happy halloween

i just want to say.. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

i saw some amazing costumes out tonight :)
so exciting!

i just hate that as i get older there is less and less to do on halloween

or i just get too busy to do any of it
but i did get to go to a party on saturday night..

festive halloween food and treats

50's house wife and squirrel (most amazing costume idea ever!) 

*dont mind my ultra awkward face*

apparently the photographer caught me off guard

this was the only photo of me with the oven mitt in the kitchen 

i spent 3 hours curling my hair

and the curls fell within half an hour of getting to the party

just the way you are

"when you love someone more than he loves you, you'll do anything to switch the scales. you dress the way you think he'd like you to dress. you pick up his favourite figures of expression. you tell yourself that if you re-create yourself in his image, then he will crave you the same way you crave him.".. 

"when you are told you are someone you aren't over and over, you begin to believe it. you live that life. but you are wearing a mask, that one day might slip off if you aren't careful. you wonder what he will do when he finds out" - Jodie Picoult in Vanishing Acts

i love books and love owning them but i find that they are only worth keeping when you get something out of them. when books have a powerful message or line that really stands out, these i define as keepers. these are the books i will keep on my bookshelf and read again, whether it be the whole book or just the line in mention. although a book can reveal a writers talent, sometimes its one sentence in a book that is able to capture a true glimpse of just how talented a writer is. 

the line from the book above - has meaning to me. im sure it has meaning to a lot of girls. at some point you have tried to change yourself to be someone you are not, to be accepted or to be liked. you try so hard to be that someone and when you are still not liked by this guy or accepted by those people, you try harder. eventually you will either break and no longer be able to be that "fake" without revealing the true you or.. you will not be able to draw the line between the real you and the "fake". 

to be honest, i dont even know how to explain the tendencies of people to feel this way, to want to be someone they are not, just to be liked. is it messages from the media that cause this?  or is it just that people are mean? there is no one answer, i dont think. i just think its important to love and accept others the way they are and not try to change their appearance, their interests or views, their religion, their style. if you were never told you could or should be any different then you are, maybe you will avoid people who you do not mesh with (people who would be likely to change you) because you'd never try to change because you never have felt you needed to. 

so spread the action - dont try to change anyone to please yourself. if someone is different, accommodate the difference in your life so he or she does not need to be different then they are. maybe after you've realized you shouldn't try and change who anyone is, you will realize you can't change who you are to please someone.

via* weheartit*

fallen leaves bring halloween

i got my costume today and im so excited to wear it! its totally last minute since the halloween party im going to is tomorrow night and i work from 10 am until 5:30 tomorrow, leaving me no time to costume shop. i promised meg id go costume shopping with her, its kind of been a tradition of our since ive met her, so since shes coming to hamilton for the party tomorrow, i figured it was fair i go to toronto to costume shop. meg knew what she wanted to dress up as.. i had no idea.  just before going to toronto i was talking to my mom and kind of had an idea of something i may be.. lucky me though, the first stop, a thrift store and i found exactly what i was looking for (not telling!) and it was 6.99! and then i saw a sign "October 28, all clothing 50% off" perfect!.. 
kay i'll stop there since im not telling anyone what im dressing up as yet.. just wanted to say i got my costume.. and it was $3.49. i just need to get one more item.. after that its just accessories and the make-up.. but im sure either my mom or i have that stuff. 
along with getting my costume we carved our pumpkins today! it was my first time actually fully carving my own pumpkin.. the last four years i was living in student housing and no one in our house (including me) ever carved/bought a pumpkin to put out. and before that ive pretty sure ive just de-gutted a pumpkin.. never really carved one.

 de-gutting the pumpkin.. 

my favourite part

 dads pumpkin (he likes to make them friendly looking)

 my pumpkin

its totally lopsided.. but it makes it creepier

 i think its freaky
i submitted it to rachaels pumpkin carving contest
check out the other pumpkins

and some roasted pumpkin seeds

halloween spirit

im starting to get in the halloween spirit.. a little late this year for some reason. maybe it has something to do with the fact that i dont have a costume or its been rainy and disgusting out for the past week? well anyways i knew the spirit would come eventually and what more would put me in the halloween spirit then pumpkins and baking halloween sweets!

 you can see they have yet to be carved..

thats next on the list.. friday or sunday

 pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese/cinnamon icing

they turned out really good 

(recipe)

now its time to finally use my bakerella cake pops recipe book!

halloween themed cake pops

 im totally getting better at making these cake pops

they're great! literally you bake a whole cake (i usually just use boxed cake) and it makes about 40 cake pops. haha and the book suggested usually styrofoam to poke the sticks in after but i forgot to buy some so just used a box we had.

im still unsure of what to be for halloween. i think i need to go to value village and get some ideas.

last year i was mad hatter from alice in wonderland (my mom made my costume)

year before i was robin (batmans sidekick).. that costume was yet again, completely last minute and had to spend more money than i like on it :(

missrepresentation

"we are here for an instant in an eternity and all that 

really matters is what we do with that time" 

- dianne feinstein (senior U.S senator for california)

i love this quote, everything about it. its true right? i mean how old is this earth and how long have you lived on it. ive lived on it approximately 24 years and 3 months (longer if you count alive but unborn me). how insignificant is that? i guess it seems significant if i relate it just to my lifetime. considering the average life expectancy for a female in canada is approximately 83 years of age, ive already lived 24 of these.. that seems drastically more significant. ignoring that - this place where we live is old and its not going anywhere soon. we'll call it eternity. sure. back to the quote.

we are here for just an instant but isn't an instant enough to change the world. a second can change your life right? 

last night i watched a documentary called missrepresentation. basically the film covers how the female body is sexually exploited by the media and since the media has such an impact on modern day society its critical that this changes. females and the female body in the media is portrayed as an object. however the extent to which the female body is represented in the media as an object is not only affecting men, women are also believing that the their bodies may be worth damaging, starving, redesigning and hurting. this needs to change and it can change. 

since media is so influential on society and such a huge part of our lives, media needs to change. media needs to have females portrayed as respected protagonists and for their skills, talents, knowledge, abilities and especially power. men in media are recognized for such things as athletic, knowledge and power, why aren't women? films and tv shows (even when about the lives of females) are often written, directed and produced by men. commercials, magazines and advertisements are often run my men. the media is not presented through the eyes and/or mind of a women and this is the problem.
women change this, men can change this. women have to believe they deserve the respect they think men deserve and seek this respect, empower women and believe we can be leaders. men.. just treat us equal. we may be smaller but intellectually we are equal. whether your boss, leader of your city or country, coworkers, writer of your favourite book or favourite artist is male or female shouldn't matter.
i could go on.. there is so much more in the film but its probably better to just watch it. 

make my day..

something sweet on this rainy and cold day

SMILE:

when looks are your concern -  b/c your smile is beautiful

when love is your concern- b/c trust me they love your smile

when you haven't thought about anything but school for the past week - b/c it makes you feel better

when you think of me - b/c i'll smile when i think of you

<3 :)

(via pinterest)

go forward to later.. you'll land flat on your feet

i got my hair cut today

i kind of like it :)

not much cut off but my hair needed it!

ive been trying to grow my hair for about two years.. 

just trimming it once in a while

but it had been almost over 9 months since ive gotten it cut

im sure its much healthier!

have a good weekend!

*i'll be studying til next thursday*

the cool air will put your hard heart away

i love when fall is cool enough to wear a sweatshirt and pants.. today was exactly that!! unlike this past weekend which was way to hot for me to enjoy the fall.. today was beautiful! despite it being the perfect opp for me to wear my bright blue denim skinnies and new pullover cardigan thing.. i also happened to have my camera in my backpack.. i obviously took the long way home to do some fall photography. 
if only i had my nikon.. it would have been completely perfect.. but almost perfect is acceptable too..

 *outfit for the day.. bright denim skinnies (forever 21) and sweater (h&m)*

ps: the h&m sweater.. got it yesterday (24.99.. not bad!) 

 pretty fall colours :)

when i have more time - im taking my nikon out..

it promises me better pictures

awkward and awesome

awkward:
- standing in line at starbucks and having some random lady take a strand of hair off the shoulder of my shirt and stare at me the rest of the time we are in line.. 
- i was walking to my friends house, its about 8:30 pm and dark out, and i hear some kids sitting on a lawn laughing.. then this one kid walks up to me, knees bend and arms and head swinging and hes growling/making weird noises (and im pretty sure he was wearing a mask). his friend is laughing the whole time as he keeps following me to the edge and along the edge of his lawn.. lol weird! i looked at him for a second and just kept walking.. 
- different time at starbucks.. i wait in the line for practically 20 minutes (the campus starbucks is always ridiculous) and i order my mocha (or more specifically tall non-fat, half-sweet, no whip cafe mocha). i grab it and as im about to put the lid..  i spill my drink all down the counter. the girl at starbucks looked at me irritated and threw me a friggen cloth! lol i know it was my fault.. but i think that seems a bit rude. so i clean it up and start to walk away and then i realized how much i really wanted the mocha.. so i went back, prepared to buy another one.. but another lady just ordered me a new one.. no pay.. the really awkward thing is.. the same bitter lady had to make my drink again and rolled her eyes at me when she realized it was for me. 
- me public speaking or making any form of presentation
- mosquito bites on your face
- seeing someone you recognize but not knowing where you know them from.. even after hearing their name (trying to come up with a topic of discussion is horrible when you have no idea where you know them) 


awesome:
- my boss accommodated my work schedule perfectly for the next two weeks.. 11 hours during midterm week and 42 hours during reading week!
- cheques in mail!
- hanging out with bugs and lily (both 1/2 jack russells, 1/2 pug).. i they are adorable
- pumpkin ice cream with reese peanut butter cups in it (from marble slab)
- i booked a hair appointment for tomorrow at 1! i haven't had my hair cut in so long because ive been growing it.. but it always looks/feels so much healthier when its cut!
- coffee dates with old friends
- got my starbucks reward card (via) so i can benefit from my love of starbucks 

underneath the sycamore

i thoroughly enjoyed my lazy monday off work and school today. although i wasn't nearly as school work productive as i had planned to be.. it was a beautiful day for a road trip and for spending some time with my sisters before they go back to their school year cities. i woke up to pumpkin muffins which my mom made, went to the gym (i haven't been in a month!) and did some readings for classes.. nothing too mentally provoking or anything.. then around 12 my dad suggested we make a trip out to the rockton fair.. but we decided to scrap that plan when we realized it was $13/ person. okay honestly!? for the 5 of us.. thats $65 dollars in admission fees alone! im assuming on top of that would be the price of parking and any additional costs for games/food/rides/purchases. 
since we had plans of doing something other than sitting around the house we decided to grab guinness and take a road trip to paris (with stopping for ice cream on my mind).. we get to the little ice cream/chocolate shop in paris and they are out of ice cream! im not sure if they dont serve in past labour day or if they were just out for the weekend but there was no ice cream there..
so we ended up going to marble slab creamery in guelph..
i got pumpkin ice cream and in it i put reese peanut butter cups.. sounds gross? nope it was delish. the lady there insisted that its far from the weirdest combination she has every heard.. apparently someone got pumpkin ice cream with mint aero and vanilla cake pieces.. sounds a bit strange also.

hes too cute :)

have a nice week!

thanks giving

i love thanksgiving. i love the food it comes with.. mmm turkey birds, mashed potatoes, stuffing and pie.. yup. i love it all. but no actually i promise its not all about the food. i like the historical concept of the holiday itself. its a holiday of giving thanks for what we have (traditionally- giving thanks for the bounty of crops that comes this time of the year: celebrating the harvest). but i think this holiday seems to be losing its historical meaning just like all the other holidays i seem to celebrate. christmas seems to be about the gifts, easter about chocolate and bunnies and victoria day seems to be about drunkenness. maybe its societal pressures that cause this.. like who invented the easter bunny?

since thanksgiving historically was about the crops and the harvest.. it makes sense that it still is about amazing food.. like apple pie and pumpkin pie (crops!) but in what way is it about thanks giving? who do people thank? what are people thankful for? if asked what im thankful for my answer is definitely not going to be crops. yes im thankful for the crops.. most people are probably going to say "im thankful for my family, the clothes im wearing, the plate of food i have in front of me and my house". well obviously you are thankful for these things! you should be thankful for these everyday, not one day of the year. some people dont even have these things.

basically.. i think what im getting at with this post is that most of the things we think of on thanksgiving as being thankful for are those material things we know everyone doesn't have (even though we probably dont know anyone that doesn't have these- you hear of them). things like food, shelter and clothes are something that not everyone has (actually there is a large part of this planet that does not have food or shelter, clean water or clothes). i am grateful for the clothes i wear, the food i eat, the house i live in. these are usually the first things that come to my head. they are material things i can prove i have. so today i thought harder about the things i am thankful for - beyond the material things i realize i have everyday. 

im thankful that:

- my mom is my mom and that she is such a beautiful, strong and warmhearted women

- my dad is my dad and that he is such a loving, dedicated and friendly man

- my sisters are exactly who they are and who they want to be - amazing women -  both of them

- the importance of education was ingrained in my head since i was young

- my parents taught me honesty, compassion, patience and enrolled through their own actions, a sense of character and confidence in being me

- i love my job and have the utmost respect for my manager

- my friends are my friends - id be able to argue with evidence that each one is perfect and positively affects my life in one way or another.

- i am able to experience a friendship with one the most amazing young girls i know (sms).. she consistently makes me a better person

- my puppy loves me unconditionally

- i am able to have intellectual conversations with the people ive met throughout my life - im thankful for the thoughts, realization, knowledge and inspiration these people bring to my life.

i have so much more i am and will continually be thankful for.

happy thanksgiving!

gobble gobble 

im looking forward to..

im making today a "im looking forward to.." thursday:

a) because for the life of me i can't think of anything awkward that has happened in the past week.. i can probably list a handful of "awesomes" (guinness is 5 months today!) but what fun is awesome without the awkward.. awkward makes awesome.. sometimes lol.. 

and

b) i feel like it.

here it goes..

im looking forward to:

- having my sisters home for the weekend.. they are off at two different schools now and i haven't seen them since the beginning of september

- having monday off work and off school!..

- thanksgiving weekend! one of my favourite holidays due to the fact that its filled turkey, mashed potatoes, family and pie.. and plus it lacks all the pressures and costs of gifts buying

- gorgeous sunny weather the weather man promised me this weekend 

- to spend some time taking some pictures of this gorgeous season - leaves on trees changing all the most beautiful colours as the fallen ones crunch under your feet

- going to the pumpkin patch and picking out the perfect pumpkin for carving.. since rachael over at talk 2 the trees decided to have a pumpkin carving/painting contest and ive decided to participate (so excited)

- going to bed before midnight tonight

- making pumpkin spice cupcakes -  i found a recipe i want to try..

good night :)

off to bed.. alarm set for 6am for an 8 am class

this just looks so perfectly fall  <3 

just be nice

two things i saw today make me really mad.

1. a dog sitting alone in a car staring out the window, yelping/crying/barking. i dont know how long he or she was in the car but the pup had a look of hope in its eyes as i got out of my van. this was in a mall parking lot

2. a man riding a bike while holding onto a leash attached to a dog collar around a dogs neck. the man was in no way riding his bike slow and the poor dogs legs were dragging as his neck was being pulled forward in front of the pups feet in the direction of the bike. this was in the middle of westdale.

one thing i have absolutely no tolerance for is the mistreatment of animals.. bluntly.. animal abuse! 

how would you like to be left alone in a car with no knowledge of and/or ability to get out of it, on a warm day with the sun beating down on the car. oh and also strange people are constantly walking by, but not letting you out.

or better yet..

how would you like to have a rope attached to the "necklace" around your neck and be pulled at a speed faster than your legs can move.. ohh and in an area with people and cars all around you?

you'd hate it if these situations even happened to you and i can promise you these situations wont ever happen to you. no one would do these things to a person.. why on earth do people feel it is alright to treat a dog like that. 

it was heart breaking to see a dog yelp the way the pup was yelping in that car. :(

treat your animals with respect. be nice. they probably deserve it more than you do..

 a dog is the only thing on earth that love you more than he loves himself

i just hugged guinness and he gave me a kiss back :)

*i must admit.. i am not sure how long the dog was in the car for, it could have been 2 minutes as someone dropped something off for something..*

i like free stuff

im not cheap but i love free stuff! especially when its good quality free stuff.. im all on that! i went to this meeting for work that we were all required to go to and i totally ended up getting some free products!

it wasn't all in my size but i love it anyways

so ive decided to show it off..

yup.. i got a columbia hat

a white TNF shirt

and a helly hansen sweater 

(the sweater is a large.. im a small.. oh well)

* columbia, the north face, helly hansen *