East Coast Living

(found on a beach)


I've been in Sydney (NS) for a week now, and have lots of photos and stories. Cape Breton is beautiful, but I have to admit that I'm a bit home- and Mark-sick. I've been doing a lot of working, and am trying to use free time to explore & start some good habits (like getting back into regular yoga, being active daily, etc.).

The rest of the MFRT (see below) was great - it was the perfect blend of having a destination and having the freedom to take random little detours (like spur of the moment "let's have lunch in PEI!"). Mark joined us on Thursday, and we stayed at a great B&B near Peggy's Cove. We played cards with my mom's 82 year old aunts (twins!) and her 92 year old aunt - they are crazy fun gamblers, and like a good dirty joke - LOL. Mom and Dad flew home on the Friday, and Mark and I headed back to New Brunswick for Sappyfest - another random, spur of the moment detour.

(oceanside on PEI)

We couchsurfed at a dairy farm in Memramcook, and I basically tripled my cow knowledge. We picked fresh eggs from the chicken coop for breakfast, and got licked by calves. And we saw a lot of great rock bands. And some live music videos. And Mark got a tattoo. All in all, a good weekend!

Instead of sticking around Halifax after Sappyfest, Mark drove with me to Sydney. Since we had less than twelve hours before he had to be on the bus to the Halifax airport, we decided to try to stay up all night and make the most of the little time we'd have together in the town. Lucky for us, it was the beginning of "Action Week!," and the end of some big motorcycle weekend, so there was a lot going on. The highlight? Parade of Lights, where various vehicles are strung with christmas lights and they drive around town. And people handing out breathmints. And there was a truck with a guy dressed like a giant sandwich. And two firetrucks: Awesome disco truck, and noisy annoying truck. Basically, best parade ever. We actually watched it twice.

Here are some pics:




(mark! and bubbles! and cape breton!)


Since Mark left, I've just been working and trying to see the region in the evenings. We've had awesome weather, so I've been able to bike around Sydney quite a bit, and went for a drive out to Louisburg yesterday. I'm hoping to get this coming weekend off so that I can go explore the Highlands and the Cabot trail. And in a weekend a half, Mark comes out again to help me drive home. This is officially the summer of road trips!

(if this were in ontario, this would be mown and not beautiful)


(the view from my placement)

Road-trippin'

So here I am, in Moncton, and it is FINALLY vacation. Next week I'll be starting a Family med placement in Cape Breton, but right now I get to "sleep in" and "relax" since it is my my only week of vacation between last and next Christmas (by sleep in and relax, I mean wake up at 8 and sit in a car for 8+ hours, which both sorta count).

It's been a fun vacation so far, starting with Maggie's birthday on Saturday. For some reason, she loves the tiki bar on college. Maybe this is a sign of me no longer being a Toronto girl, but just being in a bar where drinks cost upwards of $8 and the jerk-face male servers with stupid ponytail'd hair are blatantly charging extra on top just pisses me off. Still, with a Maggie birthday occurring, things have a way of being awesome, and good times were had. From trying to walk out with the volcano glass (that I'd put a $20 deposit on) to deciding to go to Sneaky Dee's when everyone else was deciding to go home, I think she had a pretty awesome night. I did too, thanks to being around quite a few of my favourite people, and some old friends that I haven't seen in a while.

John, Ashley and I headed home to Maggie's while she went after greasy late-night Mexican, and made it into bed by 3am. For some reason, I was completely wired and couldn't get my brain to shut off until at least 4-4:30 - not good when I had to be in Whitby by 9 to start the Massive Family Road Trip (henceforth MFRT). I finally covered my face with the blanket in hopes that re-breathing my exhaled carbon dioxide would put my brain into sleep mode (it actually may have worked). After a very brief sleep, I was wide awake again, and it was ten to seven. With the help of a very sleep John, I got all of my bags down to the car and made it to Whitby by 8, and the MFRT began shortly thereafter.

MFRT:

Has actually been pretty awesome! I wasn't sure how well three days with mom, dad and I cooped up in a tiny Toyota Echo would go, but it has been a lot of fun so far. Yesterday we made it to Quebec City, but best of all we honoured the traditional road trip stop at the Big Apple. We made it through Montreal traffic, Montreal Construction, and Montreal tunnels. And then we got to our hotel and headed into Quebec City for drizzly exploration and yummy (but salty! so salty!) dinner. And then crepes for dessert. And I managed to go the whole day with a good mood and only a 20 minute nap.

Today has been just as good. After an awesome, amazing, wonderful, life-restoring 9.5 hour sleep, we got up, went for a dip in the hotel pool/hot-tub (lukewarm-tub) and then discovered that in Quebec (ok, maybe just this hotel), continental breakfast actually means a MAKE-YOUR-OWN-WAFFLE bar. Yum. After waffling it up, we hit the road again, stopping only for coffee, pees, and Grand Falls. We drove through St. Louis de Ha-Ha (HA!). We made in to Moncton in time for mom to watch the Bachelorette (barf - I honestly can believe that millions of people waste hours of their life watching the boring crap) and dad and I to find a wicked pizza shop.

And now I'm typing this out, polishing off the last of the surprisingly yummy 1L depanneur bottle of wine that went with an awesome Moncton pizza. I can't wait for the rest of this vacation!

So. Full. Of. Steak.

Mmmmm.

I am not a big meat eater, but every once in a while it just tastes so good... tonight was one of those nights. As an end of term celebration, we were taken out to a crazy restaurant where the salad bar is made of awesome fancy salads (like mango salad with cilantro, seafood salad, marinated sundried tomatoes sald and about 30 other equally delicious thing). AND THEN... they come around to your table with sword-skewers of meat and shave pieces off for you. And it was good meat... I stuck to the basics (filet mignon with parmesan crust, garlic steak), but they also had crazy bacon wrapped stuff and mini philly cheese steaks. And grilled pineapple, also in sword form, to top it off. I think tomorrow will be a gym day.

Also, apparently while everyone else looks like a surgeon when they wear a surgeon cap, I look like a cafeteria lady. I can't even fake it!

Instead of a picture of me and my surgeon hat and my big steak belly, here is a picture of the cat. She would like steak too, please, it goes right here:

Countdown to "Summer"

Only one more sleep till Montreal! It's been too long since I've been to that city, and I have Maggie & her conference to thank forgetting me back there. It'll be less than 48 hours... but that time will be filled with bagels and poutine and maybe going out, and most definitely a much-needed break from what's been filling my head recently (tutorials, exams, etc.).

Also: I am need of new music. Tonight, I am taking a few-hours break from studying prostates, and searching for some musical awesomeness. I am out of touch (with almost everything these days), and would welcome suggestions. Best find this week? Sub Pop's latest sampler - for awesome music and LOLZ.

Love Day!

I can't decide if the overriding feeling of the past month has been happy, or crazy. I'm leaning toward happily crazy. School is still great, but it feels like a never ending race most of the time. A few of us have been feeling a little bit burnt out, and I for one can't wait until summer electives - still lots of work, but it will (for the most part) start in the morning and be DONE at 5 pm. No more feeling guilty if I'm not studying till 11 or 12.

I've been trying to fit in time for friends during all of this, and for Mark. We had a fantastic weekend celebrating 6 years together - he put together an awesome day of adventure. Choose-my-own-adventure, to be exact. My picks: breakfast? outside! How to get to the picnic? bikes! Where to go to dinner? secret restaurant #3! The resulting adventure? Good times!






We even managed to squeeze in some cleaning time mid-afternoon, because we are old and lame.

Baking!

At long last, the mojito cake! (Recipe may be found HERE)

Prepping the layers with the mojito syrup:


And the masterpiece! It was yummy.


Bonus beginning of a rainbow cupcake:

Whoa!

The place where Mark and I met has burnt down!

(And yes, I am the classy type of gal who picks up boys at sketchy bars)

Adventure day!

After lecture this morning, Mark and I headed into Hamilton, each of us on a mission. Mine was to trade $50 for an awesome, massive textbook that I've been humming and hawing over buying for a few months. I finally found it for about a third of what it goes for new, and now it is mine! HOORAY! Now I can learn about ALL THE DISEASES!

Mark's mission was to visit lots of schools and hand out resumes and hopefully make some contacts. He was also successful!

We took the scenic road back (after FINALLY eating at 2 pm for the first time that day, we are moody beasts when we are hungry), driving up along the escarpment. I can't believe its taken us 8 months to explore whats on top of the big hill we see so often. Turns out that whats on top are waterfalls! and wineries! And pretty houses taking advantage of all of the pretty views! I can't wait to go back. We stopped to hike a bit to see the waterfall (as usual, I was well prepared with my hiking fip-flops). We then stopped at a winery and had a couple of half-decent samples. And then Mark got to see downtown Beamsville (gripping!).

We got back in time for some exciting rehashing of my old MA thesis, it looks like it will be presented in the fall in Philly! WOOOOO! And then R came over, whisked me away to the gym. I followed up by whisking her away to THREE different grocery stores, to prep for our yummy night of baking SECRET THINGS!

To top off the wonderful day, I got to experience the joy of running through a spring downpour! I'm not being the least bit sarcastic - I absolutely love the feeling of getting drenched by warm spring rain. By misjudging the location of the car, I got to run for quite a while trying to find it, getting myself a good, happy soaking.

Exciting weekend ahoy! Pics and more posts after that :)

Diggin' a hole (and fillin' it back up again).

Today WAS the day. I've been looking forward to having a REAL garden for years, and now that I'm finally in a place with a lawn, it's finally going to happen. But not today. After grabbing some supplies, and chatting with our property manager (who happens to be my upstairs neighbor), Mark, Missy and I staked out a sunny little patch of lawn, and started digging. And digging. And digging. And then Gina and Jesse came over and watched us dig, and has some coffee and delicious cake with us. Since we only had two shovels, they got to talk with one of us at all times!

We were just about finished digging the patch when out landlord showed up to check on something in the basement tenant's apartment. And was clearly pissed that we were digging a garden. Apparently, since the lawn is small (10x the size of the plot we dug), he wants it to remain entirely grass (and quite a few weeds), and not other growing stuff THAT IS ACTUALLY USEFUL. I mentioned but didn't belabor the point about how we had gotten permission from the FRIGGIN' PROPERTY MANAGER about digging a garden in that spot. ARGH. So after spending the morning digging out the patch, we commenced filling it back in. Tomorrow I'm going to throw down some grass seed, and start a grass garden. And I will then get some big planters, and plant me a smaller herb garden (bitter herbs, anyone?

But, lest a beautiful, sunshiney day be ruined, we finished our outside work, moved our little party inside for a yummy salad made by Mark. And then my parents showed up! And then we went to a winery and tasted a white wine that was so light and refreshing it could be described (by Missy) as rosewater! And then we went out for yummy dinner! So, all in all, good day, and I cannot wait until I have a house of my own. NO GRASS ALLOWED.

Mark's outfit (top to bottom)

teal and fuschia bike helmet
orange polo shirt
beige hoodie
green jacket
various shades-of-green plaid shorts
black socks, pulled up to mid-shin
brown loafers

What to discuss? I feel like I've been denying myself a life lately so that I can stay on top of schoolwork. Downtime for the past month has consisted mainly of going to the gym, watching tv on the internet, making trip to the market and baking with the bounty.

I guess one new thing for me is my first ever book club. Unfortunately, geographic distance between myself and everyone I've ever wanted to book club (now it's a verb) with before has kept said book clubbing from happening. Now my Niagara crew, who, like me have been getting pretty wrapped up in all things medical, has decided to schedule in some hours that will force us to escape from kidneys and fetuses (fetii? I'm pretty sure the answer to that one is NO.) and spend some time with good books.

Our first was "Through Black Spruce," and I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the book clubbing that went with it. Our initial discussion started off a bit forced - this was the first time for most of us - but then fell into interesting, easy talk. I'm already looking forward to the next book, "The God of Small Things."

Also, I'm looking forward to Easter and THREE DAYS OFF.

Surprise!

It's been a while since I've written about music, which doesn't mean that I've stopped caring about it. In fact, I've fallen back head-over-heels into it. I do admit that for a while, I fell out of touch with music, and all of the joy it brought to me and all of the time I spent exploring it. Since I started school again, I've fallen back in love, with old bands and new (mostly old bands, with their new material; this is how I can tell that I'M getting old). Since September, I've been listening to Appleseed Cast, Why?, The New Pornographers, Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Lykke Li, Of Montreal, Mount Eerie (with Julie Doiron), Basia Bulat, Velvet Underground... my iPod must be getting tired. But damn, it's been fun.

I heard that the video for "People got a lotta nerve," the first single from "Middle Cyclone," Neko Case's new (and excellent) album was being released tonight on MTV, I hopped over to YouTube to see if I could find it. Instead, I found a video of someone playing it on expert on Rock Band! IT IS ON ROCK BAND. I've just finished singing it about eight times. I sucked royally at first; Neko has an amazing voice and mine is a timid mouse voice in comparison. After a few tries (and a few shots at Jimmy Eat World nostalgia on guitar) later, I was able to really belt it out and WOW it is fun to try to sing like her.

Do yourself a favour and try it (I cordially invite you to come over and play nintendo with me), or at least get the album!!

Things that I would write about if I didn't have to study:

- How much I love having blocks of 24 hours packed full of wonderful people that I don't get to see nearly often enough.
- Going to really good shows.
- How awesome that Basia Bulat gal is at being an awesome person and great singer.
- Clafouti.
- Mrk and his blg.
- How I miss my other amazing friends that I also don't get to see nearly often enough, and all of the amazing things that they are doing and what strong, awesome women they are.
- All of the little seedlings I've planted recently, and how they are cute little sprouts now, and will be lunch soon.

Mmmmm....

With Mark gone home for the weekend, I decided to make the 'most' of my Saturday. I'd planned on getting up early - maybe I'd go to the gym, get some work done for school, pot a houseplant, etc etc etc. While I only managed to do one of those things (potting the aloe plant, which took me all of three minutes), I did succeed in not being lazy, a rare feat for me on a Saturday! Ok... I started off lazy, sleeping in till 11:30 and then reading the New York Times over an entire pot of coffee (earlier this week, Mark roasted the beans himself!)

An hour or so later, I decided to walk down to the Chinese grocery and get some ingredients for soup, so that I could finally use up the chicken in my fridge. It was an unsuccessful trip - aside from finding some great-looking chilies and eggplants, I wasn't able to get much for the soup. On my way home, however, I decided to stop in at the newish African food store and check it out. Mark had been there in the past, and told me that it was worth checking out, but I hadn't gotten around to going in until today. It was so exciting! Not only was it an African shop, it was mainly Ghanaian! And the first thing I noticed? Shito!!!

(and what is shito you ask? it is simply the most delicious dried-shrimp-based-spicy-condiment-with-a-vaguely-dirty-name that you will ever taste, my friends)

After convincing the owners that I could handle the shito, I reworked dinner plans. The five minute walk to the grocery because a 3 hour odyssey as I walked around town, gathering more ingredients (and a couple of movie rentals too, movie night tonight!). Chicken soup became chicken stiry fry with a heaping forkful of shito mixed in. I made soup too, a delicious, simple mushroom soup with some of those awesome chilies. I even had enough rice left over to make rice pudding (white chocolate coconut!). So, despite knowing nothing new about kidneys (the school stuff that I could have worked on), I managed to fill my belly with loads of delicious, cheap, healthy food, and have a fridge full of leftovers!

Ps: here is my soup!

Procrasti-city

Who would have thought that at 27, I'd still be procrastinating from school work? I have an impressive ability to wake up at a reasonable hour* (ok, this didn't happen today), and piss away the day until dinner without having done any actual work. Oh I find plenty of interesting stuff to read - the New York Times puts up new content fequently throughout the day and damn it makes me feel all smart n' stuff. I learn about new music, look at LOLcats (yes I sink that low, please don't judge), but when it comes to actual work,at times I have the attention span of a flea.

This isn't to say that I never get work done or that I never get some quality *on-topic* learning done, I just don't really have much control over when that happens. I also make up for days like today with days where I am up and at lecture/in tutorial/nose in a journal article from 8am to midnight. So maybe days like today are actually making up for those days?

Main point: thank you to my blogging friends, writers at the New York Times, and the LOLcats for helping me out.

* related to waking up at reasonable hours... yesterday I found what I thought would be the perfect 'wake-up-get-going-enjoy-yourself' song, one that would kick in hard immediately and not make me hit the snooze (FYI I'm talking about Contantines, something from Kensington Heights). EVEN THAT FAILED.

<3

Wedding... where do I begin? It all happened so quickly, and so perfectly that it already feels like a dream. I remember various people warning me about how everyone hits the point where they just can't and don't want to smile anymore. I never got tired of smiling, I was so happy. I still am (even though I've been wrenched away from dream-land, landing back in school-land).


I approached this whole wedding business with a "float on" attitude - don't worry, because everything will eventually fall into place. While this may have puzzled some, and stressed out others, it was exactly what happened - thanks to everyone helping out in big and small ways. I mentioned this several times at the wedding, but the whole thing really was built on the love and talents of our friends and family. I feel like so many people made the most beautiful contributions, and the result was a night that many have described to Mark and I as an amazing event (some going as far as to call it the Best Wedding Ever!).

A few photos have started to trickle in, and I get so excited seeing every batch. I can't wait to show all the amazing little details... Matt's cake-topper, Gary's speech, Missy's cake box, other Matt's posters, Basia's songs, John's awesome MC-ing, Roche's photos (I am dying for those but am going to try my very hardest to be patient!) and my best friends' book, created for me, and so many other things! Between these and all the hard work going on behind the scenes by my mom, dad, Sharon, Paula, Megan, Seema and Maggie, it turned out to be an amazing party and the perfect wedding for Mark and I.

My main feeling right now is one of supreme luck. I'm always afraid to jinx this incredible luck that seems to stick with me, but I have to express it here. I'm SO lucky to have such a wonderful family, beautiful friends, and most of all, the most loving, thoughtful husband that I ever could have imagined.



Hopefully being incredibly thankful will counteract any jinxing. Here are few thanks, out of many!

Thank you to my parents who have welcomed Mark with open arms, and given me all the love and support a daughter could ever hope for.



Thank you to my new family - Maria, Ed, and Matt, along with all of the family in Poland. You've given me so much love already, and produced such a great dude.



To Paula: thank you for being beautiful, kind and graceful. You knew what needed to be done, and did it! You helped keep me on track, and were there for me when I was feeling stressed. You've ALWAYS been there for me, no matter what is going on in your life, and I am lucky to have you in my life.

To Sharon: thank you for being a wonderful role model. You make family life look so appealing! I love that despite all of the difficulties you face, you remain so loyal, funny, warm, and determined.

To Seema: What unbelievable grace and love. Everyone who meets you senses how loving and caring you are, and I'm so lucky to have you in my life.

To Maggie: Thank you for beeing so deep and so lighthearted. You are always willing to celebrate, and always willing to comfort. Most of all, thanks for coming to the wedding even though it meant missing the Chargers game!

To Megan: DUDE. Thank you for traveling across an ocean to be part of this. Thank you for making me laugh, and for helping me chill out when I got nervous and stressed about all the little last-minute details.

And Mark... wow. I am so, so lucky to have married that man. He worked so hard on making the wedding something that we would love, and it happened. I can't believe how amazing it feels to be able to call him my husband.

So thank all of you, including the many people I have yet to thank explicitly, for your love and congratulations. I'm so grateful for this life.

Ack! We are kinda almost adults now!

Wow... less than one month until the wedding! There is still so much left to do (and hopefully most of it will be done this weekend), but one month from now, all of this craziness will be over.

In other "Jen'n'Mark are no longer big kids just playing house" news, we own a car. I guess technically, Mark is the one with the name on the ownership papers, but we both paid for it. We managed to hold out for one that suits us as much as possible (no, it is not just a bike with really awesome gears) - a 2004 Toyota Echo. Super fuel efficient, TINY, and... manual transmission. Neither of us drive stick. BUT with R's endless patience, and dad's regular patience, we are learning! We managed to take it around a few blocks near our house today, stalling it not too often, and only pissing off a handful of other drivers around us. R suggested getting some sort of sign for the back window asking people to please be patient because we are learning stick, and also to PLEASE NOT STOP TOO CLOSE TO OUR BUMPER.

Here is a picture of a car just like ours!



Soon, we will be able to drive it everywhere, and not just 1-5 blocks from our house :)

WOOOOO

Young Lions

I'm sorry. It is silly of me to not post for a month and then do a non-post, but this meme is fun and i haven't written about music in a while. Fill it out yourself if you feel like doing a mad-lib with no worries about saying an adjective when you mean to say a verb.

1.Put your iTunes on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the meme as well as the person you got the meme from.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY
Girl (built to spill)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Pure Evil (P:ano - haha this one is great)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A BOY/GIRL?
SSleep (azure ray)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Windsurfing nation (broken social scene)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Hold Hands and Fight (The Rosebuds) - wow this thing is good!

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Sleeping diagonally (Iron and wine)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Empty Shell (Cat Power - wow dudes that is HARSH!)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Redford (Sufjan Stevens - this is NOT TRUE)

WHAT IS 2+2?
Jigsaw Falling into Place (Radiohead)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
When we go, how we go. (Rock Plaza Central)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Listen to the Math (Tokyo Police Club; and he is writing a book about math!)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
All I have to Do is Dream (The Dandy Warhols, stubbs the zombie soundtrack)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Pressed in a Book (The Shins)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Lanterns (Microphones)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Jackie, dressed in Cobras (New pornos)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
A Visit from Drum

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Asleep. (The Smiths)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Fine Young Cannibals (Wolf Parade)

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
They are night zombies! (Sufjan Stevens - haha good call itunes)

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Les Os (Unicorns; does that mean BEARS?!?!?! AHHH! Never mind, it just means bones)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Hart Crane (the anniversary)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Sun Spots (No Age)

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Nude (Radiohead)

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
These are the Fables (New Pornos)

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Think (James Brown)

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Recording a Tunnel (Bell Orchestre)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Reconstruction Site (The Weakerthans)

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Steps and Numbers (appleseed cast)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Young Lions (Constantines)

Coffee Culture

Those who know me tend to think I am somewhat of a coffee snob - although in my head I usually disagree. I think that I know far less about good coffee than an actual 'snob' would - I just happen to like it a lot. Yesterday, however, I truly felt like a snob. Mark and I decided to go check out the new coffee shop in St. Catharines, Coffee culture, because it is in a beautiful building, the premise sounded good, and I needed a place for caffeinated studying (my living room doesn't cut it sometimes).

WOW does that place ever suck. I was so impressed walking in (it is a beautiful looking place) - and then had to wait 10 minutes for my turn to order, not because they were busy, but because the two employees had to both ring in the orders, make the food/drinks, bring them out to tables rather than have one person on cash and the other making the food. Perhaps I am too used to other coffee shops? The set up was just really, really illogical. And yes, I know that sometimes in life you have to wait, especially for deliciousness - so I was hoping that my eventual coffee would be delicious!

... And it wasn't! After seeing an automatic espresso machine (=push a button, get a latte), Mark and I both decided to just get the organic, fair trade drip coffee. This turned out to be a pretty bad idea. Does anyone remember when fair trade coffee first entered the market? It was terrible. People who felt too guilty to drink regular coffee were the only ones drinking it, because if taste buds entered the equation at all, there was no way a coffee drinker would touch that stuff. Since then, fair trade coffees have come a long way and are as good, and usually better than most coffees, thanks to a big fancy coffee/know your farmer movement. I think coffee culture has managed to find the last remaining bags of the old, hideous stuff. Our coffees tasted like they had been sitting out in a dirty pot for about 6 hours.

If someone in St. Catharines starts up a good coffee shop, I swear that I will keep it afloat.

PS - my living room is looking better - Mark just made me a brownie latte!

Hi

Cars:
I. HATE. CARS. I was stuck in traffic for two hours yesterday, on what should have been a 35 minute trip. I basically missed my tutorial as a result. That sucks! Also, last week I got a flat! It was really scary because it sounded like it was my engine (I obviously know nothing about cars), but after waiting nearly two hours on the side of the highway, I was helped by some of the world's nicest tow truck people, and super-awesome people at the Wal-Mart mechanic shop. YEP I actually like Wal-Mart (well, the employees at least) for something.

Life:
I am getting lazy. I have not exercised more than walking for quite a while. This is not good. Hopefully when school stuff gets switched to St. Catharines, I'll be able to use at least some of the current 10 commuting hours/week to keep my body healthy.

Friends:
-Nothing! I didn't even get to talk to P on her birthday, although messages were left :) I have not seen friends in a really long time! Well, except for school friends, and Gina who happened to be in town last weekend! Next weekend might contain a Jaime!

Wedding(!):
-My dress is in! And it fits! It may need some minor, minor alterations but it seems like all is well on that front!
-Basia is confirmed! This is beyond exciting and I'm so happy that she will be at the wedding. Mark and I are so lucky to have such talented friends. It is helping turn what could be a pretty stereotypical wedding into something very true to us.
-We have a few more big items on our list (like catering/invites/cake/dj) but hopefully, they will have nice little check marks next to them by this time next week. OK - that is a lie. There is no actual physical list, because Mark and I are not organized people. There is a cloud of stuff that gets remembered every once in a while by my head, so that cloud will have more little lines through it?