Tuesday

Testing, testing.

I realize it is Wednesday today, however the photos in this post were all taken yesterday, Tuesday. Though most of the time I actually don’t know what day of the week it is, in this case I do know what I’m talking about.

So, my life is terribly mundane. Which is part of the reason why I never feel the desire to blog about my boring life. However, recently I’ve realized that on many of the blogs I love reading, it’s the posts about the everyday, however mundane that may be, that I like the most.

That being said, here are some snippets from my mundane Tuesday.

Keeping with the Theme…

..from my previous post (you can read it here) I thought I would highlight another subtle change that has been going on since I’ve moved apartments.

Recently (since the big move) I have been feeling like scrapbooking. That’s right, scrapbooking. I’m surprised I even remember how. Honestly, I scrapbooked a total of 2 times in 2011. Yup, 2 – once in February and once in November.

Anyways the other night I revisited these steps from November, dug out my supplies and put together a layout. Here is said layout:I don’t know if it is the fresh space, the time of year (the end of winter, various fashion weeks around the world providing endless inspiration) or what. I also need to take a minute to acknowledge Vee’s role in my coming back to scrapbooking. Her layouts are always killer, and there is something about them that when I look at them I want to make some of my own. Finally it just got to be too much and I couldn’t look at anymore without playing with paper myself. Check her out, her layouts are like medicine for the uninspired scrapper. Also, the girls at The Dares have been back at it semi-regularly. So check them out too. I was pretty surprised at how easily this came together really easily. Taking my own advice, I didn’t think too much, I just went ahead and starting sticking stuff down, and went for it. I also stayed pretty closely within my comfort zone - paint, mists, and little collections of papers and other goodies- which helped keep me to keep going because things felt comfortable.

So there you go, if you’re having trouble putting a layout together, keep it simple by sticking with things you feel comfortable with and stop thinking about it, just get off your ass and do it. Which is something I need to remind myself every. single. day.

Hello March and A Few Words on Making a House a Home.

So, here we are at the beginning of March. So, hi March.

The beginning of this particular March, marks the end of my first full month living in my new apartment. And coincidentally, what I think is my first picture in my bathroom mirror. How it has taken me this long to do this, I’ll never know.

Now if you had seen how my apartment looked shortly after I moved in and could see how it looks now it might look as though no time has passed at all.  Why might you think this you ask? Because at a first glance it may appear as though nothing has changed. But that’s not exactly true. Let me enlighten you…

To the naked eye yes, nothing has changed. I am still sitting on my crappy student furniture, I don’t have a new dog to keep me company, some of my clothes are still in garbage bags because I have yet to get a new dresser and there is nothing hanging on the walls (yes,  absolutely nothing).

However, what you can’t see by looking at the apartment is that after a month of living here, its starting to feel like home. Its no longer just a place I’m sleeping and eating in. This is beginning to feel like my space. Which feels amazing.

The fact that I’m still using my old hand-me-down furniture and that I don’t have anything hanging on the walls doesn’t make this place any less of a home. It doesn’t make it any less mine. I’m not about to go out and buy a bunch of stuff just to hang on my walls because there isn’t anything hanging there. Part of the fun of making a house a home, is taking time and finding pieces that I love to fill up my home.

Anyways that’s what’s been on my mind recently. I’m really looking forward to Spring because it feels like it fits really well with my fresh start. I’m looking forward to this season.

j

bittersweet excitement.

So this past weekend I moved into my new apartment. My first adult apartment. My dream apartment. The most amazing place I might ever live in. 

However, that means, naturally, that I moved out of my old apartment. My crappy student apartment. The place that I just spent the last 5 years of my life in, potentially the best 5 years of my life thus far.

Bittersweet.

This past week has flown by in a haze. Packing and moving. Leaving my old apartment behind and moving into this amazing new space. It doesn’t feel real yet. That being said…

…I’m excited for the next chapter.

(PS. That picture? Straight out of the camera. I’m really good at taking bad photos.)

A Tuesday in Toronto

Earlier this week I took a little whirlwind, 2-day trip to Toronto with my lovely friend Sydney. We drove down on Tuesday morning and spent the afternoon wandering around downtown, doing some shopping and eating Thai food. Dundas Square was beautifully lit up for the Holidays so we had to stop for some pictures. Shopping and wandering and Thai food all seem like reasons enough to make the 2 hour trip to Toronto, however if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram or even on Facebook, you may have seen me post this picture a while ago.This my friends, was the real reason for our mid-week trip to the city. 

If you know me at all, you will know I love Bon Iver and have loved Bon Iver, with all of my heart, for years. I love For Emma, Forever Ago, and like all of his fans, waited patiently (or not so patiently) until this past year when he released Bon Iver, Bon Iver. Currently, Bon Iver holds 15 of the spots in my 25 most played list on iTunes. I’m literally obsessed.

You guys, it is just the most beautiful music. I can’t say enough about it.

They played one show earlier in the summer and it sold out so quickly I didn’t have a chance to get tickets. I was devastated. Then the Live Nation App on my phone (loooove iPhones) told me that he was playing another show. I waited up after a night shift and got tickets the minute I could. Thankfully I got two. And not just two tickets, two killer seats.

Fast forward to Tuesday night.

We get into Massey Hall (amaaaazing venue) and I literally start having difficulty breathing. I don`t remember much of the opening act except that she was super cute, British, and was amazing at the guitar.

Then out comes Justin and his band.I got chills as soon as they started playing Perth, and had chills for the next two hours. It`s hard to pick out highlights, but Flume is high up on the list. I cried.  I could not have helped myself if my life depended on it. I can`t even tell you how amazing it was. I simply can`t.

If you get the chance to go and see Bon Iver play live, do it. do it! DO IT! (yes that is me shouting at you)

I paid good money for our seats. Knowing what I know now, I would have paid at least double what I paid to go again.

The night kind of feels like a dream, I still get chills when I think about it and I honestly have not been able to listen to any music since. Nor do I want to.

For now, I will just live with my memories of the best concert I have ever been too.

Oh hey December.

Spending my first Christmas/Holiday season in like, forever, not having to worry about exams. Working my first Christmas (one of the joys of a career in healthcare). Putting together the perfect Holiday playlist including old favourites (Sarah McLachlan & Sufjan) and new ones too (Carole King, She & Him, Justin Bieber{I’m not even ashamed}). Christmas crafts (which I can only expect will involve a lot of silver glitter). Christmas shopping (yes, I’m one of those crazy people that loves the crowds that come Christmas shopping). Red Starbucks cups (probably too many). Packing and starting to move (yes, I found out I get to live in my dream apartment come January). Bon Iver (next week!!!!!!!!! {yes, that many exclamation points are absolutely  necessary}).

This is what my December is looking like. Hopefully yours looks as lovely as mine.

How to Scrapbook…

…when you haven’t in over a year. In six simple steps.

Step Number One: Get threatening tweets from your friends to get your ass in gear and make a layout. Please click for Exhibit A.Step Number Two: Clear off your desk. Clearly for me that was a bigger task than it might be for some. Luckily I had a big empty bed to clear it off too. (Notice I didn’t say clean it off). (You should note, I’m only a little embarrassed by the state of my desk. Most of my embarrassment stems from the empty juice boxes and chocolate bars.) Step Number Four: Pour yourself a glass of wine. You may choose to use this as either step one or step two.  You may also want to keep the bottle close by in case you need a refill.

Step Number Five: Find your favourite jumping off point for a layout. Something that works for you, that you keep going back to over and over again. Mine, as you can see is a piece of Kraft cardstock.

Step Six: (This is the final step, and the most important) Don’t think. Do. (The wine plays an important role in this step).Voila! Follow all of these steps and you too can have a completed layout like the one above. Yes, even after a year of not scrapbooking anything! (The title is kind of a play on words. Hello to my old friend Vicki, but also to my old friend scrapbooking. See what I did there? Good Right?)

And just let me know if you need help with step number one. I’d be more than happy to send you threatening tweets.

Happy Wednesday.