XXIV bday weekend

So this weekend was fabulous. A bunch of us went to the Duke of Richmond after work on Friday for drinks and kicks.

It was totally packed but eventually we got a table and Hayley gave me my present - Pretty Pretty Princess!! As you can see I was thrilled.

I ended up leaving by 10 I think, I'm not quite sure. I know I was outside having a smoke and I called Jer inside and said I was ready to go. It was pretty stuffy in there, so I think that's why I left early. Well that and the shots.

Anyhoo when I woke up on Saturday I was 24 years old. A friend of mine popped by to wish me a happy birthday, so Jer and I decided that we'd go see his new movie, in good company. It was great. He was glad we liked it.

After that Jeremy and I headed over to his parents for delicious food and more presents. We played Mario Party 6 and Pretty Pretty Princess. Denise won, but I got to wear the crown for a bit anyway. I got mashed potatoes and my cake had sprinkles and betty boop on it. Wicked.

On Sunday my parents came to take Jeremy and I to a gift show near the airport. After circling the parking lot for 30 minutes we went in only to discover that we didn't have the proper documentation to gain access. Meh. It didn't really look all that exciting anyway. So instead we headed for St. Lawrence market to look at all the goodies.

For lunch we went to the flatiron and had a pint with our grub. Man there is nothing like having a beer at 3 o'clock on a sunny Sunday. My dad even brought his new friend he met at the market.

The full collection of pics from my fabulous birthday weekend are available at clarapics.

hours to go...

As today is my last day as a 23 year old I thought a commemorative snapshot was in order. This was taken just minutes before walking to work and discovering that the body shaper slip I had tucking in my jiggly bits caused my dress to ride up. By the time I arrived at work my skirt was around my waist. Thank goodness for long coats. Needless to say it was a paranoid 20 minute jaunt down Yonge.

Anyway so it's off to the Duke of Richmond for celebrations with the office gals tonight. I don't know if it'll be a beer or 10 beer and maybe some tequila. We'll just see when we get there.

Stellar and Eunice are all set for the big day tomorrow.....

clarapics

clarapics is now in the links section to the right, so you can see all my happy pics even when I don't post them specifically. Aren't you all just so excited???? I don't think I can do any work today.

Also ...a work in progress.... will continue to be a creative outlet but now with images as well as prose and poetry, if you's like to glimpse my inner workings - not the sexy ones. Well they are a little sexy

snowgirl

Ingrid and Maria - at least I think that's Maria under there.

dreamgirl

I've wanted a camera for quite some time now, and i've always known that the first picture I wanted on my blog was this - the woman of my dreams. Sorry Jer.

next blog and horrific toys

I’ve been exploring the next blog button on the blogger navbar, and have found some worthwhile things. Today I found a great haiku honoring James Brown. Also that's how Mary found me after all these years.

Jer and I gave Denise her gifts last night. He got her a Teddy Scare (bottom left) and I got her a Living Dead Dolly, the one in the tutu. She loved them.

ah, joe balls at the duke

Last night Erin, Hayley, Jeremy and myself went to the duke for joe balls and beer. What fun. I love joe balls so much it hurts. I was really pleased that Erin and Hayley seemed to like them as much as I. We were practically yelling how good they were. Ok so we were a little drunk. They came over a little later then I expected so I’d had three glasses of wine already. Then Hayley said she’s brought gin but had no mix, and I said well, last time I bought pop I bought wink for some reason and I can’t drink it – but everyone knows it’s great with tanqueray. So by the time Jeremy came over after work he had 3 unsteady lovelies on his hands. It was great.

A client got me one of those balloons filled with sand so I can squeeze it when filled with rage due to morons on the phone. I already got to try it out this morning. A women called at 9 and was supposed to be in court at nine. She said she was stuck in traffic and was late. Then she asked me what she should do. Um, get there as fast as you can? I think she wanted me to say it was okay if she just went home and forgot about it. Am I the common sense dispenser? If you’re late for something what should you do? Keep going bonehead. I hope this balloon thing has receptionist strength rubber.

goodbye fievel

On Denise’s birthday this weekend I taught her how to play video games and now she’s an unstoppable machine. I can’t wait till Tuesday when we can have a Mario party rematch. Also I can give her the creepy birthday gift I didn’t get to yesterday on account of the blackout downtown. My apartment was not effected in case anyone was wondering. Fievel and I are alright, tho I did get mouse poison so Fievel’s days of being ‘alright’ are numbered.

After we got home Hayley, Theo and Erin dropped by to show us how drunk they were and partake of the box of wine before heading out for more hi jinx. How do I know that hi jinx would ensue? Well Hayley borrowed my black wig and red lipstick. Wigs + alcohol = more lack of inhibition that anyone should ever experience. Especially if you have very little self control to begin with. This is why I have to be very careful when and where I don a wig. Heh.

blehblog

I found the dullest blog in the world. Funny thing is there are like 14 pages of comments to each post. I guess dullness really unites people.

Blurg.

This is my favorite entry:

Sitting on the settee (, November 21)
I was sitting on the settee in my living room. The settee felt quite comfortable to sit on. I continued to sit there for a while.

plush flush lush

I was having a cranky day and so as I went to get myself some lunch I was very susceptible to calming/soothing opportunities. Then I walked by Lush. I’d never been so I thought, meh why not. 15 minutes and ahem dollars later I was a very happy girl. Can’t wait to go home and pamper myself. Sigh.

guys(?) and dolls

I showed Jeremy the candy dolls I made of myself and told him his sisters had also done one. He then looked at me expectantly and asked where his was. Uh, sweetie, it's only girls I say. He looked disgruntled and said what about the girl version of me. Startled, (to say the least) I agreed to make one today. Left to right its super kawaii clarafaery princess doll, claradoll original and my manly boytoy jeremy as a woman doll (per his creepy request).

must bash someone's head......

I’m having a hard time being understanding towards people today. Like if I answer the phone and they ask my where they’ve called – when my greeting includes the company name. Sometimes I want to ask where do you think you called? Are you just dialing random numbers or did you specifically intend to call someone? Who gives these people telephones?

Update* A woman calls and starts asking questions that have nothing to do with the company she’s called. I say ‘I’m sorry I think you have the wrong number, this is whatever inc’. She reads the number she’s dialed and I tell her, yes that is my number. Confused, she hangs up. Two seconds later she calls back and begins with her previous questions. ‘m’am. I say. This is whatever inc. You have the wrong number. She says ‘but this is listed as whocares ltd in the yellow pages. Are you sure it’s not whocares ltd?’. I pause to contain my instinct to call this woman a moron and say I’m quite sure.

I wanted to ask her which she thought was more possible, a misprint in the almighty yellow pages or that I’m honestly not aware of which company I work for?

digibless

I’ve had my site blessed, I recommend you do the same.

mysterious pain and good movie

So I had a pretty uneventful weekend. When I woke on Friday by back felt really weird and got increasingly painful as the day went on. On Saturday Jeremy bought me some muscle relaxers and I spent the next several hours in a deep pill-induced sleep/stupor. Tho I did rouse myself long enough to go see House of the Flying Daggers. Now I adore Andy Lau but he didn’t steal the show this time, that honour goes to Takeshi Kaneshiro. Delish. As for my back today it’s about the same, tho when I move my eyeballs I get a shooting pain from my left eye socket the base of my skull. It’s kinda freaky.

sangeet rocks

Ohmigosh. My favorite Miss Universe Canada® contestant just came in. Sangeet. We chatted a wee bit and then she had some stuff do or whatever. I was busy when she left but I wanted to tell her that she’s my favorite. And Hayley and Rebecca’s too. And maybe Jeremy’s. She's so super nice. Gush, gush, gush.


p.s – Sangeet rocks.

i love a girl who works at starbucks

So I did the saved by the bell quiz hayley was talking about. I was AC Slater. Huh. Results are posted at quirks and such . I looked around this is yesterday and found these cute little name generators (I also recommend the erotic mad libs). I loved jer and my results so much I have to share them.

Which Band Should You Be In? by couplandesque

Me*
Band Name The Get Up Kids
Role Guitarist
Trademark Loves Fan Interaction
Love Interest Girl Who Works At Starbucks

Jeremy
Band Name Metallica
Role Drummer
Trademark Appearing Onstage Almost Nude
Love Interest Your Next-Door Neighbour

Eerie how accurate these things are eh? I just want to know who the hell his neighbours are.

before i die

I will own, and have the ultimate high score ever - on Twilight Zone Pinball. Oh yeah baby. Oh. Yeah.

i saw a body *maybe*

So it only took me 15 months (3 of those downtown) in Toronto to see my first dead body. Technically I saw a body covered with a sheet but there was a hu-massive pool of blood. I was passing through the Eaton Centre with Margaret and Ingrid and we saw yellow tape blocking off some escalators and such. We peered over the edge as we got closer and saw the mess. I didn’t think it would be such a bright red. I called my dad when I got home because anytime someone dies in the GTA my mother calls me to make sure I’m okay. Then I called Maria and she already knew about it ( the woman knows everything that happens in the core I’m telling ya)When Jeremy arrived to watch Amazing Race with me I told him what I’d seen and goes ‘hmmm. I brought you a Panzerotto’. I was shocked at his lack of shockedness and told him so. He explained to me with a lackluster expression that he’s seen 3 bodies, two of which he witnessed the transition from living person to corpse. Death doesn’t really bother him apparently. Consider tho that he has been to one funeral for a loved one and I have been to 5.

update* So we’re pretty sure it was a suicide, as there is no information anywhere regarding the incident. I did a post not too long ago about subway jumpers and suicide but it seems to be missing. If anyone has seen it please let me know.

update** I've heard (from someone who would know) that the fellow survived, and is now a vegetable.

coming down hard

While walking to work today a homeless person asked me for money so she could get high. Well first she said the toboggan’s coming down hard and then she asked for the money. I think perhaps she already was high. Maybe her name is Toboggan.

lodge - and i don't mean veronica

This weekend at the lodge in Minden I taught my niece how to make snowballs and attempt to hit people. I really have horrible aim. To be fair I got better as I went along, I just needed warming up. I managed to hit Jeremy 3 times, one of which he took pity on me and lifted his foot so I would hit him and he ended up losing his balance and falling on his ass because it was so slippery. Hi-lar-i-ous. Jeremy also got to go snowshoeing with my father, now he wants a pair for himself. I’m sure he’ll get a lot of use out of them here in the city. If you see some guy snowshoeing into a Starbucks, that’s my man.

toronto trek

I had to squish this banner to make it fit in my sidebar, so I thought I'd give it one opportunity to appear in it's full glory.

I can't wait.

perfick

someone invented a game just for me

best day ever

So first of all it’s Friday. Yay, donut day. At this very moment Ingrid has given me a delightful cruller which I will eat while writing, getting the keyboard sticky in the process but I don’t care cuz I’m in such a good mood and it’s Friday. Secondly, this weekend Jeremy and I are joining my family for a weekend at a cottage in Minden. Apparently this is where Maria went when she first came to Canada. I feel closer to her already. Anyway also contributing to my awesome day is the fact that my blog traffic is increasing. I’m up to 32 views a day!!! Sure this may not seem like much to you heavy hitters but last week I was at 22. I know a large part of this is thanks to Mary…so, thanks Mary!! Also I made a name generator that I’m very happy with, it’s in the links section to the right. Now you can find out which Nigh’s chocolate you are and then go to Stevensville and buy some and eat yourself. Ok the biggest contributor to my day of dipsaluscious Friday is – my raise!!!!!!! Yes I got a raise. I’m thrilled. I just might get internet at home next month to celebrate. If that happens you’ll see a definite increase in post weirdness as I will be writing after a few glasses of wine sometimes. Don’t worry I’m a very witty drunk. At least I like to think so. I’ll try to spread some of my cheer with you via a joke that made me laugh out loud this morning.

Sometimes women are overly suspicious of their husbands.... When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset.

"You're running around with other women," she told her mate.

"Eve, honey, you're being unreasonable," Adam responded. "You know you're the only woman on earth."

The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by a strange pain in the chest. It was his darling Eve poking him rather vigorously about the torso.

"What do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded.

"Counting your ribs," said Eve.
(per drunken monkey style blogging)

numbah one baby

Omigosh. I was looking at my site meter and I had some interesting searches lead to me. The exciting part is that I was the FIRST result in both of them. How exciting. I’m number one!! At least when it comes to ’biggest poutine’ on google, and ’the sulu dance’ on yahoo.ca. I’m honestly really thrilled about this. And yes I do know that I’m a loser.

replica food - today's history lesson

The fake or replica food phenomena is bigger than I originally thought. When I started this post it was mainly for Denise, who is something of an expert, but I ended up genuinely interested in the origins and new techniques out there. Ok so here go the links. There are a number of sites where people showcase and sell their own designs, such as Leelee’s creations. I also found instructions on making a candle that looks like a mug of hot chocolate. Well I’m sure the mug is actually real.

Anyway while researching this I found that the origins of replica food are Japanese:

"In the Meiji era at the end of the 19th century, Japanese restaurant-goers were frequently confounded by the strange new Western cuisines flooding into the country. Even with Japanese translations of menu items, most guests had no idea what they were ordering. To help, many restaurants took the expensive and space-consuming means of preparing samples for their customers to peruse. To cut costs, some restaurants provided elaborate drawings or photos. But these one-dimensional presentations did not pique many appetites. The Meiji era slowly gave way to Taisho and then to Showa with little change.

Enter an entrepreneur from Gifu. Takizo Iwasaki was a young man bent on making an impact in the business world. By 1926 -- the first year of Showa -- Iwasaki had yet to find his niche. So he left Gifu for Osaka in search of his fortune. Life was hard for Iwasaki in Osaka as well until one day -- perhaps while eating a rice omelet in a crowded lunch shop -- something clicked in his imagination. He remembered the wax models of the human body on display at most Japanese apothecaries and the wax fruit and vegetables used in school nutrition classes and thought: "Why not!"
Iwasaki hurried back to his cramped apartment and -- after days of trial and error -- finally perfected a wax model of a rice omelet. Other models followed. Then he loaded them on his bicycle to see if any shops would buy his replica food. To his joy, they all did.
Even among imitators, success leads to imitation, and Iwasaki soon had competitors across Japan. Yet the company he founded in his Osaka apartment -- Iwasaki Be-I -- remains the largest purveyor of replica food to this day".
(per japanwelcomesyou.com)

People lucky enough to actually go to Japan and see this for themselves have shared their experiences and fascination with replica food.

The market is huge in Japan and many are trying bring it world wide. Apparently the market is a little tougher to crack in the western world, but thanks to web based businesses you can get some fake sushi of your very own. So whether you’ll buy it or make it, try to bring some fake food into your life. I have a fake chocolate that is part of my collage mirror frame (a Denise Grant original). This is only the beginning.

416.867.5309

“When Stewie tries to call home from the hotel he tries the first number that comes to mind; 867-5309 then screams "Damn you Tommy TuTone!" This references a song sung by Tommy TuTone called (appropriately) "867-5309/Jenny" in 1981. It was a big hit about a guy that called a woman whose number he found on the bathroom wall. It was TuTone's only real hit.” - family guy reference archives (awesome site by the way)

So I found this site where a guy called every 867.5309 number in north america (per webjunkie). After googling 867-5309 I found that all things christie had featured the same site awhile back. Who knew how many people would be looking for Jenny?

Immediately after reading this I called 416.867.5309. I’m listening to it ring right now, unfortunately it’s just ringing and ringing. Sigh, a never ending ring. On the plus side I can use this as a fake number when I’m signing up for free samples of things and they require a real phone number.

Seriously tho people. Aren't all of us, in some way, trying to find 'Jenny'?

next blog

So, 2005 eh? I’m loving the odd numbered year thing. I’m more comfortable with it. Hopefully it will offset the fact that I’ll be an even age this year (this month actually, start shopping now!!). Anyway on with the news. First an update on my porn site status, apparently if you search ‘prostitutes in Peterborough’ you can come to my blog. Nice.

So on new years eve I worked at Gabby’s (yonge and eglinton), it was my first time working in a bar and Jeremy’s last. End of an era. It was so much fun, I love the mystique of being staff. I wish I’d had one of those t-shirts that said STAFF on the back. I think they up the coolness by like 20%. I settled for a low cut shirt, new years tiara and extraneous hand stamp usage. I was pretty cool.

My previous post, as I’m sure you’re all aware, discussed the small town I went to high school in. I’m so glad I wrote it because it allowed me to be identified by someone I went to school with, actually we go all the way back to kindergarten. We were even in Girl Guides together. Here’s Mary’s blog, it’s an account of her adventures, trials and tribulations while teaching in Korea (also it’s now in the blogs section to the right). Isn’t that wild? I hope if anyone else comes across my blog , they’ll let me know. Ah the wonders of blogging. Bringing people together. Toronto, Korea – what’s a continent between bloggers? Anyway that’s me being amazed at the craziness of it all. Let this be a lesson to all you bloggers – use that random next blog button. You never know who you’ll get.