Cue all the excitement!!!

Having a birthday in December usually means you get shafted…

I am probably writing this a few weeks ahead of time seeing as my birthday is on December 20^th  and its not technically even December yet but it’s the same old story every year. With my birthday so close to Christmas it usually means 2 things: 

1 – I get a whole whack load of presents in December (thanks Mom! You never let me down) 

and 2 – A lot of people won’t be able to make it to my birthday party. Sad Panda.

When I was younger and in school everyone was already on holidays when my birthday rolled around. And now as I get older and make grown up friends, they are usually “gone back home” for Christmas. Or everyone already has plans because December is the busiest month for EVERYONE.

What’s a girl to do?

Have a party anyways when I want and whoever shows up shows up?

Wait until January to have a post birthday celebration? Meh… by then the excitement is already worn off.

Not have a party of any sort?

It’s always a dilemma every year. This year I thought I would think about it early to hopefully have people be able to attend. But now its just stressing me out earlier than normal.

This year will be my 29^th. So I will try my best not to fret about it too much. But next year… I’m sending out invitations in July…

Tis the season!

Now that American Thanksgiving is over and its only a few days away from December, I can put up my Christmas decorating with out feeling like I'm jumping the gun. 

I looked up some photos for a little inspiration... 

This is a little excessive... yet I still love it. 

I totally already made one of these a few weeks ago... 

Yum! Definitely making these! 

A cozy candle cozy.

Remember that time... in Italy... When the lights were out...

Get your mind out of the gutter. This isn’t THAT kind of story.

I told this flashback story to a coworker today and thought it would be a funny one to share on my blog. Always thinkin’ about you fellow bloggers!

Once upon a time (11 years ago), in a land far, far away (in Italy), there was a young girl. It was me actually!! I was 17 years old and on a Grade 12 Europe Trip with my school. There were 40 students on the trip and we went to France, Monaco and Italy. One of the most interesting and fun holidays ever!

This particular story took place at a hotel in Rome on the last night of the adventure. After dinner a group of us were hanging out in the hotel room (we may or may not have been drinking the 12 bottles of wine we purchased that day…) and we heard some noise outside the balcony of the room. We looked out and low and behold there was an Italian soccer team staying in the other tower of the hotel. Well... we being 17 year old girls of course started whistling and screaming for them. They hollered right back and tried to get us to open the door of our hotel tower to let them in (at the hotel you needed security cards/keys to get into each of the buildings). We knew the teachers on the trip were in the rooms next to us and we would get in SO MUCH trouble if we let them in so the crazy Italians started trying to climb up the balconies. After a while they started creeping us out so we closed the balconies and went about our own “last night in Europe party”.

For the entire trip I had been rooming with 2 other girls. They were exhausted and wanted to go to sleep but I was planning on pulling an all nighter with the rest of the group. The thing was you needed to put one of those security keys I mentioned into a slot in the room in order to get power to the room, the same key you needed for the halls and for the door to get in and out of the room too. Really smart plan for saving power, but not smart when we only had one key between the 3 of us. So my roomies and I decided that I would take the key since they were just going to sleep anyways and didn’t need lights.

Off I went down the hall to join the rest of the group, key in hand. At 3 am we heard banging and yelling from somewhere in the hotel. Those of us that were still up instantly thought it was the Italian soccer team so we were too scared to open the door to the hall to check. After a while someone said “I think that noise is coming from our floor??”, we opened the door and peeked out. “Umm… Mich… I think that noise is coming from YOUR room??”.

We ran down the hall to my room and opened the door. There were my roommates, soaking wet, in complete darkness. The pipe from the shower burst somehow and water was spraying everywhere. The poor girls were locked in the room with no lights and no way out.

It’s a funny story NOW but let me tell you… they were not happy having to pack all of their soaking wet clothes for our flight early that morning.

I'm not made of money ya know...

Let's vent a little shall we...

So I'm going to a bachelorette party this weekend. Yay! I love bachelorette parties. BUT what I don't like is when whoever is planning said party thinks everyone invited is made of money and/or has a sugar daddy.

If I were to participate in all of the bachelorette weekend festivities they would include:

Drive from Calgary to Banff (and return after) - lets say $40 in gas
Pay the Banff National Park fee for parking there over the weekend - $20??
Hotel for 2 nights (shared with other girls) - $150
Spa day - probably like $300
Dinner at a very expensive restaurant on Saturday night - $60
Booze for pre-drinking at the hotel room - $30
Night out at the bar - I'm gonna guess about $80
Small gift for the bride - $20
Meals for the rest of the weekend too - $50?

That estimate totals up to $750..... SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!!!!!!! 

Holy Shit!

Sure I adore the bride and would get a girls weekend out of it but damn... I could go to Vegas for that cost. Shoot I could find a deal and go to Mexico for a week for that cost.

Not happening.

Myself and another invitee are going to drive to Banff (share the cost of gas) on Saturday afternoon and meet up with everyone just before dinner time and then stay with them until after the bar and then drive back together. (I wont be drinking in case you were wondering).

I swear... whenever I get married I will make sure my bridesmaids think of those who are on a budget.

Rant over.

Pondering...

Lately I’ve been feeling bored, like I am supposed to be doing something. Maybe this feeling has come over me because for most of 2011/2012 I was helping my best friend plan her wedding. It took up a lot of my time and thought. At the same time I was in the beginning stages of a new relationship. Any time that wasn’t spent working, or helping my friend, was spent with him.

Now that the wedding is over and the boyfriend and I have moved in together I feel like I have all this free time on my hands and I don’t know what to do with myself.

I could take up a hobby but to be quite honest, I am on a strict budget right now with a goal of being debt free at the end of 2013 in my clear vision. Also I REALLY want to go to BiSC in May and on a vacation with the man somewhere too so any extra money is being put into vacation funds.

This feeling has got me thinking.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at a friend’s house with a big group of people watching the Western Final CFL game (Go Stamps!!). Some of our friends brought their kids. I ended up getting distracted from the game and spent most of the afternoon playing “shopping” and “hairdresser” with 2 of the little girls there. I was in heaven.

So all last night and this morning I kept thinking about my age. And how if certain events in my life turned out differently, I could probably be married by now with a baby or two.

Is that why I am feeling the way I am? Should I have kids already? I feel like I am no where near ready for anything like that. But I just wonder…

Dance Dance Revolution

There was a surprise at my BFF's wedding in July... check it out!

Day. Off.

You know what can (sometimes) be better than a vacation? Random days off with nothing to do. Stay-cations as I like to call them.

That what I get to do today.

No work. No plans.

Beautiful.

Tales from Condo Management – Episode II - The One with the washer fluid

I received this letter a few months back after we told someone they weren’t allowed to store household items in their underground parking stall. Some people can be such assholes. Funny… but still assholes.

To Whom it May Concern:

            Just wanted to write a quick note letting you know how pleased I am with your recent decision to disallow residents to leave a bottle of windshield wiper fluid at the back of their stalls. Yikes! How horrible. It really made the garage look messy and disheveled. After all, the blue color of the fluid did clash with the color of the dirt, rock and cigarette butts that usually sit on the floor.

            I am happy to know that I can now host a Sunday afternoon tea party in the private underground parking stalls of our building without the scorn from my friends and family for the unsightly appearance of a single bottle of wiper fluid. I mean really, why would I put wiper fluid on the FLOOR of a GARAGE, when I could just as easily place an opened bottle of toxic chemical in my own car with my children. Maybe I can place it in the middle of my dining room table? In a GARAGE??? Were we out of our minds?? Thank god you picked up on this.

            Yep, I think we should plan all of our neighborhood BBQ’s to take place in the dusty underground parking of our building. You know, to really show it off to the community. It is after all the highlight of our building.

            Gosh, could you imagine if other home owners actually placed necessities for their vehicle in their garage??? Insanity.

            Again, thank you. Just brilliant.

Sincerely,

A Home Owner

Speech! Speech!

This summer my best friend got married and I had the (terrifying) honor of the speech to the bride: 

Good Evening everyone,

If you don’t already know, my name is Michelle and I would just like to say a few words to the newlyweds. But before I do that, I would like to thank all of the groomsmen for everything they have done for Bryan and Jennifer’s special day and for looking so handsome this evening. Ladies, can we get a quick round of applause for the handsome groomsmen?

Jen and I have been friends for about 18 years now and we have countless memories together from all of our adventures. I would like to share a story though that very few people in this room know about, in fact, I’m pretty sure Bryan isn’t even aware of this.

Early last May, I was rummaging through some old boxes at my parents house and found a bunch of things from high school, most of which were just pictures of the Backstreet Boys and notes between Jen and I. But then I came across an envelope that had some very important papers in it. It was about 6 pages folded together that were titled “The Dream Love List”. I called Jen right away and told her what I had found; she was just as excited as me and made me promise not to look at it until we could read it together. Best friends do those sorts of things for each other…

So we got together the next day and, as giddy as can be, unfolded “The List”. We wrote this list when we were about 17 years old so it was of course written in blue marker and covered in heart shaped stickers. When we wrote the list, we said that before either of us even thought about marrying someone, we would have to go back to that list and make sure he fit the criteria.

The list was composed of very important qualities that any good man should have. Such as:

# 4 – Has to be able to dance.

Or

# 28 – Must have good hair.

Or how about,

# 39 – Doesn’t mind shopping.

After we laughed over all 50 items on the list and how brilliant we thought we were at 17, we thought it would be fun to see how well Bryan scored. We went through the list line by line, item by item and he scored a whopping 97%!!

Both of us looked at each other and said “well… I guess you can marry him now…”

The very next day, I got a phone call from Bryan asking me to help him organize the surprise party where he would be proposing to Jen… It was fate.

As someone who has known Jen since before her height growth spurt, I can tell you Bryan, you are one lucky man today. Not only are you marrying the most beautiful woman in the room tonight, you are also extremely blessed to be marrying someone who will stand by your side no matter what life throws at you, someone who will never cease to amaze you with how much love she can give and someone who only gets better with age.

Every single one of us ladies at this table have felt the contagious love that Jen can give and if that is even just a glimpse of the love she will show to you as her husband, you have a lifetime of happiness ahead of you.

Jen… my soul sista… words could never express how much I cherish having you as a best friend. I am so beyond proud of the amazing woman you have become and it is an absolute honor to be up here with you on your special day. I truly can’t imagine another man more destined for you than Bryan. I wish you both all the best in your new adventures as husband and wife.

Lets all raise our glasses for the newlyweds. Here’s to love, laughter and a happily ever after.

Want to see more photos? Or are you looking for the BEST wedding photographers in Calgary? Check them out here: Diane & Mike Photography.

Farahs Wedding

Last year at this time I went to my dear friend Farah's wedding (you probably know of her, she blogs at facesbyfarah.com. If you don't know of her yet definitely check her out).

Anyhoodle, last year I traveled the long 5 hour flight from Calgary to Toronto to take part in her magical wonderful day. But it was more than a one day event, there were 3 extravagant events and 5 days of visiting with WONDERFUL people.

Event 1 - Henna Ceremony 
Which included a delicious Indian feast. OMG I die... I definitely gained a good 5 lbs that trip.

That's my hand!

Event 2 - The Traditional Indian Ceremony. 
 In the afternoon I had some time to kill and it was a beautiful fall day so I went for a stroll around the neighborhood I was staying in. I am SO glad I did too. I was blown away by the colors and all the leaves! 

Fire trees as I like to call them.

More fire trees.

The Orange! All the Orange!

I feel like I could write and entire story based on this photo.

That evening was the ceremony. I couldn't get over all the rich colors. 

Its been a year now and I still love looking at these photos.

The "stage" for the bride and groom.

2 photos of the same, I couldn't pick just one to post.

Entrance of the BEAUTIFUL bride.

Now THAT is an entrance!

Event 3 - The Traditional "Western" Ceremony. 
I felt like I was at a wedding for royalty. No picture could truly show how amazing it was. And a BIG part of it was all DIY'd by Farah. Seriously, how amazing is that right? 

STUNNING!!!!

Flip-flops provided for sore feet from wearing high heels all day. 

A handmade bouquet. WOW!

Her shoes! She HAND glued all the stones on. Can you believe it?

It was one of the best trips ever. So much love. Her family and friends welcomed me like their own. I was so blessed to be apart of her special day.

Add to my Christmas wish list...

There are some wounds that even time can't heal...

Its been 8 1/2 years now since my sister died. Most days are bearable and I can get through them without the heart ache getting to me.

Most days are normal.

But every now and then, days like today come around.

Today I was out doing some early Christmas shopping when I wandered into HMV, why I just don't know. I wasn't going in there for anything particular and lets be honest, no one buys CD's anymore. Yet somehow I found myself wandering the aisles.

I came across 2 CD's that I picked up and walked around with in my hands for a few minutes. One was the Mariah Carey Christmas album. I ended up putting it back. I know exactly why too. Her song "All I want for Christmas", although my favorite Christmas song of all time, always comes on the radio exactly when I need it to. Many times when I am all alone.  It was our Christmas song we shared and went ballistic for as kids. It usually fills me with such a mixed emotion of happiness and sadness that all I can do is cry. I felt that I needed to leave her with that opportunity to send me messages from heaven.

The other CD was Shania Twain's Greatest Hits. Random right? It was on sale for $8.00 so I bought it excited to rock out in my car to some country. When I got back to my car I literally couldn't wait. Before I even left the parking lot Shania was blasting in my car.

Then the unexpected hit me. I completely lost it. Not even a minute into the first song I picked I was crying. A rush of pain I couldn't fight off. Hearing an old song we used to have living room dance parties and sing-offs to broke me. It was like someone ripped my heart wide open and all the sadness and feelings of emptiness that I suppress on a day to day basis came pouring out.

It's been over 8 years and when one silly song comes on... it still hurts. It hurts so much that no matter how many words I put into a blog post I could still never express it. There's a loneliness.. a hole where her presence is supposed to be. I know with out a doubt that she watches over me and is with me in spirit but it will never be enough.

All I want is to be able to call her on the phone and say "guess what I bought today!!! We need to go on a road trip so we can listen to it together like we used to". Every single day there is something I want to tell her about. Every single day I wish I could hear her voice... and mostly her laugh. I feel like I am forgetting what they sound like.

As I write this post, I have the Shania CD playing on repeat in the background and i've had to walk away from my computer 4 times now because what I am trying to type out is so hard to put into words that I literally want to puke.

I guess time doesn't heal all wounds...

Friday night date night with my BFF

Dinner at Cactus Club - Yum!! 

Tales from Condo Management

I work in Condo Management, in other words we manage apartment buildings, town homes and commercial properties. I deal with a lot of crazy ass people. So I thought it would be a good idea to start a segment on the ol’ blog where I share those stories of the crazies.

Episode I - The one with the hair.

A few months back I got a call from a concerned neighbor who wanted to inform us of some… “strange” activity they had witnessed.

This took place in a town home complex so each unit has a parking stall right in front of their front door.

Every Friday for a month, some residents from one of the townhouses put a big chair in their parking stall.

And then plugged in hair clippers to the outlet used for plugging in cars in the winter.

Then… all day long… the chair was used as a barber’s chair.

Men would come and get their hair buzzed off.

At the end of the day, the barber, let’s call him Emilio, would sweep all the hair trimmings together into a pile in the middle of the parking stall.

And then light it on fire.

People be crazy.

Gross.

Wish me luck. If you don't hear from me for a while... send men with shovels.

Snowfall Warning

Issued at 4:15 PM MST Thursday 8 November 2012

SUMMARY

Up to 25 centimetres of snow expected by Saturday morning.

DETAILS

A storm system located over the central American Rockies has spread an area of snow into Southern Alberta this afternoon. Snow will become heavy tonight as the storm system intensifies. At this time the axis of the heaviest snow is expected to be situated over the Okotoks, Crowsnest Pass, Cardston, Brooks, and Lethbridge regions where up to 40 centimetres is possible. Other warned regions can expect between 15 to 25 centimeters of snow before the storm system pulls away on Saturday. Areas of local blowing snow in combination with falling snow will produce poor visibilities at times so motorists should be prepared for very poor driving conditions across much of Southern Alberta tonight through to Saturday morning. 

Snooki, Soup and Trolls... OH MY!

The other day, my BFF and I started writing a random story back and forth by email. 

It was so ridiculous that I just had to share it with you... with pictures... you're welcome. 

Once upon a time, 

It was a Sunday, 

There lived a crazy Troll under a bridge. 

His name was Gregory.

 

He had a giant pinky on his right hand. 

It was as long a a cucumber. 

The pinky was good for stirring soup. 

He was, after all, 

The Troll Chef that lived under a bridge. 

Every Tuesday he made soup and delivered it to 

The Jersey Shore.

Snooki was his best customer. 

Since the troll didnt have a TV,
He didn't know there was a hurricane about to hit Seaside.
So he hopped onto his pink vespa and rode to the Jersey Shore.

 

After riding through trecherous winds, 

He finally reached the Jersey Shore house

Where all he found was 

Empty cans of spray tanner and matted hair extensions.

Gregory was confused and asked LMFAO if they wanted the soup.
They were picking their afros on the boardwalk,
Compeltely unaware that the hurricane was destroying it all around them.

 

They ate the soup,
Then were swept away by the tide...
Never to be seen again... 
At the Grammy's that year they had a 2 second memorial for LMFAO
And after that no one ever spoke of them again.
And "I'm sexy and I know it" was forever banned in North America.
Only the Koreans liked it still...
But they also created Gangnam Style so their opinion doesn't count.

After the hurricane was over,
Gregory the Chef Troll returned to his bridge
Where he came across a puppy.
The puppy's name was Brucey.
Troll and Brucey became BFF's and
Lived under the bridge eating worms, delicious soup and tacos.

One day,
A Tuesday,
After they made a split pea soup,
Donald Trump came across the bridge.

Gregory was confused because surely he wasn't there for food,
everyone KNOWS ogres only eat people who were fired from the Apprentice,
So he asked Trump why he came.
Trump wanted to offer him a deal.
"Let me live under your bridge" Donald said.
"I will make you a millionaire in 3 weeks"
But Gregory was smarter than that.
"Aren't you the douche bag who questioned Obama's heritage?
And his education? I don't trust you as far as I can throw you.
Get out from under my bridge!!"
So Gregory pushed Trump into the raging hurricane flooded river below
Never to be seen again.

To be continued...

Probably the One and Only Time I Will Ever Blog About Politics.

(Please remember that this is my own personal opinion, you may disagree and you may have harsh comments for me, but I am entitled to my own opinion and this is my blog, the place where I am allowed to voice it)

So today is the BIG Election Day in the U.S. Normally I don’t say anything about politics ever, not even in person, because to be honest, it’s not my favorite subject. I slept through social studies classes in high school and almost didn’t graduate because of my grades in that class. Seriously. It’s not because I’m not smart or that I don’t understand, it’s that I think most of it is so ridiculous I just lose interest and I really don’t care.

This US election has been different for some reason. I actually know who both candidates are and what they stand for. That’s odd for me. Not only because normally I couldn’t care less but because I AM CANADIAN!!

Which brings me to the main point of this post and the part where I admit to something I am not sure if I am proud of or not... I have never voted, ever. Not in a local election, or a provincial one or a National one where we elect our Prime Minister. Why? Because I have never felt that I needed to. Nor have I EVER known who the candidates were. Like ever. No, I don’t live under a rock but I don’t (and won’t) go out of my way to research that information for our elections. I have always told everyone who asks me about voting, or lack there of, that the government/candidates need to send out one flyer or booklet laying out who the candidates are and what they stand for. Boom. One piece of paper that is delivered to my door to tell me my options. Maybe then I would vote. Maybe.

I mean seriously, what do I have to complain about living in Canada besides the weather which we all know government can’t change? I have FREE HEALTH CARE, I have a government that has supported me whenever I have needed it, and our country ISN’T AT WAR and doesn’t plan on ever starting wars with anyone. Our government doesn’t ever have major life altering changes. If Canadian candidates had such drastic differences like Romney and Obama and it was so-in-your-face-all-day-every-day about their opinions and shit than maybe it would be shoved down my throat to vote too.

In closing, since I actually do know about the candidates running for U.S. President this time, I really hope that America gets it right. I know if I lived there (and if I voted…) I would vote for Obama with out a doubt.

Halloween Decorating at Chateau Mich

Love these little guys!! 

Before all the snacks were set out.

Turning the best party game into a drinking game = AMAZING!!

Made these for the halloween potluck at work. They were
a big hit!