life...or something like it

how true

2008-03-15T17:05:00.001-04:00

"experince is what you get, when you don't get what you want"

thank you SATC for helping me find my soulmate

2008-03-11T10:18:00.005-04:00

It's official! I'll be watching SATC, the movie, in Richmond, VA, with my best friend Stinky!

We were both in university when new seasons of SATC were on TV, and our weekend plans would always revolve around making sure we would be home to watch Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda prance around NYC in pretty clothes and then take them off in their bedrooms, cabs, restaurants, other people's homes etc. These were the days before PVR/TiVo/streaming shows from the Internet, so if we missed an episode, there was no way to watch it until it was repeated. Which meant waiting a ridiculously long time, for an extremely important life lesson, that we could relate to, even though we were in our early twenties living in a small university town, and they were in their mid-thirties living in Manhattan.

In January 2003, when I moved to NYC for my internship, I made a list of all the NYC places the SATC girls had gone, and went to them all myself: Sushi Samba for dinner, Magnolia for cupcakes, Tao for drinks, and Tequila Flats for margaritas, just to name a few. I wanted to be Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda, I wanted to live their lives. I wanted to have their sex. I already had the drama and the city and the friends. All I needed was the sex and the expensive bags. Lets just say, neither of them happened.

When Stinky moved to NYC after graduation, every time I went to see her, we'd visit more city sites made famous by the show. We bought the DVDs and watched them religiously, absorbing every word Carrie would say, like she was preaching from the Bible, like she was going to teach us how to have a great life. Giving us hope that one day we too will be 35 dancing around New York in pretty shoes, making men with commitment issues realizing we are the one (every girl's dream, no?).

After watching the DVDs about 10 times, I stopped dreaming for the SATC life, and started living my own life again. My life is still full of drama, but thank god I also still have my great friends to prance around in somewhat pretty clothes, and that there is a cupcake shop in Toronto, for every girls nite in.

I am excited to see what the SATC girls have been up to in the past few years. I hope they have grown up and that the drama has died down. Giving us hope that one day we can truly have it all, pretty clothes, great friends, and lots of sex with the same guy each nite (sometimes more than once a nite).

I am even more excited that even though we live miles apart, in two different countries, that Stinky and I are still best friends. We were watching together the night that Charlotte asked the girls in the coffee shop on the eve of Carrie's 35th birthday "Why can't we be each other's soul mates, and men can just be these really cute, nice guys that we have fun with?" It was exactly the same way we were feeling about each other! I can't imagine watching this movie with anyone else. Love you stinky, my soul mate.

craving change

2008-03-11T09:42:00.004-04:00

The last time my life was so confusing, i rebelled by putting bright purple highlights in my dark dark black hair. I was 24, and didn't care about anything, let alone that I was working at an ultra conservative accounting firm and that everyone thought I was crazy. Some people get drunk and sleep around to ease the pain, others eat tubs of ice cream, I crave change.

Three years later, I've changed. I'm no longer working at the ultra conservative firm , but I do not care to walk around looking a mess. It was a stretch at 24, and although I loved the bright red highlights I saw in some teenager's hair yesterday, but I just don't care to let the world know that I haven't gotten it figured it out yet.

I am still making changes though. I've booked an appointment for a haircut on Friday. I'm thinking short, but probably will chicken out last minute. I'm taking time for myself. Yoga at the gym on Fridays, hot yoga with my super-buff, rock climbing friend, Alan, on Wednesdays. Lots of wine with friends, in their homes, any night of the week, instead of tequila shots and broken-down-golf-carts at open bar work functions, where I was great at making a complete fool of myself (see, I told you I didn't care about anything.)

I was talking with my girlfriends on Saturday night. 3 bottles of wine between the 3 of us had made us pretty drunk, but there is one thing we all agreed on: we needed the drama in our lives to appreciate the good times. I've had the drama, and I'm sick and tired of it. Now I'm craving change.

I think I have a problem....

2008-03-10T18:39:00.008-04:00

I've seen him twice in the past week. I suck. Especially since I initiated it.

Monday, my friend Nick's firm, rented out the Air Canada Center for a Friends and Family skate night. My sister gave me skates for Christmas in 2003, and I have yet to wear them. When I explained that to Mr. F, in August, he laughed at me and we promised each other we'd go staking at city hall this winter, to break them in. Now they are broken in, and my promise to Mr. F. was broken. I was feeling guilty, and to ease my guilt I called him to see if he wanted to go skating sometime that week. He didn't pick up, and when he called back I ignored his call.

Then he called again the next day. And then again. I didn't pick up the first time, but I couldn't ignore his call the second time.

Mr. F: Let's go for coffee
Me: Sure!
Me (thinking): SHIT!
Mr. F: Whats that place you love? Let's go there.
Mr: Sure!
Me (thinking): whys he being so nice? *sigh*

We met at the intersections where our streets meet, and walked 1 block west to Manic, where I have Toronto's best latte, and he has a hot chocolate. We fight over who pays, and for the first time ever, I win, and that's only because I have cash and he doesn't. We talk until they close and finish cleaning up. It had started snowing sometime during the 3 hours we were sitting inside, and we walked back to where our streets cross, me dancing in the snow, him laughing at how childish I am.

He called me again Thursday. Twice. I was out with Nick, who's creative director had given him tickets to see Canada's first screening of U2-3D. I didn't call back. He called me again Saturday. After some small talk, he asked me to go walking in the snow with him. I teased him about calling me childish for liking walking in the snow and he denied ever calling me that! I told him I had dinner plans with the girls, and that I'd call him when I got home.

Dinner with the girls, included wine. One bottle quickly turned into 3, which if you average out meant 1 bottle per girl (except that Isabelle drank nearly 2 bottles on her own, and Emiliee and I split the other one). Nevertheless, we were all pretty drunk, and once the gossiping started it didn't end until 3am!

I called him the next afternoon (when I woke up). I didn't want him to think I was avoiding him(why I cared, is why I have these problems in the first place). He was sleeping, but we agreed to meet up later in the evening to walk through the snow blanketed city. GRRR! I suck!

We met at 8 at St. Patrick station and walked over to the Art Gallery of Ontario, which is closed for its transformation. He wanted to see how it was coming along, and when we got there, we both agreed it was looking amazing. He took me to the back of the AGO, and showed me where the spiral glass staircase was going to be, and told me how he couldn't wait for it to be done. We walked through Grange Park, and stumbled across an old church that neither of us had noticed before. He showed me Campbell house, a building I have passed hundreds of times and never took time to look at, and explained it's history to me. We wandered through the gardens of Osgoode hall, and then stopped at city hall Starbucks for hot chocolate. "we should have brought our skates" he says, "so you can break yours in". I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had worn them already earlier that week, with Nick, nonetheless.

"Lets see William Lyon Mackenzie house next" he suggests, when the coffee shop closed. It's a 10 minute walk from where we were. We stop at one of Toronto's largest churches, on the way: "You've never been inside?" he asks "You got to take a look, it's beautiful!" and we walk inside. There is a service going on, and we listen for a while, letting our finger and toes warm up from the cold. He was right, it was beautiful. After looking at William Lyon Mackenzie house, it was off to Dundas square, which is looking more like Times Square, each time I see it. We talk a bit, and then I suggest we go home. He has work tomorrow, and I don't want him to think I want to hang out with him, even though I do.

I get home and call Nick. I talk to him until I'm almost asleep. He asks me what I did today. I lie and tell him I hung out with Emilee.

...and lots of sex!

2008-02-28T23:16:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday Nick(aka Mr. Agador Spartikus - his nick name since we saw the movie birdcage in high school)

May this year be filled with a lot of love, laughter and most importantly A LOT OF SEX!!

Arn't I such a good friend? ;)

push and pull

2008-02-27T16:41:00.006-05:00

He called a couple of days ago, just as I was paying the cabbie, over an hour late to meet my friends for dinner "hello? I'll be there in a second, I'm just paying the cabbie" click. is what I said when the phone first rang. Then my phone rang again, not even two seconds later. This time I had a chance to check the caller ID. It was mr. F. Shit! It was mr. F!

me: hello? did you just call?

mr. F: yes! did you not recognize my voice?

me: no, sorry.... i thought you were my freinds...

mr. F: sorry to disappoint. You sound busy. Are you busy?

me: Ya. Kinda. I just stepped out of a cab, I'm late meeting my freinds for dinner.

mr. F: Oh. okay.

me: I'll call you tomorrow? (god why did I say this?)

mr. F: sure...

It's been two weeks since I've heard from mr. F. Two weeks since we spent all nite at his place drinking wine, eating chocolate, talking about love, life, family and religion. There was no making out (I actually flintched everytime he accidently touched me) and I refused to sit on his bed, opting to sit on the floor instead. I ran out of his place at 9am, after realizing I had spent the whole nite there, not realizing that time had flown by. I was too freaked out to turn around and say goodbye to him on my way out, instead choosing to yell it across the lobby of his condo, looking straight ahead. He wrote me an email later that night "As always, it seems when we hit certain topics time just flies by". The fact that he's right, scared me even more. I have never been as open about talking about love and life as I am with him. We want the same things, and we have the same values, ideals and dreams. But over the past 6 months, as I have gotten to know him better, we I have come to realize will never be able to be with eachother, romantically.
If only he had called 3 mintues later I would have been in the restaurant where it would have been too loud to hear the phone ring. He would have left a voice message, and I would have written an email back, saying sorry for missing his call. Now I had promised to call him back. fuck!

I waited until 9:30pm on Sunday to return his call. We used to call eachother almost everynight at 9:30pm back in Septemeber and October. Back when things were just starting out between us. Things have changed a lot since then, but I couldn't imagine calling him at any other time. He was at work. He too is an accountant, and it's busy season. I offered to let him go, but he said he had time to talk for a bit. We talked for 2 hours. Shit. I didn't mean for that to happen, but somehow it did. Just like it some how always does.

mr. F: What you doing this week?

Me: not much. just hanging out. the usual.

mr. F: I'll be in your area on Wednesday and Thrusday for work. We should get together.

Me: Oh, those are the only two days this week I'm busy.

mr. F: Really? (in a tone that clearly doesn't believe me). What are you doing?

Me: Wednesday is my dad's birthday. Thrusday is the Micheal Pollen lecture at the ROM. Remember I told you I got tickets for J for her birthday in december?

mr. F: Oh yea. I remember. Uhhh well maybe if you have time this weekend, we can do something???

Me: sure. call me, let me know.

Monday, I called my freinds to make plans for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so I have a real excuse to give him. I suck at lying.

It took me so long to realize that he's not the one, and believe it. He's still one of the most interesting, passionate people I know. Talking to him for five mintues makes me want to to talk to him forever (if it wasn't obvious already). I'm so close to getting over him, now only if he would let me go. Please, mr. F, just let me go.

about a girl

2008-02-26T22:48:00.008-05:00

this is about a girl. A real girl. Not one of those fake girls you see on tv with perfect hair and perfect skin with the perfect boy and their life all figured out. I am not one of those.

My hair is curly and frizzy, and has a mind of its own when its humid out. And my skin, although pimple free, i fear, is starting to show its age. It turns 28 later this year.

I have not met the perfect boy. I thought I did, a few times, once in high school, and again in university, then again when i started my first full time job, and just recently again when I went back to school. But each time I was wrong. So wrong. Well maybe not so wrong....they are all great guys, and there are elements in each of them that I wish I could copy and paste onto a guy-template of atleast 6 feet with good hair and mold him into my perfect man. If only life were like that, then maybe I would be happier. At least I think I would be happier.

Not that I'm not happy.....

But growing up, I thought my life would turn out to be a lot different than it is. Not that its bad .... I just never thought it would be like this. I thought I would have it figured out by now, I'd have a great job by now, be married and talking about babies by now. And although I would never change the life i've ended up living, there are a few areas I'd definitly modify. I'm a big believer that everything happens for a reason, and in the words of Kanye West "dat dat dat dat dat dat don't kill me, only make me stronger" but still....

Things in my life that DO make me happy are spending afternoons in coffee shops reading magazines or writing my journal. Dangly earrings, red lipstick and red nail polish. Eating chocolate and/or ice cream, but not chocolate ice cream. Talking for hours with a good friend, going out to eat and finishing a bottle of wine alone! Paris. Travelling. Shopping. Learning new things. Doing my taxes. Pregnant friends. Walking through the city when its snowing out or sitting in a garden people watching when its sunny out. The colour red. My yellow Le Cruset. Making bread. Reading about the newest restaurant openings in Toronto. Toronto! (my city) Talking to my sister on msn. Having coffee with my mom. Cupcakes! How could i forget cupcakes?!?! Shoes and purses. Best friends. Trashy gossip magazines. The color red! Eyeshadow! Buying cards when I need to buy something! Chick flicks! Chick lit! The New York Times bestseller list. The feeling in your stomach when you first realize you are falling for someone....

Things that make me not so happy are pretty clothes that are too expensive for this regular girl to buy. Brad and Angelina. Cleaning my washroom and folding laundry. Broccoli. Girls younger than me, calling me "honey". Falling for close guy friends (welcome to the story of my life). The fact that the things that taste the best are the worst for you. Cold weather. Getting older (because it means my parents are getting older too). AIDS. Cancer. Poverty. War. Homework. Property tax. Heartbreak. Having things not go as planned.

just when i start to forget...

2007-12-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

and i start to think how much my life sucks, and i remember that my life is really not that bad.

You know why?

I have the most supportive loving family a girl can ask for. A family that supported me when i decided to go quit my job and go back to school, and has supported me through so much more. A mother and father who would give up anything, if it means life would be easier for me. A sister that adores me, and i adore even more. Sure they didn't get me the ice cream maker attachment for my kitchen-aid mixer, that i was hinting at but they give me much much more than that.

I have the best friends a girl can ask for. Friends who are there for me always - Who are there doing crazy things with me, not standing by the sidelines judging, who are there to laugh with me and cry with me always - and trust me, i cry and laugh - A LOT. Plus, when my family were slow to pick up on the hints i was giving for the kitchen-aid ice cream maker attachment, my freinds were must quicker :)

I'm smart, talented, i'm healthy. I'm never left needing. I have a roof over my head, I can buy my food from whole foods if I want. I'm well travelled, educated and I'm on my way to earning my designation. I love to laugh, and love to love.

So remind me again why i was complaining?

i'm baaaaack

2007-05-13T23:10:00.000-04:00

i've decided to start blogging again. Not that i had intentionally decided to stop, when i did...it just kind of happened that way. Anyway, i'm back! not everyday back, but more often than once every 2 months back.

It's nice to be back :)

my mommmy's the cooLest

2007-03-09T19:25:00.000-05:00

what other mommy gets tickets see the toronto showing of arthur mendonca's fall line PLUS tickets to the after party at atelier (never heard of it before? thats because its a private member's club only)?

you know you're a nerd when....

2007-03-07T10:59:00.000-05:00

you make plans to study with your freinds on a friday nite....sigh...but that makes joyce a nerd too, so i guess its not soo bad (although i always knew joyce was a nerd at heart)

starbucks math

2007-03-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

this afternoon, as i was studying away in my local starbucks, i ordered a drink that i dont often order and was surprised at its price. It was cheaper than i expected! This got me thinking about about ghetto lattes, and how one can customize this drink to save a quarter or two. I know to some it doesnt seem like a lot - but at the rate i drink starbucks, it probably adds up to a large enough amount to make a difference.

i've got two ghetto drinks so far. I'll post them, when i get to 3! Dont worry, i have 2 more midterms to go and then 4 finals. I'm sure i'll have the third in an hour or so ;)

a hater but a winner

2007-03-02T23:19:00.000-05:00

this contest is making me hate blogging
its become a chore rather than something to look forward to
at first i liked the idea of having to blog every day....it would be a good thing to have to look back on when i'm old. But now i feel that blogging is a lot like freindships, i rather have a few good blog entries, than 365 dumb ones.
unfortunatly, i've decided that i'm going to win this contest, so until emily forgets to post (which i hope is soon)....i'll be here, every damn single day!

you can tell it's midterm time when:

2007-02-26T17:46:00.000-05:00

1. you invite your freind out for dinner and drinks, fully knowing when you say drinks you mean the "quad grande americanos" type and not the alcoholic kind

2. you say you are giving up chocolate for lent, and after 3 days you give up on lent.

3. the inside of your fridge looks like this:

4. your fridge will continue to look like that (or worse) for another 10 days or so

5. you refuse to post a picture of what the rest of your house looks like, because you are embaressed to let your friends know you are capable of living in a pig stye!

6. you eat, sleep and drink at starbucks - and thats not only because you work there!

7. you find reasons to go to the gym. This proves that at midterm time, anything is better than studying!

8. you start singing iamslowlygoingcrazy1-2-3-4-5-6-switch!

9. you request brain power from your sister via msn, because she's already taken the course and you need all the help you can get.

10. you want to write an interesting post, but all you got time for is a list of 10 things proving it's midterm time *sigh*

thanking god for PDAs

2007-02-24T15:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was close! So close that if i didn't run all the way home from the subway station, and post before i went to the washroom, i probably wouldnt have made it. To be completely honest, i totally forgot all about posting until i was forced to watch a couple make out all the way from College to St. Andrew station. Watching them made me want to write a long rant about PDAs which reminded me i hadn't posted yet! However, since the gross couple helped me stay in the contest i will save my rant for some other time. Infact, if i win the contest (which i will), i might even be willing to thank them!

just made it!

2007-02-23T23:57:00.001-05:00

yay

why do we always want what we cant have?

2007-02-22T18:41:00.000-05:00

Day 1:
I was good all day. I didnt crave chocolate once, and even thought to myself a number of times: I can do this. This is easy. 40 days are just going to fly by!
But then i had dinner and an orange for dessert. But the organge wasn't enough. I wanted something else. Something sugary, sweet and brown. I waited 10 mintues, cravings are supposed to go away in 10 minutes, atleast thats what they say. No such luck. 15 minutes later...chocolate was still on my mind. I could taste it on the tip of my tounge, I could smell it in the air, i was not giving in! I had a yougart, i took a shower, i did homework....but whatever i tried to do to distract my thoughts from chocolate, it wasn't helping: chocolate was still on my mind. I dont think i ever thought so much about chocolate before in my entire life!

Greys Anatomy helped take me to 10pm and now i've brushed my teeth. Tomorrow i start day two. They say it gets easier....i hope they are right!

catholic for the first time

2007-02-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

When i was at day care, as a kid, we always celebrated pancake tuesday by eating pancakes for breakfast. I remember thinking: what a cool religion - presents from santa on christmas, chocolates from easter bunnies and pancakes on tuesdays! What I didn't realize it was that it was called fatty tuesday because you we're planning to give something up for the next 40 days starting the next day(usually something fatty - hense the binging of fatty foods the day before).

Today at work I learned the real meaning behind pancake tuesday and was challenged by a cowoker to give up sugar for lent. We all know how much i like challenges and how I am always so determined to win - but giving up sugar for 40 days thats just setting myself up for failure. Instead I am going to give up chocolate for the next 40 days, and reduce as much sugar as possible. That means no more cookies or cakes, no more fancy frappachinos and caramel macchiatos (only if i *must* have them) but definitly NO NO NO chocolate.....OH GAWD! what have i gotten myself into?

one of those days

2007-02-20T23:12:00.000-05:00

it's 11:12pm. It's the first time i've checked my email all day, since 6:30am, when i woke up to go to the gym. Its been one of those days. here are some highlights:

I know were good, but i didn't know we were that good: I had a customer this morning who ordered a grande bold for his boss because he was late. He was trying to keep his job by bribing his boss with the coffee.

I *heart* mistakes: I had another customer this morning give me $10.00 for a short bold ($1.54) and walked away without taking his change. I tried calling after him, but he didnt hear me. Oh well...thats $8.46 in the tip jar for us :)

I *heart* mistakes even more when they mean things are free: went to shoppers drug mart after work to buy toothpaste. I also picked up some beef jerky and a dairy milk. The beef jerky had a coupon for $1.00 off, which the sales lady rang in. She forgot, however, to ring in the beef jerky. That means i got the beef jerky and the chocolate bar for free.

YAY! for broken change collector thingys: Because his token collecter thingy was broken, the ttc guy let me ride on the streetcar for free!

Feeling bad != feeling guilty: I accidently told the cashier at subway that i ordered a 6inch roast beef sub, when i really ordered a 6inch grilled chicken breast sub. I had ordered roast beef originally, but changed my mind twice before deciding on the chicken sub. It's only a difference of 20cents, but i didn't realize until i was already out of the store and didn't go back.

No pain, no gain: My arms and legs are super sore from starting to life weights at the gym again. No gym for me tomorrow.

There was something else i wanted to write about, but I can't remember now. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Nite nite. :)

bye! bye! bye!

2007-02-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

baby thats why

everylittle thing i do
never seems enough for you
dododod
jamala;s here

GUESS WHAT
its GONNA BE MEEEEEEEEE!

we're singing 'nsync - just like we used too!

you're just too blind! TO SEE!
but in the end its gonna be me

you cant deny
dododododod

you dont wanna lose it again
but im not like them
but baby when you FI-NA-LEEEEEEE
get to love SOME-BO-DY
it's gonna be meeeeee!

jamalas here!!!!!!!!!

2007-02-15T22:56:00.000-05:00

yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

today is a special day...

2007-02-14T13:24:00.000-05:00

....today is feb 14th!

happy feb 14th blogger world!!!

hi neal!

2007-02-13T21:38:00.000-05:00

happy lurking!

hi to all you other lurkers out there too!

i heart swiffer dusters

2007-02-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

due exams i have been neglecting my poor little condo, and as a result of my abuse, he's become one big mess!

so today is day 1 of my cleaning craze. Here's the breakdown:

day 1:
take dishes out of dishwasher
sort out entrance closet
kitchen - counters, put dirty dishes away, clean sink, stove top, sweep floor
dining room - clear off dining room table (ie put everything in its proper spot), dust table top, sweep
living room - sweep, dust
desk area - sort out piles

day 2:
3/5 loads of laundry - wash, fold AND put away
change sheets
put away clothes that are in piles on floor
clean mirrors
organize closet

day 3:
washroom - clean tub, toilet, sink, wash floor
2/5 loads laundry - wash, fold AND put away
sweep whole condo and wash floor

thank god for jamala's visiting in 3 days...otherwise this would have been a 3 week process....

me day

2007-02-10T18:48:00.000-05:00

today was a me day
an hour at the gym
followed by lunch and shopping with friends
now time for a quick blog entry and 20 minute powenap before heading out for dinner and drinks with other freinds
being me is exhausting!

you know those days where...

2007-02-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

you're so tired and stressed and your eyes are all puffy and red from tiredness, and you drink a grande americano (3 shots of espresso worth) hoping that it will wake you up but it doesn't, so you decide to go home and take a nap instead of going to the gym - even though you promised you would go to the gym, and though even carried your gym clothes to work, because thats how set you were on going to the gym - because you have a tax midterm tomorrow worth 40% and you want to do well?!?!?

yes? no? maybe?

well thats the kind of day i'm having. i need to take a nap and then hit the books again. siiiiiigh

guess who's got PVR

2007-02-06T22:49:00.000-05:00

and HDTV!!

a certain pinksupastar, thats who!

there's always tomorrow!

2007-02-04T23:22:00.000-05:00

i wanted to have a proper post today, but between paying a visit to whole foods, learning about income tax inclusions and deductions, cooking a 4.5lb organic chicken, musroom risotto, and asparagus, having friends over for dinner and watching deal or no deal, the day just flew by!

official

2007-02-03T18:00:00.000-05:00

i went into my Starbucks this morning to get some homework done. I like going to my location on Saturday mornings because it's its soo not busy, i can pull two tables togehter and not have anyone give me a dirty look.

this morning was a better than usual saturday morning, because when i got there this morning, not only did i get a warm welcome from one of my favourite coworkers who i havn't seen for a while because our schdules conflict (i can only work mornings, she can only work evenings), there was also a big brightly coloured evenelope from seattle waiting for me...

what was in the envalope that came all the way from seattle you ask? I was curious too, and immediately ripped it open to find my official, green, now-a-REAL-partner, partner card! No more wrinkly paper temporary card for me. I got green plastic now! I'm official baby! And it only took 4 months....

Oh! btw: my new favourite drink of the moment is a venti 3-pump sugar free cinnamon dolce chai tea bag. I put my own skim milk in it, to cool it down. You should try it!

food blog

2007-02-02T20:29:00.000-05:00

after many months (years even?) of reading other food lovers food blogs....i started my own!

url coming!

happy feburary first

2007-02-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of the month:

I cannot believe how fast 2007 is going by. Soon it will be spring, then summer, then halloween, my birthday, xmas and then it will be 2008 - and time to make new resolutions. So far i've been pretty good with the ones i made for 2007. I have been more organized but i am still wasting a lot of time. I'm making a resoultion for Feburary: no more time wasting! For real this time. I'm also quantifying my gym commitment. 4 times a week. If i stop wasting time, i should have no problem doing it.

Today marks the one month mark that i've been blogging everyday:

I have found that writing in this blog has become a big part of my life. Since committing myself to writing on this blog everyday this year, i have noticed I automatically think about my blog everytime something happens to me. For example the other day as I was walking home from lunch, i slipped on a patch of ice and fell to the ground. My reaction after saying ouch and checking if there was blood coming out of my head was "atleast i have something to write on my blog today." I'm not sure if thats a good thing or not- but this blog is forcing me to write everyday, and that's definitly a great thing.

Today is Feburary first:

Happy Feburary first.

i made it in time!

2007-01-31T22:38:00.000-05:00

i almost forgot! :O:O:O

iggyfinancialaccountingsuperbeing

2007-01-30T23:07:00.000-05:00

as of 6:30pm, the first two of six midterms are over! it's time to party!

Well technically we can bust out the booze yet. I still have a tax midterm to write next week, and since i am waaaaaaaaay behind in tax, i have a few more fun filled days to spend with my books. But after tax, its time to bring out the booooze! I *am* a university student afterall. End of midterms are always celebrated by bringing out the infamous bar in the box. is tradition! we don't mess with tradition!

So today, instead of a stop at the LCBO, I celebrated the end of my first two exams with a stop at the bookstore (I feel old). Lately, I've been obsessed with eating soups. Bean soups, creamy soups, veggie soups, i can't seem to be getting enough of any kind of soup. I am not sure where this obsession has come from. In my whole 26 years, I have never been a fan of soup. Infact you could count on me ordering salad every single time there was an option between the two. That was until a couple months ago. Now I can't get soup out of my mind!

It's the sole reason why I asked for an immersion blender for x-mas. Little did I know that he was going to attack me! (Yes! my immersion blender is a he!). Don't worry, him and I are cool again. Infact, we made a pact: he promises not to hurt me again, if:
1) i call him Soupinator. Like terminator but with out the accent.
2) use him once a week to make tasty soupy concauctions
3) write about him and the recipes he's helped to re-create, on my blog
4) never wash him while he's still plugged in, again

quite demanding! I know! But i love my soups and i love my fingers, so i have no choice but to comply!

So I stopped at the bookstore on my way home and picked up the soup kitchen. It's a collection of soup recipes by some of the UK's biggests names in the food industry that was put together in order to raise money for homeless charities. I had not heard of this book before, but while sitting on the floor in the middle of the isle surrounded by soup cookbooks (who knew there were so many?) this one jumped out at me and yelled "take me home! take me home". And home I took it. Infact I read it all the way home, even while walking outside in the snow without my mitts. Thats how intrigued i was.

Tomorrow, is no homework day. I have a condo to clean, laundry to do, a fridge to fill and soup to make. So until tomorrow, nite nite!

me so sleepy

2007-01-29T23:06:00.000-05:00

i've been bad with posting lately. Midterms, work, and winterlicious will do that to you. Only one more day of crappy posts. I promise.

off to my exam

2007-01-28T14:06:00.000-05:00

wish me luck!

a quickie

2007-01-27T17:08:00.000-05:00

midterm season is here. The first of the bunch is tomorrow, and the second on tuesday, which means all my non sleeping, eating, working, gymming hours are spent studying. boo :(

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2007-01-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to the weather woman on the radio saying that it was going to be another cold day in Toronto. Minus 27 degrees celcius with windchill, is not just cold, it's freezing!! I hope those of yous who were complaining about the lack of winter this year are happy now. I know I'm not. *I* was happy with the above normal temperatures, and cannot wait for them to return.

I know thats selfish of me: future generations are going to suffer because of how recklessly we are treating the environment. Grapefruit and lemons are triple thier regular price because of snow in California, and my fingers lost all feeling because we had a normal winter day today. Personally I'd take feelings in my fingers over grapefuits and lemons anyday.

It's not that I don't care for the environment, because I do: I recycle, I don't litter, at my parents home we have a green box. I have a re-useable waterbottle, i turn my lights off when I leave my house. I just prefer the warm weather to the cold - thats not so bad now, is it?

So hurry up Mr. Winter! Do what you need to do, and leave us alone! Come back next year if you must, but you won't hear me complain if you come back in 2!

stitch free!

2007-01-25T19:34:00.000-05:00

Today was a day to remember in th world of aliza. Today is the day i offically became stitch free! They were removed at 9:57am, 6 whole days after being sewn in to hold my chopped up finger together. My finger is healing well. I no longer need to wear a gauze bandaid around it for protection. Although I might wear it sometimes, because it still looks gross. Don't worry, i wont be posting a picture.

I used the hand bender last nite for the first time since the accident. I must admit it was a bit scary, but Alan and Annie were there making sure it didn't attack me again. I am one of those lucky girls who has many groups of friends, and one of my resolutions this year was to make sure i keep in better touch with them all. Although I am still behind in emails, and I have yet to invite many poeple over for dinner (damn midterms!) I have been trying my best to stay committed to this resoultion. Last night was dedicated to Alan and Annie - two of my cloest friends from waterloo. As we worked on making goan potato soup and samosa's from scratch, we drank wine, caught up and laughed until we cried (atleast annie and i did. mostly because we watched this). It was a great nite, and definitly not the last nite like it!

2 weeks, 6 days, 4 hours...

countdown

2007-01-24T13:46:00.000-05:00

3 week, 9 hours, 49 minutes....

to flush, or not to flush? is that even a question?

2007-01-23T22:26:00.000-05:00

Today I went to to the washroom 3 times in the 6 hours that I was at school. But this is not a post about my pee, or how annoyed i am that after a month of drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day, my bladder is still not used to my increase of water intake. Thats nothing, compared to what i have to complain about today.

You see, in the 3 times that i went to the washroom today, not once was I able to pee in th first stalled i entered. Why you ask? Why was i forced to hold my pee in my bladder for an extra 10-20 seconds than necessary? Because some poeple DON'T KNOW HOW TO FLUSH! That's why!! 10-20 seconds might not seem like a big deal to you, but its a HUGE deal when your bladder was ready to burst 5 minutes ago because you made the mistake of drinking a bottle of water and a venti tea before starting your hour long trek to the university that all the non-flushers of Toronto go to.

I don't get it: how hard is it to flush a toilet? I assume that everyone that goes to university knows how to flush a toilet. I am sure its a pre-requisite, right up there with knowing your name, and how to pay your tuition fees. Is assuming that everyone flushes thier toilet at home too big an assumption to make? There are no culture(s) that I am aware of that forbids the flushing of public toilets, so we can rule cultural differences out. I don't think someone can forget to flush, you are in a washroom goddammit...flushing is a given in a washroom! Even if you go into the stall to fix your bra, your shirt, your hair - you still flush the toilet! You don't want to be caught walking out of a stall that didn't flush, everyone would for sure notice, and from that moment on you'd be the non flusher, and everyone will look at you funny.

Unless, everyone in the washroom is a non flusher. Then not flushing is cool, and I think that's the case at York. It must be the case at York, because i couldn't find a clean stall until I looked in 4 unflushed ones first!!

The second time wasn't so bad, I only had to look in 2 stalls before i found one i could use. The thrid time i just had to look in 1 before I found a clean one. Improvement, but still disappointing.

It's not that i care that much about the flushed toilets. It's annoying yes, but if worse comes to worse i could always just flush the toilet before using it (i would *never* use an unflushed toilet - thats just WRONG). What scares me though, is that if people arn't flushing the toilet, are they washing their hands? I bet you they are not! And what about these women's kids? What are they going to teach them? This problem is never going to end unless we put a stop to it!

So people please: Next time you are in a public washroom and you see someone come out of a stall and didn't hear a flush -make them feel embaressed, stare at them, give them evil looks, ask them flat out "did you flush"? Do whatever it takes to get the message across! Make it known that flushing is not only cool, but its the right thing to do!! Let's put a stop to this craziness once and for all!

ps:

2007-01-22T00:48:00.001-05:00

sorry for all the spelling mistakes lately. Its hard typing with only 9 fingers.

getting better

2007-01-22T00:19:00.000-05:00

the bandage makes my ugly hand look uglier. I feel like people look at me funny when they see my finger all wrapped up - its almost as if i were some freak show. Now i make sure i wear gloves where ever i go.

I have work in the morning. I wonder if they will let me work. How would you like being served your coffee with my left hand?

pictuers coming soon

2007-01-21T15:57:00.000-05:00

gotta finish my chapter first. then dinner at grace's.
dinner is followed by blog time, then bed time, and somewhere i'll squeeze in some time for atleast one episode of 24. it's official. i'm addicted.

boring post for a boring day

2007-01-20T21:42:00.000-05:00

didn't do much today other than study at 2 different starbucks, get some groceries, change my band-aid thingy and watch 3 episodes of 24, season 1. I'm waaaaaaaay out of the cool tv loop, i know. Please help!

the clutz does it again

2007-01-19T15:30:00.000-05:00

I chopped my finger yesterday. Not chopped with a knife chop - I probably wouldn't sit in the Toronto General Hospital Ememrgency waiting room for 6 hours if I had just chopped my finger with a knife. My chop was much more serious than that.

I had been planning Thursday nite's dinner all week. My dad was at a conference out of town, and since my mom was working downtown again, she asked if she could sleep over. YAY! i thought! I sleep over party with my mom. This was going to be fun!

I seached all my favourite food blogs for a dinner recipe and finally settled on this one. Joyce had used the same recipe a couple of weeks ago, when she had me over for dinner, and i had fallen in love with it. Plus, it was the perfect opportunity for me to use my brand new hand blender that i got for x-mas and was still sitting in its box.

I skinned the chicken and then started working on the paste-like marinade that i was to rub my naked chicken with. I chopped up the green chillies, garlic, ginger without a problem, everything was right on track. The hand blender made a beautiful marinade that i bathed my chicken in before sprinkling some chilli pepper, and letting the chicken sit and absorb the flavours. I had 30 minutues to kill before putting the chicken in the oven, and it was too early to start working on the roasted sweet potato and beet side dish that i was planning to make, so i decided to clean up a little.

BIG MISTAKE!

I was so excited about how good my dinner looked and smelled, and how easy it was to prepare now that i had my hand blender, that i forgot i hadn't unplugged the hand blender. You can guess what happens next:

chop chop chop goes the blender to my left index finger. ouch! Ouch! OUCH! MAJOR OUCH! Surprisingly i didn't cry though! I'm more in shock about that, then i am about chopping my finger to be honest. If there are 3 things i am, its clumsy, a crybaby, and a superstar ;)

I ran my finger under cold water, and wrapped a paper towel tightly around my finger, then started working on my dinner again. My mom was going to be home in an hour, i had *no* time to waste!

Of course when she finally got to my home, she insisted that we go straight to the hospital. I insisted we eat first, and when i showed her the chicken roasting in the oven, i won! I knew the wait in the emergency room was going to be long, so what was one more hour? Plus I cooked the dinner with one hand. I wasn't going to let all that effort go to waste!

6 hours, 0 pain killers, 1 cute doctor in training with a cute british accent and 15 stiches later, i was finally home again. I will get the stiches removed in 7 days, and hopefully then i'll be back to normal. My hand hurts a bit but is barable. Its more of an inconvenience than anything.

but optimist duckie said to me this morning when i told her about it: atleast it gave me something to write about on my blog! what a great sister eh?

ch-ch-ch-cha-cha-chili-chicken (thrusdays)

2007-01-18T15:40:00.000-05:00

Before quitting my job to go back to school, I was a full time computer geek aka "programmer" for the web development team of a large international company. When I first started, our department was small, was made up of mostly males, and our office socials always included lots of alchohol: so those who liked to party it up, got to know each other pretty well. Needless to say, I made a lot of freinds, fast.

Before I started working there, there was a group of co-workers that used to go out together on a regular basis. Drinks on Thrusdays, drinks on Fridays, drinks on Saturdays, chili chicken every third thrusday of the month. Unfortunatly things changed: people left, others got promoted, and the group kinda fell apart. They stopped going for drinks, and stopped going for chili chicken.

But luckily new group formed. We don't go out as often as the old group did (one *grumpy* member claims he's too old ;) ) but one tradition that was brought back to life was chili chicken thrusdays.

Every third thrusday of the month, a group 6 of us makes the 10 minute hike from Toronto's financial district to the outskirts of Chinatown to a somewhat shady chinese restaurant for it's famous chili chicken. $5 buys you more white rice and "chicken" covered in spicy chili sauce than you could ever finish. For an extra 50cents you get this ginger/onion sauce that makes this artery clogging meal even more tasty than it already is. It's no wonder there's usually a line up down the stairs and around the corner.

Today, being the thrid thursday of the month (Janurary is just *flying* by), I met my ex-coworkers at the restaurant for our traditional lunch. It's been a couple months since I've seen some of them, as the third Thrusday in December landed in the middle of the holiday rush and all of us were too busy to meet up. It was great catching up. Hearing stories about the work they are doing reinforces the fact that going back to school to change careers was the right choice for me. But hearing stories about all the people I used to work with, makes me miss working with them, oh so much!

Hopefully the owners of the restaurant can continue to pay the Toronto health inspectors to stay away- as that will guarantee that I'll be seeing the group atleast once a month. I'm not sure where we'll go once the health inspectors shut it down. Come on! You didn't really think the chicken in chili chicken was actually chicken, now, did you? I'm just joking...its not *THAT* bad.

How Howie Mandel and a truck driver can inspire a girl to do 30 extra minutes on the elyptical:

2007-01-17T22:30:00.001-05:00

Deal or No Deal!

how come no one has ever told me about the most addictive game show on tv: Deal or No Deal. Until last monday I didn't have a television, and I'm still without cable, so i am slightly out of the loop when it comes to television shows...but clearly those with a televison must have seen this show. How could you not?! With Howie Mandel as the host and 25 beautiful women in skimpy red dresses holding breif cases, this show is MUST SEE TV kids! So why was i left to find this out for myself? the HARD way?!?!

Luckily for me, Matt wanted to meet up at lunch today, so i was unable to go to the gym after work. Also, luckily for me, Grace wanted to meet up for dinner, so i was unable to go to the gym in the afternoon. That left me with two options: go to the gym after i finish reading my chapter, or don't go to the gym at all. Of course the devil on my left shoulder came up with a list of excusing trying to convince me not to go, such as: you went yesterday, you're tired, and you have homework to do. And he was OH SO CLOSE to winning, but the Angel on my right shoulder used the guilt card, and so off to the gym it was.

Thank god for the guilt card! Maybe this was God's way of telling me that if i go to the gym that i will be rewarded. Not just by being fitter and living a longer healthier life, but i will also get to watch trashy, mind rotting tv shows. From now on, Wednesday nites are now devoted to the gym, howie and short red dresses! I'm not a religious person. But if God can change your life like this, maybe i should reconsider.

looks can be decieving

2007-01-16T23:25:00.000-05:00

i did it! I finally got my hair cut. After weeks of being annoyed with the lack of shape, lack of volume and it looking bad even in a pony tail, i gave in and made an appointment. Luckiy my hairdresser robin, of the band Robin Black and the Intergalatic Rock Stars and much music VJ search fame, was able to squeeze me in. I have been going to him for years now, and he never siezes to amaze me: Not only with his hair cutting skills, but he always has the most amazing stories to tell. Today he was telling me about his new TV show adventures. In the past we've had discussions about indie bands, good bars in toronto, touring, living away from home, getting married, and getting in shape. Not what you'd expect from a rock star.

what an iggy!

2007-01-15T21:32:00.000-05:00

i got to work 15 mintues late this morning. Not beacuase of the layer of snow and ice that we were blessed with last nite. That i could deal with. But finding my keys...that was something i just could NOT do at 6am this morning.

Here's a recap of my day:

6:00am
alarm goes off. press the snooze button - there's no way in hell i'm getting out of bed at 6am, when i don't start work until 7am.

6:09am
snooze alarm goes off. I still have 51 minutes before i have to be at work, and 41 mintues before i have to leave. Thats's plenty of time. press the snooze button again.

6:12am
i finally get out of bed - but only because i have to pee (today was not one of those days where i check my email before i go to the washroom in the morning)

6:13am
crawl back into bed. I showered last nite before i went to bed, so i have a few more minutes to snooze.

6:25am
contemplating if i should get out of bed now, or in 5 minutes. Decide that i'll wait another 5 minutes. It's only starbucks, who cares about hair or makeup?

6:32am
finally out of bed. Check my email. All junk! boo!

6:43am
teeth clean? check!
uniform on? check!
hair in ponytail? check!
breakfast eaten? check!
snack packed? check!
shoes on? check!
keys?
keys?
keys?
no keys to be found!
look on the table for my keys. not there!
look on my island for my keys. not there!
look in the three purses i've used in the past few days for my keys. not there!
look in my jacket pockets, in my pant pockets, on the floor, my desk, in the washroom, on the counter, on the couch, in the laundry machine (even though i haven't done laundry in days) and even in the fridge! But they were no where to be seen!

6:47am
call starbucks: Hi Kate. Its aliza. I'm going to be late this morning. no! no! it's not because of the storm. I can't find my keys. *feeling like a moron*

6:52am
check the table, the counter, floor, couch, pockets, cabinets, under my desk, my desk drawers, under the bed...no keys

6:55am
frantically thinking: what if i left them in my door last nite when i came home? Maybe my strange neighbour down the hall saw them and took them and now he's going to ROB ME! Shit! tears start welling up in my eyes. Where are my keys?!?!?!

6:57am
check the table, the counter, dishwasher, the skink, the balcony, the dryer, floor, couch, pockets, cabinets, under my desk, my desk drawers, under the bed...no keys

7:05am
i was supposed to be at work 5 mintues ago. I give up. I lock up using my spare keys, but not before leaving some baby powder infront of my door incase anyone enters while i'm gone.

11:45am
return from work. Must show ID to the concierge downstairs to let me in. I have spare keys, but no spare key fob. Damn technology!

11:48pm
change my msn name: Lost my keys! :(

12:30pm
finished eating lunch and checking my email. Start the hunt for my keys again, but they are nowhere to be seen! I'm really panicked now. My condo isn't very big, where could i have put them??!?! Did I throw them away like i threw away my camera last summer? I start looking through my garbage. No keys.

12:47pm
telling my sister that i can't find my keys. Telling her I always leave them on the table, and i'm always able to find them. Even when there's a huge mess on the table. But today, there's just my maclean's magazine. No mess and no keys.

like a clam, rational adult that she is (even though she's the younger one, she's definilty the more mature one) she assures me the crazy man down the hall hasn't stolen my keys, and that i will find my keys when i'm not looking for them. I want to believe her, but i've looked everywhere, and i swear to her they arn't in my condo.

She tells me not to think about it. But i can't help it. I start doing some homework with my keys on my mind.

2:30pm
the tv installers come and my mind is taken off my keys, as i watch them mount my new baby on the wall.

5:30pm
still worried about my keys being lost - i message my sister again: duckie! I looked everywhere! and i mean EVERYWHERE! She says: awwww iggy! dont worry. you will find them.

7:48pm
eating dinner on my kitchen table and reading an interesting article in my macleans magazing. I can finally eat there again now that i've cleared all the junk from it. I finished my meal, my article and my water, and I put away the dishes, my placemat, and closed the magazine. Low and behold, on the kitchen table, under the magazine were my keys.

7:49pm
jumping up and down with excitement, yelling YAY! i found my keys!

7:50pm
change my msn name: KEYS FOUND! YAY!

7:55pm
duckie messages me.whe i tell her where they were, her first response: what an iggy!

doing what i'm told

2007-01-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

My little sister, aysha (affectionatly called duckie) came home from university this weekend. Instead of showering her older, smarter, cooler sister with compliments, like a good younger sister should, she called me a CHEATER!

Me? A Cheater? Ms. goody two shoe-almost perfect-coolest of the cool- me? a cheater? never! How was *I* a cheater, i exclaimed? One line posts don't count, she boldly answered. What do you mean they don't count? Says who? I asked. Say's ME!

I guess someone did die and make her god. I was planning to write a one liner again today (i am so behind on my readings, and I haven't been able to focus on my homework), but afraid of what would happen if i did, I'm writing more. And I'm posting a picture too. What a lucky duckie!

that's duckie. we were decorating our christmas tree and i decided to decorate her too! Notice the silver orniment in her hair.

Hope you like this post better duckie!

the perfect saturday

2007-01-13T09:51:00.000-05:00

i'm spending the day with grace for facials and afternoon tea.

change is hard

2007-01-12T08:46:00.000-05:00

Less than one week into my resloutions, and i have already broke a couple. Change is hard.

guess what i did today?

2007-01-11T14:19:00.000-05:00

I served Tie Domi tea this morning! Tie Domi of the Toronto Maple Leafs was in my starbucks this morning, and ordered tea from me! ME! And not just any tea, but chamomile tea, which he took a couple mintues to decide on. He even made this blubbery farting sound with his lips as he was deciding upon his beverage. I'm not sure if he made that sound because he was actually deciding on a drink, or if it was because I wasn't acting all "Oh it's tie domi!" and he was looking for some attention? I would have given him that attention if i had recognized him, but even if i had recognized him, i would have doubted myself because what kind of hockey player orders chamomile tea?

pink in the face

2007-01-10T14:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of my Tuesday classes. I wanted to write this post last nite when I came home from class, but after morning shift at work, an hour at the gym, an hour commute to school, 6 hours of lectures, a very embaressing moment times two, waiting for the bus at the bus stop in the freaking cold for 15 mintues only having the bus pass right by me becuase it was past 10pm and the bus doesn't stop at that stop after 10pm...i was not in the mood to write about it. I'm lucky i even made it home intime to reach my 1 post a day goal.

so this very embarssing moment times two you ask (beacuase i'm pretending you care)

I left for school 15 mintues later than i should have because I was reading blogs when i should have been looking up where my classes were. So when I should have been leaving for school, i was trying to use the campus maps to locate the buildings. My only difficulty with this was that the map uses the building names, and the course websites list the classrooms using the 3 letter acronnmys for the building!!How am I supposed to know that ACE is Accolade Buliding East?

So when i arrive my Information Management Systems class, there are no seats left. Three others are leaning against the back wall, but there is no room for me beside them. So instead,I decide to lean against the wall beside the door and in the process of doing so I turn off the lights in the classroom. I quickly turn them back on, but not quick enough for no one to notice, and suddenly all 100 students eyes are staring at me, not to mention the professor's eyes aswell. The professor then asks me to introduce myself:

Him: Hi! Why don't you introduce yourself!
Me: That wasn't introudction enough?
Him: No! Go ahead, introduce yourself.
Me: Are you serious?
Him: Yes. Totally Serious (well maybe he didn't say Totally, but he totally was)
Me: What do you want me to say?
Him: Your name, what program you are in, why you are taking this class?
Me: Okay....my name is Aliza. I'm not sure why I am taking this class. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo in Computer Science, but I didn't like computers so I decided to persue a career in accounting. I need this class for my certification.
Him: Wow! Waterloo! Computer Science! Maybe you should be standing infront of the class instead of me.
Me: Hahaha!
Him: Welcome Aliza. Why don't you take a seat....can someone clear off a seat and make some room for her?
Me: *blushing*

embaressed times one

then 5 mintues later...

my cellphone goes off in class

embaressed times two

almost, but not quite

2007-01-09T23:19:00.000-05:00

i made it home in time from class to post...
*phew*

brainwashed

2007-01-08T13:42:00.000-05:00

I worked from 7-11 today, with a cafe shift. Our store is so busy that every morning one barista is assigned to cafe. For the whole moring, her task is to bus, fill empty milk bullets and take the dishes out of the sanitizer. Then at 10:30, when the traffic in our store as died down a little, the lucky barista with the cafe shift gets to take the garbage to the dumpster and the coffee grinds to the refridgerator room in the middle of the parking lot of the office tower we are in. Let me tell you. It's worse than it sounds. WAAAY worse.

Remind me again why i chose to work part time at starbucks after i quit my job and went back to school?

oh right! so i can buy things like this:

at 30% off, and carry it around like the pretentious starbucks coffee/water drinker that i am.

And to have free drinks like this and this and this.

And to talk to cute lawyers and stock brokers who wear glasses, and form crushes on them, like so.

I guess cafe shift aside, working at starbucks is pretty damn great!

happy new year...again

2007-01-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

A week into the new year, and i am saying happy new years again. No, it's not 2008, theres still 358 more days of 2007 before i'll be saying happy new year for that reason. Instead, today I say happy new year because today is the day I am ready to make a change. And happy new years is what people say when they are ready to make a change in their life.

To me that means being more organized and less lazy. It means taking more time out for me, and not stressing over the unimportant things. It means stop biting my nails, eating less chocolate and more broccoli (now if only they could make chocolate flavoured broccoli, my life would be almost perfect). It means making more time to see old freinds, being more forgiving, and stop being careless. It means reading more, gymming more, saving more, cooking more and eating less. Ultimately it means taking better care of me.

Yes, i know, i'm 7 days late - but what makes Jan 1 the only day that the slate is wiped clean? I don't want my slate to be totally cleaned off anyway. In my 26 years I have made plenty of mistakes - spending too much, loving too much, wasting too much time - but without those mistakes, I'd never know what too much (or too little) is. I'm not totally sure if i know now what the right amount of any of these things are, but i'm a lot closer than I was when I was 16, 21 or even last year. I also know I never want to make those mistakes again.

So this year, I'm putting 2006 in a pile on my my slate that i can refer to when i need some guidence. I have set a big goal for this year, as i do every Janurary 1st. Unfortunatly, by the time May comes around I have totally forgotten about it. This year, I've set my goals on Janurary 7th. These 7 days are going to make a difference. I just know it.

Q: what do you get when you give an ex-programmer soon-to-be accountant a little too much wine to drink?

2007-01-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

A: a drunk email, thats what!

hi freinds
i am drucnk at a party and sending my famouse drunkie emails
alan and annie you know what im talkin g about
the others - welcome to my drunkie emailes
party time!!!!!!!!!!!!
alizaaaaaaaaaa
aka superstar

hey! what do you expect from a gurl who checks her email before she brushes her teeth in the morning.

here's one from october 18th, 2003. you can take take the girl out of the geekyness, but you can take the geekyness out of the girl!

hi guys
i am at the slc waiting for my oktoberfest bus to come, and i am soooooooo durnkj right now, i didnt think i was this funk, but, i am. I did sooo many shots of alcohol i didnt think i was this drunk, but i am. And now the bus isnt here yet, and it leaves at 8, its onlu 7:47 right now pm just in case you thought it was morning. Its dark outside, and i am sooo drunk...and i am going to the aud for oktoberfest with annie au, and and bryan and the other mech engs, including marty and pat the bio tech accounatant. annie said i am typing too much, so she is goign to type for me. BTW we are in the slc in case i didnt say that already. Thats the studnet life center, for those who doent know what the slc is. BTW sorry for the mistakes, i am drunk!

okay here is annie

ALIZA IS A Loser....LOSER...druink loser!!!!kjajkf she drank myu whole oggoel of tequila rose...that biatch... bye kasjf;kfja;ioweuf

hahahaha - im going to remember this email for the speech i'm going to have to make at annies wedding (to bryan) this fall

i have a crush...blush

2007-01-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

but i cant tell you about it now.it's not because I want to hold you in suspense...i'm off to meet up with some friends for drinks, and i needed to post before i showered for this damn contest. Good thing i didn't forget. I almost did and then gracie would have won, and we can't have that happening now can we. Good thing i remembered.

Please come back tomorrow when I promise i will divuldge into all the butterfly in my tummy details about the new man of my dreams.

until then, have a good nite everyone :)

gimme my marks!

2007-01-04T09:10:00.000-05:00

The second semester of school started yesterday, but marks from last term are still NOT posted. I'm not worried about knowing if I failed any pre-requisites, I just want to know if i got straight A's!

mememe

2007-01-03T00:31:00.000-05:00

I'm not a big fan of the About Me question, because I never know where to start. I always feel like I should start by saying I was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but I only lived in Montreal for 7 weeks before my dad's job transferred to Toronto. So mentioning that I was born in Montreal always seems so insignificant, especially when I'm limited to 1200 characters. Yet, I can't seem to leave it out.

I spent the next 3 years growing up with my mom and my dad. Life was perfect, until one day my dad drove me to the hospital and pointed to this tiny little thing in an incubator and told me that was my sister. Suddenly my life changed! Everyone was ooogling over my sister, and no one was paying attention to me!! i was NOT happy! I apparently hated my sister, and begged my mom to stuff her back into her tummy (or so I am told, since I don't remember any of this!

Today, my sister and I get along great! I affectionately call her duckie instead of by her real name(its a long complicated story, and if i explain it to you, you will just think I am weird), and she calls me iggy (because when she was young, she couldn't say Aliza, so she called me iga instead. That eventually morphed into iggy, and has been my name since). I call myself superstar, and have convinced many people to call me that too!

My parents still live in the same house that we moved into when I was 6 months old. I moved out in August 06, but I'm home visiting all the time. Unlike most kids, its not for the home cooking, since I’m the one who loves to cook in the house....but it IS for the big screen TV that my parents have, well because I don't have one (a TV, that is). And because I love them, and miss them, and all that other kind of mushy stuff (and who can say no to free food?)

My favourite color for the past 7 years is Pink. I used to hate that color because I thought it was a color for girls. Then one day I woke up and realized I was a girl and pink has been my favourite color since. I am also quite fond of Red and Yellow, because even I admit that having everything in your house the color pink, is a bit scary. I love purses, and have more than I can count. Shoes too! My favourites also include Grey Goose Vodka, traveling, guys who wear glasses, Australian accents, brown m&m's, Pizza and Ice cream, postcards from places far far away. New York City is my favourite city in the world, with Barcelona not too far behind. I LOVE chocolate - any kind of chocolate, from the cheap corner store kind to fancy French truffles - i love it all. And more than I like eating chocolate, I love giving chocolate away, and if i you are ever lucky enough to work with me, you know all too well what I am talking about.

Things that i don't like include selfish people, celery, people driving slowly in the left lane. I hate to see grown men cry, spiders, mosquito, bumble bees and beer.

Other than that, I'm easy to please.

After 2 years of working, I bought my own place, moved out of my parents suburban house into my own condo downtown, i quit my job and went back to school to change my career. I have two more terms to go and a contest to win, so here i am!

day 2

2007-01-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

this is a quick post, for now, just because i need a post for today, since I *AM* going to win this contest.

Today was a long day, which started with standing in line to renew my health card and then again to get my textbooks (remind me to write a textbook sometime- 3 books cost me over $400!) driving my mom downtown and backhome to deliver some patterns and now after a quick power nap, i have to drive my sister back to waterloo, where she will be starting her Masters of Accounting. *sigh* with her gone, the holidays are officially over.

i'll be back later to write a more interesting post

nite nite

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T12:28:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of many things:

1. It is the first day of 2007 and my prediction book is telling me that 2007 is going to be a good year. ..which leads to #2

2. Today is the first day of a good year. Not that 2006 was a bad year. 2006 was infact a great year. It was the year I hiked the Inka Trail to reach Matchu Pitchu. It was the year I quit my job, went back to school, bought a condo, moved out of my parents house, added a mortgage to my name, and gave up my car. It was the year that starbucks came into my life, and now i am afraid will never leave. It was a year that freinds got married, engaged, pregnant and luckily no one that I was close to died. 2006 is going to be a hard year to beat, but i have a feeling 2007 is going to be able to do it!

3. Today is the first day that I am going to make resolutions that I am going to stick to - including being more organized and winning out post-a-post everyday to your blog contest that Lenord proposed last nite before he started drinking Ryan's potent sangria. Gracie thinks she's going to win, but Ryan and I both agreed Gracie's gonna lose before she even starts ;)

4. Today is the first day that I'm going to post everyday for the next 365 days!

5. Today is the fist day of Janurary - which makes it the first day of the new year. Happy New Years Day Kids! Here's to wishing that 2007 is your best year yet!

drink whore

2006-11-28T21:34:00.000-05:00

move over tall-sugar-free-vanilla-non-fat-caramel-machiato...theres a new drink in townand its called: Grande-Sugar-Free-Vanilla-Non-Fat-Chai-Tea-Misto in a Venti Cup.

It's bascially a London Fog with chai tea instead of earl grey, and i can't seem to get enough of it. I first learned about this drink at our SB training at head office, also known as starbucks school,. This is where all new employees go to learn about corporate starbucks. Just like any first day of grade 3, we all went around the table and introduced ourselves - stating our names, what store we were from and our favourite drink. My favourite drink at the time was the regular (and how so boring compared to the new) london fog. At break, one of the other partners from another store, suggested that I try the london fog with chai instead of earl grey. I've been a convert since. I must admit, I did have a bit of an affiar with the tall-sugar-free-vanilla-non-fat-caramel-machiato there for a week or two: sugar free vanilla mixed with warm foamy milk, marked with a shot of espresso and topped with a drizzle of caramel...mmmm. but like all love affiars, they are fun when its new and exciting but after a while the excitement dies down and you realize what you have at home isn't actually that bad.

all that said however, if the pepermint mocha didn't have so much sugar in it, I would be drinking one of those everyday! HANDS DOWN! sorry Grande-Sugar-Free-Vanilla-Non-Fat-Chai-Tea-Misto in a Venti Cup yer good, but not THAT good!

the next picasso(s)

2006-11-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

Every wednesday night, this time last year, you could find me and my freind Grace, tipsy and in the basement of the art gallery of ontario, with 10 other poeple, listening to a crazy artist trying to teach us to paint. We were enrolled in a beginner's painting class and every Wednesday night, we were learning how to become the next Picasso. I don't remember learning that much, mostly becasue instead of teaching us, our intructor would just take our paintbrush and fix what she felt was our 'mistakes' but drinking half a bottle of wine and going to class all giggly was always more fun than we should be having on a wednesday night.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) i haven't painted since then...until today. Grace organized a painting party and had a local artist/instuctor come in for the day and teach a group of us some more painting techniques. Although I had hoped for a bit more instruction and some more exercises, it was a fun day spent with food, freinds and lots of bottles of wine and you can never complain when you have lots of bottles of wine.

if you thought i was a geek before, you ain't seen nothing yet

2006-11-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

a few days ago, as my financial accounting professor was lecturing to us about the importance of recognizing goodwill on the balance sheet (for those who don't know, and care, the excess amount you pay for a company, over thier net assets (assets - liabilities) is called goodwill) i had far more nerdier things to focus on. What can be more nerdier than learning about goodwill and not paying attention to the professor because you already read the chapter, you ask? How about making a study schedule for the next 2 weeks, for the two exams that will be over exactly 14 days from now, thats what!

Now this is no regular study schedule, as i am no regular student! I am a working woman! A home owner, with a mortgage and everything. I need to schedule time for cooking, cleaning, and laundry, since i do my own laundry now (i say now becuase when i was in university the first time i used to come home every two weeks with a huge bag of stinky laundry and every other sunday afternoon, after cooking a large home made meal for me, my mom would drive me back to waterloo with my now fresh smelling laundry folded, and shirts, pants and skirts ironed and on hangers. You might think i was spoiled, but my mom insisted....and good daughters must listen to thier mothers) Now, that I am 26 and a home owner, its time that i do these things myself, even though my mom, who is now semi-retired, still keeps insiting to come over every week to cook, clean, and do my laundry. I have put my foot down, and told her i can do it myself, although this week i am tempted to take her up on her offer :$

time is allocated to studying, work, cleaning, cooking, gymming and eating...and thats about it. For the next two weeks, thats going to be my life. If you see me out and about, enjoying this beautiful fall weather we are having, remind me about my schedule. if you see see me talking on the phone, or chatting on msn....remind me of the schedule. If you see me shopping, drinking, eating out, remind me of the schedule. The one hour i spent an hour of my life creating (i had to create a rough draft first, to make sure i could fit all the chapters and questions i needed to study in. And then i had to write it again nicely, so that it was pretty enough to hang on the wall, incase people came over and saw it, although there is no time in the schedule for people coming over. BUt then again, there is no time in teh schedule for blogging either, and well, here i am) yes, yes, i know...the schedule!

and if you thought that was bad, you haven't seen anything yet...the worst part is i took a picture of my schedule to share with you:

now thats geeky!

last day of classes....until next week

2006-11-23T23:50:00.000-05:00

today was the last day of classes!! well technically today was the last day of thrusday classes.... I still have two monday classes left next week, one on monday and one on.....wednesday?!?!? (dont ask, i dont get york policies either?!?!)

ALL I KNOW IS THAT THERES NO MORE COST OR FINANCIAL!! WOOHOO!!! *doing a no more cost or financial accounting dance* LA-LA-LA-LA-LA <-- thats my no more cost or financial song! YAY! no more cost or financial. as you can tell im quite excited. Although, in all honestly, I shouldn't be this excited . Why? Well first, i still have to write the finals for cost and financial...which means its time to be hard core again (although technically i never stopped being hardcore, and i felt kinda geeky today in class when my prof announced infront of the whole class that she knows *I* do my homework. Although I'm always answering questions and asking questions anyway, so it is kinda obvious that i am a nerd and *DO* do my homework before class - but thats an aside). The second reason that I shouldnt be so excited that my thrusday lectures are over is that want to be an accountant. I should LOOOOOOOVE cost and financial. And i do! Pat told me she never seen someone so excited about accountning. Duckie said the same! But it im at the point where my head is full of accounting information....that I cant take anymore! Test me already, so i can forget it all the next day, and make room for more accounting information!

Starting tomorrow my life will be E-S-S --> eat, sleep, study. Oh yea, and work, and sing, and shower, and blog and procrastinate. so really my life will be E-S-S-W-S-S-B-P. i've already created a schedule or in accounting terms, a "budget" on how i want to allocate my time and stating which chapters I will cover on each day, and what problems I will do, and so on. At the end of each day I will have to update my schedule, coz as we all know (or atleast *i* know, and now you know too) is that i rarely ever stick to my schedule. But its fun to make them and try to stick to them anyway. I could even do a variance analysis, if i am feeling really nerdy, to determine where i went off budget and why...although i could probably tell you right now why i went off track...its because I LIKE TO PROCRASTINATE! nothing forces me to study more effectively as pressure, and right now I am palling on which days between my 2nd and 3rd exam i can go xmas shopping, and bake cookies, and go buy a tree and have a tree decorating party...planning everything but studying.

anyway, i should go to bed now. The condo is a mess....and i need to wake up early tomorrow to clean it all up before i go to work. Its crazy how quickly such a small space can get messy. I feel like i *just* cleaned....wait i *DID* just clean. ahhhh the life of a home owner...

PS: i worked on bar today! For longer than 5 mintues too - who would have thought? Did i mention that i am now a certified barista? I even got a button saying so. How jealous are you of me right now :)

one step back...two steps forward

2006-10-28T18:06:00.000-04:00

i've been so busy lately, that i havent had time to obsess over things that i should have let go of a long time ago and now i can't remember why i was hanging on in the first place....

It is funny how when you stop and take a step back how clear everything becomes

i guess thats life ....or something like it....

its time to move 2 steps forward

more starbucks scams

2006-10-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

i dont want to study anymore. Its 11:42. I have another chapter to read before i go to bed. 7 hours of sleep (if im lucky) before i have to wake up and start reading again. remind me why i wanted to become a student again?

oh right....coz computers SUCK!

i worked a short shift today. 4-7:30. It was a slow shift....most closes are, and fridays are especially slow. I had a man come in with a coupon for a free drink...he asked me "whats the most expensive thing you got" i laughed...poeple always want the most expensive thing when they got a coupon. I told him about the harvest nut mocha...its a test drink that tastes like ferraro rocher (only offered in 20 stores in toronto, and our store has it) a venti is almsot $6. He was sold! He then asked me if he could have two drinks with one coupon. I was like NO! My assistant manager was beside me and quickly changed my NO to a YES....she later told me that a venti is the the same as a short and a tall...so technically a customer can have two free drinks with one coupon....@_@

starbucks and thier "YES" policies....

i had two more incidents of people asking for tall coffees in grande cups, and asking me to fill them more....next time im going to fill a tall cup and pour it into the grande. Don't poeple have any shame?

I like closing. The store is less busy, you actually have time to breath, and at the end of the day, our store allows us to take any extra sandwhiches home and any of the bars/cookies/cakes that are "exipred". Today i got 2 organic blueberry bars and 2 sandwhiches - including a "veggie crunch" which is a a piece of multigrain baguette with cream cheese, lettuce, a slice of carrot, cucumber and a few pieces of red pepper for 5.75 (no wonder we have it left over).

Oh I also had my first starbucks injury today. DEEP cut to the thumb. my assistant manager wanted to send me to emergency for stitching....but i said it wasnt necesarry. I'm going to have a starbucks scar...i cant wait to tell my starbucks stories to my grandkids...;)

what else? nothing really....just trying to procrastinate. I should get back to reading business law...and you should be going to bed.

nite nite!

fix you

2006-10-22T17:18:00.000-04:00

i must listen to music when i study and i must wear headphones to listen to the music. Even when I am in my condo, alone, and i am studying, i listen to my music through my headphones. Its wierd, even though I'm listening to the music, i dont *hear* it....i could be listening to the same song on repeat, and i probably wont even notice. Infact i've been listening to the same 50 songs on repeat ever since I've started studying in september (i'm too lazy to change my playlist).

Today, i decided I wanted to listen to something different - so instead of listening to my playlist, i decided to let iTunes choose what songs i would listen to....this was a bad decision, coz i'm hearing all these old songs that i havent heard for months and months, making it hard to focus!

I just heard coldplay's fix you. OH HOW I LOVED THAT SONG when the cd first came out. As you can guess, it was one of those songs that i used to play over and over again.

.....when you love someone but it goes to waste...could it be worse, lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and i will try to fix you.....(the music played here is perfect for a big *sigh* )

....I love how the music starts to build right before this part....*LOVE*

....tears stream down your face, when you lose something you cannot replace, tears stream down your face and iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....
...tears stream down your face, i promise you i will learn from the mistakes, tears stream down your face and iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....
....lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and i will try to fix you...

*HAPPY SIGH*

ghetto latte

2006-10-22T05:26:00.000-04:00

its 5:21am and i cannot sleep...argh...its midterm time (still) and i have a whole day of studying ahead of me (lucky me) so i need to get to sleep...but im SOOO ALERT right now...im hoping staring at the screen will make me sleepy

the latest version of maCleans arrived thursday, with the headline "ghetto latte" being the first thing to catch my eye. I immediately turn to page 92 where i see a lady holding a starbucks card, and i know exactly what the article is going to be about: those that order cheaper drinks in a larger cup and top them up with milk at the bar(Click here to read the story on starbucksgossip.com) .

I was laughing the whole elevator ride up (from my mailbox back to my unit), and even got off the wrong floor *blush* The ghetto latte isn't very popular at our store - atleast not that i've notice - but maybe thats because i was ignorant of what people would do save a quarter. But now that i am an informed barista, my eyes will be open and next time instead of calling a double-tall-no-water-americano, i'll be sure to call "ghetto latte"

im going to try to go back to bed now. My eyes are burning...hopefully thats a good sign

nite nite :)

note to self:

2006-10-17T23:04:00.000-04:00

a chicken burrito from burrito boyz, 1/2 a bottle of wine, 1/2 a pint of ben and jerry's vermonty python, and a pepermint hot chocolate with extra whip DO NOT mix well.

MY TUMMY IS HURTING!

i guess i have no one to blame but FLESSICA!

*sigh*

Ms. Flessica came to visit to me today from guelph, where she is studing to be a vet. I haven't seen Ms. Flessica for 6 months, since before she left for the NWT for her summer adventure internship...and how i missed her! You know you are great freinds when you can not see someone for 6 months, but when you finally meet up again, its as if no time has passed at all!!

One of the luxeries of being a student is that if you dont want to do work...you don't have to! So we popped open the bottle of yellow tail, and started talking. Topic #1....BOYS! And thats about as far as we got!! Leave it to me and jess to spend 5 hours talking about boys! ;)

Actually, I lied.....We did more than talk about just boys, we wrote about boys too ;) Jess brought our predictions book....something I had totally forgotten about! Back in feb 2004, jess and I started a journal, where every 6 months we write our predictions for the next 6 months and next year. Every year we also write in our 5 year goals and 10 year goals. It was SOOO funny/wierd reading our last years predictions about this year, and seeing how right and wrong we were (I was pretty accurate - although its not too hard to predict the next 6-12 months) It was also interesting to see how issues that were bugging us a year ago, are so not important anymore. I hope that means that the issues that are bugging us this year, will be gone in 6 months *fingers crossed*

I've been a big journal writer, for as long as i can remember. I try and document everything, either in a journal, a scrapbook or through pictures. I however, rarely go back and read old journal entries - mostly because I tend to write during the more difficult times in my life. Thats part of the reason I decided to keep this blog...so that 10 years from now, I can look back and look at all the FUN things I was doing as a 25 year old. Today is definily a day to remember. There is nothing like having a good girl freind to laff with, to pig out with, and most importantly share stories with...here's to all the AMAZING girls in my life! You girls are the best!

hard to concentrate part 2

2006-10-17T22:54:00.000-04:00

my previous post was entitled "hard to concentrate" because its the song thats been playing on repeat all morning on my itunes. when i like a song...i really like a song :$

Theres something SOOOO sexy about a matcho man like Anthony Kedis showing his vulnerable side and singing these beautiful words *sigh*

And, all I want is for you to be happy
And, take this moment to make you my family
And, finally you have found something perfect
And, finally you have found…

Death defying this
Mess I’m buying its
Raining down with love and hate
Now, I find it hard to motivate
And, estuary is, blessed but scary
Heart’s about to palpitate
Now, I’m not about to hesitate

And, want to treasure the rest of your days here
And, give you pleasure in so many ways dear
And, finally you have found something perfect
And, finally you have found…

Here we go
Do you want me to show up for duty
And, serve this woman, and honor her beauty
And, finally you have found something perfect
And, finally you have found…
Yourself
With me...will you...agree..to take
This man...into your world
And now... we are as one...

With me...will you...agree..to take
This man...into your world
And now... we are as one...

(i've removed some of the words from the beginning and ending of the song)

hard to concentrate

2006-10-17T07:02:00.000-04:00

midterms are over...for now.....round two starts in 2 weeks....studying again starts tonite!

had a ME day yesterday. Went for lunch, got a manicure at the 10 spot, stocked up at kiehls since the cold weather is just around the corner....and when the cold weather hits, i become addicted to lathering my hands in thier thick buttery ultimate hand salve....my lips can never get enough of thier lip balm #1....sooo good! On my way home, I took a (large)detour and made a stop at pusatari's for a chocolate souffle...the plan was to order in, watch a few hours of sex and the city and hang out JUST ME....of course, things never go by plan....

G called, it was Gary's last nite in toronto, before heading to Japan for a year....and they were going out! I had been so busy with school the past couple weeks that I hadn't been able to go to any of the other goodbye events, and i *had* to see gary before he left. So i ate my souffle and headed over to victory cafe, for a fun nite with G, Ryan, Gary, and all thier freinds. I didn't really know Gary that well, but he definitly will be missed! *sigh*

I'm meeting up with FLESSICA today! WOOHOOO! I havent seen her since before she left for the NWT this spring! Its almost been 6 months! HOW TIME FLYS! SHE JUST CALLED! She's here! im going down to get her! I'll blog more later! TATA!

happy friday the thirteenth

2006-10-13T23:22:00.000-04:00

i have two midterms this weekend...so no time to write much...just wanted to wish everyone a happy friday the thirteenth!!

ps: starbucks scam of the day...order your coffee in a larger size cup if you want that way you still get a "tall" amount of coffee without having to throw some away to make room for milk. If you wanna be really cheap about it, after ordering your "tall in a grande cup" ask the barista to "add a little more coffee" so that its almost full. The ordering in a larger cup i understand, but if you want me to fill the cup, order the larger size!! @_@

question of the day

2006-10-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

why do we always want things we can't have? it's wierd...i didnt even want it, until i couldnt have it! grrrrr!

on another wierd note: i think i heard my neighbours having sex this afternoon...there was some loud moaning coming from the otherside of the wall!! note to self, next condo - soundproof walls ;)

liar liar pants on fire

2006-10-10T19:29:00.000-04:00

i called in sick today when i wasnt really :$

I just had things to do that needed to be done

I have two midterms coming up this weekend. Its wierd...but i feel somewhat ready. I know you're thinking..."what a geek" but i dont care! I AM A GEEK and damn proud of it ;)

wanna know something else wierd? I heard x-mas music playing as i was walking in the path. I love x-mas, but october is WAY too early for x-mas music. Teatro Verde in Hazelton Lanes is already selling x-mas decorations!

Other than that, it was a regular Tuesday for me. Sat in a Yorkville starbucks studying tax listening to *sigh* music on my ipod. Now i'm home, and gonna study some more, before going to bed....ohhh the exciting life of a student at mditerm time...

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-10-09T21:14:00.000-04:00

Ever since I was 3 years old and complained to my mom about not having a turkey for thanksgiving, thanksgiving has been a big feast at my house. Thanksgiving wasn't something we celebrated until the night i came home from daycare and cried when my mom said that we wont be eating turkey. Ofcourse, I don't remember any of this, I was only 3 or 4, but apparenly that weekend my mom cooked her first turkey, and has been doing it every thanksgiving since....keke I was a spoiled brat back then too! ;)

These days, I'm not even a big turkey fan....but according to tradition, we have to have turkey (my sister never lets us forget about tradition). So every Thanksgiving 10 of us get together for a huge turkey feast, with all the trimmings (except mushroom sauce instead of cranberry sauce...and last year I tried to get my family to eat sweet potatos instead of regular potatos, but they wouldn't have it!! - talk about sticking to traditions!) This year, with the additions of boyfreinds and our cousin from vancouver, who goes to McMaster, there was 14 of us! My mom cooked a 9kg turkey, which barely fit in our roasting pan. Traditonally we name our turkey after the newest baby boy in our life (don't ask why...its kinda wierd if you ask me, in the past few years, we've named our turkeys jean-christoph after my cousin in belgium, and liam after our family freind's son) but this year we don't have any new baby boys, so we named our turkey Mc. Turkey after Mc. Dreamy...talk about yummy turkey! For as long as I can remember, dessert has always been apple crumble from Chudleigh's - infact until I went to university, Thanksgiving tradition also included an afternoon apple picking at Chudleigh's apple farm with my aunt and uncle. This year, only my cousin went....and just because we needed to have fresh pie!

Needless to say I am stuffed! We had leftovers for lunch today, and i wasnt able to eat dinner. My mom sent me home with enough turkey to last me 2 more days! With all that food, this year I am thankful for the fact that thanksgiving is only once a year! JK! I have so much to be thankful for, especially this year with the purchase of my new place, and having a family that supports my decision to to back to school, and who love me ...the most awesomest freinds, who are always there. To never have to really ever want anything or need anything. I'm a really really lucky girl.

Actually now that I've started thinking about thanksgiving traditions, in our house thanksgiving also always included a stop at the grocery store to do groceries for the foodbank.....thats one tradition we haven't been keeping up with, but definitly should start again!

I hope that everyone had a great thanksgiving with thier families :) Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Pictures of Mc. Turkey to come!

i love love love James Blunt

2006-10-06T23:17:00.000-04:00

I feel like a school girl who has a crush on a superstar. Maybe its because I AM a school girl who has a crush on a superstar *blush*. Not just ANY superstar but JAMES BLUNT. Sensitive, humble, romantic, sexy British accent...Not only does he write songs, he plays the guitar and sings too...What more could a girl ask for?

On Tuesday nite G, R, B and I attended the James Blunt concert at the ACC. We were afraid that the concert was only going to last an hour, due to the fact that he only has one album, but he performed for almost 2 - singing all the songs from Back to Bedlhem plus a number of songs from his upcoming cd, which from the sounds of it, is going to be just as good as his first one (can anyone sense some biasness here (is biasness even a word? - you know what I mean) ). H laughed at me for listening to and liking this mainstream "crap"...What I think he meant was "love songs" but I'm a girl, I'm ALLOWED to like mushy music about loves lost and heartbreak....And the fact that in his songs, James appears to have suffered from heartache makes him VERY ATTRACTIVE for some reason. i'm not the only one who thinks so...The whole ACC was packed with girls who had just as big crushes on James as I do.

My favourite moment of the night was when the crowd started cheering as he walked over the panio to sing goodbye my lover....he speaks into the mic: "why are you cheering? I've walked over to the piano, that means I'm going to play a miserable song..." I melted in my seat. I think G rolled her eyes at me, but im such a sucker for that kind of endearingness. My favourite songs of the night were goodbye my lover, tears and rain, and you're beautiful.I loved his music before I saw him live, but now I think i've fallen in love with him!

Here are some pictures courtesy of a bigger fan than me (you didn't think it was possible was it)

decaf doppio grande sugar free vanilla non fat extra hot dense foam latte...

2006-10-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

can you believe people actually order drinks like that? I couldnt! but they DO! And since last week, I'm responsible for taking orders like that! Thats right! September 26th was my first day as a starbucks barista!

I've worked 5 shifts so far and i'm loving every second of it. H laffed at me when he found out (D has a big mouth!) saying i went from a high paying programming job to a waitress....but i see it more like going from a boring desk job to a job where i'm encouraged to talk to poeple and take thier fancy orders....its so much fun, too much fun almost! Today i was responsible for samples, so i spent over an hour making samples, topping each sample cup with whipped cream and maple drizzle and walking around outside our store (a busy downtown intersection) askin poeple if they wanted to taste our new maple latte. Its quite amazing how quickly made freinds with all the bike couriers, and construction workers in the area ;)

My store is about a 7 minute walk from my house and one of the busiest stores in north america. We are in the top 5 in Canada. There is always a line up...i could not beleive that people wait 5 mintues to spend on average $3-5 for coffee and a muffin. Some poeple come down 2-3 times a day! In one 4 hour shif, i helped the same lady twice - first for a venti tea, and then for a grande non fat, no-foam, extra hot latte. Apparently she comes back again in the afternoon too, for a decaf bold. And shes not the only one like that! We have lots of regulars. We are encouraged to get to know them, know thier drinks, thier names...talk to them, make them enjoy thier time in our store. YOu would think working in the financial district that all the customers would be snooty jackasses, but to my surprise, they are quite the opposite!! Our customers are the nicest, most patient customers ever. On my first day of cash, I was calling drinks wrong, or taking a while to ring things in and not even one customer complained. When I appologized for my mistakes, and that it was my first day, all of them told me i was doing a great job! By the end of my 4 hour shift, my tip jar was more than 1/2 full! I even made freinds with the old lady they call mrs. dense foam...coz she always orders her lattes with dense foam. I asked her what dense foam was, and how she learned that she liked dense foam, and the next thing you knew she was asking my name, and promising she was only going to order from me from now on! Whats with me picking up all the ladies these days? Last month i got numbers from two girls that I met at 2 different parties and hit it off with...and now, ms. dense foam! CUTE BOYS ORDER DENSE FOAM!! OHHH the cute boys that come into our store...;)

on another note, i wrote my first midterm on sunday (yes..on a sunday!) i think it went well. I got a steady stream of midterms from now until early november....then finals. Somewhere i have to fit in time for a housewarming and im turning 26 soon too! Where is time flying? i dont know where september went, and october is already almost gone...next weekends thanksgiving, and then we'll be into mid october! I heard that there are less than 100 shopping days until x-mas!!!
I am going to try to be more frequent with the blogging again. now that i got work and school in order, i should have more of a routine set up. If yer ever in the downtown core - feel free to come visit me...i challenge you to order the most complicated drink you can think of. Until next time...Enjoy!

my chairs are FINALLY here

2006-09-09T10:43:00.000-04:00

The saturday after the offer to my place was accepted, my mom and I headed downtown for a day of furniture shopping. I had been keeping my eyes open for interesting peices for the past year, so I knew what i liked, and what i wanted, so shopping wasn't as hard as it *could* be. Infact, I bought my table, bed, couch and dining room chairs on that Saturday in early May....everything was ready for delievery by the time i moved in in august...except for my dining room chairs, which FINALLY arrived, 3 months later.....

BUT I LOVE MY CHAIRS! SO THEY WERE WORTH THE WAIT! Dinner parties here we come!

chasing cars

2006-09-01T23:06:00.000-04:00

If you know me, you know i'm one of those poeple who like songs based on thier lyrics more than thier melodies. I am also one of those who can listen to a song on repeat a thousand times. I sorted my iTunes list by most frequently played, and I wasn't too shocked to see Arcade Fire's Neighbourhood#1 played over 500 times, with the Stars One More Night close behind. James Blunt's Goodbye My Lover was a close third, followed by Keane's Somewhere only we know. Today I downloaded Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars and I've already listened to it 25 times.... the lyrics, his voice, the sincerity in his voice sends chills down my spine (although watching James Blunt singing Goodbye My Lover on his live at the BBC DVD made me cry)

We'll do it all
Everything
On our own

We don't need
Anything
Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

butterflies

2006-08-07T22:26:00.000-04:00

tonites my first nite in my new place
its 10:24pm and im still at work
not in a huge rush to go home
*butterflies*

painting: check! mattress: check! hardwood: check!

2006-07-31T20:38:00.000-04:00

The past weekend was so busy, i didnt even have time to think about it, let alone write about it! R's goodbye at crock rock was extended to drinks at gretzky's. The next day I was up at 6:30and back downtown for my first furniture delivery: my matress!! That was followed by a full day of scrubbing and painting (the 4 and final coat of red, the trimming, the doors, fixing up patches that were blotchy). I then drove back home, showered and got dressed for Y's bachalorette party - which started off with a fantasia party and ended with too many drinks at 8 below! As if that wasnt enough for the weekend - sunday afternoon my whole dad's side of the family got together for lunch, and after a short nap (always necessary after chinese food) I headed to the office, and didn't get back home until past 11pm!

I never thought I would say this - but thank god the weekend is over! Things are finally finishing up, and things are finally slowing down. Today is the first monday in 3 weeks I didn't go to my condo after work! Infact, I wont be going to the condo all WEEK to do work! The painting is done, the hardwood was installed this morning, and now the furniture is starting to arrive. I have a big delievery on wed, and then my kitchen table and bench are arriving on friday. Sat is gonna be spent installing lighting and shelving...and if all goes well, monday nite will be my first night in my new place....

i got butterflies...

carte blanche - a nite in white!

2006-07-23T12:47:00.001-04:00

After a day of painting and chatting with m(*) - I drove back home, washed all the paint off my hands, cheeks, legs, and hair, got dressed in ALL white and headed back downtown for the annual rooftop party. This year's theme was carte blanche - a nite in white:

The boys and girls of summer welcome you back to the swankest rooftop patio / party-room / launchpad in the city, for the highlight of your summer party season!

This year, in addition to our usual overdose of atmospheric allure, effervescent excess, and hedonistic hijinx, high-flying hosts Glenn, Mark, Tim, Alex, Jeff, and Ralf give you: "Carte Blanche" - referring both to your expected behavior, and to your expected wardrobe.

Starting with sparkling white martinis over a spectacular sunset, and continuing in a provocative parade of flavours and forms, all designed to tickle your senses and tarnish your sensibilities. my senses were definitly tickled!

Thanks guys for hosting yet another INCREDIBLE party!

Powerhouse Rules!

2006-07-22T09:33:00.000-04:00

As the work weekended, and things finally started slowing down at work and with my home (for now), I was finally able to get excited about the weekend. It started yesterday nite, with a 25 mintue drive down the 407 to the border of missisagua and milton, for a powerhouse bbq at K&E's.

Powerhouse, for those who dont know, was a group that was formed for the econ220 term project at UW. None of us knew all of the other group members when we started, but now we're one big powerhouse family! 4 years later we're still getting together for bbqs and such. Last year there was a powerhouse table at K&E's wedding and then again at W&M's wedding this year - and I am sure there will be powerhouse tables at 5 more weddings in the future (M's in 2008 ;) )

Last nites bbq was casual and fun - just as it should be with family. K bbq'd hotdogs while E washed salad piece by piece and boiled some corn. A slideshow of K&E's honeymoon played on the TV in the background, but the group of us were too busy catching up, to pay full attention to it. We ate, we laffed, we ate, we saw some more pictures, we ate, we drank, we ate and played poker. It was great times - it really makes me happy that we all make the effort to see eachother still, even though we are all so busy with our own things!

I can't wait to have my place done, so I can have all my groups of freinds over :)

Thank You

2006-07-16T23:09:00.000-04:00

someone I met 3-4 years ago, but rarely talk to anymore told me this today:

Thank You for seeing something in me, even when I did not

to which i answered:

You're Welcome :)

when i grow up...

2006-07-15T11:07:00.000-04:00

I told one of my co-workers yesterday that I was leaving my job and going back to school in 6 weeks to change my career. He asked me what I was going back to school for and in my answer i said "Its not something I see myself doing forever. Its more of a foundation, something that will help me open doors to do other things when i grow up...."

When i grow up....I am grown up! Arnt I? I mean i'm 25 years old, I have a full time job, I just bought a condo, I'm pretty responsible (except for the time i lost my camera). Does that make me a grown up? I don't know?! I don't feel grown up! My mom still makes my lunches, and does my laundry! But does doing your own laundry make you a grown up? I think so - I guess its not the actual act of washing the clothes that makes a person a grown up, but making sure that you have clean underwear to wear every morning is a big responsability - and one that I dont have to take care of at the moment! I have a feeling i'll be doing some major growing up in the next couple of weeks.... stay posted for stories of white underwear turning pink ;)

I was talking to R yesterday at lunch - We often go down together, run some errands, get lunch and then bring it back to our desks to eat. Yesterday, both our days were going slow, and it only took half an hour to run our errands, so I suggested that we sit in a food court and eat. She ordered a taco salad from Taco Bell which looked pretty pathetic compared to the Burrito Salad I had from southwest fresh grill a couple days earlier with M. When I told her that, she told me that southwest fresh grill is owned by the same people who own Fast Fresh Foods - and that they are only 25 (like us!)

I knew for a long time that computers wasn't my cup of tea - even before I graduated from university, I was already planning to go back for something else! The only thing was WHAT did i wanna do with my life? I had to get it right this time - this was my only second chance!!

I always thought I wanted to be a chef. I've loved cooking for as long as I could remember - and everytime i couldnt get my program to work, I'd look at the CIA website, thinking screw computers! The kitchen is the place for me! Then i took a cooking class a george brown....and that changed for me! I love the kitchen - but cooking for me or for freinds - not underpressure in a hot kitchen for a hundred poeple - especially not for the salary a chef makes. Then I wanted to be an event planner. I love planning events - and Im always ontop of and newest and coolest places to go ! So I started talking to my freinds in the event planning/PR industry - and the industry sounded perfect for me...until we got to the salary. There was no way that i could maintain my current lifestyle...

I had to do some soul searching. Was lifestyle more important to me than loving my job? Would being happy with my job make me happier over all and was I willing to give up vacations and a closet full of shoes, to throw parties for
other poeple - and will throwing parites for other people be as much fun as it is when im 35 as it is when im 25? How about buying a home? a car? Those arn't essential things in my 20's but i would like to do those things eventually...and after doing some forcasting I just couldnt see it happening.

So practicality won.

Sometimes I wish i could be a big risk taker - give up my current lifestyle for MAYBE something bigger and better in the future - but thats not me - at least not right now. I guess in someways I am grown up....i'm taking care of myself, figuring out my needs, my wants and doing what i have to, to meet them. Sometimes we gotta make sacrafices - but thats life....or something like it :)

testing testing 1-2-3

2006-07-15T00:26:00.000-04:00

hi world
its me
testing testing 1-2-3