Saturday, August 19, 2006

e-retail


it's been a great week for mail. finally received my broil king bbq that i won through the tim horton's rrrrrrrrrroll up the rrrrrrrrrrim sweepstakes. i also got a call from part source who have found the bug deflector i had ordered for skippy's honda accord for father's day. we're installing it today. and i received my clothing order from urban outfitters.

online clothing shopping is becoming my new bad habit / guilty pleasure. i've found recently that my wardrobe consists of the same safe selections that i've purchased at the gap and american eagle. after my shopping excursion in montreal (h&m, urban outfitters), i realized that there is much more to clothes shopping than what's available at bayshore shopping mall.

montreal, however, is still a couple hours away. so, i've found solace in the fact that both h&m and urban outfitters have extensive selections available at their online retail shops.

what's even more exciting is that urban outfitters has a great selection of shoes online. being a size 13, i have a difficult time finding the size i need in the particular shoe i like most. online shoe shopping saves me a lot of disappointment.

i've yet to master the ebay phenomenon however...

Monday, August 14, 2006

ring tunes


as mentioned in a previous post, i share the same cell phone as david hasselhoff. it's almost inevitable that 2 men as wise as us would pick such a feature friendly phone as the motorola v551. one of the best features that i'm currently enjoying is the realtrax (rogers, tm) ringtune option that allows you to use true songs as ringers.

lately, i've gotten sick of the standard pearl jam - given to fly tune that plays for all of my incoming calls, so i've started to personalize the ringers for those that call me the most. here's a sample list...

matt - xzibit - multiply
dave - beastie boys - ch-check it out / brass monkey (undecided)
goron - 50 cent - window shopper
melissa - metric - poster of a girl
julie - britney spears - i'm a slave 4 u
tracy - twins - ba xing bao xi he xi
mano - ricky martin - livin' la vida loca
david hasselhoff - baywatch theme

at $3 a tune, it's getting a bit pricey to custom everyone's ringers. but it keeps me entertained when my phone rings. and i suppose $3 is a small price to pay for the subtle smile that crosses my face when my best friends give me a call.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

turkey bacon


my fellow friends, you must join me in my quest to expand our language just slightly. from now on, i ask that you now refer to all rent-a-cops as turkey bacon. for those who don’t know, turkey bacon is processed, smoked turkey meat cut into strips that resemble, but only barely function as, bacon.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

montreal calling

this past saturday i took a road trip to montreal with my friends goron, lindsay and melissa. montreal holds a special spot in my heart. home to my beloved canadiens, quante bistros, excellent shopping, and great memories of my high school buddies and i highjacking my parents minivan for our first encounter at club supersex. and then there was youpi. who could ever forget the expos lovable mascot?

i woke up earliest saturday morning to shower, and pick up some genuine trade-free organic coffee from bridgehead coffee house, and some fresh pastries from the brown loaf bakery, both on elgin st. soon after, we loaded up the car and made our way down the 417. i had to make a quick cameo in casselman to lend an assist to my co-worker, but all in all, we were on schedule.

at 10:30, we rolled into montreal. the most distinguishing and stereotypical characteristic that would clue you in to being in quebec is that suddenly the drivers around you get increasingly more aggressive. though we made friendly with a family driving a ford tempo, who continued to wave at us for at least a good 17 kms.

the biodome was our first stop. i had never visited the biodome before saturday, a revelation to which most of you might be thinking "what?", but i'm glad i was finally able to make it. crocodile exhibits were followed by tropical toocans, which preceeded the monkey jungle, which led to the lovable penguins. all were fun to see, but most impressive was the sleepy lynx tiger, paws up, snoaring. zzzzzzzzzz....

after the biodome tour, we headed downtown on the metro for some lunch. we stopped in at a unique montreal bistro. pint of stella was the perfect rinser for my smoked salmon salad.

lunch was followed by a blitzkrieg of shopping that i had never experienced before. we visited numerous malls, independent shops, and accessory stores, plus a hudson's bay store, and even made it across town to hit up h&m. with only 23 minutes til closing time, we managed to spend a combined $400! i came out of there with a new fall jacket that i'm totally psyched about.

after the flurry of shopping, we decided a pitstop for drinks was necessary. we found another uniquely montreal bistro, but this time ordered 2 great sample platters - prosciutto, smoked salmon, roast beef, and a variety of cheeses that would make king out of a mouse. one thing i will say is that the french know how to eat! and that day we were francais a le maximum, oui le!