It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This weekend was pretty amazing. Friday night, Colin and I finally busted into season one of "Californication" which I have to say, is even better then I could have expected. Seriously, my life has been incomplete until Hank came into my life to fill it with sarcastic banter.

Saturday night we hit up our dear Winks for some pitchers with Darcy. I love that Darcy comes out with us now!As usual our walk home was hilarious, I really think we should pitch our walk home to a reality producer, not just because it would be a lot more entertaining then anything Heidi and Spencer do, but because a side from laughing I never remember a whole lot from the walk from the bar to our front door and wouldn't mind someone filming it.
Sunday evening, we started to make our own Christmas traditions. I baked lots of whipped shortbread cookies, and we decorated the tree while watching "Fred Claus" and listening to christmas music! The whole time we were decorating, I couldn't stop smiling, I felt like I was glowing brighter then the tree! A very fine start to the Christmas season if I do say so myself!

I wanted to make sure Colin felt like it was his tree too. I picked up this Red Sox ornament in the summer and managed to keep it a secret and hide it all this time!

And baby you can have whatever you want...

Today was a pretty fantastic day! I found myself a brand new job, and one that I will actually enjoy, and one that will actually make me feel like getting up and going to work everyday! Anyway, starting Tuesday December 1st I will officially start training to become a bridal gown consultant! I am so excited! After all the time I spent working on wedding stuff with my mom, and then for Steph last year, it is something I really have a great time doing. I am really looking forward to helping women prepare for one of the most exciting day of their lives obviously I am sure I will cross a bridezilla or two, but with the experience that MED gave me, I am pretty sure I am more than prepared, to deal with their worst! For the most part, I am excited for the tears of joy when they find what they are looking for!
The best part is that the job is full time, and downtown! If nothing else this job will at least be something enjoyable to do before Colin and I make our move to Toronto, who knows, maybe I will love it so much, I will transfer to another store in Toronto, so I can work while I go back to school. Things feel so good!

You know I'm not gonna diss you on the internet Cause my mama taught me better than that

I don't know about you, but November seems to always be the most annoying month, it is the time when you are waiting for December and the real Christmas season to begin, and really NOTHING happens in November. Now that the weather seems to be headed for lower more seasonal temperatures, I am determined to find things to keep me from heading down the seasonal depression/ totally crazy inside my own head, road that so many find themselves at this time of year (and then again in January once all the Holiday hoopla dies down.) I need a new hobby for when I hibernate in doors...so I am on a mission...anyone have any ideas? ha ha.

Also, totally unrelated but a little while ago I came across a cover of T.I's "Whatever you want" by Anya Marina and thought it was amazing, today I found it again, and as I listened to the cover over and over and over again, I also started to listen to her other songs. I am not sure what it is, but there is something about her voice and the music that I just find addictive. I think you should check it out, if nothing else T.I's cover is rad-tastic.

http://hypem.com/#/artist/anya+marina

We all have someone that digs at us, At least we dig each other

Friday night, we had Jen and Kevin over to see our place, have a few drinks (Jen brought the most amazing wine as a housewarming gift.) and then we headed down to Bertoldi's for dinner. Dinner was amazing! I decided to try a new pasta dish, it was a spicy marinara sauce with shrimp over linguine. It was amazing, and not so spicy that you don't enjoy it.

After dinner, we were having too much fun to end the evening so at Jen's suggestion, we went to symposium for some Cheesecake and alcoholic treats. I ordered the blueberry tea, it had amaretto and some other liqueurs in it. The way it was described on the menu sounded so nice, so relaxing. The reality however, was not, it was very gross ha ha. I didn't finish it!

Saturday Colin headed to Toronto with Darcy, and I went to Shauna's for her housewarming party. It was so nice to have a girls night that included learning way too much about some of the ol' MED crew while playing "never have I ever" and two noise complaints. The second complaint was followed by the MED fighters at their best, making the landlord slink back awkwardly saying "sorry I don't want to ruin your night" after he had come in guns blazing! Another win for the ladies. It was a fantastic night!
*side note, we really weren't being loud at all!

Sunday, I prepared my best tween scream and headed out to see New Moon with Jenny and Tina. The movie was defiantly a step up from Twilight, but still had some pretty cheesy CGI moments. I was also excited to see so many girly movies coming out in the near future...which means more dates with the ladies! When I got home, Colin was home, we ordered some Pizza and hung out sharing stories from our weekends, and believe me there were some Dozzies! Then laid around singing old 90's songs and making each other laugh. We also got a really sweet message from Joanne, telling Colin that she and Jen were talking and they have never seen him so happy and how amazing it is for your soul when you find the right person!! That made my heart very happy, as you can imagine. I am looking forward to hanging out with them again soon, we have a lot in common so it makes hanging out fun!

The waves keep on crashing on me for some reason But your love keeps on coming like a thunderbolt

The last few days have been amazing. Wednesday night Colin and I went out for cheap beer and wings, expecting it to be a pretty quiet night, but then we ran into Dally. The night turned into a pub crawl and a dance fest at...wait for it....Jim Bobs...I know, I know not somewhere I EVER like to be, but after Crabby Joes, Poachers, The Richmond Tavern, and Jacks, I no longer cared where we went, plus it was the only place we could get our dance on in the middle of the week! It was a blast, I enjoyed hanging out with Dally and his date, it is very rare that Colin and I actually like the WHOLE couple when we hang out with people. Thursday we decided to take the day off and just hang out together. Colin made pancakes as we waited for the UPS guy to deliver his new phone and celebrated our hangovers together. It was a surprisingly productive day, we hit the town later on and picked up the package waiting at the post office for Colin (Californication FINALLY CAME) we also got our Christmas cards! We had a much needed nap, had some dinner and watched the Office. I had been hearing that The Office had been sucking, but since I only started watching it religiously last year, I didn't know the difference, but after immersing ourselves in season 2 and 3 I know now, that they should have ended that show along time ago, now they are just running it into the ground. Tonight, we are having Jen and Kevin over for a few drinks, to show off our place, and then hitting Bertoldi's for dinner! Tomorrow Colin heads to Toronto with Darcy and I am headed to Shauna's for her housewarming/ladies night - I am pretty excited! Sunday I get to act like a 14 year old girl when I go with the girls to see "New Moon"! So it seems that some really great days are going to be followed by some more awesomness!

* are you curious about the picture? It looks like my lotus tattoo which also matches the lotus on Colins half sleve...before you start rolling your eyes at the cliche of matching tattoos know that we both inked these before we knew the other one existed ha ha.

I lost myself in a familiar song I closed my eyes and I slipped away

Last night we went to Rainbow and saw "The men who stare at Goats". It was defiantly an odd movie, but with a title like that, I wasn't expecting anything different. Either way, I enjoyed it! After the movie we came home and got ready for the week... a nice little Sunday indeed, then woke up at 3:30 am to the music from the girl in the apartment below us. This was day two that I couldn't sleep because she literally BLASTS her music and tired Jena is not someone you want to mess with! I figure she works at a bar and when she gets home she turns UP the music she left on all day which I am assuming she does to drown out the dog she ignores. I wanted to bust down her door and lose my mind, but not being totally insane I did not. Instead Colin started hammering a loose nail in the hardwood...seemed to get the message across to turn it down...albeit not OFF.
Today I am going to start my Christmas cards and FINALLY send the letter I wrote to Danielle!
Tonight we are going to celebrate our 8 Month anniversary with Season 3 of the Office!

" You can't fire me, I DON'T WORK IN THIS VAN!"

This weekend was pretty great. I caught up with Brianna over a 4 hour brunch at the best all day breakfast diner then I came home and continued our marathon of The Office season two! We took a mini break and caught the Santa Claus parade...it was a little weird to have the parade so early and that it was about 14 degrees out. I did love that it was at night so that the lights and floats looked so great, the rhythm of the parade was pretty bad, so we decided to walk back and catch the parade at our own speed - this made it a lot better! We caught Santa, and more importantly we saw Andrew in the parade! Sunday we woke up to some Band of horses, pink banana pancakes (they were supposed to be red) and the rest of season 2!


At the parade after too much apple cider...not too sure why my bangs are so tiny here...

Just like 10 hours of our life devoted to this show this weekend...we are so awesome.

Quite possibly my favorite moment in season two, even though I know they don't finally get together for a long time...so glad it didn't take Colin and I years to start dating.

Currently I am listening to the songs The Bad Ideas just put up on their my space...over and over and over again...makes me pretty happy. You should listen too and try to be as happy as me!
http://www.myspace.com/thebadideasmusic

lean against the wind Pretend I am weightless and in this moment I am happy

Yesterday I got Ella groomed, being really unhappy with our old groomer I had a hard time finding someone new, mostly because the old one would pick her up and drop her off, which was very handy as I do not have a car; then I found "The Squeaky Paw" where the groomer actually comes to your house! I was a little worried about what it would be like and how it would work out, but it turned out to be a great experience. Through the summer Ella's grooming went a little out of control so she had to have a lot taken off. Now she hardly looks like herself! But she is still as sweet as ever!

Before After

After the groomer left, Ella and I hit the street to show off her new 'do, we decided to pick Colin up from work. When we got home Colin insisted on making dinner for me <3 which I never turn down...and then we went out for McDonald's for a sundae - I couldn't get over how gorgeous it was and we had to make the best of the weather! Unfortunately the ice cream really didn't settle well for either of us, and before we had even left, we agreed it was a bad idea, ha ha it was a fun idea anyway. We didn't do a whole lot when we came home, literally just enjoyed our awesomeness together.

P.S the other day Colin made this "Band of Horses" lyric his status on facebook

"when you smile the sun it peaks through the clouds, never die for always be around and around and around"

This was outstandingly sweet as Colin is never overly mushy on any social network device and coupled with the fact that it made my heart nearly explode with love when I saw it, I thought it was necesary to document it on my blog so I always remember how sweet he is to me.

Trying to find myself out on the open road...

Yesterday when Krystina dropped me off, I decided to take a long walk through Victoria Park with Ella. I wanted to take some fall pictures there, not to pretend I am being artsy or that I have any sort of photography talent, but to show exactly what I see when I walk through the park. Victoria Park has been a huge part of my life since living in London. Even when I lived with Natalie I would take a bus to Victoria Park to go ice skating by myself or watch whatever music event was going on. When I stumbled upon this apartment building seconds from the park I was ecstatic. I don't know what exactly it is about this park, but it always captivates me, and brings a sense of calm and clarity to my day. Every season in this park is GORGEOUS. The best part is that when I first moved here, I would walk through during each season and imagine that one day I would be able to walk hand in hand with someone I love and be able to share the beautiful feeling with someone else...and now I have that... I guess as cheesy as it sounds it is my dream come true place. That being said, I still love taking myself through the park alone or with Ella and just absorb everything in my own head. I guess in away, it represents the independace I grew while living in London, while also being able to celebrate what I have found with Colin. Ha that is a lot for one park...one thing is for sure, when we leave London, I am going to miss Victoria Park most of all.

Drink some wine reminisce talk some shit forever young is in your mind

So this weekend Krystina came to London (finally) and her visit here was incredible! Seriously, so much fun. We went to Moxies literally the moment she got into town, and then spent over three hours eating and chatting about EVERYTHING under the sun. Krystina and I met at some point in high school when I went to School in Collingwood, we even traveled aboard together, it is amazing how close we have been able to remain, even after I have moved - about a million times.
After our very long dinner we came back to the apartment to collect Colin, and headed out to Winks.
Since Colin had only eaten a peanut butter sandwich ALL day, and I am a cheap drunk, we got drunk way too fast, but it was a blast and there was bonding had by all.
Sunday Krystina went to Silvercity to see " A Christmas Carol" in 3D! It was Krystina's first time seeing a movie in 3D so, it was pretty exciting!
I wish this awesome girl lived closer, hopefully she will be back in town sooner than later this time!

I've been trying to find, what's been on my mind

So lately it seems that the main topic of conversation among my friends and inside my head, is where do I go from here? It seems like we are all struggling to figure out how to get from the place we are at now to the next step in our lives, and how to ensure that next step will a) make us feel full filled b) allow us to function as actual adults -saving for a house, life etc. The thing is, no one seems to have any idea how to get from here to there. It seems that all the education we have gone through has failed to teach us what we actually NEED to know, which is how to live as successful adults. Lets face it, if you have a degree in anything arts related you might as well just set it on fire, because it gets you nowhere, and not only does it get you nowhere, but the courses failed to teach us anything useful - like HOW TO LIVE! It is like the road of life isn't even a crossroad right now it is just a foggy road with no lights! I would be happy with a crossroads at this point. Don't get me wrong, I am so happy to know that no matter what happens I have the love of my life and my best friend to head down any road with me and that makes the whole "journey" a little easier to swallow, but I just fear waking up a few years from now, exactly where we are at now. I am just not sure what steps to take to get to the places we want to be. Colin and I both want to go back to school, but it is going to take money to get to that place. I feel that once we can get through school and get into an actual career we can feel a little more secure in our lives, but what about the in between time? Do we do travel first? Mostly I am afraid of life getting in the middle of our plans and looking back later and being upset that we didn't do what we wanted when we had the opportunity (well time at least) to do so.
I am just in need of some choices to present themselves in my life so that I can pick a direction! At this point I would be happy with a crossroad to concern myself with!

* it does make me feel a little better that some of my closest friends are going through the same growing pains as I am*

and I did my time in hell

So last night was AMAZING! We went to see The Bad Idea's for the millionth time, and as per usual they were fantastic. Also as per usual we forgot our camera! One day we will remember and be able to document the event in picture format.
But I am ahead of myself, even before the concert our night was incredible. I just love being able to have the love of my life come home and my very best friend all in the same body! We ate subs and hung out, and played some music while I danced around. A laugh fest for sure.
I know that one thing is for sure, when we are together I am always happy and when the evening ends with us drinking and rocking out to Chance's band, it is the best day Ever!

Have you seen the ghost of John long white bones and the rest all gone...

I am really glad we spent most of the month of October celebrating Halloween, since I ended up falling really sick and could hardly get off the couch, much less party and eat too much candy. I love Halloween, but I am really not too disappointed - we had a pretty amazing time the weekend before, at Canada's Wonderland for the Halloween Haunt and watched every scary movie under the sun! I am pretty lucky too, because as sick as I was, I had a pretty great day, because I have a pretty great boyfriend that took care of me, and watched Halloween movie marathons with me all day. I AM SO LUCKY!!!
While I am sad I missed out on dressing up, I really don't feel like I missed out too much on Halloween this year, in fact I feel like I celebrated it more this year, than I have in all the years I actually dressed up and went out! Plus, there is always next year!