Small Update

What am I talking about? More like.....BIG update. It took me the entire day, and some more!!! But I'm still not nearly finished. I updated some pictures from Europe, but only the part where I was in Paris with Jin. Go see pretty Paris! (here)

Feb 11 '07

A Month Overdue...

I can't believe the last time I updated was in NOVEMBER. I'm back to the working life in Toronto again. I must admit it feels weird to be back, but it's home! I missed Mea, she's become very tame. I guess she is growing out of constant kitty-ness. She purrs more and scratches less. That's right. She knows we are the ones who feed her. Better be nice to us!

Being with Jin again is wonderful! I forgot how lost I felt when I first landed in Rome. It was like my other half was missing, now we are reunited! *le sigh*

Jin and I stayed in Rome for Christmas and Paris for New Years. I dream about going back there everyday. The harsh harsh Toronto winter is killing me. I want to be back in the Mediterranean. It is so much better for my skin!

More on the trip later gater. I'm old and tired. I have to work tomorrow.

Ciao bella

Feb 07 '07

made for me.

London, I love you.

if i told you things i did before
told you how i used to be
would you go along with someone like me
if you knew my story word for word
had all of my history
would you go along with someone like me

i did before and had my share
it didn't lead nowhere
i would go along with someone like you
it doesn't matter what you did
who you were hanging with
we could stick around and see this night through

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about their own faults
talkin' 'bout our own style
all we care 'bout is talking
talking only me and you

usually when things has gone this far
people tend to disappear
no-one will surprise me unless you do

i can tell there's something goin' on
hours seems to disappear
everyone is leaving i'm still with you

it doesn't matter what we do
where we are going to
we can stick around and see this night through

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about their own faults
talkin' 'bout our own style
all we care 'bout is talking
talking only me and you

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about their own faults
talkin' 'bout our own style
all we care 'bout is talking
talking only me and you
talking only me and you

talking only me and you
talking only me and you

"young folks" - peter bjorn and john

Nov 23 '06

Happy Birthday Mea

It's my little girls' birthday today! Her FIRST birthday! I am sending her a card. Ok you must think I'm crazy for sending my cat letters, but Jin actually chases her around the house to read it to her! hahaha! I can just imagine! We are the silliest couple ever. Mea must be like "how did I end up with these crazy people?!?!?

We don't even know if it is her real birthday today. Jin and I just decided it is around this time. She was our found orphan, found in a boot in a garbage can. She's the prettiest cat in the world!

And the silliest! Why are you sitting in my cooking pot??

Side note, I posted up my pictures from Berlin. Enjoys!

Nov 11 '06

Cold, but worth it.

'Hey y'all'

I'd never expect to hear that coming from a Berliner. On our last night there, we met this crazy Cruella DeVille-esque Berliner who studied in Texas for a year. She was coming from some cigarette promotion gig, and she was very drunk. I really loved Berlin. Like I said, it was bloody cold there that weekend, but it was worth it. So many chic cafe's, restaurants, and boutiques filled with clothes designed by small designers, usually from Berlin. The people, I found, were very friendly. And they loved to talk about Berlin. They are so proud to be from Berlin and they will never leave, even if the situation in Berlin is not at its best at the moment. It wasn't a city filled with lively people, they were only outside when they really needed to. It was almost scary how few people we saw that weekend. I am blaming it on our bad timing, going to Berlin on such a cold, windy, wet weekend. Being in the city was my favorite part of that weekend. Of course we visited all the major monuments, but they were isolated and even more lonely than the city core. You feel so small amongst a field of war monuments. I did go to the Jewish Memorial, that was my favorite one.

Pictures will come soon. Wait for it!

I went to see the Dears last night in Rome. They were so awesome! I have never seen them live before, actually this was my very first concert. The girls in the band were so pretty and serene, the boys in the band were so stylish and talented. The only problem was the venue. Actually, the whole problem is the venue. I was right up at the front (bad idea I guess) and all I heard was the instruments, and no vocals. I only made out what they were singing by looking at their lips. And my ears are probably very damaged, they actually physically hurt from standing at the front. They still hurt when I woke up today. It was painful, but worth it.

Nov 09 '06

Going to London

Just bought my flight to London for a weekend in the middle of November. November is going to be an expensive month. I'm going with Nav and staying in Nottinghill (how quaint!). My only goal is to hit all the cool markets that I oh so crave for. And go out of course! I'm pushing Nav to bring me to the club G.A.Y (I don't know if that is how you spell it) because she said she had such an amazing time there when she went! Everyone says that I'll love London.........I think they are right!

Nov 02 '06

my lovely brother

This is my little brother, Oh Henry. He is not even in school right now but he is so connected to it still. He is busy running events, building parade floats and going to all their parties of course. I will be so sad to see him graduate, what will he do? I guess his friends will just still party together like the good ol' days. He is so opposite of me. I can't wait to finish school and get out of here.

I HAD to post these pictures up of my brother. He dressed up as one of the brokeback mountain boys for halloween. I'm guessing he is the cowboy Jake Gyllenhaal played. The boys also had a wand that they zapped everyone with all night.

As for me, I just came back from our school's north trip. It was very cool, we saw so many places in such a short time. It was also very exhausting. Remember how I was complaining about the shopping in Rome? Well, it was all made up for on the north trip. I have never fell in love with a store like this. I want every single item to be in my closet. I feel like someone just read my mind and physically made all the clothes that I would LOVE. But they only have three stores, and they are only located in the north of Italy. Well, at least I know that no one in Toronto will have it. But how will I get more?? The store is called Lazzari. I can confidently say it is my favorite store ever.

I am going to BERLIN in 2 days! In that time, I somehow have to complete a mini project! I really really don't want to!!! I have been procrastinating a lot! I better try to get back to work. Pictures will come soon, I promise.

Nov 01 '06

my eye is swollen

Guys, this has never happened to be before...but my right eye was itchy and I started to scratch it. Then, it became puffy. Now it is a difficult task to keep that eye open! And it looks disgusting too. I look like I got punched in the face by someone very mean.

Nothing new has happened because everyone has been stuck in studio doing the second studio project. It is due before we leave for our North trip...I can't wait! I'm kind of sad that we have the north trip already, because afterwards...what am I going to look forward to? The end? This term is flying by so fast! We are already in the middle of it!

Jin and I have planned out our trip during the holidays. I will take him to go see Florence and Venice by train, then come back to Rome for Christmas, and so he can actually see Rome. After I finish tying up my loose ends, say goodbye to this lovely city and head off to the most romantic city in the world....Paris! We will ring in the new year by the eiffel tower and head off to Budapest in January. Before long, we will fly back to home to Toronto.

It's so odd to think of the end already when I feel like I only started here.

Before the end comes, I will be taking a trip to Berlin for 4 days with some of my classmates. I am very excited to get a breather from Roman ruins and see some sexy modern architecture.

Now my entire body is breaking up in hives. Agata told me they are hives. You know, this only started when I came into studio to do some work. Obviously this is a sign from the gods that I should not be in studio. I should be outside experiencing Rome.

I will post up pictures of Thanksgiving soon, and look for 'Celine-in-a-tree'. Yup. I was inside a tree.

Oct 16 '06

More South Trip Pictures

My diary is becoming full of words and not enough pictures. So here, a few more pictures from my classmates.

Oct 03 '06

Never in 25 years....

Guess what I was doing on the first day of October? Tanning on a fabulous beach on the western coast of Italy. My entire class went on a 5 day field trip to Cuma, Baia, Paestum, Pompei Capri and Sperlonga. I am so surprised how hot it was over the weekend, we weren't even too far south from Rome. During these 5 days, I went to 3 different beaches. One of them wasn't really a beach, it was more like a rocky cliff. But the water was the clearest there.

We stayed in a hotel in Paestum (famous for its buffalo mozzarella) the entire time which is very close to a beach. Every night, the class made a bonfire on the beach and drank lots and lots. We made quite an impression on the first night we were there. Rick got yelled at because of our bad behaviour and the mess we created in the hotel and on the bus (someone puked all over their room, the walls, the floors, the beds.....). Never in 25 years has he been yelled at by the hotel or by Carlos our bus driver! We all felt really bad, but I personally think Rick thought it was amusing to some level. Rick is the best. He never gets angry and he really defends the students. He's a great director for our school.

Almost every day we were there, we visited sites of Roman and Greek ruins, where Rick would conduct a lecture on site. It was very cool to have our classes on the site of what he was talking about. Much more effective than showing picture slides of their vacation in a lecture room. I am not looking forward to his next set of lectures all next week though, especially the one that starts from 9 am to sunset in the Forum in Rome. At least we get monday off.

I posted up pictures!!

Looking forward to the class pot-luck Thanksgiving! Nav wants to make a turkey. Not just any turkey, but a COCONUT CURRY turkey. That sounds so exciting!

I want her to teach me how to make samosas too. mmmm~

Oct 01 '06

Becoming Plump

The key to eating out in Italy is to SHARE. It took a little while for people in my class to realize that. When you have 4 courses, and each course is big enough to fill one person for one meal, you kind of need to share. Unless you really only want to have pasta for dinner. After people around me learned that, I have been loving the food in Italy. I went to this restaurant that Sandy suggested to me. She came to Rome last year so she knows all the good places. Nav and Jean loved it! Thank you sooo much Sandy for suggesting it! It made me look so good! hehehe!

Sandy is so sweet, before I left for Rome, she wrote down a couple of places she recommended for eating out, gelato, pizza, coffee, groceries! I was so happy with her restaurant suggestion that the next day I went to San Crispino, the gelato place she recommended (it's 2 streets east of the Trevi Fountain). It was a neat little gelato place. I went with Jean, and both of us were shocked because it didn't look like a gelato place. We would have never walked in there if we weren't pointed to it. They had very exotic flavours, and apparantly it was all organic ingredients. I got plum and vanilla bourbon, and Jean got honey and lemon. Other flavours they had that I remember are grapefruit, ginger....and a huge variety of chocolates.

I even had Indian food yesterday! That was a nice change actually. From all the pizza, panini's and pasta I have been ingesting, it was nice to eat something other than Italian food. The Indian food was surprisingly delicious, or maybe I was just desperate for non-Italian food. I still haven't gone to the chinese restaurant close to my studio, but I'm saving that for when I'm VERY desperate. I've heard that it is actually horrible.

I'll stick with pasta for now.

If I have to go to class in the morning, there is no doubt that BT and I would go to our breakfast place where they serve delicious pastries and ever so delicious cappucino. I'm not usually one to drink any sort of coffee, but I think that might change after spending some time in Rome.

The weather in Rome has become nice and hot again, but sometimes in the peak of the day, a little too hot. So in those times, I have been finding myself sitting in a cafe writing letters and sketching for hours. At this rate, all this eating and sitting, I will become plump. So don't be surprised if you see a very round Celine when she gets off the plane.

If you were nice, you'd say how much you love my new look. :)

Sept 25 '06

rome is just not trendy

I bought a book today. Let me check what it is called. "Saving Rome" by Megan K. Williams. She writes 6 short stories (in english!) based in Rome. I thought it would be a good way to see Rome in a more modern perspective. I'm learning about Rome in the ancient perspective all the time here. It is "shoved down our throat" as someone in my class put it :).

For those who know me, I don't read. The girl at the bookstore said that Rome is not a reading country, its a visual one. I can relate to that. But all the courses I signed up for have massive amounts of writing involved (except studio). I think it would be good to read a book I would enjoy this term. Maybe my writing skills will improve.

I asked the kind lady at the store if there are any trendy areas in Rome, and she said none that she can think of. She also said people in Rome only wear labels. Diesel, Replay, Gucci, Fendi....boooring stuff. And expensive. That's the worst combination. Boring and expensive. Sounds like a girl I wouldn't want to date if I was a boy. The lady said that people in Rome are like sheep.

Rome is awesome. Summer is stretched at least another month and a half for me. I am just starting to get used to Siesta. The food is just to die for. But if Rome isn't trendy, if people are all sheep, if they don't support small designers and only flock to the big ones.......then I can't live here.

But I'm glad I get the chance to for a bit.

This is the view from my studio window out the piazza. People always sit by the fountain at night.

Currently really enjoying the new Brian Eno album - Another Day on Earth.

Sept 12 '06