Happy Last Day of the Year!

I spent the past hour getting ready to go to work. Of course, working in the service industry, I haven't NOT worked a NYE in the past 4 years ;) 

I hope everyone had a great Christmas/Winter Holiday as well. I just got back yesterday night from a quick trip back home. It was so nice to be back and with all my friends and just everything. As much as I love Vancouver, it just doesn't feel as good to me yet. It makes me wonder if it's because I haven't given this place a chance yet, or if it just isn't right? Who knows…. You can sort of see, but there is a pastel turquoise streak in my hair now. Fun!

A Brave Morning

I did a crazy marbelly manicure tonight and it's the messiest shit everrrrr. I also need a haircut like nobodies business. I don't want to go to anyone but my hairdresser and i can't afford a $70 trim :(

T-Minus 2 days until i go hooooooome

Heart's Desire

Source: We Heart It

1. Hommmmmmeee. I can't wait to go home for Christmas next week. I don't know if it's because I haven't really settled into my life in Vancouver yet, but I'm feeling so desperate to be home. I can't figure out how to put it into english words, in Swedish I'd say "home sugen".

2. Mt. Rinjani on Lombok…. I have most desperate need to go back to Indonesia. I rejected doing the 4 day hike up Rinjani while I was there, and I'm not sure if I'd do it if I went back but I want to be near something like this.

3. Vancouver needs some snow, ASAP.

4 & 5. It's too cold to surf over here right now... I miss the days where I would wake up just after sunrise, surf for a couple of hours, eat a banana pancake, take a nap on the beach, surf for a couple more hours, take another nap, eat some fresh seafood and drink some beers, sleep repeat. *sigh*

6. Kaya Scodelario is beauuuuuuutiful. Love her as Effy.

7. I've been updating the books on my Kindle (which, BTW, is my favourite purchase of the YEAR!) and I love being able to fall asleep as I'm reading.

I'm like a 5 year old

I just painted my nails with about a zillions layers of purple glitter nailpolish and I can't get over them. I literally keep staring at them and spacing out. Even right now, I am looking at my nails. DISCO PARTY!!! I am now on a quest for more glittery nail polish. Glitter polish reminds me of when I was younger and first started painting my nails and would take my mums polish and think I was so grown up haha. 

Another blast from the past:

Probably my favourite Christmas album ever (when I was 12, that is). Is it bad that I still kinda love it? 

The Best Thanksgiving Ever

Kawah Ijen hike into the crater. 

After climbing 3.5 km uphill we decided to climb another kilometre down to the sulphur lake. Guided by a local worker we carefully made our way down the sketchiest rock face into the depths of the volcanic crater. Wildly beautiful, what really affected me was watching all the locals who worked there: carrying 90 kilo baskets of sulphur up out of the crater and then down the mountain for less than $6 a load. 

Sunrise at Mt. Bromo with Mt. Semeru in the background and Mt. Batok in the front.

I've seen a lot of sunsets, but I can count the sunrises I've seen on my hands. 

I know, I went a little toycam effect happy ;) Seeing as it was just American Thanksgiving, I thought I would share what I did over MY Thanksgiving. Seeing as I was in Indonesia and wasn't getting a turkey, I bagged 2 volcanoes over the weekend instead. I am so thankful for that amazing things I got to see and do that weekend. Even after spending 2 months in the beautiful country that is Indonesia, these were my favourite experiences and most moving moments.

What more could you want?

Good scents

and

Delicious food (courtesy ReUp BBQ Truck!)

Ok yeah, you could want more. But right now that is exactly what I am wanting in life. Sitting on my floor, watching the latest episode of Gossip Girl, eating a really messy sandwich and smelling gooooood haha. I love how days can be made so easily with just a few good things.

Oh my God, What have I done?

Healthy skin,

Perfect teeth,

Designed to hide what's underneath...

FUTURE THINGS?!

So I'm at this point in life where I feel like I need to go back to school. I graduated in 2008 from SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) with a diploma in New Media Production and Design and a 3.8 GPA. To be honest, it was kind of a joke program (some of it, not all) and I kind of took it as a joke. I mean, I definitely grew as a designer but I don't think I used my full potential. Which is why I'm looking at going back to school to get a full degree and become more hireable in today's workforce.

...Or maybe just prolong "real life"??? It also brings up the issue of location. I would love to stay in Vancouver, so I'm thinking Emily Carr and Cap U's IDEA program. I also think moving back to Calgary might be an idea, so ACAD is in the bag (plus it's an EXCELLENT art school). The idea of moving far away (again) appeals to me too, so I'm thinking Yorks design program as well. $200 in application fees later…

One step at a time, I guess.

A day like today like any other.

Today is another cloudy, rainy, boring day in Vancouver. Today is the kind of day where I miss the open, expanding sky of my home. There is something in the flat, grey skies of fall-to-winter Vancouver that sucks out all my will to live. Ok, I'm kidding but anyone that has experienced the 4 months of shit weather that Vancouver experiences between November and March will know what I'm talking about.

Where is home? Calgary. I know, I know… Don't get me wrong, I love Vancouver.  I love the mountains and the ocean being right next to me. I love the way the city looks when the sun is shining and I'm riding down the seawall on my bike. But even in the rain, Calgary sky beats Vancouver sky, hands down.

(not that that Dan Mangan song really has anything to do with my love for Calgary sky. It's just a lovely video and he's a lovely local artist.)

Jiggy Jig

So I'm lying here on my couch and listening to music and trying to get over my jetlag, which is being quite persistent and hard to get over, and I finally decided to start a blog (which I've been contemplating for awhile, actually).

I haven't quite decided what this blog will be about… Maybe just life? My life? Life around me? Sure. I've just been feeling inspired (and the need??) to share and blog and what not.

On a note, "Jiggy Jig" is from a hat that my friends brought back for my boyfriend last year from Indonesia that is sitting around my apartment. The jet lag I am getting over is from my recent trip to Indonesia. It's some Bahasa slang for having sex, and it's really funny because I never heard it mentioned in conversation until I was hanging out with this 20 year old surfer dude in Padang Padang while super loaded off Bintang shots (and I never heard it again after).