The Emerald City

Hi everyone!

I just got back after a lovely weekend in Seattle! Such a gorgeous city, especially around this time of year - everything is so green and full of life.

I was staying with a friend, and we visited all sorts of places - Fremont, Ballard, downtown. Here are some pictures!

A view of the striking city skyline, including the Space Needle, of course!

The locks in Ballard

South African tea shop!
Super cool to have some South African baked goods, just like Mum makes at home.

The Grand Slam breakfast (SO GOOD)

Pike Place Market

SUCH a perfect outing! Oh how I love weekend trips like these.

-Hannah

Best Weekend

Hi everyone!

This post is more of a life update than anything else. I'm really trying to get in the habit of updating more frequently... which mayyyy mean more posts that don't really have a solid topic, but hopefully I'll still keep things interesting.

This weekend was absolutely amazing - I spent time with friends I hadn't seen in a really long time, and it was so lovely. It was such a welcome break from the hectic work week, and the weather was quite gorgeous for it too, so we all spent a lot of time outside and got sushi and watched movies and just had a nice catch-up in general. So perfect.

The weather is back to being blah and I'm also back to working tomorrow, but I think it'll be a good week. Hopefully next weekend will be just as lovely - perhaps I'll do a weekend trip? Do some adventuring? I think so.

My inspiration for these next few weeks:

Image Source

I hope you all had amazing weekends!

-Hannah

Summer Doldrums

So starting at the end of April I've officially been on my four month break from university! Only a week in and I'm already super frustratingly bored.

Now don't get me wrong - I definitely need these four months to get myself back on track and prepare myself for my second year of uni. But after eight months of insane business, having nothing to do feels weird. 

So I've decided to set myself some goals for these summer months. Hopefully this helps me stay active and not fall into an apathetic rut.

1. Get a second job. I started a part time job a couple of days ago, but hours are scarce and always in the evening, and I feel this is just an excuse to wake up super late and not do anything until four in the afternoon (which is fine sometimes, but probably not every day, I'm thinking). Thus, a second job.
2. Begin working out again. Man, have I fallen off of that wagon. On campus at university I at least had a gym membership that cost me a decent sum of money, so I felt motivated to go to the gym at least twice a week to make it worth the fee. But now I'm just sitting around, and I really should get back on my feet again. Another gym membership here, that'll be good motivation.
3. Get back into my hobbies. I think this one is super necessary. So many things - like reading, painting, playing guitar - I simply did not have time to do during the school year. But now that I have all this excess time on my hands, I really have no excuses.

Hopefully with this goal of keeping active in mind, I can make this summer the best one yet!

-Hannah

Far Better Things Ahead

Hello everyone, I haven't posted in quite a while - my apologies!

Things have been incredibly hectic this past little while. April was my last month at university, so there were lots of things to fret about - finals, moving out, getting employed. Now I have fully moved back home, so I'll be able to make some legitimate posts soon. This post, however, is just a short hey-I'm-still-alive kind of thing.

Exams went really well (all except calculus, but that isn't too much of a surprise), and my first year at university was an absolutely amazing experience. Moving out of dorm was so so hard - saying goodbye to all of the people I had become so close with during the year was heartbreaking. It is just for the summer, however, I will see them before I know it!

And now I'm looking for a summer job, which is proving to be much more challenging than I had originally thought it would be. Today I went around downtown and gave out some resumes. Hopefully someone out there gives me a chance!

And one last fun update - we're going to South Africa for August! I am so so so excited, it's going to be brilliant. So I have that to look forward to, as well as my second year of university, which I'm sure will be just as wonderful as my first year was.

A little bit of wisdom as you continue with your week (image source):

So that is my brief life update - more posts to come soon. I hope you all are having lovely weeks.

-Hannah

Cherry Blossoms

It is a gorgeous Monday afternoon! I am all done with classes and able to fully appreciate the sunshine.

This past weekend I saw some of the most lovely flowers blooming around campus. Though I've already done a handful of flower posts, I just couldn't resist sharing more photos with you all!

I hope you're all enjoying the beginnings of spring weather! I'm absolutely loving it. A chance to get outside, get more active, take in the fresh air without freezing my nose off.

It's also the last full week of school (time goes by way too quickly), so unfortunately this gorgeous weather is making it a bit trickier to concentrate, which I really should be doing in these last few days of class. But in just a month I will be completely done my first year of uni - it's insane. This year has been quite the adventure.

I do hope you all have wonderful weeks.

Also, if you would like to check out my flickr, please click here! 

-Hannah

Almost the Weekend

Hi everyone!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today, and since my only class today ended at 9:30, I decided to grab my camera, grab a coffee, and wander around downtown. Such a good decision.

Goodness me, was downtown purdy. I had a lovely time strolling around and simply enjoying the warmth of the sun (though there is still a definite chill in the air!).

I didn't get a ton of shopping done, but I did hit up some excellent bra sales! 50% off at La Senza, it was as if I were dreaming! I got one balconier bra in a gorgeous purple colour from there for $20, and another $20 bra from H&M. There's something so satisfying about bra shopping, I love it.

Anyway, I hope you all had wonderful weeks, and have equally wonderful weekends!

Also, I have a flickr account - if you check it out I would be forever greatful! Click here to see it.

-Hannah

My Small Makeup Victory

Hi everyone!

Today I will be informing you of my small but momentous makeup victory - after an age of trial and error, I can finally make my black liquid eyeliner symmetrical on both sides. I mean, there's still some error... let's say I'm up to nailing it 80% of the time. I feel like that's something I can work with!

Here's proof!

It really is not that momentous an occasion, I suppose.... but hey, it's the little things in life :)

Have wonderful weekends!

-Hannah

Snow Day

Hello everyone!

It's Monday! I just returned to campus yesterday after my reading break, and was surprised by it snowing buckets here. Like, it started snowing Saturday, and it's still snowing. And heavily, too. I'm just happy I don't have to do any driving!

Ready to go out in the snow with my knitted toque :)
I was also really proud of my eyebrow filling today.

Snow!

All bundled up and ready to brave the weather!

I also just got my chemistry midterm mark back, and did much better than I thought I did, so I am just in the best mood right now! Now it's time for a nice mug of tea, methinks.

I hope you're all having lovely weeks!

-Hannah

A Little Hope

Hey everyone! I hope your Februaries are off to an excellent start.

I've been horribly busy with assignments that seem never-ending, and now the sudden onslaught of midterms, so this is probably going to be one of the few blog updates I'll be posting for this next little while. And it's not a very riveting one, I'm afraid.

Life has been unexciting, but still lovely. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, though frightfully cold, but we're surviving, just a little more red-cheeked and grumbly than usual. And like I said, midterm season is upon us, so we're staying indoors with our noses tucked into our textbooks anyway.

I did managed to escape the grasp of my calculus notes for a little while yesterday, though, and took some pictures around campus. It was just before sunset and the sun was hitting the clouds in a most spectacular way. But the picture I like the best is this one:

The composition is a bit meh and it's a fairly unexciting picture, but I just love how even in this bleak, grey February weather, bright flowers can be found, even if they are tiny ones like these. Gives me a little hope, you know?

Plus it makes me even more excited for spring. I can't wait to see the fresh green and the beautiful flowers.

-Hannah

So It's Monday

Hello everyone! We find ourselves at the beginning of another week!

I had an amazing weekend - my boyfriend visited me here at university for a while and it was absolutely perfect. But now back to the homework and assignments and lectures!

And next weekend, I get to go home and see my family! I'm so looking forward to it. I love it here at uni, of course, but I do miss the folks back home.

For this week, though, I'm going to concentrate on getting the most out of what I do. I'm going to study hard, be creative, live as fully as I can. Because I think that's important for being happy. Instead of waiting for something in the future, make the most of the now. 

Live for today. Life is as grand as you make it. 

So, while I do look forward immensely to spending time at home this coming weekend, I'm going to try and make this week the best one yet!

-Hannah

Dorm Room Excitement

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday!

I recently did a full dorm room clean up and got myself a ficus. Pretty cool, I know! (Only somewhat sarcastic here, I'm actually really excited about the ficus)

Our ficus' name is Alex and he's a pretty rad ficus

Why a ficus of all plants, you may ask? I personally hadn't even heard of ficuses until my mother, an avid gardener, told me they make ideal indoor plants because they require minimal watering, are well-suited to indoor sun conditions, and are very easy to maintain.

It's been here for a little less than a week and is already improving the general feel and liveliness of my dorm room. It may also help that I cleaned, and my room is now organized as well. Hopefully it stays neat!

-Hannah

Well, It's Wednesday

Wednesday! Top of the hill! The weekend is in sight!

Not that the weekend will be any less stressful... homework, my friends. So much homework.

But that's another day's worry. Today it's Wednesday, I have a break between classes, and I decided to share some of my thoughts.

From weheartit.com

This point in the week is always a bit of a challenge. I mean, Mondays tend to suck for very obvious reasons - just had this nice and relaxed weekend, now back to work, ugh - but it's in the middle of the week that you're losing energy, motivation, and determination. The weekend, though actually pretty close, feels so far away.

And sometimes, you're stuck in a perpetual state of Wednesday-ness. Day after day, week after week, and you feel like you're going nowhere. It happens to all of us. It sucks. And it'll pass, though it may not feel like it. That weekend will come.

To many metaphors? Kay, I'll stop.

What I'm getting at is that everything will be okay. As the quote above says (one of my favourite pictures and quotes - Les Mis is utterly amazing), it'll all end well. You'll be okay! It's hard to realize and even harder to keep your chin up until you reach the other side, but the other side is there, and it's waiting for you, and it's everything you hoped it would be and more.

On that rather intense note, I do hope you're all having lovely weeks, and that your Wednesdays are treating you well. The weekend is in sight!
-Hannah

First Month at Uni

Hello everyone! First of all, I do have a twitter, so if you do as well, please check it out and follow if you like it! It's mostly personal-type tweets. Here it is.

Now onto the main topic of this post: a little bit of an insight into what my first month of my first year at university has been like. If I were to sum it up in one word, that word would be busy. But so exciting and different and incredible.

I am in the Science faculty, so I'm taking courses like Biology, Chemistry, Calculus, etc. I'm really enjoying my courses so far, but am certainly nervous about midterms, which start next week. It all is very different from high school, though. A lot more independence, a lot more stress, and a lot of new experiences. I meet new people every day and have made tons of new friends. It's all very different and very exciting.

I have been relying pretty heavily on chocolate/tea/skittles to get me through the missing-my-family-and-friends-and-boyfriend part of things, but other than that, I have been having the time of my life. And I even managed to get away from studying for a bit yesterday and took some pictures of the beautiful campus.

I just loved the way this building
looked with the dappled sunlight.

There is my university experience so far! Really, I have no complaints, other than the lack of sleep, the lack of money, and the sudden change of weather from gloriously sunny to bitterly cold. But I'm adapting, and so far, things are going swimmingly.


-Hannah

Today.

Hello everyone!

Today I went on a university shopping trip with my mum, which was EXTREMELY successful. I managed to find shoes, a couple shirts, a skirt, and bedding for my dorm room. I'll most probably do a dorm room haul at some point in the future. There is SO much I still need to get, but I am very excited to move in to my room.

Today's outfit

Here's what I wore today. I felt pretty proud of this outfit; I've recently begun experimenting with different textures, and really like some of the looks I've come up with, this being one of them, a Dex dress with an Old Navy button-up shirt over top. I slipped on favourite pumps and I was good to go.

Botanic Body Butter

I also cracked open this Pomegranate Botanic Body Butter that's been lying around in my room for ages... I just finished a wonderful lemon-scented one from the body shop and was glad I didn't have to go far to find another. I absolutely love body butter, I don't know what it is, but it's definitely one of my favourite things to have! This particular one has a lovely fresh scent and a creamy, velvety texture. Love it.

I hope you all are having lovely weekends! Feel free to post any thoughts or questions below.


-Hannah

California Adventures!

Hello everyone! Long time, no see!

For the past week, I've been in California with my family. We went to Disneyland for three days, then spent a day driving down the California coast, which was gorgeous. I had an amazing time soaking in the sun, going on rides, and generally eating badly for a week. Here's some pictures of our adventure.

California Adventure!

Mickey Mouse himself in Frontierland

Grad 2013!

We watched the Jedi training, which was adorable and awesome.

Paradise Pier at night.

We were all really excited about the massive Californian beaches... we truly are small-town folk

It was a lovely week! Now we're back to the real world, blah. At least the weather is nice!

-Hannah