Eight days a week

My social calendar was packed last week and I love that. It makes it feel like summer! Unfortunately though, I was too busy to blog and I actually really missed it.

My week started off with the Jays home opener. I sometime work in the executive suites in the 300 and 400 levels. It’s a pretty good gig, because I usually only have to take care of serving beer to around 20 people and I mostly get to watch the game or concert that’s on. (I saw U2 twice in September and get to see them again in July!) Unfortunately for me, on this night, I was stuck in a suite that fit 100 people and I couldn’t see the game from behind the bar. Factor in that the Jays lost, ruining their five-game streak, and it was my least favourite home opener experience in my four seasons at the Dome.

Last Tuesday was much better though as I actually got to go see the game – and what a game it was! Ricky Romero carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning only to see his former teammate Alex Rios ruin his perfect game chance with a home run. Nevertheless, Romero managed to get out with a win and a one-hit game.

My friend Cristina, who I met in Vancouver while working at the Olympics, was in town that night and had never been to a game. We bought tickets in the 500s, but were able to sneak seats in the 100s. Some idiot sitting behind us there said the taboo words “perfect game” about 10 minutes before the Rios hit. I’m blaming that guy for the outcome.

Because we snuck down to the 100s I was able to get a couple of fun shots of Romero getting creamed by his teammates for his near-perfect outing.

Wednesday we celebrated a friend’s last chemo session with some cake! She kicked cancer in the ass and got through it with grace and good humour.

Thursday I went to Thirtsy Thursday at Pauper’s Pub on Bloor. It’s a networking event for young PR professionals in Toronto. I’ve been going for a couple of years now and every event keeps getting bigger. Kudos to the organizers. I forget exactly what these pictures were about, but I don’t think it’s what it seems like.

Friday I started out with after work drinks on the patio at the Madison for a coworkers birthday. From there I moved to the El Mocambo to check out my friend’s bf’s new band’s debut. They’re called Lordy Lordy and you should check them out here.

Saturday I actually went in to the office for a couple of hours, bleh, then headed to midtown to feed Jane and Jeff’s cats again. I’ve never been a huge cat person, but these two are actually pretty cute.  This one’s name is actually Harry the Handsome.

Jane and Jeff, by the way, have been lucky enough to be stuck in England for an extra five days because of that volcano whose name no one can pronounce. No airport cots for them though, they’re spending their extra vacation days in a beautiful home in Cambridge. Can you tell I’m a little jealous?

That night Jess and I met up with Christine and headed out for another friend’s birthday at Clinton’s. This is probably the day that my liver started to really hate me.

I always have fun at that bar, but I do have one complaint about some of the patrons:

Dear sweaty people,
If you’re going to dance your ass off, please make sure you have enough deodorant on so that when you walk by me I don’t want to pass out from the overwhelming stench.
Cheers, Jess

Sunday Jess and I met up in the early afternoon for brunch at Lakeview on Dundas at Ossington. I can’t believe I had never been there before having lived just five minutes away for more than two years. The food is delicious, well priced, and they have $4 caesars until 5:00 pm. Bonus: it’s open 24 hours. Seriously, how have I never been there for a late night snack after partying on Ossington or Queen West???

After brunch we walked down to the Black Bull patio to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. You know it’s the place to be when there’s a line at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon. We only had to wait for about 15 minutes though, so it was definitely worth it. A couple other girlfriends joined us and we all enjoyed our first coronas of the summer.

That evening we went out to the Beaches to christen Brandon and Marisa’s new BBQ. It took the guys so long to put it together though that we didn’t eat until 10:30. The food was great though, and of course we had to cook steak (my favourite!) and drink more coronas for such an important occasion.

Monday morning came way too early but that didn’t stop me from going out once again that night. After eight days my liver was probably screaming at me to stop, but my friends won their floor hockey league and Jess found out some great news at work so we had to celebrate. We went to the Fox and Fiddle on John St and did some karaoke. People were probably cringing hearing me sing, but it was fun so I didn’t care. Hopefully the fact that my friends are really good prevented me from getting pelted with chicken wing bones.

Last night was my first night at home in eight days and it was awesome. I got my chores out of the way, relaxed and watched an amazing episode of Glee.

Tonight, I headed back to Jane and Jeff’s to feed their cats… again… because they’re still relaxing in England… and I’m so not jealous.

Thanks for checking on this blog even though I haven’t been posting much. I promise to make more of an effort.

Spin spin sugar

I was at my friends Jane and Jeff’s place last night as they were packing for their trip to Scotland. I’m feeding their cats while they’re gone, so I was over to learn the ropes. Jeff was running back and forth to their laundry room getting the last few loads in and that’s how we got on the topic of laundry room etiquette.

Anyone who’s lived in a dorm, an apartment building, or a multi-apartment house has had to deal with the dreaded coin-operated laundry machines. But does anyone actually know the etiquette about how to share these machines with their neighbours? Are there actually a concrete set of rules?

There are a couple situations to consider:

• If someone leaves their laundry sitting in a machine when it’s done, does another person have the right to take it out?
• You have one machine, but need to do two loads; you come back to flip your laundry, but someone is sitting there waiting for an empty machine.  Is it the equivalent of putting money on a pool table to reserve the next game? Or is it yours because you’re already using it?

Personally, I hate when people take my clothes out of the machines, especially if they’re wet. That’s why I try my best to get back as soon as the spin cycle is done. However, I’m not against removing someone’s clothing if I’ve gone back five times to see it still sitting in the same place after an hour. One time I was so frustrated that I left a note telling the person how inconsiderate they were. Had I run into them reading it though, I would definitely have pretended it wasn’t me.

Jeff actually had to deal with the second scenario last night. He had two washing machines, went down with two more loads, but only put one in because an older gentleman was sitting, waiting for a washer to open up. I think this makes Jeff a good neighbour.

I guess all laundry room etiquette would be obsolete if everyone just waited patiently by their occupied machines, but who wants to do that when they could be relaxing on their couch?

This was kind of a weird post, I know, but if anyone has any laundry room advice, please feel free to share!

(Image credit)

Get over it

Today that’s for all the Duke haters. Get over it. They won! They played a pretty solid game too.

I have to give it up to Butler though; they played an amazing game as well. The number of turnovers they caused for Duke almost won them the championship, yet Coach K reigns again.

I heard an interesting stat while watching the game last night. While Brad Stevens, the 33 year-old coach of Butler (crazy that he’s only 33 eh?) makes just under $400,000, Mike Krzyzewski makes over $4 million! That’s got to be more than a number of NBA coaches.

Although Duke is not my favourite team I have a soft spot in my heart the Blue Devils. They were my Uncle Mike’s favourite team. He’s the one that introduced me to March Madness when I was a kid and I will be forever grateful. It’s just so much fun to watch! To this day I can’t hear the CBS Sports Madness jingle without thinking of him.

“Get over it” was his motto and he made sure everyone knew it. If you scraped your knee climbing over a fence, get over it. If you were mad at someone for something, get over it. If you were disappointed in yourself for some reason, get over it, and do better next time.

It really is a great philosophy to live by and one of the many reasons why I will never forget what a great man he was.
 

This grainy 80s pic is of my cousin Kevin, my Uncle Mike, and that’s me on the right. Miss him!

Ring, ma belle

I’m definitely not the most fashion forward of my friends and don’t take too many fashion risks, but a few weeks ago I came across an extravagant accessory that I just had to have. I bought this ring at H&M for around $10.

Now that I had this fantastic piece of costume jewlery I had to figure out somewhere to wear it. Luckily I had a pretty good excuse this past Thursday as we celebrated my friend Jane’s (author of blue to grey) 27th birthday at the Beaconsfield.

It’s always fun when you have a piece of clothing or an accessory that everyone compliments you on. My friends loved my ring so much some of them had to try it on.

It was a great night filled with lots of friends, fun and of course quite a few drinks.

Everyone looked great! Especially the birthday girl!!

And who doesn’t love a dance party to close down the bar.

Hope everyone enjoyed the great weather and had a fantastic Easter weekend!