Sydney's thank you message...

Awwww... so cute! Meet Sydney (Ron's cousin's daughter). She's 2-1/2 years old, and we got her a drum set for Christmas! See below for her thank you message.

The youngest member of the Rye crew!

Ron and I met up for brunch with his 'Rye crew'. His friend Mark, and his wife Cynthia brought their newborn baby boy Mason - the first baby of the crew. He's so cute!

We went to Golden Griddle, but actually passed on the brunch buffet option since Ron and I have been eating non-stop since the holidays began! Gotta love the holidays! :)

Family Fun!

After getting home so late the night before, I got up the next day to help Ron clean his place up, and to go out and grab some items for our get-together tonight! We were going to have all of my siblings and my cousins over for dinner! This was the biggest group we've ever had at the condo: 17 people!

Everyone made good use of Ron's condo amenities by going to the gym, using the sauna, the whirlpool, the swimming pool, and the billiards table! We played games, and there was plenty of food and liquor on hand! As always, it was a lot of fun, and I'm glad that my family saw where my future home will be! :)

THE cookie is back!

My all-time favourite job was working for a small townhouse in the Richmond/John St. area downtown. It was right near the Milestones restaurant, which I frequented quite often (you should see my little bellini animal collection - my VP thought I had a drinking problem). There was a dessert that I discovered during one of my visits at Milestones called "The Cookie" that I absolutely fell inlove with. A warm dark chocolate cookie, with white chocolate chunks, topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with fudge and caramel sauce! One day, the menu changed and 'the cookie' was no longer on the menu... which I was VERY disappointed with (I may have even written a letter!).

Derek was in town for the holidays, and I had arranged for the old crew to meet up at Milestones tonight for a small reunion. To my surprise, there was a special menu placed in front of me with the title 'Your favourites are back'. As I skimmed through the menu items, there on the bottom of the list was 'The Cookie'! I was excited! :)

And it didn't disappoint. It was gooooooood! So good that I was happy to work off all the calories by salsa dancing with the gang after! Derek wanted to check out a salsa club here in Toronto, so we all headed to El Rancho... definitely too late a night for an ol' woman like me! I didn't get home until 4am!!! But it was fun meeting up with the old gang again... definitely what the holidays are about!

Our Christmas tradition continues...

Christmas isn't Christmas without a few traditions. As you all may remember, every year, Ron and I exchange books, a magazine subscription, and of course, an ornament to add to our tree.

This year, you can find these on our tree:

Ron's favourite friendly neigbourhood Spiderman, and MY jukebox!! I've actually always wanted a jukebox. For now, I will have to enjoy my Christmas one (you can actually flip the song selection sheet, and select the Christmas songs listed by pressing the letter/# combination!).

Christmas Highlights!

So Christmas is now over, and we're looking forward to ringing in 2009! Here are some highlights from my Christmas 2008:

• 1st Christmas Eve spent with the future in-laws!
• Ron's aunt telling me before we eat: Oh, I'm so fat. No exercise you know... no more SEX! :)
• Ron's dad put in a Christmas VHS video from their 1983 Christmas!! Ron was only 9 years old! It was hilarious! Let's just say there was singing and dancing involved. :S
• forgetting my sister's house #, and walking into a complete stranger's house! oops.
• distributing my LAST calendar to my family (my cousin Ryan's taking over the tradition! whoo-hoo!)
• and of course, my FIRST Christmas with my fiancé! (can you believe this will be my last Christmas as a single woman?!? eeeek!)

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

~sally & ron

Good Eats!

I met up with Ev to do the annual printing of my family calendars. It's my last one this year, so this will be the last time Ev! You'd think we would have it down pact by now...but no, we had some 'technical difficulties' this year. Thanks for all your help Eb! We then met up with Mel and headed to St. Lawrence Market for lunch, where I was introduced to the chicken parmesan sandwiches! It was good, and HUGE! I could only eat half of the sandwich, but luckily had a snack saved for my fiancé later! I also bought some butter tarts that Mel told me were quite famous at the market.

We also went grocery shopping, and while at the store... I was convinced by the girls to make a nice home cooked meal for Ron: Roast Beef!! They even told me exactly how to cook it, so that I was guaranteed a happy man! It was a deeeee-licious dinner ladies! Ron was quite pleased, and so was I! :)

A Hypnotist for Christmas?

After work, Ron and I headed to Copper Creek Golf Club for his company's holiday party. The food was delicious! They had all these different food stations, as well as various appetizers, not to mention the open bar! I was stuffed by the time we had to sit down for dinner: salad, stuffed chicken with veggies, and butterscotch creme brulee for dessert.

During dinner, they brought out the entertainment for the evening: a hypnotist! I couldn't believe it, as you only ever see them on TV. By the end of the evening, he had a group of Ron's co-workers on stage, asleep, and doing whatever he asked of them: playing the piano, doing weird facial movements, ballet dancing.... weird!

A Christmas WND!

Saads & Raju was kind enough to have the whole gang over for a special WND, as well as Caroline, Rob, and their baby Anderson. I actually hadn't been to a WND in a while (since starting the new job), so it was good to see the whole gang again! The food was delicious (mushroom lasagna, mini Shepherd pies, stuffed mushroom caps, samosas, cheese & crackers, with Ev's Banoffi pie and Mel's fresh fruit for dessert!). Thanks for hosting yet another wonderful dinner Saads!

Christmas Concert!

What a better way to get you in the Christmas spirit than to watch a bunch of kids singing Christmas carols, right?? Tonight was Matthew, Justin and Aleenah's Christmas concert. The theme was 'Christmas around the World".

While we were waiting for the concert to start, my sister asked me to go and take photos of her kids in their respective classrooms. Since there was time, I decided to venture out to the school hallways looking for each class. Aleenah and Justin both smiled for their photos with their friends, however, when I got to Matthew... he said "laaaater". I think I embarrassed him. hehe. And when the kids saw me in the doorway, I heard one kid ask Matthew "Who is that? Is that your sister??" hoa hoa hoa... it must have been my braces! :)

After that compliment, I headed back to the school gym. The school band started the program off... and boy, did it sound bad! Geez! I remember I was in the band when I was in grade school, and now I wonder if we sounded the same way?!?

First up was Justin, whose class did a Silent Night version in Korean! (thought you would like that one Di). And then it was Matthew's turn... whose class did a Nativity enactment. Last but not least was Aleenah's class, who sang Angels We Have Heard on High. The kindergarten class was the cutest though, who did a Hawaiian dance to Mele Kalikimaka! They were so cute!

Raptors vs. Nets

Ron was able to get Raptor tickets for us again tonight. But as the day went on, more of his co-workers backed out and gave him tickets. By the end of the day, he had the whole box again (this is like the Celine Dion concert all over again). As I was really busy at work, I actually hadn't checked my messages until 5pm, when I had to leave for my orthodontist appointment.

By that time, he had only 4 spare tickets. Ron called my brother, as he'd been bugging him to go the next time he got hold of some tickets - but no answer. You snooze, you lose bro. So then I called my sisters. Sure enough, they both wanted to go with their respective spouses. Ron had also invited HIS sister and his brother-in-law, Dex-his cousin, and Eswin- his best friend.

The last time at the Celine Dion concert, it was the meeting of the parents. This time, it was the siblings. It went ok, I guess... Ron's sister said that we looked nothing alike, and my sisters said that Ron and his sister looked nothing alike too! All in all a great night... except for the freakin' Raptors losing! arrrrgh! Vince Carter got some really bad boo's from the entire stadium every time he touched the ball... almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Thanks for the tickets Ron!

The boy with the pink DS...

My sister picked me up early this morning so we could check out the Umbra Sale! I don't really need anything when I go to this sale, but because of my love for photography... I always try and check out their new collections in photo frames and photo albums.

This year, we brought my nephew Matthew. It was great! He just sat there in a corner and guarded all of our purchases while he played his Nintendo DS (yes, it was pink. He broke his and has been using his sister's DS). It was so much easier to maneuver around without having to lug a cart around!!

I bumped into one of Ron's friends there and when asked where all of my items were, I told them about Matthew in the corner. "Oh, the boy with the pink DS! I saw him!" haha... I guess you don't see many boys out there with a pink DS! :P

Slumdog Millionaire

Maybe it was the Indian food I had earlier this week, but I was inspired to watch the Slumdog Millionaire movie tonight. I had heard great reviews on it (as well as Di and Mahi's), and when I saw the trailer, I loved the way the shots in the film were captured.

It was an excellent movie! I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it. But I have to warn you, there are quite a bit of subtitles to it, so if that's not your thing... then maybe not for you. I loved the end of the movie as well (the credits)... it just wouldn't be an Indian movie without it! :P

Here's the plot summary:

The story of Jamal Malik (Patel), an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika (Pinto), the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its exuberant storytelling lies the intriguing question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love. Written by Fox Searchlight Pictures

I have to do PLOPS!

While the rest of us call it a #2, or poo... Zarius, on the other hand, calls it 'plops'. "I have to do plops mommy!" I thought that was hilarious!

Ron and I headed on out to farmland... uh, I mean Tanaz, Mo and Zarius' new house! :P (I say that because she literally has a farm if you look further out onto her backyard). The house was much cleaner, there were less boxes and they've definitely settled in a lot more since I saw it last on moving day. Tanaz decided to make one of her Indian dish specialties for dinner... she just knows how much I loooove Indian food afterall. Ron liked it! He had seconds and even asked for more hot sauce! Although I was a bit hesitant to eat it, I finally tried it. I have to say... it was pretty good! There is a specific Indian spice that I really don't like (used in a lot of their dishes, I find), but it wasn't in this one! We also had apple pie a la mode for dessert, which was quite yummy too!

Below are photos of their new home, as well as the yummy Indian food. Thanks Tanaz!

Fashion Friday at Cityline anyone?

Hi all! When I first got laid off months ago, I put my name on a list to go onto Cityline - Fashion Fridays. With Quel and I both off at the time, I thought it would be fun for us to go together. I just received an email (yes, 5 months later) that I'm IN!

Here's the email:

Thanks for contacting CityLine reservations. I've booked you in for 2 adult only seats (absolutely no babies and no one under the age of 13 permitted in your reservation) for Fashion Friday on January 30, 2009. Please arrive at the station at 9:30am on the day of your show. Someone from reservations will give you a call two days prior to confirm your reservation. Also, please note that you are only able to attend CityLine once in a twelve month period, and because we are booking so far in advance, the topic/guests of your show may change without notice.

**CityLine is no longer live. Your show will air on Citytv 1 week after this tape date. Please check you local listings for times**

So here's the thing. I don't think I can go. What with the new job and all, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to ask to take the time off (to go to Cityline). It would be very unprofessional of moi (and you know how 'professional' I can be) :P.

So does anyone else want them?? If not, I have to call and cancel, so let me know... first come first served!

Did you know...

Here's an interesting tidbit for you... did you know there's a city called 'Sexmoan'? (pronounced like sasmuan). And funny enough, this city is located in Pampanga, Philippines! Oh those Flips... they sure know how to name them! :P

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Today's my nephew's birthday. He's 11! I remember I was writing one of Rye Goodyear's exam the day Matthew was born.... I just wanted to finish the exam and get to the hospital! I think I passed that exam, but having Matthew come into the world was quite a special day. He was the first nephew and grandchild so we were all excited!!

And here he is 11 years later. His foot is now bigger than mine, and I've already borrowed some of his sweaters. That's a photo of us from Niagara Falls two months ago. I think he was trying to do the 'Sally' smile! :P

Happy Birthday Chooch!