Sunday, May 29, 2011

Day 174: Moustachio

I saved these socks for cabin weekend because I have seen many photos of cabin weekend attenders wearing moustaches from the dollar store.

I wore these the day we headed to the dollar store. We didn't buy moustaches, but we did buy glow stick necklaces and earrings, best friend necklaces to be shared amongst the girls, powder to make the fire "mystic", and many other completely unnecessary but really fun things!

Rick and Nandi and I then went for a walk to a coffee shop and met back up with everyone at the grocery store.

Arriving back at the campsite some of the girls went on an adventure. We decided to take photos and make a 'calendar' of our photos. I put that in quotations because I'm not sure the calendar will actually happen, but we have the photos for it for sure. During all this adventure and all our photo taking, I did start to see why some people like camping so much:



This adventure, coupled with a second adventure, some games in the field, some games in the dark and a few body-jolting rides on the golf cart -- my body has definitely been sore today (the day after all of this excitement).

Every pain I feel in my body today was totally worth it for a super fun weekend. HUGE thanks to Drew (and his family) for opening up their cabin to a bunch of rowdies!!!

Cabin Weekend 2011 SUCCESS!

xo

Day 173: A Marriage Made in Heaven - Neon + Polkadots

My socks of choice for Day 1 of Cabin Weekend.

Cabin Weekend is something that my friends do every year. Since I was not friends with these people yet last year, this was my first cabin weekend! And let me tell you, it was wonderful.

I got off work early to head out of town. Picked up some snacks, made some ridiculously last minutes phone calls and emails about work, and then headed out of town with Tam.

When we got to the campsite we got our trailer all set up. Tam's trailer is across the gravel road from the cabin that is the hub of the weekend. When we were done setting up, our sleep area looked like this:

I'm fully aware that this in no way qualifies as "roughing it", but it was a good way to introduce me slowly into the (terrifying) world that is camping.

Friday night was really fun. There was a lot of great food, good talks, a nice fire, some beer, some games. It was a fairly low-key start to a fabulous weekend with friends.

xo

Day 172: Flowery Earthtones


Today I packed for my work trip to Edmonton. I just realized that I forgot to pack my bathing suit. Not packing my bathing suit when I'm going to a hotel with a water slide would be a HUGE mistake. Actually there is a water slide AND a hot tub. My time away will be amazing. Well, my evenings at least, since I'll get to chill at the hotel after work. I can work out, go eat some dinner, go in the hot tub. Ahhhh...perfection.

Update: I just packed my bathing suit. Awww yeeeaaahhh!

xo

Day 171: Best Slippers

My slippers keeping my feet nice and toasty!

I need you all to think of me/pray for me/wish me luck because tomorrow I am driving to Edmonton. Yes, Edmonton is only a three hour drive. However, Ginger (my car) is still being a bit moody lately and I am hoping she'll be a good girl and make it there. Preferably without me having to call AMA to rescue me on the side of the highway.

My Dad and I went for a short drive over the gas station to put some air in her tires tonight and we checked the oil. She had none. Now for some people this might not be surprising, but I have been very faithful to Ginger and I get her oil changed every time I am supposed to. I am a couple hundred kilometres over what the sticker from the oil change says I should have been at. But it's only a couple hundred kilometres! 

Thankfully my Dad knows what to do a lot of the time with cars so we put some extra oil in and when I get back from Edmonton I'll use my free oil change coupon. 

Wish me luck!

xo

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Day 170: Kitty Cats from the Back, Meow!

Not sure why most of the cats are backwards on these socks. Maybe I had them on upside down and their faces were on the other side? Not sure. Much too lazy to move from my oh-so-comfortable bed and find out.

I'm catching up on my blog, guys!!! I'm only a couple days behind now! Gooo me (that was an elongation of the word 'go' not the word 'goo', just to be clear). I still don't remember what I did on the day of the cats, but, meh. I lived, so that's a plus.

So my Mom is in Saudi Arabia for work. That's pretty sweet. I hope she rides a camel.

I also hope that her headscarf doesn't blow off one day revealing her bright red hair, which in turn will make her have to marry a Saudi man because he saw her hair. I realize that this probably doesn't even happen in their country, but you never know. Weirder things have probably happened.

If I was drinking something right now I would toast to my Mom riding a camel and her headscarf being tightly secured.

I hope she has safe travels. Mainly because she's the best Mom ever and I would like to see her again.

xo

Day 169: Perfectly Gentlemanly


Do you know what is really annoying? Not just a little bit annoying like like an incessant buzzing in your ear. No, this is REALLY annoying.

Slow walkers.

Those people that are in front of you in a crowded hallway and you can't go around them because there are other people coming towards you beside them. You can't escape. You are trapped behind people that are literally as slow as molasses. Every time you think, "oh an opening, I can make it before the next person comes by!" Then you try to speed up and turn a bit to the side to squeeze past them and the turtles in front of you just happen to move to the side a little bit, at that moment, completely blocking your pathway to walking freedom.

It's really just rude. Walking should have a slow and a fast lane like driving. You should be able to ring your little bell, like when you ride a bike, and the ridiculously slow people would move out of the way for you to pass.

That would be genius.

xo

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Day 168: Pylons

These are BRIGHT.

I may have posted this elsewhere as well, but I thought it appropriate enough to share here:

London...to be or not to be?
Decided (fairly) recently that I want to do my 2nd and 3rd work terms in London, England. I’ve dreamt of living in England basically since I knew what England was. So, since elementary school-ish. I was always excited when I heard British accents as a child. I would try to talk like them. ALL THE TIME.
When my friends and I went to the swimming pool, we would pretend we had British accents because we thought boys would like us more if we were ‘exotic’. Ah, yes. Being 13 with pimples, big gaps in my teeth and awkward barely-there triangle boobs wasn’t enough. I had to try to impress the boys with a fake British accent. Any wonder why I’m still single? Hah!
Anyways, to spend May to December of next year in London is the plan. Provided that plan doesn’t involve a hell of a lot of work because I do have my first work term and two school semesters to worry about between now and then. And As on my transcript don’t happen without focus. 
Today, however, I received an email from my cooperative education coordinator. She sent me all the info I will have to fill out to do an International work term. Also, the email informed me that there are some sort of job boards that the International Office at school have. I will look into this. The more leg work I can get done this summer, the better.
Wish me luck for London!
xo

Day 167: American Candy Canes?


If America doesn't have candy canes that look like these socks, they should. Seriously. Get on that, America. Obama should mandate blue in the candy canes this year. What flavour would the blue be? Maybe blue raspberry. Although I'm not sure blue raspberry and peppermint are really a winning combo. Maybe I should leave that to Marketing professionals. A Marketing professional is something that I am clearly not. I am not nearly creative enough to be in Marketing. I find creative people amazing. I'm slightly jealous of them all. For real. I don't understand how they can see two completely unrelated things and think, "if I just put those together it would become THE MOST AMAZING THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD." And they do it. And it truly becomes that.

How is that even possible?

xo

Day 166: Work Appropriate

Work appropriate argyle.

I have to share this little picture that one of my friends sent me. She said in her message, "is it bad that when I saw this, I thought of you?":

My friend got this picture from here. Have to give credit where credit's due.

Those of you that follow this blog, or just know me in real life, know my thoughts on this exact subject. If you don't know me or just started reading this blog, click here for an example of how I feel about Disney and what they do to us.

One thing I didn't think about before though is DUDES. Guys have this issue too, it's just different. They aren't pining after their "Princess", they are pining after a woman that will do anything they ask, mainly sexually.

Huh. No wonder there is such disconnect here. Maybe if men were a little sweeter, and us ladies were a little more adventurous, we could meet in the middle?

Maybe.

xo

Monday, May 23, 2011

Day 165: Snow White Softness

The softest of socks imaginable. I will look forward to feeling these on my feet again in a long while. I wore these last Thursday. Again, a long time ago, but what I've been thinking about today is what I really want to share.

I had a fabulous day today. Slept in a little bit, got up and went for an extended brunch with a friend. Then went with a couple more friends and we watched Justin Bieber's movie, Never Say Never. It was actually quite cute, and he's legitimately more talented than I ever gave him credit for before, so that's pretty cool.

This evening I was in a strange head space. I know that I get all up in my head a lot. I know that I over analyze every thought, every word, every detail of every situation, but that's just who I am. Tonight I was more all up in my head about life in general though:

What's my direction? What do I want out of life? Who do I want to be? Where do I want to live? Realistically, what would I want my "legacy" to look like/sound like/feel like?

I feel like people struggle with these same questions their entire lives and often come up empty-handed in the answer department. I feel that no matter how hard I try to figure it all out, circumstances will always come up that prevent me from being able to fully plan my future. I am organized. I plan. The idea of not knowing everything that will happen is frustrating, but at the same time exhilarating. How boring would life be if I truly knew everything that would happen and could anticipate every turn? While that would be boring, it would make nights like this easier.

I am feeling stressed that I don't know what I want. I've realized that while I have a serious passion for the career field I have chosen, I don't yet know what that will look like in my life. I don't know what facet of Human Resources I want to delve deepest into. I don't know what type of company will be the best for me to work in.

After an hour and a half drive when I should have been sleeping, I've realized that my pensive state is coming from a feeling of restlessness. I contemplated just driving to the ocean in Vancouver; Responsibility and maturity held me back.

Now that I've started a steady job and it's what I'm looking at for the entire summer, I am completely restless: trapped, locked in, claustrophobic. I realize this is not the rest of my life, rather just a short, 4-month period. I know it has an end date. I will get there. For now, I need to focus on learning as much as I can and taking this experience that's been given to me. I need to delve into all the areas of HR that they present to me and grow the knowledge about my chosen career path. I need to focus on the positives of everything I'm learning and how this experience will help to lead me to my end goal, rather than focusing on the restless side of me that just wants to run away and never look back.

I'll get there.

xo

Day 164: Little Doggies

I'm behind again at this point, so I'm just going to write. How I'm feeling, what I'm thinking, what's on my mind.

I read a blog that I won't mention the name of on here, mainly because I have no idea where I found it, but the Calgary-based writer was basically saying that women on the internet share their feelings too much. She said that if bloggers don't have a new idea to contribute, that they shouldn't be writing about anything. While I understand her point that there are many bloggers out there that share their feelings, their personal lives, their personal struggles, etc., and sometimes we probably don't really care, I feel like a blogger's motivation is what really matters.

Do I share my feelings? Absolutely. Do I share my mostly non-groundbreaking ideas and thoughts? Yes, I do. Do I do this to "make a name for myself"? Not at all. If I was trying to make a name for myself via this blog, I would probably put my real name, rather than a blogging name that I came up with back in 2004 when I decided to post a thought online about my 18-year-old broken heart. I think that her point is completely valid, provided someone is trying to build a career with the blog that they are posting. Then yes, keep it professional. Check for spelling and grammar mistakes meticulously. Make sure you are putting forward the best version of yourself online all the time.

My blog is meant to be a way for me to express how I'm feeling. This blog is meant to be a way for my family and friends to understand me more, see my thought processes in written form. And sometimes it's there to make people laugh. I hope I do these things.

Sometimes my blog is boring as hell and I have no exciting or interesting thoughts to put out there. But this blog is an online diary of sorts. If people don't like online-word vomit-style blogs, don't read them. Read intelligent ones made for career building.

I, however, will keep writing my little blog, despite the fact that I just throw sometimes incoherent, sometimes unintelligent, thoughts out there. I hope you all don't mind.

xo

Friday, May 20, 2011

Day 163: L-l-l-lime!

These socks remind me of popsicles. Lime (or maybe green apple?) popsicles.

I get frustrated when I'm a few days behind in my blog because I don't want to write about a few days ago - I want to write about today. These socks I wore on Tuesday and that feels like forever ago. And I want to tell you about what happened today. So I'm going to anyways.

Today at work I got sent home early because it's the long weekend!!!!!! My summer placement is awesome! One of the managers came around and said, "Everyone in our department is leaving, so you are free to go!" To which I responded, "REALLY?" like a desperate child trying to understand what is happening in her surroundings, as if this had never happened to me before in my life. I was shocked, I was in awe, I was excited!!! It was like recess. No, better, a professional day!

I honestly can't express how happy I was to leave at 3pm today.

Sorry, Tuesday, you had to move over for this 'breaking news' post.

Oh, I got a big bruise from dodgeball on Tuesday and swore at the other team when that ball connected with my upper thigh. Oops.

xo

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Day 162: Peace and Love, United

Peace and Love came together as a package deal on these socks.

Monday was a sweet evening. I came home from work and then went to Swiss Chalet with my brother, Chris, our friend Kaitlyn and one of the guys from Kaitlyn's band, Brett. We enjoyed some chicken. Then we played tennis.

I am terrible at tennis. Just really bad. I have never been one for sports and my family anyone in my life can attest to that. Sometimes in gym class I was alright at Badminton. Sometimes. Most of the time I couldn't rally, volley, spike, dribble, catch, throw, etc. Whatever, I've come to terms with it. I am bad at sports. Get over it.

After that we came to our house and watched some YouTube videos, which is always a good time. We watched one about planking, which is now apparently a big deal because someone died doing it in Australia and now places are making it illegal to do it dangerously. We decided just to try it on objects within our house. These were the results:

 Kaitlyn on a stool
 Chris on an amp
 Me on the bookshelf
Kaitlyn on our short railing

While it was fun (and painful) while it lasted, I don't think any of us will be doing planking again anytime soon.

xo

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Day 161: Burn Your Retinas Pink

Hot, hot, hot pink!

Sunday was a great day for me. I woke up bright and early at Randi's after girls night. I basically shot straight up in bed because I knew Krista had to be up early and when I opened my eyes the sun was already out. We ended up getting up at 8am. After lazing around for a bit and chatting with Randi, I took Krista home. We sat in the driveway and chatted for a little while and then she needed to go get ready for golfing. I needed to get ready for...nothing.

On the way home, I remembered that I wanted to buy some DVD racks at IKEA. $37, and a few things more than two DVD racks later, I came home. Everyone was out at church so I spent the day cleaning and organizing my room. I now have a giant box and a big bag of stuff to give away. I organized my closet shelves. I got rid of some trinkets. I finished going through all of my photos and only keeping the ones that have sentimental value to me. I went through a box and about 10 albums and came out with the box about 3/4 full and one album. Not bad, I'd say. I had a ridiculous amount of photos of, like, people's arms at concerts. You know when you try to take a picture of the band and someone sticks up their arm. I basically had the equivalent of two albums worth of that.

The worst part is that I brought all this stuff to BC with me when I went. Then I brought it back to Alberta. This has happened TWICE because I've technically moved to BC twice. That alone probably cost me extra gas money. And definitely cost me extra space.

Now I just need to go and drop these things off somewhere and my room will be on its way to being "spring cleaned".

Honestly, there is just something about unloading the stuff you don't want anymore that makes you feel lighter. Freer. Less claustrophobic. Wonderful!

xo

Monday, May 16, 2011

Day 160: Cheshire Cat

The Cheshire Cat isn't on these socks, but they reminded me of him when I put them on. I'm sure I broke out the evil grin in that moment too.

Saturday was, in a word, ridiculous! But so much fun! I woke up late. Super late, like a teenager late. It was 12pm. To be fair, I was up the night before having a super fun time hanging out with my friend Andrew. I went to his apartment for dinner, we went out for dessert, we drove around a bit, we went to a party and then we came back to his house and he went to bed. I totally crashed on the couch watching 'Community' and then I woke up at about 4AM and drove myself home because I was craving my bed. Even though his couch was super comfy!

But, I digress...Saturday, I slept in. Upon waking I talked to Krista and we met up to eat lunch together and go to Shoppers Drug Mart. I then got my hair cut shorter. The reason is that I didn't want to have to get it cut every month because it costs too much money, so shorter I went:


That's the new 'do! Pretty short, but I'm trying to get used to it. I've had nothing but compliments, so that's nice.

After the haircut Krista and I went and got waxed. There is nothing quite like having little hairs being ripped out at the root near your eyeballs to humble a person.

Then we went to Randi's for girls night! It was SO MUCH FUN! We had some drinks. A delicious dinner with all of the following ingredients plus more (margherita pizza):


The food was tasty, the drinks were tasty and our plan after eating was absolutely amazing. We decided to make a music video. To 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler. Yes.

80's music was a-flowing and it was stellar. We did a group scene and then we did individual ones (mine was the hot tub scene!). Now Randi's delightful boyfriend, Nick, is going to turn it into a legit video for us.

So excited to see the final product! Will possibly post it once it's complete!

xo

Day 159: Gray with polkadots!

Polkadots are becoming an addiction. A sweet, sweet addiction. Seriously, still looking for a summer polkadot dress. And not a trashy ugly one. Like these socks in dress form would be cute on a 3 year old...maybe. On me, not so much. I'm thinking a black or white or red dress with white polkadots would be more age appropriate for me.

I remember watching the movie "Because I Said So" (the one with Mandy Moore and crap I have to get up to look at the name of Diane Keaton). In the movie Diane Keaton's character (let's call her Mom), buys Mandy Moore (let's call her daughter) a dress. It's a red dress with white polka dots. Daughter hates the polkadot dress because it's something Mom likes, not her. I remember watching it and thinking, "what I wouldn't give for that adorable dress!" And then, in watching the whole movie there are a LOT of polkadots. Polkadot dresses and shirts and even a cake.

The moral of the story is: Just because your Mom would wear it, doesn't mean it isn't someone else's idea of 'adorable'.

xo

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Day 158: Gray shoesies

I have had these shoes for a very long time. Years. I love them. They have been good to me. The soles of them are starting to come apart at the edge of the mini wedge heels that they have. I bought these shoes on sale at Payless a few summers ago and I honestly think I will spend the money to have new soles put onto them. As I said, they've been good to me. And they are CUTE!

So I pretty much don't remember what I did last Thursday because I don't have anything written in my calendar. By written I really mean typed, because I use my iPhone calendar for basically everything.

Technology amazes me so much. It's hard to believe that we can have electronic calendars, digital photos, skype, etc. All these 'life necessities' that happen instantly, at the touch of a button. I love technology. And yet, sometimes, it's the most frustrating thing. When things don't work properly (like my reminders on my iCal that always come an hour later than they should. Do you think I could find a way to fix this? Not on your life. I can't find it anywhere. I've been tricking my phone by telling it the wrong times so that it will remind me earlier. Still waiting for the time I think I have to be somewhere at 3pm because that's how I typed it in and I'll show up an hour early.

That will be a treat.

xo

Day 157: Proper Stripes and Purple

My friends and I are doing a cabin weekend coming up pretty soon here and so I am trying to drink beer a little bit more often. At cabin weekend there will be a keg. While I could just buy my own drinks like wine or girly coolers, I decided that I wanted to take part in the camaraderie of pooling my money and drinking a bit of beer. So last Friday I had the first beer I've had since I was about 19. It was a Wild Rose Wrasperry. I actually didn't think it was too bad. A nice flavour because of the light raspberry taste, which most of you know by now is my all-time favourite fruit.

On Wednesday this past week, while wearing these little socks, I had my second Wild Rose Wraspberry. I went for a drink with a friend because the weather got so nice in Calgary. My only complaint is the silly wind that has been wreaking havoc on my desire to be outside for extended periods of time.

My next beer will have to be one that isn't flavoured with raspberries. We'll see how that goes.

xo

Day 156: I like to Polka...dot

All the socks are starting to look the same to me now. I am very diligent about putting them in separate places when I'm done wearing them so as not to confuse myself and wear a pair that I've already worn. However, sometimes I will pull out a brand new pair of socks and swear that I have worn them before. That happened with these socks. I scoured my photos though and don't see one of these guys.

The funniest part is that I had finally gotten over it and just worn the socks anyways and then I got to dodgeball and one of my teammates said, "haven't you worn those socks before?" Shoot. So, if I have worn them, sorry! But this was a brand new pair that I opened that day. So if they are a repeat they were bought for me by two different people. And two different people that obviously know me well! Purple is my favourite colour and I ADORE polka dots.

In fact, I would really like a cute, polkadot, summer dress!

xo

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Day 155: Beige (not socks) flats

Not socks. Again. Honestly, it's hard! It's so nice out that I just want to wear whatever. I could really use a couple cute summer dresses. I bought mine all last spring before I lost any weight so I feel like they could be a little loose on me.

Funny dream!

I dreamt the other night that I met a Prince. A real live Prince. And...he loved me. Naturally. I'm sure with all the Royal wedding stuff that happened, coupled with my obsession with anything remotely related to the Royal wedding (OMG, Pippa and Harry?!, etc.), is likely the reason that this dream happened.

However, it was cute. I was going to a University for a special course in HR, which is my real major. Except this course was in a foreign country and it just so happened that people thought the Prince was going to be in the course too. I went to the course. I had to go through all these security checks. Including going through a door that was mirror. I have no idea how it worked, but it let me in. They started the course and there was no Prince. Even though I had no idea who the guy was because I was in some really obscure country, I just assumed he was sexy. I was right. He was this tall blondie that showed up on a horse, fashionably late of course. What's strange about that is that I'm not usually a girl that goes for blondes. But in my dream, I was smitten. I'm sure there were some audible sighs during the course. Creepy stalker staring too.

At the end of the course I talked about how I was afraid of horses, he said I should try his. So, I hopped on the back of the horse behind him. Obviously the rest was history...

xo

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Day 154: Multi-coloured Stripes for Mother's Day

Just as I suspected, I slept in late enough today that I now can't fall asleep tonight. My 5:45am wake-up is going to be brutal tomorrow. No wonder people hate Mondays.

Today is Mother's Day! I must confess, I have a fabulous Mom.

I spent today cleaning my room and trying to get rid of a lot of old junk. I realized that I had binders, complete with all my class notes, from College classes back to 2004. Hoarder much?

After some cleaning I went to have a delicious Mother's Day dinner that my Uncle John, Stepmom Linda, and Aunt Debra made. They made homemade perogies and the sausages were all homemade as well. The cream-based gravy for the perogies was a serious treat. Then we had cheesecake with lots of fruit on it for dessert. Today was definitely far from a diet day.

Once dinner was over and I was able to hold my little baby cousin, Grace, for about 30 minutes, I came home to do some more de-cluttering of my life. I started to tackle old photos. I realized that I had way too many old photos (to the tune of at least 12 albums and a whole box of pictures). I decided to recycle a lot of them. I went through about half of the albums and the entire box by the time I decided to try to go to bed. Consistently the albums contained at least one photo of my Mom, and for some of them, it was many more. It was a good day to look back over our history:

- pictures of my Mom as an adorable red-headed, freckle-faced child
- pictures of my Mom as a beautiful teenager
- pictures of my Mother holding her children
- pictures of my Mother all dressed up, prettier than any movie star, and yet, on her knees to snuggle with her kids
- pictures of my Mom with me as a bratty teenager, surprising me for my grad ceremony, me as her Maid of Honour at her wedding, goofing off on the stairs with the dog, and pictures of us more recently

There is so much love in my family. There is so much love just from my Mom alone. I would not be even a fraction of the woman I am without her guidance, consistent love, support no matter what, and her laughter.

My Mom is courageous. My Mom is generous. My Mom is beautiful. My Mom is incomparable.

Mom, I love YOU completely.

xo

Day 153: So College

Friday I was able to have a short day at work because my first day at work, I worked overtime. The funniest part:

8AM
Me: Is there potential for overtime in this job?
Boss: No. We all pretty much leave right at 4:30pm. We won't ask you to work late.
Me: Alright, sounds good.

10AM: Drive to Red Deer

1:30PM: Meeting commences

3:45PM: Meeting ends.

4:00PM: Head back to Calgary.

Needless to say, I was a bit late for my nieces birthday and almost didn't have time to vote. But I ended up making it just in time.

So, yes, I left early on Friday and it was wonderful.

xo

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Day 152: Watermelon, Lime, Mango Argyle

I was bored with saying the conventional colours, so I opted to change them in favour of fruit names today.

I am really looking forward to summer. Now, I'm not the type of person that likes it to be scorching hot. The dislike of "scorching hot" likely stems from my ability to burn in about 5 minutes while out in the sun. I have incredibly fair, almost porcelain, skin. I am so white that I have avoided wearing shorts for most of my adult life because inevitably, someone brings up how white my legs are. It's embarrassing. I tanned for a couple months before I went to Cuba, just to get some colour so that I wouldn't become a tomato on day one while I was there. Let me tell you, even after all the tanning sessions, and all the freckles on my face coming out in full force, my legs were still not tanned. They had basically turned a bit of an ivory colour. Off-white. Really this is a frustrating thing. Once I had the base tan I still had to slather my entire body with sunscreen. Realistically, I could probably get a sunburn while wearing clothing that fully covers me. That's how bad it is.

The strangest part is that as a child I could tan like crazy. I wonder if it has more to do with the fact that I always played outside in the summer. As soon as Spring became semi-warm, I was out there on my bike, having tea parties on the lawn, playing in the trees, rollerblading...anything to get me out of the house. Now, I definitely don't spend as much time outdoors as I could. I think I will work on that this summer. I want to actively try to spend more time doing things outdoors. Now, I'm not going to go like rock climbing or do something totally off the cuff and unnatural for me, but I will work to not always be cooped up at home.

What life is it really to watch the sun through the window? I want to feel it on my face. I want the breeze in my hair. I want to enjoy the outdoors like I did as a kid.

xo

Day 151: Black Nylons

I know, this is a terrible picture. Really, my feet look fat and it's just kind of gross. Sorry about that.

These are the 'socks' I wore on Thursday. That morning I went to a 'Global Talent Breakfast' with my boss from work. It was put on by the United Way and the focus of the discussion was on integrating skilled immigrants into the workforce with the training that they already have, rather than forcing immigrants to work at jobs that they are way over-qualified for. It was an eye-opening session for me. It amazes me that in this generation of tolerance, acceptance and love, there are still people who look down on other races as being 'beneath' them. It completely blows my mind that people can be that  ignorant.

I know I'm not perfect and probably sometimes make snide jokes that I shouldn't, but I really do appreciate diversity. I appreciate that people are all different, with different opinions and different ideas. While the training for certain jobs in immigrants' home countries may be different than the training in ours, they are often times no less qualified for the job. While there may be an accent that makes them harder for us to understand, that doesn't show that they are unintelligent. If anything, it shows their intelligence. They know at least two languages!

I believe that the workforce will be a better and more interesting place when we give immigrants the opportunity to work in their areas of specialization.

xo

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Day 150: Really adorable (and not painful) shoes

Another day without socks. You were all right...summer will be hard. My sock blog is turning into a shoe blog. That will be much more expensive than socks.

Confession: I have about 50 days covered just in shoes that I already own.

But this is a sock blog, not a shoe blog. So I can't really do that, can I? I may have to alternate at the rate I'm going.

I bought these shoes in Hungary when I was on a tour of Europe. The tour stopped at this tiny town for all of us to have a quick break. I think there was a purpose...maybe ice cream or something? Anyways, Melissa and I decided to walk down the street and peek into the little shops instead. They had a shoe store. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Not only were the shoes ADORABLE (see above picture for confirmation of that), but they were CHEAP. I mean, I bought these shoes for the equivalent of, if I remember correctly, about $15 Canadian. I also bought a cute pair of red and white flats for about $10 Canadian. We spent the entire break from the bus trying on shoes and we were almost late getting back. Such girly girls we are! It was fun and I was so glad that I found these. They are interesting and unique -- that's why I like them.

xo

Day 149: Really adorable (but painful) shoes

These shoes are ridiculously cute! Right?

Only problem is that they hurt my feet! Maybe I just have to 'break them in', or maybe they will hurt forever. Either way, next time I'll wear nylons with them, because that seems to help with the avoidance of skin opening from shoes.

This reminds me of how much I dislike it when I buy a jacket and have to sew the buttons on tighter before I even wear it. Why make a jacket with the buttons not sewn on tight? Who always wears their jacket undone? Is this the store's way of getting back at me for only buying coats on sale? I mean, really. Thread is not so expensive that they need to make it cost more in order for the buttons to come fully sewn on tight. It's just frustrating. And if I'm honest, it was always my Nana that sewed that my buttons on for me. Until last year I had never done it before. I was really proud of myself with I finally did it though.

Companies should make shoes that don't hurt and jackets with buttons sewn on properly.

xo

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Day 148: Imagination

Imagine with me, if you will:

Imagine the excitement of a new job upon you. Imagine a delightful girls night the evening before your first day. Imagine freshly cut and painted toenails and fingernails. Imagine waking up in the morning in anticipation of making it to work on time; anticipation to dress nicely for an entire summer; anticipation to make sure your makeup looks good for your first day ever working "downtown" in a city. Imagine the most satisfying hot shower. Imagine the feeling of brand new waistband-free nylons on your freshly shaved and moisturized legs. Imagine the knowledge that lunch is on the company and not your responsibility. Imagine pulling on a skirt, after far too many cold winter months in pants. Imagine the intrigue of taking the train to work for the first time. Imagine the exhilaration of making it to work on time, after all the worry about it. Imagine getting your own office, with a view. Imagine a day of late running out-of-town meetings. Imagine coming home extremely late for a 4-year-old's birthday party. Imagine having to leave said birthday party to go and vote. Imagine coming home to make your meals for the next day. Imagine exhaustion setting in. Imagine going to bed to start again tomorrow.

Imagine forgetting to take a picture of your feet in nylons to document today.

I forgot.

xo

Monday, May 2, 2011

Day 147: Orange, feat. Blue and Gray stripes

Sunday I spent my day running errands, for the most part. I woke up bright and early and had a delicious breakfast at Cora's. So yummy. I love all the fresh fruit that they give you!

After breakfast I headed to the mall. I needed to buy a couple pairs of pants so I had some dress pants that actually fit before I started my coop work term on Monday.

Let me just tell you all how much I loathe buying pants. I can't stand trying them on. Honestly, trying on pants to me is almost as bad as trying on a bathing suit. There is nothing worse than picking pants off the rack, only to try to fit into them and have them not even do up. Really, I've lost 20 pounds since the last time I bought pants. I feel like losing 20 pounds should merit my going down more than just one pant size! Seriously. But, alas, just one pant size it was.

Also, shopping as a poor student is just awful. I am trying hard to be good with my money, which makes me feel guilty when I spend it! I earned the money, but I feel like it all needs to go to tuition/student debt rather than to things that I need. However, looking at the world over in comparison, there is not much that I really need.

In the end, I bought two pairs of pants and two pairs of flats, because I didn't have any flats. I also bought some nylons, which are obviously necessary for my new office job.

xo

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Day 146: Lilac Purple

Ah, yes. The socks I chose to come back home in.

I am sure there are many people that feel that they have two homes. I can honestly say that both BC and Alberta feel like home to me. When I am in BC, it feels like I've always been there. When I am in Alberta, it also feels like I have always been there. It's a very strange feeling to get off a plane and feel like both places are home.

Vancouver with the beautiful skyline, the ocean, the busy city, the beaches, the rain...I adore that.

Calgary with the vast blue sky, the peaceful city, the sunshine, the light frost in the morning at this time of year...I adore that too.

I think that as a city, Vancouver has more draw for me. There is more to do and I feel that means there is more to see. However, I truly enjoy the friends and the life I have in Calgary.

I have no idea where I'll end up living when I'm older, but I imagine, no matter what, both of these places will still feel like home.

Day 145: Red & Black Stripes

These little guys got me through the (remainder) of the day on Friday. I say remainder because the Royal Wedding kept me awake until 5:30am. I then went to bed and slept until pretty much 12:30pm. There was a few intermittent periods of sleeplessness, but for the most part I was out that entire time.

I spent the rest of Friday having coffee and catching up with Caitlin and then having dinner with Luke, Katie, Connor, and the rest of the family (minus the grandparents, they were at a play). My Mom made delicious lasagna! So tasty! And we had garlic bread too. The best thing in the world while on vacation is a carb overload. Carbs are definitely, unfortunately, one of my favourite things.

Mmmmm pasta.

xo