So, when we talk about moving to the country a big part of getting there is wheels. We can't walk everywhere when we aren't in Halifax. Even in the city, it isn't very practical. And terribly time consuming. Denise mocks me for being a sherpa but I have little choice. I need stuff so I lug it all over the place.

The plan is in about 6 months, Denise and I will pool our resources and purchase a car.

OMG!OMG!OMG! I have dreamed of this day for so long. I have been going on-line and 'building' my cars for years. From Jaguars to Kias, I've built them.




At this point in the process, I'm gonna tell you what I'm - I mean we (ahem!) - are thinking of.

Denise's dad knows a lot about cars, and he will be (hopefully) helping us so we don't get totally ripped off. We aren't dumb, but we've never done this before. Yikes. This is major.

When we have a car, not only will we be able to do our errands much quicker, but we can visit our families as most of them live out of town. And we can visit some far flung friends as well.

Stay tuned. We'll tell you how it goes.

-Melina  :D

Ok, I've talked about my love of the British pop music of the 1980's here before, but it's a time for another bout of 'I miss the 80's' blues.

Things have been coming together lately, and when that happens, I tend to look back at how far I've come. Being a teenager sucks, and I vividly remember that. There wasn't a lot to look forward to, no stability and very little hope of a brighter future. But, by the good lady above, I had my music. Some days that was all I had.

Geez, it sort of makes me sad to think of that sad girl alone in her room in the woods, listening to her tapes over and over again. There was no internet, no car, very few friends. There was my music and my music magazines.

The music I liked, and still like, runs the spectrum of types and styles, but my heart belonged to goth brit pop. The Mission UK, the Cure, Bauhaus, the Cult, the Smiths, Depeche Mode and Specimen. *Sigh* Love.

I still list the Mission UK as my favourite band. Most people haven't the foggiest who they are, and that is just fine. Being as happy in my life as I am now, I can look back and smile. And dance and sing along and maybe add some bit of  black glitter glory to my day.


-Melina  :D

 With a title like that, all I can say is one out of two isn't as good as it could be and I'd really rather it was better.

What am I talking about, you may ask? Isn't this a blog about two besties working hard to get themselves to the country?

It is, but there are potholes in the road sometimes, and I'm dealing with a major pothole today. I have IBS, which stands for irritable bowel syndrome. Sounds fun, right? Ha!

I will not go into too much detail here (and you are very lucky, my manager at work is NOT so lucky, poor man), but suffice to say I'm glad to be within five to ten feet of the washroom.

This sucks, because I cannot leave the house. I am missing a day of pay from my job which I really need. Denise is stuck struggling through the day without the support of her bestie, making her more stressed than she needs to be.

Denise has her issues too, not just me. not only is she allergic to the sun, but she is very allergic to peanuts too, and carries an epiPen. I've spent lots of time in the emergency room with her, to the point where we do get a bit blasé about it after a while, we make jokes about Denise having her own room, and could we just check in ahead of time. Denise also likes telling people that I'm dying to use the EpiPen on her, which is true.

So, though our goal is always the same, some days it is hard to near impossible to work toward it everyday. I think the most important thing we can do is to get up the next day and try. To get that much closer to our goal.


~ Melina

Melina had the thought that seeing as we are sharing our efforts to realize our dream, we should have a post telling a little bit about ourselves. What made us who we are, as it were. A good idea on the surface, but WOW describing myself is hard! So then she suggested we describe each other. Possibly easier, but how do I narrow down everything I know about her?

I'll start with the obvious. Melina grew up on the South Shore of Nova Scotia with an amazing sister, Melisa. Yes, that's right. Melina and Melisa. I really want to make fun of this, but for reasons which may later become apparent, I can't. She spent long days wandering the woods, sometimes running away and setting up 'camp' with the plan of surviving on tea berries. She always went home by dinner.

High school happened and with it came a love of 80's British music, a genre for which she still has a VOLUMINOUS amount of knowledge. If you need to know the bassist of some obscure UK band of the 80's, she is your girl. She also continued her love of art at this time, earning the name 'Morbid Melina' from her art teacher due to her habit of incorporating a severed head into every painting. Considering that her teacher like unicorns and rainbows, I am surprised she was not councillor-bound.

By now you have a certain image of her in your head. Well, throw it out. She is a mass of contradictions. When she worked at HMV, a co-worker once told her that she was the only person they knew who would buy Britney Spears and death metal at the same time. That is Melina in a nutshell. She is a Mama by nature. She likes to cook and bumble around the house and jokes that she is meant to be a house frau. She takes care of everyone. And she is super-funny, and I swear we could have a blast if we were locked in a closet together.

That's my bestie!

~ Denise





Describing oneself is one of the most trying things one can do. Ever. You don't want to be too serious, and sound like a pompous fool. But you also don't want to be flippant and sound like a flake either.so, much better to describe your best friend, right?

Denise is the best person I know. How did she get that way? I 'blame' (kidding!!!) her family. She grew up in Moncton, a city in New Brunswick. Her family is the most normal, functional one I've ever seen. Being French Canadian and catholic, it was a big family. Her sisters, wait for it, Debbie, Donna, Darlene, Diane. Denise is the youngest.

Early in her life, Denise was on track to be a dancer, spending most spare time at the dance studio. Until her knee blewout. Twice. After the first operation, she still wanted to dance. Denise is a bit stubborn, her mothers pet name for her roughly translates into 'cement head'.

Luckily she really is a born writer. After relocating to Halifax for university she stayed awhile, poured a lot of coffee and sprayed much perfume. She learned what she wanted to write. She will ever champion the wronged and the needy, but is so not a push over. My favourite way to bug her is to tell her that one day her mouth with write a cheque her ass can't cash.

That is my bestie!

~ Melina

It is so easy to get off track, to lose sight of what is really important. Sometimes you can forget the reason why you are working so hard. We both work jobs that are far from our passions and it sometimes feels like the rest of our lives are spread out in front of us with no light ahead.

Why did we start Moody & Sanguine? Simple. We have a dream and we want to use our creative skills to try and make it a reality. What does this dream look like? Two best friends who live in the country and support themselves with sewing and jewelry making, as well as painting (Melina) and writing (me!).

The Annapolis Valley is our idea of Heaven for our odd little family of two besties and a herd of cats. And oh, don't think we won't have a million more animals when we have a house! And Melina wants a big garden so that she get her hands in the dirt. I am not so dirt-driven, but I want long walks without constant concrete and traffic. I want the kind of quiet that never happens in the city. And I want to be able to write and create full-time. Other people do it, why can't I?


The day we drove to the above location, Cape Blomidon, was the day that Moody & Sanguine became inevitable. We knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what the future would be. That desire has never changed, though the goal has sometimes been blurred and hidden behind day to day drama. We will not lose sight again.

What is Moody & Sanguine? It the dream of two besties made real.

~ Denise

Ok, so everyone knows that Denise and I love 'ForksOverKnives', but sometimes you need time to fully get information. Maybe to internalize or process, be in the right place, need to hear the click? I don't know, but we internally processed the click in the right place the other day.

In a summer with jam packed with changes (chemical and professional), we finally connected with another change.

If you haven't seen 'ForksOverKnives', do it. Now.

The photos are of our last big 'shop' at the grocery store. After I took out all the food and placed it on the counter, it struck me that this delicious, beautiful, sexy food is alive. We are what we eat. It's not dead, not beaten, dried out, pulverized, coated in sugar and modified milk ingredients. What is that, anyway?

I'm enjoying eating food that makes me feel good. Not only that, real food tastes better, once you get rid of all that other crap. Strawberries are sooooooooo good. I have my sweets too, see, but they are real. Maple, man, maple anything. Agave is nice too. Fruit, oh, yeah.... Opps, I digress, sorry.





So, enjoy the photos, and do see it, or I'll jump off my soap box.


-Melina : D

Hello, there good sir and or kind madame. I am Sherlock, the younger. My mama's insist I am a nosey young gentleman. I do not concur. This is quite an erroneous statement.




Do not presume to look at me that way. I shall take umbridge at your implications.




I look away.




You may observe my toes, as to indicate my disdain.




What are you doing?



Is that the correct way to do what you are doing?




No, no, I and not unduly inquisitive. I simply must be assured of your conduct.




-Melina :D