simple smiles #4 & hairdos!

I'm having myself a lazy Monday after the crazy two-birthday-parties-on-one-day Saturday followed by a wake-up time of 7:55am on the following Sunday. Exhausted to the maximus! It was awesome getting to swim, and it was fun bonding with people from both birthday parties -- not so much fun being at a bar for 5 hours (8:30pm-2am) when the place was practically empty! So today, I'm having me some "me-time"!

As for the simple smile ... back in the day on the playground, me and the girls would have massage trains or play with your hair trains. There'd be five or six of us, staring at each other's backs for fifteen minutes. I love having my hair played with (I'm sure all of us do, unless it's done up nicely!) so that has always been a favourite childhood memory.

I confessed in my last post that I can't do hairdos. I have to ask my Mom to put my hair into ponytails/braids ... Which is remarkably sad. But it also makes room for some more mother-daughter moments before I am officially deemed to be a woman 'on my own'.

Today I asked my Mom for full-out braids and we started a 'playing with each other's hair/massage train' of our own -- my Mom playing with my hair, and me massaging my dog Shadow who sat right in front of me (I'll show him off in a future post!). It made me smile, having a grown-up version of that train. Definitely a simple smile, and left me with such a feeling of nostalgia. That feeling of nostalgia also inspired the recipe of the week [in the sidebar], which reminds me of roasting s'mores on a fire.

Back on my last post (which I keep referencing!), becks requested a few things (post some pictures of your wonderful hairdos!; sing a song for us to hear; tell me how on earth you can remember all those movie lines!). While I won't be singing for you anytime soon, I can answer the other two!

To answer the question on how I remember movie lines ... my memory is bizarre. I've always had a memory that doesn't give a darn about mathematical equations and remembers nothing from science class apart from nimbo-stratus clouds. So yeah ... after hearing a song twice, I usually know all of the lyrics. After watching a movie three times, I've pretty much memorized the whole script haha. I'm weird.

As for the wonderul hairdos, I'll show my favourite hairstyle that I've been rocking lately. It's simple: take a shower, wait until your hair is mostly dry (though you could do it damp as well) and do regular braids starting from just above your ears or full-on braids. Sleep on it, and take them out the next morning -- et voila!

This is also the first time I'm posting a picture of my face (eep!), but here goes nothing:

I'm showing off Partini in the second picture, an amazing game I played with girlfriends at the beach!

I love beach-waves ... perfect for the beach, and especially on windy days!

By the way, I have to ask :)
What's a simple childhood memory that makes you smile?

I Can't; I Can; I Won't; I Will...

Today's, without a doubt, the busiest day of my weekend. Yesterday was just relaxing with The Boy, and going to the mall to pick up some photos, get an Orange Julius light smoothie (which was delish, but expensive even with the $1 off!), and get a birthday card.

But now, it's grocery shopping in half an hour, then going off at 1pm for a road trip with five other girls to a beach/park for my close friend's birthday. We'll be bringing our own food, swimming in the pool ... ahh, lovely. Another summer day for me (sorry Sarah, I'll quit with the summer entries soon)! Then, once I get back, it's off to pre-drinking for The Boy's best friend's birthday party. Two birthday's in one day = I shall be very tired.

On that note, I wanted to make this quick (but that never happens) and follow in the footsteps of this lovely lady and this fab brunette and do a rendition of I Can't; I Can; I Won't; I Will; I Shouldn't; I Should.

I Can't:

• Stop biting my nails. It'll never stop ... which is sad, since my nails look nice longer.
• Go one day without singing, even if it's random things like stinky feet, stinky feet...
• Do hairdos. I have to ask my Mom to put my hair into ponytails/braids. Still a child.
• Wait to travel to Europe ... though that involves graduating first!
• Stop rambling. It will always happen, especially when hyper.
  

I Can:

• Recite pretty much every line to the first Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean movie, as well as Robin Hood: Men In Tights. Classics.
  
• Play about eight songs on the guitar ... and then make up a bunch with the seven or so chords I actually remember, haha.
• Be the clumsiest girl you will ever meet. I say "Ow" at least eighteen times a day.
• Start writing 49891841981 novels and NEVER. FINISH. ONE.
• Ride my bicycle pretty far ... it's fun.
  

I Won't:

• Be going swimming today, unless my friends persuade me (darn womanly thing).
• Have enough money, nor computer requirements, to get The Sims 3 anytime soon. Le sigh.
• Read just one book. I have to read at least three at one time.
• Have time to get dressed in 'clubbing gear' for this evening. I'm going to look like I've come from the beach, basically. Fantastic.
• Stop listening to Japanese music, even though I only understand a few words.
  

I Will:

• Keep exercising three times a week. It's good for you, Nikolett! Don't get lazy!
• Be celebrating two birthdays in one day. Pandemonium, I say!
• Drink lots of coffee this morning to stay pumped for two birthdays, fo sho.
  
• Keep loving my friends & family, and miss the ones I haven't seen in a while.
  

I Shouldn't:

• Keep worrying about petty things, worries far-off in the future. Bad habit.
• Spend so much money on make-up. Save for Europe, woman!
• Mistake lawnmowers for thunder. It's a clear day out, there'll be no rain!
• Try to hold two things at once. It's likely that one of them will spill.
  

I Should:

• Finish a novel.
• Be more brave about singing my own songs.
• Tone ze body more until ve are happy, ja?
  
• Stop pretending I can speak so many different languages.
• Ooo, on that note, learn how to speak many languages! JA! JA!
  

Let me know if any of you do this, and I hope you all have an amazing Saturday :)

life's a b ...each!

Even when you get away and escape, it's hard to not look over your shoulder and see all of life's problems in your shadow. But today at the beach with The Boy, we made shadows of love. Wow, that's a cheesy sentence!

After managing to write up 2 1/2 pages about King Lear and methods of disguise, me and The Boy got together ... after he first graciously drove me to the mall to pick up a copy of Lauren Conrad's L.A. Candy for a present for my friend's birthday this weekend (which, surprisingly, makes for a really good chick-lit novel).



Then, off to the beach we went! It was a perfect summer day, and even though the water was pretty freezing (especially for the 'babymakers', as he calls them), we managed to swim for ten minutes before just tanning on the sand.

My recipe for a perfect summer day:
+ some place with sand, water, and warmth
+ people around you who make it complete and happy
+ a couple of free Harvey's burgers
+ eating Skor ice cream (in my backyard as the sun sets, optional!)

All in all, though life can be a major biatch and throw curveballs our way, I'm so grateful for places like the beach, where you can just relax ... and cool off, since this heat is really getting to me.

We tried to make a heart with our hands, but kinda failed!


There was some kind of sailboat convention going on!
I was jealous and kept singing, "I'm on a [sail]boat!"
(5 points to whoever gets the reference!)


We like to pretend we're siamese twins on the beach with our shadows.


This is my 'tropical paradise' :)

What's your recipe for a perfect summer day?

simple smiles #3

This simple smile comes in the form of a story -- or an experience -- that just happened to me an hour ago.

I got onto the city bus on my university campus and snuggled into my seat, happy to get home. Suddenly, a blizzard of bubbles blows past my window. The guy in front of me looked around, bewildered, as if wondering if he was the only one to experience this. But I had too, and was immediately curious to see the source of the bubbles.

Thirty seconds later, another burst of bubbles blew past my bus window. I looked toward the front of the bus, and see the top mirror reflecting on the bus driver -- he was blowing the bubbles out of his side window, providing a magical bus experience.

At first I thought, wow this bus driver is amazing, albeit a bit kooky. But I didn't mind that. He kept it up throughout the whole fifteen minute bus ride, and then I overheard him talking to a passenger who had just gotten onto the bus:

"My daughter gave me this for Father's Day and I promised that I would use it up at work."

My heart melted instantly, and the bubbles became even more magical at that point. Definitely not a kooky bus driver -- more like the coolest!

Since this experience came right after I learned that I will be able to graduate next year after all, combined with calling up The Boy with the good news and hearing him cheer for me and saying he was so proud of me, well ... this Monday is not so bad after all!

Even though I have to write an essay now, I'm going to multitask and write it out while tanning in my backyard. Result!

What made you happy this Monday? :)

summertime & the weather is breezy

It's finally the first day of summer; in my part of the world (and hopefully yours too), the birds are chirping and the sun is shining. While I've felt bombarded with the need to fit into my bikini perfectly with diets and exercise, I thought this recipe of the week is a perfect blend of yummy goodness and health in the form of strawberries. It's called Strawberry Whipped Sensation; the site has both the recipe and a step-by-step video that's really helpful, though the woman herself is a bit creepy! Either way, I think it's a perfect Father's Day/1st day of summer treat!

And wow, thank you so much for all the comments on the last entry ... I never pictured having 18 comments on one entry! As cheesy as it sounds, I'm so happy to have found so many 20-somethings (or younger or older!) who I can identify with and make awesome blog-friendships with. Yeah, summer puts me in a sentimental mood.

I'm also PSYCHED because I got the Sims 2 Seasons expansion pack, something I've wanted for a while and, since I'm not getting Sims 3 for a few years, thought I'd get! So, I'm going to be spending the first day of summer ... indoors, having my Sims enjoy making gardens and fishing in ponds. Err, waitaminute ... shouldn't I be doing that? (Haha.) Oh, and I also found a DVD concert of the lead singer from Pink Floyd for my Dad ... yeah, I know what my Dad likes :)

My first weekend of summer was spent fishing on Friday with The Boy, which was an awesome time -- we caught two fish and we even swam among bright yellow water lillies, which were breathtaking. Then yesterday, I went to a park with a galfriend right by the edge of our escarpment in our city and watched the city below, complete with Iced Cappuccinos. Then we watched Prime (with Uma Thurman) back at her place, which wasn't at all what I expected but I actually really liked it! Oh, and I also watched Match Point, which had two pluses -- Matthew Goode and Johnathan Rhys Myers -- and one big minus -- Scarlett Johannson. Gah, she ruins every movie for me haha.

Hope you all enjoy an amazing first week of summer! It's finally here! Sunshine, tanning, biking, hiking, enjoying cool lemonade and delicious ice cream ... I'm excited. Are you? :)

wednesday wishes #2

I'm not an avid believer or follower of horoscopes; I just enjoy reading them at the end of the night and seeing if any of their 'prophecies' for my day actually came true. Today, my horoscope for Virgo was: You've got some substantial opportunities heading your way. Discuss your plans with someone who may want to join you.

I want the opportunity to travel to Dubrovnik, Croatia while going around Europe. Care to join me? :)

Dubrovnik is known as the Pearl of the Adriatic [Sea], and it's not hard to see why! I'm a sucker for white houses with bright red roofs, so I would most likely spend most of my time in this place looking upwards and admiring the architecture.


This city is located at the extreme south of Croatia and is known as a World Heritage Site. So while I know it will have an abundance of culture ... is it wrong of me to really just want to go on the beach? I can picture myself getting the perfect tan ... which is making me curse the rain that's taking over Ontario today!


Then, of course, I'd want to do some shopping. Maybe get a few beautifully coloured necklaces, or wander down a narrow cobblestone side street and find a dress, standing on its lonesome, just waiting for me to try it on!


I'd definitely want to play up the 'tourist' role in this city and go down Stradun, the main street, and see the neat bridge of Franjo Tuđman. But at the end of the day, I'm going to be craving some ice cream, for sure.

All pictures found via Flickr.

Ah, I wish my city was more like this. Or that I lived nearby the Adriatic Sea rather than Lake Ontario which is err, not a very sanitary body of water. Thanks for wishing with me this Wednesday!

It's Wednesday, and I'm already craving the weekend ... soon, Nikolett, soon haha. Hope you all have a great hump day :)

simple smiles, sore feet & food to eat!

That title up there might rhyme, but it doesn't sound very appetizing, does it? Sorry about that! Haha. Finding something to smile about was really difficult today. I've been on the phone a dozen times and e-mailed advisors/heads of departments left and right today regarding taking eleven courses next year and switching an English seminar ... when it turns out there wasn't a conflict at all. Needless to say, it's been a really confusing day (too much rhyming)! School shouldn't be this exhausting in the summer.

But there's always one picture that never fails to make me smile. It happened at the amusement park on May 31st for The Boy's birthday. We were the only people looking at the belugas from 'underwater' and there were a select few belugas that kept hovering around us, always swimming really close and pressing their adorable, always-smiling faces at us.

So when I look at that picture, all I can remember is feeling serene and at peace. Watching those belugas, such strong and beautiful creatures was awesome. And this baby belugas looks ready to hug my significant other! And there's a glimpse at The Boy, amazed and happy. It's just a picture that warms my heart up completely!

Apart from that, I've felt exhausted lately. Saturday was a random day - I was supposed to go out for coffee, which ended up being a sushi buffet at a restaurant called August 8 with my galfriend and her two nursing friends, which was good. And then, those nursing friends asked me to go clubbing with them.


I'm not much of a clubber at all, but figured I'd enjoy the complete spontaneity of it all with a 'girls night out'. A group of 5 of us went, meeting up with two more of our friends there. It was fun dancing with the girls, shouting Where's your head at-at? and throwing up our hands even though I wasn't a single lady. Not so fun were the numerous ass grazes, "it's a shame you have a boyfriend", and having to SLAP someone across the face when he started harassing me and my friends at the end of the night and then growled in my ear. The Boy got so jealous hearing about it the next morning, he told me he was coming next time, haha.

It was pretty fun, but getting home at 3am with sore feet after dancing on a sticky floor with broken glass is not so much fun! So there's me with a green shoe (and kinda tanned leg!) and my amazing friend of 10+ years. I feel like I'm revealing myself to you all, one body part at a time. Next is my thumb, haha.



The recipe of the week was changed yesterday but I didn't make a post about it. It's becoming a quick favourite and it's so simple too -- rolled sandwiches!

I do some variations from the recipe, including using sun-dried tomato tortillas which add an amazing amount of flavour overall. Plus, I skip out on making that sun-dried tomato mayonnaise and instead just use regular mayo, or you can use any sauce of your choosing.

I just grate some lettuce, put a couple of slices of cheese, and then use any deli meat (I've used ham, chicken breast, and turkey bologna, all of which were amazing). It's easy for a picnic (as displayed by mine and The Boy's thumbs from our trek last week) and delicious, too. Hope you make use of it!




But yes, I can't wait to catch up on sleep but it doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon -- I woke up 4 times last night, have to stay up 'til God-knows-when tonight since I'm picking out my school courses for my final year at university, and then I have an essay to write. Give me strength!

I hope you all had a more relaxing weekend!
What are you smiling about this Monday?

retail therapy makes me smile.

There's nothing like some retail therapy to get your mind off of your laptop, which is suffering from spyware and so you have to reformat it but first you have to put 38GB worth of pictures and music onto DVDs so that way you don't lose your precious pics and tunes. -Le sigh- At least I have my desktop!

But yes, I finally made a trek to the mall - solo. I love going with friends, and usually when I'm alone, I feel really vulnerable to passerby's' glares n' stares. Nevertheless, I braved it alone and got myself some things and only shopped in the mall for an hour before I had to leave ... because Second Cup/Booster Juice/Yogen Fruz kept calling out to me and I knew it wasn't worth it to spend $4 on a drink. Yay, resistance!

So here's my mini-shopping haul, haha.

I finally decided to use the MAC giftcard from my sister! I was intimidated going there, since it's full of women dressed in black with crazy make-up, but the lady who helped me was surprisingly nice. She approved of my tentative choices with eyeshadows (Tempting, Woodwinked and Retrospeck) and my blushes (Fleur Power, Sunbasque, and Springsheen).

As she showed me the eyeshadows, all I could think was that I had similar colours at home. Which reminded me of my Mom, her voice shouting in the back of my head: Why do all your eyeshadows look alike?! Stop spending money on the same things! So, I decided to go with a blush!

We decided Sunbasque would give me a nice sun-kissed glow like I've basked in the sun (whoa, clever name), and as she applied it on me with a Mac brush -- the first time I've ever felt one on my face -- I felt like I was having an orgasm in heaven, haha.

Looks like I can cross another thing off my 43 Things list, since a blush is just as good as an eyeshadow! Whoopah! (Yes, I have weird ways of saying yay, haha).

Got my bikini! My first non-patterned one in a while, too. It' s got detachable straps and no strings at the bottom, which is what I was looking for. I originally wanted it in white, and then decided that I didn't want to flash the whole beach with my nipples and punani once I got out of the water. So, cerulean it is! Reminds me of Cerulean City in Pokemon (oh wow, I am a dork).


And a basic black $10 tank top with diagonal straps in the back from H&M. Perfect length to pass off with just leggings (which I'd never wear as pants) but also perfect as a tank top with jeans.

So whoo-hoo for a shopping spree! And thanks so much everyone for your comments, awards and all. This blog was much more of just an experiment in the beginning, and while I still have so much more planned for this blog, I'm so happy and grateful for the blog friends that I also love reading daily. I'll stop being cheesy now! I'm off to get some cappuccino with my galfriend, hope you have an amazing weekend!

T.G.I.F at last!

Yahoo, it's Friday! Now, I don't have anything necessarily planned for this weekend, apart from starting an essay on King Lear and designing a website for a home renovation company, but, it's nice to have a few days off regardless! Kailani over at An Island Life has a great Friday meme called Aloha Friday that has a question a week! This week's question is: What's your favourite thing about summer?

I have two answers:
1) Being able to watch the sunset with it still being warm out, and not caring if your shorts are getting dirty as you sit on the ground or the sand and feel the warmth of the sun being replaced by beautiful stars.
2) THE BEACH! Having that lazy day, wearing an amazing bikini (I'm definitely eyeing this one in white from La Vie En Rose Aqua), and eating some ice cream. The beach allows for activity (either playing volleyball or making out in the sand), being lazy (lying on the beach while reading a magazine), and refreshment (in the form of swimming in the water or enjoying some yummy food). I love it.

What are your faves about summer? Also, the lovely Nicole over at my teacups in peony awarded me with the Funky Blog award! Thanks so much, I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog, it's an amazing read from an amazing person!

There's not really any specifics on who to tag, so I'm going to award Steph, from That Girl Is Hoison, Margarita, from Ramblings of a Fab Brunette, Iva from Iva Messy, and Kristin & Megan from BonBon Rose. These four are just a sample of the blogs I love to follow, so make sure to visit them!

Now, since this blog is all over the place, I'm going to end with some random samplings from a phone conversation with The Boy this morning. Keep in mind, we joke around A LOT and usually speak sarcastically to each other.

Talking about working out, me pulling that 'am I fat?' thing girlfriends do, jokingly!
ME: "You gotta help boost my self-confidence. So, what am I?"
HIM: "How am I supposed to answer that?"
ME: "With your heart!"
HIM: "You are a beautiful ... caterpillar ..."
ME: "..."
HIM: "... Butterfly, um, butterfly!"

Talking about how to pass the time before he goes to the university offices at 1pm. I have to warn you, I'm semi-deaf and usually say 'PARDON' at least 50 times a day!
ME: "You can have some lunch in the meantime."
HIM: "Or some sex."
ME: "Yeah, you can have some snacks."
HIM: "Umm ..."
ME: "Oh, you said SEX!"

And, we quote movies on a regular basis
ME: "I am Sparticus!"
HIM: "Are you really?! That's so cool!"
ME: "No. I'm, uh, quoting the movie."
HIM: "I'm so disappointed now. My life has no meaning."
ME: "I love you!"
HIM: "Ah, the meaning has returned."

On that note, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

trapped in the city.

Even though I've grown up in it all my life, I've never been the biggest fan of The City (and nope, I'm not talking about the 'reality' show with Whitney Port). There's certain aspects of it that I'll always love, but I cherish wide spaces, surrounded by trees rather than tall buildings.

Case in point: yesterday I made the one-hour bus ride to my university. I went earlier to do 'school errands' (which were never completed because their offices suck) and then meet up with The Boy before my Shakespeare night class. It takes two buses to get to my school, so I usually blast my mp3 player while staring out the window.

When I was on the first bus, I noticed someone in my neighbourhood getting on the bus and sitting across from me. He then fell asleep halfway through the bus ride, and never opened his eyes once. I told myself, that once we got downtown, I'd poke the fellow awake. As I was doing this, there was a man standing behind me in his mid-40s, with yellowing teeth, a grey matty mullet, and a baseball cap on. My neighbour opened his eyes and said "thank you, thanks so much" and I got off the bus.

The mid-40s man RAN after me and stopped me in my tracks. I thought maybe he'd praise me for restoring his faith in humanity for being so nice (haha, I'm so full of myself) but instead he said, "I noticed you on the bus, you're really pretty. Is there any chance we could hook up sometime?" Now, I thought I had misunderstood, or my mind was playing tricks on me. I still my earphones in and asked, "Pardon?" hoping that I was just being silly.

But no. He asked if I could hear him and repeated, "You're a pretty girl. I was wondering if there was any chance we could hook up sometime?" I nearly puked in front of him, since my mind has that habit of visualizing whatever the person is saying (yuck). I just said, "Um, no. I don't do that." And walked away. Which was awkward, since we both crossed the same street, but I made sure to stay far, far away.

So once me and The Boy met up, after not completing any of our 'school errands', we grabbed ourselves some strawberry cheesecake Drumsticks (delicious!) and then went on a two-hour hike in the forest by the lake behind our university. A place I didn't even know existed. There, I didn't have to worry about any creepy men calling me 'pretty girl'. Instead, I had The Boy hold me and call me a 'sexy woman', which I consider a compliment!

I still love being where I am, but sometimes I feel trapped in the city. So it's nice to know these kinds of places exist! Even when I broke out into song on the trail and then swallowed four teeny flies and choked for ten minutes ... even then.

And on a totally different but fabulous note, BonBon Rose is having an awesome giveaway! These two girls are amazing, so you should definitely check out their giveaway and the many other great finds found on their blog!

Plus, I decided to make my Wednesday Wishes a bi-weekly thing, since I'll probably eventually run out of places/cities to dream about. But my Simple Smiles will be every Monday! Now I'm off to lay down in my backyard. Have a great hump day!

simple smiles

Today is commonly referred to as the Monday blahs or having the case of the Mondays. The return of yet another workweek, the start of another week of school, the weekend is over. Since I try to be a more glass-half-full kind of person, I wanted to take the Monday and make it something to smile about!

So, simple smiles Mondays! If you couldn't tell by my other recently started 'series', I'm a sucker for alliteration. Blame it on the English major, haha. I was definitely inspired by Adele's new series and will probably partake in it soon, since it's adorable. But for now, I wanted to dwell in those things that make you smile. Simple things, everyday things, those things that make the Mondays not-so-bad.

For me, it's looking to the right of my computer desk and seeing this little 'motif' on a shelf. The card is courtesy of my sister; it's full of encouragement, and it was also full of a Mac giftcard. It also helps me fantasize about Europe, even though Paris isn't one of my stops!

The red rose is the first rose I ever received from The Boy; I had to hang it and dry it out, it was so beautiful. It's put inside The Pop Shoppe bottle, which reminds me of a rainy day with The Boy where we ran through puddles just to get me a drink after fun times together.

Wrapped around the neck of the bottle is a ribbon with a bell, which was wrapped around the neck of a chocolate Easter bunny courtesy of The Boy's father. He's the first parent of a significant other who has approved of me without judgment, and that's something that makes me smile.

Looking over at this little red assembly of memories definitely puts a smile on my face.

So, you know I have to ask:
What's the simple thing that made you smile today? =)

two coffees a day keeps the ...?

This weekend was a combination of a lot of rum and coke's, a lack of sleep, and a LOT of coffee (which is my favourite, but I was a little desperate for it since I've been on the verge of passing out everywhere)! Friday we celebrated The Boy's 22nd birthday yet again, but this time it was a house party at his place with a bunch of his closest friends.

Now, here's where I make another confession -- I've never been drunk. Never suffered a hangover, never puked due to alcohol ... the most I've been is buzzed and tipsy. On Friday, it was just a nice buzz, confirmed by a girlfriend when I asked, "Why does my head feel fuzzy?" But the birthday boy ... well, that was another story altogether. The Boy made a walking trip to get more booze only to find the place was closed, and then went to a pub with one of his friends and grabbed a couple of beers. When they finally came back, he had a bunch of flowers in his hands for me, and he said he wasn't sure where he picked them from. Very sweet, even though he was smashed!

Then, his friend pressured him to drink a couple of more shots. The result? Catastrophe. I spent the rest of the night nursing the birthday boy through five separate throw-ups, and somehow managed to stomach eating pizza WHILE he was doing that. I guess that's amore (or disgusting)!

After he finally passed out - DIAGONALLY, on the bed - I slept about 4 hours that night, after cleaning up his place. I'm an awesome girlfriend, haha. He spent Saturday making it up to me and grabbing me lots of coffee and food, so it was awesome though tiring! Saturday night I hung out with a couple of girlfriends -- going to Williams' Coffee Pub and grabbing me a blended iced cappuccino, since I was so out of it.

Basically, two coffees a day keeps the sleepiness away, if only temporarily! I hope you all had a blast this weekend and thanks so much for the sweet comments for Wednesday Wishes, I'll definitely continue it!

Recipe Of The Week: I'm in the summer mood, even if the weather isn't completely agreeing with me. So, this time I'm sharing something I really want to make during the next few months: Very Berry Summer Cake! I love the fact that the recipe mostly depends on yogurt, I've never made a cake like that before. If I ever attempt it, you know I'll for sure fill you in on how it went!

And, since it's been a while since I've updated (only once last week = not good!), I'm loading this entry with a little five-question meme from Under The Sheets-Shh, which you all should try out, too!

The Five Questions Are:
1) What topic would you write your book about?
I'm actually trying to write a book right now! I'm on pg40 so far, and it's about a mid-twenties girl who is a graphics designer and is dealing with love lost and asking whether she should change herself or if there really is that guy out there that can love her for her. Full of silly humour, but also really relateable, I think!

2) What is one of your guilty pleasures?
The elixir of life -- coffee. If you couldn't tell already!

3) What are some of the things you do to get yourself out of a bad mood?
Drink coffee, talk with The Boy, play The Sims or Rollercoaster Tycoon, spending 15 minutes playing with my adorable dog, or blasting music and singing along with it!

4) How long do you think it will take to get the U.S. economy back on track?
Well, they've done it before so I'm sure they'll manage to do it again. While I'm Canadian, Obama did promise change and hopefully he'll live up to his word and manage to devise ways to bring the economy back around!

5) Do you think there is a fine line between creepy and romantic?
Oh goodness, yes. Based on a friends' experience: if you've only been dating for two months, talking about your kids in the future and saying 'I love you' after every single sentence in a text message is not romantic -- it's creepy AND too soon. I think creepiness also depends on how the two people mesh together in a relationship. Edward from Twilight is creepy just overprotective, haha.

Let me know if you fill this out too, I'd love to read them!
Have an awesome start to your week!

wednesday wishes

I have a dream ... okay, now I sound like Martin Luther King Jr. In reality, I am a university student relying heavily on my parents' funds in order to get some sort of education. I've had my share of summer and seasonal jobs, and am hoping to attend teacher's college after I graduate in '10. But my real goal before attending teacher's college is: GOING THROUGH EUROPE in the summer.

So far, I've saved up $350 ... nowhere near enough, but I'm trying to save every last penny that I can to go. The Boy and I are planning to visit more so eastern Europe, traveling through our 'homelands', plus all the countries surrounding it.

I decided to make 'hump day' my Wednesday Wishes day. Whether it's weekly or bi-weekly (since err, I have a habit of forgetting to do things weekly), I'm going to share wishes of where I want to visit, things I want to do, and places I want to dive into. This week, it's Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Wish with me!

To sip on coffee here would be a beautiful thing.
And, I have a soft/weird spot in my heart for telephone booths. It's an obsession I can't explain!


There's a pedestrian-only street in Budapest called Vaci Utca -- translated, it's called Fashion Street. What an amazing name for a place with H&M, Clinique, and tons more! I definitely have to go here.


I want to go full-out tourist and see numerous statues, and then take pictures mimicking the statues. I'm cool.


Széchenyi Thermal Bath is one of the largest spa complexes in Europe. And it's gorgeous. Imagine swimming in warm water, surrounded by bright yellow castles. It's amazing.


Taking a stroll by a pond or the Danube (perhaps with a Hello Kitty balloon in hand?) and taking a look at the sights at nightfall ... it would be wonderful.


Ah, I'm done wishing for today. Let me know if this is a good 'installment' to have on my blog, I just thought it'd be a neat idea!