Of the Best Airline Experience … Ever

(Disclaimer: No, I wasn’t paid for this – but my experience was SO great, that I have to put this out there.)

My trip started with some … questionable packing. My suitcase was (for once) not overweight, but the same couldn’t be said for my shoulder bag. I also felt sorry for the sole remaining banana in my kitchen, so I managed to stick it in there …

Oh yea, and I had 4 hard boiled eggs in my 21st-century brown paper bag. I like to have snacks.
I also like to be early for my flights. This time though, I was just a little overeager … I was at my gate 3 hours before the boarding time. Yep, you could say I jumped the gun on that one. Solution – read up on my interviewers tomorrow and …

Tim’s COFFEE! (I didn’t win anything though … sadness).

In any case, 3 hours later, we were boarding the plane. First of all, they also had an option where you could gate-check your carryon, which I’ve never known about. This is VERY convenient, I find, because when you get off the plane, the bag is just sitting there, ready for you to pick up.

Porter Airlines does smaller flights (domestic mostly, although they also apparently fly to Chicago). So the airplane had two seats on one side and two on the other.

People, I’m 5’11’’. I have sat in way too many cramped airplane seats (pretty much all of them … *cough* Air Canada *cough* WestJet *cough* British Airlines *cough*). But but but HERE, I wasn’t a first class passenger and yet I could actually *gasp* move my legs around!

But the best is yet to come!

Free booze! (times 2 … whoops).

Free food (in a cute box!). There was a cute little sandwich and a cute little container of yogurt with a cute little piece of chocolate. I’m saving these for when I get hungry in Chicago. Instead, I ate my packed salad (mainly because I really didn’t want it to go bad …)

Lettuce, chicken, eggs, yum. Also onions – lucky person sitting beside me!

We landed in Toronto City Airport (tiny airport, right downtown too – so when you land, you get to fly by all the skyscrapers!) and I was just a TAD concerned about making my 7:40pm flight when we had landed at 7pm. As seen above, I like to be there EARLY. But not to fear. Seriously, this was the easiest connection I have ever done. It took all of 5 minutes. Oh and then you get to go to the lounge, where they have:

Free water! (If you saw the giant 2L bottle of water I brought on the first flight, you KNOW I need me some H20. Constantly).

And …

Free tea! Of the Tazo variety to boot! There was also free coffee and I think cereal? In any case, the lounge was great, and before I knew it, we were boarding the next flight.

The thing I have to say about these smaller planes – you can really talk to the person next to you. You guys aren't squished together like sardines in a can (like on some other flights), which I feel facilitates actual conversation, instead of the awkward you’re-sitting-on-my-arm and your-giant-duffel-is-taking-up-all-of-the-floor-space glares you usually send on commercial flights (what, just me with the glares?). I had an absolutely amazing conversation with a gentleman who happened to be sitting beside me – and he was a President of a communications company to boot! I really enjoyed learning about his life story and seeing how he ended up where he did – so much so that I did not even notice the 2 hour flight from Toronto to Chicago.

All in all, it was an amazing flight. The only issue I would say is that this is a small airline. Which means the aircraft is small. Which means landing and takeoff are … a little bumpy. Not for the faint of heart. But hey, that’s probably why they serve copious amounts of free booze. (Let me tell you, it definitely helps!).

And now I’m in Evanston, chilling at the Hilton and trying to calm my nerves about speaking to the professors tomorrow. I’ll do a full review of the place tomorrow, but man, it is FIIIIIINE.

Of Happy Accidents

Apparently all the best ideas happen by accident.

I was feeling lazy on Thursday but I knew I had to eat something before taking the taxi to the airport. I WAS going to having an omelette, but I just wasn’t feeling up to scrambling the eggs … you know, whisking and then cleaning the whisk … so I just plopped them onto the pan.

(Yes, I realize my laziness knows no bounds).

Anyways, then I was feeling all undernourished and deprived (and kinda starving), so I dumped half a jar of salsa into the pan as well. Then I sprinkled some rice (maybe 1/8 cup at the most) in there. And then topped it with some cheese. (Because everything is better with cheese, amirite?).

It. Was. Ah-mazing.

I put it on a bed of lettuce and dug in and it was like having a cheesy mac and cheese, guilt-free. So I’m just putting it out there – apparently laziness is the mother of awesome inventions.

I’ll be improving this recipe (cook for less time; maybe have a different kind of green  - I didn’t like that my lettuce was extremely crunchy; instead of rice, try bits of toasted oatmeal?), and when it’s utter perfection, I’ll post it.

Back to Exercise

Running and me? Not so much in love right about now. Last week, I felt like I had sprained my toe and so I only last 2km on the treadmill before I called it a day. I guess my motivation’s just been lacking. And then it was too cold, or too windy, or I was too busy. (Yes, I am perfectly aware that I'm the Queen of Excuses).

So to spice it up, I finally cashed in my Teambuy coupon at my new fancy gym. I looooooooove my new fancy gym. It's in a refurbished theater, so there's tiers and the ceilings are HUGE (which is important for me. Don't want to be hitting the ceiling with my 5'11'' head, do I?).

Super blurry because while I can sneak in iPod camera photos, bringing my actual camera seems just a TAD too douchey ... I'll get there eventually though.

So first day, I hit up the spin bike and my favorite buddy, Lars.

No, I don't think his name is actually Lars, but he's tall and blond and looks like a Lars. Plus I like calling exercise people by name. And I talk to the screen. Thank god this gym is usually empty during the day, so people don't think I'm TOO weird ...

And then last Monday, to spice things up, I hit up a group exercise class. It's something I used to do all the time back in Vancouver, but have abandoned here in Montreal. But I've been low on motivation, and it's a lot easier to push yourself when you have a crazy instructor who turns up the music to 160BPM (which by the way makes ALL the music sound like it's being sung by chipmunks ... Madonna? Diva chipmunk. Ke$ha? Trashy chipmunk). Oh and then has you prance around like a crazy person for an hour.

The class was aptly calledSweatshop.
(Now I didn’t quite reach my capacity for sweating, BUT …)



I would say that all in all we did about 35 minutes of aerobics.
Except.
On steroids.
Imagine your regular step class …
Except the guy cranks up the music (and it's fricking fast!) …
And instead of a step, you get a BOSU.



Lots of running around and looking like an angry gorilla with the side squats (or was it just me?). Oh, and the best of the best:
Burpees.
On a BOSU.
On one leg.
Fuuuuuunsies.



Can I just say - even though my quads are fine from the squats and the lunges, my BUTT and my HAMMIES … OMG. Want to die. It feels like somebody is painfully squeezing them every time I move (umm, yea, that would be the poor underused muscles).

Anyways, crazy crazy times, and I’ve realized I luuuuurve group fitness and I’m going back next week. And to combat the soreness, I also hit up a morning hot yoga class on Wednesday, which I hated at the time (I was starving and didn't even sweat ... who doesn't sweat in hot yoga?!!) but I think helped the massive DOMS in my hamstrings. I think I'll stick to Friday evening hot yoga for now though because:

•  you get a legit instructor (who may be quite attractive ... :) instead of a 'new' teacher (I'm cheap, and the new instructor classes are only 5$)
• gives me something to do on a Friday night

Re: no. 2 - yes, I am lame and like hot yoga-ing and then going to bed at 10pm on Friday nights. Sue me (by sending court documents to 'Old Grandma, Montreal, Canada').

Of Small Indulgences

I like to eat pretty much the same things everyday. (A detailed post on that at a later date). But there are little indulgences I like to allow myself to stay sane.

Like that medium single-single Tim Horton's coffee.

And the I'm-not-counting-the-calories-of-my-10%-creamer coffee.

Coffee in general. (It's like hey - if I just keep refilling it, it still counts as one cup, right?).

But my favorite has to be my oatmeal and nut butter combo.

So I may have gone a little crazy ... and purchased seven different kinds all at once. Whoops. Well - some people have their clothes shopping and their getting drunk and their smoking - my catharsis is nut butter shopping.

Plus the jars were just too cute. I can't resist anything in jars.

So over the next few weeks (let's hope they last that long), I'll be trying all of the nut butters and I will report back on my favorites at the end. Although we all know that Kraft's Smooth Peanut Butter is my one and only love forever and ever and ever. But shhhh, don't tell anyone that. I just want to make sure that no other nut butter can come between us before I get one of those giant 2kg jars of PB.

Of One Girl Going Crazy Over Food

I expect air ports to have crappy food.

That's why I pack up snacks (although I'm always worried that they won't allow me through customs ... any clues about what's allowed and what's not?).

But the Orlando airport has redeemed itself and mayhap even all of the other airports.

Why?

Because I found the mecca of all pre-departure stores.

Excuse my tired, non-made-up face. I don't do 'stylish-airport-wear'.

It was called CIBA (?). But they had hard-boiled eggs in little containers, and fresh fruit (bananas, apples, oranges), and greek yogurt, and milk, and water and coconut water, and all sorts of other healthy goodies. I was over the moon! (Perhaps too much so ... probably because I just had a large coffee after a decaffeinated week ... but that's another story). My friends didn't quite share my enthusiasm, but my day was made.

Of the Most Necessary of Vacations

So I was lucky enough to attach myself to a group of friends going to Florida this past week, and let me tell you, that vacation could NOT have come at a better time.

The week prior was filled with the most stress I have ever had to deal with, what with assignments and midterms and unexpected interviews and work. I was also a little on edge about going off on vacation with a large group of people I didn't actually know ... and I was unsure of the sleeping situation ... and the food situation ... Let's just say, I was worrying about a whole lot of stuff.

The trip started off with a lovely 3am wakeup alarm. I am NEVER booking flights that leave at 6:45am. EVER. Because guess what, even with getting to the airport at 4:30am, I spent 2.5 hours standing in a HUGE line to get my boarding pass (this company didn't allow for printing them at home) ...

... and then in another HUGE line for security ...

... and then ANOTHER HUGE line for customs ... (and being me, of course I was in the slowest lines, all the time) ...

Well, by that point, it was the final boarding call (7am now), and of course, my gate was the one furthest away, so I had to call on all that training that I've done and do the most epic sprint throughout the airport (all with a big purse and a suitcase).

Thank god I wore sneakers.

And yes, I made it. As did the 5 senior residents decked out in flowery gear that came in about 10 minutes behind me. Stupid lines.

But finally, YAY, we arrived!

Our resort. It was HUGE. And had palms. Life=made. I'm very easily satisfied.

It was hot and balmy and I immediately changed into shorts and a tank and never looked back. I think I spent the entire week in those shorts and I could NOT be happier. This whole wear-five-layers-and-freeze-your-face-off thing that Montreal has going on has gotten a bit tiring.

As soon as we settled, we realized that we were starving. So the whole gang headed over to a pizza place. I, being so on top of things, decided to get a salad. It was deliciously beautiful.

Everybody else had pizza and breadsticks. Not gonna lie - I felt like a super-fit badass. No pizza or bread pour moi - fresh green veggies all the way!

Basically, our trip went thus - 1 day at Universal Studios ... and the rest of the time? Well, I was either reading, or chilling by the pool. Or sitting in the hot tub. Which you would think is weird, being that it was warm outside, but these hot tubs weren't hot in a Canadian sense of the word, so it was like sitting in a warm bubbling tub. With your friends. Sipping on whatever you had mixed up. So noone was complaining :)

Ah, such fun times. I miss the sun sooooooo much. Which is understandable, since it's been blizzarding here in Montreal for the past 2 days. I'm currently thinking of the best strategy to keep my (very light but hard-earned) tan for as long as possible. No showering until June, perhaps? Hmm ... I'll think about it.

Honestly, I enjoyed the sitting around in the sun and reading much more than anything else. Because I'm lazy. And I like to read. I went through a 700 page book in 2 days because much like everything else in life, I don't do the whole prolonged-pleasure thing. I swallow those books like there ain't no tomorrow. No self-control, this one.

Anyways, most people would say the highlight of our trip was our day at Universal Studios.

Except that it was actually quite chilly that day. I wore shorts and a hoodie, and by the evening, I was FREEZING my tail off. As in, everyone else went to do some more rides, and I waited for them and warmed up in a Starbucks.

Now of course the main reason to go to Universal Studios is ... Harry Potter World. Disclaimer: I'm not a Potterhead. Harry Potter themed stuff doesn't make me pee my pants/scream/faint with joy. But even I could appreciate how nicely everything was set up.

(It was a little weird to look at the 'snow' covered roofs ... while wearing shorts in the summery weather).

Of course we went into ALL the stores. Honeydukes in particular was very well done.

That my friends is a chocolate frog. Except in reality, it was more like a GIGANTIC chocolate toad. Because my friend bought one, and man, that is one hunk o' chocolate. I got something else instead that I'll be gifting to one of my friends ;)

And in spirit of Harry Potter-ness (and also because I didn't want to lug around 5 tupperware containers with my pre-made snacks all around the theme park), we had lunch at The Three Broomsticks.

 
The thing about Universal Studios is ... LINEUPS. That was pretty much the theme of the trip. (Well, besides lazing-around-doing-nothing). Lineups at the airport, lineups at the park, lineups EVERYWHERE.

We stood in this fricking line for 1.5 HOURS. And it WASN'T EVEN A RIDE. I was steaming mad by the end. It was some sort of water/light show about Poseidon. But dammit, I stood in line for those 1.5 HOURS so I could sit in a fricking ride for at least 90 seconds! And instead, I had to stand in some room, crammed against all sorts of other people (I'm pretty sure I almost stole somebody else's child and groped some random ladies' boob) and watch some out-of-work actor do his shit.

You can tell that I get ... disgruntled ... when I'm tired.

Which was the theme of the day for me. If this is what it feels like to run a marathon (and yea, we walked around for 6-7 hours), I'm not sure if I want to do it. I felt like a limp noodle by the end of the day. 

Dude, these vacations are TI-RING. Back to procrastinating in my bed in Montreal!

Of Delightful Home Decorating

So a couple of weeks ago, I wrote of a wonderful evening I spent at my friend Jill's house. She has just moved in to this apartment and wasn't fully unpacked, but already, little touches in the decor shone through giving the place a delightful French feel.

An antique vase in cream with pale hydrangeas in a pastel lilac - adding a soft and nostalgic feel.

Vintage dresser - the bowed legs and the detail on the drawer handle bring you back to more refined times.

Carved wooden chair with flowered seat. Normally, one thinks of florals as being dated, but here, it gives a whimsical feel to an otherwise very solid piece of furniture.

Heavy gilded mirror - the fine details in the frame add a classical touch to the room.

And it's not just the furniture - accessories add just as much to the overall feel of a space. A blue-glass jar filled with pennies is a simple and yet elegant way to decorate a bar windowsill with a bit of grace.

And adding a simple bouquet of greens livens up the place; a string of white lights twinkles invitingly and creates a fairy-like atmosphere.

An old-style canister of tea adds colour to the kitchen ... and while not in the same classical style as the vases or the furniture, it nonetheless contributes to a wonderful old-time atmosphere.

These are just some of my favorite little touches from Jill's place ... here are the rest!