I've got nothing this morning.....well this afternoon. I am off yet again for the week, I know I know shush!! I get 5 weeks holidays what can I say. It's Canada Day tomorrow so I figured I would add a few vacation days and get the whole week off instead of one measly day.

It's worked out fabulously and I've spent my first day in sheer bliss. I went to the gym this morning, then for a nice relaxing massage and I'm leaving in a few to meet a friend whom I haven't seen in ages for all you can eat sushi!! Add a few brewskis to the mix and it's the perfect start of a week long vacation.

(Obviously not me haha!!)

Depending on the weather I hope to hit up the beach, play some vball and relax with...yes you guessed it a beer or two. Lucky for me I have a friend off this week as well; he also enjoys those activities so I will have some company which is cool. A friend asked me to hit up a trailer this coming weekend so I'll probably add that into the mix as well. Last year there was a fire ban as it had been too dry so hopefully that won't be in effect this go around. Needless to say I plan to take these next 7 days and enjoy each and every one of them.

I'm rambling...but if you want a laugh go check out 2DP's blog and read his story of ripped pants and booze. It's hilarious, you won't be disappointed!! I don't even think it's so much the story that made me laugh so hard, it's how he tells it! You're one hell of a writer sir!

I'm not sure if it was the fresh air in BC or the extra sleep that caused me to lose my mind last week but let me tell you, I said a few things that even I'm embarrassed to admit.

1st someone was telling us about this homeless man who would always tell the same joke. He would ask people to give him a dollar if he could tell them where they got their glasses, "you got them on your face" he would reply hand outstretched. H suggested the man get a new joke like "hey I can tell you where you got your pants." I then told H that this would be a ridiculous joke, how could the homeless man possibly make any money trying to guess the various stores where one buys pants. H said "Oh Ashley.....on your legs, you got your pants on your legs" Doh!

2nd we were making the 6 hour trek back to Vancouver from Portland after the party. We stopped at a rest area and I took my empty Starbucks cup with me to the washroom to discard. Strangely there were no garbage cans in the washroom so I wandered around outside searching with no luck. I approached H and J and placed my cup on the picnic table. Not one to be a litter bug I shrugged my shoulders and explained my dilemma looking to them for answers. H pointed to a group of large bins that resembled recycle bins. I told him that I had seen the same bins across the way and they had a sign attached that said Auto Litter Only. I wandered over to this new group of bins and walked back cup in hand. Nope, these signs say the containers are for Auto Litter Only as well! They both just stared at me until H asked what type of auto litter I thought they were for "like oil?" he asked. I said I wasn't sure, I guess like old mufflers, flat tires etc. I then realized the stupidity of not only my answer but it clicked in that Auto Litter Only meant litter from ones car duh!!

Anyone else have any blonde moments lately??

I am finally back home after catching the red-eye which is absolute torture at the best of times. I walked down the aisle, found my seat and much to my dismay was situated beside a toddler....dear lord!! I popped a gravol hoping to sleep away his screams but funny enough, once the flight actually took off he settled down and fell asleep and I was left in this terrible groggy but can't quite sleep state because of the bloody pill.


As for the rest of my trip it was good. I just walked around a lot, shopped of course and hit up the art gallery. They had this exhibit called Krazy: The Delirious World Of Anime, Comics, Video Games and Art. Not really my thing but it was cool to see some of the drawings from Wallace and Gromit and Toy Story.


The weather was off and on for most of my time in Van, it rained, it was cool, then the sun would come out, it didn't seem to know what it was doing. It was a shame as the weather at home was in the 30's which is hot hot hot. (I flew in today and gee guess what, it's raining at home now too dammit)

I met up with Rawbean on my last night in the city for a few drinks at this cute place called Subeez. It was great to relax and chat over cocktails for a few hours and I'm really glad we had a chance to meet. I think it's so much fun to meet ( I know I know I used "meet" twice now shush) new people that you would not normally be in contact with if not for the blog.

I was in food heaven as well on this vacation as the city seemed to have quite a few veggie options which I loved!! I went to Naam ( a 24/7 vegetarian restaurant) on Rawbeans advice and loved the noodles, as well I've always wanted to try the butter chicken sauce sans chicken at an Indian restaurant. I got the chance to do so at Annapurna a vegetarian Indian restaurant which simmered veggie balls in a butter chickenish sauce which was so freaking good. I also branched out and tried an oyster burger (pictured above). The burger was really quite tasty and messy as hell.


Granville Island had this fantastic sweet shop with rows upon rows of treats to try. I'm extremely thankful that I do not live anywhere near this place haha!

Though I did sample a few items :)

The view from H's apartment is spectacular on a clear sunny day with the mountains and water surrounding him.



Self Timer portrait a la Big Ben!! This is literally a one minute walk from H's place......can you even imagine this as your backyard?? He lives right along the seawall which everyone seemed to be enjoying. There were in line skaters, runners, cyclists, people walking their dogs, kayaks, boaters....you name it! I'm definitely bringing my runners next time I visit!

Ah the mountains, I tried and tried to capture their beauty but to no avail. They are stunning and this photo certainly does not do them any justice....I bought a postcard for that!!

Hope that everyone had a great week!!

Vancouver is quite a beautiful picturesque city. I spent my first day touring around with H, and by touring around I mean walking for oh about 6 hours straight. I think we walked the entire perimeter checking out Granville Island, Stanley Park, Gas Town, the East side....and everywhere inbetween. My feet had the blisters to prove it and his friends had a look of horror when we told them where we ventured. I had no complaints though as the views were absolutely stunning and the air so fresh and clean.

The East side was shocking....absolutely shocking, there are no other words for such a thing. We walked about 10 mins out of Gas Town which was a cute little area into the depths of despair. I work in one of the most impoverished cities in Canada and I was astounded by this area. It seemed as though every homeless person and addict had taken refuge in a 2 block radius. It was the amount of people in such a small area that really got to me. I've seen it on TV in documentaries, I have heard about the problems there but I was not prepared at all for what I saw. It was really quite sad.

In the evening we prepared for an upcoming road trip to Portland where we were to attend a circus/carnival themed party and were set to dress up as chickens. There were feathers all over poor H's apartment as we sewed these ridiculous headdresses well into the evening.



On Friday we ventured the 3 hours to Seattle to visit Wiwille and were lucky enough to catch a ride with H's friend. Wiwille was a gentleman in every sense of the word. He bought me a copy of Casablanca as I've told him about a thousand times "I'll watch it I swear" and I've never gotten around to doing so. Every time we were about to enter his car, he would open our door first and then make his way in. I really enjoyed our lunch on the water and can imagine the place would be great to sit out and have a nice cold drink on a beautiful day.

We wandered around the city where H was hellbent on me seeing the Library and this Olympic Sculpture park ..... which after walking through I despised. It was ridiculous, there were maybe 3 sculptures and the rest were these over sized orange cones, needless to say a fan I was not. The library was rather impressive; they brought their mascot ( a chicken doll) and took photos of her in every possible nook and cranny, it was quite amusing as I'm sure people were wondering what the hell they were doing.

In the evening we had some dinner and then my 3 companions seemed to fade quickly. I was ready for a night on the town and they were all yawning and practically falling asleep at 10pm, lightweights!!!

We headed out to Portland the following day for carnival fun. The party deserves it's own post and photos to accompany which I am not able to do at this time.

So all and all the trip has been good. On the way home from Oregon (6 hour drive) with lots of thinking time I started to feel bad about Seattle.....I had Wiwille take his time to give me this list of things to do....and then we didn't do any of them. Sorry!!! It was later in the day by the time we arrived, my companions didn't really want to spend too much moolah and I was a bit tired.

I think he should come to Van after work today and call in sick tomorrow to get his drink on !!!

I bought these cute bermuda shorts a few weeks ago that I’m really digging however, there’s a bit of a problem. As I was walking down the looonnnnggg barren hallway to my office this morning I noticed a *swish swish* sound. Apparently I’ve turned into George Costanza……..dammit!!

I actually started to laugh out loud while walking down the hall. I thought it was hilarious and reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where George is trying to impress his prospective boss however his discounted suit makes that *swish swish* sound.


-------------------------------------

(Clearly not my photo, I found it on the good ole net)


I am leaving this week for my vacation which I’m very much looking forward to. Mountains and fresh air what could be better? I have Wiwille booked as my tour guide for a day and will surely drink him under the table in the evening. Watch out buddy, watch out!! We Canucks have the strong stuff over here! (Clearly this sentence is going to bite me in the ass later, we all know i'll have like three drinks and pass out) I'm also hoping to meet up with Rawbean which shouldn't be a problem at all, I believe she lives right around the corner from my friend. Other than that I have a large outdoor circus themed party to attend in Portland with my friend. Apparently people dress up and there's a dunk tank, kissing booth etc. Last years pictures look like a lot of fun but I will have to find a costume between now and then. Any suggestions?

Music Meme

WIGSF tagged me to complete this music meme. The rules are as follows:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now.

I am a huge fan of NIN and every few months or so I toss in a CD and let it play for weeks at a time. I can't decide between songs so i'm picking three (which will make my list longer than 7) Trent is looking hot and sweaty in this first video....he makes me tingle ;)

Terrible Lie



Hurt



Right Where It Belongs




The Killers
Uncle Jonny



The Who
Baba O'Riley



Jefferson Airplane
White Rabbit



Janet Jackson
Feedback
I have this one on my MP3 player for the gym.



Evanescence
Good Enough
I totally have a crush on Amy Lee, this song however makes me a little sad sometimes.



Coldplay
A Rush of Blood to the Head





Feel free to complete this meme as well. And no snickering or mocking of my choices....you know who you are (that's right, i'm pointing at you). At least I didn't throw any Nickelback in there haha!!

I've been playing volleyball in a winter league for the past 5 or so years. For some reason we always lose way more than we win. We certainly don't play in a competitive league, it's more of a rec league for fun. I was recruited by one of my teammates to join her in an all day charity tournament this past weekend on the beach sans our regular team.

It's actually a very cool set-up with 3 courts on the beach and games running all day long. There are anywhere from 40-70 people around, playing, lounging, drinking. They have this enormous fire pit (which was totally needed today it was freaking cold out there) and a band that comes out to play while the games are going on.

We played about 10 games in 7 hours and get this.......we won every single game we played!!! Oh the joy!!! Of course it helped that we had 3 young guys on our team ( one was like 6' 5 ) and they were competitive as hell.


Dusk was setting in and the championship game was upon us. We clearly had an advantage. The opposing team only had 5 players and each were creeping well into their 60's. Guess what folks....they killed us. The score was like 20-5 or something horrendously embarrassing. Apparently this team plays every year and every year they win, shockingly 2008 was no different.

(My sad "we came in 2nd place" face)

(Yet another burn even though I wore SPF 45)

I had a great time however I came home with a bit of a burn and I'm pretty sure my entire body hates me. My forearms are swollen and spotted from bumping and and I feel like I could pass out at any moment I'm so tired. Apparently old age is creeping up haha it's 9PM and i'm going to bed!!