Henry will be having his first knee surgery (for a luxated patella) 2 days from now, on Thursday. It all happened really quickly, as I thought he would be having it a month from now, so I haven’t had a chance to process it fully until today. The surgery is quite costly, about 2 months of rent to some people, but it really doesn’t matter, because he has to get it done and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m really terrified, if I’m being honest. The thoughts that have been running through my head since I found out have been disturbing and I’m thinking of the worst, which is usually what I tend to do. The worst part is that he might have to stay a day at the hospital. It kills me knowing he won’t be near me. The recovery time is about 6 to 8 weeks and I’m just trying to prepare myself mentally to be able to take care of him. All I have to say is, thank God I have my sister and parents who can watch over him when I can’t be there. Thursday is going to be incredibly draining for me, as are the next 2 months, while I watch over him and make sure he’s ok. He’s going to have to repeat it again afterwards for the other knee, unfortunately. It’s funny, before I got him, I researched breeders for about 1 year. I read all about Maltese and went through numerous email exchanges with breeders all over California. I got him from a reputable breeder. And still, despite all of this, he has a problem (that’s very common in Maltese) that needs to be fixed. This just goes to show you that health is never a guarantee, whether it be for animals or humans.

Except for this major upset above, things in life are normal in many ways and weird in others. I’m looking for more freelance writing work and developing a couple website ideas I’ve had. I am thinking more and more about graduate school every day, but I’d like to save some money before I start applying and also get some more freelance writing jobs like I mentioned above.

To be honest with you, I’d love to do what few have attempted successfully: making a comfortable living off of a blog, that would subsequently and eventually lead to some sort of book deal, so I could spend my time at home, baking, knitting and taking care of Henry. Look at me, I sound like an old woman. I don’t really care, if you could be at home, doing all the things you dream about doing while sitting in your cube while making money off a website that more or less runs itself, wouldn’t you? I would in a heartbeat.

What else can I tell you, internet? I wish I had more enticing things to tell you, but I don’t. I’m pretty much going to be a Debbie Downer all week because my 6 lb polar bear needs surgery.

My spinach and tomato plants from almost a month ago have blossomed and grown more than I ever expected them to. I hope to plant more, as this was just a test run to make sure I’m not a plant-killer. I absolutely love the idea of being able to grow my own fruits and vegetables to eat. I’d churn my own butter if I could and sew my own clothes and spin yarn out of alpaca fur. Maybe I was Amish in another life, I’m not sure. I could watch For Richer or Poorer any day of the week.

I talk to him when I’m lonesome like; and I’m sure he understands. When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat. For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that. ~W. Dayton Wedgefarth

He coils himself asleep next to me and licks my ears every chance he gets. In the mornings and evenings, he patrols the house, like a senior member of an elite canine military, looking for the slightest sound of any disturbance outside. At 6 lbs, with a coat of white polar bear-like fur, he’s more a lover, than a fighter. He’s the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and the last thing when I go to sleep. I never get bored of snuggling him and he never gets bored of snuggling me.

Though I hate to admit it, Henry is more like my child, than my dog. We spend almost every waking and sleeping moment together and I would not have it any other way. He’s everything I had been waiting for my whole life, as for one reason or another, I was denied a pet by my parents throughout my entire childhood. Looking back, I was upset, but now, I realize that not letting me own a dog was a really good thing. Because now, I don’t have school, social situations or homework distracting me from Henry. The only time we’re apart, is when I’m at work and sometimes that’s even too much to bare. I can’t imagine what my life was like before him. A lot of people scoff at the idea of ‘romanticizing’ a pet like I have just now, but I don’t really care. They are the type of people who either have never owned a pet, don’t like animals or treated their animals like crap, and I don’t associate myself with the latter two types.

Being a Maltese, Henry is not only rambunctious, fiercely loyal and loving, but he’s also very delicate. Like many small dogs, Maltese are susceptable to a problem known was luxating patella (or trick knee) in which the kneecap dislocates or moves out of its normal location. This is a common condition and also happens in humans as well.

When he was almost a year old, Henry begin limping while running. He wouldn’t do it very often, so I didn’t give much though to it immediately and hoped it would go away. Unfortunately, it only got worse. I did some research and suspected a luxating patella, but took him to the vet to make sure, who only confirmed my worries and said there was nothing that could be done until he was about a year and a half. We would have to wait until he was done growing. During the past 6 months, I’ve tried to minimize pressure to his knees by buying pet stairs and supplementing his diet with glucosamine and chondroitin. Well, the time to revisit this case came this weekend. He’s a year and a half now and I thought that the sooner we get this over with, the better it is for all of us, especially him.

After having x-rays done, it was confirmed that he needed surgery on both knees to correct his kneecaps. I had prepared myself for this, but for the first time, I realized what a parent must feel when told their child needs some kind of medical care. It is absolutely heart wrenching. Each leg has a recovery time of 6 weeks, however they’re going to be done separately. So, after 12 weeks of his life being miserable, he’ll be able to have almost 100 percent mobility without any pain. No pain, no gain, as the saying goes.

If you could only see him now. He’s nestled next to me, on his back, with his little white paws in the sky. He has no idea what I know. He has no idea that in about a month’s time, he’ll be back at the vet, in surgery. It breaks my heart thinking that this little 6 lb fluffball of mine is going to be operated on.

I’m praying every day that things go well when the time comes.

Sometimes, it becomes quite evident in my thought process that Henry isn’t going to be around forever. I think of this quite frequently, although I’m not sure why. I mean, everyone’s life is finite, but dogs don’t live very long and I am dreading the day when I’ll have to say goodbye to him. I know it’s unnecessary and a bit morbid to have thoughts like this, but I can’t help it. I don’t how I will ever deal with life after him. I’m just so glad he’s around. I’m so glad he picked me and I’m so glad I picked him and I don’t even want to imagine what his life would be like if someone else had gotten him. They’d probably give him up, knowing they had to pay for his surgery.

I’m trying to be strong and looking at this entire situation as something that has to be done. I’m trying to concentrate on how much his quality of life will improve after the surgery and I’m thanking God that veterinary medicine exists. I’m trying to stay positive, but I know that when he’s in surgery and I have to possibly spend a night away from him, I’ll cry. And he won’t be there to lick my tears away.

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself. – Josh Billings

Old Montreal, otherwise known as Vieux Montreal to locals and the French, is a charming little area of the city that carries with it quite a European flare. The cobble stone streets, boutique shops and location next to the St. Lawrence River make it a premiere attraction for any sightseer visiting Montreal. On Rue St. Paul Est sits Version Restaurant and Boutique, a restaurant tucked away from all the hustle and bustle of the main street, where except for the fabulous restaurant, Jardin Nelson, a decent meal is hard to find.

Version Restaurant is the epitome of minimalistic modern style. Their dishes they serve their food in is a testament to that. With white ceramic, geometrically shaped oblong plates, your dining experience will be enhanced by more than just the food. I didn’t know this at the time, but Version Restaurant is also a boutique, where you can buy pretty much everything, from the silverware to the tables, chairs and trinkets.

On that particular night, it was hot so everyone including us decided to sit outside. We ordered sangria first, which our server told us was ‘homemade.’ Alcohol is usually not a part of my food pyramid. I don’t actively seek it out and when I do, it must be a drink in where I can only taste a hint of alcohol. This is why sangria is one of my favorites. It’s just like fruit juice with a hint of wine.

Let me tell you, this sangria is one of the best I’ve had in my life. The little fruit shish kabobs on top were delicious as well. If we had known they were $12 a glass, we probably wouldn’t have ordered them. But were on vacation, in Montreal, so we let it slide.

After drinks, we had a light dinner consisting of a vegetarian tapas platter, with four dishes that looked more like art than food. Unfortunately, their website doesn’t have all their dishes listed and that sangria probably impaired my memory to remember what they were. We also had a really great mixed green salad and my favorite: a cheese, grape and almond platter. In my opinion, there is no better dinner then some cheese, grapes and dry cracked bread. A bit of sangria doesn’t hurt either.

We rarely order dessert, but we thought we would anyway. When you’re on vacation, you’re allowed to do certain things you wouldn’t normally do without feeling guilty, like spending more money than usual while shopping and eating ridiculously overpriced meals. Dessert was eaten without much guilt – what a concept! Of course, I never really feel guilty about eating perhaps my favorite dessert, creme bruleé, probably because I rarely eat it.

Version had the queen of creme bruleés, a dish divided into four kinds of the decadent dish, including a maple version and three others that I again, can’t remember and they don’t have listed anywhere on their site. Take my word for it, it was delish.

By the time we had finished eating, it was almost completely dark. When I looked around, I noticed that there were people there who had been enjoying their meals earlier than us. Version Restaurant has the kind of atmosphere that makes it hard for you to get up and leave. You just want to stay there and pretend that you were served amazing meals with amazing drinks at home. Next time you’re in Vieux Montreal and you’re looking for a place to eat, don’t go for the obvious. Take some left and right turns, because the best treasures are the ones that are hidden, like Version Restaurant.

Version Restaurant
295, East St-Paul St.
Montreal, Canada
H2Y 1H1
(514) 871-9135

(Top to bottom: round walnut – walnut cookie covered with sugar icing; vanilla kipfriel – vanilla flavored hazelnut cookie; date slice – date filled cookie; Vanilla white – vanilla cookie dipped in white chocolate; apricot – almond flake cookie filled with apricot filling; almond heart – traditional Iranian almond powder cookie)

On the corner of Rue Sherbrooke and Mackay in Montreal, sits a quaint patiserrie and cafe called Nocochi. Nocochi, owned by Shahnaz Bagherzadeh is known for it’s homemade Persian-influenced pastries. In fact, “Nocochi,”(Nokhodchi) means “chickpea” in Persian.

Whenever we travel, we always look for tea houses. When we were in Rome, we fell in love with oh-so-calming, but expensive Babington’s Tea Shop at the Piazza di Spagna and in New York, we finally sought out the coveted Teany cafe, co-owned by one of my favorite people on Earth, Moby, and his now ex-girlfriend Kelly Tisdale. I believe Moby gave ownership of the entire cafe to Tisdale recently.

In this case, we were just looking for a great place to eat on our walk back to our hotel, when we came upon Nocochi. The minute we walked in, I absolutely fell in love. The bite-sized Persian pastries, with their unique flavors and textures brought memories back. Though they haven’t lately, my parents always used to buy the packaged versions of many of the pastries that were behind the glass.

The decor of Nocochi is very modern and simple. White tables and chairs that have IKEA written all over them sit on a white tiled floor across the cafe. Prints mounted on the wall feature closeup versions of their pastries along with vases, that are also filled with whimsical colored sweets. Two section of seating area feature a white quilted couch with single color pillows lined against them. The window panes feature Iranian inspired tea sets and tea cups for passerbys to admire as they make their way down Mackay.

Nocochi’s love of coffee brand Illy is evident, from the beverages they serve to the mugs they serve them in. Either way, I didn’t care. I wasn’t there to drink coffee. Tea is what I’m always after.

The sales associates/baristas wear black with muted baby blue aprons. All of them speak English, and quite well.

We were feeling a bit hungry, so we decided to order some food. In addition to selling pastries and serving tea, Nocochi is a full service cafe with a great selection of food. I ordered a tuna melt and Keeg ordered a mushroom pizza.

As Keeg says, it was absolutely del-eesh-oos! The tuna melt was on pita type bread, which I love and the mushroom pizza had the perfect sauce to bread to mushroom ratio. We had apple juice with our meals and we thought we were really full, until we realized that we wanted tea. What else is new?

The afternoon tea menu at Nocochi is available from 2:30 to 6 p.m., while breakfast is available 8 to 11:30 a.m. I got the chai spice tea with cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and vanilla bean. Keeg got Earl Grey Cremé with bergamot, cornflower and vanilla.

The tea was brought out loose in individual tea pots and let me tell you, it was so good. It had started raining that day while we were walking and by the time we had gotten to Nocochi, we were pretty drenched. The tea (and the lunch) made everything better. After one cup, we switched tea pots and the Earl Grey Cremé was just as good as the Chai Spice.

While we were there, the patiserrie received shipments with Vivel written on the boxes and Farsi written underneath. I was so intrigued, that when I got home, I did a bit of research and found out that Vivel is the company that Bagherzadeh owns which makes the pastries and supplies them to her boutiques, with Nocochi being the only one in the Western hemisphere. They have 4 stores in the United Arab Emirates and also franchise stores in Dammam and Khobar Saudi Arabia.

Nocochi is unique in that it is the only store I believe that operates under a different name than Vivel and has Swiss chef Jean-Daniel, who brings with him 25 years of experience in the hotel and restaurant industry.

Nocochi Cafe Patisserie
2156 Mackay Street
Corner of Sherbrooke and Mackay
(514) 989-7514

After about 9 days, our trip to Montreal has almost come to an end. Over the course of a week, we learned to efficiently use the Montreal metro system, added a lot of French to our vocabulary, discovered many adorable specialty shops and walked until we got blisters on our feet. For a normal urban city dweller, the walking might have been normal. But for an L.A. girl like me, whose walking consists of going from the parking garage to the front door of the building, it was definitely more than I bargained for. However, I think having the luxury of being able to use the metro and walk everywhere is something I love. If I could use a metro to get to Santa Monica, I cannot even tell you how much higher my quality of life would be.

I will definitely have photos and more stories later, but for now I present, in a short list, things we loved and did not love about Montreal:

Things We Loved

• the weather – it’s pretty much perfect. It’s not over bearing at all. It’s sunny, but breezy. Yep, pretty much perfect.

• good metro system – the Montreal metro system is very easy to navigate, despite all the stops and directions being in French. Getting from one point in town to another doesn’t take much thought and this system would most probably eliminate the at least immediate need for a car.

• cleanliness – Montreal is like all the good parts of New York and Europe put together, minus the trash. This city works hard on keeping its streets clean and we truly appreciated that. No trash, hardly any litter, visible street signs, c’est magnifique!

• cops on bikes – They are literally all on bicycles, a la pacific palisades! It’s really cute and they look so much more approachable and friendly.

•diversity – despite the fact that Montreal is mostly a French city, the diversity in people is amazing. This was evident during the Canada Day parade we witnessed on July 1st.

•the shops – Montreal is definitely a very ‘shoppable’ city, unlike Rome, which we found a huge disappointment as far as shopping is concerned. There are familiar stores, like Urban Outfitters, Zara, Gap and even Payless Shoes, and a lot of specialty shops as well that make the traveling experience worth it. Case in point: half eaten gingerbread cookie cutters

•maple syrup – the maple syrup it’s everywhere! In every single touristy shop we went into, lo and behold, there was maple syrup to take home. Eventually, I succumbed and bought some too.

•french – it’s fun not having to sit on a 10 to 12 hour flight just to hear and experience a different culture. I have to admit though, we were both a bit surprised that almost everything is in French, sometimes to the point where we had a bit of trouble, but I learned a lot of new phrases and words in the process. I only felt comfortable replying in French the last few days we’ve been here though.

Things We Didn’t Love
•broken ticket machines at metro stations – in every other country we’ve taken the metro in, we’ve been able to buy a metro card to use over several days. But for some reason, Montreal has decided to close down all its automatic ticket machines, forcing you to line up at the counter where a metro worker hands you a ticket that looks like the kind you get when you accumulate points on Chuck E. Cheese. Then you take that ticket and place it in a glass box right next to the counter. It’s just really unnecessary and ridiculous.

•cash only rules – a lot of restaurants and other places we visited accepted only cash. This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Why do establishments insist on making the lives of paying customers difficult by enforcing rules that aren’t current with the times anymore? Very few people carry cash these days, please do not make my life difficult by demanding I pay in notes. Thanks.

•french – yes, I know it’s on my ‘things we loved’ list, but it got a bit annoying at times. It would have had a different charm if we were in Paris, but I expected things to be a bit more Anglo-friendly than they were. Still, it was ok, I suppose. It’s quite a double edged sword.

•fur – Canadians love fur. Horrible, just horrible. For being such an environmentally conscious and friendly city, this was really surprising. I mean, they have entire shops devoted to the fur trade. Very disappointing.

•unnecessary fees – One sunny day, we woke up wanting to go to the beach. So we went to Parc Jean Drapeau for some fun in the sun. Little did we know, they were charging around $7.50 to get into the beach grounds! Seven dollars and fifty cents! To lay in the sand! Ged oudda heeeeeee