2006 In Review

Time: 5:09pm
Mood: Excited (last day of the year!)
Song of the moment: Ok Go - Here It Goes

I can't believe a year as flown by - it has definitely been speedy. This is the first full year I have been working. I still don't like my job but damn it's good getting a steady paycheque every week.

This year has definitely been the calm before the storm. I spent most of this year preparing for 2007 actually - purchasing a brand new house with Jimmy (which was probably the biggest highlight of the year! Biggest purchase ever!), and making preparations for our upcoming wedding.

Things I will remember the most about 2006:

• Trip to Boston during the Canada Day long weekend
• Watching our house being built from the ground up (and all those fun decor appointments!)
• My 27th Birthday
• Going to the Foo's acoustic show

This year has taught me that rest and relaxation for yourself should be taken, opportunities will open if you wait, and the fact that I've become so old, staying up past 12 midnight is a struggle. LoL!

2006 was quiet, but 2007 is definitely going to be a bang. I'm definitely excited for next year, but I bet in the midst of all the chaos I will be thinking "2006... I miss you!"

My X'mas Break

Time: 11:43pm
Mood: Sleepy (boy am I old...)
Song of the moment: Ok Go - Here It Goes

It's near the end of my week off and I must say I am well rested :D I really needed this time to unwind, considering it's going to get pretty crazy for me really soon.

To sum up my holiday, I went to:

1 wedding (Elizabeth and Andrew's wedding)
2 house parties
5 family meals
1 mall (I tired as best as possible to avoid those!)
Numerous friend gatherings

I didn't go boxing day shopping - I usually brave the weather and head downtown, but this year I'm broke so no shopping for me.. and the fact that Jimmy and I just bought a washer/dryer set online (Future Shop was having their boxing day sale at 8:00pm Dec. 24th. We saved $800!). Acutally we ran into some problems with regards to the delivery time of the washer/dryer set that resulted in me saving an additional $75 b/c Future Shop screwed up and I got pissed off. It pays to be bitchy!

I got some pretty cool gifts this year, which includes high-end frying pans from my parents, a apron from my sister and soap products from Sephora. I think my friends and family are trying to say I should learn how to cook and shower more (haha!). If you guys are wondering what Jimmy got me for x'mas - Season 1 & 2 DVD of my favorite cartoon - Anamaniacs :D I love my Yakko, Wakko and Dot! :D Fabooooo!

Over the holidays I spent much time at my new house, putting in extra screws and nails on into the floorboards (or as Jimmy put it, we spent the day "nailing and screwing" LoL!). We were there on X'mas eve, X'mas day and Boxing day! This is to prevent future squeeky floors. I bumped into Charlene over the holidays, and she told me her floors were already squeeking - and she moved in her new house in June! Our floors better not squeek or I'm going to scream!

Here are just some photos I took over the holidays:


The progress of our house - we have shingles, windows and doors now! :D And the extra screws we put in! Yipee!

Elizabeth and Andrew's wedding - Elizabeth is an old elementry/HS friend of mines. She looked absolutely stunning that day, and I was so happy I was part of it!

The Edgevale Gals - Rosie, Me, Suzanne and Kathy. I met up with my old housemates from my days @ Mac. I miss living w/ them! They were the best housemates!



Jimmy's 'lil experiment - he took apart a LCD monitor he had, attached the screen to an overhead projector. Now we are able to watch dl-ed shows and movies from his computer on his wall!



My year-end review to come tomorrow :D

Darren Hayes, You're Awesome!

I've become slightly addicted to YouTube lately (that Ok Go vid really did it for me! haha). Anyway, I love Darren Hayes and his music (I'm a huge fan), and I came across this video made to my favorite Darren Hayes song. The video is kinda cheesy, but the song is amazing. This song got me through a rough time in my life.. really made me reassess my life and the direction I was taking.

These are my favorite lines of the song (these are the lines that really got me thinking):

"While I decided
To make everyone else happy
I just put aside
My foolish pride
I guess I denied
My own desire
I was too busy pleasing
To ever be pleased
I forgot how to breathe
Or question anything
Or ask why?
Am I?"

Pushed In A Box For Floating Shelves

Time: 11:44pm
Mood: Sleepy (according to my msn nickname, I'm supposed to be sleeping.. hehe)
Song of the moment: Ok Go - Here It Goes Again

This past weekend was the anticipated Umbra Sale. It has got to be one of the biggest sales of the year, where people start lining up at 5am on the first day to be the first through the doors at 9am. And for every new homeowner, this sale is an absolute Godsend. You'll see why in a bit.

Kathy really wanted to go early to line up Saturday morning. Sucked for me because I was out celebrating Jen's birthday the night before, so it was pretty hard for me to get up at 7am. We got there around 8am and the line-up had already wrapped around the building. I was smart enough to bring toe-warmers with me, but stupid enough to put them in wrong, so they were completely useless (my toes froze. But, as I found out later from my mom, those toe-warmers expired back in 2002... so I don't feel that stupid!). We lined up for about an hour and a half before we were allowed through the doors. Once inside, it was madness. We quickly grabbed our carts and within the first 30s, I had lost Kathy in the sea of bargin hunters. On my first day, I managed to snag 4 curtain rods (I had the windows of the new house measured. I came prepared!), 2 really nice picture frames, 2 bathroom towel racks, a towel ring. It cost me $95.

The second day was even better...

Sunday I went again w/ Jimmy, Katie and Ray. Now on Sundays the prices are slightly cheaper, and after 4pm, everything becomes 2 for 1. We arrived there around noon time and it was pretty crazy already. We ran around and grabbed the stuff we needed - by 2pm we all were pretty much done, so we camped out around the off-loading dock. Katie and Ray were still on the search for some floating shelves they saw people toting around in their boxes. So I stood around the off-loading dock, to see if I could score those shelves for them. I was standing around, all of a sudden, I see this lady carrying off a shelf. I guess I wasn't the only one, because all of a sudden it was a mad dash to grab one. That's when I got pushed into a box. I literally fell in. Lucky for me, the box was still full of picture frames, and the lady that pushed me in stopped to help me up. LoL! Anyway, I got to the front of the line, told the shipping guy to give me a box (each box had 4 individually wrapped shelves). Jimmy came along and thought it would be good to get those shelves for us. So we had 2 boxes.. 8 shelves in total. 4pm rolls around and they announce that everything is 2 for 1. As Jimmy and I went to pay, the cashier asked us what was in the boxes. We told her they were shelves. I begin to reach into the box to pull one out, when the cashier lady says "ok so you have 2 shelves?" and punches in the price of one shelf. $5. We paid $5 for 8 shelves! What a steal!!

The damage for Sunday - 10 curtain rods, 4 picture frames, 6 double rod brackets, 4 curtain hooks, 2 garbage cans, 2 bathroom hooks, 8 floating shelves...$65!!! Holy El-Cheapo!

**house update**

We have a roof!!

The Best Video Ever!

I absolutely LOVE this video! And the song is great! I have it stuck in my head :) I know it's been out there for a while (even Jimmy made fun of me for seeing it before me! haha).

Robbery @ It's Lowest Form

Time: 9:02pm
Mood: Excited (my Leaf's are up 2-0!)
Song of the moment: Incubus - Anna Molly

I've finally experienced robbery at it's lowest form.

I ordered a free sample of fabric softener online (cuz I love free samples). I got home today, and I saw that my dad had brought in the mail. There was a box sitting on the kitchen table, with labels indicating it was my free sample in the mail. The box was open and my sample was stolen.

Common people... it was a FREE SAMPLE! Let's emphasize the word FREE. I could simply order another one, but they've put a limit to one per household. Well I hope the person that stole it is enjoying softer and whiter clothes.

One Crazy Week!

Time: 10:45pm
Mood: Lazy..
Song of the moment: Incubus - Anna Molly

It has been one crazy and eventful week. Definitely on the up-side though! I went down to Detroit on Tuesday night for a Wednesday morning lab tour. I had the luck of the draw because Jimmy managed to get the day off (a last minute deal! His boss is awesome!) so he came with me! And thank God he did! Part of the highway was closed so we ended up being adventurous and took farm roads between Cambridge and Woodstock.

While down there, I did a bit of shopping and I FINALLY bought myself a Coach purse! It was definitely well deserved! It's beautiful! But I admit... I felt a little guilty...









Friday rolls along and I had my yearly work review with my boss. I was a little nervous because I've never been reviewed like that before -> I was planning to ask for a raise, and by how my company has been doing lately, it didn't look like they were going to be giving out raises. My review went well and I found out my boss was really impressed with me. *whew* I'm so glad! I knew my boss really liked me, but to know that my work ethic is noticeable, it's a great feeling. So I got the raise I was looking for (actually they offered me more than what I was going to ask.. so that's a big plus!). Now I don't feel so guilty for buying that purse! haha!

Yesterday was my company's x'mas party. My co-workers and I had our table all planned out. Bad luck for me, I arrived slightly later than the other guests, and someone took my seat. One of my co-workers actually left that table after awhile because according to him, the person that replaced me was "damn annoying". LoL. It was alright though.. I sat at a table with a bunch of Filippino ppl and they were so funny! Our table wasn't full, but there was this one guy at our table that kept insisting to the servers that someone was sitting in the empty seats, all so he can get extra food! LoL! I later moved to another table with the lab techs I work closely with. All in all it was a fun evening!

Which brings me to today. What did I do today? Absolutely nothing! Jimmy and I were supposed to get our asses into gear and play squash, but that didn't happen. And it was all my fault. Damn me and my lazy ass! But tomorrow! Gym tomorrow.. for sure...!!

**house update**
We've got a second floor... and a partial roof!!! Yippee!!

I Miss You...

Time: 10:00pm
Mood: Sad... and sleepy
Song of the moment: The Killers - Bones

Today marks the one year anniversary of my grandmother's passing. Since her passing I have thought about her often, and how much I miss her. Today, we lit a candle by her picture that sits on our fireplace mantle. I miss you so much grandma....

On a more joyous note, they've built the first floor to our house!









I can't wait til the second floor goes up (and they cut out those windows... looks kinda strange w/ that one narrow window that looks randomly placed on the side of the house). Jimmy and I took a tour around the first floor of our house. I'm getting all excited now! They only have the floor to our second floor - I took a brief look at it, but was too afraid to walk on it. Funny enough, Jimmy, who's afraid of heights, had no problems with going up and walking around! haha!

Great Sight On A Monday Morning

Time: 6:34pm
Mood: Hungry...
Song of the moment: Beck - Nausea

This is a great sight first thing Monday morning. I wake up, do my usual routine of prepping myself up for work, walk out my front door to see this:


I can't believe there was SNOW on my car. I know it has snowed already.. but not snow that stayed!



On another note - it's Rita's birthday! Happy Birthday Rita!!! :D

Lessons Learned

Time: 10:48pm
Mood: Sleepy
Song of the moment: The Killers - Bones

This weekend was definitely an educational one. Jimmy and I attended the first 2 out of our 4 marriage classes this weekend. I was actually dreading this, because I had heard it was just going to be couples talking about their experience being married... yadda yadda yadda. I wasn't expecting it to be fun at all.

But surprising enough, it was fun! Our class size is pretty big (there are at least 30 couples in the class), and our instructor is a hoot! He really makes the class fun! So sitting there for 3 hours at a time isn't painful :) But we are learning a lot though, and it brings up certain issues that Jimmy and I have never talked about before. So it got us thinking, and talking. I'm really glad we're taking these classes.. gives us a chance to work out some stuff before we get hitched! But there is still no doubt in my mind that I want to spend the rest of my life w/ this man :)

Even though I was pretty busy w/ the classes, I managed to squeeze in some baking time :) I recently got my "What's Cooking" magazine from Kraft (they send 4 per year) and it contains many yummy recipes. Kathy came home this weekend, flipped through it and convinced me to make a Toblerone Chocolate Cheese Cake. It was SOO yummy... and it turned out really well!! Here's a picture of it (half eaten.. because it was so good! haha):









Jimmy and I also managed to squeeze in some time to check out the progress of our house. Last weekend we didn't see any major changes, however, they had a pile of wood beside our lot:









So I got all exciting, thinking they would have something raised by this weekend. To my disappointment, they did not. But, they covered up our basement, and our neighbour has their first floor put up, so I hope this means ours will be up by next week! I'm so excitied!

Wedding Help!

Here's your chance to help me choose a colour for my wedding! I'm so confused... I was orginally going for a light purple.. but after going dress shopping with my BMs, I really like sage green! I don't know what to do :( I'm so stressed about it! Your suggestions would really help!!

**UPDATE

Here are what the colours look like (b/c I've been getting question as to what "Sage Green" is! hahah! These are not the dresses my BMs will be wearing):

Happy Birthday Mom!

Time: 10:23pm
Mood: Happy!
Song of the moment: Foo Fighters - Best of You

Today is my mom's birthday, and as a gift, Jimmy and I took her and my dad out to see a movie. This wasn't planned, it just sort of happened...

I really wanted to see that Borat movie since it came out. The first time I saw the trailer for that movie I laughed through the entire thing! It sounded hilarous! Jimmy and I decided to catch the 7:35pm show at Town Center. But this meant I would have to rush home, eat a lightening-fast dinner, pick up Jimmy, then race to the theatre. While I was at home, I told my mom I was going to watch a movie. She asked me which movie, I told her Borat. She went on to tell me how her coworker found it absolutely hilarous, and she wanted to watch it.

Just based on the trailer, I knew this movie wasn't exactly the type of movie my parents would enjoy... it's not a type of movie you would want to watch with your parents. Definitely not a family movie.

- Are you sure mom? you want to see this movie?
Yes!
- You SUUUUURRREEE??
Yes! I'll meet you at the theatre!

Jimmy and I got to the theatre before my parents. Before I bought the tickets, I called my mom, and again I asked her if she was sure she wanted to see the movie.

I admit, the movie was funny, but some parts were just down-right nasty! There was one scene (I'm not going to describe it for the sake of not spoiling the movie - but I know those of you who have seen it probably know what I'm talking about) where, it was funny, however, in watching it with my parents I was absolutely mortified! Needless to say, when we walked out the theatre, my dad proclaimed it was the worst movie he's ever seen ("That wasn't humor! That was just bad taste!"), while my mom said there were parts that were funny, but some parts... *insert head shake here*

Makes for a memorable birthday I guess... :D

New Foo's Acoustic Live Album!!

Got it today.. it's AWSOME! It's just like the acoustic concert I went to back in August with Kathy.

Ahh they're so good!! Best of You sounds the best live!

Our Crazy Pumpkin

Hrm... two posts in one day.. I'm setting a new record!

Here's a photo of our pumpkin. My sister was supposed to carve something elaborate (she wanted to do Homer Simpson's head) but she found out I had lost my pumpking carving kit, and was too lazy to go out and buy one. Actually, I went out to buy one for her, but after an hour of searching, I gave up. We found out that Walmart sold one, but she said it was too far... so this is what she came up with (All done by free-hand. Can you tell?!?! haha):

Engagement Photos

Time: 6:35pm
Mood: *cough cough* sickly...
Song of the moment: The Killers - Bones

Happy Halloween ... Blah!! haha!

So my photographer posted our engagement photos on his website and they turned out really well! Here are some of my favs (there's too many... so I'm just going to post my top 3!):













I'm so happy wit my photos! I'm so glad we hired Joee as our wedding photographer!! :D

Our Home - The Foundation

Time: 9:29pm
Mood: Drowsy (hooray for meds!)
Song of the moment: Nelly Furtado - Maneater

Jimmy and I went to check out the progress of our home yesterday and this is what we saw:









We're quite excited! They started putting up the wooden frames for the houses right across the stree from ours, and we know their closing dates are in June (ours is in May) so hopefully that means they're going to do that to our house soon! We have an appointment with our builder in 2 weeks to do our decor selections. I'm a little nervous about that because we're not too sure what we want, and we don't want to go over by too much with our upgrades (we're allowed $10K in upgrades, we already spent $3,000 on some electrical/structural upgrades already).

I still can't believe this is our house!

I'm Too Old For This!

Time: 12:55pm
Mood: Sick & hung over!
Song of the moment: The Fray - Over My head

Happy birthday to me! I'm 27 today! Boy do I feel old... esp since I've recovering from a cold and a hang over. Not fun. I'm hopped up on Neo Citran right now, so my ramblings might not make sense.

So another year has gone by. By this time next year I'm going to be married (9 more months to plan this wedding! oh man!). My last birthday being a un-married gal has definitely been a memorable one. Last night I hit up Devil's Martini to celebrate my birthday with my birthday buddy Saloni and a whole bunch of people. I woke up with a cold yesterday morning, but I was determined to go out that night (since I had invited all these ppl to come out and celebrate with me.. I had to go!) I'm so glad my friends were able to come out to celebrate with me! I don't know how many drinks I had, although I do remember one nasty Prarie Fire shot Saloni gave me (oooh so not fun! I'm gonna have to get you back for that one Saloni!). I managed to puke twice (eww.. not fun either!).. and I remember waking up this morning at 7am and I still felt drunk. Hahaha I had way too much to drink! I'm getting to old for this. I think next year I'm going to go for something more low key.

Here are some pictures from last night (embarassing photos included). Thanks again for everyone that came out (and that didn't, because I know you guys were there in spirit!). I definitely had a blast!

I Hate Halloween

Time: 11:27pm
Mood: Sleepy
Song of the moment: The Strokes - What Ever Happened

I hate halloween. I really do.

My birthday is this coming Saturday and I really wanted to go out and celebrate it with my friends b/c last year I didn't have a chance to do that. Last year, I was in Suzhou, China.. I spent the whole day sight-seeing.. in the rain. The only good thing was I was with Jimmy. So this year I really wanted to go out and do something on my actual birthday. It's not every year your birthday lands on a Saturday. But I'm cursed.

My birthday is so close to halloween, that every alcohol-serving establishment that I like going to is celebrating halloween this weekend. Not only that, most of my friends have prior commitments to go to halloween parties. I hate competing with what is not even a national holiday.

It also sucks having people dress up like freaks for your birthday. Sure, it's fun the first couple of times.. but every year? While people have nice, fancy birthday get-togethers, I usually have a goblin-filled shin-dig.

And all that candy you get. Don't get me wrong.. I love candy.. esp those mini chocolate bars (I bought 2 bags of mini Caramilk bars the other day...)... but I've become a chocolate fiend. I got home today and demolished 5 little chocolate bars within a 2 minute span. That's disgusting.

*sigh*... ok I'm done venting...

Our Home - The Beginning

Time: 6:12pm
Mood: Excited!!
Song of the moment: The Strokes - What Ever Happened

Ohh I'm so excited! Jimmy and I went to see the progress of our house yesterday and they've layed out the beginnings of our foundation!!!

Hopefully by next week they will have the foundation poured. I think our neighbour's getting their foundation poured this weekend... so we're up next (at least I hope so!).

Actually, last weekend, we drove by there before heading to Char's housewarming party, and we got all excited because we thought they had layed out the beginnings of the foundation. We took pictures of the lot and told our friends at the party about the progress of the house. I got home that evening and decided to upload the pictures on to my computer. I looked at the pictures again and realized it wasn't our floor plan... it was our neighbours. How embarassing! hahah!

6 more months to go (I'm praying for no delay!!!)

You're Back!!!

Time: 11:10pm
Mood: Excited!
Song of the moment: John Mayer - Gravity

Ooooh I can't believe it! VW has revived my Jetta! It's not the same though.. they've made it cheap (does that equal affordable for me? hell yah!). They've labled it the "city" Jetta.

Yippee!! Those ppl at VW finally woke up and realized their newly designed model isn't selling so well. Am I going to get one? Probably not now.. but at least I know I have the option! I hope this isn't some stupid limited time bullshit :P

Hockey Fight!

As promised... here's the hockey fight video

Brutal!

Hockey!!!

Time: 11:19pm
Mood: Happy!
Song of the moment: Foo Fighters - Hero

It's hockey season again! The season officially started yesterday. Leafs lost to the Sens yesterday 4-1 but they played them again today and they won 6-0! WOOHOO! In your face Sens fans! LoL!

Last week I took Jimmy to see his first ever Leafs game. It wasn't a regular season game.. just a pre-season game, but it was still exciting! They were, again, playing the Sens. Seeing that rivarly no matter what kind of game it is is great to watch. I think you just get really caught up in the atmosphere.

Here's a video I took during the game (I love it... we all break into a "Go Leafs Go" chant! And you can hear some of Jimmy's hockey reaction-isms! hehe) and some photos :) I had a video of one of the hockey fights.. I'll upload that one soon (it's an awesome fight!)




Here's the first face-off of the game...








Watching the game w/ Jimmy :) GO LEAFS GO! :D

My New Torch

Time: 11:29pm
Mood: Sleepy
Song of the moment: John Mayer - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

I really really should sleep because I don't want a repeat of what happened on Friday! But I wanted to blog about this before I went to bed!

Flo and I went to Yorkdale on Saturday and I picked up a Creme Brulee torch set from Williams Sonoma (I had a $100 gift card... had to spend it sometime!). I've been eyeing this torch set ever since I first set foot in a WS store (that was years ago... during one of Rita and I's Boxing Day shopping trips @ Yorkville).

I used it for the first time today :) I successfuly made some really yummy creme brulee's today. I'm really happy now that I can make my favorite dessert in the comfort of my own home!!!














hm.. if you're wondering why you can't see the flame... Jimmy took too long to take the picture and I had to let go of the ignition button because my hand was getting tired! LoL!

The Day I Slept In

Time: 10:53pm
Mood: Exhausted
Song of the moment: John Mayer - Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

The day started out great. I had decided to meet Jimmy downtown for lunch. I figured, it's a Saturday, it's probably quiet at work and he would probably like some company....

I suddenly wake up. I think it's Saturday. It's not Saturday. It's Friday morning. I have to head to Detroit. It's 7:15am. SHIT it's 7:15am!! This normally wouldn't be bad but I had a meeting in Detroit at 11:00am and I had set my alarm to wake me up at 5:45am so I could leave by 6 and make it for that meeting. I jumped out of bed and I swear I managed to dash out the door in 5 minutes. As I'm driving I'm caculating in my head "ok, it takes 4 hours to get there.. it's 7:20am, so that would mean I would get there at 11:20am... 20 minutes late is not bad!" Then I hit the rush hour traffic. I quickly realized there would be no way in hell I would make it to Detroit in 4 hours (I had also failed to take into account the fact that crossing the boarder with test parts in my trunk would not be a whiz considering it took me 1h to cross the boarder last time). I quickly called up the customer to tell her I couldn't make it. She was fine with it and we had planned to reschedule the meeting. She couldn't tell me which day she was free - at the time I called her she was in the process of buckling her kids into the mini-van. She told me she would call me later and confirm a rescheduled date and time. So crisis adverted. Luckily for me, I was actually pretty close to my work place, so I drove into work.

Every time we go to Detorit my company rents cars for us to drive. We usually park and leave our cars at work while we are away. If our meetings are on a Monday, we usually rent the car on Friday and drive it for the entire weekend. Because I did not know when the reschdule date/time for my meeting was, I wasn't sure if I had to return the rental. If I had to I would have been screwed. Why? I left my car keys at home. So I freaked a little. I was praying to God my meeting would be rescheduled for a Monday instead of a Tuesday. Luckily for me, my customer said Monday was ok, so I get the car for the whole weekend.. and my company pays for the gas!

Oh I'm SO glad my day worked out!!!

I Love You John Mayer!

Time: 6:35pm
Mood: Happy (hooray of John Mayer!)
Song of the moment: John Mayer - Gravity

Went to the free John Mayer concert today w/ Jenn, Saloni, Cecilia and Jimmy :D Laura came too but she left before the concert (the poor girl felt a migrane coming on, so she dashed back to Hamtown.. poor chickie!) The concert was awesome! I bought the CD on Wednesday, had a listen and I absolutely love it! He played a bit of his old songs, a bit of his new songs. I think if it wasn't free I would have still paid to go to that concert! Here are some pics from the concert:




Here's John Mayer on stage, playing one of his smoothed-out tunes







John Mayer on the big screen @ Yonge & Dundas








The gals: Cecilia, me, Saloni & Jenn

Photographer Booked!

Time: 9:56pm
Mood: Relieved!
Song of the moment: John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change

*yay* I finally booked (or should I say re-booked) a photographer! His name is Joe Wong... to check out his website click here :D

I'm so happy with my new choice... I can finally enjoy my planning again!

I bought the new John Mayer CD the other day - Continuum. It's awesome! He's coming to Toronto for a free concert @ Dundas Square this saturday. Guess who's going..!! :D I'm excited!

Entourage!

Time: 10:49pm
Mood: Tired (it's been a long day..)
Song of the moment: Nickleback - Far Away

Omg I'm actually admitting I like a Nickleback song! Haha one of those "guilty pleasure" bands that you never admit to liking.

So over the past couple of weeks I've grown obsessed with an HBO show called Entourage. It is about one A-list movie star that brings his childhood friends along for the ride: Vince - the A-lister, Eric ("E") - the manager, Johnny Drama - the older brother, and Turtle - his personal assistant. My favorite character (and I think majority of the people that watch this show would agree) is his agent - Ari Gold. He's got the best lines ever!

I first heard about this "critically acclaimed" show from a tv station promo. A local station is planning to air episodes starting next month, but I thought I would read up on it to see what it was all about. Lo-and-behold it's already on it's third season.. so what do I do? I manage to snatch it up on BT :) Very fun show to watch.. it's like a male Sex And The City :) It really gives you an inside view on the nitty-gritty media circus that comes with being a star.

Missing My Bling

Time: 9:10pm
Mood: Less stressed than I was earlier!
Song of the moment: Ne-Yo - Sexy Love

Wow my iTunes took forever to load up! I guess it's time to reconfigure my hard drive perhaps? Or maybe I should start clearing out my hard drive.... I have 5GBs left on my C-drive :S Lucky for me Jimmy just installed a 120GB second drive in my computer (sweet! perks on having a honey working for IT! Free computer stuff!)

So I'm missing my bling. Before you jump to conclusions let me tell you why and how! Jimmy and I are getting our wedding bands made! Mines is going to fit my e-ring, so they jeweller had to take it. My wedding band is going to be encrusted with diamonds along the top half of the ring.. more bling! :D Jimmy's ring looks pretty kewls too.. modern looking :) I will take pics of them when I get them!! Because it feels weird when there is no ring on that finger, I had to buy a dummy-ring. But I couldn't go cheap.. my skin can't handle non-precious metals (thus the rash developing around my pinky finger due to my Iron Ring... I'm not taking that off.. that was 5 years of blood and sweat to get that ring!). So I blew $45 on a silver ring at one of those ring stores @ Pacific Mall.

This long weekend was pretty eventful! I went to a wedding reception as Flo's date :D hehe! It was Malaika's (an old highschool friend of ours) wedding. I havn't seen her in a while.. she looked so beautiful! Her and her new husband make such a lovely couple! And I got to see some old schoolmates I havn't seen since the last day of OAC!

I got sent down to Detroit this Tuesday. The good thing about going down after a long weekend was the fact that I had the rental all weekend long.. and my company paid for my gas :D Sucky thing was, I got stuck at the border for about an hour. It was partially due to the volume of cars and the fact that I was carrying parts over the border... I had to go into customs and pay some trucking fee. And on top of that I really had to pee. I think I did the pee-dance for an hour! haha! That wasn't fun at all! After the meeting, two of the ladies in my meeting told me to hit this mall called Somerset located in Troy, which was about a 15 min drive from where I was. They actually told me about this mall last time I met with them, and the said it was huge. They weren't kidding.. this mall was massive! Imagine a huge road, with a mall on either side of the mall, connected by a skywalk. This mall had a Macy's, Neimen Marcus, Tiffany's... you name it they had it! I walked in.. went into a total of 3 stores (I only had 30 min) and managed to spend a little $100. And I was able to sneak it past the border guard! Bonus!

I've been majorly stressing about my wedding, partially because over the last 2 months I've been second guessing my photographer. She's a great lady and all, but I feel like her style of photography didn't quite suit my taste anymore. So I went out and started interviewing more photographers. I have it narrowed down to one (which I will reveal once I book him/her... hopefully I'll send out an email tonight!). Anyway, so I called up the photographer I had booked and told her I was going to take my business elsewhere. It was by far the hardest thing I've had to do. She tried to convince me to stay with her, telling me the style I want is what she's trying to get into, but she just needs to find a client that will give her a chance. Unfortnately, I'm not the chance-taking type when it comes to my wedding. But I'm so relieved that's over and done with, and that I found myself an awesome photographer that takes photos in the style I'm looking for! On a bad note, I lost my deposit... $345...

Wow I'm going for broke!

Busy Busy Busy

Time: 4:20pm
Mood: Sleepy.. car rides make me sleepy..
Song of the moment: Angels and Airwaves - Start The Machine

I love the fact that I have a laptop.. I can blog anywhere! I'm actually sitting in the back seat of a Ford Fusion on my way back from Detroit. I had to go down for a meeting today. Lucky for me, some of my co-workers had to go down for a meeting also, so I just tagged along for the ride! It's so much better going down when you don't have to do the driving!

A lot has happened in the past week or so.... and mostly wedding related! I went to Katie & Ray's wedding on the 19th and it made me realize just how much more planning I had to do! Their wedding day went great! I'm posting some pictures below :)

I can't believe it... 11 more months to go! eeks that's freaky! I've sort of back tracked in my planning. I'm beginning to second guess my photographer. Actually I've been second guessing her for a while now, but I've put it on the backburner, hoping that this was a feeling that would just work itself out and go away. It's the only vendor I'm second guessing. So this week I finally realize this is defininely not what I want, and after getting council from friends, co-workers and the frugalbride.com message board, I need to find a new photographer pronto. I have several photographer appointments lined up this week. Man they're getting booked up fast! I guess I should be thankful I'm realizing this and doing something about it now than later!

I had such a crazy week last week.. I'm surprised I survived it! I don't know when life got so busy! Monday I had to stay late at work, Tuesday I went to Detroit for a meeting, Wednesday was the Foo Fighters concert (it was their acoustic show.. and by far one of the best concerts I've been to! The Foo's rule!!), Thursday I had a dragonboat practice - I had joined a team Flo's on. Friday I went to see Miami Vice with Jimmy and Flo, which is by far the WORST movie I've ever seen! It felt like it would never end! And there were too many sexy shower scenes! hahha!

Anyway, here are some photos :)

The Job Dilemma

Time: 10:48pm
Mood: Confused
Song of the moment: Jessica Simpson - A Public Affair

I guess I need your opinion:

Would you rather have a shit job but work w/ great people, or have a great job but work w/ shit people?

*sigh*

I havn't gotten a job offer.. I havn't even had the interview. My interview is tomorrow morning. I guess we'll see... but if I get the job offer I don't know what to do...

Camping In My Own Room

Time: 7:06pm
Mood: yeah.. I'm totally PMS-ing today...
Song of the moment: Justin Timberlake - SexyBack

I can't get this stupid song out of my head. It's such a horrible song, but I can't get enough of it. I guess it's like watching a train wreck.... horrifying but you have to watch. Damn you friggin' addictive song!

So last night, I'm lying in bed watching Arrested Development episodes on my bed when I look up at the ceiling and I see this wasp in my room. Yes.. a wasp. I freaked! My room is slowly becoming a haven for unwanted buggies. They are all coming in through this hole I have in the wire mesh screen I have covering my window.

The hole is actually a story on it's own. It's been there for 5 years and I've been asking my dad to fix it for the past 5 years. So 5 years ago I wake up to some strange metal knawing noise. I look out my window and I see this squirrel latched on to my wire screen, chewing a hole in it. I didn't want to jump up and scare the sucker fearing it would jump off the window and fall 2 storeys to his death. So I quietly snuck up and just rapped on the window softly. The thing got scared and scurred off (I never knew squirrels could scale brick walls... strange!).

So I still have this hole. The wasp is definitely the last straw. I ran out of my room, completely freaked out and called my dad to kill it for me (haha I'm such a baby!). *sigh* I hope I a new screen soon.. I really feel like I'm camping in my own room :S

I really wanted to write about my long weekend last week but I was just so busy! Friday I headed out to Honest Lawyer for Catherine's birthday. It was awesome because I got to see some people I havn't seen in ages (esp Bryan! I hadn't seen him in years!). Catherine ended up puking.. which signifies a successful b-day celebration! LoL!

On Saturday, I bought my dress!! *yay*!! I brought along Flo, Jenn, my mom and her best friend Rosie to see the dress. I'm so happy I bought my dress!! They ordered it last week.. it should be in sometime in January! It was kewls.. while there I bumped into someone Flo and I went to elementry school with! She was working at the bridal store! We found out she has been married for 2 years and she's several months pregnant! Wow! I always like bumping into people from my past.. just to see how they've changed :) That night I headed out w/ the Taiwan Crew for dinner & drinks b/c Masa's back for a couple of weeks visiting. At dinner I bumped into my Mac friend Alex and his twin Andrew. haha this whole weekend was just about bumping into people!

This weekend was pretty eventful too :) I got to spend some much needed time w/ my sister (she's been home most weekends but we've hardly had a chance to hang out b/c of our busy schedules.. so it was definitely nice!). Her bf bought her a Nintendo DS, so we stayed up 'til 4:30am playing Super Mario Brothers on friday night. Hahah! Hilarous thing was, I didn't even realize Jimmy had gone to bed (I thought he got up to use the bathroom!) and it was only when our mom came into the room and told us what time it was we realized how long we were really playing for! haha!

This week is going to be pretty crazy... I have a job interview Wednesday morning (w/ an old company I did a co-op term w/... it's a research job!! oh wish me luck!), Thursday is Katie (Jimmy's sister) & Ray's wedding rehersal, Friday is when Rita leaves for Turkey and I want to see her off at the airport, and Saturday is Katie & Ray's wedding! Wowza!

Andy Warhol

Time: 6:47pm
Mood: Wired
Song of the moment: Darren Hayes - Feel

First week back from work and I must say.. Thank God It's Friday! LoL! Lucky for me this week went by pretty fast. Things were pretty crazy at work. Maybe that's why it flew! :D And it definitely helps knowing this is a long weekend.. next week is going to be a short week! Hooray for that!!

This past Wednesday Jimmy and I took a trip down to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) to check out the Andy Warhol exhibit. Rita managed to get me free tickets by filling out a questionare online, and since Wednesday nights at the AGO are free, I didn't have to pay anything to see the pop-art icon's work. I don't think Jimmy and I have ever been to the AGO before (we're not too cultured are we? haha) so it was a nice first for the both of us. I must say, I didn't know too much about Warhol and his work (beside the recognizable multi-print paintings of famous people such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Jackie O and Liz Taylor. But after seeing his work I am definitely a fan. I loved the theme of his work, how he tied fame to tragedy and made them interchangeable. Ideas like this of course has been around long before Warhol, but his ability to express it in the form of art is absolutely remarkable. Jimmy said the funniest thing when we left the exhibit... he said "There really is a fine line between art and porn, huh?" LoL!

I'm planning to buy my dress tomorrow!! I'm so excited!!

1 More Year!

Time: 3:39pm
Mood: Relaxed (do I have to go back to work nxt week?)
Song of the moment: The Killers - When You Were Young

I'm so excited... 1 more year 'til Jimmy and I's wedding!

Ahh 1 more year to plan... eeks!!

The "Beyond-My-Budget" Dress

Time: 11:49pm
Mood: Excited and exhausted (from wedding stuff)
Song of the moment: Angels and Airwaves - The Adventure

I decided to take this week off to do a whole whack of wedding stuff with Rita (since she will be leaving middle of August and won't be back until a month before my wedding...boo to her! haha). I had booked a bunch of cake tastings and dress shop appointments on my quest to find THE dress. Funny enough, I think I found THE dress on the first day of dress shopping. It was the first dress shop we went to since last year (we went once.. and that store has since closed. eeks this bridal world is competitive!). I had tried on a bunch of dresses up to this point and I was down to the last one I had chosen off the rack. When I saw it, I thought it wasn't that great, but I was up for trying any dress (because you never know). I put it on and...

I always hear stories about people knowing when they have found THE dress. I thought it was a bunch of bull-crap.

I can tell you now that it's not. It's all true! I put on that dress and.. wow... it was absolutely beautiful! I would post up a picture of it, but I'm afraid Jimmy might sneak a peek (I know he won't.. but why risk the temptation? haha). I want it.. but the only problem is... it's beyond my budget. It's $1250. My budget is $1000. Yeah.. that's over. Ok some of you are thinking... well it's only $250 more! $250 compared to the $30K you will be spending on the wedding. If I thought this for every item in my wedding, my wedding would be $40K and Jimmy and I would have to live in a box! LoL!

I found the same dress on eBay for $715 (brand new)... w/ shipping, taxes and duty.. I would say it would work out to be about $950. But I'm iffy about buying stuff on eBay. Oh what do I do? I LOVE that dress... it's THE dress... *sigh*

I have been shopping around.. every day this week I've been to a dress shop. But after trying on that dress, everything looks like garbage on me. I'm not impressed w/ anything. Nothing gave me the feeling I got when I tried on THE dress. Well, one I tried on today kinda gave me that feeling... but I don't even remember what it looks like ne more (partially b/c I don't have a picture of it).

I want that dress......

Boston Pix

I thought I would share some photos of our trip :)





Road trippin'!






Jenn & I @ the Harpoon Brewery tour (I use the word tour loosely)






Fenell Market





Um.. I forgot what this building was.. I guess I was too busy taking pictures and not listening to our "tour guide" (which was Bashar holding a guide book... haha!)







"Cheers"!









The gang @ Fenway Park (on the Green Monster)






@ the beach on Deer Island




For more pics click here

Beantown

Time: 11:27am
Mood: Bored.. cuz I'm @ work
Song of the moment: Keane - Bad Dream

Different day, same kinda crap. Can you believe I have nothing to do... again? I'm trying to be proactive but I think I've pushed the limits for this job. I even went to Ikea this morning for breakfast (hooray for $1 breakfast!). Really there is only so much I can do and I have exhausted all pathways that lead to more work. Oh what the hell am I going to put on my timesheet?

So this long weekend I took a much needed trip away from the city to Boston. I headed down with the gang (Jimmy, Saloni and Jenn). This was my 3rd trip there and by far this was the funnest time. Possibly because the first time I went to Boston I went with my parents, and the second time it was a school trip. We decided to leave early Saturday early morning at 4am. We figured we would not hit any border traffic that early but man were we wrong! We must have waited 1h at the border! It took us roughly 10hrs of driving to get there. Poor Saloni drove the entire way! When we got to Boston, we met up with Bashar and his friend Neil @ the hotel, then off to downtown Boston we went! The first thing we did (besides eat lunch) was go on a brewery tour. Bashar called this the best brewery tour he's ever been on and I would have to agree with him. The tour started off with you going into a room with a glass wall and a bar. Beyond the glass wall was the fermenters. We took a look at the fermenters through the glass wall, then proceeded to the bar for our "sample" of beer. We got a 15 min talk about the beer, and more drinking. All free. Awesome! Can't beat free beer!! :D After that we walked around the city, did half the Freedom Trail (it is this path marked by two rows of red bricks that takes you around to different historical sites in Boston), and ended the night at The Barking Crab for some good seafood and of course, clam chowder!

The next day we took a tour of Fenway Park. When I went to ask this guy working there how much the tour costs, he asked me if I was 14 & under. LOL do I really look that young? That was by far my laugh for the day! haha! the Fenway Park tour was pretty good! We got to sit up on the Green Monster (Jimmy even defaced it... he wrote "Jimmy was here, July 2, 2006". The tour guide caught him and accused him of being a Yankees fan.. which was funny b/c he's neither a Bo-Sox or Yanks fan...haha jokes on him!). After our Fenway tour we hit up Newberry St for some well deserved shopping. Pretty sad.. the guys bought more than the gals :S What are the chances of that happening! But we made up for it the next day when we hit up Bath and Body Works :D

The last day we were there we went up to Deer Island and chilled on the beach. Too bad I didn't bring a bathing suit cuz the weather was perfect! I really want to live in Boston now! So much to do. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side...

Sucked.. I was the only one that had to work the next day. Boo for me!

Ooh lunchtime! :D

Heading to Beantown!

Time: 11:27am
Mood: Bored
Song of the moment: Keane - Bad Dream

Wow streching work is tough! haha! I've been doing that all morning :S I'm tempted to go to Ikea and buy myself a nice plant for my desk (since I'm by a window my plant has a higher chance of lasting more than a month! haha).

The first long weekend of the summer is coming up and I am really looking forward to it b/c I'm actually going somewhere! *yay*! Bashar is in the Boston area right now, and initially the usual gang was going to go down at meet him, but things came up and some of us have to work this weekend. That sucked royally! Anyway, I still wanted to go to Boston b/c a) Haven't seen Bashar in a while, and b) I need to get out of town (going to Detroit on business did not count... who would want to vacation in Detroit?). I managed to recruit Saloni and Jenn to go this weekend! Quite the last minute trip! haha! We've booked the hotel and rental car, but I'm stuck on one thing. It takes 9hrs to get there, and obviously we want to make the best of our weekend so we're leaving Friday evening. Now here's where it gets tricky. Should we leave at around 8pm, drive until midnight, crash at some town, then get up the next morning and drive to Boston OR start driving at around 12am and drive straight there OR get some sleep, leave at 4am and drive there? I'm not sure what I want to do. I think if I was younger, I would have chosen the second route (most craziest one, but then again back then I loved doing crazy stuff like that). Now that I'm older, and factor in the fact that I am going to be working all day Friday. hm.. What to do? The goal of this trip is to make it as cheap but fun as possible. Hm.. that's something to discuss with everyone tonite. Ooh I can't wait! The last time I went to Boston was... when I was in Grade 10? That was quite some time ago!

Yesterday Jimmy and I had our first house decor appointment with our builder. I didn't really know what to expect and I wasn't sure how our consultant was going to be like. It was so much fun! I guess partially it was because our consultant made it fun. Our first appointment focused more on the electrical, plumming and structural upgrades/changes we wanted to make. We've spent about $3900 out of the $10000 in upgrades that we get. We still have our second appointment where we get to choose our decor (like tiles and counter tops). I have a feeling we're going to go over.. but meh! haha! I can't wait for our second appointment though!

An update on the wedding plans: Jimmy and I finally chose and booked a DJ! hooray! It was pretty tough! We opted to go w/ the more expensive DJ, but we're very happy with our choice! Next step - find a dress... and a cake maker! ooh I can't wait to try all those yummy cakes!

Eeks! No post for June yet?

Time: 11:00am
Mood: Happy
Song of the moment: Keane - Crystal Ball

I was flipping through my friends blogs today and I thought I would just see when my last post was...man I haven't posted for June yet? :S

Things have been pretty busy lately. My parents took off to Alaska/Yukon/BC for 3 weeks (they're not going on a cruise... they're doing the whole driving around, hiking, camping stuff.. yeah.. my parent's are your typical Chinese parents!) Jimmy has been staying w/ me to keep my company and to help me around the house. There is so much to do when it comes to upkeeping a house! It's exhausting! :S So this is what is to come eh? eeks!

We recently moved offices @ work.. so now I work closer to the mall.. and an IKEA! Woohoo!! I really got go there one morning for their $1 breakfast! Mmm cheap food! Can't beat a nice breakfast for $1! There are pros and cons to my new office. Pros: it's new, it's clean and my desk is right by a huge window (it's great.. and distracting!). Cons: takes me 5 mins longer to get to work, 15 mins longer to get home, I hit crazy traffic both directions AND I have to keep driving back to my old office location because that's where the lab is. I usually try to scam my way into finishing my day off at the old office location. Saves me a good 15 mins when I have to leave!

It's strange. With this new office, we are sitting in cubicals, yet I find my coworkers and I socialize more. I guess that makes work more enjoyable :) We even have a soccer office pool going (which I joined! I don't know much about soccer but I'm not doing too bad! I know I'm not going to win... but meh! It's fun trash-talking everyone! hahha). We talk about soccer CONSTANTLY. And convieniently, we work just down the road from this stadium bar. It's great because we can totally just sneak off to watch the game there, meanwhile people at the office just assume we are at one of our plants or at the lab.. haha :D

Wedding plans have been going alright. I'm trying to book a DJ now... it's tough! I'm torn between 2! :S I want to make a decision by this weekend. Planning stress has eased up a little now that Rita's back *yay*! She came over the other night and she helped me conjure up ideas. It was fun! So much to do while she is here though.. I even booked a week off in July to do wedding stuff w/ her.

Exciting.. next week Jimmy and I have our first out of 2 decor planning appointments with our home builder! This appointment we are choosing electrical and structural options. *woohoo!*

Strike Strike Strike!

Time: 7:29pm
Mood: Icky (It's so hot!)
Song of the moment: Keane - Is It Any Wonder

Woah momma! It was a whopping 36°C outside when I left work today. The humidity almost killed me! If this is spring weather, I am really not looking forward to the temperatures summer will bring :S Eks!

So the big news for today was the TTC strike. These are times where I'm glad I'm not dependent on public transportation. I mean, I would take it if I could, but it's really inconveinient for me to take public transit. It's only good if you work downtown. Then again, I didn't get the day off like Jimmy did. He had no way of getting to work.. stood outside waiting for a bus for 20 min before calling it quits. Haha he was going to call home to tell his parents but ended up calling my house instead. I was wondering who was calling at 6:30am! Woke up my dad! lol!

I have to say this weekend was quite eventful. It included a movie (X-Men... pretty good!), clubbing @ Seven, and a trip to Port Perry. The trip to Port Perry was unexpected. Jimmy and I drove to Oshawa on Sunday to book a limo service for our wedding (Southport Executive Services Inc.... I'm so happy we booked w/ them! I was tempted to book a Bentley too... haha). Anyway, the guy we were dealing w/ told us about this wedding store in Port Perry, which was not too far from where we were. So Jimmy and I decided to check it out. When we got there, the store was closed, so we decided to head to downtown Port Perry for lunch. Their downtown area was like Main St. Unionville.. very small town feel to it. We stopped by a little cafe for lunch.. The Piano Cafe. After lunch we took a stroll by the lake. It was a really nice afternoon!

So yeah.. one more thing booked for our wedding! *yay*! And I signed up for marriage classes. Next task - find a DJ! :D

Beautiful Day

Time: 9:00pm
Mood: Full... going.. into.. food.. coma..
Song of the moment: U2- Beautiful Day

What an awesome day! It was like 30°C outside today. Nice sunny, slightly breezy day. I love days like today!

Jimmy and I went to play our first squash game today. I kicked his ass :D But in his defense, it was his first time playing. I'm sure he'll get good really soon... haha! It was so much fun! But I'm definitely out of shape.. I got dizzy after our first match point :S

Since it was such a beautiful day, Jimmy and I decided to BBQ our dinner outside on my brand new deck. My parents had a new deck made in our back yard... it's bigger than our old deck. BBQ-ing our dinner was totally spontaneous, so we didn't have any BBQ foods. So I went out to get some food while Jimmy set up the BBQ. I ended up going to T&T (closest grocery store to me... Rita calls it "Tit & Tit" hahah). Man.. T&T SUCKS ASS!! Fine it's ok if you're looking for Chinese food, but if you're looking for "white" food.. good luck! The bloody place doesn't sell burgers! *grr* curse you Chinese ppl! I shake my fist at you!! So I call Jimmy to rant, and he told me to check out Shoppers. I did, and to my surprise they sold burgers AND buns! Another reason to love Shoppers... another reason to hate Chinese supermarkets.

I'm so excited... I managed to get tickets to see the Foo Fighters concert in August @ the Hummingbird Center. I think it's an acoustic show.. Awesome! I'm going to Kathy :D I'm so glad I have a sister that loves the same bands as me! Hooray! :D

Starvation

Time: 7:00pm
Mood: Excited (I just had another bright idea for my wedding! *yay*)
Song of the moment: Modest Mouse - Float On (it's playing on my iTunes)

I never bring enough food to work. No matter how many snacks I bring to work, I always end up rationing my food just so it can last me through the day. Ok I lied. I don't vary the amount of snacks I bring to work, I actually end up bringing the same snacks each day, knowing fully that it will not last me through the day. I guess it could be because of the lack of snack selection I have at home. My parents aren't big snackers. They have like trail mix, seeds, nuts, both in loose and bar form. What they call "healthy" snacks. But I want junk, so that stuff doesn't appeal to me. My parents tell me to buy my own snacks. I do, but I either get yelled at because of the trans fats content, or I end up eating.. maybe 50% of it. Who takes the other 50%? My parents... more specifically my dad. I think the way my parents see it is this: buying junkfood is bad. Eating it is bad, but buying it is even worse. Since I've covered the greater of two evils, eating it isn't all the bad.

So back to this whole business about not bringing enough snacks. By the end of the day I am absolutely starving. To minimize the starving-effect, I've planned it so I have my last snack at around 4:30, half an hour before I leave for work. It kills the hunger pains for the ride home, but the moment I get home, I snack like there is no tomorrow.. and I completely ruin my appetite for dinner.

So what's the solution here? I bring the same amount of snacks, I end up starving by the end of the day (and possibly ruin my dinner due to all the snacking I do when I get home). If I opt to bring more snacks, I have to buy my own snacks, potentially loosing half of it to my parents, which will lead me back to square one. I've tried to store snacks at work, but then I over-indulge and I eat all of it (I have no self control!!). Not to mention the fact that several weeks ago I had this small cockroach crawl across my desk. That was discusting. And that has discouraged me from storing food for prolong periods of time in my desk. I feel as if I'm destined to starve....

And Time.. Goes By.. So Slowly..

Time: 3:16pm
Mood: Blah (I'm @ work.. explains it all)
Song of the Moment: Mobile - New York Minute

I'm beginning to find time drags. Especially at work. Work has been slow over the past 2 months. Either I have become super efficient, or I just don't have much to do. I'm banking on the latter. I've been feeling sluggish lately, partially because I've been sick for 3 weeks. I hate the fact that it takes me so damn long to get better when I do get sick. It's also due to the lack of exercise. Who likes exercising when they're sick anyway?

I went on a mad man-hunt last week for a place to play squash. I've been wanting to get back into playing squash for quite some time now. It's either I pay for a gym membership, or I pay for a membership to a squash court. I rather go with the squash court. Why? I've been looking for an activity that Jimmy and I could do together that's fun. He's not big on gyms, and I've asked him on a number of occasions to take a ballroom dancing class with me (from which he answered with an unenthusiastic "uh.....*sigh*... fine...", which translates to "no.. but if you want to... we can" hahha. Anyway, I managed to find a court that's close by! hooray! I'm quite excited!

I've been keeping myself busy with wedding plans. I think about the wedding every single day. I feel like I'm obsessed! This month I've managed to book my florist (Fran.. she was so sweet when Jimmy and I met her! And definitely an amazing florist!) and my hair/make-up stylist. I put down deposits for both on the same day (I did a "deposit" run :D hehe). So excited! We're going to book the limo service this weekend... and hopefully a DJ by next month. I feel like I've snowballed into this huge world of planning weddings. It's crazy, overwhelming at times, but fun! I can't wait til Rita comes back... dress shopping & cake tasting! Woohoo!!

.... 1 1/2 hours of work to go. Will I make it? Stay tuned and find out....

Another Reason To Hate Office Politics

Time: 4:24pm
Mood: Sleepy...
Song of the moment: Mobile - Tomorrow Starts Today (the whole CD!)

So I'm sitting at work... blah. It's been really slow. I guess I can't complain b/c when it gets busy, it get CRAZY busy. I'm trying to keep myself busy but damn it's hard. This is the problem w/ working in the automotive industry... it's either super busy, or super dull... nothing really in between. I really need a job that just has steady work. It keeps me interested. Right now, I'm just bored w/ my job.. and I feel like I'm not really moving ne where (I'm not really learning anything new... I think I've reached my learning curve pinacle).

I found out recently about a R&D job opening within my company and it's pretty much what I want to do. It sounds like an awesome job. The lab manager I work closely with was nice enough to recommend me for the job. I even sent in my resume. But there is one huge problem: Office politics. Apparently the guy looking for a new R&D engineer is afraid that if he was to offer me the position, management that I currently work under won't be too happy, because essentially he would be "stealing" me away from their department. That sucks. I hate the fact that an opportunity will be missed because of the ever-so-dreadful office politics. I feel stuck. I know one way or another, I will be leaving this position eventually. I really like my company (the people are awesome) but the job I have is not one that I want. I hope at least I'll be considered for the job, but I have a feeling it's a long shot for that to happen.

This weekend has felt really long and I'm still recovering from it. I went to Char's bachelorette party this weekend. We went to Easy and the Fifth. Man I havn't been clubbing in so long :S By the end of the night, my knees were killing me, and I couldn't walk properly (when I got home I almost fell over when I was talking off my shoes! haha). It was fun w/ the girls :D We spent the entire night checking out cute guys :D Hooray for eye-candy :D the bouncer.... looked exactly like Paul Kariya! hehe! Us girls are so silly!

So the countdown officially begins..1 more year until the house closes!! YAY! That is... if there are no delays (I pray there aren't any!). Oh I can't wait! My parents are driving me up the wall!! :S

The Days I Hate

Time: 12:29pm
Mood: Cranky
Song of the moment: The Killjoys - Today I Hate Everyone

My song of the moment says it all...

I'm having the crappiest day ever. I'm not having a typical "everything is going wrong" day... I'm having a "everything is bugging the living shit outta me" day. And those days are the worst. Today I can't seem to take a joke, or maybe it appears that way. I've had joke-type insults thrown at me today, and normally I shoot them back a joke-type insult, but for today, for some f-ed up reason they come across as being defensive. And then people say "hey.. I'm only kiddin!". *grr*. That pisses me off.. even more so than I already am.

Everything is annoying me. I feel unmotivated. I hate today.

Something I Should Do More Often...

Time: 6:05pm
Mood: Silly (*yay* 4 day work week!)
Song of the moment: Aerosmith - Rag Doll (it just popped in my head.. outta nowhere!)

I really should blog more often. The strangest things happen to me, and when I go to blog I usually discover I have 5-10 stories I want to write about. And I admit it.. I'm just too damn lazy to write about them all. And I'm sure you, the reader, would probably get scared off by the length of my entries. So let's just stick to 3 stories today:

Phantom Lunch Date
I had to drive down to Detroit again for a 20 minute meeting with GM (those are so not fun!). So basically it's a 4h drive there, stay there for 20 minutes, then 4h back home. I left pretty early in the morning so I would arrive on time for the 2pm meeting. I got into Michigan around 12:00 and decided to stop for lunch. Since the company was paying for my lunch, I decided that my company should treat me to a nice Japanese lunch.

The restaurant was actually run by Japanese people, not like our Toronto Chinese-owned-Japanese restaurant. So right there I was thinking it's going to be as close to authentic as it can get. WRONG! They brought me green tea in a glass cup. Anyway, I looked at the menu and noticed that they offered a Bento box lunch, but it did not say what was in it. I kindly asked the waitress, and she brought out this replica of what the box contained. I was sold. So I ordered that. So I'm sitting there waiting for my yummy Bento box, when the waitress comes out w/ miso soup, salad and 12 maki rolls. I was thinking "Sweet! This meal is going to be awesome!". By the time my Bento box came I was full, but I continued to eat anyway.

I was cutting it close, so I asked for the bill. I got the bill and to my surprise I had 2 extra items on my bill that I know I did not order. I guess someone ordered me those 12 extra rolls. I wasn't too happy. It was an additional $10 to my bill. I called the waitress over and asked her about it. She said I had ordered it, but I was pretty sure I said "Just the Bento box please!". Then the manager came over. I tried to reason with him at this point. So I say to him "Buddy.. look at me. I'm this skinny little Chinese girl. Why would I order so much food knowing I can't finish it?" I also told him I thought the 12 rolls came w/ the lunch (which is true... but I did find that a bit odd). He finally agrees with me, telling me "You are right, you shouldn't be charged for something you didn't order. I'll go adjust the bill". So... alright! I get the bill back and to my dismay, the manager only took off $1.50. CHEAPASS! The waitress, realizing it was her fault, came over to apologize. At this point, I was really cutting it close and was willing to pay the bill and leave (after all, it's not on my tab! If it was, it would be a totally different story!). The waitress insisted on talking to the manager again to get all the extra charges removed from my bill. So, again the bill was taken from me and readjusted. The manager comes back with the bill and says to me "Sorry about that, I realized that I did not compensate you enough for our mistake". The dude took off $4.50. Fearing I was going to be late for my meeting, I just paid the bill and left.

What I don't understand is, he admitted they made a mistake, yet I still had to pay. I'm never going back to that restaurant again!

Creepy Comment
During the course of my day I usually have to walk from my desk to the lab approximately 5 times a day. Sometimes I take a shortcut and walk through the production plant. On occasion there is this floor worker that bugs the crap outta me. Every time I see him, he usually tells me I have to take him out for Chinese food (as a joke.. but it's geting old if you ask me). Once he even went out of his way to block the exit I was going out of with this massive crate, and refused to move it until I promised him I would take him out for Chinese food. Eesh!

So today, I was walking through the plant and I spot that floor worker walking towards me. He had one of those scanning guns used to track inventory (I guess... I donno!). He points the gun at me and moves it up and down. Then he says to me "I'm scanning you from top to bottom" EWW CREEPY!!! I guess it's both hilarous, but just down right creepy, all at the same time. The things I have to go through during the day... hahah

My Addiction
I bought Kingdom Hearts II last Saturday and I'm hooked. I have been waiting for this game for God knows how long. It's got me.. hook, line and sinker. Dammit!

Out Of The Blue

Time: 1:00pm
Mood: ..bored..
Song of the moment: Mobile - Out Of My Head

Saturday afternoon and I'm all alone :( Jimmy had to work this weekend... and will be working Saturday's for the rest of this month. I guess it allows me to catch up on some "me" time.

I would say it has been a pretty busy month for me, thus the lack of blog entries. I've just got so much going on it makes my head spin! Since my last blog entry, I've been whipped up in the world of home decor, wedding planning and birthday get-togethers.

Home decor has been.. quite the challenge. What I've learned from this whole experience is that I can't colour co-ordinate for crap. Luckily we brought along Flo and Kin during our first visit (yes.. there was more than one! haha) and they helped us out a lot. There's just so much! Counters, floors, cabinets, carpets, hardwood floor... :S As frustrating as it was, it was also fun! Jimmy and I still have time, our appointments were we actually tell the builder exactly what we want isn't for another 2 months or so. But we did choose our potential brick colours (the default brick colour they gave us was ugly.. it was this salmon pink colour! yuck!)

Wedding planning is going. Our goal was to find a photographer by the end of March and I think we have an idea of who we're going with. Just have to actually book the person now! I had a complete spaz attack a couple of weeks ago, curtesy of frugalbride.com. This girl that has the EXACT same wedding date as me had listed all the things that she has done so far and for flips sake, all she has to do is send out the invitations! I feel so behind! But then again, knowing my nature, if I book everything now, I'm probably going to regret it in a couple of months. As long as I book everything BEFORE the wedding I'm good right? haha!

Speaking of weddings and the title of my entry today, I recently received an email from an old elementry school friend of mines with a simple message: "I'm getting married!". This girl and I used to be best friends in elementry school, but we drifted apart around the 8th grade, and throughout highschool we spoke on occasion. I havn't spoken to her in a long time, so to get this email from her was a wonderful surprise. I wrote her back to her, congratulating her and told her about my upcoming wedding. She wrote me back and told me she wanted to invite me to her wedding. I was absolutely touched. Even after all this time, she still considers me a good friend.

It feels great to know that I still have personal ties with my childhood. Life really catches up to you as you get older and I find it's so easy to forget that you were once a kid. Old friends definitely have a way of allowing you to re-live some of the most precious moments in your life. I'm glad that out of the blue moment has made me realize how lucky I am.

My First Business Trip

Time: 10:46pm
Mood: Sleepy (it's been a long day..)
Song of the moment: Fall Out Boy - Dance Dance

I'm on my first business trip! Ok fine.. it's not glamorous.. I'm just outside Detroit. I must say, Detroit is kinda ghetto. But I'm in a nice area so it's alright :D So I'm sitting in my hotel room right now on this KING sized bed, with my work laptop actually on my lap (ok it's not ON my lap.. it's on a "lap desk" that's sitting on my lap! haha), hooked up to the hotel's free wireless internet access, and watching Miami Ink :D Excellent! Do I really have to go to that training session tomorrow? haha!

It's been a crazy day. I tried to get out of the office early but I got bombarded right after lunch :S wtf? haha! Finally left the office around 3-ish. Luckily I wasn't driving by myself (I came down with a co-worker) cuz by the time we crossed the boarder, it was dark. I'm telling you, driving around Detroit at night is sketchy! We arrived at 8:15, checked into the hotel and I managed to sneak into the mall before it closed and do a bit of shopping @ VS :D Excellent! I didn't spend too much.. don't wanna get hit w/ crazy duty and taxes when I get back :S Then we headed out for some dinner. We went to this Japanese Tappenyaki place... not as good as the ones in Toronto but meh! I had steak :D I was the only Asian there that wasn't working there! hahaha! Hilarous!

Anyway, almost time for bed.. gotta get up early tomorrow! Hehe it's fun expensing stuff :D