Every year my friend has a party which is normally held on Boxing Day IE the day after Christmas. This year he had to hold it the day before Christmas Eve due to his work schedule which made for a very tired Miss Ash come the 25th as I had another gathering on the 24th. It's been one get together after another and there are still a few more coming up this week, I'm absolutely knackered just thinking about them. I'm also not 19 anymore and after that first party I was a complete lump of uselessness all day long. I wasn't hungover at all, just sooooo tired! Apparently getting in at 4am after some cocktails is not what adults should do if they want to accomplish anything the following day; Especially when that day is Christmas Eve eek!

I've been eating like an absolute pig ... literally, all week! I went to PP's to visit some friends and it was all I could do to keep my pants done up and on! There were cookies and cupcakes and cake and pavlova (yummmmm).....she even gave me a plate to take home (cause that's what I need) and a yummy spicy shrimp dish! Sooooo good but I'm soooo full!!

So it's been a busy holiday and will continue to be so for the remainder of the week it seems. It's funny like I want to complain about it and whinge about how tired I am but if I really think about it....how lucky am I to have such great friends.....to have lots of wonderful people to visit and have laughs with and share good times and fatty foods with it makes it all worthwhile! For some people this is a terribly sad time of year and it's all they can do to get through the holidays, so I really am a very lucky girl! I know a family who suddenly lost a loved one a few days before Christmas which is really awful and I can guarantee they are far more tired than any one of us. Tomorrow we say goodbye and I can't even imagine the depth of pain they are going to feel, but they will be surrounded by loved ones and great friends and maybe even some fatty foods, though I'm not sure any of those things will help.....

......I am a very lucky girl!

Me and the gals went to see the Tim Burton exhibit which showcases 700 pieces of his work last weekend! Some decades old some more recent but man what a trip!! I was like a child in the room "Oh my God look at that" pointing, smiling, laughing.....wanting to take everything home with me!

I don't want to spoil the exhibit for those who are going to go but I will say that there were soooo many wonderful things to look at! I totally forgot that Burton directed Beetlejuice when low and behold I came upon a sandworm from the movie....loved it!!! The "hands" from Edward Scissorhands sit nicely in a case as do the razors from Sweeny Todd! I'm in LOVE with the Nightmare Before Christmas and was excited to see many heads of Jack and of course the figure of santa made me laugh with his skinny legs and huge body! It was such a treat to see all of my favorite things from the big screen in one room and the exhibit also showcased Tim's sense of humour perfectly! In a room off to the back are old drawings and sketches from when he was younger and not only my pals and I but a few older women were laughing and laughing and laughing at the sketches and titles! There's one called "girl listening to man with bad breath" that made me howl cause the woman's face is fucking hilarious! There was also a letter Burton wrote to Johnny Depp regarding a line from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory "what if he says something along the lines of...." and goes into the quote about cannibalism which again made me laugh out loud!

I adore Tim Burton and his quirkiness, uniqueness and morbidness! He's an absolute genius and it was such an honour to be able to get up close and personal with his work and to get a tiny glimpse into that wonderful head of his! Now if I could only sneak Jack past the security guards, I'd be all set!!!

A few of my favorite things:

I just bought this makeup set from Sephora during the Black Friday extravaganza. I thought it was about time I stepped out of my routine with the usual eyeshadow I wear and step it up a notch. These colours are all super shimmery and sparkly and fun! I also love the packaging with the pop up fairies, can you say cute!!

Mmmmm I bought these soy candles at a show I went to recently with LD and damn do they smell good! I bought Creamcycle, Peppermint and Sugarbush Maple yummmmm! The cool thing about them is that not only are they candles but the melted wax doubles as massage oil.

Okay okay I've somehow become obsessed with Sephora! I've always wanted to try smokey eyes and thought I would fail miserably so what better way to try it than a step by step kit; foolproof hopefully! I also wanted to branch out as far as my nail polish is concerned, seriously if you look in my drawer you'll see pink, another shade of pink, hmmmm light pink, bright pink, maybe a red one.....I need more variety so I bought this goldish coloured one and this blueish coloured one. It's funny cause I thought the bluey one was ugly in the bottle and told LD to try it on as a joke only I loved it! Oh man and that hand cream that's sideways is by a company called Cake.......it actually smells like icing. I seriously want to eat my hands every time that I put it on! It's also thick, I like thick hand cream not that watery crap so I'm totally in love with this new lotion!

I'm a bit of a nerd, I saw this product on Dr. Oz and thought, meh why not give it a try. It's an antioxidant booster and one drop is supposed to be the equivalent of 15 cups of green tea. Guess where I bought it......that's right Sephora!!!! My points must be racking up like crazy at that place!

Oh man, now I'm obsessed with this Cake brand! I just found a nice big bottle for super cheap at Winners! Mmmm it's hand lotion in "baked citrus" this one smells like lemon cookies! I can't take it, I'm going to have to eat something sweet or start licking my arm!

Speaking of sweet, we went to Eat N Park (what an odd name) in PA for breaky before we ventured home. What better drink to have with your eggs than a Pumpkin Pie Milkshake! Look how much it actually resembles the photo! It was soooooooooo good!!!!

I'm not sure when I became 90 but I'm currently obsessed with Swarovski's Crystaline Collection! I went onto their website looking for a pair of shiny black earrings and came out with a wish list for fancy tea light holders and bowls.

The small version of this bowl is a mere $400! I actually went to the store to take a peek and it is quite tiny compared to the large bowl. I mean really, if you're going to spend that much on a tiny bowl why not go all out and get the $800 one!
These gems are quite pricey as well as far as tea light holders are concerned. Let's just say they start out with 3 digits right off the bat! Eek!

I remember my friend H had asked for a grill for his birthday at age 25, we're getting old he said and this is how he could tell! He no longer wanted fun or frivolous things he wanted something practical. I'm well aware that $800 bowls are not practical but they sure are pretty!

And if it's a toss up between a hot stone massage and a tea light holder........I'm going for the massage, it's cold and snowy out there! I somehow managed to get my arse out of bed early and made it to the 9:30am spin class and took this lovely photo on my way there. That's dedication my friends as it's the perfect day to stay in bed and drink tea especially when you're on holidays and don't have to go out! There's an 8:30pm yoga class that I wanted to try, they have earlier ones but I would be a total beginner and would prefer to try the beginner class. It's just sooo late and I'd imagine by that time I'll have my flannels and fluffy socks on with a nice big cup of hot chocolate in my cute little hands! Winter is officially here and I still hate it!

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit, it's just been super busy around here. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and that seemed to take up every ounce of energy that I had. It's over now *phew* so we'll see what happens. I'm not writing about it in full right now, maybe later!

I also went on my annual shopping extravaganza to the States for Black Friday shopping! Last year I bought everything under the sun, this year I cooled it down a bit and didn't spend too much. I bought some cute earrings, a necklace, super comfy slippers, a make up set that I love, a book, a sweater that's kinda different and of course running shoes at 8am as my feet were on fire. Hilarious, buying an item to facilitate more shopping! We started early this year 3am, and went until about 1:30pm, had lunch and continued on till 5:30pm. We went to see Burlesque that evening *yawn*! I know I know most of you are going to say "why the fuck would you go and see that anyway".....I like singing and dancing and musicals....but not this one, it was sooooo predictable and some of the songs they sang were like filler. And some douche in the theatre kept texting, literally every 5 mins I would see his bright screen! If he had been closer to me I would have yelled at him or thrown LD's popcorn at his head. I'm all for technology but honestly it's turned some people into rude little monsters, talking on the phone while the cashier is checking them out, texting in the theatre, talking loudly in public so everyone can hear...ugh!

I'm officially on vacation for a few weeks and am doing absolutely nothing today! I woke up to snow, yes snow *sniff* so it's the perfect day to stay in bed, drink hot chocolate and clear out my Tivo. It is also World AIDS Day and Starbucks is giving 5 cents of every drink purchased to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS. So who am I kidding, I'll definitely be heading to starbucks (perhaps in my jammies) to support this cause and I think you should too!!!

So I'm finally back to feeling like a regular human being again. It's amazing how one slight movement can put me out for days at a time. I remember once picking up an empty grocery bag off of the floor and putting my back out for 5 days. It's hard to explain to those who do not have such issues but it can actually be debilitating for days at a time. I've tried to be careful over the years, bend at your knees, pick things up properly but every once in a while BAM I feel it go and my heart sinks as I know I will be in severe pain and have limited movement for who knows how long; sometimes it's a day or two other times closer to a week. It's probably been close to a year since I've put it out this badly, so at least I'm lucky in that respect.


It's actually quite interesting though how much I take for granted in my every day life when I'm feeling good. It doesn't matter if I drop something I can just pick it right back up, I can hop in and out of the tub, I can drive wherever I want, do whatever I want but when I'm hurt EVERYTHING is a gigantic chore. Seriously, you know it's bad when you go to the washroom and have to think "how the fuck am I going to .... you know....wipe..."! Okay TMI!!!


I was once talking to a woman pushing a man in a wheelchair and she had asked me if there was another way to get to a certain street without having to go down a very steep and busy hill. Unfortunately there was not and I felt terrible for the two of them. I remember her saying that we don't think of such things until we're faced with such difficulties and it's true. I myself would just walk right down that hill without a second thought and yet for them it was going to be next to impossible to get down that same hill.


I'm certainly not comparing my back issues to the man in the wheelchair but it's interesting how we go about our every day lives and it's not until we're faced with a difficulty that we realize how important our silly everyday movements are. I remember laying in bed day 2 of my pain and trying to no avail to get comfortable. Every movement sent what felt like stabbing electric shocks all over my body and yet while I was in pain I was still thankful that I could feel that pain. There are others who are not so lucky and I'm sure would give anything to be able to feel again, however unpleasant it may be. So I think about that and how grateful I am that while I'm in a hell of a lot of discomfort, it will pass and I will go about my life as before.

That will be the first entry of my Gratitude Journal......I'm thankful that I can feel!

As most of my close friends know, don't bother lending me anything that you want back in the near future! I have a tendency to borrow movies and books and then I hold onto them, sometimes for a few months, sometimes for a year without ever looking at them again. Oops! I have to be in the mood to want to sit down and watch a certain movie or to read a certain book. I had some time this weekend, lots of time to be exact to lay around and do just that as I really did a number on my back. I've been out of commission for a few days (and counting) and thought I might as well take advantage of some down time and watch a few flicks!

"This is a story of boy meets girl. The boy, Tom Hansen of Margate, New Jersey, grew up believing that he'd never truly be happy until the day he met the one. This belief stemmed from early exposure to sad British pop music and a total mis-reading of the movie 'The Graduate'. The girl, Summer Finn of Shinnecock, Michigan, did not share this belief. Since the disintegration of her parent's marriage she'd only loved two things. The first was her long dark hair. The second was how easily she could cut it off and not feel a thing. Tom meets Summer on January 8th. He knows almost immediately she is who he has been searching for. This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story."

( From 500 Days of Summer)

The first film I watched was 500 Days of Summer and I really really enjoyed each and every moment as it was unique and yet portrayed characters that everyone can relate to. I loved the split screen where they showed the "Expectations" and the "Reality" of what the character wanted to happen and what actually happened during a party. I liked that it wasn't a typical romantic film but showed a more realistic view of relationships. It didn't follow a sequence of events but rather went back and forth between various days throughout their time together. I was rooting for Tom the whole time and have actually felt like him at certain points in my life, maybe that's why I wanted him to come out on top so badly! On the flip side I could also relate to Summer and how she was feeling, she was upfront with what she wanted or more like what she didn't want and thus the story goes. I also must do a shout out to the soundtrack umm hello who doesn't love the Smiths and I love love love that song There Goes the Fear by the Doves!

The 2nd film I watched was Across the Universe and must say I was rather disappointed. I wasn't sure what to expect as I wasn't sure what exactly the movie was about, I just recall seeing a trailer for it and thinking that it looked interesting. In reality it just didn't do anything for me and I found myself checking the time to see how much longer it was going to be on for. Don't get me wrong there were some visually captivating parts and artsy fartsy scenes that I quite enjoyed. Some of the songs fit brilliantly and really captured the emotions of the characters and yet others I found fell flat. The army scene was quite cool, I liked the end of Strawberry Fields and the following clip I quite enjoyed as well. But as a whole I found it was hit and miss for me.

Ugh ohhhhhh that's the weather forecast for tomorrow! I'm a smart cookie and had *sigh* my snow tires put on last week so I'll be ready for the fluffy stuff shall it fall. I don't particularly enjoy winter what with the chill, slush and ice! It makes me want to hibernate for a few months, why just this morning I could not get out of bed as I was sooooooo warm and cozy. It was still dark out as it shall be from now on (daylight savings time this weekend) and my head rested on my pillow far past my alarm which is a rarity.

Rather than mourn the end of summer and fall, I shall try to look on the bright side and give thanks to the comforts that winter brings!

The leaves changing colour

I get it I get it, this is still a fall photo.......I have to ease myself into this you know!!!

Mmmmmmm hot chocolate with marshmallows! I tend to drink a lot of tea during the cold months but also enjoy a yummy sweet treat like this every once in a while! I also quite enjoy drinking out of horrendously over sized mugs mmm mmmm mmmmmmmmm!

I love love love sitting by a toasty fire! Inside, outside, wood burning or electric I love them all! Just last week I was sitting with a friend catching up, the room lit by nothing but the glow of a fire, it was heavenly!

I also love to slip into my comfies aka lulu sweats (they're like my uniform in the winter) and watch the snow fall out the window, I find it mesmerizing and strangely comforting. I do not have any desire to actually venture out into the snow and yet I can still appreciate its beauty.

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

I do plan to stay active this winter and would like to go skiing more often than I do ummm hello once in 15 years just doesn't cut it!!! I just bought a 20 class pass to a yoga studio and I swear to you all that I am giving that damn P90X an honest try!

Cheers to winter, bring it on!!!

I planned to have a relaxing weekend lazing around in my sweats doing a whole lot of nothin. Instead I ended up at yet another musical and a 9am Thai Chi class.

My friend called as she was able to snag two for one tickets to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert which I had wanted to see! I love unexpected shows like this and for a fraction of the normal cost, sign me up! We wandered around for a few hours before the show, shopping and shopping and shopping! I'm in the market for a pair of flat boots and saw ohhhhh about 10 pairs that I fell in love with. There's this super cute shop called Heel Boy I had never seen before, they had quite the collection, some unique, some classic and others simple. I vowed to go back after my Black Friday shopping trip if I don't find anything in the States for cheaper!

Priscilla was absolutely fabulous to say the least! I've seen several musicals/plays and this was by far one of my favorites! It was freaking hilarious, not to mention very flashy with the colourful costumes and just an all around fun show! I was dancing in my seat to "I Will Survive" and my face hurt from laughing so hard throughout the evening. If you have the chance, go go go and see this wonderful show you won't be disappointed at all!! (FYI not suitable for children, someone actually brought theirs! I'm sure they really enjoyed all of the sexual innuendos....*sarcasm*)

It was a lovely evening out so we decided to walk back to the car which was quite a ways away about 45 mins or so. Best idea ever, umm hello it was a Saturday night on Halloween weekend, we saw sooo many costumes! My favorite by far was a man dressed up as a vagina, with a string hanging down. I burst out laughing to which he replied "pull my string"! We politely declined and continued on our way. I kind of wonder what would have happened had we obliged......

I don't normally wake up early on a Sunday morning however there was this free Thai Chi class someone asked me to attend. It was interesting in an "I'm not sure I'll go back but I might" kinda way. For one thing it's super early, another it's surprisingly difficult. We were taught one or three moves (I'm not sure which number) in an hour and I'm embarrassed to say my thighs were burning midway through. I figured if the older gentleman beside me could do it so could I but it was much more difficult than it looks. I suppose once it's mastered it could be a very relaxing exercise with a steady flow to the movements. My mind today however was racing all over the place trying to remember the hand placements and techniques, it was anything but relaxing!

PS: other cute footwear I saw whilst shopping!

I thought these boots were kinda fun! They remind me of the Victorian era!These Hush Puppies were super cute too!!!

(I want Denys to win!!!)

Yay it's the finale of So You Think You Can Dance Canada this evening! I totally forgot to post about my experience watching a live taping a few weeks ago. We had to be there an hour before taping so we sat in a room where they had a "sign making" section and a TV playing old episodes of the show. When people were asked to dance for a segment my friends sister had us move towards the rope, you see she had been there before and knew they would let us in once that was finished so we were first in line to get in! Or so we thought, they had let in a few people before us so the catwalk above the stage was full but we got a primo spot beside the stage where the choreographers stand. Woot! They did make us move back a row as there were some kids coming in who were shorter than us and couldn't see......boooooo.....I'm just being an ass we could see perfectly!

The studio was much smaller than it appears on the TV as was the stage. I was surprised at how tiny it really was, they had seats in the back for VIP people AKA not us but we were standing right where all of the dancers came out which was fun. We could see legs practicing, stretching, moving around in the hallway beside us. We stood in the studio for well over an hour, waiting for the action to begin. They did test shots, had audience members go up and dance, had us smile and clap smile and clap smile and clap......you get the picture. We weren't allowed to bring anything in, no water, no gum (I snuck in some candies as I ALWAYS have a bottle of water with me and thought I would die for 3 hours without anything), some girl brought her cell phone in which was a no no but she refused to give it up. I'm surprised they didn't just turf her, I would have, thems the rules bitch! Oh well.....

The actual taping of the show itself seemed to breeze by. They only had to do a few extra takes of the hostess and the judges (hottie Blake was there) but other than that everything kept moving along nicely. The dancing was amazing, it was fun to see live and I really enjoyed it! Altogether we were in the studio standing for about 3 hours, which I gotta say wasn't horrible but my ankle was starting to bug me a bit cause you can't move around. The part that surprised me the most was the size of the studio, much smaller than I had pictured in my mind.

Now if only Nico had been there..........

Things that I love right now:

My bling bling pedicure! I reluctantly agreed to allow the woman to put a flower on my toe and ended up with 3 crystals! Not sure how that happened but it's grown on me! I'm usually plain jane when it comes to my toes, throw some colour on and I'm happy so this was a surprise! I saw tweezers and sparkles and crystals and was like ummmm......

I can't seem to take my eyes off of pretty summer/fall sunsets! It's a problem when I'm driving as I lose myself in the beauty of them; the colours amaze me! I've seen some incredible ones recently that have just blown my mind! I've captured sooooo many in my mind but want to have a physical copy to share with others.

Awwww my new favorite billboard! Usually I find them to be eyesores and tacky but not this one, it's super cute and made me smile!

I just discovered this online store called All Saints and am quite smitten with the earrings above and the bag below. I searched for actual locations but of course none exist anywhere near me.....seems they are in Chicago, Seattle, LA and Europe to name a few! I'm not sure I want to spend the moolah for shipping and duty on a pair of already expensive earrings/purse but man they're cute!

I'm going to keep my peepers open for a similar bag that's cheaper!

I can't believe I'm writing this but I can't get this song out of my head and want to add it to my Ipod for the gym *hangs head in shame*

Thanks everyone for the kind and funny (Rawbean I'm lookin at you) words! I feel a thousand times better! Yay for medication! Now onto my post :)

Well I can tell that Fall has arrived as my Tivo is ready to explode! It's been a week maybe two of new shows and I can barely keep up! I watch a lot of crap we're all VERY aware of that fact but I'm wondering where in all of this madness I can get back an hour or two of my life. I really need to pick and choose which shows are important to me such as The Amazing Race and which ones I should let go.....perhaps 90210?? I mean really, do I really need to watch a show that I've seen a thousand times over as a teen but with new actors? Two and a Half Men still makes me laugh, CSI keeps me interested and I do skip ahead a lot during Dr. Oz so I do save some time there. There's nooooo way in hell I'd give up Modern Family, Cam and Paul make me laugh without fail every single episode. In my defence I did stop watching The Bachelor Pad and Dancing with the Stars cause even both of those were too much for me!

Fall also brings with it lots of yummy treats which are great for my taste buds but not so much for my ass. I love anything with pumpkin in it and I'm surrounded by a thousand choices of the delightful treat all of a sudden! I saw an ad for the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks ummmm hello I've had about 5 in the past two weeks, pumpkin doughnuts (I don't even like doughnuts but these ones I could devour in a second)! I just tried pumpkin ice cream recently........it's freaking everywhere and I LOVE it!!!!

This time of year also makes me want to get outside more and see just how beautiful nature really is. The colour of the leaves changing, the crisp cool air, the cute little squirrels hiding their treats away! Now if I could just delete one more show maybe I could get out there and enjoy the breeze!!!

Since Tuesday I have felt like death! Seriously I have not been this sick in years, crazy high fever, chills one second, sweating like a pig the next! Then my throat felt tight, like I was swallowing daggers, body aches.......the flu I thought! I've barely been able to eat which obviously has some perks, a bowl or two of soup and some oatmeal was all I could stomach. My right gland is the size of a golf ball and hurts if a finger so much as grazes by it, ouch!

I missed work, I slept, I didn't sleep, I threw ice cold cloths on my head one minute as my face flared up and took six baths in one day to heat my body temperature up as I could not stop shivering, I soaked my sheets with sweat one second and bundled up like I was in a snowstorm the next.

I finally went to see the Dr. three days into my hell, strep throat he said and gave me a prescription. So here I am going into the long weekend feeling like a piece of shit. Honestly I would have eaten my own shit if he had told me that would help, I felt like dying.

I'm ever so slightly better today, no fever which is a blessing but my throat still feels like tiny razor blades are slicing the sides as I swallow and that gland is still tender. I HATE getting sick, ugh!!

Ummm is it just me or has Halloween candy gotten a hell of a lot smaller since we were kids?!? I don't know about you folks but I don't think the above chocolate bars are "fun size" I will however agree that they are "mini"! The one on the left is apparently a twix and on the right is a snickers bar. I feel sorry for kids nowadays, their parents will tell them they can only have "one or two treats" from their loot bag on Hallows' Eve which will be equivalent to eating half a pringle.

I remember many moons ago being dressed up as a die.....with a fellow die....which made us a pair of dice. My fingers had been slammed in a car door twice (by mistake) and were swollen beyond recognition a few days prior. My lovely costume mate carried my bag of goodies for the entire night which was fantastic and she didn't complain one bit! We always went to the neighbourhood which gave out big chocolate bars and the house that had a drink menu. Seriously, what a great idea! They knew kids would be thirsty and offered a whole list of beverages to choose from, pop, water, iced tea, juice!

It also snowed, yes snowed one year on October 31. I don't recall that particular costume but it must have been something warm or was altered to fit with the weather. Brrrrr......

Speaking of which it's 9 degrees, that's 48 for the Americans today and raining BRRRRRRRR......I've been bundled up all day long and actually went out in sweatpants and a hoodie as I couldn't even be bothered to put on proper attire. Rain and cold weather make me feel and look like a shlumpadinka! (I'm #2 on the list)

I had a super busy week/weekend. I was out of the city at a conference for a few days and got to meet up with some pals for a yummy vegetarian dinner. I haven't been to this particular restaurant in like a year and totally forgot that almost every dish has mushrooms which PP hates. Oops! We ordered a whole whack of dishes and had lots of leftovers nom nom nom!!!

Hot and Sour Soup (with mushrooms)

Three Kinds of Mushrooms and Veggies

Some kind of Curried Noodles (yay no mushrooms!!!)

Tofu and Veggies (yup you guessed it MUSHROOMS!!!)

"Duck" made with bean curd sheets (Jennifer and I love this one!!!)

We also had some spring rolls which PP dissected and carefully discarded the fungus inside! I ate two like a gluttonous pig and also ate up her castaway yumminess!

The conference was great and I really really enjoyed the guest speaker at dinner. He used to play and coach a local football team in the city. He just exuded happiness and love and was soooo inspiring and engaging! I kept texting myself points that he made "are you the fence or are you the bridge" "drop the puck" none of which will make any sense to you guys of course but he was essentially talking about helping people, breaking down barriers and having a positive attitude regardless of ones situation.

(Please note this is not me nor my photo, this girl has a lulu blog and it's the only photo I could find of my hoodie)

We had a bit of a break one day and I booted it to the nearest lululemon to try and find this particular jacket that I've been looking for. I've had a hell of a time finding it in the colour that I want in my size. I love black and would have even gone for the charcol one but no dice! Then I was told it was one of those limited items and they may not get any more in SHIT! So I ended up with a light gray one which I must say is a nice change from my dark brooding black. I do have the option to take it back within the next 14 days and can order one online with free shipping in my colour of choice. I do think it might be time to lighten up a bit though, what do you folks think? Yay or nay on the gray? Pfffff ha!

I met another friend after the conference for a drinky poo and had a great chat with her as per usual! I also had several drinks at a stag and doe recently which I have not done a lot of lately and now I remember why.......can you say headache!!! I put some ballots in for this Greens Plus basket and did not win however the girl who put the basket together (and is a rep for the company woo hooooo!!) knew how much I wanted it and had an idea. We went over to the winner and she was like "sooooo do you take multivitamins?" and the girl said she did not. She told the girl that I did and that I really wanted the basket "She'll give you 20 bucks"! SOLD!! The girl handed over $200 worth of greens plus powder, multivitamins, Omega 3's, protein bars a smoothie mix and a book for $20 freaking dollars! I was ecstatic!! I just bought a small container of the Multi Vitamin powder last week for like $30! This stuff ain't cheap!

-

I'm super excited about tomorrow night, Jlee will appreciate this!!! I am going to a taping of So You Think You Can Dance Canada YIPPPEEEEEE!!! I'm such a nerd, cheap powder and standing in a studio for 3 hours watching people dance excites me!!!!

Random Thoughts:

I often get ideas from other blogs, it may be something the writer has posted or perhaps a comment that myself or someone else has written in regards to a particular post. This week a few got the wheels a turnin!

Yrautca recently posted about a 5 km race that he ran and checking his race time. It reminded me of the time my friend and I were looking up times and photos of various people on the net after a race. I had told him that while it would be fun to run a race I would be mortified not only to come in last but to come in last with a beet red face as mine always turns when I do any type of activity. I can't even imagine those images for all the world to see at the click of a button, it would seriously deter me from running a race.

Rawbean posted yet another hilarious video and someone asked "where do you find these things?" I often think the exact same thing when a person posts a funny video. Take for instance my friend D, he always posts these random ridiculous videos on his FB page. The latest was "Indian Men Pole Dancing" which I have pasted below for your viewing pleasure. Seriously though, how does one find such comedic gold??






Enjoy the weekend!!

I read an article in the paper recently about this vegan author/triathlete which piqued my interest so I thought I would try to find this book they discuss. I find it odd that there is a "newly released edition" because all of the book stores around me do not carry nor can they order said book. It appears to be out of publication and the cashier suggested ordering a used copy online. I decide that I'd rather check out his writing style before I commit to an online purchase and head over to the library to borrow one of his other books.

I look up the catalogue number on the computer and off I go down the aisles in search of my treasure. Piece of paper in hand I stand and stare at the same shelf for a good 5 minutes as I'm determined to find this damn book. I'm in section 613.26 searching for BRA but to no avail. As some of you may know I'm the WORST looker EVER! Seriously, there could be an elephant standing on my foot and I'd still be like "I CAN'T find the elephant, where IS it"? I swear my eyes went to the 614's and 615's and everywhere in between but I could still not find the bloody book. Didn't we learn the Dewey Decimal System in like grade 2? Luckily the librarian was able to find it in ohhhhh about 5 seconds (which made me feel stupid) but in my defence she went down the wrong aisle to begin with. I was like "ummm it's over in this section"!

I'm hoping it will be full of useful information but if nothing else I am excited to try some new veggie recipes as this particular book seems to have 100 tucked between the pages! Now I just have to read the book........how many weeks did they give me?!?

Ahhhh I love weekends! We spent Friday night out celebrating J's birthday over some good food, drinks and lots of laughs! Funny though the entire table was yawning at midnight, clearly we're getting OLD! I was very happy that the weather was still warm enough that we could sit outside on the patio all night long without needing a jacket!

We spent the next afternoon having a Jersey Shore marathon, yes you read that correctly, a Jersey Shore marathon. After watching several episodes I commented that I didn't think I could watch them all at once again like that. If I had to hear Sammi say "I'm done" one more time and then take Ronnie back 20 times in one episode, you can imagine listening to 6 episodes like that in a row.....I wanted to pull my hair out!

LD and I were meeting PP at the Vegetarian Food Fair so I mapquested my route to a parking lot close to the venue and off we went. Clearly mapquest did not take into consideration the Film Festival nor the Jesus parade and we ended up smack dab in the middle of both. It took us double the time to reach our destination but we did see Bill Murray walking down the street, a paparazzo running beside him and several people walking quickly behind him. It made me giggle.

I have noooooo idea what the Jesus thing was about but as we approached a very busy intersection there was LOUD music and singing, floats, people dancing and walking in the street and cops looking on. Dunno........

We finally made it to the Veggie Fair so I could hang out with my peeps! As soon as we walked in I grabbed this yummy kabob thing, again no idea what it was but it tasted really good!

There were booths with various items, vegan clothing, food, a sprout grower, you get the idea. We wandered around sampling treats and perusing pamphlets. I couldn't believe how chilly it got, seriously the temperature dropped like crazy in a matter of minutes, it was weird! I bought a few things that I'm excited about:

Coriander Chutney: oh YUM!!! I ate this with a samosa and my mouth was delighted! The woman gave me some recipes which I will definitely try. The only sucky or good thing about this chutney is there are no preservatives so it won't be something I can keep for a while, I'll have to eat it all up relatively soon, nom nom nom!

Madras Masala: I had a heck of a time trying to decide which blend of spices to purchase but finally decided on this one! I can't wait to make a yummy curry as they have a whole bunch of recipes on their website which I"m looking forward to trying. The people selling this product were sooooo lovely as well and I really enjoyed listening to them!

Spiru-tein: I've had this before at PP's place and quite enjoyed it. It's almost like a protein shake but with lots of vitamins and minerals. I put a scoop in the blender, add some ice, milk and half a banana and breakfast is ready! I'd say it's more of an acquired taste but not as acquired as my Vega protein powder! It also came with a cute bag and a gigantic shaker and it was super cheap! Yay!

This was our view for quite some time as we left the venue. There must have been a soccer game getting out, a concert perhaps starting and who knows what else but we were on this street for a good half an hour, creeping ever so slowly trying to get to the bloody highway!

Now it's back to reality and I start my very first physio appointment tomorrow bright and early! EEK! Wish me luck!

Did anyone out there actually do Labour Dayish stuff?? You know like camping or going up north or sitting around a fire and drinking far too much while wearing sweatpants?? I did none of the above and spent a quiet weekend stuffing my face and watching movies. I borrowed quite a few from PP and LD and managed to get through:

Rosemary's Baby: I would like those 2 hours and 20 minutes back please, super lame and boring! I actually thought it was supposed to be a scary horror type of film so I was quite disappointed!



Hottub Time Machine: Ummm yeah so both of the above ladies built this one up WAY too much! I was expecting tears of joy and a sore tummy from laughing soooo hard. Instead I had a few giggles annnnnnnnd that was about it. Two thumbs down!



Derailed: I really wasn't expecting much out of this one as no offence but it has Jennifer Aniston in it. I'm used to her doing cutesy type roles and figured it would be kinda meh. Instead I was pleasantly surprised, the story was good and it kept me quite entertained throughout with the twists and turns! Who woulda thunk?



Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay: This movie made me laugh and laugh! I was wondering if it would live up to the 1st one and for me it did!

I still have Across the Universe, 500 Days of Summer and a few others to get through! I rarely watch movies so it's quite surprising that I made it through 4 in two days!

As for this week there are no more concerts to speak of and oh yay (note the sarcasm) I start physio on my ankle at the end of this week! The Dr. twisted and turned it, this way and that! I wanted to cry it hurt so bad, I can only imagine what the actual physio will be like. I've never been before eek! Wish me luck!!

LD and I made our way to the big city to see Ray Lamontagne and David Gray recently and they were fabulous!!! I'm jumping ahead though......on our way there I was the passenger singing along to songs, looking around you know the usual. All of a sudden I see people running around near the side of the highway kinda like people do at red lights, get out and run around the car. A split second later LD slams on her brakes as traffic comes to an abrupt halt! We both look towards the people running around on the highway and there is a car flipped over, windows smashed out and a woman kneeling on all fours inside on the roof of her car which is now on the road! It must have happened like 30 seconds before we approached as people were still pulling over and jumping out of their cars to help and the rubberneckers had not stopped traffic yet. Yes yes I realize we WERE the rubberneckers but how could you not look it was so shocking. I started to call 911 but there were so many people helping that someone surely had called. The two of us were silent for quite some time after that, it was one of those moments where you're just speechless. I felt so helpless as we drove by! On one hand you want to help but on the other there were so many people already trying to help that you would just be in the way unless you had some type of first aid training. I can give you CPR and the Heimlich manoeuvre but that's about it. I tried to look in the paper and online to see if everyone was okay when I got home but I could not find any articles about the accident. I just kept wondering if there were kids in the car or anyone else trapped, I really do hope that everyone made it through!

So after the drive we went to get dinner at this yummy cheap place. I'm in love with their pad thai and hummus and of course Sangria but didn't have any this particular evening, just a fruit shake. Anyway this guy comes in with suitcases, orders a pitcher of beer for himself and proceeds to pull this mass out of the inside of his jacket pocket. It was a bag with elastics wound tight around and a wad of money in the middle. The whole things was the size of a large book, how odd! I felt like giving him my wallet!

We finally made it to the concert and figured this would be more of a sit down type show as the artists are more melo so we were prepared for that. We were not however prepared for chatty Cathy and her friend one row behind us. They literally talked throughout the WHOLE show!!!! I've never wanted to throttle someone so badly in my entire life! All she did was talk about how this guy was in LOVE with her after one date, how her friend was sooo amazing, how "this song is going to put me to sleep, I fall asleep when I watch TV" I thought please dear lord if there is a God she WILL fall asleep right now!!!! I desperately wanted to take a picture of her and when she asked why I would tell her that she was going to be the subject of my blog post "The most obnoxious people I've come across"!!! I didn't have the guts, but I did take this video of David Gray singing and you can hear her in the background a bit, giggling, calling her friend "amazing"!

Here's a video of Ray Lamontagne as well! Everyone within earshot kept saying he sounded like Rod Stewart UGH! He looks a bit like a pioneer if I'm being honest, but Rod Stewart?? Come on now!

At one point during David Gray I felt a head close to mine and heard a voice "those last two pictures you took were great!" Apparently the guy beside chatty Cathy's friend was looking at my photos while I was taking pictures. Kinda creepy but he seemed kinda cool at the same time, a bit of a free spirit, up and dancing for most of the show, he was loving life so it was all good!

LD and I also loved this woman. She was sooooo enamoured with both Ray and David, like she was spell bound by them! Jumping up and clapping, clasping her hands together and staring like she was in another world, very entertaining for us but in a cute kind of way! I love when people get excited about things!

I always know that summer is coming to an end when the stalks of corn are at their peak. The taller they are, the less time we have to enjoy the wonderful weather and it makes me kinda sad. I've also noticed quite a change in the temperature lately, it's much cooler in the morning as well as the evening. I've even taken to wearing a sweater to work in the AM and not I repeat not putting on my air conditioner. Seriously my office is usually like an oven people and the past few days it's been just right without the air. It seems that *sigh* the seasons are already starting to shift. Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy the fall, the crisp cool air, the colourful leaves and of course Halloween........but somehow it seems my heart belongs to summer. I love the heat and being able to enjoy nature! The colourful flowers, the smell of fresh cut grass, watching the squirrels dance around and come on, what is better than sitting outside in a lounger reading a book while the sun beats down on you??? Having a pint on a patio might trump that but really in my heart of hearts I would say it's a tie!!!

-

I am going to embrace the next few weeks and take advantage of what I hope is fabulous weather. The forecast tells me next week will be in the 29 range so all is not lost! Oh please please please be right for once Mr. errrr Ms. weather person!!!!