Alice in her Winter Wonderland…

Ok well I was going to paint a romantic picture of snow falling and gingerbread houses and mittens and furry ear muffs and an old fashioned dressy scarlet red coat…and a dreamy 15 foot xmas tree and some kind of an old train….

But this is the reality of it..and the reality is just fine!

Alice ..Modern day..

My red hair tied back in 2 french braids , my sage green Roots hoodie ( I just love it!), jeans, my purple uggs and my canvas coat with fake-fur around the trim of the hood…my friend had gumboots on and a long tangled grey scarf..but other than that we were dressed alike..

Traipsing around in the pouring rain, grabbing a hot cocoa and a cookie, dodging mud puddles and cars, going to the xmas tree lot to pick up some free branches. Getting dirty cold hands…dragging the branches into the car and up into our homes. Oh and stopping for a grill cheese.

Anyways..I had mentioned earlier that I was going to put a whole bunch of “orphaned” branches in a vase instead of buying an xmas tree..and I did it!!! I am excited because..well let’s put it this way, some of my ideas seem great a the start but..don’t turn out so well.

Im looking at our “tree” right now and it is so special! Half of the ornaments are on it and now all that it is missing is the lights…and it smells heavenly!

I did a few interviews today and talked about the cmt xmas special that is coming out on Dec. 15th. Also, I just wanted to say that a few people have messaged me about the coffee shop blog that was put up of me in Nashville. The question is..what am I saying about Shania Twain in the video…( I guess i was mumbling a bit).

So to be clear…what I was talking about was that I met a few people who told me some great stories about Shania Twain and her first time coming down to Nashville and how she began her “journey” there. And I was just saying that as a fan of hers, it was special for me to think that she had had some simillar experiences of going into peoples offices and meeting some of the same people…

Nothing profound on my part..just kind of neat for me to think about….and dream a little

And Shania if you are out there…I look forward to meeting you one day!

Just putting it out there…

Cause you’ve gotta put it out there right?!!!!!

Oh and I actually got a hammer and put a nail in the front door and properly hung our wreath this year…a tack just wasn’t sturdy enough..

every time the door was shut in a hurry..down went the wreath. So this year it is secure!

Have you watched “Love Actually” yet?? If you a haven’t, it is a sure fired way of getting you in the mood for the holidays!

Here’s to…Peace and Joy and Getting Dirty!
xoxo

I had a puurrrrfect weekend. Walked in the woods, went to a movie ( 4 Christmas..movie the one with Reese and Vince in it) and then went to friends for a drink and to get caught up..and then had our favorite pizza in Vancouver from the Rocky Mountain Bread Company.Yum! It’s not cheap but it’s really healthy and all local ingredients.

Ughhh…thought I had the day free of stuff until beep..an email pops up saying..this is a reminder of your dentist appt… What was I thinking booking that in the first few days I was home!!! Oh well..my little white Chiclets are important….

Besides I have a nice dentist and they know how much I hate the dentist so they do a really good job of not freaking me out.

I’ve got a few radio interviews today and a few accounting things to do but other than that I am going to putter around my house..you know..clean a little, laundry, talk on the phone…drink tea…snuggle the pugs…that kind of stuff.

I may be going back to Nashville one more time before the holidays..but only for 3 days so that is fine with me.

And besides, the more pre-production I can do for this next record, the closer I can get to getting it made in the early new year!

I guess “Donner Down” the CMT Christmas special is airing really soon ( December 15th)…It’s my first time acting …so I’m a little nervous but I am going to have to make myself watch it.

A few of my friends want to watch it all together so that should be kind of fun!

xo Jessie

Hey Friends!

It’s early in the morning and I am writing this blog with one eye open. My room is a mess and I am going to pack everything in 30 seconds…grab my stuff…get in the cab and go to the airport. I’m flying home!

I wrote yesterday with Blair Daly and Tebey and we wrote a really fun upbeat song called “a better idea”. If you’ve been reading this blog, you probably know who Tebey is by now. He is a really great writer and he has also become a friend of mine. He has been very supportive while I have been here. I just met Blair for the first time. He has written lots of great songs including “Stand” the Rascal Flatts song. They key thing with some of these songwriters I have met is that they really are lovely,talented, creative, hard working people who do it for the love of crafting a song! And I had the chance to finish the song I wrote with Rachel and Tebey called “Fill in the cracks”.

Victoria Banks and I ended up sitting down and wrote a song in just over 3 hours. They say that when songs just “fall out” it is a good sign cause it means that they happen naturally.

I took some mini video clips so I will put those up the minute I get home.

Anyways…it was a great week and I want to thank the Nashville gods for having me here and so far for leading me in the right direction.

I am going to go home and get my house holiday-fied! Yahhhhh!

There is always more come!

xoxo Jessie

Pros: She plays a means sax;
She’s a crowd-pleaser;

Cons: She would eat the whole Rider in seconds;
She would take up more than one bunk on the bus;

What do you guys think?

I had another good day of meetings here in Nashville. My pattern after each meeting is that I seem to need to walk it off..so I start to walk and walk and walk without with out thinking about where I am going and then I get lost. I think it’s because its my only way of decompressing..and if I think about where I am going than I can’t just decompress, so I get lost but my head gets clearer at the same time. Last night I got really lost.

After my meetings today I went for dinner with a friend and then we went to the Bluebird Café where we watched Victoria Banks and a bunch of other writers perform the songs they have written. One of the writers sang “there’s your trouble” and Victoria Banks sang the latest single she wrote for Jessica Simpson.

Today I am writing a bunch. Wish me luck!

xo Jessie

I’m back in Nashville scurrying around like a little mouse with my bundled up coat on and my little suitcase.

I have had some great meetings..which means wearing heels a lot but I have chosen to be one of those people that pulls my little suitcase around so I don’t have to carry a massive ever-growing purse on one shoulder while I run around in my heels. There is nothing worse than teetering around with a big bag on your shoulder.

This way, I can feel more like an organized stewardess!

This trip has been different from the last because the minute I arrived I went to whole foods and got some snacks…lots of apples, animal crackers,yogurt, bubbly water, granola, and little packages of bubble bath and bath salts so I can come home every night and have a bath and drink water and have my bubbly vitamin stuff that I drink.

Just a tiny bit of home is really comforting….

I am writing with a bunch of people this week that I wrote with the last time I was here.

I wrote with Tebey, a writer that I had mentioned earlier in my blog. We finished an upbeat song that we had started last time I was here…its fun! Anyways I am working like a buzzy bee and should have enough honey made by the holidays to get it out to the market soon! Translation for that is that I should have most of the songs done for this next album by the time I take the turkey out of the oven! Yahhhoooo!

I’m off to a meeting at starbucks around the corner so I’ve got to wash this hair..it’s a bit of a chore seeing as it is getting long!

I will update more soon! xoxoxo

I barely made it!!! I took the red eye from Vancouver to Toronto and customs was very very busy!!

I also got in trouble from the customs guy because I had an Alan Jackson all access pass on the back of my passport (from his recent show in Toronto.) The customs guy told me that it was bad and that my passport didn’t belong to me, it belonged to my country…hmmm..I hadn’t looked at it that way.

Anyways, I grabbed the shuttle to go to my gate with 4 minutes to spare and here I am packed like a sardine on a little plane heading to Nashville.

In the Vancouver airport, I met Bruce Allen (kind of a famous Canadian manager for artists like Michael Buble and Martina Mcbride..etc). Anyways I introduced myself and he said he had read about me, which is kind of cool!

Anyways, I had it all planned that when we got off the flight, I would tell him I reallly wanted to do a duet with Michael Buble. But when I had the chance I was a bit tired and hadn’t had a tea and I thought I may screw up the delivery…so next time I see him that will be the plan.

I hope you all have a great week! Check back here for updates from Nashville!

xo Jessie

Had a good night last night. The show at the Whitecourt Casino was fun. We are playing there again tonight so if you are in the area come by and say hi!

Black ice took over Whitecourt like a scene in a comic book…Suddenly everyone started to worry about getting home. I was so nervous in the back of the suv that I fell asleep…I did the same thing one time when I was in a tiny helicopter and I got freaked out. I suppose falling asleep is a strange but effective reaction to being nervous.

I’m sure I sound silly to a lot of people who live in ice and snow all winter and who know how to handle it but I’m from Vancouver. I’m only good at wearing gumboots and wearing jeans soaked on the bottom.

My band and I had a lot of fun last night. It was a more intimate room than we have been used to lately. It was fun to play a bunch of covers that we used to play like a Tracy Chapman song and Strong enough by Sheryl Crow and Wildflowers a Tom Petty song…and a bunch more. And of course we played a lot of songs off of Nothing Fancy.

We did this thing that I have called “ Song scrapbooking”..where you go from one song to a piece of another song to a piece of another song and each piece takes you through a memory and a moment in time. It was lots of fun to do that and I played guitar a bunch more than I have been playing lately.

I think my band and I are going bowling this afternoon….should be fun.

Tomorrow we head back to Vancouver and I have about 6 hours at home and then off to Nashville for one more last week of writing for my next album.

I am going to work on some song ideas today so that I have a bunch more ideas before I get there.

I think I’m going to need a really good latte to come up with something clever..oh and maybe a walk down the isles of the local walmart..

But I am very proud of myself, I have been stylishly thrifty as of late (whatever that means)…

I think this year at my house, we are going to go walking in the forest, pick up a bunch of pretty green branches and put them in a big beautiful vase and decorate them with a few quality ornaments…and that ladies and gentleman will be our Christmas tree!

I would love to hear what you are doing to make your xmas holidays easier and more relaxing and more fun!!

Heading to Whitecourt to play shows tonight and tomorrow at the Eagle River Casino. If you live nearby, it would be great to see you!

Had to be up very early this morning..just after 5am eeeekkkk!
Rain lots of rain.

I called the cab company and normally they are on automatic but this morning a lady with a British accent said,”Where are you heading? I hope you are heading out of this rain!” it was torrential this morning.

I don’t know how I didn’t get swept away into a gutter!

Got on the plane and conked out with my hot tea in my hand. Luckily I didn’t spill it! Waking yourself up with hot tea is NOT a good experience (trust me, it’s happened a few times!)

Now the band and I are driving to the radio station and then the venue for sound check.

The woman Alicia Tait who picked us up and is looking after us is very nice and we are listening to Serena Ryder.

I think Serena is kinda bummed out but very clever!

Last night I made chocolate chip cookies. The house smelt how i think heaven would smell!
I’ve got to stop guessing what a teaspoon is because an actual teaspoon is not the right measurement. That might be why my cookies didn’t look like the cookies on the recipe. Oh well. They were hot delicious and there were no complaints in my house.

Rupert and Henry begged for a cookie but they aren’t allowed!

Had the best sleep this winter last night! The key is to make sure the rest of the house is warm when ypu have to get up ..and make sure to have perfect slippers…ease into what can be a shock when you have to leave the snuggle cocoon.

Happy Friday and I recommend sleeping in if possible tomorrow!

Xoxo Jessie

I’m sitting here listening to a Randy Travis (Forever and Ever, Amen) song so I can learn it for my Whitecourt, Alberta shows at coming up on Friday and Saturday. I’m gonna love you forever and ever and ever and ever amen. His songs are so soothing.. If you live near Whitecourt, I hope to see you at the Eagle River Casino!

Jus about to bite into an apple..I love apples. Rupert and Henry are fast asleep next to me and the dishwasher is on. Ahhhhhh. I love being at home!

We went for a beautiful evening walk on the beach last night with hot chocolate. The dogs were a bit scared of the giant puddles but they enjoyed the walk. The city looked incredible from a distance and the world seemed so quiet and peaceful.

Tomorrow we are going for a walk in the forest…looking forward to getting all bundled up! The problem is that it’s getting so dark so early that we might have to bring flashlights!

I had such a great time in Calgary shooting “ Donner Down”. Joel Stewart and his whole crew did such a great job of filming it. They were very patient with the newbie on set ( ME!). I suppose Willie and Aaron were new to acting as well so I don’t feel so bad.

We are sending my Christmas song out this week to stations across Canada..it is called “Christmas at my house”..just a fun little ditty I whipped up about making Christmas fun and not worrying about making things perfect! Christmas shouldn’t be stressful!

Oh and thanks to everyone who has been requesting “I Guess” . It has bounced back and is at #13 on the charts, so all your calls to radio stations requesting it really help!! I hope to make it a Top 10 hit in the next week and your calls are what are needed to make that happen!

Xoxo Jessie