I've become a bit lax with writing on my lovely blog so my apologies, I promise upcoming posts will be more frequent, maybe not entertaining but more frequent! Ha! The bachelorette party in Montreal went well and a good time was had by all. A few tips for those taking 7 plus hour road trips.....make sure to put the correct address into the GPS AND make sure to spell words correctly when using another language. I wasn't the driver thus not in charge of directions which I'm sure everyone was happy about, but the driver forgot to enter "west" at the end of the address. We ended up at some dead end street, confused and clearly not at our destination. I realized her error and kept trying to type in the correct address to no avail. We drove for a while and eventually ended up where we needed to be. Turns out "west" is spelled "ouest" in French hence my not being able to enter the full address correctly. I was like "WHY won't it let me put WEST at the end of the street name?!?!"

I've been sworn to secrecy about the goings on of the festivities but I will say I had beer, champagne and wine in front of me all at one time during dinner, I ate pizza twice (the super cheesy fatty one above and another more reasonable thin crust with just a sprinkle of the white stuff) and had poutine at 2am even though I declared "I'm full, why am I eating this?" Even drunk Miss Ash knows when she is being bad! LD and I were able to sneak off in the wee hours of the morning to our favorite 80's bar with the blessing of the bride to be, she was supposed to follow but didn't quite make it!

I learned that green bananas take FOREVER to ripen and had no idea they were impossible to peel at said stage AND that they're putrid when not ready. I seriously brought a bag full of fruit to fill up on so I would not eat like a super pig and could watch my points somewhat. I bought greenish bananas as I hate when they get toooooo ripe only mine where horribly under ripe. My friend suggested I hang them in the sun.....so I did....only that made them worse! They ended up green with black marks everywhere and I had to toss them. Bye bye bananas!

I watched the interactions with groups of friends and it made me appreciate mine that much more! When one of my friends is acting like an asshole I'll tell them, they'll tell me...end of story. It's very very rare for my friends and I to get into fights, we may have disagreements and not see eye to eye but at the end of the day we're usually smiling. One girl actually got upset with her friends because they were talking to guys. If any of my gals was chatting up a bloke I'd be giving them the thumbs up as long as their beer googles hadn't creeped up! This girl was clearly jealous her friends were getting attention, she yelled at them, told them the guys were ugly anyway, it was rather amusing!

I let myself have a few treats but other than that super cheesy pizza and the poutine I was a good girl.....booze not included! You know, brown toast when I wanted eggs benedict, fruit smoothies when I wanted frappucinos! I didn't do soooooo bad! I lost a pound this week so that made me happy!

A phone call came as we were leaving the hotel, devastating news, like a punch in the face you didn't see coming, LD's dad was in the hospital. What was originally thought to be a slipped disk was much much worse! Can everyone out in bloggyland please please please send positive energy to LD and her family! Her dad has unexpectedly been touched by an illness and while it can not be cured they just want more quality time with him! So join me in sending light and love their way!! He's not done!!!!!!

Oh look, the slacker is back!

Lady Gaga put on an amazing show as was to be expected. Lots of fun costumes, audience interaction, she sounded great live and of course that little girl from Winnipeg stole my heart! I also had no idea that the Scissor Sisters were opening up for her so that was a fun surprise and our seats were much closer than I had anticipated so that was a treat! People in the crowd were dressed up, the cutest being the two gals in front of us in the photo above, they were a big hit!

The only complaint I have is it took Ms. Gaga an hour and a half to start her show. Seriously, the SS finished at 8:45pm and she didn't hit the stage until 10:15pm ... huh.....she played for 2 hours though!

Dog sledding was so much fun and a great workout! I'm not a fan of snow but I must say the further up north you go the prettier it is. It was the perfect day to go, not too cold, not too hot, snow had fallen the night before so the trails were in great condition. I was surprised at how hard it was to actually do though! Seriously, I was "driving" J and I in the beginning and asked "ummm J is it going to be this way the whooolllleeee time"? to which she replied "yes", I thought oh jeez! Whomever is "driving" aka standing on the back has to get off on hills and walk/run and push the sled up to help the dogs. That person also has to "skate" on flat ground to help push your passenger and yourself. We took turns driving and resting and it was really a lot of fun and soooo beautiful!

I fell in love with our lead dog Leroy, he was sooo freaking cute and had such a great little personality. (I'll never ever get lost in that jacket!)

Via some miracle, I lost a pound on my birthday week! Go figure! I went to the Cheesecake Factory and gorged myself on appetizers, shrimp scampi and ice cream cake. I also got a big ass piece of cheesecake to eat after my weigh in. I worked my ass off at the gym that week but I honestly thought I would stay the same. I was smart though, I ate half of my meal and saved the rest for lunch the next day, ate the cheesecake in nibbles over the week rather than in one sitting, only had one piece of birthday cake and voila, 3500 calories off my ass! I get it I get it, it could have been 7000 aka 2 lbs lost but meh, it was totally worth it!

I have my get together with friends this Saturday and will be heading to Montreal next weekend for a bachelorette party which should be a lot of fun! Seems like I'll be spending every waking moment in the gym this week to make up for my indulgences in the coming weekends! That's the good thing about me though, I'm like the gestapo with my points! If I haven't earned any or don't have any then I don't eat it! Kinda like a credit card, if you don't have the moolah to pay for whatever item you want then you don't buy it. So I may eat a piece of cake or gorge on appetizers but it will always be within my points limit!

Speaking of which....look what they were handing out after spin class today.......I'm giving mine to my niece!

Oh it's going to be an exciting week I can just feel it! I Miss Ash am going to see the lovely Lady Gaga, I bought these tickets last May.....can you imagine....who knows what the hell they're doing 10 months down the road! And apparently there's been some hoopla about a young fan taking the stage with her, I haven't actually read about the girl but have been told by a few people that something like that is happening. I'm just excited to see all of the creative outfits the fans will be wearing and of course to see Lady Gaga perform as she's kinda out there and I like that! And *gasp* she can actually sing!

I also have plans with J to finally go dog sledding on Sunday! The trails flooded in January when we had our original reservation so this will be our second attempt. I looked at the weather forecast for this particular area and it was cringe worthy.....100 % chance of rain on Saturday (possible flooded trails again?) and 20 cms of snow on Sunday (ummm icy flooded trails?). It's a good 3.5 hour drive from her place (4.5 from mine) so I'm really hoping for good weather. Those meteorologists are wrong half the time right!?! I sure as hell hope so!

Ah yes, then my special day will be arriving next week. I've taken it off though I'm not sure what I will do other than dinner with the fam. I might go for a hot stone massage and pamper myself a little bit! I deserve that, I'll be 33 *sigh*

I was perusing the net when I came across a status update "I'm enjoying a Shamrock Shake"!!!! WHOA!!!! I *heart* shamrock shakes and had nooooo idea they were back or around at all. This person lived in Florida....could the yummy shakes possibly be in my neck of the woods as well!?! Clearly it was a slow day at Miss Ash's place and I started to research aka google "shamrock shakes". Can you believe there is a website dedicated to shamrock shake sightings, I shit you not!

I laughed and laughed and of course looked and looked, mocking the people for writing on this site but loving them all at the same time. This not so good for you but oh so yummy green drink appears to have a cult following...who knew!

I desperately wanted one on Thursday but waited until my weigh in on Saturday to get one. I weighed in, went to a spin class and grabbed a shamrock shake on the way home!! Ah the perfect day!!!

I thought I'd give you all an update on my first 3 weeks on Weight Watchers. I gotta say it's really not so bad! I'm not hungry, I can eat what I want, I've even had *gasp* french fries and fatty Indian food but have also eaten more fruits and veggies than I have in a long time. The first week I spent getting used to the program and probably chose a higher points value for items that I was unsure about. Like pupusas....where the hell are they in the book?!? When in doubt I try to look at nutrition values online for similar foods and guestimate the points value. So the first week I lost a whopping 5 pounds! I hadn't even worked out that week so it was a lovely surprise!

The 2nd week I struggled a bit, I made poor choices which I was totally aware of I just didn't seem to care. My friend made a lovely lunch for us gals which consisted of appetizers, punch, pasta with oil & shrimp, dessert, salad...the list goes on! You think I'd have been full for the day but nope, that evening I chose crazy bread(IE sticks of pizza dough baked and smothered in garlic butter)and beer as my meal! That same week PP and I had reservations for a set menu at a restaurant so I told myself "no bread, a diet pop, eat half the ravioli and a taste of dessert"! Well that didn't happen, as soon as I opened the menu I saw "sextini", ate 2 pieces of bread, my whole ravioli plate and both her and my dessert! Oh yeah, I gained 1.4 lbs that week!

I got back on track this last week, watched what I ate, had a few extras but of course went to the gym regularly, did not go over my points target each day and lost 4.2 pounds!

The most difficult thing I'm finding is learning how to socialize without the food and the booze! My friends and I will often get together for dinner or drinks, it's what we do to relax on the weekend! Just last Friday I had an invite to a bar, two free bottles of booze and a VIP lounge. I declined, told the inviter why and he said "alright"! Not but two hours later I get a "come on, so and so is coming blah blah" so I agreed to meet at his house for a bit beforehand, diet pepsi in hand but still said no to the bar. Next thing you know I'm at his place looking up the points value for vodka and shaking my head. I did make it to the bar, had one drink, danced my ass off and was outta there by 12:30am because I had to weigh in at 8:30am and spin at 9:00am. That's sooooo not like me but I realize that it has to be a lifestyle change, I have to pick and choose what I'm going to use my extra points on, I had already used mine up that week and didn't have any extra to drink away and so I didn't.

I've lost 7.8 pounds in 3 weeks, I like the program because I can have a piece of chocolate or have some fries I just have to count them into my week. It will be a struggle though as I pretty much have to plan ahead and decide what I'm going to use my extra points on.....I can't go for all you can eat Japanese and out drinking in the same week. We went to see a play on Sunday and I knew the theatre only had chocolate covered almonds, cookies and ice cream as snacks so I packed some apple slices and a weight watchers bar into my purse in case I got the munchies. I'm going to Montreal for a weekend in the near future, I'm going to have to work out every day for hours prior to and pack the car with bags of fruit because I know I'm going to be eating out and drinking like a fish! But I'll also be dancing....maybe that will make up for the copious amounts of food and booze I plan to consume!

Ultimately it's my choice, do I get the poutine or the veggie stirfry, eat half of the meal or all of it? I'm in control I just have to make the right choices and I gotta say when I was out on the weekend watching all of the drunkies enjoying themselves...I was too! It was great to dance and laugh with my friends, but it also felt great to stay on track with my goals, go home early, weigh in and spin just as I had planned.

I used to be on msn 24/7 like literally left it running all day long. I've since found better ways to occupy my time and sign on every now and again to catch up with my friends which I enjoy. I don't know why I turned it on this particular afternoon, I had about 5 minutes before I had to be somewhere but signed in for the hell of it. Up popped a window with a "hey you" and a smiley face! Wow! Talk about a blast from the past, I briefly dated this guy years ago over a few months, I really really liked him, we had amazing chemistry and good times but it didn't work out and we went our separate ways. He's recently separated which explains his sudden contact with me, he's asked me to go out for a drink which I'm sure I will, neither of us is in a position right now to go that route again so it would be a friendly drink and I'm totally up for that as we always had a lot of fun and tons of laughs.

Not but two days later I see another window pop up on msn "you there" it asked. I'm staring at the name of the person thinking "you've got to be fucking kidding me"! This guy was more recent, a year ago to be exact, he treated me horrendously, constantly cancelling our dates, rescheduling, just an all around narcissistic douche who only cared about himself. He wanted to apologize for the way he had treated me which I welcomed, but told him it didn't really matter now as I was never going to make plans with him ever again. We chatted for a while, friendly banter, I try not to hold grudges and it was big of him to admit his douchebaggery but I honestly can't imagine seeing this person ever again.

Gotta love good ole technology!

Enjoy the weekend, it was soooooo warm and lovely here like 3 degrees or something for a few days then BAM it's minus who knows what today with 50km winds and we're getting 5-10 cm of the white shit tomorrow! Booooo!

This made my day, I laughed soooo hard when I watched this! Seriously it's 16 seconds, check it out! Enjoy the weekend everyone!!!

Ha! I saw this sign outside of a chuch and just had to take a photo! It almost makes me want to go there.......almost!

I watched a few episodes of Intervention this evening and started to laugh, not that addiction is funny but all I could think about was Rawbean once commenting "How can these people not know that they're on this show???" It's true, WTF, maybe they're too high to notice! It's been on for years, it's not like it would be a big surprise! "What do you mean I'm on Intervention" insert perplexed face!

I popped in to visit my friends cats after work as she is away and didn't the fire alarm start doing that loud "BEEP" "BEEP" every few minutes. Do you think I could find a chair high enough to hoist me up? Nope! I even tried pushing the couch under it and still could not reach. I called my friend who lives like 25 minutes away, it's freezing cold, dark and snowy and the lovey man showed up! He was shaking his head and laughing at me. It took him all of two seconds to change the battery, I thanked him and said good-bye, then I walked into one of the front rooms and saw a big ass ladder, DOH! I'm not telling him that! I seriously looked EVERYWHERE but that room! Worst looker ever right here!!

Apparently we're supposed to get some big ass storm over the next few days! Fingers crossed we get a snow day or two out of the deal! That would make me a very happy kitty! Sleeping in, flannels, tea and a good book *sigh*

Things are running much more smoothly than last week so Amen for that! The cellphone is fixed (Bell is still dead to me), I am the proud owner of a Toyota, it hasn't snowed too much lately and my cold is obviously gone! Woo hoo!

I can't believe I'm going to admit this but I think I'm going to give good ole Weight Watchers a try. Yes you read that correctly! I'm not gigantic but I'm not a skinny mini either and while I have the books that my lovely friend let me borrow, they're not doing the trick. I need to be accountable to someone other than myself or a friend, someone to shame me and tsk tsk me if I don't show some progress. It's worked for a few people that I know so why the heck not give it a whirl?!? Has anyone else out there tried the program and what were your thoughts?

I'm active, I love to go for bike rides and hike and spin and all that jazz but I also love to eat out at restaurants. I mean hello what's better than some veggie korma and naan? Seriously if I didn't go to the gym I'd probably weigh like 300 pounds (Not that there's anything wrong with that! Quick what show is that from?!?)! I have the exercising down pat I just need to get the food part together! Why oh why must a deep fried mars bar taste SOOOOOO delightful!

Anyway have a great weekend everyone! I plan to pick up my car tomorrow (YAY!) and quel surprise go out for some Thai food with a friend and sit and watch Inception in our comfies at his place. Like I'm not going to eat yummy food until I join...pfffff!!!

It has been a bit of a whirlwind week to say the least. Let's see, in no particular order I found out my car is dying, I got sick, my 5 month old cellphone broke and oh someone copied my bankcard and tried to get lotsa moolah out of my account and now there's a snow storm.... les sigh!

My car has been acting up forever, I thought my transmission was pooched so I took it in to be examined. I never did hear back about the tranny but I did get a laundry list of things that needed to be fixed and one page titled "DANGER". So needless to say I've started to test drive new cars. I think the Mazda 3's are sexy (the older ones circa 2008 not 2010, I don't think the newer ones are sexy at all) but might actually go for a practical Toyota! Who would have thunk!

Everyone around me last week was coughing and sneezing and germy, try as I might I could not avoid the inevitable, I got sick too! It started out as a head cold but quickly turned into a sore throat blah blah. I'm feeling much better now which is shocking. When I should have been sleeping and going to bed early I was staying up till 3am watching a marathon of some show called Inmates (2 days in a row) I had never seen before. It was fascinating!

I'm almost too angry to even discuss the cellphone bullshit! Colesnotes version: I got a BB 5 months ago, the screen went white, Bell refused to fix it under the warranty saying it was "accidental damage" and suggested I had dropped it or did something to break it meanwhile the damn thing was sitting on my desk at work and poof the screen turned white! Anyway my year long warranty does not cover such a thing and I had to spend $155 to get the screen fixed as they refused to do anything about it (other than try to sell me some shitty phone at a discount that would have cost them more than it would have to fix my damn phone for free!!!!) I've been with Bell for 14 years, they can kiss my ass at the end of my contract! They are dead to me!

The bank card/account being compromised was interesting, I found out by fluke when I looked at my bank book. Hmmm I thought to myself "I didn't take any money out today" so I called the bank. Turns out someone got my info and was withdrawing money at 2:30 in the morning, the fraud unit caught the thievery after the first transaction and immediately shut my card down to allow deposits only (which was good because the person tried a few more times to take out larger amounts). The thing that I don't understand is I found this all out at 6pm the next evening.....on my own......ummm WHY didn't anyone A)call to tell me this was happening and B)let me know that I would not be able to withdraw funds. What if I had bought gas (which I NEVER do with my bankcard ironically enough for this exact reason) after the bank had closed and tried to pay with my debit card "oh gee sorry Mr. gas man, I can't pay you but I don't know why"!!! Or what if I was going on vacation and needed to take out money and it was late at night?!? On one hand I'm grateful they caught everything soooo quickly, on the other I'm scratching my head wondering why the fuck no one called to tell me this happened or that I wouldn't be able to take money out until I went to the bank to change my info.

And then there's the storm, I had no idea it was even supposed to snow until everyone around me today was like ohhhhh 20 cm's ohhhhh you have a long commute ohhhhhh.....UGH!!!! On the bright side maybe just maybe tomorrow will be a snow day!!!!!

I had a great holiday but feel like I need more time off just to recoup from all of the socializing and very late nights! I'm still absolutely knackered! I suppose my internal clock is all out of whack and those very late nights make it very hard to get to sleep at a reasonable hour on a work night! I was up till 4am staring at the ceiling last night....dum di dum....

I know a lot of people are summarizing 2010 and I've enjoyed reading all of those posts but I'm not sure I have much to say about mine really. I didn't go on any big trips though I did see those Furries in PA, I continued on with my goal list which pushed me to try new things, I ventured out into the dating world and went on far more dates this year than I ever have before; some good some odd, I laughed, I cried and in retrospect 2010 was a good year! I've tried to spend more time on me and the way I view life. Sometimes I sweat the small stuff so to speak when in the grand scheme of things the irritants in my life are mere peanuts compared to what's actually going on in the world. The problem with growing more aware of myself and my thoughts and wanting to be a happier person is that I've noticed many people around me who are still sweating the small stuff. They complain non stop, they're negative and debbie downers 90% of the time, they yell and fuss about nothing really. I'm not sure I want to be around such energy anymore.....

I usually make one resolution or ambition as Claire calls it (I love that!) and this year I resolved to meditate 3 times per week minimum and threw in a 2nd to not get so defensive as I find from time to time my little ego gets a big miffed for no reason at all. It should all be water off a ducks back as they say!

Of course there are other things that I will try to do but those two will be my main focus. I'd also like to go to the gym regularly, read more often, keep a gratitude journal, take my bloody vitamins that have been wasting away in my cupboard and of course just enjoy life to the absolute fullest! We only have one and it should be lived with love and happiness! It's taken me 32 years but I think I'm finally getting it!!!

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!!!!