Goddess of.. Heading to Greece!

It's so exciting: I'm leaving on Wednesday night! Headed to Paris and then, we're off to Mykonos.

It's Nick's graduation trip from his MBA, that will be taking us to Mykonos for a week of fun in the sun. I haven't seen Nick since my birthday, so about 2 months now! I can't wait to see him and hang out with him. We've promised to have fun by the beach and just party with his MBA friends. It'll be an amazing trip and I just can't wait to go.

We also have his graduation ceremony in early July (back in France) and hanging out with some of his family who will be flying to France as well for the event. It's exciting!

In other news, we'll also be visiting an apartment in Paris, as Nick got a job offer there starting this Fall. It may be earlier than we planned, but visas pending, we should be moving to France at the end of August. WOW, someone please provide me with a paper bag.. I'm hyperventilating.

Could this be happening?

Goddess of.. MBA Rugby World Cup!

Tomorrow's the day!

I'm headed to Washington, D.C. where I'll hang out during the afternoon and meet up with Nick at night when his flight comes in from Paris. Woohoo :)

We'll stay the night in Washington before driving down to Danville, VA on Friday where the rugby games and excessive drinking will begin!

Can't wait to turn my brain off, see my boyfriend, drink many beers and cheer on this rugby team for a weekend. Wahoo!

Catch you later bloggies,

Goddess of.. I'm In Love (Recap)!

If you're still following my adventures, you may have been disappointed in the past few months. Actually, it's been quite a while since I blogged.. and I have no great excuse. Time flies, I guess?

Apologies, but I'm here now and I've got some incredibly exciting things to share.

First of all, I'm in LOVE.

Truly, madly, deeply in love with Nick, ever since my trip to France & Portugal with him this past October. We had a amazing time in the Algarve (southern coast of Portugal) together; eating wonderfully, exploring deserted beaches, biking around to local attractions, sleeping in and not sleeping at all too *wink wink* (crossed a few things off my 30 before 30 list -- YAY!).

The trip had its load of challenges; cancelled flights, delayed flights, re-booking new flights, losing a day in the process, finally driving to destination from Lisbon rather than Faro because no flights were flying out due to bad weather, re-booking the car rental to Lisbon.... but once we made it to our hotel, every moment spent together was pure gold. And even when all that crap was happening to us, we never lost patience at each other, and Nick was calm, reassuring and sweet to me.

Then, I had to return to Canada, while he stayed in France. That was hard, but we've decided to do the long-distance relationship thing until he graduates in July.

He was going to visit over the Holidays, so I invited him to stay with me for the 2 weeks that he was going to be in town. He immediately accepted and said he couldn't imagine not being with me the whole time.

Less than 2 weeks after I came back from France, I booked my plane ticket to go visit him for 2 weeks in Singapore, in January. (Yeah, I really love him that much).

Two months later: December 20th came and I awaited patiently (NOT!) for him at the airport, my heart beating a million miles a minute. He showed up with a big box of LaDurée macarons and two bottles of champagne for us, and most importantly, a huge smile on his face. *Ensued crazy-in-love public display of affection at the airport arrivals*

We spent the Holidays together, met each other's families, exchanged Christmas gifts and celebrated New Year's Eve together. Oh, and we said our first "I love you"s... I was over the moon. His Christmas present to me: a Christian Dior travel-themed silk scarf (gorgeous!) and a plane ticket to go see him in North Carolina (mid-April) for a rugby tournament. He spent all his traveler's miles to get me the ticket... I was speechless. Speechless and in love.

NYE came and went. Then, January 1st came around.. I drove him to the airport where he boarded his flight to Singapore, where he was moving for 2 months (his MBA school has 2 campuses - France & Singapore).

The first week without him was definitely the hardest, the apartment felt so obviously empty. I stared at the clothes he left in his drawer, his toothbrush in our bathroom. It was silly, but over the 2 weeks he spent living with me in this apartment, the place had undergone one big transformation: it had become our apartment.

Finally, on January 27th, I boarded my flight to Singapore! Roughly 30 hours and a pain-in-the-ass-Qatar-layover later, I landed in Singapore, where the reunion with Nick was oh-so-sweet.

While I was in Singapore, Nick showed me around his neighborhood, the school campus, and I explored the city (mostly) by myself when he had classes. I even attended a few of his lectures and classes with him, on social media.

We went out to dinner and visited attractions almost every night.. and had a blast together. We spent some afternoons by the pool when he didn't have classes.

The weekend I was in Asia, we took a flight out from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (about 30 minutes). We stayed in an amazing hotel, enjoyed the hydrotherapy pool, the 5-star restaurant, the sky bar and the beautiful suite with a view of the Petronas Towers.

We visited Petaling street (chinatown), Katsuri walk, the Central Market and had dinner in a very questionable-looking Chinese restaurant (although it was the nicest one around) where the food was actually DELICIOUS. Sometimes, the sketchiest looking places are actually a gem in the rough.

Oh, and FYI as a side-note if you ever plan to visit, there's virtually no toilet paper anywhere in Malaysia, except for hotels. Not in restaurants, nor in public restrooms in subway stations. It's a bring-your-own-roll kind of situation, ladies.

The next day, we set out to visit the Batu Caves (limestone caves) which are also an Hindu temple. It was Thaipusam festival (a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community) and the cultural experience was incredible! The memories will definitely last us forever. The chanting, the smells, the music, the people.. it was amazing.

We went back to Singapore and had another beautiful week together. I cannot emphasize enough how every moment spent together is precious to me. It's a cliché for a reason, it's true.

Reluctantly, I returned to Canada around mid-February and he stayed in Singapore for a few more weeks. I may or may not have soaked his shirt with my tears at the airport. Embarrassing, but I just couldn't help it: 9,000 miles is a very long distance to put between two people who love each other. I cursed the Earth for being so big, I cursed time zones for existing. But I boarded my flight anyway and returned to work, because that's what grown-ups do.

On March 1st, I found myself at the airport again. This time, to pick-up Nick who was landing in from Singapore (for a weekend, before returning to France). We spent the weekend together, ate breakfast in bed, watched movies, visited his family and friends, etc. It was perfect, if you leave out the fact that we both suffered from a nasty cold that weekend. But all phlegm aside, it was really fun and relaxing.

And here we are now, on March 24th. Five months later and still in love. From 3,500 miles away, while he's in France now. This past Monday, he had a dozen roses delivered to me at work.. just because. I died.

We've made the decision to live together as of July this year, wherever that may be. He's applying to jobs worldwide, more specifically Paris, Brussels, Geneva, Stockholm, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, etc. He also applied to positions in My City (we're both from here), so we might move or we might stay put. The future is undecided for us right now but I feel we'll do just fine. After all, we've been together for 5 months, and in 5 different countries. We've got a case of wanderlust, that's for sure.

The next step, is the weekend after Easter when I'll go visit him in North Carolina / Virginia, for his rugby tournament. Obvs, I can't wait!! And then, two weeks after that, he'll be in town for a week just around the time of my 27th birthday. I'm thrilled that he'll be there and I'm planning a party with him and my friends.

The light at the end of the MBA tunnel, he graduates in July. The students are planning a grad trip to Mykonos, Greece and I'm probably going to go with him! I will attend his graduation, be crazy proud of him and jump for joy at the thought of finally being together full-time :)


.. and that's why I've been 'too busy' to blog. Please forgive?

Goddess of.. My Parisian Fantasy!

Your dreams? My dreams? Our reality.

Or something to that effect, I think John Lennon actually said : "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality."

I've been dreaming of Paris for years. As a child, I went to Paris a few times.. I was very lucky to travel a lot with my parents when I was younger. For years, Paris has been my dream city. I have a (un)healthy obsession with the Eiffel tower, striped clothing (marinières à la J-P. Gauthier), macarons and countless other typically-french or Parisian things.

On my upcoming trip, I have 2 days in Paris upon arrival. Mainly to deal with jet-lag and make sure I'll be top shape when I get to Andrea (of @FranceHappened) in Strasbourg, 2 days later!

Simply three things on my to-do list :

• Visit Le Louvre (the only big attraction I haven't visited).
• Eat macarons from La Durée or Fauchon (or both). 
• Attend the opening night of a ballet at Palais Garnier  (w/ costumes by Christian Lacroix).

And then, I was talking to Nick last week:

him: "So you're arriving in Paris on the 22nd?"
me: "Yes, around 9am I think.."
him: "Okay, because I'll meet up with you after your ballet :)"
me: "Oh wow, really? You're not gonna be swamped with school?"
him: "I can take saturday night off. I originally wanted to go to the ballet with you but you said you bought the last ticket before it sold out :("
me: "My god, you're so sweet! I didn't think of inviting you since I know you have 4 exams in the following days.. but that's amazing!"

* And then I blushed like a little girl *

me: "I'm looking forward to seeing you :D"
him: "Me too :D and we can go to that bar you wanted to go to afterwards"
me: "Yay!"

So I guess I'll be seeing him sooner than I thought! Did I mention how excited I am?

Countdown: 10 days


Just to clarify, that's a countdown to my trip.. not to the end of my dry-spell. Although... ;)



P.S. If you like Paris too, reading this will be like porn for you:
http://fathomaway.com/postcards/romance/my-parisian-fantasy/

Goddess of.. The White Dinner Event!

** Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway : CLICK HERE **

The Dîner en Blanc (White Dinner) is this incredible event that originally started in Paris and has been going on for many years now (since 1988). It's going to be the 3rd year in The City I believe.. and my first year participating. Another thing I can cross off my 30-before-30 list, yay!

It goes as follows:

• Dress in all white, prepare a picnic dinner and await notification at 6:00pm revealing the secret location for this glorious event bringing together a flash mob of 3,000 people all dressed in white.
  
  

Dreamy, right?

Okay, I leave you with just one more shot... my outfit-to-be for the big night!

It may look a little grandma-ish like that but the cardigan is optional and the dress is fitted.

I've got my picnic basket :) and cooked up a storm!

It's happening tonight, so excited!

Goddess of .. My Little Miracle Workers !

Bloggies, you guys ROCK !

Thanks to everyone who crossed their fingers, toes, hair and eyes.. 

.. said a little prayer .. 

and knocked on wood for me ...

I GOT THE JOB !!!

  

I start on monday :) 

Hahaha, so amazing, I'm actually making a living as a writer now !

Full-time job as a web editor 

for a company that publishes a newsletter weekly

featuring the very best travel deals available

online for that week !

It's awesome, 

I was basically spending my days

 comparing travel deals online anyway :)

So now I get to search & write about the deals I find 

& I'll be getting paid for it !

After a year at a crappy job that I really hated &

8 months of (semi)-unemployment, I finally found something that I think will make me happy !

YAY me !

 

Goddess of .. My Big Fat Indian Wedding !

Finally, I'm posting about the awesomeness that was the Indian wedding I went to last month :)

The bride is a friend of mine from college and also a long time friend of some of my close friends from High school. The event lasted two days and it was wonderful, colorful, bright, especially full of love and I got to attend it with my close girlfriends ! What more could you ask for ?

The first day was the pre-wedding ceremony where everyone gives the bride and groom their blessing and the women get hennah tattoos (mehndi) on their hands and / or feet. 

The 'Mehndi' : Personally, I wanted the full experience and would have wished for tattoos all over my hands and feet !  

However, so many girls wanted the mehndi and there just wasn't enough time to have more than a hand done per person. 

I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat. The paste they apply is in a tube with a tiny opening, allowing the artist to make some pretty detailed drawings. 

And it smelled so good !!! I know a lot of indians hate the smell because they're used to it or are sick of it, but I loved it. It smelled minty fresh to me :) 

You leave the paste on your hand for a few hours until it dries completely. They also recommend that you dab on some lemon juice with sugar to help the tattoo set and last longer. 

Eventually, the paste dries and falls off .. or you can rinse it off.. and it reveals a dark reddish-brown (in my case) hand tattoo. The tattoo can last anywhere from one week to three weeks. Mine lasted a week, I guess I wash my hands pretty often .. :( Boo !

The bride, of course, had mehndi done on her full arms, both sides and on her feet as well :) She was a trooper because it took forever and then, she had to spend most of the evening without bending her arms because the henna paste was setting in.

The blessing : One by one, every guest gave the bride and groom their blessing. To bless the bride & groom, you dipped a finger in turmeric paste and smudged it on your own forehead. Then, you would smudge some on the bride's forehead and then, the groom's. It was a tricky thing, considering that the bride and I were both wearing bindis (forehead decorations). 

Also, I was grateful that one of the bridesmaids had babywipes in her purse because turmeric paste is babypoop green ! Note to self ... always carry wipes.

After the turmeric paste, you had to hand feed the bride and groom some sweets. It was really cute and I thought it was a great way to show your approval of their union and to literally "feed" their love for each other.

The 'saris' :  The very generous bride had arranged for all bridesmaids to have matching saris (dresses) which she had bought in Toronto beforehand.

During the afternoon of the pre-wedding, my friend and I went to the bride's parents' house and picked out our saris for the evening.

All saris were made of stiff (cheap) cotton, rather than silk, because according to my Indian friend, the Holud  (pre-wedding ceremony) is supposed to be hosted by the village (poor) women. The Holud is a Bengali tradition (Bride's family is from Bengladesh) that takes place before the actual wedding.

The colors were red, dark red, orange and pink .. I was pretty happy to get the pink one ! And especially happy that we got to keep the sari and take it home :)

And now, I have an awesome Halloween costume !

The food :   It was delicious ! The bride's family hired a caterer for the pre-wedding and wedding.

.. and I have to hand it to him, wedding food is usually not impressive but he made awesome wedding food :) 

On the night of the pre-wedding, we had daal (lentils), another veggie dish, basmati rice (YUM !) and chicken jalfrezi that was just to DIE for. 

Actually, it's making me hungry just thinking about it now. The chicken was really well cooked and the whole dish was not too spicy .. it was just perfect !

I could eat it all the time :)

The dance :  Towards the end of the night, one of the Bride's Bengali aunties (or cousins..) performed a traditional dance for the Bride & Groom ! 

She's an amazing dancer, without a doubt, and a very pretty girl .. so I thought I'd post the video for you guys. It gives you a good idea of the overall feel of the pre-wedding celebration night :) and embraces tradition. I loved discovering everything that the Holud entailed and that's part of it .. so I hope you enjoy it !

P.S. I'm really sorry about the poor sound quality, I recorded it with my camera.

*You might want to lower the volume on your speakers before pressing play*

Wedding celebration re-cap.. to be continued !

Goddess of .. Twenty-five candles !

On Saturday, May 8th 2010 .. I celebrated my long awaited (and kinda dreaded) 25th birthday.

Well, to be exact, I celebrated my very last day & night being 24 years old because my birthday is May 9th. Seriously, I wasn't going to just slip into my mid-twenties without mourning my early twenties an itsy bit. Except that it wasn't so much a "mourning" as it was a "celebration of life".. but I digress.

I definitely had a wonderful time on saturday and

I hope that my birthday celebrations are a reflection of

how much fun the next year is going to be

because I had a BLAST!

First, there were drinks and appetizers at my place. Lolita, Violet and the whole bunch of my girlfriends from high school were there.. about 10 of us crazies in all.

Mandatory rosé wine or sparkling pink lemonade for everyone.. alongside some delicious appetizers (arancinis, veggies & dip, all kinds of cheese, puff pastry hors d'oeuvres, etc.).

I was showered with gifts from my extremely generous friends (gift cards, beauty products, scarf, purse, chocolates, etc.).

By the way, I'm totally aware that posting pictures with stickers on everyone's face is pretty much pointless but I worry about anonymity.. so here goes. I hope it still gives you a vague notion of how much fun we had :o)

I was super happy that all the girls from the high school bunch made it .. because 3 of them weren't suppose to come until later.. but finally, they were able to make it !!!

It made all the difference in the world, I was so glad to have all of them over at my house because we rarely do this and mostly meet up in restaurants or at the movies.

I also got to spend some really fun times with Lolita & Violet. They hadn't seen each other since .. sometime in February or March.. when we went out to one of our favorite bars and ended up crashing attending a stranger's birthday party around 3-4 am.

It was fun to see them kind of catch up and mingle.

Afterwards, we headed to my favorite thai restaurant around 9pm, for a late dinner. I ordered one of my usuals .. the sweet & sour chicken (tomatoes, onions, red and green bell peppers & pineapple) with sticky rice. Lolita enjoyed my other favorite, the sauteed chicken with peanut sauce & crispy spinach .. so delicious !

I bought a delicious cake (tasted like Ferrero Rocher or Bacci chocolates) that I brought to the restaurant and they served it to us as dessert.

The staff was so nice and funny .. they were really young and friendly to us, they even switched my candles on the cake when they brought it out and it read : Happy 52nd birthday Aritza !!

They put them back in the right order when they served me my piece of cake thought, thank God.

I'm having a hard enough time dealing with being 25 .. there's no way I want to skip to 52 right away.

Once we were done with dinner, I said goodbye to my highschool friends .. who are not at all the type to go out to bars .. and Violet, Lolita & Myself headed to our home (the bar that Violet & I often go to on thursday nights). We've developped a sort of customer-friendship with the bartenders there .. so they were happy we stopped by for my birthday. I was offered a complimentary glass of bubbly from one bartender and another one offered us a celebratory round of shots (Jack Daniels topped with a slice of orange, the usual). All in all, a very good time !

We then met up with Ari and his friends, Frantz and David, at another bar nearby.

Violet, Lolita, Myself, Ari, Frantz and David had a really really fun time and all of them made it a birthday that I'll never forget. I had met Frantz before (super funny and super friendly guy) and I had heard a little bit about David (funny and sarcastic, self-proclaimed asshole) before through Lolita.

At the bar, David proceeded to yell at the barman to get me free shots for my birthday .. it was super rude and I thought he was a real asshole.. but it worked and I think he actually knew the barman or became friends with him afterwards .. so no real harm done there. Dr.Frantz spoon-fed me Jack Daniels & Coke as a cure to aging.. and it was hilarious.

Frantz, David and I talked and joked all night long and it was really cool.

Anywowzer, that's it my lovelies. Oh and Frantz wrote his phone number on a coaster and slipped it in my purse.. lol, I really cracked up when I got home and saw this. I sent him a little text message to thank him for the great evening and I added him on facebook. Such great people, I've really been blessed lately .. I've met such funny people, it's wonderful !

That was my birthday night, bloggies !

It certainly lived up to my standards of fun :o)

and I hope it lived up to your standards of an interesting blog post !!

Goddess of .. A simple math lesson with Aritza !

Lawyers are renowned for being great mathematicians ! Uhmmmmmmmmm.. NOT.

However, one thing we are good at is : Alcohol. This skill was developed through enduring several years of Law School. True Story. Click here for scientific proof.

For example, Lolita (who is also a lawyer) 's dad is a profesionnal wine-taster / specialist (remember his wine cellar?). He will be working at the "Wine & Spirits show" next weekend and asked his beloved daughter to give him a hand. Lolita will be pouring wine samples to strangers from noon to 9pm. And now, this is where it gets interesting, her dad asked her if she would like to be paid "in cash" or "in wine".

Her answer : "In wine, of course !"

Her logic : Rather than getting paid about 100$ in cash, they'll give her 100$ worth of wine at cost price. That could be roughly about 12 bottles. Plus, if she's ever short on cash .. 100$ wouldn't go a long way but wine, on the other hand, would totally help her forget she's short on cash. It's pure genius.

100% pure lawyer math & logic

I began doing some math of my own yesterday. You know, just to keep my brain active during my weeks months of unemployment.

I started off with things I'm familiar with :

Gin + tonic water + slice of lime = Gin & Tonic

Lychee liqueur + vodka + a few lychees = Lychee Martini

This boosted my morale and I figured it was time to try something new :

Sparkling wine (perhaps champagne) + peach purée = Bellini 

Now I've heard about Bellinis through many, many of you bloggies but I have yet to try one. I'm super excited and I've enlisted the help of my dear friend Violet (not a lawyer but she's in law enforcement / immigration so it's all good, lol) to get on this mission as quickly as possible. I will report to you as soon as we do !

Speaking of Violet.. she and I had a movie night last night. We bought lots of veggies, dip, chips and chocolate. Added a nice bottle of red wine. Watched "Brothers" and "Up in the Air".. both really good movies btw ! It was an awesome evening, filled with drinking, eating and drooling over hot men.

I'll leave you with one last math equation :

Red wine + an awesome friend + the hawtness of Jake Gyllenhaal =

 Best. Evening. Ever !

This guy doesn't even have to take off his shirt to be hot ..

.. but I never (ever) protest when he does.

Goddess of.. BIG Birthdays!

In exactly 2 months from today, it'll be my 25th birthday !

Two weeks after that, it'll be Lolita's 25th birthday !

And in June, my adorable grandma will celebrate her 100th birthday !

As you can imagine, I am busy brain-storming for the best ideas on how to make these special days even more memorable. Planning, I like to think, is one of my specialities. I'm organized and, quite frankly, one of the most anal-retentive perfectionnist people around. I'm determined to make a big deal out of these birthdays and to get shitfaced celebrate in style !

The first thing that came to mind

when I thought of a way to make a big deal of this : CAKE.

I'm a fanatic of the tv shows Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes. Either you know what I'm talking about or perhaps, you've seen pictures circulating of those amazing cakes. It's no secret, they're really fabulous but also quite expensive. I found a cake shop, here in the city, who seems to make similar (amazing) cakes.

I'm thinking of perhaps combining Lolita and I's birthday celebration .. and get one cake for both of us. That cuts the cost and gathers more friends & family in the same place. Also, we're bestfriends, turning the same age, within 2 weeks of each other .. it DOES NOT get more perfect than that, right ?

Obviously, for my grandma's cake, I would go with something simple, pastel colors, with some beautiful (real or icing/fondant) flowers on it. Both parties would probably involve around 50 people, so I guess it's good that it wouldn't be as big as a wedding cake. Of course, I need to find a job before spending this kind of money on cake, but that's .. well .. a piece of cake ! Uhmmm .. right.

If the budget doesn't allow for the "cake of my dreams", it could be just adding a special touch to some cupcakes and to the drinks.

via @ The TomKat Studio etsy store

via @ The Pink Cherry Mama etsy store

For some reason, I think these silly little party hats would be awesome to wear. However, I think that's the kind of thing that I would never be able to get Lolita on board with.

via @ The Monsoon Bead etsy store

Perhaps I'm leaning towards an Alice in Wonderland and Mad Hatters themed party ?

But then again, neither of us are big Wonderland fans.

How about an Old Hollywood Glamour theme ?

Audrey Hepburn meets Marilyn Monroe.

Afterall, Lolita is the Audrey to my Marilyn.

Let me know what you think bloggies ?

P.S. You are ALL formally invited to this birthday bash !!

Goddess of .. A fresh start for 2010 !

It's 6:17am.

I pulled an all-nighter but I did it, hehe.

I hope you like the new template for the blog. I originally wanted to make it all pretty by January 1st but the custom header image thingy was difficult a bitch to make (it took me days).. because I am not at all Photoshop-friendly (or Photoshop is not at all Aritza-friendly .. if you will). Anywowzer, I was determined to incorporate that specific image because it. rocks. my. socks. OFF.

...

Here's how the Holidays went down for me

December 23rd : Housewarming party at Lolita's - Major Success, about 15-20 people were there and it was fun. The food that Lolita and I cooked was really good, I was kind of impressed we pulled it off.

{Only halfway done with the clean-up at that point ..}

December 24th : Christmas Eve celebration with Mom and her bestfriend. We had a five-course dinner at a very fancy hotel restaurant .. it was simply delicious. And then, as a gift to all of us, I rented a room in that hotel, where we exchanged gifts and drank some bubbly !

{3 people, 50 presents, sounds about right}

{Make-up station for the Belle of the Bal}

{Have I ever mentionned how much I lurve hotel beds ?}

December 25th : Christmas Night dinner at Lolita's dad's place. It's always a good time when we go there .. espescially because her dad is a wine specialist / expert (the man does that for a living, my hero). So uhmmm, amazing food, amazing wines and a jacuzzi, enough said. I died and went to heaven.

 

{Lolita and her cousin giving me the Bunny Ears}

{One third (!) of Lolita's Dad's wine cellar.. I'll be baaack}

{Fettucini, Linguini, Martini, Bikini}

December 26th : Boxing Day - Shopping bonanza. I bought plenty of work clothes because it was necessary and some pretty pretty boots because I'm worth it, hehe.

{Mama bought some hawt boots}

How 'bout you ? How were your holidays, bloggies ?

 

P.S. It's now 7:53am .. ouch .. no beauty sleep for me. We hip hop and we don't stop.