Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Brrr

I would like to take a brief moment to remind mother nature that..

IT'S STILL SEPTEMBER.

I wore four. Yes, count them...FOUR sweaters today. Plus regular shirts. I could barely move my arms, I couldn't see past the three hoods that were over my head and I was continually doing the 'get warm jiggle' where I jumped up and down and/or hopped around constantly..

It snowed in northern Ontario the other day.

It felt like snow here today.

I know that it's fall, I know that tomorrow is October...but SERIOUSLY?!?! This is just a LITTLE insane.

So, let's play a fun game..how many sweaters will Erin be wearing by February?

My guess will be...23.

I should mention that yes, I was outside from 6:30am - 3:30pm...but STILL...must it be THIS COLD? How am I going to survive another six months of this..if it's only going to get WORSE? I was already wearing shoes AND mits...and if you know me..you know that I was the girl who for YEARS swore that you COULD actually wear flip flips in up to two feet of snow, as long as there were semi-decent foot tracks infront of you to walk in...who refused to ever wear a winter jacket for a good 4-6 years and would never be seen in mittens, let alone a hat or hood. But, alas, my age is showing..and I'm kind of okay with that...because man..it's darn cold.

Oh Canadian winters...how I HAVE NOT missed thee..

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Forever Friendships

The other night I had dinner with one of my oldest, dearest friends in the entire world.

Ryan and I have been friends for...a decade. Whoa, that makes me feel REALLY old..I didn't realize that it has been TEN YEARS since I started highschool...man alive.

Anyways, so...we have been very very very close for years, and despite growing up, moving into different directions in our lives, to different cities, to different groups of friends...to whatever life brought us...we've still managed to maintain a wonderful friendship. There have been times in our lives where we've seen each other basically everyday for months and years on end...to not seeing each other for years...and everything inbetween. The other night just proved to me once again though..just how much I love and adore him to bits.

First off...he worked all day..and then still cooked me dinner. If nothing else, this is just an amazing glimpse into the person he is. We could have gone out somewhere, or done it another night when he wasn't working (in a kitchen no less) the entire day of, and the next day..but no..he went out of his way to cook me a delicious dinner..

Not only did he cook me dinner, but it was an absolutely FAAAABULOUS dinner...ooooh man! The most tender, juicy, flavourful porkchop that I have ever eaten, roasted potatoes, and green and yellow beans that were infused with garlic and butter...mmm. Heaven. Basically, heaven.

Yeah, he might try to tell you that he's this tough, this, 'I don't care' kinda guy..but if he actually does care about something..then he's quite possibly the worlds biggest sweetheart...

He's the kind of boy who has posters on the wall of bands from ages ago, who will always say what's on his mind and makes you pick out the next record from his vinyl collection, just to see what you'll choose. He thinks critically, watches baseball and loves his cat. He doesn't care about celeb gossip, reads the news on a regular basis and if he has a problem with someone..tells it to them like it is.

I love that we can talk for hours about everything and anything, we can joke around and tease each other..and then switch to have the most serious conversations about what's going on in the world and our place in it. It's nice to have that person who you're so comfortable with that it doesn't matter what comes out of your mouth..you know that they'll understand in some bizarre way.

He's honestly one of my favourite people in the entire world..and I'm so happy that he's moved back to town..and I've MOVED back to town...because it means that I get to spend bunches of time catching up with him..and just being around him is this breath of fresh air in my life that I feel like I've been desperately longing for :)

Horray for old friends that are like fine wines and keep getting better as they age :)

Fall-spiration

As time flies by, it seems that I can no longer deny the fact that fall is upon us..

There is a brisk chill to the air, the leaves are changing colour at a rapid speed and the days are getting increasingly shorter and shorter..

Although it saddens me that the days of summer are no longer here...that another season has come and gone..there are also a lot of things that I look forward to with the end of summer.

For instance...sweaters. I love being all cuddled up in blankets and sweaters, and fall is the perfect season to put on a big oversized sweater and wrap up in a big blanket with a book in hand.

Another 'fall' love of mine is apple cider. We had our first jug of it from the farmers market this weekend and we've been devouring it like crazy. There is just something so comfortable about the sweet, rich taste of fresh apple cider..I cannot get enough of it.

Because the air has a bit of bite in it, everyone seems to be craving warm comfort foods that the season and the harvest brings us...in the last little while we've started making dinners which warm the body and the soul..tonight I'm going to make chicken pot pie and an apple crisp for dessert..you can't get much more seasonal than that :P

The colours also have me swooning...the newly appearing yellows, oranges and reds mixed in with the still present but ever fading greens have me absolutely captivated every time I step outside. Everywhere I look it's a picture of perfection, and I can't help but smile when I see the beautiful palet that mother nature has made :)

Fall also means that my birthday and thanksgiving are almost upon us...both things which I enjoy because it means that we gather together as a family and eat delicious meals...This year will be ever more special because that particular weekend will be filled with the arrival of more family who are moving back home and three birthdays all in a row :)

Time seems to be passing me by faster than ever and life is moving at a rapid pace...and although it's sad to say goodbye to another summer, this one which seemed particularily short as I was absent for a good deal of it..the thought of all of the wonderful things that fall has to offer keeps a smile on my face :)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Back Together Again

Today I decided that..

I want to marry my chiropracter.

Okay, well..not really. It might be a little bit awkward as his wife (my ex-uncles sister) might be a little peeved..but I do love him in a completely 'o.m.g. my back feels so much better I'm not even sure I have a back anymore' kind of way. I don't go very often..infact, according to my 'chart'..I've been six times in six years..buuuut...when I do go..my back loves me...just about as much as I love my chiropracter..

My back has been bothering me lately..as sometimes it does..I just find that as I go about doing things in my daily life..my back isn't always properly adjusted and thus I go about in a state ranging from slight discomfort to absolute pain....Lately, my muscles in my back and neck get tense and then irritated when I'm lifting things..and the last couple of days the pain has been getting almost too much to handle..and I have a pretty darn high pain tolerance :P When I walked into his office this afternoon he felt a couple of places in my back, whistled and was like..'wow..this is a mess.'

13 minutes later, I felt like I was walking on a cloud..or at least like I was a human that was put together in the correct form again.. :)

Now, I'm not entirely back to my regular self..but I'm feeling A LOT better..I've got some nice smelly old lady cream to try and sort out my muscles, and am probably going back to see my new favourite person EVER...soon...just to figure out the last few kinks that are still there..haha..I'm so witty.

So, although it seems that my chiro is taken..and happily so...I guess I'll just have to add that to my already oh so huge list of nit picky things I desire in a boy...adding being a liscened chiropracter doesn't limit me TOO much..does it?

On second though...maybe I'll just put it in the 'bonus' section ;)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Birthday Love

I've never been that big of a fan of birthdays...they come, you get older..and they pass. I'm sure when I was younger I enjoyed them quite a lot..but these days..it's just another indication of just HOW fast time is passing by..I can't believe that in less than three short weeks I turn 24, but that's an entirely different story. Anyways, I think that another reason why I tend to get freaked out about birthdays is because they are a little like a lot of events that happen in life..they have all of this pressure surrounding them, and when things don't go exactly as planned, peoples hopes get dashed and they end up upset...I like when things just sort of spontaneously happen, and have just enough effort put into them so that they work out well and are cohesive and everyone is happy..but not so much that if something goes slightly awry, everyone can survive without any sort of drama occuring. In the past, I've been involved in so many birthdays, and half of them always end up with some sort of something going wrong...a boy problem, a wrong present, people not showing up when they're supposed to....a balloon pops in someones eye..and they end up spending the night in the ER instead (ha - erm..totally NOT me..*shifty eyes*)...there are lots of things that seem to be able to go wrong...

But last week, I had the pleasure of being involved in a lovely birthday celebration..where everything was just..perfection.

My friend Steph had her 24th birthday and her fiance, Matt, organized a low key celebration with some friends in town.

We all made our way to a lovely little restaurant downtown which I'd never had the pleasure of dining at before...and the food was wonderful and the company was even better..

We chatted, laughed and shared a wonderful evening together :) It was an evening that made me happy beyond belief, because it was so low key, so relaxed and generally just all around enjoyable. It was the kind of evening I had been LONGING for since I had arrived at home, and it seem as though it was just the perfect mix of people that made the evening completely and totally remarkable and memorable..

It was so different from past birthdays in town. There were no elaborate cakes, decorations, huge gatherings...and oddly enough..there was also no drama, tears or upset feelings. We probably ate too much, laughed too much and went home with a smile that, had I wanted to try and take it off, would have been impossible to do..

I'm looking forward to more evenings like this, and enjoying that any sort of birthday celebrations I happen to have this year, will be as lovely as this one was.. :)