Bryanna and the City

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Tradition


Christmas 2004 Posted by Hello

This is me and my super sisters this past Christmas. You may be wondering, "what's up with the matching PJ's?" Well, it's been a family tradition of ours that every year we get to open two presents from our parents on Christmas Eve. One is always a pair of flannel PJ's (not always matching, but usually...to prevent fighting, biting, scratching, etc.) and the other is a Christmas tree ornament. We've been doing this for longer than I can remember and another part of the tradition is posing for pictures in our new PJ's...now, this was the first year that we posed in a couple positions, but traditionally we're in a "train position"...yup..we're all in our 20's and we STILL do this dorky pose. I can just imagine us in 60 years...trying to straddle eachother and getting stuck on the floor (which works out fine for me because as the youngest I have no one to straddle). However, no matter how dorky this tradition may seem, I always look forward to it every Christmas Eve...miss you SOS & SMS!!

BTW...we all come from the same egg & sperm (well, not exactly the same..you know what I mean)...just in case you were wondering.

Huh?!

Ok, so I switched to HaloScan...which by the way when I saw that my Blogger comments were gone my heart literally stopped beating...definitely NOT the same as taking off a band-aid! However, when I deleted the HaloScan post from my blog...*poof* HaloScan was gone and Blogger comments were back. Maybe a blessing in disguise...or perhaps a virus in the system? Anyways, if anyone could tell me in "small words" how to keep my Blogger comments and add HaloScan I would really, really, REALLY appreciate it. I know it can be done because I've seen it before...thanks!

Because I could never say no to Sean...

Here are my answers to the questions passed onto me by Sean. I had an easier time with this one than the music one...and to the women that I passed it onto, don't hate me because I chose you for a good reason.

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

Do we have to start with a question that makes me look stupid?
Man! I read this such a long time ago... grade 9 I think it was. All I remember is that the books get burned, so I don't think I would actually want to be a book...sorry, lame answer. Next question please.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Umm, yeah, only like every male hero/protagonist in every novel I've ever read, but to give you something more specific, I would have to say that Rhett, as in Mr. Rhett Butler from Gone With The Wind is probably the hottest male fictional character out there (for me anyways). And it doesn't hurt that Clark Gable plays him in the movie version. And no, I am no lady...

The last book you bought is:

I love going to second hand book stores. They usually have some great deals if you buy a lot of books at one time. So the last time I went I picked up two books by Susan Vreeland: The Girl in Hyacinth Blue and The Passion of Artemisia. I also got an old copy of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind, a disturbing novel entitled Suicide Blonde and a couple works by Rebecca Wells.

The last book you read:


Susan Vreeland's The Passion of Artemisia. I absolutely loved this book. I'm too lazy to summarize it, so here is what this site had to say about it:

Recently rediscovered by art historians, and one of the few female post-Renaissance painters to achieve fame during her own era, Artemisia Gentileschi led a remarkably "modern" life. Susan Vreeland tells Artemisia's captivating story, beginning with her public humiliation in a rape trial at the age of eighteen, and continuing through her father's betrayal, her marriage of convenience, motherhood, and growing fame as an artist. Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, Genoa, and Naples, inhabited by historical characters such as Galileo and Cosimo de' Medici II, and filled with rich details about life as a seventeenth-century painter, Vreeland creates an inspiring story about one woman's lifelong struggle to reconcile career and family, passion and genius.

I highly recommend this novel; it had me captivated for two days.

What are you currently reading?

Nothing, I have no excuse. It just takes me a while to start a new novel after I've read one that I enjoyed so much.

Five books you would take to a deserted island...and why?

Oh man, this is a hard one.

1. The Bible. It has everything you could ever want in a great book: love, lust, betrayal, triumph and the Old Testament was kind of kinky..er..not that I like that...
2. An Archie Comic. Don't laugh!I love Archie. Whenever I'm stressed or I can't sleep I pull out an old Archie comic from my childhood and in no time I'm calm and relaxed. And once I've read it a couple million times, I won't feel badly about using it for toilet paper.
3. Gone With the Wind. For, uh, obvious reasons...
4. Norton's Anthology of English Literature. First of all I stole this one from Sean and second of all, it's kind of like cheating, I mean it may be one book, but it has so many works in it..however, like I said before I am no lady and I don't mind cheating..just a little. Also, I wouldn't feel badly about ripping 'some' of the literature out that I was tortured to memorize in second year English to wipe my you-know-what with.
5. One of the novels from my chidlhood, not sure which one yet. It would be terribly hard to have to choose, so I'm not going to because this is my blog and I'll do what I want.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

Melina, Jackie and Alexandrialeigh because they're awesome, intelligent women and I know I would enjoy their answers.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

On the road back home for the weekend...


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Almost home...

A night out on the town...


me and t Posted by Hello

Saturday night I went out with my best friend since kindergarten, T. She's getting married next summer and I'm her Maid of Honor. I was not happy to learn that one of the three bars in Kamloops now has a cover charge. I turned into such a cheapo...I was like, "WTF? You're charging me $3 to get in here?" Which is totally stupid because it costs at least $10 here in Vancouver...oh well.

25 cents please...


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So here's what you've ALL been waiting for, well, maybe just MooCow...welcome to the "Peeps Show"!


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Peep took centre stage during our Easter lunch. Every plate was set with a Peep for each person...kind of pulled the whole look together.


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My friend Tegs getting a little fresh with Peep.


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Ma and Pa getting jiggy with Peeps.


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The brother I never had...Graduation Peep.


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Where's Peep?


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Peeps on the Greyhound back to Vancouver. This is Graham. A very cool guy from England that I sat next to and chatted with all the way to Vancouver. He didn't want to actually try the peep, but he was cool with posing for a picture.

So this is the end of the Peeps Show. I hope you enjoyed it and now you know how much of a geek I really am...oh, well. As you might have noticed, I'm not in any of the pictures, which is due to the fact that I was pale and incredibly tired or hungover...whichever... the day the pictures were taken. I would like to thank MooCow and Canadian Peep Relief for providing us with these delightful sugary globs. Easter will never be the same, now that Peeps are in my life!

My Pappa!


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Happy Belated B-day DAD!

My Momma!


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The only shot she let me keep! Happy Almost B-day MOM!!

Little Miss Piggy

Just because Sean made fun of my make-up picture...


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My mom is gonna kill me for posting this.
My room pre-cleaning...yes, I'm a messy kid...and my bed is small, but I like it.


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This is what it looks like for about an hour after cleaning...

Isn't it funny...

...that the times when I have so much to say, I usually stop blogging?

I had an extremely vivid, too vivid actually, dream/nightmare last night that I was dooced, so I may not post as frequently until my contract ends in...9 days!!

I had a wonderful Easter weekend full of turkey, pie and of course Peeps. I have some great pictures that hopefully I'll be able to post tonight.

I hope everyone is doing well, I tried to leave comments all day yesterday, but blogger (once again) was being an ass hole. I'll try again today.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Bye Bye Tutu

I did a pre-pack last night. I always find the pre-pack somewhat enlightening...you know, realizing that there's so much in your life that you can do without...for me, I can do without 5 boxes full of "stuff" and two large garbage bags full of clothes. My room looks so sad with all of my pictures and my red tutu stored away...however, ALL of my shoes must stay for my remaining three weeks in Vancouver...I need every one of them at my disposal to function properly...really. Even my bright pink ones with a bow that my mom called, "my special person" shoes when she saw them for the first time yesterday.

Speaking of my mom, I spent a good half hour taking glamour shots of her yesterday with my new camera. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard...actually, it was the day before when I was tickling Mr.P and he tried to bite me...anyways, it was the pee-my-pants-can't-breathe-ab-workout type of laughing. We took about 50 pictures and she only let me keep one...I really wanted to show you the finger on the bum I'm so hot sizzle pose, but she forced me to delete it, or the one when I told her to smooch at the camera and just as the picture was being taken she started to laugh. Ahhh…well, I guess you had to be there...

So I'm home for the holidays this weekend, but I'll try to post something while I'm there...if not, I hope everyone has a happy Easter or if that's not your thing, an enjoyable long weekend nonetheless. And just so I don't forget to say this tomorrow...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BP!!

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Help me!

Help! I’m serious…I NEED help. I need someone to talk some sense into me because I fear I may soon make a horrendous mistake, an absolutely ghastly error in judgment.

For the past couple of days I’ve been considering doing something drastic, something so wrong that for some reason it’s been twisted around in my head to be something completely rational and right. I’m talking about the “b-word”…that five-letter word that should never be uttered by a woman with naturally curly hair in a salon chair…BANGS!

Ack!

Yes, I’m seriously considering getting bangs…for the past couple of days I’ve been looking through magazines and inspecting women on the street to see if this would be a wise decision. Past experience suggests…actually “PROVES” it to definitely NOT be a wise decision, but I want to do something different, something completely out of character…and I’m not really talking about bangs, but a nice swoop…I keep telling myself that my bad (or terribly geeky) bangs in grade 7 were not the bangs’ fault, but mine because I had no idea how to style them properly…and now I have the “tools” (read: $250 ceramic flat iron) to style them perfectly.

Oh dear, even as I write this I know it’s a horrible idea, I know that if I were to get a “swoop” I would have to straighten my hair consistently, I would have to say good-bye to my curly locks unless by some grace of God it actually looked decent curly as well. Oh, and I also want highlights…what’s wrong with me?! I’ve spent over a year getting my hair back to its natural color and now I want to fool around with it again?!

What’s wrong with me?!

1 more day to go...

I love, love, looooove long weekends and subsequently short work weeks...my parents are coming to Vancouver tonight for a visit and then I'm going back with them on Friday morning for the Easter long weekend. I have something very special planned for the weekend (especially for Moocow). Something to do with…PEEPS!

On the Radio

Listening to the Z95.3’s “Lost ‘80’s and ‘90’s” lunch:

“...And I would do anything for love, but I won’t do that, no I won’t do that…”


Wow…I’m having some crazy high school dance flashbacks right now.

“...as long the wheels are turning…”


The girls ALWAYS had to ask the boys to dance.

“...I would do anything for love and you know it’s true and that’s a fact...”


HUH?

“...sooner or later you’ll be screwing around...”

What’s up with that boys?!

“...but I won’t do that...”

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

I know this was wrong, but...

On Sunday my cordless phone picked up my landlord's phone conversation upstairs and I listened in for five minutes...

...(I even moved my position to make the reception a little clearer).

I now know why I didn’t see their car in the garage for the entire weekend.

Wow.
Admitting that felt good.

Demons be gone!

Monday, March 21, 2005

Decisions, Decisions


Mr. P Posted by Hello

For my birthday, Mr. P wrapped up a little baby chicken stuffed animal named dot and enclosed a note explaining the rest of my birthday present: My very own Blogger free website sponsored by Mr. P for a year.

So, now I have to figure out what I want to do with my site. I've been having a VERY hard time thinking of a domain name...ALL of the good ones, even the not so good ones are already taken...I have also considered using it to host my blog from now on, but I'm not sure if that's what I want to use it for either.

Any suggestions?

CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!


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I know I've mentioned this before....but let me just say it again. I. HATE. WATER.

Drinking it, that is.

BUT, I've recently figured out a way to meet the required 8 glasses a day and actually enjoy doing it. It's actually quite simple and considering my competitive nature, I'm extremely shocked that I've never thought of it before.

CHUG IT.

Yeah, I'm one of the best chuggers out there. Slow and steady wins the race people. It's all about breathing at the right time and...

Hmm....I was going to explain my technique further, but I don't want to indulge the perverted minds out there....yeah, I'm talking to you.

Anyways, I haven't chugged anything since grade 11...I mean "Bry's Infamous Grade 11 Year". Ahhh....Grade 11....if you're lucky, one day I'll share a few stories...but till then, my story about water will have to do.

It's simple. See that purple Nalgene water bottle up there?...I chug half of it before 10:00 a.m. the rest before lunch and then another one before the end of the day. That's 2 Litres (or 8 cups)!

I trick my mind into thinking it's a competition. Between me and who? You may be wondering. It actually doesn't matter because it works...I JUST works.

Excuse me...I have to pee.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club


For Nick Posted by Hello

Friday Night @ Mr. P's

I've mentioned True Confections a couple of times...it's gotta be the BEST place to go for dessert. On Friday night I picked up some "Confections" to bring to Mr. P's house. He had the Mousse below.


Belgian Chocolate Mousse Cake Posted by Hello

I was craving chocolate and peanut butter, so this is what I chose....

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Posted by Hello


Both were fabulously yummy...

Thanks SOS & SMS

...I LOVE IT!!
Miss you...can't wait till Greece!

Lip gloss all the way from Paris. Posted by Hello

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Pinch me.

Attention! Attention! The sound you are hearing....

Does this happen in your office? The fire alarm goes off and people don't even flinch, let alone make any movement towards the nearest fire exit? When I first started working here, I thought this was amusing and disturbing at the same time, and now, after 7 months and 5 false alarms I'm sad to report that I have turned into a non-flincher like my other co-workers.

The fire department is now on site; stand by for further instructions....

I just hope that I don't have to walk down the 19 flights of stairs in my four-inch heels. On my first day of work here I was advised to bring an extra pair of comfortable shoes in case of an emergency, which is probably a good idea considering the extremely high likelihood of a HUGE earthquake in Vancouver...but, I guess I still prefer to live on the wild side of life.

Your Attention! Your Attention! The fire department has given the okay to resume building operations as usual. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.


Phew!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

If you're not wearing any green today give yourself a little pinch from me!

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

"girly girl"?

Ugg.
I ate too much for lunch.

Whenever I overeat I either:
A. Put on my flannel pj bottoms (if they're not already on) and watch tv or
B. Put on my jogging pants and go for a run.

Lately I've been opting for plan A, but since I'm not at home or anywhere near my Mickey Mouse flannels I'm just going to sit here and write with my distended belly and my mild Acid Reflux...yeah, that's right people, I not unlike Ashlee Simpson, suffer from Acid Reflux occasionally.

So far, here's a list of foods that trigger it, I would like to say that I don't eat/drink them anymore, but I still haven't learned my lesson:
1. Coffee. The absolute WORST culprit. One sip and something VERY unpleasant quickly follows.
2. Tea...Chai, Orange Pekoe, Earl Grey, Green ... you name it.
3. Coke. I found this out two days ago. Picture me doubled over in my living room...luckily my roommates weren't home.
4. Mayonnaise. The reason I'm experiencing indigestion right now (chicken salad sandwich).
5. Excessively greasy foods.

Grossed out yet?

Tuesday, March 15, 2005


I prefer the left side of my face...I spent over an hour to figure this out...I'm a big dork! Posted by Hello

I heart my new camera...


Look into my eyes.... Posted by Hello

MY 22nd BIRTHDAY!

So here are some of the pictures I took of my birthday weekend. I woke up early to find a batch of freshly baked cookies from my roommates. I then took advantage of the beautiful weather to test out my new Canon PowerShot200. I went to the beach near my house...the pictures explain the rest, however, by the time I went out that night my battery was almost dead, so I only got a few party pics in before it died completely. Enjoy!


My birthday cookies from my roommates Posted by Hello