I'm the worst girlfriend ever!!

Seriously.. I don't know how I got so lucky with the honest-to-god MOST AMAZING BOYFRIEND EVER who puts up with my bitchiness and PMS.

I really need to stop taking him for granted and realize that he is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am really worried one day he is going to wake up and realize what a catch he is and realize he can do so much better. You would think my fear of this happening would encourage me to be the best girlfriend ever or at least stop bitching him out all the time but nooo. I feel self destructive. If I screw this up I don't know what I will do. Very unlikely I will ever find someone better than me. I think this is as good as it gets. Not just for me, but in general.

Finally able to relax..

The last few days have been great! For the first time in 3 weeks, I came home and stayed in instead of going out right after work. I've been going to bed around 11pm and getting almost a full 8 hours of sleep!! I feel rejuvenated, relaxed and well-rested! Haven't been spending too much money either! Paid $18 for lunch today with Model and $20 on 2 pairs of contact lenses.

Waiting for the Boyfriend to come over in about 30 minutes or so. Possibly meeting up with MB and her BF tonight for some ice cream. Going to the beaches tomorrow with Model, and then either going out with some girls to Circa or staying in with the BF.

Almost done my driving lessons! After this week I only have 2 more sessions and I'm good to go!!! Very excited...

I wish I had more time to post. Just about things in general. Work takes up so much of my day .,.. technically its a 9-5 but honestly it's more like 7-7 with the major commuting I have to do. Some days I sneak in a little late so it's only 8-7 but even thats bad. The last few days I've come home, ate dinner in front of the TV and stayed there for another 3 hours before getting ready for bed at around 10:30. I'm starting to realize the meaning of living for the weekend. So glad it's finally here.

Conference Update!

So the conference was pretty fun. The first class I signed up for: Advanced Magazine Feature Writing was a little bit of a let-down. The first half was pure history and the second half was a bit more of a Q & A that offered some technical advice but not a lot. I assumed it would sort of be like a workshop, with the lecturer telling us his methods and ways of doing things. Anyways free lunch was offered and my second class Journalism 2.0. was actually a lot better. It only ran for 1.5 hours as opposed to the 3 hours in the morning, and the guy was a very good speaker. All in all I enjoyed my day off work, picked up a free magazine subscription, a few more magazines, some gum and candy and 3 cans of diet pepsi LOL.

Afterwards the BF came over and we made my favorite dish: chicken parm. We started to watch the movie Heat (the one with De Niro and Pacino) but he got side-tracked with my brother's science project. It was kinda cute, my brother, my dad and BF all in the garage arguing about what they think will work best.

So he's gone to Kingston again until Friday. I am just killing time for work because I decided to grab a later train but now it's time to go!

New Budget

This Week in Review

Monday: Went shopping downtown with Roommate and Princess. It was fun, for what it was worth. Just realized Roommate's birthday is next week.. not too sure what is going on since 2/5 members of the group are either not in the country or not talking to us anymore. And then there is me... barely still considering Roommate as a friend and has seemingly been shunned by Princess due to the fact that I quit clubbing. Hopefully I'll figure it out this week.

Tuesday: Lunch with Model

Wednesday: Hung out with BF

Thursday: Dinner with friends from college

Friday: Watched Sex and the City with MB and Bunny.

Saturday: Lunch with BF's friends, and then hung out at his place.


June's Budget

Shopping: $160
Transportation: $240
Eating Out: $150
Cell Phone: $50
ETC: $100
BF's Concert Tix:$100

The explanation for the concert tix.. on a whim I decided to purchase the BF two tickets to a hip-hop concert festival that features his favorite rapper and a bunch more that he loves. They were $180 total for the pair. However, I may not be able to go with him since the concert is on the 23rd and my friends want to go on vacation on the 21st. Anyways, had a crazy week, today is the first day I've spent at home alone which has been nice. Finished the One Tree Hill season and onto Grey's Anatomy. Hoping to complete GA by the end of the day as well!

Anyways tomorrow is the big conference! A little nervous but all in all it should be awesome! Will try to update more this week.

In Need of Self Control

So... I've been eating out all week and the Boyfriend comes over. As per usual on a weekend afternoon, we take a nap and wake up hungry. I go downstairs and see that my parents have prepared two of my favorite home-made meals. Do I stay home and eat the healthy but delicious fish and mushroom dishes? Nope, instead we jet over to Wendy's and pick up burgers and fries. Another $5 down the drain and thousands of calories. Wasn't I supposed to be spending less and eating healthier?

One part of me thinks "Who cares, you weigh 125lbs, look 10lbs lighter, and never gain any weight no matter what you eat." On the other hand, my plan WAS to get toned this summer, lose 5lbs or so and also just get healthier in general! I've neglected vegetables all my life (some would call it an obsession) and I'm not getting any younger.

On the financial side of things, sometimes I wonder why I am so anal with my money and obsessed with money! I'm making $500 a week, I have no bills to pay besides the cell phone and have no debt. The other part of me knows that it's better to be smart about my money now than worry about it in the future.

The BF just went to go play basketball with some teens from his church. In the meantime I have been reading lots of new blogs. I love reading, even more than I like writing. Perhaps I should trade in Corporate Communications for Senior Editor. Proofreaders probably don't make any money huh.

Finally!

Made an appointment at the hair salon in the building across from my work. Monday @ 1pm. I want to keep it long FOR SURE! I've always had long hair, but last year after a terrible hair cut it went all the way up to shoulder-length. I had side bangs for about 2 or 3 years and they've grown out since I haven't cut my hair since December. Not too sure yet.. maybe I'll look into it. $25... no blow-dry. Not bad right? Why do I need a blow-dry anyways, I'm just going back to work! As long as my hairs not dripping wet, I'll be fine! The new InStyle is out too!! Can't wait to grab that, I think Cameron Diaz is on the cover!

Ack.. Spendaholic on the Loose..

So... I've gone out to eat every single day since Tuesday, and twice on Thursday! Not cool. At least yesterday the Boyfriend paid but still.. not exactly the best thing for my wallet or my health!

Tuesday - Had dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant with friends from college
Wednesday - coffee with Mountain Biker, and made plans to go on a triple date weekend to Michigan for Canada's Day
Thursday - went out for wings to watch the NBA Eastern Conference Finals with some friends

Nothing spectacular has been going on.. signed up for two classes total at the conference so I'll be there for the whole day on Monday June 2. Also, decided to purchase two tickets to Rock the Bells, an annual hip-hop festival for BF. I've never really gotten him anything out of the blue, especially nothing very expensive so I decided to get it for him! My first surprise for him! I'm glad he liked it! Unfortunately tickets together came up to $180. Hopefully I'll have money leftover from this month but if not I'll just take some out of next month's budget. I know.. I'm bad.

Also, I'm going to Rogers Cup with Bunny. If we get 20 people to buy tickets then we get to go to the semi finals for free! So far I think we have sold 4 tickets total... -.- lol! I think the Boyfriend may be interested but I want to make a girls day out of it so he would have to bring his own friends!

Today is my first in-car driving lesson! We'll see how it goes I guess.. I really don't want to drive around with a "Student Driver" sign ontop of the car, especially in my neighbourhood. This is why I booked my exam so early in the morning! LOL Ok, toodles!

My Room is SOOO Beautiful!!!!

So the Boyfriend came over today and we rearranged my room and performed a MAJOR cleanup. As in swiffered, dusted, and wiped. The whole she-bang! My room is GORGEOUS!! There is sooo much space and I love it!!! We went out to eat in celebration and I treated again just to show my gratification.. and also because he's taking me out to lunch tomorrow before he leaves for Kingston. Anyways that's about it. Going to bed soon, I hope my 2 hour nap today won't throw off my sleeping schedule..

My First Conference!

On Friday, my boss emailed my department and told us that our company has been offered free admission to a conference being held in Toronto in June. It's called MAGS University and is an annual Magazine and Internet Publishing Conference. Unfortunately we're only being sponsored for the Monday of the conference and the most interesting seminar I want to attend is on Tuesday. My boss did mention in her email that if we were interested we could request to attend other classes, although I'm not sure if that applies to me seeing as I am just a summer student. Also, even though there are a ton of interesting seminars, our department is only allowed to attend the ones that are bookmarked as "Internet" sessions. I guess the "Journalism 2.0 - A Digital Survival Guide for Editors" thats offered Monday afternoon does sound pretty appealing, but what I really want to go to is "Webify Your Content: Writing and Editing Effectively for the Web" which is the class on Tuesday.

Anyhow, I went to church today with the Boyfriend and the message was actually very inspiring. In fact it is related to something that has been on my mind for awhile. It spoke about how you must use the people around you to lift you up and to be weary of who you choose to surround yourself with because more often than not, your friends bring you down. I bailed on Princess and Roommate for tonight. Just don't feel like clubbing OR being around Roommate. I feel bad because I hate letting Princess down but I did tell her I am up for dinner or just hanging out anytime this week. I have a feeling she won't call me though, just because it seems lately we don't do anything together except go clubbing.

The Boyfriend is out with his mom eating dinner right now. Afterwards he's coming back over to my place and we're going to play pingpong and rearrange my room. I know my room could look so nice, especially with its cathedral ceilings and big windows. Unfortunately its usually just a cluttered mess due to my laziness. At least the closet is organized! One step at a time right?

Not Doing So Great With the Budget

At this moment, the remainder of the budget looks something like..

Savings - $500 (pending)
Trip Savings - $300 (pending)
Shopping - $58.76
Transporation - $25.7
Eating Out - 55.43
Going Out - 100
Books/Magazines - 40
Cell Phone - 0
ETC - 53.84


Thank goodness I haven't gone out lately besides to eat. I wonder if they should be in the same category since if I am eating out, I AM going out. Hmmm... the other thing is, I wonder if the Cuba trip in late July is still happening. While I do want to get away, I'm not sure if I want to be around Roommate. I just don't know what to do with that situation so for the moment I am trying to avoid all contact (as much as possible at least) with her and the other housemates (besides MB).

On Friday, Boyfriend came back from Kingston so we had lunch together at Boston Pizza. I picked up the cheque just because he has paid of the last 3 times that I can remember (and probably many more before that) and I am the one who's actually working and making money now! After work, I was originally supposed to go eat with Mountain Biker and Bunny but MB called and said she had an assignment to finish for her summer school course. Model called me around the same time and told me about our friend Doctor's graduation dinner. She picked me up and we went to the restaurant. It was definitely nice to see my friends from college again, at least some of them. I now have two more dinners planned for next week which is going to cut even more into my Eating Out budget. Fortunately, Model owes me $60, so that should help cover those costs at least! I didn't get home till around 11pm since dinner ran really late but the Boyfriend came over afterwards and stayed the night.

Today we had lunch with his mom and went to the mall where I picked up a really cute sweater from Dynamite, which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite stores and definitely my most shopped-at store for the past few months. It just has such cute clothes for such a good price! I'm not really a fan of UB or Costa Blanca anymore. Mainly I just like Dynamite and also Le Chateau although I haven't really bought anything from them in awhile because they are so pricey! I'm looking to stay in the $20-$50 range for non name-brand clothing, and Le Chateau is not what I would consider as name brand. After the mall, Boyfriend and I came home and took a long nap. We watched Music and Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore which was decent. Nothing special, just another enjoyable romantic comedy. We took my car out for a drive around the neighbourhood and I almost gave my boyfriend a heart attack with my careless driving. I know I need to be more careful, I'm just not used to driving a huge minivan around! We played some basketball before he left and that was about it for the day!

Tomorrow I am going to church with him and I think we are spending another day together although I'm not sure if I promised Bunny I would play tennis with her. She called today and I said I would call her later. I hate saying no to my friends when they ask me to hang out because I am worried they won't understand if I say I am busy with the Boyfriend. Maybe I should give my friends a little more slack. I hate that the Boyfriend is always away during the week because then I want to spend my whole weekend with him. Unfortunately during the week I am so busy with work I don't have time to do anything afterwards, especially not late since I like to be in bed by 10pm these days. He said next week is the last week he is heading up to Kingston so hopefully things will get better. Anyways off to bed!

Love Scares Me

I've been reading A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford and WOW! What an amazing book! Seriously, this book made me tear up on the subway (how embarassing). Anyways, work was the usual. I've been missing the Boyfriend so much lately. I last saw him on Monday, and I know its only been 3 days but still. Maybe it's the novel thats making me sappy but I just want to hold him and be with him. I know, I'm a sap. Oh well. Looking forward to the weekend.

Coffee: $1.00
TTC: $18

Total: $19

More Updates..

Monday: Actually got to sleep before 10pm on Sunday, which meant I meant to work feeling very refreshed and awake. I've been catching the 7:05 train, which means I have to wake up at 6am in order to be out the door by 6:50am. I aim to get to sleep anytime between 9:45pm - 10:15pm which usually gives me around 7.5 -8 hours of sleep. I am someone who definitely needs at least 8 hours of sleep every night! I packed a salad for lunch, but unfortunately that just wasn't enough today so I bought a chocolate bar from the vending machine as well. The Boyfriend picked me up from the train station and we went to eat Spring Rolls. He also picked up a bunch of pictures that we developed so now I have pictures to put up in my office as well as at home!

TTC: $18
Chocolate Bar: $1.25

Total: $19.25

Tuesday: Boyfriend left for Kingston this morning until Friday night, again! Apparently he has to go next week as well. I know it's selfish of me to not want him to go, especially when I spend the majority of the day at work but it would be nice to have someone to be waiting for me after work, even if its just one or two days out of the week. Oh well, at least he is keeping busy I suppose, even though I wish he would get a job, even a part-time one. He cooked me some chicken before he left so I packed fajitas today for lunch! Much better than just a salad! Also got my cell phone bill today... $96!!! Holy crap! I changed my number and adjusted my price plan right away. Now, it's not long distance for me to call anymore (my number used to be in the area code of my college town) and I pay an extra $4 a month but I get 125 text messages instead of the 35 that was included in my previous plan. I'm taking the extra $46 from my Going Out budget. All I need to do now is apply for a PC bank account, and cancel my TD bank account. All very exciting.

Total: $0

Wednesday: Parents ate all the chicken Boyfriend made me, so I had nothing to pack for lunch today! Took the shuttle to McDonalds instead. Anyways, had dinner with my friends from college today including Model. The more I think about it, the more I want to go back to school in the fall. It is my last year, I should be able to spend it with all my friends. I'm starting to understand what everyone is talking about, undergraduate life only comes around once and its time I start appreciating it more. Just this past week and a half has really opened my eyes on what "real life" is all about and I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. Or maybe it's just my job. It's pretty boring. Not something I mind doing, but it's monotonous and I get the hint that what I'm doing right now is what I will be doing for the rest of the year. I guess I'll give it another week or so to figure out for myself what I want. I miss BF, wish he was here!

McDonalds: $5.63
Dinner: $18

Total: $23.63

My Not-So Relaxing Weekend

Well... yesterday's plan to not leave the house for a whole day failed miserably. The Boyfriend came over and we went to Costco to get some bulk groceries and flowers for mom for Mother's Day. Then we went shopping around and I got 4 cute work tops and one pair of white dress pants! Afterwards we grabbed McDonalds and downloaded Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The movie was pretty good, but I'm glad we didn't spend money at a theatre for it.

Today I went to Driving School. It was my first time going when I wasn't hungover or half-asleep. I read my Shopaholic book during the whole class and still managed to get perfect on the test! Yay me lol. I also stupidly spent $6.17 on lunch. You see, I had a slice of pizza ($1.50) and brought my own bottle of water but I just had a craving for soda. So I went next door and of course the minimum charge to use credit card is $5. So I ended up buying 3 cans of Diet Pepsi and 2 bags of chips. I am an idiot. Oh well, will bring the extra bag of chips + 2 cans of pop to work and choose not to purchase coffee for the next two days. Now I'm just waiting for my mom to finish her nap so we can go out to eat for Mother's Day. Hope she doesn't sleep for too long, around here every restaurant is always busy by around 5 or so on Mother's Day.

Costco: 44.16
Urban Behavior (1 sweater): $22.59
Dynamite (3 tops, 1 pair of pants): $84.75
Sunday Lunch: 6.17

Total: $157.67

Wow! It really does start adding up after awhile huh?? I need to be more conscious of my spending! Not good, considering I am going out for dinner both tomorrow and on Tuesday! Also, I am not recieving my first paycheque until the end of the month! I must be stopped!!!

My First Week on the Job!

So far so good! It's been a crazy week though. For some reason, everyone wanted to hang out! Where were all my friends last week when I had no work and NOTHING to do?! Anyhow I have been keeping track of all my spending and am ready to provide a recap of my first week on the job =D

Monday: For some unknown reason, woke up at 3am. That's right.. THREE O'CLOCK. Could not go back to sleep and ended up going to work in one of those dizzy hazes, where your brain is half asleep but your body is wide awake. Got introduced to all my coworkers, all of which seem pretty nice. There are only 3 girls in my department, and now me. I was hoping for more girls, simply to find someone I could laugh with, eat lunch with, and gossip with. You know, the usual girl stuff! What did I expect though, I AM working in the IT department. All the guys are nice though and most of them are fairly young. I would say the majority of people in my office are in their mid20s - late20s. Then again, I could be wrong, I've never been too accurate when it comes to guessing ages. Model called me as I was leaving work and told me she was going to come down to see me again. I was excited to see her, but honestly I just wanted to go home and sleep. Anyhow, we had dinner, and then coffee at Tim Hortons, before I finally told her I was about to pass out. I was glad she came to see me though.

Go Train One Way Ticket: $6.10
TTC 10 Tokens: $22.80
Coffee at Work: $1.00
Chips from Vending Machine: $1.15
Go Train Student Monthly Pass: $149
Dinner: $15
Coffee: $2.63

Total: $197.68

Tuesday: Got a lot more sleep, woke up feeling better than I had the day before. Learned a lot of new software and got a better idea of what I would be doing at the job. My official title is Junior Web Content Editor. Sort of a mouthful if you ask me, but that seems to be the trend at my workplace. Found out some good things, for example my boss does not care what time you come in as long as its between 8am-10am and you work for 8 hours. Also on Fridays, everyone goes out for lunch for around 2 hours or so, it's very relaxed. The last thing is that in July and August, Friday's work hours are 9am-1pm, which is very nice! I went out with the Web Developers in my department, the company took us out to a nice restaurant in order to thank them for all their hard work on a project that had recently been completed. I got invited along simply because I was new. The president of the company actually joined us and I got to speak with him for a litte bit since he went to my university. After work Princess and Peanut Butter came over to my house and Peanut Butter dyed Princess's hair. It was also the last time we would get to see PB before she left for her vacation to the Philippines this weekend.

Coffee: $1.00

Total: $1.00

Wednesday: Still learning new programs, and getting acquainted with everything I have to do. My job involves a lot of editing and to be honest that is fine with me. Work flies by, it is so much different than my last job because here I actually have a lot to do which helps make the time go by. I am just kind of anxious to learn how to do everything because although the girl who is training me is very nice, the way she explains the procedures is so unnecessarily execessive ("look on the top toolbar and find the Print button which is the one with a gray Printer icon.") that I just end up tuning her out after the first 5 or 10 minutes. Of course this does not help me achieve my goal of learning everything as quickly as possible, but what can you do. I've started to buy coffee from work every morning. It honestly tastes like shit, but seeing as though I have to get up everyday at 6am, it helps. I've been trying to mix packets and find a good combination. So far it seems Hot Chocolate and Hazelnut is the best. That is of course when two sugar packets are mixed in as well. The Boyfriend came over after work and we watched Ocean's 12 at my house. I fell asleep halfway through the movie at around 8pm and so we just went up to my room and hung out until he left around 10pm.

Coffee: $1.00
Take Out Dinner: $10

Total $11.00

Thursday: The same old, learning new programs and how to update certain web pages. Found out that another one of my coworkers started off as a co-op student and got offered a full-time job upon completion of his co-op term. Makes me hopeful for perhaps a future with this company, but it's too soon for me to even know if i want to stay with the company. I'm just saying, it's nice to know that it might be an option? The commute actually has not been so bad. In the morning I take the train at 7:05am and usually get to work by around 8:30am. In the evening, I catch the bus at 4:50pm and get home by around 5:55pm because I catch the express train which only takes 20min to get to my stop as opposed to the regular 40min on the morning train. Turtle and I met up and had dinner. I enjoy talking with Turtle because I feel like I can really open up to her about a lot of things. She always has such an amazing outlook on life and I feel that I learn so much on how to be a better person everytime I hang out with her. This time, she was telling me how she has been trying to understand herself more. Understand why she gets mad, why she reacts to situations in certain ways, and more. To me it's very inspirational, and I honestly admire her and aspire to look at life the way she does.

Coffee: $1.00
Lunch: $7.32
Dinner: $22.00

Total: $30.32

Friday: Casual Fridays! Everyone gets to wear running shoes and jeans. Went out to eat with my coworkers today. For some odd reason, my deskmate does not enjoy hanging out with the rest of the department. Him, the girl who is training me, and another guy usually go off and do their own thing. Since I have been talking mostly to them this past week, I decided to go out with the other group just to get to know them better. It went pretty well, it was all guys but they were all nice and actually very funny. I had to spend $5.50 today on the TTC because I ran out of tokens (Gave 2 to my mom on Tuesday because she was going downtown and did not want to drive) and did not have enough cash on me to buy another 10pack. The Boyfriend cooked me my favorite meal (chicken parm) which was delicious as always! Then we went to watch The Forbidden Kingdom. I was NOT aware that it was actually a spoof of Kung-Fu movies. It was ... all right. As good as a spoof could be, but if I was aware that it was a spoof I would not have watched it in theatres!

TTC: $5.50
Coffee: $1.00
Lunch: $12
Lotto: $2.00

Total: $20.50

Saturday: Well today I am honestly not leaving my house! Been awake since 8:45am (which is now considered sleeping in for someone who has to get up at 6am every morning!) and just been lounging around. I have a feeling as time goes by I am going to start appreciating weekends more and more. Princess originally wanted to go clubbing tonight but she said she doesn't feel like it anymore which is MORE than fine by me! I'm hoping no one calls me today because I just want to stay in and watch movies with the BF. Unfortunately I have a feeling Princess still wants to hang out tonight after she gets off work and Mountain Biker called me a few days ago and asked if I wanted to have dinner tonight with her and Bunny. I guess we'll just see, Bunny said that she might be busy tonight so that might not even happen. I skipped driving school today as well because honestly, I need a day to myself. I plan to just catch up on my TV shows, watch movies online and just nap around today! Oh yeah, I have definitely not been sticking to that fitness plan I set up for myself, but at least I brought salad to work for lunch! The Caesar kit from Doles is actually delicious! I plan to visit the grocery store today to pick up some more packets! They're kinda pricey ($2.47 for a packages which gives me 2 lunches) but they're convenient and healthy at least! I also have to get my mom a Mother's Day present, but the BF and I are going to Costco today to develop pictures so I'll just look for something there. Anyways I'm going to go microwave the leftover chicken parm from tomorrow.

SO TIRED!

So yesterday was another fun night! Princess and I went to eat Pho and bumped into Peanut Butter and her friends. Turns out we were going to the same party as PB! When we arrived, crazy housemate #1 was already there and we said our brief hello's to each other before Princess, PB and I hurried to the other side of the house.

Anyways as it happens, the guy who invited us to the party is the love of CH1's life. Well not really, actually she has had a huge crush on him for the past 5 years inspite of the fact that she has been in a very serious relationship for the last 2. So he came over to talk to us and before long we were in an intense game of Kings (best drinking game EVER!) with him and all his friends. According to Princess, CH1 looked like she wanted to kill somebody the whole time. Then she left without saying goodbye to me which was kind of rude but I'm choosing to take it as either A) she didn't want to interrupt me because I was playing Rock Band or B) She didn't want to make it awkward for Princess. Both scenarios are unlikely because A) She could've waited for the 3 minute song to finish before leaving and B) She's been around Princess plently of times before. Oh well, not going to think anything more of it.

So I got home around 2am and the Boyfriend came over afterwards to stay the night. I had driving school again this morning. Another grueling 9:30-3:30 class! Thank goodness I only have 2 more classes next weekend and then I'll be done the classroom hours and move onto the in-car lessons. Seriously, I need more sleep! Considering tomorrow is my first day of work and I have to wake up at 5:30am, I should be in bed by 9pm tonite!

So the Boyfriend is over and snoring loudly beside me. I feel like passing out as well but am attempting to stay awake so that I can get a good night's rest tonite. Taking naps always throws off my sleeping schedule and that is the last thing I need after 2 days of sleep deprivation and a big day tomorrow!

What a Night..

Well I had a fun day yesterday!

First Model came to my area. We both live in the Greater Toronto area except I'm on the south-west side and she's over at the north-east end. It's about a 30 minute drive on the highway. Anyways we had sushi for lunch and then watched Made of Honor. Afterwards we headed over to the mall and shopped for a bit before meeting up with the Boyfriend. The three of us had dinner before going our separate ways.

Princess and I had plans to go out so she picked me up and we headed over to get our friend's house to predrink and also pick up Peanut Butter who was coming with us to the club. Once we got there we met up with Model and her friend Gymnast as well as a bunch of other people. I stuck with Princess the whole night and we just wandered around the whole night, having a good time. I haven't partied in about a month or so because of exams and it was definitely nice to have a girls night out! I am at a place in my life where I would rather just be chilling at home with the Boyfriend but just because I am in a relationship doesn't mean I have to stop going out and having fun with my friends right? I'm just glad the Boyfriend understands this as well!

Anyways I had driving school this morning at 9am (my first class!) and it was SO difficult to stay awake considering I had gotten home last night at around 3:30am. Boyfriend came to get me afterwards and we went back to my house where I promptly fell asleep right away. He left a few hours later to go to work and I kept on sleeping until Peanut Butter called and woke me up.

So, Princess just called me and we are going to a house party tonight. It should be an interesting night because crazy housemate #1 is going to be there and she not only hates Princess but she's also the one who I have the most tension with. Awkward, no? Oh well, who gives a shit!

I'm really happy Model came to see me yesterday, I really miss hanging out with her every single day like we did when we were in school. Even though we have talked almost everyday this past week, it's not the same! Yesterday she asked me if I wanted to live together next year. When I decided to move out of my house and she decided to move out of her house, everyone assumed we would be living together since we are inseparable. The truth is, I'm scared of how living together will affect our friendship. Then again, it has the potential to be SO MUCH FUN! Just think of Monica and Rachel from Friends! I'm torn, but before I figure that out, I have to see if I am going to stay at my internship for 4 or 12 months. Hopefully everything will work itself out. Princess should be at my door any minute now so I better get ready.

My Goals

This summer I am setting some goals for myself.

Money

$2000 - Savings
- $250 for a New Laptop
- $750 for a New Car
- $1000 just for Savings (E-Fund?)
$1000 - Trip
- $750 saved by the time of the trip aka end of July
- $250 to be paid off by the end of August

Fitness

Jogging 3 times a week - 10 minutes each (May)
Jogging 3 times a week - 15 minutes each (June)
Jogging 4 times a week - 15 minutes each (July)
Jogging 4 times a week - 20 minutes each (August)

50 crunches, 50 lunges - 3 times a week (May)
75 crunches, 75 lunges - 3 times a week (June)
75 crunches, 75 lunges - 4 times a week (July)
100 crunches, 100 lunges - 4 times a week (August)

Weight (Currently 125lbs)

120 by the end of June
115 by the end of August

I think that is it for now. If I think of anything else I'll write it down.

Another Day of Lounging Around

Just hanging out catching up on my shows todays. Watched Grey's Anatomy and currently downloading Desperate Housewives. Also want to watch the latest episode of Gossip Girl before the day is done! To-do list for the day includes what I mentioned yesterday about my room and also possibly dropping off my collegetown key at my ex-housemate's parents house. I lived in a house with four other girls last year, all of which were my friends from high school. I now realized how catty girls truly are when you stick them in a house for 8 months. So much drama, and stupid shit happened! I was literally counting down the days until I moved out. "Fortunately" for all of us since we were "so close" it all happened behind each others backs and not out in the open. Luckily for me I realized who my real friends were. Anyways I've also been reading up on blogs. I read so many blogs on a daily basis but when I come across one that I really like I tend to read it from the beginning. Anyways, I'm going to go visit instyle.com while I wait for DH to DL.

My Budget

I am starting a monthly budget to commence May 1st! Now I know I don't start work until the 5th, but that's alright. Although I won't know the exact amount of my paycheck yet, I do know I am working 9-5 Mon-Fri and getting paid 14/hour. Now until I know the actual amount on my paycheck I am just going to estimate that after taxes I will get paid approximately 13/hour. With about 4.5 weeks in May, that comes up to $2340. Here is how I think I am going to break it down.

Savings - $500
Trip Savings - $300
Shopping - $200
Transportation - $200
Eating Out - $200
Going Out - $200
Books/Magazines - $50
Cell Phone - $50
ETC - $100


The other $540 will go towards paying off my credit card bill from this month!

Bumming Around

Spent the day in bed, watching Friends online and taking sporadic naps. The boyfriend came over in the morning before leaving town to Kingston until Friday. His family owns student housing up there and since now is the time that old tenants move out and new tenants move in, he's going up with his uncle to supervise it. He wants to get into property management and is hoping that eventually he can take over the family business (around 15 houses up there) so hes trying to help out anyway he can right now. He's the baby of the family as well as sort of the black sheep (the only university drop-out in the history of a family that is made up of doctors, lawyers, politicians, engineers and one cousin who is a professor at MIT). Therefore he has a lot to prove and a long way to go. He's currently in college right now and finished last semester with four 90's and one 78 =) I'm so proud of him because he has come so far from the unmotivated scholar that he was when I met him.

So, I moved out of my house in collegetown last Friday and left for Chicago two days later. That means I came back to a room FILLED with suitcases, boxes, clothes on the ground, and lots of other random goodness. I planned to start cleaning my room yesterday but could not bring myself to do it. Today I tried and at first it was sort of like "where do I start?!!" It is such a disaster. What I did accomplish

• Sorted and separated 60% of my clothes and prepared them for hanging!
• Hung up all my good purses and threw my old/unusable purses into a shopping bag
• Organized magazines/cards/books
• Cleaned out my desk
• Tucked all my boxes away

What I still need to do

• Finish sorting and separating the other 40% of my clothes
• Hang up all my clothes, one closet for work/winter and other for casual/summer
  
• Get rid of all the huge suitcases my parents stacked in both of my closest... they are taking up waay to much room!
• Identify all my old/unwearable clothes that I want to donate or throw away.
• Do laundry

I'm thinking I will do the first three tomorrow, and the rest on Thursday. I actually don't plan on going out at all until Friday. Many of my friends are busy/away but also it's nice to just lie around and do absolutely nothing for awhile. The boyfriend is calling me soon, is it sad I miss him a little even after spending an entire week with him and seeing him this morning? Oh well!

My Last Week of Freedom

So I begin working full-time in exactly a week which means the end of my life as I know it! Last year I worked as a cashier for a grocery store in the summer and got around 15-20 hours a week. That meant a lot of free time for me to spend with my boyfriend and girlfriends. This year I am most likely going to be spending at least 3 hours a day commuting on top of the 9-5 grind Monday-Friday, so I doubt I will do doing anything fun during the week. But still I am really excited, not about the commute but about working in a field I love and not having the do menial grunt work anymore! My mom is buying a new car so shes handing down the old Corolla to me. I start driving school this Saturday and am finally getting my G2 license! I know, it took me long enough! I've been listening to my friends complain for too long now!

Princess asked me what I was doing tonite and of course I told her I didn't have any plans. She then told me that we should go over to Roommate's place and help her pack for her upcoming Vancouver trip. Not really sure how I am going to get out of this one since I already told her I wasn't doing anything but I really don't want to hang out with Roommate especially considering all the hell I went through this year with my housemates (minus Mountain Biker). It's gotten to a point that I just don't like her as a person and really don't want to be around her at all. Model keeps telling me that I should just give it time and soon enough we will all forget about it. To be honest I could care less, I just don't want to be around any of them anymore.

EDIT: What I neglected to mention is that while I was in Chicago, I found out I did not get the position on Bay Street. The HR person told me that although my interview was good, they need someone with a little more experience. After that I emailed the publishing company and told them I would like to accept their offer. They offered me a 12 month contract with the understanding that I may only stay for 4. Also I am going to be getting paid $14/hour! This is very exciting for me considering my part-time job during the school year only paid $10/hour.

Update from Chicago!

Well it has been a crazy week and I can honestly say I am exhausted! I have demonstrated this by going to bed every night at around 930-10 and then falling asleep by 11-1130! Seriously, I am not cut out for the action-packed tourist vacation this turned out to be! We arrived Sunday night and originally planned to take it easy on Monday. However we ended up walking around a local mall (which is about the size of the largest mall in Toronto, Eaton's Centre) and then went out to eat. Tuesday, my cousin New Bride, the Boyfriend and I drove into the city and visited the Museum of Contemporary Art as well as Brookfield Zoo. On Wednesday, the Boyfriend and I went to Gurnee Mills, which is a hugeee indoor outlet mall. We spent 7 hours there and literally shopped till we dropped. We went over to my cousin's apartment and had Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza which is DELICIOUS! On Thursday we took the Metra into the city and visited the Shedd Aquarium as well as ESPN Zone. Friday, the Boyfriend and I went to Woodfield Mall and shopped till we dropped. Finally, yesterday we went to a lunch cruise on Navy Pier and then came home and ate the Olive Garden with the whole family. Now it is Sunday morning and I am just waiting for him to wake up so we can get our drive on back to Canada!

My Shopping Cart:

Forever 21 Long Cardigan: $14
Forever 21 Long Sleeve V Neck: $22
Forever 21 Checkered Shorts: $20
Black/Green/Silver Striped Purse: $60
White Aldo Barrel Purse: $40
Burlington Coat Factory Shirt: $3 (BF paid for this one hehe)
Jordan Melo M4s: $60

Anyways, I had a wonderful time and most likely gained a lot of weight. The BF looks like he will be waking up soon so I shall continue later.

My Girlfriends

My friendships over the last year have changed drastically. I have changed, hopefully for the better and unfortunately have lost a few friends along the way. To be honest, I am genuinely happy with the people I have in my life right now. I make an effort to keep only the positive influences close to me and hold the rest at arm's length. There is no need to dwell on the past. I'm only going to talk about the positive friendships I have right now.

First there's Model. We talk all the time about how hard it is to believe we only met this year (through a mutual friend who neither of us talk to or ever really liked.. lol). I call her Model because she models every year for a charity fashion show. What can I say, I love her to pieces! We spend everyday together and never get sick of each other (with perhaps a few exceptions? Can't remember right now, but I'm sure it's happened.) Anyways the ironic thing is she used to date the boyfriend's roommate. How great would it have been if they had stayed together and we could double date? Anyways she has really been there for me this year, and I value her friendship a lot. She lives at least 30 minutes away from me when we are both at home so I guess we are going to take the summer off from each other and next year things will go back to normal! Unless I do the 16 month internship...

Second there is Mountain Biker. MB and I have been friends since we were 5, since we lived across the street from one another. As we grew up we drifted apart, mainly because I was in a different grade than she was. During high school we were on and off in terms of closeness, but after she came to the same university we really began to grow close. This year we lived in a house with 3 of our other high school friends and there was a LOT of drama. What do you expect from a house full of girls right. I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through this year without MB. I respect her a lot because she has her goals, priorities and values all in check. She is genuinely a good person and also we have the exact same sense of humor, so we have a lot of fun together.

Turtle was part of a group of five girls that I belonged to in high school. Our group always hung out together but I was closer to Neighbour and Princess. Recently Turtle and I have gotten a lot closer and I am so grateful for that. Turtle is the type to never gossip and also is very down to earth and understanding. I admire her kindness, patience and am glad she is in my life because I know she is a good influence.

Last but not least, Polish. Polish started off as my co-worker when I worked at a shoe store a few summers ago. That summer was amazing because there was 5 or 6 of us that began hanging out together all the time. It was so much fun and exactly what I needed considering I had just broken up with the asshole ex. Anyways somehow everyone began losing touch but me and Polish began hanging out together, just the two of us. Now she is one of my closest friends and someone I know I can trust with anything. Since 95% of my friends are Asian, and know each other (or know of), its nice to talk to someone who doesn't really known who or what situation I am talking about. That way she just judges the situation from the story and her previous judgements of people doesn't affect what she thinks. Polish and I are a lot alike in terms of personality and especially in our opinions on friends and guys. That's why I enjoy talking to her so much and although our friendship was unexpected, I consider her one of my closest friends.

After the Madness

Well, its Saturday morning and I am finally free! I had my final exam yesterday at 9am and my last two interviews on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday it wasn't so much of an interview as an orientation. I had an appointment to meet with my boss at the publishing company that is offering me a summer internship in Online Marketing and Web Development. My boss walked me around the office, showed me the department I would be working in and introduced me to her boss. Then she gave me a more detailed breakdown of exactly what I would be doing. The kicker is that she wants me to stay for 16 months, not just 4. I really do have to think about this. When I had a mini farewell lunch with my best friend at school, we'll call her Model (because she is one, sort of?), she freaked out! Model and I spend literally every single day together, having lunch, studying at a cafe, or just hanging out at someone's house. When I thought she was transferring next year to a university closer to her home I freaked out as well. It's hard to imagine going to school without her just because we've become inseparable.

Anyways back to the interviews. On Thursday I had an interview for a Corporate Communications Assistant position with this company on Bay Street. Let me tell you I felt so professional. The office is located off the underground concourse and my interview was at 9am, so I was walking alongside all the business people on their BlackBerry's on their way to work. When I got into the building I needed to get a security card that I had to swipe everytime I walked through a set of doors. During the interview itself, they only asked me a few questions before the Director began to explain in great detail what the position was actually about. Let me tell you, it sounds great! I want this position so badly and I know it would be such a great opportunity. I have to send them some samples of my writing so I guess I have to scrounge up some stuff and send it off on Monday. My prospects look good, because they told me they are only interviewing three people for the position and one is only available to interview on May 2nd (the position is scheduled to start on May 5th). So obviously, that wouldn't give them much time to deliberate at all. I will send them my writing and hope for the best.

After my interview on Thursday, since I was already downtown, I met up with my friend Turtle. Turtle went to my high school and was one of my closest girlfriends. She moved away to North York so we lost touch for the first two years of university but recently we have reconnected very strongly. In the past year I feel I have gone through emotional growth and also matured a lot. I feel this has a lot to do with the boyfriend but that is a different story. Turtle and I shopped at Eartons Centre and she treated me to lunch. We had some great talks and I was really happy I got to see her since I rarely do, especially when we are both in school.

Today I plan to just lounge around and slowly unpack. I moved everything from my room at school back home, with the exception of the desk, drawers and bed that is staying there this summer and the chair and TV that is coming home next weekend. Might see the boyfriend for a bit but he is coming over at night to sleep over anyways because we are leaving for Chicago bright and early on Sunday morning! I'm so excited!!

EDIT: When I went shopping I bought an $8 white dress shirt with 3/4 sleeves and $6 black shorts for lounging around. That's 4 purchases in 4 days, and I never buy anything from H&M because it usually doesn't fit. Loving this!

My Boyfriend (Part One)

My Boyfriend and I definitely have not had the smoothest relationship. Yet, we have a much better relationship than most, if that makes sense. 13 months and one and a half break-ups later, we are still going strong and happier than ever.

Where to begin. I first met my boyfriend in October (or September?) 2005 when I was in my first year of university and he was in his third. We were at the campus night club and danced together. As I was about to leave with my friends, he chased me down and asked for my number. Since I was dating the asshole ex I simply took his number down and never called.

Fast forward to winter 2006, the most random online creeping happened. His best friend (who we will call Jimmy) came across my Friendster profile. Of course me being the curious little Friendster user, went to check out his profile as well. I didn't see much that interested me, but I did notice in his friends list a picture of a guy that looked very very familiar. When I inevitably clicked on his profile I realized it was the guy from my first year, who although I never spoke to again, I always remembered. By this time, the asshole ex and I had broken up and I was ready to move on. However I of course was not going to message him out of the blue over a year after we had met, especially when I had clearly blown him off.

Luckily for me, he did not have any qualms about messaging me after I showed up on his "Who's Viewed Me' list. Yes I know, we are both huge losers who use social networking sites way too much lol. Anyways it turned out one of my friends from high school actually went to church with him for a number of years (and had a big crush on him, natch). So he and I begin chatting online, talking about anything and everything every single day. We often made plans to hang out but something always came up.

This went on for about a month, with both of us not really taking it too seriously. One day out of the blue in the middle of January he asks me if I want to go for coffee and of course I said yes. From then on we began hanging out on a regular basis, going to the movies, eating out, all the usual dates with one exception. He didn't make a move! I waited for so long, he even bought me a bouquet of roses one time but still, not even an awkward hug was attempted! Finally around the beginning of March I became fed up and told him that it was time to man up and tell me how he felt.

The next day, we both ended up at the same night club and I ended up going home with him. LOL, no nothing happened, at least not what is the first assumption. I did spend the night but we did not sleep together although we finally got our first kiss! Actually we stayed up all night making out, with the both of us getting around 2 hours of sleep. The next day we stayed in bed all day, eating pizza and watching March Madness. From then on we were inseparable, hanging out everyday he was in town (he no longer went to my school and had moved back home).

To be continued...

The Second Interview

Today I had my second interview with a staffing agency. It went basically the same way the first one did except I got no immediate job offers and did not complete any testing so the whole application/interview process only took 45 minutes. Unfortunately for me and my current cellphone-less situation (left the charger at school) I had to then wait another 40 minutes for the BF to pick me up since I told him to come back in 90 minutes and for some reason he decided not to pick up his phone all 10 times I called him. Argh.

Anyways, went shopping and picked out two cute belts for a total of $29 from H&M. I got the same belt in two different colors, one in white and one in black. I've been lusting over them for so long but Size Small was sold out everywhere! Thankfully I had my useful boyfriend with me who discovered a way to shorten the belt from the inside They are the stretchy-elastic material, average width with a gold clasp at the front. I'm so happy! I have not bought any new clothes for a long time, mainly because I don't have much money and also because I want to save it for Chicago.

I talked to my cousin today to make some final plans for the Chicago trip. I'm super excited and I know the boyfriend is too. He's sleeping over Saturday night so we can leave bright and early on Sunday morning.

My Love Life

Well I am currently in a relationship with the BF for the past 13 months and counting. We broke up for a period of 3 or 4 weeks (so essentially, a month) around the end of February. The reason for that? The BFF.

Details for everything I suppose will follow if I keep this blog up. For now, all that is relevant is that I realized the BFF crush was only a phase. I don't regret breaking up with the BF, because I am now more certain than ever I want to be with him. The BFF never knew of the crush and our relationship is the same as ever. No harm, no foul. I simply took some time to myself to re-evaluate my relationship with both the BF and BFF and in the end decided that the BF was the one for me.

Other guys in my past have included the asshole ex, the summer fling and my puppy love. Oh yes, and that one guy I dated in grade 9 for a month that still pops up from time to time.

I have only dated two guys seriously and slept with three guys in total. Some may consider me inexperienced and have so much to learn. Trust me, with those three guys it was enough drama to last a lifetime. It's hard to believe I am only 20. It only gets better right?

For now, I am extremely happy with the BF. We are planning to go down to Chicago next week and I am so excited for that. I just stayed over at his place for the weekend since his mom is on vacation (yes we both live at home. We're university students, what do you expect? =P). It'll be nice to get away before I start working full time and to be honest after this last year, we really do need a vacation.

The First Interview of the Week

Had my first interview (of 5) this week. Well, I don't know if it counts because it was with a staffing agency. I left feeling pretty good about my administrative skills, the lady said she hadn't seen scores like mine in awhile =D (not to brag or anything). It was funny, because originally the BF was just going to go to the restaurant next door and wait for me, but since they had me complete so much testing he got bored and came in and filled out an application as well! Unfortunately, even though he indicated he wanted to do administrative or general labour, they only gave him general labour related testing... so I guess we know where he is going to get placed. The staffing agency actually offered me a position right away with Panasonic as an administrative assistant. Since I already have that other job lined up, I didnt want to take it, luckily for me it was a permanent position and since I am going back to school in the fall, I had "no choice" but to decline.

The first Corporate Communications interview which was supposed to happen on Wednesday got cancelled. As in, the whole position got cancelled. Oh well, I still have the job offer as well as another interview on Thursday, so we'll see how everything pans out.

My Academic and Professional Life

I am a Communications major who is concurrently pursuing a Certificate in Technical and Professional Writing. Up until recently I was a Psych major as well, but when I discovered the TPW Certificate program I had to weigh my options since there was no way I could complete that as well as a double major in four years. On the one hand, I only have one more year in the double major to go. On the other hand, Psych has absolutely no relation to what I want to pursue in terms of my career goals, and the Certificate would not only look good on a resume and provide additional credentials, the courses I will take are definitely beneficial. I can't count the number of times I have sat through Psych exams and written essays and wanted to shoot myself in the face. It's so boring and I could care less about it since I know I will never need it. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually looking forward to school next year and am motivated to do well. We'll see what really happens next year I guess haha.

In my Professional life, I have been working part-time as a Communications Assistant for the past 6 months. Since I have to move back to my hometown/Toronto for the summer I had to quit that job but they said they definitely want me back for next year! I already have a job offer for a position in Online Marketing and Web Development, but I also have 2 other interviews this week for internships in Corporate Communications, which is what I really want to get into. I guess we'll see how they go and find out from there. All 3 positions are downtown, so I am most likely moving there for the summer. I'll offer to pay my own rent (for the first time, ever!) which I am not excited about, but I am excited to live on my own (no roommates like during school!) and also to get away from my hometown (not because of family, but other stuff that will be discussed later).

Anyways, thats all for now. More to come!

Introduction

Hello, my name is Delilah and this is my blog. I am a twenty year old university student who will be completing her final year of undergrad next year.

In reality, I should be studying for my last exam which is on the 18th, but I came out with an 88% in the midterm in that class after one day of studying, so I think I should be ok.

I am excited for many things. First of all, my boyfriend and I (just passed 13 months!) are planning a trip to Chicago to visit my favorite cousin in the whole world and her husband. I am working in downtown Toronto this summer and most likely going to be living on my own since the commute is too far for me to make on a daily basis. My friends and I have planned various girls nights, camping trips, weekends at the beach and best of all, an end-of-summer vacation to Cuba! Come to think of it, this is the last summer before the rest of my life really begins. This time next year I will have graduated from university and be starting a full-time job!

I'm starting a blog to chronicle my life, keep track of my finances and just be able to vent about anything and everything. Lots of drama this year, but what can you expect after rooming with 4 other girls in university. Details to follow...