bad trip

Pic from here

So here's how my trip went down.
It kind of started off bad.
The fact that I've had to rent a car since my car broke down.
Or that I even had difficulty picking up the rental car (from the shady car rental place).

Then a rough day of work on the day we left.
Picking up Laurel from her work place.
Getting caught in traffic.

As we drove and day turned into night.
Laurel fell fast asleep.
Which sucks because I was exhausted.
So I decided to stop in Syracuse versus Utica.

Exhausted and rolling into bed.
And finding out Laurel sleeps with a sound machine.
Sounds kind of like a staticy channel turned up really loud.
So I slept like crap.

Finally making it into Boston.
After Laurel who refused to find an address and insisted she was right in directions.
So we missed eating at the lunch place that we wanted to eat at.
And I just got quiet (mainly because I was starving because I opted for a coffee only breakfast because I hate McDonald's breakfast).

We then toured Harvard University which was awesome and I got a token sweatshirt.
Then we headed to the W (which I love).
We started to get ready.
And Laurel thought the sink was broken (turned out it was not she only had the plug in activated).
Then she forgot her makeup in the car (which was parked a little a ways in valet).
The stadium was 15 minutes walk away but Laurel's boots were too uncomfortable to walk in so we cabbed it.
But totally missed the opening (one of my favourite parts of the game is the introduction of the teams).
It is the first game I've been to in a couple of years and yeah I was pretty disappointed.

After the game was over I was really looking forward to a night out in Boston (our only real night "out" on the trip).  So we snagged a seat at the bar at the W which was promptly filling up.
Laurel was tired and wasn't really in the mood but did decide to have one drink.
Then went to bed.
I stayed for one more but then decided to just head up.

The next morning I got up early to work out in the am.
When I came back Laurel let me know her one sugary drink effected her badly so we wouldn't be making the 9am tour.
So I showered and got ready and tried to figure out what to do.
We ended up going on a different (and now unresearched tour).

We thought it was weird being on a Freedom Trial tour and 90 minutes in had only visited two sites.
Now I was thinking...wow we ended up selecting the wrong kind of focused tour and not a generalized one like we wanted to originally.
Laurel was saying out loud..."this is b*llsh*t I'm asking for a refund because this is NOT the freedom trial tour"...and was saying this LOUDLY.
And I was embarrassed.
And irritated.

And the rest of our day was similarly downhill.
I'm realized in spending 24/7 with Laurel at this point in the trip that she is quite negative.
Also reminded me of my mum in complaining about everything.
It was like wearing a wet blanket all weekend long.

And it got worse.

We went to our sorority meeting where we (granted unexpectedly) had to add an extra girl to our room.
Laurel went so mean girls on this new roommate that she was in tears 10 minutes in.
Seriously.

I busied myself trying to smooth things over.
Reassuring the new roommate that she was not intruding and apologizing for Laurel behaviour.
And trying to deescalate Laurel's meangirl routine.
That by the end of the weekend I was exhausted.

There are more details that I just am too exhausted to even write out it full.
It just stinks that this may be my only trip of the year and this is how it went.
Bad trip indeed.

Road trip!

Pic from here

If you're reading this I'm on my way to Boston with Laurel!
Yay girl's trip!

Boston & Hartford

Pic from here

Super excited that Laurel and I confirmed our trip in April to Boston & Hartford.
Don't know if you noticed the new counter downer thingy at the top of the blog.
And while we have only 4 short days (5 if you include the drive).
I'm super excited to have something on the calendar to count down to.

So anyone have any suggestions of things we MUST do.
It's a first time for us both in those cities.
Yay for a girly roadtrip!

Spa Saturday

So I told you I was up early Saturday...
And it was because we were headed to the spa.
Which spa?
Le Scandinave Spa at Blue Mountain in Collingwood, Ontario!

It's about 2 hours north of Toronto.
So we loaded up a car load of girls from my sorority alumni and headed north.

And it was amazing!
The sequence of what you're supposed to do is HOT THERAPY (hot tub/steam room/sauna).

Pic from the official website.

The Eucalyptus Steam Room pic from the official website.

Followed by a COLD PLUNGE (pools/snow (seriously welcome to Canada)).
And finally follow that with relaxing in one of the relaxation rooms or outdoor fireplace.
And simply repeat as much as you like.

It was pretty busy...and just gorgeous.
I would love to take some of my Texas girls (like Taylor and PinkSunDrops) to experience this because I'm guessing they haven't done anything like this.

These were two of the hot pools...you can see where you hang the robes and towels.

The snow covered roof to the left of the silo housed one of the relaxation rooms.  The silver silo was a Eucalyptus steam room.  The pool to the right was one of the cold plunge pools 55F.

Hard to tell but there is a fire pit at the top of the picture surrounded by Muskoka/Adirondack chairs.

Gives you a better idea of one of the fire pit things picture from the official website.

We even sat in chairs covered in snow...you should see our faces in THAT picture lol!
After that we had a quick snack of fruit/cheese/crackers before heading back to Toronto.
Laurel invited me out for dinner with her fiance and B so I joined.

We went to The Works Burger Bar.

pic from here

It was a fairly good burger place.
And I would go back.
However I get that they were trying to do something different with their glasses but I didn't love the measuring cup idea.

After a full on spa day (and I think it's quite hilarious that we finished it with burgers lol how healthy!)
I was beat and just headed home to relax.
A simply great Saturday!

Saturday/Sunday

So Saturday like I said first I went brunette (huge change).
And what else to do after that but head up to Kingston.
I hadn't seen Jane since I threw her and Eva a baby shower in the fall.

Saturday was Jane's official due date so we planned for one last girly sleepover... provided her daughter hadn't made her grand entrance.
So I drove up to Kingston.
It turned out we changed plans because Jane's parents wanted to celebrate her younger brother Ted's birthday so I crashed the fam jam.

Ted wanted to go to Red Lobster.
I don't think I've eaten there since I was 15!
So I met them over there.

Pic from here

And it was much less disastrous then I thought it was going to be (foodwise) lol.
It was great to catch up with Jane's parents too.
After that we headed to Jane's house where we proceeded to catch up, watch TV and I painted her nails for her.
And it was lovely and simple and just relaxing.

The next morning we slept in late before heading to Windmill's for brunch.
Kingston is that small of a city that we bumped into Jane's father-in-law there.
It was also packed with Queen's University students.
And rightfully so because it was delicious!

Pic from here

After that we headed down to Starbucks for coffees before I had to head back to Toronto for a birthday dinner.
It was for one of my sorority sisters that I don't know so well yet.
And I'm so glad I pushed myself to go out and I'm so glad I did.
As I'm still pushing to make new friends and grow.

We met at Earl's for dinner and it was super fun.

Pic from here

And then from there I headed to Shangri-La lobby bar to meet with MrRealtor to try to and just end things in  person.

Pic from here

And y'all it was awkward and frustrating and he just wasn't listening.
And so when he walked me back to my car I pretty much just stepped away, hopped in and drove away.
Here's how I know for sure he wasn't listening or paying attention.
He sent me this message;

"I have never seen someone wanna leave so bad so fast like before
Clearly I'm not good for you
At least that's the impression I get from you
Drive safe goodnight"

I guess the 1.5 hour conversation hadn't sunk in at that point for him.
Ughhh
And that's how the rest of my weekend FLEW by!

Girls Night Out

For my sorority alumni group I organized a wine and cheese event.
At first it was about to go horribly wrong when I called to confirm 4 of us for that evenings class and they said it was full!
As I was in full fledged panic mode...I tried to think of other places to go.


Then I remembered this place from date number number two with MrKent.
Luckily they had room for us that night.
And now I can give you more pictures of the place :)

 Wine menu...decisions...decisions...

 Food options!!!

 Wine flights!

 Sometimes this is just the perfect dinner!

All perfectly paired together!


All and all it was a successful event.
And yummy!
And MrKent sort of saved the day.
Just saying...

Random Picture Post!

Want some random pictures?
Good...hear ya go!

Sometimes I totally have a bachelor pad fridge...just saying.

Seriously.

St. Paddy's Day Beer...I remember they used to use these like puck shaped things when I was younger...now a drizzle of green dye that looks kinda gross!

My St. Paddy's Day go to...Midori and Sprite...and not just because KimKardashian is Midori's spokesperson either I like the taste.  Yummy!

Me and Will at St. Paddy's Day.  @SoMidwestern...he's wearing a nice jacket eh?  And you better believe I wore a dress and pearls to St. Paddy's day :)

Outfit for date#1with MrMD read here if you missed it...I LOVE this outfit...I feel cute in it :)

Random outfit pic...with my spring jacket.  It's my fav I love the bubble hem.

Outfit sans jacket.  I was on my way to a sorority meeting.

Shoes from outfit above...I LOVE bows!-Anne Klein 

A few weeks ago it was so cloudy but this has got to be the coolest pic with the CN Tower...I didn't take this though.

Same day the view from my 26th floor condo...so foggy.

Quinn's babygirl...seriously how cute is this!

Pic from my casual Sunday outfit for the seminar I was stuck in all weekend.

Totally random I know but I kept meaning to share these pics!

my crazy last 48 hours

So Sunday I headed over to our sorority house for our annual general meeting AGM.
Was sworn into my new position (yay!)
Had a tour of the house.


I noticed one of the young sorority girl's hand/wrist/fingers was extremely swollen.
So I took her to the hospital at 5pm.
Which landed us there until 2am before she was finally admitted to a bed...
(the glorious Canadian "free" health care system at it's finest...actually there are a lot of things I could vent about it but I'm going to hold my tongue).
She's still there but making improvements.
It was nice to chat away and find out all the things we had in common (she also loves OTH (and has a tattoo that has to do with it!)/KimK/our sorority...I totally made her cry when I was talking about the amazing friendships I have with my sisters!)
So obviously my 6:30pm Sunday night date with MrInvester was postponed until tonight!


Then last night I had a meeting at One in Yorkville 
(the same restaurant I went to here with Will for dinner that Friday night).
For a meeting for that job opportunity that I think I'm going to decline.
Also the person I met with last night asked if MrDentist was my boyfriend 
(because that is the person who was with my work colleague who we ran into when we were there last time).


Got a text from Val re: party I wasn't invited to (read about THAT vent here).
Saying "MM was there...but the good news is he said he was just finishing reading the hunger games...due to your influence.  If you're going to leave a mark-that's a good one! lol"
Which truly shows how dorky I am...but at least I got him on trend.
And I bite my tongue again to keep from asking about him...NOT that I want to date him BUT because part of me wants to know (for some strange self pain inflicting reason haha) does he have a girlfriend? did he ask about me? etc.


So I'm just getting ready for work and the immediate dinner date with MrInvester who sort of looks like Clark Kent from his pics.
But maybe I just think a lot of boys look like Clark Kent if they have dark medium hair and glasses.
I'm kind of a nerd like that.

Pic from here.  I totally found Dean Cain super dreamy...huge total crush...who wouldn't want a nerdy guy that could also change into a muscle bound hero in a telephone booth?!

The Oscar's Party

So on Sunday night I hosted an Oscar's party at my place.
I have a theatre room in my condo so that was used for the viewing.
But before hand I had everyone up to my place for drinks and snacks.


We had our very own red carpet.

And this fun background to take pictures against.

I had 4 different types of popcorn.

TONS of Champagne (and non-alcoholic sparkling beverages).

I even Oscar-fied the bottled water.

We used this as a 50/50 fundraiser.
We had Oscar ballots and the winner got half of the pool.
The other half was donated to charity.

I made swag bags for all the girls.
With these fun tags.

Here's what was inside.

All in all I think this was a great success!
I hope to make it an annual event for sure :)