work until the sun goes down...

I worked late today. I told myself that I wouldn't do this anymore (cause it sure ain't worth it!), BUT today, I made an exception.

You see, I had a lot of work to get done before I could go home to Toronto tomorrow, so I stayed at work late today to finish it, so that I can leave early tomorrow!!

I'm heading over to visit a certain SOMEbody...I won't say who....but you might know him. ;)

The one good thing about working late is seeing the beautiful sunsets... ...simple pleasures! :)

It's raining Firemen!

At about 4:30pm today, all power went out at work. I had so many windows open at the time, and I'm SURE I didn't save any of my work...

Apparently, there was a fire in my building...and you know what that means: Firemen....French Firemen! That's hot! :) There were actually 5 fire trucks outside my building, and the lobby was filled with firemen! Whoo-hoo! We all had to evacuate the building, and go home! (too bad, so sad)

I think this is the earliest I've ever gone home from work...I didn't know what to do!

Quel and Rox come for a visit!

Friday night, at 2:30am (Saturday morning actually), Quel and her younger sister Roxanne finally arrived in Montreal. Since it was quite late, we just talked for a bit when they got here...and then we all went to bed.

Saturday: Quel woke up early and headed over to the famous Fairmount Bagels around the corner for some fresh Montreal bagels. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, so we all had breakfast, got ready and headed onto the St. Laurent street festival! After some shopping, we all had lunch on the terrasse of a restaurant called Le Vieux St. Laurent. We had the souvlaki, which came with rice, fries and a salad. It was sooo good!

After lunch, we headed on down to the rest of the street sale, all the way to the end! I stopped by this mango stand, where I had a delicious, sweet, juicy mango cut up and presented to me in the shape of a flower! Then we stopped at Shed Café for "marienda" (translation: a snack, which ended up being calamari and a pitcher of Sangria!). After that, we headed back home where we all took a nap!

After our nap, Quel and I popped open a bottle of wine, and I gave Quel her birthday gift. It's early, but I knew I wasn't going to see her on her actual birthday this Tuesday! I got her a game called Mastermind. This game has come a long way since my day. It sure wasn't shaped like THAT when I was a kid (kinda fallic in its current shape, don't cha' think?!!?) It's a game she had mentioned she used to love when she was a kid...I did too....so you know what that means: CHALLENGE! The object of the game is to try and guess the colour code (given by your opponent) in the least number of tries. Quel got it in 6 tries, while I got it in 3! Yah baby! We opened another bottle of wine, and then the effects of the liquor suddenly hit us (we both got a bit silly), and then we realized that it was 11pm, and we still hadn't had dinner!

We called a cab and headed on down to Schwartz! Roxanne had never been there before, so we all ordered the famous smoked meat sandwich...it was good until I started feeling sick halfway through eating my sandwich. To make a long story short, I ended up throwing up THREE times! Once in the Schwartz women's bathroom (gross!), and then a 2nd time once I got home. I fell asleep sitting up that night, with my contacts still on...and then woke up in the morning with a huge hangover! I brushed my teeth, and then I threw up a 3rd time. That was crazy! I guess I hadn't realized how much I had to drink (basically, a whole bottle!), since we were always talking, and playing the game...and it was all on an empty stomach.

Sunday: It rained all day today. We all hopped into the car and headed downtown. We went to St. Hubert's for lunch (we skipped breakfast as you might have guessed), then grabbed a cab to go Simon's department store. After some shopping, we then headed over to Toi, Moi et Café! This is my favourite crème brulée place! We all had one each, with some tea. It was deeee-licious, and hit the spot on such a grey, rainy day! I then headed home, so that Quel and Rox could pack up. They had to get back to Toronto (sigh).

It's always really sad for me when visitors leave. I just want to come back to Toronto with them! BUT, when I got home, there was a message on my machine...and it was Karen! She was on her way to Pearson airport to come to Montreal for work tomorrow, and wanted to know if I wanted to meet up for dinner tonight! YAY!

We went to Pho Bang (my favourite pho restaurant), and got all caught up! It's funny, it still feels like Karen still lives here. I still see her or talk to her just as much as when she lived here...it's nice! :)

St. Laurent street sale...again!

We have the St. Laurent street sale again. It goes on twice a year...once in the beginning of summer, and another time near the end of summer. It just started today, and my office is right in the middle of it! So I have no choice but to walk through it on my way home!

Well....$90 later, I come home with 2 winter jackets, a t-shirt, and a hat! I bought the 2 coats at a store called J.Schreter! It was a buy 2-for-1 deal, and both coats were $80! So I only paid $40 for each! They're not the most glamorous-lookin' jackets, but they are both long, down-filled, and with a hood! (which is EXACTLY what I need for a Montreal winter!)

The co-workers...

So today after work...I actually hung out with some of my co-workers! There was a party at my boss' condo to thank the 2 interns we had over the summer. She was mixing margaritas and daquiries all night: Lime, Strawberry or Mango! I had 2 of each....I couldn't figure out which one I liked the most, that's why! :P

Happy Birthday Ron!

I just wanted to wish Ron a very Happy, Happy Birthday!

I dunno, does he LOOK like he's 32-years old?!!?

You know I'd be there with you to celebrate if I could! Have a good day! :)

love,

sally

Busy, busy weekend!

Every time I go home to Toronto, I try and pack in as much as I can! So by the time I get back to Montreal...all I do is relaaaaax and rest up until yet another great weekend in Toronto! hehe

Friday: I woke up at 5am to do the drive back to Toronto. I originally had planned to leave Thursday night, but because I only had 5 hours sleep the night before...I just knew I couldn't do it. So I went to bed early Thursday night instead, and left my apartment at 7am on Friday morning! I got into Scarborough around 11:30am, and decided to go directly downtown where I was meeting my old co-workers (Pat, Karen & Nicole) for lunch at a place on Church St. called Just Thai. It's always fun to catch up with these girls. They always give me the gossip on what's going on over at Rogers. hehe.

After lunch, I met up with Rose (she was in Toronto for the day) for a coffee. We went to Le Petit Déjeuner over on King St., and caught up on each other's lives.

Then I headed over to Mississauga to visit Ron for a few hours before heading back downtown to meet up with the girls for one of many stagettes for Saads. We went to Brant House for dinner, and stayed there until the dancing began. Dinner was great! It was a seafood platter with lobster, shrimp, calamari, scallops.... ummm.... all my favourites!

Saturday: I met up with Tanaz and Zarius at Scarborough Town Centre. It's hard to believe Tanaz and I used to come to this mall every Friday after school, and go to the Arcade! haha. And here we are 15 years later...at the same mall, except now Tanaz is pushing a baby stroller! Crazy!

After the mall, I headed back to Mississauga to visit Ron. He had a lot of his family over that day because his mom decided to throw a little get-together for Ron's birthday this Tuesday! So I met more of his family that day, and they all sang Karaoke! I actually just stayed in the room with Ron pretty much most of the time I was there (I was too shy!). We watched Click, and then we played the Scene It movie game. I won of course, as always (right Ron?) :P

Sunday: I met up with Quel, John, Silvan, Steve, and Jerome for some squash! We took up all three courts at the YMCA.... it was fun! It's always good to play with so many people. I had a great workout while having fun... how can you go wrong with that?!? We all then headed over for some dim-sum, like we always do after a great game. All of us with our sweaty-selves... that's the rule! No one can change or shower... because if ONE person does, then we ALL have to! It's actually kinda gross, but that's how it's always been! :) Shalimar and Cole graced us with their presence at dim-sum, so we at least had some nice-smelly people at our table! There were so many jokes and trash talking... I had so much fun!

Quel and I then went to T&T supermarket. She had never been here before, and I wanted to show her my favourite place to do my grocery shopping. 2 hours, and a full shopping cart later (hey, 2 gals chatting while shopping...that's at least a 2-hour minimum!).... she drove me back home. I had just enough time to pack, take a short nap... and talk to Ron before heading back to Montreal. :(

And that's my weekend folks.

Tonic salon + spa

Today I went to Tonic Salon + Spa (on St.Laurent & Prince Arthur) to get my bangs trimmed, and to get a full-hour, full-body massage baby! Because I've been driving so much, my muscles around my shoulder, neck and arms were quite sore...but not no mo'!

Actually, I made the mistake of telling my female massage therapist that I prefer men, because they're stronger, and therefore, I get more pressure! So, while she was massaging me....it kinda HURT! But I wasn't gonna tell HER that after what I said! I just laid there and took it....but it was still a good massage! Muscles are relaxed...feeling GOOD! :)

Lez-Be-Friends!

I just finished watching a movie called Imagine Me & You. It's a really nice romantic story, actually...and I would recommend it! It's like the female version of Brokeback Mountain! hehe

But seriously, you forget that they're both of the same sex, and you take the movie for the romantic story that it is! Hey Di, we should have watched this movie together! "Lez-Be-Friends" hoa hoa hoa
:P

Chick flicks!

Tonight I watched 2 movies: The Lake House (with Sandra Bullock & Keanu Reeves), and then The Break-up (with Jennifer Aniston & Vince Vaughn). These are movies from Pacific Mall, so the quality of them weren't the greatest...but still watch-able! I liked The Lake House (it made me want to cry!), but The Break-up wasn't all that great. I could have done without it. I love watching chick-flicks! There's just something about them...but maybe cause I'm a CHICK! I can't wait to watch the rest of my DVD's!! :)

...visiting Ron, an Engagement and a Birthday!

I wasn't planning on going to Toronto this weekend....but I did! I arrived late Friday night, and just went to bed. On Saturday, I spent the whole day visiting with Ron. We watched a movie, played some trivia games, and ate, and then ate some more! His mom kept feeding us (no thanks to Ron...always telling her I was hungry!). His older sister and nephew stopped by, so I got to meet them....and then his aunt & uncle came by later in the day, so I met them too!

In the evening, Quel picked me up and we headed over to Alfie & Sandra's engagement party. We got there a bit late....ok, REALLY late...so there weren't very many people left, and the moms were already packing away all the food. Mark H., Roel, Steve, and John (the best man!) were still there when we arrived. It was good to see them all, because I hadn't realized who would be there. We talked for a bit, drank a bit....it was fun! Then Quel and I headed to Markham Station after to chat and catch up.

Sunday morning, Quel picked me up to "play squash"....great workout!...right Quel?!? ;)
It was such a nice day out...perfect Sunday morning weather. I then went home to take a short nap, then packed all my stuff to head back to Montreal. But not before stopping off in Pickering where my nephew, Justin was celebrating his 6th Birthday.

Not bad for a last-minute decision to go to Toronto! It sure beats sitting at home in Montreal doing nothing! heheh

L'académie restaurant...

I had dinner with Karen and Shaun today after work at L'académie restaurant. It's one of the restos where you can bring your own bottle of wine (with an SAQ liquor store conveniently right beside it!)...and there's no cork fee, so you can bring as many bottles as you want! We were good this time, and only brought in 2 bottles (not like our usual bottle per person outing).

You could call this place "our" restaurant, because it seems every time I go here, it's always with Karen and Shaun. We had many a night drinking bottle after bottle here.....good times! :)

We had mussels with marinara sauce, fondue parmigiana (fried cheese), and the coquille st-jacques (like sheppard's pie, except with seafood) to start with....and then for the main course, I had the fillet of sole; Shaun had fettucini with smoked salmon; and Karen had lamb. For dessert: crème brulée...ummmmm!

Friends in town on business!

After work today, I met up with Shaun and Karen, and Karen's friend, Albert who were all in town on business! We met up at a restaurant just around the corner from where I work called Le Roi du Plateau. It's a Portugese resto, which Karen had been to before. I had the Grilled chicken, with fries and a salad.

We then walked over to Ripples Ice Cream shoppe, where we all had an ice cream cone (mine was Mocha Almond Fudge!)....and then we all packed up into Karen's rental car and headed up the mountain to see the evening view! It was a nice night, with a full moon out!

Meet the Parents!

What a weekend! Friday night, my niece Aleenah had a birthday party at a park in Scarboro, and THIS was the family event that I decided I was finally going to bring Ron to...to finally meet the parents!

It started off well...He arrived after work, met everyone, ate, made small talk with a few relatives. He even got through all the jokes and comments that some of my family members were making!

And then we all decided to play volleyball! My team consisted of Ron, Diana, Gerwyn, Tanaz/Mo, and Leonard. We lost our first game (but it was close!), so we decided to switch sides and play again. At some point during the game, Gerwyn hit the ball and Ron went after it, not realizing that there was a picnic table nearby. He was so into the game, and looking up at the ball...that he didn't see it, and BANG....hit the picnic table with his shin so hard, that I still cringe every time I think about it.

I can't even imagine what the pain must have been like, but Ron couldn't move his leg! We called an ambulance to take him to the hospital, and after a long night of being in the hallway of Scarborough Grace Hospital...the x-rays confirmed that it in fact was broken (poor Ron!). We had to wait for the Orthopedic surgeon to look at him in the morning to see if he needed an operation, but he advised Ron that he would have to wait and see what happens after a week. The bone on his shin was broken, but it hadn't shifted out of place, so chances are good that he might not need the operation (cross your fingers!).

Ron was discharged from the hospital on Saturday morning, and then I had to drive him home to his parents' place. This of course, wasn't my ideal situation to meet THEM for the first time, but what can you do...they were actually very nice and quite calm about the whole situation! I was a bit nervous to meet them, since I was bringing their son home with a huge cast on his leg....but it was all good.

I went home and slept for the remainder of the afternoon, and then met up with Di to watch Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest! It was good, but rather long...we were both tired, so it was hard to stay awake throughout the movie (Di actually fell asleep!).

And then today, I took my nieces to the mall before driving back to Montreal. I checked up on Ron, and he's doing OK. I just want him to get better! He says that if his friends ask him what happened, he's gonna say "I met Sally's family, and THIS is what they did to me!" haha...that's my Ron! :)

Shakespeare in the park...NOT!

Armeen emailed me today to see if I wanted to go watch Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which was playing at a park in Old Montreal. I've actually always wanted to see an outdoor production of this, and what a nicer place to see it than in Old Montreal!!

However, by the time we got there...apparently, due to the weather, they decided not to put on the show. It had been raining off and on all day, so they postponed the show until Sunday. I was a bit disappointed, but whatcha' gonna do!

So, because I was already in Old Montreal, I decided to take some photos. Because the weather wasn't the greatest, it was quite deserted, so it was nice. I don't know that I'll ever get sick of Old Montreal. It seems like every time I go there, I'll see something that I've never seen before!