Love & Marriage

Did I mention that my friend Steph was getting married?

I forgot to?! How COULD I!?

Well it's true - My little Miss. Stephanie got herself married yesterday - and what a day we had!

Taping hems, flower fixing, a bright red dress, a four minute ceremony and a happy couple! We took a TON of pictures and I'm happy to say that they turned out REALLY well! Their photographer cancelled a little while ago (boo!) but it actually turned out more than great anyways because we had so many people taking pics that it was like the paparazzi was there and my lovely cousin came to help us get some group shots and the like so we have 8 million WONDERFUL photos that captured the beauty of the day!

It was a great day - low key - no stress, no worries. We went with the flow, chatted, ate good food, toasted to the happy couple and took a gagillion photos! All of the ones I took were on Steph's camera (which I had a little love affair with...ha) but I have a few (hundred) that my cousin took on my computer of the bride and groom gettin' themselves hitched at city hall and then coming out to the farm for fun and photos :)




The newlyweds as Thomas and I sign as their witnesses!





I wonder where they got married!? :P



Some of the goodies after - chocolate peanut butter cupcakes...YUM!

And then we just went about and took a bunch of cute photos! :)













I'm so happy for one of my best friends ever and her lovely HUSBAND!

Congrats!!!!!!!!!

Love Is All You Need

This weekend was lovely.

Pure and simple - I was in a little bit of a funk. I was frustrated, exhausted and needed a break from life...it was needed.

So girls came from near and far...and we piled into my car...and we drove. And then we drove. And we drove some more. And then for fun..we drove a little bit more.

And we chatted and caught up. We laughed and smiled. And then we kept on driving.

Finally - three hours later - we arrived at our friend Carlys house.

From there - a million and a half more chats ensued. Laughter. Giggles. Far too many carbs. All sorts of awesome.

If you want some words that describe this girls night it goes a little like this: carbs, cheese, cards, chit chats, carrides, cute cats & chill.


There is no way that I can even begin to describe how much I loved hanging out with my girls last night.

It didn't matter that we were in a city we'd never been to before - that most of us hadn't even HEARD of before our Carly moved there for work. It didn't matter that we haven't had a chance to get together just the five of us..probably since our fourth year of university...where if more than a day or two went by without us all hanging out...it was absolutely craaaaaaaaazy. But it didn't matter that things have changed, that people have changed, that we've lived in other countries, travelled to other countries, gotten raises, new jobs, new boys, rings, houses, cars and all of those other things that happen in life. We sat around the coffee table in a living room like we've done a thousand, million times. We shared. We laughed. We reminissed. We talked about how we MUST be getting old...and we played our favourite games - yeah - we played bid euchre. In a word? AWESOME.

It made me happier than I could ever describe to have myself surrounded by people who I love so much..that love ME so much.

It made me grin from ear to ear to laugh and talk as if we were 18 again and sitting in residence blabbing away for hours...to just transport back to that time and realize that despite everything..some things never change.

And now - because I forgot/lost (?) my camera card somehow on the WAY to go visit the carly...I give you some oldschool pictures...because I took a bunch of pics..but they're all on CARLYS camera card..which is with..her...and not..me. Boo.

















Happy, silly, ridiculous, classy, and everything inbetween...love! :)

Hurry Up! Hurry Up!

I forgot how much I love some of my old university friends.

It's going on a few years since I've finished university..and it's starting to hit me how much I miss certain people and how nice it was to have everyone in the same town for those lovely years which we spent in university together.

The other night at Jenna & Jeff's house though...our other friend Jeff was there..and I walked in and he gave me the biggest hug...and it brought me right back to our university days...he's always given super good hugs..and there is just something comforting about being like...we don't live in the same city, we rarely see each other...so many things in our respective lives have cahnged...but we can still just see each other, give each other a hug..and it's like nothing has changed.

I love that comforting feeling of being hugged by a familiar friend. Just seems to make the world better - no matter what is going on.

I love Jeffrey hugs - it makes life happy.

Another thing that makes my life happy? My bestest university girls randomly getting together in a strange city where one happens to be living...so that we can eat far too much food, catch up on all of the gossip in our respctive lives..play some card games...be a little ridiculous and probably stay up WAY too late giggling.

Oh weekend - hurry up! More of those 'old familiar friend' gatherings are waiting for me!

Dinner Partays

Tonight I headed over to my friend Jenna's house for a BBQ.

Something that we've done a million, bazillion times.

But something that we haven't been doing much lately..as, well, it's only just become BBQ season..and because I've been uber anti-social/tired/blah/etc. lately as a general rule in life.

But tonight, we gathered. And it was fun :)

....It was a crazy wakeup call though.

That we're getting old. And older. And older still.

That maybe we're not just getting old..but we're also growing up.

The boys had cooked at the BBQ while the girls gossiped around the kitchen..

Instead of talking about cute boys and music videos...we now talk about rings and furniture and whose having babies when.

Instead of throwing together some bought burgers onto a paper plate and eating off your lap...we had homemade burgers with potato salad and roasted veggies. On real plates. At a dining room table. WITH SERVING DISHES. Delicious?....yes. Grownup?...Oh boy you betcha.

Instead of leaving the dishes where they were and forgetting about them..the girls gathered up everything and tidied up...put the leftovers away and wiped down the table.

And then the boys made ridiculous jokes and comments about this, that and the other thing.

And suddenly we were 18 again.

I had rewound seven years.

We were these silly little kids. Making each other laugh. Loving life. Being ridiculous.

And I missed those times.

I love grown up dinner parties. I always have. They make my heart happy..but sometime..you just can't beat laughing so hard you're trying hard not to spit out what you're eating.

That's the sign of a REAL dinner partay.

Artsy Fartsy

I'm really not artsy.

I can appreciate a good painting, photograph or other artistic endeavor. I enjoy going to musicals and plays and the like. I like reading good books, this is true.

But I am not artsy in the artsy way.

You know the way I'm talking about.

The way where everything has this deep rooted symbolism behind it...or it's just something that doesn't really seem to make much sense..but yet certain people go absolutely CRAZY over it.

Anywho - I went to this artsy preformance with a friend a little while ago. A friend whose parents had given us the tickets. Free tickets? Free anything? Sign. Me Up. Because...well...why not?

So we went..and were interested to see what it was all about. The first dance act was interesting and rather beautiful - I saw the symbolism which I can only guess was on a fairly rudimentary level. Plus, the dancing was beautiful and it was nice.

And then there was the second act.

Which was so artsy, my mind couldn't wrap itself around it...and my senses were screaming for it to stop.

I'm sorry...and excuse my ignorance...but WHAT exactly is the symbolism of two men holding hands and moving their other hands around as if they're windmills? To an old man with a raspy, awful smokers voice...singing the exact same 6 words over and over again...the entire time. Ten minutes later (or maybe it just felt like it was ten minutes?), they finally stopped windmilling..and continued doing some other random moves. Like rolling around. And bunching themselves into balls and lying there. And then there was MORE WINDMILLING. Over and over and over again. To the Exact. Same. Six. Words.

And I just really didn't get it. And maybe it's because I couldn't move myself beyond the "music"...but holy cannoli...what the HECK was it?

And then - it ended. I breathed a sigh of relief.

And all around me...people were applauding, and cheering...and WHISTLING. And the dancers just took it in, bowed and smiled as if to say...'I know, isn't it just the greatest thing that you've ever seen?'

And the people around us ate it up...while we looked at each other in disbelief wondering what parallel universe we had transported ourself to.

The entire place was filled with a buzz about how ah-ma-zing the last dance was and how they just couldn't believe it...and I sat there going...oh..my god. What's wrong with me? Why don't I get it? I had the distinct feeling that if I got up on the stage and started waving my arms around like a windmil I would be immeadiate boo'd off and ushered out of the building...so what was I missing that these two guys had done that I just didn't GET?

So now I'm stuck with this quandry...where I feel a little bit stupid for admitting that I didn't *get* it like all of these other people did...and I'm left wondering what exactly the other people GOT.

After the show...I was waiting around for a few minutes..and couldn't help but hear people chitter chatter about it. They all seemed to be of the same persuasion..that it was amazing, great, wonderful, striking, etc. etc. etc. But no one said one specific thing about HOW it was amazing or what EXACTLY was amazing...just that it WAS. Well, except for a little girl who while walking by said "and then they hugged - that was pretty funny.." That was the closest I got to understanding the preformance...despite listening in on a whole lotta conversations. No one ever pinpointed what was great or how it was great...just used a bunch of abstract terms smushed together to convey that it was somehow amazing..in a general sense. And the general consensus was that the other two dances (the ones I really enjoyed) were nice, they were okay...but were too simplistic...and didn't TOUCH them like the second one had...yet again...being very vague about what exactly was so touching and wonderful. The whole thing kinda bugged me and got a little under my skin, because i just wanted to know WHAT was so GREAT about the second preforamnce. In case you weren't aware...I'm a REALLY SUPER CURIOUS PERSON.

This all led me to wonder how many people ACTUALLY got what the coreographer was REALLY trying to convey..and wondering just how many were simply playing along...and how many were just as "what WAS that?" in the dark as I was.

It's funny because so often I wonder if people are just putting on this big act - and the other night was such a classic example.

As we left..my friend commented on how that was a very 'artsy' event for a very distinct crowd...and I couldn't help but agree and continue to wonder...was it me? Am I just shallow and unable to see the deeper meaning behind this supposedly beautiful work of art? Why don't I see what this artsy crowd sees? Am I shallow or dumb? What was it?

...Or was some coreographer dude laughing away in his penthouse suite in absolute disbelief that people continue to pay a relatively large amount of GOOD money to see this dance that really was inspired by a drug induced haze?

I'm apt to believe the later.

But that's just me..and as I said before...I'm not artsy.

At least not in that...erm...artsy...way.

"Someone"

You know "someone" is way too use to being the driver when:

"Someone" is at some sort of an event which requires that ve-hic-le transportation.

Probably because "someone" lives in the middle of nowhere.

This may or may not be an artsy fartsy sort of event that "someone" was attending.

(I don't know why I felt it was impertinent to this story to include what event "someone" may have been at...since where "someone" was has absolutely nothing to do with anything to do with this particular story.)

ANYWHO.

So this "someone"...was waiting around in the lobby for the friend she was with to return from the washroom. While she was waiting she did what any car driver does as they're about to leave a place and head back to their car...she got out her keys, made sure she knew where they were and put them in her coat pocket for easy access once she arrived in the general vicinity of her car. This was done to ensure that jumping in the car and getting out of the cold could be done as soon as possible.

Because nobody likes to wait around while the driver searches for their keys, especially in Canada, in the WINTER. Duh.

As the evening wound down, "someone" and her friend said their goodbyes and then left this artsy-fartsy event...walking back to the car so that they could return home.

As they walked into the car park.... "someone" pulled out her keys and clicked the 'unlock' button and watched as the headlights flashed and the car unlocked.

Then "someone" stood there staring with her mouth agape at the car...wondering how the heck she'd opened up someone ELSES car.

Then "someone" wondered where HER car was and why it wasn't unlocking.

Then "someone" started looking around the parking lot like a fool...and it was only then that "someone" remembered that she hadn't driven to said event and was merely a passenger standing in a parking lot wildly flailing about, clicking her remote unlock car thingy while "someones" friend looked on with mild curiosity, a hint of amusement and a slight nuance of worry.









PS - I don't want to give it away or anything...but I MIGHT be one of the two people talked about in this story...and I'll leave you with that...you can decide whether or not you think I'm the idiot or the person watching the idiot...the call is all yours.

Sewing Escapades

My friend Steph is getting married in a few months. Infact, the ticker on her blog says it's only 129 days away! Whoa!

As her maid of honor, it means that I've got some jobs to help out with - and since she's a super creative do-it-yourselfer kind of girl and both her and her fiance are students on a serious budget, it means that there are tons of fun projects for me to partake in! It's fun to help out where I can, and I'm really excited to be a part of their wedding. I've been in a few different weddings in my day, and attended quite a few more, so I've experienced everything from the super expensive country club kind of wedding to the potluck at the rec centre kind of wedding...Both of which were perfect in their own special ways. That being said, I'm excited for Steph's wedding because even though I KNOW that no two weddings are the same....I REALLY just know their wedding it will be completely unlike anything I've ever been to or been a part of before and I'm so excited for her adoreable wedding at the cutest venue with a bunch of wonderful people!

Last weekend I headed over to her place while her fiance was out of town and we had some chit chats and catch ups and then she pulled out her newish sewing machine that she has been teaching herself how to sew on. Then my oh so domestic self (Please stop laughing - I can hear you from here.) attempted to pass along my somewhat limited all knowing and awesome knowledge of all things sewing.

My mother laughed and laughed. And then LAUGHED SOME MORE when I recounted that I has passed along my sewing skills - asking which sewing skills exactly I was refering to.

Either way - we were awesome and the project turned out famously!

See?


Getting the project started..



Look at me go!



Steph gives it a whirl! And rocks the sewing socks right off of...everything.


I'm so excited for our next project - because it definitely means that I'll be hanging out with one of my favourite girls while we laugh, giggle, chit and chat the day (and project to-do list!) away :)

CuddleBugs

Life has been crazy.

I haven't been making enough time for the people I love, or the people that love me.

I know this. There are future updates about my thoughts, worries and paranoia about this to come.

But for now..let's just say that I did a little catching up tonight. With friends who are dear to my heart where I was able to indulge in some yummy food and was subsequently showered in love by a little boy who always seems to make me smile..no matter what.

I was told that I'm never allowed to leave the country again, should never have a boyfriend unless it was him and then I was cuddled because I am the "berry best cuddlebug in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD". After that I was given a bajillion kisses and sang a song about how I am the very best auntie Erin in the whoooooooole world...which ended with a whole bunch of high pitched seranades describing how awesome I am.

Five year olds know where it's at. It being me, of course.

I can't believe that he's five. What happened to the little four pound imp I held at the hospital and was so scared of breaking? How did that little fella grow into this big boy who's gaining inches on me as I stare in disbelief and can't believe how tall he's getting. How is it possible that he knows his full address? That he can count to a bajillion and has a half a dozen girlfriends wherever he goes? (I'm his favourite - duh.) I don't know where the time has gone and he's grown up so much...it seems like yesterday when he took his first steps, when his only words were '(tr)ucks' and 'big (tr)ucks'..when strangers were scary...and cuddles and a popsicle could cure all of lifes woes. Those times stretching so far into the past these days...makes me so scared for the days when he pulls away from my goodnight kisses, when he won't hold my hand anymore and when he tells me that girls are yucky. Because, well, I'm not sure if you know this...but, well...I'm kinda a girl...and if girls are yucky..then that means he might think that I'M yucky...and then that will just plain old break my little heart.

For now I guess I'll just have to take my cuddles where I can get them, kiss him extra for when he's a teenager and he's too cool to come within ten feet of me and take lots of pictures to remind me of when he was so little, so sweet and the cutest little guy that I ever did see.

I need more times like this. Times that make my heart so happy...and I get my very own cute as can be cuddlebug.



Why can't boys MY age that are actually within boyfriend range be this sweet and cute? Write me songs about how much they love me and want to cuddle, offer up their hard earned pennies and dimes (erm - in the lil fella's case - it was...literally...pennies..and dimes) to treat his date (ME! :O) to dinner. Stupid life! Boys suck. Unless they're five. Then I love them.

Ugh...on that note..it's bedtime...because that's a whole other can of worms that is a completely different post for a completely different sleepless night.

My Very Best Becs

Some of the loveliest people that I know, I met in Switzerland.

I met a lot of great girls there - all nannies at the time...most from Canada, The US or down under in Australia or New Zealand. Bunches and bunches and oodles of great, wonderful amazing people.

Most of my REALLY close friends, the girls I hung out with ALL of the time and was inseperable from..are Canadian - which makes staying in touch relatively easy.

But then there is Becs.

My lovely Becs.

With her beautifully cute accent, bubbly personality and inability to determine time zones in Canada and their relation to her timezone in Queensland..LOL

It's funny - because today I was thinking about her - and how I missed her so much and how I needed to write her a note on creepbook and find that little peice of paper I wrote her phone number on once upon a time and catch up with her.

And then tonight..the phone rang. My Dad handed it to me and said 'it sounds like Sam' (one of my best friends little sisters) and I picked it up..said hello and was like...BECS! AS IF!

You see - Becs is basically one of the most special people ever...and I think that we've always had a special sort of friendship. No...not "special" like it's a bad thing. Special like it's an Ah-Ma-ZING thing. She has an ability to bring people together, to be friends with anyone and can make friends with EVERYONE. One of the first times I ever hung out with her...we were meeting up to go into the city after she was finished working for the evening. We'd been texting back and forth trying to figure out when the parents would get home and when she'd be FREE! It was getting late - and I didn't know what to do..the trains were only running once an hour...so did I head down to the train and hope that I could meet her and we could take that train...or did I wait at home for her to call and say she would meet me..and then leave. I decided to head down to the train station in hopes of her being here. And as I was walking down the final stretch towards the station..she calls my cell and is like 'Er-iiiiiiiin...I just got dropped off at the Herrliberg station - but you'll never make it here in time as the train comes in less than five minutes..so I'll wait here for you and we'll catch the next one in an hour!' and I was like...BECS! I'M ALMOST STANDING RIGHT BEHIND YOU! I'LL SEE YOU IN TWENTY THREE SECONDS! and hung up the phone. Because phone calls in Switzerland are RIDIC expensive.

And when I showed up on our platform she was like...OH MY GOD I CANNOT BELIVE THAT YOU'RE HERE (you know, in the worlds cutest accent.) and proceeded to tell me how I must have the most magical PMS to have KNOWN to meet her.

After I recovered from laughing - I asked if she meant ESP..waited for her to stop rolling on the floor laughing (what - it's not gross - the Swiss are INSANELY CLEAN.) and from then..our bond, our PMS was clearly cemented.

So after thinking about her multiple times today, completely out of the blue...I wasn't THAT suprised that she called. It seems that despite being quite LITERALLY on polar opposites of the world...our PMS is still working. Working so well infact, that we proceeded to have a marathon phone chat and catchup where we both just babbled on despite the phone delays, ringing up a bill the size I'm afraid to even guesstimate and laughing as we do. We rambled about and told each other all of the fun new news about our respective lives. Hers being MUCH more interesting than mine of course - but that was fine because so much of her news was so exciting that I just couldn't be happier for her!

I'm now desperate more than ever to go and visit her..and long for the next time our paths connect and I get to see her lovely self again. My face is etched with a permenant grin from lovely little chat we had and I'm more nostolgic than ever.

Time to start counting my pennies. I miss my Becs and now more than ever just want to jump on a plane and go visit her. I miss the train rides we'd have throughout the Swiss countryside out to the 'burbs of Zürich. I miss our random daytrips - like the one to Liechtenstein. And I miss stuffing our face with cheeseburgers as we ran through the hauptbahnhof in Zürich...laughing our faces off about something or another.


Becs, Jenn & Julia - "How do you think we get to Lichtenstein from here? The "Liechtenstein BUS" or something? Ha ha...Oh."


So disappointed that we couldn't stand beside a "Welcome to Liechtenstein" sign - so my darling Becs made one of course!


Posing infront of the "highly secured" residence of the royal family - who likes to BBQ...hahah!


Becs uses extend-a-straws and drinks off of plates. Told you she was special.


Becs, Me, Marissa & Jenn - Three of my absolute FAVOURITE "Swiss" girls - at Bec's goodbye party - oh how I miss her!

One day, a day not too far from now..I can only hope that our "Magical PMS" will bring us together again for a glorious reunion...ensuring that this blog will have oh so many more stories to keep it going on for years to come!

Snow In Da FAAAAACE

As I mentioned before....I went tobogganing this weekend.

What I didn't mention is that I went tobogganing with some of the most lovely people that have ever existed this weekend.

I had an absolutely wonderful time. It took me back to my childhood. It reminded me of things that I had promised myself when I moved back home from Europe. It showed me how much I love the people who are in my life. It reaffirmed how life is actually pretty darn awesome.

The afternoon was entirely too much fun and filled with oh so much laughter and smiles. And bumps on the head, snow in the face and a few instances of almost running over each other. And maybe a small child or two.

I don't really know what else to write..I guess the pictures will sum it up much better than I can! So here goes!



The Dream Team



Climbing our way to the summit - which is much more terrifying then it looked at the bottom - Thus...we made the boys go first.



Next up? STASHLEY! And they're so cute!



Snow in da faaaaaaaaaaace



Matt is such a daredevil - no hands?! He's a CRAZY MAN.



Who needs crazy carpets when you have a real sled?



More snow in da faaaaaaaace.



My brother decided to try going down standing up. And he SURVIVED.



Hein after an intense ride down the hill - look at the condition of that poor crazy carpet - haha!



The gang. And you know, of course..the only picture with me in it..and I look like a fool. Apparently I was having so much fun I was sleeping. Or we can blame it on the fact that I hit my head. Yeah, let's do that.


Oh! And as for these questions - First - I am a little too old for this. I may not have broken a hip...but I did walk away from the hill battered, bruised and sore. And I may or may not have smashed my head into the ice...whoops. Secondly - Yes, I may have turned into a popsicle. For real. My hair got wet and froze into long icicles. Yeah. Welcome to Canada eh. Third - Yep - We were the only ones there without a kid on the hill. But it was okay..because apparently we were 'cool older kids' and all of the kids wanted to be friends with us. And wanted to race us. And sled with us. Because we're just that awesome. Finally - Hein did crash into everything and everyone - and even managed to do a full ROLL on his crazy carpet - somehow rolling right back onto his crazy carpet and continuing on down the hill. He barely managed to escape taking out two kids who decided to stand in the MIDDLE of the hill because our group of 20 somethings started screaming at them to get out of the way as he was barrelling straight towards them.

I'm still not sure how this day happened...a whole bunch of random awesome people coming together at the last minute to have a great time doing something that we haven't done in years! It was awesome..and confirmed to me that we must go do stuff like this again. Next week...skating..snow mobiling or skiing? Who knows..I may just turn out to like this winter crap after all. Maybe. But don't tell mother nature I said that..or you're dead meat.

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 :)

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.. :)

Home Again, Home Again...Jigitty Jig.

After two weeks of bopping around Eastern Europe I made my way back to Zurich and spent my last night in Europe pulling an all nighter. I'm not REALLY sure how smart that was..my theory was that I'd get to spend some time with a friend who I love dearly and won't get to see very often once I was back home..and the other was that maybe I'd sleep on the plane and be able to switch over my sleep schedule with relative ease.

So, I spent the evening talking, playing cards and laughing...moving in slow motion to get the final loose ends put together so that I could get on a flight home.

After an extended plane ride (horray for them FIXING the mechanical errors AS we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off..:S) I finally touched down at Pearson International Airport in Toronto..

To find my two best friends (and my faaaaaavourite little boy) waiting to pick me up from the airport with glittery welcome home signs and big hugs all around :) I got my ear chatted off by a four year old who I think had been secretly bottling up EVERYTHING he could think of to talk to me about for an entire year and saving it until he finally saw me again.

It's the weirdest feeling to go home after a year away..I really don't think that words can explain it..when I left my Dad said that "everything will feel familiar, but just be different enough to not be familiar at all" and, like always, he's SO right.

Now I'm running around trying to get caught up on sleep, trying to balance all of the friends and family that I want to see, and trying to jump back into doing some work too.

I've met up with my grandfather and had lunch with him, spent a good deal of time talking on the phone with people I hope to see soon, have made tentative dates to meet up with old friends that I haven't seen in years and have hung out with my best friends every day since I've been home. I've slept on Jenna's couch after sitting around being our normal goofy selves...and I've sat in my Dad's office chatting like we use to in the good old days and laid on the bed in my parents room telling my mom a little bit of everything. I met up with an old friend who I hadn't seen in years and years...and sat in Tim Hortons having a marathon catch up coffee date with Rhiannon.

It's been a good 4 days home...and I'm excited for all of the things to come...but for now...I'd better jump in the shower and get my butt into gear because there are things to be done and work is calling my name.

For now, I leave you with a cute photo we took on Monday...



My two best friends, me, and my favourite "little" boy.
(Jenna, Me, Nicholas & Rhiannon)