Postscript

Oh, and my brother tells me that I look like Thora Birch from Ghost World. Really??

Edmonton Beckons me Home

Hey all - just to let you know, I'm flying into Edmonton Int'l tomorrow night at around 9. I'm spending the night in the Wonk, and then heading into the city Saturday morning. Therefore, you can now call me at the condo, same number as I had before. (If you don't remember, let me know, and I'll email it to you). I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again!

Love,
E.

Duh, use sepia!

So I figured out how to get a somewhat nicer photo: use sepia! Of course, you totally can't tell what color my hair is, but that's ok. You can tell that it's dark. And if I love you, I'll probably see you in person in a couple days, and then you can see it for real. So now, sporting my "whatever just happened was NOT my fault" face, is Elizabeth's Back to School Hair Cut in Sepia!

Hot, eh? I know. :)

Love,
Ela

After

Apparently, despite loving my new haircut, I have become totally non-photogenic, and I look like a retard in every picture I try to take. This is the best of the worse, in which I'm sporting my "slightly puzzled about the state of the universe" face. It's the one that was seen on the cover of Vogue magazine last week. Uh huh. So without further ado... Elizabeth's Starting Her Masters Haircut!

Before

So here's my before picture:



And yes, I'm wearing sweatpants. And yes, it's in sepia tones. I thought the sepia gave my sweats that certain je ne sais quoi, that certain something, that flair, that style. :| Or, I just found the 'sepia' button on my camera, and wanted to check it out. You decide!

After pictures to arrive later today.

Au revoir, mes amis!

Love,
E.

Last Days

Hi all,

so life in CR is winding up. My last shift at the Pier was on Saturday. I booked it out of there in my mini-skirt and Steve Madden heels, and N. and I went to party it up at the VooDoo one last time. Fun! We danced til 2.30, and some of our friends were there, so it was awesome.

Then I did full days at Kids' Klub on Monday and Tuesday. I had to drive a mini-van full of kids, and I can count the number of times I've driven this past year on one hand! A bit stressful, yes, but it all turned out alright. *phew* We even got to watch Finding Nemo, which I love. The seagulls?? "Mine! Mine? Mine!" So awesome!

Today I did laundry, and started packing. With some serious stuffing and sitting on of suitcases, I think I can get everything home in the bags I came with. Given the amount of shopping that I've done, that's pretty darn impressive. :) N. came and got me, and then we went and got Kr., and then we got these:


I got my cartilage pierced! Yay! It's just so cute. :) We all got them in our left ears, and were giggling about how very junior high we seemed. "Ohmigosh, we got matching earrings, and we're like, best friends FOREVER!" But they are cute, and I'm thrilled with mine, so it's all good.

Tonight, N. and I are meeting Ka. at the Starbucks to hang out, and to play crib. It's going to be fun, I can just tell. Then tomorrow I have to finish packing, and go get my hair cut!! Eek! I'm so thrilled to be cutting off my mop. I'll post after pics, I promise. :D I think it's going to look a bit like this, but with slightly longer, side-swept bangs. We'll see.



So that's life! I've orderd all my texts now - goodbye $800. :( But, oddly enough, my crazy boss from the Pier was a total sweetie, and gave me a bonus on my final paycheque. wOOt!

Love,
E.

Birthday Party

Hi guys!

So yesterday was my birthday party, and it was fabulous! A HUGE thank you goes out to my wonderful sister Amy, who planned, prepped, and executed my party with grace and style. Thanks Amy, for one of the best birthdays ever!

So of course, you'll want pictures. And I'm happy to oblige! Now you get to see most of the pretty girls that I work with, and my absolutely amazing birthday cake!

From top to bottom: Ka., N. and Kr. Nope, no names!

Mah beautiful cake! I love it soooooooo much! :D

From left to right: Kr., Ka, me!, and N.

Left to right: Ja., Kr., N., and Ka.

Me, Kr. and Ka. (Look how looong my hair is; it's getting chopped in 8 days!)

Top to bottom: Amy, N., and I.

Left to right: Me, N., Kr, Ka. (and you can see Ja.'s hands)

Ka.

So my birthday was pretty darn fandangus. We ate dinner and cake, and then we went and played bocce at the park, which was awesome.

Today N. and I went rollerblading, and then to Starbucks for pomegranate fraps and shaken iced tea lemonade. We also decided that we're going to go for a 3rd earring together - yay!

I'm off to prep for dinner - ta!

Love,
Elizabeth

My Cohort's Going Craaaazy!

Hey all! I finally have a bit of time, and something of interest to blog about. So yaaaaaaay! :D

Anyhoo, I was chatting with a couple of my friends yesterday, both girls who are my age. One of them has just bought a house, and the other has just gotten engaged. Wow! Congratulations to both of them, though I won't name names, as I don't know who all they've told yet. :) In many ways I can't believe that we're old enough for any of this yet, though Anna-Lisa (also my age) has been married for almost a year now. She sort of felt like the exception to the rule - and now it's like the rule's gone!

My comment to both these girls (women, I guess, if they're owning real estate and getting married!) was that I felt a bit left behind. Their response? "Yeah, but you're going to grad school!" Oh yeah! I am! So we're owners of homes, brides-to-be, and obtainers of graduate studies. It's pretty impressive what we can do. :)

I was surprised by that left-behind feeling, though. As those of you who know me well know, I'm not a real "couple" girl. I haven't dated a lot, marriage isn't a huge priority, and we all know how I feel about having kids. I'm exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do - so why would I feel jealous of other women being in the same position?

I think it connects with the fact that women are still encouraged to see getting married and having a home as the ultimate goal. I'm fortunate in that no one's calling me an old maid yet (I have an aunt who was hearing comments like that when she was my age or younger), but it still seems like women who get engaged are celebrated like they've just conquered Everest. Reading an article in the Globe and Mail yesterday helped cement this idea in my mind. As the author quotes:

As British journalist Jemima Lewis wrote in the Spectator last year, "The newly betrothed woman is likely to be a little jittery. Her feminist sensibilities have been strained to the breaking point, and it doesn't help that everyone keeps exclaiming, 'Well done!' as if she were a 17th-century governess clawing her way out of poverty by bagging the local squire. If she is defensive, it is because she has realized how little the condition of womanhood has changed -- and how antediluvian her own instincts really are."

It's a tough call! Yes, it's exciting to get married, but does it have to be SUCH a big deal? I don't have any answers to this. Like many of my female friends, I've thought a lot about the wedding I'd like to have. Yet I trot around, living my single life to the fullest (and I love it!), and it seems weird to imagine giving it up at all, yet alone giving it up to the cheers and accolades of those around, apparently assuming I'm moving on to something 'better.'

Still, that odd left-behind feeling I had last night indicates that, to some extent, I agree with the idea that being married and settled into my own home is better than living the single life I am right now. Of course, if I were married, I doubt I'd be sitting as I am now: t shirt and running shorts with my new Steve Madden 3" peep toe heels on (as Paris Hilton would say, I look hot). Maybe I just need to keep counting the single blessings?? :)

So I suppose the long and the short of this rambling post is congratulations to the home owner. Congratulations to the fiancee. And congratulations to me - starting my Masters in just two short weeks. I can't wait to see you all!

Love,
Ela.

23

Hi everyone! Well, I'm sorry for not posting for ten whole days, but I'll be darned if I can a) ever think of anything clever/witty enough to write, or b) stay awake long enough after work to try to to accomplish a). But here I am, at least I'm trying!

Today is my 23rd birthday. Wow - in some ways my 22nd seems so long ago, and in others, like it was yesterday! Last year I went to Denny's with Hils (we share a bday, and got free brekky), and then went to work at Safeway. My boss took me BACK to Denny's for breakfast AGAIN, which was kind of cool. Then I think we all went out for dinner that night. This year I got up, read my awesome card from Michael, and went to Kids' Klub. One of my little girls bought me a present, which was just so sweet.

22 was the best year I've had yet. I moved to Europe, got my TEFL certificate, taught English, travelled, made some of the best friends I've ever had, had a wonderful romance, came home, and had a wicked summer. 23 is going to have a hard time beating that! But I get to start my Masters, move back to Edmonton where I know tons of people, be with my family, and keep going with my life. I can't wait to see how good it's going to be. Stressful, yup, but good too.

I've become known as the 'old one' at work, since I'm the eldest of the non-managerial team. I pretend to be choked about it (they've sort of changed it to the 'intellectual one' now, which I think is much better!), but to be honest - I wouldn't want to be any other age. I cherish my life and all its experiences, and I just can't wait to keep finding out what new and exciting things will happen.

And so, the journey continues! 23, here I come!

Love always,
Ela

Life, or something along those lines

Ok, Ok - I've been a completely dreadful poster recently. I know. But it's been one of those weeks where you're generally busy, yet you're doing absolutely nothing worth blogging about!

I'm currently on holiday - I've taken 4 days off from the Pier, and have been relaxing. Michael and I were going to do 8 million different things.... So far we've rented movies and eaten a lot of food. Sounds like a vay-kay to me! Oh, and we went to church; checked out the Mennonite Brethren church here, since it's just down the road from us. It was nice.

Tonight I'm hoping to meet K. from work to go and play a little tennis. Emphasis on the little. Neither of us actually knows how to serve yet, sooo... :D I imagine we'll have a good time nonetheless.

Being the geek that I am, I'm starting to get very excited about going school supply shopping. I love school supplies! I found these awesome pens that I want. They come in a medium nib, which I love! Plus, they're fun colors, so I can color coordinate my notes. :D AND they apparently don't bleed through paper. How fandangus is that?

I'm also going to color coordinate my budget! Building on my excellent budgeting practice in Praha, I'm going to be very organized - in order to maximize the student loan I'm getting. So I'm going to need those pens, and some post-its, and some colored paperclips, and pencils, and envelopes, and ooooooh superstore here I come! I need binders, and paper, and a new clipboard... yay back to school!

Well, I'm sure my office supply excitement isn't contagious, so I'm going to head off now and read for a bit. Hope you're all having a great day!

Love,
Elizabeth

Elizabeth is...

I stole this from my cousin Graeme (hi Graeme!). You enter "your name is" (use the quotes) on google, and see what you get!

Elizabeth is 2.01. (A little young, no?)

Elizabeth is now 124 724. (A little old, no?)

Elizabeth is situated in the heart of downtown Montreal. (And here I thought I was on the west coast!)

Elizabeth is one of five Bennet daughters. (I knew I was adopted!!)

Elizabeth is being tended by her ladies. (Yes. I do love my maidservants.)

Elizabeth is in the eighth grade. (You mean my university graduation was just a dream, and I have to return to being a 13 y/o girl? Noooooooo!)

Elizabeth is educated by the best and brightest of the era. (Well, yeah.)

Elizabeth is depicted as moody and vindictive. (Uh... well, yeah.)

Elizabeth is versatile and can perform solo. (Ooook)

Elizabeth is as indulgent and cathartic as a pint of Haagen-Daaz. (The last statement is the truest!)

Love,
Elizabeth is.