why, hello there!

I'm dreaming ... of a warm spring. I look at posts like this from my teacups in peony and relish with the idea of sticking my toes in the grass without the possibility of gettting frostbite. Alas, Mother Nature isn't cooperating up here. So I've been spending my days indoors, but been up to quite a bit since my last update. And, if you haven't already, it would be amazing if you would sign up for the Postcard Project in the post below. Many of you have requested Europe, so any Europeans - sign up, merci beaucoup! :) And many many thanks to all the people who have recently followed my blog - once it hits 200, it's giveaway time!

Now, to take a leaf out of Patty's blog (haha), I'm going to give a glimpse of what I've been up to for the last couple of weeks:

I know that doesn't look like the most appetizing cake, but it makes me happy to see things I've made being devoured by my dad in a matter of days ... or maybe it's because he has a really large sweet tooth. Either way, I've been making loaves and a coffee walnut cake and hopefully going to bake another cake today! (by the way, smacznego means enjoy your meal in Polish)

Just last week, I did something that no twenty-something year old should do - spent four days in a basement of a building with a bunch of teenagers, learning about the rules of the road. Yes, I finally did driving school and am soon starting my in-car lessons and I'm a little terrified but ready to be like Jason Statham in The Transporter if I need to be. D'you like my drawing on my notes? :P On top of that, I've been trying to learn The Boy's mother tongue, which involves doing weird things with my tongue that I've never done before (as in the accents are a lot different than English, nothing dirty!).

After I finished up driver's ed, me and The Boy celebrated three years of knowing each other (for the story, click here!) in the form of homemade pizza and a DELICIOUS cake. He said he searched specifically for a cake with strawberries and kiwis since that's my absolute weakness :)

Finally I've been planning ... though more so daydreaming, I'll admit! My sister is getting married in just under two months in Vancouver and I'm SO excited to be her maid of honour ... plus head back to Vancouver, period! I am in love with city and can't wait to explore it again, and showing it to my parents (and hopefully The Boy if he can come)! I'm so unsure about vacations like Cuba, but at least this one's a given. Can't wait to see my sister & niece again, and I know I'll be the sobbing MOH.

On top of that, it's just been a lot of webdesigning, trying to see friends as much as I can, and getting excited to send a postcard!

What have you been up to lately?
And what's the last thing you baked?
[if you don't bake, what's the last great thing you ate?]

postcard project!

As the snowflakes breeze by my window again, I find myself fantasizing about the Philippines, Cuba, Australia, Greece, Florida, Singapore. I long to squish the sand between my toes (an excellent natural exfoliator - life lesson #12 from What a Girl Wants). At the same time, I also wouldn't mind exploring places with cobblestone roads like England, France, Poland, Italy. Since I'm far from being a millionaire I thought - perfect time to bring back the postcard project! Also, a bunch of you have been wanting me to bring it back so here it is!

If you weren't here the first time around, this is just a little "let's connect everyone through snail mail!" project that involves you commenting, getting paired up with someone (or two, depending on how many people sign up!) and sending a postcard while also getting one, too! I thought this would be a really neat way to connect with each other; plus, postcards aren't too expensive (and if you want to make your own, by all means go for it!) since I didn't want to make a project that would break the bank. It involves:

• Leaving a comment (or e-mail me) with a message that contains Your Name, Your E-mail, Your Country, and Any Preference? - if there's a continent or any specific country you'd love to have a postcard from, list it - hopefully we can make it happen, cap'n. And under 'any preference' you can list if you want a silly-ish postcard (if you don't list anything, I'll assume you want a postcard that is country-related!). Example:
• Your Name: Nikolett
  Your E-mail: betterthancoffee@gmail.com
  Your Country: Oh, Canada!
  Any Preference?: Anywhere around the world!
• I'll e-mail you back and ask for a bit more info (address-related), and make up a list (I'll be checking it twice; and the only ones who will see your address are me and the postcard-sender/receiver).
• I will pair you all up randomly (unless there's a specific preference that I'll try to fulfill - just depends on how many participate!) and send an e-mail to both of you around Wednesday, March 23rd - extended to Friday, March 25th since I'm waiting for mailing addresses and in case anyone wants to sign up! - so you have two weeks to sign up!
• Then, try to have the postcard sent out to the person by Wednesday, April 6th - extended to Friday, April 8th - gives you another two weeks to get the postcard, write it out, and send it out! The only catch that's different from last time - please e-mail me once you have sent the postcard so that way one person isn't left without a postcard after he/she has already sent one out. I'll be sending out a reminder e-mail to anyone who is left on April 4th!

I really liked the way this project turned out last time and would love it if you all signed up again :) If you want to spread the word and make it so you're paired up twice, it'd be great if you put one of these buttons on your blog!

275px - code below:

<a href="http://better-than-coffee.blogspot.com/2011/03/postcard-project.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt222/betterthancoffee/postcardproject_275px.jpg" border="0" alt="Postcard Project" /></a>

175px - code below:

<a href="http://better-than-coffee.blogspot.com/2011/03/postcard-project.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt222/betterthancoffee/postcardproject_175px.jpg" border="0" alt="Postcard Project" /></a>

If anything is unclear or you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask :) It'd be crazy to see how many people across the globe we can unite through a postcard! A more 'normal' update from me will be coming Friday, but for now, have a great rest of the week :)

marchin' on

D'you see what I did there with that title? I have a feeling that particular song by OneRepublic will become my anthem for this month. To be frank, my February was anything but feb-ulous (OK, I need to stop with the month puns).

Behind this façade of silly statements and weekend recaps and simple smiles is left a person who is frightened about her future, frightened about what's in store for her. I hate being that vulnerable. As much as I'd love to live by my week-at-a-time mentality I so convince myself I have under control, the truth is that so much of my future is guaranteed - or not - by outside sources. Acceptance and Rejection have become the main characters in this story we call 'my life.'

These two archnemeses have battled it out to the point where I ... I have to stop relying so much on outside sources. Take matters, or happiness, into my own hands. Or at least the area of financial stability and the ability to drive (yes ma'ams and sirs, I am going to driving school in a couple of weeks, and as a twenty-two year old that's both embarrassing and frightening, but I'm ready to get my bum into gear ... or the car). 

I'm ready to keep marchin' on and stand up to those figures of Acceptance and Rejection. While I may not be able to control who hires me, I can control how I react - I can either let it get to me, which is what I've been doing lately, or think there's something else meant for me; this happened for a reason. Oh yes, that cheesy cliché of everything happens for a reason will definitely become an encouraging motto, because I find it works. And another one (that I'm making off of the top of my head and I apologize to anyone who's already coined this):

You may not be able to choose every thing that happens in your life,

but you can choose to have another cup of coffee.

And I've found that when things seem hopeless, it's better to concentrate on the things that get me by (besides coffee), things that keep me striving for the future even in its uncertainty. 

01. being my sister's maid of honour

My amazing sister is planning a destination wedding in less than a year and I am honoured to be her maid of honour. The past couple of weeks have been spent picking out a bouquet of flowers and deciding on shoes, and I can't wait to help her with more details - and I definitely can't wait to see her walking down the (sandy?) aisle, with my adorable niece in front as the flower girl. 

02. being a jetsetter 

Although the thoughts of Europe are getting farther and farther away (mostly because I want to spend a month there), the thoughts of shorter but still awesome vacations are looming on the horizon. Namely: Cuba or San Francisco. While there are still so many hurdles to jump over before I even get to this point, just the thought of it makes me smile. (And maybe in 4 years, the Philippines/Indonesia? :D)

03. nights with my friends

Whether it's laughing over bubble tea, random photoshoots, talking about our lives, or exploring bits of the city, their presence makes my life beautiful even when things going on bring us down.

04. castle nights with my mama

As cheesy as it sounds, I look forward to plopping down on the couch and watching Castle with my mom, trying to solve the murder and awwh-ing at every Castle/Beckett moment. 

05. a thousand inside jokes
Whether it's The Boy claiming that he'll dropkick a grenade for me and stop a train for me (by waving it down), saying weird phrases like "good borning!" whose origins I can't recall, or making jokes about our future lives in a home together ... makes me look forward to more inside jokes.

What helps you get by when 'the going gets tough'?
{image via tumblr, couldn't find a specific source}

And since this post is a bit of a bummer, let me direct to posts that make me smile:

"Feelin' Lucky" at While We're Waiting /  "What This Little Lady Dreams About" at Little Tiara / "My Life in 5 Years" at Patikym / "Memorable Experiences" at Fab Brunette / "Preparing for a Barefoot Walk" at my teacups in peony/