This February was quite a month! Not only is February The
Month of Love and My Birthday Month but it has also been the Month of the
Winter Olympics! All of which are, in my mind cause for celebration. Although,
if you know me at all, you know that I love celebrations and will celebrate
just about anything. Do I enjoy celebrating with people? Naturally. Do I
celebrate things that others believe aren’t ‘celebration worthy’? Absolutely! I
just do that celebrating with a good song and dance in my room, alone
(sometimes with a glass of wine and/or on Skype with my family back home…which
can’t be too painful for them as they continue to answer my calls).
I digress….
All-in-All, February has been a pretty great month. If I’m
being honest, I struggled with my return to China after enjoying my much-needed
2 weeks spent with Family and Friends back in the Ice Box that is Canada. Who
wouldn’t! Canada is so clean, the people are so friendly, the food isn’t
pretending to be something that it’s not (to any of you asking ‘Where’s the fun
in that!?’ I say, ‘Mystery books are fun! Mystery meat is just Not Ok’) and I
had a House instead of a cell sized room to spend time in! Hahaha Despite the
fact that what I have just said is all-true, now that I am settled back in with
China Family things are beginning to look up! Mariya and Ross have played a
huge part in this…my goodness I love them. I’m extremely thankful for my China
Family!
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100th Day of School = Cause for
a big sticker and celebration!!!!!! |
This month saw the 100th Day of School,
Valentines Day, my birthday and the Winter Olympics…it has been a big month!
Valentines Day in Shenzhen was a day filled with love in
Grade 2H. The kids were very sweet and it was so much fun watching them hand
out their care-o-grams, flowers and chocolates! I was even treated to some delicious
chocolates sent to me by Mariya <3 It was a Great day J
¼ of a century…
I have taken a page from the Dax Hooper Birthday Play Book this
year and apparently I am to celebrate my birthday until June. Daxy normally
celebrates a Birthday Month and I thought I was going big with a Birthday Week.
That was until Daxy explained the Birthday Month. Her celebrations simply
continue until she has been able to celebrate with everyone closest to her, which
normally takes about a month (makes sense, doesn’t it!?). For this reason, it
has been decided that my 25th birthday will not end until we have a
¼ century party when I’m back in The Hamptons this summer. It didn’t take much
convincing to get me on board! Haha On the Wednesday (19th) I was
treated to a delicious Mexican feast with some friends in Shekou, which was, a
real treat! The mango margarita was also to die for. At the beginning of the
week Mariya and I had made ‘date’ plans for my actual birthday on Thursday the
20th and all week I was very excited! When the day arrived we headed
into Shekeou after school to have our nails done at the new Bolyn Nails (I went
with red while Mariya went with a pretty bronzed color). It was lovely! I’m
convinced their lazy boys are 100% more comfortable then my bed here in China,
which doesn’t seem right BUT does make for the whole experience to be that much
more luxurious! Although we were very pleased with our nails, our hands were
Freezing and our stomachs were hungry so we quickly setout to find our dinner
spot. We ended up going to La Maison, a little French restaurant; a spot that
some friends had spoken very highly of. It was perfect and quickly became one
of my favorite places here in Shenzhen! Mariya treated us to a truly delicious
bottle of wine, some cheese, the most amazing salad you have ever seen, soup
and a steak; we relaxed, drank, and chatted. It was the perfect evening and a
wonderful way to end my 25th birthday day <3
On Friday a group of us went for Tapinyaki after a workout
(it’s all about balance, right?), dressed in our Canadian jerseys so that we
would be ready for the Big Game that was playing at 1am at McCawleys J It was great fun!
After the meal that our personal chef created for us and having a sufficient
amount of wine, Katrina, Nicole, Angela and I headed to Viva for a drink and a
good dance party before meeting everyone for the game. I haven’t had such a
great time out dancing in a very long time! We went, we danced and we left all
in the span of roughly and hour and a half (perfect). Nicole and I didn’t make
it to the end, we were exhausted, but heading home we were confidant that
Canada would take the win – check!
On Saturday morning Mariya and Ross had Karen, Leon, Gina,
Jasen and myself over for the most scrumptious piece of gluten free chocolate
cake that has ever touched my lips. That with a coffee and baileys with my
China Family really was icing on the cake of a wonderful 25th
birthday <3 That afternoon I went for brunch with Katrina and Nicole which
included yummy food and some Olympics before grabbing some things at Charlie’s
(the international store) and the entire set of Friends…I don’t think I have to
tell you what I did next.
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| Our Balloon Friend got lots of attention |
After enjoying a lazy Sunday morning with a nice breakfast
in bed, coffee, some chocolates and movies(…I Love Sundays) I headed over to
Michael and Josh’s for some day drinks and games in celebration of Michael’s
birthday. This was followed by a jaunt over to The Tavern for some food and a
drink before the 8:00 Gold Medal Game J
It was another Wonderful day/night but it did make for a less than ideal Monday
morning wake-up call.
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Late night Vday lattes and
chocolates with the Terrace
Band - what great people:) |
Of course there were other happenings in February but these
were the highlights! It’s hard to believe that March has already begun – very
exciting!! Not that I’m wishing my time here in Shenzhen away, I’m not. Not
really. Well, maybe I am a little….BUT I am feeling better and am enjoying my time
with those I care about and that care about me.
This past weekend will forever be ranked as one of my top weekends of the year here in Shenzhen– it completely
caught me off guard in a great way:) I had spent the week thinking that I would have a nice and
relaxing weekend; one that would include cooking some nice meals, watching some
movies, doing some work, pinteresting and catching up on some sleep (and of course
visiting with Mariya and probably going to the gym). I did none of those things
(Mariya and I visited through texting haha)! Hahaha This weekend included
dinner on the ship in Shekou, drinks and dancing, walks and talks, my first
tunnel rave and Laurie’s baby shower. It was a mixed bag of goodness and a weekend
that has me still smiling almost a week later hahaha
