her mother’s consent. That isn’t always easy. And to do it without being defiant, doing it understanding why she wants something and going after it because she values it. I know I have done a lot of shizznat that my parents haven’t liked, and sometimes the thing WAS destructive and sometimes it wasn’t. Ultimately though, it was so important for me to begin to understand why I would do or not do something for myself. Like, when America’s character goes to work in the factory with her sister, she chose to leave based on an understanding of the importance of school for her. Not so much that she didn’t want to be like her family.
BUT we did tire of the mopey mopey… Translation for those of you who do not speak “Kristin-speak”: she pouted A LOT. Now, we get that the whole situation was not so ideal, but we think it is possible to go out there and enjoy life. Yes, even when our mothers are uber-intense. Not to say we never feel like indulging ourselves with the mopey-mopey, we do. But we do think we can live our lives and create our ambitions experiencing adversity and not pouting. What do you ladies think?
The other thing we were intrigued by was the idea of defiance and weight. The speech with her mother over to eat or not eat the flan was almost exactly what Tabby was speaking of in “Defy,Defy, Defy”. Really curious about your thoughts on all that!! If we truly loved ourselves, would this even come into play?
Ultimately, most (if not all) human beings are beautiful. And to me, that is far from physical. If we were to go all Eckhart Tolle on you, beauty is a reflection of the essence of life. Which we all embody. We get so caught up in the surface of things. I am too skinny, Tabby is too fat… I play Lana Lang, Tabby is a Chloe fan. Underneath it all, how am I? How are you? If you were to die tomorrow and reflect upon life what would think was REALLY important. You are all beautiful.
And yes, I am sappy… I admit it. But not “The Notebook” sappy. More like “Amelie” sappy.
Okay, so Bianca (aka Binks) sent us about 5 million movie recommendations…Thanks Dude, so many to choose from. Kendra is very very very interested in watching, “A League of Their Own.” It is old school, but fun. So that is the movie this week little darlings! Enjoy the cheese.
xo
Written by Kristin (but brains stormed together)
Tags: A League of Their Own, America Ferrera, beauty, defiance, Girls by Design, Girls Rule!, Kendra, kristin kreuk, Movies, real Women Have Curves, tabby chapman
