That's Right.

I'm bringing sexy back.

Update.

It is a beautiful saturday morning and I am sitting outside by the pond eating my usual breakfast (yogurt, berries and all-bran mixed together - very healthy btw) and I thought that maybe I should take the time and write down a couple of the fun things that have happened in the last week or so.

Jam -
Monday before my birthday, Jessika, Chris, Greg and I went to Jam Martini Bar in downtown Oakville for food and drinks. It was a pretty fun night eating sushi and lychee martinis filled to the brim. It was Greg's birthday starting at midnight Tuesday, so we all waited until midnight to go our separate ways so we could all be the first to wish him a Happy Birthday. After that we stopped at Tim Horton's, did some driving around Meadowvale (lol) and walked in a very dark and creepy park by my old house in Oakville. It ended up being pretty fun.

Birthday -
My birthday was pretty good this year minus the time I spent at work. I picked up a shift because I am such a nice person, and ended up being there for three hours (which was fine) but made hardly any money. On top of that, I seemed to have misplaced money so I walked out with even less than I meant to make. After that I went home and had an amazing nap. I woke up and my family took me out to the Mandarin. It wasn't my first choice, but it ended up being pretty good. Jessika also came for it so it was fun. My family got me a new tennis racquet, tennis balls, a water bottle and a tennis bag. My tennis instructor and I keep missing our appointments, so I STILL haven't used it yet. After dinner, and an embarrassing birthday song and photo from the people at the Mandarin and my family, Jessika and I went over to her place, chatted and went to Boston Pizza because I wanted to do Karaoke. I basically spent my entire birthday at work. Which, didn't end up being so terrible because there were a lot of staff there doing karaoke and my manager just kept handing me (free) drinks. Thanks Ian! I really wanted to sing Escape by Enrique, so a few of us went up and sang it amazingly, as well as an AC/DC song that I forget the name of. Not a crazy birthday, but it just what I wanted.

This Tuesday -
Greg took me to a belated birthday dinner once I got back into the city. We went to a place called Latitude in Oakville, which is a restaurant that changes their menu every month. We had wine and dinner which was really nice, and then went to downtown Burlington and sat by the water. Burlington seems pretty nice, I want to go back there during the day and look around.

Canada Day -
I worked for the majority of Canada Day, but when I was done I went to Jessika's parents place with her and Chris. Her parents have a penthouse condo suite on the 22nd floor overlooking Toronto and the Lake. We could basically see every single firework going off in the GTA (due SE). It was a pretty amazing way to see fireworks. They were going off all over the place, all the time for about an hour straight. It was really neat.

This Friday -
I worked all day and got off early so Jessika and I went to Oakville Place for dinner and a chat. We ended up being there until it closed and went to my place for a hot tub. It was a pretty picturesque night too. Not a cloud in the sky.


I have to work till close tonight because of UFC and then open tomorrow morning. Gah. I am looking very forward to having a couple days off. Rachel and I are going to go for dinner on sunday, and I may even see Jordan at the end of the weekend who is visiting from New York.
METRIC next friday!! So excited. I haven't been to the Amphlitheatre for years, and it was a pretty terrible experience the last time I went so hopefully it is super fun this time around. Unfortunately, my amazing management decided that Saturday morning at 8am after my concert would be the perfect time for a staff meeting. So there goes any ideas of staying in Toronto for the night. Bummer.

That's the sum up for the last week or so.
On top of all of that, I got my job at Credit Valley, and won a $500 Blackberry Bold in a raffle during the EMS Soiree I went to a few weeks ago. Never won anything before, so I figured that was a good sign that I got it the night I met all the people involved in the foundation. Other than that, things have been pretty constant around here. I am finally starting to look for apartments for September so I can have my little goofy living with me again. I miss my kitty. The summer has been pretty exciting and fun so far, considering my three jobs. I still have a ton of time to just lie by the pool and drive around in my car (Roxanne).

Okay, shower time then headed to the mall to do some shopping. There are great sales on EVERYWHERE right now. It's amazing. I am looking for another pair of Ray Ban's today and maybe a new swimsuit. Not paying rent or groceries helps me save a hell of a lot of money! Might as well go spend some! Especially since I found out that I can still fit in kid sizes - I bought a nice dress that I will probably wear today for $5.

Ciao for now.

Hot Tub.

I am not usually a fan of hot tubs, but I found myself sitting in one for 2 hours tonight. I rather enjoyed it, minus the fact that I was prune-y and it chipped my french pedicure I got last week for my birthday. Grrr!
C'est la vie.

I'm trying a new template for my blog. It looked kind of cool.

Gah, I am so bored. I am looking up new bathing suits online. BUT I fell in love with my Body Glove bathing suit, so I am trying to find another one in the same style. Apparently, it is hard to find a brasilia style bathing suit. The style is so flattering and is pretty hot because it only covers half of the bum. I am glad I am one of the few that can pull it off. Fingers crossed for never getting pregnant. Ever. God forbid, how terrible would that be? Ick.

Strike Two.

After another attempt at love, I have failed. Big surprise. Why is it that every time I tell myself I should be single, someone comes along, or re-comes along and screws it up? I wish it worked out this time.
Alas, it did not. I always seem to pick the wrong ones.

At least I have Metric to see next week, it is going to be a killer good time. Finally going to have some time off! I already cannot wait for Monday so I can relax by the pool. I'm not a fan of working full-time. I am definitely a person who enjoys working part-time hours but makes full-time salary.

I am so pooped. Looking forward to a great sleep, and waking up early for a tennis lesson with my new PINK racquet. :D

23.

What a great birthday.
I truly love my family and friends.

ahh.

That definitely helps me sleep.

Wow.

I have had a truly amazing week. I don't have time to write about it right now, but I just wanted to get that down.
Damn, I miss you.

OMG

Everything is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn't ask for anything more!

Fingers Crossed!

Tomorrow is a big day. I finally have my introduction to the hospital world (again). I am attending a huge gala of Dirty Docs and Naughty Nurses hosted by the Credit Valley Hospital. I will be having a very relaxed type interview and hopefully (fingers crossed!!) this will be my big break. Things have been going so well lately, I hope I am not jinxing it.

On a sidenote, I drove back from Kitchener tonight in the pouring rain on the 401, which is hardly lit. I honestly was gripping the steering wheel so tightly because I thought I was going to die. No more driving in the rain for me. Especially since it eats away all of my gas.

I had my first tennis lessons today, which was pretty fun. I'll be doing it twice a week. I have been told that tennis players are some of the hottest athletes out there, so hopefully it will help me keep in shape. I do not want to become a size 1. God forbid. Lol, kidding.

Off to sleep thinking of you. Muah!

Cutie.

I miss my little goofy.

Spontaneous and Elated.

That was the best 24 hours I have had in a very long time. I am not sure the last time I have been this happy. Someone must have heard my prayers and thought I deserved for it all to come true.

I Want You.

Exactly like I used to.

Jays!

Going to the Jays game tonight for the first time in years. Pretty pumped, should be a good time!!!

Comptine D'Un Autre Ete.

My favorite piano song. I listened to it for the first time in a while and realized how much I wished that you perfected playing it for me. It truly is a beautiful song.

Brown.

I am the same shade of brown/red that I was when I first returned from Dominican.
Yowza.

I <3 the sun. I <3 lying by the pool. I <3 swimming. I <3 summer!

L-o-s-e-r.

I had quite a fabulous weekend... until this moment. I am very unimpressed with myself.
Right when I pull into the driveway to park my car and lock it, i walk towards the door and realize that my keys are still in the car. The car is locked. I have my house key as well as BOTH sets of my car keys in the car that is locked. Still in the ignition, I may add.
I am not going to worry about this too much tonight, but it seems that I will be breaking into my car tomorrow morning.
Anyone know anything about breaking into cars?
If so, msg me.
Ha, kidding.

Seriously. Please call me.

Happy Day.

Today has started off well and it's not even noon. I just got a second job (woo) and I get to pick up my kitty today! I haven't seen her smooshy little face in weeks and I cannot wait. Plus, she is going to be in Oakville so I can visit her anytime I want until she is living with me again. I also get to let go of a couple of people from my past today, so that is also very exciting. Moving in a forward direction is very important right now.
The only sad thing about today is the fact that I have to stop by my house in Guelph. I haven't been there in weeks either and it sucks to keep realizing that I will not be returning in the fall. Sad face. However, life in the GTA is looking promising. Plus, I am probably going up north for part of the long weekend. That should be really nice also.

It's hard to believe that a year ago I was returning to Ontario from Victoria. What a terrible idea that was. My life would have been completely different. I should've stayed and kept with my original plans to live there for 4 months.
REMINDER: Never give up your plans for boys.
This summer is kind of a continuation from last summer of being single, having a ton of fun and relaxing with cool people. So far the single life has treated me well, I am having a great time being able to go anywhere I want at any time, and I am hanging out with people that enjoy having a good time. I just need to stay focused on the fun part, and not the relationship part because for the first time, it's nice not having to tell someone my every movement. It's freedom at its best. Since I have a slightly addictive personality, I think I will enjoy this lifestyle for a while.
Fingers crossed I do not screw it up again.

Off to spend my lunch lounging on a patio, most likely drinking a martini.
Life is so much better when it is non-dramatic and stressful.

Lusting.

At work today I discovered a very prevalent lust towards married business men in the 30s. I'm not sure what it is exactly that has driven me towards this selection, but I like it. I enjoy working during lunch more than I ever have.

:D

MUSIC!

Woooo, finally got my car adapter for my ipod today. I can listen to something other than the radio now!!!!!

YAY!!!

I get to see my baby on Tuesday!!! So excited.

Damnit.

Every moment I think of you it is surreal.
It still makes me ponder what if.

I hate that.

Hermit Lifestyle.

I just got home from work and realized how lonely I am. It doesn't seem to matter where I am and what I try to do to change it. I hear one song and it destroys me.
I am going to be a hermit for a little while so I do not feel constant disappointment from anyone, but myself.

Vroom Vroom!

After a couple months of looking, and hours sitting in front of a computer, I have FINALLY found a car!
Car in Possession - CHECK!
Insurance - CHECK!
License Plates - CHECK!
Full Tank of Gas - CHECK!

Totally cute car and loving it - CHECK CHECK CHECK!!!

All I need is to go on a road trip now into the country on a nice day. I cannot wait. Thursday sounds promising.
:D
Still seems quite surreal, doesn't feel like it is mine. But it is!
Yay!

Blog.

It has been brought to my attention that there is a hate blog that someone made in 2008 about me. I do know who this person is, or at least I can guess with a very high certainty.
If you see this, please delete it.
It's a little silly after all this time, don't you think?

Concerts.

So, I looked into who is coming to Toronto this summer, and there are actually a few good bands.
1. Metric
2. Kings of Leon
3. Jack Johnson
4. MGMT is here this week, missed the boat on that one.
5. The Eagles w/Dixie Chicks
Need to look into this for sure. Especially since the first 3 are at the Molson Amphitheatre. Love it.

Sniff.

mmmm, the clothes I am wearing to bed STILL smell like Dominican. I went, what, over 2 months ago?
I guess it's a perk of having a ridiculous amount of clothing.

Sniff sniff.

I hope I have the same type of dreams as last night. They were incredibly enjoyable. I wish all my dreams were like that... all the time. I don't really want to share what they were, but I will say that they did involve incredibly tight jeans on a certain male. That is all. And no, the male is not who you are most likely thinking of.

Yum yum.

Hot Chocolate.

A couple days ago, I had the best frozen Hot Chocolate I have ever had. It was from Godiva. It was milk chocolate raspberry, and had raspberry puree at the bottom and chunks of milk chocolate in it. So good.
I just want to remember this because it was absolutely delicious.
This is how exciting my life has become.

At least I start working today. That should help.

Hunt Hunt Hunt.

Looking for a car... hunting for a car. So far with no avail.
Everyone keeps saying "why are you so set on a VW?" Well, my answer is - I have always wanted one, so I am GOING to get one. I am determined. Hopefully I will be able to have more luck now that I am learning standard transmission. It's kind of scary when you first start out, but we will see how it goes. I am ready for it! Bahahahaha, can't wait to start driving!!! I have a feeling I am going to be a terrible driver. Watch out.

Rant.

Every time I will hear from you this summer, I will be sick to my stomach. There are only a few people that have made me feel so low of a person as you have. I truly hope that I do not hear from you often because even a day like today where I have felt amazing, with one message I feel like the sex bomb you have made me out to be. Aka - nothing of value. Maybe Jordan was right, I only have 2 options if all I am is a sex bomb - stripper & prostitute. Both very viable options for a sex bomb. I might as well use my body to make money since apparently I am not beautiful, or a beautiful person - all I am good for is my ass and boobs.
Maybe you are right, all I am is a sex bomb.


Who would want to love a sex bomb?

Exhibitionist.

That I am.
I rather enjoy showering, changing and dancing naked (among other things) in front of open windows. There is a thrill that someone may be watching me. I may be a slight pervert, but I have fun with it.

PS: I FORGOT - GOT A JOB!

Moving Time.

It took me a couple hours, but I have all my stuff in a big ol' pile. I honestly cannot believe I am moving away from Guelph. Tomorrow is going to be a very difficult day. Thank goodness I have to come back a couple days next week, because I feel like I will be very lonely in the beginning. I already feel myself getting in a rut - eating poorly, not jogging as often, sleeping in late... I really hope for the best this summer, but I have a feeling that I will be quite miserable for the time being. It's going to take me a while to get over all of this. Moving further away is just going to make me feel more empty.
Please let me get a job soon, so I stop being so emo.

Drunk.

oh boy, Jordan you make really strong drinks. Today has turned out to be a great day, DONE SCHOOL, possible jobs, Pizza Hut and now drunk on Lychee Martinis..
Yes, I like my nipples buttered. Thank you.

FINGERS CROSSED FOR A JOB THIS WEEK!!!!!

Moving this weekend. Yikes.

I am suntanning tomorrow, even if it's only 15 degrees... going to stop babbling now.

bachelorette.

She had to choose between two people. One she did not love but would do anYthing for her and one she loved unconditionally. Where do you draw the line and decide if love overweighs everything else? Apparently in this bachelorette episode the girl chose love. Unfortunately, the boy did not love her back and she ended up alone anyways.

help.

My heart is beating like a hammer. hoping for the best this weekend.

Job Interview!

I just called from my favorite restaurant in the entire world (Lonestar Bar and Grill) for an interview next week!
YAYYYYY!

Holy Shit I'm good.

In the last seven hours of constant work (with a lunch break) and 4.5 hours of class, I have made a HUGE dent in the work I had to do this week.
Here is an update.

Included in this is:
SEVEN page paper.
TWELVE page re-write paper.
QUIZ (got 88%)
THIRTY-FIVE page logbook.
ONE page paper.

Now, I can breathe for the rest of the night, relax, then start studying for my midterm on thursday.
ALMOST DONE MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!
In the process of this, I even applied to five jobs. I am on a roll.

Second Chance.

I was walking through campus this morning when I saw numerous trees with green buds and green grass all around. It made me feel elated that nice weather is coming and will be here to stay.
This idea made me think about how New Year's is the time of year to change your habits and feel better about yourself. However, while I was looking at the changing of seasons of winter to spring, it dawned on me that I disagree with this. I had never thought about how the four changing of seasons could be seen as a chance to change bad habits and feel better about yourself. It makes me feel better knowing that you have the chance to do this four times a year, rather than once a year during the most miserable (I think) season of the year - winter. I think that if you remind yourself at the beginning of the four seasons, you can change for the better, you will be more likely to change because you are reinforcing your thoughts more than once a year.

I like the sound of that.

This Week will be the Death of Moi.

I have decided to post a list of all the stupid work I have to do in the next week.


This is the most updated version of it...

Hopefully by tomorrow, I will have another couple crossed off. I am doing this because I honestly did not think I could get through all the work. But I am determined to prove myself wrong. I am even going to the extreme to say that I will get everything but 2 of them done by friday evening so I can relax and enjoy my weekend.
Here's to hoping that my motivation will continue through the week. However, I will see how I am feeling after heading to The Manor tomorrow night. MUST REMEMBER TO LIMIT ALCOHOL INTAKE!!!

Madi.

Thank goodness my kitty likes to cuddle.
I need all the love I can get.

La La Gahhhh.

I cannot sleep because I am thinking of you.





And my future car.

WIN WIN!

After numerous successful attempts at Roll-up-the-rim-to-lose, I have FINALLY WON a coffee.
I can officially say that Roll-up-the-rim-to-win is now accurate.

bus sex.

I am sitting in a seat on the bus and a random question came to mind - I wonder how many different buses and how many seats on these buses I have sat on have been used as a sex cushion. I have taken many bus rides in my existence and I bet there are more bus-horny people out there than one would care to admit. Ew.

A Little Push.

I seem to have lost my motivation to do anything lately. It is truly pathetic.
However, the one thing that I am motivated to do, and have been doing for the last week or so is to go for a jog everyday. I find that i can get out my frustration of myself and the world around me with some music and concrete underneath my feet. I actually jogged 5KM today. I was pretty impressed with myself that I could just go for 35 minutes straight without feeling like I wanted to hurl. It does make me feel better about things going on, even just for a brief period of time.

On top of that, I cannot even listen to some of my favorite music right now because it makes me think of you. I do not want to think of you at all, considering we lead so completely different lives and have absolutely no future, but I can't seem to get your perfect face out of my mind.
Cruel.

Yikes.

So, at work tonight I served a very strange man... He kind of seemed like a pedophile type and was with his wife (who seemed quite normal).

He included his entire life story, including:
- His failed marriage
- The ex-wife who was a crazy drug addict
- The ex-wife who had been to rehab 6 times
- The ex-wife that was sleeping with their family doctor
- The ex-wife's doctor who he SUED for sleeping with his wife
- The lawsuit he WON
- How incredibly dysfunctional his 28-year-old son is because of his ex-wife
- All of this happened 24 years ago
- The same year he married his current wife

Apparently, some people never get over things... This puts my life into perspective and how AMAZING it is compared to some.

Bottom line: NEVER tell people you are in psychology and interested in dysfunctional behavior. :S

Muahahahah!

I am pretty much amazing. I procrastinated until 10:00pm to do an assignment worth 25% of my grade. However, it is 11:56pm (4 minutes before it is due) and I am typing this message to remind myself how amazing I am. I completed an EIGHT page paper in less than 2 hours tonight.
I do not know why I worry so much about my grades, because it always seems that I can work better with less time to do it.

Through everything going on this past little while, I can go like this to the world.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I beat you this time :)


Another thing that made me enjoy today - I called Telus and complained about my past bill (which I am late paying by a week) and they deducted $30 off this month and they managed to cut down my bill by a total of $200/year. Don't ask me how, because I have absolutely no idea. But I am not complaining at all, I am just thankful that I had such a nice lady to speak to today!

Changing of Seasons.

I thought this beautiful weather would make me feel better about things, but it hasn't.
I thought getting out of the city would help, but it didn't.
I thought buying new expensive things would help, but it didn't for long.
Life is changing so much, and there are so many unknowns that I should be excited about, however I feel like I am leaving behind one thing that I will never forget. It is making me want to stay in bed all day and wait for something amazing to happen. It feels unbelievable when it is around, and when it's not, I feel empty.
I just need to keep reminding myself that I am leaving soon, and I have a second chance (well, more like 20th chance) to turn over a new leaf and be happy in my surroundings. Loneliness seems to be a really good friend of mine, but I would love to disown this friend and meet happiness and comfort and become best friends.
Here is to wishing upon a star.

Gah.

I really do not enjoy being included in work gossip.
Just for the record, most things you hear are NOT true.

Bike Ride!

So excited. I will be going on my first bike ride since last summer tomorrow. I probably should be studying for my midterm, but why not get some exercise. I hope the weather is nice...

I Agree.

we just want to remember the view from the top, the breathtaking moment at the edge of the world - that is what keeps us climbing. And it's worth the pain. It's worth everything.

Holy Cow.

News spreads fast around these neighborhoods.

Sad Song.

Sometimes the last thing you want comes in first and sometimes the first thing you want never comes.
I know waiting is all you can do sometimes.



Today I looked over beside me and someone was dressed the same, was carrying the same purse and talking on the same phone. Creepy.

Gone to sleep.

Sigh.
I am going to sleep after getting 2 B+ today.
Although I shouldn't be, I am going to sleep thinking of you.

Ahem?

Not so Fun.

After royally screwing up a due date for a submission worth 40% of my grade, I have been sitting in front of my computer for the past.. oh, 4 hours writing.
I have written 4000 words (15 pages) within this time.

My eyes are sore and I just want some chocolate cake!

Ew.

Definitely still look like a leper.

Revolutionary Rebel.

Last night I went and saw another documentary about using your spirituality towards action for a better planet. I left half way through and went to Chapters because I had a moment that I had to produce change, even on a small scale. I bought a book about finding your passions in life, and I want to find something to fight for. I want to be an activist for something, and it will probably be for animals. More specifically, dolphins. I do want to see the world be a better place, and it would be so rewarding and AMAZING if I could be a revolutionary rebel - to create the change people say they want to do, but actually make the change happen.


I thought of a somewhat interesting probably-not-to-anyone-else kind of quote while I watched the film.
It may not be summer, but I am always green inside.

Evergreen.

My teddy bear smells like Dominican still.
It's like going to sleep with a little ball of relaxation and happiness.


Yes, I still sleep with a teddy bear.

Life Moment.

Wow, just saw my courses for next semester... My last 2 classes are offered on the same day, back to back.
What does this mean?
It means I will not be returning to Guelph in the fall like I originally thought. In a month and a half I will be done living in Guelph, living in the same house I've lived for 3 years... longer than most houses (maybe one exception) I've lived in my entire life.
I can't believe how quickly life can change after finding out one "small" detail.
I will be in Mississauga indefinitely starting in April.

Life moment. Scary.

On the edge of my seat!

Oh boy, trying to get this Dominican thing sorted out is quite the hassle. Travel agents can be so useless sometimes. This time tomorrow I will be in Dominican living (and loving) life. I cannot wait!!
Fingers crossed everything works out, and that the weather isn't completely terrible.

Side note: (kind of cool).
My 100th post on this blog will be written while I am drinking a strawberry daiquiri just off the beach.
That makes me happy.

I'm going to miss my kitty.

Happy Valentine's Weekend.

It's been really, really great...

Swim Free.

I have always thought that in my second life I would be a fish, but after watching The Cove, I have determined that I would be, in fact, a dolphin. For those that have seen this documentary, I will NOT be one of the dolphins in the film (they were slaughtered). For those who have not seen this documentary, I recommend prompt action in watching this film in hope that it promotes change.

addicted!

Since I got a blackberry I cannot seem to stay off of it. The constant beeping and vibrates make me feel busy and important. No wonder people get these. Blackberrys are an ego booster. This explains so much. :p

Quote.

Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "you owe me". Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky.
- Hafiz

Crazy Kitten.

Apparently my cat is on something this morning.
She has already ran into my mirror full-speed and is trying to climb the walls.

Break Away.

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly.
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky.

I need a change.

It's a KITTY!

Madison is the newest member to our household.
Madi is the cutest thing ever. Pictures soon!

Holy crap.

So glad this week is over! It felt like exam week... so much stuff to do.
Finally I can do this...


DEEP BREATH. Relaxation. Hummmmmm.

Poonanner.

Man I feel terrible. I have come down with strept throat and haven't left my house all day.
I really did enjoy fainting in the middle of Metro yesterday. What a treat.

Tuesday was great though, got my first Coach bag :)

Awesome.

f.....m.....l....

Note...

I am listening to music and iTunes is always on shuffle. I find that my mood reflects the songs presented. For example, if I have to click next a bunch of times in a row, it's going to be a rough day (like today). However, when I get a stream of songs I like in a row, it turns out to be a good day. I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks that way.
Probably.

Cunundrum.

Here by my side, an angel.
Here by my side, the devil.

I'm trying to figure out which way to sway....
As they say, I am stuck between a rock and a hardplace.

Damn it.

Puff Plus!

Brent has just gone to get me some Puff Plus Kleenex with Lotion... finally my nose with forgive me for the constant pain I have inflicted on it the past few days.
I am sorry little nosie.

Ugh...

Not feeling so hot... Definitely think I'm getting sick.
:(

Balls.

I just found the same vacation we are going on for more than $100.00 less. Fack.

Apparently my timing is incredibly off because today I forgot I was on an on-call shift and went in anyways, and of course they didn't need me. At least I got free breakfast out of the deal.

It's amazing how bored I am the past few days. There is nothing to do before school starts up again, especially when there is no one in Guelph to hang out with. I resort to doing the dishes and doing laundry instead. Woo, how fun.

Fate.

So I tried to use my credit card to play some online poker since I was bored, but for some reason my bank has blocked my new credit card from my gambling habit. In turn, I went on amazon and ordered some studying books for the GRE instead. Apparently, someone up there doesn't want me gambling they want me to focus on my future.
Go figure.

Return of school work.

After almost a month off, I will be returning to school on Tuesday. I feel like my school is incredibly slack since every other school has returned to school this week. I can't really complain or the cold water and shaving cream fight would not have happened. I totally won that fight, btw.
Bowling this weekend :)

Cute.

Brush brush. Oink oink oink. Brush brush. Oink oink oink.

Quote.

I was just reading this and enjoyed it.
Straightforward and true.

"Pride is a very common failing I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us."

-Jane Austen

Official Booking!

WOOO! Just officially booked a trip down to Dominican for reading week!
So pumped!!

New Trip!

After many-a-hours glued to the computer screen, I think (I hope!) we have decided on where we are going for Reading Week next month. I'm not going to say where it is so that I don't jinx anything, but if all goes well it will be planned and booked by tomorrow!!! I cannot wait.

Sidenote: Sherlock Holmes was a very quirky movie, minus the blackouts and sound issues. :p

Food fight!!!

I must say, I rather enjoy whipped cream fights.

First Post of 2010.

A new year, a new beginning... or whatever.
I like to think that the "new year" is a continuation of the good things from the year past, but also a reason to change the unpleasant things that make you sad or disappointed in the world around you (mostly the things you do yourself).

KATY'S GOALS OF 2010.

- Graduate!
- Write a romance novel
- Get romance novel published
- Study and write GRE by end of summer
- Get my license... again.
- Get a car
- Travel to at least 2 different countries (by plane) -Greece, Thailand, Dominican (for a holiday)
- Get a job (a decent job)
- Apply to grad schools by the end of 2010
- Read at least 1 fun novel every 2 weeks
- Go for a jog every 2 days (everyday during the summer)
- Continue to eat very healthy
- Continue to keep alcohol consumption minimal
- Practice flute once a week
- Get straight A's in final semester of school
- Graduate with ZERO debt, including credit card

Bottom line: enjoy life and be happy. Love, oh and more love.

The Holidays.

I can't complain. Everything has been great this Christmas holiday.
On the friday before Christmas, Brent picked me up and we decided it would be nice to go to the Rude Native for a couple drinks. We got there pretty late so all the drinks were cheap cheap cheap. I got us a couple glasses of Presecco to celebrate Brent's raise, and we had mostly empty mussels and flatbread. We sat around for a while and talked about religion and other topics before we headed back to Brent's apartment.


The following morning, Brent and I had planned a full day of celebrating Christmas together. We woke up early, stopped at Tim Horton's and split a bagel on the way into Toronto. We first stopped in Oakville to go to my favorite chocolate shop in the world - Bernard Callebaut. Unfortunately, they only have 2 locations in all of Ontario, so we stocked up on some very delicious chocolate (which are like 2$ each) and had Lick's for lunch. We hopped back onto the highway, snacked on a couple chocolates and tried to find our hotel in Yorkville. Since Brent will not purchase a GPS, I guided us through Toronto and found the Marriott at Yonge & Bloor. Perfect! It was a little later than we planned by the time we got to the hotel room, so instead of going down to the Eaton Centre (on the busiest day of the year for shopping, PLUS the subways were not working) we decided to look around in the stores in Yorkville. I definitely enjoyed shopping around Holt Renfrew, and it was the first sale I had ever really seen in that store. We had to get back to the hotel room to get ready before our (early) reservation. Brent had grown out his beard that week SPECIFICALLY for one of my Christmas presents, which was for him to grow a sexy mustache for our night out. He adopted the nickname Luigi for the night because he was wearing yellow and looked like a Super Mario Brother.

I realized we had not printed off the tickets for the Nutcracker, so I went on a crazy hunt to find a place to print them off. The stupid receptionist told me the wrong time, so I started freaking out because we were going to miss our reservation (a watch didn't go with my outfit). I zoomed back up to the room all wired and rushing, and Brent told me we still had plenty of time and he moved the reservation. :) Perfect as always. I got to relax for a few minutes and we opened cards and presents before we walked over to Sassafraz for dinner. Sassafraz is my new favorite restaurant (for the time being). Sole is definitely still up there. We ordered ridiculous martinis and had olive bread, oysters and blueberry- goat cheese salad, lamb and rabbit ravioli.





The meal was to die for. Unfortunately we were running quite late (as always), so we didn't get to enjoy dessert at the restaurant. We pretty much ran out of the restaurant and caught a cab that brought us to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. We had to still get our tickets, so we rushed to do that and bolted upstairs to our seats. We just entered as The Nutcracker started. It was quite a good show, but Brent and I kept catching errors in the orchestra and dancing. We are too cynical I think. During the intermission, I dealt with some very stupid women in the washroom, scarfed down some Haggen Daaz ice cream and went back to finish the show. Once it was over, we walked down to the subway and took it back up to our hotel. Brent ordered some pizza, and we sat in bed watching Superbad until Brent passed out.

A couple days later, I was off to Mississauga for Christmas. I bused to Hamilton, which took much longer than it should have and met up with my sister. My dad brought us to Tim Horton's for a snack, had a doughnut for the first time in a while (it was sooo amazing) and drove down to Port Credit. Of course, there was no snow on the ground and it looked like spring, but nonetheless it was Christmas. My sister and I went up to Square One for some shopping, then we headed back and had steak for dinner. I knitted while drinking plenty of wine and went to bed early.
On the Tuesday, we went downtown to see the Nutcracker... again. It was a gift for my sister and I. We took the train in, which was hilarious because this older woman LITERALLY gasped when I made an error knitting and we stopped at Eggspection for brunch before the matinee show. I had Eggs Benedict and felt incredibly sick afterwards. We walked around the mall for a bit, then headed over to see the show. We were in the sixth row this time, so the show was incredibly different. The Sugarplum fairy hurt herself during her duo with the Nutcracker so a substitute had to come on. I was literally surrounded by little girls and boys and I wanted to steal one of them. This little girl was totally silent throughout the entire show and was adorable. After that, we took the train back to Mississauga and went over to my family's house. We exchanged gifts which included some very embarrassing home videos from when I was little. Oh boy. My sister and I helped down 3 bottles of wine (before 6pm) and headed back to my dad's place for sushi and more alcohol. Unfortunately I was still feeling really sick so I talked to Brent quickly before sleep and passed out pretty quickly.
On Christmas Eve, I decided to sleep in. After lunch, Jessika came over and we went to Paradiso in Oakville for a late lunch. Her mom really wanted to see me, so we headed to her parent's place for a visit and to exchange gifts. She dropped me off and Lin had arrived for dinner. We had lobster for dinner which was pretty good minus the literal shit that comes out of them. My sad lobster's name was Chad.





I was pretty tired after dinner since we eat so late, so I talked to Brent before I headed to sleep.
Christmas Day was nice and relaxing. It always seems to go by so quickly no matter what you are doing. We all woke up and had mimosas and Panetone for breakfast before we opened presents. I got the tv that I wanted and a bunch of other small goodies. During the afternoon, my grandparents came over as well as other guests. We started drinking early and I definitely finished early. My sister and I got a little inappropriate with the reindeers on the table. Ohhh no. By the end of the night, I had a bottle of Presseco planted right in front of me, and drank until I chatted with my lovely boyfriend and passed out before everyone even left. Good Christmas.

This past sunday was the first time I got to see my bb in almost a week. It was so nice. I finished work early, and Brent made his way down to Guelph pretty fast after that. We didn't even make it back to Waterloo for a couple hours. We drank some tea and watched some TV before we headed to bed.
Monday, well, we didn't leave the house until we went to my aunt's place around dinnertime.



We watched Planet Earth and The Hangover in bed. We had dinner at my aunt's and hung out for a bit. Brent left earlier to meet up with some people and I stayed around and took the bus back to Waterloo. Met up with Brent at his apartment and a bunch of people I didn't know and hung around until everyone left for the bar. Brent and I stayed around and watched some tv until Brent fell asleep on the couch.
I have to work tonight, but then tomorrow!!! It's New Years Eve! Brent and I are going to get a bunch of party stuff to jazz up his apartment.. including a big uncomfortable birthday hat for the birthday boy. It should be a good time.

I think that is a long enough post to last me, oh, until after new years. Then I can write about the randomness of that night I am sure. Just want to say how excited I am to be bringing in the New Year with the most amazing man I have ever known, and his cool friends too. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone and all the amazing things that have happened.

Happy New Year. Hopefully you all remember the next day :)

Christmas.

Drinking on Christmas truly is a highlight of my year.
I am drinking Icewine right now for the first time since Cali, and I can honestly say it does not taste as good as it did in Napa Valley. Getting drunk at 11am is hard to beat, especially since it was paired with dark chocolate. OH laa laa. I love California (and ice wine/ dessert wine!!!!!!)
And my love. I can't forget my love. I love you bb.

I'm sorry.

I am a terrible person, meanwhile... you are amazing. I love you.

Crackin' Nuts.

Brent and I booked tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet a month ago, and finally we are going this weekend! We haven't been to Toronto for a couple months, so it will be nice to relax together.
It will be filled with Victoria, Bernard, Nutcracker, Marriott, Sassafraz.
I have been looking forward to it for weeks!
I won't be seeing Brent for at least a week during the holidays because I have a job and our families live in different cities, so we are doing our gift exchange on Saturday when we go to Toronto. I have got Brent a total of, I think 11 gifts so far. Including 3 more after Christmas for a Christmas/Birthday ubber amazing celebration.
Fingers crossed for Dominican over reading week!

Puppy no more.

So after Dash left, I started looking for a puppy.
I found this one. His name is Harley.

Unfortunately the trailer-trash owners gave him away today, after they has told me I could have him.
So now I don't have my puppy either. :(

:( :)

Kitty no more :(
I cried a little.

Putting up the Christmas tree and dancing to music was perfect. Sole.
THE BRICK will always be in my memory, but mostly because of your cute giggles.

Sent From Above.

Last night Lydia noticed a little kitty sitting outside on our deck, so we invited him in. On today of all days in the year, it seems like someone sent him to me from above.
He hasn't left yet.



I don't usually like cats but Dash (since he is Dashing handsome and FAST) is so cute and cuddly. He slept with my toes last night at the end of my bed. He isn't very old, and he is definitely someone's house cat, but I can't seem to part with him. He is very sweet.
He seems to have a foot fetish.
He always lies right at my feet when I am walking and sits on the stairs so I can't continue up them.
This is not the first animal to come into our house. We are pet whisperers. We have had a vole, chipmunk, frog, dog and cat.
He is the cow kitty.
I am hoping that the owners do not respond to the ad online or to the poster outside. I do want to keep him because in the last 24 hours, I have grown very attached to him and have realized how nice it is to have an animal around to play with. Especially one so simple that enjoys playing with string.
I have my fingers crossed he will be ours. And MAYBE I can even fight off my cat allergy. :)

Job Job Job Job.

I finally got my call today saying that I got a job at Symposium. I'm so pumped. Especially since I've been there every week for the past 3 weeks. I <3 cheap martini Wednesdays.
This week has been pretty good considering the lousy weather. I feel a little bit more happy and looking forward to the holidays than I have in many years past. I have so many ideas for presents this year, which never ever happens.
My hands have been cramping and I am kind of getting arthritis in my left hand from knitting so much. Just for the record, knitting does NOT help lower sexual frustration. But it is relaxing and kind of fun to do.

I have determined that I have become a grandma before my time in numerous ways:
1. I enjoy B-I-N-G-O
2. I read romance novels constantly
3. I nap during the day
4. I am addicted to tea
4. I get grumpy when I haven't eaten
5. My eyes hurt from bright lights
6. I enjoying knitting since I have nothing better to do
7. Oh and I'm getting arthritis from knitting too much

If I keep this up, I will be starting to go to bed earlier (crap) and squinting at the tv (crap) and being annoying at rowdy young people on my street (crap).
So much for that.

Stalker.

So, I was a stalker today. There was this guy that sat beside me on the bus and whatever he was wearing smelt absolutely delicious. When he got off the bus on campus, I followed him half way across campus because he just smelt so good. I'm not sure if it was a cologne or a detergent, but I really enjoyed the smell.
Creepy, I know.

Shepherds' Pie. Easy!

So, I went grocery shopping today which automatically puts me in a good mood.
I decided to make some meals that could freeze easily, just in case I get the job I want (FINGERS CROSSED!)

I have made Shepherd's Pie before, but I adjusted it a bit to make it taste, I have to say, pretty good.
This recipe makes 4-6 servings (depending on how hungry you are) for around $8.00 for all ingredients.
It's easy for anyone to make, pretty cheap, and very tasty. It takes about 30 minutes to make.



Shepherds' Pie Recipe

1 package of defrosted lean/extra lean ground beef
1 can of peas
Shredded marble cheese
3 skinned potatoes
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup of milk
1 tbsp of butter (optional)
Pinch of paprika for top (optional)

Directions:
- Preheat over to 350 degrees
- Skin potatoes and cut into cubes. Put them in a pot and boil for about 20 minutes until soft
- While potatoes are cooking, cook ground beef in a pan on the stove
- Once beef is cooked, drain fat and put in a stove-safe pan (6inx6in) and top the beef with the peas
- While potatoes are cooking, shred marble cheese (amount up to you) on top of the peas (NOTE: do not place directly) on top of beef)
- Once potatoes are done, drain potatoes and mash
- Add butter and milk (don't worry if you put too much) and a finely chopped clove of garlic to potatoes
- Smoothly layer potatoes on top of cheese
- Sprinkle paprika on top for presentation and color
- Place final product in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until potatoes are crisp, not soft.
-VOILA!
- Make a small salad on the side to balance meal

Once it cools, it can be frozen easily. Just put in containers and defrosting is easy :)

I am also making chili as we speak, so I will update you on that if it turns out well.
Good eats.

Sigh..

Sad and lonely like Betty Bear. Once again.
I truly hope everything works out...

Yup.

I definitely did the right thing.

Repeat. Repeat.

I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I KNOW I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I KNOW I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing. I know I did the right thing.
Repeat.

Water Sign.

THE ELEMENT WATER: (CANCER, June 22-July 22, SCORPIO, OCTOBER 23-November 21, PISCES February 19-March 20)
Like the water in a glass, water signs conform to the elements around them. Feelings, emotions, and deep personal conversations are what motivates and stimulates the water signs. Sensitive to a fault, the water signs are often more concerned with your feelings and needs then their own. You can find them at movies crying loudest and most often. Everything seems to touch them.

Psychic and secretive are often characteristics of the water elements. When they can no longer withstand the emotions of the world, they often retreat into their own private worlds. Sometimes this leads to compulsive behaviors and fearful ways of life. If the emotions get too strong, these people can be become addicted to drugs, alcohol, food or anything that keeps them from feeling as deeply.

Trust is a big need of theirs, which the earth signs can bring to water. Earth signs also bring the need stability and consistency to water that keeps it contained in a healthy calmer manner. In fact, water signs can be so emotional that the simplest things can get blown out of proportion into big dramatic scenes. Water signs dislike the strong boisterous personalities of the air and fire signs.

Sounds too much like me, yikes.
Apparently water goes with earth. <3

Snort II.

So, I "lost" (housekeeping stole) my stuffed bull that I had had for a very long time when we were in San Francisco. Brent had told me that Snort had decided to stay in California and surf. I was quite upset about this. To my surprise a couple days ago, his older brother showed up to keep me company. Snort II has been very cozy and has joined the family quite nicely.
I'm very happy to have his brother here to stay.

California Travels!

So, we got back nearly 2 weeks ago, and I still haven't written about our adventure.
It definitely was an adventure.

Tuesday Oct.13 (seems so long ago.)
Somehow I got through my day of having a midterm, 2 papers and a presentation. I rushed home and procrastinated for a few hours until I finally decided to pack. Brent came to pick me up around 11pm-12am, and went back to Waterloo. Brent had to get some last minute stuff done, then we went to sleep.

Wednesday Oct.14
Had a terrible sleep because I was so excited. Since I was so excited, I started worrying about time because we were flying from Buffalo. We stopped at his parents place, Brent packed up his stuff and we headed to Buffalo. We were both very hungry so we were both on edge until we got to the airport. Brent thought we may have problems crossing the border, but everything was pretty quick. By the time we got on the shuttle to the airport, we had got a little more relaxed and just a tad bit excited. We checked in our baggage ($20US per bag, what a joke) and got through security smoothly. We decided to grab some lunch since we ended up having 2 hours to kill (after all of the irritation of being late). Since the selection was so varied (not) we sat down at a little restaurant for our first american meal. The people beside us were talking about how Toronto really is a boring city and noone should go there. Stupid americans. Brent and I played cards, and we both won fairly evenly (I let him win). We sat and waited to board the plane, thinking of ways to get in trouble ;). We hopped on the first plane to Newark, which was an hour long, then we entertained ourselves by taking really stupid pictures of ourselves, and transfered to the plane that would be taking us to San Francisco. We loaded onto the plane on time, but ended up sitting on the runway for an hour to take off. Because of this, we didn't end up getting to San Francisco until 1:15am their time (4:15am our time). On the flight we actually got dinner that was edible, it was a burrito with a salad and carrots with dip and a brownie for dessert. It was pretty impressive. Both of us were tired when we landed and grabbed the airport shuttle to La Quinta (piece of shit) after being very irritated about finding where to catch it. When we finally got to the "hotel", there was an annoying lady taking her sweetass time to sign in and was wandering around with a map because she was so confused about where her room was. We were both so exhausted we didn't even help her. We shuffled into our HUMID room and I went to sleep while Brent went for a late night stroll in the area. It was pretty amazing to get to San Francisco with warm weather. In the middle of October wearing boxers to bed and having to sleep on top of the sheets because it was so hot. Love it.

Thursday Oct.15
I woke up at 8:15am to check out the complimentary breakfast. I assumed it would be some toast or cereal with coffee and juice, but it ended up being pretty spectacular considering it was free. I went back to wake Brent up, and dragged him half-asleep to the breakfast. We had tea & coffee, waffles, bagels and yogurt, then went back to the room, put on our jogging gear (Brent somehow fit into my shorts, lol) and went for a jog around the ugly industrial area we were situated in. There were some pretty funky looking trees growing and we were introduced to the BLUE MAN. The BLUEMAN was incredibly entertaining and I enjoyed his company. We didn't go too far since we didn't want to get too far from the "hotel", so we jogged back, showered, checked our emails in the lobby while we waited for the shuttle (I lost the key for this entire time) and went to pick up our rental car at the airport. The San Francisco airport is interesting like the Toronto airport because it has these shuttles that take you to different places around the airport. The funny thing that happened here was the fact that it has a sharp turn. We were standing up and manly Brent stumbles on the turn. While he fell, he decided the best way not to fall was to grab my bossom for leverage in front of everyone. Not only was this just an awkward situation, but I was not wearing a bra that day... so, well you get the picture, as did everyone else. Ha haaaa, so funny. Anyways, we finally get to the rental car place and I got very frustrated because they screwed up our reservation. Long story short, this costed us an extra $250US for the 4 days, which I was not impressed about. Brent said that we could take care of it later, so I left irritated and we picked up our car. We were supposed to get a stupid economy Aveo or something, but when they drove up with a Dodge Charger, we both looked at each other and laughed. I guess we had got upgraded (or screwed over) to a red gas-guzzling car. Brent did all the paperwork and we booked it out of there. We got back to the "hotel", I found the key to our room and ran back because I wanted to get out of the shithole and to NAPA VALLEY! On the way back to the room, I noticed a sign in the hallway that read something like...
" CAUTION: THIS FACILITY HAS BEEN KNOWN TO CARRY CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES THAT COULD BE HARMFUL TO YOU. THIS FACILITY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE."
Well, that just made me want to get out of there even more, but I should've taken a picture. And the saddest part of that was the fact the room was still a $130US/night room. After about 2 hours we left the "hotel" and headed North towards Napa Valley. We drove through downtown San Francisco and on the Bay Bridge which is miles long above the water. It only took about 1.5 hours to get to Napa. We actually ended up driving through Napa (since there actually isn't anything there) and into a town called Yountville where our B&B was located. The scenery was pretty amazing driving through the mountains, even though it was a little cloudy. After driving past our B&B like 4 times, we finally found it. The house had a large garden, and our room was on the main floor with a private garden patio with a link to a hot tub. The lady who owned the house was incredibly nice and gave us a couple wine tasting coupons. It was getting later, (like 4:00pm), so we drove into the town of Yountville and looked for a place to eat dinner. We decided on a place called Hurley's, which served traditional Californian food and made a reservation for 8:30pm. We then drove around trying to find the Goosecross Winery. It was almost 4:30pm, which was when they closed, so we dashed inside to have a quick wine tasting. Since we had a free coupon (at this place, a wine tasting was $10US a person), we started with whites and then to reds. It was pretty busy in there, and I'm not sure if the guys working there didn't care, but fuck we were both drunk after our 5 tastings. It was good it was free since the wine itself wasn't very good. After that, Brent (slowly) drove back into the town to look around. We went by this cool spa-looking place which was very modern and cool looking. We decided to stop and look around the place, and found out that it was a new hotel built this year. A very expensive hotel (starting at $550US/night). It was happy hour by then, so we both got a beer and looked around. Brent bought me some oil from the spa there which smelt really nice. I was really tipsy at this point, and it was only 5:30pm. We stopped by a grocery store and picked up some chilled wine, crackers, jelly, some local chocolate and some yummy cheeses for an appetizer before dinner. We had a very flamboyant guy helping us, and we got some really delicious cheese out of the deal. We drove back to the B&B and sat outside for our appetizer. Brent drank nearly the entire bottle, so when it came time for us to head over to the restaurant, I drove. The restaurant was quite quaint and we ordered some calamari for an appetizer, Brent had a burger (big surprise) and I had a very nice salad since I wasn't very hungry. At this point, Brent was quite wasted so we headed back to the B&B and went in the hot tub to relax before bed. The stars look the same as they do in Canada, but since we were somewhere so deserted, they were that much brighter and lovelier.

Friday Oct.16 (The best day of all)
We woke up at 8:45am to have breakfast with the other guests. I woke up a little earlier to have some tea in bed, but I couldn't find any so I waited until breakfast. We had this special oatmeal with a custard, sausage (which Brent really enjoyed, lol) and fresh fruit. We sat around and chatted with the other (much older guests) and got a feel for what we should do for the rest of the day. We were informed that the North part of California (the part we were in) had very different people and lifestyle than they do in Southern California. We went back to our room, had a tickle fight, showered, took a little walk around the property and packed up our stuff. We got a map of the area and the wineries (all 200 of them) and missioned away from our little B&B (and my dream house on a hill) and on the road. I had looked up a specific winery before we left called the Castello de Amorosa, and I really wanted to go. We drove further north through the amazing scenery - someone had granted us the most perfect weather for our day, sunny warm and wonderful. We passed many interesting-looking wineries, went through a little town of St.Helena, and finally found the Castello de Amorosa, which is a winery in an old CASTLE. This was absolutely amazing. We drove up the driveway, parked and started to walk around the area. It was situated on a hill overlooking the entire landscape, filled with so many grapes, trees and mountains. Truly breathtaking. To look around the castle we had to pay $15US, which included a wine tasting. We walked around, and took some pictures. We both climbed up onto the high balconies and got in trouble because it was not allowed since it was so high off the ground (although we did get our pictures, ha!). Brent and I toured the castle on our own, all the while smelling the wood burning in the fire place, smelling fresh wine being made and looking at a real castle. We wandered into a couple rooms we were not allowed into (which was so bs) and into the Great Hall, where we took my favorite picture of us from the trip - us sitting in the King and Queen's chairs. After a little while, we decided to head down to the basement to do the wine tasting. We bought a couple post cards and found out there was a true dungeon in the castle below us with creepy killing devices they used in the distant past. Brent was telling me about one that a person goes into a box and there are special holes to stick knives in the body in areas where it wouldn't kill someone, but develop a great amount of pain and torture. Fun. We went into the wine tasting place and had Gordon help us with the wine tasting. We were only supposed to have 5 tastings each, but Gordon gave both of us a taste of each... 20 wines. Considering it was only 11:30am, we tried not to get tipsy but it was really hard. We both had the equivalence of about 4 glasses of wine. These wines were much nicer, especially the SWEEEEEEEEET dessert wines, and ESPECIALLY the dessert wine that I frikkin' loved which was $79US a bottle. Gordon gave us some chocolate to have along with it and we were both in heaven. We finally dragged ourselves away from the winery, and tried to find a specific winery&deli we had to advised to go to called Sattui. We drove by it at first, but then we parked and ventured in. This place was AMAZING! You can go buy a bottle of wine, and food from the deli and have a picnic. That is exactly what we did, I loved this. We first had a few samples of cheeses they were giving out (we were starving) and found out they made over 100 different cheeses there. We waited in line for about 15 minutes (so busy), got a little messy with raspberry chocolate sauce they were sampling, and ordered our DELICIOUS meal including: an italian sandwich, a couple artichoke hearts, seafood salad, and a tomato and FRESHLY MADE creamy mozzarella pesto salad with organic mango juice. We found a table outside and devoured our meal. It was so frikking delicious, I was so content. Once we finished all our food, we headed back onto the road towards San Francisco. Since we didn't have GPS, I was the direction marshall guiding us on our travels (I have to say this because I was, and Brent too very impressed with my direction skills). We took the long way around the water so we could go across the Golden Gate Bridge. The drive was quite amazing and we successfully crossed the bridge. It was a pretty amazing experience. I felt like I was living a day in Full House. Somehow we didn't get stuck in bad traffic, so we drove around the INTENSELY crazy streets of San Francisco, including down the "crookedest street in San Francisco" which was, the crookedest street ever. Brent had alot of fun driving down it, then we went down to the water, parked and walked towards Fisherman's Wharf. We wanted to take the trolley, but the lineup was ridiculously long. We walked along Fisherman's Wharf, saw Azkaban - I mean, Alkatraz prison, saw a guy catching crabs (the real kind), saw seals/otters in the water below us and sat along the walkway and enjoyed the moment. Once we started to get hungry we drove down towards Union Square which is the main shopping district. It took us a while to find a parking spot, and when we did, we noticed that we were in a very sketchy area. No wonder the parking was so cheap. We stopped by a corner store and got drinks for a 1/3 of what you would pay here, and walked towards Union Square. We went into a jewelery store to look at pearls (which were a little more than expensive), then Brent took me to Macy's and Victoria's Secret and looked around at some pretty things, and Brent bought me some pretty things as a gift. Most of the stores were closing, but we stopped by Barnes & Noble for a peebreak and got Brent's mom a Halloween card which I thought she would like. I wanted to do Thai for dinner, and asked an asian girl in Victoria's Secret for a recommendation, but she got really confused so we left to find one ourselves. Apparently Obama was at Union Square just the day before we were there, oh well. We walked around Union Square and somehow found ourselves in "Little Thai Town" like, 2 blocks from Union Square. We ended up eating at a Vietnamese restaurant by the window. The day seemed to be made specifically for us. We order some tea and soup and a meal each. The soup was a Hot& Sour soup which was MILD. At the very end of eating the soup, right before our main courses got there, I bit into something that looked like a green bean. Unfortunately for myself, who hates hot food, bit into a habinaro (SP?) pepper. My mouth started to sweat a lot, my eyes started watering and then my mouth was ON FIRE. I had never eaten anything that hot in my entire life. Brent was sitting across from me laughing his ass off while I was in temporary hell. I couldn't enjoy the rest of my meal for at least 15 minutes because everytime something hot hit my tongue, my mouth was back on fire. Once it wear off, I got to enjoy my meal which was realllly realllly good. We wanted to stop at The Cheesecake Factory for dessert, so we went up to the 8th floor of Macy's where it was absolutely packed and had over an hour wait for dessert. I tried to find another location in San Francisco because Brent really wanted to go, but it was to no avail. We decided it wasn't worth it and time to head back to the car- wherever it was, since we didn't exactly pay attention, and found it after walking past some really cool places including a Dr.Seuss art gallery. Brent made sure that everything was still in the car, since the windows somehow were down, and we started driving out of San Francisco to find a cheap hotel for the night. Earlier in the trip, after we left San Francisco the first time, I noticed that I left my favorite stuffed animal that I've had forever in the "hotel" the first night. We went back to see if it was there, and it wasn't. I took a minute and was actually quite distraught after losing my Snort that I slept with every night. Yes, I am 22 and sleep with a stuffed bull. We drove... and drove... for 3 hours around stupid Campbell trying to find:
a. someone that knew where a motel/hotel was
b. a frikking motel/hotel
Finally we found a couple motels which was "cheap" ($100US) but not cheap enough. We continued to drive until we found a Motel6 which still cost $70US for the night. It had been a long day, so we buckled into our dingy and disgusting motel room and went to sleep.

Saturday Oct.17
Since this place didn't have a continental breakfast, we woke up and headed to McDonald's (woo) since we didn't know where else to go. We ate on the way, trying to find our way back onto the route we got off of the night before. It ended up that we picked a good place to stop because the highway lead us directly towards the Pacific Coast highway. The air instantly got cooler once we got near the ocean, but the weather was just as nice as the day before. The roads along the coast are all through the mountains and incredibly zig-zagged. Considering the amount of miles we travelled, it took us a very long time to get far. Once we hit Monterey Bay, we stopped at the first beach off the highway, right after the fields and fields of strawberries. We walked down to the ocean and for the first time the entire trip, we stuck our feet in the ocean. The cold, cold ocean. Brent and sat together and enjoyed the sound of the waves and the picturesque view we had. We took a quick stop at 7-11 to grab a map and some snacks and were back on the road. After a few hours, we needed gas and food. We were both starving. We finally found somewhere to fill up and stopped at the first restaurant that we saw called the Lotus Lodge in Big Sur. This restaurant was very expensive for what we got, but we paid for the view, not the food. We were perched on a cliff basically looking out onto the ocean and along the coast. It was amazing and WARM. Ah, I miss the warm. Our server was a 50-60 year old man that was a crazy joker and loved his job. He was very entertaining. At some point, there was an accident on the road, so we got out and went for a look. Apparently a motorcycle had got stuck underneath the front of an RV. Yikes. The traffic didn't take too long to clean up, and we were back on our way. We drove through many national parks, all smelling so delicious and fresh. It was so amazing being near the sound of the ocean and the smell of the trees. We finally got to San Simeon to check out the Hearst Castle, but the waittime would be too long, so we checked out the souvenir shop which was crazy expensive, and looked at some pictures in books of what it looks like and the story behind it. We grabbed a drink and got back on the road. Since we didn't have a place to stay again that night, we stopped in Morro Bay to fill up on gas, and check the internet to find a hotel for the night. We ended up finding a coffee shop that was closed, but the guy let us in to use the wireless. He was an older man again, very friendly and righteous, and Brent had a nice chat with him until we booked a place to stay in the middle of Santa Barbara and Santa Monica. We went down to the water to look at the sunset, but it was too cloudy, so we got back onto the road. About 15 minutes later, we look over and the sunset is all pink and colorful. Lame. We drive until we get into Thousand Oaks (where we were staying), find our hotel which ended up being very nice and we got a suite room too. We dropped off our stuff, decided we should find something fun to do. We had seen this UBBER awesome mini-putting place on the way in, so we ventured out to it. It took us a couple times to find it since we didn't have a map, but we did find it. It only cost $17.50US for us both to play, and it was the coolest mini-putting place ever. It had huge castles and churches you had to play through, and it was really fun. The couples in front of us were quite slow, so we filled our time with making out and throwing mud at each other. It was pretty late by this time, so I tallied the score, (WE TIED, so lame) and went to find a Subway for a late night snack. Since no one was helpful, we ended up going back to the area where our hotel was, contemplated stopping for tacos, then went into a grocery store and bought sandwiches and a Michelina's since we had a microwave in our room. We had a mini feast, stayed up for a while then fell asleep in our nice hotel room.

Sunday Oct. 18
We woke up early to go for another continental breakfast. We had bacon, eggs, yogurt, juice, coffee & tea, then showered and got back onto the road. We left early so we could be in Venice Beach early too. The weather was kind of crappy in the morning while we drove down the coast, once we got to Venice Beach it was pretty nice. We stopped at the Cotel (hostel thingy) we were staying at right on the Venice Beach Boardwalk, and we were informed that we were actually staying at their Hotel that was owned by the same person down the road instead. We assumed they lost our reservation or didn't have a room for us. We headed to the Hotel and checked in. They told us we didn't have a ocean view room anymore, but the room itself was nicer. We were kind of bummed about the view, but when we got up the room, it ended up being very nice AND had an ocean view and a view of the Venice Beach boardwalk right below us. It worked out so perfectly. We dropped off our stuff and walked around the boardwalk looking at the vendors and enjoying the view. We walked down to Muscle Beach, and turned around so we could grab some lunch and eat it by the ocean. We went to Subway, grabbed a couple drinks and a 6-pack (for Brent) and sat underneath some palm trees and ate. I was very excited about my sub because they put AVOCADO onto your sub in California because they can, sooooo good, oh my. I went to sit on the sand for a little while, and somehow I fell asleep for probably 45 minutes. When I woke up, Brent was still sitting drinking his beer near the water. I couldn't believe he let me pass out like that. It was so nice though, wow. And I got a burn, bonus. We walked back towards the hotel stopping at some shops along the way, Brent bought me a cute little black dress, hung around for a little bit, and went our separate ways to check out the area on our own. My job was to find somewhere cool to eat along the boardwalk. I checked out a couple neat stores and bought a couple things including some new jeans, a sweater and Murano glass pendant. When I was walking back, Brent called out to me from our window. He had just got back with more beer and was sitting watching the weird people from our window. We had a couple beers, all the while Brent looking out the window at people, taking videos of people fighting on the street and I watched a little bit of tv. We were both hungry and decided to go to the little bar/restaurant right beside our hotel, since it had a nice patio. We got a spot right when we got there, and sat beside a nice couple visiting from Northern California. We ordered some beer, wings and pizza (SO GOOD) and enjoyed the moment. The pub next door had The Doors cover band playing which was really really good. It was really neat background music. There was a really huge douche who we saw punch a guy in the ear, and was causing trouble right beside us, and didn't pay his bill. He was on something intense because he was swearing and doing weird things the entire time we were there. Brent "surprised" me with a pearl necklace (the real kind) and matching earrings as a present. In the distance we could see a ferris wheel, so after dinner and after the couple sitting next to us offered their place in Hawaii for us to get married (ha haaaaaa, seriously) I drove down to Santa Monica. We didn't want to pay for parking, so we found a spot closer to town. We walked down to the Santa Monica Pier to go on the Ferris Wheel. Our timing was absolutely terrible because we got there RIGHT when it was closing and they didn't let us on. We walked back up into Santa Monica and found a cute little cafe where we had some tea before we headed back to the hotel. I took some time to go to the roof of our hotel and look at the view (and the prostitutes) along the boardwalk then headed to bed.

Monday Oct.19 (Last day)
We woke up early and stopped for some breakfast at the restaurant we were at the night before. We split the cheesiest omelette ever, and went for a jog along the boardwalk. We stopped at Muscle Beach so Brent could work out there for a bit, I took some pictures of him being really manly, lol. Sorry babe. We jogged back, showered, took a couple pictures on the roof and left to the Los Angeles Airport to drop off our rental car. We decided once we got there that since our flight wasn't until 11:45pm that night, we should get another car. We waited in line for at least 45 minutes, and paid more than we should've for a car. It ended up that we got the same car, just a different color than the one we had before. I was pretty irritated with the situation, but we left and headed towards LA. I didn't have a map of LA, so to top off my frustration already, we got slightly lost on the way to LA. We finally got to Beverly Hills, parked on Rodeo Drive, had to get some money from the bank to pay for said-parking, and went to look around. We went up a street because we were both starving and found The Cheesecake Factory. Perfect! We took a seat at a table on the patio, drank Corona's and had a delicious meal and split a very yummy Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake. The amount of calories in these Cheesecakes are unreal- up to 1300 calories/per slice! We finished up lunch and went into a couple stores together. I found this really cute pair of shoes which Brent offered to buy me, but I couldn't bring myself to since they were $210US. We took to our own ways of looking around, and I bought a belt on Rodeo Drive and went to look for Brent. Since I couldn't find him, I went into a couple more stores and almost bought this cute pair of boots from ALDO because the cute, flamboyant guy was just too helpful. I darted out of there before I bought a $200US pair of shoes, and continued to look for Brent. After what seemed like forever, I found him and we headed back to the car. We drove around Beverly Hills and Bel-Air, and looked at all the ridiculous houses around there. It started getting close to dark, so we started to head back toward Hollywood and went down to see Universal Studios and Hollywood Blvd where we saw a movie premiere for Astro Boy taking place. We decided to try the ferris wheel again, so we drove back down to Santa Monica, grabbed teas at McDonald's and walked down to the pier again. Unfortunately, since it was during the week, the Ferris Wheel was again closed, so we sat at a bench and drank our teas while we watched the waves beneath us crashing into the pier. It became time for us to head to the airport, so we dropped off the car and caught a shuttle towards the airport. Luckily we got there early because the line for Delta was around the corner, and OUTSIDE the doors of the airport. Yikes. We stood in line for at least an hour and got our tickets for our flight. Unfortunately, we didn't have seats beside each other for the first transfer to Atlanta but since it was a red-eye flight we both slept the entire way. I took Gravol and had earplugs and was asleep before we took off. I just about had a heart attack when we landed because I thought I was dying since I was sleeping. We stopped in Atlanta for an hour, and took the shorter flight to Buffalo, where we got to sit next to each other right by the bathrooms. We both slept the entire way again. We got our baggage, hopped on the airport shuttle to the car (in the COLD), couldn't find the paper for the car, so Brent had to get a copy of it inside. I waited for about 20 minutes and finally he came out with it, stopped at Tim Horton's since I still had american money. The person "helping" us must have had a disability because the order was still not right when we got it, AND they have different cream cheese. We got to the border, didn't have enough money on us to pay the fee, and once Brent got some paperwork, we got over the border and back into Canada.

Since I have been writing for the past 3 hours, I am going to stop since that is the end of our travels. T'was very busy but incredibly fun. We both want to go back sometime in the future. But for now, we are going to start planning our trip down south for the winter (as long as I get a JOB).
If you read all of that, I salute you.
I am going to rest my fingers now and make dinner.
Love you babe, couldn't have done it without you.

Oktoberfest Continued.

So, last week was pretty good (the end) although I had a ton of school work.
On wednesday, Emily came down from Hamilton and we had dinner at my aunt's place in Kitchener. I wasn't feeling very good all day, and eating pork definitely made it worse. Brent brought me some wannabe pepto-bismol because it felt like I was being stabbed in the belly. Apparently the pink stuff works.
Brent then drove us down to Waterloo, stopped briefly at his apartment and set up a bed for my sister. Brent went out and bought flannel sheets for the pull out couch in the living room. Emily and I walked ahead of Brent towards STARLIGHT to see Dragonette. We got a drink and they started playing very close to when we walked in. They played a really great show.
Afterwards we went back and looked into Oktoberfest tickets, then went to sleep.

When friday came along, the plan was that I was going to go to Waterloo for the night. After spending the entire day soaked from head to toe from the pouring rain, I didn't want to stand in the rain again and wait for the bus to Waterloo. Last minute, I decided that I would go anyways and hope that nothing bad happened.
Well I spoke too soon. Not only was the bus terminal closed when I got there (missed it by 10 minutes), but the bus was over an hour late. That doesn't seem too bad except when you know that I spent 3.5 hours getting to Kitchener from Guelph. What a fucking joke. i ended up killing time at Subway, writing up a paper, then waited in the cold while it rained.
A bus driver took pity on the six people waiting for the bus and voluntarily drove us to Kitchener, all the while us giving him directions on how to get to Kitchener. I took a cab to Harley's and played pool, watch a man have sex with a dog and spent some time in the hottub. We took a cab back to Brent's and had a really bitchy cab driver.

Saturday we woke up at a decent time, went to the Haus House for hats, CAA for travel insurance and headed to St. Jacob's for breakfast. After breakfast we took a nature hike on the trails. I found a toad, and we walked along the train tracks. It was a lovely day.
We then went to the LCBO, then back to Brent's quickly, then to his parent's place for dinner. After dinner, Mark, Brent and I headed down to Queensmount for OKTOBERFEST. It was kind of slow at the start, but started to be alot of fun. We did the chicken dance (I got pins) and did crazy dancing all around the dance floor, slipping everywhere. Brent got pretty wasted, Mark came and picked us up and headed back to Brent's apartment. He passed out pretty quickly, and I watched tv for a bit and relaxed then headed to sleep.

Now, only a few days after, we are heading down to California for the week.
It's going to be pretty interesting, I hope it's what I want it to be... and I hope my camera doesn't die at stupid times.

Oktoberfest.

Yesterday was a brilliant day - from start to finish.
:)
California in t-minus THREE days. Getting out my shades.