Monday, March 8th, 2010
I had an amazing weekend!
- Friday: Received my promise ring. <3 Happiness! I got the call while I was at work so Justin and I went to the jewelry store to pick it up when I was done. It’s so beautiful! It’s a white gold band, simple and pretty. It was surprisingly difficult to find something without any detailing on it.
- Saturday: I went to Casinorama with Justin and Dave where I watched everyone else play and didn’t risk anything myself, haha. Watched Justin rake in a $1020 jackpot on the slots. :O Stayed overnight with the winnings!
- Sunday: Went to Toronto with Justin for an impromtu outing. I bought myself a fancy but tiny little keyboard so my keyboard and mouse can finally both live and fit together on the pull-out shelf in perfect harmony. Getting used to only have one CTRL key on the right is a challenge! I didn’t realize how much I used that key until I started using the computer beyond basic internet-applications. </geeky-talk >
I made an appointment with a bra fitting place downtown and bought some great pieces with my vacation pay. Poor Justin had to sit and wait for two hours while I tried on lots of stuff to get the right fit. (My body is really weird to fit.) I was so happy that I was fit with Freya bras. I absolutely love that brand and at the last place, the girl was certain that their styles wouldn’t fit me. We tried on a few sizes at that original boutique and she told me they wouldn’t work. At this boutique, the girl was very patient and found the correct size for me. Typical appointments are 45 minutes but she spent two hours with me. I bought Freya Pollyanna and Freya Estelle. It’s a little more expensive than buying from the online shops, but the personal attention to fit makes it worth it!
We ended the day by going out for dinner to a Korean restaurant and it was so delicious! I got chicken bibim bop which was great but huge! I had to take most of it home with me, hehe. It was the perfect end of the day.
<3
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Monday, February 22nd, 2010
I couldn’t resist: I ordered some more fabrics online. I couldn’t help myself! A few weeks ago I bought three quarters of a meter of Rosie the Quilter fabric from a $3.99/m sale. Don’t know who I’m talking about? It’s the quilting adaptation of the American cultural icon Rosie the Riveter.
You know, this lovely lady:
The fabric adaptation is super cute, with Rosie toting a rotary cutter in her emblematic fist. Instead of “We Can Do It!”, it’s “We Can Quilt It!” The fabric I bought was an all over pattern with small circular “Keep on Quilting” motifs. I was aimlessly surfing fabric stores online for general pink fabrics to match. My original plan was to simply fussy cut the Rosies and make nine patches out of coordinating prints. But, I stumbled across Rosie panels that I didn’t even know existed!
I ended up buying a bit more than I was originally going to, but I figured if I was going to pay the shipping charge, I might as well get my flat rate’s worth. I bought a bunch of pink fabrics plus two different Rosie panels. I also have a black and white quilt that I’ve been dreaming of for a while that I bought some things for. I hope eQuilter is fast, because I’m pumped to start cutting!
P.S: I quit my part time job and started full time at the day care. Less stress, more money, and more time to sew! Hooray!
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
I love my new job at the daycare, but I’ve been so sick for the past week since I’ve started. My nose is constantly running, I have a barking cough, and an on-again-off-again headache. I enjoy the days when I work solely at the daycare, but the 9am to 9pm two-jobs-in-one-day days are exhausting. I think the schedule will get better once I recover. Today was my day off, so I went to bed early last night around 10pm and then woke up at 3:30pm the next day. So long in bed, but I needed the rest!
Right now I’m waiting for Justin to come home from work so he can take me to the doctor’s. Hooray!
Last Tuesday I stayed home and quilted, and this is what I got done: (I haven’t had a chance to update, except on my flickr, haha)
The final image shows my second photoshop design for the quilt. I like to do a quick mock up either on paper or photoshop. I deviated from the original photoshop quilt layout a bit. The structure is the same, but I decided against the small brick appliques for now, and got rid of the satin-stitch linear embellishments. I bought the backing fabric the other day after work, and yikes: of course, I had to pick the most expensive fabric from the quilt as the backing, yargh! Luckily it was 50% off!
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Thursday, January 21st, 2010
I’m assuming that all you sewers out there know the lovely feeling of getting new fabrics! I ordered a few half-yard fabrics from Fat Quarter Shop to use on a green and brown quilt that I’m working on. A few weeks ago, I finished the centre of this quilt, making a large log cabin style block, but with a more modern approach.
I don’t have an iron while I’m sewing at my boyfriend’s place, so excuse the wrinkles! I’m too addicted to quilting right now to not sew because of that reason, so I just have to deal with it for now.
I ordered four green fabrics, plus a random pink one. I was paying $10 for shipping regardless, so I figured that I might as well get something else too! Fat Quarter Shop’s cuts were perfect. I wish I had ordered more! My first time online fabric shopping was a success! Only two of the four green fabrics actually match the quilt, but I will use the other two in other projects. I’ve already cut out all the rectangles from the fabric and I want to sew-sew-sew!
The kitties love that I have fabric everywhere.
In other news, I’ve been playing World of Warcraft a lot lately. I’ve finally gotten to Dalaran so I have been doing the daily cooking quests! I’m a little addicted to the professions in the game…
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Sunday, January 17th, 2010
While I liked the look of my previous blog layout, the colours were a bit dark and bogging me down. I’ve created a new layout for this blog in bright greens and whites to freshen things up a bit! I’ve been in a quilting mood lately. I’ve been sewing like a madwoman on a new quilt, in the same colours as this blog, actually. The patterns on this design are actually taken straight from my fabrics!
Since I haven’t blogged in half a year, I’m not really sure what to say. I’ve finally got a new job at a daycare which I start next week. I’m looking forward to it, but I’m going to be keeping both jobs for at least a while. I’m going to be starting at 9am in the morning until early afternoon, then travel by bus to my other job and work until 9pm. It’s probably going to be a little insane, but I like to keep busy, and I really want to save lots of money right now. More and more expenses just keep adding up.
On a brighter note, here is a quilt that I finished on December 24th. It was a Christmas present for my boyfriend’s mom, and I was a big stressful mess nearing the end of it. I was really worried I wouldn’t get it done in time!
Her living room is painted burgundy with tan couches and floral accents, so I tried to pick colours that would work in the room to use as a TV cuddling blanket. I machine stitched the binding because I was running short on time, but I actually like the look of it a lot and will probably machine stitch rather than hand stitch my binding from this point forward. Hooray!
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Friday, July 17th, 2009
I’ve been back at home for about two months now but I haven’t completely adjusted back to normal life. My convocation ceremony was last month and I now have a diploma tucked into my bookshelf. (Framing has yet to happen.) So… I have an honours degree in English literature – now what?
I’ve been on the hunt for a new job that could somehow be said to be related to my degree, but nothing has happened yet. I’ve had three interviews, two of which I was accepted, but I turned them down because they were no better than what I actually have right now. I work in a retail fabric store, but I actually love it a lot. When I started applying to other retail stores out of desperation, I wasn’t getting many hours. Things have picked up at work and I’m picking up a decent 30 hours a week. For now, this will be okay.
I’m living with my parents for now, and after being with many different roommates for the past four years, it seems strange to be home. Mostly, I find it weird that my living style has changed so much from my parents that I get annoyed with the state of the kitchen – if they were strangers, I’d call them bad roommates about the dishes. (Oops.) I have to get over it through – I’m living rent free for now.
So basically, at the moment I’m just working and saving money. My little tax-free savings account is growing month-by-month (I deposit a fake monthly rent payment in there as if I were paying real rent), my VISA card is entirely paid off, and I’m going to start making payments on my massive student loan soon. I’m studying for my G1 test, because yes, I’m 22 years of age and I still don’t have my driving learner’s permit. I’m done school so it’s time for that obligatory growing up period.
I really want to move into a little apartment (perhaps with my boyfriend, hehe) once I can afford to, but for now, saving is important, and I’m glad my parents are letting me live rent-free so to help me save faster.
Web-wise, I’m working on a new project! It’s the biggest PHP-based project I’ve worked on; it’s much larger than Magitek Designs, which is completely database-driven. I’ve been plugging away at it for about a month and a half now, and I’m aiming to launch August 1st 2009. The basic functionality of the website is complete, but there are many features that I want to code up for it before there are live users on the site. It’s my first time coding a membership system! I’ve had a lot of fun working on it and debugging everything has taught me so much more about PHP. There’s still a hefty to-do list, but I think it can be realistically completed in fifteen days.
Things I’m Working On:
- Sushi-Print Dress: it’s ridiculous. Yup! It’s a classic lolita silhouette made out a silly quilting cotton. It has black bias ruffles along the bottom. The skirt is quite full and will be gathered onto the bodice. I need to make a new facing for the bodice because my interfacing made it way too thick – I think it will be fine without. I will post pictures when it’s done!
- Polka Dot Dress: I bought polka dot material on clearance last year, and I’m finally getting around to making it. This year, I found some white and blue polka dot organza that I’m going to having sticking out the bottom as trim. So cute!
- Scrapbooking University: I’m about 3/4 of the way done scrapbooking my university life. I’ve finished years one through three, but there’s a lot to be done for year four. My scrapbook was getting too thick so I separated it into two albums.
- Scrapbooking The Afterlife?!: Now that I’m out of university, I don’t even know what to call the rest of my scrapbooks. There’s no school-related units of time anymore. But, I’ve started a few pages from this summer already, mostly because there are cute pictures of my boyfriend and me so I couldn’t help myself.
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Sunday, April 5th, 2009
I’m now at seventeen days until I leave my apartment forever. That’s just over two weeks away, but I’m feeling very homesick. I was talking to my mom and dad on the phone yesterday for nearly two hours, and I got really depressed when my dad mentioned that they are going to Niagara Falls to visit Nanny without me. I rarely ever see my grandmother and I’ve never not been there when they travel to visit her. They’re also going to my Poppa’s grave because it was around this time last year that he passed away. I really want to be there because it’s an important time.
I want to be there to hold my mom’s hand.
I talked to my mom about coming too. The day they’re going is on one of the days where I don’t have an exam, so I looked at the bus schedules and worked out a potential plan. I knew I didn’t have enough money though, because it’s a $125 round trip, and I would still have to pay another $15 or so to get from Yorkdale to Oshawa. (I can’t remember how much that bus costs.)
My mom didn’t like the idea because of the cost and said that she would think about it. I was a little shocked because yes, it’s a little expensive, but it would allow me to visit Nanny and be home for Easter, two important occasions. This would be the first year I didn’t celebrate Easter without my family either, just because of the way my exam schedule fell.
I talked to my dad next and reiterated my idea, and he instantly said yes. He definitely took less persuasion! In fact, he told me not to bother about both buses because he would come to pick me up.
I’m so happy that I’m going to be going home! I feel silly because I barely felt homesick the last few years, but all I’ve been thinking for the past few months is that I want to go home. I want to be done school. I want to get a job doing something potentially more than minimum wage, but if not, that’s okay too. (I must sound like a broken record with my blog posts, but this is what I’m feeling, so I can’t help but say it again.)
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
Today is a bit of a milestone. I have three classes today and then I will have attended all the classes required for my undergraduate honours degree in English Studies. I feel good about it!
There are twenty days until I move home, two essays to complete, and three exams to write. As long as I pass everything (which I’m not really worried about), all my requirements should be filled. Huzzah!
My final class today reminds me of being in highschool. All my other classes are still serious sessions even on the last day, but my professor for Scandalous Life is bringing in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), and we are just going to have a casual lecture on the difference between Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Dangerous Liaisons. Sounds fun to me! I may pack a small bag of popcorn. That will be a nice casual way to finish the year.
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Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
I will fully admit that I’m addicted to Facebook. (That’s why I chose to write my honours paper on Facebook and censorship.) I’m also addicted to PackRat, an application created by Alamofire Inc. I recently celebrated my first year anniversary of playing PackRat. I currently have 53 feats. I had a subscription for a few months too, but since I’m in debt from my student loans I cut it. It’s really an unnecessary expense and I haven’t had as much time to play lately because I’ve been concentrating.
Anyway, long story short. My friend Jessie, who is also an avid packratter, was telling me about the awesome new features of PackRat and I should check it out. I logged into PackRat for the first time in weeks. I was surprised to see that they have a new menu bar functionality. I thought, oh, this is a nice new streamlined look. The top bar said something about there being new features that I needed to upgrade to. Since I’d been gone for so long, this seemed plausible. It’s also similar to how Wordpress makes you upgrade your database tables with each update. I went for it…
and got this message:
I was absolutely shocked! I could believe the message though, because my boyfriend also has a PackRat account (which he signed up on of his own accord) and I use his pack to store things. He will also buy me things with his credits on it. I knew it would look bad if they were truly analysing my data for the change over.
I was on MSN with Jessie and our conversation was something like this:
Me: *copy and paste of the message above* OMG O_O I’ve been banned!
Jessie: oh no! contact them
Me: Woe is me, how could this happen, etc.
Jessie: (who obviously already knows it’s a fools joke) Click on the contact button!
And then, of course, I do, and I discover it’s all a trick. I’m an April Fool. They got me!
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Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
I had a really great weekend! Justin came up to visit me and we had a lovely casual weekend just hanging out and relaxing. We watched movies, played Zelda, and cooked some new dishes. Every time he comes up we go to the grocery store, look at ingredients we’ve never tried before, and test them out in new ways. This time we found Chinese rice sticks which I had never heard of before. It’s easier to prepare than regular rice and it is delicious. We bought various veggies, chicken, and General Tao’s sauce to make a simple stirfry. So yummy. This was just the type of weekend I need before completing.
After he picked me up from school yesterday, we went home and watched Fight Club. I absolutely love this movie and we’ve both seen it before. We actually fell asleep in each other’s arms watching it and it was an extremely refreshing nap! We woke up about seven PM and he had to start his four hour drive him.
I miss him already but I’m nearing the home stretch now. It’s March 31st now, and there are 22 days until I’m done school. My list of things to do is very small now:
- Censorship Essay
- Canadian Literature Creative Writing Assignment
- Exams x 3
I feel good about it! I only have my censorship paper due this week, so I’m spending every spare moment until Friday working on it. I’m writing an essay about Facebook’s censorship practices and the paranoia that comes with it. If anyone who stumbled across this entry happens to have any stories about being suspended or banned from Facebook, or had any of their content removed, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
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