Champagne & Plastic Cups

Monday

Monday, Monday, Monday. Hiked with Leigh, got my smoothie, and headed to school to pick up my work from last quarter. Found out that my presentation boards had been on display in Dina (the Interior Design chair)'s office! Lifelong goal #6648 complete! Stopped by Mood fabrics on the way home to get some fur (faux and a real fox tail) to make my fur vest. Got home and commenced construction on fur vest. NEVER attempt to make a fur vest. I must have swiffered my floor 50 times over the course of 3 hours. I thought it would be easy as pie (a silly analogy since pie isn't so easy) but when I got down to it, I realized I had zero idea what I was doing. But I decided to wing it... and i think i'm on the right track. I cut and sewed until 4:00 when I needed to call it quits because there was fur EVERYWHERE.

Tuesday

It's rare to have a day when it's appropriate to wear my 3/4 sleeve corduroy jacket. Today was one of those days. Chilly but not too cold. Worked all day, spent most of the day in the office which was rare, but nice! Went home, had dinner, opened my package from Planet Blue and realized they sent me the wrong shirt... so annoying! Did nothing to my hair and picked out a random outfit to wear to go out with Cameron... we were supposed to go to Palihouse, he was trying to change plans to Trousdale, I said i didnt want to go to a club, he told me to come over and we'd go somewhere on the west side. So i did. I get there, we sit in the dark listening to radiohead while drinking champagne out of plastic cups and perusing his myspace profile, and I prove to him that i indeed have had facebook since 2004. Matt came home, we tried to convince him to come out with us and gave him more love lessons (specifically that petting someone's face is NEVER attractive). Cameron somehow convinced me to go to Trousdale (i think it had something to do with him saying we'd only go for a bit and then go to the Chateau Marmont afterwards for dessert). So we went, I actually had a lot of fun, his friend introduced me to three "Torontonians" who were actually from Etobicoke and it was sooooo painfully obvious that they were 905 from the second I laid eyes on them! Cameron got mad at me for hating that they were 905 and saying that they were from Toronto... he just doesnt understand the dichotomy between 416 and 905! So we stayed at Trousdale until the bitter end, and then i got Chateau gypped. We ended up at some place on Beverly, but I must say, the grilled cheese was delicious! Was in bed by 4, woke up at 8 cause i'm crazy. Best part of the night: singing our hearts out to Rumors by Lindsay Lohan.

Wednesday

Lounged around, went to the Century City mall to study fur vest construction (i'm soooooooo on the right track!!!!!) and to look for a christmas present for my mom. Nothing yet. Then went to Hot Rod to make a video of all the shoes for Ry so he can tell me which ones he wants for Christmas. Cam and I walked to the pizza place to get 4:00 lunch and then I went running around on errands for tomorrow. First stop, Urth on Beverly. Called to order two slices of pumpkin pie for leigh and i for tomorrow... SOLD OUT! Called Melrose... SOLD OUT. Santa Monica.... obviously, sold out. I was devastated. We just decided that it was a sign that our pumpkin pie that we already have lined up will be good and we'll just make christmas cookies instead. Then i hit up Blockbuster to rent Christmas movies for our viewing pleasure - obviously Miracle on 34th Street was included and i'm really excited to watch it on actual American Thanksgiving! And this means i must make the "Christine & Courtney Hate Queen's Cookies!" Had dinner. Booked my flight home. Went over to Cam & Matt & Ben's and we all went to The Basement, which was terribly crowded and stuffy and clammy so we left, tried to go to the Viceroy but the bar was closed, came THISCLOSE to getting a room and having a sleepover, and decided to go to some other bar that i don't remember what it was called. Matt was up to his petting my face tricks again, and obviously ben and cam joined in. On the way home we had a Lady Gaga car dance party and planned our Holiday Kickoff Party! SO EXCITED.

Baby it's Cold Outside

Friday

Christmas Christine is here. I'm in full out Christmas mode. Kristin and I listened to Christmas carols in the office today and it was amazing! It was also the gloomiest chilliest day - about as wintery as it gets in LA and it was amazing! I was tanning yesterday and now it's fully cold.

Went to the gym after work and then got ready to go out. Met Leigh, Katherine & Thomas at the Hudson, were joined by a whole crew of their friends, Leigh and I ate grilled cheese, took photobooth pics with Cam & Matt and then peaced to go to Hemingways, which is my new fave place. They make a mean mojito. At Hemingways Matt tried to steal me a book from one of the many bookshelves, Leigh and I saw one of the Andrews, and we danced until it closed. I then drove the boys home and was basically crying from laughing cause Cameron was being soooo ridiculously hilarious. He was also insisting the whole night that my eyes were brown. Oh! And we saw a car that had driven through the window of Edible Arrangements on Fountain and La Brea! And this had just happened this past January as well! Craziness!

Saturday

Slept in til 10. LA record. Although it makes sense since i didnt go to sleep til 4. Finished Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad - - an amazing book, and then wandered over to Hot Rod cause i was bored and had to get my dad's christmas present. Got the present, had tea time with Cam, chatted with Robert about joining Equinox (i'm going to check it out with him on Wednesday) and then went home to go get ready for the night.

My hair is the longest it's ever been right now. i had plans of straightening it for the evening but i just couldnt because it's too long and its ridiculous. Dead mermaid messy-ness and a hat solved the problem. Met Leigh at M Cafe for dinner and Pinkberry, met Caitlin and Thomas at Starbucks where we all drank coffee and baileys, and then we made our way up to Laurel Canyon to Jeff's party. It was called the "Laurel Canyon Friendship Conference," everyone had nametags (which was SO fun), it was full of really cool people and good looking boys and it was the MOSTCROWDEDPARTYI'VEEVERBEENTO!!!!!!! Seriously you could barely move by the end of it. But i talked to a bunch of really cool people and it was nice to see the Andrews and it was all in all a really good night!

Sunday

Slept in until 11. Who is this new Christine that stays out late and sleeps in? Again I went to Hot Rod for tea time with Cameron. Which turned into shopping time at the Westside Pavillion to get his friend a wicked cool bday present, followed by dinner time at the Culver Native Foods, followed by dropping off the present - - and this girl was literally me. It was CRAZY! She was soooo cool - we wanted each other's hair (she had my old hair that i want back), we had the same computer, purse, camera, and fridge contents (cam looked in her fridge, not me)... it was bizarre! I want to be her friend. After that we headed to the grove for the Christmas tree lighting... but it was crazy insane crowded so we decided to go to Urth on Melrose for lattes instead. He let me put on Christmas carols on the way home and it was a wonderful end to a wonderful day!

Back

I'm back after a lonnnnggggg hiatus. 

What has happened since then... went home, came back, took the quarter off school, got an internship, got a tentative job offer, had a badass birthday, got my heart broken by two boys in one week, discovered the glory that is whole foods caprese pizza, partied in a cemetery, drank wayyyy too many unsweetened soy green tea lattes and basically hung out with Cameron every day.

Where was I? Sunday?

Sunday

Today was an amazing day but i'm too tired to type enough to do it justice. So here's the condensed version. Was at Dave's by 9:00, headed out in the porsche for our Malibu Lava Rock Pool hike/swim. Got there, wasn't much of a hike, more of an easy 15 minute stroll, but it was sooooo cool once we got there! (After going the wrong way and ending up at the wrong body of water). I have an incredible sense of direction. Never doubt it! So we get there and Dave doesn't wanna go in cause it's stagnant water (although it wasn't actually stagnant cause there was a dam on the other side of the rocks and it led to a small stream), dorian doesn't wanna go in because he doesn't wanna hike back to the car soaking wet. Wimps! Leigh and I manned up and jumped in! It was wonderful! The water was perfectly refreshing and just being able to swim in fresh water here is wonderful! We're totally gonna come back when it's not a weekend and kids are in school.

Walked back to the car and headed north to Neptunes for lunch. Had wonderful deep fried fishy goodness and cherry coke. Definitely the first time i'd had cherry coke since the year it came to canada (but it will always remind me of florida trips when it didnt exist in canada).

After lunch we went to our next destination, El Matador Beach. Cool rock formations, cool cliffs ,but way too crowded. Again, need to come back on a weekday!

Next up: Blockbuster to rent The Bounty Hunter, Whole Foods for dinner and back to Venice for movie/cuddlefest round two.

Monday

Hiked. Green drink. Picked up Raph and surfed Venice. The waves were viscious and I got tossed around a lot, however, I rode some good waves. Dropped Raph off at his place, went to the sepulveda gym, tanned for an hour and read in a cabana for half an hour. Went home, did homework, went to Culver City M Cafe for dinner cause I had to draw a reflected ceiling plan/furniture plan for my lighting class, met Leigh and Pinkberry after and heard the most devastating news: Jordan Steele my Pinkberry boyfriend no longer works there! I feel so bad! The last time i was there he told me to add him to facebook but when i tried i couldn't find him, and then i went home for a month so he probably thought i just didnt care about him! Mr. Steele, wherever you are, I hope you've found a job that is much more enjoyable than good old Pinkberry. Then Leigh and I went back to her house to watch The Bachelorette. Got home at 10:30 and did homework, cause that's what happens when Dorian's in town and he doesn't let you do your homework.

Tuesday

Woke up. Did homework (that was due today - this is SO not my style). But got it done and got it done WELL - thanks to Daddykins and his help with controlled natural lighting and fritted glass! Went to my trainer, it was sadly my last sesh for a while cause I can't afford it anymore, I'll miss you Jad. Came home, finished homework. Had lunch. Went to school for my 2:00 career services appt.

Get there at 1:45 and Ray tells me to come on in. Several mins later the secretary comes in saying his 2:00 appt was here, i was like "that's me!" and she checks her list and it turns out that i'd signed up for LAST week. How embarrassing. How unprofessional. BUT he said that the architect called him about me and is interested and that if I get this internship I should take it even if it is in Long Beach. Wish me luck for my interview on Thursday!

Went to class, we had a canadian oreo party - everyone agreed they were better except Caitlin. But she loves Oreos so i can understand not liking something thats so similar but so different.

Presentation Techniques rocks. I love it. I love Harper. I love markers. I love rendering! It's just three hours of pure toxic smelly fun! It makes me love school so much... and then i go to Lighting Design and want to light my hair on fire. Our midterm is as much work as our CDC FINAL. She doesn't explain ANYTHING. She doesn't seem to like us very much. BUT she's from Montreal so at least we've got that Canada connection and maybe hopefully she'll like me. I also did a kickass presentation today - Daddykins: she didn't even know about fritted glass! And she loved the airport.

Got home at 9:30. I hate this schedule. I have to get up at 6:30 for class again in the morning and then i somehow have to get all my shit put together and printed for my interview ... I might be up REALLY late tomorrow night. I"m scared.

Goodnight!

x

Adventureland

This has been the longest, most fun week ever! Let me start with yesterday, one of my favorite days in a while!

Friday

Slept in til 8 (soooo luxurious), did my sketching homework and went to GST at 10. It was sooo hard today! After GST I went home and continued to do homework until I got a text from Leigh asking if i wanted to bike to Manhattan Beach today instead of saturday or sunday. YEAH I DID!

So I cancelled on Tony Turbo and headed on over to Venice. By the time the boys got home from wherever they were and we rounded up the bikes, it was 4 (but felt like 2 in my mind), and we headed out on the OPEN ROAD! Oh how i love the open road. This time we took it further than pinkberry, and it turns into a DREAM! You go over this cool bridge in marina del ray and past these wonderfully deserted beaches that i'm totally gonna hit up because i loooooooved deserted beaches, and past some REALLY crowded beaches with idiots clogging up the bike path. My question of the day today was not what happens if you run over someone's dog, but what happens if you run over someone's baby? We did happen to cruise by two perfectly placed dead rabbits. Anyways, Dorian and I were in the lead (him on the black beach cruiser, me on leigh's real bike - which i was totally annoyed about when he said he wanted the beach cruiser, but i ended up liking the real bike so much more! Made me feel like a kid again! Oh, and Dorian looked way hotter on the beach cruiser than I do. We made it to Porto's for "lunch" at 5, only took us an hour - and that was with several breaks - Dave needed water, I needed to re-tie my unravelling hoodie around the bars of my bike, Dorian ran over a small dog, chicken and waffles a deep sand trap. So back to Portos, which is apparently called Sando's now? Or has been called that forever and the boys just called it Porto's? Who knows. Leigh and I got our favorite salads (the Primo), Dave and Dorian got delicious sandwiches and free iced tea, i mean "sweet tea" (do we live in Louisiana?) cause the people that work there thought it was disgusting.

Next stop, walk to pinkberry. After walking like 4 blocks and coming to residential streets leigh said that pinkberry was at the pier. "The Pier?! That was as far as the eye could see!" -me. So we hopped on the bikes and headed over to Pinkberry. The pinkberry that i was pretty sure existed as well. "Ashley got pinkberry here!" -Leigh, "It was right across from jamba juice!" -me. But, apparently it was a figment of our imagination, because it didnt exist in real life, or on the internet. So we decided to head back out on the open road and hit up our beloved Marina del Ray pink. The way back seemed much shorter, but I guess it's always that way. We made it in time for pinkberry happy hour! BUT you had to get watermelon in order to get it half price. So i mixed watermelon and plain and it was actually REALLLLLLY GOOD! We ate our pink, went to Ralph's to get dave more water, he tried to convince me to buy a 40 oz bag of peanut M&M's, I declined cause I knew i'd eat them all, Dorian and I almost died of laughter while waiting in line, listening to this girl talk about "all the nerds at camp" - but then we turn around and she's gotta be FORTY and is with a guy wearing black running shoes, white socks, hiked up black sweatpants, and glasses! Ultimate nerd! Anywayssss, got back on the bikes, back on the open road, and arrived home at 8:00, just in time for a rooftop sunset.

After sunset we went inside and watched PIRATES! (of the Caribbean) cause I brought it over cause Dorian had been talking about it the day before. So we had a cuddle-fest movie night, complete with peanut m&m's (small bags). I LOVE PIRATES. Obviously. I've always loved them. But i really miss having pirate-ness in my life (pirate flags, cottage boys, skull scarves). I decided to pirate up my surfboard by spray painting it black, but colin said this was a bad idea cause it would explode from heat. (Or if it didn't explode, the wax would just always melt itself off). Scrap that idea. Oh, and Dave told me it wasn't normal that I enjoy long drives alone at night. He thinks i'm a sociopath. I was telling Leigh that she needs to embrace the drive home from dave's instead of hating on it. But really, who doesn't like a peaceful nighttime drive? Singing along to good nighttime music (minor chord songs are preferable), not having to deal with traffic, having windows open and smelling night air. It's the best. Needless to say, I enjoyed my drive home. Soundtrack included The Background by Third Eye Blind, some Band of Horses tunes, Sorrow & The Geese of Beverly Road by The National and Patience by Guns n' Roses.

Saturday

So by today it feels like monday, but it's only satruday. Sweet.

Was at Dave's by 9:30 to teach Dorian how to surf (with the help of Emmy-award-winning-ex-pro-surfer Colin Pierce). We walked to the beach, surfed on the south side of the jetty, which was SWEET! I liked it way better cause it was empty. And i was soooo good today! Like best surf day ever! the waves were perfect, my elbow was perfect, and it was relatively shallow so i wasn't killing myself with paddling! Wait a second. That's a lie. Best surf day ever was me & Colin's cozy rainy day surf sesh. That was epic. But skill-wise, today was the best. But sea water sinus action was at an all time high. Dorian was introduced to snot rockets today. I'm so glad he experiences the same phenomenon as me cause I thought I was the only one! Leigh thinks we're disgusting. Anyways, we surfed it up, met Leigh back at Daves at 12:30, realized that Dave was M.I.A. so we went BACK to the beach to find him (with Dorian carrying the longboard again). Found him. Tanned for 2 hours. Everyone got terribly burnt, i got a slight burn on my nose. The sun is stronger here. Cause totally at home by this time i would just be rocking oil but i know if i hadn't been wearing my 4 today i would've been burnt. Or maybe its just that i havent been tanning much, cause the first and second palazzo years i definitely wore oil here.

Anyways, once leigh got bored we went home and went to whole foods to get food for "lunch." The boys eating schedule is crazy. Breakfast at 9, lunch at 5, dinner at 11. At whole foods we stocked up on free samples, and saw a very fresh baby. Like straight up born in aisle 4 ten minutes ago. It didn't have bike tire marks on it's face... yet. So we went home and had a nice little barbecue on the roof, and contemplated the night's events. In summary:

L: "Dorian do you wanna come to Inception if Christine isn't coming."

DC: "What! Why?"

C: "I hate seeing movies in the theatre, I get too restless or I fall asleep."

DC: "A threesome date!? I'm not doing that. Find me a new girlfriend for the night."

C: "How about ______. She kinda looks like me."

DE: "Nope, _______ won't like that."

C: "Whoa whoa whoa, this isn't like long-term, it's just a one night stand! I'm not cheating on you with Turbo so don't go cheating on me!"

So I started out to my car, but then TT cancelled on me (or more like I declined an invitation to his pool) so I went back inside, but then Leigh and I decided to just go home and get good sleeps for our adventure tomorrow.

I'm watching Gidget. Brings back such fond memories of Summer '97 when I would watch it every day... until it mysteriously disappeared. How is it legal that Kahuna lives in a shack on the beach? Maybe he knows what happens if you run over a baby with your bike...

Party Time?

Dorian is back! And you know what that means - PARTY TIME! Or so he would hope. "Did you forget who you were coming to visit? Leigh and I don't party."

Today was a wonderful day, and the BEST part about it was that all day I was thinking it was Saturday... BUT IT'S THURSDAY!

Woke up and went on a steamy hot hike. I was at the canyon by 7:30 and it was already no shirt weather. It was a hot and sweaty hike and the running part nearly killed me, but I did it. (With the help of Miley & Drake). And then got a delicious super maca smoothie for breakfast from Real Raw Live. Went home, my apartment was already a sauna, set up a carefully constructed fan/breeze circuit which managed to cool it down, but still hid out in the kitchen (the coolest room) to do my homework. (Which makes sense. My drafting table is in the kitchen). Arranging my 47 rendering markers into rainbow order took QUITE some time (what comes first: eggshell or cream? light cerulean blue or sky blue?), and I didn't even get a chance to start on my color chart because it was time for pilates!

So i went to pilates. Gotta love Jen's class. Leigh didn't show though which was a huge disappointment. Went home, emailed some work samples for a possible internship and then headed on over to the beach house. Got there before the boys so Leigh and I had a nice catchup reunion! I missed her so much! We marvelled about how wonderful Dawn is, how light my hair is, and about various other news that we hadn't really discussed.

The boys got home, bearing popsicles. The only popsicles i like are banana or chocolate. These ones were cherry pineapple. I ate one anyways so i wouldnt hurt their feelings. We then ventured out on "The Open Road" our favorite bike path! They hadn't eaten lunch yet (it was 4:00) so we went and got them lunch at that mendocino restaurant or whatever its called, which was followed by beloved pinkberry! We then explored a sailing store, tried to convince dave to have his birthday on a boat (he said no because of seasickness) and reminisced about cottage times.

We then went biking all around Marina Del Ray, went to some bar by the pier and got drinks (water for me, margaritas for them), walked along the pier, biked some more to check out a bunch of really cool houses - the coolest being a black shingle style one at the very end (or beginning) of the boardwalk. We then made plans to bike to Manhattan. By this point it was like 7:00. I was shocked! The day had gone by so quickly - for some reason i was thinking it was 3, but Leigh reminded me i didnt get to daves til after 3. So we biked home, and sat on the roof and watched the sunset while discussing roadkill, smashed dirt bikes, snowmobiles and cars. Oh... and the fact that a certain person can now track my whereabouts if i start using a certain iphone. I don't like that one bit!

We then went for dinner. Sushi on Abbot Kinney. It was funny at dinner cause Dorian started telling this story really enthusiastically and i started imitating him, and Leigh's like "you make fun of him but you do the exact same thing!" And it's soooooo true. He really is the boy version of me. We were all falling asleep at dinner (barely talking... it was funny), so we got outta there as soon as possible and then I headed back home. To the sauna that is Beverly Hills. I need to move to the beach... when i'm done school.

I'm so excited for the next two weeks! Disneyland, golfing, beaching, surfing, bike riding, Dave's birthday, aerosol pancake batter eating parties....(?) and whatever other adventures we happen to go on!

Rats!

Another fabulous day. Went to the Sepulveda gym again, stairclimber, treadmill, did weights with Matt. Spent 2 wonderful hours swimming and tanning and another hour and a bit reading in a cabana! Oh how I love it.

Went home and got ready for dinner with the boys. Rich, Sean and Doug were in town because they've been driving around to various states going to baseball games everywhere. So I met them for dinner in Venice... but they were 40 minutes late. Thank goodness I always carry a book in my purse! But it turned out wonderfully because they bought my dinner in lieu of their tardiness! We went to somewhere on Abbot Kinney that started with Po_______. Why oh why can i never remember the names of restaurants on Abbot Kinney?! Anyways it was delicious! And it was soooooooooo wonderful seeing the boys. Cause I hadn't hung out with any of them in a LONG time, so it was so fun catching up! We filled each other in on lives, Rich a.k.a. The Cupcake Hero (Summer 2007, Ben's bday, he found Jen and I the last two cupcakes in the joint) asked my advice on the best cupcakes in town (Sprinks obvi) and we talked about the wonderfulness of LA. Oh and rich and I split a wonderful cookie/ice cream dessert. It's the most fun thing ever going out with boys who like sweets as much as i do! Band hangman was also an ongoing part of dinner and I impressed the boys with my mad skills. Eg. guessed "Alice in Chains" after only the I's and the E's were listed. We talked about tattoos (rich's advice to me: No more sleeved guys), my naivete and how i always think the best of situations (vs. rich thinking the worst) - this transpired because he was joking with the waitress all night long and then some new waitress brought the bill and he was concerned that he'd offended her. Oh and we also acknowledged the fact that both Rich and I love using the word "rats!"

After our long and wonderful dinner I dropped the boys at The Brig (Briggs' namesake) and headed for home. I loooove visitors!

Tuesday

First day of school. Today was actually hot out! It felt like Toronto! But before school I went to yoga. School was good, well, Presentation Techniques was good. So wonderful to be reunited with Taylor, Akela and Deeann! And Mr. Harper is badass and so is coloring. We got 47 shiny beautiful markers and i can't wait to do my homework! Lighting Design. Two words: Snooze Fest. We spent 6-8:45 listening to our monotone teacher who reads from notes and doesn't make contact with the class. 9 more weeks. We can do it. Both classes seem really intense though, tons of homework, I'm gonna save it alllll up and doing while i'm with Dorian. He just looooooooves it when i'm doing homework!!! Oh and news of the day! Lambert bought a ticket to LA today leaving TOMORROW! So pumped! I love all my visitors!

Goodbye to The Hills. Series finale blew goats.

Sun Worship

Today was wonderful! Matt inspired the BEST DISCOVERY EVER. The Sepulveda Sports Club pool & sundeck! I'm basically living there from now on.

On my way to the sports club I went to sprinkles for the first time since April. And only because it was the last day that they're having Lemon Blueberry, I wanted to try it, and it was free. Thankfully the girl that knew my name wasn't there!

Ok back to the Sports Club. I got a tour of the place - it's huge compared to Beverly Hills, but feels more like the Cricket Club. The pool is unfortunately indoors (and we all know how much i HATE indoor pools), BUT it made up for it because one wall opens up to the sundeck (more on that later), its saltwater, and i was the ONLY one in the pool! I swam 32 lengths (only because 32 lengths of the cricket club pool is half a mile... and I think this pool is the same size). And then I went to tan on the wonderful sundeck! I seriously felt like I was on a hotel rooftop! There were wonderful single & double chaise lounges with comfy cushions and cabanas!!! I"m totally spending EVERY single weekend here (cause weekends are too crowded to go to the beach) and setting up shop in a cabana to do my homework! It's seriously saving my summer. I was all stressed out about figuring out a way how to sneak into the Palazzo every weekend so I could swim, but this is so much easier! Too bad the sports club doesn't supply freshly baked cookies! So I tanned and read for hours and hours and it was divine. A perfect way to spend a Sunday. Oh, and I also talked to Raph which was great cause we hadn't talked in a while - someone stole his bank card info and started putting their car payments on it! Outrageous!

Plans for tonight: Khloe & Kourtney Take Miami & Entourage.

My Hair Smells Delicious

July 9

What a wonderful day. Went to GST with Myara, it was soooo good to be back! But also so hard since I hadn't done it in months!! After class I decided to stop by Frederic Fekkai to see if they could give me my woke-up-in-a-dumpster-hippie-mermaid hair, so I talked with Henry and Kelly and made an appointment for 1:00! So I went and had a quick lunch and then headed back to FF.

Oh how I love Kelly. She's the coolest ever. She's like 32 and still seems soooo young and fun and I hope to be like her when I'm her age. She just got married last month so i was looking through all her pics on her ipad - such a beautiful wedding! I hope I have her life some day cause she just seems so happy! - and has a really cool job, a really cute husband, and a really hot bod! Oh, and she does the best blowouts in the history of blowouts. The ultimate bombshell barbie hair. Ok so as she's cutting my hair she says she's going to sweet lady jane after and wants to know if i want anything, i said i had never been there so she gave me two choices - the italian wedding cake or the berry shortcake (which i realized i HAD had because Merle brought it to Terrie's birthday dinner). So i opted for the wedding cake.

So I go upstairs and hang with Henry (who i always feel sooooo sorry for because he always seems so sad about not being able to eat lunch) and he started in on painting my hair with globs and globs of bleach. I'm not gonna lie, i was sitting in my chair fretting that this homeless mermaid thing might not be a good look, or that it would come out blonde at the ends (i just wanted it to fade to light brown) but I realized that he's a pro and knows what he's doing, so i just sat there and endured the painting. Kelly returned with a massive slice of cake for me and it was delicious! I ate a third of it and packaged the rest back up.

So once the dyeing was done I went back downstairs so kelly could blowdry me up a hair fairytale and it looked amazing as usual. I was also relieved to see that my hair was not blonde, it was in fact not as light as I had wanted, I guess hairdressers really aren't into giving clients homeless mermaid hair cause it would reflect pretty badly on them! BUT kelly did say that it'll lighten with washing "it'll be like a fun little surprise every time you blowdry it!" And it does look really good right now so i'm perfectly happy with it!

Came home, read, and got ready for dinner with Andrew #2 (#2 because his roommate is Andrew #1 who we met first). We went to Citizen Smith which was really cool and had really good food - the desserts looked SO good, but i opted out because I'd already had Kelly's cake. Dinner conversation was entertaining. We talked about books.

Went to sleep at 10:30 cause i'm still running on Toronto time (and liking it).

Today I learned two things:

1. Americans pronounce Mom how it's spelled (think - rhymes with palm) and Canadians pronounce it Mum. I'd never realized this til now. I thought everyone pronounced it Mum and it was just Brandon that said it differently.

2. I FINALLY discovered the location of the waterfall/jungle malibu hike described to me by roger last summer. Henry and Andrew both told me today that I need to go to El Matador beach and that the waterfall hike is across the PCH from it. I'm terribly excited, and will hit that up on Monday. (I'm not even gonna attempt going to a beach on a weekend).

Saturday

Woke up at 6:30 and didn't even try to fall back to sleep cause i'm gonna roll with eastern standard time for as long as possible! Went for a wonderful overcast hike. All hikes are wonderful, but today was especially wonderful cause it was the perfect temperature, perfect amount of clouds and the running part just keeps getting easier and easier! And i was listening to my hiking playlist from when I first moved here and it brought back wonderful memories. I'm really looking forward to another fall here. Although it wont be the same without Valley Oak and Maria stressing about the patio cushions getting soaked... hahahah.

After the hike went home and got ready for lunch with Matt. We FINALLY made it to Oliver (the restaurant at our gym) after talking about going there since October. The food was delicious, the ambiance sterile yet calming. It was good to catch up with him, and he told me a pretty funny story about a certain sweat monster who he's been seeing at the gym getting winded after dribbling a basketball and shooting baskets for 15 mins. I laughed. I enjoy his company. He also told me that there's a tanning area at the sepulveda gym, so after our lunch I went straight to Ashford's office so he could hook me up with a pass to that gym. Apparently there's some wonderful sundeck that I had no idea about! I'm pumped. It solves my lack of pool woes! I just hope my elbow isn't gonna do that annoying popping junk anymore. After arranging my pass Ashford says "i've been trying to date you for like 6 months, is it ever gonna happen?" I didn't wanna flat out say "no", so instead I just straight up just went into a rant about how i'm quitting dating until I find someone who's perfectly perfect for me. I then wondered if i had put my foot in my mouth (as I always do), by insinuating that he's not "perfect." Why oh why is it so difficult to just be friends with boys!? (I say this even though the majority of my friends out here are boys)...

I then went to Hot Rod cause Cam said he was gonna be there. He never showed. Jerkstore. But it didnt matter cause Hunter and Kyle were both there. And Johnny......... And this kid named Christian who was awesome who used to work there. So we hung out, checked out the new shirts, I was severely disappointed with their new women's tees. Way too tight... or maybe its cause my pipes are too big. But the mens colorways are AMAZING. They all had a good laugh at my expense about my preference for mens tshirts. And they said my mom was awesome for voting for their mountain dew can.

Tonight I watched P Rats ... I mean R Pats in Remember Me. It sucked. I was disappointed cause I'd heard good things. I'm seriously starting to wonder whats wrong with me cause i have a very hard time sitting through/paying attention to movies these days. So many of them just don't interest me! Oh - and Leigh says i'm crazy for not liking romantic comedies.

Speaking of movies, see Chloe. It comes out on DVD next week. Starring my favorite Real Raw Live green drinking buddy Amanda Seyfried. The most amazing part of it is that it's filmed in Toronto and actually SET in Toronto! That never happens! They're always filmed here (and by "here" i mean toronto) and pawned off as New York! But this one is amazing - so much of it takes place at the Windsor Arms - even in my beloved tea room! Although they don't sit in my dark dark dark purple room, they sit in the neutral room, but still. It's a really good movie. Rent it.

It's 10:30, well past my EST bedtime so i better get to bed!

X

Alone

Today was a lovely alone day. Although I just realized that I feel like a mime because i've barely talked to anyone all day. I wonder if people who spend a lot of time alone start talking out loud to themselves...

Woke up at 6 something again, chilled out. I've decided that i'm not gonna watch tv until primetime. I never watched tv in the day at Valley Oak and I liked it. There's nothing worth watching and it's just a waste of time when I could be listening to music or reading or writing or daydreaming. However, if it's rainy or overcast i'll probably indulge in a movie.

So today I went to yoga for the first time in two years. I love being crazy flexible and hyper-extendable. It makes me feel like a yoga pro even after not having done it since 2008. The class was a little easy for my liking but it was also a substitute teacher so i'll see what the real teacher is like next week.

After yoga I went on over to Harmony studios for pilates with Jen. She's amazing. I loved it. I'm obsessed! But again my crazy tight hips and too-strong muscles were pointed out. I need to fix my muscles. I'll do it by quitting my trainer and sticking to pilates and GST.

Went home, had lunch, and since it was still deliciously overcast, I made my way to Malibu. I realized that I was all wrong about the name of my fave beach. it's not zuma, it's not point dume, but in fact Westward Beach (which is in between the two). Hence the name Westward Beach Road that leads to it....

So I curled up on my chaise lounge with two towels, a hoodie and jeans and read for hours, was approached by a cute old man who commented on my book, my positive energy, and knew all kinds of things about me from my vague small talk responses: "you must come from a good family. were your parents highschool sweethearts?" "you read a lot don't you" and then told me how his daughter is marrying a torontonian and is moving there in the fall.

I find it interesting when people comment on my energy. Cause to me, it's just me, and I wonder what about myself speaks to them. Maybe it's how I feel about Meredith?

Left the beach at 6 cause I started to freeze. But not before going for a long walk and getting my jeans soaked to my knees. So then when i got home i went in the bathtub in my jeans to rinse out the sand.

Dinner. Reading. Catching up on Pretty Little Liars.

My heart bleeds for poor Lindsay Lohan. She needs to spend some quality time in the loony bin, not jail. I can't help think back to the Parent Trap & Mean Girls & Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and wonder where it all went wrong. Youtube Letterman interviews with her. She's really very endearing.

Raising Pirate Flags and Hell

Oh Canada,

Today I woke up at 7, heard voices downstairs and wondered why my whole family was awake. So I go down and my mom announces that they're having a Canada Day party! This was a joke. My Dad also asked me if i wanted to go see the tallships at Harbourfront, I agreed thinking that this too was a joke, it wasn't. I get back from my workout and my mom's like "so you're gonna go downtown with Dad?" Apparently I was going downtown with Dad. But first, a pool party at the Pascaris'! Leigh and Robyn were home, it was only 10:30, but I went over anyways. We swam, I heard all the stories from their trip and got tan lines in 10 minutes. Then I went home and went downtown with Dad.

I hate Harbourfront (maybe cause it brings back terrible memories of working at Dad's office down there during University summers? And the hour long commute which would render my evenings useless)? Anyways, we saw some pirate ships, took a bunch of snaps and then headed home. I then started reading and fell asleep.

We went for dinner with the Shields' to some Greek restaurant that they frequent. This was followed by some gelato place. I realized that I don't actually like gelato. The only reason why I like Hollywood Gelato so much is cause they have the fake ones like peanut butter chocolate wafer and twix and skor and roasted marshmellow. The fruity ones and hazelnut and tiramisu and all that crap just doesn't interest me in the slightest!

Then it was a race against time to Caleigh and Steve's, but I made it. We then walked over to Yonge & Eglinton to see ECLIPSE! Best Twilight movie YET! And it was funny cause as we were sitting down Steve went in first and i was like to caleigh "i'll go on the inside so you can sit beside steve and caleigh was like "no! i'm in the middle! i'm bella and steve is edward" (referring to their poses on the movie poster) and then we all had a good laugh at my expense cause I was Jacob. I told her that Steve should be jacob since she calls him wolfhead anyways. Anyways, Jacob was kind of lovable in this movie so i didnt feel too bad about being Jacob!

Friday Cottage Day

I received the news that I would be going up to the cottage with Dad and that we wouldn't be leaving until 9:30 or 10. I was quite annoyed since i wanted to leave promptly at 9, and of course leaving at 9:30 or 10 turned into 10:20 plus stopping at two different hardware stores on the way to get tiling tools cause Dad forgot his at home and a foot valve for the pump. So I finally get to the cottage around 1:30 but then realize that Tim and Ann are in Toronto and Beau is golfing. I didn't bother calling anyone else, the Shields' arrived and Maddie and I tanned on the dock. Then mom arrives, a tornado of misery and swear words. She hates the cottage, I don't blame her. Beau then pulled up in the boat and he and Bowser took Berkley and I on a boat ride. We ended up at the Druce's where we met John's new dog Bella and Brandon's dog Beau. Named after Beau. So they could say "shut up Beau"! It wasn't the same without Court.

Then we went back to the Foz's and sat on the dock and I watched while Beau ate an entire apple minus the stem. I ate some sort of delicious chocolate chip cookie. I told him he was gonna get poisioned by the arsenic in the seeds.

Ummmm since Mom had bought cheese and wine, she had an inpromptu Wine & Cheese party, so we went home for that. Ran into Diane Potter on the road who was very impressed that my mom actually came up. Wine & Cheese party turned into a Scrabble party. Beau was the champ as usual, although he only beat me by 3 points. I was the chump and poor Madness was the chimp. After cheese we ate burgers (without cheese cause we'd eaten it all and only had kraft cheese slices which i wouldnt eat) and then it was 8:45 and we decided we NEEDED to go for a ski before sunset (9:30) so we RAN back to the foz's and hopped in the boat, picking up potters along the way. I GOT UP WITH MY FRACTURED ELBOW! i was so unsure if i would be able to since it was the foz's boat and there were three guys in it so it would take longer than usual to get up. So yeah, the elbow pulled through and I did it. And i wasn't half bad either!

Boys only fire at the foz's. I got there at 10:20 and there was STILL lightness in the sky. I love Toronto in the summer. We listened to my ipod the whole time because of Beau's newfound love of "Dance Music" ... so we were serenaded by Rihanna and Gaga and his fave... David Guetta. It was pretty hilarious. Oh wait, Mel and Eric came too, forgot about that! And Beau kept asking about the "new" killers song Are We Human... we informed him that it wasn't "new." Apparently right when he came home he was asking people if they knew who Lady Gaga was. Oh Beau...

Early morning yakking to the Foz's and back. Tim called around 10 and told me that Ann wanted me to come over and tan, so i went over.

The three of us hung out on the dock while Beau cut the grass, and thennnnnnn we decided to go SAILING! I hadn't been sailing on the Foz's sailboat since 1999! It was SO MUCH FUN. We had nicknames (Beau = Captain, Tim = Skipper, Ann = Wench, Me = Tiger Lily... it works in the context that it's the Indian girl from Peter Pan). And then we tipped it. It was hilarious. i actually felt like it was the titanic! You just see massive amounts of water coming in and you start to irrationally panic (irrationally only because you're falling into a lake and the only thing to be afraid of is getting your hair wet) and then it slowly tips! I was on the side that was sinking so i scrambled up to the top and I just remember seeing beau fall and land flat on the main sail with his limbs splayed out, while Ann and i are standing on the boom gripping desperately onto the side of the boat. Not sure where tim was at this point, earlier in the sail he'd been dancing on the bow and ended up falling right on top of me. I was mighty glad that I'd left my sunglasses at home, and mighty glad that i'd brought my waterproof camera! There were also sooo many people stopping by in their boats asking if we were okay! But of course we were fine. The only hard thing was trying to swim with flip flops on without losing them... although they would've floated so i'm not sure what i was so concerned about! Soooooo the boys righted the vessel, I bailed it out and then we were back on the seven seas!

After our lovely sail, Ann and I tanned our lives away, or tried to, because a dock party ensued. The langs came over with Mel's friend heather, potters came by via foot and kayak and then Tyler showed up in his aluminum. Holmes' stopped by but only stayed for a bit. It was wonderful being back in all the cottage action, but the mass of people kinda gets to me. When everyone decided to go to the potters to play horseshoes I said i was just gonna stay at the Foz's. Everyone protested but I wouldn't budge. I hate horseshoes and i didn't want to deal with Mark's flirtations. Ann and Tim and Tyler ended up staying back with me and then we all ended up going to the marina which was wonderful! Bowrider marina ice cream runs just like the good old days. And Ann bought me ketchup chips because I couldn't afford them.

We went back, and started in on appetizers. (Potters and Beau returned). We also started discussing the 5 man waterski pyramid. Tempers flared, land tryouts were held for top tier spots, and it ended in a big fight and Tim cancelling the evening's events. Beau then uncancelled evening events. Had a wonderful dinner and then went home to put on clothes since the bugs were coming out.

Back to the Foz's for a fire. Ended up spending most of the night in the screened in porch because it was smoldering hot so i couldnt wear more than shorts and a tee but there was no wind so the mosquitos were relentless!

Sunday Funday

Woke up at 8:47... a cottage sleep in record! Went directly over to the Foz's to round up the troops for a G Spot breakfast, woke up Tim and Ann (only Ann got up). Then went down to the boathouse to wake beau. Every time I tell them that were leaving in 10 mins and that the langs or potters are already there waiting for us. Every time they believe me. So it worked again, we piled in the pickup, and then they were shocked when we got to Granny's before the Langs. Beau bought me my breakfast and then we had to go to Young's Point because Beau had to replace Julian's beer. But it was 10:45 and they couldn't sell it til 11 so i announced that we'd go to Lockside so I could get Wolf Paws ice cream for the very last time. We get there and the girl opens the freezer and announces that Wolf Paws is ALL GONE! Wanna know why? Cause my mom took Laura, Andrea and Alex there yesterday and got it! I was devastated. So then in true alcoholic fashion Beau had to wait at the General Store until 11 on the dot, and then we rocked out to David Guetta on full blast on repeat all the way home.

We get back and hop in the boat. We collect all the skis and ropes we can find, as well as the Langs and Potters in preparation for our pyramid. We decide we need a chase boat as well, so Steve takes his. Then we realize we have no gas. So we book it to the marina, where we find out that they're OUT of gas. Out of gas on a long weekend? This would've never happened if Jane and Brian still owned it! So then we decide to try Hutch's but as we're going there we see him fly by in his boat. so much for that. So we head back to the potters prepared to drive to the gas station and get jerry cans, but the potters have extra gas that they give us.

So we're off. The formation is this: Beau, Potter & Eric on the bottom, Mel & I on the top. Everyone was SO negative about the whole thing, and of course Potter had "done the math" that there wasn't enough horsepower to pull our weights, but i was optimistic! But it didn't work. We tried three times, dragging for sooooooooo long cause the boat wouldn't plane, and then after the third time, we ripped the tow ring right outta the boat. So much for that.

So instead everyone decided to have a Dam Jam. I'd never been to the Dam, and I didn't wanna go cause from what i hear there's no sunshine and all you can do is jump off the dam and swim, and psychics have told me not to jump off rocks into water ever again. A dam is close enough to rocks. So i stayed home. And Ann and Tim stayed home two. We're such a little team. Mel, Eric and Beau have become quite the team too, we laughed as the boats drove away - mel, eric and beau in one, dave, steve and mel's friend in the other.

Ann and I soaked up the rays until it was time to go. Went back to my place and said bye to the girls, then ventured out in terrible traffic. After half an hour of sitting in traffic i realized that i forgot my life jacket (brining my wakeboard and lj back to LA with me), so i turned around, and decided to stay and read hoping traffic would let up. Talked to Mom and she made the good point that it would only get worse since it was a nice day, so then i left, and took the Trent way to avoid traffic. Why didn't i think of that the first time?

Got home, was supposed to go out with Weatherall but had to cancel. Had a late dinner with the fam. Got a call from Miss Druce announcing that she'd be stopping by to have breakfast with me! Sooooo amazing cause i was terrified i wouldnt get to see her!

Monday

The last day. 41 degree insanity. Woke up early and hit up the club at 8:00. Had breakfast at the club with Courtney afterwards which was sooooo wonderful. Unfortunately we couldn't eat outside cause it was just too hot. The air was thicker than swamp water! 

Grocery shopped, read, napped, planned dinner with the Pascaris.' We met them at Sapori on Yonge (which is now called Osteria?) and had delicious pastas and not so delicious desserts. I gave mine to Ry. But it was so nice hanging with everyone. The only person missing was Mike.

Since it was still sweltering hot at 10, we decided to have a pool party at the Pascaris' so Ry and I headed over. The rest of the night was spent packing. Barf.

Tuesday

Last training sesh with RR. Oh how I miss him when i'm gone. I just love him. Except when he makes me go on the Tower of Terror. Some sort of climbing machine that he makes me do 30 second intervals on that I despise. Went home and started in on finishing packing. Packing KILLS me. It's so sad. And it's just so hard cause I always have so much stuff! And books are heavy! This time I had my wakeboard too which is the most akwardly shaped bag ever due to the bindings. It also doesn't have wheels. Sooooo Daddykins came home from work early and he and mom drove me to the airport (and came inside to help me with my bags)!

William met me at the airport, I was reunited with Black Beauty, and was SHOCKED to see that the sun sets so early here! It's dark at 8:30! I miss home! And it was freeeezing! It was nice to get back to my cute little apartment though, and my black curtains are a wonderful addition. Struggled to stay awake for the Hills, found out Leigh goes home tomorrow (I should've stayed home for another week)! and then went to sleep.

Wednesday

Woke up at 6. It's LA so obviously its overcast and rainy. I went on a misty rainy hike which was really enjoyable because i love gloomy hikes and i hadn't hiked in so long! Went to Real Raw Live after and got a smoothie for breakfast, and got groceries at Gelsons. Next stop was Best Buy for an ipod dock. Went home, sorted out some insurance stuff (health insurance is the most IRRITATING thing in the world. Canada is amazing). Had to fax all kinds of forms saying how i broke my elbow and blah blah blah. I'd also received 2 phone bills in my absence and a threat about shutting of my phone, so i walked to AT&T to pay it.

I had intended on having a tuna sandwich on my canadian rye bread for lunch. Actually the bread is german but that's beside the point. I realized I didn't have a toaster so I had cereal instead. But for dinner, I really wanted my tuna sandwich. I have 181 dollars, surely can't be spending that on a toaster (cause if i were to get a toaster, it would be a pimped out $200 toaster oven) so instead I got the bright idea of toasting it in the oven and it worked brilliantly!

I'm going to attempt to live on $250 a week. I think it's doable. (Excluding weeks when I have to pay my phone bill.

Tuesday

My schedule is crazy. Too many people to see, too many things to do, it's so hard to fit it all in! Today's highlights were: Jean Charles Salon & Village Chill with Caleigh.

Went to training with Rui in the morning. He definitely re-broke my elbow trying to get me to do pushups. I did one and keeled over in elbow agony. Fake elbow agony. it didnt actually re-break, i just have zero ability to put any weight on it at all. He says I need to get accupuncture and massages. And says I need my own reality show. I really really do. It would be a pretty entertaining show.

I'm officially losing my hair. All i've ever been told by hairdressers is that my hair is sooooooo thick and I have enough for two heads of hair, but today was the second time that a hairdresser has referred to my hair as "thin"! Traumatizing! So I went to Jean Charles Salon and Raph's mom heather (who is the COOLEST) lightened up the bottom of my hair. No more weird faded black! And then Jean Charles diffused it and it was CURLY. Like full out ringlet hair. I had NO idea my hair could do that. (Although it makes sense because when i was really little and had short hair it was ringlet curly). Oh how I love the versatility of my hair! And now when I go back to LA i'm gonna go to Rachel Bilson's colorist and do the "ombre" woke-up-in-a-dumpster-homeless-mermaid locks. And maybe, just maybe, if i can work up the guts to get a trim, i'll go see Kelly. Cause it's been FAR too long since i've seen her (and had a haircut).

Made din for the fam and then my lovely hair smelled like barbecue.

Went for fakeberry with Caleigh at Village Chill. It's not a bad imitation, it just lacks a bit of punch. And lacks mochi topping! We then went back to her & Steves and watched pvr-ed episodes (Canadians say PVR instead of DVR - personal vs digital) of Kristen Stewart on various talkshows. Most awkward interviewee EVER.

Wednesday

Tick tock tick tock... Christine is limited edition once again. Less than a week left. CRAZY how the time flies. People keep asking me if i'm looking forward to going back, and yeah i am, but it's been sooooooo wonderful being home and just having fun-filled days with no homework or work EVERY DAY! And having a fridge and cupboards full of food. And gas cards. And the cottage. And long lost loves! And every time i pack up another pile of books to bring back to LA with me, it just makes me sooooooo sad thinking that those books will probably never be on my Toronto bookshelves ever again!

My "orthostatic hypotension" is back with a vengeance. Prior to today I didn't know the name for my condition, but Michael Rooke was kind enough to discover it for me on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthostatic_hypotension. I just always referred to it as my blindness (I go blind when i stand up until I bend over and the blood goes back to my head). It always happens at this time of year, every year I tell Dr. Richardson (my nephrologist) about it, every year he says its from low blood pressure and dehydration and the solution is to stand up more slowly. I always choose to ignore this recommendation. I'm a fast-paced girl, I run around like a chicken with my head cut off, I do sudden pivots (right Pip?), I bump into things. My legs are always bruised. I just don't have the time to stand up slowly! I'm not geriatric!

Who remembers when I fainted in Dr. Moses' physics class and Matty B carried me down to the student council office couch? Good times!

But back to today. It was a wonderful day! Went for high tea with mom & Aunt Marcella because it's my favorite thing to do in Toronto. Actually, it was 1:00 tea so I guess it was technically low tea. But whatever. It was glorious as usual. No room will ever be as cool as that darkdarkdarkpurple room. We were there for THREE AND A HALF hours! I was surprised they didn't kick us out, they usually do at 3:30 cause that's when the high tea sitting starts, but it wasn't busy so they didn't tell us to leave. It was also wonderful cause we got my favorite table (southeast corner) and the waiter (it's always the same guy) knows me now! We discussed wonderful things like scoundrel uncles, elves, trolls, hauntingly beautiful twins, Nana's amazingness and hilarity, and the tv show that was filmed at my school that i didn't even know was airing ("Design School") ... i think it might only be shown on Canadian HGTV... too bad I started a quarter too late to audition for it :( After tea we strolled around the hotel envisioning my future wedding. Cause even if I marry an American, I'm dragging him to Toronto to marry me. U of T Trinity Chapel ceremony (all white marble, so beautiful) followed by a Windsor Arms Reception. On a Friday night, in the late fall or winter. I want gloominess. I wanna wear fur. Anywayssss... enough of scaring off any potential husbands...

We got home and it was basically time to go to spinning. It was sad saying bye to Joy, she should probably move to LA and work at the Sports Club!

Came home and had the most wonderful conversation with Leigh! Actually it wasn't wonderful in the slightest. She got ZERO recognition at the Thirst Project Gala last night and I think it's disgusting. She seriously worked her ass off for months and months, and even when everyone (me included) were telling her to give up because it wasn't gonna happen, she still kept on working cause she didn't wanna disappoint the team. She should've been the star of the night. BUT it was really great to talk to her again and it made me realize that i'm ready to go back. It's been so amazing and so fun and so relaxing and just so grounding to be living my Toronto life again, but i'm ready to go back. Gotta move forward in my LA life. Wonderful things and wonderful people are waiting for me back there! I'm really really excited for what July has in store.

Friday

Goodbye RockstarIII. You served me well. I hope whoever stole you enjoys your tunes as much as I did.

Apparently I left the doors of the car open all night and someone snatched my ipod right outta the center console! I searched and searched the car, my purses, and hoodie pockets to no avail. A phonecall to Ryan proved fruitless as well. My mom told me to go buy a new one, so I decided that instead of buying a new ipod and new blackberry, i should just bite the bbm bullet and fiiiiiiinally get an iphone. But for now, I was on the way to the cottage. Armed with only my nano (which was half charged, and the car doesn't support charging the nano for some reason) and two cds "summerlicious" (circa 2007) and "ChristinesChristmasCarCd" (which was half christmas songs) because my laptop burner isn't working again, I headed out on the open road up to the cottage.

Two hours later I get there, and I don't have the key. Damn you full moon eclipse bringing thievery and general badness! So I went to the Foz's, cause their door is always open. Bowser was quite happy to see me and lounged at the foot of my chaise lounge all day long. At 2:00 I left to go pick up Andrea and Alex at school with a pitstop at the grocery store to get water (water is amazingly cheap in the country. 1.5 L evian for 89 cents)! And who did I run into but former flame, Darcy Holland. He was still as beautiful as he was 5 years ago. I wanted to make out with him (in a lime green pickup truck). So we chatted, and then I headed out to pick up the girls at school. I realized I would be mucho early for the girls so i stopped at the side of the road, picked a bunch of daisies and made them into a daisy crown. (I felt like I would've been a pretty picture... picking flowers at the side of a country road). And what better to do with a daisy crown than to bring it to MFA. So I did.

Picked up the girls from school, went home and had an afterschool snack, and then I took them to Sandy Beach. It was hilarious because there were all these highschool kids hanging out and andrea was like "chrissie, they're staring at you! blow them a kiss!" But I figured I better not since i'm sure they thought the girls were my kids... we were in the country after all. And then after our swim they were trying to talk to me, and it was pretty funny. So we went back home, realized we'd locked ourselves out of the house (sidenote, by this time i had found the cottage key so i wasn't locked out of there anymore). So I dressed them up in my hoodies so we could go to the candy store.

When we got home from the candy store uncle steve was back, and making us hamburgers (which were actually the best hamburgers i'd EVER had)! After dinner we went to pick laura up from her graduation party, i realized that Darcy's little brother is in her class (weird coincidence) and then we went for ice cream. Obvi i was dying for kawartha dairy but i didnt know of any places that sold it that were open after 8. HOWEVER Laura said there was a kawartha dairy STORE in peterborough. I DIED. So we went there, I got the famous Wolf Paws (my fave) AND creme brulee. It was amazing. Went back to their house, gossiped in Laura's room and then I got a call from Tim saying that the boathouse was "hoppin'" and that i should come by. So i did.

I've never laughed so much at a bonfire. It was Tim, Beau, Tyler and Steve and the whole time Tim, Beau and I were reminiscing, ripping on Jeff Lang and Mark Potter while Steve tried to defend them.

Re: Ryan and Beau leaving 40 messages on the Lang's answering machine in 1999.

Me - If it was any other parents they just would've laughed!

Steve - it's a little different when you're waiting for a call about your dad in the hospital.

Beau - It couldn't have been that important if they weren't answering the phone!

Tim - Yeah i heard they actually missed the funeral listening to the 40 messages.

Other mems:

-Beau wearing cataract glasses and pretending to be blind at breakfast. Then driving 20 down the highway causing the hugest line of cars behind us.

-Barricading Maxine's driveway with pylons and her asking mark potter if there was construction she didnt know about.

-Changing the speed limit signs from 20 to 80.

-Tim peeing in the clean laundry hamper.

-Tim & Andrew's several-days-long bender/AndrewBonanza of 2005 and them drinking vodka and milk because i wouldnt go buy them mix.

-Beau's Terry Jerry phonecalls.

-Me getting Darcy's truck stuck in the holmes driveway, and minutes after it getting un-stuck Nicholas getting his car stuck.

-Buzzing the Potter dock.

-Flashing highbeams and blasting the Venga Bus in the Lang's driveway.

-Getting yelled at by Jeff Lang for underage driving, driving too fast on the road, underage drinking, and for staying up til midnight on new years.

And like every summer, Beau professed his love for me. Unlike past years the declaration did not involve pushing me out of a car while i was driving, or him demanding to get out of my car and walking drunkenly along the highway until Tim made him get back inside. Like every summer, I told him I wasn't interested.

Saturday

Went home at 2. Woke up at 8 to rain. Went to the berry farm to buy strawberries and decided to just go home since the sailing we had planned for today obvi wasn't gonna happen. Spent the rest of the day reading and watching the Great Gatsby and Peyton Place, and went for dinner with the fam. Oh, and I tarred and feathered a bunch of idiot G20 protestors because I hate them.

It was in the fall that I decided not to use any color until I couldn't get along without it and I believe it was June until I needed blue.

Sunday

Rain finally comes. I want it to rain hard. I walk until I am drenched, until there is a feeling in me that is clear, shining like the street.

Today was amazing. It involved reading. A workout class. More reading. And rainnnnn. Fabulous crazy thunder and lightning rain. I sat on the couch in the living room staring out at the rain pouring down, reading until I felt possessed to write. The book i'm reading now makes me want to finish my book so badly. There are so many brilliant lines and I wanna write brilliant lines. I will. Then Berkley and I frolicked in the rain while dad barbecued brisket for 4 hours. (Which I normally don't like but i've been really into red meat lately, perhaps my iron is low, perhaps it's because i never eat it in LA cause I don't have a barbecue). We ate a delicious dinner. Made frozen yogurt. Read.

Monday

Best spinning class EVER. Went to some new girl's class and it was awesome. Then went to the doctor and made a stop at Boardsports. Weatherall and Jeff are the sole remaining survivors of our crew (even though Jeff definitely was much later than the original crew). But Mike's leaving next week because he's the new Salomon/Bonfire (and two other brands that i forget) rep!!! I told him he has to hook me up with prodeal card this winter. My two fave snowboard companies! AS IF!

Went home, drove up to see Lillian for an astrological reading. But before I go into that, i'd just like to say a big thank you to the ipod gods. I turned from radio to cd (and for some reason the ipod connects to the cd output) and out of the speakers comes the sweet sweet sounds of JB! Bieberrrrrr! I looked in the center console and there she is, RockstarIII in all her shiny black glory! Guess I'm just destined to be a blackberry user forever! Ok back to Lilian news. A summer romance with a Leo is in my near future. Funny... i'm pretty sure my lover is a Leo and he's coming to visit in July... I'm also supposed to be an architect, not an interior designer and i'm gonna get a job in LA no prob. Oh and i'm crazy and incredibly intense and live in a dream world but I have a maturity and practicality that makes all those qualities okay. In the past when i was called crazy I loved it, cause it was always a good crazy that people enjoyed being around. But then when a certain boy started calling me crazy I took offence. But whatever! I AM crazy, but it's a wonderful and entertaining and endearing crazy that i'll never change! Reading The Anthropologie of an American Girl has made me love my craziness, because Eveline is legit crazy, and i totally identify with some of her craziness, but she just takes it to a whole new level. READ IT!

Mom's highschool friends (and my aunt) came for dinner since Daddykins is at a golf tournament. I hope he wins me something good! It was hilarious hearing them talking about old teachers (who i could talk about as well because I had the same ones) and about the parents of the boy heartthrobs when I was at Lawrence. I was like "I'm listening to you guys sit here and talk about Mr. Jones and Chris ________ and i'm fully gonna be sitting around talking about Mr Jones and Tim _________ (Chris' son) with my friends when we're your age!" And then it made me really sad about moving to LA - I wont just run into highschool randoms on the street! I'll be living in a city in which i have no school history. My kids' teachers won't be able to bring in yearbook pictures of their parents or wont be able to tell them stories of their parents making out in highschool hallways. Cause that's what happened to me. Although I'm not marrying my highschool sweetheart so the whole making out story would never happen anyways. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

There's just something so wonderful about having a history...

On To the Next One

Tuesday

9 am training. RR kicked my ass as usual. He spent most of the time laughing at my antics, I asked him if i was his most entertaining client, his response: by far. Then mom and I went to Marcella's for lunch cause Jeff and the girls were there. They're hauntingly beautiful. White blonde hair, huge blue eyes, and reverse identical twins (ones hair parts on the left & is left handed, the other on the right). They'd be so perfect for a Virgin Suicides-esque movie when they grow up. The afternoon was filled with storminess so I cuddled up and read, and Ry and I had some more music lessons (me teaching him Brick by Ben Folds Five on piano).

Wednesday

Went with Mom to Raph's parents salon. They're SO cool. Talked to his mom about given me I-woke-up-in-a-dumpster-homeless-mermaid-chic hair ... aka "ombre." My mom says it'll look like trash. Raph's mom says it will look really cool. And best news of the day "don't cut your hair. I love it." Phew! I was sooooo scared I'd go in there and they'd be like "your hair hasn't been cut since january. It's disgusting." ... Maybe his dad thought that and just didn't say anything...

Came home, felt an earthquake, went over to the Pascaris' to make use of their backyard facilities (pool & chaise lounge). I called but no one answered so I just went right to the backyard and then I see Cakes in the window watching tv. So we had a nice little chat. He said he was gonna come out and swim but never showed. When i was tired of tanning i drove him to the subway so he could go register for school and we talked about wonderful things that didn't involve the office for a change!

Spinning with Joy was wonderful as usual, and even more wonderful because of a cameo by Courtney Clark! (Not in the actual class but afterwards "i thought i saw long brown hair..."). I broke the news that I wouldn't be attending the club's "Young Professionals" croquet match the following day, cause i was going to the cottage... and because i'm neither "young" nor "professional."

Went home, picked up my guitar from getting restrung, and then made plans to see Suzy! So I headed down to the Beaches to her new place! There was all this talk of a huge storm with tornados and hail and "dangerous winds" so i was so pumped ... but so far nothing. Got to her place. It's absolutely amazing. The coziest thing ever with the nicest old wood floors and is set back from the street so far and has a great porch ... "this would be so amazing for tan- "... as i look up and notice that the backyard is completely covered by a canopy of trees! We laughed. She said she just goes to the beach to tan. Makes sense. So we walked to the little restaurant at the corner of her street and had the BEST gossip/catch up session in FOREVER.

Since it had been FOREVER since we'd seen each other. Since 2008??? Oh no wait, we saw each other for about 5 mins in Whistler in 09. But that doesn't count. So yeah, reminisced about Lambert's amazingness and hilarity (especially when ripping on Kyle), and about all the girls and Forrest and Pip and it was just so much fun! I love her! She's the most laid back but still in touch with reality person in the whole world. She drives a yellow jeep. She has my fave tattoo ever (silhouette of birds on her arm). She always has the best facebook display pictures. She has the greatest laugh in the world. She's the real-life mermaid that I long to be.

Today was a great day.

Thursday

I was in a miserable mood this morning. Apparently I slept through some crazy thunder & lightning storm (I NEVER sleep through storms... this narcolepsy thing is really starting to get on my nerves. Jon says my sleeping in til 4 on the weekend was "borderline degenerate behaviour"). Wake up and its still raining so no cottage for me today. I wanted to drag myself to the club for a spinning class but couldnt do it. And Miriam was coming over so i wanted to hang around to see if any gems of psychic wisdom would benefit me. The only gem, which is definitely fools gold or maybe something more like carbon, is that my life is gonna be very "flat" for a while. Awesome. I love having nothing to look forward too. BUT I'd much rather have flatness than a fall-style downward spiral. So maybe "carbon" isn't so bad. Black is my fave color after all.

Speaking of black, the search for black curtains is over! I finally found some today. Nightmare on Elm Dr., get ready for new curtains!

Oh, crashed the Dads' lunch with Jon & Ry today. We forced them to go for sushi. It was great. My fave waiter asked where i'd been and still remembered my "usual" (salad, alaskan roll & salmon sashimi). Peter AND Dad got combo number 7. But unfortch this time peter didnt serenade us with his sushi rendition of combo number 5. L&R, you were missed!

Did some reading. Went to the club for some running and weights action. I'm FIIIIIINALLY getting my pre-broken-bone flexibility back which is nice. On my way home from the club saw Rosemary getting out of her car and she informed me that Reesy & Bud would be arriving any second for a ride to the airport for their England/Croatia trip. So I ran home, hopped in the shower, and ran back to the Dales where we ate sugar snap peas and had a lovely catch up sesh. I bid farewell to Reesy & Bud , scored a banana date muffin, and was on my way home for dinner.

Ryan pointed out a very disturbing internet snippet about my new friend TT. Apparently he beats up girlfriends. I might wanna re-think this whole HR video collaboration idea...

Mom & I had a movie night: Dear John. Meh. Nothing special. The book was sub-par so I wasn't expecting much, and I guess it was as good as I expected it would be.

Bedtime. Going to the cottage tomorrow. The days are winding down and there are still sooooo many people to see! But hopefully i'll take care of Laura, Andrea, Alex, Tim, Ann, Dee, Darcy & Little Wayne (who 4 summers later can't be so little anymore) this weekend, and next week Courtney, Rob, golfing with Mike??, Derek, Sarah, Bree, Maddie, and copious amounts of Tory & Caleigh & Leigh & Robyn. And then i'll be completely satisfied with my trip home. (As long as my astrologer can fit me in for a reading)!