Goodbye 2013!

Hello everyone and Happy Holiday season! I am so sorry about the lack of posting this break but I am finding that I rarely have a free moment to sit down, let alone blog! I am keeping quite busy here in Ancaster (no surprise there) which has made the break fly by. I can't believe I have to be back at school in less than a week! Tonight, amidst my busy schedule, I have finally found a spare moment to have a look back on my final weeks of 2013!

Since I last posted, my life has been a swirl of activity after activity. Two weeks ago, my friend Andrea had her make-up party that I went to with my other friend Elena. The make-up company was called Aloette, and all of their products were aloe-based. The Aloette rep, Amanda, was a friend of Andrea's and also a recent concurrent education grad who is doing the parties while she searches for a job. She showed us all the different Aloette products: the make-up line, the bath and body line and the skin care line. I wanted to buy everything!! However, I kept a list of the products that I most wanted and ended up buying a new red lipstick (called Cabaret), a primer stick called Heavenly Sheen and a hand lotion that is supposed to help reduce rashes, skin redness, burns, bug bites, etc. I mainly just liked the smell of it. I also bought a really cool face peel for my step-mom for Christmas, so I hope she likes it! (If not, I will happily use it on her behalf). We placed our orders at the end of the night for pick up later in the week. The party ended around 11pm but Elena and I ended up staying until just past 1 in the morning, catching up and synchro-gossiping with Andrea.  

Wednesday, I had a physio appointment and then went out for brunch with Elena to Cora's. It was a historic meal because we both ventured out from our usual orders (I got the eggs Ben and Dictine, she got French toast). After brunch, we went skating at Bayfront Park. It was so windy! After a fun afternoon, I spent the evening with my siblings and my friend Andrea at Limeridge mall. I made a serious dent in my Christmas shopping before coming home to watch the Michael Buble holiday special. 

Thursday was my first day of work at Bowring and it was great to get back to work! A lot of my friends from Benix were back working and were excited to see me, so I wasn't as nervous as I was when I started last year. When I got there, my boss immediately put me to work greeting people at the door and I had to quickly learn where things were in the store. Bowring has a lot more product than Benix did so my first day was a bit overwhelming, but despite the amount of glitter that I must have inhaled that night, I survived. 

Friday, I went for a manicure and pedicure and then came home to welcome my grandparents to town. They had flown in from Winnipeg for Christmas and also brought their dog, BB. After spending the afternoon with them, I had my second shift at Bowring and I worked until close. During my shift, my manager needed someone to make bows, so I self-taught myself how to make them and spent the rest of the night wrapping ornaments. I didn't work Saturday, as it was Zucker Family Christmas, so we made the trek from Ancaster to Toronto to see my granny and my cousins from Ottawa and Ancaster. They all made fun of me because I spent the afternoon there knitting! We had a late Christmas lunch, followed by a gift exchange and then it was off to the pantomime. The show this year was the Little Mermaid and it was great! They re-wrote the story to be about mermaids living in the Toronto Harbour and included songs from the Top 40 hits (including the iconic "What Does the Fox Say"). Unfortunately for the people sitting around me, they got the added bonus of listening to me sing along! 

Saturday night was also supposed to be the Wenonah Staff Holiday Open House, but due to the extreme weather forecast it was cancelled! And thank goodness it was, as the ice storm started picking up around midnight and by 2am we had lost power! Unfortunately, it was not back on when we woke up but there was still power at Bowring, so into work I went (only to find out that I wasn't actually scheduled to work). Around 2pm, the store lost power so we were all sent home, as the store had to be closed. We had to guide the last few customers out by flashlight! After work, I went with my dad and step-mom to Toronto to attend my godfather's Chinese Christmas banquet dinner. They had no power at their house but there was power at the Chinese Banquet Centre, so before dinner there was a bit of a fight for an outlet (I snagged one). We then sat down for a Chinese Banquet dinner. There was soooo much food - everything from bok choy to lobster to red bean soup. It was all so good but so filling. The people there must have thought I was such a slob while eating but that is only because I was trying really hard to use my chopsticks (Please note that trying does not necessarily mean succeeding). I also gog to meet my godfather's baby, Griffin, who is 13 months old. He is so cute!! 

Eating lobster!

Baby Griffin!

Dad's new favourite wine - "Fat Bastard"

Following the dinner, we drove home and by the time I was dropped of, power in Ancaster had been restored (Thank you Hydro One!!) so I was able to get some much needed sleep. I spent Monday morning at the gym and the afternoon at work and then Lauren, Jamie and I went to see our buddy Santa Claus at Limeridge Mall. Despite being the oldest kids in the line, we still go every year so that my mom can get her annual picture. While there, Santa did ask me what I wanted for Christmas but when I asked for a boyfriend, he said that his elves were too small for me (that's a first!) so I would need to ask for something else. C'mon Santa!! Following our photo, I picked up my Aloette products from Andrea and came home for a family Christmas Eve Eve dinner. 

Tuesday aka Christmas Eve, I went to a spin class at the gym and then to work for the afternoon. There was a lot of prep to do for Boxing Day so I ended up staying later than expected before going to my Uncle Andrew's house for dinner. After dinner and lots of knitting (I had a hat to finish for the next day), my dad, Terri and I went to my friend Andrea's Christmas Eve party. I saw a lot of people from my high school, and we ended up playing Cards Against Humanity late into the night. I then came home and almost pulled an all-nighter finishing my grandpa's hat. I went to sleep around 5am and then woke up at 8 to make the pom-poms. I am happy to say that it was all worth it, as they loved their hats and wore them around all Christmas morning! 

Wednesday was Christmas, and this year we were at my mom's for the morning. After I completed and wrapped my hats, we all went downstairs to open our stockings and presents. Santa (and others) spoiled me and I am happy to say that I am now the proud owner of a pair of Sorel boots! No more cold toes in Quebec! We then went over to my dad's where we did the same present routine all over again and I was spoiled again (Hello new spice rack and Justin Bieber blanket!). Some of my other gifts included a teapot, two down-filled coats, a laptop case and a hygiene basket. I am set for the next semester! It was also a lot of fun to exchange gifts and I loved watching my dad open the Goodlife Membership I got him! With his pass, bag and shirt, he has no excuse to not go to the gym! 

After a morning and afternoon of presents, we went with my mom to London for Christmas dinner at my uncle's fiancé's house. We were there with the entire Webster gang, and Darryl and Denise and her kids. We had our dinner and our gift exchange and then all took turns taking selfies with the life-size Santa in the bathroom! 

On Boxing Day, I worked from 8-3 and Bowring was so, so busy!! People were lined up at 8am at the door! After being worked to exhaustion, I went with my mom and Jamie and Lauren to Darryl's family Christmas. It was very different being with another family, especially since they were all so quiet and tame in comparison to us! At the very least, I hope we provided them with some entertainment! Following dinner, Lauren and I went to see the Justin Bieber movie (my Christmas present to her) in Stoney Creek. We were in a theatre full of teenage girls and cheered and screamed and sang through the entire movie. It was fantastic! Lauren was so touched by the movie that she came home and bought his latest album! 

Friday I had my first sleep-in of the break, only to later realize that I slept through my physiotherapy appointment. Oops. I hit up the Boxing Day sale at Michael's (got some new wool) and then went to the gym with my dad. Yes ladies and gentlemen, you read that correctly. I went to the actual gym with my dad. And he worked out! He put his Christmas present to good use! Following the gym, I went public skating with my friend Zack, received an "anonymous" bouquet of red roses, and then packed to go to Collingwood for the weekend. By 8pm that night, Jamie, Connor, Lauren, my dad and I were on the road to Blue Mountain!

We spent Saturday and Sunday on the slopes and the skiing was fantastic! There was a ton of snow and the temperature was just cold enough to keep the snow solid but warm enough that we did not freeze. The 5 of us skied together on Saturday during the day and night, with a quick stop at Swiss Chalet for diner and then Terri, Tyler and my granny joined us on Sunday for the day. Sunday started off with beautiful weather, but around 2:30 a giant fog cloud appeared and the temperature dropped! We toughed it out for another hour before packing up to head back to the condo and then home. 

Sunday night was the postposed Wenonah Staff Holiday Party, so Lauren and I went to Burlington for the night - Lauren to see a friend and me to go to the party. It was great to see everyone from camp and here about their first semesters, especially the first year staff who had just started university. Several of my best friends from camp couldn't make it, which was really sad but it was nice to see everyone else that was able to make it. I then missioned it across southern Ontario with my friends Alex and Sydney to go the after-party in Guelph but was faced with a tricky situation when we got there - we couldn't find anywhere to park. After stressing out for about an hour, my mom gave me the number to call for an overnight parking pass, so I parked, called and went into the party. We were all there until about 4:30am, at which point we went our separate ways, mine being to Hannah's student house "just down the road (aka a 20 minute walk) from the party." We were freezing by the time we got home! So I put on all of my layers and curled up to get some sleep (3 and a half hours) before getting up and making the trip home to Ancaster. 

With my boss at the staff party! 

So that brings us to today. This morning, I brought Sydney and Alex back here for some breakfast and relaxation post-party and we watched the Price is Right until Sydney was picked up. I then took Alex took the train station, went to SAIL with my mom and then to physio. While there, I was called into work, so I came home to take a quick shower before heading into glitter central aka Bowring. After a 4 hour shift, I came home for dinner and Downton Abbey on our new Netflix account with my awesome* mom. Oh yes, and I finished a knitting project - all in all, a successful night! 

So as you can see, I haven't really taken any sort of break sine being home, but really, when have I taken any sort of break this year? 2013 was certainly a big year for me and despite many ups and downs, it was overall pretty great. I finished my first year of university, worked as a landscaper, achieved my dream of being a counsellor, worked as a language monitor, became a student teacher, learned to knit and spent some great times with family and friends. So thank you to each and every person that helped make my year so special and I hope that 2014 will be a continuation of the great year I have had. As for New Year's Resolutions, I haven't thought of mine yet, so that will be my task for today and I will let you know next week! Happy New Year everyone! I hope that tonight you will be somewhere to ring in the New Year in style! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxxo

PS Back in September, I applied to work in DisneyWorld for the summer and had just begun to give up  hope BUT today I got an email to start the second round of the application process. I don't have many details yet but I will keep you posted as I go through the application! 

*was paid to put include this 

Talk to you next year! 

Love Erica