Sex & The City 2 this authors opinion

Well Come and gone was the opening weekend of Sex & The City 2 and in some hearts the sparkle for these lavish girls lives on... But Not in mine.

I'm not even going to talk about the wedding. Moving on.

Why you ask? Luster was lacking in this second rendition of the Sex & The City's move from series to movie magic. It's really surprising a film (the first one) could be SO good and then fall so hard. The outfits were dull for the most part, the styling seemed off and the story was as random as it was boring. I found myself saying who cares what you are going through. From watching Sex & The City I know you are definitely NOT supposed to have that attitude. But there I was wondering when the fabulousness was going to enter stage left. Unfortunately it did not.

I found myself saying I like your shoes but... or that bag is a really strong statement, why didn't you just stop there. No you had to go all gorilla mohair on your chest... and then dye it ORANGE! Alright I love Louis but seriously. TeddyRuxpin was popular in the eighties for a reason.


I did really enjoy the living it up in Abu Dhabi parts. I would like to do that someday soon, and lets not forget the champagne camping in the desert! That looks like it'd be a lot of fun. I would like to stay over night hopefully in Egypt or something the camel it back to my hotel when I need a shower.

Moving along - Samantha... you really need to tell the camera crews to stop following you around during those sex scenes, I feel like I'm watching my mother have sex. I'm glad you're having it, but what used to be hot is now kinda akward. I still respect you for it though.

I have to give Miranda props for earning my respect again. After the last movie I was pretty much done with her after the whole "You two are crazy to get married" bit. She really picked it up a notch this time around.

Lastly I really hope they make another movie otherwise I will be left with this bitter taste in my mouth ruining all my wine!

I DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Julia Child is a personal influence and I love her and her cooking dearly. The other day Matt received from Melissa a very special book written by Julia Child titled Mastering The Art Of French Cooking. This was done to inspire the chef in all of us and to promote the culinary spirit. SUCCESS!! We cracked open the pots and pans the other day and let me tell you... The kitchen was bustling. Our first dish was gnocchi with steak covered in mushrooms with asparagus. All was going according to plan when we realized... We don't use cream... or butter. Not very French at all.

Our sauce for the gnocchi was made with rice milk (Rice Dream) and the cheese was a very interesting consistency mostly because it was comprised of soy and no cows were used in the creation of our particular block (or loaf as read on the package) of ... cheese. Right, cheese.

All and all, the consistency of the sauce was less than great but the flavor was decent. Matt enjoyed leftovers for a few days after as well. I let him have em.

The next day we decided to make pan fried flat bread. All was going well until I decided to tip the pan (so it wouldn't burn Matt's arm) but instead caused the oil to drip from the pan onto the hot element and start a small fire. The smoke was a bit much and my flailing arms did little to contain the fire but Matt to the rescue certainly knew what to do. ... My hero.

Now I chop veggies and tend to the dishes. Stick to what you know, am I wrong? I'll learn eventually. (Right!)

I will keep you all apprised of future mishaps and good times in the kitchen.

Also if you haven't seen Julie and Julia with Meryl Streep you need to get on that! Below is a clip.

Faculty club, LIT & Flash

This Dashing Beauty is Sheri my friend from Waaaay back. Don't get crazy she's taken!

So last night Matt and I met up with his father's side of the fam and (after coffee of course) we took off for the Faculty club. I'm not a teacher in the traditional sense but Matthew's grandmother is a professor emeritus from Faculté Saint-Jean. Retired but still a beauty at 60. Alright so she's 70 but she definitely looks 55!

The food at the faculty club was 5 stars and the service was nice. Slightly different than I'm used to because everyone kind of knew each other and really let you enjoy the company you came with. We ended up staying a long while just chatting and enjoying a standard bottle of the Rosemont Shiraz. Standard but well paired with the very large starter garden salad, rack of lamb and oh yes.... The Deep Fried Ice Cream with chocolate sauce. So Yummy. I'm full just thinking about it.

After dinner Matt and I took off to LIT for the second time in 3 days. This means it is a new favorite. I am still a little embarrassed as the bottle recommended to us was really not what we had in mind and ended up having our usual X2. Dan the owner said it was no problem as it was his favorite wine and he would end up drinking it! Great guy.

Though we were SO full from the faculty club we had to order the prosciutto bocconcini flatbread and the antipasto! The cheese at LIT it literally the best I've had since France. (But still doesn't compete with 5 year old Gouda from The Netherlands)

After LIT at about 11:30 we staggered over to Flash where we passed the building long line and went straight to the bar where we ended up having vodka cranberry all night. I love the back area V.I.P. lounge only available to celebrities (JK) so naturally we had reso's for it. We ended up having a fantastic time and will be back soon. Oh Edmonton nights. Keep em coming. Tonight for the long weekend Flash is having a White Party. Not so original but seeing a club full of white wearers definitely makes me spill my drink a bit more often. Cheers to tonight.

Matthew's Bday

So... For Matthew's Bday we went to Kyoto in Edmonton (of course)! So fun and one of the first spots Matt and I went to ever! (He was impressed that I could use chopsticks (I have to thank my dad for that)) Then off to Holt Renfrew where I picked up an amazing shirt for Matt. Pray you see it because it's a vision. Then off to Karen's for wine while we tip toed over her newly half installed black granite floor. So beautiful (so far). Finally off to Lit which i can only describe as the most decadent place in Edmonton with the freshest food, wine selection, art, and delicious mix of models, dancers, and dynamic modern/hippies (with soap and money of course) as staff. I was more than pleased and will be back within a week. My all time favorite dish there - the prosciutto bocconcini flat bread is to die live for.
After a lovely mingling and dining celebration which included 4 appy's and a bottle of wine the bill was very reasonable for the three of us.

Do visit Lit at 104 street and just north of Jasper Ave. (Don't know if they have a sign yet so it's one shop south of CREDO and North of Fiji tan. Here is there Website but it has not been developed yet. Coming soon? I hope?
http://litwinebar.com/

Happy Birthday Matthew

Since today is Matthew's Bday I won't be writing a whole lot. No no I will be spending my time with him today. Kyoto for sushi after coffee of course and then to the opeining of Lit a wine bistro for some good bites, and maybe a suprise for Matt.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!

Mac VS PC

Alright so we have all seen the Mac VS PC guy commercials right. Well I have never really bought stock in them (Buy stock in me on EA though!) but now I am being swayed. What sways me you ask? Because I am currently (and have been for literally 3 hours!) watching my computer do a scan to find whatever virus is trying to take over my PC world! Genocide to all PC's!

My friends who have Macs are sleeping right now in a pleasant dreamland and not nervous that their online empire will come crumbling down (Not going to happen BTW).

I know... I know... you must be wondering, how am I writing this if my PC's down. Well I am using my other laptop (which is also a f*cking PC!). I am writing as fast as I can because who knows how long my PC will last until it too gets overrun with viruses and Spywear! FML.

Anyway this is a short one so watch the video

And if you are using a PC I hope you made it to the video.

12K walk today YAY!

Hello fellow readers,

Above is the route that Matt and I took today which I think is about 12K. I could be wrong (it certainly felt like 20K) but I am not a runner yet and don't have the cool technology to track my distance. I will have a more accurate kilometer number soon.

I will explain this map because it is a bit complicated. So Matt and I started out at 116st and 100 ave (our house) and went south through the trail that sits atop the Golf Course downtown. You can follow us (the purple dots) and our general direction (the magenta line) on the map above. Why did I choose those colors??? Well for those of you who are not aware today is actually Anti-Homophobia Day... K, it's true it is Anti-Homophobia Day but that's not why I chose those colors. I chose them because we wore designer jeans and flashy polos on our Crazy hike and still trekked it like pros! That being said we didn't plan on doing 12K it just sort of happened.

When I was in Junior High I remember this track that went through the Ellerslie homes around the school. It was SO long and intense!! It was a 3K I was such an overweight kid. Perhaps that is why I run now? Of course it could be that whole age thing catching up on me. Who knows as long as what I do is healthy.

I have to apologize for not writing for a bit I am enjoying my holidays. It was +30 today and that makes me very happy even though I'm relatively positive I have mild sun stroke. Don't get nervous.

Alright I will keep updating in regards to the running and I will probably post something tonight as technically it's the 18th right now.

T minus 2 days to Matt's Bday! So exciting. I'll keep you up on those events as well.

For the map I got above of Edmonton's Trails visit http://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_recreation/documents/bikemapRiverValley2007.pdf

Make sure to increase it to at least 400% unless you are an Eagle.

Finally here is a snip-it of the river valley in Edmonton with a bit of an artistic twist. Enjoy.

WORK OUT MANIA!!!!!!

Alright, over the next couple weeks I am treating my body like the temple it is and I’m going to run 200K! I have 5 down from yesterday so only 195 to go.

I have to let you all know a bit about my physical level and abilities as I really do not run or do much physically for myself. All through high school I was a cheerleader and was very dedicated, also I loved it… that helped. I think that is where I lost most of my baby weight (Yeah right… at the age of 16!) then I went on to join the Edmonton Eskimos Cheer team for 1 year in 2002, that was fun but I missed the competitions so I moved on after a short year. Since 2002 I have worked out here and there… didn’t join any teams or really take that good care of myself.

This wasn't me BTW

Let me tell you it’s one thing to know this but to put it into words is a realization that I needed. Kind of like seeing your muffin top for the first time and realizing what all the high school girls are laughing at.

All of that being said, about three weeks ago at The Edmonton Journal they started this running group to get people to join the Little Big Run which is the second largest marathon in Edmonton. I don’t think I’ll be running in the marathon but we will see how things play out. So I was kind of wishy-washy about joining this group and the weather was bad and and and so I didn’t meet up with them the last two runs.

Amidst all of this Empire Avenue started… If you don’t know what Empire Avenue is go to http://www.empireavenue.com right now… I’ll wait. Go join and don’t forget to invest in STJ!



A bit about Empire Avenue… You join and people buy stocks in you your price goes up and you gain popularity. It’s a social media site that may be unusual but it’s really quite fun. After I joined I kind of became their #1 fan and have been a lot more active online – hence this blog! The Edmonton Journal is on Empire Avenue and I’ve been trying to get them to invest in my STJ ticker stocks on Empire Avenue for a long while. So Wednesday May 12 came along and the E-mail went out to all employees of the Edmonton Journal that they were running Thursday May 13. Eureka I have a plan! I wrote back saying if you invest in me I will run tomorrow.

Sneaky right???

Well it worked! I sold 200 shares to The Edmonton Journal and at that moment I realized… crap I am Uber committed to run tomorrow. So Wednesday night I got my stuff ready and come Thursday at noon I was in my gear ready to run. Whoever said the internet doesn’t promote physical exercise is sadly mistaken!

After the 5K run and about 200 stairs I felt like up-chucking my lunch but after the nauseous wave passed I felt AWESOME! I am now a runner. I have set a goal of 200K in the next 2 weeks and I plan on achieving it. Did I mention I’m on holidays for 2 weeks. There is no excuse for me to achieve this goal. In fact I will update my blog and twitter account (LovinLivin) and obviously Facebook with regular updates mostly because I think that will keep me going.

Wish me luck and follow along for updates on my health quest!

Love Lies Bleeding Recap

To tell a tale of love, lights and Life in such a graceful breath-taking spectacle such as the one witnessed last night at Love Lies Bleeding could only have been executed by Choreographer Jean Grand-Maitre.

Sir Elton John would be impressed (if he showed up) and would surely shed a tear at the opening scene of Act 2. A depiction of love so strong and universal danced gracefully across the stage and pirouetted into my heart.

I have to give a Very Loud SHOUT OUT to Martine Bertrand and Leslie Norgate two of the very important costume and millinery designers that were one part of a whole that made this production the epic success that it was.

But sadly all good things eventually come to an end… and at the end after three curtain calls, cracked and sore hands from clapping and a now raspy voice from abusing my larynx I can honestly say that was the BEST performance I’ve seen to date.

Done and done – up next season… The Alberta Ballet tributes Sarah mclachlan. Hold on to your Chandelier hat Sir Elton, your title of BEST performance will surely be at risk here!

Elton And I

So you may have guessed from my title… I’m going to Sir Elton John’s Ballet – “Love Lies Bleeding”!!!!

Sadly I missed the Grand opening in Calgary May 6^th But I think their 6^rd show will rock just as much!

I’m SO Excited and really looking forward to the amazing costumes and of course the stupendous talents of The Alberta Ballet. Not to mention the After Party!! Holla!

I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Stay posted.

If you have not for whatever silly reason seen or heard of the Alberta Ballet please do yourself a favor and watch this video from the Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maitre