The Sten and more

Happy Monday,

Hope your weekend was fun. Mine went so slow, I think it's because I am excited about going home TOMORROW. It was good to not do much this weekend. We needed to pack and get organised for our trip home. The last few weekends have been crazy. One of my best friends, Nicole came to visit last Thursday for 5 nights. We had some laugh. Saturday was probably the most fun. Five of us rented a car and went to Niagara, to be honest I wasn't overly thrilled about going to see it for the fourth time but I wanted to go with her. When I saw it again though it was still as amazing as the first time. We had only planned to stay in Niagara for a few hours and head back to Toronto but we decided instead to stay overnight.

As Niagara can be expensive to stay in we didn't want to be spending a fortune to be close to the falls. We drove around and picked a family room in a Motel. As you can imagine it wasn't the best. The bath tub was like something from the 80's (actually it probably was from then) and I only got about 2 hours  sleep thinking that Norman Bates was going to come in and murder us all. I read the reviews the next day and they were horrendous, glad I didn't read them before I went to bed. You know what though, it was all part of the experience. I have never laughed so much all weekend and It was amazing to see Niagara Falls lit up at night. Its a great place for a night out too and I definitely want to go back (Might book a hotel in advance though) haha. For once saying bye to my friend wasn't that hard, knowing I'll be home this week.

Besides Niagara, I wanted to share with you a few things I did for the long weekend we had two weeks ago. As some of you may have read on my last blog post, I was helping organise my two friends Sten(Joint Stag and Hen). We rented a cottage in Blue Mountain that slept about 20 people. There was 14 of us that headed up there. The cottage was everything we wanted and more. It was very clean,spacious, had a hot tub, a fire pit outside and was very close to the village. I loved the small details about the place and how the owner had everything labelled for us to help find things easily.

To make the weekend a little bit more special, I wanted to add a few Hen and Stag elements to it. I bought a few decoration in the dollar store like balloons etc. I wanted to make a banner for them but had to think of something that would work for both a hen and stag so I came up with this....

This was very easy to make, I drew the letters on white card stock, cut them out, made little holes on each letter and fed string through, super easy!

The next day after a night of drinking. I gave everyone hangover kits. I got the idea from pinterest. Inside I put, a barrys tea bag (I had loads from home), a plaster, a kit kat, a moist wipe, a mint and some alka seltzer. All essentials after a night of drinking. It was a bit of fun and I think everyone enjoyed it.

On Saturday we went to the village for the day and that night we did it all over again. I organised a game of Mr and Mrs, which was hilarious. I also bought photo booth props and set up my camera and tripod and got some great group pics.

On the Sunday, we were all a bit wrecked so it was a more chilled night around the fire pit having smores and some drinks. I bought lanterns so that we could all make a wish to the couple of the weekend, however the weather wouldn't cooperate with us and the wind wouldn't allow us to light them. I was gutted! Besides that, the whole weekend worked out great, all the little things I planned to make it special for them turned out well  and everyone enjoyed themselves. Now for the wedding in 3 months time...eeek!

Talk soon (very soon for my family and friends).

Zita J xx

Minding Miley

So, I have been meaning to write a post over the past few days but I have been very busy. There is a lot going on for me at the moment. Some good, some not so good. I will fill you in at a later time. For now, I just wanted to fill you in on a few things I have been up to and what I am getting up to in the next couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago we had the pleasure of minding our friends puppy, Miley. After having a pretty stressful week, I thought, “what a nice relaxing way to spend the weekend, minding a puppy”. Well, relaxing was not the word I would use. Haha. The idea of minding a puppy to me seemed easy. I will tell you now, it's far from that and I praise anyone who does it. I adore dogs! I am one of those crazy people on the street who stops you to rub your dog. I had a dog when I was younger and all I remember is playing with him. Now, without any mothers getting offended, minding a puppy felt like I had a newborn haha. She woke a few times in the middle of the night crying to come into our room, she peed and pooped in places she shouldn’t, she ate a lot, slept a lot and I worried about her constantly. I really felt like a new mother. Parker even let me sleep in one morning because I was wrecked! Think he was letting me see what my future will be like, could get use to lies in!

Besides the pooing and worrying, It was one of the nicest weekends I have had in a long time. The happiness and excitement that a dog can bring is unreal. She is such a gorgeous dog and I loved getting cuddles from her when she got sleepy. I was a little emotional when she wasn’t in our apartment anymore. Coming home to a dog that was so happy to see you was something I could get use to but I think I will wait another few years until I can commit to taking care of one full time. A dog is for life not just for Christmas,as they say. 

Puppy talk aside, this weekend is an exciting one. Today after work we are heading to Blue Mountain village. Its about two hours outside of Toronto. There is 14 of us going and we are getting an Airbnb. The main reason we are going is to celebrate our two friends Stag and Hen, so we are calling it “The Sten”. Some people call it a "hag do" also. They had their own individual ones back in Ireland in July but since most of us couldn’t be there we said we would celebrate it all together. I am helping to organise it and I will do a blog post all about it after in case you’re interested. I am really looking forward to it! Be sure to follow my Instagram story to see what we get up to username: zitajames.

After the long weekend, one of my best friends is coming to visit and I could burst with excitement! Can’t wait to show her around and catch up. Then just a week later, I am flying…. HOME!!!!!

Parker's brother is getting married, I can not wait for the wedding and to see my family and friends. It's going to be a busy few weeks but lots to look forward to!

Have a great weekend, if you are going to EP, I’m not jealous, I swear.

Talk soon xx

Zita J

Filling you in on my life lately....

Happy Monday,

Hope you all had a nice weekend. I had a busy one here in terms of booking and planning our next adventures so I said I'd fill you in on my life lately. So my job is going well here, I love having the weekends to myself again and I got great news on Friday that my shift is changing to 8am- 4.30pm instead of the shift I am doing now which is 10.30am- 7pm. My role has changed slightly which was a very positive thing so I am happy out now. 8am is very early but when I get use to it I know I will love being finished early every day, especially when summer comes around.

Speaking of summer that reminds me, I wanted to fill you in on the weather situation at the moment. So apparently this has been the mildest winter in Toronto in years and people in work keep saying how its like spring instead of winter. The sun is shining a lot, there has only been about 2 days of heavy snow and the temperatures are very bearable. I am delighted as I was terrified into thinking I was going to die when the temperatures dropped. So far its the luck of the Irish and I have only needed to wear my snow boots a few times. I shouldn't speak too soon however because apparently February is the worst month and the forecast is predicting the temperatures to drop this week..eek. Looking at the picture below its hard to believe though.

As we haven't seen that much snow and haven't got the chance to make a snowman or go sledding like normal 26 year olds want, we decided to book a day trip up north to a ski resort called Blue Mountain for next weekend. Its a long weekend called Family weekend and what better way to spend it then with my Toronto family :-) We are all getting the bus early Sunday morning for a fun filled day of skiing, I cannot wait. Anyone who is friends with me on snapchat, be prepared I will be so annoying that day, for anyone who likes watching other peoples life through their phones, my snapchat name is zitajames if you want to follow me.

While on the subject of adventures I also booked Vegas this weekend for 6 weeks time. Unfortunately its not for the McGregor fight but I don't mind because I am still going to Vegas!!!! I have been there once at the end of my J1 about six years ago and I am extremely excited about returning. I will also be annoying on snapchat for those few days, just warning you haha.So for the next few weeks the plan is to eat healthy and exercise a lot in preparation for sunny Vegas but as I am typing this I am having tea and chocolate. So far so good Zita J :-(

So life lately has been pretty good I must say. I am also another year older but none the wiser. I am a happy camper and loving every minute of this adventure. 

Have a great week my friends,

Talk soon xx

Zita J