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! :) 

leaving on a (west)jet plane

All my bags are (half) packed, not yet ready to go ... but I'm really excited that in less than 24 hours I'll be seeing my amazing sister and niece for the first time in nine months! British Columbia, here I (+ parentals) come! While being on a plane - and in this case two since we have a layover - makes me feel a bit antsy, I have my mp3 player, the Water for Elephants novel, and my camera to keep me company and help me admire the clouds below instead of fearing what might happen. Plus, having The Boy drive me and my parents to the airport in the wee hours of the morning will warm my heart enough to last the whole airplane trip!

{image source}

While I'll try to catch up on your awesome blogs, I know I'll be preoccupied by the mountains of Whistler, the hustle and bustle of the main city, spending time with my family, and hopefully both meeting someone new and meeting someone again (hello Patty!). Weird that my kitchen board countdown now reads "1 day!" to Vancouver; here's what I've been up to in the days leading up to it:

Enjoying delicious vegetarian fare with a friend I haven't seen in a year!

Relaxing near the lake on a cool day and cuddling as often as we can :)

Having Starbucks with a close friend (something I'll have a lot in Vancouver!) and my haircut!

Now I'm going to keep packing while I recover from last night's finale of The Vampire Diaries (who saw it and OMG'ed a hundred times like I did?). I hope you all have a great next week and I'll try to update when I can! I bid you all adieu for now!

Annnnd I'm a wee bit curious (and bitten by the travel bug):

If circumstances allowed you to hop on a plane and go wherever, where would you go?

eat, pray, sisterly love

It's an odd feeling to be homesick for a place that's not even your home. The same thing happened when I left Poland - I met all my relatives for the first time, had difficulties constantly speaking in my native tongue, but by the end of it felt secure and at home. 

This time it was in Vancouver - as the train left the station and I blew kisses to my adorable niece and my amazing sister I realized I had made another home away from home on the west coast of Canada, two thousand miles away from my actual home. 

My first thoughts as the plane left B.C. soil were:

This trip went by way too fast. 

I'm so glad I got to see my sister.

I wish I could have stayed longer.

My niece is the most curious, smartest 4-year old I've ever met.

I can't wait to see The Boy.

But I don't want to leave Vancouver.

But he's picking me up from the airport and it'll be awesome.

But it would be even more awesome if he was here with you right now.

True say. Maybe next time.

There were two pieces inside of me, both of equal size that knew my life - for now - belongs in Onterrible, but mostly because the man I love is there. But that other equal part of me just wanted to live life on a whim and create something new, and maybe move the man I love out to British Columbia haha. I know that I'll definitely be coming back to take in more of the sights (gorgeous greenery, the oceans, the mountains that create a permanent background in any view), the sounds (the cruise ship noises, my niece laughing, me & my sister creating a new script while watching Eclipse that is full of the word 'llama') and lots of hugs from my sister and niece. 

After seeing Eat, Pray, Love earlier this week I realized I've done a lot of eating in Vancouver, errr a bit of praying (on the plane, mostly) and loved spending time with my sister, a woman I admire far more than I can probably put into words, and meeting Kym, too. And now I want to read the novel since the film was pretty good! I'll probably have more Vancouver recaps to come, but here's just a few pictures of moments that stand out:

 The breathtaking view atop of Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler.

KOOZA! This Cirque du Soleil show was amazing.

Exploring in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

With my model-esque niece on Bowen Island.

The most Starbucks I've ever had in a two-week duration due to jet lag and overall addictedness.

Thanks to everyone who has kept commenting and sticking around here despite my absence; life is slowly returning to its normal routine so that means more blog entries and catching up hardcore on your blogs, too. Hope you've been having a great August so far, though :)

a piece of me in august

I have a feeling this is going to be one of those months where, at the end of it, you just think, "Huh ... where did that month just go?" I also have a feeling it's going to be an emotional next few weeks for me. But onto the little survey that I've tried (and failed) to do each month!

I like ... that I'm going to Vancouver tomorrow for a fortnight! My flight leaves in the afternoon (EDT) so wish me luck that I land safely -- twice actually, since I have a stopover in Calgary! I'm so excited to see my sister after almost a year apart. And I like that I'll be meeting Kym later on this week! :D I also like that my birthday is coming up (last day of August) even if turning older makes me feel a little err ... old.

I don't like ... that tomorrow will be my last day with Shadow. I'll miss you so much buddy. And I don't like that I'll be spending two weeks without seeing The Boy; times like these I'm grateful for things like MSN and telephones (sorry I can not hear you, I'm k-kinda busy)!

I want you to know ... how relieved I am to be finished work. As much as I love my co-workers, this was the worst month in that office at summer school due to the principal. In a nutshell, we compared the place to the situation in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where the principal was Umbridge. Her parting gifts to us on the last day: a pack of gum, a blue pen (and I'm a black ink writer all the way), a chocolate bar, and a Tim Hortons' gift card (the only part I can appreciate). 

I've planned ... to stay strong during this month despite the ups and downs, the confusions regarding my future educational-wise and thinking about how much emptier my house will be without that loveable pup. Oh, and on a more positive note, I've planned to take A GAZILLION photos while I'm in Vancouver AND I'm bringing my laptop so that way I'll have more frequent blogs about my travels!

I want to say to someone special ... I'll miss you.

And now here's some pictures of my long weekend - Friday was spent celebrating the last day of work with a staff mass and a catered lunch, Saturday was spent having an awesome-food/what-the-eff-is-this-movie night (Memento = great, The Return = WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS MOVIE NEVER SEE IT), and then Sunday and today were spent having quality time with Shadow and with The Boy, exploring waterfalls and then having a barbeque. All in all, a good way to spend a weekend in Ontario before jetting off to British Columbia!

Signs like this kept us sane. Srsly. Dumbledore = old awesome principal. Umbridge = new crazy principal. McGonagull = our awesome vice principal. And me and my co-workers are Ron, Harry, and Hermione.

A group photo with my amazing girlfriends on our movie night :)

Two hikers in front of a waterfall :)

Now, I have to ask:

What do you have planned for August?

Me -- well, I've already explained above but in a nutshell it's to spend as much time with loved ones as possible, and to write a lot more blogs posts! Hope you all had a great weekend!

wednesday wishes: where have I been?

So, it's definitely been a while! Never fear, I didn't convert to an Amish way of life or have my computer stolen (I would probably cry hysterically and alert the presses if that happened). And I don't want to make excuse upon excuse for my absence, because if there's anything I have learned in the past three weeks, it's that sometimes it's just best to suck it up and truly apologize. I'm sorry for being away for so long - I've missed your blogs and blogging, too. 

And a big THANK YOU, GRACIAS, MERCI BEAUCOUP to every person who signed up for Project Postcard - I've sent out all the pairings so if you haven't sent out your postcard yet, try to do that by the end of this week! For those who signed up a little later and weren't paired - never fear, I'll be doing this again towards the middle-end of August and I'll keep track of those who wanted to join in! Hopefully by that time everyone will have gotten their postcards and we can all do a show-and-tell, as well!

But for now, I'm going to keep it a little light and simple today with my Wednesday Wishes with a twist - things that I wish to happen or continue happening for the remainder of the summer - in no particular order, really :) And if you're tired of lists - just read #7 for some news!

01. More hang-outs with him / more visits to the beach

Both of these things make me a happy camper and this month at work has made me miss both these things terribly.

02. More yummy homemade food

Another lesson learned from working: sneaking away every day to get some fast food on top of the little sandwich you eat at work does not make for a healthy diet. I miss real, good food - like this homemade pizza The Boy made for an excursion to the beach :) 

 03. More amazing moments with friends

When we all come together, it's a bit of a miracle but always good, every time. In this picture we decided to head to a park with a beautiful view after seeing Inception - to take silly pictures and talk about the craziness that is Inception, haha. 

 04. Mmmm, ice cream.

'Nuff said. The one pictured is mango ice cream from an Indian restaurant. Please sir, I want some more.

 05. Meeting up with people I haven't seen in a while :)

This past Sunday I headed to Toronto to meet up with two ladies I love and have known since I was around 13/14. It made me realize that I need more spontaneity - like how we went to the theatres to see Toy Story 3 (so nostalgic/good!) and then snuck into Despicable Me (so funny!) ... okay, maybe more legal spontaneity in the future ;)

 06. See Herro Hachi launch

Oh wait, it just did! A big reason for my absence is that for the past week or so I would work from 7am-3pm and then jump into coding like a madwoman and passing e-mails frantically with an amazing woman who designs fashionably funny t-shirts - but the hard work has paid off :) I am so happy for this site and for Kym, so everyone please check it out! 

 07. Visit Vancouver

My dream this summer was to spend a month in Europe - and unfortunately that's not going to happen this year (hopefully next, fingers crossed)! But if I can't do that, I'd rather spend some time in the other half of this country to visit my sister - I haven't seen her since last October and I miss her to bits and pieces. So I wish I could travel to Vancouver.

Oh wait a minute, I AM! SURPRISE :D

I'm going to Vancouver, baby! 

I just purchased my ticket - I'm leeeaving on a jet plane in a matter of weeks!

Incredibly excited, I am :)

After a long month of working and feeling like my summer is just flying by, my mission is to fly off to see my sister for a couple of weeks and then spend the rest of the summer making the most of it with those I love. No more afternoon naps - I will drink a gazillion coffees if it means more time doing things! Now my question is:

Do you have a 'mission' this summer?

P.S. My #08 on the list? Visiting your blogs more often so I can find out what you've been up to for the past month!

guest blog #4: one life lesson

Note from Nikolett: Well, this weekend has been dedicated to my teacher's college applications and my multimedia portfolio (maybe I'll show it off to you all if enough people want to see it!) as well as movie-watching to prevent insanity and to keep me happy. And today's guest blog is definitely motivation to be happy -- it makes me happy because it comes from Ramblings of a Fab Brunette, aka Margarita, aka my older sister! Thank you for guest blogging, and enjoy this heartwarming and true message about getting by in life - happily.

If I Can Pass on One Life Lesson

 

{image found via weheartit.com}

 

Growing up I was always eager to get on with the next part of my life. I was never content with where I was, I had dreams - huge dreams of being famous or rich or living in Paris eating macarons or partying in Manhattan or becoming an author. My dreams always were carefree, money was never a worry nor a want, in my dreams my world exists of happy people, no one out to get anyone, everyone living in harmony, supporting everyone's dreams and accomplishments. There would be sadness, but the sadness would easily be converted into a creative outlet - art, writing, music - everything would be inspirational. I might even be a muse to a rock star in my dreams.

 

But then reality hits, and you're in a part-time job, never saving money, and none of these dreams would most likely come true. So I started making my dreams more realistic, shoving my luxurious dreams in a back corner in my mind only to come out when fantasizing about certain vampires who are also rock stars in my dreams - my realistic dreams are not as far-fetched. Get married. Buy a car. Travel. Get a good job. All proper goals that your parents will be proud of, but they seem a little, well, soul-less to me. Dreams should come from the heart, right? And no matter how insane they might be, it's what matters to you, it's something you strive to be, and if you put that away for a 'normal' goal, you're no longer making yourself happy, you're trying to make those around you happy.

 

You will never be happy making others happy. Maybe at first, but after you will feel empty, like you did everything you could do for someone else, and not for yourself.

 

We are lucky we live in a day and age that we can do things on the side, art or writing or website layouts, and have a place to sell them (etsy, your own site), and someone from halfway around the world can see your talent and you can make money doing what you love. It is such a good feeling to be getting paid for baking, painting or creating logos. It really is. And if that's something you love, then do it. You will doubt yourself, you will fail, you will be lazy, you will try again, and you will succeed, although not always in that precise order.

 

If I can pass on a life lesson or two, it would be to always make yourself happy. Let every choice be made with the outcome of your happiness in mind. It's great to help friends and family, it's awesome to support others, but when you decide to do something that you know in your heart is not for you, just to appease others, then you are destroying your own will. You will not be happy. And that is the truth.

 

Never let your dreams die, fantasize as often as you can, and one day your fantasies will become reality.

 

Enjoy your life. It's the only one you have, and you deserve to have a happy one.

 

xoxo

Fab Brunette

Too true ... when I think about all this homework and how much it weighs me down, all I have to do is remind myself that I want to be a teacher -- it's for me, and to help whatever future students I have. And of course, I have my crazy dreams of going all the way around the world and publishing novels. Never afraid to have dreams :) Thanks for the reminder, big sis! And here's a quote that I love just for some more inspiration. Hope you've all had a great weekend!

a great escape weekend

I have three hours to waste until my next class, so I thought this was the opportune moment to recap about my relaxing and 'great escape' weekend. I finally got those moments to breathe, drink a little, eat a lot, and have fun with people I love. Definitely one of those weekends I'd love to relive again.

Friday night was spent BBQ-ing it up in 13 degrees Celsius weather (i.e, VERY COLD). We first stopped off at the LCBO to get some drinkies for the night, which meant me getting carded ("Oh, I thought you were younger," said the cashier). Wrapped up in blankets and jackets, with some Dr. McGillycuddy's to keep us warm, we grilled up some burgers and had some yummy times with a bunch of schoolpals. Of course, when you get a bunch of schoolmates together you're bound to talk about school (hate how that happens) but we distracted ourselves with some Foosball tournmanents at the Caribbean place next door. Then, we headed off to a place with $1 pool and found that it was karaoke night -- which meant 50-year olds singing country songs and lyrics about Bismarck. It was such a random and spontaneous night.

The Boy said he couldn't see the pool balls on the other end of the table, confirming my thought that he was drunk ... and which meant that we lost, since he didn't get anything in haha. And to top it off, instead of putting on his own sweater at the end of the night, he put on my cardigan wrap. He looked pretty spiffy, I gotta say!

After we fell asleep at 2:30am, we got woken up by The Boy's dad tapping on the window at 8am. Ahh, tiredness. Fortunately, they let me get some coffee (yay!) before we road tripped it to Toronto. We chilled, got pizza, and waited for my sister to arrive so we could have some fun exploring/bonding times together.

Y'see, my sister's off to the other side of the country in less than two days. I'm so psyched for her, but Vancouver's a long ways' away from me. So we've tried to get together as much as she can given how busy she is. So Saturday was spent trekking it around the great capital of Ontario, shooting some 'artsy' photos in the subway and she took me to this delicious pub called the Yellow Griffin, which specializes in 35 different kinds of burgers (I got the Cubana Libre, which has beef, ham, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and was YUMMY). I had two burgers in two days -- healthy(?). And I got carded again when I orded a sex on the beach. Probably due to the lack of eyeliner.




I'm definitely gonna miss her. Though she's four years older which meant we were rarely in the same place/school/etc, she's always been someone I can talk to ... now I'm gonna have to rely on Skype! And I'm really hoping to visit during my 'spring break' (which is in February, so not much spring there).

Then Sunday was spent studying and playing The Sims 2, which I think is a fine way to end off the weekend! Though school's going to take over yet again this week, looking back on this weekend makes me happy. And hungry. So there's my simple smile of the week!

What did YOU do this weekend?
Hope it was great & I hope your Monday's been good!