Quarter Life Crisis

So...I'm going through a bit of a Quarter Life Crisis.
I stumbled upon a Thought Catalog article yesterday that was inspirational, but also somewhat responsible for an emotional breakdown last night...

25 Things To Do Before You Turn 25

PS: I promise I will start posting actually interesting blog posts with stories and pictures and more than just recycled links soon.

Definitely Raining

Ok, so this is likely the World's laziest blog post of ALL time.
But, my sister introduced me to a hilarious blog - Definitely Raining - that had to be shared.
Here are my favourite posts (you may need to be from Vancouver to find these funny...):

When I realized every person working at Whistler was Australian

When I go to Phnom Penh

How I imagine people spend their weekends in PoCo

When I'm asked to do the Grouse Grind before work 

 Happy Friday! I'm off to party in my Snuggie now!

Sisters, Seafood & Sunshine

Last weekend I took a mini vacation to Victoria. My mum, my sister, and I had two days of mother-daughter bonding while we helped my sister move into her new apartment.

On the ferry!

The last time I went to Victoria I was 11 years old and it was for a school field trip. So I sort of felt like I was visiting for the very first time.

I quite liked Victoria. It was very quaint with great architecture - it had a bit of an English feel to it - and lots of cute boutiques and independent restaurants. 

The downtown core is so fun and colourful!

How cute is this store sign?

See what I mean by an English feel?

One of the highlights of the trip was eating at Red Fish Blue Fish - a takeout place located right on the wharf.
Why?
1. They use sustainable Ocean Wise seafood.
2. They're housed in an upcycled shipping container!!!

3. The food is amazing!

THE best Fish & Chips I have ever had. EVER.

The batter on the fish was super light and crispy - and not greasy at all!
And the chips were very, very close to being as good as the fries I had in Amsterdam.
I have this theory that eating fries in Amsterdam has ruined all fries for me because nothing will ever be as good. Damn you, double-fried fries!!

Seared Albacore Tuna and BBQ Fanny Bay Oyster Tacones

Tacone = taco + cone
Tacone also = delicious
The Tacones were super good. They single-handedly revolutionized oysters for me. And there's something about seared tuna that I just can't say no to.
I look forward to visiting my sister again just so I can more Tacones - they have 8 to choose from!

Spicy Pacific Fish Sloppy Joe

We ordered the Sloppy Joe out of curiosity, not really knowing what to expect.
It ended up being a delicious mix of various fish (tuna? salmon? I don't really know...) with a tomato sauce that had just the right amount of kick.

Everything at Red Fish Blue Fish was great, except for one thing.
Good food draws a crowd...

I have this thing about waiting in line to be seated at a restaurant...I don't like it.
Especially if you have to stand outside and only get served mediocre food.
BUT, I would wait in line again for Red Fish Blue Fish.

When I took this photo we were right at the end of the line. It took us 1 hour from when we arrived to when we started stuffing our faces with deliciousness. That may seem like a long time, but I equate it to waiting 30 minutes for a table at a restaurant because since Red Fish Blue Fish is a takeout place, there's none of the usual get seated, server vanishes, server reappears to take drink order, server vanishes (maybe they had to draw your water from a well?), server returns with drinks and takes food order, server leaves and spends ample amount of time tending to every table except yours, server actually vanishes, and finally...food arrives.

Anyway, the point is, I loved Red Fish Blue Fish.
So much that I think I'm going toaccept the challenge posed by my sister's boyfriend: try everything on the Red Fish Blue Fish menu.
IT'S ON.

While waiting in line, we decided to have dessert before lunch and shared a salted caramel sundae from Jackson's Ice Cream Truck. Delicious.

Salted Caramel Sundae

Last, here are some other snapshots I captured while playing tourist in Victoria.

Decorated (and useful) electrical boxes
(at least I think that's what they are...)

Fan Tan Alley in Canada's oldest Chinatown

Summery tableware

Enjoying patio beers and the sunshine at Canoe Brewpub

10 Great Things

Hi there!
Sorry to have been so neglectful - again!
I really don't have a legitimate excuse, so there's no point in beating around the bush and pretending I have a good reason for being lazy...I'm sorry.
Anyway!
Here are 10 Great Things I want to share with you.

1. Hello! Lucky paper goods.
I don't know how to describe my obsession with these paper goods. Everything is just too amazing for words.

2. Cuppows.
What's a Cuppow? Just a genius invention that turns a mason jar into a travel mug!

3.  This YouTube video:



4. Peter Pan collar nails.

5. Ork Posters and their beautiful depictions of places we call home.

6. This 8tracks playlist - ignore JBiebs' face:

Indie covers pop. from jbear_4 on 8tracks.

 7. The Sketching Backpacker.

8. Christopher David Ryan's work.
I particularly love this gem:

9. Bake It In A Cake.
What's better than a cupcake? A cupcake with a surprise inside!

10. My dream bike!

I'm really going to try to keep up with this blogging business. I'm off on a mini-adventure this weekend. BUT, I will take lots of pictures and will write a witty recollection when I return!

Blogging for Lazy People

So...I have been very neglectful of my blog. I was off to such a good start, blogging just about every day, but then life got chaotic, I went to Philadelphia, my sister came to town, etc, etc.
Anyway, the point is, I haven't had the time to blog.
To make up for it, here's an Instagram version of what I've been up to.

I had an awesome day at work with swag bags and cupcakes!

I went to Philadelphia for an extra long weekend!

The reason I went to Philly.

We ate donuts for breakfast while in Philly.

Goodbye Philly :(

Food carts came to the office!

I made cornflake, marshmallow, chocolate chip cookies.

I won a raffle from Nester's Market!

I got new shoes!

My lovely sister got us donuts from Cartems Donuterie!

To celebrate the awesome weather, I got a
Whistler Brewery Travel Pack - mmm craft beer.

And, today I went to EPIC: Sustainable Living Expo!
So much eco-friendly goodness in one spot!

Aaand, I've literally been listening to the following 8tracks playlists non-stop:

For those days you need a pick-me-up from j2hua on 8tracks.

April 2012 Pop Mix from djohnson6004 on 8tracks.

A Sunny Sunday

It was far too nice to spend the day indoors, so I went for a walk along Broadway today.
I picked up some cute cards, as well as an awesome tote bag with bicycles printed on it!
My afternoon stroll ended at Baguette & Co, where I had tea with my mum and our homestay student. It was a sort of a birthday celebration (why yes, I had an entire birthday month) because our plans kept getting cancelled and things only ended up working out this weekend.
We managed to snag a seat on the patio and enjoyed chocolate hazelnut cake, a mille feuille, and an almond croissant.

Everything was so good. I felt like I was in France again.
My favourite was the almond croissant, which was filled with chocolate and some sort of coconut custard filling. I'm not entirely sure what it was, but it was delicious.

PS: This photo is so hipster, it hurts.
PPS: I wore my new shoes, which is why I had to get them in the photo.

Hope you had a lovely Sunday as well!

"My Friend Jason"

I came across this video a few days ago, and I'm not going to lie, watching it made me tear up.
It was a sincere reminder to appreciate and actually tell the people you love that you love them.
I know I often take things for granted, so Jason's message really resonated with me.


My Friend Jason. from Shot at The Dark on Vimeo.

10 Reasons Why Today Was Great

1. It was a gorgeous day.
2. I had a fairly productive day at work, which was extra good given the fact that I was feeling pretty overwhelmed on Monday and Tuesday.
3. I ventured to Tim Horton's during my lunch break and tried a jalapeno asiago mozzerella bagel - delicious.
4. I received a super cute thank you card :)
5. I went to Make It!, a super awesome craft fair full of beautiful handiwork, great live music, and delicious treats. I picked up a Mother's Day gift for my Ma, as well as a few things for myself.

My favourite purchase, hands down, was the envelope necklace.
And you know what's even better than an envelope necklace?
An envelope necklace with a surprise inside!

C'est la vie

I also picked up these treats for the famjam.

New goal: Learn how to make French macarons

6. I hung out by the Vancouver Sun building and enjoyed the view, tea, and awesome company.
7. I made a new friend.
8. I brought a smile to a far away friend when she checked her mailbox.
9. I had a glimpse into the life of a film production student. It seems like it involves numerous all-nighters, basically living at school (they have their own fridge and someone brought in a panini press), and spending copious amounts of time in a dark room in front of a computer screen.
10. It's FRIDAY!

I survived! So...Treat Yo Self!

Woohoo!
I'm happy to say I survived the craziness that is school!

Well, I'm not techincally done yet.
I have an exam on December 13th that is going to require some SERIOUS studying.
But studying doesn't start until Monday.
I've given myself the weekend off from school.

So my friends and I have been obsessed with this Parks and Recreation clip:



Basically we spend all day shouting "TREAT YO SELF!" at random times.
Anyway, to celebrate surviving Hell Week, I made brownies.
But not just any brownies...

Treat Yo Self brownies!

So go ahead and treat yo self to some delicious brownies!

Brownies
Nuts About Chocolate

1 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa
3. Beat in eggs one at a time
4. Sift in flour and baking powder
5. Add vanilla
6. Pour into prepared 9x13 pan, bake for 25 to 30 minutes - center will be firm, but not hard
7. Om nom nom

Clean ALL the Things!

This is a homage to Hyperbole and a Half...

The End is Near

There are 11 days of classes left until the end of term.
And I have 8 assignments/presentations/assessments due within those 11 days.
Wonderful.

Naturally, rather than spend my time working on the above stated tasks, I have taken to doing things such as...

• Painting my nails - which is not the best idea when you need to type... 
• Making hummus for the first time - it was delicious! 
• Making cookies

• Having family dinners 
• Learning the lyrics to Beyonce 
• Making banana muffins - all the baking is in anticipation of needing to fall back on my backup career

 

• Cleaning the entire house
• Buying sparkly shoes

 

• Aaaand, perusing that wonderful thing called the Internet - specifically websites such as...

• Serious Eats 
• Hyperbole and a Half 
• A Beautiful Mess 
• Poppytalk 
• Things Organized Neatly (why yes, I am slightly OCD)
• Paper Crave

Anyway, needless to say, I'm losing it.
And 4:30pm on December 5th can't come soon enough.

Hopefully I'll survive...
I'll keep you posted.

PS: Here's the recipe for the banana muffins I made...

Banana Muffins 

2 ripe bananas
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mash bananas
3. Add brown sugar, oil, and egg
4. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
5. Add yogurt and vanilla
6. Fill muffin liners - I made 12 large muffins
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean
8. Om nom nom :)

Pizzaaa!!!

Paul and I made pizza from scratch (dough and all!) last weekend!
And it was GREAT!

It was actually our second attempt.
The first pizza was only alright, and we KNEW we could make it better.
So, last Saturday we made a few modifications to the recipe and...SUCCESS!

Before baking...

And after...

Our pizza tasted EXTRA delicious because...
1. We MADE the dough!
2. We chose exactly what toppings we wanted.
I went for a patchwork quilt of toppings - half with pesto, half with tomato sauce, and then some squares with olives and some with just cheese (mozzerella AND cheddar - oooh baby!)
3. WE MADE IT!


Pizza Dough
adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1. In a large bowl, combine yeast with warm water. Stir until dissolved.
2. Add sugar and let sit for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in olive oil.
4. Add flour and salt. Stir vigorously/knead with hands until fully combined.
(If the dough isn't coming together, add a little bit more olive oil)
5. Form into a ball and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
7. Sprinkle flour onto a baking sheet (or two) and press dough into a thin layer (about half a centimeter).
8. Bake dough until golden on the edges and the centre, about 15 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and top with desired toppings.
10. Return to oven and bake until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly, about 10 minutes.
11. Om nom nom.

The Ultimate Distraction: The Internet

Studying for exams is taking a toll on my sanity.
Thank goodness for the Internet.
In addition to reviewing Climate Change Science and Ecological Economics, I've been perusing my favourite websites and blogs.

These two are almost constantly open...

• Foodgawker
• Serious Eats

And I've even stumbled across a couple of cool YouTube channels...

• Watch Listen Tell
• Burberry Acoustic 

Check them out if you're in the mood to look at pictures of food or listen to some cool bands!
Alright, back to work for me :(

A Snowy Saturday

When I opened my curtains this morning and looked out my window (through the jailbars), what did I see?
Snow!
Big, fluffy snow!
But, in reality it was big, slushy snow because it didn't stick to the ground and just made my walk to and from the cafeteria very slippery.

I should be good today and do some of my schoolwork, but instead I feel like looking at various food blogs and craft websites, and deciding which colour of Hunter wellies I would like to get.

I feel like Hyperbole and a Half in the post "This is Why I'll Never be an Adult".
Hyperbole and a Half is a hilarious blog and the girl behind it has mad Paint skills.
She was the inspiration for those little stick figures I drew about a month ago.
I suggest: The Alot, The God of Cake, and Dog.