unfaithful

My confession for this week: I am a cheater.

I just can't help it. It's just too easy. It's not my fault- there are just too many temptations all around me. Why confine myself to one set of pages when I can so easily move on to another more exciting?

...by now you may have guessed that I'm talking about books.

Really, though. This is a serious problem, and one that should garner more support. I can't be the only one who finds it difficult to read one book at a time. There are just so many exciting ones out there that I can't wait to read! I can't help it if, sometimes,

And it's not only books, either. I also cheat on:

• healthy eating (okay. It's Easter. If you haven't eaten too much chocolate, I will be both impressed and tempted to slap you) 
• fashion (aka yes, I wear sweatpants in public sometimes... -hides in shame-)
• my favourite shows (I can never decide which one I prefer. They must all feel so slighted)

The worst part, though, is that I sometimes cheat on...writing?

How does this work, you might ask? How can you 'cheat on' an activity? It has no emotions... well, that's as may be. As anyone who has ever enjoyed a novel will tell you, books are very real indeed, and when you're actually beginning to write one, this problem (and oh yes it is a problem- there are voices in my head. No wonder writers are frequently considered mad... we have borderline multiple personality disorder) is magnified. When there are so many delectable new situations to write about, how can I pick just one? When my muse abandons me (probably to go eat chocolate. It is in my head, after all) is it so wrong to go explore a new story?

...judging by the piles of paper everywhere in my room, all relating to different storylines, I'd say yes.

What are some things you cheat on?

Oh, and to continue the literary mood, here's my current favourite song! (I might soon dump it, but for the moment we are deeply in love.)

Happy Easter, blog ninjas!

hold on when you get love... you haven't had enough

By now, I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that I love music and anything that allows me to be loud and generally disruptive. For this reason, I love concerts- everyone else is even louder than I am! I mentioned here that I'd be attending some... and well, you already know how my Emilie Autumn one went (aka, it didn't)... but I never wrote about Stars. Or Marianas Trench.

Let's just say they went a lot better.

I'm calling this artistic blur

yes, it was in a church.  I don't think you can get any more special

I feel like this is a digeridoo... again, the coolness factor is through the roof

(Side note: The lead singer also wore hipster glasses. Be still my beating heart.)

we hid from the world inside a disco ball

...So that might have been the best night of my life. 

But the next one was almost as good. 

awkward selfies are mandatory

(This was taken during the first of the opening acts. I'll just say we ate chocolate the entire time and let you draw your own conclusions from that...) 

just so you know that yes, I really was there and this is not just my imagination

but seriously, I want these pants

and just as seriously omg he is so attractive, marry me plzzz

However, none of this compares to the fact that I put gas in the car for the first time alone yesterday. (BE IMPRESSED.) Why could this excitement not be spread out? Like peanut butter! OMG, it totally is like peanut butter- I always drain all the oil out, and then it doesn't spread at all... so it's like clumps of deliciousness... clumps of excitement? It might not be the most well-written metaphor, but it's accurate! 

...that might have been the most awkwardly written paragraph of my life. English teachers, feel free to disown me. 

On another note of awkwardness... the dancing. For once, I don't mean mine (even I can't ruin jumping up and down) but that of the main singers' of both bands... they might have been worse than me. (Except minus the falling down and bruises.) This was a great comfort- hey, if they're famous, I can't be that awful, right? 

...this is tired-person logic. It's after eight. Time for bed.

What amazing concerts have you attended?

my reincarnation as a unicorn princess

This can also be read as 'I dyed pink streaks in my hair' but really, where's the fun in that? 

I like it because it's both natural (well, as natural as pink can be... if I continue thinking in the unicorn-princess vein, it does indeed seem average!) and noticeable.

It's definitely not as adventurous as my last venture into hair colour... but I'm happy with it! I have yet to notice any magical powers revealed- since, the first thing I would do if I discovered some would be to summon spring.  Much as I love snow,  can't wait to be able to wear all my pretty dresses! (THEY'RE TAUNTING ME. Whoever said that clothes cannot speak has obviously never seen my malicious closet. If it's not saying 'haha, it's still under zero, you can't wear me! I'll just chill here and be happy without you' it's reprimanding me for not folding it. I can't win.) 

Now, all I need is a pair of wings...

hootin'

The title of this post started out as 'ootn' (which is here an acronym for 'outfit of the night') but the strangeness bothered me too much (hypocritical much?) and I needed to change it. 

So instead, you got "hootin'". 

Which is, in its way, strangely appropriate- the whole reason for this outfit (because who am I kidding, it's a Friday night, I usually only wear pyjamas) was because I attended Bohemian Nights last night! This is, for you poor uneducated souls, a night dreamed up by a volunteer group in my town geared towards 'youth involvement' and ensuring that teenagers find somewhere other than our local McDonald's to haunt. 

Whatever the occasion is, I'm happy to be all dressed up! 

glasses: Ardene's

cardigan: AE

shirt: Bluenotes 

jeans: Sirens

Incidentally, this is my 'skinny shirt'. It's that one shirt that, whenever I feel bad about myself, I wear... and voilà! Five pounds gone! (Everyone should have a skinny shirt. The fact that mine has a penguin on it is either slightly unfortunate or very reflective of my personality...) 

(And confession: the only reason I'm blogging right now is to stop myself from eating more of these peanut butter pretzel chocolate chip cookie bites because I've already eaten more than I want to confess and I need to remind myself that yes, fitting into jeans is important... However, I am going shopping tomorrow, so I can always buy new ones!) 

...I just looked at the clock and realised I've been on the Internet basically all day. 

What am I doing with my life...

random travel musings

So here we have it: the conclusion of this series. Did I actually learn anything in my travels, or am I still the same silly girl obsessed with perfectly painted nails?

...Yes to the latter half (my nails were bare the entire trip and it felt as though there was a Piece Missing from my Soul)... but I'd like to think that I'm a tiny bit more cultured. (Looking at the Mona Lisa must count for something, right?) Either way, here are some thoughts that occured to me along the way!

-I could not permanently live with roommates in the same room. Much as I love them, I do not have the patience to deal with anyone else's mess (let's face it, I can barely deal with my own)... yet another reason I have to get an apartment-style residence at university!

here we are, all cute and jet-lagged

-Food in Europe is much more expensive than food around here, as well as coffee being in tiny servings. (You know a small at Tim Hortons? Think half that amount, for three times the price.)

-...but the boys are really really cute #hormones
so it works out.

-The cars in Europe are just SO MUCH CUTER than anything you see around here. Really.

That is the most adorable thing I've ever seen, give it to me now and note also the cute little scooter

-However walking across crosswalks was terrifying... you basically had to put out a hand and hope that no one would hit you. (Rome earns a special mention for this... needless to say, my loving friends made me walk first every time.)

-What do Italians have against toilet seats? It's one little piece of porcelain, and it makes life so much easier. I lived in fear of falling into the toilet every day.

-We heard much about the "pique-poquets"...seriously. Every. Single. Day.

Say it in a French accent. You won't regret it.

-France had so. Many. Sephoras. (And MACs too!) There was even one in the train station! (Might as well look good while travelling... you never know when you'll meet the love of your life!... why yes, I watch a lot of movies, why do you ask?)

...and that's that. It's strange; the more I travel, the more I desire to travel. Once I see a tiny piece of the world- and really, in the grand scheme of things, I've visited no more than a sliver of the map- I can hardly wait to explore other exotic locales. (The places I want to go... that could be a post all on its own!) Unfortunately, I face that great dilemna; a lack of funds. (What kinds of discoveries could exist were money not an object?)

Oh well, I might be a broke student right now, but that won't last forever. Soon enough, I'll be a famous author (feel free to name-drop and say you know me), wearing gorgeous clothes (that is a definite requirement for any job I may hold in the future... and actually a primary reason I decided not to become a paleontologist) and free to jet-set all over the world and call it research! (Uh-oh. You now know my master plan. Don't tell!)

What's your current dream?

radical roman (italian) ramblings

...and radical they were indeed. At one point in Florence, we actually walked off the map! (Does that mean that the town ceases to exist? What a deep philosophical question... However, it more likely means simply that Mum and I continue to have an extremely bad sense of direction.)

As gorgeous as France was (you can see a small selection of photos here should you care to do so) I must confess that I preferred Italy. Why? Because... they had better food. (Surprise, surprise right? You should know by now that the way to my heart is through my stomach, for sure.)

really though just look at that. I don't think you can find a more gorgeous landscape

Our travels started in Pisa!

see how pretty this is? the town was unbelievably sketchy... not somewhere I want to be after dark

the basilica was unbelievably creepy... the place Weeping Angels go to die I swear

but really, is this not ridiculously crooked?

Then, onwards to Florence...

this was the best coffee of my life omg like really, it had ginseng and how cool is that? plus all the waiters were in fancy suits so love for that

we also went to the best restaurant. I can't even describe how good it was. plus it looked like we were in Versailles!

it seriously rained all day, I thought I was going to lose some appendages

and yet people still ate gelato, I feel my coffee was a far more sensible choice

I swear I'm moving here someday

After taking the bus yet again (I have so much more sympathy for those who take public transport all the time now) we arrived at Assise!

my new favourite (as are many things on this trip) church... really, can you beat three stories and gorgeous artwork filling every square inch? rhetorical all the way

adorably narrow streets, yes please! (as long as I don't have to drive... these people be crazy)

Finally, proving the saying "All roads lead to Rome" right by finishing our journey there. (Where does that saying come from anyway? I feel like it's somehow deep and mythological...)

so can anyone tell me what's on her chest? does she have a lot of extra breasts? are those melons?

crazy to think all maps looked like that at one time..

(Side note: these past two photos were taken in the Vatican, which is technically another city. I still can't believe that I stood under the Pope's window!)

I knew it was enormous and overwhelming and a world wonder, but I didn't know it would be quite that wonderful

and again. How is it possible that I walked around the place where Julius Caesar died? 

yet again. Rome by night, ancient and powerful and all too gorgeous. 

We also visited the Trevi Fountain (possibly my favourite stop on the trip... thankfully, because Mum and I got lost once more and had to hang out there for a while... I think the theme here is that Mum and I should not go places alone)- however, no photos remain (they somehow all disappeared, eaten by the faeries perhaps?) so... that's that. 

Also, how are there such random and gorgeous statues everywhere in all these cities? Send some to Canada for me, please! 

The nostalgia is growing... I think I'll go watch Roman Holiday! 

oui oui paris

So... I'm back! Did you miss me? (Pfft. Of course you did.) No worries, the lack of activity around here doesn't indicate my demise, merely that I've been doing other things. (Namely, sleeping and eating fruit. You would be surprised by how little fruit there is in France.)  It's been crazy catching up on all your blogs! Ok, so that was all LIES... mostly I've been sleeping... (until ten today, which is actually a new personal record!) but I promise I'll be getting back into the swing of things soon!...that makes it sound like I'm going out dancing... if only.

Despite the lack of dancing, the trip was wonderful. The people were lovely (the people on the trip with me, at least- personal wisdom doesn't lie in saying that Parisians are snobby) the food was good (advantage to being vegetarian: you get everything faster and fresher) and the coffee was wonderful (I drank my own body weight, at least).

And, well, then you have the cities... beginning, as stories are wont to do, with Paris!

I have a ridiculous number of street sign photos... just a reminder that I was really there!

Notre Dame Cathedral! Anyone else want to break into song?

chills. We visited countless churches, and yet...

it was almost inconcievable that I could be standing in the same spot as Hemingway and Fitzgerald had... this was the moment that it really hit me, that I was somewhere else and that there was infinite universes to discover around me.

the French do seem fond of their arches... we saw so many of these too, I lost track of what they all represented

yes. that is the Eiffel Tower. I WAS THERE. Interesting fact: it's the shape of an upside-down equation!

Next up: Versailles! 

yes. that is real gold. yes. I was tempted to steal it

"Louis the Desired?" somehow I don't think so

the famous Hall of Mirrors!

some people enjoyed pretending to be spies with our tour radios...

Monaco, home of Grace Kelly and car racing and the uber-rich... is there anything else I should know?

that it has a lovely landscape, perhaps?

impromptu photo shoots <3 also the one day it was actually sunny...

Last but not least... Nice. My favourite town, in fact; it was positively charming.

why is everywhere in Europe so unbearably picturesque?

let me just say there were a lot of stairs... s'all good, just means sexy legs!

And there you have it, dearest ninjas: part one of my travel saga! Join me next time for... Italy! Writing this post was extremely difficult because I simply have so many photos (most of them tiny details of things that I appreciated... not the best to provide a true story about the place and so many stories... (Aka, over eight hundred. Somehow I didn't think it would be appreciated were I to post them all.) Still. Take this as the inspiration for your own travels! Have you been to any of these places? Do you plan on it one day?

like mother like daugher

So... you know how I'm always talking about snow? And how much I love it?

Well, it's a genetic diseas-coughcough- trait. And by that, I mean that my mother is just as obsessed as I am. Just look what she made while I was at work!

It might be a bit difficult to tell... their camouflage skills are quite good... but that is Pothead (we live in a dangerous suburb) and The Cat (her creativity did not extend to a name).

So. Obviously, this could not be allowed to continue. I had to join the fun... and the other day, I finally had my opportunity!

You're probably all thinking "wow, they get so much snow!" but really, that is not the case. Well, this year it is,but most years we are (okay, okay, I am) the one(s) looking longingly at maps of weather patterns and doing dances of joy as a centimetre falls. This year has simply been a perfect ending to highschool (the universe is answering my prayers for many snow days) and therefore, I have to give thanks by making "art"!

Wally the whale, viewed from the side... just like Pothead, he blends in well to his natural habitat

Our teacup even has a giant spoon to accompany it! ...okay actually my mother broke the shovel. That is the shovel handle. (Note, once again, the genetic similarity of klutziness.) 

if I look a little bit worried, it's because the teacup was cracking around me

Penny says hello! she was originally meant to be an owl, but she turned magically into her current penguin-self

Sometimes it's just nice to return to childhood. Did you build any snow-creatures this winter?

(I'm setting this one to post while I'm away in France in case I feel a sudden nostalgia for snow and need to visit it immediately. You never know...)