wanderlust

spring is HERE and posts become shorter as being inside in front of computer screens is guilt-inducing. i have one more week of work left before i move out of my apartment and head home for three days. from there, it's just over 72 hours to get my shit together and packed for 2 months of nomad lifestyle in europe. i still have to get my eurail pass in order, buy some travel insurance, put my gym membership on hold, put my cell phone on hold, and figure out my neverending what-shoes-to-bring-with-me debate. HOWEVER, in my (not-usually) organized fashion, i do already have a pack, a money belt, an updated passport, a new bathing suit (yes!), and the ever-wondrous infinity dress (ok, so it's not really called that, but it SHOULD BE). there are over sixteen ways to wear it, how could it ever be a non-essential for backpacking europe..??

as well as well.. in my excitement for my upcoming overseas adventures, i've set up a travel blog. i figured since i want to chronicle my experiences and have ALL audiences read it, this forum wasn't perfect for all friends/family/coworkers. i don't know if i'm ready for my boss to peruse this blog's musings.. or my grandmother, for that matter.

thus, you'll have to link to here to find out what's up. our tentative itinerary takes us from paris, to amsterdam (on and for my 24th birthday, how fitting!) and from there, with high hopes of visiting:

• germany
• berlin
• cologne
• munich
  

• austria
• vienna
• SOUND OF MUSIC !!!!!!!!!!! omg!!!!!
  

• hungary
• budapest

• czech republic
• prague
  

• switzerland
• geneva
• gimmelwald (for mountain hostel, specifically)

• italy
• milan
• venice

• greece
• athens
• corfu
• mykonos
• ios
• santorini

• italy
• rome
• pompei
• florence
• cinque terre

• france
• nice

• spain
• barcelona
• madrid
• san sebastian

• portugal
• porto

• france
• bordeaux
• paris
  

ok, so it's a lot. but as i said, it's tentative. and keep up to date! i'll try my hardest to post often on the travel blog (i know i'm terrible at frequent posting, but i'm going to try!) send me advice/tips/input/anecdotes/meaningless comments. TEN DAYS to go!

april's for showers, fools

bahahaha.. toothpaste for dinner never fails. i came across this and laughed, yes, but was also reminded that the month changed, and i guess that means it's due time to return here. happy april! hopefully with the treacherous winter months behind us, warmer temperatures will have everyone in a better mood.

speaking of better moods, have you heard of the secret? bleh, yes yes, the one oprah's been raving about. the one i refuse to look further into because i'd rather believe and protest that THE SECRET is pretty fucking common sense, and how is some australian woman making millions and changing lives just because she wrote some book on optimism? wtf. haha.. anyways, my mom insisted that i must watch the dvd "documentary" and needless to say, i passed out less than halfway through it. it seemed a bit redundant to go on for 2 hours about positive thinking (to terrible low-end special effects and graphics, mind you) and how to attract things to you just by thinking about them. next thing you know, you're gonna have millions of disappointed people who were brainwashed into thinking they could have lambourghinis if they thought hard enough. i want a bike.. i want a bike..

SPEAKING of brainwashing.. jesus camp. hoooly crap. (pun intended?) i don't know about you, but any summer camp that i ever went to had "fun" on its brochure listed as sailing lessons and archery.. i suppose channeling god wasn't offered. evangelical christians make me think of the heaven's gate cult. apparently i'm not the only one ! (yikes, pdf, sorry)

ook.. so i got a little off track. but my point about the secret was that, despite the fact that i refuse to believe in the million-dollar scheme and fell asleep before recieving the insightful "message," i have been in a better mood since the whole ordeal. like, for weeks. not that i'm attempting to jinx it or anything.. but when someone made mention of my rose-coloured glasses the other day (the actual, oversized, somewhat reddy-tinted sunglasses i was wearing) i kind of realized that i did feel very optimistic a lot lately. perhaps i've got a little secret of my own..

want to buy it for several million? ha.

march is for lovers

i came across this photo today for the very first time.. and felt blog-inspired. it always weirds me out to find non-recent photos that i've never seen before. this pic is over a year old ! i found it in an event posting for an upcoming birthday party for my "stepdad" - can events even take place anymore if you're not invited to them via facebook? apparently not - and if you want to see how parties go in my family, see above. apparently that one had a hat theme.

i was trying to explain my immediate family to my coworker the other day, and she was understandably a little puzzled. our tree's a little non-nuclear. but really, what's confusing about a team of sisters and some crazy stepparents? ahh haha..

well march is upon us lovers. today the weather in london ontario is FINALLY glorious. a spring 13 degrees. it's just a tease, mind you. enough to make the snowbanks turn the sidewalks into lakes and pack the campus pub patio full of thirsty undergrads. i have a feeling that we've still got a little bit of winter left to face. not that i haven't turned into survivor-woman against the elements. this past weekend alone i fell three times on icy stumbles home.. "ass over teakettle" to the utmost extent. once even included up my front steps, i am just that classy!

i hope you all have a happy st patrick's day! how lucky am i to have it fall on a saturday when i work on campus? i don't think i could've beared to glimpse that tent on concrete beach from my office window.. (yes, that's right, i have my own office with a window, ha)

a post a month is fair, isn't it? in my brief perusal of bookmarked blogs, there seems to be a clog in the internet creative writing department. i am impressive by those who persevere!

i on the other hand am here mostly because it makes me sad to kill this creative outlet. but i'm lazy and bored, and sick of making excuses for not updating. so here's february's news:

i'm almost halfway through my employment contract.. meaning several things. in just over two months i will be once again, unemployed (yippeee!), and also heading overseas for some much needed european adventures (the rite-of-passage great north american escape). what happens after that.. who knows.. school, work? not being in london is the newest mission.

in other news, it's weird to think that it was nearly a year ago that a epic spring break! was happening. the time is flying..

it's a trick. get an axe.

"You guessed incorrectly."

i don't know what's worse.. the fact that i haven't updated my blog in over a month ("since last year" har har) OR

that almost every single person i've ever been acquainted with in my 23 years on this planet has joined facebook and we've become "friends." and that although i know i have better things to do with my time - and i know i do, doesn't everybody? better things, yes - i still find the need to log in multiple times daily and read an updated newsfeed.

better yet, now i can play a timed trivia game to "get to know" my ever-expanding friends list even better.

my blog and i are going through a rough patch. but i miss you all, and i might be back. oh, and happy new year xo

rockin' around..

so it's beginning to look a lot like christmas around here.. (cue the music)

trimming the tree this past sunday proved to be much less drama-free than usual. typically the annual set-up and decoration of o tannenbaum creates a standard familial dispute, but there's been a weird calm around these parts lately. not that i'm complaining.

figure a: me + tannenbaum + sexy cat !

now, i know everyone has their own annual traditions and festive necessities when it comes to the holidays - whether it be that one present that's allowed to be opened on christmas eve (gasp! we've never been so lucky), or maybe you've got one of those artificial trees that's specifically decorated to look like it's out of a catalogue (no touching!). or hell, my fam also rocks the annual christmas family bowling party - which, trust me, isn't nearly as fun as it sounds. alright, and let's not forget our traditional tree of.. well.. christmases past.

this isn't to say i don't adore the kitschy, well-loved ornaments that grace sweet tree-o-mine's branches each year. or understand why it's required some years to fasten said tree to the wall (cats. love it). this year, after gettin' her all set up, my mom takes a step back and asks, "well, it doesn't look too gaudy, does it?"

you be the judge.

nevermind the fact that the top had to be shaved down due to christmas vacation-style-too-big-of-a-tree issues. or the fact that it's lit up with as many strings of christmas lights as possible. add some flashy gold garland and 30+ years worth of memory-making ornaments, and you've got yourself some garish tradition.

and of course, i mean "garish" in the most loving way possible.

i even sneaked on one of my infamous brownie-made ornaments: the snowy owl. (see figure b.) which, 15 years later has dissolved into nothing more than a pine cone on a string with a cotton ball pasted to it. oh, and of course, two essential google-y eyes and a felt santa hat. festive!

well hello december !

i can blame my "whirlwind" life.. but considering the amount of hours i waste on facebook, and lately, myspace, i really do have time to update my blog. can you believe it?

so my full-time well-paid career-focused job is done and over, and i'm really feeling the need to kick back and relax a bit. i spent the last week of employment in london, surrounded by my still-student friends, who were all pulling their hair out and pulling all-nighters. ugh, if anyone needs an anti-post-grad remedy, head to campus for seven days at the end of november. my hospitable hosts were barely seen due to hectic academic schedules.

i did however, manage to participate in my first-ever pub crawl. leave it up to alex to find party-harders during exam time. (alex speaks in the third person). the 12 bars of christmas had us sipping drinks from venue to venue every thirty minutes. needless to say, i only made it to 10 out of 12, and was quite toasted by bar 4.. but i did have to work the next morning, so i'm still claiming trooper status.

in the holiday spirit, i am extremely excited for christmas, and get that little-kid stomach flip at all the festive lights up and down our street. the malls, on the other hand, are a nightmare, and a brief visit yesterday left me throwing some 'bows. i suppose being aggressive is your only way to battle the maniacal shoppers.. but 1/2 hour checkout lineups already? guh.

let's see what else..

i know i don't usually blog about my men in my life - ooh, i'm even getting all rosy-faced at the first topic sentence - but i've had some interesting adventures as of late. i'll keep it PG, obviously, but i met a boy a couple weeks ago who's foreign. and the total opposite of fes, from that 70's show, thankyouverymuch. he's from switzerland, and he's a gentlemen, and unfortunately, not here for very long. regardless of language barriers (there have been several lost-in-translation moments) it's still nice to meet someone who knows how to treat a lady. he took me out for dinner and was sweet to my mom, and his english makes me giggle. i keep forgetting to avoid slang, so i suppose i'm to blame as well - for instance, the word "soon-ish" just doesn't translate. but i can't help but laugh at emails that begin with "hi sweaty" ("sweetie," he's trying!) and numerous pictures of squirrels from his toronto sightseeing adventure.

ahhh.. smitten.

in other news, i've got an $8 an hour restaurant job to keep me occupied "in-the-meantime." there's been further talk of overseas teaching adventures, and though i am starting to feel like ALL talk in that department, plans might be in the works.. soon-ish.