These are a lot of my friends, photographed (for reference) by the lovely Robert Mearns ♥

I am soooo so pleased to be in this video.. it's like a Vancouver video year book.


References from Robert Mearns on Vimeo.

I never did get around to posting the pictures from my 27th birthday a few weeks back (hey! remember my 26th?). Cheena was amazing and basically planned a whole Fondue party for me <3 - we had vegan chocolate fondue & a very un-vegan cream cheese/cream & herb creation... mmm... Nigel & I remembered early in the night that we still had two bottles of Absinthe from our trip to Barcelona in 2007 and everyone managed to polish off most of it by the time we left for the bar.. it made for some very drunken friends..



( champagne & absinthe.. )

I don't care if everyone has already seen these. This was a rad-tastic night and I feel like posting pictures...



( Ginkth, Foundation, El Kartel, The Sweatshop.. )
♥ ♥ ♥

Saturday was Coral & Darcy's wine & cheese birthday celebration extravaganza! It was SUCH a ladies night (poor Nigel), Cheena stopped by my place fairly early for hangouts, then Amanda & Keri came over to get dressed, then Bri - then we piled into Nigel's car and headed for the west end...



( twenty somethings.. mostly. )

Good Morning!

Today was the first day this fall that I've had to wake up in the dark for work. It was very.. confusing. You know that feeling where you're not sure if you woke up on your own and it's actually 3:00am and the whole shutting off the alarm thing was just a dream? That's totally what this morning was like. Hello fall '08.

This past weekend felt like summer all over again, all rolled into two days. I went to dinner with Dustin, a comedy show, Library Square for 90's night, I rode my bike all over the city, spent a morning photoshopping, an afternoon in the park drinking Strong Bow with Garret, Dustin, Jordan, Jake & Co., Coral & Darcy's wine & cheese birthday celebrations with EVERYONE (epic car rides there & back), breakfast with Nigel, Jordan & Darcy, then four square in McLean park for the rest of Sunday until haircut time with Tanis and a nice dinner at home with Nigel. Gossip Girl was on and I literally passed out from happy exhaustion around ten last night. Every weekend should be like this weekend.



( photos from the last few weeks... )

There are so many good things coming up this week too - Cherry & Matt hangouts today, lunch with Sacha tomorrow afternoon, L.A. on Wednesday! (art show Thursday, dancing Friday! etc. etc.) Ginks & Bella get shaved Saturday morning and I'll be home Sunday night with more pictures and hopefully a good story or two. ♥ ♥ ♥

I took last Friday off work to go camping with: smokes_outside, darcymercer, rowdyllama, coralcoralcoral, fakesharkstore, codycallon, mikesleckyesq, KC!, Joe & Marina!

The whole trip could probably be summed up with the words: FOUR SQUARE!, A WHOLE LOT OF FOOD!, SCOOBY SNACKS!, PHOSPHORESCENCE! and CAMPFIRES!


( click here to see a bunch of pictures of us just sitting around )

I've had a really, really nice few days.

Last Tuesday Amanda came by for one final afternoon on the fire escape before I move and she headed off on her week long vacation in Portland. I bought a bottle of white and we grabbed the camera and computer and sat outside in the sun the last few hours of the evening.. it was lovely ♥.


( girl talk.. )


Wednesday was the first night of the fireworks and coincidentally it was also poker night at Darcy & Jordans.. who happen to have a really sweet deck with a pretty sweet view of the whole thing. Nigel stopped by after work, I won $8 and watched Canada compete for .. what exactly? Does anyone know what they actually win?..


( explosions in the sky.. )

Two days ago Lindsay & I met up after work and had some terrific sangria at la bodega on Howe (@ Drake) - sort of expensive but the next time we can't figure out where to go and don't mind splurging a bit, I definitely recommend it. They had the very best peach/vanilla/brandy ice cream too... mmmm...
We stayed a few hours then headed back to her house with that Grey Goose that I STILL haven't finished for some much needed quality time. I wish I'd managed to go out with her & JHames, but it's just not in me these days.

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Last night was the second night of the fireworks. Basil, one of the people I work for, invited us to his house (like last year) to watch and ooomg, it didn't disappoint..


( the good life.. )

Friday night I stayed out late. "YOU'RE still here?!" - Jordan 3:00am

( Apparently I am. )

So Saturday morning was mostly a write off. I TRIED to get out of bed and get to Mal & Amandas new place by 11, but I think I arrived there closer to 1:30 - we were supposed to go watch hockey but I'm pretty sure most other people slept in too. Next week. I need some more time outside on the weekends.

I have an amazing picture on my 'real' camera from Saturday of Amanda & Malloreigh jamming Mal's mattress through the rag top on my car, I need to hurry and finish that roll from September, I'm pretty sure there's some real gems on it.

Sunday I stayed in bed ALL DAY LONG. Nigel went to work and then came home and made us breakfast for dinner, then we watched Get Shorty and I climbed right back into bed. I love it. I'm going to enjoy the shit weather the only way I can so when it gets beautiful outside I'll be tired of sleeping.

Speaking of the future (what a poor segue), there are suddenly a million awesome shows coming up that I've bought tickets for. Bon Iver on March 25th, Vampire Weekend on March 27th, Why? on April 16th, Cut Copy on April 29th and Vetiver on May 3rd!

This week is going to be busy. I'm getting my hair did this afternoon, then Lindsay & I have a million things to do in preparation for the show on the 19th (I can't believe we're actually getting this done). Wednesday is still being figured out, Thursday is that art show with Nicola.. Friday Amber is coming out and her, Mal & I are going to have a sleepover before driving out to Maple Ridge Saturday morning to pick up Carly and hopefully *fingers crosses for the weather* shoot a new SG set for Amber. Right now the forecast says Cloudy with Sunny Breaks, 8 degrees. (what's the plan if it's raining ladies?) We'll see how it goes.

The party went fantastically. *big happy sigh*

So Saturday morning Lindsay & I did a ton of running around - we had to pick up C Stands for Rony from my dads work and a fake palm (that we didn't end up using) for the photos, then pick up Tony and head to No Tofu to set some stuff up - then scarf down McDonalds (EWWW). Then there was hair (and makeup) and picking up Trevor & Rony & Lauren from the airport at 7:00 - which ended up being 8:15 (we missed Altairas birthday :( )and finally we get to No Tofu...


( LA Nights )

I got home around 3:30 and crashed pretty quick. Erica & Nigel were still up watching movies(??) but I seriously needed some sleep because the next morning we had breakfast planned as well as meeting up with Ben at the venue to survey the damages (WAY less then the one year party btw). I've got a ton more photos of karaoke that night and tubing on Mt. Seymour the next day that I want to post soon, but I haven't even uploaded them to the site yet. I can't believe how amazingly well documented their trip out here was, it's pretty awesome being around people who document as much as lindsay & I do, if not more. OH! and Ronys photos should be up soon - ronysphotobooth.com

Happy New Year!

Don't 'they' say that where you are and who you're with when the clock hits midnight directly influences how you'll spend the following year? If that's the case, I won't complain since I was in the company of those I love the most while ringing in the New Year.



( Auld Lang Syne )

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I spent New Years morning with Dustin, Jordon, jasmine & Shannon - they phoned me from the beach at 8:00am (heh heh Jake) and came over to warm up and have some tea and croissants. Eventually we left my apartment and went to wake up everyone at Prior St. for more tea and new years stories and eventually three LARGE pizza's from Uncle Fhatihs. By the time I got home I was so tired that all I could do was crash on the couch for a few hours of mindless television before bed.. it was perfect.

So today is the 3rd, it's Marg Martini day at Moxies and I have a date with Lindsay & Coral. If you're in the West End, you should join us.

I really enjoy annual events, especially around Christmas. I missed it this year, sadly, but usually my family goes to the Christmas train, then there are work Christmas dinners (a drunkenly awesome tradition), breakfast donation dates (or non-dates), present opening on Christmas Eve.. all that. Last Friday we had a second annual(!) Christmas gathering at my apartment and despite Rock Band, I think it was a good time..



( 6 more sleeps.. )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news:

Lindsay & I were invited by the lovely Miranda (and Ryan!) to do photos for a night they're putting on and playing at 1/2 alive comes to Victoria on January 19th. I'm stoked! You should come!



Oh - and New Years will also be amazing (see here! - Miranda are you & Ryan coming for that too!?)

I'm well on my way to appreciating these brisk mornings and the snow way up on the mountains, so long as it's a safe distance away from the soggy park I walk through. This morning was beautiful.

I've had an eclectic week, starting off with the 1 year anniversary party for our website last Friday. I took the ENTIRE day off work to run around with Amanda & Lindsay, picking up cake, projectors, balloons, decorations, baby duck & dresses. (I'll post about a million photos from the party below) Generally I'd say it went really well, I think I need to learn how to calm the fuck down, but I wanted it to be special and Lindsay & I put a hell of a lot of work into it. Other then the Saturday morning cleanup (nothing like empty glasses, beer stench, panties, pill bottles & some else's puke to start off your morning), I would say it was a success. I ♥ my friends.

Saturday night Nigel & I met up with my Dad at Moxies for dinner, he'd been staying downtown all weekend working on the Santa Clause Parade. I haven't seen him in close to a month a least - I'm embarrassed at how few times I've been to Maple Ridge since Halloween (NONE!). I'm hoping I can make up for it over Christmas.. I plan on having the mellowest of holiday seasons.

I spent the better part of Sunday doing absolutely nothing other then refreshing facebook and .. you know, I don't even know what I did. But Sunday night Nigel & I met up with Neil, his mom, Anil, Amanda (his sister), etc. etc. for dinner and then a cultural adventure at the QE Theatre for 2007 KPOP! (check out the poster) It was actually pretty amazing and apparently (Amanda loosely translated for Nigel & I) the girl preforming, Ivy, had just been involved in a sex tape scandal in Korea and was a hair away from not coming to Vancouver, but had PROMISED, so she came anyway. She actually cried on stage and tried to explain everything (I think) and yeah.. drama drama. I totally just found the story online here - blackmail, male models, sex tapes, cheating and vandalism.

So, the rest of the week has mainly been trying to catch up on some much needed sleep, but last night anorexic_a & cherryvega came by for ANTM & Cherry b-day celebrations.. and we discovered just how amazing Nigels new video game was... OMG ROCK BAND. I think we only paused briefly to refill our wine glasses & grab some sushi when NIgel got home from work. I really like playing the drums. I need someone with Guitar Hero for Xbox to come over with their guitar so we can have Bass AND Lead in the band. :/




( ~~~Friday November 23, 2007 - No Tofu Studios~~~ )

Cherry posted the photos she took at my birthday party a few nights ago on facebook and I am absolutely in love with them.. they have such a good feeling to them. I'm all inspired now to actually post more photos and write a little about what was possibly the best birthday to date. ( Cupcakes & pretty girls (and boys).. )

As many of you know, Jake & Altaira tied the knot Saturday last Saturday on Galiano Island - It was honestly the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to.. I even got all teary eye'd during the ceremony *sigh*
There are waaaaay too many photos to post them all here - so if you want to see them in their entirety, click here (but come back & tell them congratulations when you're done!!)

*still quite image heavy..( LOVE LOVE LOVE )

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Last Saturday was Mal & Amanda's going away gathering at Crab Park (and if you know them but weren't there... *wags finger*) Amanda left for Guatemala Monday morning and Mal is leaving before the end of the month and I'm happy/sad about it all... it's been really hard to comprehend that I won't see either of them for months & months and now Nicola is moving to Toronto and I'm out three girlfriends in three weeks. This August has actually been pretty terrible.
Anyway, Saturday - Nigel & I bussed out to Crab Park around 7:00 for food & drinks ( & goodbyes )

ps - I love comments, but nobody leaves them anymore! What gives?!

It's Wednesday, you know what that means -

ANTM, my house, 7:00ish!! nikala, malamaca & I are having a grilled cheese sandwich party, I think Amanda will be there as well - you all should come too!

Boo - re-cap show!
"With the finale only five weeks away, never-before-seen footage includes Dionne and Renee going toe-to-toe in a heated argument. At the house the girls stage a mock fashion show, complete with impersonations of the top model judges. This episode recaps the process that the six remaining girls have survived in hopes of becoming "America's Next Top Model"."

----------------------------


( my re-cap week! )

8:00am - no one is in the office yet except for me.

This morning I was checking my email and wasting time on my computer while waiting for Nigel to get out of the shower... I have this widget on my computer that tells me the wireless networks in my area and I noticed something kind of weird... Usually there's like four or five networks, mostly my neighbors, but this morning - in BIG GREY LETTERS, it said 'CIA Mobile Surveillance'. Half an hour later, the signal was gone. Does the CIA really check stuff out in Canada? How about the West End? More importantly, if they were watching someone, do you think they'd actually broadcast it? Yeah, I didn't think so either - but it's fun to speculate.

------------------------------------

The past four or so days have been exactly what I needed. On Thursday I went to malloreigh's house for dinner and to show her all the photos from my trip (and get some Mal lovin' in.) She made the most amazing cous cous/tomato/chick pea creation (which I plan on making myself this week) and we gossiped until late (my idea of late) and nikala came home. Nicola shed some light on a roll of slide film I'd stolen from her room about three weeks ago, thinking it was half mine, and had developed - only to find a picture of someone I didn't know, sitting on a chair, in my own house! ( This beauty was also on the roll.. )

Friday night was the usual debauchery. An impromptu party at Louis' was followed by a short cab ride to Mod Club and an even shorter walk to ( the Columbia.. )

I woke up Saturday feeling a lot better then I should have. Nigel & I were out the door by 11:00 and headed down Granville to Urban Outfitters to do some serious shopping. Unfortunately, it was only Nigel who got serious. Like Joanna said, I'm just not feeling the 'Spring & Summer 2007' Collection... I'll probably go back and get some shoes though at some point.
rijjer's Housewarming/St. Paddy's day party started at 3:00, we went over to decorate & check out here new pad early.. braving the ants (and then the aunts). I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it, but I booked my trip over the Meatloaf concert I'd bought tickets for (for Nigel, for christmas). Erica went as the replacement girlfriend and she had some amazingly sneaky footage to show me of Nigel singing to Paradise by the Dash Board Light (thank you!).
Mid-hockey game Nigel & I headed home to relax and watch the rest of the game, mostly I just wanted to edit some of the photos from Wednesdays Fake Shark! Real Zombie! show at the Lamplighter.

SUNDAY:
I didn't even leave the house Sunday. Nigel & I spent the entire day watching missed episodes of LOST, drinking tea & making food. ♥

So there's my weekend.. It's an hour later and everyone has made it into work so I guess that means I have to actually work too.. xo