Thanks Leah!

One of the many benefits of being a blogger is getting to steal other people's posts. Today as I surfed through my usual Blogbourhood I stumbled upon Leah's post. I've copied and pasted below with my own interpretation. So, who's next???

1. I've come to realise that my butt: will never look like JLo's.
2. I've come to realise that when I talk: sometimes people are actually listening.
3. I've come to realise that if I love someone: sometimes its not enough.
4. I've come to realise that I need: to enjoy spending time alone again.
5. I've come to realise that I've lost: the ability to wear heels.
6. I've come to realise that I hate it when: my belly is bigger than my boobs.
7. I've come to realise that if I'm drunk: I'm going to feel sick in an hour.
8. I've come to realise that money: doesn't go as far as it used to.
9. I've come to realise that my mother: does care about me.
10. I've come to realise that I'll probably always be: negative about my mother.
11. I've come to realise that I have a crush on: Quirky boys.
12. I've come to realise that the last time I cried was: last week
13. I've come to realise that my cell phone: makes my ear sweaty.
14. I've come to realise that when I wake up in the morning: my back hurts.
15. I've come to realise that before I go to sleep at night: I like to read.
16. I've come to realise that right now I am thinking about: blogging.
17. I've come to realise that babies: are scary.
18. I've come to realise that today I will: have a quiet night in.
19. I've come to realise that tonight I will: continue my quiet night in.
20. I've come to realise that tomorrow I will: look forward to bbqing with Sally
21. I've come to realise that I really want to: have a family.
22. I've come to realise relationships: are more complicated than I thought.
23. I've come to realise love: is possible.
24. I've come to realise my best guy friend: makes me laugh.
25. I've come to realise my best girl friend: is more than one person!
26. I've come to realise food: is better shared.
27. I've come to realise girls and boys: will never understand each other.
28. I've come to realise over the summer: that change is hard.
29. I've come to realise heartbreak: is brutal.

One more birthday surprise!

In addition to my many birthday parties, Gerwyn and I also celebrated last Thursday with a dinner at Harbourfront and then a ferry ride to the island. I just thought I'd post a pic of the flowers he gave me, to continue the 'favourites' theme, he gave me Sunflowers, one of HIS favourites.

Cat's kids

This weekend my cousin Cat arrived from the States with her two kids, Grace and Hoseok (aka Mathew). Cat is always a riot and her kids keep me very entertained. They are so smart and both of them LOOOOVE to chat. They'll talk about anything. It just so happened that they spent the summer at a friend's pool every day so they were all very tanned. My niece Grace even had racoon eyes from her swimming goggles. Every 2 minutes they kept asking me to go to the basement to play "What time is it Mr. Wolf?". After delaying for as long as I could, I finally obliged and we all took turns being the wolf. After that I indulged in the little party tray of snacks that Cat had put out for my grandma and the kids to enjoy. I'm sure my grandma will enjoy their crazy company for the next few weeks. I know I will.

Birthday Festivities Continued...

After my birthday rooftop party with the WND crew, Saadia very generously threw me a birthday party the next day at her place. She continued my "favourites" theme and made her specialties: her mom's famous Chicken Crepes and mini burgers with home baked buns. She also had my favourite beer, my favourite Grape Fanta and my favourite dessert, her petit fours with mini chocolate bars. She even gave away my favourite loot bags: kit kats and a box of skittles.

The night ended with a birthday serenade and sparklers in her dining room. It was one of my best birthday parties ever. Thanks Saadia!!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Its finally here, my most favourite day of the year... my birthday! And what better way to celebrate my favourite day then with all of my favourites. The usual WND gang came over for "my favourites" dinner which consisted of Panang Curry, Garlic Shrimp, Hot Thai Noodles and Orange Beef all from Salad King, my favourite Thai restaurant. It was deelish! For dessert, I picked up some empalvaldos and butter tarts from Kensington Market.

The gang all got me lots of great loot, all of their favourites with an abundance of gift cards (which also happens to be one of my favourites too.) Can't wait to shop!

Mel was the first official birthday "wisher". She sent her "happy birthday week" email first thing on Monday. But my mommy was surprisingly my first birthday call. She called me last night at 11:17 pm. She was quickly followed by Gerwyn, then Mae (by text message), then Susie, then Saadia, and then Sally, Randy and Freddie via msn. I even got a lovely song sung to me by Janet and Calla later in the afternoon. I met Susie for a birthday lunch in Kensington and then came back to my desk to find a giant Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip cookie delivered and on my desk. It was my first giant cookie and me and my co-workers were all very excited. After my giant cookie, we had more cake and all of my co-workers sang happy birthday.

Thanks to everyone for making my birthday so special. I'm so blessed to have such great friends. Looking forward to even more celebrations tomorrow night at Saadia's! I LOVE my birthday!!

EDIT: It was brought to my attention that I forgot to mention my sister was the first to say happy birthday via the birthday card she sent me in the mail. It said that farts are good because they make the room warmer. I couldn't agree more.

Curry in a hurry!

Tonight I stopped by MelandNorm's for Norm's famous chicken curry and roti. Well, its not exactly famous but it will be once the entire world tries it. It was quite tasty and Mel said they are planning to open their doors to all the Caribbeans come Caribana.

After dinner Mel kindly offered to take me to the LCBO so I could stock up on beverages for my BIRTHDAY WND tomorrow night. That's right, tomorrow is the BIG day, I turn 33! Yikes! I must say that this is not how I had imagined my life at 33 (when I was 13,) but I guess that's the thing about life, you just never know what to expect... Maybe I'll earn that Nobel Prize in the next ten years, who knows! Four 6 packs of beer and a bottle of wine later (I'm sure that'll be barely enough for Huddy and Stuart, a lethal beer-drinking combination,) we got outta there and made a pit stop at T&T for some cherries before she dropped off at home.

Last night I met Mahi, Susie and her husband Josh for Batman after visiting with my family in Scarborough. It had been two weeks since I last saw my niece and boy was she cute. I forgot how much I missed seeing her until I heard that giggle. We played a new game where she stares up at me sitting very still with her mouth open while I dodge my nose in and out of her open mouth. Even with my entire nose in her mouth, she still didn't move a muscle. I don't even think she blinked. Then we had some good times in front of the mirror looking at ourselves and then it was time to go to see Batman. As Saadia has already mentioned, it was long. A good movie but very intense and its hard to absorb such intensity for 2.5 hours straight with no pee break. After the movie Susie and Josh headed home and Mahi and I stopped for dinner at a Thai place near my house before he walked me home. All in all, a good Sunday and for the first time that weekend, I didn't have to rent a dvd!

Dinner and a dvd

These days I'm getting to know my convenience store owners very well. The little store under my condo rents dvds and I've been slowly making my way through their collection. Last night I made a chicken, sun dried tomato and pea risotto and rented "The Other Boelyn Girl" and "We Own the Night". Both movies were just "ok".

Today I met Ev and we headed to Marc Anthony for her wedding hair trial. The stylist did a beautiful, very elegant updo while I tried to take notes. Its so cool to see how they do it. Its almost like an art form. And with the amount of hair on Ev's head, it definitely takes a little skill. At the end of the trial, she put the veil on Ev's head and the wedding day felt that much closer. Needless to say, I'm sure Eb will make a beautiful bride. After the trial, she then had her hair done AGAIN (we didn't know about this part,) while they took the updo "down" and then re-styled it for her.

After Ev's hair appointment we headed to Holt's for what's become our birthday tradition, mimosas and tartines at the Holt's Cafe. Today I tried a braised beef tartine and it was deeleecious! Then, incredibly full, we decided to check out Holt's sale and look for a dress for me to wear to Ev's wedding. Didn't find "the" dress but I found a nice one on sale that I decided to buy for another occasion. Then we went home to rest for a bit before we (plus Stu,) headed to the Sleeman summerfest at the Distillery.

After a few beers and a rainstorm, we headed back home and seeing as how its still early, I decided to visit my friendly neighbourhood Korean convenience store and rent another dvd, "Blood Diamond". My left over risotto is reheated, my movie is ready to go and its another night cozying up on the couch for me.

If the shoe(s) fit...

This weekend Gerwyn and I decided to do a little shopping at the Eaton Centre. It had been awhile since I'd "shopped" and as all the girls know, I've been desperate for shoes. I actually tried to find shoes last month one evening and went into every single shoe store only to come out empty handed.

Its so disappointing when you're in that mood to "buy buy buy" and you can't find one single to thing to exercise your credit card on. Anyway, this time we were going for the walk. It was a nice day and we thought a walk to the mall would be nice especially since it was relatively early and we had the whole day ahead of us. It was a sign when my most favourite, extremely comfortable, pink ballet slippers decided they had taken their last step and just disintegrated right in the middle of an intersection. I heard this weird sound like something falling and then felt my shoe get really flat. I looked down and saw this piece of metal on the ground and a huge gaping hole at the bottom of heel. I turned the shoe over and saw another huge hole right in the sole. The same had happened to my other shoe. All this time walking back and forth to work each day and not once did I notice the holes. I had thought they were looking a little "run down" but I never thought to turn them over. It was a sign. Even Gerwyn admitted that it was time for me to get new shoes.

So into the mall we went. It was beautifully quiet. It was around 11:00 am and not very packed at all for a Saturday. Usually the crowds drive me out but I guess the Shoe Shopping gods shone down on me that day as a few hours later, I walked out of there with three great pairs of shoes. We went into every shoe store again except this time I managed to find a pair I liked almost in every store. I had shoes on hold all over the place. I was perplexed about buying 3 pairs but then I figured at the rate I actually buy shoes (and the rate I wear 'em out,) it was probably a good idea. Who knows when I would find shoes I like again? I came home a happy shoe shopper and even left the store wearing one of my new buys. (I had to say goodbye to my favorite pink slippers. You were very good to me Pink Slippers, I'll miss you.)

Even though I was determined to find the most comfortable (yet still somewhat attractive) shoes in the place, I still ended up experiencing the dreaded new shoe initiation. I walked up and down those store aisles to make sure they would be blister free but I guess there's a difference between walking 10 minutes in a store and half an hour on the streets of Toronto. The tops of my feet look like a mini-war zone with lots of little red spots where the straps (which I thought were oh so soft in the store) rubbed against my skin. Its a necessary evil I guess. I still have my "holey" Geox that I need to throw out, but with these blisters, I'm thinking that comfort might win over a few holes...

9 minutes 18 seconds!

I finally did it, I achieved my 10 minute mile with time to spare! Today I decided to start off at 6.5 and managed to last the entire mile which ended up taking 9.18 minutes. Whoo hoo! Next goal, try to make it to 2 miles. I think this will be a harder goal because endurance is not my strong suit but just gotta put my mind to it I guess.

For now, time to reward myself with a bag of Maltesers... YUM!

Last night, Mae, Mel, Ev, Sal and I met for a Summerlicious dinner at Bistro 990. I'd heard a lot of good things about this restaurant and it didn't disappoint. We all pretty much ordered the same thing: mushroom and foie gras spring rolls, grilled rib eye and the rest of the girls had strawberry pavlova for dessert while I had a banana parfait. Plus tons of their amazing freshly baked bread. Ev and I couldn't get enough. Dinner was deeeleecious and even better for lunch today. I would definitely recommend that restaurant! It was great to spend some time with the girls without the boys for a change. Sally and I decided to walk home from the restaurant to try to digest that big dinner. I haven't been THAT full in a long time, definitely 120% full!

10 minute mile

Ever since I decided to join the Running Room, I've made it my personal goal to be able to run a 10 minute mile.

I used to just run for exercise never really paying attention to how far or how fast I was going. I just stopped when I got tired. (Which usually was after about 5 minutes!) Now that I've decided to do a 5k run, I thought I should start keeping track. The first time I got on the treadmill after that, I noticed that I could run just over a mile before getting tired but it took me over 12 minutes at my original pace. After watching an episode of Sex in the City, I noticed that Miranda was in a 10 minute mile running group and decided that I should aim for that too. Afterall, I figured that was only 2 minutes away from my current position, easy right? Wrong! The next time I went running I set my speed to 5.2 miles per hour which is probably slow for normal people but it was comfortable for me. Again, I was just under 12 minutes. Next, I sped up to 5.5 and still ended up around 11.5 minutes. Closer, but not close enough.

Today I was msning with Randy and we started talking about running. He said that he was able to run 2.5 miles at a speed of about 6.5 with an occasional boost to 9. NUTS! But after talking to him, I figured if I was going to do it then I had to buckle down and put my mind to it. So tonight, I started off at 5.5 and quickly sped up to 6. I watched my time and my distance carefully and noticed that I was able to get to 9 minutes with a tenth of a mile to go. In an effort to meet my goal, I sped up to 6.5 and just passed 10 minutes when I reached my one mile goal. It definitely wasn't easy and I thought I was going to fly off the treadmill at the end but the adrenaline was great and I felt very accomplished at the end (not to mention extremely sweaty!!). Now I know I will be able to reach my goal. Maybe it didn't happen today, but I know I'm close and I CAN DO IT! (Even if I pass out right after...)

Gone Fishing!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of joining MelandNorm while they took Seyla on a fishing trip. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I also had Kahlua for the weekend so we all piled in the car along with a big cooler full of food and my benig and headed to Trenton.

After playing various games with Seyla in the backseat and passing Kahlua back and forth, we finally arrived at the beautiful Trent-Severn Lift Locks. Seyla really enjoyed watching the boats get loaded onto the lock and then pass through to the other side. Meanwhile Mel and I made the best sandwich ever, a mufaletta. Mel had gone to the market earlier that day and picked up some focaccia, roasted red peppers, deli meats and cheese. All the perfect fixins for a great sandwich accompanied by some brie and crisps and a bottle of wine. (I like to call this "elegant fishing".)

A half bottle of wine later, Mel and I decided to tidy up and join the fishermen by the lake. We found a great spot with shallow enough water that we could all take a little dip into to cool off from the hot day. Not wanting to be left out, even Kahlua dipped her feet in and proceeded to follow me as I stepped from rock to rock. (Even when there wasn't enough room for the two of us, she insisted on squeezing beside me.)

After a few hours in the sun, we were all tired and ready to head back to the big city. We stopped for a quick pitstop at the Big Apple for a pie (which I am still eating by the way, thanks Mel) and then arrived back home. All in all, a great trip with great company!

Happy Canada Day!

Last night I went to Janet's place for dinner and some fireworks with the kids. It always amazes me when I go to her place, with 2 kids under 2.5, its pure mayhem! I don't know how she does it as I have trouble just keeping track of one but somehow she manages to get them fed, washed, clothed and happy, just in time to get dirty again.

After a messy dinner, we all packed up and headed to the beach to watch the Canada Day fireworks. We all laid out on blankets with the rest of the neighbourhood and sat back to enjoy the show. I forgot how much I love fireworks, my picture doesn't do it justice but they were amazing.

Happy Birthday Canada! Only 20 more days until another special birthday....

Charlotte and Grams

Here's a pic of my mom and Charlotte from this weekend. I never thought my mom was a "kid" person (probably because she was always yelling at us when we were kids,) but put Charlotte in front of her and she turns into super-Grandma! She tries to feed her (so far its just rice but I know the kim-chi is not far away...), claps her hands and is generally all smiles. Charlotte loves her grams too, she always smiles when she sees my mom. Wait til she gets in trouble for the first time, we'll see if she's still smiling then!

Dog Days...

Last week I had the pleasure of dog-sitting my favourite princess pooch, Ms. Kahlooki-Loo. Lucky for her she had a new friend at work, Grant and Dora's puppy Diego (Dora and Diego, get it?!). At first Diego wasn't all that friendly, he kept growling at her but eventually he warmed up and didn't mind as Kahlua slowly stole all his chew toys and rawhide snacks. Somehow they all ended up in my cubicle.

By the end of the day they were best friends and the next day when Diego came into the office, he came right to my desk looking for Kahlua.