Bored and sleepy at work on a Friday afternoon looking forward to tomorrow

I've been looking at the list of Blogs of Note, between bouts of pretending to sound professional and caring on the phone, and got bored of that and decided to finally blog myself a bit. I would have done it from my phone to include a picture but I'm too close to my data limit of 1G for this billing period (yes Canadian phone plans suck compared to Americans, I'm told they have UNLIMITED internet on their phone plans!) and have to wait it ends on the 6th of Sept. for it to reset.

I came across a non-functional link to a blog called Picture a Day or something, which sounds like a cool idea to me right now and I'd start doing it, but probably won't cause I can't be bothered to take the time to do it the old-fashioned way (i.e. not by phone) and by the time the next billing period begins I will have probably forgotten by then.

Ok so let's see what has happened and will be happening lately in my life...

I watched the newest video by Epic Mealtime (which I can't link to since YouTube is blocked at work so look it up yourself), and didn't like it much except for the fact that they used my FAVORITE SANDWICHES to make SAUSAGES with! I used to work there when I was going to cegep at Abbott and have loved the stuff ever since. So I decided that I had to get myself food grinder and sausage stuffing attachments for the ancient KitchenAid that me & Carlo inherited from his Italian grandmother so that I can do that too! So I posted on Facebook saying I wanted that for my birthday.

Last year I asked for and got a pasta machine which I had also asked for, and is currently not being used enough. Hmmm maybe I should resolve to use all my unused kitchen appliances (rice cooker, slow cooker and pasta maker) at least once a month and then post about it... Lollll yeah right. Like THAT'S gonna happen... It would be cool but I know I'll never get around to doing it for all the other shiny things that distract me, and even if I put a reminder on my phone to do it or something I'll just turn off the alarm and put it off cause I can't do it right away, or don't feel like it at that moment, or something.

I have a serious lack of self-discipline when it comes to personal cooking projects. My cooking style is more of "do-what-I-feel-like-doing-at-the-moment-and-don't-try-to-plan-ahead-cause-I'll-fail-to-do-so". Example: my solemn vowing to make tonkotsu ramen upon discovering what it was and buying all the ingredients except the kansui and then when I finally found the kansui a few months later I had eaten half of the ingredients already and couldn't be arsed to get more any time soon.

Well, that turned into a ramble...

Yesterday I got a call from my friend Kris who I hadn't spoken to in over 6 months. He said he's moving back to Montreal with his girlfriend Bailey and that life is good and asked if we could shelter them while they looked for an apartment at the end of September since they're arriving from out west. We told them no problem, we'll be happy to, they can even inherit our apartment when we move out at the end of November if they can't find anything till then if they want, although I doubt that they won't be able to find anything.

I was really happy to hear from him since last time we spoke he was all depressed, drinking and taking drugs, going crazy and in a bad relationship etc, but now all is good :) He asked me to make friends with Bailey cause he feels bad that he's taking her away from all her friends and family in Alberta. I told him I'd be more than happy to, and last night I couldn't sleep for the excitement of thinking up plans of all the things I want to show her around Montreal when we have time :) Stuff that even I haven't done yet, like go on the Saute-Moutons, to the top of the Olympic Stadium tower, and the Biodome. I know, and I call myself a Montrealer? :P He says she's a "vegan hippy artist chef" chick, I bet she'll love going to the tams :P

Tonight my sister is coming over for the weekend and we're going to Carlo's mom's place to help them move her stuff out of Carlo's old room so his uncle Reno can move his stuff into it so we can eventually move our stuff into his place downtown in November lol.

On top of that tomorrow I'm having a bbq at my place with about 10 people, I can't wait! I'm gonna make burgers, corn on the cob and crispy baked potato wedges. I can't wait! I hope it goes well :) I'll try to remember to take some pictures :)

Then on Labor Day weekend we have the usual double birthday bash for my sister and my friend Steph, their birthdays being the 5th and 6th of Sept. So far we're planning on going to LaRonde on Saturday and l'Auberge du Dragon Rouge on Sunday. Search for Epic to find last year's posts about it.

Almost time to get off work, yay!

Best Study Ever

Apparently wasting time online boosts worker productivity. Gonna have to show this to my boss...

Matsuri Japon

I have to go to this next year! And in the meantime make some of those dishes...

Sushi Palace and an awesome zombie-mario-themed tattoo

We went to the restaurant that opened up where the Hotpot used to be. It was delicious, clean, beautiful and had decent service. $23 for all-you-can-eat sushi for dinner on weekends. Clicky to see full size!

Inside with a view towards the bar:

At the top of the stairs in the entrance:

With a view of the sushi bar at the back:

The front entrance:

Inside, with a view towards the front:

At the top of the stairs in the entrance there was a waterfall:

Now I just have to convince Richard and Elias that it isn't too fancy for them to at least try ONCE...

Sonia's friend Greg had a really cool zombie-mario themed tattoo on his leg that he drew himself:

Tiffany's birthday party and a cosplayer

Here's Dalia and Tiffany with the french braids I made them:

Dalia and I:

Dalia and a stray kitten Tiffany found:

Tiffany, Dalia and I:

Here's a cosplayer I met at the bus stop in front of my house on her way to Otakuthon:

I had lots of fun at the party. Tiffany had made beef & pork burgers, pasta salad and cake, and I brought 2 dozen cobs of corn which we boiled and grilled. The food was delicious! And I also brought her a bottle of cherry brandy and some baileys, which I used to make her bloody brain birthday shots since she and her sister like zombies. It was the first time I made them, and I didn't use a recipe, but I knew adding lemon juice to the baileys would curdle it, so I filled the shot glasses half full of baileys and added a few squirts of lemon juice and poked and stirred it with the handle of a teaspoon till it was all curdled, then added the cherry brandy on top, and stuck a candle in it. They both really liked the idea, especially the little zombie candles :) And a few people managed to choke them down, me included :P Next time I'll use this recipe though, they're much prettier!

We ate and had the shots and then sat around the fire talking and drinking for a while. My friend Dalia who I hadn't seen in forever showed up later, it was nice to see her :) Me & Carlo left at around midnight.

We didn't go to the tams today cause almost everyone is gone to Biccoline this weekend. This evening we're gonna go to the L2 in Chinatown, a favourite bubble tea place of ours. I can't wait!

Random pictures and Tony's birthday party

Here's are some pics I took on our way back from Chinatown last Monday:

This I took on my way back from the Ikea where I bought some Swedish food to bring to my mom since she's from Sweden:

Among other things I bought crayfish and me and my mom devoured them, they were so delicious. This is what I did with the tails after:

Someone at the larping area at the tams last weekend:

Here's my cat Licorice being cute:

And some pictures of Carlo's uncle Tony's 50th birthday party. Here's Carlo's grandfather, a friend of the family named Olga, and Tony:

His grandfather, Olga, me, Teddy and Carlo:

My dad, Carlo's mom, my mom:

My dad, me, Carlo, Carlo's mom, my mom:

My mom and Teddy:

The food was great, there was random store-bought appetizers, lumpia, menudo, lechon kawali, roasted chicken, salad, rice, tiramisu made by Carlo, maha blanca and cantaloupe.

Feast of St-Seraphim

I went to the feast of St-Seraphim on July. 30th in Rawdon where my parents live and I was baptized. There was also a deacon being ordained:

Trip to Rawdon July 3, 2011

Here are the pictures from the trip to Rawdon I took with Carlo to visit my parents during my vacation.

We went to the beach:

And to visit the buffalo farm:

And had a campfire and stayed up till 6am watching the embers die out:

And visited the Dorwin Falls: