The Past Year in Review

As my birthday approaches, I reflect on my past year – and what a year it has been.  I can say with certainty it has been the hardest year of my life!  But, I am still standing, I have learnt so much from it and I am ready to take these new lessons forward with me.  There is no point on dwelling on the past, or looking too forward into the future – all we have is today and now.  Smile always J

The year 2010 in retrospective:

quarter life year in review

In the personal realm:

* I met one of my best friends AT at the LCB back in February – since then, we have had a fantastic year together. All smiles!

* Throughout my 3 visits to TO, I spent quality time with my HK soul mate NM. I got the opportunity to see her home life, and meet her family & friends. She will be visiting me for my birthday this weekend so I am incredibly excited for her to meet my life. In addition, we have enjoyed such beautiful Skype & email dates - distant has not been a factor. We also got the chance to see one of our HK friends Feng – it’s always great seeing “international” friends again. 

* I lost touch with my guy best friend LH to his (ex)-girlfriend. Unfortunately, he did not fight for our friendship and sadly, the girlfriend made him chose. In the end, I guess he was the one who not only lost a girlfriend, but a good friend.  We still talk, but it is not the same; I do hope one day we will be able to be great friends again.

* I stopped being friends with another girl HS that I thought I would be friends with for life. The reason is still unclear since everything went down in a drunken argument - and she was rather psychotic at the time, but apparently I tried to steal her (ex)boyfriend away from her and Im a bad person. In reality, I had befriended him and tried to make him feel part of our group. When they broke up, he & I remained friends and apparently that is a no-no. 

* I had 2 major upsets with one girl ML – I am clearly better off without her in my life. She created havoc with my friends due to an inability to censor her social media updates = unwanted drama & stress. Then throughout many months of re-building the friendship, she had a mental breakdown and left me stranded at BeachClub – with no apology and not being an ounce sorry for her behaviour, even going as far as insulting me at the time, I was more than happy to walk away. 
* Party friends do not make for good friends, but good friends make for excellent party friends! 

* I see this personal turmoil in my personal realm as my life clearing itself of the unnecessary shit blocking the positive influences in my life. Nevertheless, I have met some amazing, interesting and intriguing people ~

* Lessons learnt: a) Some people are not who you think they are – unfortunately, all too often, you only see what you want to see, or what they let you see; b) People change and/or grow apart; c) There are some people who come into your life for one moment, one day, one month and/or one year; very few people will be friends for a lifetime; d) Life is too short to surround yourself with fake hypocritical people.

In the health realm:

* Do not take your health and body for granted –

In the family realm:

I am so incredibly proud of my mother! Her accomplishments in the past year are outstanding – Gold Level Excellence Award for the Ombudsman department; the class she mentored won an award for their fundraising project; the yearly golf tournament that my parents organize raised over $10,000 for the Olympic Primary School in Kibera, Kenya; my parents just celebrated 31 years of marriage; and, she is always caring & making a difference in people’s lives – amongst other things.

* I am eternally grateful to be part of such an amazing family – Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Aunts/Uncles, Cousins & of course, Friends of the Family...it’s simply beautiful & Im lucky to have so much love in my life.

* I also want to thank my parents for being so understanding and not saying too much every time I ventured to MTL.

In the professional realm:

I started off the year at LCB as Administrative Coordinator for the restaurant. I enjoyed my position, but after 9 months and no added responsibility, I felt the need for change. I left LCB due to a lack of professionalism on the part of upper management. I was overseen for a promotion since I was too good at my position & they didn’t want to lose me in that role.  What a joke! The part I had the problem with was that management said I would be a perfect fit for this position, and put the idea in my head that if I persevered a bit more, I would be rewarded.  I found out that LCB had chosen an outside candidate for the position through an email sent out to all staff – such a clear lack of respect that my resignation came the next working day.   

* Afterwards, I worked short term fixed contracts – but I did enjoy most of the summer off.

* I have finished the year off at the UofO where I work on a curriculum based project, my last day being December 22 

* International modeling was always in the back of my head, but I did not travel this year for this purpose. Some great shoots though :)

*** 2011 – Dubai, UAE as a Financial Coordinator

In the dating realm:

I have been single all year.

* I just recently learnt that sometimes what you are "looking for" is right in front of you, but you can be too busy looking the other way or creating mental road blocks to notice ! When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one that has been opened for us. While time is limited, I'll take everything in stride and be happy/thankful for the now we do have.

* I had small crushes on a few guys, but nothing worth my time & effort. 

* The letters “PA” in names have haunted me and in fact still haunt me....

* Interesting Fact: Ever since I was little, I had envisioned that I would be engaged by the time I was 26 – luckily this year, we are celebrating 25 again :P

In the miscellaneous realm:

* I bought my very first car a 2009 Hyundai Tiburon – my beautiful sexy little shark

* I got my very first tattoo ((( <3 ))) on my right inner ankle

* I got my first hair weave – my hair was growing too slow for my liking, so I had my real hair braided, and long hair sewed in. Instant make over!

* I started my first blog.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Seeing as this is a party blog, and not a personal diary, I can say that I have had a phenomenal party year – for sure, THE BEST PARTY YEAR TO DATE.  Countless Stereo adventures, a summer filled with BeachClub, party nights in Ottawa at Buddha Bar, Sunrise, Sotto & Lobby.  With all those outings, I cannot even say I had a bad party.  Smiles, laughs & memories!!!

DJ’s I have seen this year:

* David Penn, Chus & Ceballos – Stereo

* Stephan Grondin, DJ Vibe – Stereo

* Maher Daniel, Gaiser, Richie Hawtin, Lay & Bushwaka! – Stereo

* Joubin, Nicola Torriero & Victor Calderone – Stereo

* VIVA Tour w Steve Lawler, Leon & David Pher – Stereo

* D-Formation – Stereo

* Victor Calderone – Stereo (x 3)

* Danny Tenaglia – Stereo

* Danny Howells – Stereo

* Martinez Brothers – Stereo

* Sharam – Stereo

* Maher Daniel, Dubfire – Stereo

* Erick Morillo – Stereo

* Sander Kleinenburg – Stereo

* Chus & Ceballos – Stereo

* Maher Daniel, Ned Shepherd & Sultan – Stereo

* Oscar G, Glenn Morrison, RyanL, Kimio – BeachClub

* Ibiza Beach Party w Sharam, Chocolate Puma, Alex Kenji, Jerome Isma Ae – BeachClub

* Cube Guys, Chus & Ceballos, Fred Miller, King Louis – BeachClub

* Fred Miller, Nicola Torriero, Joubin, King Louis, Etienne Osbourne, Alex Draym & +++ - BeachClub

* Blond:ish – Lobby, PURE lounge & BPM

* Sharam – This is London

* Eli Wilkie – NYE Sunrise

* Pablo Ceballos – Kinki Patio

* Colleen Shannon – Sotto

* RyanL, Paulo Cardoso, Tim Foran, Jimmy Strip – Buddha Bar

* Martin Villeneuve – Buddha Bar

* Cedric Gervais, Etienne Osbourne – Sotto

* Joris Voorn – Circus

* Marco V, Chus & Ceballos, Hernan Cattaneo, Gareth Emery – Black & Blue MTL

* David Guetta, Sander Van Doorn – Bal en Blanc MTL

- the purple denotes a DJ I had never seen prior to 2010.

To finish 2010, and bring in 25 again ;) I hope to see all my friends and some family out at Buddha Bar on Friday night. I will be DJing my first club set!!!

New blog post about Fridays event coming this week....

xox <3 xox

EVENT REVIEW ((( November 19 & 20 )))

In celebration of the 11 year Stereo anniversary, I attended both events on the weekend of November 19th and 20th: 1) Maher Daniel, Gaiser, Richie Hawtin, Layo & Bushwaka; 2) Stephan Grondin, DJ Vibe. With such great bookings, I could not choose one or the other ~ so off to Montreal for another adventure filled weekend. Memories I will cherish forever ~


Friday November 19:

            Tech is not really my forte when it comes to electronic dance music, but I can certainly appreciate it!  So once again I put my party pants on and got ready for another (((Stereo))) night; I was curious to see what Maher Daniel, Gaiser, Richie Hawtin, Layo & Bushwaka would bring to my fav club. To be honest, I was primarily going for Richie Hawtin - Canadian tech God, but was impressed by them all. Throughout the night, I went on small missions...ended up meeting Richie, meeting some new interesting people, finding some money, smiling and being rather silly. Overall, it was a fantastic night – sick beats & good company. I was happy to step out of my regular Stereo element to experience this all. 

Saturday November 20:

            At the beginning of the month, my mom Nicole declared that she was serious about coming to Stereo with me; she wanted to see what this place was & why it meant so much to me. We chose a date – DJ Vibe, she invited some friends – Michelle and Donna, they bought their tickets, they booked their hotel – and they were prepped and ready for this new adventure.  At around 1 am, we gathered, and by the way the ladies looked fabulous, and we made our way over to Stereo.



Donna, Me, Mom & Michelle

Upon arrival, there were not too many people in the club, so it gave them time to relax & take it all in. We introduced them to a lot of the staff & gave them a grand tour.  At first, they felt most comfortable in the VIP area so they could look over the club and adjust to the scene – it was adorable to see them bobbing to the music! Stephan Grondin was playing a lot of upbeat vocals – even a Madonna remix, so in that sense the music was perfect.  Thankfully, it had been suggested to us to bring earplugs – so we were all happy to have had them since it seemed louder than usual.  Once the club was more in party mode, we thought it would be better for them to experience Stereo on the main level; we chose a good spot at the back on the second level where we could have our space, dance and/or sit comfortably. This is where we spent the next few hours with the ladies…To our surprise, they stayed until 6 am! After all, they wanted to stay long enough to see Dj Vibe in full swing. 

          



The ladies with their Stereo tickets



      At first, I was worried that Stereo would not be "Mom friendly" in certain ways, but I found that people were really welcoming to these newcomers. Of course there were some sketcho's that added to the nights excitment, but what can you do about it...just laugh. In the end, the ladies adapted beautifully & I was SO incredibly proud! A few times, I escorted my Mom to the smoking section – and found myself saying “It’s okay, I’ll wait for my mom here” – and everyone looked over to see if I was serious, or what I was talking about. This is certainly not something you find yourself saying every time at Stereo. People were applauding the ladies for their efforts, and also curious to know the story behind it. 

the ladies dancing the night away

So why bring Mom Nicole, Michelle and Donna to Stereo afterhours?

I wanted them to see this place that I love – this place that is tattooed to me; I wanted them to see me in my element – with the music, lights, atmosphere and energy; and, I wanted them to experience this with me…the #1 club in North America, but really in my heart, the #1 club in the world. I think about this experience that I got to share with Mom, Donna, Michelle and Audrey – and it warms me from top to bottom - smile from ear to ear. I am extremely lucky to have a Mom that is so open minded, who stepped out of her comfort zone to try this. And while they are not electronic dance music fans, I think they could appreciate it, understand it, and somewhat grasp why this place holds a special place in my heart. AMAZING ~ these ladies would be welcome to join me at Stereo anytime ! 

* * * Thank you Mom, Michelle, Donna, Blake & Audrey for a really memorable weekend ! * * *

Quote from my Mom Nicole :

What could possibly possess 3 mature women between the ages of 47 and 54 to go to Stereo on a Saturday night? Simple – an out of this world music and dance experience that just had to get crossed off our “To Do” list! Yes, we were the oldest there – Yes, this was totally out of our element – and Yes, we even enjoyed ourselves! Not once, did any of the younger crowd make us feel out of place. Quite the opposite in fact: many young dance and music revellers gave us the thumbs up for being there.

Overall, we struggled with two things: the concept of going out at 1:30 am even though we managed to stay out until 6am; and, the loudness of the music – thank goodness, we had brought earplugs to filter the constant thumping of the beat.

All in all, a great adventure that at first seemed rather “risqué” but now brings a smile to my face when I think back on that night.

Stereo welcomed us and made us feel like we belonged ~ Thank you all!