dear spring

There are robins on my lawn.

You know what this means... all the worms are being eaten. I do pity them. When I was younger, I used to run around the playground, trying desperately to save them before all the mean kids stepped on them. (I like to see this as a sign that I have a tender heart. My friends, for whatever reason, prefer "weird".)

These days, I don't do that anymore. (I do, however, wince whenever I go driving in the rain... am I running them over? Please ooze out of my way, little worms!) These days, I prefer to take robins as a sign that spring is, finally, here.

Is this a good thing? I'm not entirely sure. There is sun now, which means that the world will expect me to...

1. Be tanned. You've seen photos of me... but they don't accurately capture my glow. My skin tone, at the darkest of times, is a cross between "half-ripe strawberry" (freckles as seeds, and just generally red) and "friendly neighbourhood ghost" (except I'm not always friendly, and we don't live anywhere near each other, so let's just go with 'ghost')... and yet people still ask me why I don't go tanning.

2. Have a job. This isn't entirely a bad expectation- I could use some money to go on wild shopping sprees (...for tea. Shh. Pretend I said something crazy... like chocolate!) but, seeing as I'm going away for five weeks this summer (details later) I highly doubt anyone would want to hire me.

3. Leave the playgrounds to the little kids. They, like the robins, seem to be sprouting everywhere... and now, whenever I try to go on the swings, I am greeted with major suspicion. Is it really that unbelievable that I want to go on a playground? Do I look like some kind of criminal?

4. Drink Frappuchinos or Ice Capps instead of coffee. ...okay so this is my own expectation. This is so awful I can't even describe how little I want to drink a deliciously sweet and creamy iced drink... How horrifying.

5. Prepare for university. I'm not sure where this one is coming from. I have a popcorn maker! What other preparations do I need to make? I would far rather look at Cat Bounce! (click it. Now. It is so worth it.)

What kinds of expectations are you feeling this spring?

in which I talk about how I did nothing

Welcome to this week's edition of... Friday Letters! Are you surprised that I'm actually doing a similar post two weeks in a row? To liven things up, let's guess why. Is it...
a) because I like doing this linkup? or...
b) because I have really done nothing this week that is noteworthy and so I resort to imaginary conversations for blog fodder?

Yeah so... it was mostly b). But this is fun!

Dear World: I'm sorry for doing absolutely nothing this week. I'll try harder next week. (...LIES.) But, as they say...

(source)

Dear Chemistry Test: why did you have to be right before lunch? I think I failed some of your questions just because I was thinking too much about food...

Dear The Office: ...why are you ruining my life. Seriously. Pam and Jim are the TV couple I have looked up to my entire childhood as an example of sanity and utter adorableness... they can't break up. I'm begging you.

(source)

Dear Jesse: thank you for making me laugh so hard with your latest tea video! And for making me feel that I was semi-having a conversation with you and so was only semi-pathetic and antisocial. (Semi is about as good as it gets.) Loveee youuu, tea/DW/loner/too-many-things-to-count-buddy!

Dear Healthy Brownies:

(her photo, not mine)

Thank you for being so delicious! When I eat you, I feel both satisfied and healthy... so yay! (The recipe can be found here- I would definitely recommend you try them!)

Dear Weather: make up your mind. Are you in a good mood? (aka sun and warmth) or a bad mood? (aka rain and wind) So far you seem to be tending towards the latter, but since YOU. CHANGE YOUR MIND. LIKE A GIRL. CHANGES CLOTHES (#retrosongmoment) I really can't tell what's going on.

Happy Friday, blog ninjas!

letters to the universe

Dear Death Cab for Cutie: omg I love you except you just make me want to cry and omg never again will I listen to you at the library because the tears are a tad embarassing...

Dear Spring: where are you? We have had one sunny day in the past month. ONE. And today it's hailing. Get over here soon before I decide to move to another warmer country! #notimpressed (Okay I'm not altogether sure why you would be perturbed by such a threat... but still. Be very scared.)

Dear Pakistani Tea: at least I have you to comfort me. You're cooking on the stove and I can smell you all the way upstairs... mmmm. If only I had a warm fire to cuddle by... or someone to cuddle with...

Dear Kitties: I guess I have you... except the two of you take up my entire bed. And have also covered it in fur. Thanks so much.

Also, why do you eat mango? Off my plate? Are you really a cat?

Good thing you're cute. Or I would toss you outside. (Okay no I don't want to go outside... maybe just lock you into the bathtub. No wait you like licking the bathtub... I give up)

Dear Charles Dickens: okay so you might be dead (but you live on in Doctor Who! so it's all good... I think my new life ambition is to be featured in Doctor Who. WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF) but your books are amazing... plans for the day= made.

Dear The Fountainhead: you on the other hand I could do without. Although I admire your concepts... I could have done with some shorter speeches... (aka, ones less than five pages long) However I hear your brother-book Atlas Shrugged has one that is a full 30 000 words, so I should simply be grateful I escaped reading that... 

Seriously though. A character is a character. A philosophical concept is a philosophical concept. The two should not mix.

Happy Friday, blog ninjas!

essentials & spring cleaning

...it's snowing again.

And since this is the fourth of April, and not the first, you can deduct that this is not an April Fool's.

I'm pretty sure that the universe is paying me back for all the times I pleaded for snow by giving me some now... exactly when I'm ready for spring.

I JUST WANT TO WEAR SPRING DRESSES. Is that really so much to ask? -sob-

But anyway. You did not come here to read my rants about snow. (Or maybe you did. Maybe you, too, think I need payback... but really, I already missed a concert. (No, I'm still not over it.) Isn't that enough?

...now I'm really done.

This post is really about the 52 Lists project. Every week this year, a new prompt will be posted. Although I haven't done all of them (and probably won't- I tend to get distracted from any form of bloggerly organisation) I thought it might be fun to do a few!

First off: Ways to Cleanse for Spring (Week 10). 

What kinds of spring cleaning do you do? The one I'm really trying to work on right now is no. 3... I've been eating so much chocolate & other miscellaneous junk recently... /turns into a gingerbread ninja for realz

And secondly: My Essentials (Week 11)

Hopefully this one is big enough for you to read! As you can see, there are many essentials in my life, some contradictory and some entirely abstract. What are some of yours?

Happy Friday, blog ninjas!

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! 

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...)

sugar and spice and everything nice

It is my cherished belief that you are never the wrong age to:
a) wear pretty dresses
b) drink tea
c) have a birthday party.

That's why, this past weekend, I combined all three! (My guests were ordered to come wearing dresses en lieu of the usual gift-bearing... okay no I just like ordering them around, no trade-off involved cause you know, presents!)

just to show how cold our house is... my poor guests needed to wrap up well

omg tea. there are no words.

also, food. isn't everything so tiny and pretty?

we headed upstairs for a photo shoot, and Tilney finally got some love

see? I'm not the only one who loves hats!

Cécile and I are spies, while Kori is our obliviously happy spy-ee? 

Bronwynne is also part of our amazing spy cult, watch out

...while Anna just likes frogs (there were probably 20 photos similar to this one)

after so much exertion, more food was necessary before Tamara ate our heads off (or Cécile's spun all the way off...)

there were fights over who got to eat... the pickles? 

OMG LISTS... let's just say my friends know me well. 

 this bag was also a contested favourite... I wouldn't be surprised if my basement was raided later

snow angels are equally ageless!

...although I personally don't see the appeal of sitting on the road

The next section of the evening was free of photographic evidence... but let's just say it involved more food, and more screaming. (AKA: we watched a horror movie. That is, some people watched a horror movie. I fell asleep, so obviously it could not have been that traumatizing...) 

note that I am alone here because no one else wanted to show off their gorgeous mask

seriously I don't understand why

...and that was that! (Apologies for the lack of text in this post- I'm currently in the midst of packing for France (confession: you can barely see my floor under the mountains of clothes) and my creative inspiration is therefore running a bit dry... being entirely devoted to figuring out gorgeous outfits!)

Thank you to all who attended... and to the chefs (/cult/parents) who made such a lovely spread possible! (and ensured that no one's head was eaten... I truly was worried at some points!) Do you still have birthday parties? What about tea parties? 

i missed my birthday

I didn't stay up quite late enough, you see. The fraction of a second that is, this year, my birthday, passed me by. 

Being born on February 29th is, for this reason, occasionally a trial. The number of jokes I've had to endure... "It's not really your birthday!" "You're really advanced for a four-year-old..." "Oh, you're only four, you're not allowed to do that!" However, for this same reason, I can also retort such brilliant things as "Well, if I'm only four, then why am I so much smarter than you?" etc... which can also be fun. 

Plus, being born on February (does anyone else have to sound it out in their head to make sure they insert the 'r' at the right place?) 29th makes me feel... a little bit special. Not many people can say that their birthday is an anomaly. (Maybe that's part of the reason I'm so socially awkward? Date-wise, I am out of tune with the rest of the world?)

However, this year, the universe bestowed upon me an extra present... more snow. Just look at this view: 

It might be the best present I could have recieved. And how did I see it, you might ask?

My mother and I went toboganning before school, of course! 

Okay, so there might also have been quite a bit of spinning and falling involved... but that's part of the fun. (It's not really toboganning if you haven't faceplanted at least once.) Some people may argue that this confirms it- that I am, deep inside, only four- but it's my opinion that toboganning is one of those pleasures you never grow too old for. 

Thank you, world, for a lovely sort-of birthday! 

Yes, Facebook. The 29th is a real date. Even if it does only exist for a millisecond.

overcoming obstacles (aka a terror of skiing)

Yes... I am alive! (Or perhaps I'm a zombie and I just haven't realised it yet. I haven't had any odd cravings for brains yet, only chocolate, but I'll keep you posted.) Skiing was, in fact, wonderful, thanks mostly to my wonderful bros (yes I use that word now, I have been corrupted) Kori and Cécile. There were no:

a) tears (okay, a few mentally, but I kept it well inside)
b) collisions (amazingly I did not hit a tree, impressive)
c) injuries (although my legs are quite stiff today... another sign of zombie-ism?)

Although I stayed in snowplow snake (my term... you know, when you zigzag wildly across the entirety of the hill) the entire time, I think it went rather well. I may not have been the most graceful (but then, when am I ever?) but I had fun!

Warning: photo avalanche follows... I hope you're not buried!

the obligatory graceful chair pose in the lobby... don't I look perfectly lodge-like?

and again, be astounded by the beauty and grace. Cécile is a little less enthusiastic... perhaps wondering why she invited me... 

the stuffies are prepared to devour all the gummies before Cécile and Kori can get to them!

my latest superpower: I can fly! however, I am also adept at falling on my face...

Note I and Kori's favourite shirts of the moment: grey sparkly owl sweater and green Celtics hoodie! one last pretty photo before the hot tub

various "the bachelor" reactions: what is this? does he have a harem? 

needless to say, we were not impressed.

And on that cheerful note... the next day begins. Drumroll please! 

Girl Rule: there must be at least one mirror selfie per trip!

thank you Kori for ensuring that Cécile and I were not driven mad by our hair!

she makes putting on ski goggles look cool.

all ready to head out! (note that we haven't started yet... aka no looks of terror)

be impressed by the snowplow. I'm still amazed I didn't cross my skis...

OMG we survived a blue run! what is this!

alternatively, I may be about to eat Cécile's ear. I was pretty hungry

the sweater trade! betraying our schools, muahaha

...and then we returned home, and nearly fell asleep in the car, and I went to work, and daily life returned.

Sometimes you just need a lovely break from reality. Thank you, my dearest friend-people (and to Cécile's wonderful parents) for making this possible!