Reading Week Finale: Days 7, 8, 9 & 10!

Day 7 – Thursday February 23

I slept in until 11:30 today which was absolutely glorious. I didn’t have to work today which was also glorious, so I used the day to check off some of the things on my to do list. 

Lauren, Laina and I were supposed to go to Festival Du Voyageur but because I was super excited about it of course we didn’t go. Instead we went to Moxies downtown. I had seafood linguine which had little baby octopuses in it that I didn’t notice until the end of the meal. Blech! But the three of us had fun time chattin’ it.

After dinner we went to Kawaii Crepe because I was craving a peanut butter cheesecake crepe. I know, I know, I’m not supposed to be eating any desserts this month, but did you hear what I said? PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE! Don’t be hatin’. 

Moxies Photo Shoot

Kawaii Crepe post its and Laina

Lauren was getting super antsy as she always is, so after Laina and I ate our crepes we ran across the street to the Greenroom to meet up with Sarah, Brandon, and Megan. Mitch’s band Wang the Merciless was playing so we wanted to go and lend our loud cheering voices for the boy. I’ve never been to the Greenroom before, but I really had a great time. 

Mitchevus

Day 8 – Friday February 24

I slept in again today which was fabulous as usual. I made myself a delicious breakfast: cinnamon raisin French toast smother in peanut butter and Nutella, and topped with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. I didn’t have to work until 6:30 so I had another day to chill at home and work on a few things. 

I eventually headed off to work. I work at The Body Shop which can only be so exciting. Customers come in, browse, and leave. End of work day. Now I don’t usually have my phone on me while I’m at work, but I wanted to take a few pictures of possible prize giveaways in case my fellow creators of Undressed Winnipeg magazine actually want to put some work into doing some publicity. 

I told Katie that I’d go to her place after work for a girls night in, but by the time I got home and had a shower, I decided I was too lazy to venture back out into the cold. And so I called it an early night and fell into bed with Zac Efron my cozy blankets.

Day 9 – Saturday February 25

I spent the majority of the day working on some sick ideas for the Red Dress Gala I will be hosting as part of my IPP, which was a lot of fun. You guys are in for quite a treat with that one.

I worked at Penningtons at 2 and it was quite the busy day so of course I hid in the corner furthest from the customers so I didn’t have to do  any real work worked my ass off trying to help customers. 

After work I did some grocery shopping then headed home. I cooked the best tasting steak I’ve ever had, and made some killer mash potatoes and veggies. Once again I work a bit more on my IPP, watched T.V., then went to bed.

Day 10 – Sunday February 26

Which brings us to the last day of my reading week.  Today was my last day to sleep in and boy did I sleep! I’m going to miss not being able to sleep until 11:30, and man what I wouldn’t give for a few extra days of vacation.

Like yesterday, I spent most of the day working on my Red Dress Gala. Our written IPP proposal is due this Tuesday so I wanted to make sure I got the bulk of it done today. Working on my proposal was great because I got a ton of other great ideas flowing out of my over active brain. 

Aside from writing my proposal, I had a day filled with The Academy Awards. My roommate and I watched the pre-show...which was four hours long by the way...and the red carpet....another hour or two....followed by the actually awards...three hours long! 

That pretty much sums up my reading week. Nothing crazy exciting, but I relaxed, had fun, and got some work done, which was my goal for the week. I’m not particularly looking to this week of classes, but all of March is going to be a pretty fun and eventful time school-wise. We get a day off to go somewhere beyond the perimeter to work on our travel assignment, we have two or three days off to go and watch the second year IPP presentations at the convention centre, we get another day off to present our own IPP ideas to a panel of judges, and we get to launch Undressed Winnipeg at our school magazine fair. 

March is also a good month because I get to celebrate my birthday. So if you haven’t confirmed your attendance to this epic event, get your booty to Facebook and do so RIGHT NOW!

Reading Week Continued...Days 4, 5, & 6

Day 4 – Monday February 20

As predicted, I didn’t get to Grand Forks on Monday. Oh well, what can you do?! Instead I went to my cousin’s house early in the morning to give her another piano lesson. We’re in the beginning stages right now but I’m hoping she tries to practice as much as she can so she can be as good as me; which will be easy considering I’m no piano pro. 

After the lesson, being the amazing daughter I am, I decided to take mama Jennings out for sushi. I’ve been craving sushi for weeks since Jackie Doming keeps instagramming pictures of her delicious looking sushi 

adventures. 

I created a big to do list of things I want to get done over the break, and one thing I was able to cross of my list was organizing our storage closet, which happens to be in my bedroom. Junk has been piling up in there and it has been driving me bonkers. 

To Do List

 Even though I made myself a long to do list, I also wanted to fix relaxing into the reading week equation. What better way to relax than to play Mario Kart with the roommate?

Day 5 – Tuesday February 21

I woke up at 8AM because I had to return the camera I used for Sunday’s photo shoot, to the school library. I didn’t mind getting to school so early because that gave me time to squeeze in a nice workout at the gym. I did a workout for about 45 minutes then intended on working on my passion party ads for Undressed Winnipeg magazine (a local magazine exploring the fearless, the fresh, and the frisky sides of sexuality I Winnipeg). I was excited to get some work done but all the computers on campus were running suuuuuuuuuuuper slow...which means I didn’t get a chance to do anything productive.

If only I could have finished...

The main reason I went to school on Tuesday is because I applied to be a student ambassador for the Red River College open house. I stayed at school until 8PM giving tours to potential new students and their parents. It was actually a pretty fun time. I got to meet some current students in other programs (all is business and accounting) which was nice because I only knew CreCommers up until then. 

After a long day of touring I rushed home, showered, and got dressed to meet Lauren at Kawaii Crepe, A.K.A. the tastiest place in Winnipeg. After we ate we headed out to The Cheer for the Individual Professional Project (IPP) fundraiser put on by 2^nd year CreCommers. We got to mix and mingle, and watch the CreComm band, which is always a good time. One of Mitch’s bands, Wang the Merciless, was also good.

Lauren Parsons

CreComm Band

Me, Mitch, and Laure

Mitch Kruse

Day 6 – Wednesday

I gave tours at school again from 9-2. After that I met with the other creators of Undressed Winnipeg to set up dates for more photo shoots and stuff. Then I tried to works on my ads again but the computers were still working against me.

I got home around 5 or so and decided I needed a nap. It’s not so much that I needed one, but wanted to take advantage of the fact that I could have one. 3 hours later I woke up, made some dinner, and had a quiet evening in front of the T.V., followed by a solo dance party in my room before bed, as I always do!

Any interesting stories from anyone’s vacation so far? I know Sydnie is having a great time in Phoenix ;)

Reading Week: Days 1, 2 & 3

This reading week I plan to relax, work, and check of a chunk of things off of my “to do list”. I know, relaxing doesn’t really seem to fit in, but I’m definitely going to try. Check my blog daily if you’re interested in how I spent my “holiday”. 

Day 1- Friday February 17

Normally I have classes until 3 on Fridays but my advertising instructor Melodie was kind enough to hand us our assignment and send us off for reading week. Which would mean I would leave school at 2 right? Wrong! I signed out an ENG video camera for the week so I could hopefully work on my Alpha Phi montage. My tape was full so I needed to get everything onto my hard drive so I would have room for more filming. It seemed like a quick and easy task, which of course meant it would actually take forever. I didn’t leave school until 5:30!

After I FINALLY got home, I ran a few errands and took a 45 minute nap. Not long but it did the job. Then my friend Lauren came over and we hung out for a bit until heading out to Bryan’s party. It was a lot of fun getting to know people from other sections. Earlier that day we all declared our majors and I got to know some of the other girls in CreComm who I’ll be spending time with next year. 

Day 2- Saturday February 18

I didn’t get to bed until around 3AM, but I got to sleep until 11 so it wasn’t too much of a big deal. I was actually pretty exhausted from the night before, but had to shake it off because I had a 1-4 shift. I really didn’t want to work because I wanted to enjoy my Saturday, but I also have to pay the bills. So off to work I went. My Saturday night was pretty chill. I took yet another nap, made some dinner, watched Valentine’s Day with the roommate, had a mini dance party in my room as I do most nights, and then went to bed.

Day 3- Sunday February 19

Today was a lot of fun. I woke up at 8AM (since I’m so used to getting up early for school) but then just lied in bed for about an hour or so. After I cooked myself some breakfast, I showered and ran out the door to head to my friend Kimiya’s house. Recently I wrote an article about her and her views on sex before marriage. She’s grew up in Somalia so the sex practices there are a lot different than they are here. It’s a really interesting story so if you’re interesting in reading, you should pick up a copy of Undressed Winnipeg magazine at Red River’s magazine fair on March 30^th. Or message me if you would like to order a copy. Anywho, I went over to Kimiya’s house to take some photos of her to go along with the article I wrote. She’s a model so she’s getting pretty used to being in front of the camera. 

The Beautiful Kimiya Yussuf. Follow her on Twitter: @kimiyayussuf

Right now I’m just chillen in bed watching 127 hours and eatin some pizza. 

Tomorrow’s Louis Riel day and as much as I would LOVE to go to Grand Forks with my little sis Michal, I highly doubt that’s going to happen. My life’s super predictable that way, but I’ll save my sob story another post. 

Since I’ll be in regular old Winnipeg tomorrow, I’m going over to my cousin’s house to give her another piano lesson. After that? Not quite sure what the rest of the day has in store for me. I might head down to Festival Du Voyageur with my friend Claire if she’s free, but we shall see. 

What are you all up to this week?

Work Out Wednesday

Welcome to Work Out Wednesday!

Like most people, one of my resolutions is to eat healthier and get in shape. As most of my fellow CreCommers can confirm, last semester I made it a point to make it to the school gym every day Monday-Friday, usually during spares and at lunch. I only did about 30 minutes of cardio each time, but hey, that’s 2 and a half hours more a week I had been doing originally. I had planned to keep this up during the holidays, and I did for the first little bit. The last week was a no go. My excuse? Working full-time, Christmas, New Years, etc. I figured I could let one week slide and start up again the first day back to school. But what happened instead? I dislocated my knee (as I often do) and had to take it easy for a week. 

Which brings me to this week. Me and the gym were reunited on Monday and it was a joyful reunion indeed. I skipped Tuesday due to laziness, but made sure I went today. I fully intend on going tomorrow and Friday, but we shall see how that goes. Until then, I leave you all with this Kanye West’s Workout Plan!

Santa's Workshop 2011

Hello folks. Seeing as how the holidays are coming to a close, the Santa's Workshop page will be taken down. All of its contents are included in this post, so feel free to enjoy. Hope you all had a fantastic holiday. Stay tuned for Santa's Workshop 2012!

Santa's Workshop

December 27, 2011

Christmas Finale
As much as the Christmas season excites me, I always find myself just as excited when it comes to an end. I enjoy the hustle and bustle of everyone at the mall rushing around trying to find the perfect gift for that special someone, but the calm after the storm is also satisfying. 

This year I did the bulk of my Christmas shopping on December 23^rd. This is highly unusual for me as I like to try and get things done early. The reason for the last minute shopping? I started a new job at the Body Shop during the last week of school (a silly idea by the way), when I already worked at Penningtons. Between the two jobs, I pretty much worked every.....single....day....sometimes twice a day. So much for having a 3 week holiday, maybe next year? 

Anyway, there wasn’t a heck of a lot of time to get any shopping in. I was also pretty broke from only working 4-8 hours a week during the semester, so I had to wait until I got a big enough cheque to spend on my loved ones. 

My mom loves Christmas just as much as I do, if not more; we always make a big deal out of it. Since moving out a couple of years ago, I always make it a point to sleep at her place on Christmas Eve, and hopefully Christmas day, depending on how early I work boxing day (stupid retail). For the last two Christmases I was house-sitting for my friend Michal and her family, which meant that I could only sleep at my mom’s on Christmas Eve; I couldn’t leave Michal’s dog Chloe alone for too long. But this year I didn’t sit for her, which meant more time with mama Jennings. 

We usually each open one gift once it turns midnight, and then open the rest early Christmas morning after we’ve had breakfast. Christmas breakfast is ALWAYS egg nog pancakes, by my request of course. Delicious! 

My mom always gets me a ton of great gifts each year, one of the perks of being an only child (I get her a ton of gifts in return). This year at the gift on the top of my list is a 43” plasma TV!

On Christmas day my grandparents always pick us up and take us to my auntie’s house to exchange gifts with them. My mom and I always go halfers on gifts for the family, but I'm usually the one to pick them all out, seeing as how I'm a professional shopper and all. Giving gifts to my family is one of my favourite parts of Christmas!

Me and my cousin Jules

Cousins L-R: Tommy, Jules, Catarina, Brian

 

 

 

 

 

Mom and Catarina

Me and my cute lil grandma

Grandpa

Christmas this year was exceptionally good, and I'm already excited for next Christmas. Until then,enjoy the rest of your holidays folks!


December 20, 2011

Merry Christmas, From Dior


Absolutely love this video!

December 18, 2011

Holiday Bonanza Recap

After a month of anticipation, Anita and I finally had our Holiday Bonanza last night. One thing you’ll learn about me is that I tend to over prepare when I host events and such. I was technically having two parties, one for my CreComm friends and one with simpletons...I mean non-CreComm friends. Apparently that led me to believe that I had to make twice as much food, not quite the case. 

I cooked about 5 lbs of spaghetti sauce because I didn’t want to risk running out during the first party, not leaving enough for the second. I used the same thinking for cupcakes. I made both vanilla and chocolate in case people wanted a choice, and made 55, yes 55 cupcakes total! My intent was to ice them all before 4pm, but of course that was a no go; I only iced half. I made them mainly because I love how they look on my cupcake tree. By the end of the night, I was force feeding cupcakes to people before they walked out the door, convincing them to take at least 5 home, if not 10. Believe me, giving away delicious cupcakes is harder than it sounds. I woke up this morning to about 35 cupcakes in my kitchen. Geeze Louise! 

What I failed to realize while preparing mass quantities of food, was that I was the one who suggested our party be a potluck, meaning, everyone bring food, not just me. Tons of delicious treats filled our table. Crackers, cheese, spinach dip, wings, mozzarella sticks, cookies, chips, salad, and the list goes on. I think one reason I over prepared with the food is because there are usually quite a few people who don’t bring anything to potlucks. I forgot that CreComm students are usually on the ball, which I love and appreciate! Anyway, enough about food.

We also had quite a bit of booze as well, mostly wine, beer, strawberry daiquiris, and Jell-O shots! In addition to over 50 cupcakes, I also made about 50 red and green Jell-O shots, A.K.A. the perfect amount. I’m not in any way a Jell-O fan, but if there’s raspberry or watermelon vodka in them, I don’t mind taking one, or 5, for the team. 

It was nice seeing my fellow CreCommers, I’ve missed them this past week. And I’m sad to say that some of us won’t be in the same class next semester. Oh well, it’s a chance to make new friendships right? But we did have a good time last night. It was also nice seeing some of my old high school friends again. It’s weird how fast time flies...(cliché I know, but lucky for me I’m not composing a creative writing assignment). It feels like graduation was just yesterday, when in fact, it was 5 years ago. Don’t ask me how that works. 

I’m glad you guys n’ gals came to our party, and I hope you had as great a time as we did. Happy holidays everyone :D 

 December 15, 2011

Throwback Thursday- Christmas Parties

     In high school I used to have a Christmas party every year and it was always a blast. We would do an informal gift exchange and I ALWAYS got a gift from EVERYONE because I was the hostess, which may be why I kept having Christmas parties. I would cram 15 of my closest freinds into my apartment and we'd be nice and cozy. I haven't had a Christmas party since I moved out of my mom's place a couple of years ago, weird I know. But if you knew the history of my past living situations, it would make more sense. Anywho, my roommate Anita and I are having our first holiday party and we're both super excited. I'm guessing we're going to have about 20 people in our apartment, so I'm looking forward to that familiar cozy feeling :)

November 26, 2011

Holiday Shopper 

Running behind a big empty cart, all she can hear is the pounding of her heart.

“Why did I wait? How stupid? How dumb? I’m always surprised when Christmas Eve comes.”

 She slows down a tad to sip ginger ale, but she can’t pause for long or she’ll miss all the sales.

She then picks up speed while in the toy aisle; it’s packed with late-shoppers, not one with a smile.

She stops for a minute to reach her hand up, “What kid would want this? A pig in a tea cup?”

With no time to waste, toy pig goes in her cart, further down the aisle, she begins to dart.

She grabs all she can, rushing to checkout to pay, “I need to rush faster, there’s no time to delay.

Before she reaches the checkout, off go the store lights. On the intercom she hears,  “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

Charmaine & Anita’s Holiday Party Bonanza!- November 16, 2011

Hey you! No, not you...YOU! Over there. Behind that guy with the eyes. No. No. You, to the right. Yes you! Hello. 

What are you doing on December 17^th?

You’re going to Charmaine & Anita’s Holiday Party Bonanza? Lucky you! What time does it start?

Oooh, 7:30? Sounds like a good time to start a party. Where is it?

At their apartment eh? Sounds like it’ll be nice and cozy...I like cozy. 

I know they’re going to provide some food, but are you going to bring food with you too?

Ya, I figured you would. You’re so nice! I’m sure they’re not gonna make you cook a whole turkey or anything, just finger food and stuff right?

Thought so. 

Do you know if everyone who looks at this page is invited? Cause that would be a ton of people...

Ya, I figured they’d make a Facebook event with the official invite list. It’ll probably be made by the end of this week I’m sure. 

What was that? You have to bring gifts for the bodacious Charmaine and the beautiful Anita?

Ha ha ha, I knew you were kidding about that. Man, you are high larry us! 

Well, hopefully I get invited too! I guess I’ll have to hang tight for my official Facebook invite.

Until then...

CreComm Section 2Holiday Party- November 12, 2011

Hello CreComm Section 2.

It saddens me to say that our time together as the best section in first year, is coming to an end. Let’s all take a moment of silence to reflect on the semester thus far...

Good times at Kings Head...

Mark’s marker social wife beater...

Things Big Shooter says...

Brandon’s “C’MON MANs”...

Writer’s Craft rants (My scrambled eggs is better than yours)...

And the list goes on...

What better way to bring this semester to a close than to have a HOLIDAY PARTY!!!!

All of you guys are invited to come over to my apartment on Saturday, December 17th at 4PM for a section 2 holiday fiesta. I know what you’re thinking, “How are 24 people going to cram into one apartment?” The answer? We’ll make it work; it’ll be nice and cozy J I’ll be creating a Facebook event for this as well which will give you my address and more details. 

I believe a few people mentioned the idea of doing a gift exchange, so I’d like to know how you guys would want to do it? We can set a gift price limit and simply do a secret Santa, draw names, and buy a gift for that person. Or we could all bring one gift to the party, and draw names for the picking order of gifts. Or we can do something entirely different. What do you guys ‘n gals think?

I was also thinking a potluck would be fun! Yay or Nay? I could conjure up a sort of “sign-up sheet” to pass around so we don’t send up 23 different desserts and 1 salad. I vote Yay! 

 

Leave a page comment and let me know what you guys think and we’ll go from there.

Happy Sunday everyone.

 Now get back to writing those articles!

Santa Clause Parade- November 11, 2011

Tomorrow is Winnipeg's 102nd annual Santa Clause Parade!

Fun Fact: Eaton's Department Store held its first Santa Claus Parade in 1905 in Toronto. The Parade was so successful that in 1909 Eaton's started parades in Montreal and Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Santa Clause Parade has been held sucessfully every year since and celebrates its 102nd anniversary this year.

 The parade starts at 5PM and will end with fireworks at The Forks at 7PM. Check out the Santa Clause Parade website for more details. 


Have fun ladies and gents!

I Hate Winter- November 9, 2011

Okay, I don’t HATE winter, but at times it drives me absolutely bonkers and makes me question why all Winnipeggers don’t follow the birds, fly south, and stay there until Spring.  I’m not a fan of -50 weather, I dislike how busses are always late (or don’t show up at all), snow seeping through my boots and getting my socks wet is annoying, trudging through un-shovelled snow banks makes me sad, and the list goes on!

View From Balcony

However, I do like one thing that accompanies winter...THE HOLIDAYS :D I love the Christmas commercials, the holiday parties, the scenery, egg nog, ice skating at the forks (though I don’t know how), Christmas movies, PRESENTS, house-sitting  for my little sister Michal while she’s in Hawaii with her family (she’s cute and Jewish... a fun tidbit and a clue that her name is not pronounced “MichaEl”), and so much more. 

Because I love the holidays so much, I’ve decided that this year I’m not going to focus on the frostbite on my ears, and just enjoy the holiday season with my family and friends. I invite you all to share in the holiday spirit with me, by commenting on this page. I want to hear how you celebrate the holidays, your favourite holiday memories, or what you plan on buying me for Christmas. 

Portage Place

Portage Place

In return, I’ll keep you posted on what holiday events are going on in the city, and do my best to entertain you with my own little Christmas activities.

Let the holidays begin! 

My roommate Anita and I plan on turning our apartment into Santa's workshop; jam packed with decorations! Our friend Josh put up our tree last weekend.

Josh and Anita

Now it just needs decorations!