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Nice to e-meet you! That's internet for Hello. And that's also about as far as I got in planning what to say in this thing...but as a lover of spontaneity and the inability to edit my own words because that would mean actually having an awareness as to the nothingingness that I am about to ramble on about for far too long...I'm just going to go ahead and keep typing. Apparently...

Bienvenue à Montréal

rom the airport we drove back to his apartment because he rented me the guest suite in his building where I could drop my bags off and then he gave me a quick tour of the place. He lives in an exclusive apartment building which is on a completely private street, 1 block from the touristy Old Port. Flats in the building are extremely difficult to get and obviously ridiculously expensive. Apparently a bunch of the Montreal Canadian’s hockey team players live in the building which also makes it that much more desirable (to some). Driving into the underground parking lot was like going into Jay Leno’s garage, and if I knew anything about cars I would name some but to me I just saw dollar sign after dollar sign next to double dollar signs on wheels.


The entrance to the apartment was stunning; a gigantic foyer with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the gorgeous blue river. There were glass staircases on both sides, with a posh lounge area which was obviously just for looks. The building had its own wine cellar just for the tenants, a full sized crystal blue pool complete with water fountains and a stone cave sauna, pool table room, social room, and a completely private walk out patio just inches from the water and equipped with barbeques and lawn chairs for enjoying the sunshine (because unlike the cold miserable rainy weather we have in Vancouver, it was over 30 degrees in Montreal).

My suite was obviously gorgeous. I felt like I couldn’t touch anything but at the same time I had this strong desire to touch everything! I would wake up each morning and open my French doors out to my private patio and sit and enjoy the view and sunshine. Yachts sailing by, tourists taking pictures from across the water, me trying my best to fit in (in spite of my thrifted clothes and 2 for 20$ sunglasses). It was at this moment I felt exactly like a housewife of orange country, only from Montreal.





I totally felt like I did not belong amongst all these rich French people. Even more so when they actually tried speaking to me in French and all I could do was look stupid and say Sorry, no French! With one man in particular, it probably would have been better if I didn’t understand him, because it turns out he was asking if it was my suite he was sun tanning in front of, and when I said yes, but that I was just visiting, he said “oh okay, I felt kind of creepy because I keep staring into your bedroom”.


From then on I kept the blinds closed.

Anyways, that night we walked through Old Port which was my favorite! It’s all old cobblestone streets with little café’s and vendors etc. I couldn’t believe how many people were out in the village square watching street performers, and sitting out having drinks, etc. It reminded me so much of Europe.





After showing me around he took me to some famous little bakery that sold “queues de castor” which are basically pastries made of heaven and sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar. Mmmmmm. This was not a diet weekend.

Being that it had been a long day for me, I wasn’t up for hitting the famous Montreal club scene just yet, so we just went back to his apartment and watched a movie. I know what you’re thinking. we JUST watched a movie people, no funny business!

The next morning he had planned to take me to Mont Tremblant which is a quaint little skiing village in the mountains about 2 hours outside of Montreal (although much less when you’re driving what felt like the speed of light). I absolutely fell in love with this little village. It is the cutest place I have ever seen; if it had cheeks I would have pinched them. There was a ton of tourists, a live band, little cafes and shops all over, and a bicycle race going on through the town center which we had to stop and wait for before we could cross.



I will definitely return to Mont Tremblant one day!


On the way back he drove me all through Montreal, including to the top of a prestigious area called Westmount where I saw some stunning homes and an even better view! We also went through downtown and the Latin quarters etc. It was all so lovely! It’s weird that this place is part of Canada, it seems so different!

After we went back and dropped off the car, we walked to Old Port where he INSISTED, against my protest to get a horse drawn carriage to dinner. I was mortified! I am someone who really doesn’t find them all that romantic and think that they are a terrible idea! Not only do you have people pointing at you and you are made a complete spectacle of, but you also stop traffic because you are riding a fricken monster that doesn’t make the sharpest of turns, not to mention it takes years to get where you are going.

For dinner we went to a nice Italian restaurant and after that went to a fancy club. The nightlife in Montreal is a million times better than it is in Vancouver, it would be a great place to do a girls weekend! It was so much fun!!

The next morning he took me Downtown because he was insistent that I not leave Montreal without going to Schwartz’s restaurant. This tiny little deli is apparently world famous and a landmark in Montreal, which wasn’t hard to believe with the 3 block line up to get in. I was told that the only thing to get at this place is a smoked meat sandwich with a giant pickle on the side and completed with a cherry cola. For someone who is mostly vegetarian, I have to admit that it was delicious.


We picked up some extras to take over to one of his friend’s who had been in a car accident the night before. I was super nervous to meet his friend and didn’t really know what to expect but luckily she was really sweet and being a nurse, I had lots to talk to her about.

From there we went to Cirque du Soleil which I had been looking forward to the entire weekend! I had always wanted to see one of their shows and being that cirque du soleil was started in Montreal, it was a must! It was everything I had always heard it was and more! I am still in shock of some of the things that they can do. I can’t even imagine the training that goes into putting something like that together. Oh and it didn’t hurt my overall opinion being in the best seats one can get, and having some free wine and appy’s from the VIP tent probably helped too. Oh the life of a desperate housewife, it’s a hard one.


After the circus we went out for more drinks and dinner. We picked up some Pho, a type of Vietnamese soup (which I had never had or even heard of before but was his absolute favorite) to take back with us. He knew the owner really well, as he obviously ate at this place a lot so he just had to text in his order and tell them when we would be there. The owner saved us a parking spot out front, came out to give us our food, and we never had to pay a cent. Why is it that rich people get everything for free?


Since my flight left at 6am (as oppose to 6pm which we originally thought), we decided to go home and watch a movie while eating our Pho before heading to the airport at 4am. The soup was soooooooooo yummy!!! I hope that this place wasn’t like remarkably above average so I can still enjoy it back in Vancouver.


And that was pretty much the end of my trip! He took me back to the airport and we said goodbye and I was off! It wasn’t an awkward goodbye either, which was good, it was just a casual hug and au-revoir Montreal!

I officially made it through the weekend without being kidnapped or raped. Win! Actually aside from still talking a lot about money he was quite a gentleman throughout the weekend.

When I returned, a girl in my class’s reaction was “OMG. The LEAST you could have done was given him a blowjob!!!”
I most certainly disagree!

So overall I am glad I went and I really did have a good time (aside from working myself up everyday worrying about maybe feeling pressure to have sex). As fun as it was, one weekend of living this extravagant lifestyle was enough for me. Actually, I thought that I would enjoy all of the luxuries a lot more than I did in the end. It was really weird and felt almost guilty and so much of it just seemed so unnecessary. I mean, I definitely liked the freedom that came with not having to ever think about money and being able to do anything you want but at the same time it just didn’t feel right.

So that was it! I still don’t have a strong desire to be romantically involved with him but it was a really fun weekend and he made good company. I am pretty sure that he thinks he likes me more than I him but at the same time I think he is just lonely in his life and likes the companionship more than anything.

C'est la vie

Fly Me to The Moon or Montreal

Remember Moneybags? Well apparently his part in this story of mine hadn't ended just yet.

I don't think that I ever mentioned that he actually lives in Montreal, so after we went on our date about a month or so ago, he left Vancouver to go back home which was nice for me because it meant there was no pressure to decide how I felt or what I should do next. Since then, we have continued to text a little bit here and there and have kept in touch by doing so.


It has always simply been friendly chatter, never anything too serious (and remember at this point I was still not really feeling him THAT much in a romantic sense but I did appreciate his friendship as we got along quite well). He had mentioned a few times over the past month or so that he wanted to get together and suggested that I come to Montreal. At first I would just blow the idea off or casually say something like "yah, it would be cool to visit Montreal, or, that would be fun", etc. But he started getting more and more serious about it so I had to actually explain that I have a life here and am a full time student so aside from the no time, I also have no money for random spontaneous trips across the country (again at this point, really not taking it too seriously). 

After talking about it back and forth for days, being extremely hesitant and reluctant to agree to anything, I brought up the whole awkwardness of our situation and not knowing him that well and the pressure that comes with taking a trip to see him etc etc etc (I literally went on and on for days about all my insecurities about going, I am surprised he didn't retract his invitation). He told me that if absolutely nothing else it would be a good story for me to tell me friends. I agreed that this was true but that didn't change my financial circumstances.  

And, well, I wouldn't call him Mr. Moneybags if I didn't mean it... He bought me a trip to Montreal. 



I was so stressed/feeling uneasy about what to say/do/feel that I could not bring myself to actually agree to go so my friend literally took the phone from my hand and confirmed on my behalf. 
So that was it, I had the ticket, which I might add, read *Sister Brandi* as in a nun, as he thought this would be amusing.


I told him that I didn't feel comfortable with the idea, and it kind of made me feel a little pretty womanish. He replied by saying "well...I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to, and I'm fairly certain your not a prostitute, so stop over-thinking it and come have a good time"


I promise you that this sort of thing does not happen to me. It was all so bizarre. I literally wanted to throw up just thinking about it. I really do believe in a girl paying her own way for stuff like this so it was definitely against all my beliefs. The fact that this guy I'd been out with twice was going to spend more money on me in a weekend than my ex did in the 5 years we went out was absurd. 

Having said that, I have promised myself to be a *yes* person which means that I force myself to be totally open to all opportunities presented to me, and this was quite the opportunity. When would I ever get the chance to just pick up and go to Montreal for a weekend?

And as if making the decision to go wasn't stressful enough, try then having to explain to your mom that you’re leaving in a day and a half to go to Montreal because some guy you went on a date with some time just bought you a ticket. Not fun. 

But anyways, that was it, Friday came and I was off!


I really love plane rides so the flight was good except for the fact that I was worried about what to expect, and still feeling a little weird about the whole situation. Was I really on a plane to go spend a weekend in Montreal with some rich guy I don’t even know all that well?

Answer: YES

I arrived at the airport to find him waiting to pick me up in classic Moneybags style. Complete with Bentley. 


Possibly the most spontaneous and out of character weekend of my life had officially begun.  

Remember the days when 'Mew' was a kind of Pokemon

So I have been completely behind with blogging lately (as you have obviously noticed because you read my blog religiously and anxiously run to your computer and click your *favorites* tab every morning in eager anticipation of a new post) but I will explain!


First of all, I am back in school, yes summer semester. In fact, I officially have no time off until graduation which is both exciting and depressing at the same time. Not only that but this is apparently the hardest semester of all 4 years of nursing school with the highest fail rate. I can barely contain my enthusiasm for school. 

It makes me feel better that everyone in my class is equally as lost as I am, which is proven by the girl in my class' response when the teacher asked if anyone knew what seminal research was and she replied by saying "would it be like the study of semen?"

Or when the teacher went on for hours confusing us further with every passing word and another girl in the class asked for clarification giving the example, "so can you explain, like say if you were comparing the consumption of milk took in by ovulating cats to non-ovulating cats...". The weird thing was, the teacher actually used her example and thoroughly explained it. 

And just at the point where our heads are about to explode, she says "okay, now this is where it starts to get confusing". I think we all lost it at that point. I swear nursing school has made me mad. I find myself laughing randomly for no reason in class, and scribbling pictures of interesting methods of suicide.

We've discovered a fun thing to pass time is an application that takes faces and does this



And you never know what might be sitting on your desk when you come back from break...such as this:


The other day we learnt about 'MEW' which was paired with what looked like some asian symbols, a mash of random letters then thrown into a blender with some numbers. Which I later had a note on my facebook saying:

"Didn't you know that h equals squiggle greater then squiggle(mew/charmander)G1 with a line and a 2"



Because this is my LAST EVER (assuming I pass) academic semester of nursing school, I really am trying to make the most of it and enjoy being a student because I know I will miss it when I am done. And I truly have the best classmates ever whom I don't think I could make it through without. Although I am getting a little sick of being in a class with 60 girls and 4 guys 5 days a week. Which could also be contributing to the madness. 

AND I got lucky and was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit/pediatric unit for the semester which means I get to look at little babies all day :), so its not all bad!!!

So if you are questioning my sanity now, just wait a few weeks! I promise it gets better!

Sun Run 2010

Every year Vancouver puts on a 10km run for charity called the Sun Run. Over the years it has grown into a HUGE event and they raise a ton of money for different charities. Last year was my first time to participate as I am not much of a runner and never thought I could actually run for 10km but in the end I made it and had so much fun doing it that I signed myself up again this year.


Its great because there are so many people not only doing the race, but also along the sidelines cheering everyone on, as well as bands and performers all pumping you up to run harder and faster.


This year there were over 50 000 people in the race! They close down most of the city just to be able to have all the streets completely open to the runners. They obviously have to stagger start times just because of the overwhelming amount of people. And even so, you are practically weaving in and out of people the entire time.


Luckily it was sunny out but at the same time it got a little too hot. I wanted to die jump in the ocean after 2km.


I did the run in just over an hour which isn't terrific but I was just happy to pass the finish line!!

At the end of the race there's another big celebration for all the runners with free giveaways and snacks.
After being exhausted from just finishing the race, I immediately wanted something to drink and it just so happened that there was a volunteer standing in front of me handing out red-bull. I assumed that it was just tiny cans of normal red-bull so I drank 3 thinking that it still wouldn't equal a full sized can but then realized that they were actually condensed energy shots (which for someone who doesn't even drink coffee and just finished running 10km was probably quite a shock to my body).


They were giving away a bunch of free stuff, and I LOVE free stuff. I waited in this one line and got a huge bottle of protein powder, and no I don't use the stuff, but it was FREE!

After hanging out for a bit and meeting up with friends, I headed home as it was mother's day and all.
When I got back home and buzzed up to my apartment. No one picked up.


This was not good considering that I didn't bring my keys or even my wallet with me because I didn't want to have to hold on to anything during the run.

I called my mom so see where she was (well yeah, I brought my phone, but thats different...) only to find out that she was about 30mins away at my grandma's for mothers day.

All I wanted to do was whine and make her come home and let me in so I could eat everything in sight and then pass out, but it was Mother's day.

I took my gigantic tub of protein powder and ran over to the park. At this point I look like a complete mess, bangs all over the place, sweaty, most likely smelly, and my body aching and crippled. Combine that with the nervous shake and odd twitch of my face from the overdose of red-bull and stomach filled with nothing but a half of a banana and some warm chocolate milk from the race and I was quite the spectacle, I'm sure.

I found the only empty bench which was pretty much in the middle of the whole park and fell asleep, with my arm awkwardly cradling my jug of protein powder.

3.5 hours later my mom came home.

By that point I was pretty much hallucinating.

When Twenty Met...a bigger number

That's right! It was my BIRTHDAY on Friday!
I had a bit of mixed feelings about it because I was super excited to celebrate but at the same time the actual aging part of it really scares me. I hate getting older when I'm single.


At least I have the best friends ever to make me forget! And on top of that, they are creative/artistic too!


Jana bought me this key necklace because she remembered me telling her that I love key necklaces and not only that but she actually bought a real vintage key and put it on a chain so it's kinda neat to think that this little key actually opened something of some importance at one time. Either that or like a gate.


And among a few other things, my mother got me this picture of my grandmother and I blown up and framed because its one of my favorites. Don't mind my bottom.


And Alicia knowing me all too well gave me some hair bows! I've pretty much got all the colors of the rainbow now :). And before we went out I got to stop by her new place which is super cute and central to everything so I plan on spending a lot of time there!


For my little get together I picked the Lamplighter because its super fun! It has a good crowd (including, as my friends would all roll their eyes at and continue to call me crazy, just my type of guys), it has good music and you can either dress up or down so its perfect for everyone! Unfortunately there was a hockey game on (I think that just by typing that automatically bans me from being Canadian). Apparently this whole 'hockey trend' is still popular over here and there just so happened to be a game the night of my birthday and tried to ruin my plans, but luckily it wasn't too crazy.



I was really happy that so many people came out! And a few who I didn't expect to see which made me feel very special! The night was a blast! Friends + Dancing + Shots = me happy (proven formula almost evertime). I love bringing friends together too, I had some from nursing school, some from high-school, some from work etc. etc. It's neat cause I always talk about them to each other but now they finally have a face to put to a name.


I was worried that I would get too drunk as people usually do on their birthdays because of all the free alcohol being thrown in your face and the yelling of SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS! not to mention the need to try and block the thought of being old etc. but I really didn't want to be "that girl". As in, the one lying in a pool of vomit in the bathroom crying and desperately asking if I still look pretty.

However, I managed to get the perfect level of happy-fun-drunk for the majority of the night. Actually on the train home it felt weird to be overly coherent and almost completely aware of what was happening around me.


And what night is complete without a random bus-stop story.
At the bus stop on my way home a guy came and sat beside me and started chatting me up which I had no problem with but my bus pulled in so I said I had to go and his face dropped, but I just laughed and got on the bus, not thinking twice about it.

Next thing I knew, the people on the bus were all looking out the window and I could hear what I found out to be the guy yelling "JULIETTE JULIETTE!" and running alongside the bus!!! I was so caught off guard and shocked I didn't even know how to react. I really wanted to take a picture (the true blogger in me) but the looks of the people on the bus were already enough. I can honestly say I've never had a strange guy (or I guess ANY guy) chase down a bus after me.


Overall it was a wonderful day!
Thank you for all the birthday wishes!! It made me feel very humbled!
xox