Explorations : Many An Adventure

Hello hello!

I've obviously been far too busy exploring the city to blog recently (and by exploring I mean watching Grey's Anatomy and going to school... with a fair bit of exploring thrown in there as well!).

So I know that I said that I was going to go to the Gene Cafe ages ago, in this post, and I finally did! It was by total happenstance, as well. A bus ride with that guy in my life [to work for him, and to school for me] turned into a working coffee date at the cafe! And it is such a great place for a sunny, midmorning relaxation with super tall ceilings and windows, and a cool little nook in the front where it comes to a point and you can. We got the best seat in the place, as far as I'm concerned; I read my hilarious book, he did his work, and it was just lovely. It made me think about how much I want a  delicious breakfast nook in my future home...

When you're not feeling quite beautiful or smart enough...

So frequently the world tells women that they are beautiful and smart. That we are the future, that we have some sort of magical womanhood that makes us these glorious beings. That's a lot to live up to! See, we have to be beautiful and smart, and and good girlfriends and sisters and daughters, but not give up our independence. We're supposedly able to hold high powered jobs, and keep house, and be able to do it all while looking fabulous. It's a long way from being property, and thank God for that, but hell, it's a lot to deal with.

I come from a family of incredibly independent and strong women. My mum is phenomenal; I don't know if it's 23 years of motherhood, or what, but that woman knows just about everything there is to know about raising a family and keeping a house. You know what else there is to know about my mum? She has a Master's degree, and has worked and raised my sister and I for the whole time. My sister is this amazingly talented person. She's also working on her Master's and gets accepted to international conferences, and is gorgeous, and just generally rocks. My aunt is a university professor who goes on these crazy trips and knows all this stuff, and is one of the most outgoing, funny, nice people I know. I will also add that my dad is the kind of guy that encourages excellence and is there every step of the way supporting us girls on our way to get there.

So please excuse me for saying it, but what do we do on those days when we're feeling utterly ordinary? I have to be beautiful on the inside and the outside?! I have to be my best self? I have to pick myself up out of my shlump and get on with life after horrible marks in school, body image issues, and and overwhelming feeling of doom?

Yeah. F-ing. Right.

Sometimes it's those inspirational things that make you feel so bad in the first place. If I have to be my best self, and feel beautiful inside and out, where is the space for when you don't feel that way?! Then I just feel worse because I don't feel beautiful inside and out. And I guess some people just aren't going to get that, and it's so hard to explain. It's just some little monster that's crept into your spirit and made you feel bad. Luckily, I'm writing this the day after the bottom of my slump, and, luckily, I have this swell person who hugs me while I cry about it, even after I've pissed him right off with my unexplained, unreasonable frustration [and on the regular days where I'm not in an unexplained slump, he's the one that makes me feel amazingly beautiful all over].

But today I woke up... and I felt bounced back. Went grocery shopping for the first time in like, 3 weeks. Made two dozen muffins. Painted my toenails. Just did regular things. And I started to feel normal again. So I guess it goes away!

Adulthood is great... but man it sucks

So I've gone and bitten off way more than I can chew. Hence not blogging approximately ever. Two intensive summer classes, various committees, work, housework, playtime, sleep time, grocery shopping - I don't know how grown ups do it. I have resigned myself to being stressed out, and hoping that it's all just going to work out and go away. Until then, I'll be eating my tuna sandwiches and trying not dissolve into a nervous wreck.

March Madness... and it had nothing to do with basketball

It's done, it's done! Well almost. Four more days of classes before I can say those welcome words. March has been madness. What with midterms, papers, the draw of nice weather to procrastinate, events for Phrateres, and the promise of an end that is just out of reach, March has been successfully kicking my butt - and hence the lack of adventure, exploration, and subsequent blogging.

It's been a busy month! My women's social/service organization, Phrateres, had our elections, in which I was voted Pledge Trainer for 2013/14, and our formal--a really beautiful night with friends on a sweet yacht--, I got the spot as VP Finance as well as Lecture Co-coordinator for my major's student association, and a new volunteer position. The job search continues, which is starting to stress me out, but I'm trying not to let it too much before I'm actually done school for the term. 

Most of these things don't start fully happening until September, besides a couple orientations and council retreats, so I'm looking forward to some moderately relaxing time in the next few months. April, in particular, should be great, as I have a full month before I go back to school for summer classes!

I'm just on the last day of a weekend at home that has been busy in itself, until today. Today is detox day where I am clearing my consciousness of anything that doesn't need to be in it before I go back to the city tomorrow.

In other words, I'll be back to blogging soon enough, just have to make it through the next week!

Exploration: Cozy Cafe Saturdays

As promised, I explored the first coffee shop on my list [check out the list here] today! Tomorrow is the second, and I'm way excited after how great this one was! We sat there for two hours, and with good company, a swell chai latte, delicious carrot cake, and non-heart attack inducing prices, it was a great place to spend two hours on a [very] rainy Saturday morning! Just check out how happy Anna was with her awesome patterned tea set - totally the best accidentally candid shot I've managed to take to date. 

There isn't a ton of seating, but we didn't feel pushed to leave at any point. It seems like a really locally-oriented place, with lots of cheery morning greetings between neighbours, and lots of people walking their dogs. I love the weekend dog walkers in Vancouver, because I always miss my dog, so this was a great place to dog [and people] watch! It has a cozy, warm atmosphere and I highly recommend it for long talks about life and philosophy... and cute boyfriends.

Will report back soon with the findings from Gene Cafe!

***correction from the last post on this coffee shop! It's actually at 6th and Arbutus... but you'll find it, don't worry

Spend A Little, Spend A Lot

We all have things that we shell out the big bucks for, and things we skimp on as much as possible, or just avoid buying entirely. I realized when I was writing out my plans for this post that I really only spend money on 1. going out 2. makeup, face junk, hair junk, and clothes, and 3. groceries.

But there are still certain subcategories to these that I just won't buy, and there are certain things I will actually bankrupt myself in order to be able to continue enjoying:

$$$$$
: a good chai latte : I'm not saying I get a Starbucks chai latte every day, but I'll shell out $5 once a week to have a really nice, hot, properly made chai latte.

: toothpaste : I'm super picky about my toothpaste {and teeth in general}, so it would take a whole hell of a lot for me to change the one I use now. Sure it's expensive, but it tastes nice, foams nicely, and doesn't leave my mouth feeling all salty and weird. That's what you sacrifice when you use Colgate.

: shampoo/conditioner : I colour my hair. And I colour my hair really touchy colours {red or blonde}, so I expect my shampoo and conditioner to make that colour last as long as it possibly can. I also don't like the idea of all those creepy preservatives and sulphates in cheap shampoos. I like my shiny hair to be shiny.

: underwear and bras : all my ladies out there will understand this. If you have to wear something all day every day, it had better be a) comfortable, and b) make me look and feel like a million bucks. You just don't get that with $6 packages of Fruit of the Loom.

$
: socks : uhm, helloooo? When was the last time you had socks that you wore more than approximately 5 times before one of them got lost? I can't think of a time either. I don't buy socks. I occasionally get them for Christmas. If I run out, I just don't wear them.

: makeup other than the occasional special thing : All these people that shop for makeup at MAC and such amaze me. I just can't justify spending $14 on one eyeliner pencil. I just can't do it. I especially can't understand why people buy designer label mascara! Maybelline Great Lash {the classic pink tube one} has been doing me just fine since I was thirteen, thanks.

: going to the movies : Why would I spend money on a movie when I can watch it at home, in my pyjamas, in any position that I want to, pausing it at my leisure, and yelling at the T.V. to my hearts content? I don't know either.

: hair elastics and bobby pins : I straight up just jack these from my mum. And she knows it too because every Christmas I get a whole new package of each; by Valentine's they're all disappeared, and I have to stock up when I go back to my parents' for the weekend.

What are your every day splurges? 

***photo attribution to allisonmseward12

Review: Feelin' Dandy by Benefit Cosmetics

I don't even know how to contain my excitement on this little box of goodies; I got a Sephora giftcard for my birthday, and I finally decided what to spend it on, and I'm so glad I got the Feelin' Dandy Lip and Cheek Kit by Benefit Cosmetics! A swell investment of my birthday swag. 

The set itself is $32 at Sephora {USD $28, or so says the Sephora website}, which is super reasonable for what you get, especially since each of these products alone is around $20 for the full size individual package.

What comes in the set?

First of all, I just want to disclaim that while all the products are 'sample size', they are really big sample sizes! I am in no way disappointed with the size of these products - further reinforcing what a sweet deal this kit is!!!

: Posie Tint lip and cheek stain - this is such a great product! I was torn between this set and one that had the original Benetint stain instead of Posie Tint, but after testing them on my hand at the store, I realized they're actually significantly different! Posie Tint has a much thicker consistency, which I definitely prefer to the liquidy Benetint. It has a really nice rosy tint to it, and stays on for a good amount of time. I also like that it's really build-able so you can go for a more or less bold look depending on what you're going for that day!

: High Beam complexion enhancer - My favourite part of the set! This is a great highlighter. End of story, pretty much. It's really blend-able, and natural. It's not too sparkly or light coloured. I take a bit and dot it on my cheek bones, brow bones, and down my nose and I feel so much more glowy! 

: Dandelion face powder - First off, can I mention that this smells amazing?! I have no idea why the face powder smells better than everything else combined, but wow. Just wow. I haven't noticed that this does anything really... it's sort of just a really sheer pink, shimmery powder. I guess if you layered it a lot over your Posie Tint you'd have a more dynamic cheek colour? I so far just give it a swirl on the apples of my cheeks after blending Posie Tint onto my cheekbones since I don't like to have too much blush on my apples. Seems to do the trick!

: Dandelion Ultra Plush Lipgloss - One of my favourite lip glosses to date {second only to DuWop Lip Venom, which will forever be my #1}. It's not sticky, or slimy, or gross in any way. It has a pleasant scent, but doesn't have a particular taste, which is nice because I'm not tempted to just eat it off my lips. 

All in all, this is a super great Lip and Cheek set from Benefit! It also comes with some great tips for applying the products, and a really cute box + mirror that you can use when all the makeups are used up! 

***photos of individual products from sephora.com