My Totally Bomb Farewell

As we all know I have temporarily moved to Australia. Before I left however, I had the most perfect farewell bash a girl could have asked for! I am so touched that so many people came out last Saturday evening for dinner and/ or drinks and dancing. Friends from as far away as London, Toronto, Brampton, Oshawa, Hamilton, and my sister who goes to school out in New Brunswick all gathered together to wish lil 'ol me goodbye. My newest friend who just moved here (I guess I should say Burlington as technically "here" is Sydney!) from Australia also had a friend from her hometown visiting and it was wonderful to meet her too. I feel so blessed to have such good friends to miss and I am going to miss all of them so much. 

As was to be expected I wasn't the first to arrive at the restaurant (although I had every intention of being early, an unexpected pre-restaurant gathering at my house, although very much welcome, derailed that idea) and when I arrived, I was delighted to see my friends mingling and socializing, a la an impromptu cocktail hour. I joined right in ordering my favourite drink, a pina colada! 

No party is complete without favours so I was thrilled to have had the time to make these for my friends.



A delectable chocolate chip cookie recipe from the always trustworthy Martha Stewart and some sand and shells from Whitehaven beach in Queensland Australia, that I'd saved from my trip there in 2005 made for the perfect favour for my party. 

The tropical contents even matched the decor of the restaurant!

As we all know I will use any opportunity I can for an excuse to play with stickers and I was thrilled to find the perfect ones to decorate the bags. Martha Stewart's Bon Voyage themed stickers along with some surfboard and flip flop stickers. So adorable!

The dinner party was great. Great company, great food and, other than almost knocking over a ceramic vase while catching the overloaded coat rack when it broke in half, there were no untoward incidents! This is a picture of one of the tables. My bad for not getting a picture of the other table! 

We had the same smooth sailing during the after dinner drinks and dancing at Joe Dogs. I have to hand it to my guy who piggy backed me almost the whole way to Joe Dogs cause my stilettos just weren't up to the task of walking in the snow. Many more of my friends from Oakville met us at Joe Dogs and it was fantastic to dance and party with so many friends in one place! Our group was definitely the life of the party as we lit up the dance floor song after awesome song! Great music was such a treat as I find it so hit and miss at dance clubs. Some highlights from the evening definitely include 

1) meeting my friend's new baby girl

2) delivering my very first ever speech-a nerve wracking challenge but I really wanted to do it. In the end it went fine and I was so touched and surprised by my friends' reactions- Jen laughed and cried at the same time!

3) this guy at the restaurant who had an UNBELIEVABLE mullet. Seriously, his hair looked like one of those Russian fur hats

4) finally and most importantly, getting to spend time with amazing friends, who, regardless of the time since we last saw each other, be it a year or just a day or two, are each so special to me in their own way. 

Thanks for coming out guys! I miss you already!

See You on the Flip Side...

I can't believe the day has finally arrived! In a few short hours I will be boarding a flight to Sydney Australia. While most loose ends have been tied up (most recently, finding a place to stay- thanks James!) I am still in the throes of packing. I started packing four weeks ago. Yes FOUR weeks ago, and I'm still somehow not finished. Granted I was asked to empty my room which, for a pack-rat like me was no small task, but still, with every van-load of stuff I've carted away, I seem to come back to more stuff in its place. It's like some law-of-physics defying cosmic joke. I literally cannot seem to clear out my stuff. 

During the mass clear-out I cleaned out the basement storage room. From it I either gave or threw away almost every toy, stuffed animal, doll, book, magazine, craft, art supply or board game I ever owned! I swear, the Apocalypse could have arrived and any kid trapped in my house wouldn't have wanted for something to do for at least a year.

A little dusty perhaps. Thank goodness Toronto has given each house a huge recycling bin!

I also have a lot of elementary school work and all of my high school and university notes, just in case I ever wish to read my Grade 2 journals (possibly) or re-learn Grade 11 Chemistry (not likely). Sorting through all of that will be a project for next time. 

Right now I'm still trying to come to terms with having to part with almost half my wardrobe and most of my winter clothing. I know it's irrational and I can't quite figure this out but I am feeling nervous at the thought of  going anywhere without my full set of thermal underwear and a snowsuit. How quickly and easily I've forgotten what warm air feels like. I can even comfortably wear my jacket in the house it's that cold here right now. I'm now going to go take the fleece socks out of my suitcase. And maybe the fuzzy sweaters. But maybe not. 

The basement storage space. Requires some contortionist moves to get in and out. 

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

What better way to ring in the New Year than with a new haircut! (Ok and maybe just one glass of Veuve.) I decided to take the plunge and go from blonde (well, to be honest, quasi-blonde) to card-carrying brunette! I was nervous at the idea of such a drastic change but by the time I had negotiated the almost zero visibility blizzard, first gear all the way, to to Downtown Oakville I was just glad to be sitting in that salon chair in one piece! There's nothing like walking into a fancy salon wearing snowboots and gators, covered in a layer of snow and knowing that no one is judging you. The weather was THAT bad. I know I know we Canadians love to go on about the weather but how can you not take notice when the only souls brave enough to go outside are suited up from head to toe complete with ski goggles? It IS quite a sight to drive the snowy roads alongside snowboard-wielding teens trudging along, determined to find a hill on which to practice their tricks. Only the beams of the slow moving vehicles penetrate through the foggy, snowy air; the streets blanketed in an ever thickening white layer, with a muted stillness that makes me think of the twilight-zone. Anyway here are some before and afters of the new "do." So far the response from family and friends has been unanimously positive :)

Before....

...and after. Ta-da!

Oh Boy! Ontario Gets Its Winter On...

Driving home a couple of weeks ago. I just love the constant  "storm watch weather forecasts" on the radio every 30.5 seconds... here's an idea- look outside the window! It's snowing! We know that!

After last winter finally ended sometime around Canada Day (ok, maybe it was a leeetle bit earlier than that but not by much) I remember thinking to myself, "it really can't get any worse than that." Not so fast Miss Optomistic! This winter is shaping up to be even more of a cold, blustery, snowy "Canadian" winter than last year! Only this year I'm prepared.... no more getting caught sideways halfway up our (very looong, uphill) driveway. 

To explain: This is just one of more than a few winter-related predicaments contributing to my bias against last winter... It was a snowy Sunday in March, the day before my first day teaching Grade Three. I had been offered my very first teaching job, taking over a maternity leave, and after supply teaching for 9 months I was sooo excited to be able to try out life as a "real" teacher. I arrived home after the gym, and was about halfway up the driveway when the car suddenly started sliding sideways! I tried to straighten out but that only made it worse and I lost the ability to move the car all together, sideways or otherwise.  Completely alone at the time as the rest of the family was living on temporary assignment in Brazil, I began to panic.
What to do?

Just then my hero appeared at the top of the hill. Clouse, our soft spoken yet very kind next door neighbour, emerged through the blowing snow, brandishing, to my utter delight and relief, the perfect weapon of ice destruction- an enormous bucket of salt! Clouse offered to not only give me the entire bucket of super duty salt, but also to help me spread it around the car. After about an hours work, we finally made enough slush so that the tires could gain traction and I could realign the car with the driveway. I thanked Clouse profusely and spent the next 3 hours in the dimming light, hauling 5 inch thick ice blocks over the side of the retaining wall so that I could back the car down to the edge of the driveway. After that I just started parking at the bottom of the driveway and walking up to the house. I will always be eternally grateful to Clouse for coming to my rescue that day. 

Anyhoo, we are in the midst of another blizzard today. Not even our usually all-season cat is willing to brave the weather. She has a lot in common with my Pilates teacher who cancelled the class today! Not too happy about that. Now I just feel trapped inside the house. These photos don't do the blizzard justice as it is much more howly and snowy than this looks, but here is what it looks like from the doorways of our house. I was too chicken to go outside...gotta love snow squalls and a minus 19 degree wind-chill....Global Warming my you know what! 

Front-door view

Backyard. Look closely- the pool is almost full of snow!

Camera Play

As we all know, I love taking pictures! Here are a few scenic shots from the balcony of our suite at Blue Mountain from last weekend. Now that I've calmed down from the injury I'm remembering  some of the really nice aspects of our mini-vacation to Collingwood.

We were treated to a really beautiful snowfall. The twinkling snowflakes floating silently from the sky made strolling through the resort really peaceful and beautiful. We made a decent effort to salvage what was left of Saturday post-hospital visit, choosing to repair to Windy O'neil's Irish Pub for an evening beverage. I had almost as much fun playing fashion police to the tucked-in plaid shirt crowd as I did listening to the rousing live band or drinking $100 tequila shots (ok they were $10 which is still highway robbery). 

We also lucked out getting a fireplace in our room. It was so cozy sitting by the fire enjoying this fabulous view...

Not to mention the outdoor hot tub...

The nice folks at Customer Service offered us two free lift tickets since we didn't get to make much use of the ones we'd bought, so I'm hoping to make one more trip before I leave for Australia... here's to not having to take any more pictures looking like this...

A Series of Unfortunate Events

So this weekend. It was one calamity after another as a friend and I attempted a first snowboard trip to Blue Mountain...

     

Since our weather has been getting colder and snowier, and as I will be leaving soon for desert-like Australia, I had been thinking lately...why not take one last stab at a snowsport I love but only learned how to do last year? Having been a skier since I was 8, I tried to learn to snowboard in high school and then again in university but both attempts were met with utter and complete failure. It was only last year when my bf spent a very patient day teaching me that I picked it up. I was thrilled! I went twice last year and this was to be the first of what I hoped would be my get-in-bikini shape activity for the weekends up until my plane takes off in January. This fantasy was not to be realized, due to a very unfortunate bout of bad luck.

You know when things just start off badly and then go downhill? (haha, no pun intended.) Well we started the trip with a ginger ale spill in the car. Small, I know, but a harbinger of things to come. Next was the realization that my snowboard boots were at my friend's cottage. The hour long detour wasn't the end of the world but still, the second fly in the ointment. After a few stops along the way to make some last minute equipment purchases, and yet another beverage spill we were on the hill. The weather was great, cool but not too freezing, but the snow was rather sticky and I spent a very frustrating 20 mins essentially crawling across this through-way to get from one set of hills to another, easier set so that I could practice carving. As we prepared to go for our third run down the hill my friend realized that a strap of his binding had broken off.... geez I though to myself, what else could possibly go wrong? What happened next was worse than all the inconveniences thus far combined with my worse fears. I was carving nicely down the hill when I caught my front edge and took what didn't seem like a major spill. I wasn't scared as I dove towards the snow but my outstretched arm apparently was not up for the impact and as the familiar crunchity crunch sound echoed through my right shoulder joint, I knew what had happened. I had dislocated my shoulder. Not to worry I thought to myself as I laid on the hill, my arm splayed awkwardly out to the side and hoping that I didn't get plowed over by another novice boarder/ skier. At first I wasn't overly concerned since this a) wasn't the shoulder I'd had surgery on a year ago and b) every other time I'd dislocated my left shoulder (yes, there's been more than a few) I'd been able to pop it back in on my own. My lackadaisical attitude to my predicament gave way to moderate concern as my attempts to reduce the dislocation were ineffectual and ski-patrol was nowhere in sight. Finally after a good 15-20 minutes we were helped by the ski patrol but by then I was doing as much self-talk as possible to reduce the shock I could feel myself slipping into. What had initially been light pain was getting worse and worse as the muscles surrounding my joint went into spasm. Not even the stretcher ride of shame down the mountain or the jarring and painful ambulance ride moved my shoulder back into place. The nurses at Collingwood hospital were great and I was seen remarkably quickly by the doc who fixed me up with a pleasant combination of compassion and matter-of-factness. Even though everything happened quickly my shoulder had still been out for over an hour and a half by the time all was said and done and so I was pretty out of it. When I started to feel better (thanks to some prompt iv pain meds and Danny's arrival to the hospital to keep me company) I noticed that virtually all the patients in the crowded triage area were casualties of unfortunate skiing or snowboarding mishaps. I guess things could have been worse but it still was a huge disappointment to me. I hope that it heals quickly and that I can get another day in before I have to leave. Fingers crossed!

Our first and only on-hill pic. Kinda reflects my sentiments exactly... "aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!"

Australia Countdown

Ladies Night Out

What do you get when you combine one chocolate fondue fountain, two pole dancers, three belly dancers and 25 cans of hairspray all under one roof at the Oakville Convention Center? Ladies Night Out of course! The who's who of Oakville's social elite all gathered last night for an evening of taste-testing, shopping and people watching in the glamourously decorated venue. Upon entering the room, My friend, her mother-in-law and I were swept up in the feeding frenzy that was swarming the tasting spread. The offerings were worth the mild indignity of being knocked off balance by more than one feisty octogenarian making a beeline for the tirimisu. Wild mushroom and goatcheese baguettes, not to mention the silky smooth liquor did hit the spot as we made our way through the throngs of bespeckled socialites armed with their pointy elbows and shoes. I was actually body checked at the wine tasting table, sending my cake fork into a crowd of leather and cashmere. Everybody's enourmous bags didn't help matters. Apparently carrying a large bag makes you look smaller. I'm not sure this "reason" justifies lugging around a suitcase, unless one needs to tote their border collie along with them. Anyhoo, after we were able to make our way through the crowd were were spat out into the great room just in time for the first of two fashion shows. This was followed by a belly dance performance and a pole dancing show. 

we all signed up for a free belly dancing lesson. It looks like such a fantastic workout and you get to wear bells to boot! I got my hair done by the runway models' stylist. Not sure I'd wear this look again but it was fun for one night.