Dec 31st 2009

Happy New Year from us! Hard to believe we're in yet another decade... by the end of this one I will be... oh god... 34 years old. Scary!

Dec 24th 2009

Picked Richie up from the Buffalo Airport at 130pm. This picture doesn't do justice to how happy I am to have him home for 15 days, but trust me, I am RIDICULOUSLY happy.



Not long after our reunion we headed up to my sister's house for lots of drinks & finger foods. This is me & my granny Iris.



My sister's friend Julius brought over some oysters for everyone to enjoy. He shucked them at record speed and gave us a tip for enjoying them - add Vodka! My sister busted out the Grey Goose & the party got started. Here is my brother taking his first Oyster/Goose shot.



My adventurous mother tried one too.

Video Proof:





Not missing Richard.

Dec 10 - My 24th Birthday

Christie and her birthday bitches, Maygol & Moi. (Celebrating at Fionn MacCool's on Front St)



Wes was very excited to have CHEAP beer. I like to think he's excited for my birthday. Maybe a bit of both?



Mustaches.



Vyrone Reyes made an appearance, all the way from Yonge & Eglinton. I felt special.



Happy 24th to me & Happy 27th to Maygol ;)

Oct 20th 2009

So happy to be picking out pumpkins a local farm :)



There were a LOT to choose from, but I think we chose wisely.



Shamara's on the left, mine in the middle and Derek's pumpkin on the right.

Oct 18th 2009

We gathered at the Thornton home to celebrate (albeit a day early) Liz' 14th Birthday! Here's me with the birthday girl, who is wearing a sweater very similar to one I just bought. She has great taste, in my opinion.



Happy 14th Birthday Sista!

Oct 10th 2009

Family dinner at the in-laws!

From L to R: Grandpa Wally, Jason my Pop-in-Law, Sandy the Moms-in-law, on the phone is Sista-in-law Amber (yes, we share the same name) who I have yet to meet, then we've got Sistas-in-law Shamara & Liz, Shamara's husband Derek to whom I am deeply connected as we're both GINGER KIDS, and Grandma Lois.



Poor Moe-Moe wasn't able to get in on the family portrait, so he got an extra special photo with me. Isn't he cute?

Oct 8th 2009

In Lincoln City, Oregon. A lovely little beach town.



MASSIVE spider Derek spotted while walking to the beach - click to enlarge (if you can HANDLE it)



Shamara and Derek said we could eat lunch at Moe's. I started flipping out, thinking they were taking me to Moe's Southwest Grill since I LOVE their burritos. It turned out to be a seafood restaurant, even the salads had seafood. After being seated we decided to eat somewhere else... so we literally got up and left the table after ordering our waters. What-evs.



Foggy day at the ocean. We were only out for a few hours, it was pretty cold by the water. Derek attempted to catch ocean fish while Shamara and I had a Photoshoot. After she edits my imperfections out (Oh hello Mr. Zit on my chin) I hope to post my favourites.



On the way back to Salem. Ta-ta for now Oregon Coast.

Oct 3rd 2009

Enjoying the heat of the fire at one of Shamara's friend's house.



Sistas!

Oct 2nd 2009

Sleepover with the Biz.



Maggie is too young to watch Sweeny Todd, so she napped during the movie.

Portland Day 3: Sept 29th 2009

Pittock Mansion is a big tourist attraction in Portland. It's like a mini-Casa Loma if you will. We picked a good day to go and see it as it was raining really heavily that morning.



Pittock sits over 1000 feet above Portland, so there are amazing views from the surrounding gardens & from the majority of the home. We couldn't see that far our due to the overcast, but you can just imagine what it looks like on a good day.



Except for all of the old timey appliances and furniture, I can definitely see myself living here.



After Pittock Masion we did some shopping before meeting up with Shamara and Derek. My mom had tried on a few pairs of boots at Nordstrom's and accidentally left the store stocking on all day. She pulled it out of her boot at the end of the night. GOOD ONE SHEILS!

Portland Day 2: Sept 28th 2009

Day One in Portland began with a jaunt by the waterfront.

We went on a quick walk of the city. Sheila passed by this newspaper, stopped immediately and grabbed a copy. Little did she know it’s Portland local Gay paper. She’s here and queer, apparently.

Not pictured: Lunch at Pazzo’s Restaurant, Shopping (again) and late night drinks/snacks at Kell’s Irish Pub, rated very highly in the city guides but pretty “meh” in our opinion.

Portland Day 1: Sept 27th 2009

We left Seattle at 11am and took the Amtrak train to Portland Oregon. Check out our fancy-pants hotel room at "THE NINES" booked on Hotwire for the low low price of 80 bones/night!



Met up with the old "in laws" for dinner at Henry's Restaurant. Mama Thornton to the left, big daddy-o Jason in the middle and lil' sista Liz on the right.



Hey, it's Shamara and Derek! Looking fine as always. These beautiful people will be my hosts while I stay in Oregon.



Family Photo : Take 1



Family Photo: Take Two. That's better. Well, for Shamara at least.



We (I say "We" but really, Derek) got lost in Portland heading back to the hotel after dinner. There are so many 1 way streets here, which aren't usually that big of a deal, but there are also a LOT of streets where you're not allowed to turn either left or right. A tad frustrating for the driver, I'm sure. I had fun in the back seat, not sure how Derek felt with my mom and I chanting "U-EY U-EY U-EY" in an attempt to get him to both 1) break the rules of the road and 2) give us a joy ride.

Seattle Day 3: Sept 26th 2009

We were able to head back to the Experience Music Project to finish off the tour we started on Friday. The museum was insanely busy and I wasn't overly impressed with what they had to offer. The one room I really wanted to check out (The Sound Lab) was overrun with little kids whos parents didn't feel they needed to "share" the exhibits. Over all, I'd give the EMP a 5/10 for value & fun.



After the EMP we headed over to the Mayflower Hotel for our SECOND food tour! This one was Savour Seattle's Chocolate & Coffee Indulgence tour.



Ben the Bartender (at Oliver's in the Mayflower Hotel) started our tour off by serving delicious coffee based shots.



The baristas at Cafe D'Arte showed us how to make fancy designs on lattes. This girl has been serving coffee for 8 years and made it look very easy.



We stopped by Pike Place Market to try chocolate and cheesecake at The Confectionary. On our way, our tour guide Carolyn ran into another tour guide Eric. These guides are REALLY comfortable with their pink umbrellas & with blocking traffic to pose for silly pictures.



Holy cow - a real, live MASTER barista! How do you know he's a master? The black apron is a dead giveaway. All other Starbucks Baristas wear green aprons. It's no easy feat becoming a master, you have to be really interested in coffee & willing to take a bunch of tests to qualify. Our Master (can't remember his name) gave us Aged Sumatra coffee, brewed using the "CLOVER" machine, which originally sold for $15 000 each before Starbucks purchased the company that manufactured them.



Seattle Grace isn't a REAL hospital. Boo! Grey's jumped the shark a looong time ago anyways.



Our tour concluded with a lil' meal atop the Space Needle. We got stuck at the "losers" table which included this annoying family (Dad owns a coffee shop and felt inclined to comment on everything, Mom was ugly and kid was outspoken and kept budding in front and blocking the way) and annoying Asian couple (Boyfriend went on and one about the "notes" in all the coffee, cheese & wine we tasted. FYI Asian BF, no one cares).



Despite being stuck with the people who annoyed us most on the tour, we enjoyed a delicious mini-meal & took in the amazing views of Seattle.

NOT Pictured - shopping (yes, again) at H&M & Banana Republic... and dinner at Brava Restaurant which was disappointing and I'm sure Sheila & I would like to forget that portion of our trip all together. Poor service + Poor food = Sheila & Amber being very unhappy.

PS -



COWLS ARE IN! Even for men, according to H&M. I'm going to knit more of these bad-boys & sell them off. Taking orders now.