Bullet Journal: Organization for 2015

my key of shorthand symbols

I want to preface this by saying I hate making titles for posts. I'm not a particularly pithy person, hence why all my posts are very matter of fact and decidedly not catchy. Find me a concise and fetching way to title a post on journaling and, and.. I don't know you can come blog with me I guess?

Anyways, in what is my decided addiction to tumblr I run a side blog which catalogs and archives all matter of material related to studying and being an academic. Study and organization tips, advice on test prep, and generally inspiring and motivational images for kicking your ass into gear for revising.
(Studyblr, is the term for that kind of blog, if you were interested)
And as a lot of people are on break, there's a lot of prep on the go for how to hit the pavement running in the new year, which of course, has incited the purchase of a number of daily planners.
But I was more interested in the methodology of staying organized. I have a filofax, which is now lying unused and though I loved the quality of it the one thing I hated was having to buy refills of particular pages if I wanted to continue with it. Enter bullet journaling. I'm not really sure how to sum up what exactly it is, per say because it's such a flexible system and (as you'll see) you can tweak it to fit your needs. So it's not quite as prescriptive as buying a planner with the pages already designated for you. Essentially, it's meant to be an efficient, short-hand method of staying organized, where you can see large groups of information "at a glance."

Here is the link to the official web page that will be able to describe the original system much more efficiently. However, there were aspects to that I did like, re: the monthly events in a column on oen page. I'm a visual person so what I decided to do was draw out an actual calendar to jot small things in and double as a tracker page. Specific tasks and events are on the other side of the spread with room for notes and additions.
The tracker page idea was something I stumbled upon in a random video but in that version the page was flipped so it ran horizontally, so you would have had to turn the actual journal to view it correctly and I just wasn't feeling that. So instead I designated my tracker symbols to the actual calender I drew out, which you can see below.

monthly two page spread

As you can see, I'm tracking the quality of my sleeping, completing my workouts, water intake, if I'm sticking to eating well and my overall mood for that day. And, yes, you can see I've scheduled in my nuvaring dates in already. Fight me, it's a medical marvel. I don't have any dailies pages yet, since January has't arrived yet but once I do get back into the school year and actually really get into this system I'll do an update post and let you know how I've been finding it and if I've made any changes. The main reason I think I'm going to like this system is it's flexibility and the customization aspect to it.

Like I mentioned earlier, it's not quite the same as the original system but it's fairly similar. Rather than set pages or whatnot I can put everything in the order that works for me and the shorthand, bullet style of the dailies pages works for me, as I'm that person who has a million sticky notes to remember little things. The kind of artsy, personal feel to it was another thing that drew me in; taking my sharpie and Staedtler pens and taking the time to make it aesthetically pleasing is kind of cathartic for me and feels more "me" than buying inserts or pre-planned journal.
 The pictures are a little out of order but below (starting from the left going clockwise) is my first dailies page I've drawn up, then my index and some collection pages I've started. The index is literally just the table of contents for your journal, which is another aspect I really think is going to come in useful. You just designated particular pages for certain things and than label at the front. My moleskine is blank so I number my pages myself but plenty of journals are pre-numbered. The collection pages in the bottom right corner are (for right now healthy recipes I want to try and a to-do list of things I need to pick up when I go back to uni. If I don't end up filling up that pages, I can half it off, draw up something else to put there and simply add it to the index. Like, do you see how efficient this is?!

dailies sample page // index // collection page spread

I don't plan on tracking my dailies pages in the index, that'd be too much, but collection pages, yes indeed. I think this will include things like self care ideas, lovely advice to myself, workout ideas/tracking and pages for planning papers for school. Hopefully this will keep my ass on track in 2015.

That's it for now on the bullet journal front! You darlings have any particular plan to stay on track in the new year?

r.

Vegan Double-Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Alright kids, buckle up, we're heading for some seriously decadent chocolate goodness for your holiday baking this year.

I've been wanting to do a 'recipe' post for eons now and though I wanted to gear that more towards actual meals, kick-starting it with this luscious dessert is no bad thing.
So recently (as in like, a week ago) my dad, mom sister and I served two nights worth of delicious dining to Hey Rosetta when they were in my home town to do a couple shows. My dad is an excellent cook and can honestly whip up just about anything from any culture you can think of.
The band actually had a number of dietary restrictions, including gluten intolerance and a few lactose intolerant individuals and one vegan.
Naturally taking the wonders that are butter and cream out of a recipe can seem like a shot to the foot but let me tell you this vegan brownie recipe is probably worth risking incarceration or something.

It's good.

Firstly here's the link for the recipe, all credit due to Crazy For Crust. I figured I'd write it out here and add some notes on what I noticed after fiddling with it a bit after a couple times making it.





ingredients:

• 1/2 a cup of vegetable oil
• 1 & 1/2 cups of sugar (This is what the recipe calls for BUT let me tell you one cup is plenty and keeps the brownies tasting rich rather than sickly sweet)
• 1 tbsp. of vanilla 
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa 
• About a 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce 
• 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, melted 
• 1 tsp. of salt 
• 1 & 1/2 cups of flour 
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips 

instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Get a long baking pan of your choose, glass or whatever preference and either rub down with butter or cooking spray. I use butter so it wasn't perfectly vegan, if you want to stick to that use a cooking spray
• Stir together oil and sugar. Stir in vanilla, cocoa, and applesauce. Add melted chocolate and salt, stir until smooth. Slowly stir in flour. Add chocolate chips.    
  ● a note on melting the chocolate, either use a double boiler or do  SLOWLY in a microwave, I did it in 10 second increments; any longer and if you don't take the time to stir your chocolate will burn and let me tell you that's really just...gross.   
  ● And yes, do throw in that much salt, you didn't use any butter or whatnot so do keep to that amount
• Pour into prepared pan and bake 25-28 minutes. (I would try 25 minutes first, it tends to be just right). It'll seem a little "un-set" when you take it out, so let it set/cool for a bit before cutting. 

When you're stirring everything together your 'dough' is going to seem very dry and thick, this is okay. It's not going to be nice and pour easily into your pan, use your clean hands and kind of pat it. in and down.

Behold the final decadence. 

I suggest finding a good raspberry or strawberry coulis recipe to serve with this.

Let me know if you try this out! Would you like to see more recipes?

r.

Weekly Musings #4: Holiday Edition

Well hello my lovelies. I'm sure many of you can sympathize with me in terms of school being an absolute drainer this term. With volunteering and staying on top of my marks and making time for relationships blogging took the back burner. Which, with my intention to document my year more makes me a terrible person. Well, if not terrible, than disorganized.
Regardless I seriously hauled ass this term and improved my marks a whole bunch, which I am so incredibly proud of myself for doing. With another good term under my belt in the winter applying to psychology faculty (with acceptance) looks promising.

Without further ado however, I wanted to take some time to reflect on some things I've been appreciative of these past few weeks since cluing up my first semester and coming home. 

cozy room and stella artois // our christmas tree // MUN library // en route from the gym to aforementioned library

Being Home: This one seems fairly simplistic, but I've been reflecting on what home means to me a lot this year. Maybe it's because I am actually a professional nostalgic and Christmas just exasperates that but the whole beginning month of December was stressful to the enth' degree and it made me all that much more elated to be back in my childhood bedroom and spending quality time with my parents and sister, while having time to explore my tiny sea-side town all over again. I didn't realize how much I actually enjoyed my small-town roots.

Self-Care: Again, with the way finals and end of term projects and such caught up on me and I didn't have time to focus on the outlets that maintain my sanity. My diet, sleep schedule and general habits I have for taking care of myself slipped considerably. Being on break has given me the opportunity to getting back to eating vegetables and other wholesome food again, as well as getting enough sleep (sleep is so important to me now?!?!) Yoga and running are now back on track again and I've (obviously) started blogging again and journaling consistently and I'm starting to feel like myself again. I suggest that you all prioritize some self care this holiday season. I'm probably going to make a post about it, truthfully. 

not mine; credit to whomever

honorable mentions: ● bursting with ideas for new blog posts ● white christmas lights to adorn my room with ● seeing Hey Rosetta! at my local theatre; seriously this was such an amazing, meaningful moment for me, they are probably one my favorite bands of ever ● decadent vegan brownies ● staying hyrdated ● beautiful, thoughtful gifts from J ● wrapping presents to Spotify christmas playlists ● making running progress ● kitten cuddles ● binge watching Mad Men ● quinoa-bread toast with homemade jam ● egg nog and rum (hella' great combination, get your juice on with this guys, seriously) ● new teas for chilly mornings ● actually reading for pleasure ● kindness from strangers ● Christmas trees in public establishments ● my dad's wonderful cooking (I'm sorry I talk enthusiastically about food so much) ● craft beer ● cozy mornings in bed  ● drinking enough water every day ● Christmas baking and tree decorating with my lovely momma ● stretching sore muscles 

link love: ● Gala on "living out loud"  in the winter. 
● I really need to invest in a thick tweed-y coat like this one; anyone know where I can get one at a reasonable price?
●30 movies to watch  with your relatives & co. this holiday. ● A Cup Of Jo's editor Caroline on being single for the holidays and how to survive it. (Kind of feeling this in a weird way since J is away for our whole break)

How's your holiday break been so far lovelies (if you are on break)? Everyone still as excited for Christmas as I am? Talk soon!

r.

Weekly Musings #3: volunteering and spotify addiction addition

I know I usually do these on Fridays but this has been a pretty hectic week/weekend so I had to push it off until I had some time to myself. I'm in the two weeks of midterm exams here at uni so things have been more than a little rushed and overwhelming the past few days, so taking a break with some tea and catching up on posts is just a good way to decompress for me.
So, without further ado!

Volunteering: A couple of weeks ago, I sent in my application to volunteer at the Women's Resource Center on campus and I sat an interview and got selected! It's been a whirl-wind of getting familiar with my duties and such but it's essentially a really amazing group of feminist ladies providing a safe space, information & resources and peer support as well as a bunch of other things to the campus.
I really struggled my first year meeting like minded people and it is beyond lovely to be able to hold conversations with like minded women and take part in organizing events that are relevant to the beliefs I hold strongly. It's just been excellent for: my sense of self and mental health.

Spotify addiction: Not quite as intrinsicly meaningful as aforementioned volunteering but still something that's been making me über happy. Living in Canada, Spotify isn't a huge thing here but J got an early invitation and of course, sent me an e-mail invitation so I could peruse the amazing music libraries and playlists. I've always been a fan of music platforms like this (re: 8tracks), and it's definitely way more efficient and streamlined and has been treating me to an abundance of new songs and artists, which, is really what I'm happy about because music is so important to me and how I feel.

honorable mentions:

• Night Vale • baby biceps forming (!) • acai tea • weather finally being cool enough for scarves and boots • lovely messages from people on tumblr • vigorous debate • calls from my dad • baked goods • post run feelings • buying new school supplies • chatting with lovely girls at my bus stop • warm laundry from the dryer • collecting pins for my school bag • awaiting stuff coming in the mail • sleep overs with J • mexican food dates • massages • bright fall days • happy dogs • cross words • holding hands • finally being over my ridiculous head cold • good hair days • smiling at strangers •philosophy class  • helpful, kind customer service workers

link love:• Michelle's TilT for all things fall related - I am so here for this.
• I am so in love with the photo's Amy share of her beautiful King's College dorm.
• The Beauty Department serves it up again with this hella cool upside down cat eye makeup look.
• The Pomodoro Technique for studying is proving super effective for any other students out there!
• This stunning botanical illustration; I wish I had a hundred of these for my room. • This snarky comic totally firing some shots on this pertinent issues.

So darlin's, what made this week wonderful for you? (p.s. all photo are indeed mine)
r.

Reflection on September Goals

photo credits to: tumblr/respective photographer

Hello all! I honestly can't believe October has come around this fast - it always seems to slip my mind how fast the time goes when you're back on a semester-ized schedule. So It's time to reflect on the goals I had set for September!

1. Make time for reading
I failed horribly at this one, not going to lie. The first week I found I had the time but then my workload started getting a little more intensive and on top of trying to balance volunteering and such it slipped as a priority.
And, admittedly I've been conditioning myself to fall asleep to Netflix rather than using that time for reading, I'm ashamed to say. So that will definitely be a goal I carry into October.

2. Get to the gym on the regular 
I was doing pretty darn good with this one (baby biceps are growing folks!) until I got hit down with this absolutely horrendous head/chest cold that I'm only just getting over. I know it's some people's philosophy to push through and go to the gym regardless but I find that just hinders my healing process and I feel like a bag of crap and can't focus on my work or whatnot. But now that I'm on the flip side of better I'm carrying this over into October (ties in neatly with #teamnocheats) and hopefully make some more running and muscle progress.

3. Get organized and stay that way 

Surprisingly I did good on this one. Once I got all my respective syllabuses for all my classes, I transferred over all my relevant dates immediately, invested in a Moleskin and grabbed a daily planner from the student offices on camps and made writing all important dates and "things-to-remember" into those as soon as my professors mentioned it in class. As well I've been excellent at copying over my notes and hole-punching everything and making sure my study space is always clean and I can easily say this has contributed to my peace of mind hugely.

5. Be more aware of my spending 

Yes indeed folks, even after buying textbooks, weekly groceries, study supplies, new shoes, bus passes and such my bank statement still looks good. I posted about my views on alcohol earlier this month and ultimately decided that drinking is something I wanted to give up for a little while and just generally avoiding impulses purchases has kept me (for now) at a good place financially. in my view it's worth it to sacrifice some social events for my peace of mind of finances just in case something happens that requires a big chunk of change.

6. Document more 

I failed miserably at keeping regular diary entries but in terms of photography I've been excellent at capturing my first month back on campus via pictures. As I predicted it's been a good way to make me really look to find beauty in my every day goings on and I really appreciate past Rachel for considering this. Being able to look back at my scenic campus shots, selfies, and shots from my neighborhood makes me grateful for the opportunities and things I do have in my life.

So, that's all folks! I think I did pretty good personally - October Resolutions will be up soon and a weekly reflection! 

Have any goals for your September; how did they go?
r.

Back at the Crunch

Yes, that was really lame attempt a fitness pun since this will be a fitness and health related post. Forgive me.

So! Tomorrow is October first and I've decided to get back to my fitness and health basics by committing the month of October to "clean" eating, being alcohol-free and really bringing it with my workouts.

(Side note: yes, I know, the picture on the left falls under the category of the ever-problematic fitspo, however I really enjoy the quote. Just take images like that with a grain of salt.)

Getting back into the swing of university life has taken more adjustment than I thought, and maybe that's because it's my second year but I've been wanting to get back to putting self-care first and part of that lies in taking care of me physically. Some would argue HIIT workouts and weight training aren't really 'self-care' but for me they are. When I focus on good nutrition, getting enough sleep and solid workouts my body responds well so I want (and need, to a less extent) to get back to that.

Conveniently enough one of my favorite health/fitness
oriented tumblr's

(imgonnamakeachange.tumblr.com) run by the amazing Natasha has started a little challenge amonst her followers under the hashtag #teamnocheats; No Cheats October. So, just like I described above, the month of October is committed to making healthy habits and then on Halloween you can treat yourself to whatever the feck' you like. I should mention that she endorses that if you start feeling restrictive or like you are developing disordered habits, you should stop and notes that it's perfectly fine to slip up, as it were. Just in case any of you were interested but were kind of deterred by the general idea of a challenge. It's all in good fun.

So without further ado let's get to my #teamnocheats goals. I made a little halloween-themed graphic just because I wanted an excuse not to study.  

• 2l of water every day - truthfully this isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things and I always feel better when I'm hydrated. On top of this I'll add my daily green tea/herbal tea intake and unsweetened almond milk. 

• Be consistent - gym 5 days a week - my rule is that I can put those 5 days where I want in the scheme of my school week/weekend, whatever fits my schedule and workload best on a week by week bases. But the goal is here is to get to the gym and do weight training and HIIT cardio. 

•  Cut back on sugar - I never thought of myself to be one for a sweet tooth but that doesn't seem to be the case. Having moved into my new place, one of my roommates grandmother's is always keeping the house in supply of cookies and and cakes and I find my self indulging after supper more than what is good for me. But also watch for sugar content in my meals, it does seem to be a breakout trigger for me after all. 

• Meal prep - I pretty much only have 45 minutes to do my thing in the mornings so getting my lunches done and dusted the night before or even on Sunday evenings needs to be something I implement so I'm not rushing and/or reaching for something that's not all that good for me. 

•  No boredom eating - this is something I unfortunately find I do a lot. In the middle of school work or when I get home, and I'm not even hungry just passing time. It throws off my natural hunger cues and isn't good for me in general if I want to break any weight loss goals.
• Yoga/Long stretching session everyday  - I miss having my muscles not feel tight and tense and making progress with my poses. I haven't been consistently at it since this summer and I know I feel better and sleep more soundly when I'm consistent about it.

So, any of you interested in boarding the #teamnocheats train? Any other particular goals you have set for October?

r.
image credits to: tumblr and picmonkey 

dull roots and summer rain

Hello meine lieben! First of all let me preface this by saying I took forever trying to format this pictures and then said "fuck it" and made them into collages. And also the delay between my last post and this one has been absolutely terrible and I have no excuses except that I've been hard on the studying grindstone. It's insane that the work is already piling up this quickly. I am more than happy to be back at it, despite how stressful it can be. So in honor of the fact that's an overcast day here I wanted to share these photos from another overcast day I had the summer exploring with J.

This is little spot happens to be his hometown, and I use the term 'town' lightly. It's closer to what I would call a neighboring community. Anyhow, it's right on the ocean, as are most smaller out-port communities in Newfoundland. However I had never explored it much so he decided to show me around. Despite what most people close to me may think, I actually adore being outside. I love running and hiking and camping and just taking in what the beautiful landscape of Newfoundland has to offer.
 The day went between being bright yet overcast and stormy and grey. Which, if anyone knows me, is my absolute favorite weather. So I guess it's good fortune I live in Newfoundland where the weather is like this a good chunk of the time.
Going over these photographs again makes me realize I really need to make more/better use out of my camera. Even beyond my want to document my life more I think I could get pretty good at it with practice and I especially liked taking these picture to share with you all because I don't find people (ok, tourists) really focus on photographing Newfoundland beyond it's main attractions and really appreciate how rugged and beautiful and wild it still is here. I think even if and when I do move from this province part of me is still always going to belong to ocean and cliffs.

Surprised that the macro function on my camera works fairly well!

cliffs, J taking a panorma + mushroom

    

 Anyone out of my readership ever been to Newfoundland? Interested in going at all?

Make any recent outings yourself?

r.

Weekly Musings #2: back to the grind and autumn

image credit: tumblr

Hello again lovelies! Though my first week back to classes was only a half week, it was still hectic as crap. So many forms to be hurriedly dropped off at a variety of buildings, wading through a sea of first years to get my bus pass, long days spent shopping restocking the pantry and picking up last minute school supplies.

back to the grind: like I said, it's only been a half week for me but it still felt pretty chaotic adjusting to university life back in the city again. Beyond that I'm a person who thrives with a routine, and I had missed the feeling of having academia related stuff n' things on my plate so all in all I'm ecstatic to be back. All my professors and courses this semester are great and I'm really looking forward to the study grind.

autumn: though the weather in NL has been moodily switching between summer and well, rain, I'm counting the days to cooler weather. I can wear all the layers, and plaid, break out my L.L. bean and chelsea boots, drink tea without feeling like I'm going to melt, wonder at the beautiful Newfoundland fall sunsets and the changing leaves ugh, fall is the best. And at the risk of sounding totally ~white girl~: hello pumpkin spice everything.

new reads: my lovely roommate who shares the lower portion of the house with my is an education major and took a bunch of english courses with some pretty rad novels. For some reason, it's one hundred times better to read somebody else's books instead of your own. So right now I'm chucking through Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratcehtt and Marget Atwood's the Handmaiden's Tale and loving them both! My daily commute to and from campus on the bus finds me nose-deep in them. 

me and my feet on campus; my image

honorable mentions:
• keeping a tidy room •  planning my fall wardrobe •  pretty mornings waiting for the bus •  how beautiful my campus is this time of year •  night time showers and stretching • wearing my favorite cozy striped shirt (see right) to death •  travel mugs •  nude nail polish •  sitting down to supper every day with my roommates • again with the roommates related but laughing with them is the best • new pens •  organizing my calender • comfy mornings in my queen bed • chatting with strangers • rediscovering old music • wandering onto picturesque parts of the campus building that remind me of Dead Poets Society 

link love:
• This poem. 
• Does anyone want to be a doll and buy me these gorgeous page dividers for my filofax? 
• I've been looking at Kara O'Keefe's flickr stream (she's a local NL photographer) all day; her photography style is so dreamy.
•Revisiting this video again as a self reminder; Eartha Kitt speaks the truth.
• Finch & Fawn are my new favorite read! Kiana's style is everything I want. 
• I would like this to be my fall uniform. 

What's been keeping your week wonderful?

r.

my conflicted view on alcohol as a university student

image credit: blogger, "The Pantsuit Enthusiast"

        Or, in other words, how a ridiculous hangover made me question my currents views on why I even drink (excessively) at all.

         This all kind of began Saturday past. I had finished up my gig as an opening act for a show in my hometown's summer music series. And, well, they always have roaring after parties in the bar/lounge area that's attached to the theatre. Admittedly, one of the perks of being a performer is that people just lovee to buy you alcohol as a thank you. Several cocktails, cosmos, and glasses of wine later we were dancing and chanting along to the house band and then all swarmed across the the street to the local pub for more dancing and music. Me and my friends and boyfriend (who had just gotten home from a 4-month work stint that was largely alcohol free) were going hard at it.
Cut to the next morning. J (the boyfriend) and I flaked out, heads pounding, dehydrated and thoroughly tired and in need of a pick me up. Which is what got me questioning. Sure, alochol is a great social lubricant and does have it's moments where it's helped with a lot of bonding. However, I'm starting to notice it's got a flip side that I was all to happy to ignore.
            Now, I'm not a hard-core partier, despite the typical college girl stereotype. But I grew up in Newfoundland, so hellooo shed parties and the like, and, of course, high school graduation, back to school bashes for uni, house parties, and my enthusiastic consumption of wine with cooking and meal times, so no, I'm not exactly a stranger to alcohol. And perhaps, when I'm throwing back gin and tonics with gusto and I start not feeling my teeth (honest to god, that's my sign I'm in the tank), it seems like a good idea, my wallet and liver always regret it in the morning. Bar covers, over priced mixed drinks, cab rides, the inevitable splurge out on 3am pizza or poutine: it adds up. And thankfully my hangovers don't leave me draped over a toilet, rather exhausted and off for the rest of the day, but they still suck the life out of me.
        I know I'd never be able to quit cold turkey and leave alcohol alone forever. I love wine paired with a good meal too much, but do I really need to drink to the point of nausea? Really? It has made for some good stories but thinking about it I know I'd rather put that drinking money towards clothes, art supplies or books, or better yet, my herbal tea addiction. (David's Tea anyone?!) As well as save my liver and skin the chore of purging the stuff from my system. But on the flip side there is the unspoken pressure in university to use those as your party years & I kind of don't feel like bowing to that. The fact of the matter is I will probably meet good friends either way and the house parties I throw or attend with people I'm already close with won't be any less entertaining if I remain at least fairly close to sober.

          I have a lot of conflict towards this, if its not already apparent (hence the post title). To clarify I'm not the type of bird who is putting myself on a magical pedestal as 'better' than those who do chose to spend their time and money on parties and jaunts to downtown bars, not all. None of my business. I'm merely coming to this debate as an individual. I do feel I should point out that the university connection does tend to hinge on alcohol. At least in the case of my campus, to a certain degree. All those back to school bashes, faculty formals and parties, themed nights at the campus bars and such. I mean clearly no one is forcing me to go to these things and I don't have a problem with them but there is a certain hoo-rah emphasis on alcohol being the be all and end all for university students. Or at least a stereotype that drinking excessively on our free time something every one of us is super engaged in.

         Conflicted though I may be, and though this post did nothing to resolve that (typical Rachel) I think my general rule of thumb for this coming year will be to dial back my alcohol consumption. Keep it to wine with dinner and the occasional "wow-this-was-an-absolute-shit-day-I-need-a-G&T" drink. It'll totally happen.

Opinions on alcohol consumption in college/university, or just drinking at all?

xx.

r

weekly musings #1: back to school jitters and cliff jaunts

image credit: weheartit

Bringing back weekly musings with fervor and gusto; it's basically a less snappy version of miss Gala Darling's Things I Love Thursday (TiLT). I somehow prefer Fridays as the day to sum up the little tidbits that have been going in my life as well as some enjoyable links to fantastic things around the interwebs.
I would say I care about using the word 'interwebs' like a 12 year old, but I don't.
So without further ado.

back to school jitters: I have less than a week before classes start and though throughout most of the summer I was primed and ready to head back to campus, my apprehension at heading back to city life is rising. I have so many things left to do, new furniture to pick up, forms to hand in, house-cleaning to do, pick up a new bus pass, my head is spinning. Plus just general apprehension at finding my way around the buildings again, worrying if I'm going to have any crap professors this term. But mostly I'm happy to plan and organize and enthusiastically stock up school supplies. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who loves this.)

cliff jaunts: If I haven't mentioned it already I'm from a very small town on the island of Newfoundland and if you've never heard/seen of such a place before.. to put it mildly, we have a lot of space to explore. Most towns & cities here are right on the waters edge so J (the boyfriend) and I took a little walk around his hometown (which is about 15 minutes away from mine) and spent the day exploring the woods, beaches, brooks and cliffs. I got some lovely shots which I'll definitely share with you in the next couple days!

image credit: pinterest  

honorable mentions:
• intense workouts (leg day, get at me) • my morning cup of tea • the lovely rainy weather as of late • packing • fresh haircuts • laughing until I thought I wasn't going to breathe again • going to bed early • fruit and veg' smoothies in the morning • J and I both having short hair so we share/exchange hair products • morning cuddles and sookin' from the kitten • my skin finally deciding to clear up • strong brow game • homemade bread • reading at night • deep yoga stretches • bursting with ideas for blog posts • vines (don't even pretend some of them aren't hilarious) • having J home again

link love:• How ridiculous anti-rape advice sounds when directed at men. • Amazing minimalist Bowie tattoo. • Since I have a love and affinity for anything planner, moleskin or notebook related, Amy's review of the 'Seize the Day' planner by Iconic makes me swoon.  • Closure in Moscow is my new favorite group; Seeds of Gold is an amaaaazing song! • This comic. • Sneakers for fall. • Because I love pasta recipes.

What's been making your week, darlings? 

r.

Bedroom Inspiration

I ended up moving to a new house after my first year in university, and am now in a place with 4 other lovely roommates and have a new bedroom to think about decorating. Such is the case that I will be heading back to move in within a couple of days, I thought it prudent to put together a little post summarizing what I'd like my space to be.
I've upgraded to a queen bed, and that combined with the fact that my new room is a mite bit smaller than my old one I want to use my space more efficiently for storage, study, leisure as well as keeping to minimalist, more mature aesthetic.

The general idea I want it light and cozy; white and cream with pops of bright color and warm lighting which make the space inviting. I have  few DIY projects I'm going to attempt as well for keeping me organized as well for wall art and such. I will surely post pictures once my room has totally come together but for now I thought I'd post some pictures I've accumulated of spaces & particular projects and room elements I like.
(Side note: all of these pictures come from tumblr or pinterest so I do not claim to own any of these, rather, the credit goes to the respective photographer. Collage app credit to PicMonkey.)

       

      

This just happens to be the few images I liked the most. I may or may not add in some more as I find them.

What do you lovelies have planned for your back to school digs?
r.

Musical Mondays: Billie Holiday

If anyone knows me, they know I have a huge affinity for all things music related. I've been performing for about 4 years now, with a variety of shows under my belt. Full band stuff and/or  acoustic sets (with my trusty rosewood Seagull) doing both covers of artists I love and tribute shows as well. So, I figured it was only appropriate for me to blog about my wide-ranging and eclectic taste in music. It always helps as a performer to be familiar with lots of different genres and in my case I just happen to like a lot of different music in any case!
So to kick things off since I'm in a jazzy mood, I'm bringing in the big guns with Billie Holiday. Funnily enough, though I've been a huge fan of her music since forever and an age I've performed her music.

Actually, not all that surprising since I haven't gotten to work with a good jazz band/pianist in a long time. Anyways, Ms. Lady Day has this amazing throaty, rasping vocals that suit the more morose side of the jazz in the best possible way. Though she did record some lovely renditions of more upbeat jazz standards.

I first found her through the the Audrey Tautou Chanel No°5 ad, where her track of "I'm a Fool to Want You" was playing. I'd never heard her before then and was absolutely enchanted by it. She had a rough childhood and was also a rape victim and prostitute ($5 a client if anyone was interested) so clearly in singing some of these songs she was drawing from a very real, raw, emotional place. 
Her discography totals at 12 studio albums, 3 live albums, 24 compilations and one box set. She's easily sung hundreds of covers and it was hard pressed for me to pick a few favorites. But I'll try. 

indisputable favourites

1. Stormy Weather 
2. I'm a Fool to Want You
3. God Bless the Child
4. Strange Fruit
5. Gloomy Sunday 
6. The Way You Look Tonight

7. I Wished On the Moon
8. Gee, Baby Ain't I good to You?
9. You've Changed
10. You Don't Know What Love Is
11.  Violets for Your Furs
12. Pennies From Heaven

These are just the ones I forced myself to pick, I love pretty much every track I hear her sing. Her stuff is actually my favorite music to listen to when I'm getting all dolled up and fancy because it makes me feel like a 40's starlet. I don't even care. She was a striking women herself who had her brow game on lock before anyone else even knew what it was. And her penchant for wearing a white dahlia in her coiffed hair was the loveliest.   

I'm probably going to end up giving other jazz artists some honorable mentions (Miles Davis or Chet Baker anyone?) but I decided she deserved my first go in this weekly series!

So, heard of Ms. Holiday before? Took a listen to any of her stuff? Love it or not? Let me know what you think!

r.