Nothing Like a New Dress

(dress: h&m | tights: h&m | boots: spring | scarf: h&m | belt: h&m)

I had high hopes that I would be able to write a post today entitled "MY BALLIN' NEW HAIRCUT." My friends and I had a trip to the salon planned for yesterday, and we were all going to get some new do's. I was planning on a big change, too! However, we didn't arrange things quite well enough. The salon didn't have time to fit me in, and the cut I planned on getting was also waaaay more than I anticipated. So Linds and Alexa got their hair done, and I was left in the dust!

While Linds was finishing up with her hair cut, Alexa and I went shopping around since we both needed new jeans. And on the bright side of things, I bought a new pair of my usual jeans another size down! I was pretty excited to have gone down another pant size. However, it's hard to be too excited when I'm not seeing the changes in my body that the scale and the number on my jeans band are saying. But that's another post for another time.

A new dress is also a great way to make you feel better about things. When I was home this past weekend, I took a little visit to H&M to spend a gift card I got over Christmas! I saw this dress over the break, but didn't pick it up. It haunted me for a few weeks, so I decided to buy it this past weekend. I picked up a few other things as well, and I have to say, H&M is taking over my closet since it came to the Soo. I'm becoming such a poster child. I mean, check out this outfit! What the hell is that?

Back in the Bay (Again)

(top: h&m | pants: h&m | kimono: brandy melville | boots: spring | earrings: joe fresh | necklace: american eagle | bracelets: mix of h&m and smart set)

This past weekend, I took a trip back home for the Coles Belated Christmas Party, since I worked there over the holidays. Honestly, I was a bit reluctant to even attend the party, and it kind of just worked out as a convenient reason to visit home.

And I'm glad I did go home! I had such a perfect/ adorable/ romantic weekend with Mike. Being apart for long stretches can be insanely hard sometimes. I count my lucky stars that our distance isn't that extreme, and that we can see each other somewhat often. I know we have it pretty great, as far as long distance goes. But this weekend was especially lovely, and we did so many fun things together.

I also spent a lot of time with my mom and of course, Maya, which was lovely. My mom even took us out for dinner and a movie, which was so much fun (THE IMITATION GAME IS AN AMAZING FILM)! The weekend definitely flew by way too fast.

It's so nice to be back in North Bay though!! It's hard to get back into the swing of things, homework-wise. Classes are still enjoyable, but I'm dreading the due dates coming up.

My friends and I have been having a blast though! I spend so much time with Alexa and Lindsay and Larissa, it's shocking we haven't gotten sick of each other yet. I actually wore this outfit for a movie night with Alexa and Lindsay. We have a bit of a movie night tradition, and it's always such a blast going to the theatre together (I SAW THE IMITATION GAME FOR THE SECOND TIME, IT IS SO GOOD).

I'm so incredibly grateful that I made such amazing friends here. It's so crazy to think that we just sat at the same table on the first day of class. We were destined to be besties!

Time to Create

I have always considered myself to be a creative person, and I've always been passionate about the arts. However, in the past few months, I've realized how much my creative hobbies have slid under the radar in more recent years!

I'm pretty sure that being in music and art class has caused me to think about how much I love music and art, and I really don't want to let go of that. I have been very busy over the past few years, with school and work and whatnot. But it's so important to me to express myself creatively, and I don't want to let that go to the wayside in order to make room for other more "important" things. It's SUCH a DEPRESSING thought. SO! I have decided to commit myself to more creative pursuits in the upcoming year, as much as I possibly can. Here are a few of my creative goals:

• Finally buy a ukulele and learn how to play it!
• Continue teaching myself the guitar. Try to get over how hard those stupid bar chords are and force my fingers into position. Maybe I'll even sing a song or two! :O
• Work on getting my teaching credentials for piano! This has never been a huge goal of mine, but I've been thinking about it more and more these days. 
• Draw more. I used to sketch day in and day out, and I really miss it. For Christmas, I drew my aunt a picture of my grandparents. It was such a special project for me, and reminded me of how great it can feel to create a picture from scratch. Plus my aunt cried so much when she opened it, which made me realize how special handmade projects can be.
• I'd like to write more if possible! I have a fun writing workbook which I'd like to fill in. I used to dabble in writing poetry as well. Recently I've been reading a lot of poetry, and I'm thinking I might try it again if the mood strikes. 
• Continue working on some more DIY projects and crafts! 
• As always, put together some pretty outfits that make me feel fancy.
• Perhaps blog a little more here and there.

Let's see where the creative winds take us, shall we? :D

(picture from tumblr)

September Goals

My favourite month is finally here! Yeah you heard me. Speaking out on my love of this time of year, loud and proud. I refuse to be ashamed of the fact that I am a basic white girl who is in love with Autumn. For me, September means the start of school, my birthday, changing leaves, crisp fresh air, back to school shopping, cozy sweaters, the smell of books, pumpkin errythang, long drives, yummy lattes and tea, the cutest outfits- just EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS LIFE, DO YOU HEAR ME? My goals for this month are pretty straightforward:

• Manage my time well, and balance school and placement with some social activities, blogging, and going to a local yoga studio.
• Speaking of school, I want to really kick some ass with my assignments and my placement. I would like to complete all of my assignments to the best of my ability at school, and be my best possible teacher self on placement.
• Figure out the school layout and where all my classes are. Ugh.
• Be smart with my money *cough government loan cough lol I haven't had real money since August lol cough*
• Keep my apartment as adorable and comfortable as possible, especially since it isn't entirely what I was expecting. I still want to make it my comfy place.
• Make hella Skype dates and texts and email chains with Mike, my mom, and my home friends a huge priority.
• Still have fun in North Bay despite missing all my favourite people, and continue making new friends :)
• Have safe travels to and fro North Bay and the Soo when I go on placement! I will be highway driving by myself more than I ever have before and it's a little bit intimidating!
• Have tons of fun with Laur when I am back in the Soo since she and Josh leave for England on the 11th!
• EMBRACE FALL ♥ ♥ ♥ That one is so easy :)

Excited for this month, boys and girls, the future has some lovely things in store *girl sticking out hand emoji*... (Blogger should integrate emojis. That would be good of Blogger.)