Control

For Friday I was nervous.
I had MrTenderfoot coming up from my hometown.
And we had been flirt texting all week (flexting???)

I rushed home after work and changed real quick.
And then we jumped in a car and headed downtown.
We went to Weslodge for dinner.
I'd been dying to go there ever since I saw there oversize yellow doors!

Pic from here

Anywho when we first sat down the server asked if we were brother and sister (which could NOT be a good sign...clearly my insecurities of looking way too old for him were correct!)
So despite that we had a great dinner and chat.
It definitely had a great vibe.
I loved the (slightly cheesy) decor.

Pic from same as above.

I loved how the servers were styled.
Definitely a fun place to go.
And they wear holsters which suited the place.

Pic from same as above.

Before we knew it it was time to head to the concert.
So we walked down to the Rogers Centre to watch Swedish House Mafia.

Pic from here

And we grabbed drinks and I pretended not to notice all the young things in BARELY any clothing.
Like literally there were girls there in bikinis and Uggs.
Suddenly my leggings/tank/blazer combo didn't seem so cool lol.

And at some point during this song.

He kissed me.
And it was the mix of the pounding bass, and drinks and just good feeling.
That I just went with it.

And the making out continued at my place until the wee hours of the morning.
At least I was the good responsible one and drew the line before things got too out of hand.
And the next day rolled into a very hung over brunch out.
He came with me to pick up my new glasses (which he claimed to find VERY sexy lol).
And before I knew it I had to go meet some of the girls from the CanadaCrew to watch the Ice Carving Contest in Yorkville.

But before he left he pulled me in for a ridiculously good kiss.
This has no possible way of working out.
He is much too young and lives in my hometown.
It's too bad because he is super cute ...maybe I can at least hang out with him a few more times?
Guess we'll see what happens...

a little flame

Pic from here

So of course I'm going the days on of ignoring texts from MrRealtor...I just don't know what to say.
I'm also focusing this weekend on not being annoyed that Jacob said he was coming and then suddenly decided not to and just disappeared off the face of this earth on Wednesday...didn't even have the guts to say he wasn't coming he just disappeared (because he is a scared insecure person who can NEVER face any type of situation he runs...which is exactly what he does over and over again and I'm a total idiot for letting it happen again).  I know exactly how it will go down.  In a few weeks he'll message me and make some flimsy excuse as he tries to blame me.
And I'm dumb for even giving him the opportunity to come here.

Anywho so it makes me long for those magical 24 hours of new years.
And it makes me think of The Classmate.
And I can't help but think of him especially with my FAVOURITE song from Washington Heights 
(my new obsession lol).

Which is...
Play Hard by Midi Mafia
You can listen to it here...it isn't available for free download any more :(
Or it's here on youtube...

And oh my goodness...all I can think of is the classmate.
Because he has this habit of posting quotes on facebook.
Like today he posted this quote...

"A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl."

- Stephan Hoeller

And yesterday it was this quote...

The most successful people make the most mistakes.

And before that this one...

"You can never cross the ocean unless you have courage to lose sight of the shore." Christopher Columbus

Which I think is great.
And I'm trying not to notice him when it comes up in my feed.
But gosh facebook is so bad for that.
So I'm going to pretend that I'm not waiting for the perfect moment to post my favourite quote on my wall from my new favourite song...

But don't forget, that every rainbow needs a little rain
For every lesson learned you gonna need a little pain
For every spark love it's gotta take a little flame
And every miracle needs a little praying

Should I or Shouldn't I...

Reaching New Heights

So you know I have a random music taste.
I often post here with the tag of MyJams.
And I was super stoked to find some AMAZING new FREE music (my favourite kind lol).
So there is a new show on MTV called Washington Heights.

Pic from here

Wikipedia describes it as, The series follows the lives of nine young adults who live in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Each one of them has their own individuality, but it's the neighborhood that has brought them together like family.^[2]

There has been two episodes that have aired so far.
And while watching the episodes I thought to myself...all the music is SO good.
Mainly a collection of Hip-Hop, Pop, and R&B.

So I thought I would google "music from episode one Washington Heights MTV" and I struck GOLD.
There is actual a site on mtv.com where you can download the music from the episodes FOR FREE!
I couldn't believe it!

Here's the link for the songs from Episode One
Here's the link for the songs from Episode Two
Here's the link for the songs from Episode Three

So I have 27 new songs to listen too (and hopefully they do this for all the episodes also).
So excited!
I'll let you know which ones I'm loving the most this weekend.

A little ditty

One of my favourite New Year's Eve songs with two of my favourite people.
Seriously they are so adorable
Enjoy!

Much More Music

Here are a few songs that are currently on my playlist and make me smile.
My top 10 if you will but in no particular order...

Someone that I used to know.
Goyte

We are young
Fun.

Boyfriend
Justin Bieber

Starships
Nikki Minaj

Back in time
Pitbull
*totally because of DirtyDancing

Feel so close
Calvin Harris

Brokenhearted
Karmin

Where have you been
Rihanna

Rack City
Tyga

She can ride
Dru

Much More Music...

File under more Canadians to pay attention to
This girl won a contest last year for covering this song...Danyka Nadeau

That was in her dorm room in the TDot.
She won last year and here is the new commercial for this year which I'm OBSESSED with!
She is phenomenal in it.

So some Canadian translation for you MuchMusic was our Canadian Music channel.
As in I did NOT grow up with MTV.
Practically tragic right?
I remember going on trips to the USA with my family and being so so so excited to watch MTV.

Once in high school my girlfriend and I were in New York visiting her family and we spent HOURS watching a marathon of RoadRules which we thought was the coolest show ever!
So eventually MTV made it's way to Canada and I think they bought out MuchMusic and now kids can watch Jersey Shore/The Hills/The Real World/Teen Mom and all that jazz to their heart's content.
But sometimes the old MuchMusic slips in there.

Turns out she covered Carly Rae Jepson's song...the one I wrote about here.
With two guys from UofToronto.
This is so good for a dorm room again!

So 2012 Covers Contest has started.
And she has her new EP of original songs coming out.
And I'm digging it.
And this first part of the video is shot right downtown...by my work.
As in I drive past this every single day.
This video is actually clips of 4 songs.

This EP looks good right???
I love music.
Can't wait to see who wins this year.
The winner is announced at the Junos aka Canada's version of the Grammy's
(read here if you missed it when I went last year!)
More contest details here.

Fun Friday

I had the CRAZIEST busiest Friday ever.
It began at 4:30AM.  I had to be somewhere for work for a 6AM meeting (fun times right?!)
AND it totally didn't help that I had a dream that my condo was haunted (and it was totally scary you guys...like I woke up at 1am all stressed out!)
This may just be a very rambly post by the way (especially if this first paragraph is any indication).


So then I headed to my office from 8AM until 1PM where I had to turn around and drive back to original 6AM place for meetings at 2PM and 3PM.
It was nuts and crazy busy with that.
Then I had made plans weeks ago with Eva.


So I headed to her workplace.
She was doing me a favour in terms of what she does 
(I know I'm being so vague and I apologize for that).
It was so so SO great to see her.
I've missed her so much.
It totally kills me that she lives the closest to me but I probably see her the least often.


We then headed for dinner at a Japenese Thai place called Spoon and Fork.

It was so so pretty inside!

It was the PERFECT decor and totally suited Eva and my's tastes.
(When we were planning weddings at the same time we had picked things so completely similar it was hilarious!)


We decided to to their all you can eat menu (which is tapas style~smaller portions to share).
We started with curry pumpkin soup, edamame, and springrolls.
Then we had cashew chicken, then japanese fried rice, then a tempura roll and finally teriyaki chicken.
We were stuffed and it was great to catch up with Eva I've really missed her.


So we OBVIOUSLY talked about MrDentist.
And here is Eva's take on the situation.
This has in a way happened with Spencer, MM and now MrDentist.
She thinks I should write him and email and ask him what I did wrong so that I can work on it.
Ummm yes that was a tough pill to swallow.


I thought about it and I told her I don't think I could do that.
She said "but don't you want to know so that you can change that about yourself so that this stops happening?" and I guess she is right y'all
But I just don't think I'm ready to take that huge of a hit to my ego right now or what if it is something that is so ingrained in myself that I can't change it?!
(OBVIOUSLY it is going to be something negative and that scares me a ton...I already am a little hard on myself)...so I just don't think this is an option at all.


So then we actually planned on her joining us (Quinn and I) next Friday when we have plans.
Notice I have NO problem including her on a pre-planned friend event...just saying.
(Remember here if you need a reminder of why I just made a really passive aggressive comment).
I'm glad I will get to see her next week as well and I've come to the conclusion I think her husband just doesn't really care for me and that is okay.

Anyway...
So THEN I rushed home to change for my next thing.
(I seriously don't know how I kept going for so long given my early start in the morning).
I was heading out for a night with Laurel and the CanadaCrew (from this post).
It had changed a bit so for the night it actually ended up being Laurel, her fiance, and 4 other boys (I call everyone male boys FYI)...let's see they will get the following names...B was there, B's brother, Mouth (because he TOTALLY reminds me of Mouth from One Tree Hill!!!! He seriously looks SO SO SO much like him and think I kept staring), and Kermit (sorry he was wearing a green shirt and that's all I could come up with).


So we headed onto the subway then a streetcar to get to our destination planned for the night.
A bar called Spin.
It is actually co-owned by Susan Serandon (this IS a totally rambly post haha).
It is a ping pong bar!

From an article in Toronto life...

If you thought table tennis was a nerdy game best restricted to basements and community centres, Spin’s creators, Franck Raharinosy, Andrew Gordon, Jonathan Bricklin, Toronto partner Ryan Fisher and, ahem, Academy Award–winning actress Susan Sarandon would like to change your mind. The 12,000-square-foot space was designed by Emil Teleki and Jessica Nakanishi in collaboration with Todd Oldham in New York, and it has 12 ping pong tables, a lounge and a private party room. The two bars serve a variety of beers, wines and cocktails, including the Stamos ($14), with Bacardi Gold, Amaro Montenegro, house-made tobacco tincture and maraschino. The food focuses on sharing plates, like devilled eggs ($5), a mixed taco plate ($24) and barbecue popcorn ($3). There are also sundaes ($7) in flavours like Guinness, sweet potato or cheddar, which are served with whipped cream and candied fruit. Of course, ping pong this high-class doesn’t come cheap: annual memberships can be purchased at individual ($500) or family ($750) rates; non-members can enjoy an hour of play for $20–$28 depending on the time of day.

Very clever employee shirt!

So we geared up and started to play and y'all I SUCK at ping pong.
B braved up and agreed to be my partner even with all my suckiness.
I also assume the alcoholic beverages didn't help the hand eye coordination.
Laurel had been exhausted all night so she stayed for about an hour before bailing and heading home in a taxi.

Which left me and the five boys.
Seriously.
And you know what???? I secretly LOVED that.
It totally reminded me of my graduate school years in Dallas.

I have to be real with y'all I kind of like being the girly girl among the boys.
It's kind of nice to have a little attention.
And be a little silly.
I actually really needed a night like this.
It was a great distraction.


So we played ping pong for about two hours before heading to a nearby pub.
And we started the 6 of us sitting around a table ordering drinks.
And Mouth and Kermit were super intent on starting the dance floor in this pub.
I thought they weren't serious.


Ummm yeah they totally were.
After talking to the DJ (Weird I know DJ in a pub) and had him switch from more Sweet Caroline and pub-ey type music to something you could dance to we started the dance floor.
And y'all we did NOT stop until we shut that bar down!!!
It was me and the boys dancing up a storm...laughing our butts off and having the BEST time.


It was fun to be a little flirty.
Dance around with the boys (you know we totally fist pumped starting from the floor and all the way up into the air).
At the end they were all like thanks for hanging out with us and dealing with the boys.
And I was like no thank YOU because I had the BEST time ever.


There was definitely a little bit of flirting of Mouth, Kermit and B with me.
B's brother is engaged and super fun too.  
Laurel's fiance is fun, really sweet and a little dorky 
(he totally was wearing an awesome t-shirt cardigan option).
I think* Mouth is engaged and living with his fiancee (but I'm unsure).
I'm pretty sure Kermit is single.
And B is single because at the end of the night he asked for my number.


And I gave it to him but y'all it was sort of awkward at the end of the night.
I thought we were leaving and only he followed me to the table where he nervously said he had been having fun getting to know me and wanted to know if he could get my number...of course me in my dorky nervousness (AND I could feel the 4 other set's of eyes burning a hole in the back of my head!) said "sure no problem" and I gave my number to him.

But y'all I'm kind of mad because I had so SO SO much fun at a boys night.
I want to be included in these boys' nights.
And I don't want to create drama etc.
So I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed with all this.
I'm hesitant to make B into MrGraphicDesigner.


So yea.
I am missing the next CanadaCrew event because I'm hanging with Quinn and Eva.
So I have a little break from them.
I don't know what to do about B and how to go about things.
He is very sweet and very nice...but I'm still a little ummm hung up on something that was all spark and chemistry.
What will happen?
Guess we will have to see.


Pics from here here here

How I get rid of my frustrations...

I have been C25King it up (Couch to 5K).
So I simply load up some new songs on my iPod.
And hit the gym.


So I guess a little bit about me.
I really love and identify and THRIVE with music.
There are times I can just listen to a song on repeat a bajillion times.

I love double entredres (not sure how to spell) by the way.
Which is why I love JayZ and Drake. 
Anywho music gives me balance and sometimes I just need to dance around my place in my fav rock out outfit which includes...knee high socks and shorts and a headband and hairbrush in hand BELTING a song out(because clearly I cannot do THAT on a treadmill.)...one day if I feel brave enough I will post a pic of this because I look RIDICULOUS!


Here are my latest favs...
With some of my favourite lines and what they make me think of...


First up The Wanted (I'm glad you came)...

My fav part 
you cast a spell on me, spell on me
you hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me
And I decided you look well on me, well on me
So let's go somewhere no one else can see, you and me


Even if this song is rather repetitive and simplistic I like it. 
I still like the song even if it does make me think of MrDentist (
I KNOW could I be any more super duper annoying about him right now?! Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!)

SO to act as a way to take back that song...Kelly Clarkson (Stronger)

My fav lines 
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone"


I also so in love with this song by Down with Webster (Royalty)...

My fav lines...ok I just realized it's half the song...whatever I'm totally into it.


Addicted to the lights and sounds
Want your bad habits and you wear 'em like a crown...


This is all about "that" crowd Missy/Colleagues/MrDentist/Playmate obviously


So driven she don't need chauffeurs 
And if you're not VIP then give up
to think she's above the bar that's a chin up
and getting lit up's the only thing that's relevant 
when all that's in your closet is designer or a skeleton...


(Clearly "that" crowd again)


Life of the party don't question her loyalty
Playin all night games
Every day's the same
Pull out the red carpet for the walk of shame
Nothin' to loose but a lot to gain *ESPECIALLY this line...seriously WTF
Same yeah you know her name royalty let her reign


You gotta give your blood 
you learn it on the streets
now baby it's your nature
now every body's gotta eat
you're better off alone *umm hello me.
you're better off than me
But everytime I'm gone I'm everything you need *always want what you can't have...this is so me right now
You got it on your face *yea I can't hide a thing
it's painted on the walls
you're looking for a problem but you can have them all
you said it all before
you fast for the feast
at least I care when you can care least (this makes me so so annoyed with myself!)


I love this song because it is so darn cute.
Canadian by the way -Carly Rae Jepson...and from my FAV gossip blog Lainey's she wrote this "Canadian Idol’s Carly Rae Jepsen was just signed to Justin Bieber’s label. It’s a big deal. It’s an even bigger deal when Justin, his gf, and all their friends pretty much make your video. Please."  


This is totally a home video include Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale, Carly (herself) and probably a ton more of people that I'm not sure of exactly who they are... How FUN is this?!?!?!  This is TOTALLY the dorky type of stuff I did growing up with my girlfriends.  I love that they did this!

My fav line is actually the chorus
hey, I just met you,
and this is crazy,
but here's my number, 
so call me, maybe?


And finally I'm loving this song by Train (Drive By)

And I love this lyric/verse 
"Oh but that one night was more than just right *I obviously think of THIS night
I didn't leave you cause I was all through
Oh I was overwhelmed and frankly scared as hell
Because I really fell for you"  *what I obviously want to be the case of MrDentist and I but I KNOW this is not the reality...reality is he's just not that into me and that is that.


So let's pretend for a moment that I'm not liking these songs because they all make me reflect on things going on (or rather not going on when it comes to MrDentist) in my life...CLEARLY I need to move on because this boy and his negative crowd is taking up entirely way too much of my head space.
My apologies for this weird post.
I'm giving you a glimpse of what a dorky strange girl I am.

Empire State of Mind

Okay so here is the long version of Monday/Tuesday.
After being very VERY ill all weekend (read here if you missed it).
My parent came to drop my brother off on Sunday afternoon.


The fam is headed to Portugal because this week is the first anniversary mass for my grandfather.
Which floors me that it was a year ago when that happened.
Remember? (here).
My parents called to tell me they were going last week.
So not really an option to go but that's not really my thing.
I know that seems kind of flippant and I don't mean it like that at all.
It's just I don't do well with that and then the added enclosed space with family is enough of a pressure cooker to add a lot of stress.


So my brother arrived on Sunday.
I planned on taking him to a really cool NFL super bowl party that was set to have NFL Cheerleaders there and everything and well that obviously was not happening.
I also have no cable.
So my brother walked to the hotel across the street from my place to watch it in their bar.
He wasn't too bothered by the idea because it allowed him to drink his face off and stay out until one.
Whereas I got to sleep a ton more (yea for sick me!)


So Monday morning I had to work.
I planned on leaving work at 1pm.
At 1:40pm I still hadn't left.
Though I had checked in to our 4pm international flight.

I rushed home all stressed about this and when I pulled up to my condo...it looked oddly dark.
And that was because there was no power.
So that required a 27 flight climb with all my work gear/laptop etc.
And then a 27 climb down with small luggage.
Its not the exercise that killed me.
It was the dizzying four directions per flight of the stairs.
Hurried.
And without eating all day.


Then we drove downtown (because that hour plus commute via public transit obviously didn't compare to just over 25 minute drive).
So we rushed to my downtown office and I had to drop something off there for Tuesday.


Then we took the subway to what I thought was going to be the stop to get to the airport.


Nope.


It was the spot to get to the shuttle that takes you to the ferry to get to the airport.


I couldn't MAKE this sh*t up.


We flew out of the Toronto Island Airport.


We were on the shuttle at 3pm.
Which was quick and the ferry was super fast.
In fact I don't understand why they don't just build a small covered bridge/human moving straight escalator thingy.  

Do you see the NARROWEST part there.
That is why you need to take a ferry.
Why do all these people look relaxed?!
I was in full on panic about to miss my flight mode...

I think the entire trip takes 10 minutes.
Just saying I've walked along airports that seemed to have longer people movers...just saying.

Kind of annoying.
Especially when you are panicking about missing a  flight.
Look how close it actually is!

Anywho we made it there.


And it was a blessing because unlike the Pearson Airport you actually clear customs once you are in the US.
Confused yet?
In Canada at the main international airport you clear US customs in Canada.
Which always made me wonder where the US customs officers lived?
I digress.


So I was a huge huge HUGE bundle of nerves.
But tried not to show it.
Here is the comfy lounge.
And yes I consider these my lucky shoes.
And yes I know it is in poor taste to put them on the coffee table...what can I say?  
I was nervous.

I did enjoy this airline immensely because you get drinks/snacks for free.
This gave me a teeny tiny taste of Tay's fabulous traveling adventures with fun food.
Obviously mine more of the cookie and chip variety than champagne and fancy first class meals but hey I can't complain.
And that was my lunch.
Chocolate chip cookies and water.
The least healthy ever.
Again at least I got something.

Like I said I actually really really enjoyed the airline and would absolutely fly them again.
Drinks are included (as in beer/wine/coffee/tea/soda/water) and so are snacks.
Before we knew it we landed in New York.

And my heart was pounding.
They asked where we were going.
We were pretty excited to let them know we were attending the Jay-Z benefit at Carnegie Hall.
The agent scanned our passports and said "have fun".


And that was it.
Well he did scan mine three times (seriously).
But then that was it.


I felt euphoric.
And so so SO excited to be in NYC.
The feeling  was actually oddly reminiscent of landing in Las Vegas that December in 2008.


So we hopped in a cab.
How amazing is New York?!

We had to swing by Carnegie Hall to pick up tickets.
Then rush to the hotel to get changed.
And in all the excitement I did not get one picture of my cute Taylor inspired outfit!
I know I'm so mad about that!


So we lined up outside Carnegie hall.
And waited to file in.

And when we walked in...
Simply Stunning!

I loved the little things.
The seats.

The fact that my little bro is SUCH a huge Jay-Z fan that the first celeb he spotted was Jay-Z's mom.
And he asked me to try and take a pic.
Here are my poor attempts.

The response in the almost full place when Liza Minnelli came in (shrieks/screams/applause) and how she walked down the aisle waving at EVERYONE.
What a New York legend!


The whole evening was INCREDIBLE.
And I got to cross something off my own personal bucket list.

It was incredible.
And after we were starving.
My brother suggested a burger place.


A secret burger place.
Hidden inside LeParkerMeridian.
Do y'all know about this place?

To the left of the sign in desk in the fancy hotel.
Think classical music.
Elegant and beautiful.

It looks like a curtained wall.
But if you actually walk towards it and glance down a narrow dark hall way you see this light.

And when you round the corner.
It's a small burger joint.
Cash only.
The only thing you can order (and you must do it correctly or get sent to the back of the line) are hamburgers/cheeseburgers/fries (one size only)/beer/pop.
There is writing all over the walls and it was PACKED.
My apologies for all my dark iPhone pics...it didn't seem cool to use a flash in there haha.

I was there in heels, a cocktail dress and a fascinator (I know always the spectacle).


Here is the sign of the hours I snapped.

And y'all the food.

After that we headed back to our hotel to have some drinks in the bar.

A lychee martini for me and a beer for my bro.

We had a pretty early flight in the morning so we headed to bed.
I enjoyed this hotel.
Great midtown location.
In the Thompson group.
And very cool retro 1960s decor but without feeling super dated.

I LOVED the tile in the bathroom.

So with that I went to bed.
And woke up to fly back home to Canada.
And now am so so sooooooooooooo super excited for my next trip!
Despite the hectic rush of the day.
It really could not have gone any better.