Week 49: Friend Adventures (Fenan)- Moxies

On December 5th, I got to chill with my friend Fenan! We decided we would go to Yorkdale Moxies Grill & Bar for lunch. This was my day off so I could take my sweet time walking around the mall and also catchup with my girl!

I've known Fenan since 2nd year of nursing. We got close during our Samba (or whatever its called lol) and African Dancing class that we took in summer to gain extra credits (so we would have a less course load during our final year in Nursing. Since than we try to keep in touch and still message one another every couple of months as a "pulse check" haha.

I usually only go to Moxies cause of their famous White Chocolate Brownie, which I LOVE. The service overall was okay (I think our sever was training another girl but they both kept checking on us to see if our meal was good etc). Food took a bit long as well but it was busy (there was a birthday party celebration right next to us with some 14 year olds so -3-).

I ordered a Strawberry Daiquiri (never tried Moxies drinks before) for starters as I viewed the main courses.

I normally order chicken wings (doesn't matter the restaurant), but decided to try something different and would be more filling to me. I ended up ordering the Lunch special which is a choice between the Broccoli and Cheese Soup or the Soup of the day, with Half Beef Dip Sandwich (consist of beef, swiss cheese, and mushrooms).

Of course for dessert, I got my White Chocolate Brownie! I should have mentioned that I wanted the mini version than the full size (now that Im working on my fitness and weight loss,), I had a bit of difficulty finishing it compared to few months back.

Overall, it was nice catching up with a good friend!

I'm a person who knows many people but Im pretty picky now a days with who I chill with and who I make time for. I guess it comes with age and experience, but I don't waste time on individuals who either give the "Im busy" excuse or who don't contact me for more than 2-3 months. I just don't see why I should make time for them with my busy schedule (I work on average 72-90 hours in 2 weeks and thats just "work". Doesn't include my workouts, etc). Also for those who always give the excuse that Im busy with work or school etc, as I stated above, I'm just as busy or more (I have a career not a part time job) but I balance my hangouts and try to fit anyone in my schedule

Anyways, thats my little rant about people LOL. Fenan is another awesome individual that I like to keep in my circle of friends. I love her character overall. She has a similar outlook as me in terms of people and it was just nice to catchup and update one another about our work/personal life and just talk about general girly stuff XD

Thanks Fenan for the chillage <3 ~

Till Next Time...

Yumoyori <3~

Week 49: Best Friend Adventures (Anissa): CNO, MAC & Gym Workout

FREE Makeover Time!!!

December 1st is such an awesome start to the month. Christmas songs start playing, everyone preparing for the new year approaching and cyber monday sales (which could have been better in terms of discount). I decided to chill with my bestie, Anissa to get a whole bunch of stuff done. Our hangout started a bit late since I overslept (came from a night shift). We ended up meeting around 3pm. We decided to go to CNO (college of nurses) first, head downtown to eaton centre and than go to the gym

College of Nurses (CNO) is where you have to go to register for your nursing licence which allows you to work as a registered nurse in Canada. Now that Anissa passed her exam, she has to show them the form and pay to get such registration. Initial fee around $300. We literally waited an hour to get serviced since the lady was honestly SO slow (4 people in line shouldn't take an hour). Since its still december, if my friend registered now, she would have to pay another $200 to renew her licence in January which makes no sense since she hasn't gotten a nursing job yet. So, we were able to indicate that we want the money to be processed in January so her membership would be valid for all of 2015.

Next was Eaton Centre! We first ate cause I was SOOO hungry! We had subway 6 inch sandwich and later had a nice crepe!!! Ive always seen the place at eaton centre but this was my first time actually buying something.

Once, our bellies were full we headed down to MAC Cosmetics cause we had an horrible experience on Black Friday, where this artist treated us pretty bad. To sum it up, I asked to know about foundation since Im pretty new in that department. She applied the foundation to only HALF of my face, instead of offering me a wipe to clean my face she got one for herself to clean her hands, asked me if I was going to purchase it. I refused since my intention was lipstick. She than said okay and I asked her to write down the product on a paper so when I want to purchase it, I'll know which one I want. Instead, she tells me to write it in my phone myself or take a picture. Uh...okay >3>. I than stated that I wanted to purchase the Heroine lipstick with the Be Spoken lip pencil. She stated "sure" and instead goes and serves another customer as we wait 3-5 minutes. Eventually, the manager came by to ask us if we were serviced and I stated that she said she was going to get us lipstick but didn't.

Anissa was more pissed off than me and I decided to call and tell a manager. When I called the same day, the same women who had ended up getting us the lipstick had answered the phone. Though she remembered me and apologized for such service, It didn't seem like she was taking it very seriously. So I decided to call the assistant store manager and she was shocked that I received such service. Due to such experience and I being a first time customer at MAC, she decided to offer me a complementary or FREE lipstick, lipgloss OR blush (AWESOME)

Once we reached there, I asked for the manager and a Artist Samora came by to ask us what we were interested in looking at. I pointed out that foundation is something I don't know anything about so would want to see a how it would look on ALL of my face compared to half. In the end, they gave me a FREE makeover literally from primer, eyeshadow, foundation, mascara, lipstick and lipgloss! I looked SOOO goood!

I ended getting the Lipgloss, since it complemented the Heroine lipstick/Bespoken lip pencil which she applied during the makeover!

I wrote probably half a page of the amazing service I received from Samora and talked to the manager personally about how wonderful she was. Throughout the whole makeover she explained all the products used, how to give myself a more natural look compared to the crazed "I look like a different human being" look. We discussed about our career and the CRNE exams that we had to take. She even wrote ALL the product she used during the makeover down for me so I could take my time to purchase everything!

Samora is Awesome

It was funny since the girl that was SO rude was present and throughout our whole time there, she kept on glaring at us, coming to the areas where we got out makeover to peak and hear our conversation. It was beyond funny. Anyways, Samora was awesome and defiantly going back JUST for her <3

After all that lovely interaction and talk about makeup, we headed to the gym (I know, do ur makeup and now you gotta sweat it all out T_T). So, we worked out and had a blast. It was a nice afternoon-night hangout on my day off. Always a pleasure hanging with the bestie <3

Till Next Time...

Yumoyori <3~

Week 46: Best Friend Adventures(Lina)- Unexpected Day Off

Happy Early Birthday Lina

Saturday, I originally had thought I had work (normally scheduled Saturday nights). However, when I received my DSP (its a document sent to our work email a day before each shift with the client information and a number we use to log in before our shift) and it only stated I worked Sunday. I called to confirm and make sure my client had a nurse for that night and ended up having the day off =D! So instead of staying home, I arranged to chill with Lina again!!!

Our hangout was suppose to be Saturday but due to my Friday plans being cancelled, I decided Friday would be better, thus us hangout with Anissa. It was good that we got to hangout again since we had to do a number of things!

Lina lovely boyfriend decided to buy the SAME bag for Lina as a Christmas gift, but since I beat him to it (MY BAD xD) I encouraged Lina to bring it and we would go exchange it for a different style/colour cause honestly, who needs two of the same bag?

We met at Eaton Centre and went straight to GUESS. The lady was pretty nice about it and honestly I bought it yesterday, so I didn't expect any major problems. We looked around the whole store and though Im not a MAJOR Guess fan (only love their watches) there wasn't anything that really attracted me that would look nice on Lina. We returned back to the bag section and was debating to get the White or Black Delany Mini Tote, but both colours especially white, looked like they would get dirty pretty fast (in the store they already had dust and the white had a little stain). Finally, a Black with the guess design and brown straps caught our attention (the white one got our attention first and we found out they had a black version which I preferred due to the decreased probability of it getting dirty).

This is the Delany Logo Small Classic Tote in Black. I felt this would be the best for Lina since its small, can still carry more than just a wallet and phone, and due to the material, if by chance it got stained, it isn't noticeable to the eye (unless u go all close and personal). Overall, out of all the choice, this looked more reasonable. The price was $98 dollars so with tax I paid about $34 dollars extra which was worth it compared to buying the medium size which was $120 and beyond "medium"  

It looked extremely well with Lina too so totally worth it. Lina TRIED to connivence me to allow her to pay for the difference but CMON what kind of friend would do that XD <3~

Once that was accomplished, we headed to Bath & Body Works and I went on ANOTHER haul (me and my mom honestly have an addiction to candles....I think I have a stronger one for scented ones than my mom) and I took advantage of the buy 2 Get, 2 free/Buy 3, Get 3 Free Deal. 

By the time we were done shopping, I was starving (only ate a McMuffin for breakfast) so we headed to Kenzo Noodles Japanese restaurant to have some Ramen. This location is pretty small, so we were lucky to get a booth seat when we entered. Lina treated me, so I ordered the King Ramen Bowl at lvl 1 Hot (spicy) and Takoyaki balls. We both enjoyed our plates and the service was VERY fast (literally within 5 minutes our food was served). 

The food was really good and filling especially on a cold winter day. The spice lvl was perfect and the Takoyaki was really soft and big pieces compared to other places such as Teashop 168. 

After Lunch-Dinner, we walked around Best Buy and Eaton's looking at electronic and dresses. TED BAKER opened up at Eaton's centre so we took a look. This made me laugh since ALL THERE DRESSES GO UP TO SIZE 3!!!!! Can you believe it! Talk about being excluded to the fashion train. Such beautiful high classes dresses that would be very classy and elegant to wear, yet ONLY designed for people Size 3 and BELOW! I was VERY dissatisfied by this. Even IF I lost weight, I would NEVER go that low. Size 6 is my LIMIT. If I did ever become smaller than that, it would ONLY be due to me toning my assets such as my butt and waist. We ended are hangout talking about the struggle of plus size or anyone past size 8+ getting clothing without a higher price tag.

Lina an awesome individual in general. She smart, thinks logically, and I love her passion for finance and saving money!!! She a perfect friend to have (and she thinks I'm crazy for buying so many candles as if they're going bankrupt or were going to have a blackout). She also got me my current RN job which I'm passionate about and allows me to have fun and support my Mama, so I'm always grateful to her. It surprising, cause the ONLY reason we met was through the CRNE Nursing Exam and she was sitting right next to me (this other girl was sitting in MY seat and thus I had to ask her to move; the seats in the examination room are numbered so if you don't seat in your designated seat you can be asked to leave the room for your stupidity). We chat for a bit, I wrote her name down on my envelop, added her on Facebook and our friendship started there. Weird how life works XD.

So far, Im very satisfied with the friends in my life (well one of them is concerning me but will see how that goes in terms of de-ranking on the friendship scale). Lina is a someone reliable and who you would want in you life. Also, she not afraid to tell me I'm spending too much (hehehehe which I do ALOT). It was a good day and I had fun. Hope to have more adventures with her and I still owe her a movie so thats next on the list (I really want to watch Dear White People...hehehehe)

Till Next Time...

Yumoyori <3~

Week 46: Best Friend Adventures (Lina/Anissa)-Jacks, Shopping, Friendship

On Friday, I got to chill with both Anissa and Lina (hanging out with two best friends in one day is like a miracle). It only worked out this way since Anissa needed to get her police check done which is at College station and I had to meet Lina at a similar time at Eaton's which is one block away (Dundas & Yonge). Since Anissa going on vacation to US for a week or more, I decided to take an opportunity to chill with her even if it was short before she leaves.

My day started out by going to the police station to get Anissa Police check. When you initial become a nurse, in order to get you licence once passing the exam, you have to give them a specific police check to prove your not a criminal >3> obviously. We got that out of the way and missioned to eaton centre. I usually just go by train but since its a block away, I thought might as well walk (we got lost and literally walked in a square in the cold -__-).

I was suppose to meet Lina at 230pm but I wanted to surprise her with a little gift since her birthday was coming up. Anissa had a meet up at around 3ish so I could kidnap her for a bit to help me get the gift and find some workout gear.

I gave Lina the excuse that I was meeting someone at eaton centre to give me something so if she could make her way to eaton to meet me there instead of our originally meet up at College station. One of my good friends works at Guess so we got to see her at work. I picked up the Delany Mini Tote in Brown. They have MANY other colours to choose from but Brown seemed the most appropriate, classy and was what Lina had her eyes on <3. I bought it and we went to Sport chek to get me some shoes. My goal was to get a good pair of shoes to workout in once I start going to the gym next month and wanted to look at the underarmor sports bras and know the pricing.

I normally get my sport bras at Walmart, but for their price being around 29-35 bucks its not really worth it if they don't even hold your boobs from going all over the place when working out. Sure, if you have small boobs than no problem, but sadly my chest is not in that category so having a supportive bra would help (esp when your at the gym on the treadmill...).

Anyways, I ended up getting two Nike shoes. As for the Sport Bra, Anissa said she would check out US underarmor store (they have their OWN individual store which isn't available in Canada) and try to get one for me if available. I made a review on my little Haul here:

http://yumoyori.blogspot.ca/2014/11/guess-nike-free-runs-bath-works-haul.html

Lina came when I was paying and was very surprised to have gotten my little gift!!! She seemed very happy. Glad I could make her smile :D! Anissa friends in the end, were "busy" or something like that so Anissa ended up joining us to Jack Astors where we ate lots of good food and talked about friendship and who deserves our time.

Now that were in our mid twenties, I don't think we should be wasting our time on people. At this point, we should be focusing on strengthening the friendships we currently have, meet new people and know when to keep/fight for a friendship or to let go. Though it hard in the beginning to initiate such decisions but after experience such crazy friendship, its merely a casual thing I do now. In the end, it makes your life stress free and your not baby sitting people or letting people take advantage of you friendship or kindness.

Lina (Left) & Anissa (Right)
My Awesome Best Friends who Listen to My Rants

Once we finished eating at Jack Astors with their awesome service (Honestly have to make a review on Jacks), Anissa had to make her way home to pack, so we said our goodbyes. Anissa and Lina knew each other as acquaintances at University (Both Nursing) but they finally got to hangout together. Once she left, we decided to head back into eaton centre and walk around. I couldn't stay longer than I would want to due to my night shift, but we were able to go to Shoppers Drug mart, Lina buying a shaver and I buying some nice Buckley medicine to get over this nasty cold that Ive had about a week ago (~*About a week ago*~ Honestly that song is so jks). Also got some candles at Bath and Body Works which I also made a review on (those candles are awesome).

It was nice being able to chill with both of them. I had been working literally all week and hadn't chilled with anyone since Saturday. Was suppose go out Thursday, but was way to sick after my night shift and my original Friday plans got cancelled so it was a good break. Gotta try and hangout with Lina more often, she awesome hahaha (we talk literally everyday but hanging out is so much better).

Till Next Time...

Yumoyori <3~

WEEK 45: Best Friend Adventures (Anissa)- Nursing/Friends/Success

On Monday, I got to have a lovely unexpected chillage with my best friend, Anissa <3. Why was it unexpected? Well, I never planned to go anywhere on Monday (was my day off) but because of the wonderful news I received from her through phone call, I decided celebration was in order, ASAP! My schedule is very packed this week so why not chill right now (since at that moment it was 6pm). 

I've known Anissa as a person for close to 9 years!!! We were merely acquaintances in High school, since I hanged out with one group (I was an anime fanatic back than- still am but to a lesser degree) and she hangout with another. We both went to different Universities, Anissa going to Ryerson University and I going to York University. The main attribute was we both went into Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in 2009.

We were reunited when we were both writing our nursing examinations in June 2013, I was coming out of the washroom and she was waiting in line to go in. It was a 10 second interaction but that set in motion the future events and thus, our current friendship now. Ever since then, she been my partner in crime lol. It was surprising that from today we hadn't chill for a full month :O (October 6) which is really RARE! We usually try to chill every 2 weeks but my schedule was quite hectic this month so it was probably my fault lol.  So WHY are we celebrating unexpectedly?

So today (referring to Monday), the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination results were received by most candidates who wrote October 1st.  For those who don't know anything about the CRNE, its an exam created to prepare an individual who has completed the BScN program (4 years). Think of it as your ticket to finally practicing as a Nurse and receiving your licence. Without this, you CANT practice as a nurse in Canada or anywhere in the matter and have 2 years to complete this exam or your 4 years of schooling is useless. 

With the CRNE, you have 3 shots! This means you are given 3 attempted to write this exam, the passing score being 550/800. The % varies on a number of factors but usually based on the overall average of the group writing (or so they say). There are 200 question (100-case scenarios/100- independent). You are giving 4 hours to write this exam (no exceptions). So basically 50 questions/hour.  Now your wondering, this exam must be pretty easy or straightforward or thats how people believe. 

From my personal experience and previous blog, Ive mentioned my experience with this exam. I'm not Extremely smart but I work hard to achieve good grades in university. I was a 80-90 student, did okay throughout school, never had any problems till THIS exam. People really don' t understand how hard this exam really is. Ive written this exam ALL 3 TIMES and now with my career in motion and achieving success, I can proudly say I had to go through this struggle. 

This is exam isn't based on smarts. Some people I knew who literally got by the whole 4 year program passed, compared to people who were honour students with 90's failed. This exam came down to how you answered the questions, within 4 hours and Knowledge, Application and Critical Thinking were all involved. So it really comes down to having Good luck and God (if your religious) by your side at that moment and hopping the best.  IF you take all 3 attempts and fail, the end result is your BScN degree is useless and thus you must go back to school (for another 4 years) at a different university IF allowed (apparently cant have the same degree unless approved). Other option is requesting to be considered for the RPN exam, get approved, writing that, hopefully pass and become an RPN (if so u can go and do two years of school to become an RN and get another 3 chances). ALSO the exam has NOW been changed as of 2015 to the NCLEX so this would be difficult for previous writers due to a different concept and focus. 

So, if you pass this exam, its an ACCOMPLISHMENT! Also its the gateway to pursue your career as a nurse and now be considered for employment. 

So, Anissa called me this evening to bring me the good news that she PASSED her exam!!!!!! WOOOT!! (*throws cookies everywhere *0*) I, for one have been going all crazy and spamming Facebook with her success (this blog post included) but if you been with this girl for the last 10 months especially, and see her growth and determination, you would be spamming too! 

We worked really hard in the last 10-12 months. During that time, I was also studying and working towards my own 3rd attempt for Feb 2014 exam, and once that was out of the way,  we started to focus on Anissa. We would meet up every 2-3 weeks either at her place or library/bbt and go through questions, I gave all the notes I could possibly find, we and her family worked together to do everything in our power to help my girl succeed.

Knowledge of course is important for this exam, but Apply the knowledge and using critical thinking is both weighed at 40% (or together 80-85%) of the whole exam. Thats why its a really win- lose situation if you lack or mess up on these two areas especially, and thus comes down to how you answer the questions. You don't need knowledge, you need to analyze, understand and apply what the questions is asking/locate the answer in the 4 options provided (these 4 options can ALL be the right answer, but 1 will be the priority. For example-> O2 VS medication)

To celebrate, we went to Pyung Won House- Korean restaurant to eat (will write a separate review)

WE DID IT! We're Registered Nurses

I cant even express how proud I am of this girl. Maybe its because we both known each other for so long, seen one another grow & change, both had to go through this hardship and more. It was so nice to have such moral support and someone who wouldn't abandon you once they reached their success (which HAPPENED ALOT- used, abused and ditched you the moment they passed). However, this experience has taught both of us a lesson in terms of people and overall friendship.

Don't allow someone to be in your life if they wont be there when your at rock bottom. I had many friends in the last 5 years (specifically in 2012-2013). I thought of them as "best" friends, would put 100% etc but if they only give you 50, 60, 80% in the friendship, you really need to re-consider the "best friend" title. Some say a Best friend should be someone you've known for 5,10, 20 years. I don't believe in that... I think a best friend is someone who give 100% into the friendship, someone who isn't in this friendship for something in return. Someone who YOU, as an individual, can look and say "I WANT this person in my life for xx amount of years or as long as possible".

In this time and age, its really hard to find those type of people and friends. I've ditched many people who used me for their own needs, didn't give a lot, or just needed me in their lives to remind themselves how better off they are (in terms of size or financial status). However, NOW, I can say I have a good set of people in my life, individuals who I can travel with, hangout with whenever I want, who I can actually consider being my bridesmaids in the future (and be apart of the groomsmen section lol), and overall want me to succeed.

SUCCESS, is what it comes down to and is one of my main motivators. When you haven't reached success, many people don't care of you, only a few friends, family members etc. Moment you start exhibiting signs of success (have a career, financially stable, get a car, house, travel, living life) thats when these "unnecessary" individuals want to know your business and SEE how your accomplishing such things (either out of curiosity or personal satisfaction). Not to say everyone has such intentions, but in the year of 2014, majority of people have this type of viewpoint more or less.

SO, All I can say is this:

"You DID IT Anissa!!! You wanted to become a nurse, to be a life saver, and change people lives. 

Now you can finally pursue your dream, your passion.

You struggled, you worked so hard

Many tears were shed, you were frustrated and stressed

The all nighters, and having no social life 

is FINALLY over 

Now go rise up and broadcast your success

so those who didn't show any concern, ditched,  and couldn't even support you

when you were struggling through many hardships 

can  NOW see how far you went WITHOUT them

Go and Live Your Dream"

Congratulation to ALL my other friends who passed the CRNE :D *high-five* 

Yumoyori <3~

WEEK 44: Best Friend Adventures (YunJoo)

Today was my day to chill with my best friend YunJoo (aka Steph <3). Had to admit this week was pretty crazy. I worked 7 days straight, day off didn't go as well as I had prayed for it to be, Got sick on the Friday from not dressing well enough on the Thursday night when I went drinking and thus resulting with me STILL having a cold -3-.

Ive known YunJoo since December 2012 when I had to give someone a gift and she (who literally only knew me through text and Facebook! Never met before) picked me up from work to get the gift AND drove me home too!!! As time passed, thus leading to almost 2 years of friendship we realized we have MANY similarities especially with our hardships and struggles which makes it really nice to have someone so kind hearted and understanding by your side.
We decided to meet up this weekend since, we haven't chilled for a while and we had made a lovely deal to help one another. Since I helped her, she treating me out today ;D (our little secret).  So we did a few things today before I went home to sleep for my night shift.

Congee Queen:

YunJoo is REALLY loving Congee

This is my first time going to Congee Queen (I'll write a review on it sometime this week). I must say, I was defiantly impressed and the food was Sooooooooooo GOOOODDDD. But I'll save that for later :P.

We talked about a lot of stuff. As many people who are close to me know, I love to rant especially with all the been happening at work and with stereotypical, immature people who just annoy my life. Actually made me wonder if I should cut them off or be remorseful? Thankfully, I don't associate myself with most of that crowd so for now I'll just have to be very precautions until I make that decision.

Anyways, we talked about other things like how real men act in society, Cars (my friend paid 21k for her beautiful car and now if she wants to sell it, the value is only 10k 0__0 W.T.F), and about Nursing. YunJoo is in the Nursing Program (SO PROUD OF YOU) and is doing absolutely amazing in it!!!!

This is one of the main reason I love hanging out with YunJoo. There are many people who LOVE to complain about their life. I'm no different. I love to complain about how much I struggling to support my Mom and myself, independently and sure when you've been doing this for 7-10 years it REALLY drains you. It sometimes makes you wonder if you didn't help the ones you loved would you be who you are today? However, many people who do complain about how shitty their lives are DONT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!

Don't get me wrong, everyone struggles. But if your just gonna complain about it and not ACT upon it, please just go sit in the corner and keep self reflecting till you find your answer. YunJoo is a perfect example of someone who ACTS and worked towards changing her life! Thus, after more than a year has passed and now she is literally reaching Cloud 9. People don't understand how negative individuals and interactions can really contribute to you reaching success or failure. I always love to remind ourselves how BETTER our lives are without such annoying people bringing us down. We save more money, we pamper ourselves without guilt, and were FREE to make our on decisions. So we ended our chat, me feeling ALOT better after talking to her about my past couple of days, and headed to Fairview.

We went to Pandora because they had released a Disney collection charms for the Christmas Season and I was interested in 3-4 of them! So we did a little viewing and shopping and I found exactly what I wanted :D <3 YunJoo also treated me to a charm which has ALOT of meaning to me and am very thankful for. Our experience at Pandora was top notch especially being my second time going there. I wont say much cause I will do a separate review of my Pandora charm collection so far (will link it soon).

OVERALL, the day was really wonderful and a good break. Im a workaholic and really have to squeeze in time for my hangouts so I really hate when they don't go well or to my expectations (or if someone just ruins it with their nuisance). It was short (chilled from 1330-0445) due to me working tonight but it was defiantly something I needed to lift my spirits up.

Thanks YunJoo for being so beautiful inside and out!!!! Till our next hangout...

Yumoyori <3~