flip

so i suppose i haven't updated in a while... shit's been busy. quick breakdown:
*had a shitty week last week, a shitty combination of accumulating stress, lack of sleep and a touch of homesickness. spoke to my sis and the next day received a phone call from the parental unit. talked it out... felt better. changed some things. felt better. currently feeling...awesome.

*went out for a close friend's birthday tuesday night. ate my body weight in korean barbeque and brought these to the par-tay. (no i didn't make them, i wish)

*worked an overtime shift on a new unit yesterday... part of the emergency department. a unit known as MAU... the medical assessment unit... fondly known as MAUI in the actual emerg because it's a bit of a breeze. 3 patients, fast turnover... in and out, admit/discharge. i'd almost forgotten what it was like to have more than one patient, ones who walk and talk. just like riding a bike though. a lot of the time when i wasn't busy i felt like i should have been doing something (icu nurse syndrome) and when i was busy i was running off my feet. it was fun. i had good help from a couple of funny guys. made the day go by quickly. caught a ride home with ben, grabbed some beers, threw them into trusty rusty and headed over to brad and leanne's for dinner. and this is what we did:

*we made sushi handrolls!!! aren't they beautiful? mine's the inside out roll with the smoked salmon on the outside. such a fun night with drinks, funny smoke and a tasty meal we all had a hand in. haven't laughed that hard in a while.

*went to the beach today, taxed my roommate's mp3 player, sat, sipped a tea and scribbled some postcards to the ones i love. watched a couple taking pictures of each other with the sun behind them and thought of how disappointed they would be when they got home and saw only silhouettes. maybe that's what they were going for... who knows. anyway... missed my path on the way home and found a few of these. i guess sometimes when you get lost you find the most beautiful things.

i need a haircut.

autumn afternoon.

woke up this morning exhausted but based on the sunlight peeping through my window, i had to get outside. it kills me that on the days that i'm working, it's always beautiful outside and it pisses rain for all 5 days that i'm off. just my luck i suppose. grabbed my longboard and the nikon and took it to the streets. annnnnd by the streets i mean my quiet little kits neighbourhood. the only sound i hear is wheels on pavement. what an amazing afternoon. perfect temperature outside, just a waffle long sleeve and jeans. bright sun and a bit of a cold nose.

the thing i love about this city is that even though it's mid-october there are still flowers in full bloom. found these little beauties.

skated a little further and found a couple blocks of trees that had turned all red.

i turned around and the rest of the street was still green.

man, i love fall. apparently this weekend is supposed to be just as nice but this poor sucker is working nights today and tomorrow. ah well... i can sleep when i'm dead.

presentation is everything

flipping through some pictures this evening is making me miss this woman quite a bit. these are from a weekend that started off shitty and turned out wonderful. she surprised me by being in ottawa, went to le nordik to decompress in eucalyptus steam and ice cold waterfalls. then on a whim caught a ride to north bay with her and spent about 36 hours with her in the kitchen... creating, drinking, laughing. everything seems better in a warm kitchen with a good woman, a nice glass of wine, beautiful ingredients, a sharp knife and good conversation. the first night we made her parents dinner. fresh thai spring rolls (with homemade peanut sauce) and mushroom bruschetta.

*her parents were amazed at my little balsamic reduction pinwheels on the plate. oh the cheesy little tricks you learn from busting your ass waitressing/catering.

*the second day we made a thai green curry from scratch. this was the beginnings of it.

*while she was frying tofu, i was busy with this little baby. rosemary foccacia with chunks of smoked gouda inside cause i'm sneaky like that.

*sneaky melty goodness

*if it's raining tomorrow i might make another loaf of that foccacia. it feels pretty damn good using your hands to create and of course knead the shit out of that dough. ha.

*on another note... i'm starting to forget what your hands feel like on my skin. it makes me sad.

do what you love and fuck the rest.

watched little miss sunshine again today. what a great movie.

been watching a lot of movies lately due to the poorness factor. caught march of the penguins yesterday which was pretty amazing and moby dick (1952) on my changeover from days to nights. pretty sweet effects if you ask me. hahah now that i know the ending i guess i don't have to finish the book. just kidding. i'll probably read it anyway. although it's kind of taken a backseat to the national geographic channel lately. ya. i'm a dork. whatever. i deal.

had a few beers at brad and leanne's last night and flipped back and forth between evil dead 2 and the dirty mind of young sally aka 70's softcore. mustaches... everywhere. they have a sweet projector set up so yes.. we watched it on a 6 foot screen and laughed our asses off.

4-6 beers later (apparently i'm slow and ben was thirsty) we headed up to gastown and met some good dudes and some dumb broads, had a few more and tried to get into the cambie. got booted out of there, got asked on a date, grabbed a cab and got booted out of that... thanks ben. all in all it was a pretty funny night. walked around downtown a bit, tried not to get stabbed... you know. the usual. heading out to a reggae party this evening. i'm not really a clubbin' kind of girl but i'm going with some good people so this girl will be shakin' her white ass.

probably should go eat something though. pizza and cupcakes might not cut it. SPEAKING OF CUPCAKES... this http://www.cupcakesonline.com opened up about 3 minutes from my house. you can smell them walking down the street. my hood just got a whole lot tastier.

also.. my friend calla is a photographer out of toronto and she just redid her website. go look at it please (check it... top right). you won't be disappointed. she does some really wonderful things with the daily bread food bank, women in zambia, children in israel... that sort of thing. she's a pretty awesome person who takes amazing photos.