THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - May Edition

IT'S GONNA BE MAY! It is. It is May.

The weather is beautiful, our balcony hammock is hung, and life is good again!!!

My connections with the Zomato gang seem to be off to a great start. At the beginning of the month I was invited to the first "Zomato Meetup" in Montreal, and it was just me, one Zomato employee from Montreal (the girl I had met with before) and two from Toronto (who had come to town specifically for this event), and ten other Montreal foodies. The meal was delicious and free, but the best part was that everyone there seemed to know exactly who I was and they were familiar with my work. It was so awesome to sit down with a bunch of like-minded people who were all on the exact same page in the way that we eat and how we appreciate restaurants. It was the best experience and I hope that they'll invite me to many more of these!

As planned, we went to Ottawa to meet our niece for the first time! Amelia was a week old at the time and she spent most of our visit sleeping. She was a perfect sweetheart! We got to hear all about her birth and everyone is doing great. I can't wait to watch her grow up and I fully intend to be the aunt that teaches her how to do cartwheels and stuff... Her parents are gonna hate me. Ha ha!

We had an Easter dinner at our house (which Tim cooked) for all of our fellow Montreal orphans. Those are always fun.

Our friend Andrew came to visit from Toronto and stayed with us for a weekend of eats and hangouts.

Tim left for San Francisco to participate in DevCon and his presentation went really well even though he was really nervous about it. I think that it made Tim feel pretty great when he saw the way that the other people in his company respect him and are fans of his work... This is actually pretty much the same way that I felt with the Zomato group.

I was off to Ottawa yet again before Tim even returned home, so it definitely felt like a busy time around our place! I was there for two full days to help Enobong find a wedding dress (which she did) and Sarah was there as well from Regina, which made for a grande time! The three of us always have a ton of fun. Plus we got to spend time with Ian as well and Sarah and I visited Parliament. And I made everyone eat too much, 'cause that's how I do.

I had a phone interview with Zomato about the job that I applied for! (The meetup that I went to is separate from this. The meetup is because I'm an awesome Montreal foodie and they like having the foodies to get together. The job interview is for me to actually work for them. Both are good things. But different things.) The phone interview seemed to go very well, and they said that the next interview would be a Skype one. However, I feel a bit conflicted. I was really hoping that this job would be something pretty casual/part time, that I could do remotely, nothing super serious, and they could throw some cash at me from time to time. As it turns out, the job that they're offering is a full-on full time salaried position that works out of an office. And I mean, it's great that they're considering me for this... But it's not exactly what I intended for myself. I like them enough and want to be a part of them enough that I would consider doing full time for them... But I feel like this will cause an awful lot of conflict with my biggest current priorities, which include a whole lot of travel within this current year - stuff that I do not intend to give up. So I'm going to have to talk to them about that. Find out how flexible they are, inquire as to if there's something part time that I could maybe do instead, stuff like that. It would suck to lose such a perfect opportunity, but it would also suck to give up on my current life goals, which are equally (if not moreso) as important to me.

A tidbit from my yoga life... I was able to do my first scorpion forearmstand without the help of a wall! For the first time! This is a pose that I'm pretty proud to be able to do, even if I can only hold it for a few moments. (You should all get Instagram already, 'cause I post totally unique content on there that never goes onto Facebook. Plus it's the most awesome.)

I thought that it might be fun to show you guys who I'm friends with in Montreal. I do have some friends! Most of the time I tend to feel pretty strongly that I already HAVE incredible friends (you guys), so my desire to cultivate big serious relationships with other people in the city isn't all that strong. But it is pretty nice to have people to get together with every once in a while.

First is the Ko sisters, Sheenah and Miriel. I've known them forever and it's nice to have really familiar people around, plus they live nearby. I tend to feel as if Miriel and I have more in common these days. Next is Jessica, who I met at my yoga studio when she came up to me and said "Hey! I know you from Facebook!" Apparently we have a bunch of common friends that I know through Tim! So we've hung out a few times and seem to have a lot in common. Then it's Katherine who used to date Tim's old roommate's brother - how's that for convoluted?! She had visited Edmonton a few times when I lived there, and now she lives in Montreal. We both yoga, so we've gone to a few classes together. Next is Mengzhou, who I met through Vince. She seems fun and she keeps inviting me to things, but she also kinda has a bad attitude, so I'm not completely sure how I feel about her. Ha ha! Geneviève is next, she is the one who works for Zomato. We've hit it off pretty well and definitely have common food ground. We have plenty of meals together in our future (whether I work for them or not). And finally, Sydney, who is a super cool girl who I met through Andrew recently when he was visiting. We get along great so I hope for more hangouts. So thems the peeps! Now you'll know who I'm talking about if/when I mention any of these people. Right now it all feels pretty casual, but I do know some ladies, which is nice.

I have recorded my latest The Girl Can't Cook video, however it isn't finished being edited yet. I will post as soon as it's ready!!

There are several things going on in May which are awesome and exciting!

First of all, Amy, Rachelle, Nicole and Kristen are coming to visit me in Montreal TODAY! I'm actually trying to get this blog written before they all get here!! I am SO freakin' excited to see them, and also very touched that they are coming all the way from Edmonton and Vancouver. It's going to be the BEST bunch of days!! We have so many exciting plans!!!

And even better still is that Colen and Jeff are visiting us next weekend from Toronto! So many wonderful friend visits!! I'm super pumped to go on a full-on patisserie crawl with Colen!

After that Tim is going back to Vancouver for more work business.

And then after THAT we're heading to the Golem cottage in Muskoka for family hangs. It'll be fun to see Amelia again and to see how much she has already changed!

Near the end of the month my favourite hipster fair is happening, Puces POP, so I'll be in all of my glory and happiness at THAT!

Busy busy busy! The season of friend visits has begun and I LOVE IT!!! EVERYONE COME!!!

THIS MONTH'S SHOUT-OUTS!:

May 14th is Heather Petrychyn's 33rd birthday!

It felt like it was time to see Heather the Robber again. It had been a while. I haven't seen you in way too long and I hate it! I hope that everything is going fabulously with little Gavin and I hope that your birthday is extra wonderful with many spoilings from Curtis. Even though we seem far apart, you are always in my heart. Our friendship has meant so much to me and I've loved the adventures that we've shared! One of these days I'll make it over to Winnipeg!! Love you!!!

May 18th is Nicole Thibault's 33rd birthday!

Us standing in a fountain with full pants on. What? I love that as I am writing this, you are already IN Montreal, waiting at the airport for the others to arrive. I can feel my emotions rising! You mean far, far too much to me and I would basically be dead without the incredible role that you have played in my life. I love you with my heart of hearts and prepare for me to latch onto your body like a parasite for the next five days. You've been warned.

May 27th is Krystie Coutu's 29th birthday!

Remember that time when we found Fernando in statue form? I miss you so ridiculously much and am counting down the days until we can laugh and be super inappropriate together because it has been WAY too long! It's the last year of your 20s and I hope that Trevor has extra spoils planned because of it! You have such an amazing heart, are an amazing Mom, and are generally the best. I am so lucky to know you and I love you so much!

May 28th is Heather Petrychyn's 4th wedding anniversary!

It was such a beautiful day to share with you in Regina and I hope that you and Curtis get to celebrate it with your two boys!

May 31st is Susan Murphy's 2nd wedding anniversary!

This is a big one for you and Matt because it's the last one that you'll be spending as just the two of you! I was so honoured to spend this special day with you two in Edmonton!