Bellini-induced Brain Freeze

Andale!: December 11th, 2002 Yeesh, Ixtapa was over 2 weeks ago and I haven't finished my entries about it. Well, here goes. It'll probably be more brief since I'm a lil less gushy about it now. Wednesday, our final day in Ixtapa. Lesson of the day was all about "Mexican time" Bus was half an hour late for our tour of Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. Bus was again half an hour late for our transfer to the airport. Hell, even the plane was late taking off, and the pilot's not even Mexican! It's amazing how laid back you become after less than 72 hours. (Note: Somehow we ended up in a time warp, though we departed late, we still arrived on time.) Alright, so tour of Ixtapa and Zihua. Unfortunately they didn't stop as much as I would've liked, but that's alright since we were all anticipating the shopping excursion that followed after the tour. The quicker we finished the tour, the more time we would have to shop before heading back to chec

Ho Ho Hooooh Boy! Oh man, the holidays just plain hurt. But you know you like it! *s* The past 4 days can be summed up pretty much in 3 F words: Family, Food, and Friends, each one more prevalent than the next, but put them all together and you end up totally spent. And then sprinkle in there a few days of work? Paaaaain. Even just sitting there at your desk doing nothing totally drains you. And retail on the weekends? Kiss your stamina goodbye, my friends. Last nite, my brother, godbrother and I opted out of my grandaunt's birthday party (simply 'cuz it'd be the bazillionth time we'd have seen the family this week, let alone gorged ourselves) and just hung out with some Peter's Drive In (right, like THAT'S not indulgent) and watched Reign of Fire with some of their friends. It was alright I guess, not the best movie in the world in my opinion. I look to my left, Weird Kid's eyes are closed and his friend is laying on the couch. She's gone,

Happy holidays from my family to yours! Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, Maligayang Pasko, and all that good stuffs!

How do I love thee? Thanks to a link on CitiBlog , Ray has inspired me to write a similar piece on why I love Calgary and other things I associate with Calgary that aren't necessarily positive. *deep breath* Here goes: My Calgary volunteers...how Olympic Plaza resembles a miniature Rockefeller Centre skating rink in the winter...Wicked Wedge...private community manmade lakes...Uptown 17th Ave...community shuttles...Olympic Oval and speed skates...not just one, but TWO urban radio stations within 2 months...patiently awaiting Victor Choy's latest offering to the city's nightlife...Darr Maqbool Burger Inn...Kensington village...Jarome Iginla (mmmm)...the demise of the Desperados group in the nightclub scene...the uprising of the Penny Lane group and how everything they touch is starting to exude that same Cowboys formula...bellinis at Cactus Club Cafe: Global Dining Lounge...C-Train service ending at 1:30am Monday through Saturday...The Greatest Show on Earth: the C

DJ lilmija, all good, all the time Robyn was right on the money with this one. At a loss for anything to do at home on a Friday night (other than play Vice City, which by the way kicks some serious 80s butt) I built myself my own radio station at Launch . Great stuffs! Where else can I listen to Abba, Missy Elliott, Tears For Fears and Barry White all at the same time? I just have to figure out how to add the remainder of my favorites. *gasp* Alanis Morissette! Ack, enough of that. Next! Check out my latest project to gain myself a bigger piece of the world wide web.

Home alone A Friday nite at home. It's awfully quiet. Haven't done this in a long time. Why did I stay home again? I guess I'm saving my energy for the holiday onslaught to come.

Just another day when you need paradise Half of my pictures are ready for sharing, just have to tweak them bit by bit so they'll be trickling in. Good morning, Ixtapa! A view from the pool. Not sure what's up with the face. *lol* Refreshments, anyone?

Chew on this To the jerk who was so inconsiderate as to spit out and leave their used gum lying in the middle of the C-Train aisle the other day; I despise you. Because of you, your nasty gum was all over the heel of my Kenneth Cole penny loafer. What kind of a moron has so little self-control that they just have to spit out their gum mid-commute? You are utterly disrespectful. I bet you would receive a caning for your piggish ways if we were in Singapore. You're so lucky that isn't the case. If I knew who you were, I would've made you scrape your crud off my heel with your teeth. I would've made you keep it in your mouth like YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO until you got off the train and had an opportunity to dispose of your gum properly. Better yet, I would've made you swallow your trampled-up gum, so that it could fester in your stomach for 7 years as it attempts to break down during digestion. 7 years should be plenty of time for you to think of how you can h

"You think you understand me, but you don't" Ahh, the love/hate relationship with my computer rages on. I can't explain it but I'm just going to run with it. Comp doesn't want to trek all the way north to get itself fixed, so it healed itself? I did nothing new with my fiddling around...mom comes downstairs, I complain mousey won't respond. I wiggle the mouse for effect...lo and behold, the pointer moves! *groans* Who needs mind games from the opposite sex? The computer will mess your mind up and you don't even have to buy it dinner. (And that, my friends, has got to be the most computer-geekish thing I've ever said.)

Pa Rum Pa Pum Pum My brother and I went to go see Drumline last nite. I've become nostalgic for my marching band days all of a sudden. It's a shame that we don't have any proud university marching bands like those I saw in the movie. It seems to be that once you've finished high school around here, your marching days are over. Either that or you join up with the Stampede Show Band or the Outriders, but it's not the same feel. Not the same pride. Not like representing your school. My most rewarding experience that came even close to the movie's premise was the World Championship Marching competition they miraculously held here in Calgary in '96. If it hadn't been here in our backyard I doubt our school would've stood a chance, let alone have competed. But we did our best, and it was one of my most emotional high school experiences ever. We worked hard on that show all year, and even harder the summer weeks prior to the competition. Early

Bend me, shape me anyway you want. I have since taken out my braids after having them in less than a week. But no worries, I shall have my hair braided again for my birthday. That is the plan. There were a lot of reasons why I got my hair braided in Ixtapa. Main ones were price and time. Calgary: 3+ hours at a cost of $400+. Ixtapa: 1/2 hour at a cost of $20 dollars and even NO TAX Tough call. Sure it wasn't a professional job that would last me 6+ weeks. Hell, it didn't even last me one, but I'll get to that in a minute. I thought it was a small price to pay, though, to try it out and see if I'd like it. And now that I've tried it, I'm more willing to shell out the mucho dinero it's going to take to braid this puppy up proper. All my agent friends ooh'd and ahh'd over my hair, and they ooh'd even more when they heard the price and how little time it took. I was happy, lil attention whore that I am. I loved it. I was meant to h

Viva Mexico: December 10, 2002 Note: Bear with me as I have a bit of blogging constipation. ie. stories to tell but no time to post them, hence stories are building up and blocking newer stories Ok, so finally on to the second day in Ixtapa Waking up to the sound of waves is just about as nice as being lulled to sleep by them. Bonus when you get to eat your breakfast by the ocean, too. (And for that I am envious of Angelenos who have both city-life and ocean-life all within their grasp) Good start to a crazy morning. We were scheduled to cover 6 hotels in 3 hours. If it weren't for the close proximity of the hotels I would've figured it impossible. As it were, it was a nuisance as well as a time consumer hopping on and off the bus when most of the hotels we would be inspecting were right next door to one another. Ah well. Just like the bus didn't help speed things up, it was also detrimental how we were welcomed with cerveza/margaritas/house specialty cockta

Buyer beware I swear, that new computer of mine....if it's not one thing it's another. Remember how it sparked and then died last month? Well, now it's found a new game to play: pretend the mouse doesn't exist. I've tried re-adding the mouse, system restore-ing the frigging computer, nothing will make that pointer move. It will not acknowledge lil mousey. I don't know if it's 'cuz my system is so budget bargain-basement that I shouldn't expect any better or if it's glitches with Windows XP (which I hear nobody is really fond of) I hate having to take this troublesome box back to the shop...2nd time in its first 3 months of being! I would return the stoopid thing if I could. C-spotters, do NOT buy your computers at Techtronics. Protect thy sanity!

Drama My grandma scared us witless last nite, and I'd rather not go through anything like that again anytime soon. A bit of background: starting last weekend my sister introduced the whole family to some sort of stomach flu-like bug thingie. (Norwalk virus? I'm so not in the know with the latest health happenings) and while I was in Mexico it went through half the family. By the time I had returned it had moved onto my grandma pretty much, then me and my dad got hit with it on Friday. None of us have had much of an appetite lately, least of all my grandma who hasn't really nibbled on much in the past few days. After my parents/sister had done a bit of their Christmas shopping and I had finished work we all headed home to try and eat some dinner before going to Church. My grandma had been laying in bed since noon complaining of a headache and just overall malaise. The drama all started when my dad tried to wake her up to get her to eat something with us. All you

If it ain't broke... My tracker-thingie shows a lot of traffic coming my way courtesy of thatbrokengirl . I'm extremely flattered 'cuz I think her blog is fantastic, I only wish I could return the favor by sending the same amount of traffic her way, but I'm just a toddler blog. I've got a lot of growing up to do before I can play with the big boy (and girl) blogs out there. Anyway, if you have the time please check out her blog. Just recently she made a post about hoping not to become too "Los Angeles." Not too sure exactly what that means but if being Los Angeles is like the vibe/attitude I sense from the people in T.O. when I visit relatives then I doubt she could ever be like that. She seems way too kind a person to be all "big city" like that.

Welcome to Fantasy Island!: December 9, 2002 Well, ok, Zihuatanejo isn't an island, but it felt like a total fantasy when we reached Mexico Monday morning. On our descent I could see the equidistant trees planted at the coconut plantation, lush greenery for miles and miles, and, at the edge of all that greenery, the beautiful Pacific Ocean crashing and frothing on the golden sandy shore. I couldn't wait to land and see this paradise up close. As much as this girl is a city girl at heart, there is always occasion to escape to paradise. This was definitely paradise to me. I was one of the fortunate guests to join Companion Holidays on their inaugural journey from Vancouver/Calgary to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. As a travel agent and having experienced what they have to offer, I would gladly sell them to clients over some of the other charters I have seen. We disembarked from the plane celebrity-style. That is, descending from stairs directly onto the tarmac. The Mexican sun g

Una chichi mas, por favor. Wow, aqua angel practically had it right on the button. Mis amigos, yours truly has just returned from 3 beautiful days and 2 gorgeous nights in exquisite Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. A lil bit of business, but a whole lot of pleasure. *sigh* How I miss it so already. For those who have never been due to the price of this locale, I highly reccommend Ixtapa and Zihua. While I have never been anywhere else in Mexico, this place exceeded all my expectations. It was the Mexico I've always dreamed about. So excuse me if I rant about my short lil viaje for the next lil while. I kept a travel journal while I was there and I'd like to transpose it onto my blog so I never ever forget what all I saw and did and felt there. Not that I could ever forget.

Riddle me this For the next few days, I'd like whoever happens to read my blog to play the following game: Where is Leah now? (answer the question) Enter your guesses and thoughts in the "Comments" section. (I've been itching to spill this news!)

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. (Not to mention me!) Holiday feasting just a tad early. Just a tad. Seems like me and the usual suspects always have something or other to celebrate every weekend. This weekend was particularly shameful feasting-wise. *groans* So much food! Friday nite we scoped out the new Senor Carlos Cantina upon Latina's suggestion. Loved it! Loved it all from the Plato De Casa to the yummy yummy yummy sangria to the flavoured tequila shots. "Una mas, por favor!" Finished it all off with some of the best deep fried ice cream I've had in a really long time and a fruit chimichanga. The 3 of us definitely dined together like kings, too bad we're supposed to be little princesses. Played some mini-golf at Schank's afterwards, does that count as burning off a bit of that meal? Probably didn't help that we did that whole "down a tequila, down a sourpuss" ritual post-game. Daisy commented that I've be

Sexy noises turn me on Daisy and I were having a discussion about our current "prospects/projects" dating-wise the other day. On my part I've only gotten to the phone call stage with most of these guys (I'm an internet lurker, which isn't the safest nor the healthiest of dating strategies, but hey, I live on the net) and things are already shutting down. There's this one guy I've talked with, and everything I know about him sounds perfect. Except for his voice. And for the life of me, I can't get past his voice. Thinking about it makes me shudder, and not in a good way, either. It is just a touch less grating on the nerves than Egghead's voice (for those who know Egghead). Can I work my way around it? I dunno. I don't want Egghead-voiced sweet nothings whispered into my ear. And heaven forbid I someday hear Egghead-voiced dirty talk! Horrible dilemma, is what this is. I haven't met this guy in person yet but for all I know he

People of the world join hands! Start a love train, a love train. I think it's time for a lil bit of linky-love. I may not get as much traffic like the blogging powerhouse that is Tony Pierce , but whatever traffic I have, I'm willing to share. First off, Kelly's redone her blog for the holidays. If you're feeling Christmas-y like I am these days then go take a peek and boost your holiday cheer! Ray Garraud always hits me up with a dose of New York and all things Big Apple-esque. I know I'm not the only one who thinks his blog great 'cuz the genius Tony Pierce has confessed to being a big fan. Go take a lookee to see what the CitiBlog is all about. yndygo and kool keith have recently signed my guestmap (as should you!) and I'm happy and thankful. yndygo voices a lot of topics that as of yet I've only kept to myself about, go take a read! kool keith gives props to Tupac, and that charts him high in my books. Go check out his flow. :) T

Happy birthday, Spydermonkey! Your birthday and the 3rd annual Snow Pants Day, too! Only a lucky lad such as yourself would have a birthday and have the whole campus celebrate in drunken revelry as a result! Have a faboo one!

Ohana "Ohana, that means family. It means nobody gets left behind." Ahh, Lilo and Stitch. I loved that movie. I cried during that movie. But let's face it, I cry at a lot of movies. I cried during Aladdin when Al set Genie free. I cried during Free Willy when Jesse helped Willy escape. I even cried when Jim realized he wasn't in love with Nadia and went running to his band geek lover, Michelle. (Rumor mill: American Pie 3 is currently filming. Jim and Michelle are getting married. Grain of salt, people, remember this is only a rumor.) I cry, it's what I do, and it feels dang good. Need to get back on track, that was not the whole purpose of this entry. It has come to my attention several times that some peeps question my lack of motivation for moving out at the ancient age of 23. *lol* I would assume that this also comes from those who can not understand having such a close familial relationship. Civic, for instance, couldn't wrap his mind a

Keeping it real Amazing Race kicks Survivor's butt. I can't understand why it doesn't get more, or at least as much, love as frigging Survivor. But oh well, what can one lil girl do? If you ask me, it's no contest. With Amazing Race you actually see exotic locations with the exotic locals doing exotic activities It's exotic. On Survivor I really don't see anything exotic about it. Thailand, Africa, where were the other ones? I don't know and I don't care. They all looked the same, and they all did the same kind of things. Sure, if you were on the show you would get to tell people "Well, I spent 39 days in Thailand, that's over a month!" And then someone asks you what you did during your 39 days there. Hey now, all you have to show for it is possibly a million dollars, if you're the lucky winner. No pictures, though you have a whole series which will inevitably end up on DVD. But what did you do? "Umm, well, we bu

Walk this way They say walk 2,000 steps a day and you will never gain a pound. (I assume this holds so long as you don't start eating more.) It kinda makes me curious as to how I'd actually look if I were a driver rather than a pedestrian. I have no intentions of ever finding this out in real life, though. Granted, I get spoiled on the weekends with rides from friends and family. I don't mind walking, though. I rather enjoy it, actually. The article goes even further to subtly hint at the benefits to be gained from walking even more than 2,000 steps a day. Psh, hello? Welcome to my world! So I thought I'd be a good lil girl and set an example. I donned my princess coat and made the lil trek to Eau Claire Market to spend my lunch hour window shopping. Of course, window shopping is always a miserable failure for me. I ended up buying an UBO bulb. Why? I can't explain why, I've just always been drawn to those bizarre lightbulbs since the day I la

Let's make a deal Kelly recently referred to me as the "goddess of shopping." Call me megalomaniacal but I kinda like that. :) Civic just treated me to lunch. Following Kelly's vein, the lunch could've been considered an offering to the shopping goddess. *giggles* The occasion? I saved him 75.00 on his new winter coat, at a store which does not regularly have sales or discounts. He handed me a 20 and said "Go nuts." Usually that's a really bad idea; saying those two words whilst handing me some money. But there's only so much a girl can eat and I didn't feel like eating anything really exotic. I only used up like 6 bucks of his 20 so his actual savings on the coat was more like 70.00. Shopping is a crazy game, though. You have to time it perfectly. I recently got a PS2 on my associate discount at Zeller's, only to have them drop the price another 20 bucks retail. I dunno if it's worth the hassle of bringing that big b

Feliz cumpleanos, Sr. Mijo! Hmm, better keep it quiet. He might be studying, or pretending to be working. HEY, ARE YOU FAKING WORKING??? Everyone knows you shouldn't be working on your birthday. Anyway, have a faboo one, and thanks for being such a pal all these years.

My mama told me "You'd better shop around." Love love LOVE shopping, and even better, Christmas shopping! Love the retail hookups. Love them. "What you think, you're like me? You ain't like me, motha f*****. I know mad people, connected people. Who do you know?"--Carlito's Way I don't know who added that quote to my website's quote list, but it's quite fitting for this blog entry today. It was all about retail hookups this weekend. Did I take advantage of them? Not to the fullest extent, but the point is, the connections were there. My cousin gave me 2 invitations to Family and Friends Day at Banana Republic. I didn't use mine 'cuz I'm not really a BR girl but I let Civic have one. It was kinda scary how ecstatic he was over a 30% discount. *lol* Oh well, at least it was well appreciated....that kid would be a poster boy for BR if he had the money, I swear. Peru-girl's boo works at the Gap so she got us all

Blue Christmas? Ah yes, the boys on the internet are coming out of the woodwork again. How can you tell the holidays are fast approaching? What is with people who scramble to find "romantic relationships" in time for Christmas? I guess I can kind of see it, based on how I felt when I had to put the tree up by myself...all lonely and miserable. But honestly, why does it have to be a romantic relationship? I am surrounded by friends and family who love me and I share the love right back. It's beautiful. I feel no need for last-minute boyfriend shopping. And I find it really stupid that all these guys/strangers are just bogging down my ICQ with inquiries about whether or not I'm single and am I looking? One guy, he could've perhaps been a nice guy before the holiday dread fell upon him, he was all whining about how he hasn't had a girlfriend in blah blah blah months and it would just be so nice to have someone special in his life again 'cuz it gets

How do socialites do it? I mean, honestly, they don't work out, their days are filled with cocktails, champagne, noshies, and just lounging around with fellow elite, and yet they still stay all svelte. Geez, look at this... Ugh, all that suffering down the drain. Maybe they ought to nuke me again *lol*

Hooray for Bollywood! Another weekend come and gone. At long last Daisy and I caught the film Bollywood/Hollywood in Kensington. The movie gods smiled down on us and blessed us with a re-engagement of the flick at the Plaza Theatre. And thank goodness they did! That movie was very well done. Definitely not a "deep" movie that will educate you on the modern day lives of East Indian people, but it's highly entertaining even for those who are not familiar with the territory. I mean, I'm not very learned on their whole culture...I've tried a bit of their food, heard a bit of their music, seen them in their traditional dress, watched a few snippets of Bollywood movies on that ethnic channel, and that's pretty much it. But I loved the movie! I'm so grateful we got another chance to catch it. Since it's a Canadian production I doubt we'd ever find it on video after it left the theatres.