muppets.

Went to go watch this movie with my sister on Thursday - I love Muppets.  Between the Christmas specials and stuff like this, it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  Just a really fun, feel-good movie.

And I am totally not ashamed to admit I teared-up multiple times while watching :)

merry christmas.

Wishing my friends & family all the best for the holiday season <3

the end of the year...

...can be rough.

home sweet home.

Arrived home in Vancouver early this morning from my 3-week family vacation.  Had an amazing time - did, saw, and ate many things.  Definitely a trip I'll remember for the rest of my life, and I'm so glad I got to spend it with people special to me.

While in Sydney, we watched a group sing Christmas carols.  Kind of strange to hear them sing "Let it snow" while I was in 19 degree weather.  Upon exiting the YVR Airport, I was greeted with crisp frosty air and Christmas lights in the trees outside. 

Some things just feel right.

it's finally time!

Can't believe we are actually leaving for New Zealand (& Sydney) today!  Very excited to have this trip with my family <3

I plan on taking one billion photos :)

Update Nov 12:
So right when we arrived to the airport, they came out to tell us that in the sudden wind storm, the air bridge had swung into the side of our airplane, damaging it, so that it wouldn't be flying out.  Seriously.  We were sent home, and got them to re-book us for a connecting flight through SFO today.  Of course not an ideal way to start our trip, but if this is the worse that happens, I won't complain!  And now we have a funny story to tell.   

So now... can't believe we are (hopefully) actually leaving for New Zealand (& Sydney) today! ;)

broken.

It hurts a lot.  Just really... sad.

busy...

Get it?

So much going on and so much to do!  Vacation is coming up so quickly... stressed and excited!

craft room.

Ahh. Love love love this craft room, and all the creative things used to put it together.  So organized! 

I would love to have a craft room in my house someday.

emotionally...

... exhausted.

foo-gos.

Foo-gos - where a guy makes logos out of food.

I love watermelon and I love the Canucks... so how can I not like this?

turkey day.

Michael sent me a post from this blog and I absolutely love it - a dad "just trying to make some cool pancakes for [his] daughter". 

I remember the Sunday mornings with my mom, standing on a stool in front of the stove, looking into the frying pan, making blueberry pancakes - we got to drop the blueberries into the cooking batter to make faces.  When we got older we started making shapes like letters or Micky Mouse-es (mice?), or whatever we could think of with our imagination and the remaining pancake batter.  Good memories.

Happy turkey day.

"anniversary" brunch.

Brunch at Brown's (with a coupon)!  Eggs benny and waffles split into 1 for each of us :) 

Realized that it was our "1 year anniversary" of living together - very lucky to have such a good friend in my life.

knit & crochet jewelry.

Ahh.  Absolutely love this shop's sterling silver castings of handmade knitting & crocheting to make jewelry.

Too bad it's a bit out of my price range.  Pretty to look at though.

apple.

image source

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
- Steve Jobs

I may have not been a big Apple user, but no one can deny this man was an amazing innovator, and had a huge impact on the techonological world - both directly & indirectly. 

His creativity and drive were so admirable - nothing but respect for him.

genius.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

― Albert Einstein

It's rare that quotes really hit a spot with me, but I really like this one.  Again, it's all about perspective.

crazy stupid love.

Watched this movie with my sister last night and definitely enjoyed it.  A good mix of ups and downs without anything too ridiculous or depressing.

Ryan Gosling is suuuch a beautiful man.  And love love love Emma Stone.

googly eyes.

Sometimes the silliest things make me smile. 

EvilMadScientist.

lion king 3d.

Still and always will be an amazing movie.  I never saw this in theatres when it first came out so it was definitely fun to watch old-school Disney on the big screen.  And the 3D wasn't too bad - it just added a bit without distracting from the classic-ness of the movie.

The fact that I got to share it with one of my best buds, back just for the weekend, was an extra plus.  Also nice to catch up with a few people I haven't seen in a while.  Good times.

Thought this was funny :)

typographic map.

I absolutely love any graphic made from type.  These maps from Axis Maps are amazing. 

If they made one for Vancouver I would buy it immediately.

creme brulee.

Trio of creme brulee at G-Be Izakaya.  I don't usually like creme brulee because it is too strong and heavy, but I really liked this trio of mini ones!  Good way to break up the flavours.  And the flavours were soo delicious: green tea, jasmine, and earl grey.

Yumm.

They had a 'Vegeta' roll we didn't try, but I liked the name.  Also one called Dragon Ball 'G'.  Yay anime references.

one day.

Read this book over the last few days.  I got a Kobo because I wanted to get back into reading - I had forgotten how they can suck me in and get me so emotional.

Unfortunately this one ended up making me very sad.  I heard it had a complex ending, but I don't think I was prepared for it.

Ah.

happiness.

Sounds so simple doesn't it? 

Feeling a bit better.  One day at a time.

overwhelmed.

I have been in a nearly-constant state of feeling overwhelmed and anxious about life.  It of course fades periodically, while I am enjoying myself with friends/family and am too busy to think, but as soon as I think I am safe, there those feelings are again, ready to overtake my brain.  I think there are just too many things I am trying to balance in my life, and I am being very unsuccessful.  A few things on my mind:

a) My nearly 4 week trip to New Zealand with my family in November - I keep thinking about all this time that will be 'lost' for work and overall life-planning.  But I am so excited for this.  I am trying to plan this memorable-for-life trip that is taking up much more time than I feel I can devote to it right now.  And it's coming up in almost 2 months!  Really, not that much time.  I have a mountain of travel books and websites we need to go through, accommodations to book, etc. etc. etc.

b) Work.  It is still overtaking my life, so I feel I can't leave it at work and I am spending time on it at home.  And the days I don’t, I am so drained that I can’t possibly focus my brain on bigger things.

c) Career path.  I feel like I’ve had a few realizations about what I want to do long term, but I’ve not directly worked in the environment, and I don’t have time to before the application deadline.  I’m not completely sure yet that this is the program for which I want to apply.  How do I know this is the career path for me?  Do I even have time to figure it out?  I want to sit down and really research the program, meet with the admissions people to see my potential for admission, potentially have a few coffees with people I could call up to see if they could chat about the field with me.  But this requires time to focus on it and really think, and my mind is in so many places right now it’s just exploding.  I need to take some of my OT days at work when (if) things calm down so I can really think.

d) Grad school application.  If I choose to apply, I would be applying for entry in September 2012.  Applications are due February 1st, which means I really need to be working on my application as SOON as we get back from our vacation.  Actually, it would need to be before that, since for references, I'd need to contact them probably in October to see how they would feel, so I can find alternatives if necessary.  I just read that references can’t be accepted online until the online application has been submitted, meaning that I’d need to work on all my answers and have them done by early January, to ensure all my references could submit them in time.  Christmas in the middle of my vacation and the deadline make me feel slightly panicked. 

e) Love?  We already don’t see that much of each other... not to mention I’ve been wanting to try to figure out our relationship on a deeper level... also need a clear mind for that...

f) Friends.  We’re already all so busy – I love spending time with my friends even 1 day a week, in person, as well as online/phone for those not in the GVRD...

g) Family.  We keep in touch over the phone, but I’d like to see my mum at least one full day every 2 weeks...

h) Home.  If I can’t maintain my home, it just adds to the anxiety, as it is hard to come home feeling drained and seeing all that needs to be done...

i) Other aspects of life.  I need to cut my hair, I need to get my camera training from Black’s, I need to get groceries, I need to pick up hockey tickets, I need to go do all the other errands that are required for life to not completely blow up...

There is probably more, but this has already gotten way too long.  A-D are definitely the ones causing the most pressure at the moment, due to their degree of impact on my life.  I feel like I need to use a few days of my OT I have before November to have days to sit-down and really review grad school.

This entry kind of exploded.  Like my brain.  That’s enough for today.  I wonder if this helped or made things worse...

clueless.

Our 'clueless' punch glasses at Christine's 'Sweet 16' birthday party. 





Really nice night just chilling, laughing, and being silly with my girls. 

Things are really stressful and somewhat negative at work right now - I feel like it's just overtaken my life.  There are definitely times I wish I could go back to the days when my biggest crisis involved a boy I had a crush on finding out that I liked him, or struggling to finish my physics homework. 

But then I think about all the opportunities I have now that I am 'grown-up'... I guess there are struggles with every phase of life.  Just hope this one passes soon.

a letter.

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,
Jack Layton"

He lead his party to a historic electoral night for our country.  I may not have agreed with all his party's policies and ideas, but you could tell the man actually cared and believed in what he was doing.  We need more politicians like him.

Sad to hear of his passing.

Worth the read.

what is stressed spelled backwards?

.
desserts.

:)

I love him soo much.  When I am just losing my mind, he keeps me (somewhat) sane.

red bean fish!

Soo happy!  Found frozen red bean fish at H-mart yesterday.  Wasn't sure how it would heat up, but tried it today and it is yummy!

Now I can eat them in the comfort of my own home, and don't have to wait for nightmarket or that little stand by the Korean plaza.

new zealand & sydney 2011!

Booked our flights!  Flying out of YVR on November 11, returning Dec 03. 

I'm excited to meet up with my sister and have this experience with my family.  Hopefully we will not kill each other and leave with lifelong memories haha :)

harry potter ends.

Finally watched The Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Monday.  I actually liked the final battle better in the movie - I need/want to read all the books from beginning to end again.  So many details, that I can't always remember which are from the book and which were added for the movie.

Very well done - minus the last 7 or so minutes that I didn't like even in the book.

t.hanks.

Bahaha. Absolutely love these Tom Hanks thank you cards.

Get it? ;)

full text book poster.

These posters from Spineless Classics amaze me soo much. 
"Imagine a whole book on a single sheet. A bold art print on which, up close, you can read the full and complete text of your favourite classic work."

I would love to get one of these - would definitely geek out and get this Origin of Species finch poster.  The Secret Garden & Peter Pan are pretty good too.

simple pleasures.

Things have been pretty stressful at work lately, but when these times happen I need to remember to step back and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.  A warm summer evening, grass between my toes, and a free outdoor movie with the boy I love definitely falls into that category. 

dear photograph.

Dear Photograph,
The steps of the past, lead us to the present.

Mel 

 





















Absolutely love the concept of this site, Dear Photograph, where people take a picture of a picture from the past in the present.

Time is a funny thing.

charles hughes iii.

Been watching a lot of Chuck's Day Off, introduced to me by Iz.  I am in complete love with this man and his cooking.  He is Canadian, adorable and sexy at the same time, and knows good food.  Love how his dishes are all so fresh and simple - real food.

Want to try some of his recipes sometime.

sushi pizza.

Tuna & salmon nigiri with crab, avocado, green onion, masago and some tasty sauce - on a bed of deep fried rice cake.  At Sushiyama.

Yumm.

one.

Lately I've felt a need to have a place to share my thoughts, and things in my life that I've disliked, loved, and just experienced.  Due to the ease of not needing to create another account somewhere on the internet, blogspot has been chosen as the lucky candidate for this outlet. 

Blog post number one.  Short, sweet.