Keep Calm and Shamrock On!

Helloooo and HAPPY BELATED ST. PATRICK'S DAY TO YA!

This past week has been super busy to say the least, but before we get to that I just need to rant a little - hope you don't mind. I have gone to the gym twice this week.. that's it, 2 times. This makes me SO frustrated. It's partly my fault because of laziness, procrastination, etc. BUT that being said, not being able to get the gym makes me full of stress, anxiety, and self let down. I had an awesome bootcamp last Tuesday and a super sweaty spin class on Thursday which makes me happy, but I was planning to swim on Friday morning, and do yoga tonight, which didn't happen. I know I have to breathe and calm down about not working out, but missing those workouts makes me really down - but I just have to remember that there is always next week - SO this week I plan to workout A LOT to make up for the lack of effort last week. I even had my parents bring my roller blades when they came to visit today, so that's something to look forward to! :) Another thing that's irritating me - not finding the time to blog everyday! I need to realize that it's not about finding the time, it's about planning my time correctly - which is a hard task for me!

Now that that's over, let's talk about this past weekend! Friday night kicked off the festivities with a dinner date here in London with a great group of girls! The place we went to was VegOut, which is a vegan restaurant and might I add is DELICIOUS! Cheryl, Sabrina, Ellen, and I were all very satisfied with the meal and all stated that coming back is a MUST! Sabrina and I split the Raw Zucchinni Spring Rolls and the Pate Sandwich, while Cheryl and Ellen opted for the Chick-Pea-Nut Burger (which is probably what I'll try the next time I go!) We also decided that dessert would be a good idea, since they had so many yummy options! I ended up getting the worlds most amazing cupcake! Like seriously, I don't think I've tasted one better! It was an Earl Grey cupcake with lemon frosting and is to die for - YOU MUST TRY IT! That's an order.. ;) Cheryl and Ellen split a chocolate cake, which sadly I don't have a photo of BUT not to worry, just head on over to her blog for a look!

Pate Sandwich

Raw Zucchini Spring Rolls 

The BEST cupcake ever - Earl Grey with Lemon Frosting!

YUM - I'm already planning my meal for the next visit! Anywhoooo that brings us to Saturday or ST. PATTIES DAY! Let's just say that it was CRAZY - morning pancake keggers, a few (or more) drinks, and an AMAZING time with friends! I love all of these girls to death, and I'm so happy that we got to have such a fun time yesterday! I'll leave the whole St. Pat's topic to that.. you know what St. Patties is all about! ;)

Cassie, Sabrina, and I at the morning kegger! LOVE these girls!

My St. Pat's nails - aren't they festive!?

Me and the roomie for next year! ♥

Today was full of relaxation, a visit from my parents (which was great because I miss them SO much!), and PLL and tea with my loves (Sabrina and Cassie).. oh not to mention a little birthday celebration! It's Sabrina's 19th birthday today! Soooo that being said, I'd like to dedicate this post to her! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE! I hope you had a fab day, love you girl!

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY SABRINA! ♥

AliwS

It's been a while..

HEY!

..soo it's been a while since I've posted - probably because of the busy busy week I've had! I literally have been hibernating in my room studying since Monday, which was not too fun, but I'm officially done midterms as of this afternoon, YAY! Too bad I have about a hand full of essays to get written - including a History paper that is worth 30% and is 2,500 words, due Tuesday, that I've been neglecting because of the psych midterm I had today! Whoops. Soo guess how I'm spending my Saturday night? That's right with my laptop and books about the Nazi regime - super fun right?   

Anywhoooo on a side note, I'm officially obsessed with One Direction. I don't know how I stumbled upon them, perhaps twitter - I forget, but they are super cute and BRITISH/IRISH! (for all of you who don't know, that's a major plus for me lol, British accents are the key to my heart..)! In particular the song "What Makes You Beautiful" makes my heart melt in a super fan girl kinda way.. whatever I'm not ashamed - watch the video and see what I mean (in particular 2:25.. swoon) 

Officially Obsessed w/ One Direction!

In other news I finally got my glasses! I actually enjoy wearing them because I find them super cute! They're Ralph Lauren Polo and I often describe them as 'Ryan Gosling glasses' hehe! I only need them for reading and when I'm on my laptop, but have found myself wearing them on days when I'm too lazy (or too busy) to put on makeup - it's a win win situation! 

This upcoming week is going to be a bit stressful and hectic as well, with lots of things to hand in, but also a lot of things to look forward to! Monday and Tuesday will basically be writing my essay/doing all of my other forgotten homework that needs tending to, and hopefully a few good sweat sessions (like bootcamp, and perhaps a swim)!  Wednesday I'm going to see Legally Blonde the musical here at Western, Thursday is possibly the MIT formal (or more homework blah), Friday is trying a new restaurant with some friends, which I'm really looking forward to! We're going to Veg Out which is a vegan restaurant here in London - I'll let you know how it is! and FINALLY Saturday is ST. PATTIES DAY! I cannot wait - I've already started planning my outfit, with the first purchase being this little gem: 

GO GREEN!

All that's left is a few beads, and perhaps a temporary tattoo and feather boa?! We'll see what I can find at the dollar store! This week is going to be good post wise so STAY TUNED! Until then wish me luck with this essay! 

AliwS

Things I'm loving at the moment..!

Well first of all that it's FRIDAY! Which means the weekend has begun. I strolled out of my last (and only) class at 1:30 and caught up on random TV shows while I waited for my dad to pick me up to bring me home for the weekend! Which leads me to the first topic of this post:

1. Dance Moms

I started watching this show because Caileigh introduced me to it one weekend! We literally watched almost the entire first season within 2 days. Trust me if you have not seen this show YOU NEED TO WATCH IT! It's very addicting - especially when you want to procrastinate, which is the case most of the time! Soo if you're looking for something to pass the time, or just want to be entertained, check it out, I'm sure you'll be just as addicted as me (ahem, I've already watched every episode there is to watch, ahem). (side note I just figured out how to link something in a post - woohoo blog progress!) 

Brooke, Maddie, Nia, Mackenzie, Paige, Chloe and their dance instructor Abby Lee Miller 

2. SWIMMING!

I finally took the plunge and did my first swim workout this morning and let me tell you - I LOVED IT! Getting out of bed in the morning is hard, but to get out of bed to go workout makes the grogginess all the more difficult! So to find something that was different from the norm, was a challenge, and entertaining was AWESOME! I really didn't expect it to be that difficult - I've swam before, did swimming lessons etc. and would consider myself a pretty good swimmer, but to use swimming as a workout is a completely different thing. Sabrina and I could only go for about 25 minutes before we were too tired to continue! Oh well, we'll have to build up tolerance! Another score is the pool I get to swim in is the perfect temperature and the fact that it's super nice doesn't make it all that bad either! ;)

Future bathing suit - yes please!

Or this one!

3. Waking Up Early 

Although I just complained about this in the swimming topic, getting a workout in, eating breakfast, and showering all before 10 o'clock feels pretty great! I think I could get used to this routine pretty easily. Whenever my alarm goes off I have to force myself to wake up and climb out of my warm bed, BUT once I'm up, I'm up! Surprisingly I have a lot of energy in the morning (but waves of exhaustion tend to hit me in midday). PLUS getting my workout in, in the morning would mean that I would have more time in the evening to get other things done! It's a win, win!

..and I wouldn't mind waking up to this either!

4. Kashi Granola Bars

Ok, so this week was the first time that I tried these amazing little bars! I'm normally not a fan of granola bars because I don't like the nutritional value of most of them (usually high in sugar etc.) BUT I always wanted to try a Kashi bar because of their good reputation. Soo this week while I was looking for something to eat on campus and I came across one, I bought it! It was the Trail Mix flavour and it was DELISH! As I was out shopping last night (picking up a few swimming supplies) I spotted an eighteen pack on sale! And of course I bought it.. this weekend I also plan on making some sort of homemade granola bar as well: I'm thinking PUMPKIN! 

YUM! Trail Mix is my favourite so far..

5. OPI Nail Polish 

This is just a funny coincidence! I found this yesterday at the mall and just knew I had to get it. It's the OPI Holland collection! Probably one of the most random collections for nail polish but in my eyes it's pretty awesome! There is something like 10 different colours, but I just bought the sample pack with the minis. Some of the names include - 'I Have a Herring Problem', 'Pedal Faster Suzi!', 'Red Lights Ahead... Where?', and 'Kiss Me on My Tulips'. SO CUTE! I love all the colours and the fact that it's Dutch inspired just makes it soooo much better!

OPI Holland Collection

Anywhoooo I think it's about time for bed (since I'm running on 5 hours of sleep from last night - we had ANOTHER fire alarm in Saugeen.. grrr) Goodnight!

AliwS

Finalizing Plans - Landal Dunimar&Landal Landgoed 't Loo

SO EXCITING! This trip to Holland is coming together nicely! The plane tickets are booked and now the places we're staying at have gotten finalized as well! The plan is to stay in two different places - both a cottage setting. For the first half of the week we will be at Landal Landgoed 't Loo, which is closer to the family we will be visiting. Both places look gorgeous; I could probably sit here all day looking at pictures, but I should probably be more productive than that! Here's some pics of the first place (which are limited because this is all I could find! More pictures to follow when I can take pictures there myself)!

Landal Langoed 't Loo

The second place is called Landal Dunimar and it's closer to Amsterdam! Soo the second half of the week will be used to explore Amsterdam to its fullest! I cannot wait to be there!

Landal Dunimar

We still have some planning to do (figuring out what exactly we'll be doing each day), and of course there's the whole 2 months left of school that I have to get through BUT we're getting there! Countdown check: 61 DAYS!

AliwS

Tim's Count

I'm at 3 out of 7.. just saying. (I've won 2 coffees and a donut) I hope this luck continues! lol

Homework, homework, and wait more HOMEWORK!

SUNDAY FUNDAY! Except for me it really isn't going to be.. I will be studying the day away! Which is really my own fault because I literally have done no homework all week, so this upcoming week is going to be a long nightmare. Tomorrow I have my first midterm in MIT 1200 (which I haven't started studying for and have no motivation to start.. blah) on Tuesday I have a text analysis due in History (but I have bootcamp so it balances out!), Wednesday is a Classics midterm, and Thursday is an English test.. that is just the beginning of all of the school work I have to get done! This month is going to be CRAZY, so I'm sorry if this blog gets neglected for a little bit - although I'm sure my procrastination will get the better of me and I'll blog all of my frustration; YAY for  blogs! 

Now for a little bit of an update of what I've been doing for the past couple of days. For starters I'm proud to announce that I've won two Roll Up the Rims! Woooo - that takes my Tim's count to 2 out of 5. :) Soo far I've won a coffee and a donut - I cashed in my coffee already (for my new favourite apple cinnamon tea..) and I'm gonna give my donut away to someone to enjoy - any takers?

My winning cup!

This reading week has been full of delicious meals, and definitely some things that I normally wouldn't eat, so next week I have to buckle down and get back to my normal (healthier) eating habits! Yesterday was one of those days where I splurged.. For breakfast we made Breakfast Carrot Cake - a recipe that I found on Pinterest! It was super easy to make the best part about it was the cooking time, 1 1/2 - 2 minutes in the microwave! The cake was small but filling and to top it off was a 'banana ice cream' that sweetened and made the cake a little more moistened.

Breakfast Carrot Cake pre-baked 

My addiction for pumpkin is also growing. For dinner one night I had a pumpkin puree mix that I just threw together. It included: pumpkin puree with a little bit of almond milk and a splash of plain yogurt, cinnamon, an apple, stevia, raisins, and a granola crumble! YUM - it was delish.

Pumpkin mixture

Yesterday was also a fun day because I got to see the Vow with some of my family in London! It also wasn't just a normal movie theater experience - we went VIP! Which I've never done before, and I loved it. It was a group of about 15 girls, which makes it so much more fun. There were even waiters that brought us drinks etc.! I went out of character and had a mango Bellini (I don't drink alcohol all that often..), but it was soooo good! The only part of the experience that I didn't like was the actual movie. Don't get me wrong Rachel McAdams is one of my favourite actresses and Channing Tatum is pretty nice to look at, but the ending was horrible! I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but let's just say that I was disappointed and it left me a little depressed. (Ps how much does my sister look like Rachel McAdams!? Even all of the mannerisms are alike - it's freaky..)

Rachel and I in the VIP lounge right before "The Vow"

Mango Bellini 

I ALSO went to Hana for lunch with Rachel and Rah (my grandma). I told you that this week has been  pretty food related. Other than having a new obsession with pumpkin, I have an obsession with sushi as well. Mm so good! Check it out if you're ever in Sarnia - I'm gonna invite myself.. :)

Sushi anyone?

That's pretty much everything! Now that I've taken like 45 minutes to write this post I better get studying.. wish me luck, I'm gonna need it.

AliwS

EXCITEMENT!

I am soooo excited! My family just planned and booked our vacation for this year - and it's a BIG change from the past years. Normally we go to a cottage about 12 hours away from Sarnia in the little town of Elk Lake. Don't get me wrong I love going up there, but it's nice to have a change every now and then. This years trip is especially exciting, wait for it.. we're going to AMSTERDAM! I still cannot believe that we are actually going! I few days ago I tweeted that I was looking up flights just for fun, but somehow we convinced everyone to just go for it! I cannot wait, and I also can't express my level of excitement through the computer but you get the idea! Now comes the fun part, planning what we will be doing each day, as well as the places we're going to stay at. Some things that are on my list include the Anne Frank House, the Red Light District and perhaps seeing the Royal Palace! One of the other things that we will being doing for sure is visiting relatives there and seeing where my grandparents are from. I'm sorry if this blog gets super annoying with facts and things about Holland, but from now until I leave I'll probably talk about it, A LOT! I'll also keep you updated about our travel plans and arrangements as it gets closer to the date!

See you in 66 days! (not that I'm counting..)

Eeeeeek, did I mention how excited I am!? Can't wait to post the pictures that I take!

AND we're going during Tulip season! How lucky am I!?

Now only if I could hop on the place tomorrow instead of after all of my exams, assignments etc.. Oh well, I guess you can't get everything!
AliwS