bossypants.

Read Bossypants this week.  Quite quick & easy to read - I would definitely recommend it to a few people in my life :)

 

I've always been a fan of Tina Fey, and in this book I really loved her wit, sarcasm, intelligence, & honesty.  We really are our own worst critics.  She just wrote in a way that was relatable & realistic, which I appreciate. 

 

"They were going to be fine, but they couldn't possibly believe it."

saturdays.

Had a lovely summer evening with friends last night.  After fighting some transit delays, we made it to the Khatsalano Music & Arts Festival.  Saw a few shows, with our favourites being WillHorse (the hair!) & Good for Grapes (happiest accordion player I've ever seen in my life).  Then just enjoyed "owning the city" and walking down the middle of 4th Ave.  Oh, and trying a "screamer," which was a drink layered with soft-serve ice cream, lemonade slushee, and then more ice cream.  Surprisingly delicious!

Then due to more transit delays, we decided to walk across the Burrard Street bridge (my first time!) and enjoy this absolutely gorgeous view.  Good job, Vancouver.  Your evenings are the best :)

Finally, we capped off the night checking out the Comedy Mix, another first.  One of my friend's favourite comedians, Graham Clark, was headlining, and it ended up being a really fun experience.  Would definitely want to go back sometime.

We hadn't gotten to get together in a little while with our busy summer schedules, so this was a perfect way to catch-up & chill :)  Another beautiful Saturday, full of firsts. 

scattered.

Feeling very scattered & overwhelmed right now.  So much is in going on, and I can't seem to focus on anything.  School deadlines, job applications, mentorship applications, funding applications, conference research & logistics, budgets, personal planning... It's all amazing opportunity, and I am truly grateful, it's just a lot right now.

And yet here I am blogging.  Need to re-centre & focus (again..?).

end of year.

Started watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy last night, my first time really sitting down to watch them since purchasing the extended edition DVD's many years ago.  I'd forgotten how much I love these movies, along with some things they represent.  This post I came across - Life Lessons Learned from Lord of the Rings & the Hobbit - touched on a few things that I try to keep in mind in my life, and want to continue into the new year. 

It's so easy to focus on relatively small negatives and be distracted from a world full of amazing and supportive positives.  I feel so blessed to have the family, friends & opportunities that I do, and want to try to always remember how much love there is in my life. 

2012 was a challenging year, full of many changes.  I wanted it to be a year of growth, and I think it has been, though unexpected in some respects.  2013 is shaping up to be another busy year, and I hope that I can be strong, and make the most of everything.

christmas market.

Took advantage of a weekday and went to the Vancouver Christmas Market last week.  Had a wonderful afternoon chatting, eating, drinking & shopping.  Highlights included a mug of apple-mulled wine, waffles on a stick, a ridiculous meatloaf sandwich, and the acquisition of a pickle ornament :)

I'm ready to be Christmas-y this year.

burgoo & mead.

Went to Burgoo last night with some of my good classmates to celebrate the survival of first term.  Finally got to try a glass of mead (warmed Middle Mountain Alpenglow) and it was absolutely lovely.  With beefy cheese grillers, a side of seafood potage, and some excellent conversation, it was a wonderful night off.

Some highlights from the term:
- free candy bowl
- writing an academic paper about my feelings
- dealing with sensitive cataloguing issues
- playing with lego
- not light beer, but beer-flavoured water
- incorporating Harry Potter into my final IT project
 
I swear this is grad school.

mid-term

Just past half-way through my first semester at grad school.  I feel like I'm tired all the time!  It's definitely pushing me and it's a lot of work, but I'm really enjoying what I'm learning, and my colleagues are some great people.

A perk was getting to play with Lego this week, while learning about faceted classification.  Higher education ftw :)

coffee & donuts.

Finally got to try 49th Parallel on Main today.  Delicious coffee in very pretty ceramics, and with Lucky's Donuts located within, I couldn't resist the temptation to try that too.

After a very stressful week, it was nice to get together off-campus and relax a little, while still being productive.  Very nice space to get work done, and not crazy busy on weekdays - this is the part of student life I missed.

the long way...

Here we go... nervous and excited for the next 2 years!

submit.

Why do they make that button so damn scary?!

It's in, so nothing I can do but wait... and make sure all my supporting documentation and references are received before the deadline.  *Then* nothing I can do but wait...

Ahh.