Hola amigos! Here I am yet again on Sunday night wondering where my weekend went. Apparently there is some sort of sporting even going on tonight on the television, but my plans revolve around blogging, books, and baths.
I had a really great weekend. I feel like writing a list of the stuff that I did, so that's what I'm going to do.
1) I had a wonderful Friday night. I got to spend it with a group of super fun friends having sushi, and then going to see Jim Bryson and the Weakerthans band at Lee's Palace. My first concert of 2011 was great. Both of the openers, Daniel Ledwell and the Sunparlour Players, were great. I was so happy to get to see my beloved Weakerthans be the band for Jim Bryson, who is a really great songwriter and performer. He is also really good at getting rid of hecklers from the front of the audience. There were a couple of obnoxious morons in front of us, and Jim called them out in a fairly polite way so they left. (I wish I remembered what he said.) We got really close to the stage as a result.
I was a bit sad that Johnny K (the lead singer of the Weakerthans) wasn't there. However, I forget about that by the second song. And, the big bonus of the night was that Kathleen Edwards came out to sing during the encore. She is one of my favourites.
We hung out at Lee's after the show to have another drink, pick up some albums, and wait for the coat-check line to thin out. As a result, I was home by about 2 am and passed out pretty quickly. Late nights are so much more challenging these days.
2) I hung out with Mathew for the first time in 2011 this Saturday. We had pho, went shopping at Wal-Mart (yuck) and then watched SNL. It was good times. We had fun times chatting and reminiscing. We also have planned a tentative trip to the US to do some shopping at the end of the month. Fun!
3) I went to the gym a couple of times this weekend. Going to the gym is the new year's resolution that I'm doing a great job of right now. On Friday I went with my work spouse. It's nice having a gym buddy.
4) Today I chatted with my dearest Becca T as we figured out our accommodations in Barcelona. We have an option A that I hope we get. It's a smaller hotel, so Becca is going to get her roommate who speaks Spanish to call the place tomorrow and make our reservations. If not, our option B looks good too. Really, all I ask is that the ceiling does not start leaking mysterious water onto my suitcase, as happened to us last year in Paris.
I booked a nicer hotel for my one night on my own in Barcelona as a splurge. Then in London, I'm staying at Claire's, so no booking is needed! (I hope. Claire, you know I'm coming, right? Ha-ha.)
5) On Friday, Fea, Rasa and I had a conversation about feeling in a funk. We all agree that we are happy, but are we as happy as we should be? After thinking about this conversation for a long time this weekend, I know that I'm in a great place in life. My life has lots of friendship, fun, music, art, literature, romance, travel, excitement and challenges. I'm definitely not lacking in anything. I think that perhaps the weather is making me feel a little bit down; maybe it's just sunshine I need. However, after a really great weekend, I feel better than I did after that conversation.
Rasa insisted that we each make a goal to help us with our respective funks. I think my will centre around making plans to see a "long-lost" friend at least twice a month. For instance, this weekend I saw my friends Jane and Mathew (who I haven't seen since December), Eric (who I hadn't seen since the summer), and Paul (who I hadn't seen since October). Why don't I see people so often? Life gets in the way! However, I know that I'm tonnes happy when I'm socializing a lot, so I'm going to work being better at making plans.
Anyway, with that, I think I'm going to start reading a new book. Oh, I also have some Spanish homework that I should tackle before I forget how to conjugate my -ar verbs.
Hope you all have great weeks!
p.s. Miss Ash - te helado is iced tea!