So I met a nice young gentleman through one of the clubs that my Boyfriend and I attend on a regular basis. We had some nice discussions and he mentioned that he would be very happy to learn some of my skills and knowledge from me, if I would be willing to spend the time.

So I had him come over for tea yesterday evening, so we could discuss a possible exchange of skills & services to make it a fair exchange. The possibilities look great, since we both hit it off so well…

It was a lovely evening, spent over a big teapot of sweet Pumpkin Chai tea, with a snack of some Old Fort cheese and crackers. I hope that we have a chance to spend more time together, as our respective schedule allows; I much enjoyed his company! 1 month ago

So there wasn’t any of the usual parties being held at our friend’s club this weekend, so it looked to be pretty quiet.

However, we got a text on Saturday, letting us know that he was planning on having a few friends over for a private get-together. I let him know that we had several tasks that we had to get done first but that we would try our best to be there.

So it ended up being after midnight when we were finished with the tasks at my boyfriend’s place and we still had to get to my place, shower and change before going out. However, when we finally got outside, we discovered that our cars were covered in lots of snow that we had to clear off, plus we had to shovel clear some spots to be able to park both our cars on my street.

So by the time we were ready to leave, it was close to 3am, so I texted my friend to see if he was still up and receiving and he was, so we headed out. I decided to surprise him and I brought the fixings for “Second Breakfast” hobbit-style.

After some interesting discussions (philosophical and otherwise), I headed into the club’s private kitchen and rustled up a fairly hearty breakfast for all 5 of us that were left. There was golden French Toast with real maple syrup, corned beef hash, maple baked beans, and toasted english muffins. The meal was greatly appreciated by all!

All in all, it was a low-key but very enjoyable get-together with friends and we finally got home close to noon on Sunday! It did us both good to get out… 3 months ago

I went out with one of my (single) friends, N. last night to celebrate. We shared a bottle of wine before we left and then caught the bus into town. There, we walked to the park & watched the 9 pm fireworks. Then we bought a can of coke each, which we poured a tiny bottle of vodka into. After listening to the live bands and chatting, we went to a club. And started dancing, which I’m not that great at, but really enjoy. It was about half an hour or so later, that we started getting approached by guys. The first was nice, just said ‘happy new year’ and gave us both a hug, which was nice. Then there were a few more, who would approach me first, where I would tell them I was engaged, but my friend was single. It got to the point where N. was picking up my left hand and flashing my ring, which was funny. She ended up dancing with 3 guys all up at the end of it & kissing two. Not something I approved of, but she was happy I guess.

It was fun to go out and be reminded that I’m still attractive to other people, but I was very glad to get home to C.

Happy New Year! 4 months ago

I did a 2400 km round trip drive to Nova Scotia, in order to be with my Mother over the holidays. My boyfriend was sweet enough to come with me for the trip; although all that driving was a bit overwhelming for him.

We did spend a rather laid back holiday while we were there; very low key and relaxed, with lots of food and plenty of naps.

Although a bit tiring overall due to the driving; this kinda trip is always worthwhile for me because it’s pretty well the only time I get to see my Mom nowadays. 4 months ago

So today makes 2 years that I’ve been on 43 Things!

It’s been a pretty good two years; I’ve made some nice friends here – some of whom have come and gone… and I’ve found much moral support over that time. 4 months ago

It’s been a while since the two of us have seen each other in person; so we both made an effort to be available on the same day.

I drove the 20km to the other end of Montreal island to pick her up and we ran various shopping errands together; ending up at the Fairview Mall in Pointe Claire. Of course, we had to make a stop at David’s Tea and I picked up a few new samples of tea to try. I also got my friend to try my new favourite “Bamboozled Tea”; which she quite enjoyed – the staff made us iced tea versions, which I had not tried yet.

From there we headed towards her place but were a bit hungry so we stopped by the Wendy’s / Tim Horton’s combo place on the way there. I splurged a bit and got a poutine for us to share; it’s much more fun to do stuff like that with a good friend!

Lastly, we got to her place and I got to catch up on several episodes of Hawaii Five-0; we both have a bit of a fetish for the show’s hunks, Steve & Danno. She has a 42” big screen plasma HD TV, so it makes watching shows like that SO much better!

All in all, we ended up chatting about various stuff all night and managed to get home just before the morning traffic started up! I was totally exhausted the next day; but the outing did me a lot of good and I really enjoyed spending time with my best friend! 5 months ago

I did something I never would have been able to do a year ago.

C.’s work friend, L. messaged me early on in the day asking me to come out for drinks for her birthday. C. was working so I was a little uncertain but said I’d see if I was free. And I ended up having a pretty good time :) I knew one of the other girls there so that made it a bit better, then later I knew a lot more as they were C.’s work friends. I also had a good conversation with someone who L. called her “gay husband” (a new person!). Then, C. finished his shift early and joined us. 5 months ago

I met up with an acquaintance from uni. It was a little awkward as we don’t know each other that well and are quite different people. So a few pauses in conversation. Then, to make matters worse, I spilled my iced coffee all over myself and the table. Very embarrassing. Oh well, it wasn’t all bad. We had a nice little chat about the latest twilight movie. 5 months ago

So I went out last night with my Boyfriend to a belated Halloween party at our friend’s club. It was so great to be out with friends; it’s been quite a few weeks since I was feeling up to going out there, but it was very worthwhile.

We both got to wear the Dia de los Muertos skull makeup again (which I also did on us at last weekend’s party) – so I did a slightly different version on each of us, just to try a few variations and have some fun with it. I’m so happy my guy has no problem with dressing up like that and having fun! 6 months ago

Saturday was my best friend’s birthday and we had a “Girls Night Out” to celebrate. We went out to dinner at a nice restaurant on the West Island of Montreal and had an awesome time.

I had to be a bit careful of what I could eat (as I’m still recovering from my stay in the hospital), but I found a nice Grilled Chicken Breast and Garlic Mashed Potatoes that fit the bill for being fairly low-fat. I did splurge a bit with a few bites of the Chocolate Lava Cake and Ice Cream that we all shared afterwards.

After dinner some of us went to check out one of our friend’s new condo nearby. She is in the process of getting divorced (it’s all for the better) and is starting her life anew. I brought along some corsets for the girls to try out, since some had expressed an interest. It was a wonderfully silly and fun time getting them to try them on; and it turned out that one of them absolutely loved them and now wants to order one for herself!

All in all, a great evening out, but it left me absolutely exhausted by the time I came home, so I curled up with my boyfriend in bed and we slept and napped through most of Sunday, with occasional breaks for munchies and tea. 7 months ago

I have a new boyfriend, we met back in March and we make such a great couple; partly because we are both night-owls at heart.

We really enjoy attending this particular small club that a friend of ours owns in downtown Montreal. It has regular parties almost every weekend from 10pm on Saturday night until 6am on Sunday; which is perfect for us as night-owls.

So we make plans to go out there almost every Saturday night. It gives us a chance to dress up a bit (I get to wear my new corsets) and have fun hanging around with both old and new friends and general socializing. It does us both a lot of good and we really enjoy it.

The nice part is that it is not really all that expensive an outing for us, as admission is only $10 a person when you buy their multipass, and you can BYOB. So it’s also a fairly inexpensive form of entertainment for us. 11 months ago

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to go out; my car’s muffler had dropped and I was housebound until I could get it repaired.

So last weekend, myself and some girlfriends went out to a monthly party that we like. I had a chance to wear my fanciest burgundy taffeta beaded corset and long black satin skirt and I felt like a total Queen for the entire evening. I got tons of compliments and it made me so happy!

Near the end of the evening; I got to talking to this guy and we hit it off really well. I invited him to join us for our traditional breakfast after all-night partying and he accepted.

Found out he is a night owl like me, so we ended up making a non-date/date for the Wednesday night following, and we stayed out all night, closing down one club at 1am, dropping a friend off at their place, then went out to eat in Chinatown and closed down my favourite restaurant at 3am, then went out to a 24hr Second Cup Café in the Gay Village to talk some more until 9am.

So we ended up spending 12 hours together and hit it off extremely well. We both agreed that we feel like we’ve known each other for years, and yet we still have so much to discover about each other.

We’ve also agreed to head out in each other’s company now and then – seeing as we are fellow night-owls and most of our friends aren’t. So we’ll go out for late night dinners and all-night cafés, which will be great, because I’m starting to get spring fever now that the snow is melting here in Montreal…

Oh, and we’ve got another outing we are doing on Saturday night, at an all-night club we know of that stays open until 5am, and then we’ll do breakfast together again! 14 months ago

I always like going to these particular theme party gatherings, as it gives me a chance to really be able to dress up, sometimes in fairly outlandish ways.

I had bought myself a really gorgeous Italian mask – it’s made of very lightweight metal that is laser cut into a very intricate lace-like design, painted black and then embellished with Swarovski crystals. It’s absolutely stunning!

So I spent quite a bit of time working on my makeup and hair to go with the mask. I did really detailed eye makeup with a hint of silvery white in the inside corners of my eyes, to a smokey dark blue and black in the outside corners. I even put on fake eyelashes and two tiny Swarovski crystals right beside my tear ducts for a special sparkle.

I also wore my new rhinestone earrings and necklace, so I looked like I was dripping with diamonds; I felt very exotic and decadent… I got so many lovely compliments over the course of the evening. Since it was kind of dark, there were quite a few people who even thought that the mask was actually very intricate makeup!

I had an excellent evening and got to meet many new people, including an hour-long discussion with a couple from Ottawa; we had so much in common to chat about. Two of my best “guy friends” were also there, so it was nice to see them as well.

All in all, a fantastic evening. You know it’s good when you are amongst the last to leave at 5am! 17 months ago

On Wednesday, my best friend and I had planned a get-together so that we could go catch a movie together. She had some “Scene” points and an offer so that she could get us both in for half the normal points.

I picked her up on the West Island and we went to Fairview Pointe Claire mall to do spend some girly time together. Stopped by “David’s Tea” to check out the new fall releases. I purchased some of “Pumpkin Chai” and “Crème Brulée”; I’ve had a chance to try both of them since then and they are both quite yummy!

We also did a quick stop by Sephora to pick up a sample of a “Make Up For Ever” product. Last time I went I wanted a lighter shade, but the older saleslady kept insisting that the #6 would be best. I know my skin and she was wrong, I needed several shades lighter, and so this time the salesgirl gave me two generous samples of the proper shades. Much better experience than last time…

Lastly before heading dowtown, a big spoiling for us both – we had coupons for A&W and had some Teen Burgers for supper. Such a rare treat for me; I only eat burgers maybe a half dozen times a year nowadays – ever since I went on a low fat diet for health reasons. But it’s nice to indulge every once in a while…

We both decided to go see Harry Potter at one of the downtown theaters where it was being offered in the non-3D version. We are both prone to headaches and migraines and those sorts of things can set it off.

We both really enjoyed the movie and thought they did a good job with it.

All in all, a great afternoon and evening together which did us both a lot of good! 20 months ago

I had to go to the emergency clinic way out on the West Island of Montreal (it’s a 70km round trip); to do a followup on my bronchitis.

After I was finished there, I called one of my friends who lived nearby and visited with her and her new baby over a cup of tea. It was sweet; she brought out her “new china cups” which were passed on to her by her new mother-in-law and belonged to her husband’s grandmother. We enjoyed a pot of tea with one of those “blooming tea” balls that open up into a pretty bloom as they steep.

I then went to meet with her older sister; who has been my best friend for around 20 years. We ran a few errands (since we had my car) and then had brunch in one of our favourite restaurants. It was incredibly yummy and we really enjoyed ourselves.

We stopped by the Lindt Chocolate warehouse and bought lots of great chocolate on sale. I found a special of 100 “pick your mix” of those Lindt “balls” for only $30, with the regular price being about $69. My friend picked up about $100 worth of chocolate for her and her sisters, which would have retailed at around $170. So all-in-all, a great haul for very little money!

We then headed over to the local big Fairview mall in Pointe Claire. I wanted to check out the Homesense store and I found a gorgeous Buddha head that really looks like weathered and antiqued metal—it’s gorgeous and will look great with the rest of my collection in the “Zen corner” of my henna studio.

From there, we headed to Sephora to have a look for some makeup brushes for my friend, and also got a number of free samples of interesting products, including a mini Bare Escensuals mineral powder & primer kit with the tiniest of kabuki brushes.

We stopped by the Body Shop and found some stuff on sale; I stocked up on fragrance oils—which I alternate with incense to keep my henna studio gently scented. (I’m always worried about possible unpleasant odors, since I have a cat & litter box. But I guess I must do ok, because usually my henna clients just comment about how awesome my studio smells when they come in…)

We rarely go shopping or spend much money on ourselves, but we both happened to have some spare disposable income from recent work projects and it’s so much more fun spending time with and going shopping with your best friend!

After all that “Retail Therapy” we headed back to her place and chatted for a few hours before I finally headed home. I had an absolutely great day with my best friend and it was much overdo, since we hadn’t had a chance to see each other in about a month… 21 months ago

On the Canada Day long weekend (June 30th – July 3rd), I drove out to Ontario to participate in a 3 day outdoor music festival.

It is held at a campground called “Whispering Pines” that is very dear to my heart and that has wonderful grounding energy. I arrived on Thursday and spent several hours setting up all my camping gear and tents by myself. (It really tired me out because I still have bronchitis.)

It was an absolutely wonderful weekend where I got to spend lots of time with amazing people and saw numerous old friends, and met several new friends. I didn’t make a lot of money doing my henna because it was a very small event, but at least I covered my admission and travel expenses so I didn’t end up in the hole, compared to some of the other vendors who did. (My plan had been to hopefully cover part or most of my expenses, so with that in mind, I was successful.)

I got to spend part of Canada Day (July 1st) enjoying a delightful afternoon in the Fairy Tea Garden sharing a pot of tea and yummy scones, clotted cream and jam with some lovely ladies and we had a great time chatting with each other.

I also did some gorgeous henna on some of my friends (for free) as my gift to them and they were ecstatic with the results – which of course makes me very happy!

Despite my bad knees, I got to spend some time dancing around the bonfire to the djembe drums; it did me a lot of good as I haven’t been able to do that for two years and I really missed it. I even got several complimentary comments from people that night and the next day for my dancing, as they said they really enjoyed it. With that type of drumming music, I usually get inspired by a mix of sensual bellydance and tribal moves…

One of my best friends drove up to the Fest from Ottawa and spent the day and night there with me. It was an unexpected but very pleasant surprise, especially as he is in the military and will soon be stationed overseas for 3 years, so it was nice to spend some time with him before he goes away.

All in all, a really great weekend and it did me a lot of good to spend time with lots of wonderful friends and numerous clients who really appreciate my henna body artistry! 22 months ago

Have so many photos, but to sum prom night up in one word would probably be…memorable. Nah, not the ‘ohmygoshbestnightofmylife’ but yannooo, I had fun. Very social evening :) 23 months ago

y boyfriend and I just weren’t going to last. He phoned me up yesterday and said something that made me thing ‘you know what, that’s the last straw for me…I have to get out of this relationship’. So without going into detail, me and James aren’t together anymore and he’s taken it pretty badly. Badly as in he is really moody with me. I didn’t want to end it the way I did, I had it all planned that I was going to try and make it as gentle as possible, as I still love him as a friend and nothing is going to change that he was my first boyfriend. But he did really get my back up, and didn’t give me chance to explain (hung up the phone .).
He’s not coming to prom with me tonight, but I feel like I’ve lifted a heavy weight from my shoulders and I can go out and enjoy myself. I know it’s going to take some time for me to adjust, but I know I have people right around the corner from me, waiting to help me move on. I’m off to prom tonight, and Ellen’s after party, and I am going to enjoy myself. Free to…feel free again haha :) <3 23 months ago

I’ve come to realise that its not me that has this problem, it’s my boyfriend’s. I met a potential good friend over the weekend, and think it’s about time I move on. Go out, do things for myself. Enjoy life haha. He’s getting me down and I don’t want to feel like this anymore. College starts in September so I think it will be good to have a fresh start. 23 months ago

Just because I’m an antisocial so-and-so. And clearly because I have no friends because I’m such a loser. ;D 23 months ago

I got a text from my old Beau (who is still one of my best friends) and we decided to spend some time together Friday afternoon and evening.

I had been thinking of checking out the annual St. Laurent Street Sidewalk Sale and Street Fair here in Montreal, but really didn’t want to go on my own; so when he called me and I mentioned it, he thought that sounded like fun and agreed to join me.

It took longer for me to drive the 10km to downtown because of the beginning of weekend traffic and by then I was really hungry since I hadn’t eaten since very early morning, when I had gone to bed. (My sleep cycle is upside down now.)

I suggested one of our old favourites, a Mexican restaurant called “Tequila Taco” as it was really close to where I found a parking spot and just a short walk from the beginning of the Street Fair.

We had a nice leisurely dinner and chatted about all kinds of things and caught up with each other. It was really sweet of him to pick up the tab; because he wouldn’t let me pay my half. (He knows I’m watching my budget and he has a more regular job than I do as a self-employed artist.)

From there, we walked very leisurely up the several blocks, stopping to check out the many booths and tables of goods. There were lots of booths selling all types of snacks, munchies and ethnic food – it smelled really quite neat with all the grills and such.

Luckily my old Beau knows that I’m still recovering from my brochitis and knows that my tolerance level is still quite low, so we walked quite slowly, holding hands like we used to. (Nothing terribly romantic, I do this with a lot of my friends, either holding hands or arm-in-arm, as it keeps them aware of my walking pace with my cane.)

I found a couple of good little buys for myself – a lovely black bellydance belt with silver coins and multicoloured “jewels” across the top band, a simple black cabochon-style silver wire ring that matches my favourite necklace, and an inexpensive djembe drum so that I can practice henna-ing drumskins. All told, less than $50 which was my previous day’s henna client session – so it was a nice little splurge on stuff that I love and will actually use.

It was a long walk for me; 8 “long” blocks and all uphill! It was rather warm and a bit sticky; going back downhill was easier as the sun was almost down and it was cooling off. I did stop to pick up some cold bottled fruit juice though; tepid bottled water we had just doesn’t do much for me. The fructose helped to perk me up for the rest of the long walk back to my car.

All in all, a wonderful impromptu afternoon and evening with one of my best friends and it will become a delightful memory! 23 months ago