Life

Internet Break!

I made a goal for my 21st year to take a self-imposed break from the Internet. As much as I like love adore almost everything about the world wide web, I do acknowledge that it’s a huge time suck for me. And as much as I am in love with this blog, my little space on the Internet, it does take time and care to put together my posts. The next couple of weeks are unexpectedly jam-packed with activity and visits and meetings and work and back to school, and I’m stressed just thinking about balancing it all.

So what better time to take a break from browsing, uploading, checking, double-checking, triple-checking? The rules I’m making for myself are: no Facebook, no Twitter, no blogging, no Pinterest. Email is okay, because I will need to be corresponding with people  for my job. I will allow myself to check/use Instagram on my phone because that’s an activity that gives me a lot of happiness, but isn’t a time suck. I can Google things that I need to know (ex. where to find a shoe repair store in Montreal!) and obviously anything for school. Basically, I can use the Internet for practical purposes (school, work, extra-curriculars) but not for time-wasters.

Instead, I’m going to focus on school, friends, reading, fun, work. This break is starting after I post this, until *at least* next Sunday (the 9th). But I might extend it by another week!

I’m kind of nervous, isn’t that pathetic? The Internet is such a crutch for me! I use it so often. But I think this will be good for me, if challenging.

Wish me luck! Happy back to school.

Life List: Attend a Diner en Blanc Event

This item is a very recent addition to my life list, and that’s mainly because I only discovered what Diner en Blanc was at the beginning of this summer. Pretty much as soon as I stumbled onto the website, however I knew I needed to join one, at some point in my life. Hence, life list.

Diner en Blanc is, at its core, a fancy picnic that takes place all over the world. Guests provide their own food, alcohol, table, chairs, tablecloth, plates and cutlery – everything must be white, except food of course! The location of the event is kept secret up until you arrive, and to get to it you must meet up with a leader (who you choose when you register) who takes you to the final destination.

There is a huge amount of whimsy and excitement to an event like this. Nobody knows where they’re going, but everyone looks unified and happy in their white outfits. Everyone has packed a beautiful dinner with some wine, has picked out table settings and candles, but nobody can get too uppity because there is no VIP treatment! Everyone has to lug in their things, wait in line to be told where to set up the table, put their table and chairs together and get everything organized to eat. It’s a great equalizer.

And it’s beautiful. Just stunning. As soon as I saw photos on the website, I knew I had to be a part of Diner en Blanc, it is just so gorgeous, and looked terrifically fun, too. It’s such a summer event, everyone in white summery clothes, eating light food like bruschetta and nuts, drinking wine. And there’s something so awe-some about the fact that against all odds, over four thousand people came together, all obeying the same rules, all waiting patiently to get their table set up, all wearing white. It just makes you smile, that all these strangers can work together so well.

After everyone is set up, everyone waves white napkins in the air to signal dinner. During dinner, they pass out balloons, to tie to the backs of your chair. After dinner, they pass out sparklers, and all at once everyone lights their sparklers and waves them and it lights up the entire square and everyone looks beautiful, and you release your balloon into the sky, and it’s just all very breathtaking. And then it’s time for dancing! They provided an awesome DJ, and everyone danced outside until it was time to go home.

If you ever get the chance to attend a Diner en Blanc event, I would thoroughly suggest doing it. Yes, it ended up being a lot of work (and costing more than I expected) to get the right sized table, food, white clothes – but it was all completely worth it. 100%.

Oh, and in case you were wondering – the event this year was held at Place des Arts, an outdoor area in our downtown. We were slightly bummed at first, because Place des Arts was our meetup point with our leader! We had been sure that after meeting him, he would be taking us somewhere in the city we’d never been, but instead everyone in Montreal came to us. Oh well! It was still a ton of fun. And fun to answer all the questions from people not part of the event about what was going on!

I leave you with this blurry, but somehow perfect photo I took from the dance floor. Such a beautiful and fun night.  xo.

22 Before 22: Make Sushi

Remember my birthday list? Well, I’m pleased to report that in just a few months of being 21 I’ve checked a couple biggies off. I have the podcast up and running, I’ve corresponded twice already with my pen pal, I’m halfway through Pride and Prejudice, and my friend and I have grown basil and cherry tomatoes – I just have to put some photos up for posterity!

And then, of course, are the “make” goals: I tend to make the quickest progress with those, for some reason. Cinnamon buns, check! And now: sushi. I loved the process of making both these, and I’m hoping that when I make cheese, it will be equally fun.

My friend Billy (longtime fan of my blog, awesome Ultimate Frisbee player and sushi master extraordinaire) offered to bring the supplies for sushi creation to a potluck that another friend was having. I leaped at the idea, and found myself making my very own sushi (and eating a lot of his). I bought calrose (aka sushi) rice at the grocery store yesterday, and am really looking forward to making more sushi sometime soon.

I learned a couple important things about the process. First, the rice should be (if possible) not too sticky. We added rice vinegar to ours, and I think that helped. Second, adding brie cheese into the rolls is a revelation! Seriously, try it and see for yourself. Brie/mango? Perfect. I also learned that you should not be afraid of pressing hard when you’re rolling, and that a recently-sharpened knife will really help in slicing perfectly. Finally, rolling the nori sheets around the rice and filling is infinitely easier than rolling the rice around the nori and filling. Even if it’s a little less pretty, perhaps.

So much fun. I’m so happy that I’ve done this one! Now back to reading Austen.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

xo.

Project 365: Week 26

My dad’s been in town for the last few days: you’ll see him pop up in these photos a couple times. We had fun – lots of dinners, lots of Jazz Fest, lots of walking around. I’m totally exhausted and ready for a big sleep in tomorrow morning. Summers in Montreal are so beautiful, not only because they just are, but because friends and family tend to visit more often, which is wonderful.

But after all that delicious (and rich) food, my body is craving greens, smoothies, green smoothies, salad, etc. We’ll see how long that’ll last, I suppose!

Are you gearing up for a beautiful weekend? I hope so! Enjoy that sunshine.

Scroll to Top