This Is My Time

Circle of Death...

2007-07-15T17:42:44Z

As I mentioned last night, I was leaving to go drink my face off. Well, I can safely say, I certainly accomplished that task. Sigh. My head and stomach are a bit upset with me today.

Before I try to pass out again and sleep off this hangover, here are the rules for the card game we played last night, "Circle of Death". It's aptly named as you take a deck of cards, fan them out face down in a circle and draw a card, one at a time, in a clockwise direction. In the middle of the circle of cards, you put a "penalty" shot. Last night we had two: a shot of tequila and a shot of Crown for those that don't enjoy tequila.

Each card has a different rule associated with it.

2 - You - pick a person to drink

3 - Me - you have to drink

4 - Floor - touch the floor, the last person to touch takes a drink

5 - Chicks - all the girls drink

6 - Dicks - all the guys drink

7 - Heaven - raise both arms in the air, last to do it takes a drink

8 - Choose a Mate - you and the person of your choice take a drink

9 - Bust a rhyme - say a sentence, everyone has to say another sentence that rhymes, in order around the table

10 - Left - person on your left drinks

J - Right - person on your right drinks

Q - Across - person across from you drinks

K - All - everyone drinks

A - Waterfall - everyone starts drinking at the same time. You get to stop whenever you want, and then the person on your left can stop, and then the person to their left, etc. all the way around until the person on your right finally gets to stop...they often get screwed ;)

If you get stuck drinking 3 in a row, then you have to take the penalty shot. In any case, I blame the card game for my pain and suffering this morning...grroooan. :S

At least we didn't play "Hit the Post". I don't think there's a game that gets you drunker quicker (except maybe "Up the River, Down the River"). It's also played with a deck of cards, and you take turns being the dealer for the person on your left. You deal a card face up, and the person you're dealing for has to say one of four statements about the next card. They can say it will be higher or lower than the card showing, or red or black. If the person is right, then they make another statement (same 4 choices) about the next card. If they're wrong, they have to drink. If they say higher or lower and the next card matches the previous card in number, then they "hit the post" and have to drink 3 drinks. (Well, they either have to drink 3 drinks, or they have to finish their drink...I can't remember.) The person must get 3 cards correct in a row before they become the dealer for the person on their left.

Windows Live Writer and drinking my face off....

2007-07-15T02:30:00Z

I just wanted to try out Microsoft's new Windows Live Writer software. It's pretty neat actually. I like the way you can auto-preview your stuff as you write, as well as the support for many different blog providers. I think I could get used to this! :)

I haven't posted in about 8 1/2 months...crazy!! It turns out that when you join the real world, it takes up a lot of your time! I know a bunch of people who have "real" jobs and still manage to post things, but I think it says something that I'm too busy living my life to write about it. I have a pretty decent life too!

Lots of my time is spent working, obviously, and I enjoy my time off from that by hanging out with my friends, relaxing by watching some TV or seeing a movie, reading, exploring new areas of Seattle, or playing with my cats. I'm hoping to get more involved in the blogging world again, but it honestly depends on the demand of my work life and social life.

Speaking of my social life, I have to get going. Lorrissa and Aneesha just moved into their new townhome today and we're celebrating by drinking our faces off tonight! ;)

Hope everyone else is getting wild and crazy too! Woo hoo!

Toto, I don't think we're in Canada anymore!

2006-10-29T00:51:19Z

Alright...so I never really did conclude my European vacation tales. In my defense, I did start an entry, but originally wanted to devote enough time to capture it all in detail. Well, that didn't happen. I was consumed with moving details so the best I can do is finally post what I had written weeks ago.

Here's the post:

Wow, I can't believe my vacation's already over! It was great though. Since my last entry, I've finished up the weekend in Oxford and then spent a couple days in Edinburgh.

I was pretty pooped on Friday night, so Gwen and I just read a bit in her room and relaxed. On Saturday morning, Mom showed up around 11:00 am so we had to do all the lugging of the extra suitcases she brought for Gwen. While Gwen unpacked, Mom and I checked into the hotel she was staying at. Compared to the places I've stayed while I've been in Europe, I thought the hotel was quite nice, but Mom hated almost everything about it. Fortunately, she brightened up after we got to Edinburgh, but more about that later.

The three of us had a nice lunch together and I spent the afternoon trying to get a reservation on Mom's train ticket from Glasgow to Oxford (she's got some more travelling to do before heading back to Canada). Stupid Brit Rail people wouldn't let me...argh, sometimes travelling is so frustrating. In any case, afterwards I took a little nap and then the three of us went out to Brown's restaurant in Oxford for dinner. That was an awesome dinner. It was so fun for all of us to hang out, and it was crazy to see all the signs in Oxford restaurants saying "Now booking for Christmas". It seems all over Britain, they're just gearing up for Christmas!

We had decided that on Sunday, we'd just spend the day walking around, checking out the Ashmolian, a museum in Oxford, the Bodleian Library in Oxford and various architectural wonders. Mom was just like a giddy schoolgirl, it was so strange to see it. She's been to Oxford before, but just revels in its antiquity. She loves the whole "Harry Potter" atmosphere. A couple of buildings in Oxford actually doubled for some of Hogwarts in the movies!

After spending the day walking around we were pretty tired at the end of it. We had dinner at The Mitre (which I now know is the tall pointy hats that bishops wear), which is a pub close to Gwen's residence. She had the start of Fresher's Week that night (Oxford's version of Frosh week) so she left at 7:30ish. My mom's heading back to see her tomorrow, but this was Gwen's and my parting until Christmas so there were a few tears shed. It's tough, especially after we spent the last 10 days together. I'm definitely feeling the distance since being home. I think it's more acute because the house is pretty empty. At least I have my kitties!

On Monday morning, Mom and I got up really early and left Oxford for Edinburgh. We were taking the train which was supposed to be about 6 hours. Unfortunately, we were delayed several times and had to switch trains unexpectedly to join a train that was also on it's way to Edinburgh behind us. As a result we were 3 hours late getting into the city. It really sucked since we were supposed to get in at noon, and most of the afternoon was gone.

Our hotel really made up for it. The hotel was quite breathtaking. It was called The Glasshouse and it's front is what's left of an old church. The rest of the hotel is made out of modern glass which gives it an ethereal feel to it. Our room was beautiful too, especially the bathroom. I was so impressed I took a picture of it! (Who takes pictures of hotel bathrooms? It was that nice!)

Dinner on Monday night was at a place called the Atrium, since it's actually located in an atrium of a theatre house. The food was fantastic, and Mom and I had an excellent time. Tuesday was the only full day I was going to have in Edinburgh so to make the most of it, Mom and I decided to do a bus tour - one of those hop on, hop off deals. That way we could get a hit of history, and also make it to all the places in the city we wanted to see. We took a tour of Edinburgh Castle, walked along the Royal Mile, and rode the bus through Old Town and New Town (it's called New Town, but it's still pretty historic, I think it was built in the 1700's). We shopped for cashmere, as Edinburgh is supposed to be famous for it. I got two pashmina (mix of cashmere and silk) scarves, which was nice since it was freezing and I had mostly packed for Italy weather...high teens at least, and it was around 11 or 12 degrees the whole time!

Soo...The Move. Capital "T", capital "M". I'm in Seattle. No longer a Markham, Ontario, Canada resident. It's been really good so far actually. I was worried, obviously, about adjusting, and to be fair, not enough time has passed to comment on the success of my adjustment. I was worried about bringing my kittens on the plane, and the complications that could arise with importing cats. Fortunately there were no problems, and they arrived with me, unscathed. I'm actually really glad that I brought them with me. They have been the source of enormous comfort and companionship. I don't feel weird talking out loud to them, and having others to take care of really takes the focus off of how I'm doing.

I'm in temporary housing until my apartment is available (November 10th, so not too bad). I just saw it today for the first time and it's as beautiful as I'd hoped! :) I can't wait to move in, even though it's about half the size of the temporary housing. It's in downtown Bellevue, and located just minutes away from Bellevue Square, the swanky mall and my personal mecca. ;) I've seen Lorrissa, we went out to dinner last night at Applebee's, and it's so nice to know she's close by. I've managed to apply for a SSN, and get a bank account, so I'm on the right track to getting all settled in. Tonight is going to be more low-key in the hopes that I can get a good chunk of solid sleep (granted, I think letting the kittens sleep with me is a big factor as to why I'm not sleeping for 8 hours straight, but nevermind about that).

Hopefully I'll post more soon. Ciao!

I was in London, Baby!

2006-09-29T20:34:56Z

Well kids, today was my daytrip into jolly old London. I took the Oxford Espress bus that goes directly between Oxford and London every day, and leaves approximately every 15 minutes. I left around 8:30 this morning, and since it was rush hour it took about 2 hours to get into London. I didn't really care what time I got there; it just had to be after 9:30 so I could get an all-day travelcard for the tube. The travelcard was an off-peak one (between 9:30 and 4:30) and between zones 1 and 2 (there are 6 in London). Fortunately, all the sites I wanted to see were in zone 1, so that didn't matter.

Since the Espress (not a spelling mistake, that's what it's called) dropped me off at Victoria Station, I thought I'd start with taking a look-see at Buckingham Palace (it's just a few minutes walk from the Victoria station). Of course, as soon as I started to walk it just started to pour! So, I looked at the other must-see places on my list and decided I'd rearrange my schedule and hit Harrod's. I jumped on the tube and got off at Knightsbridge on the Picadilly line. I got in with no problems (10 years ago when I was last there I was in ratty jean shorts and wasn't allowed in :'( ).

I entered right at the cosmetics section and actually breezed right through it. I can get all the cosmetics I want in Markham for cheaper prices and will be able to get all that and more when I move to Seattle. I wandered into the food section and marvelled at the different cheeses and chocolates. I sat down for a quick bite at the sushi counter. It was good sushi, but not as good as our local sushi restaurant at home, and certainly not as good as the west coast! It cost £12.00, which was just crazy...I'm having troubles getting over how expensive the UK is.

After my sushi break, I took a look at the map and decided to hit the restrooms before heading upstairs to home furnishings and decorative accents (my current obsession). Of course, whenever you want a washroom, it's impossible to find! I went round and round through ladies fashion, following closely (or so I thought) the signs to the WC. Finally I made it, and though I had wandered a bit aimlessly, I did manage to see all the lovely designer clothing: Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Fendi, Dior, etc.

After that I actually saw a sign for shoes, and being a female, I couldn't resist. I'm telling you, Harrod's is ridiculously expensive...£395 for a pair of shoes! I don't think I could ever justify that, and I hope I never want to. Anyway, I tore myself away from the shoes and went upstairs. The second floor was great. Tons of home decorations and though I was tempted, I manged to resist buying a cool mug. I also came across the pet department. I thought that maybe since I can't really afford anything for myself, I could maybe buy some accessories for my new kittens. But it seems that the "Pet Shop" should actually be called the "Pet Dog Shop". Not exactly what you'd call cat-friendly.

I heard from a staff member there that Jessica Simpson was there on Wednesday! I thought that was pretty cool...apparently she was there for a photo shoot. But that's really neither here nor there. After I left the pet shop, I stumbled into the Christmas World....gahhh! It's WAYYY too early for Christmas!! But I wandered through it, and despite the date, all the decorations and carols did manage to make me sigh. I love Christmas, although I don't let myself listen to carols until November at least! (Which I know makes people cringe, but hey, that's my privilege.) I did end up buying an ornament to commemorate my travels here. It's silver with red script and says "Harrod's 2006".

After a couple hours of wandering, I decided I should see more than just Harrod's while I was in London. I grabbed a card for Gwen and bought her a Union Jack keychain as a little gift and then left Harrod's.

I was feeling a bit tired and looked at my itinerary, quickly prioritizing the items on my list. I decided I'd hit the Tower of London next, which is something I definitely wanted to see. I also wanted to include Westminster Abbey and Big Ben and the parliament buildings. I also had Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens, Abbey Road, and Buckingham Palace on my list. Those places, I'm sad to say, I didn't get to this trip.

I went to the Tower of London next, and this attraction, I'd never seen before. It was great! I bought my student ticket (gotta love having a student card that expires April 2010!) and decided I should really do a tour, rather than see it on my own. I joined a tour given by the Yeoman Warders ("Beefeaters") and he was great! His name was Simon and he had such a flair for drama! He went through a ton of history, most of which I find fascinating. I was surprised how much the bloodthirsty nature of the tales didn't bother me. It was very interesting to hear about the executions on Tower Hill and the private ones on the Tower Green. Also neat to hear about some of the people that had been held in various prisons within the Tower of London, including the Bloody Tower. Anyway, it went pretty quickly and I can't recount much more than that here. After the tour, I wandered a bit on my own within the tower and saw the Crown Jewels. That was craaaaazy! There is a sceptre with a diamond in the top that is 530 carats...it's the size of a baseball!

After the jewels, I moved on to see some torture instruments. Those included the Rack, the Manacles, and the Scavenger's Daughter. I won't describe them here, but you can look them up on wikipedia if you're curious.

I left the Tower of London then and checked out the Tower Bridge, but only from afar. It was pretty neat cause it was raising to allow a ship to pass underneath. I took some great pictures of it. I even asked some people to take a few pictures of me at the bridge and within the tower too, so it's not just all scenery. :)

Again, I was feeling pretty tired and decided I'd better get the rest of my must-sees out of the way. I jumped on the tube again and got off at Westminster. I left the station and managed to exit right at the base of Big Ben. I wandered a bit and took a couple great shots of it. Westminster Abbey is right across the way, so I walked by there too. I took some pictures of the exterior, but I didn't really feel up to paying another entrance fee and going inside. I wanted to walk to Buckingham Palace, but it started to rain and then started to pour, so I decided that since it was 4:00pm anyway, I'd just head back to Victoria station and head back to Oxford.

I had a great time in London though and thoroughly enjoyed the places and history I experienced. I hope to come back one day and see the sites I missed! I won't get the chance this trip though. I'll be in Oxford until Monday, and then Mom and I head to Edinburgh before I leave on Wednesday (and get to see my kitties...I miss them so much!).

That's all for now.

Cheerio kids!

In an Aside from European Adventures...

2006-09-28T20:29:51Z

I've been perusing the internet a bit tonight as Gwen has found herself some friends from her dorm and is out pubbing with them (I have an early day tomorrow and my feet hurt, so I'm staying in). I came across this quote on msn.com from Sean Penn:

"I tell them that whatever they do to my daughter that night, they better be prepared to come home and do it to me too."
(His dating advice to is 15-year-old daughter. Note from msn.com: Michael Jackson is taking notes)

That's priceless. I'm going to remember that for if I have a daughter one day. Which reminds me of this crazy-freaky dream I had....but that's for another posting.

P.S. My early day is because I'm taking a day trip into London tomorrow! I'm super-excited because I haven't been in a really long time and I really want to see some of the sites again. I'm very interested in taking a tour of the Tower of London and seeing the Tower Bridge as well. I also want to go to Harrod's, even though I know it's ridiculously expensive and I won't be able to afford anything in there. Other stops include Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Abbey Road, and Covent Garden(s?). Can't wait!!

Ahhh Brits

2006-09-27T17:03:14Z

Well Gwen and I made it successfully to Oxford! But I'll quickly (yeah, right haha) post an update since my last post.

Gwen and I were about to go to a restaurant in Paris recommended by my uncle. It was called Bistrot du Boucher in Montmartre near the cemetary. We walked over there cause it wasn't too far and found a couple neat-looking bars on the way. It looked really cool, with warm colours and tones and a great relaxed atmosphere. We decided to splurge a bit and ordered a half bottle of French red wine. We also ordered appetizers and main courses for once. My appetizer was a "mille feuille" of eggplant, tomato and goat cheese and it was fantastic. My main course was a "croustillant de confit de canard", which was basically shredded duck in phyllo pastry, with a foie gras sauce and mashed potatoes...yum yum! It was really great, with exquisite flavours, really unlike what we were used to eating. We both agreed the extra expense was worth it.

After dinner, we walked back the way we came and stopped at one of the bars we'd passed on our way to dinner. We ordered another bottle of French red wine, but this one wasn't as good as the wine at the restaurant. Gwen and I sat and talked and laughed and the waiter gave us some popcorn, which we determined was called "pop-corn" by the French, not mais souffle, like I had thought. :) We walked home after that and went to sleep.

On Tuesday, we woke up a bit earlier - around 8:30 and made our way to Musee d'Orsay. The museum was packed! The line was winding around and around outside the museum and it looked like it was going to take forever to get in. Gwen said it'd take an hour and I said it'd take two. We actually ended up waiting for only about half an hour, and Gwen spent the time writing postcards while I read, so it really wasn't that bad at all. Gwen had really really wanted to go to Musee d'Orsay because that's where Monet's waterlilies are housed. She missed it on her European tour last year because she'd thought they were in the Louvre.

Well we saw them this time, and both of us were moved to tears. I know for Gwen they'd been such an important fixture in her high school and university education that it was just so overwhelming to finally see the originals, right there, two feet in front of us. For me, it was partially seeing Gwen be so affected by them, and also the significance wasn't lost on me either. They were really beautiful. It was more overwhelming than I expected and we didn't stay as long as we'd like to, in retrospect. Hopefully we'll both have another chance at some point in the future to see them again.

After Musee d'Orsay, we headed towards Notre Dame. At this point we were starving, so we stopped at a cafe overlooking the Seine and ordered Croque Monsieurs and salads. The sandwiches were great, and I had a crepe de sucre to top it off. We then walked along the Seine, checking out the vendors that have the stalls with postcards and prints, and other souvenir-ish items. This one print caught both of our eyes and so Gwen and I each bought a copy of it. Then we headed over to Notre Dame, the last stop on our Paris itinerary. We walked through it and caught the quintessential Rose Window shot. But I think the whole place is beautiful, much like the rest of Paris. Even though it was pretty early at that point, we decided we'd had enough walking (over the last week our poor tootsies are pretty worn out) and so we went back to the hotel.

For our last night in Paris, we thought we'd try a different restaurant, also recommended by our uncle. This one's called "Le Bar a Huitres", the Oyster Bar. I'd wanted to try seafood in Paris, and this was highly recommended so we went. In order to not make the night too extravagant, we ordered an appetizer and entree off the "Deep Sea Meat" fixed menu, for 20 euros each. My appetizer was a seafood platter. I'll post pictures not too far off in the future, cause really, you have to see the pictures to fully understand this meal. The platter consisted of 4 oysters, 2 mussels, 2 clams, a bunch of snail shells shaped like small hermit crabs and then a ton of little tiny snails, and one prawn to top it off. The entire platter was cold, and I'm hoping (seriously crossing my fingers) that everything except the oysters was cooked. I had some rough moments, let me tell you, trying to get everything down, but I was determined to finish it all and I did! The snails were accompanied by little spears so as to get the "meat" (read, squishy grey stuff) out of the shell. The clams were the hardest to get down, but I'm proud to say that I got through the whole thing. And in fact, the hermit-crab-snails were excellent, and I was definitely not disappointed by Paris oysters.

Fortunately the main course was a bit easier to eat :). I had red gurnard, which apparently looks a bit like a catfish. It was on warm cabbage with some roasted potatoes. Gwen and I were both stuffed afterwards, and I was particularly glad that we'd splurged and gone for a whole bottle of white wine between us, since I definitely needed a push during the appetizer. ;)

We took the metro back to our hotel after since we had to get up at 4:30 today to make our Chunnel train reservation. This morning was tough, which was expected considering the early hour. We made it to the station with little difficulties and the train ride was really nice. Once we got to London, though, we had some difficulties. We arrived at London Waterloo and in order to get to Oxford, we had to take the Oxford Espress from Victoria station. So, we figured, sure no problem, we'll just take the tube to Victoria. That was easy, but we ended up in the Victoria rail station, and the Oxford Espress left from the Victoria coach station. These are two distinctly different geographical locations. After some confusion, and several directions like "go left, then left, then straight for 5 minutes", we did manage to find our way, and with the help of the wonderfully jolly English coach driver, we made it to St. Catherines unscathed!

Gwen is in love with Oxford and positively giddy. I'm also really pleased as the place is very beautiful (much like the rest of Europe) and people speak English! I got her set up with Internet and we bought her a UK SIM card for her cell, so she feels connected to the rest of the world (I know how key this is!). She's off now with her new Dutch friends apparently and I'm updating my blog, whew! Before her afternoon of orientation, we walked along High Street to find the SIM card, and some converters since what we had with us wasn't quite right, unfortunately. We stopped for lunch at a Pizza Hut of all places! It was really nice to have familiar food. :) So now, a few hours later, I'm starting to feel peckish again, and I just received a text message from her that she's on her way back.

I guess I'm off for now (if you made it all the way to the end, congratulations, I know I'm long-winded! ;))

Cheers folks!

Paris, je suis dans l'amour

2006-09-25T16:33:40Z

Bonjour à tous!!

I'm trying to type correctly, but bear with me since I can't STAND this keyboard.

To pick up where I left off, Friday night Gwen and I had dinner at a restaurant next to the hostel as we were just too tired to bear travelling looking for one. The pasta was the best I had in Italy...I had Penne alla Vodka (or something) and I loved it. We also split a half-liter of wine that both of us were pretty sure had been watered down. Afterwards we tried some gelato (again just down the road from our hostel) which was much better than the gelato by the Trevi Fountain...ahh the Trevi, sniff I miss you.

We just lounged and chillaxed in the common room of the hostel, which was pretty entertaining as it's a great way to meet loads of interesting people. The fun Aussie playing Oasis with the rest of the crowd singing along was one of my favourite moments...it's always cool to experience that one feature (everyone singing together) that is known worldwide. I had a couple of beers and some wine and decided to head to bed before too much damage to my liver was done...and sure enough, I made up for it on Saturday night.

Saturday morning was an early one as we were hitting the Vatican that day. We met Dustin, our guide, and since we had 6 people, we were off! I was really glad we did the Vatican with a guide cause it was pretty overwhelming...the lines, the art, the architecture. But Dustin was awesome and after confirming that there were no really religious people in our group, he incorporated quite the gay-dramatic flair in his historic story-telling. ("So Michelangelo is pissed and says to Pope Julius II, 'hey Jules, where's my fucking money?'")

Anyway, the Vatican was amazing...the Sistine Chapel is absolutely unlike anything I've ever seen and soo different than any pictures I've seen of it. The Last Judgement was way bigger than I expected and just gorgeous. Also, St. Peter's Basilica was awe-inspiring. It is huge, though it's scaled down using tricks in perspective to make it seem more welcoming (thanks Dustin!). Gwen and I rubbed St. Peter's right foot for safe travels home and to absolve some sins. The foot's actually been rubbed so much that it just looks like a boot. We were exhausted after that (about 5 hours were spent in the Vatican city) so we mailed some postcards - postal service in the Vatican city is much more efficient than in the rest of Italy - and headed straight back to the hostel for a much-needed nap.

The Yellow pub crawl was that night and we got dressed up and had a quick dinner before leaving at 8:30. Dustin (from the Vatican tour) was our pub crawl leader and again, tons of fun. It was quite the gong-show. I liked the earlier parts of the night better, as I was sober then :). We spent an hour at a pub where it was open bar and we played drinking games...pointing games, math-based games, and Dustin's choice, "it's called Chug. I say 'chug', and everyone drinks the rest of their drinks as fast as they can. Ready?". We moved to 3 other clubs after that and at the door of each one, we were given a free shot. The last one was poured into our mouths by our fearless leader. Soon after that I decided I'd had enough and Gwen and our friend Cameron (the drifter from Australia) found me a cab and put me to bed.

That brings me to Sunday morning, the most painful day-after I've had in a lo-ong time. It was travelling day and though the pub crawl had been fun, I admit I had had my share of Italy and was looking forward to Paris very much. I managed not to puke on the shuttle bus to Ciampino airport, or on the Ryanair flight to Paris Beauvais, and not even on the shuttle bus to Paris or cab to the hotel. I was very proud of myself though I suspect that I would have felt a lot better if all the toxins I'd put in my body had left more quickly. In any case, that was yesterday and today is just sooo much better.

I know Gwen's sad to leave Roma, but I am in love with Paris. Last night, Gwen and I explored Montmartre a bit, at least the area around our hotel, and had a small dinner at a nearby restaurant. The pasta was pretty good and the bread was awesome! I admit, I was a little nervous when we got to our hotel (it's rated 2 stars, which makes me think "yikes" about other hostels here...); the area is quite sketchy in Montmartre, but today restored my faith.

Today Gwen and I didn't set our alarms and slept in until 10 to allow ourselves some recovery from our wild night in Rome! We made up for it though by going straight to the Louvre for my much sought-after photo of the inverted pyramid. Then we decided that since we were already there and there had been no real lines to speak of we'd buy tickets and go through after all. I have to say I'm sooo glad we did. It was so awesome to see it all...I have so much more of an appreciation for art now than I did 10 years ago when we were last here.

After the Louvre (this time the Mona Lisa seemed much bigger to me!), we strolled down to the Eiffel Tower...and strolled and strolled and strolled. Whew! It was much further than it looked on the map! But we made it and it was breathtaking. I'd really wanted to go up since I hadn't when I was last in Europe, so we avoided the lines and took the stairs by the South Tier....ohh man, I almost feel like I've made up for all the pasta consumed in Rome. That's quite the climb that is. Even I started to feel affected by the height and even though it's made of iron, I didn't really feel safe and secure. But the view was awesome and I think it was worth it.

Safely back on the ground, Gwen and I steered ourselves towards the Champs Elysées, our last item on the day's itinerary. We explored for a bit, took a picture of the Arc de Triomphe but decided not to risk our lives crossing the roundabout that surrounds it for a closer look. We went in Louis Vuitton and oohed over Cartier. After resting our feet and sampling a glass of French red wine each, Gwen left the area and headed back to our hotel, while I explored a bit more. I went into the Paris Sephora and bought myself a makeup bag as it didn't seem ridiculously overpriced like the rest of items (all pretty much the same numbered amounts as in Canada, only they're in euros...yikes).

I'm pretty tuckered out now, but very happy and satisfied that we used the day wisely. Tomorrow it's the Musée d'Orsay and Notre Dame. Tonight we're going to try a restaurant recommended by our uncle, the food connoisseur.

Ok, I realize I'm addicted to rambling and lengthy posts and I would apologize except that I'm glad to have a full recounting of our adventures abroad.

Au revoir mes amis!
Erin

Posting from Rome

2006-09-22T15:58:57Z

So, my European adventure has begun. This is my second day in Rome (first full day) and I'm pretty tired after doing a ton of walking today. Daily recaps:

Thursday, September 21, 2006:
Arrived at FCO airport around 12:15pm. Found my luggage, bought a ticket on the Leonardo Express, just missed the first train, but caught the next one at 1:05. Gwen and I had been texting each other like crazy since she arrived the day before. She met me on the platform at the Rome Termini and led the way back to our hostel, The Yellow.

It's a decent hostel, but if it's rated the 5th in the world, I shudder to think what some of the crappier ones are like. We have beds and sheets in a dorm we share with 4 others. We put our stuff in the room (Gwen had been in a different one the previous night) and then immediately grabbed some lunch at the Pizzeria next to the hostel. I had my first taste of authentic Italian pizza and beer...pretty good stuff, though I have to admit, I wasn't blown away.

We decided to hit the Colosseum first, and walked our way over. It took about 20 minutes - it's weird, I'm having a hard time judging time and distances when walking here. Some things seem really close and others far away, but we walk everywhere, which is free and good exercise, so it's all good.

The Colosseum was magnificent, and though we didn't go in (crazy lines), we did take a few pictures (including some with some Italians dressed like Roman gladiators...we got conned into paying for them and the skeezeballs kissed our cheeks like crazy, yuccch!). After exploring the area around the Colosseum a bit more, we decided to head back to the hostel.

When we got there, we met 2 more people in the room, a really nice Australian girl, Jess (who we found out was 18, much to our surpise - she looks about 21) and this Israeli guy, Tom. He seemed nice but has since turned out to be a bit of a jerk. We chatted for a bit and then went to the lounge area of the hostel to grab a beer. The 4 of us decided to eventually go out to this restaurant near the Trevi Fountain for dinner. It was recommended by the guy at the hostel desk, and he said it'd take about 20 minutes to walk there. When we went back up to the room to get ready, we met a new guy in our room, an Irishman named David. Then the 6th person came back, a girl named Natalia from Argentina that Gwen and I had actually noticed on the street earlier that day. Everyone was game to try this restaurant so we headed out.

The walk was definitely more than 20 minutes, though part of that was because we didn't really know where we were going. David had stayed at the hostel a week before and had been to the Trevi Fountain so we made him the leader and eventually we made it there...much to my relief! I was totally jet-lagged and exhausted and just wanted to eat and then go to sleep. When we made it to the Trevi Fountain area, we realized we didn't have the address of the restaurant! I kept my eyes peeled though, and noticed it as we found our way to actually see the Fountain. :)

Ahh, the Fountain. It's breathtaking...by far my favourite site in Rome so far (we've also seen the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps, the Piazza Venezia with a monument I can't remember the name of right now, and the Teatro de Marcello..along with various other Piazzas and fountains and stuff). I was totally blown away by the beauty of the architecture, along with the water and the lighting - it was about 9:00pm.

As we were all starving, we went back to the restaurant, Il Chianti, but it was very busy and there were 6 of us. It was clear we wouldn't get a table there. Instead we stopped at a restaurant a bit out of the way of the touristy area, hoping it'd be better quality. The food was ok (I had home-made spaghetti with tomato and basil), but the service was TERRIBLE! We were all starving and I was getting dizzy, I was so tired.

Fortunately Gwen could see I needed to get rest, so right after dinner, we grabbed a quick taste of gelato (again, it was alright, but nothing out-of-this-world), and headed home. I immediately changed into my pj's and went to sleep.

All in all, it was a fun evening with neat people and great conversations. We all exchanged email addresses as David was only there the one night, and the others will be leaving at different times. We also snapped a few photos together.

Friday, September 22, 2006:

Gwen and I set our alarms for 8:30am so we could go on a tour of the Vatican, arranged through our hostel. We got up, showered and made it to the meeting area with about 10 minutes to spare. Our guide arrived but because there was only 3 of us, the tour was cancelled - we're trying to go again tomorrow. So instead of going to see the Vatican today, Gwen and I decided to do what we had planned for Saturday, which was go see the designer shops and boutiques, and maybe see the Trevi fountain again (this time to throw in some coins). We grabbed breakfast at a cafe and walked over to the shopping district.

On the way, we found the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps. We walked down them, taking pictures, and also bought "an original watercolor" from a street vendor (the same "original" we saw at another vendor a couple hours later!)...we got try out our bargaining skills and managed to buy it for €10 instead of the marked price of €25. The Spanish Steps were great to see and we really enjoyed coming across them before continuing on to see the designers.

There were so many designer shops, it was so awesome to see them all in one place! I just loved it and had Gwen take my picture by the Prada boutique. I had wanted to see Prada, Gucci, Versace, and Dolce and Gabbana. I saw all those, as well as Dior, Fendi, Bulgari, and many others.

We then stopped at another cafe just to rest our feet and grab some water and then headed to the Piazza Venezia, where there's supposed to be the best view of Rome. We climbed this monument (forgotten the name) and took pictures of these awesome statues and architecture...I suck at describing them, you'll have to wait until the pics are up). The view was spectacular indeed and we found this war museum inside the monument. It's quite sad how much we both don't know about history, especially Italian history.

We had another sit-down at the cafe around the back of the monument and I enjoyed a beer while we both read for 15 minutes and rested our feet. It was about 1:00 pm at this point and we were getting hungry, so we decided to try lunch at Il Chianti back near the Trevi Fountain. We had a nice lunch there (again, slow service, but not nearly as bad as the night before), I had home-made pasta with cheese and pepper and Gwen had a salad, as she felt like her body was severly lacking vegetables!

We visited the fountain again, threw in the coins, making our wishes and decided to walk back to the hostel for a nap! It's been a lo-ot of walking so far! We stopped at a couple street vendors on the way as Gwen was looking for a fake Burberry bag, but ended up not getting anything, as she's decided they look TOO fake.

Gwen's resting now in the hostel and I'm finishing checking my email and posting this at an Internet cafe not too far from the hostel. It's been fun so far, my favourite things have been seeing the shops, and visiting the Trevi Fountain (more so at night, but it's beautiful at any time).

We're planning on hitting a pub crawl on Saturday night, arranged by the hostel, and don't know what we're going to do tonight yet. After the Vatican tour and pub crawl all on Saturday, we'll be leaving Rome on Sunday, headed for Paris. I can't wait to see all the sights there!

Anyway, this is costing like €5 or something, so I should stop. I'll try to update again soon, so stay tuned for more tales of European adventures!

Ciao!

erin_noelle @ 2006-06-29T00:16:00

2006-06-29T04:12:10Z

Ok, I am a bad l-j user. I suck at posting at regular, frequent intervals. But, really, I think that's better cause it means I'm busy living my life.

In the past 6 weeks, I've finished one course, spent many, many hours in front of my computer trying my damndest to finish really hard assignments, dealt with stupid stupid tenants and shitty house situations, watched my baby sister graduate (sniffle!), saw some friends I hadn't seen in awhile, met an Italian boy, and spent more time in Markham than in Waterloo.

It's been busy. I've got the official countdown up on my msn display name, counting down the days until I'm done school. (44 left!)

This weekend should be fun - it's the Canada Day long weekend so naturally I'm spending it in the States! Mom and I are going to Seattle for the weekend (from Thursday until Monday) to do some scouting. Checking out the different neighbourhoods, meeting with our real estate agent and checking out various condos, and shopping, of course! ;)

I'm really looking forward to it! Anyway, the library is closing down, so I have to hurry to finish this up. Even though I didn't have much work to do, I still spent the majority of it in the DC library, mostly because if I'm stuck in Waterloo (a shitty attitude, I know, but I can't help feeling that way), I feel like I should take advantage of my time here and be studious, but also because the library is air-conditioned. My room in Waterloo is not. Fortunately it's slightly sub-ground, so it's not torturously hot.

Ok, they're really starting to kick us out now. Yay Seattle tomorrow! I can't wait!

Great weekend!

2006-05-15T03:58:14Z

It's Sunday night and I've had a great weekend. It was Mother's Day today, and Gwen and I bought Mom some perfumed body lotion she wanted, a CD, and a candlestick from a collection of China (?) she likes. Then we went with her to Bayview Village and spent the day shopping with her.

Ok, Oh My God. I'm writing this entry in the commercials of Grey's Anatomy Season Finale part 1 (it's a 3-hour season finale, starting tonight - Sunday - and continuing with the two-hour conclusion tomorrow night at 9pm)....and WOW...so intense.

Ok, back to the entry (I'm not going to give anything away from the finale, for those who want to watch it on their own time). So, I had to drop Gwen at the train station for her 5 o'clock train and then I went back to Bayview Village and had a nice dinner with Mom at Oliver and Bonocini, which was awesome.

Saturday was my family birthday party and it was great!! It was the first time it really felt like my birthday. We had a meal I got to choose (grilled Spanish-style shrimp on a tomato salsa, oops...back to Grey's....hooooooly shit, this show is nuts!!!...ok, back to the menu...then fresh oysters with champagne, then grilled BBQ'd vegetables, Tex-Mex chicken on the BBQ, Tex-Mex rice with vegetables and a green salad with my favourite dressing. Not to mention the strawberry-rhubarb pie for dessert! YUM!) and great conversation with family and friends. It was a really great time. And just before that, Mom and Gwen and I saw Mission Impossible 3. It was alright. A little cruel at times, but exciting.

And then on Friday, I didn't do much but pick up Gwen from the train station...back to Grey's...OH MY GOD....I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS SHOW...
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that was me taking a few moments to process it...ok, if you don't watch Grey's Anatomy, you have no idea what you are missing. Wow. Show's over for today, I have to wait 22 hours until I can find out what the hell is going to happen! Augh!

So yeah, Friday was low-key, but painful because of Thursday. Thursday night I went to Guelph to visit my friend Jamey. We had a great time! I haven't had a chance to really talk to him in ages, and we both had fun.

(ok, I just spent the last hour chatting online and getting ready for bed...I swear I'm going to finish this entry soon...)

We went out for sushi and then we hemmed and hawed trying to decide between going out to a movie or renting one and finally decided to rent Narnia. We drank almost 4 bottles of wine between the two of us (!) and fell asleep before finishing the end of the movie. Fortunately on Friday night, I rented it and watched it with Mom and Gwen, so at least I did manage to see the end. Good movie, by the way. So yeah, Friday morning was the teensiest bit painful...I don't think I've drank that much wine since the infamous wine night in Waterloo two years ago. It definitely wasn't that bad, but still a rough day on Friday.

So yeah, ultimately, I had a really fun weekend. I probably should have studied more for my 30% multiple choice test in my Intro to Human Sexuality course on Tuesday, but hopefully I'll have a few hours to study tomorrow for it. Anyway, off to bed for me (it's 12:04 am). Good night!

Sigh...so nice to be happy!

2006-05-11T01:38:04Z

Well, after about 5 weeks of stress, I'm pleased to report that I'm finally reaching a state of contentment. :) I dealt with a tonne of house issues (and I really don't want to revisit that, so we'll just say that it was a big pile of horse dung and leave it at that), and have come out the other side, relatively unscathed.

I moved into my place in Waterloo that I own, did not get along well with the current tenants and promptly moved out again. I'm now living in WCRI, which is awesome. It's super-close (woohoo!!) and I'm living with three guys I didn't know before moving in, but they're all really great. They're in 3rd year, I think, and pretty nerdy...really into computer games (I know that doesn't mean you're nerdy, but...yeah) and QUIET :). Plus they don't smoke and those were the two main issues I left my other place. So now I can sleep and breathe and am so SO much more pleasant to be around. All of my friends should be thankful.

Which actually brings me to my next issue I've come to terms with, friends - or lack thereof. Since pretty much everyone is gone, I decided that instead of being depressed about it, I'm actually looking forward to the amount of time I will be able to spend on school. My main goal is to get through this term with pretty decent marks and BE FINISHED!! I'm liking my DE course, which I switched from Women's Studies to Intro to German, and it has weekly assignments which forces me to stay on top of it (the main point of concern for me). My Intro To Human Sexuality course is super-interesting. So glad I decided to take that. I am, however, discovering that I'm not quite as liberal as I thought. Perhaps it's mostly the environment I'm in, but still. As for the CS courses, I'm still undecided on whether they're going to be fun or a huge pain in my ass. Fortunately I'm making some...acquaintances, so hopefully I won't be completely on my own for them (another point of concern I had).

Anyway, I'm relaxing into the term and my frame of mind is getting more positive by the day (knock on wood). Tomorrow I'm off to Guelph to visit Jamey, a friend from high school. We kept saying how we'd visit each other since we're so close, but never have and finally we're making a point to actually do it. I'm driving over to his place after classes end tomorrow and I think we're going to go out for sushi and then maybe to a bar, or we'll rent or see a movie. That's another plus for not having a lot of Waterloo friends around this term - I'll get to spend more time with my other-city friends. :)

Hope everyone else is doing well! And Ben, if you happen to read this, could you please send me Narges's email? Thanks!

Oooh, check out my name!

2006-04-29T12:42:51Z

Flickr and all the stuff you can do with it...so cool.

I found this from: http://metaatem.net/words.php

which monster will it be?

2006-04-29T12:25:58Z

And it's fun to adopt strange eggs that will apparently hatch into surprise monsters. The internet is a crazy place...

Chillin' in Montreal...

2006-04-29T12:22:14Z

Well I'm done. Term 4B that is. I start again on Tuesday, and can't seem to shake the stress from the previous term and other parts of life. I know I said that I had more to post about the last term, and I do, but I really don't have the energy or desire to right now.

I'm in Montreal now, up early because it seems that no matter what time I go to bed the night before, I get up around 8. Last night Gwen, Jess, Barbara and I went to Buonanotte to celebrate their finishing university and my finished term, as well as my birthday, which is tomorrow. I had fun, but wasn't really in a celebrating mood. Gwen and Jess and Barbara actually are done and I'm not and that difference was pretty much all I could feel. The food was alright and I can see that it's really a place that attracts based on its atmosphere and the people that go there. It's a status symbol. We sat right at the window and you could see Porsche after Porsche pull up. I had an alright time and left right after dinner because I just wasn't feeling it.

It'd be really nice to shake this feeling, and I'm doing what I can to not let it get me too down. I've been taking the time to just do some random, irrelevant internet surfing and came up with this:

Sigh, at least it's fun to have some time to do useless quizzes (which fantasy/sci-fi character are you) like this! :)

Woweee....it's been awhile.

2006-04-04T02:01:36Z

So I don't post very often. Whatever. I have a chance now because it's exam time, which means major procrastination. I took the time to update my theme, and I'm liking the red right now. It's definitely a refreshing change from the pink. So much pink.

Anyway, I'm pleased to report life is pretty good right now aside from having what have now been deemed "Erin Moments" (which are times spent reflecting on the past 5 years and becoming emotional thinking about how it'll never be the same and how we're all parting ways, sniff sniff) by my roomies across the hall. I've had a lot of great times this term, and it's definitely #2 on my list of best terms in university, #1 being the term 2 years ago, Winter 2004 (3B?).

I spent many a night at Bomber this term, and (cue Erin Moment) it's sad to think that we won't be having any more of these. The last Bomber Wednesday was last Wednesday (you can see pics from canadianveggie's page) and it was a blast. Finally a night with the right amount of drunkeness, not too much, not too little. We've also gone bowling, gone out to dinners, to William's for coffee nights, I went to the Vagina Monologues, and all in all had a great time. There was an excellent balance of working hard and playing hard. I also met some cool people this term and hung out with some more than I have in the past, which was excellent.

So chances are I'll be posting more over the next few weeks, in between exams. I have a lot more to cover from the term but I get tired easily (read: bored) ;). Ciao for now!

Back at UW

2006-01-18T06:00:23Z

Brief update:

I'm back in Waterloo for my second last term (it's going to be so hard to say goodbye to almost everyone in April!), and I'm having a good one so far. It helps that I haven't really done any work and have just gone out drinking - though that's definitely coming to an end!

I'm living in residence with Lorrissa, across the hall from Ben and Chris, which is fun so far! Lorrissa and I went to Montreal last weekend to visit my sister...lots of fun times were had...pics have been posted to my flickr account, feel free to check them out.

Chances are I won't have much time to post updates here, but let's be honest, I haven't really had the time in the past either. In any case, things are good and I hope everyone else is doing well too!

Time for bed...g'night!

Homeward Bound!!

2005-12-21T05:24:40Z

Sooo....wow. My time in Vancouver has come to an end. I'm writing this while sitting at gate C39 of the Vancouver Airport. I'm taking the 10:45pm flight, getting in at 6:05 am Toronto time. I guess the bottom line is..."I survived!"

I'm glad I did it. It was a very valuable experience, I had a lot of fun, and I learned quite a bit about myself. I made some new friends and forced myself to put myself out there. In the last three weeks I went to Grouse Mountain, Stanley Park, went ice skating, made more jewelry, went to the TELUS Christmas party at the Commodore, went to the Cactus Club, the Cellar, the Eatery, Hell's Kitchen, ate all-you-can-eat sushi with other TELUS Co-ops for our going away dinner at Shabusen...I'm trying to make sure I didn't leave anything out. I also rented a car for a weekend and did some exploring by car. That was awesome!

Some memorable moments include dancing on the stage at the Commodore with Zorin (a new grad at TELUS) (and then watching the video of it afterwards!!), eating myself sick with sushi, going out to dinner by myself, watching Matt and Brent (other new grads) dance with some cougars at the Christmas party (and then again on a video of that too!).

I tried my first roasted chestnut, yum!, while at the Bright Nights at Stanley Park with Steph and her bf Marc. We rode a train around the park that was all lit up with millions of lights, listening to Christmas carols. It was quite spectacular. Steph and Marc and I also went to Grouse Mountain together, rode up the gondola together, and checked out the amazing view (I have pictures, don't you worry... I'll get around to posting them at some point, I hope!)

Anyway, I'm ultimately really really glad to be going home. I can't wait to see the family and I'm super-excited for Christmas!! Hopefully I'll be able to continue to post over the break. (haha, I know, "continue"...I think I would have had to establish a relatively frequent pattern of posting to use the word "continue" appropriately. Oh well.)

If I don't manage to post again, have a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays everyone!! I'll see most of you over the break or in January!

mwah!

Yeah, it's been awhile...

2005-11-30T05:58:19Z

I haven't posted anything in ages (over a month!) mostly because I didn't want to write anything until I had written about Hallowe'en and it just ended up a vicious cycle of not writing. So fine. Hallowe'en is way done and over and I just don't care anymore. Especially now that it's on to Christmas!!! Yay!

I'm totally full of Christmas spirit these days (hah, these days...I've been full of Christmas spirit since before Hallowe'en). This weekend is Tree Trimming 2005, so I'm heading home and totally looking forward to it! There are a couple of other reasons I didn't want to write much this month, the first is because work has become more crappy and tiring and I don't want to spend more time on a computer after 8 hours of it every day. The second is because I have felt the most homesick this month and didn't really want to expand on feeling crappy...I don't know, it just felt like I would be exploiting a weakness or something.

But last weekend I went to Whistler and I just really felt the need to share/document it! You can see pictures if you follow this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/erin_noelle/sets/1474678/. It was absolutely breathtaking! I went with a bunch of people and stayed in the Aspens on Blackcomb, which was a really nice suite (there were 10 of us!). I took snowboarding lessons on Saturday and let me tell you, snowboarding on Whistler is much, much more difficult than snowboarding in Ontario. I couldn't really get up on my heel edge (where the board is perpendicular to the mountain and you're facing down it), but could get up on my toe edge (facing up the mountain from my knees), which meant I was going backwards down the mountain most of the time and consistently falling on my knees. Which should explain the huge bashing my right knee took. Sunday was pretty brutal -- I was so sore! I'm feeling almost back to normal now. All in all, I spent about $270 for the weekend, which isn't too bad in my opinion. The snowboarding lessons, lift pass and equipment rental was $71.50; the clothing rental (I didn't have a ski jacket or pants here) was $25; the van rental, gas, and hotel room for the weekend was $107. I also bought a pair of ski mittens on sale for $20 and we went out to dinner at the Keg on Saturday night, so it seemed pretty decent to me! Anyway, I had a great time and I'm so glad I got to experience Whistler while I was out here in BC.

Other events in the last month: I had a job interview for a full-time job in Mississauga starting next September that went really well and I got a call-back for an on-site day of interviews in January. I saw Rent, Harry Potter, Prime, Dreamer, Legend of Zorro, and the first 10 minutes of Domino. I've become addicted to America's Next Top Model, knitted a scarf, and saw the Santa Claus Parade (oh sorry, the Rogers Santa Claus Parade). I've begun my Christmas shopping, started thinking seriously about graduate school, and become addicted to Starbucks Gingerbread Lattes.

It's been pretty busy and I'm really looking forward to going back East for Christmas, and then the next school term. Only 17 days of work left! I won't miss work, but I will miss Vancouver. Fortunately most of the friends I've made are coming back East with me too, so that'll be fun!

There's a quick update as to what I've been up to. I'm going to try to be better about posting now, but who knows. I hope everyone else is healthy and happy!

Hallowe'en celebrations on Saturday

2005-10-27T04:30:42Z

Since Hallowe'en's on Monday, the big night out this year is Saturday. This year the plans are going out on the 13th Annual Clubzone Club Crawl. You buy a ticket for a start venue that you can pick and then you travel to 4 different clubs over the course of the night, get this, starting at 5pm! I'm really going to have to pace myself to last the night. The time on the tickets say 5pm to 3am. That's ten hours of drinking! Whew! 3 other co-op students are going plus a couple of their friends. Costumes are mandatory and I just settled on mine yesterday. I'm going as a 50's-out-at-the-hop girl, with a poodle skirt and pink satin (ok, polyester) jacket and white canvas shoes. I'm going to do my hair in a ponytail and curl it and see if I can work the 50's style makeup. I'm really looking forward to it. :)

In other news, I keep noticing that I get a call on my cell a couple times a week at the same time (like between 3 and 4 in the afternoon) and today I did a reverse-lookup on the number. It's from a hotel. So I call the number, and it's Yuk Yuk's offering me 6 free tickets to a show! I'll take some co-ops next Wednesday night. It's kinda fun to win something like that. I really liked the show the last time I went, so it'd definitely be fun to go again.

I'm going back in my head a few days, since I haven't posted in awhile and let's see...last weekend. Last weekend was awesome. I went out on Friday night with the co-ops, only had a couple beers, but it went to my head pretty quickly and I got the same kind of buzz for practically half the price, which was cool. On Saturday I had my chandelier earring bead class, which was awesome! I made a pretty pair of earrings and ended up buying the tools to make stuff. So that was pretty much the theme of the weekend. On Sunday I went back to the bead store and made a new friend. :) She's about 40 and doesn't seem to be having much luck with men, lol. She seems nice and it turns out she lives about 2 buildings down from me. We exchanged email addresses and I might give her a shout the next time I go to Country Beads, because it's nice to have someone to chat with while you're twisting (wire) away.

And going further back, course selections! I'm taking User Interfaces (CS349), Concurrency (CS343), Networks (CS456), Cryptography (CO487) and the next Intro Spanish course (SPAN102). So Chris, you'll have someone to practice your Spanish with! My schedule's pretty decent. I know that's 5 courses I've signed up for, and my reasoning is that since I'm doing 8 months in a row, I'd rather the last four be lighter (I'll have to take 3). Chances are I'll be pretty burned out, and it would just make the whole thing easier.

So that's as much as I can think of right now. I'm going to try to get to sleep at a decent hour because lately I haven't been able to get to bed before midnight and it's taking it's toll. Goodnight people!

Another bit of unoriginal thought

2005-10-18T05:57:26Z

I stole this from daya. Here's what you do: type "your name needs" into google and check out the results:

*erin needs to be naked too!
*erin needs our matter of fact acknowledgement that her beloved is dying-no kind lies.
*erin needs that nurturing, too, since she has gone so long without it.
*erin needs to understand that people don't like to see a pretty white girl with rap talent that would run circles around sir mix a lot succeed in today's ...
*erin needs an experienced two-parent adoptive family who is skilled in providing a structured, supportive environment and can be strong advocates to help ...
*erin needs to decide if she should try to work things out with her very hot husband, or get it on with the very hot neighbor. (I think this one's my favourite)
*erin needs to earn $15000, fast, to launch a child custody battle.
*erin needs platelets on a regular basis to thicken her blood.
*erin needs to check out how it would affect her mortgage, insurance and tax situations.
*erin needs her bra!

Woweee...that's quite the assortment, that is!
Now it's bedtime. Good night...

Back in the swing...

2005-10-13T06:27:16Z

Good ole Turkey Day. I had a great Thanksgiving weekend back home in Toronto. That's right, I went back East and had a really nice extra-long weekend hanging out with family (and a few friends). I took Thursday and Friday off of work and left Wednesday night on the red-eye. Yikes, that was definitely an experience. I left at 10:40 Vancouver-time and landed at 6 am Toronto-time. Quite the flight.

Thursday was a slower day - Dad picked me up and we spent the better part of the day gabbing and looking at old pics. It's always fun checking out pictures of my dad and his friends when he was my age. It kind of makes my head spin when I think that I'll be looking at the pictures I'm taking today like that with my kids 30 years from now (higher-power-willing). It was really nice to catch up with him though, and a nice way to transition over the jet lag. Gwen got home from Montreal later that night and she and I and Mom had our little reunion.

The rest of the weekend was chock full of family gatherings (Saturday at Dunc's house and Sunday at Auntie Ingrid's and Uncle Ted's) and tons of amazing food that I didn't have to cook! :D I even managed to get a couple of quick hits in at the mall. Thanks again, Mom! I only wish that I had had more time to see my friends. I managed to see Melissa, Duncan, and Josh and get a quick phone call in with D. I miss you all though, and hope to catch up with you soon. My next trip back is for Tree Trimming at the beginning of December. I can't believe how ready I am for Christmas. It's not even Hallowe'en! I've never been this ready for Christmas before, but bring it on!

Anyway, I flew back to Vancouver on Monday night, and had the pleasure (huge sarcasm) of sharing the flight with a gold-winning soccer team consisting of 14 year olds! Hello, obnoxious. I survived, thankfully, and am now back in the swing of things. The weekend home has left me more homesick than I've been since I came out here, but I'm dealing alright. Steph and I have made plans to get together tomorrow and start watching either season 1 or season 2 of The O.C. since new ones aren't airing until November 3rd. Steph has been homesick too, and it's nice to hang out with someone who understands. Just making plans makes me feel better. :)

Ok, time for bed so I'm not dead tired tomorrow. Goodnight all!

Oooh ooh survey!

2005-10-05T04:53:25Z

Ok, so this is from timbralthinking and I just love surveys. I'm sorry, I do. This is my first media survey, so it's even more fun. I'm killing time before Gilmore Girls comes on at 10 (it's around 9:30).

Here's the iTunes media survey and following suit, I guess I'll mention that I've condensed my library since getting my new computer. I realized that I hate about 10% of what was there before and have freed up space on my new comp, by simply not including that. Ok, here we go:

How many songs?
1322

Sorted by song title:
First: ...Baby One More Time - by Britney Spears
Last: You're Unbelievable - by EMF

Sorted by time:
First [Shortest]: Foreword - by Linkin Park from the Meteora album (0:13)
Last [Longest]: Roger Rick and Marilyn from CHUM FM Podcast (26:11)

Sorted by artist:
First: 2 Unlimited (The Real Thing)
Last: Wycelf Jean (Take Me As I Am from Love Actually)

Sorted by album:
First: ...And Then There Was X - by DMX
Last: X&Y - by Coldplay

Earliest Added:
Doesn't count since I put them all in at the same time [09/10/2005]

Last Added:
Roger Rick and Marilyn from CHUM FM Podcast Sept 23rd [09/23/2005]

Top Five Most Played Songs:
(note: this are carried over from my old computer)
Beauty - by Shaye [133 times, wow!]
Fly - by Hilary Duff [65 times!]
Crazy - by Aerosmith [59 times, huh?? That's surprising!]
Since U Been Gone - by Kelly Clarkson [54 times - gotta love the Kelly]
I Think We're Alone No - by Tiffany [48 times]

This definitely is not the same as it would be if the number if times I've listened to songs on my iPod were taken into account. Fix You by Coldplay would be right up there, I love that song.

First song that comes up on Shuffle:
I'll Be (Acoustic) - by Edwin McCain

Find “sex.” How many songs come up?
3 [Hey Sexy Lady by Shaggy, Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye, and So Unsexy by Alanis Morissette]

Find “death.” How many songs come up?
2 [A Lack Of Color by Death Cab For Cutie and "Homecoming/The Death of St. Jimmy/East 12th St./Nobody Likes You/Rock and Roll Girlfriend/We're Coming Home Again" by Green Day]

Find “love.” How many songs come up?
92! I'm not listing them, that's for sure!

Last song in "Purchased Music":
#100! The honour goes to Dirty Laundry - by Lisa Marie Presley

Artist with Most Albums:
Britney Spears with 6, Backstreet Boys were a close second with 5.

Now go forth and answer, people! :) Or at least have a good night.

Thank You For The Music, The Songs I'm Singing...

2005-10-03T15:04:58Z

Ahh, Abba! Wednesday night (Sept. 28) I went to see Mamma Mia at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre downtown. I was invited by Anne, an associate/friend of Mom's at the Vancouver office. We went with her nieces, Jillian and Heather, their friend Jeanette, Anne's friend Kathy and her daughter Ellie. Jillian, Heather, Jeannette, Anne and I met up for a little dinner first at Subeez, this casual café-type place near the theatre. Jillian, Heather and Jeanette are all around my age, and they were all really nice. It turns out that Jeannette is one of Shannon's best friends! (For those that don't remember, I hung out with Shannon at the end of August and she took me around Vancouver to Gastown and Chinatown, etc.) It's such a small world! We talked about all sorts of things and had my first "So what do you want to do?" conversation since I've changed my answer. (It’s only slightly more elaborate than "I don't know".) Cosmopolitans were on special so we ordered those and I had an awesome grilled tuna sandwich. We all shared a Chocolate Bomb for dessert…yum!

Mamma Mia was excellent! I saw it about five years ago on Valentine's Day with Mom and Gwen, and it was really good, once again. It was funnier than I remembered and the music is just awesome! I'm going to have Abba music stuck in my head for days now; it's so catchy. :) There were some people in the audience with pink boas, and one guy in a shiny, red, snakeskin coat. Wowee. The audience was really into it, especially this woman in the middle who kept standing up and clapping along when they'd sing a number. She was funny at first, but then kind of irritating. All in all, lots of fun. I highly recommend it anyone who has the chance to see it.

Spicy Thai and Flashing Shoes

2005-10-03T15:03:13Z

Last weekend (well, it was last weekend when I first wrote this...Sept 23-25) I went to Seattle to visit Lorrissa and Ben. I grabbed a Greyhound after work and it took about three and a half hours to get there. It was my first time crossing the border on my own, and I managed it successfully. The ride wasn't too bad; I had both seats to myself and with my new laptop I have about five hours of battery life (compared to a max of two hours on my old one) so I watched two movies on the way. Lorrissa and Ben were there to pick me up at the bus station and I was pretty thankful they were…wow Sketchville, USA, yikes!

We parked and walked around downtown a bit, trying to find a good place to grab a couple drinks. I can't remember the name of the place we ended up at, but we split an awesome appetizer platter and I had a bottle of Bud (true American style). We got lost trying to find where we'd parked the car, but eventually managed to get to it and then to Lorrissa and Ben's place (they live about 15 minutes (by car) north of Seattle). Saturday morning the three of us went for breakfast at this little diner place called The Breakfast Club a few blocks away. Mmmm coffee -- they served the best coffee I think I've ever had in my life. Lorrissa and I couldn't get over it. We even went back there on Sunday morning for more. After breakfast was pretty much the last I saw of Ben that weekend as he wasn't much into shopping (the next event of the day) or going out to a club that night. It was a shame that I didn't see more of him, but I'm sure we'll hang out again the next time we all get together, and (no offense Ben!) it was nice to have some girly time with Lorrissa.

We girls hit the mall that afternoon/evening for some much needed shopping therapy ;). The mission: find a top and shoes for going out later that night. We spent a few hours around the mall weeping over couture (sniff, Coach!), contemplating buying light-up high-heeled sandals (hahaha, it still makes me crack up…they actually had pressure-activated, flashing lights in the clear plastic heel! You could see the lights flash under the bottom of my jeans! It was such a shame since they were perfect in every other way…but light-up high-heels? They totally belong back in 1990 with L.A. Gear sneakers!), and I almost *accidentally* shoplifted a Fossil purse! (See, I was shopping around Macy's Costco-style -- picking up stuff, walking around with it, and putting it back cause I can't afford it/don't need it -- and totally forgot that I had the purse on my arm. I realized about 15 feet outside the store and immediately ran back into the store and put it back. Thankfully, there was no trouble - whew!) We left the mall (I managed to pick up a top and a pair of shoes) and realized it was almost 8:30!

We were going to go out to this new Thai restaurant near Lorrissa's place, Thai One On, and fortunately they had take-out. We picked up a couple bottles of wine first and drank Stone Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon with the awesome spicy pad thai, yum! It was definitely the best way to start the evening. Lorrissa and I got ready (I was impressed with our dexterity, despite the refreshments) and took a bus downtown to the Last Supper, the club of choice. Besides the geographic differences, I'd have to say that the people (guys, specifically) were the biggest contrast between Canada and the States (at least in my experience). They were much more aggressive than I'm used to, but Lorrissa and I held our own :). Our first introduction was to a guy we dubbed "Escort Guy" who came up to us before we got inside with, "this area is pretty dangerous, you ladies should have an escort"…or something to that effect. It was hilarious though, and we met up with him later that evening on the dance floor. Despite the cheesy line, he was a nice guy (totally sober, a refreshing change).

It was so awesome to get all dressed up and go out to a club. The place had three floors with different music and lots of dancing. I started a tab (it was a credit card weekend, since I hadn't gotten paid yet) - big mistake, since it's very easy to lose track of how many times you've been to the bar. And since they made excellent Cosmos. ;) Most of the time was spent on the lower floor since they were playing hip hop as opposed to dance and trance music. The only part that was not so much fun (aside from realizing I'd over-tipped like crazy when paying) was trying to catch a cab home. We left the club too late and missed the last bus home. After calling 3 different cab companies and getting crankier by the second (at least I was), Escort Guy managed to finally grab us a cab.

After the craziness on Saturday night, Sunday was spent sleeping in (ahhhh…I *so* needed to sleep in), grabbing more coffee from the Breakfast Club, and watching 13 Going On 30 with Lorrissa (Ben had left before we woke up to go on this hike up a mountain). I caught the 3:15 bus and made it back home by 8, safe and sound.

Mid-Saturday night downtime

2005-09-18T04:45:50Z

I've had a pretty good week!

Wednesday night, I went to Yuk Yuk's for the first time with some co-ops. It was frickin' hilarious! I've never been to live stand-up comedy before, but I can guarantee I'll be going again. It was also fun to go out with some different people; I think I fit in more with this crowd. I went with Cosman, Adrian, Ovais, Jodie, Jon and Aaron. It was $5 to get in and then they had Bellinis on special, which is of course what I ordered. Yum!

On Thursday night, Steph came over and we watched The O.C. together, I'm so glad to have an O.C.-watching partner here! :) After that, we decided we'd head out to this bar in Kits, the Copper Tank, to meet up with this girl, Claire. Claire and Steph's mothers work together and after they found out that both their daughters were heading to Vancouver not really knowing anyone, they exchanged their daughter's emails. So we met Claire for the first time and a couple of her friends. Amy also came with us and it was a nice hour and a bit, chilling in a nice bar, talking to nice people. We've exchanged the whole let's-get-together-for-dinner-sometime-soon thing, which I think would be really fun. We might go out to the Rugby Club again and save more room for dessert this time! ;)

Friday night was a ton of fun! I went over to Ovais's place to hang out with him, his roommate (whose name I can never remember), Jodie and Jon. His place is right downtown and Granville and Davie (right in the gaybourhood), which is awesome for finding places to go to after pre-drinking. Which is exactly what we did. We hiked over to the nearest B.C. Liquor store and then just hung out. It was a ton of fun. After hanging out on the balcony sampling some of the herbal stuff B.C. is so famous for, we decided to play some Texas Hold 'Em. Since we didn't have chips, we just bet sips of our drinks :). It was hilarious - we UW students can be pretty resourceful when we need to be! We wandered the streets around midnight or so, looking for a hooka bar. We found one, but it was too late to smoke there. We ran into a little trouble at this nearby club where the cops were breaking up some kind of kafuffle, we decided to cross the street to try to get into the club and the cops were like, you touch the curb, we're giving you tickets for jaywalking. Ovais, Jodie and I immediately turned around and went back to the other side, but Jon, the roommate, and Jon's friend Mark didn't make it. They each got fined $100!! It was totally unfair, in my opinion. All in all, it was a really fun night!

Today, I managed to get a couple things crossed off my to-do list. It was laundry day and I even made it to the gym this afternoon, despite feeling like complete ass when I first woke up. Grocery shopping, however, must wait until tomorrow (it's been over 2 weeks since I last bought groceries! Having TELUS pay for breakfast and lunch, and exploring Vancouver's restaurants has made my totally infrequent cooking nonexistent.). Tonight, I went to see Just Like Heaven at the Paramount downtown. It was fun, a total girly movie, but basically empty of any meaning or decent plot. I enjoyed it nonetheless. :) At some point on Friday night, we all made plans (I use the term loosely, "suggested" is probably a better word) to explore Kits a bit tonight so I called up those guys after the movie and now I'm just waiting for them to finish up at a casino and then we may hit some bars around here. Even if we don't, I've been having a pretty good weekend! :-) Good good times. Hopefully the second half of Saturday night consists of more good fun!