My Bad Luck With Hotels

This weekend I went to Calgary and stayed at the Hyatt. If you're familiar with this particular hotel then you're a much classier person than I am. The elevator went so fast my ears popped, the room (on the 15th floor) had a massive bathroom, a stunning king size bed, and a fantastic view (though anything from the 15th floor is usually a pretty good view). In case you're wondering, I slept just fine on that king bed and lounged on Sunday morning while watching Saved By the Bell reruns on the 32" LCD tv. Gorgeous.
Sunday morning (after Saved by the Bell), I got up and did my morning shower-blow-dry-hair-apply-makeup-get-dressed routine. I was just about finished when an odd sound fills my room. I stood there confused for a moment and then realized it was the fire alarm. I was not filled with panic. No, I casually finished dressing, grabbed my purse, my coat, my keys, my room key, and my suitcase and left the room, carefully scanning it before I left to make sure I hadn't left anything really critical. It killed me a little to have to leave behind my heaps of purchases from IKEA (the irony of having to go out of town before I could finally buy curtains for the house only to have them burn in a hotel fire was bittersweet), but I knew there was no way I could carry everything. I followed an older couple down the hall to the stairs and started to descend. Interesting point: the 15th floor is very impressive...until you have to walk down 15 flights of stairs while wondering if the building will collapse around you in a fiery inferno.
It was around the 8th floor that the alarm finally shut off and a voice came on the intercom declaring that there was no emergency. Rather than turn around and go back UP those 7 floors, I kept going downward. The alarm came back on. Then it went off. Then there was another alarm. Then it stopped too. By this time I was down in the lobby and decided to just go for breakfast. (Does $17.85 for two eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee sound a little steep to anyone?)
P.S. It took me three trips up and down the elevator to finally get all of my IKEA loot to the car.

My Mum and Me

Aside from finding my wedding dress, this past weekend was a ton of fun, as I got to hang out with Mum for three and a half days!

The weekend started on Thursday when I drove to Regina to surprise Mum at the airport by picking her up. (She wasn't expecting me until Friday morning). I went and checked into the hotel and then headed out to the airport where I sat for more than a half hour waiting for her plane. I thought I would see it land, but apparently I was mistaken. I was watching out the window when I heard a lot of happy-people-noises behind me. I turned around and realized there were people from the flight milling about in the arrivals area around the baggage conveyor belts. I lept up and went to wait at the bottom of the stairs for Mum to come down. I waited. And waited. And waited. Then the flight attendants and pilots came down the stairs and I knew I had missed her. She was traveling light and had only carry-on, so she just walked out the doors, grabbed a cab, and went to the hotel. All the while I was sitting right there around the corner at a little cafe table. I drove back to the hotel, hoping in vain to beat her there but went up to the room to see her sitting on the bed talking to Dad on the phone. So much for my amazing sneaky plan!

On top of dress shopping, we went to Michaels (YAY!), and Chapters (double YAY!). We ate at Bonanza, and East Side Marios, and enjoyed take-out in the hotel room, drank much tea, had TCBY yogurt, and watched Bride Wars on pay per view in the hotel. We dealt with a power outage at 11pm in the hotel (see, those little keychain flashlights do come in handy!), and shopped till we dropped (literally, I had a nap when we got back to the hotel room on Sunday evening)

I'm so glad that Mum could come and spend the weekend with me! The only bad part was when I had to drop her off at the airport on Monday morning.

Ambitious? Maybe.

At the end of the weekend, Mum commented in amazement at our level of ambitiousness at believing we could meet for a weekend in Regina, find and buy a dress, and get it altered. Yet we never for a moment thought it wouldn't happen. In retrospect, it was definitely an ambitious goal, but one we achieved happily!
Mum flew in on Thursday and Vassy came to Regina on Friday morning to help me find my dress. We went to my first appointment Friday morning where I tried on so many stunning dresses! After lunch we went two more places and by the end of the day I was beat.
Saturday was just me and Mum and we hit four more shops (effectively covering every bridal boutique in Regina, I believe). I probably tried on around 30 dresses in totwl, but just couldn't find anything nicer than the ones at the first shop. So Mum and I went back and I tried on my two top choices again about 4 times each and was feeling so overwhelmed that we had to leave again and grab a chai to clear our heads and weigh the options. We finally made the choice and as soon as I tried it on once more I knew I had chosen right!
So, I now have my wedding dress! I'm gonna be a bride!!!

Finally! Something to talk about!!

There have been many many many things I have been tempted to blog about, but alas, cannot. Let's face it, how can I preach to others that "a blog is not personal property but public domain" and "you have to be careful what you write" and then go on here and vent my frustrations by writing slanderous comments and potentially destroying my credibility and completely destroying the known universe? I just can't, in good conscience do such a thing, so sadly, the blog has suffered.

I'm a boring person these days. Don't believe me? I'll prove it. Here is a typical conversation:

You: "Hey! How's it going?"

Me: "Meh"

You: "Just meh? Why? What's going on? What's new?"

Me: "Meh. I work. Lots."

You: "Oh yeah? Well, we should get together?"

Me: "Um...I go to bed at 8:30."

You: "Wow...you're sure dull, J-dub. I don't ever want to talk to you again. Goodbye"

So maybe that's a little extreme, but you get the picture. Not much longer though...my two-job-status will be ending at the end of this month and from there on in, I'm back to the good ole 8 hour day (instead of 12).

Ok, I titled this blog "Finally! Something to talk about" because I do actually have something very exciting happening! Mum is coming to Regina this weekend (in fact, she's probably just about to board a plane as we speak) to go dress shopping with me! I don't think I could be more excited if I tried! And as the icing on the cake, Vassy is coming down for the day tomorrow to go to my appointments with us! This is really truly thrilling for me! Two key members of my Support Net in one city focusing all of their attention on ME! Seriously, this speaks to my vanity enormously. I'm excited to see Mum finally (haven't since October) and to have three wonderful days in the city together. It's a little bittersweet though...you see, she would have stayed longer and come to Swift if I weren't working two jobs, but she wouldn't be coming at all if I weren't working two jobs because we wouldn't be getting married this summer on my single-paycheck living.

Other thrilling things on the horizon for me include NKOTB on April 11th, Frank and Christi coming to visit on April 16th (YAY!!!!!), and Mare's wedding in May. This year is most definitely not going as fast as I had anticipated. Sure there's lots to look foward to, but it's taking forever!

Throwin Darts

A strange thing happened to me this morning...so Chance and Jon had me on the morning to talk about it!
Have a listen

Dear Driver...

Dear Driver who was Riding my Ass on the Number 7 Highway,

Thank you for making sure my license plate was screwed on properly. I assume that's what you were doing while you were driving so very close to me on Sunday afternoon. It was very kind of you to be so concerned for the welfare of my car.

I would also like to thank you for passing both myself and the semi I was following when we reached the first clear stretch of passing lane. You were absolutely right to take advantage of the few meters of dotted center line to get out from behind the slow moving truck. I assure you, I had no intention of passing the semi. I was simply following him because I don't like to be the first in any lineup - it seems rude to me. Really, don't worry, I stayed where I was because I really like it when my windshield gets pelted with rocks. Please don't feel any guilt at being what some would call a "budger". I personally believe that if you feel you can pass 13 cars and get to the front of a line up, you absolutely should, regardless of how long those other vehicles have been sitting behind the semi waiting patiently for a passing lane to present itself. You are, afterall, King of the Road.

Thank you once again for diligently shaving those 5 minutes off of your trip by making me wait another 15 for another opportunity to pass the semi (even though I had no intentions of doing so).

It was a pleasure,

Jessica

OMG Brides!!

On Sunday I went to Saskatoon for a Welcome Wagon Bridal Show. It was a gorgeous day for a drive and I had nothing else to do, so the trip was a good excuse to get out for a day.
The show was at the Travel Lodge and I was hit with the sudden realization that I would likely be surrounded by wedding-crazed-bridezillas when trying to find a parking spot.
Inside I met Vassy and registered. A little girl in a pretty flower girl dress came up to me with a mini-carnation and asked me to wear it so everyone will know I'm a bride. SOOOOO cute!
Vassy and I then made our way through the lobby and into the banquet room where we began to fight our way through the throngs of brides and guests to see the booths. The fashion show was really nice to watch and got me super excited for dress shopping with Mum next weekend. There wasn't a lot that I liked, but it gave me some ideas anyway.
The show took most of the afternoon and I'm sorry to report I did not win the 42" Plasma tv with entertainment stand and digital camera door prize. Sigh. But my goodie bag had a ton of coupons and some fun trinkets!! Score!