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FiveBlondes is going National!

May 20, 2008 By 8 Comments

I have put off writing this post because it always felt so far away, but time sure does creep up on you sometimes. A little while ago, you may recall that I was questioning life choices after graduation. Well, decisions have been made and now I am about to follow my dream boy across the country to the beautiful city of Calgary! The car drives out next Tuesday, May 27th. We are road-trippin’ our way across the nation to our new home for the next year. Lucky for us, I have amazing relatives out west who have already invited us into their homes until we find our perfect place to make into our home. Today was a bittersweet day, because I finished my last day at my current job (professional barmaid, bartender, petal, bar wench, whatever those crazy Europeans come up with at the moment), and have left my amazing coworkers and bosses at My Favourite Pub.

Currently I am deciding what Calgary-Leah will be like … I thrive on change and actively pursuing new and exciting adventures.

Hometown friends – there will be some sort of gathering chez Bontje farm on Sunday, so pop on over if you have time! I will keep you updated concerning times.

P.S. Don’t forget to vote for us!

Filed Under: Calgary, cars, dreams, Family, leah, relationships, Work

Movin On Up

April 30, 2008 By 6 Comments

I’m really happy to be able to write this today. This has been a great week for myself and D, and also for Five Blondes.com! This afternoon I got a call from D’s boos – which immediately had me worried because I figured the only reason his boss might have to call me is if something BAD had happened. My heart was in my throat. He spends a good amount of the day driving from call to call, so I thought that he had been in an accident. Then, his boss went on to say “I’m here with D…” and asked my what I would think if the company were to offer him a full-time, permanent position!

I just about jumped up and down yelling “Yes! I would love that!” D has been working for this major company (he doesn’t want me to blog about his personal details and I respect that) on contract as a technician for over 1.5 years. He truly is one of the best technicians they have on staff – numbers don’t lie! In fact, he is one of the best techs in Canada. His boss loves him and told me that they are making an exception for him. He’s exceptional ;)

Pinwheels

What does this mean for us? Aside from job security for D, he’ll be getting a company van in a few weeks and will no longer have to worry about mileage on our personal car or moving parts in and out of the car every weekend. We’ll get benefits, which will help pay for my prescriptions. We are now in a much better position to buy a house (!!) and start a family (!!) – the wedding is 367 days away!

On the blog-front, the great Google gods bestowed a pagerank of 4 upon FiveBlondes.com yesterday. I couldn’t believe it! Mom’s website, Couturesmith, is PR3.

Finally, I want to know if you’re on Twitter. I am! At first I decided to keep it separate from my blogging activities, but I’ve had a change of heart. You can find me @ericablonde. I’m having a lot of fun getting to know some of my favorite bloggers even better and keeping up with the latest news on the social media / SEO / intrawebz front. I’m the kind of person who likes to be standing in the middle of a crowded room listening to everything going on around me. Sometimes that’s what Twitter feels like to me.

Finally, I’m thinking of writing some book reviews. I’ve been reading a LOT lately and have discovered some fantastic authors that you MUST know about. I’m excited already!

Filed Under: life, relationships, Work Tagged With: , , , , , ,

I'll Let You Buy Salt if You Buy Me a Diamond Ring

April 26, 2008 By 6 Comments

ring

One important thing I have learned while dating Kent is that if I put an idea into his head, there is a good chance it will come out of his mouth as his own idea a few weeks later. Leah calls this A Sign of an Abusive Relationship. You might call it Manipulative. I call it Being Resourceful. And I promise, I only use it for good. For example: Kent drinks a LOT of diet coke. He probably drinks more per day than I would even consider drinking in a month. Which of course is really bad for him, so when he complained that he was gaining weight, I suggested maybe it was all the diet coke. No, he said, diet coke is good for you, coke is bad for you because of all the sugar. Two weeks later he said to me “I feel like I’m gaining weight. I think it’s all the diet coke.” SUCCESS! Yesterday he drank three glasses of water at work and I guess only about a million minus three glasses of diet coke. He’s a chef, I guess they get thirsty. Plus diet coke is free at the restaurant. So I suppose I’m getting somewhere, and he is three glasses of diet coke less likely to die of aspartane-related illnesses.

I also decided that if I ever want to get engaged or married or anything fun like that, I should start putting that idea into his head as well. Not that I need to get engaged RIGHT NOW, but it’s always good to start planning ahead, plus it’s fun to talk about it. I have managed to work the idea of diamonds into many conversations, for example this one:

Kent: I found this pink Himalayan salt for $200 a pound on the internet…. *a few minutes later* What’s our postal code?

Me: Are you buying $200 salt?

Kent: No, I’m buying $8 salt. I’ll buy you something too, okay?

Micaela: Is it sparkly?

This seems to be working too, but not quite in the way that I originally planned.

Micaela: Where do you think you’d be in your life right now if you weren’t dating me?

Kent: Looking for you.

Micaela: Awww.

Kent: Does that get me out of buying a ring?

Filed Under: life, love, micaela, psychology, relationships

My First Car!

April 9, 2008 By 4 Comments

Along with all of my previously mentioned exciting news, I totally forgot something! I bought my first very own car on Tuesday. I’ve been driving since I was 16 but somehow have never needed my own car until now, I was always able to use extra cars of my parents. Not anymore. It may be a little old, it may have a lot of km’s on it, it may have a little rust spot, but it is ALL MINE. My friend Dane helped me to find it and came with me to test drive it and everything. It belonged to his friend’s dad who took amazing care of it. It is so clean on the inside you’d think it was brand new. So exciting! I am no longer driving around in a car with a liscence plate that says THANKSDAD, and no longer have to feel like I am the laughingstock of the road.

savage chicken

My co-worker Karen sent me this cartoon the other day at work (we send each other Savage Chicken cartoons daily, not really sure why, but it has turned into an office ritual for a few of us). I personally think it is hilarious! Mostly because I always ask her if she has read my blog… and because the joke’s on her because she does read it every day! HI KAREN!!!!

Messed up boyfriend quote of the day:

Kent: “I love you, Maeve Binchy.”

Micaela: “…That’s not my name. That’s an author…”

Kent: “I know, but it sounds like your name.”

Kent and Micaela: “Miiiiicccaaaaeeeeeellllaaaa Boooonnnnnjjjjaaayyyyy” “Maaaaaaeeeevvvvvveeeee Biiinnnccchhhhhyyyy” *repeat for about 5 minutes*

Filed Under: cars, relationships, weird, Work

Heidi Klum Pregnant, and other things I love.

February 26, 2008 By 6 Comments

For the past couple of weeks I have been making my way through season 2 of Project Runway. There is some great designing, I am completely in love with Chloe and Daniel, and Santino’s impressions of Tim Gunn are hilarious. However, the most awe-inspiring part of this season for me so far, although I haven’t made it to Olympus Fashion Week yet, is HEIDI KLUM in all her pregnant glory. Seriously:

heidi

heidi2

Am I wrong???? I hope to look 1/3 as good as her when I am pregnant, off in the very distant future (sorry Leah).

Other things I love these days:

1. Late night blogging and late night glasses of wine.

2. Ladies night on Friday, at which 3 of the five blondes outlasted all of the other tables of ladies in our town, and in fact all of the other tables, until we were left sitting on the floor, very proud of our #1 status:

ladies

Clockwise from top left is me, Leah, Katelyn, and my best friend of 19 years, Michelle.

3. The Sex and the City movie!!! Which doesn’t come out for 3 months but I am anxiously awaiting.

4. The book I am currently reading, Manhattan: When I was Young:

kkl

kento

5. My crazy, fun, cute boyfriend who I got to spend the whole day with today (unheard of for us)… and by the end of the day he still couldn’t be in a different room from me for more than 12 seconds. I like to think that I am totally loveable, not that he is needy… Just kidding, he isn’t needy (I don’t think.) Just kidding again…

sistas

6. My sistas! Kate’s wedding day, pretty dresses, Sandy and Marcie, Leah’s pose, and all of the things that make this picture great:

And a million other things… all for another day.

Micaela.

Filed Under: blonde, love, micaela, relationships, thoughts Tagged With: ,

Meeting the parents and setting a wedding date

January 14, 2008 By 7 Comments

This past weekend was eventful for D and myself -  D’s parents were in town and we got together with them and with my parents to discuss wedding plans.

Although they have met only a couple of times, our parents get along great.  It was really nice to be able to enjoy an evening chatting about everything that is to come!  Our wedding date has been (tentatively) set for April 25, 2009.  Ages away, but it’s great to have a date to focus on.  Next step: Securing a venue and vendors…

Erica

Filed Under: erica, life, relationships, Wedding Tagged With: ,

How To Say I Love You

November 12, 2007 By 2 Comments

Man.  Our posting frequency has seriously diminished since the wedding.  Of course, we have our reasons…life went back to ‘normal’ and we had to catch up on stuff we had abandoned for the sake of the wedding.  Case in point: I had to study for a midterm (I had a midterm on Halloween :p ), and prepare to move to a new apartment!  Also, Kate has been away on her honeymoon in Costa Rica this past week.   I can’t vouch for Micaela, Leah, or Lauren…WAIT, I take that back, Lauren DID post the ‘optical illusion’, so, way to go Lauren!

Today I’m posting a link to a touching, yet sometimes odd, essay entitled How To Say I Love You by Paul Ford. I feel it is important to note that it is written from a male point of view, simply because I found some of the suggestions to be confusing when I first considered them from my female POV.

Ford poses his “How-To’s” in many different ways.  Some are short, simple statements that cause you to think twice, such as (2) with freshly cut flowers, assuming she is not a flower; and (46) At Thanksgiving, to her twin sister, by accident.  Others are fun, inspiring, and applicable to real life: (47) In glow-in-the-dark-paint on the bedroom ceiling; and (82) Change your status to “interested in: just friends”.

Some suggestions spoke to me from my unique perspective on the world – especially (50) Branded onto her favorite pig; and (86) via the poetry of Pablo Neruda or Jorge Luis Borges that you have copied into a small black journal.  I also loved (100), but I’ll leave that one as a surprise.

Ford includes his wedding vows as ways to say I love you…awww!  He also spins multiple “I Love You’s” into fictional stories.  Truly, this article is about how small, seemingly inconsequential acts are really testaments of love!

What little things do you do to say ‘I love you’?

Filed Under: erica, life, love, relationships, thoughts, writing Tagged With: , ,

On the To-Do List: Just Keep Up

September 20, 2007 By 1 Comment

I’ve been quiet lately.  For good reason: I’m both exceedingly tired and exceedingly busy!

Last week marked the beginning of my last ever school year. Well, school half-year. Or, technically, half of a half school year.  Anyway, I’m taking 3 evening classes (each worth a half-credit) so I can finally get that darn piece of paper indicating that I am a university graduate.  I survived.

Unfortunately, these evening classes coupled with work are draining my reserves.   My week starts out like this:

10-6 work; 7-10 class.

This is my Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday schedule until December.

When you think about it, December really isn’t that far away.  This means that I’ll only have the time from now until December to keep up with an increasing workload, reading for 3 classes, assignments for said classes, and study for various tests and exams.  Not to mention the other things going on, such as my dwindling social life, and the fact that the new seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and The Office start next week.  Thankfully, on Thursdays.

Filed Under: erica, health, internet, life, love, money, personal, relationships, thoughts, university, Work

You’re every song, and I sing along cuz you’re my everything

September 3, 2007 By 12 Comments

Today I spent a really awesome day with Kent: we woke up around 9, watched some Rachel Ray, headed out to Guelph, visited Leah at the Fat Duck, visited other Leah at their house for 2.5 seconds while I stole a bathing suit, thennn went tubing at the Elora Gorge! Parts of it were very scary, others were really relaxing and we just laid out with our legs on each others tubes and chatted and suntanned. Next we went to the Elora Quarry which was AMAZING! Such a cool place, I would definitely recommend both. After a trip to Swiss Chalet we went to the racetrack and gambled on horses. I am financially cautious when it comes to gambling, and most other things besides clothes, so I only bet $2 on a few horses but I DID win $4.30 on one! Kent made a large bet of $12 on one race and won a whopping $12.15!

The day was quite excellent until the way home… well the first bit of it was fine, with Kent seranading me with Michael Buble’s “Everything” for a good 15 minutes (sounds muuuch more romantic and less annoying than it really was trust me!!). He also enjoyed belting it out to various songs and changing words around (you becomes poo, me becomes pee, day becomes gay… you get the idea). Finally we got to that point where we were tired and just wanted to listen to music, except we have very different but both very strong musical tastes. It usually leads to arguing, but today we agreed that we needed to set some rules. Kent (the driver today) decided the rule should be that the driver chooses but I obviously disagreed. Finally the rules we agreed upon were:

 1. During the day, the driver chooses because the passenger can do other things like look at scenery or read or dance.

2. After nightfall, the driver and the passenger both get an equal amount of time listening to music of their choice (today the time allotted was half an hour but I suppose would be shortened for shorter drives!)

3. If their time is up and it’s in the middle of a song, the chooser can finish listening to a song, but they can’t change the station right before their time is up if its the end of a song, just so they can get one more song in.

4. If they hear a song that they know is one of the other person’s favourite, the nice thing to do is leave it on if they want. “That’s a big IF” Kent said when I suggested that one, although he did leave on a scratchy version of Delilah for me… but maybe that was after I told him that he definitely doesn’t love me after he skipped through it the first time. :)

 There are probably more, but those are the main ones. After setting all of those rules we had no more arguments about music choices! It worked very well, for now anyways. Let me know if you have any you think I should add or how you deal with differing musical tastes during long car rides. 

Filed Under: life, love, micaela, music, relationships, thoughts

Making your emotional relationship financial: 5 rules to consider

August 29, 2007 By 7 Comments

images.jpgMoney.

Such a huge aspect of life, whether you want it to be or not!

If you’ve ever discussed combining finances with your husband/ wife/finance/fiancee/partner/significant other, you’re not alone.

Throughout the 18 months we’ve been living together, I’ve suggested several times that perhaps D & I should get a joint bank account and/or credit card. I looked up the information, grabbed brochures, and pointed out (first casually, lately insistently) that the money he has in his checking account would be much better held in a savings account where he would earn interest. In addition, seeing as we’re buying furniture and groceries together, why don’t we get a credit card together (preferably one with rewards) and split everything down the middle?

Yesterday he finally cracked (perhaps due to the prospect of planning a wedding?) and I arrived home to have him tell me that we were leaving to go to the bank and set up a joint chequing account and credit card.

With that (and many other things) in mind, I’ve developed my own short list of “rules” to consider before making your emotional relationship…financial.

  1. Know your partner’s spending habits! Hopefully this goes without saying, but if you don’t know where the money is going, that’s not good. Alternately, if your partner always has new clothes, ‘toys’ (ie. video games), or is always eating out or spending lots of money at bars, this should be a concern as well.
  2. Know your partner’s financial goals. Is your significant other saving up for a house…or a trip to the Caribbean? If you don’t know…find out! Why save money together is you’ll just argue about how to spend it?
  3. Discuss all purchases. D is currently lusting after a big screen TV – if I got home tomorrow and found that he had purchased one on our credit card…let’s just say that it wouldn’t be pretty. He would be upset if I bought a new snowboard – it works both ways.
  4. Agree on how much to contribute to a shared account. This will depend mainly on individual incomes. If there is a wide discrepancy between your incomes, agree on how much each of you would contribute (for example, an equal percentage of your paycheque).
  5. Ensure that you can make payments on time. Along with knowing spending habits, know payment habits as well. Does your significant other have a good payment history with creditors? Do you know if he or she has any creditors? What’s their credit score? For that matter, what’s *your* credit score??

Wow. That last one almost got away from me there! Don’t forget, these 5 “rules” are only a few things you should consider before making your emotional relationship financial. Above all, make sure that you are comfortable with the prospect. Talk to someone else about it if you need to. Talk to your banker! Someone working in the financial industry has likely seen this a multitude of times and may have considerations you haven’t even thought of. Don’t be bullied into it, and if you don’t feel ready – just say no!

** DISCLAIMER **

I am not a financial advisor. I’m just sharing my thoughts with the world.

/disclaimer
add to sk*rt

Filed Under: blogging, erica, life, love, money, personal, relationships, thoughts, Wedding
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