Country Girl Vs. City Girl

For the vast majority of my life...I have lived in the country.

It's where I feel comfortable. It's my home. It's lovely.

Sure, I was born in the city. Well - let me rephrase that. I was born in the "city" - I'll use that term loosely - as the place I was born is preeeeetty small (now it's BOOMING and it's population is above 70,000) and its demographic is just...weird. The saying goes that this town is "nearly wed or nearly dead"...and being a town with a university and a college - as well as about 178 nursing homes..it rings fairly true.

That being said - I moved outside of this "city" when I was 5. Returned when I was 17 for some schoolin' and have bopped back and forth since. It's not like it's THAT far away - my parents farm is only 20 minutes from the university.

Recently though, I've been staying at my cousins house in town..and it's a little bizarre.

When I lived in town before...I lived in residence on campus - which is unlike anything else in itself.

Then I lived in a house where our backyard basically merged with a giant field.

Next I moved to an apartment on the 7th floor of a building where all you could see was other apartments, where we generally kept our blinds closed as to not end up being creeped by people like the characters on Friends.

Now though - I'm in a very residential area.

It's friendly - it's cute.

But man...it's weird.

I'm so use to being like...la la la...I'm standing on my deck and can't see or hear anyone...whereas at their house...I'll go outside to sit on the deck...and there is someone else on their back deck looking at me...a kid in the yard nextdoor eating bugs and an old man duct taping his house back together (True story. Really happens. Not even joking a little bit.)

When I was little...we had two neighbours - both of who were (in city language) probably a block or two away from us. Down LONG rural driveways on the opposite side of the road. Unless we biked to see them in the summer - we couldn't just be all HOWDY NEIGHBOUR! Infact we never saw them unless we made the effort to see them, or yanno, saw them driving down our long backroad.

It's odd to get into your car first thing in the morning and wave to everyone else in suburbia as they also head off to start their day. Or collect the mail and bring in the recycling bins as everyone else on the street is doing it too.

To actively know stuff about your neighbours - when you've never met them.

And then get UBER creeped out because they probably know stuff about you - EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE NEVER MET YOU EITHER.

This city living thing is okay - but I'm not convinced it's for me.

Give me some neighbours I can wave to when we pass on the road, some fencelines and trees seperating us...not being able to know what anyone else is having for dinner without asking...and hanging out your laundry without wondering who is watching you...and I'm good.

AKA - A few acres, a cute little house..and neighbours off in the distance.

Yeah - I'm down.

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.

Holy Random Batman

ENTSCHULDIGEN - Wo Bist Januar gegangen?

Seriously.

Where. The. Heck. Did. January. GO?

Also - where that that German come from? Random. I have no idea why some german (or at least my brutalized version of german/swiss german) just randomly likes to pop into my head. Because seriously...I know no German. Psh. And even if I wanted to take up another language (which I kinda do) would I brush up on my french? Eh. Maybe. Would I try to take the little German I know and expand upon it? Eh. Probably not. Too much hacking and gagging. And besides that..there are only some words that I really like. Like entschuldigen or genau - such good words with minimal hacking and gagging. I digress - so, would I be interested in learning Spanish? Yeah. Definitely. Would I learn Italian? In a heartbeat - except that where else besides Italy are you gonna speak Italian? Besides speaking to like..my cat..I really don't know how often I'd use Italian...I love Italy and want to go back soon..but I have a funny feeling I won't be going there enough to keep up with Italian or justify learning it.

Wow. End tangent.

Anyways. So - 2010.

We meet again. Well. It's not like you LEFT or anything..and I've been here..mostly..sorta...kinda...present..at times...but still. What the heck twenty-ten.

Think you're so fancy with your double names eh. All 'I can be twenty ten OR two thousand and ten - bow down to me suckas'..and little did we know that you'd be the year that likes to fly by faster than all others.

I thought that all of 2010's brothers and sisters were flying by...last thing I remember is that we were partying like it was 1999...because it WAS 1999...and now it's already 1/12th of the way through 2010. Explain to me how exactly that HAPPENS please?

I think that I'm going to have to make a little request that this year be slowed down. And by slowed down...I meant stopped until I can nap until I'm completley caught up on sleep, catch my breathe, get caught up with all of the other things I've been slacking on.

Sometimes I feel like life is a whirlwind tornado that I just have happened to have gotten myself caught up in.

How bizzare, how bizzare.

PS - If you aren't singing 'ooooh baaaaaaaaaaby...oh baby! it's making me craaaaaaaaaaazy! how bizarre, how bizarre" after the previous statement...then my heart is a little sad. And you're leaving me wondering how the heck I got so old and how the years have passed me by - and how you ever managed to grow up without that song and referencing it EVERY time someone says 'how bizarre'. So please just pretend. Please?

So, if you (the whole 2.5 people who are probably likely maybe unlikely reading this) could try to attempt to figure out how to slow down time too..I'd appreciate if you could gimme a shout when you do. As I've said...I don't do science shmience stuff...but I can probably steal your ideas and defy the laws of...something...somehow. Which would be pretty cool. And it'd mean that I could nap all day...everyday. Awesome.

The Beatles Vs. Britney

Yesterday we packed up ourselves and headed two hours south into The Big City.

As in, Torana. Or for your NON Ontario natives...Toronto.

We headed down because my Mom and my aunt wanted to see a musical, and my cousin and I aren't REALLY working and bum around all day and thought we might as well thought we'd tag along.

My mom had wanted to see the musical 'Jersey Boys' for quite some time...as did my aunt...so last weekend we bought ourselves the last couple of cheapie tickets (which actually turned out to be really good seats! Horray for cheap entertainment!) that they had available and yesterday we headed down to see what there was to see.

Turns out...even though I had no idea WHAT the musical was about, had failed to google it before leaving and on the car ride there was like....I have no idea if I actually know any songs by the Four Seasons (I plead ignorance and youth, your honour)...I actually really really enjoyed myself. Turns out that they sang basically all of the classic oldies that you love that you have no idea who wrote them. Or that have been re-done by countless people so that you have no idea where the original even came from.

The dancing was hilarious, the set was fabulous and I had a lovely time.

Not nearly as lovely as my mother and aunt though...who I'm pretty sure re-lived their childhood watching American Bandstand every week during the 2.5 hours we were in there. They proceeded to giggle..and they danced in their seats and reminisced during the intermission about how they couldn't believe that they had essentially worshipped these singers 40-50 years before. I enjoyed the show, but I enjoyed how much THEY enjoyed it even more.

Sometimes I think that I was born in the wrong era for a lot of different re sons..but one of the biggest is music. I love oldie goldie music like that..The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Buffalo Springfield - there are so many fantabulous musical artists that were way before my time and I'm eternally confused as to how music has changed SO much...and have always had a soft spot for the music of the 60's and 70's.

So I sat there thinking...how cute they were and how much they loved this reenactment of their childhood. Then I wondered to myself...in 30 years what would I take my kids to see..that was something from MY childhood?

The musical of Britney Spears? I think that'd probably have some pretty high PG ratings and probably not be okay for children.

Okay so what about The Backstreet Boys. Classic. Except that...well...yeah..they're the BACKSTREET BOYS. Who is going to make a musical out of THAT crap? Hopefully..no one.

Spice girls? Maybe? I mean - they have already made a movie and then gone back out on tour. It's a possibility. A scary possibility..but none the less...a possibility.

What from MY generation is going to stick out and be that thing that our kids look at and go - wow - so once upon a time THAT was cool...and my parents actually LIKED it? And despite themselves...they know all of the words too and sing along. Is there going to be anything? And if there is..am I going to be more ashamed than not of my generations contribution to the musical world?

Let's pray my parents generation has staying power..because I don't know if I have enough stomach power to handle sitting through a musical of any of the fabulous and famous popsters of today. Let alone admitting to my future hypothetical children what music we listened to...while I shudder in embarrassment..

Sometimes I wish that someone would just take me back to the place where I belong...

Peace, love and happiness..Dude.

Times Are A Changin'

Wow. It's 2010. (Twenty-Ten? Two-Thousand-And-Ten? Erm...Whatever-it-is..) and I'm not quite sure how that happened.

Where exactly did the last decade go? Ten years ago I spent new years with my parents in the nations capital on parliament hill....spending time with family in Ottawa. This year was quite different. We didn't go out, there were no huge celebrations or fireworks. But there was family, good food and laughter and I had a smile on my face the entire evening...so what more could I ask for?

I remember talking about the year 2000 and how far away it seemed, how old I'd be and how crazy it was to even think about it. And now it's the beginning of yet another decade...and life is just as crazy as ever..and I still don't know how it happened.

So much has happened in the last ten years...it's impossibly crazy to think about how different life is and how much I've 'grown up'...so here's a little recap of the last ten years..

In the last ten years I've...

*Graduated from highschool
*Moved out on my own into an apartment with one of my best friends
*Become an 'adult' in the legal sense of the word
*Graduated from university with a BA with a double major in history and psychology.
*Traveled to, through and around South Africa
*Graduated from teachers college
*Spent a year living in Switzerland
*Been a bridesmaid in two weddings for people I love
*Got my drivers licence
*Travelled to: Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, London, Paris, Athens, Florence, Berlin, Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Milan, Vienna, Zurich and oh so many other wonderful European cities
*Was a nanny for three (kinda-sorta-really-spoiled) girls.
*Roadtripped to the east coast of Canada - twice.
*Worked on our farm every summer
*Said final goodbyes to a grandmother
*Watched as friends became mothers
*Cut off more than half my body height in hair in one ginormous cut
*Realized the importance of true happiness and following your heart (or your gut) regardless of what other people are doing, saying or thinking.

And that's just a small little list of some of the 'big ticket' life changing things I could think of off the top of my head.

The last ten years have been pretty crazy and amazing. They've been full of a lot of growth and a lot of changes...and I'm quite excited to see just what the next ten years bring :)

Cheers - and Happy New Year! All the best for 2010!

...However you want to pronouce it :)

'Scuse Me?

The other day I was frantically running around town not at all attempting to start and finish my christmas shopping in one day doing some last minute christmas shopping.

I was at a loss...I didn't know what to get for anyone. As I get older, the more I realize that we all have way too much junk and that finding things that people want, need and don't already have..is a little bit of a challenge.

That being said...I still wanted to get my family some decent gifts for christmas.

While I perused random stores, surrounded by other morons who'd all left their shopping 'till the last minute too masses of other frazzled consumers I found myself in a dizzying haze of large conglomerations. Do I get this, or that or what could I possibly get for this person or that person.

Suddenly I wondered if perhaps I could pick up a season of a show that I know my Dad loved. Being the complete and total Daddys girl that I am, my little girl self would convince him to let me stay up late and watch it with him...always falling asleep halfway through, because it was way past my bedtime and I was doing my favourite thing; cuddling with my daddio.

So, I thought...what a fun thing I could get him. I looked at one store. Sold out. Another...sold out. Another...none.

I walked into a fourth store with little hope in my heart and already trying to think of other possible gifts he might enjoy.

I walked into the 'tv series' sections and glanced around. Nothing. Of course.

But I thought that I'd ask someone...you know...just in case that leaving my shopping until the last second hadn't TOTALLY screwed me over. .

After a few minutes of searching, I found a couple of youngins who (thanks to the nice coloured coded vest) appeared to be employees at the store. After finally gaining their attention away from each other and their oh so 'deep' conversation and directed towards the slightly irritated, slight frustrated consumer with money to burn standing infront of them I finally got a chance to speak with someone.

So, I asked if by chance they had any of the series or box sets in stock.

The boy looked at me with slight confusion, repeated the name of the series with a questioning in his voice, SCRATCHED HIS HEAD and was like..uhh...we might have it. I think that I've heard of it before....before he took off to go and check the shelf that I'd already carefully examined while I stood there with a gaping mouth wondering if I'd heard him correctly.

He THINKS that he'd heard of it before? Okay. I know that it's not a recent show. I know that it's even TECHNICALLY before MY time. And by the time I rolled around...it was already in syndication.

But WAY TO MAKE ME FEEL OLD BUDDY.

Completely and totally epic series that spanned through the 70's and 80's and and STILL PLAYS RERUNS on various stations on a regular basis. Had over 100 million viewers watch the series finale...and this kid thinks he 'may have' heard of it?!

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

I mean..who hasn't definitely been able to say with SOME certainty that they've at least HEARD of M*A*S*H.

I must be getting old...

Weekend Wonder

My childhood was a little different than most.

When I was five, we moved to the farm I now live on. This means that while my Mom continued working at her job as a nurse, my Dad spent his waking hours pouring his heart and soul into making this place what it is today. I can remember collecting sap to make maple syrup until it was too dark to see anymore, because that's what had to be done. I remember planting fruits and vegetables when we were all home. After school, weekends, after dinner..whenever there were enough hands to make it work.

Weekends to me didn't mean lounging around watching cartoons on Saturday morning, or shopping trips in the afternoon. They were filled with farmers markets and our busiest days of the week at our store in cottage country.

My summers in adolesence weren't filled with days at the mall, or even really days at the cottage. We try to make it over to the cottage (which, is luckily, close) after we're done for the day so that we can have dinner and enjoy a couple hours there....and as much as I cherish and love these memories...My summers were often filled with long days doing what needed to be done. My brother and I quickly learned from our parents how to pour our hearts and souls into this place too, each using our oh so different talents and skills to do what needed to be done.

My friends balk at my super-human strength (yes, I can lift lots of heavy fruit and vegetables at once, can't you?) I can chit chat with anyone about anything...and have an uncanny ability to remember faces and vegetables that people have bought weeks previously..and follow up with more chit chatter. I can drive big trucks and even back them up with some sort of accuracy. Sometimes. I know how to program cash registers and get them to work how I want them to work when they're being tempremental. I can multi-task like no other.

But taking weekends off? That's a kinda new one for me.

It was only last year that I got into the routine of having 'time off' and having 'weekends off'. Even though I only had four days off a month while I lived in Switzerland..those two weekends a month came to be cherished like there was no other. I counted down the days and hours until my 'weekend off' to zip off to Italy or France, Germany, Austria or Lichtenstein. (Betcha never been THERE!) I learned the value of weekends there. How lovely they REALLY are. And I learned just how much I hate hate HATE Monday mornings. I realized that while I do have days off at home..I seem to spend them running around doing things so much..that I had no idea how to do..nothing. Sitting on a beach? Who did that besides movie stars? You mean I can lie by the pool in the backyard for the ENTIRE day and there is NOTHING ELSE that needs to be done? REAllY? The art of relaxation escaped me...it scared me..and it tempted me with its laziness and generally lax attitude. And I loved it for that.

Sure, weekends have always been there...but going from school --> work and and work --> school and back again for the last 20+ years has made weekends kind of...wonky. It's made time off..a little known concept..and totally warped my mind of what weekends should be. Like the farm..there was always SOMETHING that COULD be done.

Then there was the fact that I was an arts student while I did my degrees...so I only ever had classes from Tuesday --> Thursday...which meant that I actually had more days off then I had school days. Which meant that those four days were either spent with friends wasting time and talking about how much work there was to do...or crunch time...when I had so many essays to write and exams to study for..I spent equal parts complaining about school work and equal parts actually doing it.

Now, once again...fall has come. Winter is on its way. The busy season at the farm has come and gone...and for the first time since 1988, I have not been in school come this time of the year. I'm doing some bookwork and other random things for the farm..but I'm not working very hard right now...and need to get my butt in gear. But, I do have plans for the weekend..none of which involve any sort of actual work.

Tonight I have a girls night with Rhi planned..where we will watch movies, eat junk food and play cards..and of course..chat each others ears off.

Tomorrow I am going out to lunch with the lovely Miss. Stephanie where we will enjoy good food and good company..chat about everything and all of the stuff that has been happening in our lives..and probably giggle about wedding planning for her upcoming 'do.

Saturday night I will kidnap two cousins, a cousin in law and their parents and take them out to a sort of surprise birthday dinner. They think that they're coming to our house for dinner but unbeknownst to them...we're taking them to a restaurant near our house that they've been wanting to go to since they moved back to Canada :)

Sunday we have a long walk planned..where we'll go wandering throughout all of the trails by the university campus...and then warm up with a hot beverage and a movie downtown :)

Sunday night..I'll watch some tv with my Daddio, catch him up on the weekend happenings in my life..and fall into bed...already dreaming of all of the lovely things that I might do NEXT weekend :)

Designer Delights

When I look back on my childhood...I realize that I had a fairly sheltered one.

Firstly..it's not entirely my fault. I lived in the middle of nowhere.

I didn't listen to a lot of the 'popular' music. Where I lived..there were two radio stations. It was either country music or the CBC. Quirks and Quarks anyone? Anyone? Can I get a HECK YA! from ANYONE in the crowd?

On top of that...we had 3.5 tv stations..if the weather was okay. It could be anywhere from 0-3.5 depending on which way the rabbit ears were facing and whether or not a storm was brewing. Half of the 90's tv references that people talk about...I'm completely, absolutely, without a doubt...in the dark about. Talk to me about Saved By The Bell..and I can deal. But when a group of 20 something girls start talking about Friday night TV specials..my schema goes DIRECTLY to (and I'm not even joking.) ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FARCE?!

Finally...I didn't even (and yes, I can hear your audible WHAT *GASP* OH NO YOU DID'N comments from the vast majority of all five (?) of my blog readers ALL THE WAY FROM HERE..AKA - THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.) know what jimmy choo's or louis vuitton or gucci or whatever other designer names were out there until I was...oh..probably...in University. Yes, I was that naive. Actually..I take that back..I knew prada and gucci (we were not completely devoid of movies in the middle of nowhere.) but a lot of those other things...I yeah, had absolutely idea about...or really...any use to know. Wearing high heels on the farm? That's just silly.

Infact, I still kind of have no use for them. Sure, some designer things are cute...but I don't base what I find cute on them.

I was actually in a Louis Vuitton store in Zurich earlier this year..

Ha - look how fancy pants *I* am. Be jealous of me. Look far I've come since my naive blank-stare-I-have-no-idea-who-these-people-are-or-why-their-crap-is-so-expensive look days. If you only knew that the only reason I ever entered designer stores was when I was running errands FOR MY BOSS. And it was SO obvious that 'one of these things was not like the other' and that one thing...was ALWAYS me.

ANYWAY. While I was waiting for someone to help me...I *of course* was browsing at things that fell into the category of 'THINGS THAT ERIN WILL NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS BE ABLE TO AFFORD' So while I was browsing....I glanced at the key chains. Did you know that Louis Vuitton sells key chains? For a mere 306 Francs (FYI - the franc is about equivilant to the CND or USD) you could get the small keychain. If you wanted the larger one..it would set you back 506 Francs. Want to know what the keychain was? How it could possibly justify costing what I paid for RENT throughout my university years? Was it gold? Diamonds? Sapphires? Rubys? Well obviously..it was a glass ball. You know, with the letters 'LV' (granted - the LV DID have sparkles on it!) on the same keychain ring. I'm not even exagerating. That's what it was..for real.

To me, this just seemed...well...to be honest...a little bit..insane.

I guess I've just never really GOT that whole thing. So I'll wear a tank top that I bought for five dollars if I think it's cute...does that make my person anything less? Of course not. My boss and her kids LOVED designer things..they THRIVED on them. Little did they know...that they gave me compliments on shirts that I'd found on clearance from WAL-MART. Ha. Suckers. They didn't know where it was from..so that cute shirt..was still cute. Even though they would never be caught dead buying clothes from wal-mart...I'm SURE. This is not to say that I don't have some issues I could battle out with walmart too..but for now...I'd rather give one conglomeration ten bucks, rather then one grand to another....but that's just me. I dunno about you..but I can just think of a lot better things to do with my other 990 dollars.

I'm tangenting as per usual.

Point is, I've never really been that big into blowing huge amounts of money on things that (in my humble opinion) don't NEED to cost that much. I don't see how I personally can justify a coach bag when there are starving children in the world, when I could put a downpayment on a house to live on...when I could think of a million other things to do with that cash...rather then buy a new bag that other people can ooh and ahh over. I guess a lot of the time..it's just not that important to me. And I don't see why these things are SO SPECIAL or SO MUCH BETTER then their counterparts. I've always just sort of avoided that scene..and never really partook in it. I'm not trying to get all up in your face if you are...but it's just..not me, and my head just never got it...and still doesn't REALLY..erm...GET it.

Generally..I've grown up with things being pretty average and there not being a lot of those extra things that are super expensive simply because they have a certain tag on them in my life.

That is, until...I moved to Switzerland. Land of designer purses, private helicopters to go skiing instead of taking the skilift..and THE BEST CHOCOLATE IN THE WORLD.

I came home..actually with a stronger dislike for designer purses. Try following two thirteen year olds - from the allowed, but still within visible glaring distance, six feet minimum - who were oh so full of themselves while they flitted around the Flughafen (airport) with their designer purses that are worth more than you make in a month (not bitter. not bitter. not bitter.) while you, the dutiful nanny tried to maneouver more luggage that could EVER be used in a single weekend out of the country for two teenagers. Then tell me that you don't hate designer purses for making you, with your multiple degrees, hard work ethic, morals and values less superior because you're not the one carrying the designer bag.

I also wondered why it was so necessary to spend fifty grand in a day for someone to fly you to the top of the mountain which you could barely navigate down alive.

But, after living in the beautiful Schweiz for a year...I have realized the value of...chocolate.

The value of designer purses and clothes are lost on me. I'm rather blaise about it all. I could live without reality tv and all of the extra frivolous things that our lives are surrounded with these days..I could give up all of the fancy things that for generations before us...all of our ancestors lived without.

But my Swiss chocolate?

No.

I cannot.

I refuse.

That is simply non-neogotiable.

Absolutely, one HUNDRED percent...without a doubt...not happening.

And now..you all can think that you understand..you've had Lindt..you've had Swiss chocolate..but the chocolate there? It's not the same. Even the Lindt. It's just, simply, without a doubt..better there. And getting chocolate directly from the Sprungli stores..there is nothing that I've ever experienced in North America that even STARTS to come close to that. Belgium chocolate is good..but it isn't Swiss.

There is a little bit of Switzerland that will always live with me...and it lives directly in my hips. And I'm totally okay with that..because it is THAT GOOD. If you think that I'm exagerating..I double dog dare you to get on a plane RIGHT now and go try it for yourself. And while you're at it..bring me back some too.

I've been going through withdrawal in the last 3.5 months being home...my chocolate supply..ran out. Sad. Sad. SAD. It's kind of pathetic..because I brought home AN ENTIRE BACKPACK full of chocolate. I actually got stopped at security and they searched my bag because there was NO WAY that someone was bringing THAT MUCH CHOCOLATE with them.

I've given up eating most of the chocolate here..because it just doesn't satisfy my love for chocolate. It's just not the same. I, hate to admit it...but I have a become, a 'designer' chocolate SNOB.

Except for these ones that I bought tonight. They are the closest thing to the 'real thing'. The chocolate that has the qualities that will allow me to call them chocolate. Rich, but not too rich. Creamy, but not too creamy. Good flavour..not waxy..and just..melt in your mouth drool worthy stop-me-if-you-can good.

I have been sheltered from many things in my childhood...I missed a lot of those 'omg, lyke, totaaaaally' things that were MUST HAVES..and that's okay. I actually prefere it that way.

I dipped my toes into the world of the rich and fabulous and the lifestyle that goes with it. But to me..the only thing that was REALLY worth keeping out of ALL of that? The thing that I want, that's worth it, that makes life better?

Darn right it's the chocolate.

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.. :)