…..enter SEXY KIDNAPPING! And off I went to another countryside…this time of Greely, which I spent another night celebrating (a bday this time) and….again…the Camera was forgotten…..maybe a good thing this time ahem Twas very Sexy Times as well – YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE xoxo

Thanks again for literally sweeping me off my feet ( I know I’m so iccckkkkk factor riaagggght?) <3

Reference to 1990s movie Excess Baggage (yea I compare my life to nostalgic movies WANNA FIGHT ABOUT IT?!)

In addition – Great memories & new friends & craziness. That is all. Thanks to all the good people in Greely, UNTIL NEXT TIME!

In between visiting w/friends ALWAYS and FOREVER comes FAMILY TIMES! So many things, my sister in laws bday, the kids first swimming lessons, trips to the GOODTIMES centre, and also sitting with my neice writing and illustrating our very own story book.

happy bday Barb!

My neice is crying b/c she can't play with me anymore....NEVER seen a kid not wanna eat cake so much! <3

Trip to the Goodtime Centre! adorable!

Trip to the Goodtime Centre! adorable!

and after back home for a drive on my bros motobike!

like father...like son!

like father...like son!

These kids are truly the most magical, bright, happy, and wonderful children I know. I love them more than anything! Yayyyyy to be an Auntie <3

I wrote a little story with my neice called “Cara and The Witch” a narrative that she made up. Where Cara with the purple hair gets put in a dungeon by a witch, but then she gives the witch a potion. The witch becomes beautiful….and transforms into a pretty red haired girl, aka “the new girl in town.”  The last time I spoke with her she said next time we hang we will make chapter 2: “The New girl in Town” bahahahahaha i love it! How did she know thats my life?! A little blogger in progress i see

*****

i’m your biggest fan i’ll I’m your biggest fan, I’ll follow you until you love me
Papa, paparazzi
Baby, there’s no other superstar, you know that I’ll be
Your papa, paparazzi

*****

In between the partying & family time….was CANADIAN FOOD TIME! which means poutine & diners….ohhhhh my!! My arteries loved me this visit to Canada…so did my brain cells & liver teheee. Well what is a trip back home w/o great company & indulging in good ‘ol diner eats. ITS NOTHING!

see that? that is pure GOLD right there...left: poutine, right: bacon cheese burger, A REAL CANADIAN LUNCH!

CANADIAN DINER DELUXE -- BURGERS!

Extra Bacon, Poutine (right) and eggs...CANADIAN BREAKFAST - see that look? IT SPELLS SATISFACTION

there you have it…what else Canadian?

***

Ah yessss my other bestie, KIMBERLY (aka the pink ranger…) took me on my first Winner’s Shoppping spree. Well…those of you who know me….know that I get really flustered and overwhelmed in these types of searching for fashion treasure stores…Kim’s solution to it:

“OMG you HAVE to try it…its sooooooooooo LADY GAGA”

“look at this its sooo LADY GAGA”

hehehee oh man! I wish I could spend halloween with her, she is one of the funniest, quirquist, silliest girls i know….but its totally encouraged, i don’t think we could be friends otherwise

yoooooooo lets get these chains. Me: THAT IS DEFINATELY LADY GAGA!

The winners couldn’t last forever….I am more of a DVD sale girl….and I kept talking over and over and over about how we should go to Walmart to Buy DVDS! Kim did not understand the urgency. So I finally explained the obsession with her.

see in Vienna we don’t get alot of North American Media…all I get is Austrian MTV and movie streaming, but its not the same as sifting through 5$ dvds at walmart, because then you don’t know what types of treasures and forgotten movies you may stumble upon! You CAN rent movies here….but its expensive and there is only ONE english rental store i know of.

We sifted through them…I ended up getting JURASSIC PARK trilogy (for 20$), My Girl, 007 Die another day, and wedding crashers, annnnd a Scanner Darkly. NON of which I would think of downloading or watching streaming…

It really sounds silly. BUT you have no idea how many hours i take sifting through movies online i COULD watch – there is just too much selection. NOTHING replaces digging through that 5$ bin at WalMart…NOTHING!

I know the WalMart corporation has sooo many negative implications for globalization, human rights, and the environment…but it is my extreme guilty pleasure (amongst other things!)

DVDs & ME! Notice my excitment...now THATS THE LOOK OF SATISFACTION RIGHT THERE (also notice another guilty pleasure....McDonalds) lol

next up GRIND WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

because really….what visit to Ottawa would be complete without making an outing to BABYLON?! NOT MINE!

My favourite love to hate it, but hate to love it around the corner hidden delight!

BOYAKASHA!

St. Albert, Ontario…aka cheese region

Her line of work requires her to pick up kids at the trainstation…yessss there is a sign! I think I was more excited to help hold the sign then she was. weeeeeeeee!!

historica encounters

historica encounters!

historica encounters!

It was so nice of Chrissy to have me over to her lovely St. Albert home for a visit and a night! We practiced our rockstar playstation skills, and I practiced my culture shock of her many remotes & buttons in her home! The next day we went to see a psychic eeeeeeeepppp! It was very spiritual. but shhhhhhhh all predictions are documented in my private journal. She did say my life is at a stand still for now….and I need to be patient…and lots of other things in my hour and half reading…but enough of this!

Now to my OTTAWA adventure! My quarters at the YMCA! Many people asked WHY did I stay there? Well 1) it was cheap! 2) it was at the heart of downtown 3) no curfew 4) no fuss no muss, all my stuff in one spot, and a great homebase

YMCA quarters

YMCA quarters

snacks & breaky!

YMCA quarters

Just minutes from downtown….some flicks i took of our parliament hill also the famous Chateau Laurier

parliament hill!

parliament hill!

parliament hill!

chateau laurier!

chateau laurier!

 The first day in Ottawa I spent with my one of my best friend’s Monroe. We got tattooed! It was my first tattoo so it was very sentimental. I chose a yellow rose – for friendship. She got one too. I know cheesy right….but if anything were to happen – the yellow rose represents friendship but not just hers…the fact that all my long time friends are in Ottawa – these are the friends I hold the deepest love with. Those who know me in and out, those who know how crazy CARAVISION can be….those who were around LONG before CARAVISION…back when it was Cara Beara of love and affection <3

Some flicks:

weeeeee we are ready!

eeeep!

baddass buddha!

stencil going on!

I also wanted to get the tattoo in the most non-invasive place as possible. and where else would that be but LOWER BACK! but WAIT all girls have it in the middle on their lower back which is also quite widely known as a TRAMP STAMP….ewwwww I didn’t want that…so I cheated and did it to the side

the tattoo parlour

the tattoo parlour (Monty my tattoo artist)

and here we gooo!

pretty much my face throughout the whole time!

WOW! what a painful sit in. The first part (outline) wasn’t that bad….but once the skin was all tender and sore…doing the colour was ROUGH! every five minutes I was like HOW MUCH IS DONE HOW MUCH IS DONE?!? I’m sure I scared all tattoo candidates cause I was at the VERY front of the shop. Monroe sat by me the whole time reminding me: “You want it to be complete right?” “Think about how beautiful it will be!”

and it turned out awesome! (2 hours later…)

outline

shading

and the final product

Monroe’s turn! She got a rose and an anchor…to cover up a tattoo she didn’t like…I could only stay for a bit of her outline..cause I had a previous engagement – getting ready for my KARAOKE party to see the rest of my lovelies <3

looks sweet! (stencil only)

it def wasn't her first tattoo. she looks so relaxed

enter KARAOKE! yea…so I forgot about my camera, and I also forgot about KARAOKE b/c I was SO HAPPY to see all of my friends in one place! I was just so happy to visit with everyone! Thanks Veljko, Johnny, Scott, Lisa, Kerri, Harry D, Monroe for coming out!! and of course Kenny (who kidnapped me shortly after <3).

I was SO HAPPY to see everyone….that I forgot about Karaoke…oh well! Although I think Monroe was most upset about the Karaoke forgetting…as she left in a jiffy….SORRY we will do KARAOKE another time promise!

xxx

Joes family was AWESOME by the way! I got along with his Aunties really well!  It was weird to be the only single girl there – BUT I was the representative long time friend. Knowing the bride the bride since highschool. We were the “trouble makers” together, each others “partners in crime.”  Now one has settled down, but with someone very suiting! A beautiful day & a beautiful couple!

beautiful!

but before they walked down the red carpet…..was the preparation. While Christina got her hair & make up did. I helped the family set up the decor

the party room

the party room

getting ready for the candy bar later

Now that everything was set up…it was time to get Christina ready! Here is my excited face!!

see that hair bow? its like LADY GAGA

Her friend Kandie and I were ready for “behind the scenes bride”:

GIGANTOR CARA

I had the honour of helping Christina lace up the gown (in reminiscent times of our teenage years fixing each others hair drunk to make it look like we weren’t up to no good )

teee hee

and a nice one now for the parents

sisters!

bride, flower girls, & bridesmaids...oh my!

sisters in spirit <3

classic

just beautiful

just beautiful

beautiful couple!

carrying him over the threshold

As all interns at the UN know…I have been anticipating this trip for a long time! This is my first time living abroad, and I have been away from home since the end of January, it was about time!

How was the flight? AWESOME! I slept 1/2 the time. and the other 1/2 I had this cool interactive/personal tv:

So I watched both the Hangover and Night at the Museum 2 to keep me entertained…the rest of the time I listened to XFM radio World Beats and just chilled out. It was so nice not to be at work, and to have Hollywood Media at my touch….within no time I had arrived!

OH CANADA!

home sweet home!

oh Canada!

First stop? Perth – for Christina’s Wedding & Cottage living. Her sister and bf were so nice for picking me up. One hour of driving and this is where I got to take refuge for two nights. A beautiful cottage venue! It was 10x prettier than how I imagined:

the cottage, one side of the porch

scenery from the porch

more cottage, the porch

more scenery

walking up from the water

one of the entrances

kitchen common hanging area

common hanging area

my quarters

porch morning view (one side of cottage)

Just nice...

What a beautiful scene to come home to, and how CANADIAN! Cottage life and lake relaxing is a big thing in Canada. We love the wilderness and the brisk air of the morning….ahhhhh!

This was just a taste of what was to come. The wedding proved an even more beautiful atomosphere…pics to come

The past few days have been spent in total isolation as I recover from a very bad cold (no not h1n1) just bad congestion. and UNLIKE Canada they don’t prescribe you meds here right away, they prescribe “bed rest” and lots of it. From Weds-Sunday that’s all I’ve been doing….but now I emerge from my cocoon, as a beautiful butterfly! bahahahaha not really….

It was a sign, I need to slow down. Bum around the city, find some new things to do…I’m thinking swimming, bowling night for interns, more festivals etc…need some new unique things to come up with! Anything but clubbing, I am clubbed out! Clubbing now is all weird vibes…I can’t put my finger on it! But all I can say these days its not worth the calories and spent money…gonna save it all for my Ottawa comeback – Christina’s Wedding <3 and GRIND 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

I didn’t realize how much i love and miss my friends back home until we had a  Canada day get together..IN THE NAME OF CANADA I wanted to spread as much Canadian cheer as possible. I circulated Canadian propaganda within the United Nations Email Lbi:

The Canadians here and I planned a Canada day! This event I brought Canadian facts, a quiz, Canadian Colouring, and A flag! I dressed up! I am so happy we all came together to celebrate it Everyone had to put their name and their age on their pieces! Some flicks:

Cara age 24

oh Canada!

Steph age 24?

Erica age 22

Lesley (U.S.) age 26, with corrections by Erica (Cdn)

Thomas, age 23

James (visiting) age 23

Canada represent.

Erica does the Canadian March!

we are CANADIAN!

hahahahah the conclusion of our gathering was that I would make an excellent kindergarden teacher!! The night ended early…which was expected since it was a weeknight. This made me miss all the INSANITY I experienced for the last ten years straight spending Canada days in Ottawa….and of course those I spent Canada days with!

you all know who you are! missss youuussss! XOXO

To keep up with writing, research, an communications, I have volunteered to write the intern mailing list newsletter and coordinate the events!! I am so stoked on it, now I will do even more things and meet even more people!

BOYAKASHA!

There are so many things lined up this week its redunkulous! Today we start with enjoying the Vienna City Festival or Stadt fest with an outdoor BMX show, and Dj comp! I think maybe some people will be making a party here. Then electronic music concert tonight Will try and get some awesome footage today. Next week we will hold a KAROAOKE night to welcome new interns..yessssssssssssss FINALLY! Breaking the ice with bad singing is always the way!

Young, single, and in europe. Its a tough life really.