Day 1: Letter to your best friend

{Part of the 30-day Challenge}

Dear best friend,

This is not about one specific person; lord knows how many of you I refer to as a best friend. This is an open letter to all of you; to the ones who are here for me now and to the ones who were there for me then. To the ones I talk to mostly all the time and to the ones I rarely ever get news from. To the ones who gave me hugs just because I needed comfort and to the ones who gave me a good wake up call when I needed it. This is for all of you. I wouldn't be the person that I am without you.

From the times you stayed by my side through all my fights with my mom, the times you held my hand when I was scared, the times you made me laugh because I couldn't stop crying about a boy, the times where you just sat there with me, staring blankly ahead, the times where you spent hours on the phone just because I needed someone to talk to; I will never forget what you have done for me.

We played together in the sandbox; we dreamt together about our futures, we stayed in bed all day, eating junk food gossiping about boys. We laughed together until substances came out of our noses, we held each other up when one of us was falling apart, we drove around until the wee hours of the morning just because. We stayed awake watching "Pretty Woman" and reruns of Friends; we swam, we cried, we ran, we tried. Words were never needed between us; I could take one look at you and you'd knew what I was thinking.

I know sometimes, that I was not a good friend; I may have spilled a few of your secrets and may have lost a few of you along the way because of my stupidity and naiveté. I was young and stupid, granted but I shouldn't have betrayed or hurt the ones that I've hurt. I'm not here to make excuses for my actions and I hope that wherever you are, you have forgiven me. If there's is any of you that are still harboring any ill feelings about me, please know, that whatever I've done, I am sorry. I am sorry for hanging up on you because I was in a pissed off mood; I'm sorry for telling you harsh things because my ego got bruised. I know I haven't always been around for you whenever you needed me because sometimes, I liked to be selfish and I'm glad to say that that was the old me.

What I want you to always remember is that no matter what happens, you will always a place in my heart. I will never forget a single one of you as each one of you made such an impact on me and on my life. You've all built your little condo in my heart and you will never be out of it. Even when you are gone, the memories will still be alive then.

Thank you for everything for my past, my present and my future.

Homesick!

Hello everyone!

I just feel BLAH; I know I could try and find a word that could probably sum up how I really feel deep down, but I don't feel like searching for it. All I know is that I'm really really homesick.

If you didn't know by now, today ain't such a good day; I woke up really sore although I went to bed fairly early; I have been staring at pictures from my hometown {because I made sure to take a few snapshots from my city} for the past 3 hours, and just through random pictures of me and my friends back home, and I am getting teary- eyed my friends. It probably doesn't help that Michael Buble's HOME is playing non-stop in the background.

I just wanted to share a few pictures from my previous life; I feel like I aged very quickly since I moved to France. I knew, somewhat to an extent, what it was like to worry about bills, and rent since my mom and I struggled a little bit, when we first moved to Ottawa but it wasn't as much as I know now. I can tell my friends back home about it but I don't think they really get it because they've always lived at home and I've always had this mayjah sense of independence. I've always felt like flying out of the nest at a young age and it didn't matter to me if I crashed and burn with every endeavour I took upon because there was always a lesson to be learnt at the end of every story.

Sure, there are days like TODAY, where I miss anything and everyone but I don't think I would give up what I live right now. I sure as hell struggled (A LOT) to get mine and although there were quite a few bumps in the road, I feel like I'm coming to the end of the tunnel very soon and I just feel like I grew up so much going through everything I've gone through and I feel blessed, yes blessed, to have gone through it all. It's like God made everything tough for me to really test my strength and my faith.

Anywhoodles before I ramble on, here's an up-close and personal look into my life and my younger days and at my beautiful city and the little spots that I love.

{huge bronze spider outside of the National Gallery of Arts}

{me hugging said statue although I have a huge fright of spiders}

{Downtown Ottawa}

{Ottawa University Campus a.k.a MY HELL}

{Sunset at the locks}

{View of the parlament; they made us visit this place every year in middle school}

{ Skating down the Rideau Canal; well more like falling down for me- via google}

{Tulip festival}

{More tulips; I love tulips}

{ I found this picture on Photobucket and it's beautiful sunset; apparently it's in Ottawa. Hell yeah we have gorgeous sunsets like these; because that's how we roll}

{Downtown Rideau Center}

{my favorite bookshop on my favorite street. I love Chapters plus the Silvercity movie venue is like in the same parking lot; my two favorite hobbies within a few miles.}

{You cannot call yourself a canadian and not have had beaver tails; they are the best pastry ever made but I may be a little biased. Beaver Tails, Byward Market - via Google}

{My old high school. I have had the best memories from that time of my life and that's where I met my best friends - via Google}

{Zak's Diner is the IT stop for me; What more can I want? A diner that's open 24/7 with good food, pastel walls and a 50's vibe. The only thing that is missing to take the diner to the next level, is to have the waiters in rollerskates. I'm still waiting to hear some feedback on that idea ZAKS.- via Google}

{Sugar Moutain is the coolest place ever made; a huge candy store for kids and adults-via Google}

{Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel- beautiful inside; it's where we had our prom - via Google}

{Gatineau River- Where Ontario and Quebec meet}

{Myself bitching about something that was clearly important at Speaker's Corner. What's that, you say? Speaker's Corner is a place where you can say anything that's on your mind and maybe end up on TV on a Sunday. Plus the money they collect (it's like a buck) all goes to charity.}

{Prom- Tamar, SeaGull and I}

{Prom II- Me, Julianne and Kay}

{Prom III- Amelizzle, SeaGull and I}

{My best friends and I in Paris- Kay, Jo and I}

{what's with the very random dude?}

{Grad 2005; we looked so innocent and young}

{Amelizzle, me and SeaGull}

{SeaGull and I acting like mayjah fools}

{Soul-eka and I }

{Me, Mona Sanchez and Sue}

{Crazy Mona and I}

{Mona, SeaGull and I}

{My 20th birthday- Emily, me and Kay- Please excuse the intoxicated-looking eyes}

{My last day in Ottawa and my best friend's birthday- Kay, me, Emily and Jo}

This is what is getting to me at this point; seeing all of this makes me want to hop on a plane and go home. But I can't right now. So I'll just go take a walk and go to the farmer's market.

Enjoy your Friday! Hell yeah it's the weekend!

Arrivederci!