Happy End O' 2012

I may have some wrap up things to do but for now it's all about tonight's countdown!

Milestones: 25th Birthday

Yesterday I turned 25. So for all insurance purposes I'm legally an adult! Woohoo! I'm also a quarter century old.Yep. As with anything I thought it would be huge defining moment. I'd be all "wow I feel different today". Not so much. My mom asked me what I wanted to do as I'm down visiting her in Windsor. I said shopping in Michigan and Mexican food. So over the Ambassador bridge we went for $10 Liz Claibourne purses, cherry coke and stores we don't have over here.

The we hit up Mexicantown Restaurant with some family for Enchilatas, Maragritas and flaming ice cream. ¡Ole!

Pretty solid day of I say so myself!

Family: My Niece & Nephew

My brother David is a single Dad. A single Dad of two adorable 4 month olds. Oh did I mention they're kittens! Yes cats are children! They came over for a play date tonight and Sofia was soooooo not amused! The fluffy grey one is Ghost and the orange one is Cheddar. Enjoy the cuteness:

My Cat Always Describes My Day For Me

I'm done? You mean I get two weeks off!? WOW! (photo shout out to my little brother for this gem)

It's The Little Things

It's the little things: like kitten paw prints on your windshield...

Milestones: 12/12/12

Just another day...

Musings: Cute Outfits

I never ever blog about my outfits. Possibly because work days are thus follows: dress pants, shirt, cardigan, scarf. Yep. Well today I did just that but it seemed cuter tan usual. I called myself the albino ladybug all day. Thought I'd share!

Calgaryism: A Friday Night

Last Friday night Krista and I had tickets to go see Stuart McLeans A Vinyl Cafe Christmas at the Jubilee. It was the bet Friday night I've had in a while and might just be a tradition now. I've been launched into full blow Christmas spirit and I'm now done my shopping! Tis the season!

Musings: BLARG!

I'm doing pretty good. I'm being a big girl about how busy things are lately. But can you blame me for wanting a day where I can just do what I want to do?

October Instagrams

Better late than never!

Musings: Life Lately

It's been over a month. It's been a loooong month. A lot of things have happened:

 One of my best friends having a super cute baby! That's quite the distraction for sure.

A new job! I went from Substitute Teacher to Full-Time Teacher. This is quite the step. I've been pulling 12 hour days just to get a leg up.

Having to be creative... like my Teacher Barbie Halloween costume. But this type of creativity is on demand. Which is so much different then my past creative processes.

I won't be a regular blogger unfortunately. But that's okay. There is always Christmas Vacation!

Book Review: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

Let me just start by saying that if you are a true Austen fan, do not read this book. You will get angry. If you mildly like Austen than go for it. There is such a zombie fad going on right now. Both of my brothers are currently obsessed with The Walking Dead. Calgary is all about the zombie walk for such and such a charity. Well this dude totally jumped on the bandwagon. Really with Elizabeth's personality it is not far fetched to think that she could slay the undead. She's independent and feisty. The only bit that I didn't really think translated well was the whole plot with Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Other than that it is a fun little twist on the classic. Good for a read. Not good enough to make it to my bookshelf. I'll probably update this post tomorrow when I discuss this guy with my book club (yes we read books like this in our book club).

Book Review: The Great Gatsby

Here is another book that Brittany read in High School and had NOOOO idea what was happening back then. To say I was immature in High School is putting it lightly. They made us read these novels in English and we had no idea what anything meant. We couldn't relate anything to our own lives. I'm not mad at my teachers. That would be wrong. I just wish curriculum had dictated some books that teenagers could relate to. That being said I have not magically morphed into a Pre-WWII flapper girl in the past 10 years. But I understood the love, wealth, power, and identity issues now more than I did back then. Gatsby is a bleeding heart. Daisy is a bubble head. Nick is just straight up confused. Tom is a jerkface. Jordan needs to get over herself. (Yes I know I just sounded so deep there). You live a short life with these people. You feel for them. Then you've got a big ol' let down at the end. American classic, yes. A time-piece, yes. Something that changed my life, no. Read it say you read it. Watch the 1974 movie with Robert Redford. And then move on!

Milestones: 100th Post!

Isn't it rather funny that my 1 year anniversary is proceeded by my 100th post. So really I did 99 Posts over a blog year. I didn't even plan it that way! I'm just THAT FANCY! Here's a little sketch of Sofia to celebrate. With that I included more sketches on the blog... perhaps something to look forward for the next 100!

Milestones: One Year Anniversary (Oh Bother)

OH MY GOODNESS! I'm a silly girl. I had planned out that I'd really pay tribute to the One Year Anniversary of this blog... Yeah that happened on the 2nd. I forgot to check and assumed it was in November. Nope. So here is a hip-hip-horray and no pomp and circumstance. One year on the interweb. And shoddy at posting/picking random times to post. Hopefully next time this year I'll have the ol' act together!

Vacation: Grassi Lakes

I'm sure you might be sick of me talking about vacation. Especially since it's been two months since all this went down. It doesn't seem like it. It seems just yesterday that Tom was here and the summer was in full swing. Now that it is fall, and I live in Calgary we've had snow. So maybe I'm trying to extend the summer a bit. Anywho, Tom and I took a day trip with our pal Krista. She was our other amigo in Spain. It was the first time that all three of us have been together on this side of the Atlantic. We took off to Canmore for some light shopping, Mexican food (Tom had his first Margarita), and then decided to go to the mountain. Krista had been to a place called Grassi Lakes near Canmore, but wasn't sure how to get there. So we went on an adventure. We ended up driving up and down the mountain on an unpaved road (Go Krista). When we got to the bottom we finally saw the turn off for Grassi Lakes. To get to them though we had to hike up said mountain again. Being always dignified I trekked up the mountain in flats (TOMS to be precise) and may have wined the whole way up. It was beautiful at the top and fully worth it. There are several small bits of beautiful water, a rock face complete with the occasional climber, and cave paintings (though not like the ones you see in the textbooks).So honestly I want to go back when there is nicer weather and with hiking boots! Oh, and fully making it worth it is seeing a British person hamming it up on a mountain:

Vacation: Stampeders Game

I know these were taken so long ago but I had to post them for memory sake. I have managed to find one of the only British guys to love our version of football. Mind you that before me he didn't even look at the CFL. Well we got amazing tickets to a Stamps game, and it happened to be a first CFL game for both of us. The game was not all that great, and we did lose, but it was a fun first for both of us. Oh and we got the following cute picture out of it (which is Tom being sad we lost):

September Instagrams

Musings: 10+ years

I don't normally get excited about album releases. There are only a few bands that have stood the test of time with me. This way I can get excited when they release new material. No Doubt hasn't released anything new in 10+ years. The last album they released I got as a present from my first high school boyfriend. Yep. Ancient history. So let's just say yesterday was awesome and I cranked this the whole way home (which made rushhour more bare able)!

Book Review: To Kill A Mockingbird

I have a confession to make: I was about as deep as a puddle in high school. I know most of us shake our heads at our teenage selves. Just wanted to get that out in the open first. Now I harken back to 16 year old me because I was forced to read this book. Just as I felt when I reread Lord of the Flies, I so was not emotionally prepared for this book in highschool.to me it was so annoying kids with a lawyer father. But no. It was a perfect way of contrasting and emerging justice with an outdated way of looking at things. Scout was the cry-out to hold on to new morals. To love and understand just for the sake of it. To realize that you need to put yourself on someone else's porch for a different point of view. No, the second time around I loved this book!

Musings: International Talk Like A Pirate Day

Vacation: Studious Dates

So I decided that Tom needed to see my old stompin' ground: UofC. We did a saunter around campus. I spent 5 years there: the span of my two degrees. The campus has been going through some renos lately and looks so different from when I went there (it's only been a year). It's still got its '88 Olympic charm but with shiny new buildings popping up everywhere. It was so lovely out we splayed out on the grass under the prairie chicken (which is a statue that's supposed to look like book pages turning). After that we headed over to Kilkennys for a drink and some wing night fun with some of my oldest friends!

Vacation: Lake Louise & Moraine Lake

If you're from Alberta, Lake Louise is... well... meh. It's a tourist spot. I took Tom there (as well as Banff) to say he's been. He was impressed. I won't lie. He snapped pictures like mad. I really has to switch my mindset from grumpy Albertan to tourist.

What really knocked his socks off (or I like to think it did) was Moraine Lake. He was a bit biased as I said it was my favourite place EVER. What I like about it is a you don't have to fight through a wall of people for a picture. There is the perfect un-paved walk around the lake with plenty of places to pause and go ooooooooo. So I think to myself: this is perfect. This is what peace is. And I can breathe.

Book Review: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I always get into a funk when I read sad novels. This one was exceptionally poignant because the author really explains these characters. You get a backing story. Not long, drawn out backing stories - it's almost as if you are reliving the memory of these people. As if you've always known. You feel their anxiety. You understand and empathise with their mistakes. Through all these mistakes is Phoebe: the little girl with Downs Syndrome that is a beacon of hope and purity. I felt like I lived a lifetime in a book. But redemption is possible for the characters and the funk lifts when you finish.

Vacation: Horseshoe Canyon

MAN I LOVE MY PROVINCE! Just thought I'd send out a holla' to how lovely Alberta is. Most people cry about the snow and whatever, but areas like this make up for it! If you're a dork and want to know more here is a Wiki link: Horseshoe Canyon Alberta. Well Tom and I have two wonderful friends, Kara and Peter, who took us on an adventure a few weeks ago out to this lovely place.The Badlands are a neat hidden treat in an area that's so famous for the Rocky Mountains.

August Instagrams

I'm so behind this month! So much is going on, and I've got a lot of things worked out for this little space. All I need is TIME!

Family: Happy First Adoptaversary Sofia Gray

So last year I took a trip to Canmore with the family. We had been in contact with the SPCA there and we're interested in a kitten named Pie. Little Pie didn't work out but we decided to drop into the SPCA anyways. There was a large corral next to front desk with a few kittens in it. I picked up a little gray one named Gray since she was the one climbing around and looking so cute (the others didn't respond to our hellos). She was cuddling in and mewing and melted my heart. I handed her to my Dad and he lifted her up. She started licking his nose and wouldn't stop. My Dad was in full on man-giggles. I didn't decide right then and there, and we went for a walk. Well I couldn't get the ball of fur out of my mind. We went back and just about gobbled her up. She mewed in her carrier all the way home. She grew up into the spazzling that we know and love today! Happy Adoptaversary little fur baby!

Musings: A Little More Get Up And Go

So tomorrow is a big girl day for me with a big girl interview! More on that later... Now I need to do less of what's happening in the picture and more dress clothes and meetings!

Musings: The End of Summer

I'm not a summer fan. Is that controversial? No, it's not because I'm Canadian and we get a month of summer. It's just the heat. And the bugs. If it weren't for backyard BBQs and park visits I'd be a gonner! I had probably one of my last patio dinners with a friend of mine. And well nature attacked! I had a wasp eat part of my dinner and stalk me for most of the meal. I WILL NOT miss bugs but I will miss the faint heat of the sun and refreshing breezes.

Calgaryisms: The Weather

People who live in Alberta will relate to this. We are eternal skywatchers. We have to be like this as the weather in the prairies changes on a dime. This summer has been strange. July was rainy. August was hot and dry. We've also had some of the coolest clouds I've seen this summer. Purples, and pinks, and greys and lavenders. We've has some close call hail storms. We've had some rotating clouds. All in all though I love this province. It keeps you on your toes!

Vacation: Shakespeare In The Park

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 4, Scene 1

 TITANIA
 76   My Oberon! what visions have I seen!
 77   Methought I was enamour'd of an ass.

Well I am not enamoured with an ass. On the contrary I've just had a lovely two weeks with the lovely Mr.Tom. I'm going to do posts on his visits as I want to reminisce as long as I can. One of our cute date nights was Calgary's Shakespeare In The Park. We spread out the blanket, ate cookies, and laughed along with the others. I do love me some Shakespeare, and these guys did it right. Tom and I were so impressed and want to go back next year for sure!

Vacation: How Happy Am I?

Vacation: Oh Canada

Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a Person on a Plane! It's TOM! That's right! This cutie is landing in Calgary in less than 24 hours. I CANNOT WAIT!

Book Review: Bossypants

I love me some Tina Fey. Oddly enough not the SNL Tina Fey. I love me some movie Tina Fey. Mean Girls means something to people my age. We relate. Maybe I would love SNL Tina Fey if I were American... all the political Weekend Update things go RIGHT OVER my head. I barely get my own countries political system. ANYWAYS...
This book is good. Not fabulous raving fabulousness, but good. It was interesting to get a taste at what a successful comedians upbringing looked like. Plus the somewhat feminist side of me was all about her overcoming being a female in a male dominated industry. Also, Tina Fey has been known to be a funny person, so there are some random bits it here that had me giggling as I read it in my Mom's spare bedroom on vacation (took me two days). So read it if you want some good throaty chuckling. Maybe don't get all excited if you hate American political commentary as it's laced throughout.

Family: Beautiful People Getting Married

Last weekend I had to privilege of going to a really good friend of mines wedding. He met this beautiful woman two years ago and unfortunately I was in Spain for most of their courtship (So I hope she'll be a really good friend of mine soon). It's fun to get gussied up and celebrate. Not to mention that this couple is pretty darn good-lookin'! They're all tall and fit... hence "Beautiful People Getting Married". Oh and Brittany got her dance on (even though I'm about as coordinated as Napoleon Dynamite).

Family: Mom's 50th

I recently flew to Ontario for my Mom's 50th Birthday (She's the pretty lady in the middle). We took off to Michigan for some shopping and a day at the spa with her three best ladies. Although they are all old enough to have birthed me it is really fun to hang out with them. I'm so very happy that they're in my Mom's life. Especially being her only child and living on the other side of the country, it's comforting to know she has a bunch of wonderful people to keep her sane. 

Oh an I went to J-Crew for the first time. This is the one store we don't have in Calgary yet. And even though I don't need it... I bought this delicious red straw clutch!