Hello everyone and
Happy New Year! Happy 2016!!! Hello from a very snowy and cold Lennoxville! I
hope that you celebrated the end of 2015 and the start of the new year in
style! I would also like to extend a not-so-warm
welcome to winter, which has made its appearance in Ontario and Quebec. While
the skier in me is happy that snow has finally arrived, the “student that walks
to school in freezing cold Quebec” is not as impressed.
So now that I have
caught my blog up on my past semester, I want to share a bit of what I did over
the winter break. While it was my busiest break by far, it was definitely
one of the best. From Disney to Christmas celebrations to seeing friends and
family, I think I just about managed to squeeze everything in – well everything
except a nap! But as I always say, I can sleep when I’m dead, so here is a look
back on everything I got up to this winter break:
On the night I got
home, one of my best friends from home and neighbour, Alex, picked me up at the
end of my carpool and we went out for dinner to State and Main. The food
and martinis there were sooo good! Alex is a huge
fan of “You’ve Gotta Eat Here” so always knows the best new places to try.
After dinner, we drove around the Hamilton Mountain to look for the
best Christmas light displays. Little did we know that there is actually an
annual competition and people register their houses online. We looked up the
winners from last year and toured around the Mountain to see the best displays.
No two houses were alike – some were themed, some had music and some had radio
stations to tune into, like the last one we visited, which was by far the best.
All in all, it was a great first night at home.
As I mentioned in
my last post, celebrating my 21st birthday lasted almost a
month. In fact, I’m pretty sure I celebrated until the 22nd. How did
I manage to celebrate for so long, you ask? Well, earlier in the year, my mom
and I were talking about turning 21 and she suggested that for my birthday, we
take a trip somewhere in the United States. While she was thinking something
along of the lines of Vegas, I instantly said that I wanted to go to Disney
World. Surprised? Didn’t think so. Her response was to remind me that I was
turning 21, not 12, but I was quick to explain my reasoning. When I worked
there two summers ago, my friends there introduced me to a game called Drink
Around the World, a game played at EPCOT. To those unfamiliar with Disney
World, EPCOT is a Disney amusement park that features a world showcase, in
which 11 countries are represented. For the game, you go around the showcase
and buy a drink from every country. Fast-forward to December 13th and my mom
and I were on a place to Orlando! We stayed for three nights at the Caribbean
Beach Resort in the Aruba section, though we spent hardly anytime at our
resort. We landed on the Sunday and went straight to Hollywood Studios. It was not in our original plans to visit Hollywood Studios, but we heard about the Osborne Family
Spectacle of Dancing Lights, a holiday lights display in the Streets of America and could not pass up the opportunity to see it. What’s
more, 2015 was the last year for the lights show which has been on for the past
20 years; needless to say, it was an opportunity not to be missed. All I can
say is WOW! No Christmas lights display I have ever seen can compare to this
one. There was music and a show coordinated to the music, there were moving
parts, a spinning globe, a dancing tree – you name it, they had it. My mom and
I spent a good chunk of time taking pictures and videos but no camera could do
the show justice. After being thoroughly impressed by the show, we walked in
the pouring rain over to the Boardwalk for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Trattoria Al Forno. We had to walk through a resort to get there and we passed
by their pool, so we stole some towels in order to dry off before going to the
restaurant. We still looked like wet dogs, so they sat us near the fire, which
we were thankful for. The dinner and dessert were delicious! It was still
raining when we left the restaurant, so we decided to call it a night and head
back to Aruba.
On Monday, we went to the Magic Kingdom, which opened early for resort guests
(thank you extra magic hours). This enabled us to ride the Seven
Dwarfs Mine Train, the ride that opened while I was working there, without waiting for 2 hours. My mom had
never ridden it before, so it was fun to take her on it. We used our fast
passes to do three more rides and then we went to the Crystal Palace for lunch.
The Crystal Palace is a character buffet with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Tigger
and Eyeore, who visit your table while you are eating. Earlier that morning, my
mom had picked up a birthday button for me, so the characters gave me a
birthday card and sang me happy birthday. It was so great!! And the food was
delicious too! We were very full when we left, but got outside just in time to
watch the Festival of Fantasy Parade. I still remembered all the words to the
parade soundtrack. Following the parade, we did the Jungle Cruise ride, which
had been made over for the holidays as the Jingle Cruise, and the animals and
scenery were decked out as well. We did a few more rides and then we went to
the Disney Springs (the new and improved Downtown Disney) to do some shopping.
After picking up a few souvenirs, we went to the Contemporary Resort for
dinner, where we saw one of the creations for the Holiday Gingerbread Display,
which was a large version of Elsa’s Palace from the movie Frozen. To make the
palace, the designers used 273 eggs, 222 lbs. of icing and 423 lbs. of
chocolate!It was very impressive! We then hustled back to the
Magic Kingdom to watch Wishes (the fireworks show) and Celebrate the Magic (the
lights show on the front of Cinderella’s castle), both which had an added touch
for the holidays! They were sooo beautiful. We then watched the electrical
parade, picked up some more souvenirs, marvelled at the castle and sadly, said
goodbye to the Magic Kingdom.
Tuesday, the day
for Drink Around the World finally arrived! We started the morning with Mickey
waffles and then headed to the EPCOT. We rode our favourite ride, Soarin’, but
unfortunately, when we wanted to ride Test Track, the ride broke down and
everyone had to get out of line. The World Showcase was also decked out for the
holidays, featuring a “Holidays Around the World” celebration, for which every
country had some way of showing how the holidays are celebrated there. We met
Father Christmas and performed carols in the streets in England, watched a man
in Germany glass-blow ornaments, and saw the candlelight processional narrated
by America Ferrera in the United States. While we celebrated the holiday season
internationally, we did the Wine Walk around the world showcase. For this, we
got 6 2-oz glasses of wine – 2 in Germany, 2 in Italy and 2 in France. This was
a more cost-effective of way of drinking around the world. We ended our tour in
Mexico, with dinner and margaritas at the San Angel Inn and then watched the
EPCOT fireworks, Reflections. We then went back to the Boardwalk to go to Jelly
Rolls, a duelling piano bar, which I was finally old enough to get into. It was
so cool! There were 4 rotating pianists and you wrote your request on a napkin
and took it to the stage for the pianists to play. On the night we were there,
there were 2 birthday celebrations, an engagement and an anniversary in the
audience, so the pianists played songs for them. We stayed there until just
before 1am, were back at our hotel in bed by 2 and were up again at 3 to go to
the airport and come back to Ontario.
On Thursday, Gavin
came down to visit me, and my dad took us and Terri to the Buffalo Sabres game
that night. Gavin had never been to an NHL game before, so it was a real treat
to take him to his first game. While my dad and I were decked out in our fan
attire, Gavin, a dedicated Toronto Maple Leafs fan, refused to wear a Sabres
shirt. We went to the Lexus club for dinner and then watched the game against the
Anaheim Ducks. While we were not successful in making it on to the Kiss-Cam,
the Sabres were successful in beating the Ducks!
My birthday
celebrations continued over the next weekend. On Saturday, my mom, Lauren and
Jamie and I went for our annual Festive Specials at Swiss Chalet, which were delicious as always. On Sunday, I went to Toronto to meet my granny and see a
show downtown. She takes me to see a show for my birthday every year, and this
year we saw Kinky Boots. We were supposed to go in the spring, but my work
schedule did not leave me with a spare weekend to go, and the show was
scheduled to end in November, so we did not think I would get a chance to see
it, but luckily it was extended through until March. And thank goodness it was
because it was one of the best shows I have ever seen! Thanks Granny for taking
me!
On the 21st,
it was Gavin’s birthday, so he picked me up in Scarborough and I went to Port
Hope to spend the day with him. It was unfortunately very gray and rainy that
day so our plans of walking around the main street of PH were foiled, but we
still went out for a really nice dinner with his parents and visiting aunt.
Little did we know we were actually going for dinner and a show – we went to a
restaurant called the Carlisle Inn, which is in a very old building, and while
we were waiting for our dessert, a little bat came flying in! The waitress was
too scared to even enter the room! Thanks to the help of two of the cooks, the
bat was removed from the room! It was a birthday dinner that will not be
forgotten!
On Tuesday, Gavin
drove me home (in his new car!!!) and then stayed in Ancaster for the night. My
grandparents from Winnipeg had flown in that day, so I introduced Gavin to
them. After dinner, we tried to go see Star Wars, but it was sold out
everywhere, so went to see the Hunger Games instead. The next day, we went out
for our annual Christmas lunch at the Hamilton Golf Club, which was delicious,
and then went to Limeridge Mall to sit on Santa’s lap. Usually, we only do one
photo, but Gavin, and my mom’s boyfriend, Ron had not sat on his knee in many
years, so we had to do a small photo shoot.
The day did not
end there. Gavin and I drove into Toronto to go to a party at his friend’s
house in Scarborough. We went to his sister’s place in the Distillery District
first, put on our Christmas sweaters, then went to the party. It was my first
time meeting his friends from high school, and they were all very sweet and
welcoming. Actually, I knew one other person there, a friend named Meaghan, who
had gone to Camp Wenonah for many years with me. It was nice to see a familiar
face when I walked in the door. We did a Secret Santa gift exchange, for which
I wrapped up homemade hot chocolate powder and Bailey’s, and received Starbucks
coffee and tea – it’s like my Secret Santa knew they had me! We stayed there
pretty late and then I used Uber for the first time to get back to Gavin’s
sister’s place. It was a very fun night
- hopefully I get invited back in the future.
On the morning of
Christmas Eve, we went for a walk around the Pan Am Games site and saw the
renovations going on in that area. I got dropped off at Union station and had a
#ItsASmallWenonahWorld moment, when I ran into one of my co-workers while
waiting for the train. She had been in town for the Wenonah Staff Christmas
party, which I had unfortunately been unable to attend due to my family lunch.
The rest of the day flew by as I scrambled to get all my presents wrapped and
under the various trees. We then went to my dad’s brother’s house for dinner,
where I had a small-world Bishop’s story when I learned my aunt’s mom once
taught in the Eastern Townships at the school where I did my first practicum
and completed her science degree at BU! What makes it even better is that my uncle’s
friend was over, who is a BU grad, so we had 3 Gaiters at our Christmas Eve
dinner! How crazy is that? Following dinner, we went to my friend’s annual
family Christmas Eve party where I saw all my friends from the street I grew up
on. We did not stay for too long since we had to go to bed so Santa could come!
Christmas was as
crazy as usual. We woke up and spent the morning with my mom and grandparents
and then went to my dad’s to spend the afternoon with my dad, step-mom and
step-brothers. Santa and my family definitely spoiled me, and I am very
thankful for everything I received. I got a lot of new running gear, including
a water bottle belt, a new winter shirt, mitts and a neck warmer so I can
continue running in the Lennoxville winters. I have already put them to great
use. We then went to see my maternal side of the family and drove out to my
mom’s brother’s house in London for Christmas dinner. My uncle and his
girlfriend hosted us in their new house this year, so it was a little less
squished than past years. It was great to catch up with all of my cousins. My
one male cousin Duncan told me all about his new job with Mattamy Homes; for
his current assignment, he is designing a subdivision in North Pickering! Much
to Ron’s dismay, the rumoured annual dancing and singing party did not happen,
but we did have a car racing competition, in which my grandpa lost a lot of
money in various bets. One of my cousins got a selfie stick for Christmas,
which was used to take our family photo, in which my grandma sported the latest
fashion – the schnauzer hat. Never a dull moment at Christmas with the
Websters!
On Boxing Day, I
shopped for a grand total of 45 minutes, only to experience the disappointment
of the century when the one item I went to buy was NOT on sale. Lured in under
false hopes, I bought the watch anyway. We then made a family outing to see
Sisters, the new Tina Fey and Amy Poehler movie, which had my mom and I in
tears laughing so hard, whole everyone else in the theatre slightly chuckled at the
movie and laughed at my mom and me. Following the movie, we went to my dad’s
for a turkey dinner and spent the night there. The entertainment for the
evening was Jamie and Connor’s new laser pointers, straight from the streets of
Italy. They were shining them into our
neighbours’ houses, to the point that two of them actually came over to yell at
the boys! Lucky for them, Terri fended the angry neighbours off, but told Jamie
and Connor they would have to fend for themselves if any more neighbours dropped
by.
On the 27th,
I FINALLY met up with Elena for our routine visit to Cora’s for brunch. As per
usual, I ran into several people that I knew, including a former fellow
flautist from high school band, a former soccer teammate and a friend’s younger
sister (Small town problems). It was great to catch up with Elena, and hear
about her semester and job at my old skating club. She is now choreographing solos and has skaters competing. Our visit was cut
short as she had cousins from out of town visiting, but it was still an
afternoon well spent. That night, I went to see my friend Andrea and test out
her new hot tub. Verdict – it’s wonderful. We did not have much time to catch
up at her Christmas Eve party, so it was nice to have her all to myself for a
few hours. We then served as Jamie’s personal Uber service, only to have him light the way home with his laser pointer and recount his
evening with his friends wandering the streets and pointing the lasers into
houses. And Terri thought the boys would not like the gift…
On the 28th,
the Brady Bunch went axe throwing. Now, if you’re like me, you might be
wondering what the heck axe throwing is, but it is exactly what it sounds like.
You throw axes at wooden target boards. Terri had heard about it from her
colleagues so we decided to give it a try. We went to a place called Bad Axe
Throwing in Mississauga and had a two-hour session, complete with a throwing
lesson and many competitions. We were in a garage in an industrial park and had
the gym to ourselves. Dad, Terri, Connor
and I were a team (the Bulls-eye’s), and Lauren, Tyler and Jamie were a team
(the Bad Axes). We threw the axes with two hands, one hand, eyes closed, upside
down, on the diagonal, and two at a time. To end the session, we had an every
person for themselves contest, for which Jamie was the overall winner. Despite
my initial hesitations, it was so much fun!
On the 29th,
I drove up with my granny to Collingwood to meet up with Gavin and his family
who were staying in the Blue Mountain Village. On the way up, we stopped for lunch with my
granny’s old neighbour, Pat Carter, who I had not seen in many years. We used
to make gingerbread houses with Pat every year. She now lives on a farm north
of Toronto in a beautiful, beautiful home. When we were there, she had just
finished renovating her basement. She is now a grandmother and has three
grandkids of her own. I learned all about them over lunch. It was a real treat
to see Pat this break.
I then stayed with
Gavin and his parents over New Year’s. Unfortunately, there was almost no snow
at Blue Mountain, so we did not get to ski, but spent time shopping in downtown
Collingwood and in the Blue Mountain Village, went hot tubbing, and saw the
Collingwood Ice Sculpture display. We went out for dinner the three nights I
was there, the first night for Greek food with his parents, the second night
for a sushi date and the third night all together for New Year’s Eve. New Year’s
was a lot of fun – we went for a really nice dinner, then drinks at the Westin
hotel and rang in the New Year with the midnight fireworks. Happy 2016!
I traveled back to
Ancaster on the 1st and then mom, Lauren, Jamie, Ron and I went to
do the Chedoke stairs, which is a set of 289 stairs up the side of the
escarpment. We went up them 10 times. Starting the new year off right. My
calves have not stopped hurting since then. I then had one last meal at home
and packed my suitcase to go back to school.
For my last day of
break, we had my Zucker family Christmas at my granny’s place in Scarborough.
First, I went with all of my cousins to see the Ross Petty pantomime, which
this year was Peter Pan. It was a bittersweet show, as it was the last time
Ross Petty would be in the show. But the show did not disappoint and I did not
stop laughing throughout the entire performance. After the show, we went back
to my granny’s house for dinner and gifts, and Gavin joined us for dinner. I had no
idea what my family would pull out to “welcome” him, but sure enough, as he
pulled into the driveway they started chanting his name as he walked up to the
door. And of course, the brag book was pulled out and all my baby pictures were
on full display. Despite it all, the evening was really nice – a great way to
end my break.
And today I drove
back to Lennoxville with Gavin and his roommate Chuck. We were on the road for
about 7 hours in total, and only encountered one bad patch of snowy weather. Now,
I’m catching up with all my roommates, and eagerly awaiting Jen and Hannah to
come home. I start classes at 9am tomorrow morning and can’t wait to see what
this semester will bring!
Happy first day
back to reality to everyone heading back to school and work tomorrow! Thank you
to everyone who spoiled me rotten this winter break! Wishing you all a happy,
healthy and successful 2016!
All my love,
Erica xoxoxoxox
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