love is better than coffee

Last week was my week from hell (and I know for many others, it was a week of tragedy). I had felt like I was hit with the gusts of a thousand plagues; I had the flu, a cough, a cold, the whole works. The one day that I did go outside last week was to go to do a small bit of Christmas shopping and mail out my Christmas cards; and it was on that day that I was reminded of the goodness in people, that infectious Christmas spirit (this was the day before the shooting in Newtown, which dampened my spirits, and my condolences go out to all those affected). 

But from the girl who randomly complimented my coat as I was getting off the bus and she was getting on, to the nice salespeople at Chapters and Starbucks, to the lady at the post office who took off tax, to the bus driver who said, "Hello! How are you doing today?" I had a genuine smile on my face, and was also a little resentful that I was homebound most of the time and couldn't go out and see that Christmas spirit more often. I was also missing The Boy, my friends, and my sister like crazy (my sister can't come here for Christmas anymore, but I will come visit you, don't you worry! And umm, Christmas Eve Skype date, please?). 

And then it all came to a head on Sunday morning. I had slept in and my parents were already out, and I found myself starving since I usually don't sleep in until 11:30am. I ate brunch and realized that I wasn't chewing properly and it was hard to drink. I went upstairs to brush my teeth and realized that I couldn't move the left side of my face. I tried to smile at myself in the mirror and my smile was coming out crooked. I couldn't properly close or wink my left eye, and it felt like I had been shot up with Novocaine  It was paralyzed. And I was terrified. The first thing I did was call The Boy at work, who started going through all the options and told me to get my parents to come home right away. 

As soon as my parents came through the door I cried out, "I can't move the left side of my face!" and we immediately went to the hospital; by some stroke of luck, I was in and out of there in half an hour and the nurses and doctors were so incredibly kind. Aside from my food poisoning/dehydration in Hungary a year and a half ago, I hadn't had to be admitted into a Canadian hospital since I was born.

Fortunately, it's not a stroke. I have something called Bell's palsy, which is the inflammation of nerves causing temporarily paralysis in the face, usually either brought on by a cold or because it runs in the family (in this case, both, since my grandma had it once). I was put onto steroids and have an ointment for my left eye that gives me blurry vision but allows my eye to not dry out, and it should be back to normal in two weeks or so. But it was such a frightening feeling, not knowing what was going on, not being able to voluntarily move my face which normally is so expressive. On the other hand, I know it could have been much, much worse. 

It's really been in these last few days that I've realized that love is better than coffee. From the outpourings of well wishes from best friends and blog friends, to the random surprises from The Boy who gave me flowers and a bag of candy to make me feel better, to the little things like my mom making me breakfast and showering me with hugs ... when scary things happen, as scary as they may be, love is one of the best things to respond with. It might not make the scary thing go away, but it eases the pain. 

To end this wall of text, I hope that you've been having an AMAZING December so far, full of great times with family and friends. Since I'm most likely going to be homebound on and off for the next couple of weeks, I'll definitely try to post more often. For now, here's other things that brightened my otherwise dismal week:

(1) Mail! My new favourite shirt from Kym @ herro hachi, and Christmas cards from Tasha and my sister. Thank you so much ladies :) 

(2) Watching a pretty sunset on my one evening out of my house. 

(3) A get-well soon package from The Boy with flowers, strawberry kiwi juice, and chocolate.

Now to brighten up this post:

What's made your December bright?

And what's better than coffee (or your favourite indulgence) for you?

life in a nutshell

It's been one of those dreary, "case-of-the-Mondays" type days that really made me realize how much I've missed blogging. A lot of my life has been full of "I'll accomplish this ... later" moments, like me planning on posting a 25 things to do before I turn 25 bucket list and since I never ended up finishing it (I'm at #17, folks), I never ended up posting it. And then a lot of other things were left unsaid, and I left the postcard project at the wayside, and well ... I'm a pretty horrible blogger. I'm not making apologies or excuses, just wanted you to know ... I've missed it. I would love to be as candid as possible, but was taught to be as discreet as possible on the 'net due to my career choice. A career that seems to be in "volunteer as much as time of your life as possible without actually being paid or having an interview" mode. I'm trying to keep my chin up, I'm trying to remain positive, I'm trying to be assertive and put my name out there; nothing worth having comes easy, right? (At least, I keep telling myself this.) 

The good things? I'm celebrating 4.5 years with The Boy this weekend over schnitzel (a good thing to celebrate with, I think), I still cherish my random coffee dates and hangouts with friends, The Boy's shop is doing well, and I'm slowly but surely going through with starting my web/graphics design business while I volunteer with two different classrooms at two different schools. 

And the great thing? I finally get to meet my nephew this year; my sister and her family are coming around for Christmas and I can't wait to hold that little guy in my arms and smother him with Aunt Niki kisses. 

When I'm not volunteering, I'm catching up on "The Vampire Diaries" (OMG ELENA), "The Walking Dead" (OMG -NO SPOILERS HERE BECAUSE I HAVEN'T WATCHED THIS WEEK'S EPISODE), "New Girl", or being obsessed with the YouTube series "The Lizzie Bennet" diaries. If you haven't come across this yet, and you're a fan of Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice, or Colin Firth, please watch it. And the amazing Kathy sent me a couple of books that I can't wait to read. Oh, and um, I'm obsessed with Final Fantasy X again. No new video game has compared to it yet, though the Lego version of Lord of the Rings might give it a run for its money. 

I hope you've all been doing well and that life is full of love & laughter. I'll try to update soon. In the meantime, here's some pictures of what I've been up to lately:

 

how has your november been?

what's your life like in a nutshell? 

an ode to august

Oh August - how I love you. I might be a little biased since my birthday's on the 31st of August which is  tomorrow(!!!), but I've always found myself enjoying the days more, taking the most pictures during this month, and reveling in free days, planned nights, and spontaneous Skype dates. The air is not as humid and muggy as July in southern Ontario, and there's a slight crispness in the air in the evenings as the sun sets earlier; but it's a nice reminder that layered knits and pumpkin spice lattes are right around the corner.

My simple smile for this week - besides finding sweet birthday cards and surprise packages in the mail from dear friends - is finding my own little bit of paradise this month in the form of a road trip to Bruce Peninsula National Park. We drove through towns that had a higher population of cows than actual people and made it to crystal clear (and freezing!) waters and exploring a grotto (and coming up with a song called "Otto the Grotto").

The waters looked all Caribbean-like but were so cold.

The Grotto and my freshly dyed strawberry-blonde hair! (:

When I haven't been searching for or enjoying paradise, I've been baking a lot thanks to my parents' friends who have a ton of fruit trees in their backyard. Two weeks ago I made plum cake, and just last night made a peach cake, all using the same basic recipe (which I'll probably share soon)!

The times that I'm not baking, I've spent catching up with schoolmates from university and teacher's college, either at a restaurant, cafe, or a 10km hike which kills my legs but feels so good at the same time. There's this trail that my friend introduced me to that has running streams, crazy hills, and close encounters with deer and I wish it was closer to my home so I could walk it every day.  

Two of these lovely ladies are leaving me for London; 

I unfortunately could not fit inside their luggage.

The times that I'm not catching up with schoolmates, I've spent doing an overdue reunion with two of my workmates - and crashed a TV set in the downtown for a show called Bomb Girls. Lots of 1940s garb, fake snow, and posters for 5 cent burgers and trendy fashions.

WOMANPOWER -- we can do it! We can ... cook things over a stove?

And when I haven't been doing all that, I've been trying to plan out as much of my fall as I can while also working in The Boy's soon-to-be-open shop! While we'd love to get our ideal jobs right away, this is kind of our back-up/let's-make-ends-meet route for now, and it's pretty nerve-wrecking and exciting at the same time. 

I find that I can look back at every August of my recent years with fond memories; it'd definitely be my month of choice to relive over and over if I could.

if you could choose a month to relive whenever you wanted, 

which one would it be & why?

and if you haven't yet,

please mosey on down and join the postcard project!

Tomorrow involves a surprise day from The Boy (all I know is that I have to bring my bathing suit), and then hopefully a beach day with my girlfriends on Saturday. Hope you all have a great rest of the week! (:

the postcard project no.3

In my mind, postcards are magical. They have the power to remind you of a place that you've been to; the ability to connect you with a friend in a faraway place; can serve as a blank canvas for you to spill your secrets onto; and can slowly, bur surely, turn your thoughts to wanderlust. 

For the past few years, my postcard collection has grown because I've finally been able to travel a bit and because of amazing friends who send me postcards on their travels. And I know there's people out there who love postcards just as much as I can do --

so I'm bringing the postcard project back! 

If you weren't here the first two times 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 & receiving a postcard! 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 includes 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   here - 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 to fulfill - just depends on how many participate!) and send an e-mail to both of you around Wednesday, September 5th - so you have two weeks to sign up!

Try to have the postcard sent out to the person by Wednesday, September 19th - gives you another two weeks to get the postcard, write it out, and send it out! The only catch - 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 September 19th!

I really liked the way this project turned out the first two times 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, either in your sidebar or by mentioning it in a post!

<a href="http://better-than-coffee.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-postcard-project-no3.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt222/betterthancoffee/postcardproject12a.jpg" border="0" alt="Postcard Project" /></a>

<a href="http://better-than-coffee.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-postcard-project-no3.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i614.photobucket.com/albums/tt222/betterthancoffee/postcardproject12b.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! For now, have a great rest of the week :)

P.S. I have a lot of postcards from Budapest/Hungary and Vancouver/British Columbia so feel free to request one of those if you'd like!

five good things on a friday

01. great food shared with great people

I spent the weekend indulging in amazing food while visiting one of my best friends in Oakville - Saturday's meal consisted of an incredibly filling and delectable turkey burger from a place called The Works; the toppings were goat cheese (can not stress how YUMMY it is), spinach, roasted red peppers and added sundried tomatoes with a side of sweet potato fries. Sunday's homemade brunch included leftover sweet potato fries, baked salmon, and quinoa - a word that I always pronounce wrong - mixed with salsa, peas, garlic powder, and pepper.

The meals were a perfect accompaniment to catching up, wondering about our lives, and strolling about town. Oh, and watching V/H/S, which I can only describe as ... horrifically strange. 

Oh and I also made chocolate almond macaroon (cookies) that were found from Kym's blog and made from this recipe. 

02. taking in your favourite scenery 

Excuse the crazy close-up, but it just shows how happy the beach makes me. Or just being by the water in general. Especially when there's Haribo involved. 

03. dancing (horribly) to zumba followed by yoga

No picture of this one since my dancing should not be photographed ;) But I had an awesome Monday run at the gym; Zumba has quickly become my favourite mode of cardio, since the instructor at my gym is so enthusiastic and doesn't mind making a fool of himself (and he has insane hips), making the whole workout a blast. And yoga was the perfect way to wind down and really see just how inflexible I am (must do more yoga). 

04. mixed (online) tapes

When I was younger, I distinctly remember all the mixed tapes I would make from recording things on the radio and, when I became a little older, all the mixed CDs my sister and I would make, complete with customized Photoshopped covers of whichever artist was on the CD (mostly Britney Spears and Spice Girls, in my case). Just this past week I became acquainted with this site called 8tracks, where people make mixes of 8 tracks or more. I made my first one (here it is) for when I'm more in a mellow mood, and can't wait to make more. If you make mixes on here, please let me know :D 

05. playgrounds 

Although I don't go to playgrounds as often as I used to (remember that spinning wheel of death where everyone tried to hold on? where did that go?), my park recently did renovations and my boyfriend got stuck: 

Good times. This weekend I'm planning on being a bit of a homebody by making plum cake and getting The Hunger Games when it comes out tomorrow, but hopefully do some more exploring outdoors, too.

what's a good thing (or five) from your week?

what are your plans for the weekend?

hope it's a great one! (:

gone fishin'

Sometimes you just need to getaway - even if it's just for a day. Escape from the hectic life that is either thrust upon us or that we make for ourselves and take time to relax. On Wednesday I was able to have a little getaway by going fishing! (In a way, it's like my Wednesday wish came true.)

Before I met The Boy, my experiences with fishing were looking at the dismantled fishing rod, net, and box that my dad kept in the basement but seldom used. Now, I think of it as a perfect mini-escape: you spend the day sitting by the water, looking at the clouds, enjoying the sun, and it doesn't really matter if you catch a fish or not. But it doesn't hurt, either, since I caught 8 fish myself! (Whoo-hoo, pro fisher-woman here.) That day was definitely one of my simple smiles of this week.

Taking some time to jump around; t-shirt from here. 

      

We were nearby Hewitt's Dairy Bar so decided to stop in
for a treat of the raspberry sherbet variety.

     

A family had a property right on the lake we were fishing on
so we got to see their paddleboat and airplane in action.

    

My first fish of the day (that we threw back in).

Even though the rainclouds have finally found us in southern Ontario, I'm going to make the most of it by visiting one of my best friends this weekend. Hope you all have a great weekend!

What's your simple smile of the week?

P.S. Thanks so much for the warm welcome back! (:

hi, my name is...

I feel like I need to reintroduce myself on here after leaving this blog on the back burner (secretly hoping that I'd visit and the blog design would completely change on its own - but yay for a little facelift!). So, howdy! My name's Nikolett, though it's more of a nickname. I'm an almost 24-year old and I still feel a little at odds with the world, although I yearn to see as much of it as possible. And I think it's safe to say that my caffeine addiction is still safely (?) intact. 

This time last year I was marveling at the shallow but beautiful waters of Lake Balaton in Hungary, and am now fully regretting not purchasing the Nikolett 'license plate' that I noticed at a vendor. For my Wednesday Wish, I wish I could just magically teleport or time machine-myself back to last year and relive my vacation in Europe whenever my thoughts turn into daydreams. 

Hungarian cuisine on the left; and a DIY ponytail holder on windy days.

My postcard of Lake Balaton.

This time, this year? Well, I'm safe and sound in Ontario, trying to find a job in the education field and also ready to jumpstart my web/graphics design company after years of maybe/maybe not. Soaking up summer as best as I can is my main objective these days since the whole finding a job part is turning into a morbid and depressing scenario. 

Apart from that, I've been addicted to watching the London Olympics 2012 (Team Canada was robbed in women's soccer, I'm just saying) and slowly morphing into a gym rat - the endorphin rush you feel after a workout is better than coffee for me (: What have you been up to lately? 

I'm so excited to make this place more alive again and talk about things on a more daily basis rather than just dumping whatever's happened in the course of 2-3 weeks. Thanks for sticking by me & coming back to read!

Where do you wish you were this Wednesday?

Hope it's a great day!

a look at may

A month's absence either means (a) I've been having a busy but awesome month; (b) I've been too lazy to update; or (c) a combination of both. I'll admit, it's been (c): the last few weeks have been full of amazing memories and getting way too much water in my ear from swimming, and also full of much needed downtime after finally finishing my "career" as a student. Now, I'm just unemployed (but looking!). The job market is slim pickings, but when my mama was away in B.C. for two weeks (more on that later), I applied to six school boards and might be even thinking of going to England(!!!) next year if teaching in Ontario doesn't work out. 

After a couple of weeks of all this though, I noticed that I have missed this blog and all the incredible people that I get to interact with and talk to, and I definitely want to revive this space here (and after this post, my next on the priority list is changing this look up a bit!). 

For now, here's a look at what I've been up to in May! I have been absolutely horrible and not catching up on you but please let me know what you've been up to in May, and what you're looking forward to in June!

this may...

We completely owned a claw machine at a carnival ...

... marveled at all the goodies available inside food trucks during an event before deciding on a chicken burrito, wood-fired pizza, and a Beavertail, which was delicieux ...

... fed my addiction for caffeine with 1/2-price frapps before seeing The Lucky One (Zac Efron, you have grown up well) ...

... celebrated birthdays & didn't get the memo of pulling a Zoolander face in a photo ...

... took a road trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a chicken breast panini with goat cheese(!), and mouth-watering and completely satisfying gelato ...

... but mostly, we went there to celebrate four years together! :) 

The day was full of happy moments, even when a bird pooped on me (at least it didn't poop on my gelato), and it reminded me of how happy I am to have this man in my life!

And last, but not least ...

This little prince was born! See my sister's announcement here about it :) Not only do I have a gorgeous niece, but now I have an adorable nephew whom I can't wait to meet! I just want to pinch his little cheeks. My mom went to visit for two weeks to help out and see the little guy for the first time which meant, for the first time ever, me and my dad living alone in the same house - and though there were times where we wanted to rip each other's heads off, we got along for the most part (and that's a good thing). 

I hope your May has been chock-full of great times & good moments!

What was your favourite part of May? 

What are you looking forward to in June?

I'm off to go camping for the weekend for The Boy's birthday, but I'll update soon! :) 

the road goes ever on...

It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to. 

- "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"

I'm definitely embracing my nerdy side by starting this blog post off with a Lord of the Rings quote. But lately, that road that goes ever on and on has been on my mind (and now I want to do an extended version Lord of the Rings marathon. Anyone want to join in?). 

Friday marked my last day of teachers college, while Thursday was my last day of student teaching ... and my last day of teaching in God knows how long, since the margin for job openings are rather slim nowadays. There's this kind of aching in my heart now to get back into the classroom, even if it is a stuffed sardine portable with 31 students with inexhaustible  energy.

After two months with these grade 5s, it was on my last day that true personalities came out; I really saw transformations in my students, and the shy ones finally let loose and made me smile with their sweet cards and gifts. The best gift? A tissue-paper made purse that had "Channel" written on it!! I know I'm going to go back to visit them, since that school has kind of become my third home (my first and second homes being my own & The Boy's). I learned so much from my associate teacher and it was an experience that really confirmed that I want to be a teacher, even with the challenges and job shortages. 

Now, after a weekend of catch-up and relaxation ... the street that I'm on is Where Next Boulevard. I'm trying not to fret or panic even though everything right now is so unknown to me; instead I'm just going to try my best. Update my résumé, get my references and reference letters together, and apply to as many places as possible.

And in the meantime, find some kind of part-time job, keep going with my graphics/webdesign, look forward to the birth of  my nephew in less than two weeks(!!!), and enjoy life as best as I can.

Yesterday was definitely a good way to start off enjoying life! Me and my four best friends (one I've known since I was 7, the rest I met in my first few years of high school) finally reunited after months and months. That time of being able to catch-up over shopping and Filipino cuisine makes me feel so happy to have them in my life, and truly blessed. 

And the leftover pancit doesn't hurt, either! Here's a few pictures from yesterday and a little collage of my last week of student teaching:

I  ♥ these ladies.

At Max's of Manila; sadly not in Manila, but in Toronto.

I had a quarter of chicken, pancit canton, and garlic rice, followed by a hearty serving of the traditional dessert, halo-halo!

(1) Owl goodie bags for my students that said "Owl miss you" on the back (embracing both my nerdy and cheesy sides in this blog post!)

(2) A few samples of the art lesson for Ancient Greek pottery 

(3) The last day of class full of cards and a chalkboard adorned with "Don't go!" messages

(4) And the classic "Bump It Up" wall of a flower blooming.

My next week is all planned out: a dinner with teachers college classmates as a 'last farewell' (before our grad on June 6), heading to the gym and library as often as I can for working out and getting applications finished, seeing The Boy and catching up with friends, and then ...

Who knows? I know where I want my path to take me, but the road is unpredictable and I have no idea where it'll sweep me off to. All I know is that I want to go to B.C. in August and hopefully get a job sometime soon! Fingers crossed, please! :)

How have you spent your weekend?

How do you deal with the unknown?

Hope you had a great weekend!

that's amore

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have to say, I really do love the weekends. Especially the long ones. Easter seemed to come and go in a flash, leaving behind great memories of having a bash/"ta ta for now" party for my friend as she goes to Africa for a month, having The Boy come over for Easter dinner with accordion in hand (and my dad playing a few awesome tunes) and a bunny coming to watch us in the backyard, and going out for coffee with one of my best friends at one of the only places open on an Easter Sunday: McDonald's.

This past weekend I embraced my inner zebra with a striped top (that I had just bought a couple of hours earlier) for a wildlife-themed birthday party where I had way too many jaggerbombs but had a blast dancing the night away. 

So before I get into what I really wanted to talk about, here's a little peak at what I've been up to the last couple of weeks (and, um, where the heck did April go?!): 

Admiring Nature: The top row are from my walks back from the gym, and the bottoms two are from a camp we went to as a field trip for the grade 5s. One student said they should "tear the forest down and build a shopping mall" which almost made me weep for humanity, so instead I looked at the lake.

Simple Smiles: In the form of a "congratulations" card from my students on my evaluation day from my faculty advisor (I received a perfect score!), Second Cup for a caffeine fix, a surprise gift from Taiwan in the shape of Taiwan from my dear friend, and pizza ... because pizza is the best.

Easter Weekend!

Rawr! Yes, most of my friends are Asian.

And some silly pics :)

And while I spent half the Saturday in supreme hangover mode, it was Saturday night that brought along the most thoughts ... we spent the evening at another couple's house and got onto a conversation about how we hope that, when we're our parents age (45+), we'll still be in love as when we are now. I look at my parents, who still have such affection for each other after all these years, and hope I'll be the same way. 

While one friend remarked that he would always treat his lady as a princess and give her everything she wants, it got me to thinking about the way I love, and the way I want to be loved. 

When I think about my relationship with The Boy, he treats me with that chivalry from ages past and I am so grateful for that. But when it really comes down to it, I cherish our relationship because we try to treat each other as equals. My feelings for him go deep; I need to give him the love he needs, and I hope he needs and wants to give me the love that I need. I never want to have him suffer to make me happy, just like he shouldn't expect me to suffer hardships to make him happy. If that makes any sense. 

In essence, it's about those small gestures. I'm all about the simple smiles, and while flowers and chocolates and diamonds may be nice, I cherish those smaller things that can be done on a daily basis, almost effortlessly. A squeeze of a hand, a post-it note or text message to say "I love you", cooking a favourite meal. That's the way I love. 

Lately I keep hearing about the 5 Love Languages, so I took the test, and lo and behold, it's physical touch. So, if we ever meet in real life, prepare for a tight hug to show you I care. But it also goes beyond that; I'm not the perfect girlfriend or perfect friend, but I try my best to show someone that I'm willing to go the extra mile for them, because, as L'Oreal puts it, they're worth it. And I am so grateful to have their love in my life.

What's the way you love?

How do you want to be loved? 

Hope you're not having a case of the Mondays/Tuesdays like I am,

and hope there's sunshine wherever you are right now!

those little surprises

It might seem obvious that surprises are unexpected, but I find unexpected surprises to be the best kind of surprise. Whether it's a week of gorgeous weather that shows up and makes it feel like summer, or a package that comes in the mail, or one of those days where time feels like it's just stopped, or being pleasantly surprised that The Hunger Games lived up to your expectations. 

So even though that unexpected week of warmth was followed by getting snow and a cold (thanks, grade 5 students, for still coming to school when you're coughing your lungs out), I enjoyed that week getting to wear skirts and sandals, looking for flowers, and eating sundaes with The Boy. And when my feet ached from wearing those sandals I haven't worn in nearly a year, another unexpected surprise came in the form of a package from Kat, full of things from The Body Shop to pamper my feet with. Thank you so much, lady! 

Other unexpected surprises: getting a package from Krissy with a ring that just screams computer nerd and a lovely necklace that I can't wait to wear in the summer, having a live band listen to my request and play "Benny and the Jets" in a pub with teacher college friends, hearing that my cousin in Poland is engaged (my first Polish wedding, maybe?), being surprised every time one of my grade 5 students says, "You're a really fun and good teacher!" even when I'm teaching math, and surprised at my motivation to actually go to the gym.

Tonight I'm probably going to try to relax with a cuppa tea and a few episodes of Flower Boy Ramen Shop, continue with some graphics designing and web-brainstorming, lesson plan, and then get ready for tomorrow! 

'Til then, here's what I've been up lately in picture-form. 

But wait! Here's the winner of the Starbucks gift card + random bag of goodies:

Katy from twentyfourcarat.net! Congrats! (And visit her blog if you haven't yet!)

Exploring the jungles of a greenhouse and admiring the flowers.

On a walk down by the bay :)

Seeing how many glasses we can stack on top of each other on a wild Friday night ;)

Embracing my inner Katniss and my ticket stub from Tuesday night.

Another unexpected caffeine-related surprise & my new ring! :)

What's an unexpected surprise you've had recently?

P.S. If you like postcards, prepare yourself for a postcard-filled April!

Hope you've had a great weekend so far! :)