.

:)

synopisis:

-no dvd/cd sent from sweet little Illinois has arrived yet. like i say, the postal lady pilfered it.

-gorgeous GORGEOUS fall day. with sunshine even. with the kind of breeze that is fresh and new and sweet and delicious. i actually had sunshine rest on my skin for about 10 minutes at lunch. fab.

-my good friend Hope from work is dressing up with her boyfriend for Halloween. they will be going as the guys from "dick in a box" and have worked a little magic with cardboard boxes, fake mustaches and paper machie. not all box contents were created equal. Hope will heartily sing all the lyrics to you at a moments notice when prompted.

-i got my FIRST EVER BUSINESS CARDS TODAY. :) with my name on them, "BA of Applied Interior Design", and they say "Interior Designer" on them along with the very officious architectural firms logo and address. i'm sending a clutch to my papa in the mail. :) he will be so proud.

-just got back from a "Poetry Slam" up at UBC with my roommate and her jewish drama queen friend from Toronto. was regretting not bringing my trusty audio recorder because these people were brilliant. spinning, twisting, merging words and allusions, cutting it down to the rawest bones of bravery, tweaking inflections and near explosiveness and drawing you softly in... to the end. :) it was cool. and the ciders were $2! :D

-have to part with my creative zen, which many of you know was a 30gig video and audio mp3 birthday present from my parents from just 3 months ago. and it's the one that josh scrawled his signature on and beamed at me when i asked him if he would sing with bjork. and it's the one that rusty sniffed. (lol rusty) and it's broken. :/ it fritzes when i try to play the video... which just doesn't give much value to the $200 pricetag. so i will have to send it in for them to fix. my poor baby. be well! come back safe to me! *strokes it*

aahhhh man.

i saw the most incredible show last night. :)

remember me writing about the highlights of some musical discoveries after browsing through a music magazine? i was falling all over the music of basia bulat and owen pallet, aka "final fantasy".

i was determined to get tickets for the three of us: my friend Hope (an architect from work- i ♥ hope! she's from Portland!) and her boyfriend Sebastian. but the show had been sold out and all of the tickets on craigslist had been snapped up super quickly. so we headed down to the venue after having an awesome dinner at Hope and Seb's place (homemade beer & amazing food!)and waited around to see if anyone had extra tickets to sell. a girl had one to sell and so i snapped that up, and then at the last minute the bouncers said that the 8 people outside who didn't have tickets were allowed to come in and see the show. so yay! we all got in!

basia's voice is amazing. here she is in ottawa a few months ago. :)
( her brother is on the drums. )

yay! have arrived in Chicago! It's FLAT! haha ^_^ but really really cool. actually i've arrived on the outskirts of chicago, i've only seen the skyline in the distance from the airport as we were descending, but I'm headed into downtown tomorrow.

annie and her folks picked me up! they're such a great family~ so sweet! :) and we went out for japanese and then they just dropped me off at my hotel. the room is GORGEOUS! it's almost like a small european apartment in the way that it's laid out- gorgous bedding, crisp white sheets, french doors opening to the bedroom and a small suite in front-- completely new and i'm *very* happy. (annie i wish you guys had seen it before you left, it's that nice!) i may just stay here for the next 2 nights until i head to the hostel because the small difference in price between this and a sad, cheap hotel... well- i'd rather have less money to spend sightseeing and stuff than stay somewhere i was less than comfortable. mmmmmm.... so heather will be living the high life for the next few days, and then it's straight to the hostel for you, young lady :P on monday. which also seems really new and nice for a hostel, so yay!

eeeee! annie's dad is game for getting us to the venue early to try to meet josh-- haha that will be so fun!

mkay i'm off to chill-- the internet is not free in the rooms and i only have 15 minutes down here at the business centre, so meh. you'd think they'd provide free internet, oh well. ciao ciao! will write more about chicago tomorrow night!

xoxoxo heath! :D

yay!!

soooo tired so i'm probably not sounding as excited as i was about 2 hours ago--- my mom's friend wrote me back and she's super thrilled to have me stay with her and she's all over being my tour guide for a few days in Chicago! yuuuhoooo!

so after feeling a little like it was going to be a bit of a lonely trip, it's just totally worked itself out. :)

She wants to go see Wicked the musical with me !!! and would love to take me shopping and see Frank Lloyd Wright's houses and the gigantic art gallery etc etc etc. FABULOUS. I can stop worrying about being alone in a big city. I mean- alone is not so bad- I've done Europe alone and had an amazing time, but it's just much more fun with two. I will be very well taken care of, in fact. :)

She lives in Glen Ellyn which she says is 25 minutes south of Barrington and that probably makes it like, 40 minutes from downtown. So I'll just get Annie's folks to drop me off there after dinner. -- if she doesn't have a cat that is. i won't be able to stay with her if she has a cat, due to deadly allergies, but i'll find out tomorrow if she does. cross your fingers for me.

Annie- I'll call ticket guys tomorrow. My visa has been charged and so *threatens* those dudes better get that ticket out to you protissimo!

((((wishing lots of love and light out to my momma right now))))) she's worried about a medical test she just had. i'm sure it's all good, but she has to wait a week for another conclusive result so that she knows it's nothing. so (((((♥ ♥ ♥ ♥))))) x's infinity x's forever.

from tonight/last night's tuesday show in East Rutherford. (wherever that is)

( man, i love his sense of style. :) loooove his jacket. it's so josh. :) )

holy F*CK!

aaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

I get to see THIS three times in AUGUST.




*dies and dies and dies and dies* of happiness.
she shreds her bow and she's not even at Kashmir yet!!!
*bows to the master*

( what do they call those? is it considered a muffin top? ahahahaha- the groban muffin top! )

*mumble mumble mumble*

tiiiired. work kept me until after 9. that's -pm- ladies and gentlemen. when the sky was beginning to get dark. :P ah, the romance of the design world.... erm... haha yeah.

but today was a good day in that i got a raise- and medical/dental coverage aaaaand my vacation days in august are now possible because they'll be paid for. Montreal!!!! Portland!!! AND--- get this! i mentioned to one of the partners that i would love to get a better handle on loose hand-sketching perspectives, and he was like, "well if there's a course you would like to take, just let us know! we'll happily pay for it." :D!

fabulous. so i will look into this on the weekend.

there is a potluck tomorrow at work and so i'm bringing marinated shrimp with sweet chili sauce and rolled in toasted coconut. thank god it was something that took all of 5 minutes to make before i fell into bed. shit. speaking of- i have to get up in less than 7 hours, so i'm out.

i get to see JOSH in under FOUR WEEKS!!!!!!
*starry eyes* :D

haha, and i ordered this thing that i'm going to give to him when i see him. lmao. it's really funny- i will post a video of it when it arrives here. :)

oh, and i was late for work this morning because i rescued this lost dog named Duncan who was fat and jolly and built like a tank! haha. he must have wanted to come home with me because if he didn't, trust me- hehe we would still be chugging down the street! lmao. he had such a jolly face. and he ate pancakes and gulped water (and lumbered across my bed- ewww! Duncan!!) while i called his owners. (good idea to put your house # and their name on the dog tags- not just the regestration #)

night all~ love you.
xoxox ♥

hehe, the OC. "chrismukka"

hey! i found out i *can* actually have a crush on adam brody- he's only 4 years younger than me, and therefore totally imaginary fair game. :D hey- you never know. ;) and now i have 2 to choose from. josh and adam. ^_^ it's good to have a spare.

went to Dairy Queen and the beach with my mom today. the sun was out for a few hours before it was overtaken by a massive unending layer of clouds. tomorrow's weather report used to say sun. now it says clouds. yay. i'm thrilled. :/

birthday plans... TBD.

montreal--- do i actually go? my friend says i am more than welcome to come stay with her, i guess i just have to commit to the $640 plane ticket. hmmmm... looking forward to montreal, but where else could i go for $640? there are probably a heap of other cities to go check out. Hawaii? but yeah, i don't know anyone in Hawaii and would have to spend money on a place to stay as well as not have someone to hang out with, so montreal is still sounding great. :) wish i knew someone in ny. or california. ^_^

am loving the OC. :)

i've never seen it before, and i'm up to season 1 episode 5. if i were younger i would be madly in love with Adam Brody. his character gives me fits of giggles with his quick wit and comic timing. he's probably really fun to hang out with too.

the horrible weather finally broke! tomorrow is supposed to be 29 degrees and --HOT---. mmmmmm, FINALLY. :) i'll have to make sure i eat dinner before i leave for yoga- this way i can go directly to the beach after yoga as it's only 2 blocks away.

have decided that one of the things i do on saturday when i hang out with my mom is to get our butts down to the Dairy Queen and get some chocolate dipped soft ice-cream cones. gah. i saw these 2 dudes eating these on the sidewalk as i looked out of the bus window and man, did they ever look good. ^_^

tonight was an ice-cream eating night- everyone in the city was out walking around and luxuriating in the warm evening breezes. except for my roommate- she was stuck watching "Transformers" with her friends Jenni and Dennis (because Dennis has been apparently counting down the days until it opened). i thought the previews looked cool, but she was decidedly non-plussed. :)

past bedtime (again) i shall go. love and love and love.
summery thoughts~
h.

muahahaha

there are currently 2 irish, 1 american and 2 canadians (myself included) sitting in the living room watching josh groban in "Chess" and talking animatedly about musicals and films. hehe, i love it. i'm also getting a good education about greek history and the history of the irish gaelic language, along with the structure of some euro pop singing contests. :D the irish are good storytellers. ^_^

so much for going to bed at a decent hour. :D ah well.
happy canada day!

I want to be braver.

i want to believe
in myself
utterly.

i want excitement in my life, i want to be surrounded by and influenced by people who are completely alive, i want to fall asleep each night and look forward to having the next day feel so full and alive and bursting-- and dramatically different from the day before it.

i want this.
very much. :)

i get another day off tomorrow, and i am SOOO all about that. :)

too bad the last two days have been spent staggering around completely exhaused because i can't sleep later than 8:30 due to the crappy soundproofing to the suite upstairs. So- yay- i work or play until late and fall asleep by 3am and then bam- wide awake (and muttering a few choice words) 5 hours later. GROWL. 0.o same thing happened when i lay down exhausted this afternoon to try to take a nap- CRASH/ BAM. THUNDEROUS FOOTSTEPS. argh. i just gave up. i will buy earplugs tomorrow.

but! :D yesterday the sun was shining! the WHOLE DAY!!! hard to believe i know. and today it was nice for... 5 hours. and then it got all crappy again. :( but then there is always alcohol to turn to i suppose for consolation. :P it being canada day and all-- the clouds mean zero visability for fireworks and national celebrations which really bites.

oooh, yesterday i went to this tiny consignment store on west 4th avenue and---!!! found the most amazing things! haha i spent 2 hours in there, trying heaps of stuff on and rummaging, and rifling. :D it was GRANDE. :D they had amazing things! i bought 2 pairs of high heels, a small evening shoulder bag, two skirts, a delicate white dress tunic, and a shirt. all for $100! the shoes were $13 and $20. so satisfying. :D i will have to post some photos tomorrow. :)

( marathon post! yep it's a skimmer, hehe )

annie, your writing is simply amazing. it's clear that you've finally had time to just get inside your head and really feel the story and the characters. your writing has always been stunning, but this last chapter was like... - it just flowed, it seemed extra inspired, and extra effortless. it's amazing what happens when we let ourselves go into our creativity and really roll with it.

just wanted to say how much i loved it. :)

omg, you are going to publish such gorgeous stories in the future- you know- you could easily change the names in this story and then submit it somewhere. i'm quite serious. :)

love you,
so happy to know you~ :D
heath.

i have this plugged into my stereo and have been replaying it like whoah.

it's helping me feel better about the weather and just better about... stuff in general. :)

*whispers* so. gorgeous~ :)

upcoming long weekend:

( !!!!!!!!!! )

MOST PWNING SONG OF THE DAY:
"shake down" by Akon

oh crap- now that i listen to the full version, i think it's all about gangsta murder though. :( that's really not cool. it's actually pretty perverse that a song written about violence be so brilliantly melodic and rhythmic. meh. they completely ruined it.
i know, i'll send them a new set of lyrics so they can re-record it. i'm sure they'll be delighted to know that i've taken the trouble to tweak it for them.


i JUST started watching The O.C. tonight. can you believe i've never seen it before?

Episode 1 ROCKED.

i can't wait to watch all the rest.

i want to live in california.

god, the coastline is beautiful~

heather is moody...

and meloncholy...

and doesn't really know why.

it may have something to do with the crappy june weather we've been having-- (rain/clouds/rain/tiny sun/rain/clouds), and it might have something to do with work. work itself is fine, but it's the coolish atomosphere from 2 of the girls i sit close to that are making things decidedly... boring and lame. i mean, come ON guys, you can't be THAT busy to not lighten up even for a second. UGH. pet peeve: people who turn into robots at work. it IS possible to get a lot of work done as well as enjoy doing it, you know. the non-atmosphere of killjoy is wilting my spirit. the suck-ups. :P

well at least i still have fun with heidi (the senior int. designer), and a few other people across the floor, so all is not lost. i guess i'll just find myself plugged into my headphones a lot more than i thought. going drinking and dancing with one of the american architects though, this weekend! her name is Hope and she's super cool, we will do it up right. :D and, i've bought rye whiskey (sounds so hardcore, mmmph!) and ginger-ale to make (you guessed it) rye-and-gingers for Canada Day (g.damn it you'd better be hot and sunny, you weather, you!). it's my tradition to get really quite buzzed by mid-afternoon on canada day and go to the beach and then watch the fireworks across the water at night. ^_^ whoo, bring it on!

mkay, i'm off to book a car rental, a bus ticket, and a hostel room for *sings* the josh shows in august!

hmm.
still moody, but... eh, i'll just roll with it.
it's been 3 days so far! what is up? :/

i am so envious of anyone who lives next to a "steve and barry's" store in the states. it carries sarah jessica parker's line of clothing, and it is stylish with mind blowingly cheap prices. like, why would they even charge you money for the items, they might as well give them away for free!

http://www.bittensjp.com/collection.php

i am particularly coveting the black shirt dress for $19.95 and the black strapless dress also for the astounding price of $19.95. straight leg jeans for $14.98?? is this for real???

there's a store in the everett mall- which is 1 1/2 hours across the border, but i don't have a car. hmmm, maybe i can convince my mom to drive down to do some shopping for my birthday.... :)

I am SO in LOVE with the song "Rainbowwarriors" by CocoRosie. LOVING. they just came to Vancouver too, i so wish i had gone!!! www.myspace.com/cocorosie

go listen!