T: Midlife crisis pre mid life…

Well for all of you who don’t know D. and I are both sitting comfortably within the early-mid twenty age bracket. However, this doesn’t stop either of us from having mini breakdowns every now and then in terms of where our life is going/ that we haven’t done anything with our lives… (please do not try to remind me that there haven’t been many years in my life – as of yet – to do much with). I mean, let’s be honest the first 16-18 years are throw aways for most people (aside from those genius babies).  I don’t even think twenty four year old me would be friends with seventeen year old me if we met on the street. However, knowing this does not stop me from having mini anxiety attacks when I take a moment to think of all the things I want to do – help people, change the world for the better, or at the very least run a small country – and the few things I have accomplished to date.

If I could cha-a-a-nge the world...

This past week I had yet another panic attack about how I’m not where I thought I would be if you asked me five years ago…so, as much as I’ve been studying for the LSATs I plan to take this summer I am kicking it into high gear (not to mention I have made contact with a lawyer I really admire who works in Human Rights and we will be discussing my future plans sometime in the new year !!!!).

...I'm feeling a bit drowned in my attempts to buckle down...

 However, there is one drawback to me actually starting to put some legitimate effort into my life plan…less time to read. This doesn’t mean I won’t be indulging in some anna karenina or the odd fitzgerald or hornby on cold days when all I want is to curl up under the covers with a book and hot chocolate. I just wanted to give you fare warning that my reading might slow down a little over the next few months….at least it should if I stick to my LSAT study plan, but we will see. I do intend to take advantage of the Christmas holidays (for me the 21st to the 28th…ps. i may be m.i.a during this period) and whip through the end of anna karenina and any books Santa leaves me under my tree.

Merry Christmas to all of the literary snobs and Dan Brown readers alike.

Wish me luck!!!

D: Just keep swimming

Well, friends, the struggle continues, and the challenges keep coming. Winter has arrived here in Ottawa,  and all of a sudden it’s cold, being active means trudging through slush and wind and snow, and delicious peppermint flavoured hot chocolates, brownies, and cookies are everywhere. I’m drooling here, guys.

I wish I had some advice for how to indulge in moderation, but I’m an abstinence kind of girl (keep it clean, people). I can’t treat myself without becoming addicted to the “forbidden” food, and so I just don’t try it. I guess that’s no way to live, but it keeps my jeans fitting!

How do you guys survive the holidays? Any tips? Do you go full out and eat all of your favourite seasonal (and not so seasonal) goodies, or do you save your splurges for those special things that come but once a year? I do like to try some of my Mom’s cookies when I go home for Christmas, and I don’t feel terribly guilty about it, because I work out when I’m home and last year, I managed to maintain my weight over the holidays.

This year, I’m going home for Christmas 40 lbs lighter than last year, and armed with will and determination (Tragically Hip anyone?). I’m bringing my running shoes and I’m planning on running on the track at the local community centre and  paying the drop-in fees to work out at the gym on the army base.

What are you doing to make sure that you don’t start off 2010 with a muffin top and a sugar hangover?

T: Friday, I’m in love…

So today my title (for those who are musically uneducated) is a ‘Cure’ reference…and who may you ask, am I in love with?…well….(insert drum roll here)….WINTER! I LOVE WINTER!

Even as I was walking down the street this morning slipping all over the place in my oh so fashionable/not so practical cowboy boots I was dancing a little christmas jig inside. The sun was shining…the snow is all fluffy and white (not slushy and grey – ewww) and dogs were frolicking in the snow on their morning walks. Life is good.

Also tomorrow marks one of my favourite days of the year, the day here in Ottawa when the NCC turns all of their Christmas lights on! For those of you who are in the city you should pop down to parliament between 530 and 8 to enjoy free hot cocoa and beavertails and entertainment. The christmas lights will be turned on at 7pm after the olympic torch blows through It should be a good time for all involved and better yet, its a free saturday night event!

Just a taste of what you'll be in for on the hill Saturday evening.

Well…enough about winter and christmas festivities. I apologize for my small hiccup in blogging activity – this week has been a little crazy. However, I am now a bridesmaid in my friends wedding so it’s all been worth it! I know alot of people are groaning inside at the idea of being in a wedding party (D. included)…but the only thing that makes me as giddy as winter is WEDDINGS! Even though I’ve been busy I have managed to read a bit… I finished Hornby’s ‘High Fidelity’ and I recommend it to any male music snob out there who doesn’t believe in commitment. You’ll laugh, you’ll be compelled to download songs you haven’t thought about in years and who knows maybe you’ll find a kindred literary spirit in Rob Gordon.

Rob Gordon à la cinema...played by the always crush-worthy John Cusack (who btw shares my birthday!)

If you’re a female…regardless of music interest, or lack thereof I recommend you read this…Rob Gordon is just the type of guy most women love – he is kind of an asshole, quiet, a little self-deprecating in a witty way (which is easy when you have a writer) and there is always a hint of something you can save…you feel like he would be different with you than he was with other girlfriends. (Read it and you’ll understand) Plus its safe to crush on a guy like that when he is fictional

I’m about halfway through Anna Karenina and it is getting juicy…but Count Vronsky is slowly losing interest in Anna (it seems to my untrained eye) after he got what he wanted…typical. I will, however, attempt to keep an open mind about Vronsky and maybe he will redeam himself. Also, the love of my life (Konstantin Lenin) has just found out that Princess Kitty didn’t marry Vronsky after all…stay tuned to see if she will come to her senses and let him sweep her off her feet to go live with him and his dog Laksa on his country estate.

Enjoy your weekends! Hope to see every single full belly and hungry mind in Ottawa out at the Christmas Lights Across Canada celebration. (for details: http://www.capitaleducanada.gc.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16297-16298-10113&lang=1&bhcp=1 )

T: Happy Feet = Happy T.

So, this weekend I was able to do something that I have been meaning to do over the last three years ( I know my follow through abilities are epic). I finally managed to get to the biodome in mtl!

Le Biodome

It was everything I dreamed it would be! The first habitat you enter is the rainforest and aside from supplying a much-needed toasty environment (it was windy and freezing in mount fo’ real) it also provided some pretty amazing animal encounters. First I saw a creepy bird called a common trumpeter (see pic below). This bird was chillin’ and walking around people…but the sign warned “he may look friendly but DO NOT touch”…I saw many children almost fall prey to the common trumpeter and his scary looking claw feet (and let’s be honest I LOVED IT). Then there were piranhas, an anaconda, the sloth, tons o’ parrots (macaws)…and my favourite creature the ginger monkey (golden lion tamarins). The ginger monkey even showed me some love and came over closer when I called to him “ohh ginger monkey love…. come visit me!” I think we could be legit friends…if it weren’t for the whole long distance thing.

Ginger Monkeys and the Common Trumpeter

Then there was the Laurentian forest – otters, beavers, porcupines, a lynx…and tons of duck like birds and fish.

Then…the moment I had been waiting for my entire life…THE ARCTIC (penguins and puffins galore!). The penguins were so cute it hurt…I sat and watched them for more than an hour and I feel if I lived in mtl then I would go there instead of the movies. Below you will find a pic of the thing they did that I found the most adorable…they swam up to the glass and watched everyone watching them. Sometimes, they even followed kids around as they ran in front of the tank. I recommend it to anyone who goes to montreal – you will not regret it.

My pet penguin...if the security at the biodome had been slightly more relaxed.

Anyway…as you can all tell I did not have much time to read while away for the weekend. BUT an amazing little used bookstore here in Ottawa (ByTown Books – 21 Arlington Ave) is moving and so has all of their books 50% off…any readers in the city should pop down and grab some before they make their move to the Ottawa Antique Market. I went in and bought a few that I have been meaning to read or re-read, as is the case with one. So soon not only will I be able to update you on the lovely Mrs Karenin, (Anna Karenina…who by the way is becoming more distant with her husband and closer with the dashing young Count Vronsky who is trying to tempt her into adultery), I will also be able to give you some feedback on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘This Side of Paradise’ and Nick Hornby’s ‘High Fidelity” (a long time fave I’m re-reading after a few years)

The ghost of books yet to come...

T: Looking for a little less Turtle and a little more Ari…

So,

This post won’t be long as I’m ridiculously busy and did not read any Anna Karenina last night. I am just posting to update you on encounters of the beautiful kind, and the update is this…THERE WERE NONE. The only beautiful person was an off-duty bartender who sat at the bar and then mysteriously vanished when I pointed him out to someone…he was like an eclipse I guess….it was dangerous to look directly at him (the danger being that he would disappear). Our server was short and stocky …we referred to him as Turtle for all of you entourage fans out there.

Ari > Turtle

There may not have been beauty…but the food was delicious and we made a discovery of several desserts that were referred to as “the best thing I have ever eaten”. I strongly recommend going to Johnny Farina’s because of them…but make it on a weekend as it seems that on a weeknight the B team comes out to play!

Couldn't find the ultimate dessert (crèpe with gelato,whip cream and caramel sauce)...but here's the tiramisu

T…Munchies, Men…and tragedy…

So,

I am extremely excited as tonight I get to go to an art show with FREE hors d’oeuvres at a local restaurant that D and I like to refer to as “the beautiful peoples club” (thank you family guy fans for appreciating that reference…and for the rest of you, well we call you normies)

Where we go to get away from you normies...aka Johnny Farina's Ottawa

This magnificent restaurant has decent food but better than that they have the most attractive male serving staff in the city….maybe even the world! I will let you all know how fantastic the experience was…or how awful depending on how my self-esteem holds up in the face of all that beauty.

The app. I always order (roasted garlic with a goat cheese cream sauce and flatbread)...along with the location of the Beautiful Peoples Club.

Now…that covers munchies and men so what about tragedy??? Well…after a long wait I have finally taken up Anna Karenina in earnest (and at my current rate should finish in a little under a week).

So far, many hearts have been broken…dreams squashed and even one man was cut in half by a train. At the moment Im in love with the dark and brooding character, Konstantin Lenin, who has had his proposal rejected by the beautiful Princess Kitty who in turn has been passed over by Count Vronsky (the man she chose over my love) for Anna Karenina (who is happily married with children and has come to town to help her brother reconcile with his wife (Princess Kitty’s sister) after he was unfaithful to her…with the nanny no less…very jude law-esque of him, I know). I will keep you posted as at the moment Konstantin Lenin has decided that he is going to give up any hopes of marriage “and the happiness it would bring”.

anywhoooo….better get back to work…or day dreaming about konstantin lenin…it’s snowing so i’m in kind of a romantic russian mood – very Dr. Zhivago.

D: As promised…

Hello to any stragglers who have stuck around through sporadic and frenzied posting on my part…sorry about that. My new job is keeping me on my toes (mentally anyways) and I am making my triumphant return to the gym after 3 weeks off due to a chest cold But, onward and upward!

Munchies

So, since I am allegedly the resident food and diet blogger, I guess I should talk a bit about that.  I managed to get through my 3 week no gym stint having only gained about a pound, which I consider to be a sweeping victory given that many nights I came home right after work and snack snack snacked my way through until bed. I have been eating a LOT of these over the last month:

I have to say, they make a fantastic afternoon treat or a nice dessert, since they are only 60 calories and 0.5g of fat per lollipop. I recommend them to those of you (like me) who crave sweets after meals!

Movement

I am trying to take the transition from not exercising to exercising again slowly, so that I don’t end up overexerting myself and catching bronchitis or something. So far, so good.  I started back at the gym a week and a half ago and I’ve since done 2 spin class, 1 weight class and 3 runs, all rather successfully (although one of my runs was downright torturous). Today, I bought new cycling shoes! I wil give feedback on them once I’ve had a chance to try them out but I have high hopes that they will improve my cycling workout!

Mind

I am still in a constant struggle when it comes to food. As much as I’d hoped that over the course of my weight loss journey my relationship with food would somehow become zen, it hasn’t, and I’m still controlled by food in a lot of ways that I wish I wasn’t. For example, every week my director bakes “treats” that she brings in to work and leaves on the table in her office for anyone who wants them. These treats are weapons of mind control, I swear, because they haunt me in my cubicle from 25 feet away. Last week, I actually went into her office and opened the ziplock bag her “ultimate chocolate chip cookies” were in, reached for one, and then recoiled. Later that day, when I was in her office talking to her, I reached for the bag, opened it, and then shouted “NO!!! I WON’T!!!” and put them back down. I’m sure she thinks I’m a freak. A promotable freak, hopefully

So, 2 weeks ago I weighed in at Weight Watchers at 148 lbs, and I decided at that point that I was done.  I’m not done losing weight, but I am damned ready to stop paying Weight Watchers $13/ week

I did promise that when I hit my Weight Watchers goal, I would post before and after pictures of my weight loss. Although I’m not sure anyone reads this (rendering my picture-posting hard work futile), I guess I will stay true to my word. A word of warning, however – I still hate having my picture taken so there really aren’t many full body shots (or even face shots ) of me floating around out there. Je m’excuse

BEFORE

 

 

AFTER

 

Ok bloggies. Time to straighten my hair, put away laundry, and make my lunch for tomorrow. Until next time!

T: Alchemy and witchcraft…a la paulo coehlo

I think you’ve been subjected to just about enough of my rants about humanity and the daily details of my life…so, back to what this was supposed to be all about – literature.

Over the past two days I have flooded myself with a great new discovery – Paulo Coehlo.

I started out reading a novel I’ve had sitting on my book shelf since this past June: The Alchemist. I’d heard so much about it that it is almost like the movie all your friends talk about for so long that you’re afraid to go see it…because let’s face it your friends don’t always have the best taste (they are YOUR friends) and nothing could ever live up to the hype. Well, Im glad I finally sat down with this book, because, IT DID LIVE UP TO THE HYPE!

In case you haven’t gathered thus far I am a nerd. **as demonstrated by the the use of “thus” in a blog. One of my nerdiest tendencies is to highlight passages in books I’m reading. These passages are either things I think I should live by, or just words that touch me in some way. Well, I had my highlighter out the entire time I read. There is something on every single page of the book that touched me in such a way that I’ve been trying to incorporate it into daily life. The Alchemist is a lesson in how to follow your heart to achieve your dreams and how to use your intuition so as not to lose sight of the path you’re supposed to follow through life. I recommend it to EVERYONE. Even if you aren’t someone who generally enjoys reading – it’s simple, beautiful and compelling. You’ll read it in a day. I did…and wanted more Paulo.

So, I read Witch of Portabello. It’s not quite so flooring as the Alchemist but trust me it’s compelling and you can’t help but fall in love with the beautiful and somewhat selfish protagonist – Athena. This book goes hand in hand with the message put forth by The Alchemist; follow your heart and your intuition. Only, it gives a very different idea of how to find our true self…try to do everything differently – dance off beat, sit in silence instead of talking, enjoy the moments when you have nothing to do instead of trying to fill them with chores.

It touched me enough that today on my way up the elevator to my office I felt compelled to do ANYTHING differently than I usually do…so, naturally I stood with my back to the door on the way up and even though I was alone in the elevator I stood right in front of the doors…not squished to the back like usual. I know it sounds silly but it made me more excited to start my day. It was as though I couldn’t wait for the elevator doors to open…since that’s what my body seemed to be telling my mind to think. You may think this is a bunch of new age garbage but – hey, what’s the harm? Give it a shot; you might surprise yourself.

T: It’s beginning to feel absolutely nothing like Christmas…

Today I sauntered into work…ok I speed walked (…sped walk…no, no, it must be speed walked) into work and I noticed all of a sudden there were Christmas trees and ornaments EVERYWHERE! It seems Santa’s elves had decorated the entire public service with tinsel and holly and ivy…(oh my!) The only thing they didn’t seem to touch with Christmas cheer were the public servants themselves.

The true face of the public service.

People just seem to be becoming increasingly self-centred and mean as the days go by. No one has held a door for the person behind them or even made an effort to stop an elevator door from closing since I have started working here. (My co-workers excepted since they are actually all pretty great people) Even the woman in the cubicle beside me insists on having incredible personal conversations at an intense volume with little to no regard for the work others around her have to do.

In this vein I have decided to make one of my next classics “A Christmas Carol”  By Charles Dickens. I try my best to have others in mind year round… but maybe we all need a little reminder.

Also, I have just finished Moll Flanders…which I’m sure you’re all happy about because let’s face it – for a classic it’s not very well-known. Regardless, I loved it and think it should be a staple in high school classrooms. It teaches you about the downfalls of living a selfish life with no regard for those around you. It shows you that greed and blind ambition can lead nowhere of value…and even better – if you do decide to pursue a life of crime it tells you how to get away with it. The only problem for kids today is that I don’t know how much money there is to be made in the pick pocket business (Moll’s specialty).

The trick of any good pickpocket...distraction.

On another note - it has given me a new creepy destination to add to my list of “must sees”: Newgate Prison in London. However, after investigating this…it seems as though the place doesn’t exist. The gates of the original building are in Buffalo, NY though…BUFFALO IT IS! What can I say readers? I aim low…it’s easier to avoid disappointment that way.

 

T: I’m going to make like an organ donor and put my heart into it…

Another day, Another blog post…

So this weekend was a blur of new experiences for me…

1- my first time at a strip club

A cartoon depiction of my Saturday...

2- my first time on stage (as an audience member not an employee…just to clarify)

and….

3- my first weekend since I think I have been literate when I didnt pick up a book.

This weekend was a friend of mine’s bachelorette party and it was a blast …what happens at a bachelorette party stays at a bachelorette party, sorry guys However, since I am a ninety five year old woman (physically speaking of course, not chronologically) it took me yesterday and almost all of this morning for me to recover. Since nausea isn’t really conducive to reading I wasn’t in any shape to dive into the last bit of Moll Flanders. However, this weekend as I watched women around me make more money that I think I’ve touched in this entire year through what many would call immoral practices I started to think about Moll and her mistress shenanigans. What is it that compels women to make poor moral choices when it means making a ton of money? I know I know its not just women…but as a woman I feel I can identify more with them than with some dude selling rock out of his sketchy basement bachelor apt….if my old neighbor is reading this I swear I am not talking about you and I never once called the cops on you….if he isnt reading this…I am talking about him …and I totally called the cops when he went all Chris Brown on his ’strawberry’. Look it up if you aren’t a drug slang afficianado like myself.

So here is a question…a little serious for my usual blurb…but if you feel compelled to answer = go for it…if anyone is reading this of course

What is it that lures women into things like stripping when they are often the mostly harshly judged by society (especially other women) for choosing that path? Now keep in mind Im talking about women who have at least a moderate education (High School, Trade, or college) and no serious fear of being in danger of crossing the line into the working poor.

 I mean would I be willing to sell my sense of pride for some pink timberlands and the ability to buy an iphone or a sweet car (not a super snazzy ride like a jag, but like a brand new jetta – you know, nothing to sneeze at) … NO…so, why does it seem so many other women are willing to do so?

This is purely a conversational question. NO JUDGEMENT is implied so lets not crucify me in the name of Cookie…or Candy…or any stripper for that matter. I’m just curious to hear what you folks have to say…