My Big Sister Betina

This one is for you betina. Betina totatly came to my rescue and found me a hair model from WASHINGTON in less than a day! Why i cannot find my own model in the city where i live, i dont know. Maybe this is saying something about my people skills.

Anyways.. i was full of self loathing today and skipped church because of it.

Then , when i woke up from my day of slumber, betina called me to tell me the good news- she sent out a help message to the land of blogs and her friend Bek has volunteered to be my model.

This is not the only time that betina's come to my rescue. I remember distinctly when i was in first grade --- my mom had a million kids and didnt have time to put any TLC into any one child. So, this left me to my own devices and I'd often to go to school in mismatched clothing and discheleved hair. I remember one day in particular- all of the kids were making fun of me and no one would play with me. That night, I was sobbing myself to sleep when my big sister, betina, (6th grade) crawled into my bunkbed with me, and had a heart to heart to find out why i was so sad.

THe next day she picked out my clothes, put my hair in a braid and made sure i didnt look like a welfare case. Amazingly, all of the kids played with me that day at school. I remember distinctly being invited to play a game of 'tv tag' and i felt so special. I would always say 'elf' when tagged, because we didnt have a TV, so i just copied what all of the other kids said... but that is besides the point.

THanks betina... . you're the best big sister ever!

XOXO

Eve

My Sisters & Brother-

As you know, my sisters Betina, Patience & Celeste (bunny) came for a quick visit last weekend, and we had a blast! I love seeing my family whenever I can. We did almost everything on the list, but couldn’t fit in the mani-pedi’s as we were still at the mall for patience’s shop-a-thon.

Its amazing that in a family of 7 children (6 girls, 1 boy), we all get along. We are not all the same, but I think we embrace our differences and find it interesting to learn more about each other.

Betina- the eldest. 2 kids-married. List orientated, loves to exercise, chocolate addiction, detail orientated & Very clean.

Serinda- 2 kids-married. Hates exercise, loves subculture movies, cooks complicated dishes, sugar cookie champion & has a very quiet home.

Eve- married-no kids. Loves exercise, loves pop-culture, rarely cooks, cleans only when necessary, loves to travel, and has a very loud existence (laughs loud, talks loud).

Patience- dating. Exercises when necessary, cookie baking champion, loves to spend $$, loves socializing and hates crumbs on the counter.

Anders- dating maybe?- Loves non-exercise exercise (rock climbing, biking ect), loves going to movies, loving the outdoors, expert skier, and hates when his sisters as too many questions.

Nawana- Steady boyfriend, recently joined a gym, Shop-o-holic, very fashionable, cookie baking champion, loves to chat on the phone and like eve, has a very loud exsistence.

Celeste- status unknown, walks for exercise, hippie, veggie, artistic, creative, the “quiet” sister, creamy snow white skin, and hates when her sisters as too many questions.

Thanks for coming sisters!! You are always welcome, and we’ll have to start planning out sister celebration 2008! However, even though I’ve called it the ‘sister celebration’, I would lOve for Anders to join in on the fun and have been bugging him for years to come out to California!

XOXO
Eve

Sister Celebration-- Weekend update

Due to popular demand, the responses back voted "yes" to mani/pedis.

I have made appointments for all of us to go to pinkies nail salon for mani/pedis on Saturday at 4pm. Amazing that we all got in at the same time!!

Cost
$38 for mani & pedi
$25 for pedi only
$16 for mani only

Are you excited??

XOXO

Eve

May 4,5,6 Sister Celebration

My sisters (betina, patience & bunny) are coming to visit this weekend, and im SOO excited for the occasion!

I haven’t had a lot of time to plan anything “extra-curricular” as my life is a little insane right now.. but I’m still very excited and there are lots of fun things to do in my hood. Sisters- please read the following and let me know about pinkies or any other ideas you have :)

Friday
*Airport pick up (sean)
*Late lunch/early dinner with Eve (either chipotle or fresh choice- majority rules)
*Eve goes to hair school L
* Wholefoods grocery store w/Sean (organic & vegan)
*Will Ferrell Movie w/Sean
*Late night rendezvous at Cheesecake factory for dessert w/Eve

Saturday
*Run the dish
*Brunch at Hobbes
*Eve can style everyone’s hair using her bazillion hair products (an entire blog in itself)
*Shop (nordy’s rack, Valleyfair mall)
*Matinee movie ( my favorite kind, bc I can actually stay awake)
*Dinner (several options—Hola's (Mexican) is one idea)
*Hola's link: http://www.holarestaurant.com/belmont.htm
Optional:
*Mani-Pedi @ Pinkies nail salon (let me know if you want to do this asap bc I’ll need to make appointments. It’s Text book clean & and they do an awesome job. $38 for both, $25 pedi, $16 mani)
Pinkies link: http://www.pinkiesnailsalons.com/treatments/treatments.php

Sunday
Option #1-
*Drive to Santa Cruz for a walk along the ocean.
* Ride an old skool rollercoaster on Santa Cruz boardwalk (super fun!)
Option #2-
*Church
*Walk the dish or swim
The Above options both include
*Homemade BBQ chicken pizza for dinner @ eve’s place

Notes:
1- Please bring your bathing suit in case it’s sunny (I have a pool at my apartment).
2- Bring an extra bag ( I have gifts to send back).

Paul Mitchell Hair School (SFIEC)

http://www.sanfranciscoinstitute.com/sfiec/

Ok, so most of you know that I started hair school in San Francisco 3 weeks ago ( I just started my 4th week). I have to tell you all how awesome it is! I wish I would have done this years ago! Well, maybe right after BYU.. but then I would not have had any money to pay for it, so I guess now is the right time for me.

Hair school is awesome. Because Im in night school the class size is really small (6 peeps), and our teacher Becky is really awesome. I feel like I found what I was meant to do. Im a really hands on person, I like to be “doing” something, as opposed to just thinking, or talking as many jobs require.

So my days are super busy…here is my schedule:

6am- wake up, go to gym
6:30-7:30 RUN
7:30-8:30 shower, get dressed, get dinner ready for evening
8:30- arrive at work, eat cereal at desk
8:30-4:30- work work work, trying to fit in a full time job into 35 hrs/week
4:3-=5:30- Drive to SF
5:30-6:00- quick break before class starts- eat dinner packed in morning
6:00-10:00- CLASS
10:00-10:40- Drive like a mad woman back home to get some sleep
11:00PM-6:00AM- Sleep … ahh, sweet bliss :)

I know, it sounds insane.. and it is. Im supposed to look “fashionable” for school everyday, and its so hard to think under pressure- I have like 2 minutes to pick out my clothes. I think I should put some outfits together on the weekend, and then just hang up each outfit on a hanger, for easy grab’n’go!

Thus far we’ve learned mostly wet-styling including finger-curls, pin-curls, & roller- sets. This week we are practicing the above and learning braiding, corn rows and an easy up-do! I hope to be a master of the up-do, as I have many sisters left to get married. In fact, this whole hair school thing would be a lot easier if my sisters lived here, because then I could practice all of the time! So, if any of you want to come to California, you can be my hair model :)

We start cutting in 2 weeks (on mannequin heads), and by July I will be cutting on real people, yippee!!

XOXO

Eve

March 2007

As Sean has been working for the last 8 consecutive weekends to due “change-over” (he switched work shifts, and got the short end of the stick) I’ve been keeping myself busy as not to hate him too much on my many many lonesome weekends. Here my friends is a recap of the month of March:

1st weekend- I took a weekend trip to LA to visit one of my dearest friends Aishia. She bought her own place about a year ago and is finally settled with freshly painted walls, and beautiful furniture. Oh, I cannot wait to be a home owner! We shopped, we ate at clebrity hotspot “KOI”, we went to the beach in Malibu, we ate Chipotle burritos, and we just had a fantastic time. I found my dress to for the Tibco party at the Nordstrom’s Rack there, and it was only $65!! (Original price was $250).

2nd weekend: On Saturday me and Harmandeep woke up bright and early Saturday morning and went to this warehouse jean sale. We paid $15 cover, as the flyer boasted sevens, true religion, Frankie B’s, bluc cult ect, all at discounted prices. We were so excited, but then when we got there, we realized it was basically all of the ugly jeans that the department stores couldn’t sell. I did manage to find one really cool pair which are my new favorite pair. Im not sure what kind they are, but they are made in LA, and they are all torn up.. I call them my Rockstar jeans. They are totally inappropriate for work, but I wear them anyways.. hahaha- that’s how cool my job is!

That night we went to the Christina Argularia concert in downtown San Jose. That girl is sooo tiny.. like a little tinkerbell with the voice of a heavy set black lady singing in the gospel choir. She put on an amazing show- probably one of the best I have been to. The pussy cat dolls opened for her, and they were really fun to watch as well- they basically just dance like strippers while the main girl does all of the singing.

3rd weekend: My parents came down from Canada for a visit and we went on the Sea-Voyage from hell. My dad really wanted to go on a long boat ride (instead of snowboarding), so being a dutiful daughter, and found us a 4 hr whale watching tour that left from beautiful Moss landing. About an hour into the trip we were both barfing over the railing (well, actually dad did have one session on the actual boat which the sailor lady had to clean up!!). We continued to get sick for the remaining 3 hrs of the trip. I seriously wanted to just jump ship. I thought that Drowning would be far better than enduring the rest of the rocky journey. Mom, on the other hand, took her sea-sickness medicine ahead of time, and she was having a gay old time watching all of the dolphins and whales with glee.

4th weekend: I took another mini trip to Las Vegas to visit my old BYU friend Jessie Turner. She is such a riot, one of the coolest people I know. Everything I learned about fashion and make up I learned from Jessie or Aishia, both LA breed ladies. We shopped, went to a really good movie, ate at this old man restaurant “Hugos” in the cellar of this old school hotel, and went too a cool burlesque club where we watched some pretty ladies dance ( they had costumes on).

5th weekend: Saturday night was the annual TIBCO party at San Francisco city hall. Sean and I went to this last year, and we were oh so excited to go again. It’s a really fancy affair, so I had a new dress to wear (purchased in LA), I got my make up done at the MAC counter in Bloomingdales, and I did my hair really cute. We ate yummy food, got another caricature done, and danced the night away with the entire finance department, including our VP! It was the craziest scene. Sean is not much of a dancer, so him and Vik (Harmandeep’s husband) played craps all night with monopoly money. I had the best time ever! We stayed until the very end of the party 12am, which is unheard of from Sean as he is always trying to cut out of everything early (school, church, parties ect).

Next, up , I will post about HAIR SCHOOL!!! Stay tuned!

Steve Madden update-

So i just found out that Steve Madden just got out of JAIL for tax evasion!! see the following exerpts below:

White Collar Prisoners at a Glance
By Associated Press12:06 PM PST, March 6, 2005

Martha Stewart is the most recent in a line of high-profile people convicted of white-collar crimes and sentenced to prison, including:* * Steve Madden, founder of shoe company bearing his name, currently serving a 41-month sentence for stock fraud and money laundering.

Shoe Company Chief Sentenced in Fraud Case
By ROBERT F. WORTH
A federal judge sentenced Steve Madden, the founder of the women's shoe line that bears his name, to 41 months in prison for securities fraud and money laundering.April 5, 2002 Business News

Shoe Designer Pleads Guilty To Charges of Stock Fraud
By KENNETH N. GILPIN
Steven Madden, designer and retailer of shoes for young women, and founder of Steven Madden Ltd, pleads guilty to federal charges of securities fraud and money laundering; Madden pleads guilty before Judge Kimba M Wood and at hearing later before Judge John Gleeson; sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept 6; photo May 24, 2001


This story just keeps getting better and better!

(Don't you just LOVe google! All the information you could ever want at your finger tips)

Steve Madden Addiction


Ok, so I admit, I have turned into a shoe-slut. Not just any shoe-slut--- but Steve Madden’s in particular. I cannot tell you the exact # of pairs that I own, or even that I have purchased this year. They are my absolute favorite shoe. They are wide enough for my fat feet, they have the coolest designs, and they have a never ending selection of wedges, which are by far my favorite. Its like wearing a pump, but with the comfort and stability of a flat.

So, I’m at the Steve Madden store at Valley Fair Mall last night. You see, very shortly I am going to have a crazy insane schedule, and will no longer have a lot of free time in my life. Therefore, I thought it best to take advantage of my last 2 weeks of freedom and make use of my time.

I went to the mall right after I ran 7.5miles of hills in the sun. I didn’t shower, instead I just threw on my jeans and a Roxy hoodie and drove to the mall. I was by no means looking my best. (this is an important detail for later in the story, I promise).

After trying on about 10 pairs of shoes, I finally settle on a pair of orangey-red wedges (because a girl can never have enough wedges), and a pair of extremely sensible black flats (for work). Just as I was about to bring my purchases to the register, this group of three middle aged men come into the store in full on golfing apparal. They looked like a walking advertisement for Titlest. 2 of the sit down and the other makes his way to the counter and says to the cute, 18 yr old blonde sales girl-

Creepy Guy, “I’m looking for a pair of black pumps in an 8”.

At this point, I rolled my eyes, and was thinking he was just another creepy old man picking up on a young girl--- Pathetic! I hurried to the counter, trying not to make eye contact with the creepy guy. He then caught my eye, and said hello. I couldn’t be rude, so I just gave him a tight-lipped smile and a kurt “hi” back.

Creepy guy then says to me “ You look a lot like a girl I know…do you have a sister that works at …… in florida” ( I didn’t catch the entire sentence as I was really focused on ignoring the guy).

I replied, “ I look like a lot of people. I get that all the time”, and turned my attention back to the sales dude ringing up my shoes.

Creepy guy then says to my sales dude “Are you the manager?”

Sales dude “yes”

Creepy guy, “Well let me introduce myself, I’m Steve Madden”.

Eve chimes in “Shut up, you are so NOT Steve Madden- let me see your license!”

Sales dude- ‘I thought it was you!”

Creepy guy then goes to the front of the store where his 2 golfing buddies are waiting.

I then whisper to the 2 sales associates “ Is he REALLY STEVE MADDEN?” (Im sure it was MORE than a whisper), to which they replied “Yes”.

Eve chimes in, “No way, how do you know?”

Sales Dude “We have a Picture of him in the back!”

I then fall over my self in awe….. I cannot believe I just met STEVE MADDEN… the man of my every foot fantasy.. in the flesh… and I was a complete Biot***CH!!!

So I’m done with my purchase, and am leaving the store.

Steve Madden (formally Creepy guy), comes back over to me and starts another conversation: (please keep in mind, I am now star struck and cannot get a single intelligent or witty thing out of my mouth). First off, he shakes my hand!!!

Steve Madden “Do you live here?”

Eve, “Yes”

Steve Madden “What did you buy?”

Eve, “Oh, just a couple of pairs of shoes”

Steve Madden (looks down at the shoes I am wearing and says, “What are those? Those are really nice”

Eve, (lifts up her pant leg to give full view of the SM back Wedge sandel “Well you did make them, they’re last season. I only wear your shoes!’

Steve Madden, (rubs my arm and says), “Well Thank you very much, you are very pretty”

Eve (abruptly exists the conversation and store), “Ah thanks…. You make great shoes”.

AHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh---- I then skip over to Nordys (just across from the Steve madden store), get on my cell phone and rehearsed the entire conversation to Harmandeep. The funny thing is, I talk REALLy loudly, and im sure he heard my entire conversation!

How cool is that!! I met Steve madden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(PS- i googled a picture of him and yes, this is the Man i met!!!)))))

My Tender Hot-CoCo Lovin’ Man


So we’re at a big year end work dinner with all of Sean’s Police Officer buddies at Maggiano’s on Wednesday night. The guys that Sean works with are all “manly- men” so to speak. They drink a lot of Beer, watch football, love guns, and part of their job requires them to beat people up for a living. (This of course, Is not a Rodney king type of beating, and force is only used when required for officer safety).

Anyways, the dinner is winding down, everyone has had a few drinks, and the waiter comes around for any last requests of coffee, wine or dessert. A few people opt for coffee, the waiter leaves the table, and then Sean shouts-

“Do you have any Hot-Co Co?”

He got a lot of slack from the guys for ordering such a child’s drink-

Everyone got a lot of laughs in at Sean’s expense- but Sean didn’t care. He said, "Baby, I’m your Tender Hot CoCo lovin’ Man!"

Wardrobe Choices

Early morning phone call with my sister betina

Eve: “Whats Eden Wearing today”

Betina: “ A jean skirt and tights…. I let her pick out her own clothes today”

Eve: “I let Sean pick out his own clothes everyday… at least since I’ve re-vamped his wardrobe. I figure, as long as I bought it, its ok for him to wear”

Betina: “So you’ve purchased ALL of Sean’s clothes”

Eve: “Yup- everything except some old church clothes and workout wear”


When I first met Sean, he was a fashion disaster. His wardrobe consisted of baggy old man corduroys, a plethora of plaid shirts, ulgy brown old man shoes and a really 80’s haircut, shaved bald to his ears & kept long & compeltely gelled to the back of his head. His hair looked like a cross between a Mexican gangster and John Travolta in Greese.

In the beginning I could never figure out if I was attracted to him. Whenever we were doing something active, and he was in shorts, t-shirt and a baseball hat, I thought he was totally cute. But then we’d go out to dinner, he’d “dress-up” and he looked like a completely different (not-so-cute) person. I could not figure out what it was, or if I was even attracted to him, however, he was the nicest guy I had ever dated, and I wasn’t willing to drop him just bc he looked like 1985. Then it dawned on me… before I would know if he was the “one”, he would have to give the man a makeover.

I started out slowly, buying him a nice banana republic knit shirt for his birthday (Oct), then we went to the Gilroy outlets together and got him cool puma sweats and sneakers (Nov). Then in December, we went to Utah together to meet my sister, friends and the Litchy’s. We went to a really trendy salon for a haircut, and then went shopping for flattering jeans and a sweater. Only then was I ready to introduce him to my world of people! But let me tell you, the transformation was amazing and he turned into a babe.

Sean jokes now that god kept him ugly to keep him single until I came around. His Valentine’s day card to me was bring pink with a crown on the front. The inside said “Before I met you, I was a frog”. It was really funny & cute- we both had a good laugh.

So, moral of the story to all you single guys and gals- don’t judge a book by its cover. Clothing, and hair can be changed to suit your preferences… but its really whats inside that counts :)

XOXO
Eve

Bad Hair Cut

Don’t you hate it when you have to learn a really hard lesson….. AGAIN! Previously in my life, I used to go to just any hairdresser, as long as it wasn’t too expensive. Well, I then got my first cut at Aveda on jasper ave (In Edmonton), by my best friend Iris’ longtime hairdresser Tabitha… and I’ve been hooked to good (expensive) hair cuts ever since. Since then, I’ve been picky about who cuts my hair. Being thin, my hair has many challenges, and finally for the first time in my life… I’ve had pretty “good” hair for the past 2 yrs. As mentioned, my hair is fine, thin and prone to breakage, so this my friends, has been a good run of it. A

nyways… my good hair streak ended yesterday, when I decided to go to the Paul Mitchell Hair SCHOOL in SF for a cut and color. Because I’m thinking about changing careers, and would most likely be attending that school, I thought it would be neat to check it out as a customer. I ended up with the WORST haircut I have ever had in my entire life. I told the dude that I just wanted a trim, to clean up the ends, and to only take off 1.5 inches, and I showed him with my fingers how much to take off. As well, I showed him a magazine picture, and even did my hair so he could see how I liked it styled. I did everything right… everything my many many magazines tell me to do when going for a cut.

My “trim” turned out into a really bad Rachel Green circa 1994. I look like a Lion, there are so many layers.. And the layers don’t even connect! There is absolutely no blending between levels. Its like 2 completely different haircuts from the front to back of my head. Its almost to the point of a faux mullet! It reminds me of growing out my hair from a really short choppy cut. It’s seriously not cute. And I know that At times I am the queen of over dramatic.. but its really bad… even Sean thinks so. Im so depressed about it. I’m going to have to be really creative with bobby pins, headbands and other such disguises for my terrible cut. On top of this all, my hair does not grow fast… maybe 4 inches a year if I’m lucky. So please mourn with me for the tragic loss of my hair, and the end of an era- Eve’s year of good hair. Boo HOoo HOOOOOO HOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOooooo!

Ps- in respect of me in this trying time, there will be no pictures posted. I have however posted some pictures to give you idea of the trauma i face. These pictures below are not of me (obviously)...and they in fact look a lot better than my hair actually does. Maybe I should pull a britney and just shave it all off!!!

Eve's Offical 1/2 Marathon Results- Feb 4, 2006

Time: 1hr 54 mintues
Age Group: Women 25-29- i finished 122 out of 507 participants
Overall: I finished 1862 out of 4957 total participants






After sitting on my ass all weekend, i've come to the conclusion that i really need to be involved in some sort of outside physical activity every weekend that im not out of town. I felt sooo lazy after my last weekend extravanga!!

Eve’s Power Weekend

That’s right, I did it! I completed my first ever half marathon on Sunday feb 4 in San Francisco. Its something that I’ve been meaning to do for a while now.. and finally I did it, yipeee!!!!

Saturday Feb 3- Snowboarding in Tahoe

So, Silly me, I went snowboarding in Tahoe on Saturday (the day before my run), thinking that it would be no big deal. In all honestly, it was not a hardcore day of boarding. As I grew up boarding the Alberta Rockies, I am used to huge majestic mountains ranges and ski resorts with 3 peaks, and 4 chairs to the top. Tahoe, my friends does not offer anything even close to this. I went to the very top of the mountain and it took only 8 minutes to get down to the very bottom. It was so pathetic. On top of that, all of the snow was man made… and there was maybe a 6 inch cover… it was so sad. My brand new snowboard got totally ripped up due to the rocks. Plus, I was really hesitant to go fast, as I knew if I fell, I would get injured… not good as I had a half marathon to run the very next day. The one good thing, is that the Weather was fantastic!! We are talking spring skiing conditions in t-shirts and shorts. Sadly, I attached my lift ticket to my big down ski jacket…so I sweated my way up the lifts… but it was still nice to bask in the sun in a beautiful place. The chalet was amazing. it was actually a ski village complete with condos, restarants, and botique clothing and jewlery stores, selling ski jackets for $1000 and furry Ugg boots for $300. Obviously this was a hot spot to the rich & bored.

I will happily settle for a rugged chalet in return for the Alberta Rockies, complete with LONG runs and mounds of real snow.

Sunday Feb 4- ½ Marathon in San Francisco

I woke up at 5am, ate my peanut butter and banana on toast, did a few leg stretches to get the blood flowing and drove to Fremont to pick up Harmandeep who also ran. Note- peanut butter is something I only allow myself for sporting activities, as it is very high in fat calories, and not something I “need” for regular life. However… peanut butter is a miracle food for endurance physical activities and it really does stick to your ribs. Cliff bars and Gu have nothing on a good old fashioned BP & banana sandwich on whole-wheat.

We got to Golden Gate Park at 7:15am and drove around aimlessly looking for a place to park. It took us a good 15-20 minutes to find a spot that was like 10 blocks away from the race start. So, I counted this as a “warm up”, and we power walked to the starting line.

Holy Moly, I have never seen so many people ready to run at one time- there were 10,000 people there! I was expecting a crowd of like 1000, like the sprint tri I did in the fall. The race started at 8:06am and I was off… listening to my ipod and trying to get my legs loosened up. I guess snowboarding wasn’t the smartest thing to do the day before, as right from the start my quads were tight--- I knew it was going to be a very long run!

It took the first 3 miles to get out of the mass of people and into a comfortable running rhythm around people at my pace. For some odd reason they didn’t have a staggered start, silly organizers. Obviously this was put on by a first time company... or they just weren’t expecting the mass of people that turned up.

The run was BEAUTIFUL. We weaved through golden gate park and along highway 1, which runs right along the coast. Plus there were only minor hills… nothing like the cable car hills in the middle of SF, thank goodness!

Miles 5-9 were really easy…I zoned out listening to “welcome to the jungle”, “bullet with butterfly wings” and other motivational running tunes.

Miles 9-11 were equally easy--- my legs were numb and the scenery as beautiful… but at this point I could see the “REAL’ marathon runners finishing up the race, and I was so jealous. There was a guy running with BARE feet!!!

Miles 11-12 were hard. Real hard. My legs were sore…I could feel the muscle fibers being torn apart.

Mile 12 was TORTURE… was this race ever going to end!! Seriously,,, and the final ½ mile turned a corner and went UP HILL……… i swear that if it wasn’t for the herd of people surrounding me, I think I would have just fallen down and died!

The Finish: The end was glorious! I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes at the completion of a goal that you’ve been working for. i love all of the snack size power bars, bananas and trail mix that they hand out. Yum Yum!

Post Race: After the race we had to walk back to our car… which was about 3 miles away. If we would have shown up earlier for the race, we could have parked at the finish line and been shuttled to the start... but we didn’t. So, after running 13.1 miles, I we walked 3 SF city miles back through the golden gate park and to our car. When we finally go there… we didn’t see the car, or the street where we parked. We asked a local were 12th and Balboa was, and they kindly informed us that we had went the wrong direction through GG Park and that it was on the OTHER SIDE of the park. GG Park is HUGE, MASSIVE infact, and there was no way I had the strength to walk through it AGAIN! So… we walked to a main street and waited at a bus stop for about 20 minutes until a cab drove by and we gladly hopped in. THANK HEAVENS.

Next Challenge
I think I am going to go all the way and run a FULL MARATHON- 26.2 miles. I’m not sure when or where, but I will start researching it, and hopefully will do one by the end of 2007. I will keep you all informed of my progress. Anyone interested in joining me?

Superbowl
After the run, I went home, showered and went to Angel’s Superbowl party with Sean. It was super fun and I ate pizza, Cheetos and homemade cookies. My appetite was out of control, and I gained every ounce back that I could have possibly lost running 13.1 miles.


XOXO

Eve

Sunday Calling

Oh the trials of my life. I am not a big phone talker- ever since I starting working at the SL Family Clinic in 11th grade and had to answer an off the hook phone.. I have developed an aversion to the phone. I am a very straight to the point type of person, and if I see you on a daily basis, you probably wont ever get a call from me just to “chat”.

The phone is a communication tool for making plans. Figuring out where to meet up, inform one if you are running late, or get a great suggestion for a movie or restaurant. This is the beauty of a cell phone. You are usually on a cell phone while on the road, driving from point A to Point B, and it is very easy to end a conversation in a polite manner when you’ve reached your destination. There is no chance that the call is going to last longer than 20 minutes.

Work Day Calling
At the end of a busy work day I am so pooped, I just don’t have the energy for chatter. I just want to work out, take a shower, eat, and go to sleep watching the Tyra Banks show. This said, the only person who really calls me during the week is my Dad, and I usually always answer his calls, as I know they will last from 2-5 minutes in duration, and the call will have a purpose. In fact, I LOVe my dad’s phone calls. They really crack me up. He hasn’t called me yet this week, and I actually miss his calls. Usually I get a call from him At least every other day---- but this is all besides the point.

Unknown Callers
I really only answer the phone if I know who is calling. I don’t answer “unknown numbers” and I defiantly don’t answer any calls from numbers within my area code (650), as the only people who live in my area are church members…. And I’d really rather not have to give a talk or say a prayer in church. I’d rather just listen to the message and then decide how to respond. Live Phone calls of such nature are so stressful to me, as they require an instantaneous response…which generally is in the form of an awkward “Yes, I’d Love To” when really, you were planning on having a church holiday that week. The beauty of an answering machine you have time to think up a good excuse to say no. I’m a terrible person, I know.

Sunday Afternoons
There are very specific times when I feel like a lengthy chat, including waiting at the Airport to Board a flight and Sunday afternoons. So, for anyone who might call me during the week… I’m probably not home or trying to relax after work, so please accept my apologies for not returning your call the same day. However, I will always call you back on the weekend. Weekends are good for me. There is nothing better then talking to my long distant friends and family on a Sunday afternoon. The irony here is that, I think that for many of the people I call , Sunday afternoons are for spending time with your family, or taking a long nap. To my dismay, I often get the answering machine of others when making my Sunday calls, and am left to my own devices to stay entertained with no husband (inevitably at work or in class), no family dinners, and no friends within walking/driving distance.

Eve & Iris' infront of Samatha Jones' door (SATC tour)

Eve & Iris at Tortilla flats (features on SATC) - this is where the whole restaurant sang me happy birthday!

Eve & Iris' infront of Carrie Bradshaw's door (SATC tour)

Eve & Iris at TAO for Eve's Birthday Dinner- YUM! - yes that is a big BUDDAH behind us :)

Eve eating a cupcake from Magnolia's (SATC tour)

NYC- Eve & Iris’ 26th Birthday Celebration (Jan 12-15, 2007)

Friday Jan 12, 2007-

I began my journey to NYC on the redeye from SFO to JFK- arriving at JFK at 6:30am. Luckily, I have the most amazing best friend, who actually came to meet me at the airport. For anyone that really knows me, I have no sense of direction, and I fear that if left to my own devices, I probably would have ended up in Jersey. Anyways- Much of this blog was actually written by my dear friend Iris. She did such a fantastic job chronicling the events, that I will let her tell most of the story, and add in my own commentary as required.

Our birthday consisted of 4 main people, Me, Iris, Harp and Craig. Harp & Craig are Iris’ friends from Edmonton (although currently living in Montreal- lucky bums!) Everyone arrived to Iris’ Amazing little apartment on the Upper east side at an OBSCENE hour this morning. I am talking like 4:30 and 6:45 AM. When we all congregated, we took a little snapper and got ready for our day. First stop- we took the subway and made our way to Times Square, with a pit stop at Grand Central Station.

We got to Times Square and hung out for a bit in the area. We stopped by the Letterman studio, then walked through Midtown and made our way to the Plaza where Iris and I were meeting the Sex and the City tour (SATC) . Both of us are huge fans of SATC--VERY into it. We used to start our Friday nights out with the new episode in her Edmonton apartment back in my UofA days. We went on the tour and saw a ton of the sites where the girls hang out etc. We got to sit on Carrie's stoop and as we are waiting to get our pic taken, we see Nina Katz (she was the one that made the face to Carrie when they met) walking her dog. How random and cool. Sure she isn't a major celeb or anything, but still a little weird, right? On the SATC tour and a person that was on SATC walks by. Again, uber-cool.

We finished the tour and meet up with Craig and Harp, and began the walk back to Iris’ Pad.

On the walk we saw a film crew and big lights, so we decided to check it out. It is the new Elisha Cuthbert / Jesse Bradford movie that is filming in the city. While we didn't get to see them making the movie (it was all the stand-ins doing rehearsals) we did see them as they were walking to the set. Iris thought Jesse Bradford (he was the really cute guy from Bring It On - one of the best teen movies EVER) was super cute- although I wasn’t really sure who he was. We hung out and watched them film for about 15 minutes, and let me tell you, the job is not that glorious. It was actually really tedious and boring- getting every camera angle, lighting ect exactly right.



Saturday Jan 13, 2007-
As I mentioned before, Iris and I are obsessed with SATC. We love this show and we always have—we are original SATC junkies. So, obviously, this weekend was going to have an SATC theme.

Saturday we awoke, went down the West Village and put our name on the wait list for Pastis and went walking around. Pastis is an uber-cool brunch place popular for celebs and beautiful people in NYC. While walking around we saw Nigel Barker - from America's Next Top Model! While I don't watch this show regularly, I do watch it enough to have seen Nigel and noted how HOT he is on tv. Lemme tell ya, he is ACTUALLY that good-looking. He was walking around the neighborhood with his kid. SO cute.

We headed back to Pastis and were seated at our table. At this point we were all actively searching for celebs, as we are all sightly celeb obsessed.

I went to the bathroom, and when I returned to my table I walked smack into Elisha Cuthbert ! She is Jack’s daughter on 24- my favorite show!! Elisha is a cute, girl next door type. Shes REALLY short tooo. I wasn’t wearing heels and I was at least 5 inches taller than her, which would but her at about 5 1”

We finished brunch and made our way down to the WTC site, and my pick, the Century 21 discount department store. I visited this place on my first NYC trip with Sean, but we all know that Sean is NOT a great shopping partner. He gets really annoyed and impatient- much the same as I am when forced to watch sports. I found the PERFECT pair of new TAG jeans. This is the exact pair I have been searching online for- and found that the only place I can but them is planet funk in Hollywood---but I found them, and they were totatlly discounted (like 60% off)! I live for discounted fashion finds- Happy birthday to me!!

We walked to Canal Street and SoHo, shopped a little more, we made our way home. Dinner for the evening was going to be Tortilla Flats, a Mexican restaurant that was featured on SATC. This place was awesome! The food was great and not expensive at all. The whole meal for all four of us came to $50! Can you imagine?! The owner stopped by our table and gave everyone a free round of drinks (diet coke for me), and then got the whole place to sing happy birthday to me- How Coool is that!!

After the restaurant, we went to this underground music venue called, the MisShapes. The MisShapes are these DJs who Iris says are basically the three coolest people in NYC. They have had Madonna guest DJ for them and often feature secret shows by the likes of the YYYs and The Strokes. So we go.

Boy, this was not our scene. I am talking about hipsters and little mod kids the likes of these eyes have never seen before. We were going to leave, as this was not what we were expecting, but then this band gets on stage. No it wasn't any major bands, but it was a really great group from Brooklyn. They were called The Pretty Boys and they totally rocked. I met the lead singer and she gave me a copy of her CD- I’ve been listening to it in my car, and they totally rock- very Garbage-esk.


Sunday Jan 14, 2007- Happy Birthday to ME!!

Sunday was Eve's birthday in NYC. We all got up (this was a big slumber party weekend, with Iris and I on the pullout and Harp and Craig on the air mattress in the living room) got dressed, watched a couple episodes of Entourage (Iris’ gets everyone addicted to that show) and then Craig and Harp left back to Montreal, and Iris and I had the whole day all to ourselves! Yippeee!!

We decided to walk all day and see what this city has to offer. We walked from the UES to SoHo. For those of you unaware of the distance, it is about 100 blocks. 20blocks= 1 mile, so this was a 5 mile day (in heels I might add- not the smartest idea). Along the way we shopped a bit, but mainly just walked and hung out.

For my birthday dinner we had the idea of going to Tao. It was a great meal, probably the best sushi I have ever had in my entire life- even better than NOBU in London! I just have to say, "Wow". We even had dessert- although there really wasn’t anymore room in my tummy. I had chocolate souffle, and iris had some pastry concoction.

After we stuffed our bellies full, we sat by the Plaza Fountain. I love this fountain, and have to say it is Iris’ favorite little spot in the city. It is just so old school NYC. The Plaza, Central Park, Fifth Avenue. It's the New York from movies. It is the New York you see and think, "Wow, I might like to visit New York one day".

So that was our weekend. It was super fun and so great to see my bestest friend Iris.

For anyone that is wondering, sean was working nights all weekend, which is why I decided to go elsewhere for my birthday. See, I really don’t have a lot of friends in SF, so I thought I would be super lonely and depressed if I spent my entire weekend at home alone, and hating Sean. So instead, I went to NYC, had a blast, and came back missing my Seany-sean. What a great trip!!

Oh Yeah, my cab ride back to the airport on Monday morning was a trip. The driver must have been a crack addict because he kept figiting, and scratching his ENTIRE body the Entire 40 mintue drive to the airport. I was SO Thankful when I arrived in one piece.

XOXO

Eve

Here are a couple of pictures from 2006. Please forgive the random order of the posting and the associated comments. I cannot figure this whole formatting this out!!


1- London- my 2nd work trip to london with my good friend harmandeep. this is after we went to SPOON for dinner- a swanky affair indeed.


2- Hawaii- Aug: This is me & Sean at the PCC in hawaii.

3- Tri Gril Tri- Sept:
Me & Sean after I finished the race!! What a great feeling :)


4- Deepy's 30th Bithday:
Sean and I at a club in SF. This was is very first time clubbing in SF, and the man can dance:)

5 sister Celebration: July- My big sisters betina and serinda (& Mena) came for a visit

6- Jasper @ Christmas- Me and poopie on the slopes at jasper. What a great time!!

Christmas 2007

Christmas this year was full of mini Christmas Miracles! Sean & I headed up to Slave Lake right after work on a non-stop flight on Friday Dec 22.

Christmas Miracle #1- No flight delays- no air related problems- a nice change from our last years Christmas flying fiasco!

Christmas Miracle #2- We rented an economy car on priceline (non-refundable) back in August, thinking it would be sufficient to hold us and our luggage. Well, plans changed and we all decided to go Snowboarding in Jasper- meaning there was no way all of our stuff would fit in the little Haundi Accent we’d rented. I tried to upgrade the reservation prior to our arrival, however, it was going to cost an additional $700 to get an SVU- no Way- We’d make it fit! Then, the nice ticket agent just asked us if we wanted a mini van because they had so many of them, and they didn’t have very many small cars left. I jumped for joy inside and knew that someone was looking out for us.

Christmas Miracle #3- The roads to Slave lake were clear, no ice, and the weather was fantastic. We saw 3 huge moose along the way, and thankfully we did not hit any of them. This was like a little wildlife excursion for Sean- he’d never seen a moose before this trip, and in just 2.5 hours, he saw 3! We arrived safely to Slave Lake around 2:30am.

Saturday Dec 23

Saturday was a fun filled day. First we all went to Tim Hortons for Breakfast, and met up with Danielle & Shawn along the way. Timmy’s is Slave Lake’s newest hot spot with the drive thru line winding along the entire parking lot, and a priceless sign that reads, “ We’d like to serve you better, however, we are in need of additional Staff. Should you know anyone who is interested please refer us to them”. Slave Lake is a booming Oil/Lumber town, so its really hard to find minimum wage service industry workers, even at $13/hr starting wage.

We visited with the family for the morning, did a craft with Abby in the afternoon and then drove over to Danielle’s house for a visit. She and Sean have the nicest home- I cannot wait to have my very own house someday. Although, at the rate we’re going, I’ll probably be too Old and Tired to care about decorating, and we’ll have to get a single story as I’ll be in a walker by then. Boo Hoo! Kaleb is so grown up! Hes really a nice boy.

Mom made Christmas dinner, after which we opened our presents. The majority of which were for Abby and Mena. However, I think Abby wanted more as she kept opening up my presents! I guess I’m still a kid at heart bc I wanted to open my own presents- but how do you say no to a 3 year old without looking selfish? Mom loved the Hawaiian Moo- Moo I got her. Bright blue flowered print synthetic silk- just up her alley! Betina got me this fantastic MEC bag. I’ve been wearing it all week, and I love it! Sean got a cool Oilers hat from Keith, and Dad got a lot of socks. Overall, I think everyone was happy with their presents.

Sunday Dec 24

We all went to Church to see Mena get blessed. Dad gave the blessing and Sean stood in the circle. Sean didn’t bring a white shirt, tie or church shoes (packing space was very limited)- luckily, Dad buys size 10 shoes even though he’s actually an 8.5, and has an abundance of white shirts and ties. The blessing was really nice- it was nice to see my dad give one. Growing up my grandpa did all of the baptisms and father blessings were not the norm in our house, so I’ve never really seen my dad use his priesthood. You’ll be pleased to know though, that he can still give a good blessing 

I love going to church in SL because it just feels so much more comfortable than church anywhere else. I get to see most of the families I grew up with and chat with all of the ladies that were my teachers over the years. Plus, Lindsay Leishman is engaged!! She brought her fiancé to church- so I got to meet him as well! I really miss feeling normal at church. I always feel so inadequate at other wards bc it is such a molly Mormon fashion fest. Who cares if I wear the same skirt to church every Sunday? Not Me!

After church we met up with Danielle & Shawn at BP’s for lunch. Its tradition to go to BP when in SL. Its my favorite SL restaurant. After which we headed off to Jasper.

The drive to Jasper was BEAUTIFUL. We saw more moose, deer, elk and mountain goats. It was the most relaxing 5 hour drive ever. I really miss Alberta driving. Its so stress free and enjoyable. I wasn’t looking forward to all of the driving we’d be doing this trip, but it actually turned out to be really great. We listened to all of our new CD’s that we got for Christmas and stopped in Swan Hills for a potty break. That was defiantly a culture shock for Sean who did not believe that the place only had ONE gas station. Oh dear Seany Sean… life is different in small town Alberta.

We got to jasper around 6pm and checked into Maligne lodge. This is the same hotel we’ve always stayed at for our annual spring skiing Jasper trip growing up. I have very fond memories of this place, and was very excited to share it with Sean.

Christmas Miracle #4- We were booked for 3 rooms to accommodate everyone with a bed to sleep in. However, the nice counter lady gave us a poolside suite instead, saving us $300! The room was perfect as the pool and hot tub were right outside our room (no running across the frozen parking lot in our skivvies!) We all had a bed to sleep in and there was a huge Kitchen for us to do all of our cooking (re-heating) in! We got to hang out together for 2 solid days. Everyone was in a good mood and we had a fantastic time.


Monday Dec 25- Christmas Day

We woke up at 7:30am and opened our stockings together at the kitchen table. Sean got me such a great stocking- loads of my favorite gum (ice breakers), Christina Argularia tickets and awesome earrings that I’ve been eyeing at Target! Thanks Sean- you did great!

Mom loved her stocking too- VS perfume, giradelli and See’s chocolate, Slippers from the London Marriott, a walmart gift certificate, an earing/necklace set and another gift certificate from timmy’s! She was in heaven. Dad got a lot of Socks in his 

Christmas Miracle #5- We got to the slopes at 10am- and they were PERFECT. I have never seen Jasper so empty! It was 0 degrees celcius outside, the sun was shining and there was fresh powder everywhere. It was some of the best ski conditions I have yet encountered. Sean was super impressed too!!

We all took the first couple of runs together- and Sean was doing surprisingly well. Its his 5th time snowboarding and he has the basic carve down. Anders is an AMAZING skier! He spent most of his time on the double blacks in the trees. Not something I attempted, as my snowboard just doesn’t have the turning radius for the trees. I always crash and get stuck- not fun. So, Patience and I explored the various black diamonds- which was super fun. I love having someone at my level to board with.

After skiing we ate a lasagna dinner (courtesy of M&M meats) and went in the hot tub. Mom and dad forgot their swimsuits though and all of the stores were closed. I love the outdoor hot tub at Maligne…. Its sooo nice! And it helps the soreness in your muscles to loosen up.

Tues Dec 26-

Our 2nd (and final) ski day in japser. Again, another beautiful day skiing. We skied solid from 9am to 12:30- when we met up in the lodge for homemade sandwichs and poutine. Poutine is a Payne ski tradition as well. We only get it when skiing as it is death on a plate, but boy oh boy is it tasty. We took a quick lunch today in order to get back on the slopes.

On the way to the ski lift, sean fell- a silly fall, but he sprained his knee in the process. I went up once more to the top with my dad, and then skied to the bottom to see if sean was ok. I really wanted to keep boarding, but I knew that if I were hurt, sean would have called it a day and comforted me. I think Sean is just a nicer person and I  Dad checked out his leg and was 90% certain is was just a sprain. We ended the day a little early, as Sean could no longer board, and patience was really nice from her hard partying th night before (jk).
Our drive back to Edmonton was again Beautiful and relaxing. We arrived at Iris’ apartment at 5pm, took showers, repacked and then went to Joey’s Tomatoes for dinner. The perfect end to a perfect Christmas Vacation.

Wed Dec 27-

We flew back on our non-stop flight- again no long delays.

Christmas Miracle #6- My boss gave me 3 days off without taking vacation, the 27, 28 and 29. Ive had a VERY relaxing time chilling out at home, watching movies and cuddling with my Seany Sean.

Merry Christmas to All!! I will post some Christmas photos tomorrow.

At heart- I am a Rebel

Sean and I just celebrated our 2nd anniversary last week- 12/11/2006 to be exact. After being married for 2 years, our relationship is healthy, stable and full of love. Being creatures of habit, we often do the same things over and over again- movies, eating out, cooking, mountain biking, working out- and then every once and a while do something out of the ordinary, like our trip to Paris, Christmas 2006 snowboarding in Canada, or our favorite mini-breaks to Utah. Sean is the best husband I could have ever hoped for- and everyday I see more and more why we were destined for each other.

While 90% of the time, I love being married, the other 10% of me misses the fun and excitement that comes with being single. The butterflies in your stomach when you are talking to your new crush, the girls only road trips to Vegas, LA, Edmonton ect- and the general freedoms that come with not having to answer to anyone, spending money as you please and being an Independent Woman.

Well- dear sisters and Iris- I found a small way to pretend that I’m single again, and get the “butterfly feeling”!! Last Saturday night I dragged Sean out to a club in SF for my friend Harmandeep’s 30th birthday. It took a LOT of convincing, as Sean was never a club kid- but for the sake of me, he came. It was fantastic. It is SO much better dancing as much as you please with your husband and not worrying about sleazy guys getting all up in your face! I felt “Bad” again, and I LOVED it!! I saw Sean in a new light- he was the total hottie at the other side of the room that I was eyeing all night and am mustering up the courage to talk to. Plus- Sean is a great dancer! The man has rhythm! Sean was by far the hottest man in the place- and that gave me the butterflies!

I really am a rebel at heart, and I don’t think I’ll ever really change- so in lieu of bad behavior- I have found a new outlet that makes for a great substitute. Next Anniversary- We’re going to a club and Sean is going to shake his groove thang!

Showers—

To most people, showers are enjoyable-- A relaxing time to reflect on your day, your dreams, and to sing your heart out, like Xtina. (at least Sean seems to enjoy the singing bit).

I, on the other hand, hate to shower. It is a huge chore, and is just too much work to be enjoyable. A full shower, is like a 40 minute process, and I just do not have the time to do this every single day-

1- Shampoo
2- Condition (leave in 3 minutes)
3- Wash face
4- Wash body
5- Shave legs
6- Dry off (and don’t get the floor soaking- sean will be MAD!)
7- Moisturize Legs, Arms and love handles (but you have to be really dry or it doesn’t soak in your skin)
8- Re-dress
9- Towel dry hair
10- Get make-up completely off of eyes
11- Moisturize face
12- Leave in conditioner
13- Comb hair
14- Blow dry hair upside down with round brush

Pheufff--- it just takes forever!!! The whole time I am thinking about everything I need to get done, or what Sean is doing in my absence!! I wish I could just stop thinking about my to-do list and enjoy the hot water, steamy bathroom and relax.

One day… I will learn to relax… just like the rest of the free world. I will give up exercise, will order my very own piece of cheesecake, and I wont care if my hair is flat from air drying.

Today though, I will continue my every other day shower schedule and I don’t care if anyone thinks this is gross…. There was a time (Summer 2003 on the SL GOLF COURSE) when me and my sister poopie would only shower on the weekends. The smellier we got, the less the bugs ate us. How I miss those days.. when showering was not a mandatory part of life.