Happy Friday!

I had a pretty so-so day, and by so-so, I mean nothing about it went good. But oddly enough, I'm in a great mood and kinda talkative and hyper and happy!  Don't ask me how it hapenned.

Anyways, I got a mark back today that started with a 5 and ended with a 5 and then a %. yep. Beaut. But I had a good sit-down with the one who wrote those 5s down, and we decided it was a good learning experience! ha! In reality, my design was pretty, but it was also pretty complicated and hard to build, and therefore, with the nature of the drawings, I made it hard on myself. Such is the nature of Interior Design school. But what happenned next was, my good friend Sarah kindly tore the worst comment out of my mark sheet, chewed it up and will *poo it out later. And therefore, it never happenned.

* just kidding, she said she was going to poo it out but really she spat the pink wad into the garbage can.... just in case you wanted more clarity and specifics ...

 That's us at the IDS West show, back in October. That's super motivating and insiring Caitrina on the right, who I also thank for this photo stolen from Fbook. And we are relaxing on the most beautiful Montauk sofa (I want) in between hauling free design loot around. Tiring. note: good lighting for making sofa look pretty, bad lighting for making people look pretty!




Oh Sarah, how I love you. I cried of laughter slash real crying, because then a few other classmates got all sympathetic and made me realise how much I needed sympathy for such a crap mark which made me feel worse... but at least Sarah took the worste part away. I shall love her forever.

Paula, sitting in Sarah's beautiful and comfy denim palette chair. Sarah's awesome at stuff, and since I love her, I dedicate this post to all kinds of awesomeness she has up her sleaves.

So, the weekend is here, and one week from right now I will be sitting in the sunshine of Palm Springs... Oh boy, do I ever need a lil' vitamin D. (I mean, I bought the capsules, but it's just not the same!)

Thanks for listening, have a good weekend internet!

Happy Friday!

Random fact: I am not one of those people who thinks of cilantro as a garnish

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am having my turkey tomorrow - today is for homework! It really doesn't feel like thanksgiving yet, but it is finally feeling like Fall, and I am really enjoying it. I was treated to a trip to Chase, where we watched the Salmon run at Adams River with the boy's family. It was a much-needed break and so good to spend time with my (other) family! we stayed at a resort that was gorgeous, the weather was perfect and fall-ish, and everyone had so much fun. The Salmon were interesting... I will show you some pictures, don't mind the dead fish .... haha! Here's what its all about, for those who don't know (like me before I went!):

"After fighting strong currents and rapids, the salmon are bruised and battered and their skin has changed to a deep red colour and their heads turn green. The salmon return to the same place where they began their life to spawn. The females lay around 40,000 eggs, the males develop humped backs and hooked snouts. They both guard the nest until their death and the cycle begins again. "

The resort where we stayed one luxurious night

(4 pillows for 1 person, white bedding and down duvet = my kind of sleeping arrangement!)

The traffic director at the entrance to the park - I thought it was cute!

All of the water just looked like this...

Some fish eggs nestled in the rocks

 

Fish accross the bank.

 

This guy was huge!

Uncles and nephews a-plenty!

Grandsons can never get enough of Grandpa!

He'd point and say "He's done" ... haha funny how easily kids get it sometimes

Me and the boy's feet...

This cutie again - cuter and cuter these days!

So I am super glad I got a little break this weekend! I got my projects done for Thursday, I've posted my telephone bench here for you to see, and lots of other stuff stressed me out, I was getting sick, but now I'm feeling better already since I've had a couple days of rest! Perfect! K, back to the homework now!



Canoe-dalling

Thank-you to all who played along in my little guessing game! You were ALL right! hahaha....

See the green rod in the hitch?! Okay well it is hard to see, but it is easy to see that the Canoe is resting on it. He was sure he gave it all away when the green thing went in, but I didn't have a clue what it was for!

I didn't take any pictures of us paddling, but once we got to the other side of the lake, we just enjoyed our own little private beach :

The boy sittin on his "throne". He made me one too after this!

He even packed a game of snakes and ladders! Here's a picture of how bad he beat me the first round! He caught every ladder up! But I beat him the next 2 rounds : P

The glacier-fed water certainly felt good, but it took a few yelps to get to the fully submerged stage!

total bliss.

Stuff and Squirrels

Wow! It’s June already?! I’m moved into my green room! My bed won’t be here for another week (now I know the answer to “why buy a mattress anywhere else”) but I have a little camping mattress on the floor for now, which will do just fine! I’m discovering far too many clothes. Ugh. Why?! I really don’t need more than what I have time to wear. I would love for that to be simplified for me, but then there’s all the things that you think you will want to wear, and you know, that top that would be perfect for a walk on the beach if it was exactly 21.75 degrees out, and the skirt that would be just right on a cool day in windy Scotland. Yeah, it’s pretty much that bad. And then my roommate asks me if I want this top she’s getting rid of and I’m all ‘yep, cute, thanks!’. Do you think it’s a real addiction? Like do actual people get some sort of actual chemically satisfying reaction in our actual brains to tell us that it’s actually good to have this much stuff?! What’s up with that anyways? Now the fabric, interior design samples, books and school supplies I can justify. Even though it was 2 whole truck loads of it. I think they are things I need. Right? Right? Anybody?


I did a little discovery of the neighbourhood this morning when I donned my bike (or did my bike don me?) and headed to our very own "Central Park". It has an outdoor pool, stadium (today Highschool students were having a track and field comp there), a little pond, horse shoes field, law bowling place and a baseball diamond. Its all in and among forest and paths that are great for biking through! However, and it's a big however, there seems to be an issue with feeding the squirrels... there are signs saying do not feed the wildlife... there are people throwing crumbs with their children right there too. And what is wrong with this? Well, you see, the thing is, when you feed them, they're no longer scared of us. And when they're no longer scared of us, they tend to not get out of the way when you're coming at them with a bike. Not one but two squirrels today caused me to swerve, squeal the breaks, scream and put my legs straight out in front of me with my eyes closed so as to not have to see or feel what goes down under my tires. I was mad. Especially at the lady with her daughter feeding them. This was before the 2 incidences, but still, I gave them a little "ugh" as I rode by. They heard.
Next time I go I'll say more than that, because I can see it REALLY is a problem!

Off to school now. Happy weekend to all you who have one!

A Happy Valentine's

to fulfill my girly needs

to fulfill my ha-ha needs

so cute...

so random...

so us...

And I got him this Whaley cute card

:)

Fantastic Salsa

(because it just doesn't feel like a blog post without a decent picture)

This is an amazing amazing recipe that you can just throw into your blender and be eating fresh, healthy salsa 10 minutes later !!!

1/2 small red onion
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove (or as much as you want!)
2 tablespoons of canned pickled jalapeno chile, drained (in Mexican food section at the store)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatos, drained

And that's it! So good with some plain ol' Dorito chips. :D Enjoy!

Have a happy weekend!

Baby's on its way!

I had fun last weekend trying to creatively capture some shots of Tara's belly.

I couldn't get over how much better everything turned out in black and white, so I made them consistenly that way...

{turn on your speakers}

sorry about the "leawo.com" part but I forgot that when you make a powerpoint presentation, you can't exactly just upload it as a video. Anyways that's an online program that converted it for me. Nothing you need to be worried about, but it is annoyingly in the way the whole time, I know. (I won't do that again!)

Thank you Colbie Caillat for the tunes. (love that song)

I will maintain that it's a boy in there still though.

Anyways...

What didya think??

PS: Animoto Makes it WAAAAY easier

Picnic Weather

Got 1 more thing up in the shop; but I must pull myself away from the computer as I am on my way to a great Friday & Saturday with my boy!

(yes, he's back from Kelowna for a few days again)

Maybe I'll pack a picnic for tomorrow; the weather is just begging me to!

Weekend plans, anyone?

twenty-two

I was asked to blog about what it's like to turn 22. So, get ready for an epic story. No, really though. Let me try to examine...

My list of things to do before I turned 22 is a little embarrassing to look at. There are things on there that I did do, things that I never did, and things that I don't really care to do anymore.

I am proud of some of the things I've accomplished in the past year, however, I feel like there is so much more to get going on in the coming year.

Though I haven't committed to any new-year’s resolutions yet, a few things spring to mind for this new year of my life:

I want to be more thankful and less judgemental of the amazing people in my life. I want to grasp the amount of joy there is to be had. I need to share more of myself and reach out to others. I want to make a positive difference to other's lives, without really trying or thinking about it.

I want to be trusted to be an honest and reliable source of friendship. I want to love selflessly.

There's been so much in my life lately that makes me thankful and feel blessed; I don't want to forget about it next week or next month.

I want to remember everything that is awesome every day.

Example:
I went home, to Mom's, for my Birthday weekend. I took pictures of Tara's pregnant belly and was shopping with her and mom, got to visit a little with Laura and Leif, met Ruger, caught up with Moxie, was excited with the news of a new baby born to share my birthday with, was spoiled with meals at home and out, and got to come home to a boy who always outdoes himself in showing me how much he loves me. I will miss him a lot while he's away working for the next few months . . . it will be different for us to be miles apart again, so hopefully the time goes by fast.

Today, at work, there was a handsome older man who was talking to the lady behind him in line at the checkout. He had grabbed a chocolate from the isle and mentioned that his wife would be pleased to find that treat hiding at the bottom of the bag. He smiled so big. And he pulled out his wallet to show the lady in line a photo from his wedding day, and proudly proclaimed as he pointed to her, "That’s my wife!" When it was his turn, he showed it to me too. And it was the sweetest little black and white photo, with a great looking couple standing next to each other.
Simple. In love.
He told me, "She keeps my train on the tracks".
It was so sweet, and really melted my heart. I want to be that proud, that supportive, that loud about how lucky I am.


I have said "I" a lot in this post, so I'm gonna sign off now...

But please enlighten me: what are you thankful for and what will you do more of this year... ?

love,
ayla

Let me take you on a rundown of my day.

1. Aaah! I haven't been home all week and I have laundry to do, Salmon Arm to get ready for and a zillion other things...

2. Laundry

2a. email email email

2b. blog read

3. try to plan outfits for S.A.

4. get distracted looking in sewing/fabric bin

4a. blog read

4b. do what I read on angry chicken (cut a shirt into a cardigan)

5. try to pack

6. get distracted looking in sewing/fabric bin

7. sew a project I've been promising boy for about a year

7a. text laura

7b. text britta

7c. repeat 7a and 7b and interchange with a bunch of numbers here and repeat x lots

8. sew a piece of a skirt onto another skirt and enjoy the looks of it

9. put on new skirt

10. - oh! laundry

11. rip beads off a dress that looked bad (iffy. icky. distasteful. just can't put the right word to it.) with beads on it

12. dig deeper in fabric bin

13. find tonnes of old jeans

14. make skirt out of old jeans

... 4 hours later...

(that is also my cut-shirt-cardigan I "made" today and I really like it because it's SO light! although the sleeves could've been longer by about an inch)

and if you were wondering if my room is a mess the answer would be...yes

Now if I had any food in my house I would make some supper. But I don't. So I will finish the laundry.

And maybe tidy up a bit. it would be nice to go to bed tonight.

And public apology: Sorry I was making stuff for me, I will work on all your creative things next! I have completed 1 thing though, so there!

how do I put up a video? I have to have it saved, obviously. But a youtube? Maybe if I sign in to youtube... I dunno, I don't think you're allowed to save those obvs. anyways here's a 'video' i made of some engagement pictures.



I plan on making more effort with the blog again... haha yeah AGAIN because it was such a priority before. No, I seriously want to write stuff more. All sorts of stuff.

My car got impounded today for being parked @ past 3pm on Broadway. The good part is that I was busy getting a massage at the time...So I gotta go get it, Ron is coming soon to pick me up. Then a romantic downtown dinner ... yay! Happy Friday!

So the real thing I wanted to share is this. enjoy!

bum bum bum bum

It's Friday!
& I am excited to go home with paycheque in hand, get my butt out to the boy's house (please traffic, be kind today!) & just relaaax. I think I'll pick up some oldy movies at the library on my way home.
I thought I would add 1 more entry to my blog for January. It's been a hectic month & still so much feels 'undone' - the to-do list is growing instead of shrinking. But I think that is normal for a January.
Anyways I told myself I'd get this filing done today. According to my calculations I might be able to have it done by 5 o'clock if it takes me an average of 2.5 minutes per filing item with 46 items. Jeepers I hate filing. But I guess it is better than sitting here waiting for my bum to get even bigger and wobblier.
Ciao blog-world & hope y'all have an enchanting weekend!

All that goes with Thanksgiving weekend....

Dear Colour & Lighting teacher,
This would save you a lot of marking time:
http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

my score: 8 (eyes said ouch)

So it seems I've had an inspiring weekend, one in which I, once again, realise the changes I need to make, the things I need to treasure and the to-do list that is still wanting attention.
Things I did this weekend:
1. sulked with ice cream (Haagen-Dazs' new half the fat vanilla - not even half bad!) and pie and a movie (The Talented Mr.Ripley - so enjoyed it) all alone in the big dark house!
2. slept in
3. intended to clean my room
4. went to boy's house; chilled/cuddled/watched 2 1/2 men/napped/cooked supper (which was pretty good italian style sausage&chicken&peppers concoction with mashed potatoes and NY style crumble cake for dessert) oh and then made him get me an americano while I cleaned up. Then we watched about Schmidt.. well almost. We failed at that because it was boring and watched 'The Man who Knew Too Little' which was quite awesom. Then went home (too late for a Saturday night but I was giddy on coffee!).
5. meeting Sunday morning @ the Wood's was great. We had lots of extras so it was really special; afterward the elder's wife said hi to Susie and I and added that 'you girls add a lot to our meeting and I really appreciate it, I don't tell you enough.' It was very cute and definetly made my week. :) Its good to hear some simple encouraging words that even if I sometimes feel blah, someone is noticing something they like.
6. Lunch - plan was to go to boy's and then drive down to Bellingham to shop/hang out for the day. But the past-criminal-horrid-bad-boy (I exagerate - a lot) wasn't able to cross the line
this time which just means he actually needs to do the paperwork for a pardon he's been talking about for a while now.
7..... 1.5 hrs in line up at border and 2 hrs waiting at immigration...then drove back to Langley
8. Starving boy and starving me get to Coza for supper (staarving by this time) which was LOVELy. Had salmon with lemon and olives and such on it. Yummmm
9. Starbucks to take home to watch more movies :P.... why do we watch so many ?!
10. Time to stay home and FINALLY get the room cleaned and some laundry done. Its a good thing I have so many clothes cause that was a LOT of laundry. Still going at it actually. And my room is moderately clean; more organization needed though.
11. Thanksgiving dinner at Calverley's - Sonya and Andrew were wedding planning with Lynda all day so got to look at lots of books and magazines before/after dinner. Turkey was GREAT!

Now, at work, doing nothing all day but loving it. :P
I need to do more research on Rococo style ...
But instead, I played this fun game:
First, you answer these twelve questions. My answers are in parentheses.

01. What is your first name? (Ayla)
02. What is your favorite food? (Gelato)
03. What high school did you attend? (Bowness High School)
04. What is your favorite color? (tangerine)
05. Who is your celebrity crush? (matthew mcconaughey )
06. Favorite drink? (Café Americano)
07. Dream vacation? (Tuscany)
08. Favorite dessert? (Angel Food cake)
09. What do you want to be when you grow up? (Mommy)
10. What do you love most in life? (Love)
11. One word to describe you (Grinning)
12. Your Flickr name (Nothing)

Then you build a mosaic by typing your answers into Flickr's search function. You choose one photo for each of your answers, and you can only use images that appear on the first page of search results. Get the details here.
Here's what I ended up with:I think its pretty. But you'd never guess which is which! Well... a few are obvious.
Anyways, I feel it is high time to start planning for Halloween.
I think it would be fun to have a proper dinner party for Halloween. With good food, not themed and gross looking. And a haunted cake. We'll see how it goes; it would be a lot of work but it would also be a lot of fun. Some of my friends also want to go trick-or-treating (like Susie cause she's never had the privilege!) which is cool, and we also want to carve pumpkins.
I know what I'm being for Halloween, I just haven't quite put it all together yet. And I still need to convince the boy to come.
And about him; he's so so so good to me in so many ways - just not in the ways that are obvious to other people. I joke about how his greatest compliments are something like 'nice tights! Did you have to crank them open with a steal rod to slip into them?' (that was last night and I'm pretty sure that's not how it went exactly but it resulted from the long Sunday in WAY too tight of tights [note to self: no more HUE tights] during that long wait with no food and then stuffing myself to full over-contentment and complaining, stripping them off as soon as entering the house) and all kinds of nice comments; there are too many to even start thinking of the best ones. But anyways, despite his rough exterior, or... abrupt nature...er.... blatant honesty etc., he has done amazing things for me. I should tell him that more. He makes me to think more, care more, share more, do more and be more. And I want to care, share, do and be even MORE because of him. It's probably not as easily explained as felt. Its just that I see this wondering lifetime available to me; the places we would go the things we'd see and family we'd make. It really puts a light in my eye.... or... makes me want to move forward. Maybe that is dangerous- I think it's very nice and very important to be content in the moment too.
It's exciting to move forward in life though and at this point it feels very necessary. I'm not even really enjoying school anymore and working with architects is...enlightening but not really what I had in mind as a designer. I don't want to have to work for firm and be all corporate and officey. I enjoy artsy fartsy. But then again, the Boy's a builder and if the company gets to a certain point I can just design home interiors which is ultimately what I'd enjoy best I think.
I'll let this do for now. Blog time is over.
How does one end a blog? I feel the need for a cute quotation or a little poem...

"One should always be in love. This is the reason one should never marry." (Oscar Wilde)

...let's talk about the weather

So it's been a while since my last post. It's now really 'winter'. I think it was yesterday or the day before when people just started to say 'yep this is it.. no more summer'. We've been lucky to have sun up until this week though! But I am, again, feeling the lack of energy and uselessness I experienced at this time last year in Vancouver. Its bad. Because I have a lot to be doing - I was so busy at work all week I didn't get time to do any homework really and I have an assignment due on Tuesday. So I really have to put my nails to the grindstone tomorrow. And hopefully tonight too. Its so hard to feel inspired or ambitious but it's got to be done! Anyways, seasons changing is always kind of exciting too. Starting to see leaves go shades of red and feel the cool breeze is a somewhat welcome change - hello scarves, mits and hats!
Nothing more to report really. Looking forward to next weekend because it's a long weekend that includes Turkey! I thought of going home for it, but its just such a long drive it would only give us 1 day there and that would be spent recovering from the drive... and eating and sleeping... I just think I would probably come back less rested than when I left. And I'm not willing to take any time off work, so it will have to wait until later - maybe when I'm done school, in December. Then I'd also have time to spend time with Laura and we could try on dresses and that as well. Need More Time!
Oh well, I have most of December off of school so I can catch up on 'stuff' then.
Lets just get through the torture of the weather, the business and the tiresome days of October and November first!
Happy 49th Birthday to my amazing Mom today too!