These two friends I met at American Eagle Outfitters, one of my longest jobs ever so far. Betti and Mona are sort of like Romy and Michelle. They both understand each other in ways that no one else will ever be able to. They have weird inside jokes, laugh at the same silly things and sometimes I mistake them for lesbians (they would make great lesbians).

Come to think of it, they’re actually sort of like Meredith and Christina as well. A bond of blood.

The interesting thing about Betti is that we used to know each other… a long, long time ago. I was over at her house one day and I spotted a photo of her as a toddler, sitting on this big plastic slide set up by some portrait photographer. I figured it was for school, daycare or something. But then I look closer and notice a balloon tied to the back of the slide. And then I notice the colour of the slide. And then I realize that I have a photo back home of myself, on that exact slide.

I tell her this and her mother pulls out the class photo from daycare. And lo and behold, there she is in one corner and me in the other. Turns out we attended the same daycare.

Nifty, eh? We were both a little freaked out by it. She vaguely remembered me and I did not remember her at all. I felt a little guilty for not remembering. It was probably because she was a girl.

Anywho, here we are, some odd 18 years later doing an 80’s shoot for our friend Niki, who grew up in the 80’s.

Enjoy the silliness!

Mona and Betti

Me. Jumping in the air. Dressed in DENIM, with a hideously wonderful knit turtle neck and big, straight, shiny, black Chinese hair in all its glory.

Once a year, or, at least we try to—my friend Amrita and I go down to Nuit Blanche, an all night festival of arts that takes place all over downtown Toronto. People have exhibitions everywhere—alleyways, abandoned subway stations, stairwells, parks, street corners, parking lots, you get the picture.

So the two of us hunker downtown, bundled up warmly for the night and we set out to explore and capture all the cool stuff we can find on our cameras.

She’s really the only person in the world who understands the artistic crazy inside of me. She won’t judge if I crawl down onto the dirt to take a picture. She won’t judge if I come across a painting that causes me to cry like a little baby bitch. And most importantly, she inspires me everyday.

If you find someone like her, hold onto them.

For dear life.

In the next few days I’m going to upload a few photos that are special to me. They highlight the important people in my life, the fantastic moments I’ve had and some fun adventures that I will always remember. Feeling nostalgic these days and I guess I’m in a reflective mood. So I hope you enjoy my trip down Memory Lane.

“Love” by my friend Amrita. Taken on NuitBlanche2009 

Click on her name to go to her tumblr.