Last night after work, I met up with the lovely Erin and Nicole to talk, laugh, and fill my body with carbs at Kawaii Crepe. Awesomeness. I had The Uptown followed later by It's-A-Smore. Sooo good. We will definitely be making a return trip. And we will definitely be planning another Girls Night this summer. I've known Erin almost forever and Nicole for the last couple of years, and the combination was pretty darn ridiculous if you ask me. In the best possible way :)
And as predicted, I totally missed it. Briony and I are at my parents' place this weekend and I left for two hours this afternoon to hang out with Erin. I got back to discover that my mom, my sister, and my dad had all been witness to Briony's very first official steps.
Fortunately, she was more than willing to share a series of replays with me - all the way up to 10 or 12 steps straight into her mama's arms. I am SO PROUD of my baby girl. And she is SO PROUD of herself. The look on her face said it all... Such amazing parenting moments. I can't wait for Geoff to see on Monday :)
Back in the day - sometime in high school - I can remember having a birthday party that lasted until the wee hours of the morning. As we sat and watched the sun rise on the day after my birthday, I can remember declaring that someday I wanted to be awake for the entire 24 hours of my birthday, to soak up as much birthday awesomeness as I could possibly soak up.
(Erin, does this sound familiar to you at all? I'm pretty sure that you were there. It sounds like an idea just birdbrained enough that we likely cooked it up together - hehe.)
Anyway. I came damn close yesterday, completely by accident. Two rotten nights in a row with a teething baby bookmarking my birthday, plus the addition of a flare-up... Not *quite* what I had in mind :)
So I'm doing Erin's questionnaire, not because I was tagged, but because I found her answers really interesting. And because I'm procrastinating and I really don't feel like cleaning my dirty house. And because I feel like I *should* blog, but I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. So here you go.
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Would you rather be called hot, cute, or beautiful? I have to choose?! Beautiful.
Do you have a little sister? Yes. And soon I'll have two!
Do you like Taylor Swift? Not really, but I'm not offended by her either. Just ambivalent, I guess.
Do you like to listen to the radio when you're in the car? Yup, I'm a loyal Curve listener (though I'll sometimes plug in my iPod if I'm in the mood for something really specific).
Tell me a fact about the last person that texted you. My Dad. And my fact about him is that I still think it's funny that he knows how to text. And that I helped to talk him into upgrading to a Blackberry this week. He's becoming so... current :)
When's the last time you ate at Taco Bell? Last month. Geoff made me. It was greasy, but tasty.
True or false: Miley Cyrus is the most annoying person ever? SO SO SO true.
Do you like to wear flip-flops? Hm, good question. I do if they're comfortable and cute and not too sloppy-looking. My favourites are Kenneth Cole - a metallic charcoal grey with beading. I've been wearing them at least a couple of times a week, and I wore them to death last summer at work (I switched to heels just for meetings to help be a little kinder to my painfully pregnant feet).
Have you ever broken anything because you were mad? No, but I agree with Erin - it would be SO FUN. Oh wait. Does cutting up pictures count? I totally shredded a picture of me and an ex, and sent him the confetti in the mail. Ah, high school :)
Do you like wearing headbands? No, but I sometimes do the whole 'slave for fashion' thing and suffer through it for a day. Always regret it after about 45 minutes, though. You ladies know what I mean.
Have you ever watched The OC? YES. Every episode, many times. I'm not proud of it.
When's the last time you had an Oreo? No clue. That's kind of sad.
Do you like Chris Brown? NO. He's abusive to women and I hope his career dies a slow and painful death. (Was that harsh? I don't care.)
Last December, what was your love life like? Um... Friendly? Come on, people. We had a TWO WEEK OLD BABY.
Do you wash your hair in the shower? Every single morning.
How are you feeling right now? Tired. A little bit overwhelmed, but optimistic.
Last nap? Not recent enough. A few weeks ago, maybe?
Want something you can't have? See above question re Oreos.
Is there something that happened in your past that you hate talking about? Yes.
Has someone ever licked your cheek or forehead? I don't want to talk about it.
Last place you took a plane to? Vancouver.
Own more than 10 pairs of flip-flops? No.
What woke you up this morning? The same thing as every morning: Briony jabbering away in her crib.
How many times is A in your full name? Two.
Whats the weather like outside? Dark. It was warm and sunshiny earlier today, though.
Are your fingernails painted? No. I miss french manicures. Since I became a mommy, they've been chopped short and devoid of polish. Someday...
Are you taller than 5'6"? I am exactly 5'6". Take that, quiz!
Do you have highlights? Nope.
What were you doing at 8:00 this morning? Hearing Briony and wondering if I should get up, or if I could sneak another couple of minutes of sleep before she got mad at me for taking too long to come and say good morning...
Last Faceook wall post from? No clue, sorry.
Three days from now will you be in a relationship? That's the plan.
Do you have curly hair? Nope. Annoyingly *slightly* wavy, but straightened daily compliments of Mr Chi.
What is the farthest you've travelled with a friend? London with Erin.
Are you close with your cousins? I'm not really sure how to answer this one. Not particuarly, I guess. I get along with them, we're just busy people.
Is there stuff from your past that you miss? Sometimes.
Name 3 thoughts you have at this exact moment? 1. I should really be cleaning my house. 2. I should really be doing homework. 3. I should really resist this temptation to eat.
What's something you really want right now, be honest? Clarity. And maybe the ability to see into the future. Just a peek :)
Does anything hurt on your body? Everything, but that's normal.
Are you going anywhere for the next summer? Lots of time with my family at Falcon Lake, I hope. And if all goes according to plan, possibly a trip to NYC and Washington DC with Geoff and Briony in the early fall.
Have you ever liked somebody and never told them? Yes.
Is there anyone that means a lot to you? Yes.
Are you happy with the way things are going? Almost all of the time. That doesn't mean it's easy, though.
What was the last thing you ate? Vanilla frozen yogurt with fresh raspberries.
Who is the last person you hugged? Briony.
What color underwear are you wearing? This is embarrassing... They're totally hot pink.
Do you ever go in pet stores just to look at the pets?: No, but this is kind of funny, because Geoff dragged me into one TODAY because he wanted to show Briony all the animals.
Is it annoying when your hanging out with someone and they text other people? It depends.
Have you been under the influence today? Nope.
Pick a word that begins with the first letter of your first name: Laundry. Oh, that's sad...
Is there anyone that you care more about than yourself? Yes.
How long is your hair when its wet? Just past my chin.
Do you take compliments well? No, but I'm trying to be better about it.
Will you be in a relationship in four months? That's the plan.
Do you like to make the first move? Depends. I used to... Now, not as much.
Do you hate it when people smoke around you? It didn't bother me until last year. When I was pregnant, the smell made me gag and puke. And it still kind of makes me nauseated now.
Who was the last person you had an argument with? Geoff, I think.
Do you know anyone that smokes pot? Yes.
Did the one person who hurt you the most in your life apologize? Yes. The funny thing is that it still hurts sometimes.
Did you go out or stay in last night? Stayed in with Briony while Geoff worked a night shift.
Do you miss someone? Sometimes.
Who was the last person you took a picture with? Geoff and Briony.
Do you have someone you can be your complete self around? Yes.
Are you worrying about someone right now? Always.
Are you hungry right now? I'm with Erin on this one: No, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't eat... :)
I *heart* British music. Who doesn't. But for some reason, this week it's been ALL about my British girls. The newest Lily Allen and Adele (one of my very, very favourites) have been in particularly high rotation chez Lindsay. They're just brilliant albums, start to finish.
So this got me thinking about my love of all things British. Of course, there's the whole Shakespeare thing (yup, English major here). And the tea (mmm... tea). And the accent (ridiculously sexy). And the foggy, rainy weather (so poetic). And the brainless chick lit (which somehow feels a tiny bit smarter just because it's set in England).
I'd continue, but we don't have all day here.
In high school, had an ongoing joke with my old friend Tamra about my love of British boys. I assured her that I would marry one someday. I didn't, but I came damn close - my father-in-law grew up in London, making Geoff officially half British. Life works out kind of hilariously sometimes.
In university - just months before her wedding - my friend Erin and I realized that we'd never had a chance to go on vacation together. We quickly began to make plans to go away during my Reading Week, and checked flight prices to all the typical Mexican vacation spots. We were excited to spend an entire week in our bikinis... Until we spotted a seat sale to London. And so the decision was made. I acquired a passport in record time (a record that was later broken by myself when I needed to renew said passport for our honeymoon) - and off we went to the land of Jane Austen. It was an amazing trip. We saw so much, it rained the ENTIRE time, and I totally cried on the plane on the way home. London just felt RIGHT.
And it still felt right when Geoff and I visited again last year. It's just one of those cities in the world where I feel absolutely right at home. I would happily spend all of my vacations there, hustling through busy streets with an umbrella, teetering along cobblestone in too-high heels, and pausing for afternoon tea.
I am totally British in my heart.
Anyway. That's what I was thinking about, sitting here in Winnipeg on a positively London-ish cloudy Thursday afternoon, drinking tea and listening to Adele.
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Speaking of Adele... I know this song is older, but it's still one of my favourites. I think it's one of the most beautifully written and performed songs ever. Yup, I said EVER :)
I've been walking In the same way as I did Missing out The cracks in the pavement And tutting my heel And strutting my feet "Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I can call?" "No and thank you, please Madam I ain't lost, just wandering"
Round my hometown Memories are fresh Round my hometown Ooh, the people I've met Are the wonders of my world Are the wonders of my world Are the wonders of this world Are the wonders of my world
I like it in the city When the air Is so thick and opaque I love to see everybody In short skirts Shorts and shades I like it in the city When two worlds collide You get the people And the government Everybody taking Different sides
Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit Shows that we are united Shows that we ain't gonna take it Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit Shows that we are united
Round my hometown Memories are fresh Round my hometown Ooh the people I've met Are the wonders of my world Are the wonders of my world Are the wonders of this world Are the wonders of my world
So remember how excited I was about finishing school this year? Confession time. I got cold feet. I started worrying about how I'd managing being a mom and being a student, and I made myself a little crazy thinking about how long it's been since I took a course or wrote a paper. I got scared. And I did nothing about it.
This afternoon, I decided to face my fear (thanks, Erin!), and I ventured onto the university's website... Where I discovered that my course for the winter semester is full.
I'll be honest. I cried a little bit. I guess I really did want to do this.
I'm the second person on the wait list - and if I'm truly determined, I can take another class in its place next semester (which would be busy, but I could make it work).
So Curve launched on Friday, amid much fanfare in our office. I was not a part of that fanfare. I was sitting in a basement lab, trying not to puke up an otherwise empty stomach full of orange glucose drink and waiting for my next blood and urine tests (which were repeated four times in three hours). My mom graciously volunteered to drive in and sit with me all morning, which was awesome - it made the time fly by. When Curve was scheduled to launch, we made an excuse to the lab techs about needing something from the car, and then sat in my car and listened to the launch. About ten seconds later, there was a tapping on my window. I rolled it down and was greeted by an angry lab tech who wanted me to know that I was obligated to sit in their dingy nasty lab until my sentence had been served. And so we were dragged back to the basement.
I made it back to work for the afternoon, and the whole Cocoon crew headed out for a celebratory round after work (a round of cranberry juice with a healthy dose of heckling for the pregnant girl...). Then I headed over to Tiber River for a pedicure with Darcie. Kind of a perfect start to a Long Weekend, if you ask me. The colour is 'Naughty' (which made me giggle) and it's a pretty dark red - almost black - that perfectly captures the essence of Lindsay.
Geoff and I spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at the lake with my parents. Aaron, Kevin, Jessica, Rocky, and Emily joined us for the day on Sunday. It was a wonderful, relaxing time... I spent two afternoons on the beach, went for a couple of short walks, sat on the lakeshore, went to bed early, and just generally found myself again. It's absolutely insane to me that summer is over - and that next summer, we'll have a baby to pack up and bring along with us. I'm really looking forward to it, though. Hopefully, Briony will like the lake as much as we do :)
We returned to the Big City just as the rain started to fall. And just in time for me to change and meet up with Erin for the Oasis concert. It made me sooo happy. Seriously. One of my favourite high school bands with one of my favourite high school friends. The music was better live than on their CDs, even if their arrogance made them kind of terrible performers (standing there like you're god and initiating applause for yourself is not exactly modest). It was all part of the fun. And they played every single song I'd hoped they would - including Wonderwall, Lyla, Champagne Supernova, Rock and Roll Star, and (happy sigh) Don't Look Back in Anger.
And elsewhere, outside the Wright residence, a rather motley-looking crew applied the first primer coat of our new stucco coating. Unfortunately, they began on Saturday and then had the rest of the weekend off. And now it's raining, which I'm guessing will delay them again. Not the biggest deal in the world... Except that our earth-toned new house colour looks way beyond ridiculous with our old blue window trim colour (that we can't repaint until the coating is totally complete). Lovely. I know it will be very worth it... And in the meantime, I'm learning humility :)
I've been more than a little bit missing from anything even vaguely resembling a social scene lately. I'm just too tired to care. And this feeling of being about three months behind on seeing friends I've promised to see is overwhelming on a good day. This weekend, we had a few unavoidable engagements that sort of forced me to do my hair and leave the house.
On Saturday, Geoff and I were up pretty early so that I could line up for Oasis tickets (woohoo!). We've been having much better luck getting good seats when we go in person vs booking them online, and I can't really sleep in anyway - so we found ourselves at the MTS Centre just after 9 am. Geoff's not so much into Oasis, but he was kind enough to come with me while I scooped up some decent seats for Erin and myself. I'm definitely looking forward to reliving a few high school memories at that show on September 1 :)
From there, we went for brunch (horrible customer service experience that I'd rather just forget about) and ran a few errands. And then I had a nap.
In the evening, we made an appearance at Kyle & Jill's party with some of my coworkers (where I didn't drink AND stuck to my diet, thankyouverymuch) and then headed over to join Geoff's coworkers at a social (where I didn't drink, and ALMOST managed to stick to my diet). I made it to almost 12.30 before I was absolutely too tired to function and Geoff was kind enough to take me home.
Yesterday, we went to Geoff's church - he was doing sound - and then stopped in at George & Lara's for Zyra's first birthday party. That girl is so ridiculously cute, I don't even have words to describe it... And then it was off to Niverville to spend the remainder of the afternoon and the evening with my parents. I had a nap while everyone else watched the end of the curling final, then went for a walk with my mom, and we all ended off the evening watching 'Juno' together.
It was so nice to see my mom doing better. She's a long way from an official label of 'recovered from surgery' but she's made so much amazing progress this week. It's just so hard to wait.
And I'm feeling... ODD. I can't really describe it. It's tired mixed with queasy mixed with fat mixed with achy mixed with a combination of about seventeen other random emotions at any given second. I'm happy. I'm just... I don't know. I just am. And maybe that's okay for right now.
Hey... Any cooking nerds out there? Go check out Erin's blog - she's hosting a contest, and the winner is taking home a stash of Epicure products. (Yum!)
Sharing the journey that has taken me from being a single girl in the advertising agency world to a married mommy running my own freelance writing and consulting business (and every random adventure in between).
THINGS I LOVE: Thunderstorms, power ballads, princess camping, exploring new cities, Jon Stewart, greatest hits CDs, clever ads, packing for a trip, George Clooney, impractical footwear, movies about spies, Starbucks, reading an entire book in one sitting, a house full of friends, movies about spies, buying presents, a perfect French manicure, warm modernist architecture, getting flowers for no reason, being faux brunette, Mary Poppins, making lists on Post-It notes, decorating for Christmas, having a brilliant middle-of-the-night 'aha!' idea and then actually remembering it in the morning / THINGS I HATE: People who whine, wearing sweats in public, 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, birds, American tourists in foreign countries, taking down the Christmas tree, poems that rhyme, the misuse of semicolons, being lied to, unpacking after a trip, being closed-minded, naming your kid something common but then spelling it stupidly, cowboys, overly cautious drivers, fake curse words, ridiculously long surnames, strangers who start awkward conversations with you in places you can't readily escape
