How Cliche

Ok all, here is my review of 2007. Not music, not movies, not books, not even TV, just me. Boring old me recounting the highs and lows of 2007.

I give you permission to browse away from this blog now.

JANUARY
An heart-breaking month. I had to finally give-up on New York City, leave the great apartment I found and return to Edmonton. My birthday was spent flying and crying. How sad is that? When I got back to Edmonton, I remembered why I love it so – my friends.

FEBRUARY
As the effects of going from NYC to Edmonton started to really hit me, I became bored with my job and my life. It is difficult to appreciate the things you have when you long for the things you have lost.

MARCH
A brutal job interview – that I didn’t get. A great trip with a dear friend and a lot of shopping to go with it.

APRIL
I fell for a boy. A boy that changed what I thought I wanted in a person and helped me really care for a person for the first time in a while. It is rare to find something and someone like that. God do I love those butterflies you get when you start seeing someone. Magical. Oh and I was published. Twice.

MAY
So in love. May was spent traveling around the country following the boy. One of the best trips was to Regina, I enjoyed doing nothing but smoking, drinking and harassing Legislative pages. What more could a girl want? I also got a great roommate in May. I loved living with Big Daddy this summer, it was fun and not annoying at all. Saw Feist and The Killers.

JUNE
Why is that the fear of something is often worse than the reality of it? June was spent traveling from coast-to-coast, Vancouver to Halifax in a week. First to visit the boy and then to watch an old friend get married. The middle of June was difficult to say the least, as this was my first visit of the summer to the hospital. Four days in hospital, what is worse than that? Oh, the boy seeing me in my hospital gown, that is what. Also bought the greatest game of all time. It helped shape my summer, and the summers of Big Daddy and P3. So many night spent playing on my balcony and in the living room. Many curse words said and a few feelings hurt, but I still want wheat for ore.

JULY
Another hospital visit and another trip to Vancouver, but this time we drove back to Edmonton. Beautiful. Not having full control of your body can really ruin a month. The boy was a wonderful support system, giving me an outlet I refused to burden my friends with. There are some things you can’t ask for, but when they are given to you, wow.

AUGUST
Camping for the first time, which was surprisingly fun. Whoda thunk it? I also made a decision to put myself out there career-wise. I gave my resignation to the hotel and decided to have ‘the fear’. Oh I got the fear, that is for sure.

SEPTEMBER
Went out east to meet the boy’s grandma and extended family. What an honor it is for someone to think you are special enough to meet important people. I have never had anyone think I was that special. We also went to Montreal to visit Harp and Big Daddy. Oh yeah, I finally got a job and I moved. Wow, September was kinda a big deal.

OCTOBER
Settled into my new life and had a hard time doing it. How does someone go from having the greatest people in the world, just a phone call away to having only one person to talk to? Not very well. I lost myself in October. I didn’t do the things I like doing, having the life I like having and being the person it took me so long to like. I keep on chalking it up to the various changes in my life, but really, the burden is solely on me for not trying harder to be the things I wanted to be. My bad.

NOVEMBER
Fell in love with my job. The work, the people, the whole thing is great. I couldn’t have asked for a better job and feel vindicated for holding out for so long. Take that dad. Visited Edmonton and became very sad. Went to Whistler and didn’t ski. Saw M.I.A. Holla!

DECEMBER
How things change. My first real break-up with a boy that I care about. Really, the first boy I have ever cared about. How can a person be so wrong about a situation, thinking you are going to spend a significant about of time with a person, to not being able to spend anymore time with them? It makes me wonder, where did the awesome go? Because it was awesome. More awesome than anything I have experienced before.

And that is my year in review.

I stole this idea from Sarah, who told me about a lady who wrote about her 23 year marriage with a paragraph for every year. I cannot imagine being concise enough to do something like that. Or having that good of a memory for that matter.

Breathe and Reboot

As I have mentioned before, I really dislike Christmas. All the annoying cheer and lights. What if I had epilepsy? I would be screwed.

The only great thing about Christmas is that I get to hang out with my family and friends. After the break-up, Dad kindly bought me a ticket to come home for the holidays. It was exactly what I needed.

I got to sleep in my own bed. Watch TV till all hours of the night. Sleep in whatever I want to. Fall asleep with the TV on. It was great.

I also got to hang out with the majority of my friends. Even though I think I am over the worst of the post break-up blues, it is amazing how much friends help. Just being around them and having them there is helpful.

I also got to hang with the rents. I love my parents, I really do, but small doses is all I can take. Dad has a habit of needling me until I lose it and mom just fusses too much. I know both are coming from decent places, (mom's quirk is WAY better than dad's) but let me be!

Anyways, got to see a ton of people and reminded me this: If it wasn't for this job that I love, I would remain in Edmonton. I don't care what people say - I love it. And if not New York, then why not Edmonton.

Oh, I am going to see MSTRKRFT and Paul Devro tomorrow. I saw Paul Devro at this show in Edmonton and he was wicked good. So, maybe Saturday I will write talking about how many new friends I have and how great my life is.

Ok, maybe not, but a girl can hope right??

That's what you thought

I was chatting with a girlfriend yesterday and realized something. My life is nothing looks like something I recognize.

This happened before P3 and I broke up. Some of it good and some of it bad, but truly unrecognizable.

Last Year:

• Doing the limbo with New York
• Single and loving it
• No job
• Kinda fat
• Working at the hotel (depressing)

This Year:

• Living in Vancouver - who saw that one coming
• Single and not loving it right now
• Great job
• Not so fat
• NOT WORKING AT THE HOTEL!

The thing that really bugs me, is since I have moved out here, I haven't been comfortable. Part of that had to do with my living situation, you see, P3 is very much enjoys renting a house and having others rent rooms from him.

I am not.

I like my own space, I want to get my toast in my bra some mornings and why shouldn't I? I have earned the right to nudity.

So for the past three months, I have been living in this situation with a boy I deeply care about not really enjoying it. Sure I got used to it, but there is something to be said for loving your life.

God do I miss loving my life.

And I did. I LOVED my life. Do what I want, when I want. Not answer to anyone or have to respond to any questions. Life was mine. UGH

I fucking hate breakups.

This is why I never dated.

Sorry, went on a tangent there. The really frustrating part of these past two weeks has been the apartment hunting. It is frustrating and depressing and may cause me to jump off a bridge - thankfully there are a few to choose from here. I have seen SO many apartments, most I hate but still can't afford and the ones I like, I REALLY can't afford.

How do people live in this city? I mean, NY, I got it, it is worth starving to live there. But seriously, Vancouver, what the fuck?

There you go, one more rant for the day.

And ... in the past week I have heard the same Beach Boys song like 8 times, when I don't actually remember hearing it more than once ever before. Why do things like that happen? Once you notice something, it keeps on popping up. It can't just be coincidence can it?

Breakin up is hard to do

Ok, that might be the understatement of the century, especially when you live with the person.

You always think, when you start a relationship, "Could this be it?" Funny how chances are, it isn't.

Think about it, no relationships work out until the one that finally does. So I know I am not alone in my misery, in fact, because I have been unable to find a place to call home yet, I share my misery with my ex.

How messed up is that? I swear, the comedy of errors that is my life would make a very weird little movie. I am convinced.

So I sit here on a Sunday, waiting to go and view a couple of places and keep my fingers crossed that I can live in one of them.

The other thing that really sucks is that he has become one of my best friends. Not to mention one of my only friends in Vancouver. I am now down to three. AWESOME!

There it is. My inability to forge a lasting romantic relationship appears to have taken over again.

I RULE!

And now, back to you Iris

I have not been me. I have not been me since I moved to Vancouver. Who have I been? I have no idea.

I have gotten away from the things I love. Aimlessly wandering around the city and finding randomness in my day.

Have I mentioned I love the random things in life? Well I do. Very much.

I was hell-bent on doing my own thang yesterday. This consisted of me spending a little friendly time after work and heading to the Art Gallery.

I am not an art connosuer. I like art, but not all of it and I definitely don’t get a lot of it.
The gallery itself is very nice, although they really need to re-do their restrooms. I have seen nicer ones in the Greyhound station in Edmonton. (Don’t ask why I was there) The gallery had a very interesting Georgia O’Keefe exhibit, some weird short films (like seriously weird) and then of course, Emily Carr. Oh Emily Carr, the jewel of Canadian art.

The thing that disappointed me, other than the bathrooms, was the fact that I was fully expecting the Monet to Dali exhibit. I love love love Dali. But it wasn’t there. Ugh.

Oh yeah, I also found this spot in Vancouver that SOO reminded me of New York. There is a spot on the steps of the Art Gallery that felt so much like the park across from The Plaza. Old hotel going through renovations, a fountain, cars stuck in traffic – ah the joys of the city.

All in all my favorite of my Vancouver days so far. It was the first time in a very long time that I was Iris… the coolest person ever! (Ok, just to me and Smelly, but whatev)

The nature of the beast

I remember a time I thought I could do anything. Some days I still do. Today is definitely NOT one of them.

Before I get into it all, I want to preface this post with this: I love my job. No, I love my career. It is a satisfying thing to know you have finally found your niche.

My field, however, is very dependent on other people. There are times when you have no control of what happens. Sometimes, no matter how hard you work, things don't go your way.

This is what is going on with me right now. I am working on a project for a VERY worthy not-for-profit agency. I have been pitching interesting story ideas to media outlets across the country - all to no avail. It is incredibly frustrating to know, regardless of your efforts, things may not happen.

This frustration is compounded by the fact my co-worker has gotten a lot of media for a story that is not even a story! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

My boss jokingly said today, "You are only as good as your last pitch". Great. Thanks. I appreciate the supportive environment you have created.

I feel like I am on publicity survivor and they might vote me off the island at any time. That would be very unfortunate because I really like it there.

Also, I do not understand how a city like Vancouver does not have a more efficient public transportation system. It infuriates me every morning and I will never understand how a city will claim to be anything but second rate with a public transportation system like Vancouver's.

But I don't really have an opinion on it.

Oh, I get to go to Whistler this weekend. How exciting is that!?

P.O.W.

Ok, so I was trying to think of some witty thing to go with the fact that I went to the M.I.A. concert, and all I could come up with was P.O.W. Don't judge me.

So I arrived back from Edmonton after a bit of problems. For the first time in all of my travels, my flight was cancelled. Sure this was annoying, but the really annoying part was that I woke up at 4:15 AM to catch the flight, when I apparently didn't have to.

Meh.

I got back to Vancouver and went to work a couple of hours late - a great way to make an impression while still on probation!

So dumbass me made this a VERY busy day. For some retarded reason I booked the flight on the same day as the much anticipated M.I.A. concert. So I got home, fetched P3, went for dinner and went to the concert, all on about 3 hours of sleep. I am a badass mofo.

The concert rocked. P3 didn't think so, but his opinion doesn't really matter to me. Well not when it comes to music anyways.

But let me tell ya, the hipster chicks on E need to slow down. Some of us don't want your sweaty bodies rubbing against us. So please stop.

But yes, M.I.A. was as good as I thought she would be. The opening band sucked, but that I don't care about as much.

Oh yeah, I thought the venue was pretty cool too. The Commodore Ballroom.

That is all, and will probably be all for a while. Did I mention I am lame?

Hello Goodbye

As I mentioned, I did not get to say goodbye to a ton of people. It sucked, but it had to be done, mainly because I am a big fat liar.

So how freaking excited was I to see everyone last night? Let me tell ya! I WAS PUMPED! All of my hotel peeps were there, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! It was a regular night, a lot of drinking and chatting. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, but I had a lovely time. A long-overdue lovely time.

Everyone hates a tourist.

It is a line from one of my favorite songs Common People by Pulp. It is on almost all of my mixes, and will continue to be. LOVE IT!

It is also so true.

Ok, so how does this relate to anything? WELL ...

I am back in the Chuck and randomness follows me, everywhere. I love it. Jarod and I had a date planned. I love our dates. They are very rarely sober and NEVER boring.

So, we reduced our sobriety and went about our date ... BINGO! No, seriously, we had planned on going for bingo. *side note - the boy I am dating is named Paul, weird, I know, so to differentiate him from the other Pauls, the boy is referred to as P3* I had begged P3 to go to bingo a couple of weeks ago and he thought I was crazy. So Jarod and I planned on fulfilling our curiosity without our mates.

We go to WEM ... a panic attack waiting to happen - going to WEM on a Saturday this close to Christmas is not a wise idea ... unless you are into that sort of thing, and if you are, I would like you to stop reading this blog. Permanently.

Ok, ok, getting on with it. We had some lag time until bingo started so we played a little mini-golf. Jarod won, by three strokes. He is sooooo lame.

And then we got our dabbers ready and went for bingo. First, this was one unwelcoming scenario. I had no idea how complicated bingo was. The cashier was spouting off this jargon that both Jarod and I, as educated and travelled as we are, were confounded. So finally we figured out it was $3 to get in and play. THANK YOU!

It was random, I mean I don't think I will go back to bingo anytime soon, but it was definitely interesting. For a an hour, Jarod and I were the tourists, in a very foreign land. We were disliked, frowned upon and judged. By people in sweatpants, eating fries and gravy. Really?

Home is where?

I have grown to like living in Vancouver. I don't love the city the way I LOVED New York - nothing will ever be like that - but I two great reasons to be in the city, and that is that. Vancouver is where I shall stay.

That doesn't mean I don't get to be excited as a pig in poop to come back to Edmonton. Because I am SO excited to be in Edmonton.

Let me explain a little. My move was quite the whirlwind experience. I actually lied to my current employers during my interview - I told them I was living in Vancouver already. That is fine, but when they ask you to start in 5 days, it makes for a little panic and a lot of missed goodbyes.

I didn't get to say goodbye to most of the people who have made Edmonton what it is to me ... home.

So this weekend I decided to come home. And holy shit am I excited!

I suck. I know.

I know, I know, I don't write a lot anymore. It is partially because I suck and partially because my life has become a little routine. The ab fab random existence I once loved is gone. It has now become a life of work and sleep and the mundane.

I had forgotten how hard real-work was. I ride the bus for 45 minutes each way, I work for at least 8 hours and I get home and I am EXHAUSTED. Staying up past 10:00 pm is nearly impossible. So I find it a little difficult to write about these boring things.

I promise however, to try and be more ... random. How weird that I have to try to be more random.

Should I forget this .... please remind me.

No, I haven't forgotten

I was just ignoring you blog.

You see my life was boring. I was doing the same shit day-in and day-out. Sure, once and a while something would happen, but then I thought "Like you would care about this."

So I have decided to make you care! I do it to everyone else in my life, so why not you?

RECAP: April - October

• two of my oldest and dearest friends got married - why? Love apparently, but I think its actually about the tax breaks
• I was published, twice in fact. Nothing major, just a couple of little articles in a couple of mags. Yes I am bragging. I think I am cool.
• I met a boy
• I traveled a bunch. This summer I saw six of the ten provinces
• became happy with Edmonton again. I mean, it is a severe change from the crack that is NYC.
• got a REAL job
• moved to Vancouver

Ok, so that pretty much catches you up. There was other stuff, but I wouldn't turn you off that quickly.

You may now return to your regular post.

I'm Morinville!

I love long weekends! Everyone is willing to go out and there is always stuff to do. I love long weekends.

Thursday date night. Ro Ro and I wanted to go dancing, look at young boys and there were a couple of options. The number two dj in the world (this is how they were promoting it. Isn't there a better way to say that like say - one of the world's top djs?!) was staying at the hotel. I got to chatting with his promoter and he hooked me up with a couple of tickets. Off Jarod and I go to the West Edmonton Mall.

The djs were really good. But the crowd was, well ... young. I wonder what is going to happen to this generation of kids when the drugs and the red bull have done their damage. Anyways. We stayed out late and ate some McDonald's. (Jarod only ever eats McD's with me, and then he blames me for it. Please note however, he is always the one who suggests it.)

Friday I was quite excited for. Like I have said, I love live music, and The Constantines were playing at Starlite. I only really knew one song of theirs, Soon Enough, but these guys freaking rocked!

I went with Lis, and met Kristin and Roger there. Lis and Kristin are EASILY two of the funniest people I have ever met and I swear I almost peed my pants at least twice. They didn't love the show the way I did, but I LOVED IT! They kept the crowd involved, they were pretty high energy, and it was just a really great rock show. Totally dug it.

So that was the start of my weekend. Tonight has the promise of drunkenness, so I might even be able to have enough fun to get another post out. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

i

Flirting is a two-person verb

Definition - Ally Ng.

Is it though? I am often concerned that what I construe as flirting, another just thinks is being nice. How far can signals get mixed?

I had a very pleasant weekend by the way. Thursday was fun, went out with a buddy from work and got drunkity drunk drunk. Not overly sloppy though, which is a little too rare for me.

Friday was nice, worked with Brandorf and then went out to this really good dj. Got to see Lis and Kristin, danced and wore a pair of my favorite shoes (ALL IN ONE NIGHT!). I knew I needed to dance because I have been chair dancing every chance I get. I did get sloppy drunk this night though. What is it about last call? Last Call - Iris "Sure, I'll have another one" totally regardless of how full the other one is. After this many years of going out, how have I not learned better?

Sat morning was great. Dropped Ally off, met up with a friend, grabbed a coffee and sat in the park. Why don't more mornings start like this? This is how EVERYDAY should start.

So yes, it was an all-around pleasant weekend. Thanks for asking.

i

But everything was on sale!

I suffer from a few addictions in my life, there is no denying it, the most dangerous of these addictions is my shopping problem.

I LOVE SHOPPING!! It has to be right though. You can't force it, you just have to go with it. Vancouver was one HUGE shopping trip for me.

Yaletown & Robson were already done, so on Tuesday, Ally and I hit Chinatown and Gastown. Did you know that Vancouver's Chinatown is the second largest in North America? How random is that! I digress.

Little ethnic nooks are some of the best places to find cute, cheap shit, that isn't in a mall. (While I love shopping, I hate malls). We found a few cute things. I was expecting something more like Canal Street, but it was just stores, no booths or makeshift stores, no real bartering here.

We then walked to Gastown. I have been a lot of places and I like to think of myself as someone who isn't a scaredy cat. You know, I will walk by myself almost anywhere. We had to walk down East Hastings a bit to get to Gastown, and wow. I have never seen anything like it. This was an uber-sketchy neighborhood. Thank god I had Ally to protect me.

We hit Gastown, and it seemed like nothing was open. We had to walk forever to find an open store, but when we found it, boy did we go crazy.

As I had done most of the shopping thus far, Tuesday was Ally's shopping day. A few vintage stores, some boutiques and then we headed home.

Oh, yeah, we found the weirdest thing EVER! SO there is this cafe in the Gastown area that lets you smoke weed in it. As we are walking by, we smell it, and being curious humans, we wonder, WTF!? There are people rolling, smoking, you can buy upstairs, there is a guy selling seeds. This was like marijuana paradise. How does a place like this exist? It was like we were in Amsterdam (or what I believe Amsterdam to be like) RANDOM!

We went for some more sushi, boarded the plane and got home in one piece.

A tally for anyone wondering. I bought:

Three pairs of shoes
Two jackets
Two cute tops
One dress
One necklace
One pair of jeans.

Needless to say, I blew my budget. But that is what you are supposed to do with budgets right? My bad!

All in all, however, this was a great trip. The thing that I really love about traveling with Ally is the silences. Ally and I have this amazing ability to be completely silent for long periods of time, without any of the awkwardness that is sometimes associated with quiet. To sit and be with a person is something very rare and special. Thankfully, I have found this quality in most of my good friends. I can't wait for my next trip, anywhere.

Slave Lake anyone??

i

I love me a little concrete

Every other time I have been to Vancouver, I have only kinda enjoyed it. Sure, it's pretty and shit, but I haven't fallen for it.

While I still haven't fallen for it, I did realize there are parts of it I really like. On Monday we went shopping in Yaletown. Nikki has taken through Yaletown before, but it was snowing that time, and well, no one likes to shop outside when it is snowing.

Ally had gone for a walk obscenely early in the morning and came back announcing to me it was a glorious day outside. Nikki also had to call and tell me the same thing. Glorious indeed. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, there was not a cloud in the sky.

A shopping we went. Now, Nikki had made it clear to me that I would love Yaletown. I have often said I am a huge fan of the concrete jungles of the world. Yaletown is this in Vancouver.

We hit Yaletown and I went crazy. First I was painfully hungover. It is funny how sales and shopping and spending money will instantly make a person feel better. Yaletown is a bunch of cool boutiques and nice restaurants.

We did a little shopping, met some friends for lunch at this really nice little restaurant and shopped our asses off.

After an exhausting day of shopping, Al and I went back to the hotel to recuperate. We slept and then went out for dinner with Nikki. The dinner with Nikki was frustrating. Nikki was surprisingly not the frustrating part, the waiter was. A little bad service can really screw up an otherwise enjoyable time.

Next up, Tuesday.

Sleep little ones, sleep

After getting home at 5 in the morning, Sunday was dedicated to sleep. Beautiful sleep. We woke up craving a burger. We trotted off the The Keg for a burger, as this was the only place the concierge could think of. (Idiots by the way)

We head back to the hotel after a burger and we rent a pay-per-view movie and fall asleep. At around 9ish Ally and I decide to get ready and maybe see the outside world.

A couple of friends from Edmonton were in town and they came over. We headed to The Yale Hotel for some live blues. This was a most interesting evening out. A little shady, as most blues bars seem to be, but really good music. We also saw these two 'couples' hanging out. When I say couples, I really mean two young hookers and their dirty, old men johns. Our attention was on these two the entire night. We actually came up with little reality show, named after their drink of choice, Candy Apples. Yuck!

After the blues bar, we went to Republic. This was possibly one of the nicest clubs I have gone to in a really long time. Great space, cute boys and a really great live band. Sure they were a cover band, but they were playing EVERYTHING, and they did it all really well and in an interesting way.

Went home and then went to bed after this. No need for another 5AM-er.

Sky Rockets in Flight

Saturday

Ahhh ... Rainy Vancouver.

I have mentioned a few times about the hate-on I have for Vancouver. However, one of my dearest friends, Ally, and I decided to take a weekend vacation and head west. We left Saturday early morning and arrived in a rain-drenched Vancouver. (Rain is going to be the theme here, so get used to reading the word.) We checked into our hotel and got ready to explore.

While we had umbrellas, it did not prevent us from getting soaked. We went for some GREAT sushi. The sushi was so great in Vancouver and I don't know how I never really noticed this. Then it was a solid day of shopping. Thanks to the change in seasons, there were some great sales. This post really could be all about the shopping, but I will try to resist. After shopping our butts off, we went for a hot tub and swim at the hotel.

It then felt fitting to watch some tv and relax. After a few hours of this, we went to dinner at this great restaurant on Robson. After dinner, we met up with Ally's friend and went to some warehouse where her friend was playing. Random. This was a lot of fun. Cheap beer, live music, what more could a girl want?

Well ... we then went to this club downtown and got to hear some very cool djs and see a real-live mosh pit. I didn't really realize the mosh pit still exists. Hasn't society moved past this yet? Also, this was probably the scariest walk to a bank machine ever! It was seriously like Shawn of the Dead. The regular DJ at this joint is a guy I saw here and thought he was totally wicked. At this club, however, Ally's friend ran into some other people she knows and we went to hang out at this studio (recording, not living). This was hella cool. I swear, if I do anything cool, it is solely because of my friends. Otherwise, I would sit around and be incredibly lame.

The space was amazing, the people were cool. I can't remember the band's name, but I would love it if they became uber-famous, and I could say "I totally partied with them once." I digress. They were also really nice guys. Although one of them was just a little ... off. Told me I sounded really white (what does that mean!?), mentioned to Ally how he had never known a Chinese person, and then asked me to punch him in the skull. I think all the sex, drugs and rock n' roll had really fried his brains.

There was also some minor flirting going on. It's funny, some boys LOVE that I am passionate about football, others, it totally turns them off. Whatever, should you voice an opinion I know is wrong, I will let you know. The only reason I bring up the flirting is because I haven't gotten my flirt on in a really long time. It is nice to know that once you hit 26 it isn't all down hill from there.


I will post the rest of the trip throughout the day, as my work allows.


i

Ummm ... not so much.

Rejection sure is humbling and boy have I gotten used to it this year. All of a sudden I went from an employable individual to, apparently, a career-pariah.

Great. I just went through three (yes 3) brutal interviews for a job. I didn't even really want this job. I just applied for it for shits and giggles.

Guess who got the last giggle? Not I.

But I was apparently really close and that is supposed to make some sort of difference. Close doesn't count. "If there were two positions, you would easily get the second"

Well there isn't, so shut up. Shut up, shut up shut up.

I am glad to know your decision was difficult, because so were the three interviews you put us through. So is finding out you didn't get the job.

I am going to get fat and work at the front desk at the Metterra Hotel for the rest of my life. Or until I yell at a guest and get fired.

My life has taken a remarkably sharp turn to the depressing. Awesome.


i

I would LOVE to have dinner with you

I haven't had the chance to say that in a while. Or anything that even closely resembles that. Kinda sad, I know, but what can you do?

I'll tell ya what I can do, I can go on a date without a boy. Sometimes there is nothing better than going for a nice dinner by yourself. Bring a book, have a glass of wine and your meal couldn't be more perfect.

I did that yesterday. I wanted to make it dinner and a movie, but the Princess only has shows at 7 & 710. What about a 7:30 for those of us who 7ish is too early for? HUH!? I went to Packrat Louie's (one of my favs in the city) had a salad, my fav pizza and a couple glasses of wine. Brought my book, but ended up mainly eavesdropping on other people's conversations. I was totally ready to jump in when I heard a father complaining about how his daughter doesn't have any direction. I felt like telling him to calm down, and let her find her own way. I didn't, but it sure woulda been HILARIOUS!

Well, it's off to work I go. I hate morning shifts. Can't we just have a kiosk or something so no one has to work at this ungodly hour?? Is that too much to ask?! UGH!

Don't get your hopes up

I tell myself that all the time. Whenever I have gotten my hopes up, like really up, I am always disappointed. I am always left sitting there wondering, why did I do that again?

This is just the cynic in me I suppose. I know people who are constantly seeing the 'bright-side" of things and continue to do so, regardless of the outcome. In fact, I believe these same people are rarely disappointed. Otherwise, why would they continue to be so happy-go-lucky retarded?

Ok, that was mean, but seriously. If you don't expect / hope for anything, how can you be disappointed. Keep your feet firmly planted in reality and you are good to go. Right?

It really does take the excitement out of things though. But I think my body has taken enough disappointment for one lifetime, so a lack of excitement is ok with me.

Also, I think I was standing next to my soulmate and didn't even realize it. Can you imagine?? Here is the proof.


Don't judge the belly. I had starved myself all day to look skinny enough for the outfit, and then drink beer. How stupid am I??

Finally

I just finished working ten days in a row. I know, I know, you have all probably heard me complain about this, but let me reiterate how exhausting this was for me. I haven't done that in a REALLY long time. And I really felt like I didn't get to see any of my non-work friends in a very long time. It is weird how people who have normal jobs, with normal hours aren't really into hanging at 11:30 at night. Weird.

To rejoice my break from work, I spent time with some (just some, not all) of my favorite people.

I got to work with Brandy Friday night. I never get to work with Brandy, in fact, I think it might be a conspiracy that is keeping us apart. We had a gay old time. In fact, we decided to create a myspace page for the two of us. Here it is if you are bored. Iris and Brandy's Excellent Adventures

We then went out for a friend's birthday. Ally came too, which is always fun. I get to see Ally a lot, I think she might be addicted to me, as I am to her, but we were dancing, and just having a good time. Unfortunately the cute boy ratio was a little low, so no random makeouts in the corner occurred.

Saturday I got up bright and early for a brunch date with Lis, Lisa and Autumn. I haven't had the chance to see the girls since my birthday, so it was nice to see them all. Autumn cooked us a really nice breakie and Lis and I brought some booze to spice things up.

Came home and hung out with my mom. We went shopping, as this is the best bonding thing we can do. We both love it and we just get to chill out and hang. What did I buy you want to know? A couple pairs of shoes and a few cds. Can I just say how good TV on the Radio is? They really do rock.

After shopping, mom and I laid around and watched Ugly Betty. I then went to Paul's new house and hung out with him. Since the move, which was well documented here, I haven't been able to hang with him as much, so whatever time I get with Smelly Paul is always appreciated. We watched Follow that Bird. It is a Sesame Street movie, but it is funny as hell.

Sunday was reserved for randomness with Jarod. I found out about gossip music month at McDougall Church, and dragged Jarod and Steve along with me. I haven't been to a church service in forever, but this was good. The choir itself sucked, but the band they brought in for it was really good. Steve and I were singing and Jarod appeared to be on fire, not really sure what that's about.

Church was followed by brunch at the Sugar Bowl. I so don't get why High Level Diner is the one that everyone always goes to. This was WAY better with a more interesting menu and a better beer selection.

Sunday night RoRo and I went to a Russian mockumentary at Metro Cinema. I am still confused as to what happened during it, or what it was ACTUALLY about, but meh, it was interesting enough. Just seeing those crazy Ruskies and their cinema was good enough for me.

So that was my weekend. I was actually really good. I got to see my peeps and spend some QT with them, which is always welcome and appreciated.

Alrighty, I am off to catch up on some much needed sleep. Tomorrow is cleaning day in Casa de Iris and let me tell ya, it is going to be EXHAUSTING!

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I get it now

Ok, so I didn't realize that you needed to add a player to make the playlist play. Duh. I give up. I have spent almost an hour trying to figure out the player. So whatever. I don't have sound on my firefox right now (a whole other situation) and there are no speakers at work. Sound sometimes escapes me. Meh. Deal with it.

Has anyone seen the Hyper Hypo skit on SNL many moons ago. Well, I am pretty sure I am starting to become a hyper hypo. I had a unreasonably exhausting back-to-back this morning and to fuel it, I consumed 4 (YES 4!!) cups of green tea. I really feel bad for my co-workers, because I was like a caged animal. Every chance I got, I was talking, and talking at speeds not necessarily meant for humans.

In case you don't remember the SNL clip, here it is from our friends at YouTube. Oh, sweet YouTube. What did we do before the internet? My re-enactment of the clip PALES in comparison to the actual thing. It would have been totally disappointing.



And, hi. Britney Spears is crazy. I am not going to talk about it, but I am often thinking about how crazy she is. My life is sad, I have said it before. DO NOT JUDGE ME.

Ok, that enough of this caffeine induced post. Sorry for the rambling.



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A new invention

I found this website that allows you to create playlists and share it with your peeps.

Well peeps, here is my playlist for the week of February 19, 2007.

Let's see if I can keep this up. It doesn't have all the songs I was hoping for, but it has a lot. Even some small groups. Pretty cool shit if you ask me.

Word to tha mutha!


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I am starting to hate ....

My job.

Don't get me wrong, I love the people I work with. I love that I don't have any responsibilities that I have to take home with me. I go home and forget about the day. My only beef is that I am getting involved with the drama.

I really like to live a drama free existence. I am ok with the ho-hum, boring daily dealings of my life. I don't like it when I have recently gotten into a fight with a bellman and that is the first thing people ask about.

I don't like knowing who my supervisor is dating and how annoyed she is about boys. I don't like that I have had run-ins with management (well, only one) about poor scheduling. I DON'T LIKE IT!

I also don't like that I AM STILL AT THIS JOB! I thought this was going to be a VERY temporary situation. I am now going on far too many months. Being this bored at work, where I am able to write a whole post about it, sucks. I WANT A CHALLENGE!

Ok, enough for this rant.


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Stagnant

Sorry for the lack of posts. Nothing really going on my sad little world. No jobs, no boys, no nothing.

Paul moved and my life fell apart. Isn't this what I was being all dramatic. I knew I was right. I almost always am.

Lis ... - I don't have a sweat gland problem - it's lip gloss.

After I helped Paul move on Saturday, I was exhausted. I had been out late the night before and gone to help with the move at an obscenely early hour on Saturday. Then, progressively become more exhausted as Paul worked us to the bone. Slave-driver.

I got home and desperately needed a nap. Call Lis and made plans for the night and fell into a beautiful slumber. Yeah, I then slept through all of her calls and was forced to get dressed and primped in 20 minutes! It is still a miracle that I was even able to come close to pulling it off.

So we went to the Matt Mays concert at Starlite last night. It was ok. I always pay attention to how captivated I am by a show and, well, he did nothing for me. I was quite happy to ignore the show and chat with Lis and Chunk. This is why I don't think I could be a music journalist. If the show doesn't get me really into it, I am bored and not paying attention. I have no idea what stuff he played or anything. I am a bad concert-goer.

I also ran into my friend Kristin. Kristin is one of two people I met in my program last year that I regularly keep in contact with and she is one of the funniest people I have ever met in my ENTIRE life. She was supposed to come to my party last week, but got the dates wrong and ended up there on Saturday rather than Friday. I think she is probably just avoiding any non-accidental contact with me. I can be embarrassing in public.

After the show, a very drunk Lis and Iris drag a very sober Chunk to Denny's. I haven't been to Denny's in a few years, and I remember why now. The meal itself was hilarious, because anytime in public with a drunk Lis is funny. I will probably never remember what made it so funny, but let me tell ya, it was like comedy show funny. Not like a bad Yuk Yuk's open-mike-night, but a OMG-we-have-to-get-tickets comedy show. Get it?

Oye-Vay.

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And where do you think you are going?

So I have this friend. For the sake of this post, we will call him Paul.

Now Paul and I have been friends since high school. In fact, said friend was my grad date. We have been best dudes for a while now, a fact I take great pride in, a) because he is a difficult person to like; b) I have said it before, but I feel truly blessed to have people who knew me back-in-tha-day; and c) our friendship is living proof of a truly platonic friendship between members of the opposite sex.

So since HS, Paul and I have remained best dudes. Of my memories of the past ten years, very few of them don't include Paul. We have lived within a 15 block radius of each other for a while, and I have gotten very used to having one of my best friends within a 15-minute walk. One of the comforts of Edmonton I love.

Anyways. Paul is growing up and it is bugging the shit out of me. I helped Paul move on Saturday. Unfortunately for me, Paul is moving out of the downtown core. Very far out of the downtown core. To a part of town I don't even know how to get to on bus. For the first time since HS, Paul and I aren't going to be just a hop, skip and a jump away from each other.

It is the end of an era. A very fun era.

Paul is also getting married this year. Kai is getting married this year too. Do you know that most of my group of friends from HS are married or getting married? A good chunk of them already have kids. WTF?! I am still waiting on a boy I like enough to introduce to my parents and these people are being adults?

I just can't think about this anymore. Paul and I are NEVER going to hang out again. He is NEVER going to want to go for a walk again. We are NEVER going to see each other again.

MY LIFE IS OVER!

Ok, a little dramatic I know, but these are the INSANE thoughts that have been running through my head. I get that I should be happy for my best dude, and I am, but I am also really sad for me too. Call me selfish. I don't care. I JUST DON'T CARE!

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Friday Night Lights

I have been trying to have random fun in Edmonton. I mean, I was able to do it in NYC, so why not here? Wednesday, I called a friend to see if she wanted to go to a discussing at the Power Plant, we didn't make it, but the attempt was there. So, Friday night, she called to see if I wanted to go to an art exhibit / dance party. Yeah, I do!

I met them all there. The art exhibit was marginal at best. Pretentious artist types with odd pieces I will never fully 'get'. We then decided to go downstairs for the dance party. Holy Moly was this a good party. The scene was a little too scenester-cool for me (I HATE being stressed about what I chose to wear. I know, shallow, but it is ALWAYS a concern of mine) but the music was great and after a few beers and the company of some friends, I was dancing my butt off.

This party was very reminiscent of the party Jarod, Steve and I went to in NYC. The crowd there was a little more welcoming, but the same sort of deal. Good times had by all.

I love random phone calls to do random things. And this was a great one. I got to hang out with people I totally enjoy hanging out with, but don't really get a chance to hang with. And they are cool so I am hoping I will be, because of association, thought of as cool. What do you think? Possible? Meh.


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Thanks, but no thanks.

I can't find a job. I went for an interview in Vancouver, did a couple of days work for them and I didn't even hear back either way. Not good PR.

I had an interview here for a not-for-profit. Worst interview in the history of interviews. I didn't like them and I could tell, they didn't like me.

I had an interview with a publishing firm last week. It was like my last date, he didn't ask me any questions. I didn't get that job either.

Why is it that a firm in New York is willing to offer me a job, but no one in Western Canada is? What's the deal with that?

I love my life today. I want to shoot myself. Not really, I just want a beer.


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What is the matter with people?

I often wonder this. Seriously, what is the matter with people?

One of the many things I love about New York is all the men. I went on more dates in my one month there than I have in the last two years here. All is good right?

Wrong. The last date I went on was with this guy I met at the reggae concert. He was totally cute, British accent and totally cute. We chatted for a bit and then I gave him my digits. He called me a couple days later and we decided to go out on Thursday, Jan. 11.

The date was ok. He was a little weird. He works for the United Nations (yes, THOSE United Nations), originally from the UK, but recently moved to Anguilla. All sounds really great, right? It was, until he said grace before dinner. Hello, you are out with the spawn of satan, don't say grace in front of me.

I tried to move past the grace thing. But then he doesn't drink. WHAT!? I know, I am a drunk, and here I am out with a sober individual. But it was over dinner that he really got a little weird. He offered to pay my rent for me in NYC so I could stay. I don't care if you are The Donald, don't offer something like that on a first date. You might just scare the girl off.

We went out to a lounge and then called it an evening. He wanted to hang out that weekend, but I couldn't (nor did I want to) so he wanted to arrange to hang out on Monday and Tuesday. I told him to give me a call and we would see.

Call he did. Three times that night (to make sure I got home OK), once Friday AM, three times Monday and twice on Tuesday.

Guys, let me tell you , there is no need to call a girl this much!

The only reason I am even blogging about this right now is because he just called again. AGAIN! Can you imagine? It has been almost two weeks since our initial date and you have heard nothing from me. Don't call. Take the hint.

This experience is total karma. Karma for all those times I have been the crazy girl. (although in my defence, I was like 16 at that time, and would rather die than have someone thinking these things about me now. DIE!)

So there we have it. My dating lesson for the day. Don't make your unreturned call number higher than 3. If it gets into double-digits, it is just creepy.


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Do you ever wonder?

1) Why people do feel the need to lie over stupid things? If you are going to lie, make it big, make it good. Don't waste karma points on silly little things that people are going to find out anyways.

2) Why people watch shows like Dancing With The Stars when really good, smart shows, like Arrested Development can't stay on the air? I will never understand the sinking of society into this stupid, uncultured, mass. I am soo looking forward to my golden years, when the ignorance is at it's height, and I am forced to watch Jennifer Love Hewitt criticizing some hairstylist about the bob they just did. Ugh, kill me now.

3) Why people can't separate reality from make believe? I am totally guilty of this one. I dreamt I was dating Justin Timberlake the other day and I am now CONVINCED that we would make a truly lovely couple. This is comforting, because after all of my horrible dates, I am now OK with it, because at the very least, Justin and I would work out. It is nice to know this.

4) Why Edmonton doesn't have a better public transportation system? This drives me crazy! I no longer have a car, which I am totally OK with and I have no problem taking the bus (I am over this hit to my ego), however, when it is just as quick for me to walk to work as it is for me to take the bus (around 45 min either way) THIS pisses me off! Make public transportation a more appealing option for people and maybe you will have less pollution, less car accidents, less traffic cops and more ACTUAL cops. (This also ties into my beef about jaywalking tickets)

OK, that is all for now. It was just bugging me, and what better cathartic outlet do I have than this thing?


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BRILLIANT!

Ok, I am going to say this. I think my idea to have my party at Teddy's was freaking brilliant! It was done site-unseen. I just had a feeling that it would be hella cool.

And it was. We got the whole upstairs, to ourselves, drink specials all night long and basically carte blanche.

It was a solid turnout, so a huge shout out to everyone who came. Thanks for making the big trip across the river ... there is life downtown. For those of y'all who couldn't make it, you guys missed a good time.

So that is all. There was nothing particularly scandalous that happened, unfortunately. That is the only this that would have made it the best party ever! Hahahaha, I love gossip.

That is all. Hopefully Jarod will send me some of the pics so I can upload them, b/c I totally forgot to take ANY pics at all. No one ever accused me of being smart.

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It's My Party

Ok, I mentioned before that I love birthdays. While my actual birthday started off a little depressing, I am not letting this get me down. Tonight is my birthday party.

Birthday parties are one of my favorite things in the whole world. They are fun, an excuse (not that I need one) to get trashy drunk and generally ensures people you don't get to see all the time will come out.

Usually, we go out for dinner, or pre-game at my place and hit some club. This year, however, we are taking a different route. I had the BRILLIANT idea of having my party at this old man bar down the street from my house. It is usually pretty quiet on a Friday night and I figured this would be a great opportunity to check it out, and see what kind of deals they are willing to hook us up with.

Well, they have been SOOOO accommodating. We get the whole upstairs, drink specialsa and they are going to play the Ultimate Mix Tape (a product of several audiophiles suggestions). This mix tape has become something of an obsession of mine. For the past couple weeks, the only thing I have been listening to has been this thing. A) To ensure it flows B) to ensure it isn't too long and C) to ensure it freaking awesome.

While it isn't perfect (I think this may be an annual event), it is pretty freaking good. A really cool range of music and all really good music.

So yes, I am excited about something. My party! YAY!! Getting really inebriated is always a good time. I went out with a non-drinker the other day and he asked me "Why do you drink?"
My response: "So I have a good story the next morning"

Hopefully there will be some good stories from tonight.

Teddy's - be there or I will kill you! Ok, I won't, but if you are in Edmonton and not there, I will be a little less happy.


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I am 26 now. AWESOME! (Sarcasm included)

I wasn't particularly excited for my birthday this year. For those of you who know me, you know that this is odd. I am a HUGE fan of birthdays. They are the only day in the world that is devoted entirely to you. You will be sharing every other day, but your birthday is yours alone. Even if you share it with someone else you know, it is still your day.

This year was incredibly sad for me though. I didn't realize how much leaving NYC on my birthday was going to affect me. But let me tell ya, it really did. I was in tears off and on throughout the day. Talk about depressing, and very out of character, I am not a public crier. In fact, I would like to believe I have no human emotions or tear ducts.

So the flight was depressing, yada yada yada. I did get to watch the unedited version of the Departed, and I thought it kicked ass. I totally wanted to make out with Leo after it, and I am not a Leo fan.

Get back into Edm and Ally picks me up. Both literally and figuratively. It was great to see her again. She took me for lunch, and then Paul and Jarod came over.

I have come to realize something. It doesn't matter what city you live in. The city isn't your home. The people are. Just hanging out with everyone yesterday brightened up a crappy day, and made me see what I have in my life is something everyone should be jelly about. I have the most amazing friends in the whole fucking world. No seriously. We can fight about this all you want, but no one tops my crew. NO ONE!

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PS. Finally got to see The Devil Wears Prada. I totally want to work at a fashion mag! Although their shit would never fit me, I would just take it home to look at and drool. Ahhh .... clothes.

It's Not You, It's Me

Dear New York City,

This is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. To leave you like this. I really want you to know, it's not you, it really is me. I know others have said this, but believe me when I say it. I don't want to be with anyone else but you.

I loved you before I met you. I would see you from across the world and I knew, we were meant for each other. How could I not? You are everything I have ever wanted. Older, more sophisticated, beautiful, full of new and exciting experiences. You have been through hardship, only to come out of it stronger and more kind. And let's not lie, you are HUGE!

I will never forget the first time we met. I knew my instincts were right from the first second. I knew you were it. You filled me with an energy I had never known before. It was intoxicating. I was heartbroken then when I had to say goodbye, but I never knew I could feel this sad.

Everything about you is magical. You have a way of making a girl feel like the only girl in the world, like you want no one else and that this love affair is exclusive. Even though I always knew you had others, I liked that you made me feel secure in our relationship. You make me feel safe and at home, like no one else has.

You are so multifaceted and eclectic. One day its a museum, the next a concert at a dive bar. You are comfortable anywhere and everywhere. Everyday with you is something different and - for a random girl like myself - this suites me just fine.

You have shown me fine dining, great theater, sports I could have only dreamed of seeing, music I could have only heard on my iPod, people I never thought could exist, a kindness I thought was missing and a feeling I thought I was lacking - unbridled excitement.

There have been no bad memories. Even though you sometimes stink, you cost me a lot of money and I have suffered more heartache because of you, I will never stop wanting us to be together. For me there is no one else above you.

I know it is timing, because chemistry like this cannot be faked (even by my overactive imagination). We just work, you and I. Like two puzzle pieces. Even though this relationship was brief, you made me realize what I want in this world and what I deserve aren't mutually exclusive. I am my best when we are together. I hope you know this. While I was never cool enough for you, you make me be the person I want to be, the person that is often hiding or too scared to come out.

While this isn't our time, I know we will be together someday. I feel it in my bones. I will come back to you a little older and a little wiser, and our relationship will flourish. I promise.

This is a break, not a break-up. I would never break up with you. I do, in fact, love you. In a way I have never loved before.

So, thank you New York. Thank you for existing. Thank you for being a beacon of culture and light in America. Thank you for being kind and generous and exciting and beautiful. You fulfill every aspect of me and this will not be forgotten.

Love,

Iris

P.S. Is it ok if I call you for a booty call once and a while??

Happy Birthday Ms. Eve

Sunday was Harp and Craig's last day in NYC. It also happened to be Eve's birthday. So we all got up (this was a big slumber party weekend, with Eve and I on the pullout and Harp and Craig on the air mattress in the living room) got dressed, watched a couple episodes of Entourage (I get everyone addicted to that show) and then we all went on our merry ways.

Eve and I decided to walk all day and see what this city has to offer. We walked from the UES to SoHo. For those of you unaware of the distance, it is about 100 blocks. Along the way we shopped a bit, but mainly just walked and hung out.

For Eve's dinner she had the idea of going to Tao. It was a great meal, probably the best sushi I have ever had in my entire life. I just have to say, "Wow".

After we stuffed our bellies full, we sat by the Plaza Fountain. I love this fountain, and have to say it is probably my favorite little spot in the city. It is just so old school NYC. The Plaza, Central Park, Fifth Avenue. It's the New York from movies. It is the New York you see and think, "Wow, I might like to visit New York one day".

So that was our weekend. It was fun, random and no one was arrested (thank god we knew when to cut off Harp)

Thank you to Eve, Harp and Big Daddy for coming. I think I would have been too depressed if y'all had not been here.

Tomorrow, my last NYC post. So very very sad.


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Saturday Night Live

As I mentioned before, Eve and I are obsessed with SATC. We love this show and we always have. So, obviously, this weekend was going to have an SATC theme. (Much to Craig's dismay, I am sure)

Friday night we went wandering around the East Village drinking, trying to find a place to hang out. I am not going to lie, this is the first time Little Italy and the East Village disappointed me. The food in LI was not very good and the random fun that usually accompanies the EV wasn't there. Ok, fine, not a HUGE deal.


Saturday we awoke, went down the West Village and put our name on the wait list for Pastis and went walking around. Found some cool little shops etc, and saw Nigel Barker - from America's Next Top Model! While I don't watch this show regularly, I do watch it enough to have seen Nigel and noted how HOT he is on tv. Lemme tell ya, he is ACTUALLY that good-looking. He was walking around the neighborhood with his kid. SO cute.

We head back to Pastis and get our table. At this point Harp was actively searching for celebs, for those of you who know our little Harpy, you know this is not something you would expect her to do. Hahaha, the celeb-obsession begins!

While we are sitting and eating, Elisha Cuthbert walks in. At this point, I am pretty sure she is stalking us. Ok, while Nigel was totally good-looking and didn't disappoint in person, she kinda did. She is cute, sure, but nothing to write home about. A little disappointing.

We finished brunch and made our way down to the WTC site. Big Daddy hadn't seen it and Eve wanted to hit Century 21. I wasn't in the mood for shopping, so I found a pub and waited for the football games to start.

The rest of the group came and met up with me when they were done supporting the NYC economy and we walked to Canal Street and SoHo.

After shopping some more, we made our way home. Dinner for the evening was going to be Tortilla Flats, a Mexican restaurant that was featured on SATC. This place was awesome! The food was great and not expensive at all. The whole meal for all four of us came to $50! Can you imagine?!

Saturday night is also MisShapes night at Don Hill's. The MisShapes are these DJs who are basically the three coolest people in NYC. They have had Madonna guest DJ for them and often feature secret shows by the likes of the YYYs and The Strokes. So we go.

Boy, this was not our scene. I am talking about hipsters and little mod kids the likes of these eyes have never seen before. I was wanting to leave, as this was not what I was expecting, but then this band gets on stage. No it wasn't any major bands, but it was a really great group from Brooklyn. They were called The Pretty Boys and they totally rocked.

I then lost my wallet and this put a very abrupt and unnecessary end to the evening. Ugh. I am not losing stuff girl and this is the second time in two months that I lost my wallet after not losing anything for like five years! WTF!

Ok, I will post about the rest of our weekend later. I got up kinda early to see Eve off and now I want to sleep.

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Holy Martha!

Ok, so I have had some FABULOUS days in this city and today was NO different! Today was celeb-fabulous!

Everyone arrived at an OBSCENE hour this morning. I am talking like 4:30 and 6:45 AM. Can you imagine? When we all congregated, we took a little nappie nap and got ready for our day. Big Daddy hasn't been to New York before, so we took the subway and made our way to Times Square, with a pit stop at Grand Central Station.

We go to Times Square and hang out for a bit in the area. Now, one thing I had yet to see in the city was the Letterman studio. Can you believe it?! Me, who has Dave as one of her top three celebrities to get it on with. We went to the Letterman studios and saw the Hello Deli (you know, Rupert Gee's Hello Deli). Big Daddy even ordered a Letterman sandwich and he got it from Rupert! Uber-cool!

We then walked through Midtown and made our way to the Plaza where Eve and I were meeting the Sex and the City tour. Both of us are very into SATC. VERY into it. We went on the tour and saw a ton of the sites where the girls hang out etc. We got to sit on Carrie's stoop and as we are waiting to get our pic taken, we see Nina Katz (she was the one that made the face to Carrie when they met) walking her dog. How random and cool. Sure she isn't a major celeb or anything, but still a little weird, right? On the SATC tour and a person that was on SATC walks by. Again, uber-cool.

We finish the tour and meet up with Big Daddy and Harp. They went to the Financial District and on the Staten Island ferry. We then begin the walk to my apt.

On the walk we see a film crew and big lights, so we decide to check it out. It is the new Elisha Cuthbert / Jesse Bradford movie that is filming in the city. While we didn't get to see them making the movie (it was all the stand-ins doing rehearsals) we did see them as they were walking to the set. Let me tell ya, Jesse Bradford (he was the really cute guy from Bring It On - one of the best teen movies EVER) is very cute in person as well.

So that was our day ... so far. Great minor celeb-filled day. I freaking love this city!


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Too Much Excitement for One Weekend

Holy shit is this weekend going to be awesome. I really don't know how to describe the fun that will be had in NYC this weekend.

First Eve is coming to co-celebrate our birthdays, hers is on the 14th and mine is on the 17th. She is older than I am by three days, which when we are old and grey will make all the difference in the world to me. We have not celebrated our birthdays together in five years. That was a blowout party in Vegas for our 21st. I also haven't seen her in over a year. Can you imagine? UNACCEPTABLE!!!

Second, and this was a last minute trip, Harp and Big Daddy are coming for a visit too! YAY! These two world travelers have been gone for so long that I have only seen Harp for two days in the past year and Big Daddy, well I have only seen him once since June! This again, is UNACCEPTABLE!!!

We should have a good time. I mean, so long as Harp doesn't get arrested, Big Daddy doesn't pick up any hookers and Eve doesn't get lost in the shops on Canal Street (the first and last are probably the most likely to happen, as I have yet to see a hooker in the city)

So, who's excited for this weekend? ME!!!


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Wow, this totally isn't my scene.

I was sitting in the apt last night trying to figure out what to do. So I went on myspace to check and see if there were any shows going on last night. I then went on Village Voice to search. There were a couple options, all downtown.

I got ready, called Harp and told her to tell me to get my ass out of the house and stop being a loser. Harp is REALLY good at doing stuff like that. Tell it like it is.

I decided on a show at Canal Room. His name is Mark Shine. The Village Voice said to "check out this rising star before you can't get tickets". So I did.

I took the subway all the way downtown, got out of the station and realized that Chinatown is a very different scene at night than it is during the day. It is a little disconcerting to see this usually bustling street deserted. I put on my bitch-face, so no one messes with me, and walked the six blocks to the venue.

Now I was going into this blind. I had heard a couple of his songs on his myspace page and thought what the hell. I pay the $10 to get in, and realize that this is a total reggae scene. Wow, not my scene at all. I didn't realize that this was also a bit of a club too. I thought it was just going to be a show.

I grab a beer and chill out. After listening to some really good reggae and having a couple of beers, the show starts. He really was awesome. A really cool mix of reggae on the rock-tip. Had a classical violinist on stage with him for an amazing song. He really didn't disappoint.

The only thing that bugged me was the guys. Just because I am there by myself doesn't mean that I want to hang out with you. It doesn't mean you can disrupt my enjoyment of this really small show. It doesn't mean I want you to tell me what clubs are hot tonight. What it does mean is that I am here by myself, to enjoy some music and to get out. LEAVE ME ALONE! I get that a girl by herself is an easy target. Oh, she must not have any friends or a boyfriend, so she must be dying to talk to someone. NO! And when I say that I am good not hanging out with you and your friends and that I don't want you to buy me a drink, don't leave and come back. I haven't changed my mind in the past 10 minutes. In fact, now you are just annoying me and I am going to tell you that.

Sorry for the rant. All-in-all, the show was great. I accidentally stepped out of my box and ended up having a really good time. Other than the two annoying guys, the crowd was totally chill. I got a little nervous when I thought I saw Suge Knight (you know, the guy that killed Tupac) there, but there wasn't a shooting, so I doubt it was him.
Hahaha, could you imagine??

Looking for another show tonight, so maybe I will again, have something for you tomorrow.


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Auntie?

I am an only child. I will never have ACTUAL nieces and nephews, so I have claimed my second-cousins as my nieces and nephews. Jarod always reminds me how this is not a true claim of blood relation, but when did I EVER listen to his ass?

Mom and I went to Houston on Wednesday. I haven't seen Sydney and Hugh since August, and, well, kids just grow so quickly, that you miss so much.

I have never wanted kids, at least not yet, maybe ever. I don't think I have the patience to have kids, but I LOVE THEM!

Sydney is three and Hugh is 1. Holy shit are they cute. I mean COME ON! Why do they have to be so damn cute? We hung out all Wed, Thur and Fri. Let me tell ya, they totally melt this grinch's heart.

Thursday Sydney and I were hanging out, playing, dancing, singing, yelling. I got her to take a bath, which she totally didn't want to do. Then I did the impossible. I got her to sleep with me. She usually sleeps with her grandma or her parents, and doesn't usually sleep with others, but the promise of a slumber party suckered her in. We got ready for bed, and she asks "Aunty Iris, what's a slumber party??" This after she was sooooo excited for it. SO cute! Holy moly is this kid a bed hog. She had me shmooshed against the wall all night. How is someone 35 lbs able to ruin a perfectly good night's sleep like that? Although I will not complain.

The next day I got her all jazzed to go ice skating. For those of you not in the know, I once skated daily. I was never very good, in fact I sucked, but I loved it. So we packed the family up, got Sydney ready and went to the rink.

I put on my skates, which have not been on my feet for 13 years. It was like the first time I had stepped on the ice. I was sooooo bad. But it was hilarious. I did a couple of laps and then got her out there. We made it about half way around the rink when she got tired, and so did I.

It was great fun. She asked me yesterday, (I am back in NYC now) if I was going skating today. She is sooo cute. I wanted to die.

Moral of the story ... I really like being an aunt - even a fake one.


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Three Small Town Albertan Do NY Right

As I alluded to in my last post, Jarod and Steve came for New Year's Eve. I was super excited. I love my parents, but I was in need of some interaction with people that laugh at my jokes. Jarod hates laughing, so thank god Steve was with him.

I picked them up from the airport and we returned to my apartment to get ready and grab a bite to eat. Since I am a creature of habit, I suggested we walk around the West Village and see what is available. We found this cool little restaurant and ate. Had some drinks and found out where a couple of gay bars were in the neighborhood.

We walked to the gay bar and realized it was a major club. None of us were really in the mood for a big club, so we reenacted mine and Jarod's last trip here. We bought a couple of bottle of beers and brown-bagged-it around the East Village. I love the East Village. Eclectic and youthful, with little-to-no pretense. We continued to drink and enjoy the neighborhood. We didn't hit any bars or anything, and then just made our way back to the apartment.

Saturday came. We got up and went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have said this before, but the Met is truly awe-inspiring. The vastness of this museum is incredible. You have an inherent appreciation for the stuff here simply because most of it is so freaking old.

After a few hours at the Met, we were getting a little hungry. Grabbed some pizza and decided to hit Little Italy for dinner. We subwayed it to Union Square, my old stomping grounds, and walked to Little Italy. I am a firm believer that you can't really see a city unless you are walking it. Walked through SoHo and down Broadway. Found some great street finds and eventually made it down to Little Italy. Found a good little dive restaurant and had some cheap, but good Italian.

Saturday night is when the insanity started. One of our street finds told us about this party in the West Village. He was selling some really good house c.d.s so we trusted that this would be a decent party. We come home, put on our Albertans-in-New York best and hit the town.

We get to the party and it is in this warehouse or gym of sorts. The crowd is super cool and chill and some KILLER music. There was a dance-off that Jarod participated in. He busted out some Ukrainian dancing on a breakdance tip. It was awesome. I have never been more in awe of him in my entire life.

We stayed at the party till like 5 in the morning. Jarod got VERY drunk and fell out of the cab when it stopped by my apartment. HILARIOUS!

Sunday was painful. We only got out of the apartment around 1:30 pm. We are not 18 anymore, and sleeping after drinking that much is much appreciated.

We then get our hungover asses out of the house and hit MoMA. I really like a lot of the stuff at MoMA, but there is a huge chunk of it that I just don't get. Modern art is a little over my head. Like a red canvas, sorry, I don't get it. So, meh, we finished that and then went to Grand Central Station. Every time I have been in GCS before, I have been running to catch a train or heading somewhere. I have never had a chance to hang out in the terminal and appreciate how cool it is. Very nice.

Finished at GCS and went to meet my parents for dinner. This was a typical Dias dinner. I mean, dad was harassing the wait staff, I was getting annoyed, mom was trying to keep it together, and poor Jarod and Steve got to witness all of this. Good times.

We did nothing of interest for NYE. We were tired, had no desire to stand in a crowd of 1 million people (yes, 1 million people) to see the damn ball drop, so we came back to the apt and hung out here. Didn't even really realize it was midnight till it was after midnight. Haha, I hate New Year's. So much expectations for a night that is usually just mediocre.

All in all it was an ab fab trip. I love having people here to talk to and laugh with and do the shit I want to do.

Next up ... Eve in 11 days! YAY!!!! I am so fucking excited it hurts.


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