Smarties - do you eat the red ones last?

I have some Halloween candy left over, which consists of mini Smarties boxes which are really the perfect size. I like to dump out the whole box, and put matching pairs of Smarties in one pile, and the ones with no matching colour in another. I like to eat the single colour ones one at a time, which is first suck on them until they break down the middle and eat the cholocate, and then the shells. Once I'm done that pile, I like the eat the pairs the "normal" way, with one on each side of my mouth.

Weird? Yes. OCD? Perhaps. But it makes me feel sooooo good.

The true meaning of "sick day"

So I am not feeling the greatest today - a weekend of poor food choices, not enough sleep and what I think is a cold have allowed me to call in sick today. But calling in sick is not what I thought it would be - I actually am calling in on phone conferences, doing work on a deadline and whilst in bed, surrounded by papers and my ever trusty IBM laptop. These kind of sick days suck. Might as well call it a suck day (I just came up with that, can you tell?)

Women drive me crazy!!

My guy support is either moving to cubicles away from me or being taken off my project... not only that but these women are driving me crazy with their moods and bitchiness. I go on this rant every so often.

Chicks are driving me crazy!!!

Well duh!

"Bad kissers don't get to second base"

As if this is some crazy scientific find. Relationships are based on attraction, so if the first physical step isn't great, of course the next one wouldn't be either.

I also found an article talking about a guy whose sore was being robbed was shot at, and put his hand up to defend himself from the bullet and it deflected off his wedding ring. Lucky bastard. Lucky wife?

The week in review

Many times this week I sat down to write a post, but they all ended up unfinished drafts in my blog. So here's a quick summary of events from the past 6 days:

RI.P. Moe
I came home from a very filling dinner with Jess and Adam at Milestone's, and found that my pet fish was not swimming in his recently cleaned "aquarium" (read: vase) in my room. Apparently I had been too nice and filled his home with water that neared too close to the brim, and he decided to try out his suicidal flip and landed on the floor beside my bookcase. It ended a 14 month love affair, and it was sad because he saw me through my first 14 months of work. Perhaps a sign that a career change is needed? Hmmm

Other than that, working on an art project that I will display once it's completed, getting drunk at home off of wine with the parents on a weekday, trying to spice up my work social life by organizing a team lunch. All that with the city's first snowfall on Wednesday which was lovely, but apparently caused havoc in the city since you know, we've never seen snow before.

Today was a day spent window shopping and my grandma's, which was an odd visit. I love my grandma to pieces, but she's not always the most rational or logical person. Today's visit we talked about her visit to the oncologist who gae more detail about her recent cancer appearance, this time in the bones. He prescribed 5 shots of radiation, over 5 consecutive days. To which I said was a great option, because she could get it over with within a measly week, and then minimize the tumours that are in her back ribs. She responded telling Adam and I that she is not going for any treatment, including this radiation. Apparently this treatment requires the maximum radiation strength, and would mess her body up to an unrecoverable point. She said she wanted to enjoy her life the way she is now, with minimal pain and with no radiation after effects. I tried to argue the treatment solution, but I found I actually couldn't come up with a rational reason why she should do it - even though she *may* extend her life with it, the quality would be decreased. And she IS the owner of her body, and all we can do is be supportive and respect her difficult decision.

So on that note, we are celebrating Jen and Jake's birthday tonight, and cheers! to a good time.

It's Christmastime, it's Christmastime

The older I become, the sooner Christmastime starts - this year, a Christmas carol was first played on November 1. And the warm and fuzzy feelings started... I can't tell whether the warm and fuzzy feelings are around because I'm already more feeling-y than usual, but whatever it is, anytime I see a red Starbucks cup or a Christmas tree I get a little giddy.

I don't really care about the fact that "Christmas is commercialized" or that it's now an agnostic holiday, because as long as people still get that warm and fuzzy feeling, it's ok (as long as it's not because they're anticipating all the gifts they're going to get). Every year for 12 years of my childhood I would be spending this time putting on Christmas concerts, teaching and taking young kids to carol in public, and all around just preparing for the end of the year.

This year I have the added bonus of taking a little trip before Christmas, so I am a bagillion times more excited and thumpering with anticipation.

I just hope it snows!

Current mood - pensive

My new favourite part of the day is my evening shower. And not because of dirty reasons, but for clean ones (both literally and psychologically haha).

I really felt the power of a nice, hot shower last night, when I was in a crappy mood after a long day - I came home and had a long webcam session, which was the first step to feeling better, and then jumped in the shower to get ready for bed. There is something so therapeutic about them, where you feel like you're really washing away your bad day and you can come out a renewed person.

After a heart-wrenching night with E last night, a shower this morning was in high demand. Short sleep time, alcohol and emotional talks can take a lot out of a girl... it always amazes me how much we can be affected by matters of the heart. We are rational creatues, but when we get our feelings hurt (or pummeled or stamped on, etc.), we cannot rationalize everything except for the fact that we hurt. And it's not an open scar to see, and can sometimes never heal. How horrible.

Anyway... my friends, as always, are stronger than I could ever have imagined, and she is already doing so well and seeing her time with him through new eyes, which is all you can hope for. We came to realize that the best thing to do is invest in yourself continuously, because it's an investment that never fails.

Summary - invest in yourself by taking long, hot showers, but with men who deserve them.

Multi-tasking 1.01

Well, I thought I was already a pretty good multitasker but again, I have been humbled. Today is my first day trying to manage 2 different phone numbers, 4 different email accounts and 2 internet connections that give me access to different allowable sites. On top of that I can access internet off of my computer AND my iTouch, so I am constantly forgetting where I check what and when.

All of this is for a the very good reason of keeping in touch with both my personal and professional life, which also mostly means figuring out a way to keep in touch with 'the bf'. It's only been 4 days, so the adjustment period is obviously fresh, and the funny thing is I don't mind any of the admin or extra time/effort that it takes to keep in touch. In fact I didn't even notice it until I just described it right now. It really is amazing what the right motivation will do to your perspective, and how a person really can change their behaviour when the right reason comes along.

And although I'm whining about the fact that I have so many machines to keep track of, I am so so happy that I am born in this technological revolution that allows me to upkeep a long distance relationship relatively painlessly (considering the alternative of handwritten letters). Phones to call and text, email, chatting, webcam... these are all nice subs until I get to see my guy again.

And I am thankful as I appreciate the wonders of multitasking.

The end of an era... and October

I cannot believe how quickly time is passing - it feels like summer and Europe were not that long ago, and yet it's been over 5 months since I left for London and summer is def over - this morning I woke up to freezing temperatures and frost on my car window - sucky!

Anyway, today is the first day that I am without my boo, W and I miss him a LOT. It's been an amazing 2+ months... maybe that's the reason why time passed so quickly. I had officially become one of those sappy couple-types that people hate seeing in public, and the funny thing? I don't mind! Although the amount of sappy songs on the radio is ridiculous - trying to hold it together is harder when EVERY station is playing some "I miss you" and "why can't we be together" crap.

Like my friend Ashley said last night, the first night is the worst and then it gets better. I am just worried (as silly as this may sound) when I actually do get over the sadness of it all, that I will start to forget things. Which is a double-edged sword - I want to not be sad, but I also do. Missing someone means there are real and strong feelings there, so the absence of missing someone would imply absence of feelings? I don't know.

Whatever it is, I'm just taking it one day at a time. And listening to hardcore rap - it really soothes the mind.

Monkeying around can actually kill you

Whilst reading my Monday morning news online, I came across an article which headlined as "man attacked by monkeys". At first I thought it was a joke, but when I opened it up, it described how a senior official (deputy mayor in New Delhi) was attacked by a gang of Rhesus Macacques and during the scuffle, fell out of his balcony and died.

Damn.

Word of the day

Poots.

It's a great word... I used it at least 5 times since I got home today, mostly in the context of "I'm pootsed out".

..mostly used as an adjective, it's synonymous to 'tired' but on a greater scale. Adam likes to use it as "that's poots", so that he has more to say than just "shiiiit" to all my stories.

Great word - it'll be the next big thing.

On that note, work tomorrow at 6am after a great long weekend in Niagara - that's pooooots.

So I met this guy...

So having become recently "non-single" - wow that's a wordy way of saying I now have a boyfriend - I am being faced with lots of "relationshippy things". These range from the joy of having someone in your life that is a man and that you can really be your complete self with, but also to all those annoying issues like "trust" and "commitment" and "feelings"... etc.

I admit, I really like being single when I am single, and I could never give that up to someone I am not crazy about. But when it's someone who is a good match, there's no question of giving up my bachelorette status - it's worth it.

I did, however, forget that inevitable rollercoaster that happens in the beginning that everyone conveniently forgets about. Of course it's a great time, with lots of getting to know each other and crazy chemistry - but on the flip side, you have to build trust and be secure in knowing this person will still like you when they DO see your crazy side. And getting to know someone's buttons is fun, but also disconcerting if you press the wrong one and the machine shuts off.

Point being, I think I've realized that being single is easier - which doesn't make it right or wrong, but if you're not ready to put in the work (and it could be fun work!) you are a sucky partner. And although being in a relationship requires commitment (gasp) and compromising (crap) it's so rewarding at the end of the day.

Allllll of this to say, in obviously the most romantic way possible, is that I am no longer single, and I am super happy about it :)

Too much estrogen...

I swear, today I've reached my peak - I've had it with chicks. Too much attitude, too many moods and inconsistency across the board. I hate to insult my sex but hanging out with mostly boys the past few weeks has really highlighted the fact that hanging out with girls is so much more stressful. Too much "self-editing" and talking about feelings can really get exhausting.

P.S. This rant does not include any of my friends, since I have seriously cool girlfriends. Well, most of them.

What a weekend

Song(s) of the weekend: select songs from the Rihanna album (after seeing her concert): Please don't stop the music, I hate that I love you and Rehab, and Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman and Crying.

Quite an assortment I know, but I needed some new music for my new ride. Spent about 4 hours in the car on Saturday driving to, around and from London and then today driving to the Docks and around downtown. I've already put 550 km on the car and it's been 3 days - so great.

Altogether it's been a weekend of driving and talking. A lot. I caught up with a bunch of people in London, and then drove most of the day while dancing in my car and realizing that there is a whole new world of speeding in a hatchback when compared to the van.

Today I purged and felt relief through cleaning, which my friend JB told me only "a chick could feel better doing". It was an emotional morning, full of the loveliness that relationships bring, which basically means more talking, and then watching Eva windsurf on Lake Ontario interspersed with more talking. I don't think Adam has ever had to listen to more chicks talk, especially with his friend going through boy troubles of her own and asking for advice through text. But when we did take breaks, don't they look cute:

Overall a good weekend, but I'm in bed at 930 for a reason - exhausting, in a word. I need a break from my weekend, which sucks since tomorrow is Monday morning, arguable the worst time of the week.

Soundtrack for tomorrow? Cry me a river.

New car!

Picking up my new car today! Although it technically isn't mine, since all I'm actually leasing it, in which case it still belongs to Honda which is really fine by me. My workmates congratulated me on my “new relationship”, and I told them I am happy about it but I just wish it were free.

I took the day off yesterday because I was sick, and it was a fabulous, glorious day - I relaxed and cooked and cleaned and felt very much renewed. I liked playing the role of housewife for the day (although I don't think I could do it permanently). I came into work today hoping that sense of renewal would stay, but it's been fading slowly since I passed through the automatic entry door...

On that note, as happy as I am recently, I'm also feeling unsettled in an... unsettling way (for lack of a better word). For someone who's not a type A person, I am craving some planning or talking or debriefing time. I feel like at any point something might blow up in my face, which is a crappy feeling. I don't like the unknown unless you're anticipating a good kind of surprise.

I'm not usually in the habit of reading horoscopes, but this one popped up for me today...

There could be some friction at work; but if you can be sensitive to other people's feelings, you should get by. You might want to take inventory and throw out things that are no longer important to you. If you are getting an itch to plan a vacation, you may want to consider a place with a mountain view or somewhere with a beach.

Sound advice, astrology peeps.

So you had a bad day..

...except that mine isn't over just yet - talk about a sucky day!

So it's already a Monday which doesn't put anybody in a good mood... I wake up after a busy weekend exhausted and feverish, and make my way to work. Boring work. Then I get called in for a meeting where I am told a partner of mine in an important fundraising campaign is pulling out 3 weeks before the start. Bad news. Then I annoy my boss because I forgot to send in some useless HR information sheet. Yadda yadda. And finally I am being shunned for getting other people sick. Blah blah.

Horoscope for the day:

Your contacts at work have probably been putting in a good word for you. As a result, there may be a chance for a promotion or an assignment with more responsibility. You might have an awkward moment with a family member but be
willing to talk things over and diffuse the situation. Be sure to set aside time for your love partner.

How ironic, because we can agree the first statement is inaccurate, the second is wishful thinking, three is most likely and the last is highly erroneous given circumstances and attitudes.

I shall now go and wallow in my own w(h)ine... I feel much better now.

Puts a new spin on "hump" day

Two days ago the headlines were "Putin dissolves the Russian government", and now Russia just celebrated a day off given specifically to couples for some lovin at home. I swear, I am torn in between disgust at the disregard for democracy, but also adoring the fact that Russians are encouraging some love-making among their people.

Of course the reason actually has some merit (or does it??) - the Russian population is shrinking and they are in need of some new babies being born. Yesterday was 9 months away from Russia's birthday, and the government has decided anyone who has a baby on that day will be rewarded with cars, TVs etc. Talk about incentive! I move we bring this tradition to Canada - isn't our population shrinking too?


On another note, toooo cuuuute - Basically, the baby macaque was abandoned and almost died, but was nursed back with the help of meds and a friendship with this pigeon - apparently it has a new "lease on life". Pictures and stories like this just get to me... I almost can't handle it. What a girl!

The end of a summer

So this past week was my last week in Montreal - went very well, we finished a day and half ahead of time and I got the Friday off... the only dark spot in an otherwise amazing week was when one of my coworkers, an older gentleman decided to open up at our last lunch and tell Fred and I about his threesomes and "f friends" in great detail...*shudder*

Anyway, I had some visitors - Amal came from Halifax on Thursday and we partied til Sunday, met up with Dan and his friends (pictured above) on Friday evening, met up with Wassim and his friends on Saturday night - basically rocked the whole weekend. Turns out our friends Brian, Phil and Will (all separate groups) were in town too, so it was an awesome weekend.

I was gone in Montreal until Monday night, and it felt like I went on a second vacation, especially since I was seeing Dan (who I met in Croatia just in June) - it was really hard to come back and face the reality of starting a new, long-term project in Toronto and getting used to everything at home again! On top of which the summer is over.

I will definitely be visiting Montreal again. Soon.

Notable anniversary...

Today, on August 29th, I am celebrating the first day in my second year of work (I started working on August 28th a year ago). Holy crap, time flies by!

That is all.

Man! I feel like a... pirate

So if I ever felt like being a feminist, it was after reading this article - how awesome!
A forward thinker is an understatement... not only a woman in a man-only role, but piracy and violence and power, oh my!

Maybe THAT'S why they made Johnny Depp look so fruity in his movies....

What the eff??

What the devil?

Is planet of the apes starting already? They have got some nerve... and are way more perceptive than anyone ever thought.

So I'm eating my morning breakfast when...

bam! I get an eyeful of this article and the pages accompanying it: "seniors sex stores" or "mature adults are having more sex than you think".

Dudes! I get this whole 'age of full disclosure' thing but some of us have grandparents! Too much information!

Oh maaaaan

What a waste - of all the chocolates in the box that Trish offered to me, I picked the one with the gooey crap and cherries in it.

I should have listened to Forrest Gump's words more carefully.

P.S.

In reference to my post from last Thursday - I take back what I said about going out becoming boring. Had the best time last weekend!

Awwww

So the CEO of the Utah mine announced today that they were suspending digging for the 6 miners indefinitely – which is really a tragedy and a horrible feeling for the families. I can’t imagine having had hope that they would be found alive, and then being told the rescue efforts were being stopped. Although 3 people died last week saving them, which is horrific for those families. Either way, not a good situation to be in. On top of that, China had a big flood in a cave that is estimated to have killed 180 miners. How brutal!

A third “cave-in” happened earlier this week when a family’s storm drain was filled with mud – the video with the happy ending was on CNN today and, I have to admit, tugged on my heartstrings and made for an emotional morning.

40 year old virgin

One of my favourite scenes from the movie - gets me everytime!
"I may be a virgin, but I'll fuck you up"

Boredom is the devil..

I am at work and bored out of my mind.

I was pretty much alone all week, with only a few people from our team around.... but (for a lack of a better way to say it) we don't have much in common and therefore I was BORED. Fred brought some excitement today with pictures and news of his new baby boy, but that died down after a while. It doesn't help that I'm also not excited by this work- it's interesting and all, but nothing to make you wanna go crazy.

I honestly used to think that doing nothing and just 'chillin' was the best thing ever. I think this was back in high school when I was constantly busy. I may regret writing this, but I miss those days - being busy all the time made life so much more fun and interesting and made me even more productive.

I can't tell whether it's an issue of being at the wrong job or needing more hobbies, but my life is really becoming a little mundane. Even going out isn't as fun anymore, cause it's the same people and the same bars. This all goes back to my vacation time, when I had so much to do every day and met so many new people that it felt like a whole year of activity in 2 weeks. Sigh.

It feels like Montreal weather is mimicking my mood, because it has been rainy and blah all day. Actually, until now - looks like a thunderstorm is coming. My favourite! as long as it doesn't delay my flight.

Awesome - those Ruskis get it right once in a while

A day to procreate!

THIS is what North America needs - not only would people be more relaxed, but we would have a chance to increase the local population (although that could sound politically incorrect given that we are more and more again immigration - booourns).

Introducing the new love of my life...

at least for now. I am, after all, a fickle and non-commital kind of person...

I just bought this phone yesterday after sitting on the fence for a few days and asking all my friends to choose between this one and the one I just blogged about a few days ago - the Upstage (did I not mention I am fickle?)

I ended up going to the Bell store after work yesterday just to try it out, and it is honestly an awesome phone. I thought the blue colour would really bother me, but it's actually not bad at all, and I managed to find a hard cover black case on eBay for it.

I am pretty brand loyal to Samsung's, so I'm not worried about the phone technically, but the new format and o/s is much different than I'm used to after holding onto my phone for about 2 1/2 years. So far I've gotten a lot of stares whenever I've used the texting flip side, which reminds me, I gotta switch to an unlimited texting plan hahaha.

It cost a pretty penny what with the 3 year warranty, but it's damn worth it - for someone who is mainly a texter on this phone, this is really the best purchase I could make. The best feeling was when the Bell guy helping me out showed me the Upstage he won recently, but what he really wanted was my phone. Which hopefully was sincere and not a pickup line.

Might as well give up now...?

So this is one of the headlining articles on cnn.com today. At first I thought it was really interesting and informative - about how the human body develops and then ages. However, after sending it to Eva, she responded with a "why did you send me this? So I can slit my wrists?" Her dramatic reaction made me realize that maybe someone telling you that middle age is at 39 instead of 50 is NOT something you really wanna hear. But maybe you should, so that you appreciate your non-middle age years for as long as possible.

15 years and counting for yours truly...

My latest crush

Welcome to my unexpected new love:



Adam and I went shopping this weekend for something (which I cannot mention at this point because I might ruin the surprise) but needless to say it was a big purchase. Before that, we started off the day with some nice breakfast at Sunset with Eves and her cuz, and then went for a little walk along Bloor West. We stopped in the Bell center, cause my phone is now spontaneously turning off, and I wanted to check out some new ones.

Lo and behold, this gorgeous piece of work is right in front of me. It doesn't look like much in the pic, but it is a small and sturdy and sexy electronic, and I must have it. It's the Samsung Upstage, and it's only been in the Canadian market for about 2 weeks. I read up all about it, and it seems the only negatives are the very small screen you would actually use as the phone side, and the fact that you often have to flip back and forth to enter information in, which personally I don't find so annoying.

Moving along (I don't want to sound like an ad)...

This weekend was mostly great cause we went for the big fundraising event at Angus Glen. Having been at a driving range twice in my life, I was terrified to say the least. It turns out not only do I LIKE golf, I'm actually good at it!! Definitely taking it up and using the few months left of the season to take some lessons. So exciting!

Finished off the weekend with the Bourne Ultimatum. Meh.

I am going to miss the summer very very much when it's over...

Current mood: pouty

Found this pic after googling "pouty" and had to post it - too cute. And she looks a lot like me when I was little which is appropriate since I feel like a pouty kid right now. I am just in one of those moods where all I'm doing is whining and being unproductive. How appropriate to let this out at work. I think the solution just might be going for drinks and leaving just a little earlier than usual....

Another letdown....

Current mood: meh.

The one bad thing about being invited to events like watching Safin and Nadal in the first row on centre court (which is what I did with Trish last night!!) is the letdown you experience when your tennis crush loses. And in an unsportmanlike way. Really, Safin, so much potential but you are too distracted and get pissed off too easily. And I say this out of love. The rest of the audience actually BOOED you cause you were throwing rackets and hitting balls into the crowd.

Sigh.

Then Trish and I went to eat at Queue de Cheval, which I have heard many things about such as being owned by the mafia, being run by Hells Angels and being develishly expensive. The 3rd part is definitely true, but it was so worth it. We went in to sit down for a nice dinner (albeit small) and here was Roger friggin Federer sitting a few tables away!!! He was celebrating his birthday, or his win, whatever it was we couldn't believe it! I was too shy to approach him to ask for an autograph or picture, plus he was with his cronies and unaccessible, so we didn't. But dammit, now I wish I had.

Anyway, the other letdown (other than Safin being a poor sport and not approaching Federer) is that my life has returned to boring and normal today. I really could get used to that lifestyle - rich and famous people, eating out and having hoards of people want to come watch you do whatever you do. Tons of girls/guys throwing themselves at you, flying anywhere you want because you can afford it. I either have to think of a new life strategy to become rich and famous... or marry someone who is (which could arguably also be a strategy).

Anyone know anyone available? 24 year old cute consultant with desire for travel and possibility of being a... trophy wife ...worthy companion. Apply within.

Marat Safin, The God

Appropriate title. My crush since 2000! Watching him tonight - damn.

One order of metrosexual, comin up!

So apparently the whole myth of women preferring men with masculine features is only true when it applies to a fling - when it comes to a partner in life, women tend to choose men with more delicate, less masculine (read: feminine) features. Which I could have told you a long time ago - we all know those hot angled jawlines are highly likely to be jutting around in other women's bedrooms. This is one of the top 5 rules in the women's dating handbook. Duh.

Still an interesting article with how they approached the whole study though. Read it here .

August long weekend - I've converted

So I've become a cottager. Never thought I'd say those words, but it actually is fun!! Especially when it's your cottage. And it's new. And you bring up a bunch of awesome people. Which, by coincidence, is exactly what happened this weekend.

Jake and I joined Peter, Theresa and Adam on Saturday afternoon (after BRUTAL traffic) but as soon as we got there I felt a sense of relief. We tanned on the dock and the patio for the rest of the day, made delicious food and despite great attempts, I fell asleep before midnight while watching a movie on Saturday night. But it was worth it, cause Sunday we were all very well rested and ready to celebrate Adam's birthday - the big guy turned 22! We surprised him with some very fun "fiesta" decorations and he was sincerely touched. Proud moment for hig big sis.

We lost our dignity (Jess's awesome quote from Friday night) on Sunday night - we bought a deck of cards and decided to play Kings. It's been a long time since I've laughed so hard and also been so drunk after drinking a measly small portion of vodka. There were some gems that night, some of which I have quoted on FB and others that cannot be divulged.

In other unrelated news, the 5 of us woke up very grumpy the next morning (note: grumpy could mean hungover). It was cloudy, which was fine with us after a full day of tanning the day before, so we watched some movies and ate some more and chilled to have some great talks. I had to leave a bit earlier to go home and pack for Montreal again (booo) but it was a great end to a fantastic weekend.

On a side note, Adam bought the Amy Winehouse CD and I have another item to add to my addictions list! She is an amazing singer, so soulful and I love her lyrics... I don't even care that she is an alcoholic/cokehead, cause her talent far outweighs any judgment I could make about her.

That's what friends are for

On Wednesday I was feeling kinda lonesome in Montreal and didn't want to be a target for middle-aged men with peanuts again, so I decided to do a little blast from the not-so-distant past and have dinner with a floormate and fellow Ivey chick, Stef. She's in Montreal working at L'Oreal and doing amazingly (job is a dream one) and she's engaged! Finally got to see the ring - lovely. It's so surreal when your friends start to get married and think about kids - I found out a girl from our graduating class already had a baby and got married - practically one year after grad!! Everyone has their own path I guess...

Then yesterday I flew home 1/2 hour earlier than usual to see my parents before they left for the 25th wedding anniversary Europe trip. All I have to say is my parents are really becoming one of the cutest couples I know. They are totally a cohesive unit and the huge differences in their personalities have become less extreme recently to the point where they compliment each other well. I'm excited for them!

After that, Adam and I drove for coffee and met up with this weekend's cottage crew: Theresa, Peter, Jake, Adam and I. It looks like it's going to be an awesome time with nearly perfect weather - gonna make an effort not to fry myself this time and actually keep my tanned skin. SUPER PUMPED for it if you can't tell!

After that Jess and Jamie came over and we stayed up til almost 2 talking and reminiscing and catching up. They are seriously like family, I feel warm and cozy whenever they're around.

In a nutshell, that's it. Trying to enjoy Toronto while I'm here on weekends, and getting excited to help Adam celebrate the big birthday and his first day at work! The great gift is slowly coming around, it's gonna be good...

BURN!

Muahahaha.

Reason #66 - "I wanted to get a raise"

Sly little devils! I think this is one of the best articles I have read in the Globe and Mail. I love that top on the men's list is "had a desirable body" while women's was "I realized I was inlove".

"To change the topic of conversation" should really be "I wanted to shut her up". Note: we all know that one, boys.

Cruelest: "To give that person an STD" - what the deuce!!!

Saddest: "Help me fall asleep". Ouch.

Most succinct: "Wanted to feel good". Hey, it beats eating a pound of chocolate.

Read more about them here.

A serious decision

After a very intense discussion with my coworker Fred, I have decided my ultimate meal (assuming my budget and ‘dietary restrictions’): it would consist of a medium done sirloin steak, a (few) glass(es) of red wine and a nutella jar with a spoon for dessert.

Yes, that sounds either too simple or gross, but for me, it’s heaven. And it’s not even that bad for you. Yes, a little fatty, but what else would someone want after a tough day at work then to sit down for a nice steak. My parents are the most surprised at this choice, since I was (mostly) vegetarian since the age of 4. It seems my body is making up for lost time – my dad and brother, the carnivores, are finally allowed to eat meat guilt-free too.

P.S. I might have to add French onion soup as an appetizer to that list. Sooooo goooood….

Joseph the Beatboxer on Nouvelle Star

Um.... DAYUM!!

Cry Me A River (Acapella)

Awesome!!!

Hmmm...

Life is not fair sometimes. And that's all I have to say about that.

Isn't it ironic?

It's funny, I had a little moment today while in a meeting with my client - we were discussing how exactly we envision the customers and how best to suit their needs. Which sounds dandy and of course is an interesting project, but when we starting categorizing the customers into groups, it made me realize that this is how corporations see us: "young spender", "middle-aged mortgage owner" or "retiree". I realize this is the only way to make marketing effective - to group similar people into one group and create a strategy/campaign that they will all likely respond to in the same way.

It just seems ironic that we spend our lives trying to stand out, be original and unique, when in the end we are labeled anyway, especially so concisely as a "young spender" in my case. Especially since my recent motto is that "boring is boring" - I'm always worried about people who might judge me, but really the tragedy is to be forgotten! I'd take a little judgment than be lumped into that grey mass that no one knows and labels using just a few words. We don't deserve to be dumped into one category, but you have to fight to make your individuality apparent - that's definitely a goal I can work towards.

What the deuce is this!??!

1,500 Philippino prisoners choreographed and dance the Thriller - whaaaaat?

Another jam-packed weekend

So the past few days have been pretty hectic… after flying back home from Montreal on Thursday night, I had a few hours to get ready for the United Way event organized at our Markham location and to pack for the cottage so that I could leave straight after work. The United Way event was a HUGE success, and left such a good feeling except for the people who ruined it for me after. I don’t even want to get into the rage-inducing details, but all I have to say is that office politics far surpass people’s desire to do any greater good, and that I have much more faith in students doing a good job at these kinds of events than I do in adults. They seem to be more concerned with outward appearances and credit than with the actual purpose of the event, and maintaining monopolistic control over whatever they can. I don’t get it, and I have a growing distaste for these kinds of people. But really, to conclude, double the amount of projected people showed up and everyone had a great time - we raised about $1200!!

Anyway, after the exhausting BBQ, I met up with Eva and Sanjay at Finch station and we drove to Jim’s cottage. It ended up being on a small island on Lake Joe (which neighbours Lake Rosso) with Kenny G in the cottage next door! Which yes, is kinda lame but still kinda cool? Anyway, point being I’ve rarely seen such a nice cottage with nice toys and amazing food. We got spoiled in every way possible. Saturday was a flip cup competition and ended off with a hung-over 2 hour ride on the kayak for moi and swimming and chillin for others. The only bad part was my stupidity in not putting any sunscreen on and therefore still hardly being able to sit comfortably. We ended off at Eva’s boss’ cottage, which was one of the nicest cottages I’ve ever seen. DAMN.

Once we got back into Etobs, Eves and I went for a little golf action in Centennial for about ½ hour. I (surprisingly) didn’t get any rage and even (gasp!) enjoyed myself. We are playing a tournament in mid-August, so we are trying hard to really not suck and embarrass ourselves. As much.

P.S. The picture above is from a dance party from Saturday night, which was epic and consisted mostly of Eva and myself. Kudos to the Polaks.

Montreal week 3

So this week was my 3rd week traveling on this project to Montreal... I have to admit it's wearing on me a bit, but I really can't complain. I've got my groove down with what to pack, where to stay, where to eat etc.... I have yet to meet any local people, but I'm sure that will come with time.
Every week Trish leaves after work on Wednesday, so when it comes to dinnertime it's up to me to decide what I wanna do alone. The past few weeks I've gone on walks around the city, which is nice cause it's the only chance I have to do that, but this time I stopped for some pesto pasta on Rue Crescent, which seems to be a pretty happenin place in Montreal. I chatted with people and read my magazine while at dinner, and when I was done these 2 older men approached me. One tried to offer me peanuts, and the other told me he owned a very high-end clothing store. Both men were Lebanese, and the peanut one told me about his stories as a pilot and current travel agency. Usually I would dismiss these fools for being too old, but it was a social and funny break in my solitary evening. The only bad part came when my friend Wassim, who recommended the place, realized later that it's often frequented by EE (Easter European ladies) and the older ME (Middle Eastern) men that want them. How nice.

Otherwise, I'm feeling my lack of time in Toronto this week - I literally got home after 9, chilled and packed for the cottage this weekend, and organized stuff for the United Way event we're throwing. I am leaving right after work to go to Jim's cottage, then come back, pack for Montreal and leave Monday morning. Did I mention I'm traveling with my dad this time?? Iiiiiiinteresting...

And so it begins

Friday night we went to a lovely dinner at Saint-Tropez in Toronto. The goal: to see Maha and celebrate her last weekend before she starts the intense chemo process, which starts today and if all goes well, ends in the beginning October. It was the first time I'd seen Maha since her operation, and all I have to say is that I've rarely been so impressed by someone. She talked about the cancer openly: buying a wig, where to live during her treatment, what her plans are after the cancer and so on. I had never considered the 'everyday' parts of dealing with the disease, other than the big picture of actually fighting it, beating it and living a long full life. She talked about the more serious impact the cancer is having on her too - how to rebuild her body after the mastectomy she had, the effect of the chemo on her ability to have children, which I never knew was an issue.

Point being, this has been a sobering experience for all her friends, especially the women in our group. We are all thinking of and praying for Maha, since her attitude is really an inspiration for everyone of us.

Woo woo

Now this is the kind of news I like reading.

Not only are more teens completing high school, but the rate of teen pregnancy and those having sex is decreasing. It's pretty refreshing that all the effort that has gone into campaigns for safe sex and the importance of education is actually working.

On another note, the Globe and Mail published an article today about the fact that Canada is really high on the list of countries whose citizens smoke a lot of pot. I have to say, given even my group of friends from high school/university, I am not surprised at this stat at all. It seems that people have a pretty easygoing view on smoking weed, although funnily enough we tend to judge people who smoke cigarettes or drink & drive pretty harshly... the stat shows the rate of smokers at about 18.6% in the past 3 months, which is about 1 in 5 people. Which means at least 2 peeps on my team are statistically potheads... figuring out which ones they are will make for an interesting day today.

Esmee Denters singing ``Unwritten`` by Natasha Bedingfield

I am really starting to love this girl...

Sister, sister

So I had a nice (read: extremely delicious, expensive and wineful) dinner last night with a few colleagues from work (T and Wymond), and we inevitably dicussed relationships and Wymond's relationship with his 3 daughters (no sons). He talked about how much more fun but complicated it is to raise girls, because of all the extra ‘drama’ that can happen to them, but that he felt better equipped to handle them because he grew up with 3 sisters himself.

That got me thinking about this theory that I have that men who have at least one sister are a lot more prepared to deal with relationships with women (or at least have a very dominant mother, female cousin, you get the idea). However, the theme of the “man with a sister” is so powerful that I find that every guy I have a close relationship with has at least one sister, and often times an older one.

I can say with confidence that I think my brother is an excellent person (among other factors) because he has an older sister. That sounds extremely cocky, and it’s not meant to because I am not crediting myself with his upbringing, but simply the fact that as a child, he had a female to analyze and understand as I was going through the different phases in my life. Now that I am slightly less crazy and more mature, he seems to “get” me and what I’m going through without me having to say much about it. Although now he’s at a disadvantage because he is just TOO mature for his age (hahaha, poor Adam).

Anyway, on that note, I have to say that despite my being brought up with excellent male figures in my life (note: grandpa, dad, Adam and more ‘uncles’ than I could count), I don’t have an easy time understanding guys at all. In fact, I think I am usually attracted to guys that are the exact opposite in some ways to my role models (although they are always nice guys at least). I really find the whole concept of dating extremely difficult, and stay on a plateau of “this is not for me” which is interrupted by very rare moments where I meet someone I have a connection with (which has happened maaaybe 4-5 times in my life), I wear my heart on my sleeve and then get it broken, and then the plateau continues at an even lower level than before. Plus I feel like men have this evil radar that as soon as they sense a girl is finally over them, they renew contact and bring up all sorts of emotion. It’s exhausting. So on that note, as of today (along with my friend Eves), I am making a conscious decision to think much less about all those shenanigans and really focus on ourselves, so that our love lives become secondary concerns.

On a separate note, I just found out that I added something called sitemeter to my profile, which tracks and categorizes the people that visit your blog! Pretty cool - although I expect most of my leads to be Google searches like “young, 20-something cynical traveler”.

Robots have feelings..? But Western people don't.

An interesting weekend - Friday was a reunion party for Western kids, which was an interesting event. I started off the evening with drinks and food at Ki, which I am really starting to get addicted to (especially those lychee martinis, you don’t even see those coming and all of a sudden you’re a very happy tipsy girl). The night then progressed to dinner with the girls at Monsoon for Summerlicious, which I couldn’t enjoy because of too much edamame at Ki. Anyway, the 2 bottles of wine were enjoyable and made going to the Phoenix that much more bearable.

We girls were dressed to the nines in our high heels and freakum dresses, and arriving at the Phoenix was kind of a shock. I had been there before, but some girls’ first impressed was the dingy alternative music room, which I’m sure freaked the Western out of them. Thankfully, they were comforted with $2.50 drinks and the more Western crowd that arrived pretty late into the night. By 1am I was done (as were my feet) and I took good old faithful (a.k.a. the subway) back home. The Western crowd didn’t disappoint, in that they are just as hot and generic as they ever were, and not much has changed since I left.

Saturday evening I went to see Transformers, which was surprisingly good considering the crap reviews it got. I have come to expect that I get emotional at movies (the whole separating film from reality doesn’t work for me), but I didn’t expect Transformers would evoke any kind of feeling. They totally worked the girly angle, and gave the Transformers human sounds and practically made them cry when they got hurt, including puppy dog eyes etc. Of course I didn’t cry, but that whole scene tugged at the heartstrings a little. Pathetic isn’t it??

I ended off the weekend with a chill day of TV, shopping, work and taking it easy with Eves. And some late night packing because I couldn’t get to sleep. Sometimes I’m glad I live at home because I wouldn’t want to subject a boyfriend to seeing me wake-up at 5am in a rotten and tired mood (poor Adam, he deals with a lot).

Montreal week 2 underway! We shall see how this one rolls out… no skunking yet; the boys are actually really sweet here. Although I may be proven wrong when Trish and I go out on the town…

Mon becomes Monique

So today was my first day in Montreal... I must say, traveling for work feels a little odd and I actually felt like the whole day was a little surreal. I couldn't sleep last night after a little drama with Jake and a Facebook relationship (who knew that writing on someone's wall was public information??) and got up this morning on minimal sleep.

Up at 5, out of the house at 6, leaving Toronto on a jet plane by 7, in Montreal by 8. Unfortunately the nice flow of the morning (including a nice nap on the plane) was ruined by our crazy mofo of a cab driver who literally almost killed us 5 times in 20 minutes. I am on the more aggressive side of driving, but DAMN - I didn't even look as we were driving and instead focused on Trish so that I wouldn't see the truck almost smash us or people giving our cabbie, and indirectly us, some crazy French insulting gesticulation.

I spent all day with no internet, in my cubicle with all the information one could want about segmentation and trying to finish off work from Toronto. I was on no food til 2pm (which is rare for me), after which a huge meal of pad thai polished me off for the rest of the day. The group of guys working on the project with Trish and I are a very interesting assortment of people - I was fascinated with just "people watching" our group dynamics - really fun.

Anyway, as I am writing this I am sitting in my Hilton bathrobe in my exec suite after taking a bath in my huuuuge bathroom, eating a chocolate covered strawberry for dessert and choosing which side of my king sized bed to sleep on. Hard knock life? Perhaps not. I have to say, I could really get used to this... although I have a funny feeling that I only got this sweet room becuase my dad booked it with his sweet, sweet exec card which I don't own. But we'll see if I can work my magic tomorrow and try and book this room for the rest of my 2 months here.

Between work and sitting in my yummy white bathrobe, Trish and I went for dinner at Otto, the restaurant in the W hotel. We had the best meal - basically split an appetizer, entree, dessert and bottle of wine - delicious! We then took a wine-y walk down Sainte Catherine and watched the jazz festival from the sidelines and then stopped at PharmaPrix (which is Shoppers Drug Mart in disguise. We had the best talk and laughs, and then headed back to our hotels to get to bed... but I couldn't help appreciating my second last night in my sweet hotel room (which is really my first night).

God bless Montreal!! and Hilton Hotels!!

Mon the artist

After a tough weekend and Monday, my friend Ashley decided to help me relax by inviting me over for a delicious dinner and to paint. And by paint I don’t mean her house, I mean on real canvas and requiring skill and inspiration as an ‘artist’. I frequently bailed out of or avoided art class when it came to drawing or painting, because, in short, I SUCK at it. Even Van Gogh, who looks kinda easier it actually really hard to imitate. I tried another strategy, and as Ashley put it, did a lot of blending and hitting the canvas with a paper towel full of paint. It sounds kindergarten, but it actually turned out well for a first effort. Ashley rocked her painting, and then serenaded me with “Girl, put your record on” which I now can’t get out of my head. Thanks Assley.

On a separate note, I just wanted to comment on how waiting to find something out or ‘not knowing’ is really, really getting to me. I think, like most people, I can be ok with receiving information and getting closure, and that will help me move on. But I can’t stand the wait for that information, because it involves me overanalyzing different scenarios (and usually worst case) while the other person has no idea what’s going on. GAH! I hate it. I will feel much better when I just know what’s going on. This little rant is obviously about me waiting for ...something... it's happening across multiple areas of my life right now and I despise the wait!

Update (on one part of the wait): the surgery went well and it hasn’t spread to the right breast, which is one piece of good news.

What crappy news

I just found out this morning that my friend is going in for a mastectomy this afternoon.

She went in for a check-up with her doctor on Thursday, and was basically told she has an advanced form of breast cancer and that she will have to have her entire left breast removed and possibly her right.

We all feel pretty numb right now- how do you react to news like this when you hear about it being a woman your age, let alone a friend? I can’t even imagine what she is going through right now - the prospect of losing a physical part of being a woman, and of dealing with months of chemo and possible surgery and all of this being thrown at you within 4 days!! I am not a religious person, but my prayers are with Maha and her family.

The 100th post!

I was looking at my past posts, and realized that this is in fact the 100th one! Can't believe I made it this far... it almost coincides with my blog's 1st birthday, but by now last year I was already in Barcelona so I'm a little late in my anniversary.

Today has been a somewhat big day - Adam graduated (UT is over man), it's my mom's nameday and the first day of summer. Although it feels like this has already been a jam-packed summer what with my trip and all the patios and going away parties already...

In retrospect, the amount of personal change that I have gone through in the past year is incredible. I have graduated, gone on one big trip to Europe mostly by myself, started a new job, had several different 'relationships', lost the friendship of one of my best friends and reconciled with another. All this, and trying to manage living at home and dealing with the new dynamic with my parents, and trying to find out exactly what it is I want from life (I am after all nearly a quarter of a century old). The icing on the cake at this one year mark has been the trip that I just returned from, after which I'm sure is evident that I have yet to recover.

The whole year has actually been somewhat routine, with spurts of big changes that happen over a few weeks. I feel like this is one of those phases full of milestones, and that it will be a time of being in limbo until something gives. I've learned that the minute you think you have things figured out and get some confidence, life has a way of humbling you. After all, since my trip last year I felt very in control and decided about what my priorities were, and within 1 week it has all changed.

I'm excited to see where I'll be another year from now, or even a few months from now! It's all very fun (and terrifying and stressful and nerve-wracking hahaha) to know that anything can happen, and that 6 months from now I could be in a completely different environment. Cheers to new beginnings, to change and to keeping up blogs to remember how much I've forgotten.

A new perspective..

So the word of the day today is “whatever”. And “booo”. And “crap”. Basically any word that indicates some feeling of negativity, (feigned) indifference or profanity. Which is basically my mood for the past few days. Except when it comes to completing my work of course, because of course I am diligent when trying to write this RFP response in the next 3 weeks (eeek).

I can’t seem to get out of the funk after my trip, and it seems that it as affecting more than just me. My family/friends are either frustrated with me, or hurt by my confusion, or just don’t get how I feel. I keep feeling that this trip was different, and I can’t tell what it is except that I feel unsettled and confused and can’t get myself together like I was before the trip. Even midway through the trip I was thinking that I didn’t mind living and working in TO, and that I was homesick, but now I can’t the thought of some big drastic change out of my head.

My friend told me to write stuff down, so this is my promise to myself: I am giving myself til the end of the summer to see if I can shake this feeling, but if I really can’t, then I am committing to making a big change by the end of September. The lease on my car runs out then, and I think it will be the catalyst to leave the security of the family nest and move out - that could also include a move across the ocean. I am promising myself not to limit or disregard any possibilities, and to really think about what I want (and not what others want for me).

Wow, that feels much better. The new word of the day is “ok”, as in it will be.

Lessons learned from vacation

1) Traveling alone is not as appealing as it was last year

I have to say, last year I loved the fact that I was traveling alone, and took a lot of time to write and 'discover' myself. I've had enough of that this year, what with starting a new job and constantly focusing on becoming more self aware. The travel alone this time was even more pronounced becasue I had such a good time with friends, so there was a constant comparison... I still like the fact that I could dictate my own terms though, and it's still a better way to meet people. How else could I have gotten to know the fam so well?

2) People will still like you even when you're not wearing makeup, have your hair done and wearing high heels

I know this seems like such a shallow thing to write, but because I live and work in Toronto, not coming to work looking well-maintained is unacceptable. So I got used to the fact that needing an hour to get ready was just a part of my day. In Croatia, my daily routine was basically brushing my unstyled hair, throwing on some sunscreen and my bathing suit and heading out. Lo and behold, the people I met didn't even care about all that, and I even managed to meet someone while 'au naturel'. It just changed my perspective on what people are really like, and that people really do care about your personality above it all.

3) Things always happen faster when on vacation - your normal rules don't apply

Thank God for this one! My vacation in Europe required a more 'relaxed' Mon, and it was a thousand times better because of it. I could dabble in some vices that I usually never touch in Canada, and meet people and discuss things that I would never bring up. I also didn't limit myself to new experiences, and because of that literally had the best 2 weeks (specifically in Croatia) of my life. I experienced as much in that week as I usually do in months here, and I'm a better person for it.

4) I'm more of a chicken than I thought

I hate this fact, but it's true. I am always such a worrier and so careful about rules and 'doing the right thing' at home, and I didn't realize it until I had no rules to follow and hung out with a couple of bad-asses in Europe. Why the hell do I let fear of the unknown take over my life? It can be as big as deciding to go live in Europe for a while (what's stopping me) to having fun doing some water sport. And on that note....

5) ... going on the banana is OK

This was my A-HA moment of the trip. I always have had some ridiculous phobia of water, but the Aussie boys decided we were going, and there was no way of getting out of it. After freaking out when we got on, we of course flipped into the water and what happened? It was fun. It just proves that there is nothing to be scared of, and to just try new things, and just GET ON THE BANANA.

6) iPods are key

Pretty self-explanatory. Music is the chicken soup to my mind, and whatever mood I was in, my iPod had the right answer to either fix it or really make me think about it. Robin Thicke, Michael Buble and Timbaland (earlier post) really helped with that. These 3 hotties helped me fall asleep, deal with the boredom of travel at times, and bring me closer to certain people. All I have to say is that The Way I Are and Home will forever be in my memory and remind me of this trip.

7) I don't have to live in Canada

This goes along with the whole 'being a chicken' idea... the only thought that is comforting me right now is the fact that I really DON'T have to live here - I have so much opportunity to try life in another country/continent, and it doesn't scare me anymore. This is the time to try new things, especially since I often feel like a European at heart. I only feel bad for my parents, who immigrated all the way here for a better life, and now their kids are talking about going back! How ironic...

The rest of the trip.... a.k.a. CRAP

So the last few days deserve a short and sweet description... more short than sweet really. I think the Saturday I left all the lack of sleep, partying and then leaving everyone took its toll on me. By the time I took the bus, ferry, bus and was waiting at the airport, I was absolutely delirious and possibly hysterical. I decided at that point to get in touch with the fam (the real one) for the first time in a week, and called Adam at 8:30am his time to let him know I was ok. Except that I wasn't. I'm supremely glad that I didn't end up writing in the blog when I got back into London that night.. which by the way, was after 12 hours of travel and getting to the hostel I was staying at and being told that there were no beds left for me to sleep in.

Needless to say I pulled out the whoop-ass and they found me a bed. I passed out for about 8 hours, woke up and made my way to Luton Airport where there was a line of, no joke, 200 people waiting to get checked in with my airline. I highlighted the fact that there was only one hour left to my flight, and that if they wanted me on it then they should move me past the line. Which they did, and despite that I still had my name called on the way to my gate as well as having to sprint to make my plane. Long story short, the plane ended up being delayed by an hour anyway, but I needed that time to recover from smoker's lung (yes, that's right) anyway.

The movie on board was Dreamgirls - surprisingly good.

There was a little girl on the plane that kept yelling "I don't want to take off"... at first, I was extremely annoyed and then found myself about to yell along with her. I was really loathing the idea of coming to Canada, back to work and cold climate and away from everyone. This vacation definitely proved to be different, and traveling alone was not nearly as enjoyable as it was last time.

The highlight of those 2 days was when Adam picked me up from the airport - seeing my little big bro's familiar face was defintely a relief. He sat with me while I went through a whole box of tissues reminiscing about the trip... definitely not a task everyone would have sat through.

I think a little list of "lessons learned" on this trip is in order...

Friday - Bye bye Dubrovnik, Hellooooo Hvar Island

So I neglected to mention that at about 6am, I decided to postpone my trip back to London on Friday, and delay it to the Saturday flight. I decided this because out of all my ambitious plans to see Croatia, I had really ended up in Dubrovnik for 5 days, and wanted to see at least one island. Hvar Island is a lovely, more expensive and snobby Island about 1.5 hours from Split, which is where we arrived on the bus at about 12:30. After waiting til about 2:30, we hopped on a huge ferry that took us to Hvar Island.

Landing there, we found our apartment which ended up being super sweet, with 2 rooms with double beds and another with 2 beds in it with kitchen. We hit the town right away, and saw some of the nicest yachts that must have belonged to drug lords, they were so nice. Black extrior with black leather interior. DAMN.

We then enjoyed a round of beers courtesy of Ryan on the boardwalk by the boats, and roasted in the sun. The boys nearly jumped into the mini-harbour cause it was so hot, but instead we just ordered more beers.

Dan and Ryan

Forde and Heather

Jules

Matty.

Once we were done with the beers, we hit the supermarket to buy the ingredients to make a lovely homemade meal. Boys: beer, cigs, meat and more beer. Girls: yogurt, veggies, eggs, juice.

The evening had one tense moment after an interesting conversation about 'numbers', but all ended well and I had an amazing last night in Croatia with the family eating an amazing dinner made mostly by Ryan (I know!) and then chattin with the fam - not too late, since we were exhausted from the all nighter before, and the full day of travel.

The next morning I had to catch a 9:45am bus to get to the edge of the Island to get the Ferry to go back to catch my plane on time. I don't want to get into the scene I created, but thankfully only Matty saw most of it and therefore I wasn't as embarassed, but I have rarely ever felt so sad to leave a place. We shall leave it at that for now.

Thursday - Beach and Sunrise

The next day we went back to the beach from Tuesday, and chilled there for most of the day... the boys decided no banana that day, but that they wanted to ride on the 'biscuits', which I confused for hunger but in fact meant what we Canadians call 'tubing'. They seemed like they were having a blast until the first time they fell off, at which point all of them got either welts or rope burn or worse. I still managed to get some nice shots and video from the boat.

We spent a lot of the time on the beach dicussing the accents, and trying to guess the nationality of hot girls on the beach (what a fun game for Jules and I, really). We also analyzed the relationship between the 3 boys - it's like they have their own language, and are all the closest friends I've ever met. They call each other Manzo, but depending on the way you say it, it means some other guy. Jules christened me Monzo, which I thought was funny but the guys didn't really pick up on it (elitist!).

We got back, and with the fam leaving for Split on the 8am bus, we decided to party on our last night in Dubrovnik. I was taking the bus to Split with them, and then catching my flight from Split to London on Friday afternoon while they ferried it to Hvar. Again, we got nice and ready and went to party in a quasi-gay club near oldtown. Heather and I danced our asses off, which the rest of the peeps went to the chill out room.

Eventually I got tired, and Forde took over my spot for me while Dan showed his pop-and-lock skillz. That's Dan on the left, Heather sandwich and Forde on the right. Josip, Ivica's brother who doesn't seem like he goes out that much (but danced his face off) is hidden on the left.

We left the club around 330am, and went back to the hostel to enjoy the last night and watch the sunrise from the terrace. It took some waiting, so we talked and watched Forde drag his tired butt home at 5am, wake up Mama with his talking and eat some food before having to go pack.

Poor Mama. Forde really wanted that food... this is about 5, 530am and we're supposed to leave for the bus station at 7am. Were we packed? Debatable.

The sunrise. It was so worth and the perfect end to a perfect stay in Dubrovnik.

Wednesday - Lokrum Island

So the next day we wanted to try something new and the boys had to return their scooters. I read about this island close by that you could get to by a quick ferry from Stari Grad. We managed to gather our stuff together a little late in the day (of course) and had to take the bus downtown, which paled in comparison to our cool scooter rides. The group of us going to the Island were the Manzo's (Ryan, Matt and Forde), Dan, Jules, Michael and I. Michael was also another Aussie eventually going to work in the UK. It seems to be a common trend among Aussies to do that.



The travel guide listed Lokrum as "Lover's Island" - I don't really get why, but it was very pretty. It had a botanical garden, lovely wildlife and of course your nudist beach. We all (myself included) got excited about that , but it turns out it was only accessible to other nudists. Damn.


The travel guide also called the beach 'rocky', which actually meant it was land, boulders, than water. The path to getting in the water was actually painful and complicated, but so worth it once you got in. We chilled on the rocks (the less jagged ones) while nursing our health from the night before.

This is 2/3 of the crew from the beach excursion (Matt and I are missing). Observe the 'rocky' beach... we ended off the day nicely, I got a tan and enjoyed my swimming (refer to picture above). Jules and I decided that we were sick of being gross and unkept, and that since it was my last night in Dubrovnik (which it wasn't in the end), we would get dressed up and go for a nice dinner with washed hair and makeup on. We got back and got ready for a great night out...

Dinner was quite a walk away, but so worth it - we walked along a boardwalk in the dark, by the beach we were at the night before, and and went for dinner with a new addition to our family - Heather! She is also from NYC, so her and Dan had much to talk about, and she works for Inside Edition (the unseen face that asks the stars the interview questions). Her and Dan had a lot to talk about, since he studied acting at NYU, and now works in editing for that show about a Matchmaker on TLC. I present our dinner group:

Someone else has the picture of all the food coming and us gorging ourselves...

The night ended off quite tamely, with some of the group going for a walk in the park and swings, and the rest heading off to bed. We had to prepare ourselves for the next day...

Tuesday - post Hard Kids

So Monday night after being the Hard Kids, we were pretty exhausted and decided to chill on the terrace with some food and wine, and watch a chick flick. A big group of us all tried to chill watching The Holiday, but the movie turned out to be so crappy that we couldn't last through it. I ended up passing out, but some of the group went down to the beach, and then ended up sleeping in the next day.

When we finally got ready on Tuesday morning, Dan, Jules, Simon and I wanted to head down to a nicer, sandier beach (they're all rocky there) by old town. Dan had to return his scooter, so we ended up deciding to meet at Ploce. When Jules, Simon and I got downstairs, there were these 3 Aussie guys, who were staying on the ground floor, who were right about to leave on the scooters that they just rented. Jules started talking to Ryan (one of the guys) and it turned out they were looking for something to do. We each hopped on the back of their scooters: Jules on Ryan's, Simon on Forde's (a.k.a. Daniel) and me on Matt's. I was, once again, on a scooter after swearing them off the day before. Matt, whose name I didn't even know at the time, decided it would be fun to go about 70km/h downhill with me wearing no helmet... I tried not to be a girl about it, but all I heard was the wind in my ears and the screams in my head once more. At one point I think I screamed outloud, at which point he remembered that a girl was in fact on the scooter with him and slowed down.

Anyway, we managed to get lost and separated right before we got to the beach, so poor Matt kept dropping me off on the boardwalk to look for my friends while he went to look for his Aussie boys. After some time, we decided to give up and go to the beach ourselves, and turns out Jules, Simon and the crew were there already. We all chilled and tanned (especially me, since it was my first time on a beach in Croatia), and of course had a few rounds of drinks from the beach bar. The boys made fun of my one piece suit, and now think that all Canadians are uptight girls who won't wear bikinis. (I figure that's better than the alternative of thinking that we're skanks, but whateves.)

I went to return the glasses, and as I got back the boys had gotten lifejackets for all of us and decided we were going to get on the (duh duh duuuuuh) .... banana. Given that my last trip on some inflatable thing behind a boat resulted in my lifelong (up til now) phobia of water, needless to say I was TERRIFIED. Of course, I couldn't show my fear in front of the aussies (literally all of them) so I tried to pull Jules aside, woman to woman, to tell her. She laughed too. I had to save face, especially after the one piece episode, and went on. After 30 seconds of absolute fear, screaming, and the boys trying to knock each other off the damn thing, we all flipped off with some nice air. And you know the funny thing? It was FUN. I had a damn good time, faced my idiotic childhood fear and managed to bring my reputation up among the group (especially since that one piece they had mocked proved able to withstand the ride and stay on, unlike Jules' bikini. On second thought, the boys were probably not happy about that hahaha)

We finished off our day pretty well, and went back up to the hostel on the scooters (with Simon's and Forde's breaking down on the way, too hilarious) and showered and got ready for the evening. Since the evening before we were rowdy til pretty late, Ivica set up a quiet time at 11pm. We didn't much like that time, so our group and a huge bunch of us from the hostel (among them Trent, Dan, the 2 Sarah's, Marty, etc) decided to head to the rocky beach, separated from the hostel by 3 very long flights of stairs. We also brought some food, but more importantly lots and lots of alcohol. We got there, and just had the best time in the dark on the beach, singing with some drunk locals with a guitar. I decided it was time for a swim, and Jules as well, so we jumped in (brought our bathing suits thank God). Matt and Ryan followed suit, and we all swam together at about 2 in the morning under the stars. It sounds romantic, but it was more just really relaxing and surreal.

Unfortunately, it got cold, and then as soon as we got out Matt was not feeling so well (probably due to the amount of vodka he drank). Ryan and Jules waited and walked with us for a bit, but it was up to me to carry Matt (who is not a little boy) up the 3 damn huge flights of stairs back up to the hostel. I think that was my workout for the whole trip!

Either way, by the time I changed, showered and got to bed it was 6 in the morning, and a night very well spent. Watched the sunrise on the terrace, and headed to bed... a perfect 2nd day in Dubrovnik.

Several matters to take care of...

So I broke my promise to myself to write in my blog everyday, and now that I have to look back at my trip retrospectively, I am sure I am going to miss some really funny and good stories. But que sera, sera, I can't help that and I will update it regardless. I am going to preface the next few posts about Croatia by saying that it was the best week (6 days really) of my life. That is all.

The Hard Kids

I don't even know where to begin... Croatia is blowing my mofoin' mind. I could and should leave it at that, but I need to write it all since I am completely overwhelmed with the experience of today. The picture above was the view from our hostel balcony at 3am last night by the way, the moon looked amazing.

So today started off with me sleeping in and Phil leaving, which was sad... what a 'great bloke'. We started talking with these new guys from the US, Ali and Paul who rented scooters yesterday and were selling the experience to us hardcore. So the 7 of us - Ivice (the owner), Jules, Paul, Ali, Trent (new guy too), Dan and I all rented scooters, with Jules on Dans with him and me on Paul's. We decided to go down south, along the coast, with Ivice as our guide and riding the scooters. I have to say, riding up and downhill on a scooter going like 50km/h will make you realize how fragile you are. The first 15 mins of the trip, my internal monologue consisted of constant screaming inside my head, and my life flashing in front of my eyes when we almost crashed into Ali (who ended up crashing later, oh my).
This is us at the first stop of the trip. This is not even the most beautiful part of the trip, but I like the fact that I'm smiling as opposed to being in constant stress mode on the scooter hahaha. The next pic is from the same stop, but to keep in mind, the background of that pic, which I didn't show, was a huge cluster of hotels that are still damaged and broken down from all the bombings that happened 15 years ago, that are still in line to being restored. However, the coast has the constant juxtaposition of damaged buildings with shrapnel still in them and gorgeous water, like this:
So anyway, all of us on our scooters ended up looking like a gang and taking over the road, so we decided we were cool enough to give ourselves a name, hence the Hard Kids. Us hard kids got led to a place for lunch, which was great cause I hadn't eaten yet at this point. The restaurant was on the water of course, and the meal consisted of amazing free appetizers of fish and anchovies, followed by two huge platters of everything from the sea you can find, which yes, mom and dad, I actually ate!
That was followed by two huge platters of fresh fish grilled from the sea, and the entire lunch we drank copious amounts of wine and local spirits made with herbs. Our waiter was awesome, and told Jules and Dan and I about the restaurant secrets, which ended up being taking shots of some extremely potent stuff from a bottle shaped like a naked lady. Can we say random??
On a side note, we saw a tiny kitten on our way into the restaurant, who I couldn't help but take and cuddle, and the same waiter gave a huge meal of ham and milk and such. I was going to adopt him, and named him Moe Junior, but of course as soon as he was fed he left us for greener pastures. He was named our official mascot though, and made me seriously consider getting a cat when I get back. I can't rotate the picture, but damn he's cute.

On the way back, we saw a waterfall, and breathtaking scenery which I could describe but really the pictures say it all. And I have to get back to drinking to destress from a tough day. But I managed to pass my camera to Jules during the ride and she got an awesome picture of us on the scooter (mind you, the passing of the camera was while in motion as was the pic). I am just in constant disbelief that I am here, and cannot wait to come back again. I am being called by my fabulous roomies to come share some wine and great conversation - what more can a girl ask for???