Preggers Pics February 19, 2012

I am very lucky – I have a very talented friend looking to build her photography portfolio, so I get to be her model every now and then! She took our pregnancy announcement photos, and now she’s taken some maternity shots of me at about 6.5 months. These were the announcement pics from way back when:

Here are a few from the maternity shoot today:

I’ve been feeling huge the last few days, and now I can understand why. It’s because I am! I have a REALLY hard time believing that I still have three months to go. I am going to be GINORMOUS!

And my fave:

She’s a great photographer, eh? She’d like to take more in a couple of months, and I can’t wait!

I Heart NYC June 24, 2011

2.5 days in NYC + 3 friends = so much fun!

A couple of weeks ago I hopped on the train to NYC for a girls trip to visit my friend Michi.  It’s a 7 hour train ride from here, and with a stroke of good luck it turned out that the other friend I was going with (who hopped on the train back in Canada) was on the same train!  We didn’t expect it because we had different train numbers and different arrival times…  But I was very happy to see her 7 hrs earlier than planned.  We kept ourselves busy doing touristy things while Michi was working, and had fun catching up all together when we could.  Here are some of the highlights:

Just after happily running into each on the train.  FYI: Train is my new favourite way to travel.  Most. Leg. Room. EVER.

As seen in Times Square:

Wait a sec.  Where are the giant-hip pants??  *a little Canadian humour – if you don’t get it, you’re probably not Canadian.

We had a lovely picnic in Central Park.  I think this was my favourite part of the trip!

We went to the Museum of Modern Art for the German Expressionism exhibit.  So interesting!  We also saw pieces by van Gogh, Cézanne, Picasso, Monet…  You know, whatevs…  ;)

We stopped at the Magnolia Bakery.  Twice.  They have DELICIOUS rhubarb muffins (more like dessert than breakfast), and though I didn’t try one, the cupcakes looked divine.

I was flabbergasted to see how much Sangria has changed – she didn’t scratch me once, and actually wanted to be pet!

And finally, Penn Station en route home.  You know you’re in ‘Merica when…

First Hash June 16, 2011

I just got home from my first Hash.  Hashing is apparently an international phenomenon, though I just recently heard of it for the first time.  It’s an extreme 5k run (though tonight’s turned out to be 5.5 miles) with beer stops along the way.  The extreme part tonight included fence jumping, sliding under a giant fallen tree (too tall to climb over), maneuvering through bushes/branches/prickle bushes, climbing up/down to a ravine, and walking about 30 feet over a 1-foot wide dam.  Fun!  Tonight’s Hash had one Jello Shooter stop, and 3 beer stops.  I made it through with only 1 Jello Shot and about half a beer.  But lets keep that to ourselves.  If people notice next time that I’m not drinking to excess, I’ll be forced to chug.  And I’d rather not have to do that…  A few people from my kickball team are Hashers (yes, there’s a whole Kickball League here…  it’s also a lot of fun), so I tagged along this week.  Seems like a great way to meet some new people and to spice up a boring run!  Here’s what my shoes looked like at the end of the run (good thing I wore my old ones!):

Canada Trips #2 & 3 May 16, 2011

I recently came back from my 3rd trip this year back home (I use home loosely, as I’m considering all of Canada my “home” at this point), and realized that I completely skipped over trip #2.  That trip was great but busy – I was helping my parents at a trade show so was working each day, finished both Chris’ and my taxes, stayed and visited with 3 friends at their apartment, and squeezed in a quick coffee date with another friend from school who I haven’t seen since last Spring.  I stupidly didn’t take many photo’s while I was there, but here’s one with my loving ‘rents:

My 3rd trip home was mainly to attend my cousin’s wedding, but I also spent much of my free time working on plans for my grandma’s upcoming 90th birthday (which will be my 4th trip home this year, and which I’m really looking forward to because my grandma is one cool lady).  The wedding was gorgeous!  The location was amazing, right on the water for the ceremony and under a beautiful tent for the reception.  It was funky, with lots of personal touches that made the wedding that much more special.  Check out this view!

How about one more of my bro and I.  He was confined to the corner the whole night for misbehaving err, due to his busted knee.  Poor Leonard…

Canada Trip #1 2011 April 4, 2011

I have wonderful friends back in Canada, and I was lucky enough to visit with many of them last week.  I went back for a good friend’s performance with the orchestra, and she was FANTASTIC!!  I stayed with another friend (AnaBanana), and got to catch up with many others who also came back into town to see the concert.

 

 

I also got to spend time with my sister and her pup, Bentley.  He needs A LOT of exercise, so I thought I’d post two pictures of him taken on the same day to illustrate his routine.

 

 

I’m feeling lucky – I have three more trips planned over the next few months to go back to both Ontario and British Columbia.  I have a little trip to Toronto to help my parents on a business trip; my cousin’s wedding in Vancouver, and my grandma’s 90th birthday party just outside of Vancouver.  I have two other super-exciting potential trips as well:  a possible wedding in the late summer, and the birth of my new niece or nephew in the fall.  Phew!  That’s a lot of travel!

Quickie November 10, 2009

Heehee

A little post for the day!  Last week was my birthday, though I had a busy, busy day for my birthday.  It started with a doctors appointment (ugh), then practicing, then a lesson, then practicing, then teaching a lesson, then work.  No time to celebrate!  I did treat myself to a lovely latte & pumpkin scone though My favorite.  Saturday night a few lovely friends and I went out for dessert to celebrate, which was fun.

I am a practice machine!  My recital is soon…  I’m worried…  But it WILL be great.  I just have to keep practicing more than I want to!  Speaking of which…  I have an hour free so that’s what I’m going to do.

BC :) October 19, 2009

I’m back in beautiful BC, and feel so lucky to be here.  I’ve only been here a few days so far, but I’ve been able to visit with my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law, as well as the old gang from the Island.  What great friends I have!  We shared a lovely dinner at one of my favorite restaurants (Yum!), and had breakfast together by the ocean the next morning.  I love how with good friends it feels like no time has passed whatsoever, no matter how long its been since you’ve seen each other.  We are such a funny mix of people – I sometimes find it surprising how well we get along.  As individuals, there is a wide age range between us, we have some different professions and many different dreams, and different lifestyles and habits.  As a group, we get a long so well and laugh more than I laugh with any other group.  They are all such caring and supportive people; I feel lucky to have them in my life.  Ahhh, it was nice to be back and see them!

Now the week of wedding fun begins.  It was great to hang out with Leonard and Lori when I first arrived, and I’m hoping to see them again today or tomorrow as well.  After that, we have rehearsal dinner prep, then the rehearsal and the actual dinner, then the spa, and then the wedding!!  It’s going to be such a fantastic week!  I know I’ve said it before, but it’s not just the celebrations I’m looking forward to.  Lori has been a part of the family for close to 10 years now, and I’m thrilled that now it will be official!  She’s a caring and generous person, and my brother couldn’t have chosen better!

Well, I must head back to practice again.  I volunteered to play all of my Bach at a masterclass the morning after I arrive home, and I’d better be prepared!

PS – I miss my hubby!!  I can’t wait until he arrives for the wedding!

Sickies! October 3, 2009

Chri is sick!  I am sick! I think we’ve just been pushing too hard lately.  We’ve both had many long days topped off with much-too-short sleeps.  We are both on the couch right now under blankets.  Chri has been popping pills to cure him, and I’ve been downing orange juice.

Before I got sick, I went out for sushi last night with two amazing girls.  I brought them gummy tongues and vampire teeth in honour of Halloween approaching, and sent Mi home with a pair for her roomie.  Below is what they sent me via email today.  Silly girls!

Colours of the Celestial City September 7, 2009

I’ve been far to busy to post in the last few days, which means that I have many things to write about.  Instead of bombarding you with EVERY little thing that has happened, I’m going to give you a 24-hour excerpt from the last few days.  We begin with last Wednesday evening.

1.  Scene:  Michi’s and Carmen’s place, unpacking and setting up Ikea furniture.  Carmen and I hanging curtains in front window.  Loud CRUNCH!!!!

Jenny, quickly looking outside, then bolts outside:  “Oh shit!!  Someone just hit our car and it looks like their leaving!”

Yes, the jackass was leaving, but stopped once he realized we caught him.  However, he refused to exchange information claiming he was late and had to go.  Fortunately, we got his license plate # and called the cops.  Now tealie has quite a bit of damage to the rear drivers side, and the jackass will be charged with leaving the scene of an accident as well as failing to provide his info.

Tealie's Dent

2.  Scene:  Jenny, Chri, and Michi in tealie on the 401, about an hour outside of town.  We’re heading to return the violin I’ve been trying out.

Jenny, driving:  “Hmmm…  The battery light just came on.  That’s weird!”

Thanks to the smarts of Chri, we take the next exit and head to Canadian Tire.  Turns out the alternater belt was broken, therefore, the battery was not recharging.  It took a couple extra hours to get to our destination, but we made it. 

3.  Scene:  Violin shop.

Violin shop owner:  “Yes we’ll take your violin as a trade in.”

Seems like good news, yes, but not quite.  He offered less than half of what it was appraised at 5 years ago, and that seems to be along the same lines as the other shops.  Apparently, my family paid way too much for it in the first place…  I sadly walked away, and will make them sweat a bit before making an offer.  Yes, I want that fiddle!

4.  Scene:  IKEA!!

Jenny & Chri:  “Michi, you are going to love your first Ikea swedish meatball experience!”

In truth, this Ikea sucked.  Fortunately, there are 3 others nearby that we will go to next!  The meatballs were cold-ish, the potatoes were packaged-mashed, not roasted, and the salad was just lettuce with no other veggies and only had Italian or Ranch dressing to choose from.  Yuck!  Plus, they were sadly out of many things!

5.  Final Scene:  Returning home on the 401, sad from all previous scenes.

All of us:  “Oh shit!  This construction is terrible!!!”

It took about an hour and a half to go a kilometer or so!!!  That’s ok, we had fun.  We took candid photos of ourselves, and were total music nerds.  We had Chri turn on band Marches and other music, blasted it and sang along with the windows open so that other drivers could have a few laughs too!  We soon switched to other genres more appropriate for three young adults, like the Killers, etc, and still sang along.  Fun Fun out of a Crap Crap situation!  That’s what friends are for