Sad But Happy Too - I'm a Contradiction

This weekend the siblings were here. My two sisters and my brother came from Calgary for a visit. It was amazingly awesome. Now ... I'm sad that they're gone. There were 8 of us here in our little house, so now their absence makes my house seem like a mansion. Sigh. So sad.

BUT ... when I take a look at my list of what's left to do ... it is shrinking, and that makes me happy.

I've finished my minor paper, and so now all I have left is to:

• Finish Natural Resources major paper (I have a good start on this one, and I know exactly what I'm going to say ... so shouldn't be too bad to just crank it out).
• Deliver Natural Resources presentation on Thursday (I'm a little nervous about this one, since it's about a 25 minute presentation with questions from the prof).
• Write Professional Responsibility Exam - 1 week from today!
• Write Oil & Gas Final Exam - 24 hour take home test that I can write at anytime during the exam period.

I'm on track, and getting excited about being done. I can't believe that my summer is right around the corner. This year went by REALLY fast. I also can't believe that it's my LAST real summer as a law student ... next year I'll have graduated, and it'll be nothing but serious business for this cowgirl.

Anyway - back to hammering out the major paper.

AND ... The Click Has Happened ....

I think I've wrapped my head around what it means to write a minor paper (with a little help from a friendly neighbourhood professor).

I'm so used to having to substantiate any claim that I make, writing about my opinion and thoughts seems WRONG ... heh heh heh.

I'm now kind of excited to get down and dirty and pump out that paper.

Sigh.

The list, at least, is shrinking.

I have only the following left:

• Write Gender minor paper (have outline almost done)
• Write Natural Resources major paper (have outline done)
• Give Natural Resources presentation
• Write Professional Responsibility Final
• Write Oil and Gas Final

Only 5 more things.

It's always a positive when the "goals" list shrinks.

Tuesday Morning Reads

Just to disclose a little geekiness - the whole Tuesday morning reads thing developed because this is the time that World of Warcraft does server maintenance ... I haven't had classes on Tuesday mornings all semester long, so I've taken to surfing the net before I get down and serious with reading for school, since I can't get any WOW action.

I know. I'm a geek.

Anyhoo ... I've been wanting to check out Second Life ever since I saw Dwight on The Office have his character:

... interesting article over on Canadian Lawyer Magazine - MUST make sure to look into this stuff.

They also have a great piece for anyone talking about lawyers advertising for our Pro Res class!

Jason and I saw this the other day when we were driving by - I'm SOOOO EXCITED. I've lived by an OJ's for the last 4 or 5 years that I was in Calgary, it's a staple of a place ... they have great food and great beer: Star Phoenix - Calgary-based Original Joe's opening on Eighth Street

Wow. That's all I have to say. Wow. How badly do we need dictionary updates on our press release software ... hmmmmm?

Has anyone been following THIS story? I've only heard blips on the radar here and there when it's reported in the news. Looks unbelievable though - must look into this a little more.

A GREAT piece over at the U of A Faculty of Law blog about the effect of motherhood/fatherhood on lawyer productivity for my Gender and the Law class ... would love to look at this for a paper topic, but alas, I think I've already committed myself to another. Tempting to have a paper-topic affair, though, I tell you.

The Precedent reports on an interesting movement by American law students trying to take a stand against "negative" aspects of law firm culture. Must see if there's anything like this that has been started by the Canadian law students.

"Saskatchewan is the new Alberta" ... Saskatoon Real Estate Resource Centre Blog takes a look at RBC's quarterly Housing Affordability Report.

Tip of the Day

If you're considering law school, and haven't yet committed to an undergraduate program, take something that will teach you how to write.

While computer science gave me the logic chutzpah to ace the LSAT, I'm floundering in paper-ville right now, as technical writing isn't exactly what I've found useful here in law.

GAH! I know it'll click soon ... I can feel the brain cogs almost aligning ... almost ... there.

One Down - Four to Go

Problem is, I don't feel like I wrote an exam this AM. Don't know if that bodes well or not. Yikes.

It was a long un'. Didn't have time to answer everything sufficiently. Hope EVERYONE felt that way, and the curve will embrace me lovingly. Sigh.

Good news, though, is that one class is officially done.

Now ... for the rest of the weekend, my plan is to ... write papers (you and I both were hoping for something more exciting). I'm hoping to crank out some quality verbiage. After my beer buzz wears off, of course. Well ... we had to go for beer after the test ... that's just what you do. It was a TAX exam. I wrote the Tax I exam, and all the peeps that wrote the Tax II exam were writing with us ... so there was a great group that was heading over to Louis' ... how could I resist?

I know, I know. It's crunch time. All right! No more Louis' extravaganza's until I've at least cranked out 1 paper. Deal.

I Never Realized ...

... how powerful it is to have people around you to experience the same things that you are. Writing a Tax final exam on March 22nd, when a lot of my 'peeps' aren't having to worry about such things ... it's dreadful. I hate it. I just want to go enjoy the weekend ... but alas ... I'm chained to my desk.

At least it's foggy here today ... although ... I love the fog. So romantic/mysterious.

I'll be done one of my courses in T-23 hours (earlier if I don't take the full amount of time - which has never happened for me in a law exam).

23 hours ... until ... perhaps partaking in a beer somewhere ... maybe a movie? Haven't been to a movie in months. Anything good playing? Yup ... trying not to think about tax for a few seconds.

Well ... that was fun. Back to the ITA.

As a fun tax trivia point ... just before I go ... did you know that, generally, where you reside on the last day of the tax year decides where you pay provincial tax (there's a few more ins and outs, though, which look at where different types of income were earned for different provinces)?

Julie Sent Me This

GREAT distraction from studying for the tax final:

Frozen in Time - Grand Central Station

I Think I'm Succombing ... GAH!

I've got the sniffles this morning. Yikes. Time to up the Vitamin C intake.

On the positive side, I'm wearing a skirt with no need for tights (woo hoo ... WELCOME SPRING)!

Been a busy few days trying to prepare for my tax exam that is on Saturday. Did make time to go into school yesterday to vote for the LSA elections, and grab a lunch with some friends.

Tuesday, Jason and I got to have dinner with my Auntie Dona and cousin Brenda (and Thomas and Kaitlyn too). So nice to have a "real" dinner ... heh heh heh ... our culinary techniques over here in the Hutch household have been a little sparse and routine lately.

As for the rest of this week - I'm fully in exam mode as of today. I can't wait until Saturday, when the Tax exam is done, and I'm down to only 4 courses. Then ... it'll be time to begin to hammer out the papers.

So ... since Monday, I've been able to check one major thing off the big checklist. Still have 7 to go: 3 papers, 1 presentation, and 3 exams. Saturday knocks off 1 more item, which is great, and I'd like to get the smaller papers out of the way next week, which hopefully knocks two more things off the list. I won't do much for the last two exams until the papers are done ... so looks like I'm in good shape for everything.

As for the Tax exam preparation ... my trial versions of Microsoft Visio have run out, so I'm making pseudo-flowcharts with Word ... sucks. I miss Visio, but I'm far too cheap to actually buy it.

SPEAKING OF WHICH ... the Microsoft's Ultimate Steal deal is up soon (ends April 30th ... just looked it up). I've been humming and hawing about this one, but I think I'm going to go for it. 91% savings off the retail price ... how could it get much better? Well ... it would be better if visio was included, but ... hey, what can you do? 2007 versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint would be great ... I've already run into some compatibility issues a few times, may as well upgrade. Just have to make sure that I'll be able to put the software onto all of my computers (yup ... admission of nerdiness right there).

Last Night ... The Rollins

Talking about the Googles and the Internets. It was classic Henry in Saskatoon (which as far as he knows is the first time he's ever performed here), a great Christmas gift for Jason from his parents.

I've seen Henry in Calgary twice before, so this was the 3rd time for me (5th time for the Hubby, as far as we can figure it), and of course, Henry never fails to deliver an awesome good time. There were periods where I was laughing pretty freakin' loud, I tell you.

Since it was my 3rd time, I opted to finally buy a t-shirt, just to keep up with Jason:




I love it.

The last time we saw Henry was in October in Calgary, so not that long ago. There were a few bits that were the same, but a lot of bits that weren't. Henry's performances are usually around the 3 hour mark, a little over. The guy literally gets on stage and talks for 3 hours straight ... so to have tons of new material was pretty cool. I love hearing about his travels, his political observations, and of course, his experiences in the punk rock world.

Different kind of crowd, here in Saskatoon.

First time I saw Henry in Calgary was at Mac Hall (left), so ... very much a university kind of crew with a feeling like you're attending a school assembly.

2nd time was at the Jack Singer (right), same KIND of crowd, but different dynamic (tickets were much more expensive), with assigned seating in a huge concert hall.

Here ... the venue was the Odeon Event Centre (couldn't find a great pic, but it's one of those older theatres that has levels, and a mezzanine, and no rhyme or reason it seems). It was general seating, so we made sure that we got in line a little early. Our seats were fabulous, and the venue really lent itself to that awesome intimate atmosphere that makes the experience that much more. There was a bar right inside the theatre, and places where people had tables to sit at (but we were near the front ... chairs only there).

The dynamic in Saskatoon, with the much more intimate environment and bar RIGHT inside the theatre, was a bit more on the heckler side of audience participation. People definitely added their two cents to the Rollins spiel as Henry motored along ... was great from the perspective that it made it that much more intimate, but not sure that I loved hearing people heckle. We were there to hear Henry, not some drunk dude down the aisle from us ... but ... I guess he paid for his ticket just like everyone else. The other times I've seen Rollins, the audience was in a much more adoring, reverential place ... maybe it was just different to see another type of dynamic going on.

Either way, we loved it. When we got home, the Henry Rollins show was on TV too ... so it was like Henry followed us home! Ahhahahaaha.

And so, in closing, here are a few videos for your viewing pleasure:

Henry on the Hour, with my George - safe for work:


AND ... here's the most PC video I could find of his spoken word from a few years ago ... gives you a real taste of what it's like (I think it's swear-word free - safe for work), but I urge you to youtube the Rollins yourself and find some of his really funny bits.

For Dad and Julie

Check out this Precedent post:

Winnie the Pooh v. Republic of Macedonia

Also ...

... I know that I have to clean up the links on my sidebar again.

Looks like we've lost a few law student bloggers again.

Will do when I have time ... if anyone has a law student blog, or reads a really great one, leave me a link in the comments, and I'll make sure to add it.

So ... I find Myself ...

... heading for the busy period.

One of the goals of this blog was to document what law school is "really" like. This semester, law school has been a bit of a treat. With two seminars (which at the U of S are classes where we write papers instead of tests), my class time has been much less than usual, and it's been a different kind of thinking for me. Also - my tax class was accelerated, due to a prof that is now on leave, and so my tax classes finished in February.

This means that since the beginning of March, I've had one class a day (mind you, they're 1 1/2 - 2 hour classes), except Mondays where I have a 1 1/2 hour class and a 3 hour evening class. I've been using my time to stay ahead with my readings, to work on various extra-curriculars (volunteering, LSA website, etc.), on one paper that I've already handed in, and to make sure that my job application materials are up to snuff for the blitz of articling applications that are going to be happening in May (had an appointment with our Career Services Officer, which was awesome and totally recommended).

So ... now that it is March 17th (Happy St. Patrick's Day!), I realize that I have the following left on my plate:

• Group Presentation today at 2:00 in Professional Responsibility (the prep for this is done, the run through is going on this AM, so I'm in good shape for this - DID I MENTION that I did it all in Flash? With MORPHING? Yeah ... it pretty much rocks).
• 10 Page paper re: above ProRes presentation (have not started yet, but shouldn't be hard to crank out since I've sorted through this material a few times now)
• Tax final exam Saturday March 22 (haven't begun to prepare yet, but I stayed up to date with readings ... this week will be preparation week)
• Minor paper for Gender and the Law - 15 pages - Due April 1st (haven't started this yet, or picked a topic, but am aiming to have a topic picked by tomorrow - have talked to prof about this, and have a few directions to look in, so it's not a stab in the dark ... just a squint into dimness)
• Major paper for Natural Resources - 35 - 50 pages - Due April 3rd (have outline done, have done much thinking about, just need to begin to REALLY hammer it out, expect to begin this week, and finish next week after tax final)
• Long Presentation of major paper topic for Natural Resources - 30 minutes - April 3rd (should be no problem)
• Professional Responsibility final exam - April 7th
• Oil & Gas Final - 24 hour take home final exam to be completed anytime over the exam period - I'm hoping to do it either April 10th or 11th ... but we'll see what kind of shape I'm in.
  

So ... 2 presentations, 3 papers, and 3 final exams until freedom for the summer.

Yikes.

Interesting thing, though. I'm not stressed yet. I think this is more than doable.

Tip to anyone doing seminars in the future - stay away from reading people's facebook status lines that say how many pages of their major papers they've completed - this can induce meltdowns until a reality check is performed.

Should be interesting in any case. Must be organized (especially as I have a few fun events coming up soon ... more on those as they transpire).

Ooooh ...

I just got my official id # for the Alberta matching program for articling applications, so I'm ready to start applying! Many firms participate in this process, which is outlined at the site below:

http://www.natmatch.com/albart/

I Don't Know How These Weeks Go By So Fast

... well, I guess I do. It's been busy.

The weekend was the Jessup gala party, which was pretty fancy and pretty neat.

Monday was evening class, Tuesday was my polygamy discussion in Gender (where I had to lead discussion for half the class) and my FIL came to stay. He and Jason are working on our basement, so it's been great having him here. Today I've got class and a bunch of meetings.

Also - nominations for the LSA elections next week are in. I'm the only contender for Publicity Director which, of course, means I'm in (will be officially declared next week). Awesome. I even had some sweet posters planned, but now I'll hug a tree and not worry about it.

BUT - just so my work was worth something ... check it out:


Anyway, better posts are coming when I'm a teensy bit less hectic - I swear!

So ... I'm Running For Office

LSA Office, that is. I'm going to run for the LSA Publicity Director position, which has just been amended to include the Web Admin responsibilities that I've had on my plate for the last school year. This way, I'd ACTUALLY be part of the LSA, and would feel a lot better about taking a few liberties with the website (and would be able to work on it over the summer).

So ... I'm trying to design posters for my "campaign". AHAHAHAHA. I feel SO SUPER CHEESY, which actually makes it pretty fun. I'm going to let the cheese flow like Velveeta! Hopefully people GET the cheese factor when they see them ... oh well ... even if they don't ... the result should still be funny.

Did my Jessup volunteering this morning. We're so lucky that the Jessup is being held in Saskatoon this year, volunteering for a moot like this is such an AMAZING way to be involved without having to commit to being on the team. I can't BELIEVE what a well-oiled machine that Jessup organizational team is. They've really got it down to a science, and they're all so nice, even while dealing with minor emergencies. I believe that they DON'T GET PAID to organize this all, and with the amount of work they put in, I find that to be a STAGGERING FACT.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the Jessup as it unfolds over the next few days. Will keep everyone posted (plan on wearing my NY shoes for the first time tomorrow - EXCITING).

Awesome Weekend in Calgary

What a whirlwind of a trip.

I had a minor (well ... I'll be honest ... major) anxiety attack on our way to Calgary on Friday morning. The highway between Saskatoon and Rosetown was so bad that I went into meltdown mode. Luckily, the Hubster is a cool-headed driving pro, and wasn't too distracted by my panic-attack gesticulations.

Once we got to C-Town, it was a whirlwind (a glorious, glorious whirlwind).

Sigh. Got to see a dear friend of mine (known her since Junior High School) get married on Friday. She was the most radiant bride ever, and it was such a thrill to be part of her day.

Jason and I got to spend time with my Family, get a bunch of errands done, and grab a pint with some friends at the Wildwood.

The drive home was much less eventful than the ride out there, and so we arrived back home safe and sound.

Now, to get back into school mode ... again.

Our Tax classes have ended, so it's time to prepare for the March 22nd exam. I have another Gender assignment that just came out, my Natural Resources long paper presentation is at the end of the month, and I have a Professional Responsibility group assignment unfolding in the next few weeks. Also - volunteering for the Jessup this week, so I'm shaping up to be a busy woman. Exciting, since that's generally the way I like to be. Have also had a few CLS appointments, which have kept my partner and I hopping. Exciting indeed.

Hard Getting Back into the Swing

Especially when it feels like I'm finally on the downswing. Things are going to be wrapping up quickly around here which makes me realize that:

1. I need to be serious about getting a summer job (I've started a few balls rolling, but need to hammer them down), and
2. I need to be serious about getting an articling job.

Sigh.

And just when the weather is starting to get nice enough that I want to go outside again ... and do stuff.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I'm Back Baby!

And what an adventure it was.

5 airports, 3 hotels, 1 pair of shoes, and too-many-coffees-to-count later, I'm back in Saskatoon.

Ah New York. How I love you. You and I, we have a shy romance, don't we. I know, it's tough when we only see each other every few years. Maybe one day our romance will blossom into something more. In the meantime, I'll recount the fun that we had as best as I can remember (I know I'll leave some of the details out ... but what can you do?).

(Word of warning, though, some of the links on this site link to pages with some crazy sound ... if no sound is desired ... HIT MUTE NOW ... or don't follow any links.)

February 15th (a week ago Friday) I flew from the Saskatoon Airport (airport 1) to the Edmonton International Airport (airport 2 - realizing that I had NEVER flown INTO or OUT OF the Edmonton International Airport ... 1st time for me). I was greeted by a surprise visit from my Father-in-Law (FIL, who I thought was still working). My Mother-in-Law (MIL), FIL, my Sister-in-Law (SIL) and I hit up Moxies for dinner, and then collapsed into beds at hotel 1 (can't remember the name).

February 16th my FIL dropped my MIL, SIL and I off (bright and early) at the Edmonton International Airport to catch our flight to the Ottawa International Airport (airport 3). Last time I'd been there was 12 years ago. Wow. After a short 1 hour layover and a crazy last minute lunch purchase, we hopped onto a plane to hit airport 4 - LaGuardia Airport (airport 4).

We arrived, seamlessly found our car, and were whisked away to hotel 2 - the Mariott's Residence Inn - Times Square. We were perfectly situated on the Avenue of the Americas and 39th Street. That night we cruised around Times Square, and ate at Chevy's. I think this was the night that we later discovered what would be deemed the best carrot cake in the world at a small patisserie on 8th Ave.

February 17th, Sunday morning, we hopped onto the subway and rumbled our way down to Chelsea. First things first, we hit up B&H, the biggest, craziest photography/video store I've ever seen. SIL is a professional photographer, and was like a kid in a candy store (although, anybody would be ... I must admit that I had to staunch the salivation just a little). We were all amazed at the sheer volume of activity that went on, the level of service (sales staff were always readily available and so knowledgeable), and the crazy organization that lived there. Among our purchases (and by our, I mean one of us that wasn't me, but by being an in-law, I live through the purchase ... therefore ... "our" purchase) was the iPod touch - like the iPhone, but without the phone. So gorgeous, so jealous.

There was a wickedly chilly wind blowing, so we hopped into the Chelsea Market to find some grub, and came upon 202. This is where we discovered, at the suggestion of our fabulous waiter, the amazing french toast that is too good to describe, so here's a picture:





Yum. We browsed our way through the market, and ended up walking down into the Greenwich Village area where we browsed our way back to Chelsea, and hit up some shops including MXYPLYZYK, and Shoegasm where I purchased the gorgeous shoes below:





After all that crazy walking (with SIL being pregnant too - what a super-trooper), we wandered over to Carmine's for dinner. We sat at the bar to spend the 1 1/2 hour wait for a table over wine and a to-die-for appetizer called Spiedini, and watched the theatre crowd come and go. When our table was ready, we went for a 4-pasta special which was enough to feed a small army, but was yummy nonetheless.

After all that food and wine, it was lights out for these chicas.

February 18th, Monday, was President's day down in the States. We hopped on the subway and crossed over to Brooklyn, where we got to see our Cousins-in-Law; MIL's nephew, his wife, and their new baby girl - SOOOOOO cute (we also got to visit with new baby's G-parents who were visiting at the time). They were the ultimate hosts, and even treated us to an amazing brunch. We were so spoiled, and it was so great to see their wonderful home, and all of the loving care and hard work that went into the new nursery.

After our visit, we hopped back onto the subway and jumped off at SoHo where we shopped our way through to a french bistro late lunch on a patio to people watch. We hit up shops like Giggle, Barney's Co-Op, Bloomingdale's, and more (I think we even wandered into a Burberry store, just because we could). When we were in the Lucky Kid shop, we saw what appeared to be an Adidas commercial being filmed just around the corner, which was kinda neat.

After we finished up SoHo, we were DONE LIKE DINNER, and basically flopped ourselves into a fast slumber once we got back to the hotel.

February 19th we made our way downtown to the Financial District. We stopped by the World Trade Center site. It was neat to compare the construction progress that has been made as compared with my trip about 3 years ago. We then hopped across the street and spent a crazy amount of time in Century 21 department store. This store resembled chaos, but it was chaos filled with desirable products for super cheap. It was a mecca of fashion steals, and we went to town. I even tried on a pair of Victoria Beckham jeans, but they didn't fit JUST RIGHT. It would have (in the illustrious words of Lainey) "made my life" to own a pair of VBs.

After a marathon shopping stint in C21, we walked towards Fulton Street, and ducked into a great diner for lunch, I THINK it was the Pearl Street Diner. It was greasy, had super service, and had the busy atmosphere that makes you giggle just a little. We explored the Fulton area, and we checked out the South Street Seaport area, browsed some shops, and then made our way back to the subway.

For dinner we dined at Shun Lee's Palace, which was good, but we wouldn't say GREAT in terms of the food. The atmosphere, service, etc. were all stellar though.

February 20th was MoMA in the morning. I got to see Andy Warhol's soup cans. It was awesome:





Makes me realize that I'd love to learn a little more about art. Ahhh ... so much to learn when life is so short ... how to decide!??!?! The ongoing Lisa debate.

Wednesday lunch was at the Red Lobster, grabbed a quick lobster bisque (which gave my tongue the tinglies in a scary allergic-y kind of way - weird, hunh?), and then hit the LION KING on Broadway. Wow. That's all I have to say about that. Wow. The music, of course, was fantastic, but the costumes. THE COSTUMES. The costumes were incredible. Unlike anything I've ever seen. Spectacular. The sets were kept relatively simple, and the music and the costuming took center stage. Sigh.

After the Lion King, we wandered our way over to the Empire State Building, and dined at the Heartland Brewery at the base. We made our way up the ESB for a nighttime view of the city. What was CRAZY was that there was NO LINE-UP. When Jason and I hit the ESB in 2005, there was a crazy line-up that spanned about 3 floors of the building, in and out, winding all around. This time ... nada. It felt like we were VIPs. I didn't have my camera on hand, but here's a shot from the top that I took in January in 2005.





We got to listen to the audio tour this time, which was pretty neat, and something I'd definitely recommend.

February 21st was a spa day at Bliss. We got ourselves to the Bliss SoHo location right on time for our pedicure (MIL), maternity massage (SIL), and deluxe scrub (yours truly). I had first heard about Bliss by reading a Calgary Herald article about founder Marcia Kilgore's Albertan roots. After reading THIS Maclean's article, I see that she even has Outlook SK roots (as does my Dad's side of the family). So ... of course, I must support, I have no choice, you see.

The scrub was heavenly. HEAVENLY. Sigh. Just thinking about it makes me happy. I, of course, stocked up on my favourite Bliss products (which I only buy when I'm at a Bliss Spa - you can buy at Sephora, but I find it to be more expensive in-store): bliss hot salt scrub, bliss lemon+sage soapy sap, bliss lemon+sage body butter, and I bought the on-sale limited edition snow wonder body butter to try out. (I was introduced to the lemon+sage awesomeness of bliss during my 2005 trip - but more about that later).

After the luxurious spa treatments, we dazedly wandered down to Balthazar for lunch. We had been having uncanny good luck at picking spots to eat so far, and this random pick didn't disappoint. The food was incroyable ... and after our waiter presented us with dessert menus, as though it was a foregone conclusion that we must try one of their little slices of heaven, we decided to try two desserts to share; the Crème Brûlée and the Lemon Mille-Feuille. While we had already sampled the best carrot-cake in the world ... I think it is safe to say that these desserts were the real dessert highlight of our trip. Ah ... just imagining the melting on the tongue ... heavenly.

After more shop browsing, we found ourselves busting up to the upper west side to spy on Tom's Restaurant ... the REAL Monk's Cafe from Seinfeld.







Here we ordered coffee and rice pudding (to meet the minimum purchase requirement - just to say we did, we were all still stuffed from Balthazar), and had the craziest service experience. An older lady with an accent (I'm not sure which language the accent was from) grumbled and mumbled her way through serving us ... it was comical how bad she was - but after reading THIS review - seems that that's part of the whole "experience" ... I love it!

Lastly, we checked out St. Patrick's cathedral at night, and then zipped down to Grimaldi's in Brooklyn for a unique and must-have pizza experience. Again, didn't have my camera, but here's a 2005 pic:





The pizza was awesome, the staff were so engaging, and Grimaldi's didn't disappoint (I wonder if it ever does).

February 22nd we decided to hit up our food favourites on the last day we'd be in town. We went back to 202 in Chelsea for the french toast experience. Then we motored on up to 5th Ave to do that strip, including St. Patrick's Cathedral in the daytime. We saw Tiffany's, F.A.O. Schwarz, Bergdorf Goodman, Central Park ... all those goodies. We grabbed a brief lunch at the Europa Cafe, and then went to check out the Waldorf=Astoria ... and ... the W Hotel where Jason and I got engaged (awwww .... insert sighs of reminiscing right here). It was here that I was first introduced to the lemon+sage awesomeness of bliss ... the mini-bottles of shampoo etc. that are provided as room amenities are bliss products! How could I not LOVE this hotel!

After this trip down memory lane, we wrapped up our day with another amazing meal at Carmine's. This time we had cesar salad and the chicken parmesan ... and we only had about a half hour wait ... much shorter this time. We also tipped off our stay with a wonderful cheescake there.

February 23rd we hopped back into a car and were driven back to LaGuardia airport, where we flew to Toronto's Pearson International Airport (airport 5), where we had to clear customs. With a perfect 2 hour layover (any shorter and it would have been a dicey connection, any longer and we'd have gone a little crazy), we all decided that Ottawa's airport is WAAAAAY better than Pearson (less confusing, a little friendlier ... etc). With that, we jumped back onto a plane and flew back to Edmonton. SIL's Hubby and her kidlings were there to greet her at the airport (cute), and FIL was there too. It was a happy reunion. MIL, FIL, and I checked into hotel 3 and hit the sac pretty quick (SOOOO TIRED).

February 24th I had a great breakkie with FIL and MIL, and then they dropped me off at the airport for my short flight back to Saskatoon where Jason was waiting for me in the airport (sigh).

And so ... my brief 2008 fling with NYC was over. BUT ... I know I'll be back. The question is only ... when.

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