While watching the Supermoon rise over the Na Mokolua islands off Lanikai Beach recently, I was reminded of another weekend over which loomed the mystical spectre of this Perigee moon. That, of course, was the weekend of the original Crystal Visions. This year Crystal Visions took place in February, and blame it on my wild heart, but I have been regretfully tardy in sharing photographs from this momentous event. Knowing that all the special ladies in my life were looking up at the same Supermoon that night prompted me to visit my archives and put together a collection of some of the moments and memories of Crystal Visions II: Leather & Lace. I only wish I could have captured an image of every woman that attended! Looking at 2012′s photo versus 2011, however, reminds me that capturing the essence of so many babes would have required the power of 100 Supermoons.

Some favourite highlights of Crystal Visions II: Leather & Lace included the psychic connection between all attendees so everyone  brought either champagne, sparkling wine or rose, Anja dancing so hard her dress actually started tearing off her body, the scratches in the wall behind the toilet paper from the glamourous rings all the ladies were wearing, the enormous pile of records curated throughout the evening for maximum dancing, the tarot reading corner, photo shoots set throughout Clarence, the fabulous costume changes, the continuous din of girls chatting, visitors from Portland and Victoria, seeing life through a disco filter, going from the loud party zone through the fringe into the cool chill out den, Kimberli and Katie emerging from my bedroom carrying a flower crown they just whipped up, all the woofing whenever a Christine McVie song came on, dancing so hard it hurts to Fleetwood Mac, herding 30+ ladies and one gentleman into the apartment lobby for the group photograph, everything Alana did and wore, especially her Disco Jane Austen outfit.

Crystal Visions II: Leather & Lace finally happened and it was everything I dreamed it would be. Our apartment was transformed into a sensual den of hanging crystals, doors of rose lace and fringe and flickering candles. Each attendee brought an amazing vibe until the entire place was filled with incredible energy. The din of many girls gossiping at once rose to a cacophonous level… and it was glorious. My co-hostesses, Laura and Alana, were at their foxiest, and mingled with guests from exotic locales such as Portland and Victoria. Best of all, a constant stream of records found their way onto the turntable, resulting in the night cresting with a bounding Fleetwood Mac-dance-and-sing-along explosion. Oh yeah, and there was some serious tambourine playing too.

As part of her participation in VCAM, Laura used the ladies of Crystal Visions as her inspiration for that evening’s video. She managed to corral most of the party goers before her lens for some serious disco filter glimma.

Kim was such a Vision that she got her own video:

Such a magical evening! Don’t worry, there is still plenty of glamour to come.

Here’s what I’ve been doing on the weekends in Victoria lately. Above, meeting a funny owl in a tree in the haunted cemetery park. (UPDATE: It is a Barred Owl or, more adorably, known as a HOOT OWL!!! Thanks to Karen for knowing a surprising amount about owls.)

Feeding the seals at Oak Bay Marina after a hearty brunch celebrating Katie’s birthday.

Autumn bike rides along the scenic ocean route with a visit to the Chinese cemetery.

Seeing Kathryn Calder play at her CD release party at Lucky Bar. Trying out the just opened Big Wheel Burger in Cook Street Village.

Taking in an all male dance revue of ill repute. My favourite was the cowboy, he lit an actual campfire on stage and “danced” in front of it.

I’m well on track for reading a book a week this year! Here’s what I read since my previous reading list was posted:

Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women by Michael Gross: An in-depth history of modeling. A little dry at the start but things definitely picked up once the modeling business started getting all scandalous in the 1960s and 70s. Anja recently posted about the blog Youthquaker, it’s fun looking at it now that I am more familiar with those classic models.

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by John Krakauer: An interesting and disturbing look into the fundamentalist Mormon church. Recommended to me with great enthusiasm by Jessica, who always knows exactly what I’ll like.

William and Harry by Katie Nicholl: I forgot to include this on the last book list! Jessica lent me this unauthorized biography of the Princes for a ferry ride home. Like I said, she always knows what I like.

A Free Wheelin’ Time by Suze Rotolo: Rock star girlfriend book! Written by Bob Dylan’s ex-girlfriend, also known as the girl in the green coat on the cover of The Free Wheelin’ Bob Dylan. I ended up liking Suze a lot, her journey in making an individual life for herself and learning to be an artist was refreshing, since a lot of those rock star girlfriends ended up playing housewife while their famous partners lived the wild life on the road. Despite this, 90% of the book focuses on her relationship with Dylan. Thanks to Anne for recommending this to me! Still taking recommendation for rock star girlfriend books. Anyone?

Life by Keith Richards: Rock star book! I really enjoyed Richard’s “voice”. In some reviews people complained it was too rambling but I imagined just hangin’ out with Uncle Keef and listening to all his wacky tales. Marianne Faithfull talked about how sweet he was in Faithfull and I totally got that vibe.

Hotel Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones: This is from a fun series of books where the author takes stories and rumours from anonymous sources and weaves them into a narrative. In Fashion Babylon, the story follows a young designer creating and showing a collection; Hotel Babylon spends 24 hours in a luxury London hotel. I looooooove tawdry gossip!

Just Kids by Patti Smith: So heartbreaking, so lovely. One of my favourites for 2011. Patti Smith’s sweet story about her and Robert Mapplethorpe becoming artists in 1970s New York City. Funniest part about reading this book was that I kept thinking about this one plot line on Gossip Girl in which a nude photo of Lily Van Der Woodsen taken by Robert Mapplethorpe goes up for auction.

I picked up a new stack of books from the library and am almost done whatever the new Sookie Stackhouse book is called, so I’m getting close! Also, I love book recommendations, so please drop me a line if you have anything to suggest!

Kathryn Calder’s new album, Bright and Vivid, is currently streaming on NPR! You might know already know her from The New Pornographers or Immaculate Machine. I’ve been listening to the album on repeat and it’s super dreamy, super pretty pop, all wrapped up with Kathryn’s crystal clear voice. Perfect for watching autumn leaves float down, sipping hot tea before a crackling fire or whatever weather whimsy needs you may wish to fulfill.

The album comes out on October 25th and I will be at her show at the Biltmore in Vancouver on October 27th. See you there?

Also recommended: a listening sesh of Arrow, my favourite song off her last album (Are You My Mother?).

This weekend I am hiding out the rain and grey skies (seriously, get your shit together, West Coast!) in Victoria but I spent my last Saturday and Sunday all over Vancouver.

On Saturday Sean and I took a photo workshop at the Waldorf via Sad Mag with the very talented Grant Harder. When he asked for a volunteer to demonstrate taking portraits, I jumped at the chance, ha! Sean got his taken too. Make sure you look at some of Grant’s portfolios on his website– my favourites are “The Idea of Vancouver” and “Greetings from the Rockies”.

After that biked to Aimee’s house for a bittersweet get together with some of the TBC girls to say bon voyage to Julia. We were both stoked and intimidated by all the watermelons, until we realised we had been training for the very act of hefting watermelons in the air (works your shoulders!). Then it was back on the bike, all the way to Stanley Park, to see Neko Case and the New Pornographers perform at the Vancouver 125 celebrations. Neko’s voice was pitch perfect, as usual, and it was exciting to finally see Kathryn performing with the Pornographers! She’s on the cover of the Georgia Strait right now and she looks adorable, as always. Go see her on Sunday at Vancouver Folkfest!

Sunday was breakfast at Little Nest with my cousin and her lovely family. How cute is Andy and her foamy milk? Then some quality time with my bike and one of those loungers on the water in the Athlete’s Village and some hang time with Laura and Gogo. Laura’s show Party This Weekend opens tonight! If you’re in Vancouver, check it out– it’s a play that follows four different guests through a house party (in an actual house!). You can pick which storyline you’d prefer to follow (Lara, natch) or buy a pass to get all four sides of the story.

That last post was meant to be about how much fun I have at Doukhobor Festival every year: wearing a head scarf or platok, the shivery joy of singing in harmony, learning hilarious Russian phrases, learning hilarious Doukhobor phrases that just don’t quite translate into Russian anymore, eating borscht (BC style!), eating pirahi, drinking raspberry juice, saying, “Oy, oy, oy…”, seeing the highest concentration of plump Babushkas in one place outside of Russia, visiting Verigin’s Tomb, visting the Friendship Bridge, singing dreary psalms to a room full of people who actually appreciate it, Cossacks and Maidens, singing around a campfire (in harmony!) and best of all, doing photo shoots with Stenya and Katya (we all have Russian nicknames, I’m Anya on account of my middle name being Anastasia) in full Doukhobor regalia, which includes pastel suits (All handmade! By local “designers”, if you will) and platki and nude hose (just like Kate!).

I felt weird posting these photos without any context. I swear I’m not in some weird Matroyshka cult!

A confession: I hate eggs. I cannot for the life of me fathom how people can eat eggs like any other type of food. Sure, I can handle an eggy crepe or egg cooked in stir fry. But the smell and sight of a hard boiled egg makes me gag something fierce. A plain fried egg? Disgusting.

I’m making teeny tiny baby steps into the world of eating eggs. It started with eggs benedict (what better way to learn to enjoy eggs than covered in hollandaise?) and I discovered that maybe, just maybe, I can do a poached egg. Jordan has learned to perfectly poach an egg and I’ve learned that eggs, fresh salsa and toast can be a surprisingly delicious combination.

On the other hand, loving rock operas has always come easy to me and that is why I am still so blown away by the production of Jesus Christ Superstar I saw last night. The entire show was basically a group of friends (including members of local bands such as Slam Dunk, Immaculate Machine and Aquitania) who thought “Hey, let’s put on a play” and next thing you know, two sold out shows. I can’t get over how talented my friends are — the singing, the incredible live band, the dancing, the costumes — it was amazing. Not to mention Jesus Christ Superstar is just a rockin’ musical in general.

If you are in Victoria, see if you can get tickets to their closing night at the Event Centre tonight. The tickets are all screen printed and the program folds out into a poster — there’s three different ones, so it’s fun to see which one you get.

(Listening to “The Hazards of Love” to sate my thirst for more rock opera now!)

Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions…

Recently my good friend Alana and I decided to combine her undying passion for classic rock and my slightly obsessive foray into the world of music biographies (just finished Patti Boyd’s Wonderful Tonight) to host a dazzling soiree celebrating women in rock for our closest female friends (and Jordy, but that really goes without saying).

The evening was dubbed Crystal Visions (in honour of Stevie Nicks) and with the help of some fierce, confident women, we transformed the Clarence living room into a sensual den of hanging crystals, draped scarves, afghans, throw pillows and, of course, an abundance of candles.

We drank wine, read the tarot, poured through inspirational books (“Sex in Rock” by Sara McOustra, what a gem!), danced and sang to an incredible soundtrack compiled by Alana of favourite female classic rock songs.

No offense to all the men in our lives, but there is a undeniable vibe when a bunch of sisters get together and enjoy each other’s company. On top of it all, Crystal Visions shared the weekend with the SUPERMOON! Coincidence? I think not.

This peachy confection was a real hit– after spending the evening in my Stevie Nicks-inspired black chiffon and lace, I announced my plan to “change into something more comfortable” and came out in this fabulous frock with matching overcloak (it’s definitely a cloak!). Thanks to Leif and Sam for giving me a quick but showstopping makeover.

Alana was the subject of many photos from the evening — she totally epitomized the foxy, confident babe that was the theme of the night, and she was an amazing co-host. Plus, Katie feathered Alana’s hair!! I thought feathering was a lost art. So much talent.

I’m so lucky to have so many righteous babes in my life. Thanks to everyone for sharing crystal visions with me!

After reading the thoughtful and wonderful Wolf Hall, I was in the mood for something dramatically different. The Nardwuar vs. Best Coast interview got it in my mind that I was to read some wacky rock biographies. Namely, I wanted to read about Stevie Nicks and did she or didn’t she get coke blown up her ass?

I was delighted to learn that the Vancouver Library does in fact carry rock n’ roll biographies — they just hide them up on the 7th floor. I checked out Storms: My life with Lyndsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac by Carol Ann Harris, Faithfull, the autobiography of Marianne Faithfull, Stoned by Andrew Loog Oldham and Electric Ladyland: Women in Rock Culture by Lisa L. Rhodes.

So far I’ve read Storms and Faithfull, two girlfriend-of-rock-star-bios. Carol Ann Harris  (above, right) dated Lyndsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac for eight years, starting right before Rumours went big. Harris’ book is pretty fluffy. Her presence really only serves as a means of relating numerous scenes of Fleetwood Mac snorting all sorts of stuff.

Faithfull, however, is a bit more of an exotic creature. Daughter of an aristocrat, ancestor of the guy who invented S&M, her appetite for self-destruction and honest accounts of her drug addiction are alternatively engaging and devastating. It’ also a fun and unflinching glimpse into London of the 1960s and its fashion, music and drugs.

I still have to find Stevie Nicks’ biography though! Harris’ experiences with Nicks (the ex-girlfriend of Buckingham) were pretty funny– “crystal visions”, anyone?