7 months

May 18, 2012 Filed Under: Everyday Stories, Family, Things That Make Me Happy Tagged With: , ,

Dear Cris,

Sorry it’s been a while since I wrote your last letter. I kind of wish I’d written a little more often but it seems like time is going SO FAST these days and look at you now, you’re already more than HALF A YEAR OLD. I seriously can’t believe it. You’re growing so fast & you’re learning so quickly, it amazes me each time I have the chance to see your cute little face.

We spent some time together last weekend. It was Mother’s Day and you were in an amazingly good mood. That’s no surprise though, you’re almost ALWAYS in a good mood. Let the record state that you might be one of the calmest, easiest babies to please. Ever. You’re kind of like your dad that way, because apparently he had a pretty easy disposition as a baby as well.

At one point you were sitting in your car seat while we were all standing around outside waiting for your dad, and you were extremely giggly. I looked at you from the rear window and you BURST into laughter. We started playing a really serious game of hide and seek and you were laughing so hard it made me start laughing, too. I seriously love how much you love playing games, and it just makes my day when I can make you giggle.

Giggles in your little suit on Mother’s Day! 

The last 5 months since I wrote to you have just been crazy. You’ve done a lot of growing, getting bigger, and becoming the little boy that I have imagined you to be for SO long now. Your face is a real tiny person’s now, not just a newborn baby’s. Your smiles are more than just you learning how mimic other peoples’ faces. Your face genuinely lights up with delight when you recognize someone, and you are learning the difference between friend and stranger. Random people love saying hello to you and giving you little pats on the back because you’re so cute and round and you’ve got the biggest, bluest, most curious looking eyes. And when they try and get your attention? You smile and cover your face up. YOU’RE A SHY BABY. Who would have known?!

Drooling on Mother’s Day. It’s your thing, now that you’re getting teeth. Woo! Ha :)

On your half birthday you finally started eating food. It’s a bit of a challenge because your mama and daddy are teaching you what it means to put actual food in your mouth instead of just milk. I personally think it’s hilarious to watch and I love snapping pictures of you with food all over your face. We’re going to have so much fun looking back at all this when you’re older. Just wait until you bring a girl home. Hehe :)

Food. Everywhere. You’re still cute! <3

Seriously though, you’re just all kinds of cute. I’ve wanted to be an aunt ever since I can remember (more than wanting to be a mom. I am NOT ready for that yet!) and you have been the perfect baby to learn the ropes with. In your first letter I told you that I needed some time to get used to you and how to hold you comfortably; now I know that I’ve got the hang of things. I was so NERVOUS when you first got here that I wouldn’t be able to do things right when I saw you & that scared me. I’ve had so much fun figuring out what you love and don’t love, and I can easily say that you get excited and antsy when I come to pick you up now. It’s such a heart-warming feeling. I un-buckle your seat belt and you start moving your legs and giggling and you hoist yourself upwards to make things easier.

Clearly, I need to write to you more often. This is becoming a long letter. I can’t WAIT to see what the next few months have in store for you. I’d like to just say that my new favorite thing is taking walks with you and showing off how freaking cute of a nephew I’ve got.

Kid, you’re gonna be a heart breaker.

Love always,

Auntie Melissa

Oh, hey there.

Chit-chatting with squeaky Elmo. It’s like your videos come to life!

Mirror picture!

Have I mentioned you’re cute yet? <3

15 Comments

It’s a promise.

March 5, 2012 Filed Under: Things That Make Me Happy, Things To Remember, Travel Tagged With: , ,

Some days, I feel like the top of the world. Other days, I really just need someone to realize that I need a big hug and some reassuring words that everything is going to be okay.

I knew this was going to happen to me, it always does after a vacation: I start to get very sad. I didn’t even think it was going to happen THIS time, because I was only gone for about a week & I was trying to prepare myself beforehand… But I have to face the facts. I’m an emotional person and I tend to let my feelings get the best of me when I least expect it. 

Coming home makes me sad, because I always realize one big thing after the first couple days: I’m ready to leave again. My vacations make me feel AMAZING and FREE and like I can DO ANYTHING I want. I love it, and I know that one week just isn’t cutting it for me anymore. My heart is telling me that bigger things are waiting for me in this world.

So what’s holding me back? 

I’m not gutsy enough yet. I’m a worrier. I’m bad at saving money. I’m convinced I wouldn’t survive out there, even though I really want to. Maybe I’d miss home too much. Maybe I’d miss friends & family WAY too much. People might forget about me or lose interest in keeping in contact with me if I was gone for too long.

The list goes on, and on, and on, and on. 

But the feeling of wanting to leave? It’s still there. It’s been lurking in my mind for the last year or so, and it just isn’t going anywhere. I have very little motivation to complete my schoolwork because I don’t currently feel like I’m pursuing what I WANT to be pursuing. My heart just isn’t in it. I don’t feel like I’m living the life that I want to be living at 22 years old. I’m still young, there are so many things I want to do, and realistically there isn’t THAT much holding me back at home (other than friends & family that I would miss). The truth is, I want to pack a bag and I want to immerse myself in a far away land for a few months. Maybe I could study there, or work, or volunteer, or just roam the different cities and discover how different people live their lives.

I just know I want to go somewhere far. I KNOW I’ll miss home, but I *want* to miss home. Next time I leave, I want to come back and not feel like I’ve lost an opportunity somewhere.

What I’m saying is that I talk a lot about accomplishing goals, making lists and living life on my own terms, but there’s just SOMETHING I’m not doing right, because this isn’t how I should feel every time I’m back home. I LOVE home, I love my “me time” and I really love the people I have back home, but really really deep down? I know all these things will still be here after I throw myself out of my comfort zone for a little while. I want to stop being jealous of the stories I read of people living their dreams. I want to be the person writing those stories from a distant continent. 

I needed to write this post to remind myself that I need to take a look at myself and choose what’s best for ME, not for everyone around me or for the me in 10 years. I’m making myself a promise. A big one that I 100% intend to keep.

By the time I turn 25 years old, I want to be traveling the world in a BIG way.

It’s time to start planning and making this happen. I think that planning THIS kind of trip is going to make everything a LOT better for me.

I’m already smiling. 

27 Comments

Florida & the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

February 27, 2012 Filed Under: Things That Make Me Happy, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

I got home on Saturday (late) afternoon after an amazing five days and nights in Orlando, Florida. As if I hadn’t talked about it enough BEFORE going, I feel like I have about a million things to say now that it’s all over. Which, by the way? I can’t believe it’s already all over. But, such is the way vacations go, and I truly had an amazing time with one of my best friends.

I did something fun & special on each of my five days there, so I’m going to try and break it up into two or three posts throughout the next week!

First off, and maybe most importantly, was my experience at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. That place was the ultimate *reason* that I’ve been wanting to go to Orlando for the last couple years, it’s on my Life List, and I couldn’t wait to write my very own post about my time at the WWOHP to join all of the amazing ones I read online before leaving.

We headed to WWOHP on our second day in Orlando, because our first was the day that we flew in so we just wanted to explore. We woke up around 7am and caught the 8:30am shuttle from our hotel straight to Universal. We had no idea what to expect, but we knew the park opened at 9am so we thought we had done it properly. Turns out we had to wait in a MASSIVE line to get our tickets, and then another MASSIVE line to scan our tickets to actually get in to Islands of Adventure (the park where WWOHP is). There were a LOT more people than we had anticipated, but we quickly found out we chose Mardi Gras weekend and we might have to put up with ridiculous crowds for the whole trip. Luckily this was not the case, it was mostly just or our first day, and the park was well enough organized that it didn’t drive me TOO crazy.

We basically headed straight through the different worlds of Islands of Adventure to get straight to Harry Potter. I was SO excited- the minute we walked in I spotted Hogwarts and nearly had a panic attack! But we walked all the way there, through the Hogsmeade entrance, and explored the shops/took pictures for a good hour before doing anything else.

   

   

   

Everything is SO well done, I was more impressed than I even thought I could be. Each shop window was decorated as I had imagined, there was music playing throughout the whole park, all the employees were dressed up, the buildings and the ambiance made me truly feel like I had stepped into a Harry Potter book or movie.

After we felt like we had walked around long enough, we decided to look at what rides the park offered- there are three:

1. The Flight of the Hippogriff: a somewhat high-speed rollercoaster
2. The Dragon Challenge: an upside down, cork-screw, high-paced rollercoaster
3. The Forbidden Journey: some kind of mysterious ride INSIDE Hogwarts

I’m *really* not a roller-coaster person, and besides we knew that we REALLY wanted to experience Hogwarts, so we got ourselves our very first Butterbeer of the trip and settled ourselves into a 2 hour line-up into the castle. It was actually the longest, most winding line I’ve EVER been in and no picture could ever possibly compare. I know it was about 4 hours worse when the park first opened, but it’s important to know I am not a wait-in-line-person. Turns out that with a butterbeer and a castle walk to look forward to, time FLEW by. Once again, everything was so incredibly well decorated and orchestrated, and the line moved incredibly quickly so you were never stuck in one spot.

   

I would highly recommend getting a drink to wait in this line, especially if you’re a) going during peak season or b) a really busy time. Either way, you’re going to wait in line for this ride and it was really nice to have something to sip on that was so delicious. The glass that we have in the pictures above was an extra price, but we decided to go all out because you got cheaper refills on a bunch of drinks once you were done. Although we didn’t take advantage of that, it’s good for a lot of people- I just wanted the souvenir of my first butterbeer!

The castle ride was, in one word, unbelievable. I’m not even sure I could explain how I was feeling as I experienced it for the very first time. We were lucky enough to go through it THREE times during our stay (we learned that a good way to get on rides was to go to WWOHP as the sun set, that’s when people are leaving and lines are all under 30 minutes)… But honestly, for our first ride, two hours was SO worth it. Not to mention that halfway through the line-up you get to go inside the castle and they have tons of things set-up for you to see inside. I *wish* I could have taken pictures, but they ask you to stow your belongings in lockers beforehand.

**SPOILER** it’s basically a 3D (4D?) ride through Hogwarts. You’re flying, you’re playing Quidditch, you’re zooming in and out of the castle, you’re meeting dementors/the whomping willow/characters from the movie. As I flew down the Quidditch pitch in the MOST realistic and seamless 3D ride I’ve ever been on, I couldn’t help but tear up. It was like my life from age 11 until now, all summed up in two minutes. Everything you wanted to do as a child as you secretly waited for your very own Hogwarts letter.

Although we left WWOHP for a few hours that day to explore the rest of Islands of Adventure, we returned just in time for a late lunch at the three Broomsticks around 2:30pm, followed by some souvenir shopping before we headed home. We had great service there as well & were really impressed with the prices and the system they had in place to get you seated with your food.

   

We also decided to wait in line to experience Ollivander’s after lunch. At first we really didn’t want to wait an hour for a 5 minute show, but the two of us realized that we were at WWOHP and we didn’t know when we’d make it back. So we waited and once again, the line went really quickly. It wasn’t anything AMAZING, but we did get to see the inside of the wand shop. Also, in my true geeky nature, I went up to Ollivander (when I was supposed to be leaving) and I introduced myself & asked for a picture!

   

We ended our first day at Islands of Adventure soon after meeting Ollivander. We returned to WWOHP two days later around dinner time and we were able to go through the castle in 20 minutes, and we also got on the Flight of the Hippogriff in about 5 minutes because there weren’t many people around. We enjoyed our second Butterbeer on our way out of the park just after 7PM.

Our final day in Florida (February 24th) we decided at the last minute to go back ONE last time to experience WWOHP at sunset. We headed over there around 5:30pm and didn’t leave until they started to close up at 8:30PM. On our final visit we did the castle ride ONE LAST TIME and honestly? It never got old. I still smiled like a complete lunatic as I flew through the world I’ve read about for the last decade of my life.

We ended our trip with our third (and sadly, final) butterbeer, sitting on a random ledge in the middle of Hogsmeade. We just sat around and enjoyed the park that had become our most visited place during our vacation. It was all around such an amazing experience, I am 100% going back once they expand the park- which I have no doubt they will do. It’s constantly the busiest world in the ENTIRE theme park, and certainly the most modern and well done. As a long-time Harry Potter fan, I was extremely happy with everything I experienced there. Through all the chaos and activity, the employees remained in great moods and were always super helpful, and the quality of our experience never diminished because it was too busy or overwhelming. Of course it would have been nice on our first day to not have been stuck with almost no walking space, but it really is just part of the excitement of the Wizarding World!

   
*All pictures and opinions in this post are my own, if you’d like to use any of the images please link back here, thanks!

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Have you ever been to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, or Wizarding World of Harry Potter? What was your experience like?! 

14 Comments

Love is in the air!

February 14, 2012 Filed Under: Cute Stuff, Pictures, Things That Make Me Happy Tagged With: ,

I think I’m one of the few single girls I know who doesn’t hate Valentine’s Day. On the contrary, I think it’s a really sweet (although a little bit too commercialized) holiday that anyone can enjoy. Here’s what I’m loving:

   
Friends- All of them, but I love that I celebrate all the fun/silly holidays with these girls :)

   

   
Family- sticking together through thick & thin and basically all being awesome :)

   
My animals, even during their weird-nutso moments I still love them! And their cuddles :)

   

   
Once in a lifetime experiences that I am so fortunate to have several times a year. I LOVE to travel
and I can’t wait to see where else I go!

Other things I love and hope to enjoy today? Reading, relaxing, extra sleep and yummy food! :)

Happy Valentine’s Day! What are you loving on this holiday?

7 Comments

Reasons to smile :)

November 16, 2011 Filed Under: Everyday Stories, Post a Day 2011, Random Ramblings, Things That Make Me Happy Tagged With: , , ,

This post is going to be short and sweet, but I thought it would be a nice addition to what I had to say yesterday. I’m so swamped with homework and work these last few days I haven’t had any time to just sit down and write today.

Long days are tough more often than not, but today I chose to just look on the bright side of everything. Here are the top 10 reasons I found to smile in the last 24 hours.

1. I got to sleep in until 8am. That is my favorite time to wake up!

2. I had time to watch a favorite show this morning as I had breakfast. New Girl, you are so awesome.

3. Today was a beautiful autumn day. There were big piles of leaves everywhere and I just really wanted to jump in some of them!

4. My bus driver and I bonded today. I had to run for the bus and was the only person on it. He thought it was kind of hilarious, I didn’t so much… But made the best of it. I couldn’t stop laughing about our awkward conversation after!

5. My shift at work went by pretty quickly considering it lasted ALL day. 11-7. Literally.

6. I had an amazingly long and hot shower when I got home. Don’t you just love those? Felt totally calm and collected after!

7. Spent some time preparing for my interview with Montreal singer/songwriter Jason Bajada which is tomorrow. I haven’t done an interview since JULY so I’m super excited about it!

8. Found out his music is actually awesome and have been listening to it for the last little while. I love new music, especially when it’s awesome local talent!

9. I received a lot of compliments today. Apparently I looked nice, my makeup looked great, and people at work were just sending me all kinds of love. Not sure where it’s coming from, but it was lovely!

10. I got an extra day off this week- Saturday! I’m so excited to enjoy a long weekend, go out with friends, keep up to date with homework, and just be stress-free one last weekend before holidays. Hurray!

What made you smile today?

7 Comments

A letter to the new boy in my life

October 18, 2011 Filed Under: Cute Stuff, Family, Post a Day 2011, Things That Make Me Happy, Things To Remember Tagged With: ,

Dear Cris,

Today, at 12:09am you were FINALLY born. Seriously, I say that because we waited over 24 hours to see your cute little face! You gave your poor mom a lot of trouble… But you were most certainly worth the wait! We weren’t expecting you to get here for at least another week, but no one is complaining I can promise you that.

It’s been so surreal, waiting for you these last 9 months. Time has flown by, but the whole family has been talking about you nonstop. You’re a long awaited addition to a small family that loved you long before we ever saw your face.

And now that you’re here? I can’t even tell you how happy, overwhelmed and completely in love with you I am. I had to go about my whole day before meeting you, and let me just tell you that it was endless. All I could think about was making it to the hospital and finally seeing that you really do exist. It wasn’t all a big lie- you were REALLY here. I walked into the room with your grandma and my breath literally caught in my throat. You’re so tiny! Only 7 pounds, 7 ounces. The nurse was holding you with one hand- she was careful don’t worry. No one has dropped you yet!

I spent some time just looking at your tiny face at first. I’m so nervous around newborns, so I hope you give me a chance to get used to holding you the right, comfortable way. Your mama is already a pro, and your dad got to practice with me when I was born… But you’re the first baby to be born since me in the family. This is so special for all of us- you’re always going to be surrounded by a lot of love and happiness and excitement. You’re the first born, the first new generation in your family.

Anyway, I held you for quite some time today. As soon as grandma put you in my arms I seriously debated just taking you home. I asked your mama what she thought about that, but it looked like she wanted to keep you around for a while longer. I can’t blame her, you’re so tiny and adorable! So far, we’re loving what a calm newborn you are. You hardly cry unless you’re hungry. You let people pass you around without complaining one bit… And you get the hiccups. ALL the time. It’s too cute for words, really. That’s the only thing that seems to frustrate you.

I looked at your face for so long, trying to remember each tiny little thing about this first meeting. I was already imagining what I might write to you in this letter, what things I would want you to know if you ever get the chance to read this. You’re hardly 24 hours old and I’m already seeing tiny bits of your personality come through. You’re already good looking like mom and dad combined, and I swear you’re just as calm as your daddy when he was born. You already seem incredibly curious- when you’re awake, your eyes are wide open and your gazing intently at all the things around you. While I had you in my arms, I could have sworn you were learning my face already. You were looking at me so clearly, I could hardly believe it.

Most importantly, I want you to know that there are literally so many people that are happy that you’re here. It’s so crazy to think that it’s possible to adore you this much so soon, but it’s true. I can’t wait to experience the world with you. I know mom and dad will get to do lots of fun stuff with you, but as your crazy aunt, I’ll be teaching you lots of useful things too. No one is a kid at heart like I am, and I’m already thinking of the things I plan on doing with you.

When I babysit you, we’re always going to have story time. I promise you that by the time you can walk, you’ll already love books. I’m going to make sure you’ve got all the best ones, because that’s my thing you know. I learned to love books because of MY grandma… But since yours aren’t big readers well you’ve got me. By the time you’re 11 you’ll be anxiously awaiting your letter from Hogwarts like any kid should. You’ll know all about Harry Potter of course, and you’ll be able to recite lines from the best Disney movies.

I’ll make sure you’re doing all those magical things you should be doing as you grow up. You need someone to really spoil you… That’ll be me. I’ll take you to the mall and get you ridiculous presents that your parents wouldn’t buy you. We’ll sit by the fountain and I’ll teach you about making wishes and throwing pennies in for good luck. We’ll have our own secret language (like me and your daddy used to have when I was little!) and we’ll make up our own silly games that no one else understands.

I can’t wait to see the little boy you’re going to become in the next few years, and one day (in a long time!) the man you become too. There is just so much you have to experience, and I want to be there for all of it.

So as we’re getting close to the end of your day of birth, I just want to say that I’m so happy I finally got to meet you. I was getting incredibly anxious, wondering about your pretty little features. Now that you’re here, the whole world is in front of you, ready for you to take it on.

Happy Birthday my little nephew.

All my love,

Auntie Melissa

 

 

15 Comments

Turning Twenty Two

July 11, 2011 Filed Under: Everyday Stories, Family, Friends, Pictures, Post a Day 2011, Summer Time!, Things That Make Me Happy Tagged With: , ,

Thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes on my last post, and to any more that come in… Thank you again! I had a really great weekend, it was not only a lot of fun with friends & family, but reminded me just how much I’m loved and how important it is to cherish the relationships that I have in my life. I’ve been SO blessed with the people that I have in my life, I don’t know how it can get better- but I have no doubt it will. So here we go, a birthday weekend recap:

Friday, I worked all day, and later in the evening I went out for dessert and drinks with my 3 Greece girls. It was July 8th around 10PM, and as we sat down we all smiled, realizing that in EXACTLY one month from that moment it would be our very first night together in Greece. So exciting! We had a lovely couple of hours just sitting, talking, drinking a really strong chocolate martini (yum! but so strong!) and eating delicious dessert food.

Chocolate Martini, a little strong, but so good!

Saturday, I worked again until 4PM… And then I excitedly went home and got ready for a night with work friends! My lovely friend Kasey hosted one of her awesome themed parties specially for me, and 20 people or so came over and sang me happy birthday at midnight and just overall made me feel very awesome.

The Birthday girl (me!) and the hostess (Kasey!)

As a side note, Kasey has her very own Etsy shop where she makes one of a kind purses from recycled materials, and this is the one she made me for my birthday! She finished it the day after the party so I’ve only met it through this picture, but it is JUST what I had asked her to make me for Greece- a cute little satchel to carry around necessities!

My birthday cupcakes! Yes, those are cupcakes baked inside of an ice-cream cone… I was too busy eating the other ones to have any space left to eat one of them though- I heard they were delicious!

The whole apartment was decorated just for me! This is just one little part of it that I thought was super cute.

My first picture as a 22 year old! yes, I’m sitting on the floor, it was just cooler down there!

I had a special flamingo drinking glass, and she got jealous so she bought herself one too… Loved it!

Sunday, my official birthday, I had to wake up around 9:30am (I got to bed around 3am, so it felt like an early morning) and I slowly got myself ready for a birthday brunch with 9 of my closest friends. I didn’t take any pictures at breakfast, I honestly just completely forgot because I was so overwhelmed. I got so many unexpected gifts, I truly was not even thinking of that, and yet all my friends were thinking of me. I got a crazy amount of birthday cards, all written with so much thought and love I can’t even begin to tell you. I received an overwhelming amount of wishes through Facebook, by text, by phone call, in person, on Twitter and right here. It was honestly such an amazing day, no wonder I love my birthday so darn much.

After my breakfast, I headed home and spent the afternoon getting a few things together for my evening with family. I helped my mom out and then my cousin who I only see a few times a year came over, so I spent a few hours with her too. My brother, my sister-in-law, my second set of parents (AKA my brothers’ in-laws), my mom and my cousin were all here until around 9PM for an amazing dinner, dessert and even MORE presents. Seriously, I could not even believe how spoiled I got this year. I got to spend some long overdue time with the fam, my mom cooked what I can only describe as a melt-in-your-mouth kinda meal, and just yeah. It was over way too soon, but I was lucky enough to wake up this morning to even MORE birthday wishes. Have I mentioned how freaking LOVED I felt these last few days?!

Delicious Birthday Cake. YUMMMMMYY.

Me with mama and papa to-be! She is still looking fantastic, and more beautiful and pregnant each time I see her! My little nephew is apparently doing lots of tumbles and kicks in her tummy, but he stayed pretty quiet last night. I bet he was just chilling and enjoying the family time too?

I just had to share this picture, is he good looking or WHAT?

Thank you once again to everybody for making this a really memorable weekend, so far, I am just loving being twenty two years old!

And if you made it to the end of this hugely gigantic post, how was your weekend?! 

9 Comments

On Family

June 6, 2011 Filed Under: Everyday Stories, Family, Post a Day 2011, Things That Make Me Happy Tagged With: ,

When I was growing up, I didn’t have one of those families that got together every single year for birthdays and holidays to celebrate together. My family was always fighting over something or other & from what I remember I only saw my aunts, uncles and cousins for funerals and maybe for Christmas if everyone was more or less getting along.

I’ve always wanted to have a big family; the kind that you walk into the house and there are kids playing, the mom is cooking, people coming over, friends running in and out of the yard… But that just wasn’t us.

The house that I used to live in was a townhouse that was attached in groups of 4, so we shared a driveway with the person to our left and the other 2 houses next to us shared a driveway as well. Our driveway neighbors had a little girl about my age when we first moved there and I was lucky enough to meet and her and we became best friends at just five years old. I kind of adopted her family as my own- at the time they were two children and her mom was pregnant with one other, and now they’re up to five in total. I used to spend days on end in their house because of the loud noises and that overall feeling of love that was just everywhere. I learned that friends could like family too, and that was something completely new to me. I still consider her to be the sister I never had.

Maybe because I grew up only seeing the people around me with big, loving families I wanted one so badly, but that never went away. There is nothing that makes a home like kids who get along (or even who don’t) and parents who are together and in love. I never had that. I never had grandparents who came over to spoil me, my godparents were basically those people for me but a tragic accident when I was 16 changed all of that.

This is turning out to be more of a sad post than anything, but the reason I wanted to explain the background to my small, quiet life is this: I only ever had two really important people to me, my mom and my brother. He taught me that there is nothing in the world more important than those close to you the way they are for me, because they would do anything for me. He proved that to me throughout my whole life and it’s something I never ever forgot.

Me & my brother in Mexico, February 2010! 

Then, on February 5th 2010, my family became bigger. My brother married the most amazing woman, and her entire family became my own. Half of her relatives live in Spain, and they may as well be my relatives. Her parents? An extension of my own. In tough times they are there, on holidays, special occasions, birthdays, they’ve been there since I was 15. I’ve lost a lot of people already in my life, but I’ve also been fortunate enough to gain new people that truly mean the world to me.

Me & my sister-in-law getting ready for the wedding in Mexico, February 2010!

And now, for the first time in my life, I’m going to be an aunt. It’s so surreal to me, the idea that there will be a little baby in our lives for the first time EVER, a little child that we’re all going to love so so much; a result of our two families coming together and making the one that I’ve been wanting my whole life. When we’re together, we’re loud, we’re funny, we’re rowdy. Finally, there will be kids there too. Today I found out that my sister-in-law is having a little baby boy and I wanted to cry I was just so happy! I’ve wanted to be an aunt ever since I can remember, and I’m going to spoil the living daylights out of this kid. I hope he’s ready, because I just can’t WAIT to meet him! <3

What does family mean to you?

2 Comments

Busy Bee

May 23, 2011 Filed Under: Everyday Stories, Friends, Funny Stuff, Girls' Nights, Movie Time!, Post a Day 2011, Things That Make Me Happy Tagged With: ,

This weekend was absolutely crazy and hectic and all that kind of stuff, but in the best way possible!

Friday: After work, I headed over to my friend Mel’s house and we played some very competitive Wii boxing & a bit of Wii baseball too. I was already super sore from my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred work-out, so I nearly just died right there… But it was a ton of fun! It’s scary how much fun that game is. Afterwards we headed over to Madison’s restaurant and met up with two more girls from work for a yummy dinner and some drinks!

We all ordered some yummy margaritas (heavy on the tequila, light on the fruity other stuff that goes in there!) and we all got nice and giggly before heading over to the movie theater to see Bridesmaids! We met up with one last friend from work, Caitlin, and the five of us literally laughed for 2 straight hours. If you haven’t seen it already, you definitely need to go check it out. It’s the most amazing girls’ night movie, minus that one really traumatizing food poisoning scene. I can’t get those awful images out of my head!

On Saturday I was stuck working all day, despite the fact that it was the MOST beautiful day we’ve had here in Montreal in about 2 weeks. It’s been raining straight through every single day, but Saturday was a gorgeous, hot, sunny day. Boo. I really wasn’t feeling too good and I started to stress out about school (I have a midterm tomorrow, ugh.) but I got through my shift and took a nap as soon as I got home before going out for a late dinner.

It’s another one of my work friends’ birthday next week, so we surprised him with a dinner and 20+ people. I missed the ‘surprised’ face because me & my friend who was driving got lost (um, for an HOUR) but we heard that he was completely shell shocked! He was super happy and the food was delicious and I just have the funnest time with my work people.

Kasey & I acting silly at the dinner table!

Two of my favorite cashiers from the other end of the table! I went to say hi and we had fun taking some pictures.

Everyone ended up going out clubbing after the dinner, but I didn’t want to get too crazy with all the studying and work I needed to catch up on. So I just had a couple glasses of wine, got super happy and giggly, and took a bunch of pictures before coming back home around midnight.

Finally, on Sunday I woke up feeling relaxed and not stressed anymore at all (apparently wine relaxes you? I felt great after!) I woke up ready to tackle my day. I got some chores done and some work done for CONFRONT. Then I started reviewing my May goals to see how I was doing, but I got a bit disappointed because I seem to have forgotten about quite a few of them. Darn. I’ve got a week to work on that though, so I made a nice list of things to do and I can’t wait to get on that!

Later on in the afternoon, 3 of my best girls came over to my house for a girls’ night and more Greece-vacation planning. I bought all the necessary food for a yummy dinner and dessert, and it was the greatest time.

My yummy dessert! Toasted waffle, raspberries/blueberries/blackberries/strawberries, chocolate sauce and LOTS of whipped cream! YUM.

We got super carried away with the dessert and started just pouring whipped cream straight in our mouths, and making fun little fruit people (Kate made a Strawberry and Selina called him Charles before shoving him in her mouth!Ha!) We did our usual sitting around the kitchen table just talktalktalking, taking some hilarious pictures with all the food, and basically just eating lots and lots. Oh and we did our usual browsing the internet and youtube to show each other our favorite new videos.

My favorite? The marshmallow experiment. SO FUNNY. Look at the kids’ faces!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?! Eat anything delicious?

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Summer=Happy

May 14, 2011 Filed Under: Concerts, Everyday Stories, Post a Day 2011, Roadtrips!, SO EXCITING!, Things That Make Me Happy, What's Goin' On Tagged With:

The thing that I love about summer is how my calendar fills up with my favorite things (concerts) and just random outings that make the days more memorable. Here’s what the next few months have in store for me so far:

May 29th: Possible interview with Augustana/Augustana concert
June 2nd: Jimmy Eat World concert
June 11th: Possible interview with Rihanna/Rihanna concert/Grandprix Weekend in Montrea/Lisa’s birthday celebrations
June 20th: Summer school ENDS.
July 2nd: JACK’S MANNEQUIN in Quebec City
July 3rd: Possible interview with Jack’s Mannequin<3/JACK’S MANNEQUIN & Weezer in Montreal
July 10th: My birthday!!
July 16th: Vans Warped Tour (Media Pass!)
July 29th: Eric Stonestreet at the Just For Laughs Gala/Festival with my mom! (We both LOVE Modern Family!)
July 31st: Osheaga Day 3: City & Colour (potentially)
August 4th: Possible interview with All Time Low/All Time Low concert
August 5th: NKOTBSB concert
August 7th: LEAVE FOR GREECE!!!
August 29th: Come home from Greece :(


 What are your big plans this summer?! 

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