movie night

My sister & I saw Fast & Furious 6 last night. I have so many thoughts about the movie that I thought I'd share. In no particular order:

1. How gorgeous is Paul Walker??
2. How yummy are Vin Diesel's muscles??
3. I want to race cars. Legit.
4. Honda Fits don't make very good race cars. Don't try...
5. I can't believe there has been SIX Fast & the Furious movies already! Who would have imagined?! (and not to give anything away...BUT...there mayyyy be a F&F 7...just sayin'...)
6. They are not epic films. I am fully aware of that. But SO entertaining.
7. This one had fabulous music. (this is a great new tune & love this song)
8. Cars really can be beautiful.
9. I wish I had enough money to drive a gorgeous, fast car that turned heads.
10. Movies are fun.

Did I just write a haiku accidentally? Now for photos:

I love this Dodge Charger

Look at those blue eyes....dreamy.

Look at those ginourmous muscles...dreamy as well!

The crew drove some pretty darn nice BMW M5's in the beginning of the movie

 

A bunch of the cars

A beautiful Ginetta that made an appearance (just did some googling - these cost about $105,000 but they only made 50 of them in 2012!)

If you are further interested in the cars from this movie, this article shows more photos and goes into more detail on all of them.

And, for memories sake, my old race car: (RIP GTI)

Happy Tuesday! :)

warning: photo-less post

What did you get up to this weekend? I went to my brother's hockey game on Friday, and they won 2 -1. On Saturday, I went to my aunt's house with my siblings. My uncle looked at my brother's truck headlights, while us gals gabbed. Then my brother, sister, and I went to a barbeque at a friends last night. It's always nice when it's nice weather out just to sit outside and hang. My sister & I were on a beer pong team and totally beat a bunch of boys. We were pretty darn proud of ourselves! I really enjoy that my siblings and I all have so many mutual friends. It's kinda like we have three times the amount of friends! It's great. Plus, my brother and sister themselves are pretty darn cool.

This morning, I went to church with my friend Amanda and her parents. I haven't been to church in a very, very long, so it was good. Without getting into too much detail and beginning a whole theological outburst, I didn't stop going to church because I didn't like it or because I had anything against it. Honestly (and sadly), I stopped because life got hectic. Sundays became days for sleeping in a bit, doing homework, going to baby showers, running a million errands, etc. I liked going to church today - it brought back so many memories of going when I was younger. I do like going because I feel like it really challenges me mentally. It makes me think about things I don't think about on a regular basis, but probably should. I was slightly bummed this morning because I didn't know any of the songs, but oh well! Maybe next time.

After church, Amanda & I wandered Coquitlam Center for a bit. I've been really into buying some new clothing to wear to work, and H&M has done wonders for that! I didn't realize how different it would be wearing whatever I wanted to work, after wearing a red YMCA polo shirt with black pants every, single, freaking day for ten years. I didn't mind the uniform at the time, but now that I DON'T have a uniform, it's very freeing! I bought a long skirt today that I am super excited to wear. Not sure what I will wear it with yet....but I'm excited nonetheless! Plus, it's so, so comfy.

Guess what is happening this Thursday - my convocation!! Yay!! I am super disappointed that my friend Harj won't be there, as somehow she didn't get on the list of attendees for the ceremony, even though she applied. I don't totally know what happened but her & I were school buddies for SO long that it will be weird not having her there. But a bunch of other friends from school will be there so it will be fun. I already have my actual piece of paper degree, so this is just the formal ceremony for it. Don't you worry, there will be photographic evidence to follow!

This song came into my head today for some reason. I loved them! And this song too. Oh and you HAVE to listen to this new song. It makes me want to get up and dance.

Here is to a new week - happy Monday everyone!

 

PS - did you know that the Cactus Club in English Bay has a concession?! Check out the menu!

PPS - A convincing article of why apostrophes are not necessary & should be removed from the English language. Sign me up!

fresh new jam

A fantastic new Pitbull song that makes me feel like I am back on the cruise ship...although, it does sound familiar; maybe I did hear it there?! Regardless - makes you want to get up and dance!! Enjoy!

tuesday tidbits

It's time for fun sites with Shannon! See below :) 

First of all, congratulations to my friend Jethro for being one of the top 25 under 25 in Surrey!! (He seriously does a lot of great things with youth in the community through the Y.)

Are chopsticks killing all the trees? (I totally agree that disposable chopsticks are a waste, but carrying my own utensils with me everywhere seems a little much?)

The New York Times' word of the day today (I should try to incorporate new words more often...)

What are you doing on Sunday, October 6? Come to the Run for the Cure! (I'm on the organizing committee for the BRAND new Surrey run site!!)

Who wants to check out Spaghetei with me?! Japanese style spaghetti in Van - I'm intrigued!!

The most insane plane landings in the world! (in Saint Martin) 

Proof that it's never to late to go back to school! (too cute)

21 rules of entertaining

YUM - a Czech garlic soup recipe

And just for fun, a reminder that standing out in a crowd is not necessarily a bad thing:

may long weekend

Who doesn't love an extra day off work?! That's the secret ingredient of a super fun weekend I think. Oh, and having two pretty awesome siblings adds in there well!

Saturday night was rodeo night. My brother & sister had already been on Friday night, but knew a bunch of people who were going Saturday as well so off we went. The rodeo is usually fun because there are so many people there that we run into. The only bummer was waiting in line for almost two hours...good thing we went relatively early!

The siblings & I ready to rock the rodeo

Amanda, lil' sis & I in the line up (at least it wasn't raining!!)

Pants & his cowboy friend Tyler

Then, randomly on Sunday afternoon, we were sitting around discussing what to do Sunday night. The rodeo was an option (haha) but we decided to make a very, very, improptu camping adventure! Now, let me get this straight: I'm not much of a camper. Like, not at all. However, I decided I could do a one-nighter! I've been camping a few times in my day, but in all seriousness, not a whole lot about camping is appealing to me. Especially without a lake or the ocean. I mean, it's dirty, scary sometimes, dirty, and did I mention dirty? I just like all my things to be in order and to be clean. And sleeping in a tent is NOT comfortable no matter how many blown up mattresses you are sleeping on. Alas, I went and did well! It was myself, my brother, my sister, Amanda and our friend Spencer. Pants had this cool spot he had been to before past Hope that was by an old gold mine, so that's where we were headed. We 4x4'd up a giant mountain, and as we neared the spot he wanted to go to, we spotted SNOW! And not a little bit - feet of snow! So, we couldn't go to Pant's cool spot; but we found another that still had snow nearby. We ate hot dogs, made a campfire, shot a pellet gun, and slept on the ground. Hardcore camping if you ask me!! And it was actually quite enjoyable :)

Pants driving up the mountain - it was SO bumpy!

...aaaaand there's the snow...

...aaaand here's snow all over the path we needed to drive on! The boys were assessing if it was feasible to drive through or not. They decided it was not.

(we were slightly worried about the snow...)

Fun colored camping chairs

Amanda & lil sis set up the tent...

...while Pants & Spencer made a fire. I was being the photographer, obviously!

Pants brought his pellet gun & we shot beer cans. None of us were very good except for Pants. Figures.

His truck was prettttttty dirty!

Mmmm...veggie dogs!! (accompanied with a pickle)

Pant's truck at dusk.

Our fire that kept us warm. Until we had to go to bed...then it was FREEZING. Us gals snuggled intensely in our tent - we had to!

This was the lovely morning we woke up to.

Not sure if you can see, but the white in the very middle of the photo is the freeway! We were quite high up in the mountains...we had bear-scare tactics, don't worry.

And to wrap up the weekend, our family went to Stanley Park today for a walk/run and some dinner. My dad & lil' sis ran the majority of the sea wall while the rest of us (me, my momma, Pants & Emma) walked about 3 kilometres. We met up at the end and went downtown to get donairs and poutine. So delicious! We really wanted to find a food truck & be adventurous but there were barely any open to today - weird hey?

Dad & lil' sis runnin' along

Mom & Emma at the water

Emma's fur was blowing in the wind...we thought it was warmer out; but it was pretty windy!

My mom & Pants. He was picture-d out after the weekend! Fair enough...

________________________________________________

And that concludes what I did this weekend. All in all, lots of adventures & fun times! Now, I think I need to go to bed early and rest this ol' back of mine. It was painful sleeping on rocks last night. In the Arctic air...

What did YOU do this weekend? Do tell! Happy back-to-work-day tomorrow!!

home sweet home

I am back home now after house sitting for two weeks - hooray! There is nothing so great as your own bed. And not having cat hair all over EVERYTHING.... :)

Who else is excited that it is a long weekend!? I don't really have a whole lot of plans which I am kind of excited for. I might hit up the rodeo tonight! I had big plans to sleep in today, but as I have mentioned before, I am getting old and that doesn't happen very easily anymore. I was up at 7:30, and then fell back asleep until 9 or so. Oh well, more time to do things I guess! (I then proceeded to do a few loads of laundry, make my bed, scrub the bathroom, and make breakfast for my fam. Oh and drank some coffee.)

Lil' sis  & I went on a date: sushi dinner & Target!

I was trying to get a cute photo of Scrappy & I together...it didn't work well! Regardless, he's pretty cute though.

the adventures of house sitting

I was awoken last night around 2:15 am to what sounded like the cats were fighting and jupming off furniture. I was so confused because they are normally pretty quiet at night. So I went downstairs to find a RACCOON on one of the little balconies. He was scratching at the door and the cat was freaking out and hissing at it. Then, it kept trying to climb up the house and get off the balcony, but every time it almost got up to the railing, he would fall. I felt a little bad for him, because he fell flat onto his back from about 4 feet up a few times that I saw. I almost wanted to help him, but knew that might not end up in my favor...anyways, he ended up being able to climb up and get off the balcony after I watched for a little while and held the cat.

The dog (Scrappy) sleeps outside so then I was scared that this irritated raccoon would go bug him, so I brought him inside. He barked for a bit because he didn't want to be inside. Alas, I couldn't fall back asleep very well. I then had a dream about angry raccoons coming after me. It was special.

I took my phone downstairs since I had no idea what was happening...this is the raccoon staring into the house. It was so creepy with his beady little eyes staring in!!

"Hi everyone! I'm cute!" - Scrappy

Amanda cuddling Millie

Scrappy & I on our nightly walk around the block

And a few others adventurous things for you...

 Big news! Birch Bay is getting its first stoplight

Poutine soda? Seriously?

Some updates on Will & Kate's baby  (plus a baby bump photo)

Raj & Bernadette on the Big Bang Theory doing an Indian dance & song...too funny!

The first Canadian to ever command the international space station just came home yesterday #ProudCanadian

Mmmm... yogurt marinade recipes (I am going to have to try this)

You gotta watch this video of kid's trying new foods - I laughed out loud at  a few! (found this video on the same website as the above marinade recipes - it's a great food blog called Dinner: A Love Story)

around the web

I have been hangin' out at home just doing some internet reading this eve. I'm so cool. Here's some fun stuff (and one not so fun thing) for ya to peruse:

The Cleveland kidnapping story is so terrible...I seriously struggle to believe that humans in this world can physically do this to other humans. Ugh. And their rescuer, such a character, but a good man!

On a lighter note, the do's & don'ts of cover letters from an unqualified source (haha - a friend of mine's blog!)

Oh man - celebrities when they were young (photos! Drew Carey is barely recognizable!)

A book of portraits entitled "Created Equal". The author says: " At the heart of this collection of portraits is my desire to remind us that we were all equal, until our environment, circumstances or fate molded and weathered us into whom we have become."

Uh oh. Snapchat photos are recoverable!

Some origins of body part names (elbow - interesting!)

SO EXCITED FOR FAST & FURIOUS 6!!

Happy Friday! Here is some advice for the weekend, from me to you, with love:

bandwagon much?

I think I've said this before, but I am a bit of a bandwagon hockey fan. I do enjoy watching hockey in general, for the social aspect of it, but I mean, who doesn't like a good, intense playoff game?! Our good ol' Canucks lost this evening; alas the season is over for them. Oh well! Maybe next year... speaking of hockey, check out Luongo's condo that's for sale!

I have three furry friends this week: Scrappy, Millie and Tiger. Oh and one unnamed aquarium friend - a fighting fish. I have been trying for the past three days to get a good photo of Scrappy (the dog) and I can't!! He just keeps moving! I took him for a walk today and thought we could get a nice photo together by the water or something (haha) but by the time I was carrying filled poop bags, house keys, my phone, and trying to keep up with him, it just got too hectic. Maybe tomorrow! He's pretty cute and happy. The kitties are super chill, but only one lets me photograph her.  Don't these animals understand I have a blog to write?!

Millie - she's such a poser. But she had the eyes for modelling!

hello mr. weekend!

At the risk of sounding like everyone else in Vancouver right now, this weather has been fantastic this weekend! I think I am going to wash my car today. It needs it, plus I could use some sun on this white skin of mine...

My adorable lil' sister was in her friend Elissa's wedding party yesterday. It was a gorgeous day for the wedding, thankfully, and my sister appears to have held up all day considering her improving illnesses. I am SO excited to see pictures of the whole day from GC Photography!

This is my newest facewash that I really enjoy. Plus, I find myself reading the little message on it and get quite inspired! Take a read.

MY WHALE FRIEND IS HOME!!!! (JC) She normally travels the world via working on a cruise ship, but she recently got back from her own exploration adventure in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Columbia and some other cool places. She is only home for a short time before she ventures off to Hawaaii with her fam, and then likely starts another cruise ship contract after that. This is us bombarding little sister in her room while she was attempting to study...

On Friday, my friend Lisa had a PartyLite AND Epicure party - double whammy! This is me multi-tasking: snuggling Kalan and drinking some wine. I had to keep busy so I didn't spend a million dollars on candles and spices...! Plus, Kalan snuggles are pretty darn great. (I did really like these bakers though; they'd be perfect for dips. I do think I would get use out of them?!)

Janessa and I hangin' out

Janessa was looking through Amanda's photos on her phone and it got pretty late...she fell asleep like this! Pretty cute.

I am housesitting as of yesterday and this isn't the best picture, but this is the master bedroom view of the ocean! It's about two blocks up from another place I've housesat before. Love this neighborhood! I have two kitties, a dog, and a fish here for two weeks. They're all pretty cute - pictures to follow!

Amanda & I went shopping to Alderwood Mall in Seattle yesterday and rewarded our long day of walking with dinner at PF Chang's. (These were our lettuce wraps - to die for.) I needed some casual work attire and ended up buying a few good things that I am excited to wear to work! My favorites are this cardigan and these flats. (both from H&M)

My fortune read: "An unexpected visitor will bring you good blessings." Hmm....I am intrigued!!

And now, a few things for you to read! (If you are not spending this gorgeous day outside)

A celebrity crush I TOTALLY agree with

How to create genius cheese pairings 

Article: Success depends on finding the best version of yourself 

5 business etiquette rules to follow these days

A Cup of Jo's fun things around the web 

Fun food art (fun for kids AND adults! The veggie face is pretty realistic looking...and pretty creepy...)

A comic: The secret lives of chefs

Lastly, a VERY interesting article on a new Canadian dating website for inmates