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

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

Finding a Balance

It's that time of year again! Yes, can't you hear all of Canada rejoicing? It's Roll Uuuup the Rim! I am a little ashamed of this, but I can say that I do get caught up in it all - I've already had two, and lost both.. I'm sure the lineups at Western U Tim Horton's are going to be extra long when reading week is over - and I'll probably be standing among the madness!

Tim Horton's Roll Up the Rim! One of my 'loser' cups

Other than having Tim Horton's on the brain (lol just kidding) I haven't been doing much! Which is starting to stress me out.. I need to start doing some homework on this reading week but it's just too hard when I want to spend time with family and friends and just relax! It's such a hard thing to balance school work and home life - I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed. In the upcoming month I have 4 midterms to study for, 2 novels to read, and an 8 page essay to write, and I'm starting to freak out. I just need to take a few deep breathes and start somewhere I guess..

Reading week has been good to me so far (except for the stress level rising daily). Yesterday I went to go see the movie "This Means War" staring Reese Witherspoon - who I love! It was a good movie, a little unrealistic, but that's why it's a movie! I went with my sister, Rachel, and Katie. It's so nice to be home to see everyone again! I also have been having my fair share of overnight oats! I've tried a few different flavours so far (including the pumpkin from the earlier post). Today I had peanut butter banana oats and the morning before that I had applesauce oats! The base for the applesauce oats was fat free vanilla yogurt and unsweetened applesauce, plus some cinnamon. In the morning I added an apple and a little more cinnamon (I'm a little crazy with my use of cinnamon!). For the peanut butter and banana oats I used the same fat free vanilla yogurt and some almond milk. In the morning I added half a banana and melted some peanut butter so I could mix it through! Both were delicious and I would definitely make them again! I still have a few more mornings at home so I think I'll try another flavour before I have to go back to school - any suggestions?!    

Applesauce Oats

Peanut Butter Banana Oats

I also got to workout again today, which felt great after having a rest day yesterday! I didn't get to workout as long as I would have liked, but it's reading week so I'm not gonna be too upset about it. I'm also getting excited to start swimming when I get back to Western U - I went out to find a bathing suit today with no luck, but I'm determined to find one so I can try out the pool next week (hopefully I have time). That's another thing about all this school work - hardly anytime to workout, but I have to set my priorities straight I guess.  

I think that's the key to all of this stress, I just need to find balance with everything. I hope I can discover it soon before everything is due all at once! This post is getting long so I'll sign off and leave you with this picture of the squash I decided to make the other night! Half of an acorn squash filled with grilled mushrooms and red/green peppers, spaghetti sauce, and sprinkled with some crackers for some crunch!

Experimenting with Acorn Squash 

AliwS

Swimming!

This is a super random post, but I've been sitting here looking up information about swimming for exercise. I love to workout (sometimes) but I am getting so sick of my same routine - treadmill, weights, spin class, treadmill, treadmill.. blah! I want something different and since our rec centre has a massive swimming pool I'm thinking that I'll give it a go! I'm just worried about how to start - will I get a good enough workout in, what strokes do I use, is there a certain routine I can get into, does swimming really count as a good workout?! So you see my dilemma. I think I'll have to do a bit more research about this and let you know what I find. I think this could be a good thing to add to my weekly workout schedule, there are just a lot of things to consider! Plus an extra bonus of this would be the less strain on my muscles (which are super weak and pull often). I think I'm gonna go for it - I just need to figure out where to begin! Let me know if you have some advice!

AliwS