August Snapshots

This August was easily the busiest month of my life. For real you guys. I ended my time at a job I've had for two and a half years, I traveled to Florida, fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting Hogwarts and Diagon Alley, then immediately came home and traveled to King City for a political event. I crammed in as many hang outs with friends as I possibly could, I moved cities into my own apartment for the first time, and I've started my Bachelor of Education at a new school. Whewf!

I had great intentions and so many amazing ideas for lovely posts this month, and none of them came to fruition. I'm really sad I didn't end up writing posts for our trip to Florida! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was one of the most amazing places I have ever been. For real. And Mike and I had SUCH a lovely day date at Disney World.

I at least made a little collage to wrap up some key events of this month. It's the best I can do this time around.

• Some lovely girlfriends and I got together for a wine night! It was after a very, very long day, and it was great to unwind. I'm happy I have such lovely friends in my life :)
  
• Amanda got me into crossfit this month! We went to quite a few classes together, along with Laura and Morgan a few times. I also went on lots of runs. My little Maya, as it turns out, is not the best running companion.
  
• I had my very last shift at Coles, and my coworkers threw me a going away party! It was sentimental but I'm so happy to be moving forward :)
  
• My mom took Mike and I to Florida, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I can't even begin to express how freaking amazing it was. I seriously felt like I was at Hogwarts/ Diagon Alley, and I entered severe fangirl mode. I spent so many sickles and knuts to stock up on wizarding treats and souvenirs ;)
  
• My heart belongs at Howgarts ⚯͛ ♥
  
• Mike and I had a day to ourselves in Florida, and park-hopped all of Disney World! It was hectic and busy, but we had such an amazing time.
  
• Mike had a fancy political convention to attend in King City and I joined him :) We had a lovely weekend at super fancy conference centre with some lovely friends.
  
• I got in as many friend hangouts as possible before I left for North Bay! I especially enjoyed my Island day trip with Amanda and my little friend Leland :)
  
• I moved to North Bay! I started my program (which I absolutely LOVE), and have already formed a friendship with an awesome group of girls! I am living in a basement apartment all on my own which I have fully redecorated, and I can't wait to start my placement back in the Sault in a kindergarten class!
  

CRAY y'all. I'm hoping I will have more time for my little bloggy during the school year, but things are already so busy that it isn't looking great! Hopefully I can wedge out some time for myself though. I feel like a full-fledged adult now, and adulthood is all about getting your shit together and managing your time. So I'll give it my best shot.

Hope you all had as lovely a summer as I did! BRING ON AUTUMN :D :D :D

Florida Here We Come

Today, my mom, Mike, and I are leaving for Florida! After we had to cancel our cruise in February, we decided to reschedule a trip to Universal Studios this month instead. I've been a diehard Harry Potter fan for as long as I can remember, and I've definitely taken my mom along for the ride. We read most of the first few books together when I was growing up. Mike is a fan as well (although probably not as intense as I am), so we are SO STOKED to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Ermagersh I can't even describe my excitement. We will be spending two full days at Universal (HOGWARTS AND DIAGON ALLEY EEP), and then Mike and I are going to of off on our own to explore Disney World together for a day. Mike has never been before, so it's going to be really exciting!!

This month has already been so busy, and we have lots of fun things planned (this trip included), so I think it is just going to fly by! So many exciting things are happening right now, I hardly know how to react. BLARGH.

A Chapter Closes

(tee: joe fresh | skirt: dress bought from lulu letty, turned into skirt | shoes: mod cloth | belt: forever 21 | necklace: american eagle | bracelet: h&m)

This week has been a pretty significant one for me... I had my last shift at Coles on Wednesday night since I'm leaving for school. A few days before, my coworkers threw me a going away party (See what I did with the title there? I'm done my bookstore job. Get it? Books, chapters, moo ha ha). I dressed up just a little bit for the event. I had a hard time thinking of the perfect outfit, but in the end I settled on a black tee and floral skirt. It felt like a good level of dressiness for an important dinner at a not-so-fancy venue.

The dinner was actually really nice. It was nice to have one last get-together with the people I've come to spend so much of my time with. The staff at Coles has changed so much since I first started, and most of the girls working there now are new, but I've still grown close with so many of them and made some really great friends.

The staff bought me such a cute gift (a Kate Spade agenda that we carry that I've been swooning over for a while now, and an adorable owl mug), and gave me the sweetest card. They all wrote me the loveliest messages, and it was so nice to be told that I was appreciated as an employee, coworker, and friend. My boss (who has had some moments of the crazies) also let me know that I've been one of her most dedicated employees and I would be the hardest to replace. It gave me a case of the teary eyes.

It feels so strange to be done at Coles... I don't think it's really hit me yet. I feel like I still work there. I've dedicated so much of the past two and a half years to that place, working overtime, nearly every day, doing long hours and late nights whenever I was asked to. And most of the time, I was happy to.

It sounds really silly to get so sentimental about a retail job, but that job was really important to me for so many reasons. For a long time, I considered it one of the best things to happen to me. It was a job I really loved, was really good at, flourished at, felt appreciated at, and I also made some really great friends. It was a great fit for me for a long time.

More recently, it's been a bit of a negative thing in my life. I've had my fair share of difficulties and stress due to certain events and people. It's lost a lot of the lustre for me, and I have felt taken advantage of more than a few times. Which I suppose is pretty common for those of us working minimum wage jobs through college. But it's been sad to be so jaded at a job I once loved.

I think that as much as this job grew to be a huge source of stress, I will really miss it. I'm going to miss the times it was a really fun environment. I will miss obsessively organizing books and products, the perfect balance of slow days and busy days, having a great discount on some of my favourite things, the good customers, and the friendships I made. I grew up a lot working there and I'm very grateful for the experience.

But I'm also incredibly happy to be moving on. That job wasn't going to take me anywhere, and I'm excited to move on to bigger and better things.

Aaaand I am sorry for all of these cliches... I am stuck in a sentimental vortex of cheesiness right now. I will be better tomorrow.

The Only Drunkard

(tank: tj maxx | jeans: american eagle | shoes: ardene | necklace: smart set | earrings: aldo | bracelet: h&m)

The other night, I met up with Mike, Laur, and Em for a casual night of drinkies at Mike's place. We had a lovely and fun evening and it was so nice to get together for once since we always have conflicting schedules! We also had a speaker phone call with Mark to see how the army life is going. I somehow managed to be the only truly drunk person in the vicinity so that was mildly awful. I think because I met up with everyone after work and I managed to convince myself that I had a lot of catching up to do. But at least I had a good time EH?

I went shopping across the river with my Zia Daniela while she was in town and picked up this top! I really fell in love with it, but wasn't positive about how I felt when it was actually on. Such a dilemma. I do think it accentuates my hips a little more than I'd like, but I couldn't resist the pretty lace and I loved how silky it was. I also don't have very many dressy tank tops. So in the end, I think it was a good purchase! Plus I've actually worn it already as you can see, and it's happened too many times that I never end up wearing new clothes!

ANYWAY, that's all for today! Hope you are all having a lovely week :)

August Goals

I have been mildly afraid of August's arrival since the day I accepted my offer of admission at Nipissing. And now it's here. I'm really excited to go to school again and to live on my own for the first time, but obviously a mild freakout is also in order.

This month, I'm excited to:

• Get my ducks all in order since I move at the end of the month! Eep! I need to get organized and packed and prepared.
• Continue going to yoga classes as often as I can, try out cross fit, and go running and hiking and biking on the days that my wallet can't quite cover an expensive group exercise class.
• Continue cooking healthy meals and experimenting with fun recipes from my oddly large collection of cookbooks (Seriously when did I collect so many cookbooks? I don't even really like cooking)
• Enjoy my upcoming trip to Florida with my mom and Mike! I'm SOO excited to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter I could die. Also, try not to let my mother drive me bonkers while we spend five whole days together in another country. 
• Have my last shift at Coles! And have a celebratory dinner with all my coworkers/ friends... I am hoping I won't get too emotional about leaving. 
• Spend as much time as possible with Mike, my friends, and family before I leave.
• Have an especially awesome celebration/goodbye for Laur because she is moving to England in September!
• Have a smooth move to North Bay and start my program at Nipissing!!