Lately | October

Feeling tired, but happy.

Experimenting with the perfect smoothie formula (to great success so far).

Reading Ghostwritten and Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism and loving both for different reasons.

Shooting only in Aperture Priority mode as much as possible.

Giddy about seeing my family + cats later today.

Perfecting my morning run routine.

Writing lists upon lists upon lists in my new favourite notebook.

Brainstorming vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes (with help from Pinterest!).

Drinking a lot of chai tea.

Having really bizarre dreams (as usual, for me).

Scoring free brownies at work!

Enjoying the non-cracked screen on my replacement iPhone.

Proud of all the great content my section is publishing lately on Leacock’s.

Needing a mini-vacation, cat cuddles, some pumpkin pie.

Improving at my job waitressing (and that makes me happy).

Grateful for my small pseudo-family of great friends that help me make this place a home away from home.

Feeling like the days are blurring together.

Excited that I got out of bed early (for me) this morning.

Loving my (expensive but worth it) new Under Armour sports bra.

Looking forward to reading the next book club book.

Smiling.

22 Before 22: Start a Book Club

On my list of 22 before 22 goals, I’ll admit that I had a few favourites. Create a podcast, become a penpal, make cinnamon buns, start a book club. I’ve been wishing that I had a book club for ages, and I’ve tried with my friends – but we’ve had a couple false starts. This time, though, it actually materialized! We made a Facebook thread, chose a book, read it, met and discussed it for over an hour (the time flew – we are very book nerdy).

Sure, only about a third of the people we invited to participate could find the time (it was a 600 page book, after all), but I think we all hope that it will grow each month, especially if we choose shorter books. But even if it stays to us four pictured + a good friend calling in on speakerphone to participate (!!), I’ll be thrilled.

My favourite part of having a book club is being able to read a book at the same time my friends are reading it. This is a very novel experience for me (no pun intended), I think the last time I read a book in tandem with other people was probably Catcher in the Rye in tenth grade! It’s so fun to talk about what part everyone is at, what they thought of a particular scene, discuss thoughts about characters, etc. It is really fun!

And then, of course, the actual meeting was so great. We have two English literature students in the group, who are quite adept at picking up on things and making connections. Our talk illuminated lots of things for me, and made me think about things I hadn’t even noticed while reading. Discussing the book made me appreciate and understand it so much more.

The first book we read was The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. It was my first time reading Murakami, and I really enjoyed the book. It’s a little quirky, weird, and fantastical, but a very good read.

Our next book is going to be Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant. Apparently it, too, is a little quirky, and I can’t wait to start it.

So there you have it: my idea of fun. I’m thrilled that I can cross this one off my list, and enjoy the rest of the books that are coming my way!

Project 365: Weeks 37 + 38

Some of these photos I love, some of them I don’t love. I’m trying hard to practice my photography because I have had it up to here with not being able to take a picture that looks the way I want it to! It’s such a long process though. I am really happy to have done Project 365 because it forces me to practice every day. I like that! And I like having documentation of every day this year.

These past few weeks have gone by in a huge blur. My photos will attest that I spent a lot of time indoors, reading (as I will for the rest of the winter, most likely), but had a few adventures too. I hope that’s how my winter goes as well.

I’m happy because I only have a few days left before I head home for the Thanksgiving long weekend. Hooray! :) Happy Friday everyone.

Just Because Cake

I made this cake just because. Just because I almost always have the ingredients for a vegan cupcake recipe on hand. Just because it was a Wednesday and I was lonely. Just because I had a bunch of icing remnants in my fridge that I wanted to use up (spoiler alert: I used up none of them entirely). Just because the activities of reading, writing, watching more TV and going outside did not seem appealing that night.

So I made a cake. Just because! And it was delicious. Those Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World recipes are foolproof – they always come out so moist (…) and yummy. I made a chocolate cake and frosted with leftover Betty Crocker and homemade icing that I dyed pink. I tried to do a striped pattern on the top – just because – but it didn’t turn out so I just smoothed it all together to become PINK!

Thus far, the cake has been eaten by me and my best friend while watching Lola Versus (great movie, in our opinion – Greta Gerwig is so funny) on my bed. It was supposed to be taken to a dinner or two, but I keep forgetting it at home. I’ll bring it to the next one though, because it’s just wallowing in my kitchen.

I guess this qualifies as stress baking. I’m okay with that, since I didn’t just eat the whole thing to cope with my stress. Actually, it’s the act of baking that relieves my stress! Often by the time I’m done baking, I’m not really interested in eating the products. This is good news.

I used this recipe for basic chocolate cupcakes – one batch makes an 8-inch, 1 layer cake.

Gosh, I love my hobbies sometimes. Cakes make friends! Happy baking.

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