Getting Back Into the Groove

It's almost the end of March! How does time pass so quickly when you're unemployed??? Hahaha!!! Well, between visits to my friend who just had a baby (there's a picture in my previous post), and shopping with former colleagues, spending time with old friends and celebrating my younger sister's 27th birthday and my mom's best friends birthday, somehow March has flown by! For the first time since I've been home, I actually feel like I'm (psychologically) at home and it's nice (^ - ^ )

My sister's birthday is only a few days after my mother and grandmothers, and sadly only a few days before the anniversary of my mother's death. Trying to hard not to focus on the second anniversary of my mother's death, my sister, father and mom's best friend ventured out to try the new sushi restaurant just down the street from our home: 168 Sushi: http://www.168sushibuffet.com/. Now, I'm not a fan of all-you-can-eat sushi and if you're a sushi or Japanese food lover in London then you have to go to Shiki: http://www.shiki.ca/. Shiki is the best and ONLY authentic Japanese restaurant in the city and the food is always amazing! The owners are long-time acquaintances, but regardless, the food there is superior to any other Japanese restaurant in town. BACK to 168 Sushi! 168 Sushi is HUGE and has attracted a lot of their customers because you can place your order on an iPad. Although this seems great, you have to wait for your server to come to your table to confirm your order before it's sent to the kitchen-no biggie-but it can be a hassle if you're server is very busy. The prices are OK, but the lunch buffet for kids is a steal (ONLY $3.95!). I'm not a big eater (shock of all shocks!!!!), so I don't ever feel like I get my money's worth at buffets in general. I like the atmosphere at the restaurant, and as far as all-you-can-eat sushi joints in town, this is the best I've had! I ended up going here again with former colleagues and I LOVE them! Below are some shots I took from the first time I went.

 Ordering on the iPad: BEFORE the craziness of all the food came out!

 Dad got Sapporo (Japanese beer) and Emi and I got Pina Coladas-YUM!

 My father and I. There WAS a clearer shot, but he didn't like it ;)

 My sister and I with my mom's best friend of over 24 years!

 Uh oh! That's a lot of food!!! We ate it all, muahahahahaha!!!

Later on during the weekend my sister decided to have her friends come over to our home before going out to a pub close by. I tagged along, not wanting to miss celebrating my sister's birthday.

My sister and I on our way out the door to....Drink. A lot. Friends, I don't think I'm in Kuwait anymore!

 My sister's friends got her this brownie covered in whipped cream, strategically hiding a shot of Bailey's (Irish Cream Liquer), and poor Emi had to get the shot without her hands. Her lovely friend helped her by holding her hair back.

Voila! Emi got the shot and drank it (the empty shot glass in front of her) and moved onto the more enticing brownie (in her opinion).

My sister and I towards the end of the evening and STILL standing! Forgive the overexposure (this is taken with my Blackberry).

My little sister loves to partay and that we did! I won't go into details, but let's just say it was a great night, and I don't even like pubs!

My little sister requested that I make my pumpkin spice cookies with caramel frosting and since it was her birthday, I could hardly deny her this one tiny request. Sooooooo, for the third time (ever) and for the FIRST TIME in Canada, I made these absolutely delicious cookies! I had to give some away otherwise I would have ended up waddling to the pub, hahahaha! I passed some along to my mom's best friend and she loved them, too! What a success these little, mountainous wonders are!!!

COOKIES!!! Emi and daddy approved!

I've still been cooking. However, I haven't experimented with any new recipes....EXCEPT for a risotto dish. It was amazing! I now know how to modify it for next time (tone down the parmesan cheese), but it was tasty!!! I'm hoping to try more new recipes soon!

 Lemon & thyme risotto with Greek salad

Just this past weekend, I reconnected with close friends at a spa party. My newly wed friend and her husband agreed to host the party and invited our close female and male friends. Without a partner/boyfriend, I asked my sister and father to join me. My sister chose green beer over the party (the spa party was on March 17th-St. Patrick's Day-the day when many Canadians claim they're Irish). My father hesitated, but agreed to join me. Many men opted out, lol, but my father and my friend's husband joined in. Although we were short a few people (due to green beer and the flu), we had a blast! My friend and I had gone shopping a few days prior to grab some ingredients that I'd need to make some concoctions with. We went to the Indo-Asian grocery store just down the street from my home and I wonder now why the heck it has taken me YEARS to go there! It was AWESOME!!! My friend and I browsed the store at least twice before we took our items to the counter! I will DEFINITELY be going back to try out more Indian and Pakistani recipes!!! By the time my father and I got to the spa party (my Polish friend, "K" picked us up), I was sure the gloomy weather would dampen everyone's mood. However, the sun began to shine and as it showed up, my mood instantly brightened! When I arrived at my friends' place, I saw smiling faces, got BIG hugs, and was welcomed to this: 

Awesome healthy snacks and homemade specialty coffee!

I'd prepared two face masks, a lip scrub, hand soak, and foot soak and both my father and friend's husband joined in! I think everyone had fun! We listened to lounge music...And Enya. What??? Who DOESN'T love Enya?!? That's how the "older" crowd celebrated St. Patty's day, lol! Enya is an Irish singer and is quite successful (I even bought one of her cds while I was living in Japan!). Another member at the party? My friends' pooch! The dog lickd up all the concoctions that we spilled on the floor (DON'T WORRY! All of the concoctions were made of food, so the dog wouldn't get sick from licking up a bit of anything). He was tuckered out by the end of the party!

I gave him some pet-lovin' since I've really been missing my dog of late.

The weather has been horrible and most days are grey and snowy. Here's a picture of what it looks like outside RIGHT NOW:

Yes, it's still snowing and yes, it's beautiful. However, exercising in it is...Entertaining to onlookers and potentially disastrous to me, and so I've forgone exercise for awhile (not cool).

HOWEVER, I WILL be able to exercise in warm, sunny weather soon! In exactly ONE week I'll be flying back to Kuwait for a job interview! I am sooo excited! I only realized today that I'll be missing Easter which is a BIG thing for me since I spend Good Friday and Easter Sunday at church. It was bad enough that I missed the 11pm candlelight service on Christmas Eve. As I move here and there, I've begun to question how I make sacrifices and compromises for the people in my life, for a job, and for a future that I'm uncertain of...It makes me question how much certain people mean to me and how far I will go for those who are close enough to my heart to break it...Anyhow, that's for another day. For now, "Dear Kuwait, I didn't feel done with you; I'm NOT done with you. I can't wait to see you again, but I'd be lying if didn't admit that what I'm most happy about is seeing my friends!"