Quickie Vancouver Recap

~800 Aeroplan miles earned

9 Different Starbucks locations visited

8 Final position on @foursquare leader board after my 3-day jaunt

6 Different friends visited (Heather, Jamie, Tess, Ryan, Alina, Michelle, and Sean)

3 Hectic days off work

1 New pair of shoes (purple Alife Chasers)

1 Epic concert (Gossip + MEN)

+ tentative plans to do it all again in a few months time for a Tegan and Sara show January 6.

Definitely well worth it.

Fridays are the gateway drug to the weekend

Ugh, not feeling so hot this weekend after hitting the bottle pretty hard at the Dragonete show last night. The opening band, Ruby Jeand and The Thoughtful Bees was pretty good live, and I think they’ll be a group to look out for in the next few months-a year.

I ran into old friends from my university Greek days, and capped off the night by making poor gastronomical choices at the Denny’s by my house.

I woke up this morning suffocating under too many layers of duvet, and opted to crack a window instead of ridding myself of my sheets. I was further interrupted by a phone call from an familiar, but unable to place it in my groggy state, local number, and sent it to voicemail.

Surprisingly, they actually left a message, soI checked because most of my friends have the sense to just text me if they can’t get hold of me.

Turns out I’ve got a subpeona with my name on it at Police HQ that I get to pick up today. It’s one of those bad news/good news situtations because one the one hand, it kind of ruined my day, but on the other hand, this means that the Crown was able to prove that my case has a leg to stand on and we’re going to trial.

I’m still kind of number, but it caught me off guard — the last time I was on the stand was a full 8 months ago.

T minus seven days

After taking an admittedly impromptu three months off in the middle of the year, I almost don’t really feel like I need a vacation, but if you factor in the fact that I worked pretty much six to seven days a week for the last three years straight, I don’t really know what it’s like to have time off in general.

I’m off to Vancouver for a couple of days next week, Wednesday to Friday,to catch a show, and catch up with friends old and relatively new. I’m most excited about a planned rendezvous with one of my oldest friends, a girl named Jamie that I met in the third grade,, but I’ve also got a clothing swap to attend and some good shopping to catch up on.

I’ll admit, it feels weird to be working 5 days a week now, with the occasional (but hardly required) six day week cropping up every now and then but my days of being overworked and underfucked are behind me for the time being.

I have a really good balance in my life now, especially with respect to my yoga practice and running. Hopefully it will extend to the snowboard season, and I’ll be able to go out at least weekly as planned.

But for now, I’m counting the days, and whittling my itinerary down to a manageable three days worth of stuff.

Oh, and I’m seeing Dragonette for the third time on Thursday with some friends and I’ve got a belated long weekend waiting for me at the end of the week as a reward for coming in on Monday to tie up some loose ends on a philanthropic campaign that’s being executed this weekend through work.

Solitude amongst stangers

It has definitely been toolongsince I’ve taken in a show by my lonesome. I actually kind of prefer cozying up to the bar, pint of Keith’s Red in hand, to accompaniment, especially on a Sunday night.

Some mediocre local act is opening for An Horse and I’m nursing the aforementioned beer while taking in my surroundings.

It has been a long weekend to say the least. Friday night was a bit of a trainwreck as I found myself telling off my summertime hookup in a fit of passion fueled by alcohol and Saturday was no less eventful.

I feel a smidge classier as I tell you this, since I’m surrounded by beauty (in the form of a beautiful new bag from Banana) and after booking my quickie flight to Vancouver I’m far more at ease.

I can’t wait to escape Edmonton’s tedium for the warmer, and westter climes of the best coast, even if it is for only a couple of days.

The crowd is a bit of a couples-fest, but I’ve got great company from the bartender so I’m hardly in a position to complain.

I’ve got great closure for an exceptionally fun weekend.

No one to blame but myself but there’s a vacation on the horizon

I upgraded my Microsoft Office suite when I went back to Ontario/Quebec Easter weekend with the license code from Laura because the Student & Teacher Edition she’s using is good for installations on three computers. I don’t know if it was Snow Leopard, or that patch I downloaded last with from MSFT, but it’s no longer operational.

Obviously this is the weekend that I need Excel and Word like no other so I’m stuck using the old iBook until I pony up the cash for my own licese, or get creative and move my legit install over from the iBook. I don’t think I could go back to Occife 2003, but at this point, I’m willing to deal because having to switch back and forth between computers is beyond frustrating.

I decided, on a whim this past Saturday afternoon, that I was going to Vancouver late October because the Gossip is playing a show ther and I’ve got tons of friends in Van to couch surf my way through a three-day bender.

It has been too long since I last saw Beth Ditto & company, and I’m looking forward to it, though I’ve got a pretty heavy roster of shows coming up, including but not limited to Silverstein, An Horse, Deadmaus, Little Girls, You Say Party! We Say Die!, a The Faint DJ set, and possibly Metric (though I’m on the fence with this one because I’ve seen them far too many times to count.).

This fall is shaping up to be a good one, I’ve had a good job for close ho three months now, and I feel like everything’s falling into place life wise, we’ll just ignore hte romantic side of the coin for now…

And just like that, we’re over

Ugh, I’m so conflicted over dudes lately. I seriously have no fucking idea what I want anymore, and I’m tiring even myself with all this wishy-washy behaviour.

Greg and I are done for all intents and purposes, and there was a new guy, Adam, on the horizon.

Until we hung out at a friend’s going away party this weekend. The night was going fine, and then he showed up after we had, and quickly made his way over to my side. He’s friends with a few a of my friends, but most everyone was in the dark about anything going on between the two of us, because I tend not to overshare about potential relationships anymore.

I said hi at the same time as my friend E, and she quickly looked back and forth between us, as if she was confused that we’d finally managed to cross paths.

He explained that we’d met about two months ago at a party and spent a few subsequent weekends together. It wasn’t too serious, and I think it’s safe to say it was fueled by alcohol more than anything else.

We haven’t slept together, and I seriously doubt we ever will. I’m really into making out, it definitely sets the tone of the relationship for me, and if we don’t have chemistry there, I just can’t do it.

I really tried this weekend, but I was seriously bored when we were throwing down on Friday, and I spent all day Saturday trying to figure out if I could get past it, or if I was blowing it out of proportion, while prayin that he didn’t make good on his promise to arrange plans for that night.

Even in my horrifically hungover state I could see that I was grasping at straws at best, and trying to “make fetch happen”. It’s already behind me.

I’m actively shooting down relationships left right and centre, yet I’m also really sick of being single.

I love you, Amanda Blank

Seriously, her new album , 2009’s I Love You is impressive. It’s so good that I want to approach strangers about it and make sure they give it a listen.

Be sure to check out:

Lemme Get Some
Shame on Me
Might Like You Better

Blogger Book Club: Twilight Edition

My boss has been out of town for the past 10 days or so, thus I’ve been struggling to keep my head above water at work while also getting my stuff done and wrangling conference calls like it’s nobody’s business.

It’s all very technical, and not very interesting, so I won’t bore you with the details, but I’ve got an amazing team to work with and I think my boss will be beyond pleased with our progress and performance since her departure.

In the midst of all this, I decided to take my coworker up on her offer to lend me the first book in the Twilight Saga, and I haven’t looked back. One lead to the next, and before I knew it, I was texting her late at night begging her to bring me the next book. I’ve been tearing through those in ever spare waking moment, hence the lack of online presence on all fronts (including Tumblr).

I just finished Eclipse last night (my least favourite book of the series), and I’m starting in on Breaking Dawn as I type; it’s actually sitting next to me on my bed.

While it’s not exactly a challenging series, or the greatest work of literature that you’ll ever read, it’s definitely worth at least checking out, especially if you enjoyed the movie.

It’s a good series to read on vacation or something — perfectly mindless escapism at its finest.

Five Months

It has been almost five months and roughly 20 lbs since I lost my old job. After three months of wandering I’ve gained a career and an on again off again boyfriend (currently on if you’re keeping track).

He leaves for the warmer climes of Ontario for the rest of the summer in a few days, and frankly, i’m looking forward to the time I’ll have to myself as a result.

I fell in love with a pair of jeans this week, but I’m getting serious love handle action in my size, and I refuse to go up one after going down two so I’m on a hardcore 5+ days a week running and yoga kick to she those last few pesky pounds.

I might stop in to Vancouver for a quick two-day vacation next week if everything goes according to plan, but I’m not itching to get away in the same way I was earlier this summer, so it’s still technically up in the air.

This summer marks my three year anniversary of somehing I really wish I didn’t have to celebrate, but it’s getting better. I think about it less and less everyday, and I’m finally comfortable with the way that it has shaped me — both mentally and physically — I don’t even resemble the person I was three summers ago.

Skin Crawling

I tend to forget to take my (prescription) allergy pills on days that I don’t work mostly because I can get up at a marginally more decent hour and I’m such a creature of habit, that if I’m not up at the right time, my whole day will be thrown off.

The problem with not taking my allergy pills, that I’ve essentially been taking, in varying doses, since high school, is that I’m fine for like a day, and then my skin goes berserk. I’m currently battling a minor rash situation on my ankles (possibly related to opting to go sockless in my driving loafers last weekend — I fully knew what I was setting myself up for on that one so I’ve got no one to blame but myself) and knees (which cropped up after that one day at work where I scraped my knees on what looked like carpet, but I discovered was actually an abrasive Scotchbrite-like pad after I’d fallen to my knees quite ungracefully).

I have sensitive skin, and am allergic to everything (not even kidding here, I’m allergic to the cheap rubber that lines the toe area of Vans shoes and comprises the thong part of cheap flip-flops). Summer is no fun for me, because I never know what potential allergen is lurking around the corner.

I’ve also been going through mad caffeeine withdrawals because my home coffeemaker is broken and not only am I too lazy to walk to the Starbucks downstairs (unless, I’m already headed there. I just refuse to take a separate trip), I’m also too lazy to take a trip to the Future Shop next door. I suspect they might carry coffeemakers, but I’ve only set foot in those doors twice in the three years that I’ve lived here, so I’m not entirely certain.

I had a major headache brewing, but I remembered the coffee press that we’ve got siting on the counter, and I think that should take care of everything.

Last night was the Bedouin Soundclash/Paramore/No Doubt concert, and as expected, it was amazing. Words can’t even begin to describe how giddy being there made me. It was a little awkward at first because I was there with Greg, who is now my ex. Did I mention that we broke up last weekend? Well we did, we’re still on good terms, but going to concerts is such a coupled thing to do, in my opinion at least.

I have a bunch of days off work, though I wish they fell after the August long weekend, because there’s really nothing I want to do, or places I want to go this weekend. Then I’ve got the first half of next week off (from work at least) because I have to take all these first aid classes because I’m the fire marshall at work (it’s an honour being nominated).

Confession: I still haven’t seen the latest Harry Potter movie because my plans with a friend fell through on opening night and I think seeing a huge movie like that by yourself opening week is a little weird. I have no issues with seeing movies or eating dinner alone normally, but opening weekend means you’ll basically have to be sandwiched next to huge groups of people you don’t know – and that’s not my idea of a good time.

The weekend is upon us, and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate for once. We finally turned on the A/C this week, a huge feat since the weather hasn’t consistently been warm enough here yet to justify doing so, hopefully this is the beginning of truly seasonal weather in E-town.