Here. There. Everywhere.

10 day - You - Challenge - Day 10

2012-01-27T15:36:00.002-05:00

Hello Bloggers! I found this little activity on a random corner of the blogosphere and figured it would be a fun activity to try! Also, I'm busy applying for jobs, and constantly writing cover letters is the most depressing thing ever so I'm allowing myself a little break.

The idea is that you post once a day for 10 days and answer specific questions The Day 10 Challenge goes a little something like this:

Day 10: secrets
Day 9: loves
Day 8: fears
Day 7: wants
Day 6: places you want to go
Day 5: foods
Day 4: books
Day 3: films
Day 2: songs
Day 1: picture of yourself

So here goes, 10 secrets about me

10. Sometimes I wish there was a soundtrack in everyday life like there is in movies

9. Similarly, I sometimes wish I had a stylist/hair&makeup artist waiting at all times

8. I have too many visions of the type of person I would like to be. They get mixed up and confused.

7. I still sleep with my teddy bear almost every night. He's been around the world.

6. If it wasn't for the actual flying part, I would love to be a flight attendant

5. I keep a journal, and will occasionally dig out old journals and read through them

4. I'm not good at letting things go

3. I have no concept of what it's like to have siblings. It's a bond I can't even begin to understand

2. I like days where I wake up early on my own, the days just seem longer

1. I wish I was better at crafts. You can blame Pinterest for this one.

The Circus

2012-01-22T16:00:00.000-05:00

Something that many people don't know about me is that I've always been kind of obsessed with the Circus. I say "the circus" loosely because any circus will do. What gets me is the animals, acrobats and entertainers.

It probably goes back to my childhood in Germany when small circuses used to come to my town. My friends and I would spend countless hours wandering through the menagerie and watching the show with a childlike awe. When my mom and I were grocery shopping in a neighboring town that happened to have a circus, I was known to throw fits until I was promptly taken to said circus. I was an only child, can you tell?

One of my all-time favorite toys growing up was this Playmobile circus set - I had the center ring, animal trailers and little acrobat people.

I just finished reading "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern, and while the chronology of the book was a bit confusing, the plot was amazing. It brought back all sorts of memories for me of circuses I went to as a child.

When most 4 year olds are asked what they want to be when they "grow up" you tend to get typical answers of "princess" , "teacher" , "fireman" or "a transformer" - well this former 4 year old proudly proclaimed she wanted to be a trapeze artist. And to be honest, that ambition hasn't exactly faded. To this day one of my top "bucket list" things is to take trapeze lessons or go to circus school.

Graduation

2012-01-21T05:29:00.000-05:00

Yeaterday was the day I officially graduated for the 6th time.

Although not all of these have been University calibre degrees, I see each one as a stepping stone to the next. Sure, my middle school graduation did not involve a cap or gown or even a diploma, but without it I would not have made it to high school which in turn would not have ultimately lead me to where I currently stand.

this may sound incredibly cliche, but I feel that I'm standing on a bit of a precipice if you will with a " big 'ol world" in front of me. I really don't know exactly where the coming year will take me, but I look forward to the challenge nonetheless.

hope you all have a good weekend around the world

Thoughts on Thursday

2012-01-12T16:54:00.002-05:00

It's a dreary type of day today (weather wise) so I'm taking this opportune moment to blog a little. I also may or may-not have "HP and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2" on in the background (don't judge).

My thoughts:

- I've realized lately that I tend to live my life in a "Plan A" sort of pattern. What I mean by that is that when I have plans for something (be it the future or a trip or something simple like dinner) I generally don't have a back-up "Plan B" to help me out. It isn't a matter of recklessness on my part, it's just that I tend to believe so firmly in Plan A that I don't think of what would happen if it doesn't work.

- I'm slowly rediscovering my love of blogging, so expect plenty more posts in 2012

- I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, partially because I never keep them, but I do know that this will be a year of major changes for all of us.

- Resume writing has to be the most tedious process in the world, no wonder people pay big bucks to have resumes created for them. I totally would.

- Now that I finally finished off my "Gilmore Girls" set, I've been so immersed in Rory's world since Christmas that I'm seeing more and more similarities between her life and mine. Very strange. Here I thought our Grandmothers were the only similarity.

- Now that school is done and I have the luxury of temporary free-time, I've started painting again and added crafts to my activities.

- Pinterest always makes me think I should be better at the aforementioned crafts, but it's a start. I've made coasters, a facial scrub and dry-erase calendar. Baby steps.

That's it for now.

2012.

2012-01-09T18:28:00.000-05:00

I took a necessary vacation from blogging the last 4 months, and I come back to blogger to find a "new" version that seems very foreign to me at the moment.

Now that a new year is upon us and one chapter of my life is closed, I am finding it high time to return to my little corner of the blogosphere.

Stay tuned for more posts coming up!

Roman Holiday in pictures

2011-08-23T18:00:00.002-04:00

Remember when I went to Rome - oh, 3 months ago - and didn't post any pictures? They may be a ~~lot~~ little late, but here is my photo journey of Rome in pictures. Hope you like them!

All pictures were taken by me and edited in Paint.net

Trinita dei Monti church (atop the Spanish Steps)

The Colosseum

St. Peter's Basilica & Square

Tiber River

Roman skyline from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo

Campo dei Fiori farmers market

Trastevere

We both fell in love with Rome, and would definitely go back in a heartbeat!

Personal Post - caught between a rock and a hard place

2011-08-22T21:00:00.004-04:00

I feel like I'm stuck between what I should do/what I'm expected to do and what I want to do/know I can do.

image here

To the few IRL (in-real-life) friends and family that read my blog, I realize this seems to be coming out of nowhere, but trust me it's not. I hash over things in my mind for days or weeks before I even voice them out loud.

I've gone through the past 20 academic years of my life in a sort of blind stumble. I'm currently on my 3rd post-high school degree, and to be perfectly honest I still don't know if I made the right choice. I've now gone from Fashion School to an Arts Degree to Teacher's College to ...? That's the big question. Sometimes I wish I was one of those kids that decided what she wanted to be in Kindergarten and followed that path without question.

I'm about to face one of the scariest and hardest semesters of my life, and aside from being terrified there is an ever-growing part of me that simply does not want to do it. As much as I (obviously) love summer vacation and dread school starting, there has always been a part of me that looked forward to the coming year because it meant a fresh start and a new challenge. Not this year.

A year ago when I was starting Teacher's College I was excited and thought I'd finally found my niche in the world, something I would be passionate about and something that would make me want to work hard. Now a year later I'm not so sure anymore. I've learned that teaching is more bureaucratic hoop-jumping than creatively enriching the lives of students. I would be spending more time doing administrative work and pleasing 30 parents than trying to make 30 students love History as much as I do. It's disheartening.

Unfortunately I don't live in a country of free education, and I've racked up quite a bit in tuition fees over the last 8 years. I've been lucky that my family has (so far) always helped me out financially, but at the same time I feel like I've had to do all of these things because they help me out. Does that make any sense?

It may sound like I don't have a Plan B at all, and to a certain degree that's true. I've tended to live my life in a Plan A pattern, hoping for the best that things work out - and for the most part they have, I've been incredibly lucky.

I do have a Plan B in the back of my mind, it's sort of been in the back of my head for years now, but it would mean making a pretty large commitment to something that once again may not guarantee me a job at the end. I'm in my mid-20's but that number is slowly but surely creeping into my late-20's (wow that's depressing) so I feel like at some point I want my life to start. I feel like I've been stuck in perpetual limbo for the last number of years, never really moving forward but not totally satisfied with the present either.

So what it comes down to is that I really don't know what to do. I'm caught between a very hard rock and a very hard place.

Kudos to you if you've actually read this far, I just needed to get these thoughts out of my head for a change.

NKOTBSB round 2 - a night to remember!

2011-08-22T11:48:00.000-04:00

* I started this post nearly 3 weeks ago, life got in the way and it's been sitting in my 'drafts' folder ever since

I'm actually surprised I still have any followers since I've basically been rambling about nothing but boy bands for the past 2 months. That being said, I'm also a little surprised I have friends left at all that don't share my current-obsession.

Anyway, 15 year old Ella will slowly be retreating so expect a gradual shift back to my normal posts. Until then, however, I have to update you all on the second concert from Saturday night.

If you were ever a New Kids or Backstreet Boys fan (or fan of any band/celeb) I think you'll appreciate this story!

All 9 when they first come out

After seeing the show in June and knowing how amazing it was, right away I started looking for tickets for the August show. Now, naturally I tried getting the best possible seats available, but there was also another deciding factor. The bestest says we cheated, I see it more as using insider information.

mash-up of "The One" and "Single"

To increase audience interaction for fans who couldn't afford the expensive floor seats (like us) - BSB started a great system of starting one song at the top of the first level and walking all the way down some aisles towards the stage. This is a genius move on their part!

One of the first blocks of tickets TicketMaster gave me when I was searching for August was 12 rows up from the floor, and aisle seats. Something right then told me to jump on those tickets. So much so that I pretty much ordered them before I had full confirmation from my friends. They would all tell you in hindsight - Best. Decision. Ever. There was no way to know for sure which aisle they would come down, and which Backstreet Boy it would be because they changed it up every show. Very sneaky!

NKOTB

The show was once again amazing, but the best part happened just over half way through. We were all momentarily distracted from the show by big burly security guards putting down ropes along both sides of the aisle we were sitting beside. That's when we knew we were at THE AISLE. It was probably another 15 minutes or so before it was to happen, but we were all giddy with anxious anticipation the whole time.

We knew from previous experience that the aisle scene happened right after the New Kids sang "Tonight". As soon as the lights went down, our excitement went up. The opening chords of "Shape of my heart" started, and all I could hear was the bestest behind me going "Who is it?? Is it Brian??". All I could see at this point were security guards until S (seated on the aisle) cut in with "It's Nick! OMG It's Nick!"

Hello Mr. Carter, nice to meet you

He came down the aisle slowly, touching hands as he went. He came to our section, touched all of our hands and then started to turn to the other side. I'll be honest and admit that any rational thought left my mind completely at this point, so without even thinking about it I reached out and grabbed his hand so he turned back to our section and touched our hands again. Side note: if you happened to be sitting across the aisle from us and missed out, I do apologize!

While this was happening, somehow part of my brain was being alerted to the fact that there was more commotion coming from the top of the aisle. I looked up only to see AJ coming towards us! That was the biggest shock of my life because I could swear at the first concert they picked 4 different aisles instead of doubling up. I vaguely remember grabbing the bestests arm and going "OMG it's AJ! OMG it's AJ!"

I heart you

AJ also came down slowly and made sure to touch as many fans as possible. Meanwhile, Nick was getting mobbed by fans at the bottom of the aisle, forcing AJ to stop briefly where he was. Which happened to be right in front of us! That's right. He was standing right in front of me, shook my hand and went "Hello. How are you?" My mind went completely blank, and I managed a very eloquent "HI!...... I'm .....goood!" (I don't even remember adding the "I'm good" but the bestest assured me that I did)

This show definitely topped the first one, and may even come close to topping front row many years ago! I'm a little sad that the summer of NKOTBSB is over, but when they come back you can bet that I'll be going again!

Fun Fridays!

2011-08-05T11:16:00.000-04:00

It's time for another edition of Fun Fridays over at Jen's Blog

Happy Friday!

This weekend I will be spending time with these girls (minus Jay, 2nd from left plus Kay not pictured)..

@ NKOTBSB round 1 in June, photo courtesy of the Bestest

And these boys..

nkotbsb.com

No biggie right?

Judging by my plethora of posts in the last 2 months, you've probably all realized that my teenage self seems to have taken over my life recently. I'm sort of hoping that after tomorrow's concert (and possible DDUB stalking in NYC) it will slowly die down again.

Have a great weekend!

I'm (P)interest-ed!

2011-08-04T18:46:00.000-04:00

Today I spent a good portion of my day on Pinterest. It's been a good day. I've been hearing about this allusive website from so many of my blog friends that finally curiosity got to me and I had to check it out.

I'm completely hooked! I started planning my (dream) wedding! Nevermind that I'm currently single. I figure I'm allowed to plan regardless and this way when Prince Charming does find me, it'll all be a breeze. I can almost hear all you brides/wives laughing at my thinking the planning will be easy. Let me believe it for now!

On a slightly more realistic note, I've also created a board entitled "Decorating Ideas" and pinned all things I would love to have in an apartment/house one day. I've noticed that I tend to pick neutrals with just a pop of color, so I suppose that's more my style. It surprised me a little.

If you're interested, you can follow me HERE and if any of you have a Pinterest, let me know so I can follow you and see your beautiful boards!

August blues

2011-08-02T13:59:00.001-04:00

I saw a tweet the other day that said "Summer 2011 should get a ticket...for speeding" - and that's exactly how I feel.

Image found here

As soon as August hits, I always feel like summer is over. Never mind that there is still 4 weeks of vacation, but something about that elusive 8th Month always makes me feel a little sad. The days are a little shorter, the temperature a little cooler and the people a little less relaxed.

August is a harsh reminder that September is right around the corner, and let's face it, no one likes September. I shouldn't be complaining as I still have lots planned, including a concert and trip to NYC, but I can't help but feel a little bit bummed.

To the bestest and all others born in August, I apologize for the anti-August rant, don't take it personally!

Tales of a 15-year-old Backstreet Boys fan - March 2000 - part 2

2011-07-31T18:00:00.002-04:00

*if you missed it, catch up on Part 1 HERE

As promised, here is the exact review I wrote of the "Into the Millennium" tour for March 15th, 2000. The pictures are ones that I took on my 'film camera' (wow can you tell I'm old). Please excuse my overuse of the word "like" and the thousands of exclamation points, it makes me cringe just reading it but I forced myself not to edit in hindsight. I figure that the excited (albeit grammatically incorrect) words of a 15-year-old high school student are more effective than a 26-year-old high school teacher.
*side note: wow that's like coming full circle, from student to teacher. Strange.
_________________________________________________________________

ok, this is my review of the Toronto Concert on March 15th, first let me tell you... when we got our tickets on December, we we so incredibly lucky.... for those of you that don't know, in Canada they give out wristbands with numbers on them, and the day that the tickets went on sale, they draw one number, whoever has that number gets first choice of tickets.... and everyone behind that number gets second choice and so on, and people before it have to go to the end of the line. Well it was my mom's wristband number that got chosen.... so we ended up with 1st row tickets! My friends and I were totally freaking out!

So then we had to count down 94 days until March 15th.

When they day finally came, we went downtown at about 2pm, and just walked around everywhere. At 6:30pm they finally let us in, but it seemed to take forever... we moved like 3 inches in 10 minutes!

But we finally got in... and they never even checked for cameras (thank goodness)

Since we went to the November show too, we didn't really bother buying any souvenirs, but the only bad thing was, that the Comic book was sold out everywhere. So we didn't get it.

When we got to our seats, it was so amazing... we were like 2 ft from the stage....

Then the Jungle Brothers came on, they were pretty good............

So anyways, finally at 8:55pm, the lights went down and some smoke started to rise up, they had the countdown, and the starwars music. The Boys flew out on the Booggie Bords as usual.

I'm not gonig to get into detail about the songs and stuff... but when Nick came out to do his thank-you he tripped over the step and landed flat on his stomach on the stage... it was so funny!!!!!

Nick also said in his thank-you that since this was the last show... we might see some crazy stuff! (he was so right) Aj said that they had "one hell of a show planned" The Boys said that they picked Toronto as the last show 'cause they love us so much! (how sweet!)

The songs were basically the same, But during one part.. I have no clue what song it was, Howie was singing and walking backwards, so Nick came up behind Howie and Howie walked right into Nick...it was so cute!

They did a lot of crazy stuff! During "That's the way I like it" one of the male-dancers was un-dressing Brian, he ripped off his tie and started to rip of Brian's shirt.... but Brian had this kinda scared look on his face... it was so cute!!!!

We had Kevin and AJ on our side the most..... AJ was so cool, he kept waving at everyone and smiling at my friends and me. During "Don't want you back" we had Nick, he was sitting on the pole and waving at everyone! It was so cool!

At the end when they were introducing the dancers/band, my friend told me to through this beany baby chihuahua that I got for Brian, so I did. It hit his leg and he picked it up and started playing with it. He put it down on the stage right side up... and it stayed like that until Kevin knocked it over with his foot, so it was on its side. At the end of the concert on the of the Band members took it down below.

During Perfect Fan, we had Brian on our side of the stage, and he kept making goofy faces at the girl and at the audience.

Nick had a bottle of Silly String. and was putting the silly string all over Howie's head!!! Then Howie took the bottle and sprayed that audience.

Oh yeah, during one song, Nick was trying to hype up the crowd even more, so he did these little ...uh "moves" and then Aj came over and shook his head and did some other "moves" he had this like "Nick, this is how you do it" type look on his face. (so cute)

At the end tons of confetti exploded everywhere.... and I mean everywhere.. it looked like a snow storm. During one part at the end, Howie came down to our side of the stage with a security guard, so we all got to touch his hands!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All I can say is that it was the best concert that I've ever been too, I totally can't wait for the BSB to come back again (I know it will be a while)

See ya and don't forget... *KTBSPA* 4 EVER

________________________________________________________________

So there you have it, the actual words of a very excited teenager. I'll write a review of the NKOTBSB concert next week and see how it compares.

Tales of a 15-year-old Backstreet Boys fan - March 2000 - part 1

2011-07-31T08:57:00.001-04:00

Remember when I first blogged about the amazing the NKOTBSB show in June HERE ? With the countdown to NKOTBSB Round 2 quickly winding down - 6 days to go! - I've been re-immersing myself in all things Backstreet and learning all things New Kid. The excitement for the upcoming concert has me reminiscing of the greatest concert I ever went to and the events that lead up to it. I alluded to it in my previous post, but did not go into detail.

In December of 1999 it was announced that the last stop on the world famous "Into the Millennium" Tour would be in my home-town in March of 2000. We'd only been to one other BSB concert prior to this so naturally our 14 and 15-year-old selves were dying to go. The way tickets were sold back then was that you had to get a green wristband, which were given out about a week before the official "on sale" date. Hundreds of wristbands with 5 digit numbers were given out for each location, and on the morning of December 11th 1999 one number was chosen at random. That number would then get first pick at the tickets and each following number and so on. That meant that anyone whose wristband number was right before it had to go to the back of the line.

The way it happened to work out for us was that there was myself and 2 girlfriends - then other girls - then my mom who had so graciously agreed to wear a wristband 'just in case'. We were put into the lineup by our respective numbers, and once the 500 or so people were settled, THE NUMBER was drawn. Naturally no one could hear the actual number, but it quickly trickled back through the line like a wave. Once the wave stopped, chaos and screaming broke out.

It's been over a decade and I can still vividly remember hearing the number and knowing it was a higher number then our wristbands and thinking we'd never get tickets.My mom says I gave her the saddest look ever (I have no recollection of this) but she very calmly came over to me and said "It's my number".

I swear at that moment the world stopped. For several minutes.

I'd heard what she'd said, but it just would not compute in my head. By the time reality set back in she was already marching up to the ticket window. In the 2 minutes or so she was busy paying, my girlfriends and I had been reduced to shaking, anxious messes. We knew our prospects were good, but we had no idea how good - we were betting on maybe 5th row floor. She came out with FRONT ROW tickets.

The actual tickets - I know, a little hard to see

I wrote a concert review 3 days after the concert and posted it on a popular website at the time. Something spurred me on a few weeks ago to see if I could still find it. It may have been lost in a virtual "dusty file cabinet" - but I found it and in my next post I will share it with all of you!

A moment of silence for Arlington

2011-07-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

The 3rd stop on my trip 'down South' was to Arlington National Cemetery. I'm a huge history buff (and history teacher) so naturally this was a place I've always wanted to see.

The cemetery itself is massive, covering close to 4 miles (8km) and we didn't manage to see even half in over 2 hours. The "important" graves that everyone - including us - flocks to are JFK's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The graves are mostly simple white headstones set out in a very rigid pattern. It reminded me of what I picture Flanders Fields looking like in Belgium. If you've ever attended a Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony then you know what I'm talking about.

JFK's grave

What really made an impression on me was the amount of respect that the visitors had for these hallowed grounds. It was very quiet, even children managed to behave themselves and everyone paid their respects in a very somber fashion.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was the place I was most interested to see. They have a Marine posted at the Tomb 24 hours a day and every hour they perform a "changing of the Guards" ceremony.

So many young men and women gave their lives for the freedom that America now enjoys, and so many of them were killed as cannon fodder and dumped into unmarked graves, if they were found at all. I think it's incredible that we honour these fallen heroes and give them the respect they deserve

Amazing Annapolis

2011-07-29T08:00:00.003-04:00

I feel like all of a sudden I jumped back onto the blogging-bandwagon, this is my second post in 2 days (albeit scheduled for later on this week)
side note: I've been playing around with the settings on Paint.Net (free version of Photoshop) and trying to edit my pictures, what do you think so far?
Part of my trip 'down South' included a much-anticipated visit to Annapolis, Maryland and the United States Naval Academy. We were originally going to go the last time I was down, but a nasty cold kept me in bed for most of that trip. This time, feeling healthy and blessed with ~~bloody hot~~ nice weather, we decided to make the trek.

This place was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G

The amount of discipline and dedication that goes into being in the Navy was unreal. I completely admire and respect anyone who fights for their country, but this just took it to a whole new level for me.

Attending the Academy is free, but you do have to sign a contract and do 5 years of service once you graduate. The "midshipmen" (students) are in full-uniform 24/7 and working hard for the whole 4 years. Most don't even make it home for holidays as they are usually at sea training. The only "free time" they have is on Saturdays from noon - midnight. That's it. They have strict curfews enforced and rules that must be followed at all times.

part of the Naval Academy Harbor

We took a 2-hour guided tour of the Academy (which I highly recommend) during which our very knowledgeable tour guide taught us about the rich history of the school.

Admiral's Row

The highest ranking Admirals, Corporals and other officials live on the actual Academy grounds in "Admiral's Row". A very idyllic and beautiful street that weaves itself around the base.

Memorial Hall

One of the most touching places for me was Memorial Hall. Located at the back of the dormitories/mess hall is a large marble hall dedicated to all current and past students of the Academy who have been killed in the line of duty. Their names are all engraved on the walls, along with which conflict they were killed in going back to the mid 1800's. By far the largest "section" is WW2 - closely followed by Vietnam.

Annapolis Harbor

Although the bulk of our day was spent at the Naval Academy, the city of Annapolis itself is also not to be missed. There is a busy but charming waterfront area with cute shops and an abundance of restaurants and cafe's overlooking the water. Definitely a great place for a warm summer evening.

All-in-all, Annapolis was a place I was looking forward to seeing and it definitely lived up to my expectations!

Beautiful Baltimore

2011-07-27T23:21:00.001-04:00

Market Street

Hello? Anyone still out there? I've been so busy the last 2 weeks that there just hasn't been time to blog. I've barely been home, let alone near my laptop. Where have I been you might ask? I spent 5 days 'down South' and 5 days 'up North' since my last post.

Market Street

My father and step-mother live in Washington D.C (Virginia) so I flew down to see them for a couple of days. Due to the high cost of Airline travel, I had to get creative and managed to find an affordable flight on Southwest flying into Baltimore. My dad drove the hour or so and picked me up in Baltimore, and suggested we tour the city because it was my first time being there.

USS Constellation

Now I should preface this by saying that I always thought Baltimore was a typical American city. Some skyscrapers, some suburbs, nothing especially spectacular. I could not have been more wrong!

Baltimore is a beautiful city with a rich and vibrant history and amazing waterfront. I especially fell in love with the "market street" area which looks just like a small town smushed in the middle of a big city.

Baltimore Harbor

I've learned that I will never again judge a city by any preconceived notions I may have, I found Baltimore to be one of those places where I could really see myself living one day and I was very pleasantly surprised!

Mad Men style icon - January Jones

2011-07-12T10:35:00.003-04:00

Have I told you how much I'm currently in love with the HBO show "Mad Men"? If you follow me on Twitter you've no doubt seen a few posts lately. I realize that I'm about 3 years behind in the times, but trust me I'm trying to catch up quickly!

I downloaded season 1 from iTunes last year on a whim because it was on sale for $12.99 and since then I've been hooked. That being said, I'm still only at the beginning of season 2, but what draws me in more than anything is the fashion. January Jones' character "Betty Draper" is my absolute style icon, whether she's in a fabulous dress or simple pants she always looks amazing. If I could master 1960's style makeup, I would be in heaven.

Don't you just LOVE the dress?

I'm a real girly girl, especially in the summer, and practically live in dresses; and recently I've become obsessed with vintage-style dresses from the 1960's. I have 3 semi "Mad Men" looking dresses, but I've also discovered an amazing site that has hundreds of vintage-inspired dresses that I'm absolutely drooling over!
I'm not a fan of buying clothes online (shopping is my cardio) but this site has me more and more tempted each time I visit it. I'll post some examples below, but check out ModCloth for more styles! How gorgeous are these dresses?? The best part is that they are reasonably affordable, most are only around $100 or

Dainty Doodler Dress

Trusty Rose Dress

Make Me Wanna Shout Dress

Day After Day Dress

*disclaimer: I am in no way endorsed by modcloth.com - I just share my opinions on things you might like. Both Mad Men pictures are courtesy of Google Images

iHeart

2011-06-30T16:13:00.000-04:00

it's the last day of June so I'm determined to get one last blog post in. I wanted something quick and easy to blog about, so I figured it was high time for another installment of "I heart". There have been recent events in my life that have left me trying to be greatful for the simple things so this is a good strategy.

This is sort of an electronic version of the post because I'm writing this from my iPod Touch (which I love)

I heart...

..my mom. She's been having a very rough time lately and needs all the support I can give her

..my friends. I've been very blessed with amazing friends who keep me grounded and are always there when I need them

..my car. I love him, yes him. We're very close and spend a lot of time together

..NKOTBSB. If you don't know what that is google it! I feel like I'm rediscovering my teen years and it's a good escape from reality sometimes

..a good book. I've started reading historical fiction and must admit I'm quite hooked!

..sunshine and warm weather. Cute dresses, flats, shorts and flip flops - need I say more?

..my iPod Touch. I'm kind of in love.

What do you heart?

Some diversions and updates on my life

2011-06-28T18:43:00.000-04:00

I feel like Twitter has somehow replaced my blogging addiction. I find that I tend to blog most when I don't feel that I "have to" - which is exactly how I've been feeling the last number of months. Every time I log onto Blogger (and I do so almost daily) I look at the date of my last post and cringe because it's been so long.

Then I get that familiar feeling of "I really need to blog" - and promptly go and do something else. The weird thing is that I've really missed this place while at the same time ignoring it. I've also noticed my followers dwindle and my comments go down to almost nothing. While it does make me a little sad, I do not blame anyone in the slightest seeing as I haven't been keeping my end of the bargain and commenting on all of your wonderful blogs either.

I've become quite interested in historical fiction recently, and am currently about half way through my second book. Philippa Gregory is a historian of British History, more specifically the Tudor period and Elizabethan England. The Bestest lent me "The Other Boleyn Girl" when I was in Europe, and I loved it! I'm now reading the 3rd in her series ("The Virgin's Lover") and may very well keep going from there.

I don't have a job for the summer, but I'm finding that I'm actually pretty busy and the days are already going by way too fast for my liking. July is shaping up to be a very busy month for me. Among other things I have 3 small trips planned, a girlfriend from Germany in town for a few days and a 60th Birthday celebration for my mom!

How is your summer going? What do you have planned? Update me on your lives!

Testing!

2011-06-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

I may end up deleting this post, but I have a new toy to play with so I thought I'd give it a shot. My dad was gracious enough to give me his old iPod Touch (because he has an iPhone now) when I was in Germany a few weeks ago. When I attempted to download apps the iPod kept informing me that the operating system was too old but that I could buy an "upgrade" for the low price of $235. Thanks but no thanks Apple!

So instead I enlisted the help of a friend to do whatever tech-guys do in order to "refurbish" old iPods. I feel I'm better off not knowing exactly what was done with it.

The result is an iPod that works just like it's new - apps and all! Which is precicely where I'm currently blogging from. I downloaded the iBlogger app, but If there are better ones out there I'm open to suggestions!

NKOTBSB - Teenage Dream

2011-06-14T09:09:00.003-04:00

Hello little blog! You've been terribly neglected the last few months, here's hoping that will change. I'll do an update on my life in a "this and that" post either tomorrow or the next day. There will also be a review of my trip to Rome with a few accompanying pictures coming up shortly

I've been back home for exactly a week now, and what a week it has been. After only getting in late Tuesday night, I had to *drag* my tired-jet lagged-self to a wee little concert on Wednesday.

Something my blog friends (and other readers) may not know about me is that back-in-the-day I was a HUGE Backstreet Boys fan. We're talking a room covered in posters and spending pretty much every waking minute either listening to their music, talking about them or watching them on TV. The highlight of my ~~BSB-obsessed~~ life came in March of 2000 when my girlfriends and I had FRONT ROW tickets to see them.

As the years began to fade, so did my interest in the boys. Things like school, work and boyfriends kept me busy. Out of loyalty to the past I've still gone to most of the concerts when they've been in my area, but not all - and certainly not with the same enthusiasm as during my teen years.

This past fall rumours began circling that the Backstreet Boys were teaming up with New Kids on the Block to do a combined tour. I've never really been a New Kids fan - they were a little before my time. The bestest (also former BSB fan) has an older sister who was a HUGE New Kids fan, so she organized a plot for us all to go to the show and surprised her sister with a ticket for Christmas. There would be 5 of us going in total, and I hate to admit it, but a few of us went into this concert with a good dose of cynicism and "I think we're too old for this".

Then the show started.

Oh. Em. Gee.

I've been to my share of BSB concerts, and I have to say this was definitely one of my top shows. Ever. It was fantastic. Both groups put on an AMAZING performance, they were all energetic and happy and just like the Backstreet Boys of yore. I felt myself instantly being transplanted back in time a decade, cheering along with the rest of the sold-out stadium. My girlfriends and I loved the show SO MUCH that we promptly bought tickets to see them again in August when they come to a city about an hour from here.

More than that, it only took 2 hours to turn me into an absolute New Kids on the Block fan! They were fantastic, absolutely amazing. ~~And I'm a little ashamed to admit~~ I completely fell in love with Donnie Wahlberg. I love his show "Bluebloods" but this just confirmed it for me.

You can't look at that and tell me he's not gorgeous, right?

Life with GG - 2011 Edition - Volume 1

2011-05-25T03:56:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post, and many things have happened since then. Rome has been conquered so-to-say and I'm now ~~comfortably~~ at my Grandparents' place. Back by popular request is the annual "Life with GG" segment, where I broadcast actual conversations I either have or overhear while I'm here. I refer to her as GG (short for German Grandmother)

If you want to catch up on last years posts, go HERE. I preface all posts by saying that I love my Grandmother very much, but just that she sometimes drives me crazy. If you want a snapshot of what it's like here, picture Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls but with less money. That's pretty much spot on.

__________________________________________________________

Ella: *drying her hair*
GG: You have bangs now!?!
Ella: No, the hair just stopped growing.
GG: You have bangs now.
Ella: Do you like them?
GG: No.
you can never say she's not honest

__________________________________________________________

GG: *picks up sweater of mine* Do you wash this?
Ella: *sighs* we went through this last year. Believe it or not we do have washing machines at home.
GG: That's not what I meant, you really shouldn't be so sensitive.
Ella: .............................

___________________________________________________________

Ella: *leaves the room while GG is in another room*
GG: Child, where are you going?
Ella: I'll be right back.
GG: I come back in and you're gone. Are you running away from me?
Ella: *sighs* GG, it's a one-bedroom appartment, I'm not going far. This isn't a palace.

___________________________________________________________

*Ella gety up first thing in the morning and wanders into the kitchen where GG is sitting*

GG: *in something resembling a baby voice* awwww look who's here!!
Ella: *deadpan* Yes. It seems to be a miracle that I can manage to get up on my own.
GG: *same voice* ooooohhhh someone's in a bad mood!
Ella: *deadpan* Please don't talk to me until after I've had breakfast.
GG: *silently stares at Ella and watches her eat cereal*
Ella: *looks up*
GG: Is this better?
Ella: *rolls eyes a little* Much. Now I just feel like a zoo animal.

___________________________________________________________

That's it for now, I'll try to post another segment in a few days!

Ciao (B)ella

2011-05-15T12:26:00.000-04:00

don't you just love that title?

My bags are ~~mostly~~ packed, the iPod is fully loaded and the camera is charging. That's right folks, I'm off to Rome tonight! Tomorrow at this time I'll be deeply immersed in the city of Piazzas and Pizzas.

After 3.5 days in Rome, I'll be off to visit my grandparents for about 3 weeks. I'll still be posting when I'm away, but the frequency may be less. That being said, I think I managed a whole 2 posts in all of April, so perhaps the frequency won't change at all.

Have a good week!

Fun Fridays!

2011-05-13T13:50:00.000-04:00

I've decided to join in on the fun over at Jen's blog

The most fun thing about this Friday is that as of yesterday I am officially done with my second semester of teacher's college! It was a brutal semester, and I feel as though I've done more work in the last 3 months then I did in 4 years of University, but I'm proud of myself for pushing through it all. Next semester I have 2 7-week long practicum placements where I'm actually teaching every class ever day, and then - that's it!

The bestest and I are trying "warm yoga" for the first time tonight. We've been going to traditional yoga a few times a week for the past month, and I've been dying to try hot yoga, but since neither of us have been before, the studio offers a "reduced heat yoga" on Friday nights - which is where tonight will find us. I'm excited but a little scared at the same time. I've heard that hot yoga is amazing, but also that it can be considered a form of torture, so we'll see.

I've off to Rome in 48 hours so there are many things that need to be done before then, but I'm so excited for this trip. Although I've been to Italy a few times, I have yet to see "the eternal city" so this will be an adventure for sure.

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!

light at the end of the tunnel

2011-05-05T13:35:00.000-04:00

I've missed this little blog, but when school got busy something had to take a backseat. I have exactly one week of classes left before my second semester is complete. Most of the major assignments are now done, as is my third placement so I feel as though I have a moment to breathe.

As if my life hasn't been busy enough lately, I'm in the process of organizing my annual Eurotrip. This year will include a few days in the Eternal City (Rome) as well as a few weeks with my Grandparents.

I started a segment last year called "Life with GG" which chronicles my experiences with my Grandmother. Picture Emily Gilmore but with less money. If you want to catch up on last years posts click here. I plan to keep up the "Life with GG" segment this year, so stay tuned for stories.

On the same note, I've decided to give Twitter THIRD try - and it seems to be working pretty well this time.I will probably be updating Twitter with more "Life with GG" stories as I'm out and about during the day with her. Follow me HERE!

Teachable Moment - Placement #3

2011-04-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday!

Kind of seems like an oxymoron doesn't it? Happy and Monday in the same sentence.

I realized that it's been a while since I've written a "Teachable Moments" post - so here goes. I'm now half way through my third placement. And to be honest - I'm not loving it. I love the school, the kids and the subjects. I'm in a Grade 12 "Living Cultures" class, a Grade 12 "Individuals and Families in diverse societies" class and a Grade 10 history class. The school is really amazing, a very close-knit community that is very involved in fundraising and other school activities.The teachers are all great and seem to be very close with each other and all-in-all it's a really interesting school.

So you're wondering what I dislike about this particular school. Well, the problem is this: The students and teachers are all very close-knit - but I don't fit in. I realize it takes time to build relationships, but my previous 2 placements were very inclusive and always tried to include me. Here it doesn't work that way.

Take last week, between lunch and my associate teachers' prep periods, we're essentially off from 11 until 1:30. Well 11 rolls around and my two associate teachers decide they're going out for lunch - and leave me alone in the office for 2 hours.

I'm not saying they need to include me in everything or that I should have been invited, but at the same time I constantly feel like the new kid on the playground - and we all know that's not a nice feeling.

It's gotten to the point that I dread going there every Tuesday. Short of asking to be included (which I wouldn't do) I'm not sure how I can change this. Any thoughts?

A zen kind of moment

2011-04-14T18:44:00.006-04:00

Hello bloggers,

I'm trying to squeeze in a quick blog while I'm sitting in my Social Science class. I think I have something like 4 drafts saved now of posts that I've started and discarded in the last 2 weeks. Every time I sit down to write, something else gets in my way. I've been pushing myself to get all my work done lately, and the final stretch is finally upon me. There's about 4 weeks left in my semester, and then I'm off for the summer!

Now that the weather is getting better and Spring is upon us, I've made a pact with myself to get active and get myself into shape. I've been toying with the idea of getting back into yoga for a while now - and when I say "back into" I'm referring to the semi-attempt I made in my 3rd year of University when I took an "Eastern Philosophies" class - so on Tuesday the Bestest and I attended our first yoga class.

It was about an hour and a half of poses similar to the one pictured above accompanied by zen-like music and the soothing voice of our yoga teacher. We emerged feeling fit, healthy and slightly-less-stressed-out. Yesterday we felt stiff, sore and slightly-hit-by-a-car-like. Today seems better though so I have faith it will work

Side note to the Bestest: look at the picture I found, wonder how many classes before we can do poses like that - something to look forward to?

looks painful, no?

I learned two major things from my first class: ex-dancers seemingly have the WORST balance in the world, and knowing the difference between left and right is VERY helpful when doing Yoga - both things I will be working on next week!

Some pictures from Malta and an update on my life

2011-04-02T11:51:00.000-04:00

I managed a whole 2 posts in all of March - yikes! I'd like to say that I'm now back in full swing, but that simply isn't true yet. It may not be true until the middle of May at this point, as school is really starting to swallow me up completely.

I've been home from Malta for almost 2 weeks now and still have not found the time to write about my trip in any great detail. I think I've literally been spending all my free time working. Yuck. Some girls from my class and I have started coming in early before class and staying later just to try and catch up on assignments and lesson plans.

Aside from school, things with me have been good. Quiet, but good. Last Friday I took a much-needed break from school work and spent the day doing errands and having lunch with the Bestest. It was definitely much needed. I will stop here and head back to my books, but before I go I'll leave you with a few silent images of Malta - and a promise that a post about my trip will follow shortly!

Downtown Valletta

Gozo Island

St. Julians

Leaving on a Jetplane (or 2)

2011-03-09T14:44:00.000-05:00

Just a very quick post (while I'm in class, I'm such a good student, I know) to let you all know I'm off to Europe (via a 4-hour layover in NYC) as of tomorrow morning! It will be just over 24 hours of travel time, so I expect to arrive in Germany feeling like a zombie friday morning.

Since I'm only gone a week, I want to avoid the typical jet-lag symptoms as much as possible, so I went out and bought "No Jet-Lag" a herbal medication that is supposed to help reset your internal clock a lot faster. I'm not too optimistic about it actually working, but at this point I will try anything.

I'm not bringing my laptop with me this time as I have plenty of books to read courtesy of the bestest that should hopefully keep me occupied. I will return with a travel journal and lots of pictures on the 21st!

crawling out of hibernation! and going to Malta!

2011-03-06T10:52:00.002-05:00

Why hello there! Remember me? Your former blog friend who has now been reduced to a stressed-out tantrum-throwing mess? Yup that's me. I'm crawling out of my hole just long enough to announce that I'm still here but I've had zero time to blog the last few weeks. I googled "stressed out" and this is the first picture that came up. Appropriate I would say.

My trip to Morocco has now officially been cancelled, with the unrest in the Middle East/North Africa, we thought it was simply too dangerous - so I'm going to Malta instead!

Malta, a very small and beautiful Island just south of Sicily - and a place I know next to nothing about! I'm very excited, and I've been doing some research whenever I've had a free moment recently. I'm hoping to go out and buy a guidebook today and really start marking down some places to see. Regardless, this is a much-needed break and although I have a ton of work to do between now and then, I can't wait until thursday!

I will leave you with some images of beautiful Malta (courtesy of google) and will be back to post again before I leave! I promise!

Have a great week everyone!

The "Arab awakening"

2011-02-22T18:41:00.000-05:00

Since I'm now officially booked to go to Morocco in a few weeks, I've been keeping a very close eye on all the happenings in the middle-east. First Egypt. Then Algeria. Now pretty much everyone.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the people that are finally getting a decent Governement and all that - but really, you couldn't wait until say... April?

Apparantly Morocco has been having demonstrations for the last few days involving thousands of people, tear gas and rubber bullets. You know, all fun touristy things like that. I'm being sarcastic. Obviously.

My government's foreign affairs website has upped the travel advisory for Morocco to "Exercise high degree of caution" and tells visitors to avoid public gatherings. But yet does not issue any "Official Warning".

All of this essentially leaves me in limbo, with no idea what to do and just a little bit of a fear for my safety.

Teachable Moments [4] - Lesson Planning

2011-02-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

Whereas last semester had me busy with essays and reflections on the basics of educational theory and child developement, this semster has me absolutely swamped with lesson and unit plans. I have to create 3 entire Unit Plans from scratch. This means all the assignment outlines, tests, assessments and each individual lesson that belongs in that Unit. All the while keeping in line with the Ministry of Education expectations and requirements. In other words, a crap load of work.

All the work I'm doing now will come in handy later when I can (hopefully) put these lessons and units to actual use, but for now all the work has me very tired.

I really never gave any thought to the amount of work that teachers had to go through. I suppose I always thought someone just gives them the lessons to teach and then they stand in front of a class for 75 minutes and deliver.

I could not have been more wrong.

Creating each individual lesson is very time consuming, and as a new-teacher, quite panic inducing. I implemented my first self-created lesson plan at my placement on tuesday. And I was terrified. Terrified that it would not work the way I planned and I'd be standing there in front of a class for over an hour with nothing worthwhile to do with them. Knowing that I had to do this lesson had me panicked for days before hand.

In the end it seems that my fears were unfounded because the kids actually loved my activity! It was actually a pretty amazing feeling to walk around the class and see them busily working on my activity in their table groups. The best part is that they seemed to actually enjoy it!

This doesn't mean I'm any less panicked to create and teach my next lesson this coming tuesday. Oh, and because I did such a good job on my lesson, my placement teacher sent me an e-mail last night announcing that she is going to be away the following tuesday (March 1st) and asked me to teach all 3 of her classes that day.

Can you say panic. Good panic. But panic nonetheless.

The problem with cosmetic samples..

2011-02-13T16:18:00.000-05:00

..is that they generally do what they're supposed to. They work. This of course is a very good thing for the company's profit margin, and a very bad thing for my bank account.

Below is a list of a few products that I now cannot live without (or so I think anyway) all thanks to a free sample or trial size tester. I was perfectly happy before all of these products came into my life, but now I don't believe my beauty routine would be the same without them. Go figure. It's now gotten to the point that I'm afraid to try samples in the fear that I'll find another expensive product I'm in love with.

Clinique 2 Clarifying Lotion, $25 and up - I've been using it twice a day for about 3 years now. Thank you sample size packet from Galeries Lafayette.

Diorshow Mascara in Blackest-Black, together for about a year now. Thank you "free sample" from Sephora - you've cost me over $50 this year.

Shiseido Foundation Compact. Going steady since summer 2006. This one is more my grandmother's fault and her insistance that I try a "name-brand" ~~read: expensive~~ compact. Problem is, after the initial compact that she purchased, the refills have since been up to me. Well done Shiseido, well done.

All this leads me to today's actual post-topic. While doing some light Sunday-cleaning, I stumbled across this little trinket..

Dior Hydrating Serum. But of course only in a one-time trial size. Actual price: no idea, do not want to know ~~but probably more than I pay for gas in a month~~

So naturally I had to try it. Of course. And naturally my skin immediately looked amazing. Of course.

Do I intend to buy it? Noooooo. Not unless I win the lottery sometime soon.

What products can you not live without?

Teachable Moments [3] - The Supply Teacher

2011-02-09T22:13:00.000-05:00

Since I'm back in full swing, it's high time for another segment of "Teachable Moments" in which I regail you with tales from Teacher's College and placement teaching.

I haven't talked about my new placement yet, and the reason for that is that to be honest - I hate it. Hate is probably a bit harsh, but it just isn't me. This semester I have two placements, one from January until March and the other from March until May. For the first placement I picked "Social Science" as my subject, and was promptly put into 2 "Food and Nutrition" and 1 "Fashion Industry" class. When I chose Social Science, I was envisioning Sociology, Religion or World Issues - not cooking and sewing. The classes themselves are also different - because social science courses are considered to be "life skills", they are open to anyone. In 2 of my classes there is a designated youth worker to handle specific special needs and behavioural issue students. It's definitely a different experience.

Yesterday I turned up at my placement expecting it to be a typical Tuesday. No Such Luck. It turns out that my associate teacher was sick and the office didn't have a supply teacher on hand. Guess who was temporarily put in charge of a Grade 11/12 split Fashion class for the first period? That's right.

Luckily for me, the Grade 11's had an assembly to go to, so the office told me to take the Grade 12's there as well and that the designated supply would find me there. No problem.

Well..

The supply teacher barely spoke English. Could not pronounce a single kid's name, did not know how to play a DVD and had no clue how to photocopy.

Enter Miss Ella.

I spent all 3 periods doing her job for her. I took attendance, put in a movie for the Grade 10's to watch and photocopied an assignment for the Grade 12's. It was an interesting day to say the least. It's also quite sad when the students looked at me as the authority figure instead of the supply teacher.

It was definitely a good experience for me, but it's just making me that much more freaked out to have to BE that supply teacher one day. But at least I speak English.

Have a good day!

Murphy's Law - The Men edition

2011-02-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

..also known as "the ones you'd like to hear from never message you, but the ones you're not sure about don't stop messaging you"

I've met 2 "new guys" in the last 2 weeks. This on its own is actually quite a feat seeing as since ShyBoy and I ended things back in October, it's been pretty quiet around here. Metaphorically speaking. They were both introduced to me by friends, one as a semi "blind-date" and the other completely coincidentally. Both seem like good guys, both have their negatives and both have their positives. I won't go into the back-stories at this time, if anything else develops then perhaps I'll divulge more information.

Nothing is set in stone with either one, they could both (or neither) end up being just friends - and that would be fine too.

My problem?

The one I'm more interested in getting to know is also the one who doesn't seem that eager to get to know me. ~~go figure~~

Why is it that it always works out that way?

The Groundhog and The Blizzard

2011-02-02T09:03:00.000-05:00

..kind of sounds like a children's book doesn't it?

Today is Groundhog Day for those of us in North America. According to folklore, if it's cloudy when the groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will be over soon. If it's sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.

We've been having pretty brutal weather here the last little while, and a major blizzard is swirling all around me as we speak. My friend posted this as her status on Facebook last night, I thought it was so appropriate that I had to share it with all of you:

"Listen you bastard groundhog - if you decide that there's 6 more weeks of this crap, I'm going to come up there and drag you out of your hole by your tail... We will practise NOT seeing your shadow until you get it right"

I think that pretty much sums up the general consensus on the weather these days. The bright side is that today is an official snow day for me! My area is being pelted by between 20-30cm's of snow starting last night and continuing throughout the day today. Converted, that is 8-11 inches of the white stuff. All the schools are closed, Universities included - which is quite rare. I'm quite happy to be spending the day at home, catching up on some homework and maybe watching a movie or two cuddled in bed.

For those of you living anywhere near this massive Blizzard (which they tell me is pretty much from Indiana to Massachusets to Ottawa to New Brunswick) and you do have to go out today - be safe driving!

** Just as an update, apparantly it's now been confirmed that the Groundhog did not see his shadow and that spring is on it's way!

The Land of Sand and Camels - Morocco..

2011-01-30T09:29:00.001-05:00

..is where I'm headed in March! A beautiful, exotic and mysterious country that (according to google images) looks a little something like this..

and this..

I imagine the country to look a little like a real-life version of Disney's "Aladdin" - even though I know that was Saudi Arabia.

These plans have been in the works for a few months, but I didn't want to say anything about it until things were actually booked. I'm both excited beyond belief and a little nervous to be going to Africa. I bought a guide book and have been furiously researching and page-marking everything that I want to see. I've also (already) started my packing list. I'm a list person by nature and always create numerous lists before I go away, but this trip is especially list-worthy.

Morocoo is 99% Muslim, which means that as a tourist, there are certain un-written rules one should follow out of respect. For women, this means covered shoulders and knees at all times. Clothing should not be too tight or revealing and one should carry a shawl in their bag just in case.

Now, I'm not saying I generally dress like a floozy or anything, but I've never really been to place where I really couldn't wear certain things. Having these restrictions (which are completely okay with me) just means that I need to pack very carefully and create outfit options in advance. Luckily the average temperature in March is around 22C/70F so it won't be unbearably hot and I can manage in t-shirts and capris.

I got a really cute journal for my birthday (thank you S!) which I will be using as a travel-journal while I'm away. You can bet there will be tons of pictures and diary entries posted when I return. There will probably also be pre-trip updates as the date gets closer.

Hope you are all enjoying your sunday across the blogosphere! I have a busy day ahead of me, full of housework, homework and a phone-date with a good friend of mine later on!

Check me out over at Kelly's Blog!

2011-01-26T13:24:00.000-05:00

I'm guest blogging over at Kelly's Avenue today! Go check it out! I'll post the cupcake recipe that I'm talking about over there in a few days.

Have a good day!

Special Delivery - Share Your Love 2011

2011-01-21T17:00:00.001-05:00

I stumbled across this concept on Al's blog and I think it's completely fantastic!

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and with it comes an opportunity to extend some love and kindness. The idea is to create Valentine's Day cards that will be delivered to senior citizens in New York City along with a hot meal. Etsy is working hand-in-hand with Citymeals-on-Wheels to provide eldery New Yorker's with a nutritionally balanced meal, companionship and a hand-made card on Valentine's Day.

All you have to do is create a card (or many) and send it off before February 9, 2011.

Etsy

Attn: Adam Brown
55 Washington St.
Suite 512
Brooklyn, NY 11201

I'm already planning out my card idea in my head, and I'll be sure to take pictures of my card (or cards) before I send them out!

Head over to Etsy to find out more information and how you too can participate!

Back to School - Winter 2011 style!

2011-01-20T19:27:00.000-05:00

For any of you that live in warm climates (or climates that currently have summer) I envy you! Today I aw bright sunshine and blue skies with not a cloud in sight. You're probably thinking, "ooh pretty, must be nice outside" ....I wish.With the windchill the exact temperature in my area is currently -17 degrees Celsius.Thanks to Online Conversion that works out to 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, pretty freaking cold. My feet were cold even in my Uggs. That should tell you something.

To go right along with the weather, I had my first "Methods of Social Science" class today. This class is supposed to teach me how to teach Social Science. The teacher seems to be pretty awesome, except for one small thing. Today (see above paragraph for temperature) he decides that we need to get to know the area around the school - so he spilt us up into 2 groups, and sent us out to explore for 20 minutes. Outside.

Yes.

It was brutal.

That's been the highlight of my school week so far. The first day of a new class is pretty much the same across the board. Talk about course expectations. Do pointless self-introductions. Review syllabus. And go walking through a sub-division in sub-zero arctic temperatures. Apparantly.

On a very different (and positive!) note, Kelly over at Kelly's Avenue is looking for guest bloggers for next week! You can write about anything, and she would be very apprechiative. Go check out her blog and e-mail her if you're interested!

[upcoming] Teachable Moments continued

2011-01-11T17:43:00.000-05:00

I finally managed to settle my second teaching placement this morning. The problem is, I opted to do my placement in the Social Science department since that is my second teachable. I studied Humanities in University, which means I have a background in the "social" aspect of social science. Meaning, sociology, psychology and anthropology.

The problem is, it seems that within the new high school curriculum all social science teachers are automatically put into the family studies department. In other words - cooking, sewing and parenting. NONE of which I can do. The only meal I can make by myself that does not involve packaged food or a microwave is spaghetti, I cannot sew to save my life and I have zero experience dealing with children. Add in the worries of a first-year teacher and you have a very panicked Ella.

I start my placement on tuesday, and I have to be honest and admit that I'm scared. Very scared. I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of a room full of teenagers.

List of 4's

2011-01-08T20:52:00.000-05:00

I saw this over at Confessions of a Grad School Bride and thought this was a good choice for a random post on a random saturday night. I just spent 40 minutes clearing snow and ice off of 2 cars, so naturally I'm now freezing and exhausted.

4 Shows I Watch:

* Big Bang Theory
* Grey's Anatomy
* Criminal Minds
* CSI NY
4 Things I'm Passionate About:

* my family
* my friends
* school
* teaching

4 Things I've Learned From the Past:

* always trust your gut instinct
* good things fall apart so better things can fall together
* what defines us is how we rise after we fall
* what doesn't kill you actually does make you stronger

4 Places I'd Like to Go:

* Morocco
* Argentina and Brazil
* Siberia via the Trans-Siberian Railway
* Scandinavia

4 Things I Did Yesterday:

* celebrated a great birthday with great friends
* got wonderful presents :)
* played pictionary man and taboo
* laughed
4 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

* spring break and possible travel plans
* getting my teaching career started
* the bestest's wedding, a year and a half from now
* traveling

Happy (belated) birthday to me!

2011-01-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

Does that sound totally self-absorbed? I apologize if it does. Yesterday was my birthday, and I generally don't like my birthday for a few different reasons. Being born at the beginning of the year means that I'm generally the oldest among my group of friends. This was especially true during the school-years, and quite honestly I hated it. Also, being born at the end of the holiday season means that by the time January 4th rolls around most people are either tired, sick, broke or a combination thereof. Me included!

This year I was not in the mood to celebrate at all. I'm still not quite okay with the age that I turned, and for now will only refer to myself as "twenty-something" - but in the end I did have a very nice day. I'm having a small get-together with some friends this coming weekend, so yesterday was just my mom and I. We went out to a mall downtown, had lunch, walked around and just had some bonding time.

One very nice perk of having a birthday - Sephora and their birthday gift! All you have to do is sign up for a "beauty insiders card" (free) and then when it's your birthday they give you Philosophy's "Vanilla Birthday Cake" shower gel for free. No purchase necessary. It was seriously cool, and it smells amazing!

On the way home last night I stopped at my local Walmart to look at board games. I'm a total nerd and love board games. Love them. I seem to accumulate a new game around my birthday every year. I've been looking for Pictionary for a while, but it seemed to be hard to find (no idea why). WELL - last night I found something even better.

It's a new version of Pictionary, with a little man and props to draw on instead. I've been playing around with it since last night, and it seems like it will be fun.

A new year

2011-01-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

It's been ages since I've last blogged, and frankly I didn't know if I'd be returning at all. I've been going through some stuff and I find I've been turning to my actual journal instead of my laptop. With the start of the new year I'm trying to get back into my blogging routine.

I had a good conversation about the future with my oldest-standing friend yesterday. We went to kindergarten together, and although our lives have taken each of us in very different directions (both geographically and metaphorically) we've always remained friends and see each other about once a year. I don't know what the year ahead holds for me, but I do know that it's up to me to make it happen. I don't believe in resolutions, partly because I never keep them, but mostly because my goals are more emotional.

For example, my goal for 2011 is to be happy. Happy with myself. Happy with my surroundings. Happy with my family. Happy with my friends. Happy with life.

I hope the year ahead is all that you want it to be for each and every one of you.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge - Days Two, Three & Four

2010-12-14T13:29:00.000-05:00

Blog Status: Ella is spending a snowy day in front of the TV

I wasn't supposed to be at home today, but the weather and my car seem to have ganged up on me and force me to stay home. I now present you with the Christmas Blog Challenge, at least days 2-4 to start.

Day 2 - Black Friday/General Shopping Tips & Tricks

Oooh good one! I had my first Black Friday experience this year. Read all about it here. The verdict: I was dissapointed! It wasn't busy at all, or at least not the way I was expecting. My biggest shopping tip is to go at the right time. That may mean early or that may mean late. Either way, I calculate when the least amost of people are likely to be at the mall at a given time.

Day 3 - Meaningful/Memorable Gift(s)

This is a tough one, I'd like to consider all my gifts to be meaningful and memorable. Wow I'm really drawing a blank on this one.

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

My number one money saving tip: Coupons! I know it may sound cheesy, but I love discounts and coupons. I just recently discovered ebates (hello! where have you been all my life!) and whenever I go shopping south of the border, I scour the coupon websites.

Another trick, is wrapping paper and bows, ribbon etc. Hello Dollarama! They have the cutest present accessories for $1 each. It's great!

I'm off to bake gingerbread cookies and enjoy a snowy day and prepare for my last exam tomorrow morning!

12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge - Day One

2010-12-09T12:34:00.000-05:00

Blog Status: Ella is breathing a sigh of relief after handing in her last 2 assignments this morning

Hello bloggers! I'm not entirely on christmas-time yet, I still have one take-home exam, one exam, 2 days of placement and 2 actual classes to go - BUT the last of my official assignments were handed in this morning so I feel a lot lighter.

The Christmas Season has been chugging along without my knowledge or approval the last few weeks. 15 Days from today is Christmas Eve - scary right? I'm almost done my christmas shopping, only a few people left to go.

I've wanted to do this blogger challenge for days now, but I just haven't had the time. So I'm going to start attempting it now. Over at Aly's blog, she and fellow blogger Molly have a wonderful 14-day Christmas themed blog challenge. Go there now!

The "Day 1" Challenge is "Christmas/Holiday Tradition"

One of my favorite holiday traditions is christmas eve with my mom. We spend the holidays with family, but on christmas eve day, her and I always go out by oursleves and either wander the mall or local market or simply sit and have coffee/hot chocolate somewhere. It's a nice tradition to be able to spend some time together amongst the craziness of the holiday season and just reflect on everything that is going on around us.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's challenge, "Black Friday/general shopping tips/tricks"

It's December in our town..

2010-12-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

Blog Status: Ella is happy to be allowed to sleep in past 6am today

I'm at a bit of a quandry at the moment. The urge to blog suddenly hit me the other day, but the need to finish my assignments is hitting me even harder. We're talking hitting me like a MAC Truck kind of harder. So I'm trying to balance school work and blogging, but neither one seems to be surviving at the moment.

But all my complaining aside, I'm completely excited and freaked out that it's December already, and only just over 3 weeks until Christmas. Hello panic mode, nice to meet you.

I have two December/Year End blog challenges that I'm dying to attempt, so expect a few posts in the next few days.

Happy December!

The aftermath of black friday

2010-11-29T17:43:00.001-05:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling very accomplished after a day of catching up on work

After a great few days spent with family in the D.C area, I have returned. I'll save an actual post about what I saw and did for another day, today I wanted to broadcast about my experiences shopping on black friday.

***Now I should add a disclaimer that this was my first experience, so I don't have much to compare it with.

This is what I expected...

This is what I got...

Both images are courtesy of google images, but you get the idea.

The end result - I was almost dissapointed by the lack of pushing, hair pulling and cart stealing. I was prepared for madness, but instead it was a quick and pleasant experience.

It could have been the time of day. My dad and I were both up and ready early, so we made our way to Walmart around 8AM. I figured that the madness would have begun at 5 when the store opened and most people would be gone by the time we got there. I wasn't looking for the big ticket items, although I'll be honest that a flatscreen TV for $98 did tickle my fance, my main goal was cheap DVD's. Those are exactly what I got. Between Walmart and Target I bought a total of 11 DVD's and one season for a little under $70. Not bad if I do say so myself.

All in all I was very pleasantly surprised with my first black friday experience. So much so that I'm considering making it an annual event.

How was your black friday shopping? What bargains did you get? Tell me!

Thanksgiving - American style!

2010-11-23T14:12:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I'm trying to get back into blogging, but lately I think I've been in a blogging funk. I just haven't had the motivation (or time) to blog, but no fear, I think I may slowly be making my return. My semester is slowly coming to an end, there's only 3 weeks left including exams and then I'll be off for just over a month.

As of tomorrow I'm Washington-bound for Thanksgiving! I'm actually very excited about this, because it will be my first (American) Thanksgiving. Since I attend an American University, we get 3 days off over Thanksgiving, so I'm jetting down to Washington to visit family.

I'm looking forward to a nice break to spend time with family and maybe (just maybe) squeeze in a little bit of shopping. I've only heard stories about this elusive "Black Friday", but I really want to make a pit stop to Wal-Mart and check out the DVD sales.

Is "Black Friday" really as crazy as I've always heard?

I think that's all I have to say for now, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and Happy Thanksgiving!

just checking in

2010-11-14T21:44:00.000-05:00

Blog Status: Ella is taking a few minutes out of her schedule to focus on her neglected little blog

Just a quick post to announce that I am still alive and still very much blogging. I've been so busy these days working on assignments and my teaching portfolio that I haven't had much time to blog recently.

Luckily my assignments are slowly coming to an end. I believe the official count is 8 assignments and 3 exams to go. I promise to start making regular appearances again shortly - perhaps even this week again!

I know I've been neglecting this little blog recently, but the bulk of it should be over next week.

Then I'm off to Washington DC to celebrate Thanksgiving with family so expect a few posts around that time

Have a good week!

Halloween

2010-10-31T21:43:00.000-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling a little bumbed

Do you ever get the feeling that Halloween isn't what it used to be?

I didn't grow up with Halloween, in Germany Mardi Gras is celebrated with costumes and candy in February instead but I always knew about this elusive holiday from cartoons and movies.

So you can imagine how excited I was to go trick-or-treating the first time (at the tender age of 10). I believe I dressed up as a witch and I filled pretty much a whole pillowcase full of candy and chocolates.

Tonight I think my house got a total of 10 kids in the span of 3 hours. I remember the days when the doorbell wouldn't even stop ringing and we'd run out of candy. Instead, I'm sitting here munching on leftovers.

This year is the first time in many years that I haven't hosted a Halloween party. I didn't think it would bother me, but the truth is that it does. It's been a very quiet weekend.

I hope you all had a good Halloween weekend across the blogosphere!

Teachable Moments [2] - Field Trip!

2010-10-27T21:14:00.000-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is extremely excited for tuesday

Although this is only my second "teachable moments" post, I've had so many amazing experiences the last few weeks I wouldn't even know where to start. I'm at my placement 3-4 times a week now, so both the classes know me pretty well and are comfortable having me do simple tasks like assigning homework.

The best part, on tuesday I get to spend the whole day with the grade 10 class on a field trip! My placement teacher asked me if I wanted to come along and help chaperone. I was a bit unsure at first, but as soon as I found out where they were going, I knew it was something I had to do. I re-arranged my actual class schedule and cleared it with my professor so he won't mind me missing his class.

The grade 10 History class is just starting their Unit on World War II and the Holocaust so they're going to the Holocaust Education Center. The few IRL (in real life) friends who read this will know how much this trip means to me, and funnily enough it's one place I haven't been to.

I feel like in some ways my academic career has come full circle, and teaching about the Holocaust is something I'm meant to do - and I'm really interested to see how the students react.

am impasse.

2010-10-20T14:53:00.000-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is sooo hungry and is craving fast food

Almost 2 weeks and no post, and now my first post will probably be somewhat of a downer - excellent Ella!

My excuse for the past days? None really. I've been busy with school (and I'm getting a lot more responsibility in my placement) but even that leaves my evenings fairly open.

I've also had increased free time in the evenings due to the untimely ending of a certain fling - but alas, still no blogging

I just haven't had the motivation - which isn't to say that I didn't want to, because I did!

I spent the majority of my saturday with my 3 best girlfriends. It was actually planned before the end of said fling, but really could not have come at a better time! Because our schedules are so vastly different, it's incredibly difficult to find a time when all 4 of us are free, but it just so happened that Saturday night worked out perfectly.

We spent the evening looking at old pictures for the Bestest's wedding slide show, which of course included a long trip down memory lane. It was good to spend the evening with these girls, and it provided me a great distraction at the same time.

All in all, the weekend definitely had its ups and downs - and I'm currently adjusting to not having someone fairly important in my life anymore. It's a little loney, but it's getting there.

Let's be Thankful (Canadian edition)

2010-10-08T10:06:00.000-04:00

Blog Status: Ella thinks her immune system is rebelling against her career choice

Happy friday everyone!

This weekend is an extra long weekend (and exta-extra long for me) in my area because it's Thanksgiving. I'm off to Ottawa to visit my family tomorrow for a few days full of good food, good family and homework. October is turning out to be one of the busiest months of my life school wise.

Since this is Thanksgiving, I thought it might be nice to post a list of things I'm thankful for. Feel free to add your items to the list!

I am thankful..

..for my car - I do so much driving these days and I'm thankful every day that I get home safely

..for pumpkin pie scented candles - yum!

..for the great kids in my placement classes

..for Tylenol and Advil cold medication - it's been getting me through the week

..for orange spice tea - another thing that's getting me through the days

..for my family and friends

..for The Big Bang Theory on dvd

..for scarves, Uggs and leggings/jeggings

..for Pumpkin Spice Latte's from Starbucks

What are you thankful for?

20 + 10 in 2010 = Tea Challenge complete!

2010-10-05T13:13:00.000-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling crappy

Remember my 2010 Blog Challenge that I first talked about Here ? more specifically the Tea Challenge from Here ?

I'm happy to report I've successfully completed the Challenge! I've actually found a tea flavor and combination that I not only like but l-o-v-e

Constant Comment Tea - steeped 4 minutes - cream - sugar

Yum!

I'm failing miserably on the rest of my Challenges - but at least I managed this one!

Teachable Moments [1]

2010-09-28T21:11:00.004-04:00

Since I'm embarking on this new journey in my life, I thought I'd start a semi-regular feature called "Teachable Moments" wherein I fill you all in on my path to becoming a Teacher.

I had my first real "teachable moment" today in my grade 12 History class. It's only my second week doing placement, so I've spent most of my time so far sitting in the back of the classes observing and taking notes on teaching styles.

The class was just starting and the teacher was setting up a movie ("Amadeus" - based on the life of Mozart, excellent movie) when one of the girls came over to me. She seemed a little hesitant at first, but then timidly said she had a few questions.

Her questions and concerns were all about University, and by the sounds of it she was quite panicked at the thought of attending lectures and having to copy everything down quickly and she was overwhelmed at the prospect of picking a school and career path.

Her fears were the same ones I had when I entered my first year of University, just like I'm sure many of you had as well.

I ended up talking to her and her friend for a good 15 minutes. I covered everything from lectures to note taking, to considering other options like College instead of University and gave them my personal experiences since I did both. They both seemed a lot calmer after my talk, and I walked away feeling very good about myself.

It didn't occur to me that I was assuming a teacher role by giving advice, but that's exactly what I was doing.

My first Teachable Moment!

The beginning of a new (school) year

2010-09-26T20:47:00.002-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling very accomplished

I've been writing this post in my head for days during my down time - ie. in the car or before falling asleep - but for some reason I just haven't had the time to actually type it out until right now.

Since I've pretty much spent my life in a classroom, my internal clock always sees September as a new year. To me, New Years is just another holiday between Christmas and my birthday but September is the beginning of fall, the end of summer and the start of another school year. In other words, a new beginning.

This particular September has found yours truly back in a highschool setting. My placement school. I've now completed one week of placement and the verdict - I love it! I almost squealed with glee when I walked into my first class and they were studying World War I.

Although I'm exhausted from doing my placement in the morning, having my own classes in the afternoon and then coming home and doing homework I really can't wait to actually start teaching.

I spent the day today washing all my scarves and gloves in perparation for the upcoming season. There's just something about fall that I really love.

Pumpkin and harvest flavoured candles, a crisp wind in the air, taking out my Uggs for the first time and creating new outfits involving leggings and long sweaters

What do you love about fall?

school + love = Glee

2010-09-19T09:51:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is in full school mode!

Good morning bloggers, I hope you've all had a good weekend around the world. Mine was a good balance of quiet and busy, which is exactly the way I like it.

As my status up above says, I'm in complete school mode now. This has to do with 2 things, one being the start of my placement in an actual high school and the other being my new obsession with Glee. I blogged about Glee being my inspiration to pursue Teachers College here and since then that inspiration has grown exponentially.

The complete first season of Glee came out on tuesday, and I'm a little ashamed to admit I actually left for school early in order to be able to stop at WalMart on the way and pick it up. Since then I've been a self-admitted "Gleek". I'm half way through the first season, and determined to finish before the season premier on tuesday. Oh, and I'm completely in love with Will Schuester - just thought I'd point that out.

On friday I had my first taste of a "real" Glee experience. I got to meet my placement school! I was a little terrified, but luckily there are about 6 other people from my classes going to the same school so I wasn't alone. The VP of the school gave us an extensive tour of the school and introduced us to some of the teachers. I haven't stepped foot into a high school since I was in high school, so needless to say it was definitely a trip down memory lane!

I'm both excited and scared to begin working in an actual classroom on tuesday morning. Most likely I'm going to be placed in a history class, which is my main teachable anyway. This semester I have to volunteer a minimum of 75 hours, most of which will be spent observing or mentoring small groups of students within the class.

I'm spending today alternating between catching up on school readings and watching Glee, either way you can bet my mindset is completely in high school mode at the moment

Favorite Fridays - TV Show!

2010-09-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Blog Status: rain rain go away

2 posts in 1 week, I think I'm improving slightly!

It's pouring rain here, and I feel like I drowned my poor car on the way to school this morning. The most exciting for me right now is the fact that I'm meeting my placement school tomorrow! I'm completely ~~terrified~~ excited to be starting this new phase of my life. I'm counting on my GPS to get me to the school on time tomorrow as I only have a vague idea of where it is.

Anyway, I'll do a real school update after I've actually been to the school, today's topic is about one of my favorite past times - television!

This week's Favorite Friday's topic is favorite television show

I'm actually really torn to pick just one - because I can't. I watch too much television to narrow it down, so you're going to get my whole list

In no real order:

- Glee

- Big Bang Theory

- Grey's Anatomy

- Jepardie

- Gossip Girl

- Amazing Race

- America's Next Top Model

- Mad Men

- CSI New York

Those are all the current shows that I love, but doesn't include old favorites like Friends or Sex and the City

school.

2010-09-13T12:37:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is in class

September = blog fail

Majorly.

Since I went back to school 2 weeks ago it seems to have consumed my entire life. I spend my days in front of my laptop so by the time I get home (after an hour long drive) the last thing I want to do is spend more time in front of a computer screen.

Sorry.

I have this occuring fear that I'm going to log onto blogger one day and all my followers will have left me - this is where I insert a little plea to not un-follow me - so I'm making an attempt to return to my little piece of the blogosphere

That all being said, I am liking my program, especially the people and teachers, so all in all I'm pretty content. The workload is starting to pile up drastically, so don't be too surprised if I dissapear from the blogosphere periodically. But don't be alarmed, I will always return. Eventually.

I feel a little better now that I've at least contributed a small (albeit pointless) post and now I'm off to learn about teaching students with special needs

vroom vroom..

2010-09-01T20:16:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling very tired

May I introduce to you..

Name: Avi
Make: Chevrolet Aveo
Date of Birth: August 2010

I'm in love with this little piece of machinery. Like fully. I have no idea what the engine size is or how many miles/km I get to the gallon/liter but I do know that he (yes he) is a sparkly blue colour, has a good radio and sunroof!

It's my very first car, and although I was overwhelmed at first, Avi and I have driven enough kilometers together in the last week and a half that we've become good friends.

Does all that sound totally cheesy and lame?

Do you guys name your cars and give them personalities?

Now that I'm back in school, my daily commute is about 45 minutes each way which is a big change from my previous driving which may have been to the local mall and back.

Isn't he pretty?

Becoming A Better Blogger - Part One

2010-08-27T15:41:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is hearting her new car!

I've seen a lot of bloggers do this 30-day blog challenge, and I think it's a really good idea. I've really enjoyed reading all of your answers so I'm officially hopping on the bandwagon. But because school starts for me on monday, I don't know if I'm going to have time for the next 30 days so I'm doing what I've seen some of you do and combining different parts into one.

Here goes:

Day 1-your favorite song:
This is a really tough one, I have so many for so many different reasons.

Day 2-your favorite movie:
This is a little easier, I would say either Dirty Dancing or Eurotrip, both for vastly different reasons

Day 3-your favorite television program:
Right now hands down Big Bang Theory, which is funny because when it first came out I thought it was the stupidest show in the world, but it's grown on me now to the point that I own the first 2 seasons and I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of season 4 on tv and season 3 on dvd!
Some close runners-up are Mad Men, Glee, Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl

Day 4- your favorite book:
Humm. I really only read a lot when I'm in Germany and then it's mostly Chick-Lit with the Twilight and Harry Potter series' thrown in for good measure. If I want an easy read that will always entertain me I grab the Shopaholic series, especially "in Manhattan" or "and baby". Those two are probably my favorites.

Day 5-your favorite quote:
"What defines us is how we rise after we fall"
It's actually a very inconsequential quote from Maid in Manhattan but I've always loved it

I have already have a post planned for sometime in the next few days, and then I'll post the second installement of this series

Have a good weekend!

Favorite Fridays - Chick Lit!

2010-08-20T08:50:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is reminiscing about some very old pictures that just showed up on facebook courtesy of the bestest

Jumping right back into the swing of all things blog, I've decided to participate in Jen's Favorite Fridays topic this week - Chick Lit!

This one is right up my alley since 75% of the books I read can be considered Chick-Lit. It's also hard because now I have to go through and pick the best. My bookshelf is covered in bright pastel colored books with sparkly or script writing. The tell-tale signs of Chick-Lit.

I'm going to pick some of my favorites but also lesser known authors and books. I'm sure most of you have either read or heard of both Sophie Kinsella and Emily Giffin (both good Chick-lit authors!)

A few weeks ago I read "Hope in a Jar" by Beth Harbison and loved it. I thought her characters were very well developed and the plot actually had me guessing pretty much until the end.

Another one of my more obscure favorites is "Paris Hangover" by Kristen Lobe. A woman gets dumped and takes off to Paris and discovers what life is like in the city of love. The novel is both funny and heartfelt, definitely a good read if you love Paris.

Another wonderful Chick-Lit author is Gemma Townley. She's british so her writing has a bit of an English twist to it but I've thoughroughly enjoyed the 2 novels of hers that I've read so far.

these days..

2010-08-19T09:34:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is missing her little blog

I feel like I haven't stopped in weeks. Ironically pretty much since I stopped working mid-July. There has just been SO MUCH going on as of late, I believe my last post was the beginning of August!

Since then I have safely and successfully returned from Germany. I say successfully with a bit of trepidation because the flight was COMPLETELY overbooked so Ella had to spend 8.5 hours in the middle of a row of 4. Not to mention in a row of 4 who's in seat entertainment did not work for the first hour or so of flight. Not my cup of tea. Needless to say I was cranky and exhausted when I finally got home.

Less than 48 hours later I left on a whirwind bus trip to New York City for 4 days. My mom and her friend do an annual bus trip for a group of ladies every August. Through word-of-mouth it has grown tremendously, and this year they even had a waiting list! I'm so very proud of how it all plays out each year.

We arrived back exhausted but happy on sunday and since then I feel like I've been going non-stop. I've been very busy car shopping, which I'm starting to like more and more and yesterday I had my orientation for school!

I'm both excited and nervous to go back to school, especially to Teacher's College. They're actually putting us into real schools the first week, so it's a bit overwhelming.

I hate that I've been neglecting my little blog, and I really hate that I haven't been able to update the layout, hopefully I'll find some time soon

Life with GG Volume 2

2010-08-04T14:28:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is wishing for less rain and more sunshine in Germany

It's that time again! More Life with GG snippets. In case you're just tuning in now, during my stay in Germany, I'm broadcasting my life with my German Grandmother. GG for short. I preface these segments by saying that I love her dearly and unconditionally, but sometimes she drives me crazy.

If you're at all familiar with the show "Gilmore Girls" imagine a German (and brunette) Emily Gilmore.

The first 2 segments of Life with GG can be found here and here

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One thing to know about GG is that time seems to move differently for this woman than the rest of the world:

*Ella getting ready to go out for the day with GG. All dressed and putting shoes on*
GG: Ella! Why are you getting your shoes on already!? We have LOTS of time!
Ella: Oh, okay. *takes off shoes and settles down on the couch with a book*
*30 seconds elapsed time*
GG: Child! Why aren't you ready! We're heading out now! Come!
Ella: ........................

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*Setting: In the car. Grandfather (GF) is driving, I'm in the passenger seat and GG is in the back*

GG: GF! Slow down, this is a residential area. You're going to get us all killed! The speed limit is 30 (km/hr)! Ella how fast is your grandfather going?!
Ella: *looks over at the speedometer* ..25

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I really need to start carrying a notebook with me. There are so many more conversations I wanted to post, but right now I can't think of any! I'll post another segment when I successfully come up with more stories

Eat Pray Love

2010-07-31T14:24:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is tearing herself away from her book to type up a quick post

Hello everyone! I promise next week I will once again regail you all with tales of Life with GG (and believe me I do have more stories) but for now I had had HAD to get one last July post in.

Can you belive tomorrow is already August? The summer is almost half over! I'm both looking forward to and dreading August because it will be such a busy month for me. More on that some other time, I need to get back to the point of this post.

I've been in Germany for over a week now, and I've already been through the 3 books I brought with me. And 2 paintings. Yes, I paint - long story. Anyway, with the first season of Mad Men on my iPod quickly coming to a close, I desperately needed something to do during the quiet hours here at GG's. So today I dragged myself to the bookstore. This place was amazing, and definitley put any Chapters or Barns & Noble to shame. I think something like 5 FLOORS of books, in all languages, complete with Cafe and children's play area in the basement. Better then that, they have a slide that goes from the main floor to the basement for children. How cool is that?

Anyway

I picked up 2 new English books to keep myself occupied. The first being a nice chick-lit-ish book by a British author, and the other "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Oh. Em. Gee.

I'm in love with this book. I just started today and really, I have a hard time putting it down. I'm determined to finish the book before going to see the movie, but judging from how it's going I don't see that being a problem. I think perhaps the topic is very relatable to me and that's why I'm liking it so much.

I've been doing a lot of soul searching the last little while, both introspectively and in my surroundings, and I look the main character's journey as a sort of inspiration. Not that I plan to move to Bali, but you get the idea. There is something to be said for leaving everything you think you know behind and embarking on a completely different journey.

Anyway, enough philosophical jargon and book promotion. I recomend the book (and/or movie) to all of you, no matter where you are in your lives.

Have a good weekend around the world!

Snippets of life with GG

2010-07-28T13:58:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is full after a great German dinner!

It's time for the first official installment of Life With GG (also known as "we don't do that")

These are actual conversation that either I've had with her or that I've overheard. I'm telling you, it's like living with Emily Gilmore.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

GG: *to my Grandfather, we'll call him GF* You should really each a peach. They're on the counter and they'll go bad if no one eats them. Do you want a peach? You should really have a peach.
GF: Yea..I'll have one later.. I'm not really hungry right now
GG: Aww you should really have one, they're going to go bad. You want a peach?
GF: *sighs heavily* Fine, I'll have a peach now
GG: *looks offended and pouts a little* ..Well I'm not forcing you..

----------------------------------------------------------------------

GG: Child, (yes she calls me child) do you want something to drink?
Ella: No I'm okay thanks
GG: Do you want juice?
Ella: No I'm okay thanks
GG: Do you want water?
Ella: No I'm okay thanks
GG: Do you want milk?
Ella: *sighing a little* No I'm okay thanks
GG: Do you want orange juice?
Ella: *sighing loudly* Fine, I'll have orange juice.
GG: You should really drink, you don't drink enough.
Ella: *grinds teeth and wonders idly if there's any alcohol in the house because she could really use a drink* (there isn't)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GG: *Picks up sweater she sent me for Christmas 2 years ago that's made of wool* Have you ever washed this?
Ella: Yes...?
GG: Well I'm just asking, so nothing happened to it? It didn't get destroyed?
Ella: No...?
GG: So you've been able to wash it?
Ella: ....You seem to think I live in some heathen land that doesn't have washing machines
GG: *purses lips* It was just a question

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GG: Do you have a boyfriend?
Ella: ...that's sort of complicated right now
GG: ...he's not married is he?
Ella: *puts her head in her hands and shakes her head in disbelief*

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, I should start carrying around a notebook because I'm sure there are lot of snippets that I'm forgetting. Stay tuned for another installment soon.

Catastrophe at the Love Parade

2010-07-26T14:28:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is comprehending the tragedy in Duisburg

I'm not sure how many headlines this has made around the world, but here in Germany it has been front page news for days.

The Love Parade first occurred just months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It was started by the Berlin underground at the initiative of Matthias Roeingh aka "Dr Motte" and his then girlfriend Danielle de Picciotto. It was conceived as a political demonstration for peace and international understanding through love and music. It was supposed to be a bigger birthday party for Roeingh, later "Dr Motte", and the Motto "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen" (Eng. Peace, Joy, Pancakes) stood for disarmament (Peace), music (Joy) and a fair food production/distribution (Pancakes). Roeingh dissociated himself from the Love Parade in 2006 due to the commercialization of the event.

The event has been held almost every year since then, with annual attendances around 1 million people. It was touted as the largest Techno Party in the world. This year's Love Parade was held this past saturday in the city of Duisburg, about a half hour drive from where I'm currently staying.

The event was staged in an old industrial railway station. The capacity of the enclosed location was limited to 500,000 people at most, but at least one million visitors were expected, based on the experience of previous years.There was only one entrance to the event location, a relatively small rainway tunnel.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 people entered the tunnel, and just before 5pm when the main music act was about to start, hundreds of thousands of extra people swarmed the tunnel in hopes of getting into the concert. Mass panic ensued, thousands of people got stuck in the tunnel because they could not move, some attempted to climb up the metal framework of the tunnel and fell. In the end 20 people were killed and over 350 others were seriously injured either from falling or being trampled to death.

Both the city of Duisburg and the event promoters are pushing the fault onto the other, but the result remains that 20 families' lives have forever been shattered. The Love Parade has been cancelled indefinitely.

My heart goes out to all the victims of this terrible tragedy.

I've arrived in Germany plus some odds and ends

2010-07-25T10:46:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is trying to get used to this German keyboard and cannot find the plus sign

Guten Tag! That's Good Afternoon in German for ya

I've now been in Germany for 48 hours, and I think I'm almost over the culture shock. I guess it isn't so much culture shock as a return to my childhood when I'm here, but either way it takes some getting used to.

I'm still getting over the jet lag, which is a b*tch BTW, and once again getting used to the rain that accompanies every German summer.

As you've probably noticed, my little blog has undergone some major changes recently. My old template site has decided to give up, forcing me to scramble and create something using the new blogger "design" feature. I'm not totally thrilled with it, but until I get home to my beloved laptop it will have to do.

As you also may notice, my spelling may get atrocious while I'm away becasue I can't get used to this ~~stupid~~ keyboard and I don't have the time or patience to proof read everything I write.

I've decided to create a feature while I'm away about life with my grandparents. When I come back from Germany each year, I regail my IRL (in real life) friends with tales of "we don't do that". It may sound like I'm bitching or complaining, but I really truly do love my GG (German Grandmother). She just has a habit of driving me crazy sometimes.

My GG's favorite expression is "Das macht man nicht" which loosely translates to "one doesn't do that". This list includes (but is by no means limited to)

- watching tv during the day
- when one does watch tv, it must only be the news or something German
- fixing ones hair in public (apparantly this is impolite)

Today I had the pleasure of riding in the car with GG and my grandfather. I should tell you that GG has not been behind the wheel of a car in 20 years, but she is probably the worst backseat driver in the world. So much so that my grandfather takes out his hearing aids when he drives to tune her out. She does not stop complaining or "warning" him of things on the road the entire trip. From point A to point B. Today I made the mistake of forgetting my iPod at home - Big mistake.

I guess that's enough for now, I only have a limited time on the computer before GG comes over and wants to see what I'm doing. When I informed her a few minutes ago that I was blogging, her response was "that terrible thing where you write all about yourself and send it out for the world to see and rapists to find you" *GG purses lips and shakes her head disapprovingly*

See what I deal with? There are times I believe she thinks I'm still 5 and not 25.But I know she means only the best.

I'll post more Life with GG updates tomorrow or the next day

Why hello there little blog

2010-07-21T10:04:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is trying to distract herself from being upset

Hello Blog I've missed you the last couple of weeks. There has been so much going on that I haven't been able to bring myself to blog, lots of good things have happened and lots of bad things have happened. I may get into the specifics of the bad things at some later date, but now is not the time.

The biggest of the good things is that I'm leaving for Germany tomorrow! That's right, 2 glorious weeks of being spoiled by my grandparents and relaxing! I really can't wait! I'll be blogging a lot more while I'm away, but they will probably be shorter posts of the things I see and do throughout my trip.

I finished work a week ago today, my co-workers were so sweet and brought me breakfast and a cake! I'm sad to be gone, but I don't think it's really hit me yet that I'm currently unemployed.

There are so many changes happening in my life this summer but I don't think I've fully realized it yet. When I come back from Germany, I have 2 days at home before I leave for New York City for a few days. After that I have about 2 weeks to find a car before I start Teachers College.

I'm so terribly behind on your blogs, and believe me I feel horrible about that! I'll see how many posts I can get caught up on today

It's so hot my Smarties are melting!

2010-07-06T14:16:00.002-04:00

Blog Status: none, Ella is too hot to feel anything

I've been working on a long ShyBoy post for a few days now, but I just haven't had the energy to finish it.

Summer has arrived, in full swing. Mother Nature is once again unleashing her fury - with heat this time! With the humidity today it feels like 42 degrees, which is about 107.6 for all you Americans. In other words, it's bloody hot.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the worst day so far, with temperatures reaching 45 degrees! (113!)

Luckily my office has Air Conditioning - but because the warehouse around me is so hot, even our office is running around 28 degrees (83)!

I bought a packet of Smarties on my lunch break, and they're melting! Smarties!

The candy that is fundamentally not supposed to melt in your hands, has started melting.

Days like this I wish I had a pool I could just dive into. Sigh.

Just another Manic...Wednesday

2010-06-30T12:34:00.002-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling slightly overwhelmed

I've been running over the contents of this post since the weekend, and initially this was supposed to be a "Manic Monday" post. Cue Cindy Lauper music. I think that's who sang Manic Monday..? Okay I digress. Note to self: Must google Manic Monday

Anyway

Things with me have been absolutely crazy the last few days. The most important news is that I finally gave my official notice at work that I'm leaving in a few weeks. Everybody was very shocked and upset but also happy for me. My boss is still trying to subtly convince me to stay, but I just can't do that. I've been busy trying to tie up as many lose ends as possible and divide my tasks up to my co-workers and my replacement

I've also been car shopping. The University I will be attending in the fall is about a 45 minute drive from where I currently live, so a car will be needed. About a week ago I fell madly in love with a cute silver VW Beetle, but after reading some reviews on the car I've changed my mind. Aparantly that particular model had a lot of problems. ShyBoy has already said he'd go car shopping with me, and seeing as he's owned something like 10 cars in the last decade, I definitely trust his opinion.

Tomorrow is a holiday for us Canadians, our version of the American "4th of July", tomorrow is Canada Day, so tonight I'm going to hangout with a girlfriend of mine that I haven't seen in a while, and then tomorrow I'm spending the day cleaning and organizing my backyard. I'm having a small party friday night to celebrate Canada Day, and for once Mother Nature seems to be celebrating as well and providing us all with a beautiful weekend.

There's been quite a lot happening in terms of the ShyBoy situation as well, and I know it's been almost a week since I subtly blogged about liking kisses yet I haven't said anything else. I promise you, it's all coming in it's own post!

What have I missed in all of your lives? I'm off to try and catch-up on your wonderful blogs!

Earth Quakes, Tornadoes and Storms – oh my!

2010-06-24T12:08:00.001-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is amazed at Mother Nature’s fury

Hello Hello! Happy Thursday everyone

Yesterday was perhaps the strangest weather day ever in my area. As the title says, we had an earthquake, tornado and rain storm all in the span of 12 hours. I should note that I don’t live in an area that is prone to ANY of those things, so for us to even have them is something let alone all in the same day.

The earthquake was probably the most unexpected and the scariest. That being said, I didn’t feel it. The only reason I knew it happened because ShyBoy text messaged me asking if I felt the earthquake. I believe “…there was an earthquake..? what?” was my exact response. No sooner did I log onto Facebook to find hundreds of status updates from friends commenting on the earthquake. The news later confirmed that a 5.0 magnitude earthquake shook the Ontario-Quebec border yesterday at 1.41PM and lasted about 30 seconds. People as far away as New York, Vermont, Michigan and Illinois reported feeling the tremors. I think a co-worker and I were coming back from lunch around this time and were probably driving and that’s why we didn’t feel it.

I’m curious, if you live in any of those areas, did you feel it??

About 5 hours after the earthquake a tornado touched down in a town 2 hours north of here. Officials have declared a state of emergency for the area, a trailer park consisting of about 40 trailers was completely destroyed and 1 person was taken to hospital as well as roofs and windows of nearby houses and businesses were torn off. Thousands of people are still without power and Environment Canada is surveying the extent of the damage.

On a much smaller scale, we had a torrential rain storm in the early morning hours of the day today. I woke up around 4:40 to loud noises outside that sounded a bit like an air conditioner on overload. I got up to check it out and could only see rain outside. The area was gray-ish white because of all the rain. I’ve only seen that much rain a handful of times in my life so it was a tad unnerving – especially with the earthquake and tornado yesterday.

I heart.. Volume 3

2010-06-22T06:30:00.002-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is tired after an amazing weekend

Catch up on previous I heart Volumes here and here

..I heart OPI nailpolish from Sephora in awesome shades and names like "it's all about me"

..I heart the above even more with a 15% off coupon

..I heart putting double-mocha cappuccino mix into my milk and stirring it - voila instant specialty coffee at home

..I heart wearing pearls

..I heart the genius mixes on my iPod

..I heart veggies and dip

..I heart blogging

More Recently:

..I heart kisses - yes that's right, kisses!

See how I just casually slipped that in there? Give me a few days and you'll all be in for a LONG update

What do you heart?

xoxo

The future is (finally) revealed

2010-06-19T17:44:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is having a lazy saturday after an interesting night out with the girls

I finally have a decision about the future. Finally.

I've been waiting for this for weeks now, getting increasingly anxious because time seemed to be speeding up. I finally finished all my applications the beginning of May and blogged about it here but until now there was no end result.

I haven't gone into specific detail about my future plans on this blog, partially because until a few days ago i didn't have future plans, and partly because I wanted to keep it to myself. Even some of my closest friends were surprised by my decision.

I sort of know what inspired my decision, but when I explain that to all of you, I guarantee you will all think I'm a moron.

I've been saying for years that I want to be a teacher. More specifically, a professor. Meaning, I want to teach at the University level. This can be achieved one of two ways, a masters degree or teachers college.

People that know me know I'm not a kid person. I've never been crazy about babies, and the idea of a room full of little kids scares me. In the past I always wrote off the idea of Teachers College because I had no desire to actually teach "kids".

Here's where my moronic inspiration comes in:

At the beginning of May I flew to Washington D.C for a few days. Because the flight was only an hour and a bit, there was little point in starting a movie, so I flipped to the T.V Shows. I found Glee. I'd heard a lot about the show, and people seemed to be pretty crazy about it, but I'd never seen it.

About half way through the first episode, I was hooked! Better than that, I was intrigued. High School Teacher. The idea had never crossed my mind before hand, but all of a sudden the wheels in my head began turning.

Being a High School Teacher would allow me to only teach certain subjects (in this case History and Social Science) and it would be an ideal stepping-stone to one day advance to teaching at the post-secondary level.

I came back from Washington with the idea firmly planted in my mind. Problem was, I was already way past the application deadline for most schools. In the end I found *one* school that was still accepting applications for this coming september. I applied and began the waiting game.

As of last week, the wait is over - I got in! I can't even begin to tell you how happy and relieved I am.

As of September 2010, Miss Ella will officially be on her way to becoming a teacher.

Wow that's a sentence I never thought I'd say out loud.

Favorite Fridays - Pop Star!

2010-06-18T06:30:00.000-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is relaxing after a long day at the office, and is having a definite case of flash backs while writing this post

Happy Friday everyone! It's time for another edition of Favorite Fridays, hosted by the lovely Jen

This week's topic is Favorite Pop Star. Now I don't know if she meant one specific star, or if a group would count - but I'm giving you both anyway. Without even a seconds hesitation I knew which Pop Star I would pick.

I realized in hindsight that I could have picked current Stars too, but for some reason when I hear the words "Pop Star" I think of late 90's - early 2000's Pop music. More specifically: Boybands.

More Specifically, the Backsreet Boys.

Oh I was SUCH a huge BSB fan back in the day, my room was c-o-v-e-r-e-d in posters. I devoured everything I could about them. Wow this is all bringing me back a decade. Can you believe it's been a decade since they were really popular? Yikes I feel old now.

I've been to 6 concerts (I think) of theirs, including an amazing front row concert during the last show of the Millennium Tour where Brian picked up a stuffed animal I threw, and Howie came down to touch our hands.

Is it sad that I'm feeling a tad nostalgically giddy writing this even now?

The best "Pop Star" of the group (in my opinion of course) was Brian Littrell. The voice of an angel. With looks to match. Even though I've outgrown my "teeny-bopper" phase and removed the posters, he's still very pretty to look at isn't he?

Ahh, to be 15 again

For-the-time-being-unnamed Weekly Feature

2010-06-16T09:52:00.001-04:00

Blog status: Ella is feeling inspired

I’d like to start a weekly feature on my blog, but I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to call it. The premise of this feature will be inspiration but “Inspirational Wednesdays” just doesn’t have the effect I’m looking for.

One thing that most people don’t know about me is that I love inspirational quotes and sayings. So much so that I have an entire notebook filled with everything from song lyrics to famous quotes to biblical scriptures. I hear something I find inspiring and, presuming I can remember it, I write it down somewhere. Over the years this book has become a sort of safety blanket for me because all I have to do is flip through the pages and without fail I end up feeling different. In a perfect world the quotes would be organized by category or at least chronologically, but nope. In fact I actually started it by writing quotes down on the back pages of a notebook I used to use for school.

About 20 minutes ago I was busy working on a project here at work, when my iPod chose to play one of the most inspirational songs I know. This song is also the only music video I have downloaded onto my iPod, which I promptly also had to watch. This is where the idea for this post popped into my head.

Everyone, go Google the official music video for Nickelback’s “If Everyone Cared” .. I promise you, you will be inspired! If it catches me at the right moment, I’ve even been known to have tears in my eyes by the end.

Every week I’m going to post an inspirational quote to share with all of you. There may be a story or explanation behind it, or there may not be.

I leave you all with the first inspirational quote:

“If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we’d see the day when nobody died”

- Nickelback, “If Everyone Cared”

When you look around my place..

2010-06-12T10:13:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling a little...worried

I've seen features like this on other blogs, and it's something I always do for myself anyway, so I figured I would post it for the world.

Wow that was cryptic wasn't it? I'll back-track a little. My mom has guests over that arrived on wednesday. So tuesday night I was cleaning my room to prepare for company. Whenver there are guests around, I clean my room and always think "okay so if someone who doesn't know me where to see my room, what would they know about me" Maybe that's very wierd - but I've always done it. If I had my own place, I would probably do the same thing - but to the max.

So I've decided to give you all a peak into what my domain is really like.

When you look around my place..

..you see someone who loves her friends insanely, there are picture frames e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e

..you see someone who is very proud of her German heritage, with Germany signs and a beany baby sitting on a shelf (not to mention the German Soccer jersey I just bought for the World Cup that has yet to be put away)

..you see someone who likes fashion, make-up and all things girlie due to the stack of Marie Claire and Glamour magazines she has beside her bed

..you see someone who has way too much stuff because there's stuff everywhere

..you see someone who loves Paris and all things French

..you see someone who once had a severe obesssion with Tigger from Winnie the Pooh

..you see someone who has a closet over-stuffed with clothes - too many clothes

..you see someone who likes nice candles, especially lavender and clean cotton scents

What does your place say about you?

Favorite Fridays - Movie Soundtrack!

2010-06-11T10:51:00.005-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is itching for it to be 2:30 so she can begin her weekend

Hello everyone! Happy Friday to all of you.

Jen over at A girl in Pearls & A boy with Toys has a wonderful weekly feature called Favorite Fridays. I'm new to Jen's blog, but my bestest has been following her for a while, and each week the Favorite Fridays post catches my eye.

It's actually very coincidental, but when I saw this week's topic, I was actually listening to a song off of my favorite movie soundtrack at the same time - it's like it was meant to be!

It may sound cheesy, but my favorite movie soundtrack hands down is The Lion King.

It actually isn't my favorite Disney movie (The Little mermaid takes that one) but I've always loved the songs. I still to this day think "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is one of the best love songs of all time. "Circle of Life" always fills me with a feeling of power and inspiration and c'mon, no one can forget "Hakuna Matata"!

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll be playing catch-up on the World Cup, my laundry, my girlfriends and squeezing in a movie date

Dear ShyBoy..

2010-06-07T21:54:00.003-04:00

I really wish I wasn't such a coward. No, actually I wish YOU weren't such a coward - but either way the result is the same. We've now been dancing around this topic for over a year and it's becoming ever more clear to me that one of us will have to start "the talk".

I've been trying to get myself to do it for weeks now, but I just can't. I know we both have a LOT of emotional baggage, a lot of which actually overlaps, and that our situation is a little more than complicated, but the more time we spend together the more I think how great it would all be.

I know the problem is me as much as it is you, but one of us has to man up. I'm so tired of hearing nothing but "helpful hints" from the people around me, all of which I apprechiate but none of which I can actually put into action. I know they all want the best for us, but I just really wish there was an easier way.

I've been psyching myself up all day telling myself that tonight would be the night that I finally broke THAT ice - but instead I'm now home (albeit after a lovely evening with you) and I'm confessing my feelings to the world wide web instead of to you.

I'm a little afraid of you putting me in the "friend zone", but then the more and more things happen the less I even think that is possible. There are times that I know you feel the chemistry as much as I do, why else would you make the effort to contact me all day every day? I know you enjoy spending time with me as much as I like being with you - I can just feel it.

After the fact I can always think of a million things I should have said, but when the time comes I find a million reasons to push it off for another time. You don't know how much I wish you and I were just starting with clean slates, no messy history or emotional stresses. As much as I want to forget about the past and put it behind us, I also know that isn't possible.

Wow this letter is getting long, I can't even manage to get to the point to an annonymous audience let alone you. What I really want to say can be summed up in a much much smaller letter.

Dear ShyBoy..

I like you. Do you like me?

Please circle:

Yes

No

Maybe

Office Dress Codes – The Legging “Issue”

2010-06-07T17:57:00.003-04:00

Now that the weather is getting warmer and summer is around the corner, my lovely HR department has sent out a general memo about “Summer Office Attire”. I realize that there are numerous levels of business dress-styles, everything from “Formal Business” to “Casual”. My particular workplace abides by “Business Casual/Casual”.

Most of the people around here (execs included) seem to lean more toward “casual” as the typical outfit seems to be Jeans, running shoes and a polo shirt/T-shirt/Hoodie. Yes hoodie. Imagine meeting the Disney or Paramount Reps in running shoes and a hoodie – not my cup of tea, but luckily I don’t actually work with any important people.

Anyway, I consider myself to be fairly well dressed. Even when I do succumb to the Jeans-Runners-Hoodie uniform (which is quite often in the winter) I make sure I look nice and well put-together. I enjoy dressing up occasionally, but also want to be comfortable.

This coincides with the new “Summer Office Attire” memo. According to the policy, skirts and dresses must be no shorter than an inch and a half above the knee.

Alright fine.

My issue is this:

I’m between 5’10 and 5’11. The same skirt would be a lot longer on someone who is say 5’5 or 5’6, so it is virtually impossible for me to find dresses and skirts that are the right length without actually being floor length. I’m not going to argue with HR about this technicality (even though I think it’s perfectly valid) because I believe I might have found a solution. Leggings. I figure with leggings I can wear shorter dresses in the summer and top them off with Capri-length leggings.

The sweater-dress I have on today is definitely nowhere near an inch and a half above my knees, it sits probably about 5 inches north of my knees. I figured this was acceptable because I’m wearing dark stretchy leggings that are actually slightly looser than some jeans I’ve worn in the past. I walked into the office this morning and my boss gave me a slightly disapproving once-over, but didn’t say anything. This has lead to paranoia on my part.

I practically live in dresses and skirts throughout the summer months, and the thought of having to resort to jeans or capris all summer long is depressing.

Do leggings count as pants? Or as panty-hose? What are your workplaces like? What do you think? Can I get away with a shorter dress and leggings?

World Cup Fever

2010-06-02T13:39:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is once again lacking productivity at work and is thinking about Germany

I heard on the radio this morning that the World Cup is exactly 9 days away from today – and I can’t tell you how much that excites me. I’m really not a team sports kind of girl – I danced all my life, but I’ve never been very good at much else. Moreover, I have little patience for religiously following team sports of any kind, but World Cup Soccer I love.

Growing up in Germany, soccer was a big part of my life. All the boys in my class played soccer both at recess and after school in leagues. Us girls used to go to the soccer field after school and watch the boys play. Soccer was also a HUGE deal in 1990 when (west)Germany won the cup. I might have been in Kindergarten at the time, but even I remember the celebrations. There is something very powerful about an entire nation cheering for a team and celebrating the subsequent win.

World Cup Fever returned to Germany once again in full swing in 2006 because Germany was the host country. I was lucky enough to be in Germany during the World Cup that year, and it was amazing. For those few weeks everyone bonded together. It didn’t matter what race or religion you were, everyone sat glued to the television supporting their team. It was also an added bonus that Germany made it all the way to 3rd place that year, only to lose out to France and then Italy.

I have high hopes for my team this year, and I’m really hoping they can follow through accordingly

Who are you cheering for in the World Cup?

Top 3 Thursdays – Friday edition – Vacation Houses

2010-05-28T10:46:00.001-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is having a serious case of wanderlust

This post is coming to you a day late, but as soon as I saw this week’s Top 3 Thursday question I knew I had to fill it out. If you want to play along, head over to Kelly’s blog!

Top 3 Vacation Houses or Vacation Spots.

I’m currently suffering from a bad case of Wanderlust. Late Spring/early Summer has always meant travel planning for me. Typically I usually go to Europe sometime in June-July-August so May is always spent planning. This year is still very much up-in-the-air due to my work schedule and school applications for September. What this all means is that right now I have no plans to go anywhere, and this is making me very depressed. I’m going to try and drown my sorrows by fantasizing about the places I’ve been and the places I’m dying to go.

When I saw “Top 3 Vacation Houses” 2 automatically came to mind. I’m currently at work so there are no pictures, but I’m trying to improve my descriptive writing so hopefully I can paint a good picture in your minds.

Number 1.

The House In Spain

A friend of my father’s owns an absolutely gorgeous summer house north of Barcelona with a view that is worth a million dollars. The house itself is an adequate size, kitchen and living room downstairs and bathroom with 2 bedrooms upstairs. What makes it so priceless is the view from the patio and balcony. This house sits atop a hill overlooking the ocean, to the point that if you stand on the patio you see nothing but water. It is a truly breathtaking view. I spent many hours simply sitting in silence looking at the horizon. There is something very magical about this house, it has a hidden power to change people in ways they never thought possible. The salty air drifts in and out of the house as the cool ocean breeze carries it wherever it wants to go. Each night that place where the sky meets the ocean explodes into shimmering pinks and reds as the sun begins its final decent. Even though the night is as dark as can be, millions of stars light up the sky with their celestial designs. I have been fortunate enough to spend time there twice. Once on a weeklong vacation with my father when I was about 13, and once about 7 years later for 2 weeks with an old boyfriend.

Number 2.

The Hotel In Germany

The small German village that I grew up in only boasts 1 hotel. Whatever you picture when you think about small villages in Germany, this place has it. An old medieval elementary school that was originally built in the 1400’s, a giant cathedral that is probably even older, and tiny narrow streets barely big enough to fit a Smart Car. Every year that I go to Germany, I inevitably spend a few days at this hotel. I’m very lucky to still have a few friends from my childhood in Germany, and although they’ve all gone on to other things (med school, flight attendant for Lufthansa and graduate school, respectively) this village is still home. I spend the majority of my time in Germany at my Grandparents’ place about 2 hours from there, but we always go down for 4-5 days during my visit. I’ve come to think of this hotel as a type of second home in Germany. The location is beautiful, surrounded by forests on 3 sides and a pond with fish, frogs and ducks on the other. We always get the same rooms, with an adjoining balcony overlooking the pond. I love sitting outside reading a book with the sound of the water in the background and the smell of nature all around me. This hotel is special to me because for those few days each year I feel like I actually belong back in the land I loved so much as a child.

As for a 3rd Vacation House, I actually don’t have one specific one that I’ve been to more than once. I’ve been very fortunate to have stayed in Vacation houses in Portugal, Greece and France in addition to Spain and Germany. Each and every experience is magical and special in its own way. I generally prefer vacation houses to hotels because I love going to grocery stores and picking up food in a foreign country.

Wow this ended up being a very long and descriptive post, I’m done rambling now I promise.

Happy Weekend Bloggers!

Miss Ella goes to Washington!

2010-05-25T17:34:00.006-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is tired after a great long weekend with great friends!

I can’t believe another week has now passed since I last blogged! What the eff!? I’ve been home from Washington for 3 weeks and I’m only now getting around to blogging about it. Terrible. Chalk it up to the old adage of “Better late than never”

My father’s-wife was recently (speak October) re-located to Washington D.C for her work. From what I had heard she had a great position there, and a very nice house in Alexandria, Virginia but up until now I’d never been there. My dad actually still lives in Germany at the moment, so the two of them have a sort of long-distance marriage. At the beginning of this month he was going to be spending a few weeks in Virginia and spontaneously invited me to fly down and visit.
I took Friday off work and left early on Thursday to catch an evening flight.

Been-ah (*names have been changed) had to work during the day on Friday so my Dad and I got up early and drove into D.C with her in order to get in a full day of sightseeing. Our first stop was the United States Holocaust Museum. I mentioned in a previous post that one of my main reasons for wanting to see Washington was the museum. It did not disappoint. ß That’s probably an inappropriate comment, I apologize. Anyway, we got there an hour before it opened because we had heard that the line builds quickly and they give out times entrance tickets

We ended up spending about 3 hours at the museum, touring it from top to bottom. Literally. I must say it was very well-organized and very informative. I’ve been to other Holocaust museums around the world and studied quite a bit about the topic in University, but this one was one of the most in-depth. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, not that I probably would have anyway, but every few exhibits there would be walls with influential and powerful quotes – which I found very moving and effective.

After the museum we simply walked in silence a little bit to absorb what we had just witnessed.

After lunch we decided to buy tickets for one of those “hop-on-hop-off” tours. Now, generally I find them extremely tacky and would not be caught dead seeing a city this way, BUT given that I only had 2 days and the fact that most things in D.C are not in walking distance, I relented.

My main sightseeing requests were the White House, Capitol Building, Library of Congress and the Washington Monument.

The White House ended up being smaller than I expected, and the Capitol Building a lot bigger. Very strange. We didn’t have enough time to do actual tours of the places, but even seeing them from the outside was good enough for me.

My absolute favourite thing in D.C (hands-down) was the Library of Congress. I should first explain that I have a fascination with books and libraries. That doesn’t mean I’m necessarily a book-worm, but I find something very powerful about wandering the stacks of old Libraries. This may have something to do with the fact that I’ve spent the better part of my life either playing or studying in a library – but that’s open for discussion.

This place was magnificent. Marble floors and tapestries as far as the eye could see. The actual “reading room” was off-limits to cameras, but if you Google “Library of Congress reading room” you can see what it looks like. I would move to Washington just to be able to spend my time studying at that library. Sad but true. We walked through "Lincolns Library" which features historic first editions of thousands of books. Some dating back to the 1600's.

Even the outside of the building was amazing, and I can imagine it is used quite frequently for wedding pictures.

After a full-day of sightseeing, I fell into bed completely exhausted.

The next day was spent much more leisurely by sleeping in until 8:30 (!) and then taking a tour of various Embassies in Washington. These were also mostly off-limits to cameras, but suffice to say it was very interesting to see how some countries are represented around the world.

All-in-all I had a great time in Washington, and would definitely go back in a heart-beat. I also recommend it as a tour stop for anyone visiting that part of the United States.

Let's Play Catch-Up!

2010-05-18T13:42:00.002-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is bored at work and is feeling the days drag on

Hello World! I think I took myself onto a sort of bloggy-hiatus the last few weeks, but I promise you I’m back now. I’ve just been so busy and so tired after work each night that I’ve simply not had enough time to blog recently.

A lot has happened in the past 2 weeks, big things like me going to Washington (which will be its own post) and smaller things (like me finally finishing up my applications)

In terms of ShyBoy, there have been some developments, nothing extravagant, but developments none the less. We went to our friend Vee’s wedding together at the beginning of the month. It was a beautiful wedding, the couple got very lucky and had a sunny day for an outdoor ceremony. Unfortunately I managed to catch a sinus infection the day before the wedding so I wasn’t feeling 100% and felt worse as the night progressed. ShyBoy was attentive and took good care of me both at the wedding and on the way home, so all in all it really was a good night.

Last Week I played Paintball for the first time in my life. Have any of you ever played before? Wow what an experience! It’s the closest to combat I ever hope to get. ShyBoy invited me during the week, and as much as I was always a little curious to try it, I was also scared. I’ve heard horror stories about people getting injured and that getting hit really hurts. Anyway, in the end I decided to go.

The first 3 rounds me and a girlfriend kind of cowered in the corner behind some boxes trying to avoid the rapid-fire that was going on around us. I’ll be perfectly honest, it does hurt to get hit at first and I do have bruises – but it’s so much fun. Scary as hell, but the adrenaline also helps the pain and motivates you. After a few rounds we managed to actually get in a few shots and really got into the games.

This coming weekend is a holiday weekend for us Canucks – Victoria Day. Also known as May 2-4. I believe the “original” reason was because we celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday on May 24th but over the years it has become more colloquial for a 2-4 of beer. For some reason May 2-4 weekend is the ultimate drinking holiday. People go up north to go camping or open their cottages for the year, and there are always parties, both up north and here in the city.

I’m having a party Sunday night to celebrate “May 2-4” with a bunch of friends, and a bunch of drinks. ShyBoy still has to decide if he’s going up north with his brother or coming to my party. I could be wrong, but personally I don’t see him going up north. We shall see how it all pans out.

I finally finished up my applications for next year, and I’m surprising myself by taking a slightly different direction than I previously thought. I’m very happy with decision and I think I may have actually found a career direction that I’m happy with for more than a few days. Now I have to play the waiting-game to see what the next step is. Aside from a cottage trip with some friends and a long weekend in NYC with my mom, I have no plans for the summer aside from working because I don’t know what will happen next year.

I think that’s it for now, you’re all caught up!

Ohhh, did anyone else see the Season Finale of Gossip Girl yesterday? Ohh-Emm-Gee is all I had to say, and way to make it depressing for everyone!

The Art of Packing: Then and Now

2010-05-06T09:24:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is excited for Washington!

Good Morning! It is a beautiful sunny day here, and I am sitting in the warehouse covering a co-workers desk because he's off sick. Everyone around here thinks I'm ever so helpful because I always volunteer to cover his desk or reception, but what they don't realize is that this gets me out of doing my actual work. It's free time to surf the net, go on facebook and blog - all while being paid!

The idea for this post came to me last night as I was frantically packing for my mini-trip to D.C tonight. I started thinking of what packing for a trip was like 10 years ago to now, and it really is amazing how many differences there are. We think our lives have gotten much simpler, but have they really?

10 Years ago..
My carry-on bag was stuffed with big bulky "CD Holders" and extra AA batteries for my "diskman"

Today..
Although all my music is now compiled onto one tiny iPOd, I do need to bring the associated charger, not to mention my PSP that I can't travel without even though it didn't even exist 10 years ago. Not to mention it's 2-part charger.

10 Years ago..
I would throw my 35mm film camera into my bag, one extra roll of "36 exposure film" and then buy extras at my destination

Today..
I have my small digital camera in its bulky protective case plus it's own 2-part battery charger

10 Years ago..
We all had actual plane tickets that took up "so much space" and everyone was thrilled when "e-tickets" came out

Today..
We all use "e-tickets" and without fail end up printing about 4 pages worth of travel information to go with it

10 Years ago..
We used calling cards or pay phones to stay in touch with loved ones

Today..
I feel empty without my cell phone constantly on, and consequently have to bring it everywhere I go which in turn creates the need for yet another charger

10 Years ago..
We bought post cards and "mailed" them off to show the world where you were

Today..
We still create post cards and "mail" them off - using facebook, e-mail and a giant laptop.

Need I say more?

Meme For Me

2010-05-04T17:44:00.003-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is still getting over this darn sinus infection

Happy May Everybody! For the record, I absolutely love this time of year - it's nice enough to bust out the summer wardrobe, but not hot and sticky.

I very badly need to do a post on the wedding this past weekend (read: very very badly) but that's a post that will take a generous amount of time and pictures. For now I just wanted to get out something simple and easy.

It was perfect timing when I signed onto blogger today and saw that the fabulous Ali had posted a new "meme" and was tagging everyone in it.

1. Who is your style icon? Humm, I tend to look for inspiration in people around me or celebrities, or fellow bloggers! Seriously, if you ever want fashion inspiration Go check out I am style-ish. Tiffany has the most amazing style - and a shoe collection that would make Carrie Bradshaw jealous!

2. Which is your favorite socialite book? Definitely "Bergdorf Blondes" by Plum Sykes. It's the ultimate NYC Socialite guide. A close second are the gossip girl books

3. Favorite party theme? Humm, probably any type of costume. Halloween is ALWAYS hands-down by far the most crazy and outrageous party.

4. Go to Halloween costume? It's actually a little sad how many ~~trampy~~ totally-appropriate Halloween costumes I have in my closet. Everything from German Beer Girl to ugly French Maid. (I say ugly because it was bought for $5 at a supermarket as a joke - I had to cut about 4 ft off the bottom) But see above question for explanation

5. Extravagance you cannot live without? Ah jeez, I don't have one specific thing, I like all things. Especially all things with labels. Right now I'm hearting Rock and Republic jeans. I'm very hopeful for the Saks Off 5th in Buffalo..

6. Living person you admire? My mom, she's my hero. And my grandfather - he's had an amazing life

7. Greatest fear(s)? Losing the ones I love, and honestly losing the things I love. Fire is probably my greatest fear.

8. Traits you deplore in yourself? Hummm, I'm probably a little too sensitive for my own good - and I trust anyone and everyone.

9. Which talent would you most love to have? I'd love to be able to sing, but sadly I'm completely tone deaf

10. Greatest achievement? For now probably graduating University

Who do I tag? Everyone! If you want to do it - go right ahead

I'm going to Washington! ( + other news)

2010-04-27T13:46:00.005-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling hopefull

I can't believe it's been almost a week since my last post! I was doing so well in March and at the beginning of this month - and then I failed. I've just been so busy lately with work and a friend's upcoming wedding and other things that somewhere along the line my blogging was pushed aside. Fret not, I have returned in full swing.

I'll start off with the obvious news, I'm going to Washington.(D.C that is!) I don't remember if I mentioned it, but my father got re-married back in September and in October his wife was re-located to Washington D.C for work. I've never been to Washington, so my dad invited me down for a long weekend 2 weeks from now. I'm very excited. Although American politics really does not interest me (I'm sorry!), I am looking forward to seeing the White House, Washington's Monument and the National Holocaust Museum.

I know, you're probably all frowning at that last sentence right? I've always had a passion for World War 2 history, and the Holocaust was a big part of that. It's important to me on a personal level.

Anyway, it won't be a long trip. I'm leaving next Thursday (May 6) after work and coming home on Sunday (May 9), but any suggestions for sight seeing are more than welcome!

My other news:

My applications for the American Grad School is finally completed, in 4-6 weeks I should have my answer. I've also recently made some other decisions regarding next year that are also currently underway. All-in-all I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing at the moment.

A friend from High School, Vee, is getting married on saturday. It's exciting because it's the first real wedding that my whole group of friends is invited to, and we're all going! I blogged about her Bachelorette party a few weeks ago, and it went off without a hitch! There were about 10 of us all together, we went out to dinner and then danced the night away.

Oh yes, I should probably also mention my date for the upcoming wedding - A certain quiet gentleman. Yup.

I know I went on a whole rant a few weeks ago about how I was done with the whole situation, and I really did mean it at the time. It just seems that everytime something like that happens, more things happen that sway me in the other direction. So I suppose at the moment the whole thing is still-on/back-on/whatever you want to call it.

I think that's it for the important news. Stay tuned for a review (and possibly pictures) of the wedding!

Favourite Childhood Toys

2010-04-21T21:43:00.005-04:00

Kelly over at Keeping up with Kelly has a wonderful feature entitled "Top 3 Thursdays"

Every wednesday she posts a "Top 3" question and anyone who wants can answer it. I'm new to Kelly's blog so I don't know what she's done in the past, but I saw this week's post and I just knew I had to answer it.

So here are my top 3 Favourite Childhood Toys.

Without question, my number one favourite childhood toy is my teddy bear, "Bar Bar" (pronounced "Bear Bear" ...I was 4, gimme a break, the only spelling I knew at that point came from German Sesame Street) I'll even let you all in on a little secret, not only do I still have him, but he still sleeps on my bed. Yup. He's been stuffed and sewn so many different times I'm not even sure what he's made of anymore, but above all he's still my childhood teddy.

A close second would have to be My Little Pony. The original ones from the late 80's and early 90's. I L-O-V-E-D those as a kid, and I had over 100 of them plus a few houses. I spent nearly every day playing with my Ponies, drawing Ponies, reading Pony magazines or watching Pony movies. I still have them all in boxes in the basement.

Number 3 would have to be Fabuland & Playmobil.

I'm not sure how readily available Fabuland stuff was in North America. According to Wikipedia, Fabuland was a bridge between Duplo and actual Lego, but the line was discontinued in 1989, only giving me about 2 play-able years. The concept was similar to Lego but aimed more at younger children and it had an almost fairy-tale aspect to it.

Playmobil on the other hand, is still active to this day. The circus pictured down below was one of my absolute favourite sets, and I used to spend hours creating an entire circus complete with animals and acrobats.

Does anyone else remember Fabuland? Or am I slowly going crazy?

What were your favourite childhood toys?

Cat People versus Dog People

2010-04-17T21:25:00.005-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is spending a quiet night at home

I've always said there are two types of people in the world. Cat People and Dog People. I'm a Cat Person.

No offence to all you Dog People out there, but I generally don't like dogs. Cats are less work, less mess and (in my opinion) are much better cuddlers. Cats are quieter and less needy and you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn in the winter to walk them.

However, last night I came very close to falling in love with a dog.

I challenge even the most devout Cat Person to resist that face. I just wanted to eat him up and snuggle him.

Not to be outdone, I came home last night and that adorable creature up there was very angry with me. I picked her up to cuddle with her, and she could TOTALLY sniff Dog on me and let me know (with a nice sized scratch) that my associating with dogs would not be tolerated.

So readers, Are you a Cat Person or a Dog Person?

Insert appropriate emotion here

2010-04-12T21:43:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is feeling ... strange

Have you ever been dreading something, like really dreading it? Perhaps something to do with a past love?

I have.

I've been dreading it for just over 2 years and 3 months. Today it happened. In the "official relationship status" of Facebook, Ex has finally moved on. Or rather, has moved on to "it's complicated".

I can't be sure of exactly when it happened, I got a text message tonight from a girlfriend asking if I was okay. Even without asking I knew just where to click.

My initial reaction (slight hyperventilating and shaking aside) was almost a feeling of relief. Relief in that it finally happened and it was finally over. Really over. Even when I reassured said friend that I was not in fact crying or grabbing the Peach Schnapps, for the first time in a long time I really truly felt like I could breathe again.

It's a very strange feeling and not at all what I expected to feel. All these months I've been waiting for this moment, waiting for that gut-wrenching heart-breaking pain to hit me once again. It never came.

I'm not going to pretend it doesn't affect me in *some* way, but for the most part I have this overwhelming feeling of "...huh..."

It's so strange.

Maybe this is what truly moving on feels like.

Strange.

I've made some decisions..

2010-04-10T03:56:00.003-04:00

It's 4am and I'm no closer to sleep than I was an hour ago - I think I do my best thinking during bouts of insomnia. I've been running over the contents of this post in my head while tossing and turning, so eventually I gave up and grabbed my laptop.

This may not even end up getting published, but I really needed to put my thoughts into writing.

I've come to some conclusions.

I haven't blogged about ShyBoy in months because frankly there has been nothing blog-worthy. Unfortunately the situation has still been chugging along in its half-assed way. I no longer find this satisfying. I've stopped trying to pretend it's something that it isn't. I'm tired of sitting at home and doing nothing with the hopes that he might decide to ask me to do something. No dice.

I'm tired of feeling pathetic for spending pretty much every night of the week at home alone in my pj's watching television.

I'm tired of being the girl with the not-quite-right relationships and always sitting on the sidelines watching others have what I wish I could.

I need to force myself out of this situation and get back to my life. I've always preached that you need to make things happen in your life, yet I don't seem to follow any of that.

This brings me to my next decision. I need to change my life - in a major way.

I'm currently doing applications for both Graduate School and an Internship, both of which are miles and miles away from home. As much as it kills me to leave, I think I need to get out of here and experience life in a very real (and scary) way.

I've gone through so much in the last few years that I think somewhere along the way I've forgotten parts of myself. Things that used to make me happy don't anymore.

Maybe I'll get back into dancing, exercise might actually be a good thing anyway. Or maybe I'll find a new hobby.

I haven't quite decided what I can do to change my life, but making the decision is the first step to change.

This has been a very depressing and out-of-character for me post. I do apologize for that. I don't mean to whine and b*tch to all of you, I'm just so tired of feeling these emotions inside for so long and never doing anything about it. It's never been easy for me to talk about my feelings, I tend to deal with them in my own way and most of the time people never know I have problems.

It's ironic, I actually kind of hate those "oh-poor-me-my-life-sucks" posts, and here I am writing one myself.

Should I even publish this?

Oh what the hell, that's what blogging is for right?

Bachelorette Parties

2010-04-09T12:13:00.005-04:00

I know it's been a while since I last blogged, this week has been pretty up-and-down for me both with work and other things, so I really haven't felt much like blogging. I'm very happy that today is the last day of the week and I'm very hopeful that next week will be much better.

Although I do have a lot to write about, I will save that for a later date. Instead, I actually wanted your imput and suggestions on something.

A friend from High School is getting married in a few weeks. It's pretty exciting because my whole group of friends is either in the wedding or at least invited to it. My Bestest is actually a Bridesmaid for this wedding, and she's been put in charge of planning the Bachelorette Party.

Being a good Best-Friend, I've lent my help and suggestions to her, but we're both very new at this. I thought I would open it up to all of you out there. We created a type of Scavenger-Hunt/Checklist of things that V (the Bride) must accomplish the night of the party.

We kept it relatively tame, putting on things like "Find a guy with a bald head, rub it and make a wish" or "Get a white t-shirt ahead of time for the bride to be and a fabric marker and have her get 50 phone numbers from guys on the shirt"

We're going to a local club for the night, so it should be a good time.

What did you/would you do at a Bachelorette Party? Any other games or ideas? Any help is apprechiated!

In the words of Carrie Bradshaw: "Hello Loooover"

2010-04-03T20:29:00.007-04:00

Soooooo I did something bad at Burberry the other day.

Remember the rain boots I first blogged about here? Well, I finally gave in and splurged.

These pictures are from the first day I brought them home. Geez, I sound like I'm talking about a baby don't I? But aren't they pretty?

Now that I've spent a rediculous amount on boots I'm convinced it will never rain again.

don't you just love the pretty bow?

..I'm totally keeping both the box and bag forever.

Tweet Tweet ..Twitter?

2010-03-30T20:42:00.004-04:00

I'm such a band-wagon jumper. Like really. You name the technological fad of the last decade and I've probably been a part of it. ICQ - check. MySpace - check. Facebook - check. Twitter - fail.

That's right.

Of course I joined Twitter last year when it first became really popular. I hated it. I think I managed a whole 12 "tweets" and then gave up.

Lately I've noticed a Twitter-Expansion in the blogosphere with new Twitters popping up all over the place. So once again Bandwagon-Ella is resurfacing in the Twitter-world.

I deleted my old account and I'm making an attempt to start anew.

Right now my Twitter page looks very sad without any followers. Mind you, I haven't followed anyone yet either. In fact, I'm still figuring out the whole Twitter-process.

Will you follow me

A post of Random Updates on a Lazy Sunday

2010-03-28T10:00:00.004-04:00

Blog Status: Ella is L-O-V-I-N-G lazy sundays!

That's right, it's Sunday and I don't have a thing to do right now. I'll even let you all in on a little secret - I'm still in bed. Not in any dirty way of course, more in an Ella-is-relaxing-and-the-most-effort-she's-put-in-today-was-saying-hello-to-her-kitty-and-grabbing-her-laptop-before-crawling-back-into-bed kind of way. Did all that make any sense?

I'm watching the Food Network, which I absolutely adore. Even though I don't cook I enjoy watching others cook. I know, a little hypocritical right? It always makes me want to try cooking. Without fail I wander into the kitchen with grand ideas of making a whole amazing meal from scratch - and ultimately end up making a bowl of cereal or kraft dinner. Not good Ella. Not good.

I feel like I've been very random with my posts the last few weeks. I'm happy that I have been posting, but I think the topics and content of said posts has been quite sporadic.

Last weekend I had a bunch of friends over for a St. Patrick's Day Party. It was good times. Very good times. I've had the same group of friends for many years now. Some have come and gone over the years for various reasons, but my current group has been steady for a few years now. It's always good when everyone gets together because as our lives all get busier, there is less and less time to catch-up.

Yesterday my mom and I did a little spontaneous cross-border shopping. I've mentioned before how much I love going to Buffalo to do some shopping. Yesterday my love was once again re-affirmed:

I have a wedding to go to in early May. Since I just bought a new party-dress before Christmas, I really couldn't justify ANOTHER one. BUT, I have a classic LBD (Little Black Dress) and a white belt that goes well together with it. So my idea was to do a very classic Audrey-Hepburn type outfit. Black dress, white belt, pearls and red shoes. Can't you just picture it?

Well, I found amazing red satin pumps in Buffalo...for $14.99! I'm thinking now I should have bought them in the hot pink, black and leopard print too - maybe next time. But seriously, $14.99? Even if I only wear them that one time they will pay for themselves. And they're so pretty. Maybe I'll post a picture of them.

I think that's probably enough updates for now. I hope you've all had an awesome weekend across the blogosphere!