Friday! Time to confess!

It’sssssssss FRIDAY!!  Woo Hoo!!

Linking up with Mamarazzi for Confession time!!

I confess…that this day is probably going to feel really long.  Because once this work day is over, my VACATION BEGINS!!  So friggin’ pumped!!

I confess…that I can’t think of a better way to start of my vacation than by going to my friend Tracey’s wedding tonight.  It’s guaranteed to be a good time, and I’m within walking distance of home from the reception.  Perfect.

Seriously…how awesome are they?!?

I confess…that despite my desire to let loose and have fun tonight, I will be doing everything in my power to not get as crazy as I did at Tracey’s bachelorette.  Which means… no puking in a cooler.  Hopefully.

I confess…that I’m really glad Tracey & Ryan decided to have their wedding the night before my birthday.  Because now, I get to pretend that someone threw a really major birthday bash for me!  With a tent and everything!  Thanks, guys!!! ;)

I confess…the last time someone “threw a really major birthday bash” for me was when my friend and co-worker Jared got married on my birthday weekend.  Tent and everything there too.  I ended up getting loaded on wine at the dinner, and was passed out in my car by, like, 10 PM.  Soo…that’s another thing we’re going to attempt not to do tonight.  eeeep.

I confess…that I’m not sure how much blogging I’m going to be doing next week while I’m off, but I’m going to try to pop in from time to time to see how everyone’s doing!

I confess…that I can’t wait to sleep in, stay up late, spend time at the beach, spend time with my family, go to movies, and just relax for the whole week…can’t wait…

Happy Friday, dudes!! :)

It’s OK…

I’ve seen It’s OK Thursday posts on many of my favourite blogs over the past year, and I think I’ll play along today for the first time!

Linking up with Brunch with Amber and A Complete Waste of Makeup.

It’s OK…

• that it rained last night.  Boy, do the farmers ever need it around here!
• to have a bit of a carb overload this morning – toast with jam for breakfast, and a co-worker brought in fresh bagels and cream cheese for everyone.   Screw the diet today.
• to anxiously anticipate the end of the work week…Vacay, here I come!
• to wonder what the HELL Kristen Stewart was thinking when she cheated on Rob – EDWARD FRIGGIN’ CULLEN!!!! – with an old married man.

 

• that I lazed in bed an extra ten minutes this morning and had no time to properly straighten my hair…Curly frizzy hair on a gloomy, rainy day is acceptable, no?
• to have a crush on Conway Twitty.  Really.  It is.  The man has such a sexy voice.
• to not know if Conway Twitty is alive or dead.  Note to self: google this later.
• to miss Christian Grey.  Seriously, I wish the series had never ended.
• to watch episodes of The Vampire Diaries every night, just to get my Ian Somerhalder fix.

• that I’m a little afraid to go to the movies after the Aurora theatre shooting.
• that I get mad when people tell me I’m almost 30.  I’M NOT EVEN 29 YET, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
• to wallow in sadness a little today, on the 2nd anniversary of my cousin Jeff’s passing…

Our last cousin staircase photo

What are you saying “It’s OK!” to today?

WWTKW: Any ol’ excuse to post pictures of hot celebrities…

I love this week’s We Want to Know Wednesday questions ~ all about celebrities!

Linking it up with Mamarazzi & Crazymama…

This week’s questions:

The Lovely One wants to know:
{one} What Disney character do you most resemble and why?

And it got Mamarazzi, wanting to know...

{two} Who was your teenage celebrity crush?
{three} What celebrity would you love to be BFF with?
{four} Who is your celebrity look a like?
{five} Which celebrity/celebrity couple would you want to portray you/your honey in a movie about your life?

My answers:

{one} What Disney character do you most resemble and why?

Easy.  I’m Ursula.

OK, that might be a bit of a lie.  My boobs aren’t nearly that big.

{two} Who was your teenage celebrity crush?

It would be very very hard for me to pick just one.  I was always a Tom Cruise girl, and I recall going through a big Ryan Philippe phase.  There was also Ben Affleck, Jared Leto, Freddie Prinze Jr….

But I think the biggest teen celeb crush I had was on Chris O’Donnell.

I fell in love with him after seeing Mad Love, and literally became obsessed.  I bought all his movies – even the Batman ones – and I used to clip pictures of him out of magazines and stick them all over my high school agendas.  It was a pretty serious affair.

Of course, I also considered Ottawa Senators d-man Wade Redden a celebrity, but that was more than just a crush.  That, my friends…that was the love of a lifetime…

 

*sigh*  I miss him so…

{three} What celebrity would you love to be BFF with?

Ian Somerhalder.

What?!  I think he and I would make GREAT pals!!  I mean, he plays guitar, so do I…sometimes…

{four} Who is your celebrity look a like?

I honestly don’t think I have one.  I have never had anyone tell me I looked like a particular celebrity. 

Oh, wait.  That’s not true.  Back when I used to take Karate, one of the little girls in the class told me I looked like Izzie from Grey’s Anatomy.  I have no idea what kind of drugs that thirteen-year-old was smoking, but I thanked her profusely.  I’m assuming it was just the way I had my hair tied up or something.   I will probably never be compared to Katherine Heigl ever again in my life, but I’ll take it.

(I have never ever looked like this, not even in my wildest dreams)

{five} Which celebrity/celebrity couple would you want to portray you/your honey in a movie about your life?

Well, if Katherine Heigl’s available, I guess she should play me.  Obviously.

Actually, I really do love her.  I just watched Life As We Know It for the fifteenth time the other day, and maybe it’s because she got to hang out with Josh Duhamel the whole time, but that’s one of my favourite movies that she’s in.  I think she could play me well – funny, bubbly, sarcastic…  And I know she’d have to have a few cheeseburgers before we could really be twins, but whatev.

And…well…we all know I ain’t got no honey.  But if I’m getting to pick someone to play mine in a movie, I’m going with Channing Tatum. 

Every.damn.time.

 

Now, if only he could sing like Conway Twitty, I’d be set…

Happy Wednesday, kids. :)

Belleville Weekend Re-cap

It’s Talk To Us Tuesday, hosted by these lovelies – Impulsive Addict and Shawn…and I’m talking about my weekend roadtrip!

 

• As you all know, on Friday my momma and I packed up the car and hit the road – our destination was Belleville, Ontario, where we were invited to attend Scott & Andrea’s wedding.  Andrea has been a dear family friend for a long, long time.  She became friends with my sister, Kara, in high school, and thus became close with our whole family.  Andrea’s such a sweet person – the type you always have a warm friendly chat with, even if you haven’t seen her in ages.  It made us so very happy to be there for her big day, when she walked down the aisle to marry her best friend!

• This roadie to Belleville was a big one for me – not only was I able to cross “Take a Roadtrip” off my 101 List, but I also drove almost the whole way there and back.  I have always – always – been a passenger.  When my mom announced that she preferred to co-pilot, and that her carpal tunnel made her hand go numb while driving, I offered to take the wheel.  It probably saved my sanity, too, since I tend to get a little…shall we say…impatient…with my mother’s extra-slow, super-cautious turtle-like driving. ;)
• We weren’t even out of Renfrew yet – a town very close to home that we know quite well – when my mom started complaining that she couldn’t hear the GPS talking to us over the (very low) volume of my music.  I was like, “Seriously, Mom.  We’re in RENFREW.  I don’t think we need the GPS just yet!!!”
• Travelling with Mom means I have to be careful choosing the road tunes.  They can’t be too loud, and it has to be something up her alley.  I started out with CCR, in honour of Mr. Petty (the bride’s father, who was a teacher of mine in high school, and I recall him loving CCR).  But my mom?  Not such a fan, apparently…The CCR didn’t last long. 
• She did, however, really enjoy Martina McBride’s Timeless album.  Phewf.
• We stayed at the Travelodge in Belleville – the same hotel we stayed at 15 or 16 years ago for a family wedding, though it was a Ramada Inn at that time.  We thought it was a pretty nice place back then, but quickly discovered this trip that not much had been done to update or improve it over the years.  Talk about a shabby joint.  Swear to God, I remember sitting on the ugly, floral-printed couches in the lobby as a kid…and they’re still there!

• Andrea & Scott had a beautiful, hot sunny day on Saturday – absolutely perfect for a wedding.  The only problem was that it got a little sticky in the church.  Not such a big deal, but due to last-minute delays, the bride and her girls ended up being over half-an-hour late for the ceremony.  Which meant that Scott & his guys were standing at the front of the church waiting all that time… I have never seen a group of guys sweat so much in my life!! Their faces literally got shinier by the second.  The best man joked after five minutes that he didn’t think she was coming…It wasn’t so funny 25 minutes later!!
• The bride did eventually arrive, and it was a beautiful wedding.  One of the nicest touches for me was the pink roses the ushers presented to each of the women as they entered the church.  Andrea’s mom, Betty, passed away after a brief illness just over a year ago, so she dedicated her special day in her mom’s memory.  When Betty married Andrea’s dad, John, many years ago, she carried a single pink rose down the aisle to meet him at the alter.  The pink roses were a way to remember her on her daughter’s special day.  Betty was spoken of often on Saturday; her presence was certainly felt throughout the whole day - and I thought the pink roses were such a nice way to honour her.

• Despite our hotel being a bit of a disappointment, it’s unchanged state did bring back a lot of memories from that family wedding so long ago… Mom and I had fun reminiscing about the great time we had that weekend – especially recalling the rowdy after-party my cousin Troy threw in the 3rd-floor lobby, with his guitar and everyone gathered, singing and dancing.  I remember my dad standing back, staying out of the fray, but leaning against the wall, grinning from ear to ear.  When the cops showed up, you’d think the party was over – wrong!  Instead, everyone had their pictures taken with the coppers.  Epic.  You can take the people out of Quyon, but you’ll never take the Quyon out of the people…
• Speaking of after-parties… Our hotel neighbours sure seemed to be having one on Saturday night.  We had returned back to the hotel after the reception around 1:30 and settled in for the night, only to be wakened an hour later by raucous laughter, shouting, and, eventually… puking.  So.effin.gross.  We could hear everything.  It made me want to puke.  I have never wanted to pack up and leave in the middle of the night so badly in my life.
• The only reason we didn’t call to complain were the memories of that lobby party so long ago…
• But I really wanted to complain.  I mean, that summer I went to Midland with the Flyers, we had tons of noise complaints against us, and we were friggin’ angels compared to this bunch next to us on the weekend.  (At least, I think we were…)
• On the road home, I selected one of Mom’s favourites to keep her happy in the tunes department – Conway Twitty.  And boy, have I fallen hard for ol’ Conway.  Like, he’s kind of replacing Channing Tatum as my boyfriend, almost.  He’s so darned sweet!!  (Except, of course, when he’s lying there with Linda on his mind, then he’s kind of assholey.  And except, of course, when I look at his picture.  The voice does not match the face.) I couldn’t find the CD that has all my favourites on it – like, “Only Make Believe” and “Hello, Darlin’”, so I had to settle for a disc of lesser-known Twitty tunes…and I love them now too.  It was like discovering a whole new Conway that I’d never heard before.
• This one was my favourite:

Oh, Conway Twitty.  I love you so.

Here are some of the pictures from our weekend in Belleville.

Mom & I, ready to head out to the wedding

Our room might have been shabby, and our neighbours might’ve sucked, but the view was beautiful!

The Newlyweds!  Scott & Andrea Manley

Bridesmaids Kara & Virgina

Isabel & Mom at the dinner

My brother-in-law Chris doing the chicken dance!

Wedding party dancing

Andrea surprised her new husband by having Virginia and Isabel play a little hoe-down for him and his guys – they loved it!

The beautiful bride!

So that’s a wrap on Belleville Weekend!  It was great to get away, but felt even better to get home!!

Congratulations Scott & Andrea – wishing you a lifetime of love & happiness!! ~ xo

Thoughts on Thursday

• It’s finally almost here…my first real break of the summer!  I’ve been looking forward to this upcoming weekend for a while now.  My sister is going to be a bridesmaid in her friend Andrea’s wedding, so we’re all heading for the Belleville area for the weekend.  I took the day off tomorrow so we could get an early start on the weekend fun.  Mom and I will be packing up the car and heading out around noon.  I love my little town, but I’m just so excited to go somewhere else for a few days.

• I’m also looking forward to getting to sleep in a little tomorrow – which will make the ball park beers that much more enjoyable tonight!  The Flyers have a double-header in town tonight.  I’ll likely miss most of the first game, though, as I’ll be hanging out with two of my favourite kiddos, Maddy & Tanner (or maybe just Maddy) while their mom & dad go to a wake tonight.  And then…the ball park beers.  I don’t even like beer, but I looove ball park beers.
• Last week, I was going through a Bob Marley phase.  This week, I’m going through a Blue Rodeo phase.  This is my current fave:

• Last night I had to go to WalMart to pick up some last-minute trip necessities, and the experience was  a prime example of how little patience I have at times.  I swear to GOD, everyone in that store last night was on crack.  People were just wandering off, leaving their carts stuck in my road; nobody had any manners; there were kids having temper tantrums in every.damn.aisle. I could not get out of there fast enough.
• When I expressed my frustration to my mother, she kind of just shrugged like, “Huh, I didn’t even notice.”  Like I said…I have NO patience sometimes!
• Momma and I had A&W for supper, which cured the Root Beer craving I was having.  It did not, however, help at all with my Big Mac craving…

• Anybody know where the hell July has gone?  OK, I know it’s not exactly over, but it’s going WAY TOO FAST.  Next weekend, it’s already my birthday, and I swear to Jesus, it was just Canada Day, like, yesterday.  WTF.
• I started walking again this week.  I haven’t been out walking for weeks, and I’ve been using the extreme heat as my lame-ass excuse.  But this week, I decided enough was enough.  And it feels really good to be doing something, but I’ve discovered something’s wrong with my left heel/ankle – it friggin’ hurts.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m too fat, or because I’ve pretty much worn flip flops 24/7 since April, but it’s messed up.  I’m pushing through the pain, though.  I won’t let a sore heel/ankle be my excuse.  (At least not yet.)
• It’s been a tough week for a lot of people in our community.  There’s been a lot of sadness, too much loss, and a lot of worry and heartache.  I’ve been doing a lot of praying.  It’s all we can do at a time like this.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Take care!

If you really knew me…

Happy Wednesday, dudes. 

I’ve decided to forego the weekly We Want To Know Wednesday questions for something a little different.  I saw this post by one of my favourites, Jodie at Ramblings of a Fabulous Brunette, and I thought I’d play along.

Of course, many of you already do “really know me”, so most of this shouldn’t be earth-shattering. ;)  But I’ll try to dig up some stuff that maybe not everyone knows.

If you REALLY knew me…

• you’d know that I have a giant Ottawa Senators flag pinned up in my room that my cousin David gave me – he got it from Chris Neil.
• you’d know I’m afraid of the dark and still need a night-light.
• you’d know that I detest being called “Gilly” – I tolerated it from my Dad, and I still tolerate it from my cousin Dale.  But that’s IT.
• you’d know that I have a birth mark in the centre of the top of my left foot.
• you’d know my absolute favourite supper served at my mother’s table is spaghetti.

• you’d know I hate – HATE – steak!
• you’d know I love to be in the water, yet one of my biggest fears is drowning.
• you’d know the only piece of jewelry I always wear is the Celtic ring on my middle finger of my left hand – given to me by my Aunt Marion.

• you’d know that the little scar on that same finger is from when I burnt it on a tea pot working at a local restaurant as a teen.
• you’d know that my lack of self-confidence can be crippling.
• you’d know that when I put my mind to something, I friggin’ do it.  The problem is actually putting my mind to something…
• you’d know that I’m stronger than I thought I was two years ago.
• you’d know that I pee a lot.  Like, a lot.
• you’d know I’m terrified of being alone forever and never having kids of my own.
• you’d know that I loooove to sleep.
• you’d know my biggest weakness is chips & dip.

 

• you’d know that I actually prefer Lays Wavy chips to Ruffles.
• you’d know that when I’m nervous, I feel like I could puke.  I will do anything it takes to make that feeling go away.
• you’d know that I adore my nieces and nephew more than anything else in the world.

• you’d know that I can’t decide what my absolute favourite song is because it changes – weekly, sometimes daily.
• you’d know that I had a really bad dog when I was a kid; his name was Jake.  I think he ruined my love for all dogs.
• you’d know that I kinda sorta maybe think vampires are real.
• you’d know that I *think* I love scary movies, until I start actually watching one – then I regret it.
• you’d know my true alcoholic drink of choice is rye & Diet Pepsi – but because rye makes me forget what I did the night before (and maybe makes me a little crazy), I now drink rum.
• you’d know that my non-alcoholic drink of choice is plain old water.  I drink tons of it every day.
• you’d know I have ZERO patience.
• you’d know that Christmas Eve is my favourite day of the year.
• you’d know that my favourite number is 6.  And yes, that is because it’s Wade Redden’s number.

So…did you learn something about me that you didn’t already know?  Or am I friggin’ open book and everyone already knew this stuff? ;)

All about my boyfriend. Channing Tatum.

I was planning on doing a Random Tuesday post today.  Until I saw 21 Jump Street last night, and now I totally need to just talk about that today.

Dudes.  It’s so funny.  Like, pee-your-pants funny.  I loved it.

As you all know by now, Channing Tatum is my boyfriend.  (I know, last week I laughed when another blogger said he looked like a penis with a face and arms.  But trust me, even Channing Tatum would’ve laughed at that.)

Since seeing Magic Mike several weeks ago, I can’t.get.enough of Channing.  I mean, I’ve always been a fan, but after seeing the boy take his clothes off and dance like that…well, it’s pretty much as bad as the time I fell in love with Superman.

No real live man will ever be able to compare.  So I might as well just declare him my boyfriend now.  Forever and always.

Seriously.  I’ve watched every Channing Tatum movie I own, just to get my fix – which I was shocked to discover was really a very small selection, between She’s the Man (absolutely terrible movie - Amanda Bynes is so annoying, but obviously Mr. Tatum was enough to make me buy it??), and Step Up (which I still love, and love that his co-star Jenna Dewan is now his real-life wife, but after seeing him dance in Magic Mike, Step Up is kinda…lame.  Anti-climactic, if you will.)

The lack of Channing on my DVD shelves has me thisclose to ordering The Vow and Dear John off Amazon, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of either of those movies either, but just because I need more Channing in my life.

And now, I’ll add 21 Jump Street to that list too.  I need to own it.  It’s my new favourite buddy cop movie.  Not that I’ve ever been a huge buddy cop movie buff or anything, but I guess it bumps Bad Boys as my all-time fave.  (Bad Boys may be the only other buddy cop movie I’ve ever seen, now that I think of it…?)

Now, in all fairness, the real star of the movie is a now-slimmed-down-but-still-friggin-priceless Jonah Hill.  He plays the former high school dweeb who grew up to be an underachieving cop, and his partner is the former high school dumb jock who made his life miserable back then.  That’d be Channing, of course – a role he plays very well.

The two actually become like brothers (it IS a buddy cop flick, after all), and are sent to 21 Jump Street, where they are given the assignment of going back to high school to try and bring down a drug ring.

And of course, all kinds of hilarity and mayhem ensue.

Like, literally me, sitting on my couch, laughing out loud, wiping tears from my eyes, and talking to the TV.  Telling it just how funny it was.

I thought I laughed a lot last week when I saw The Hangover II.

This one blew that outta the water.

Have you seen it?  Did you love it?  Is Channing Tatum your boyfriend, too?

And maybe a better question is this – what’s your favourite buddy cop movie?

Happy Talk To Us Tuesday, friends!

Hosted by the lovely Impulsive Addict and Shawn

Oh, Monday…You always come around too soon…

Ever have one of those pretty-much-perfect Summer weekends?  You know, the kind when there’s not much of anything going on, but it ends up being just enough…just right?

That was my weekend.  I loved it.  I hated to see  it end.

Friday night I planned to spend just hanging out with my ma.  I took her for supper to the Norway Bay Golf Club, and it was a happening spot.  We quite enjoyed our drinks and dinner.  While there, Mom informed me that she wanted to go to the cemetery to water flowers.  Umm…sure…a cemetery tour is exactly what I want to do on a Friday night…

So I told her I’d go if she bought me an ice cream cone.  Done deal.

When we got home, we got out of the heat and into the A/C, parked ourselves in front of the TV and chose to watch Water for Elephants.

Spending a Friday evening with R.Pattz?  Pretty much the best way to spend a Friday evening, I’d say.

I looked at Mom once and said, “He’s a pretty good-looking boy, eh?”  And she nodded in complete agreement. 

My mom hearts Rob.

Saturday morning broke hot & hazy…kind of exactly like every day so far this summer.  Call me selfish, but I’m loving it. 

After a quick trip to Shawville with Stacy to deliver cakes, I spent the morning out on my back deck with a bottle of G2 fruit punch and my book.  I’ve been slowly plodding through Nicholas Sparks’ The Lucky One since finishing Fifty Shades…and it’s certainly not lighting up my life.  Part of the problem is that I’ve already seen the movie, and I hate reading the book after seeing the movie.  The other main problem is that…well…it’s the poor book that is following Christian Grey.  It was destined to fall flat.

Have I mentioned lately how much I miss Christian? 

…I miss Christian.

Anyways…after lunch, I took a trip back to Norway Bay to visit Sara, Graham, Charlotte, and Baby Daniel.  I had a great time sitting around chatting, and of course getting my baby snuggles in.  He’s so cute, I could eat him!

Back home by mid-afternoon, I loaded a cooler with ice and Michelob Ultra, and made my way to my mother’s patio.  Hooked the laptop up in the garage so I could have some lazy Saturday afternoon tunes, and then I sat there and worked on my tan (aka, sweat my ass off).  Brenda joined for a while, before she and Mom forced me to move to the shade in the front.  Wusses.

Five beers in, I was ready to have an epic Saturday night.  But Mom wanted me to get food from the chipstand, and Brenda had steaks on the Q across the road, so we broke for supper and made plans to hook back up later – possibly Gavan’s for some dance floor fun?  Sounded like a good plan to me…

But after eating, I managed to develop a wicked headache.   A SINUS HEADACHE - NOT HEAT STROKE, MOTHER!!!

Brenda emailed me this morning to apologize for flaking out, as after dinner she was done too.  Apparently, we are old ladies now.  I had a shower, Advil, and was konked out by 10:30.  Wild Saturday night.  And yet, still, somehow…just right.

On Sunday, I skipped church in favour of bumming around home in the jams while shaking off the remnants of the headache.  I made tea and watched about three episodes of The Vampire Diaries.  Love.

In the afternoon, the ladies in our family went to a bridal shower for our friend Lynn, while the boys went golfing.  We all came home hot and sweaty, and ready for a BBQ.  Burgers, dogs, salad, ice cream.  And, of course, Baby Neve snuggles.  Sunday perfection!

After all the fam jam went home, I hit the couch at my place and watched a movie before heading to bed, completely satisfied with my weekend…and so very sorry to see it end.

It was supposed to rain on Sunday.  It didn’t.  Not one drop.

Now I’m four days away from a weekend get-away…C’moooooooon Friday!!!

Before I sign off, a few little things…

First off, Nathan over at Life & Everything Else In Between is hosting the 1st Annual LEEIB Bloggie Awards, and I’ve been nominated for Best Kept Secret Blogger of 2012!  How cool is that?!

If you get a minute, would you mind heading over and tossing me a vote?  I’d love you all for it. ;)  Also, another one of my bloggy pals, Lena at Mom2MemphisAndRuby is nominated for Blog of the Year – so check her out too – she rockes.  If you’re feeling it, throw her some votes too, would ya?

And now,  I’d like to send big birthday wishes to one of my most favourite boys in the world on his very special day…

Cowan is 16 on the 16th!!

Cowan is not only my Godson, neighbour (well, not really anymore, but I still consider myself a Stanton Roader), and co-worker, but also literally one of my favourite people ever.  He makes me laugh, and I think he’s a little stud.  He’s also been there - along with his whole family - to help us out whenever possible in the past five months – shoveling my mom’s laneway in the winter, chasing her run-away garbage can down for her, helping her “get rid of her weeds”…

Coco, we love ya!! Hope you have the best year EVER!!! xoxo

Doesn’t seem so long ago he was a just a little babe in my arms.  He’s making me feel verrrry old today…