"There's something about the way you look tonight…"

My life is fun.

Today was pretty much hilarious. I celebrated Maslenitsa, which is the Russian festival to celebrate the end of winter, where they drink vodka, eat blinis with Nutella (or at least we ate them with Nutella) and light things on fire. We had to supply our own vodka, psssh. There were sparklers, and people speaking Russian with a fluency I just couldn't keep up with. But my lovely friend Jelsi was there to talk off the ledge (in English).

From there, I went to my New Media class which was, for the first time all semester, a little bit uplifting. I still haven't learned anything that is applicable in the REAL WORLD, though I have learned some things pertinent to the cutesy, pretend world of "being a writer". Anyways, an aggravating group project that I am slogging through (simply because I rail against group projects in general) went really well today. From there I had another group project and this time OUTSIDE OF CLASS TIME, and it went well too. The fact that I'm not eat a mega bag of chips without my hands or laying facedown on the hardwood is truly remarkable. *Proofread: totally makes sense. And some of my favourite lovely ladies are in that class. Gets the week off to a good start :)

Then I went to Regent (which is in my top ten of most relaxing places in Vancouver) and hung out with BJ while Moozh finished up a powerpoint for the big arts chapel tomorrow morning. With dancing! And pretty pictures! And Jesus!

And now I am at home, which Moozh clickety-clacketying on his keyboard in the background, musing on reducing residential waste and the effect of normalized masculinity on stay at home dads. I am at peace.

This week is totally fun too! Lots of birthdays, which means lots of birthday parties! And Marie-Josee Dandeneau of Winnipeg is in town on Thursday playing with Oh My Darling! Um, so exited. Check out her facebook page too. I basically have a HUGE crush on her.

Happy Monday!

P.S ~ Dr. Zhivago seems to be making the rounds on the big screens. I missed it this past weekend but I need for it to come back. Cossacks are meant to be seen on the big screen.

"Reaching a fever pitch and bringin' me out the dark…"

Dear Moozh, I love it when you quote Scent of a Woman. "Get yourself up, get yourself clean."

Watching the Academy Awards and all I can think is: Helen Mirren is the bomb.

I'm also thinking: why are actors so boring?! James Franco: the dude looks good in a dress. Anne Hathaway: legs that reach to the sky and ballsier pipes than I expected. Add the two together: Easily one of the most groaningly boring telecasts I've seen in a LONG time.

But it wasn't just them.

Pretty much all of the presenters were just vapid. Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Jackman, Scartlett Johanssen. Blah. Everyone who presented looked around like they wished they were somewhere else. And what's Matthew McConaughy doing at the Oscars? And then Billy Crystal came out and people gave him a standing O. Goes to show ya...

I was so tense my muscles spasmed watching Kirk Douglas present the award for supporting actress. And then the award holder dude almost broke him in half! Kirk Douglas is a national relic. You would probably go to jail.

Cate Blanchett is always awesome. Even the people that introduce her do it by saying, "Cate M*** F***** Blanchett."

But then Natalie Portman won. And the whole night was worth it. Cutest baby mama evar. Resplendent in her pregger belly!

Thank god for the pvr function when it comes to award shows.

"I hoped you see my face and that you would be reminded that for me, it isn't over."

I have told myself before, sat myself down and talked sternly to myself: you need to proofread. You're not going to have any friends if you write like James Joyce in Ulysses. It's okay to understand to understand where the predicate falls in a prepositional phrase. You can still be cool and know that. I'm sure Eddie Vedder and Helen Mirren know that too. See it's okay. Just DON'T EVER let it happen again.

You have just witnessed an excerpt from a familiar conversation between me and the voices in my head.
And can I get a high five for getting Eddie Vedder and Helen Mirren in the same sentence? So here's to more intentional editing.

Adele is like my lullaby. When I was falling asleep last night, I was hearing her songs. I woke up at 3:30am this morning and she was stuck in my head. I could hear her over the music on my iPod this morning during my run. BUT IT'S NOT AN OBSESSION.

I have just divulged things that I am thinking maybe should have been kept private…

Anyways, March is looking like it's gonna be a hefty month. I spent eight hours (EIGHT HOURS!) straight staring at my computer screen writing a new piece for my portfolio. There is dedication and pure will of focus and then there is being completely oblivious to the world around you. Matt came out of the bedroom at one point and said, "I can't stay in there any longer." And the first thought I had was, "Oh yeah. You're here too." Then my second thought was, "Maybe writing is not the optimal career for you because you are braindead. Sincerely, Me."
*When Matt and I both work from home, because our apartment is the size of Harry Potter's bedroom, one of us has to stay in the bedroom and the other person gets the main room. And if our apartment is the size of Harry Potter's bedroom, our bedroom is the size of a cutlery drawer. Matt had been in there for around four hours.*
So Resolution Number One: Share.

The application deadline to the Creative Writing Department is in 27 days! Woweee. I am borderline disturbed. I pace in our kitchen sometimes (which is three steps in each direction) when I think too hard about it. We're all good though and I know that if I don't get in the Lord has something better. I'm hoping to figure that out soon because a tight chest is no fun.

Moozh and I watched How to Train Your Dragon last night. I love psychological thrillers and foreign films, you know GROWN UP movies. But I will take a well done animated movie any day. The movie made me really want a cat actually. Something about the dragon reminded me of a cat. And made me want to be a viking.

We also watched Toy Story 3 and Black Swan last weekend after I got back. Toy Story 3 - Bril-eye-ant. Black Swan - If she doesn't win the Oscar I will be aggravated. Natalie Portman is uh to the mazing in that movie. And she is an adorable baby mama during awards season so I really just want her to win because she is so damn endearing.

Linkies:
- I want to make a clock out of something. I've even seen some cases where people just mount the clock hands on the wall. I also wanted little apothecary bottles like these. Restoration Hardware has some but I just don't know whether I'm willing to refinance my home to buy them. I don't even have a house to refinance.
- Handmade rings are duh best.
- Um. Cutest picture ever. 
- How cool is this picture!!
- I want this for our wall. Also, check out PosterText. I looooove (and want) the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea print. Something about them makes me think they would be so cool in a nursery. They look light grey in the thumbnails but apparently when they ship they are a sharp black.
- I am putting this in my dreambook.

Go listen to a song that makes you dance like Carlton from the Fresh Prince. I'm going to. And it won't be Adele. Although Rolling in the Deep makes me dance in slow motion.

"Forgive your past and simply be mine…"

Ok whoa.

Adele's new album, 21, which as been out for a while…people: flippin' magic. I'm pretty sure I've either sobbed through every song or done a triumphant "This is bril-eye-ant!" punch dance in my living room at EVERY SONG.

She simply has a way (just like Oscar Meyer) when her voice and her lyrics and her plain ballsy-ness of captivating me. Her song "Make You Feel My Love" is my song with Moozh Cimpatichni. Yes it was written by Bob Dylan but she does it SO. MUCH. BETTER. She does covers so authentically (She covered The Cure's Lovesong on this album) and yet she never gets lost in them.

On her new album, her song One and Only is breathtaking. I was innocently waiting for Moozh to finish up his night class and bawled my face off in the atrium.

"I dare you to let me be, your one and only,

Promise I'm worth it

To hold in your arms. 

So come on give me a chance

To prove I am the one who can walk that mile

until the end starts."

I really should just post the entire song because there's not a single line in it that isn't flawless and transcendent so why don't YOU go there, read the lyrics, cry, come back, we'll debrief over cookies. And Rolling in the Deep (which is on the I am Number Four trailer). And Someone Like You that is a better more profound version of "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke". It'll make us all feel warm and fuzzy.

On another note, my procrastination has grown legs and is an autonomous being now. I have deadlines with a capital 'D' (which also stands for death) and all I want to do all day is eat kettle chips and watch The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer (really just so I can say I did - how awesome is his name?!). I will have time for that when I'm 'with child'. People will let you do anything when you're pregs. Until then, my sense of duty and my infallible performance driven tendencies will drag me by my fingernails to April.

Listen to the song. That's all.

P.S ~ Doesn't the fact that this weighs 15 lbs make you want one?!

"I work in the dead of night, when the roads are quiet and no one is around…."

Whew.

I am back from the land of the free and the home of the brave. I am currently eating airplane cookies (crumbly Biscoff -soooo good) that I found in the jacket of my pocket today on the bus. I was saving them on purpose. Really.

Saturday kicked me in the ass pretty much. I got in Vancouver at ten at night which according to my research meant I had been upright and operational for 22 hours straight. For a university student, not really a big deal. For a total weenie, a big ass deal. Moozh picked me up at the airport (with a car! *sigh) and then  I proceeded to (and he can verify this) cried for two hours straight. He got me home and he had pulled out my ugly comfy pajamas instead of the sexy chilly ones and made the bed and had white wine chilling in the fridge and all of the things that convince me that he is my soul mate. I had a love letter and a bubble bath waiting for me. And I was still crying. It was a combination of missing my Moozh like mad and jet lag but it was hefty. Ladies, as you can see I am someone who understands what can happen when tears get feeling independent but when your Moozh has done all of these things and you are still crying, do your man a solid and either 1) GET YOURSELF TOGETHER! or 2) explain to him what is going on because it is coming across so NOT how you want it to. And come up with something good.

So now I am officially detoxing. We were really very responsible eaters while we were away, lots of salad with a day where I ate an entire bag of Munchie Mix and baked my skin to a crisp. But I'm pretty sure I should get a 'star contributor' pin from Heineken and Barefoot wineries. I did figure out that the key to avoiding a hangover was simply to stay drunk.

I read the tiger (much of it aloud) and that book is the BOMB. This are the main points that I gleaned from the book: tigers are scary, Russians are crazy and never go to the bathroom without your bathroom buddy. John Vaillant is a genius and I am willing him to cross my path so I can make him sign my…notebook. In case you couldn't tell, ENDORSEMENT ENDORSEMENT ENDORSEMENT. If you have 300 pages worth of free time, read that book. And buy it. It's worth it.

I did not meet Cinderella and I did not see a Manatee. In fact, according to my sister there are a lot of Russians in Florida and I didn't even see any of them!

I got to hang out with the lovely ladies of the Porcheron Love Connection and have unstructured hang out time that we haven't had in years. We got Ariesmell's wedding dress and Cami's birthday present. Before we left for Florida I got to hang out with my Dad and Re-Re and then on the trip back I got to hang out with mah Dempseys which was so fun. The Dempseys made Taco Salad for dinner which in my opinion deserved being mentioned. (And it is absolutely capitalized. It is my favourite meal -I am cheap fun I kid you not.) And I got to see Sarah's ring in person! Boom!

Being back in the scariness of school was a realization a bit too soon. Russian midterm on Friday and three group projects on the go. THREE! I should have put on my application that was something I was really not ready to do. And then at the end of March, all of four weeks away, I submit my portfolio to the Creative Writing Dept. Rah! And I am okay with that now.

Have soup for dinner tonight. Eat it on the couch with your Moozh (or Moozhka) with a grilled cheese and watch a movie. Matt and I watched Toy Story 3 on the weekend. I always cry in Pixar movies and now I think I have a permanent lump in my throat. Like a goitre.

Happy Tuesday!

"I wanna grow something wild and unruly…"

I'm off!

I'm making a list, I'm checkin' it twice, I'm going to get to the airport and realize I still forgot something. But I have my bathing suit (and my passport) and that's all that's important. I have The Tiger, I have a C.S Lewis compilation the size of the Magna Carta that I borrowed from Moozh. I have yarn. I have my i.d ;)
I have my Mom and my sister-pants who put the shama-lama in bing bang. Even though I will have to coach myself, I am not going to think about school. NO. NOT AT ALL.

And while I am gone to oh the places I will go, here's some photo candy:

I am my lover's and my lover is mine

Pictures from the Granny Isle!

So you know those pictures I mentioned that Moozh scheduled for my birthday weekend?

Well…

THEY'RE AWESOME.

I will include some here at a later date because I'm obsessed in a big way but to see them all and to see the rest of Marcus and Meghan's handiwork, head over to Bluebird Creative and stay there for hours. I did.

Yesterday, my lovely laptop Percy Shelley had a bit of a hissy. He was fine (FINE I tell you!) when I left for school yesterday. And then I got to class a half hour later and he had decided in that time that I had sufficiently done something to wrong him. So he wouldn't start. He would only taunt me with the startup sound and then blink his sad face in the form of a blinking question mark. Could he talk, he would have said, "I'm PMS-ing." So I took him to the Apple store and cried and batted my eyelashes and begged him to come back to life.

They thought it was my hard drive. No big right? (UMMMMMM no.) All of my work was backed up (Thanks Jesus) unlike last time my hard drive died (Yes it has happened more than once) where I lost everything. And I cried and had a crisis of faith, I moved on and here I am having a meltdown again. But it wasn't my hard drive. It was my hard drive cable which was about $150 cheaper and didn't require me to do anything unsavoury. There was a moment when they brought my computer back out to me where I said, "It's alive" and then felt compelled to explain the literary joke. That never ends well.

And thus, Percy Shelley has been restored to me in prime working condition. And I will baby him and beseech him to be nice to me. And then I will likely take advantage of him again at a future date.

I leave for Florida in two days. Two days! This time two days from now I will be IN THE AIR. I am committed to those seven days being filled with booze, laughter and nail polish. I will likely have a crisis getting to sleep when I don't have my cuddle toy named Husband. This is the first and longest time we have ever spent apart since we've been married. That is a big moment!

Go up to someone you love and tell them that they remind you of happy days. And then sing the happy days song. :)

"Sit back and watch the bed burn…"

Best Birthday Bazaar! (I will really do anything for a satisfying alliteration.)

This weekend really was hysterically fun. Friday I drank hot chocolate and ate bread in my pajamas all day while I conjugated perfective genitive sentences in Russian. And then I jazzed myself up for dinner. Moozh made me this delicious dinner and I sat and ate and ate and ate in my tiny dress and then….PEOPLE SHOWED UP. Which was a hilarious and wonderful surprise but I was in a tiny dress. So I put on something more…appropriate. And then proceeded to have So. Much. Fun. This is awfully biased of me but our friends are the best in the world. They are sweet and generous and they know how to have a good time.

And then we met with our lovely friends Marcus and Meghan of Blue Bird Creative on Granville Island for pictures. Marcus and Meghan are based out of Winnipeg but are currently in Vancouver for Regent. If you are in either place or are desirous of a photographer or web designer, just go look at their site. Just go look. You will lose all restraint, I promise.

And then Saturday evening, Moozh took me to see Blue Valentine which I have been wanting to see FOREVER. It was a heavy, heavy movie but the way it was handled, it felt so authentic. One of those movies where you're sitting there next to each other thinking, "That totally happens to us." **Proviso: The relationship in the movie is not my marriage. But it feels real and it feels true.
After that we went to a tapa bar I've seen downtown called Red X Red Tapa bar. With all of the Russian insignia and imagery, I expected it to be…Russian. But I think they saw the hammer and sickle and used it as more of a jumping off point. It had three different kinds of perogies on the menu and over 100 different varieties of vodka to choose from, but beyond that there was nothing distinctly Russian about it. I was getting very excited (and somewhat anxious) about what would happen if I could speak in Russian at the restaurant. But that was not necessary. I had a very tasty dirty vodka martini and Moozh and I enjoyed sweet potato perogies and a charcuterie platter.

Finally, yesterday was the Superbowl. Sadly, the Steelers couldn't quite pull it off but it was a great game. So close, both played hard and I got to eat corn chips and guacamole ALL DAY LONG. We got to meet a whole bunch of new people and had our ol' reliables. Overall, such a great day. And I'm beginning to understand the rules a bit more so I'm not THAT GIRL: "What? What happened? Why did that man do that? Did they win -I mean score? It's a home run, babe! They got a home run!"

One more week of school until Reading Break. And four days until I fly, fly away. Five days until Cinderella, and alligators, and warm weather.

Happy Monday!

P.S ~ To all the lovely people who leave comments on my blog that I do not find until later: You. Make. Me. Smile.

P.P.S ~ I have a problem with the use of commas. I feel like I use commas when I don't have another key to press.

"Can you help me I'm bent, so scared that I'll never get put back together."

Twenty-two of them!

It is February 4 and things are already growing!

My recent love affair 

Mah fav'rite drank. 

Mah fleurs between Hildegaard and Sveggie the Love Cactus

"Bonne fete a toi, bonne fete a toi…"

It's mah Burrrrrrday. Twenty two years old. Or as my mom would say, I was twenty, two years ago. 


There are couple of memorable birthday parties. 
~I remember when I had an "Under the Sea" themed birthday party. I was six (hopefully). We went swimming I think and then my mom made this awesome cake that had an octopus made out of a cupcake and twizzlers on top. She also made a treasure chest out of a twinkie and smarties. That's probably why it was memorable. I had never seen my mom buy twinkies before. 
~This time last year, Moozh and I were in Victoria and we went to Il Terazzo for dinner. They had a paid sommelier on staff (As opposed to an unpaid one.) and since I had never seen one of those in real life, we HAD to go. I wore too much makeup and a shirt that was too tight and drank way to much and had A LOT of fun on my first married birthday. 
~My nineteenth birthday I do not remember anything other than I puked ALL NIGHT. There were moments where I'm sure I was upright and dancing but most of it was tequila comeback. Pace yourself, girl. 
~Eighteen was super fun because Shuma aka Party Planner Extraordinaire planned a treasure hunt for my party. We went to a foreign movie and a Greek restaurant and weird things that I liked and everybody came. It was so nice. I was blindfolded and led across train tracks. I remember wearing an absurdly oversized jacket. And I remember taking three tries (THREE!) to break a plate and say opa! It's a constant struggle for me. 


Yesterday was my Russian teachers birthday and so today during our class, one of the other Russian teachers came in and blabbered something in Russian I so desperately wish I understood and gave her a bouquet of red roses. And then I came home and had an almost identical bouquet of red roses on my kitchen table! Except MINE had twenty-two roses in it. (Chances are my teacher's should have had more than it did). 


Today I am going to sit around in my pajamas and listen to Russian pronunciation. Tomorrow Moozh and I are going to see Blue Valentine (I am rather proud of the patience with which I've waited for this movie) and we're going to a Russian tapas bar downtown. It carries 100 different kinds of vodka. It's the good life. 


A girl in my Russian class sent me this adorable video. A crocodile singing in Russian about how he's sad his birthday only comes once a year and how he wants 500 ice cream sandwiches for his birthday. Sounds good to me. 

Happy Friday!


What's your favourite thing about birthdays?

"I took my love down to Violet Hill. There we sat in snow…"

On one of the few sunny days in the past while, I finally got out with the camera.

Look no rain!

Kits Market has incredible flowers and fragrant evergreens out everyday.

An art installation out on Kits Beach.

The Parp?

And on occasion, we do get this 'thing' in the sky.

Triumph Bonneville. The only other woman my husband gawks at :)

A Russian Tapas bar downtown.