Bellini-induced Brain Freeze

Obsession no. 5,039,824 Leah the perpetual shopper strikes again. If any sweet, kind-hearted Americans (or Torontonians, Montrealers or those from the UK) want to light this lil girl's face up in bliss...send a "travel charm bracelet" from Urban Outfitters my way. For such a beautiful gesture you would receive my undying gratitude. Well, until I find a new bauble to get myself hyped up over. No seriously, Leah sporting a travel charm bracelet would be a very ecstatic Leah indeed. I would hug it and pet it and call it George. Man, Urban Outfitters rocks my world. Makes me really wish I could fly over to Toronto right about now just to do a bit of shopping. P.S. Can you see the reason why I love this bracelet so much? Do you see it? Do you see it? I wish I could circle it there for you all to see. Or maybe I should just spell it out: N E W Y O R K!!!! Right there! Almost as good as one of those "I (heart) NY" t-shirts!

Maybe I'm just like my father: too bold. Maybe you're just like my mother; she's never satisfied. Back in high school someone said that the circumstances under which we meet "the one" AKA "Mr./Ms. Right" is usually similar to the conditions under which our own parents met. The girl who told us this, Ssoberr Girl, her parents met in a ladies bathroom. I didn't ask. This girl used to be so bent on finding a boyfriend I was surprised she didn't spend more time in the powder room . You could say she is still bent on the whole boyfriend thing, which would explain why she clings so dearly to her precious boyfriend, no matter how undesirable. I recall the first time we ever went to a bar with her. She had cutesy pieces of paper already prepped with her name and phone number daintily written down. Good Lord. Thinking of that nite, I wonder why she even hung out with us in the bar, she should have posted herself in "the loo." Maybe ...

El chocolate So Civic calls me at work yesterday afternoon. His class starts at 6:30 so he has time to kill (no sense going home) thus we ended up wandering about after I finished work. We ended up at the Palliser to check out Death By Chocolate. Me and my pricey suggestions! So yeah, we were a tad underdressed. Me and my puffy urban jacket, him and his jeans. But I was determined to get me some of that tiramisu once again! Being that I've only been to the Palliser twice in my life I was completely turned around as to how to get to the frigging Death By Chocolate. Ask the front desk ('cuz I was unsure if we'd have to tip the concierge if he helped us out) and she directs us to one spot. Ask the maitre d' at the lounge and she directs us further in. Ask one of the servers and "tada" we were apparently in the right spot: the Oakroom. Still totally turned around we grab ourselves a table and try and work out our next move. THIS was clearly not the...

Welcome home! Lethal comes back to us from all the way in Indonesia! Good stuffs! Thank goodness, with all that's going on around the world these days I'm grateful she's back home with all of us. (Apologies to Sunflower as she is missing from this pic, I just don't seem to have "whole gang" pics at all.) As some of you may know, Lethal went away to teach English in Indonesia. She's home early, but I'm definitely not going to complain about that. With quite the adventurous spirit I'm sure it won't be long until she departs from us again for a new exotic locale. Girl's definitely got the traveller's bug, and not in the typical tourist sort of way. I admire her for that. I can't picture her lounging on the beach in Jamaica or Mexico...she's more the type to do the hike to Macchu Picchu (without a guide, I may add, though I don't think they allow that anymore) Perhaps she'll join Daisy and I on our journey to Mor...

I'll be home for Christmas (and I always will.) I am definitely craving some teppanyaki/sushi action right about now. Maybe I'll be able to hold off until the weekend. Maybe Civic will help a sister out, perhaps I should call up my godsister and go to Ginza with her and the hubby. Or maybe me and the familia will luck out with time to have a dinner out together. It's been a while since we've eaten out together. Speaking of the familia, I'm feeling much better now. I was in a funk Sunday nite but all was resolved Monday. I'm fanatical about Christmas, and noone in the house was taking the initiative to set up the Christmas tree this year. (Traditionally, though I don't know how we came up with this date, we always put up the tree on the 22nd of November.) I asked my mom about it and she said "why don't you and the baby (sister) just do it yourselves?" Well of course the lil sister has to go to bed due to school the next day. I carr...

Weekend in review Hmm, what did I do this weekend? It was pretty typical, I suppose. Friday, Daisy and my plans to catch Bollywood Hollywood finally fell through yet again. The Plaza stopped running it and now the only place to watch it is at the Moviedome and I really despise watching films in such a sticky scuzzy crap-hole. At a lack of anything else to do we fell back on our failsafe plan: Cactus Club Cafe for martinis and noshies. Always good. The train ride home was entertaining. Stoopid drunk lil hoochies strutting up and down the C-Train platform talking gibberish. (And I DO mean gibberish...they had no clue what the other was talking about.) A wannabe thug came and sat down by Daisy and I and asked our opinion on whether or not his finger needed stitches. As soon as I saw the bloody digit I had to turn away all squeamish. Daisy stared intently at it and insisting with the guy that he really ought to go get it stitched up at the hospital. He swore up and down that...

La Isla Bonita SunMoon is now officially on the island of Guana in the British Virgin Islands. Lucky lil wench. Ah well, Banff and us girls await your return, chica! See you in June!

Yeah yeah, good morning I wonder if this is what a hangover feels like. If so, then it's not so bad, just a tad uncomfortable, a smidge inconvenient, but otherwise survivable. I've gone through lots worse. Last nite, SunMoon rounded up a bunch of us girls for her last Ladies Nite this year. No more Ladies Nites for her until June when she returns from the Virgin Islands. I was totally game, despite having to work today. Originally the limo was supposed to bring us back home at 11:00, but it was our last chance to party with SunMoon for 7 months. We didn't shut the club down, but a 12:45am limo pickup is late enough for us 9-5 people (or 8-4, for a couple of us). The limo was pretty kewl. You know what? I'd never been in a limo before. Never did it at grad time, never did it anytime. My reasoning? "Everybody does the limo thing." How I contradict myself! *lol* Anyway, it was fun stuffs. I still wouldn't choose it as my wedding/special occa...

Another "match" made in television heaven I'll say it again, boys with airborne toys are damn sexy. Forget about driving and telling me about your souped up car, tell me you can fly and I'm ALL YOURS baybeh! Travolta can fly, he's way too old for me plus he's married. But he's an incredible guy. Don't believe me? Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Pulp Fiction. Enough said. As much as I love the insanity of reality dating shows, I just didn't bother sitting through the entire 2 hour finale of the Bachelor last nite. I just kept the TV on, listening in on what was going on, and occasionally sitting in front of the tv to get some "visuals." As far as bachelors go, Aaron was a way better "catch" than last year's Alex, in my humble opinion. A total class act in almost every sense of the word, he'd fit right in with the Kennedys. A polished pianist, budding restaurateur, bank vice-president, leisure pilot . Yeah, he ...

A prominent majority Wow, I really skewed the percentages on that tracker time-zones-of-readers graph. I was bored last nite so I went to a Calgary chat. Now they account for 80% of my readers *sigh* A couple of nights of that chat-room deal and I've definitely had enough. If I have to answer "a/s/l" and "want to have some fun?" one more time I think I would rather eat a nasty salad composed of cilantro and celery exclusively. But I did find some sweet new guys to chat with. Wandered around downtown after work yesterday while waiting for Daisy. I really shouldn't have gone window shopping. Found this gorgeous dress that I simply had to try on and sure enough I fell in love with it. I feel so damn sexy wearing that dress. Yet another cocktail dress to add to my insane collection...with few cocktail parties to actually attend! I believe I have a fetish for cocktail dresses, I own way too many of them. I'd rather wear those than super-formal g...

Wiggle it, just a little bit I read this on another Filipina's blog. The girl actually lives there in the Philippines. Magnolia, a national dairy company (ah good old Magnolia, you pay a hefty premium to get just one litre of their ice cream over here in Calgary...and even then it came from California and not the Philippines) is selling "Magnolia Jelly Tongues." A sex toy, you ask? No no, my friends! It's a popsicle that turns "wiggly" after a few minutes. The sexual connotations of enjoying a popsicle have just gotten a whole lot stronger. Now not only do you suck on the things, but you can french it, too. I wonder if they'll import THAT here to Calgary.

Pull up to my bumper, baby This has become an issue as of late and I suppose it's time to comment on it. While I agree that cars may be one of the great inventions of the modern world, I would be a miserable soul if I had to get everywhere by car when the rest of the entire world is driving as well. Case in point numero uno: Daisy and I were on our way via C-Train to Kensington to go watch Bollywood Hollywood Friday nite. aqua angel thought she'd be a dear and join us in our lil outing but offered to pick us up. Unfortunately, due to traffic she was unable to pick us up from the train station until fifteen minutes prior to the movie. After driving down there even more time was eaten up trying to find a parking space. While this was all going on I couldn't help but contemplate the pros and cons of car-dom and how it pertained to this particular situation. I figured if Daisy and I had stayed on the train we would have made it to the movie in due time, not to mentio...

My lil home in the blogging world Ever since people suggested I install a tracker on my blog I've been obsessed with seeing where all my visitors come from. During the weekend the East Coast people (possible New Yorkers! Yay!) were battling it out with my hometown time zone (MST). They were neck and neck. All of a sudden on Monday the Mountain Standards jumped to representing almost half of my readership. Where'd all the East Coast people go? The East Coast now represent about a third, West Coast-ers make up about a quarter of my visitors, followed by a smattering of Europeans, Asians, Brazilians, Australians, and New Zealanders. (Kiwis!) I wish my readers would sign my guestmap, It's only polite to say "Hello" when you're in the neighborhood. ; ) Of course, they could all be "one-time" visitors. It would appear that most of the time Google and Yahoo are referring readers to me these people are looking for info on Louis Vuitton and Gucci ...

Randomly pulling things out of the air Just some random ramblings re:the weekend. Was unable to catch Bollywood Hollywood on Friday, ended up seeing Igby Goes Down. Very similar to The Royal Tenenbaums. Pretty good but I would rather have watched Bollywood. Must re-attempt to go see it. Had a short chat with Finn late nite Saturday. It's been at least 6 months since him and I had a chance to chat. Such an ambitious boy, certainly a guy you could take home to impress your parents. Still unsure of what went wrong between him and Daisy but as much as I'm on Daisy's side with whatever happened, Finn is still my friend. A brief convo with Mijo on Sunday nite. Claims that he's tried to get the shirt I gave him for Christmas translated twice. The Japanese say it's some sort of Japanese gibberish followed by the phrase "the fight." If anyone out there knows how to translate Japanese characters please let me know. I'll take a picture of my brothe...

Playtime You are the playful pin-up! Do you know how to be serious? What Type Of Retro Gal Are You? brought to you by Quizilla Makes total sense to me. I'd rather have snowball fights and play mini-golf than lounge about "waiting for my close-up."

Missy Elliott f/ TLC - Can You Hear Me? [Aaliyahs mother] This is the information for For where you can send the flowers It's for Aaliyah I'll give you the phone number in case you need it Ok we’ll see you Take care of yourself I love you Bye bye [Missy] I been checkin on your moms and dad And your brother, sister since the day you left Passed on and went away with God But for your mom its been So damn hard I hate to even hear her cry Aaliyah, she asked me why Would her baby girl go this way? Can you give me better words to say? One day she’ll see you again With the same old beautiful smile Long hair and the voice of a hummingbird You’ll be singing them same old songs Aaliyah, can you hear me? I hope that you’re proud of me Me and Tim we been doing our thing But It's never been the same Since you had to go I ain't never met a friend More incredible [TLC] I know you in real good hands With God but damn I miss you Aaliyah, if you...

Haha, I knew I was "bi-coastal" Congratulations, you're Los Angeles, the City of Angels. What US city are you? Take the quiz by Girlwithagun . Known as the entertainment capitol of the world, LAX is the third largest airport in the world in number of passengers. All 467 square miles of this city are full of art, music, movies, television and fashion. From the mountains to the beaches, tourists flock to this city for the endless entertainment. Home to people from 140 different countries, each section of this diverse city has its own culture. Congratulations, you're New York City, the Big Apple. What US city are you? Take the quiz by Girlwithagun . Overwhelming to visitors, this bustling city can seem hard and imposing. With so much going on, there is an axiom that if you visit NY for a day you will see most of what you want; for a week, some of what you want; and if you live there, you will see none of it. It is a city made by people, changed in some small wa...

If only all we had to fear was fear itself Somedays I choose movies to watch with completely ironic timing. Last nite I finally saw Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and it made me so mad. What right did this psycho have to place fear in the hearts of a whole massive city? This nutcase had all of New York City afraid of him. One man had them all running around dying their hair blond, staying in at night, closing down bars indefinitely. One simple, measly lunatic. And really that's all it takes, folks. I find it frustrating that some sicko can freak out so many people and flip their lives upside-down. Much like the recent sniper attacks. Today the headline on the Calgary Herald says that the Syncrude site and the Calgary Stampede are two targets that the terrorists have in their sights, according to a list of Canadian targets put together by the U.S. State Department. Same thoughts, different location, different psycho(s). What right do these freaks have to place fear in th...

Baby, look at you shine! My girl Missy Elliott put out her latest CD yesterday. I, being one of those impatient ones who has to be one of the first in on everything, picked it up immediately. (And of course, it is advertised as 5 dollars less starting Friday, trust that I will get a price adjustment. I should have done that for all the other CDs I've ever bought on release day. Imagine all the 5 dollars I would save.) I figure I'll pick up TLC (which was also released yesterday) on Friday after I've savored Missy's Under Construction a little while longer. However, what I wanted to discuss with regards to her new CD is not how sweet her music is but rather how great she looks in the CD liner. I had heard rumors before the release that Missy had lost even MORE weight this time around...one source quoted 50 pounds. Flipping through the CD liner I was quite impressed with the transformation. "Girl, look atcha! You done good!" Not that she doesn'...

A-ok I had my 6-month followup at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre this morning. I never know what to make of these checkups, they feel unproductive, like me and my oncologist are just there to shoot the breeze together for 10 minutes or so. What did we accomplish today? This: The healing in my ears could still be making me off-balance, hence explaining why I get a bit dizzy sometimes when I get up really fast. Hair's growing back pretty nicely. I'm pretty much back to the weight I was before all this *sigh* An MR scan will be scheduled for January. See you in March. At least there was no bad news (other than the re-gain of weight, but I've never really stressed about that sort of thing). Unfortunately, during the dental clinic portion I didn't get to see my New York dentist. But I did hear him down the hall *grins*.

Bazooms I think, that if there were one thing that I could change about my body instantaneously, painlessly, it would have to be my chest. Not to make it larger, as most women would, but rather to make it smaller. Men may think I'm crazy, sunflower may deem me undeserving of being a woman, Lethal may even have me institutionalized...but if I were ever to alter my body to make myself that tiny bit happier, I would get smaller boobies. I'm not talking reducing myself to flat-chested status, just maybe tone it down a cup size. For one, it would make me look THAT much more slimmer. Ask Sunny, she'll testify. Aqua Boy has had several female acquaintances who've had the reduction process done, and they look all the svelter as a result. Also, it would make it easier to achieve a perfect dress size.proportionally. Ever since I was a young girl, I didn't care what size I was, so long as the measurement ratios were exact for any particular size. Having a bigger c...

Lana is 6 months old today. Awwww. Sam turned 5 years old yesterday so there was a birthday dinner in her honor the night before. Her mommy had just returned from a trip to the Philippines so the poor woman was exhausted with jetlag. But everybody does everything for lil Sammy, even my own mother, but that's besides the point. A new addition to the regular type of festivities was the newly purchased/imported videoke machine. Sort of like karaoke meets Star Search with a bit of American Idol. The crazy machine doesn't know what talent is, unfortunately. I don't usually like singing in front of people, so I hovered around with the little cousins until all the "grownups" had migrated downstairs to converse. First selection of the nite for me: Total Eclipse of the Heart. Lil cousins had no idea what that song was (made me feel old) but I totally ripped into that one. Or at least I felt like I did really well on it. My sister recognized the song from my c...

Happy birthday, Sam! Staying Alive Daisy and I went to go see 8 Mile Friday nite. As much as I love Eminem, I left the movie feeling unsatisfied. It could have been so much more. But then I realized, that one of the purposes of the movie was to minimalize all the hype. Everyone knows that story is semi-autobiographical, Em was showing that the road to the top was not all exciting and fascinating as some would like to think. And to this end, I love the movie. Being that Daisy is quite iffy on the whole phenomenon which is Eminem, I was unsure of how she would react to the movie. Success no. 1: Daisy says, and I quote, "I never realized how hot Eminem was." Success no. 2: She points out that Cheddar Bob is quite similar in character and purpose as the doomed Bobby C. in Saturday Night Fever. Just one of those things that make you go "hmm." She opened a whole line of thinking with that one observation. (And for the record, Roger Ebert and his new partne...

Knock it off, already! There is a huge world of difference between quality knockoffs and flea market-style knockoffs. Discuss... This is a massive pet peeve of mine, and I believe it's due for discussion right about now. I don't mind knockoffs so much, so long as they are convincing. I would rather not buy anything than purchase a knockoff that is absolutely obvious. Lately, the knockoff du jour is phoney Louis Vuitton bags and wallets in the classic design. People need to stop buying this junk. It seems like everyone and their little sister (except for me, 'cuz I know better...and except for my friends, 'cuz I don't think they care for these bags) owns a knockoff classic Louis Vuitton bag. If I were the owner of a genuine LV bag, I would be seriously pissed off. Everyone around you has seen the design so many frigging times that it really doesn't matter to them if yours is authentic and you spent hundreds of dollars on it. It becomes just another b...

I'm not big, it's just baby phat I've been craving some new hot gear the past few days and I had my mind set on some baby phat. That Kimora Simmons has definitely got her finger on the pulse of hot urban chic stylings and I've wanted some to add to my collection forever. Only mainstream chain where I knew I could acquire some baby phat gear was Athlete's World...and it's not even the kewl high-end stuffs but I didn't care. I just need a baby phat shirt right away. Imagine my frustration when I go over to Athlete's World and there is no bp (I don't mean Boston Pizza) to be found. Oh sure, they've got Phat Farm, but what good does that do for the ladies? So now I must venture further...perhaps Brix, maybe Hot Gossip. (Anyone know if bellylint carries baby phat? I think they also carry j.lo. If anyone can confirm this Latina and I can be super efficient and go shopping for the both of us at the same time.) At a lack for anything else to ...

The more we get together, the happier we'll be So....it would appear that Karate Kid's mission to reunite the old elementary St. Cecilia's crew is coming to fruition. Both aqua angel and I received emails from the Kid regarding a reunion of sorts via AIM. There are a few names I recognize, a few I don't. Granted, I was only with them from Kindergarten through 3rd grade. I think the only two I'm interested in reconnecting with are Karate Kid and Air Romeo. I've seen Karate Kid around the city on occasion, but I haven't seen Air Romeo since junior high. And it doesn't help that the dood lives in Washington DC or something like that now. How do you even begin to reacquaint yourself with a person you haven't seen or spoken to in over 7 years? I suppose I could start with an apology for kicking his ass that one nite years and years ago. The sweetie never even retaliated...then again, he shouldn't be hitting girls. Even if they started it...

Aloha Latina, Daisy, and I went for cheap movie nite last nite. The film du jour? Blue Crush. Stereotypical happy ending, as is to be expected. But hey, it was Hawaii, it was surfing, so I wasn't complaining. Dunno if it was a good idea for me to see that movie, now I'm terrified of getting pounded against the coral. Particularly since we're talking about a girl who has yet to snowboard, people! Surfing could be better, it could be worse than boarding. Water is easier to fall into, to an extent, whereas snow...at least you can't drown in snow! Anyway, the girls and I are psyched to give it a go....perhaps Tofino, maybe all out in Hawaii, I'd be happy even if we went to California. (Who am I kidding? I'd be ecstatic if the girls and I went to Cali. There's a hostel out there, I think in Venice Beach, where they have free bodyboarding. It looks like a gorgeous hostel, a must-stay.) Operation: Kiwi seems to be a success thus far. Kudos to Lat...

That's right, suck it up! After being enlightened by the original Austin Powers that suction can make "men's bits" bigger, I contemplated why women (not me, personally) could not do the same for their boobies. And now I know that I was right. People need to keep up with me, I'm soooo ahead of the game it's not even funny. I would be a ludicrous millionairess if I actually put my thoughts into fruition. Unfortunately, I tend to keep my ideas to myself. It's all in avoidance of "biters." Nothing irks me more than biters. So it wouldn't surprise that people aren't convinced that I came up with these ideas years ago and am only admitting to them once I've seen them appear in "real life." For instance, that whole "trend" (God, I hate it when my concepts go trendy) that's going around about wearing shawls around the hips. Or at least they look like shawls. I had bought a sheer triangular shawl to tie aro...

I've been inclined to believe they never would For aqua angel , and anyone who needs to know the lyrics. I myself, am only able to sing along during the chorus. Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond Where it began I can't begin to knowin' But then I know it's growin' strong Was in the spring And spring became the summer Who'd have believed you'd come along Hands, touchin' hands Reachin' out Touchin' me Touchin' you Sweet Caroline Good times never seemed so good I've been inclined To believe they never would But now I Look at the night And it don't seem so lonely We fill it up with only two And when I hurt Hurtin' runs off my shoulders How can I hurt when I'm with you Warm, touchin' warm Reachin' out Touchin' me Touchin' you Sweet Caroline Good times never seemed so good I've been inclined To believe they never would Oh, no, no Sweet Caroline Good times...

Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so good Ahhh, whatta beautiful weekend it has been. Had dinner with the chicas Friday nite. It's becoming more of a regular occurrence so it's all good. Cactus Club Cafe, the "global dining lounge." No bellini this time around, flirtini...still soooo good. Comical moment(s): Sunflower's fascination with the high-tech facilities at the Cactus Club, encouraging everyone to "follow the instructions." Must admit, the whole "seat rotating" device must be completely new since I have never encountered it on previous jaunts to the Cactus. After dinner, aqua angel , Daisy, and I went over to The Love Stop. aqua angel wanted to pick up...something, though for the life of me I can't remember what it was now. Although she did take a good look at the ben wah balls. They were quite pricey so I'm sure that's not what she got. I took a look at the vibes with the rotating pearls; I've h...

Pussycat Yobot Thanks to an impatient teen last nite, my brother and I ended up meeting downtown since both of us and Daisy were stranded for a while until transit resumed service. Thus, I missed the brunt of the trick of treaters and never got to repair my holster in time to regale the lil children with my costume. Ah well, perhaps I'll wear it on NYE just to be diffy, those cap pistols would make excellent noisemakers when the clock strikes. *sigh* If only to be in NYC to watch the ball drop. Anyway I digress, and perhaps I should be a bit more sympathetic for the teen. He or she did get seriously injured, after all. (Kinda disconcerting, don'tcha think? Your life could be rife with drama or even trauma and the world may not even hear about your situation, let alone care about it). And so I don't know all the facts, but that whole situation brings up several blog entries that I will leave until a "drier" time when I have nothing else really to say. Th...