An Urge to Shop

I'm absolutely dying to shop! And since I'm stuck in Kingston, I'm very limited to the places I can do quality shopping so I've resorted to online shopping... and let me tell you this: IT'S DANGEROUS! Yes there's online fraud and such but the type of danger I'm talking about is the addiction.

In the past month, I've bought:

• my grad formal dress
• hoop earrings
• flower earrings
• eyelash curler
• eyelash serum
• hard case for macbook pro

Then my friend Jenn pitied me and decided to bring me on a shopping date at our local mall, Cataraqui Centre. Even though the mall is small and inferior compared to what we're used to in Toronto, I was ecstatic to go shopping and spend some girl time! I ended up buying pumps from Aldo, leggings from Garage, and face wash from the Clinique counter.

They ran out of my size (37) at the store so Aldo shipped it to my house from their warehouse for free! And it arrived in 2 days!!! So speedy :)

The MOOS in nude patent leather. So gorgeous but so uncomfortable! Beauty = pain!

That's it for shopping adventures... for now. Trying to curb my spending in the mean time so I can save up to travel in the summer.

Cheers,

Chelsea *

Time for Change

So much has happened in the past 2 months - truly an emotional rollercoaster ride! Now that everything is back on track (sort of), I guess this is a good time to get back to blogging! I DID make it my New Year's resolution to maintain this blog as best as possible (though I must admit I'm doing a bad job of it at the moment...) So I guess I should do a quick update on the key events that have happened in my life.

1. Change in career goals. I had an amazing summer working an accounting internship with awesome coworkers, interns (I love them!), and clients. I was fully going to pursue the CA designation and continue my employment but after a whole lot of soul-searching and reflection, I have decided that the accounting route is not for me. My interest has always been in marketing and even if I did pursue a CA, my end goal would be to enter the marketing field. Sooooo after lots of tears and a heart wrenching decision, I have now decided that I am going to pursue marketing and explore different career options in this field. People think I'm crazy for leaving a full-time job offer in this economy but I have a strong feeling that I'll be much happier doing something I am passionate about... and that's definitely marketing.

2. New relationship. It's been about half a year since my breakup with my ex-boyfriend from a 2.5 year relationship and though I've already moved on, I can officially say I have a new boo! :) I've known him since summer of 2008 but things didn't click together until just recently this winter. It's weird how these things work since I've always just considered him as a friend. But anyways, January 31st is our official day and since then we've been able to celebrate Valentine's Day together - we went on a pastry adventure, mini putting, dinner at Six Steps, and then skating at Harbourfront. :) He's travelling in China right now and I miss him... lots! Currently feeling quite lonely.... it sucks.

3. Graduation. It's coming so soon and I really don't know how I feel about it! I'm happy that it's almost done and I don't have to write any papers and exams in a long time but I don't feel ready to leave this institution! It feels so safe here! Especially since I don't have a job lined up at the moment, I don't want to leave school yet without a solid plan laid out. I'm feeling extremely nostalgic (especially from looking at my photos from frosh week), and it makes me sad to realize there's approximately 4 weeks left of school. I'm going to miss this lifestyle so much... the freedom and independence, the convenience, and my friends here. Grad photos and grad formal are next week for me. It's another step closer to graduation. I feel like I should be making the most out of the rest of the time I have in Kingston.

So those are the updates for now and I'm hoping to be more diligent with updating my blog. Fingers crossed it happens!

Me and Ryan :)

Us skating at Harbourfront (note my Vancouver 2010 mitts!)

Cheers,

Chelsea *

A Year Ago Today... My Adventure Began

I can NOT believe it's been exactly a year since the beginning of my exchange adventures in Europe! If memory serves me correct, I was on the plane from Toronto - Paris - Toulouse on January 3rd and classes at ESC started on January 5th.

Since I'm seriously missing exchange right now, I've decided to recount my exchange adventures on this blog by posting pictures and memories of what I experienced a year ago. This task would be much easier if I had kept a journal of what I did as I was actually experiencing everything... but I guess this is better than just leaving everything to memory as I'm sure I'll start forgetting tidbits of things a few years down the road.

Things I remember:

- hopping onto my Air France flight with Lauren Lefcoe, Jane Traversy, and Andrew McMahon
- missing our connecting flight from Paris to Toulouse and having a mild freakout at the airport... it was our first attempt at using French to communicate with the locals
- spending half an hour freaking out at the airport, thinking I lost my Tiffany bangle, only to realize it was in my jacket all along
- having a random French man help me with my luggage after seeing me struggle with my suitcase that had malfunctioning wheels... this was when I started to be amazed by the kindness of Toulouse people
- meeting French hottie Jean Pascal for the first time... he carried my overweight luggage with one hand each and lifted it up 6 flights of stairs... I think I instantly fell in love
- as if fate called for it, all 8 of us Queen's kids coincidentally saw each other that day at the local McDonald's... and that began our bond and continuous inside joke with McD's- exploring my loft at the residence next to the ESC business school...

Seriously missing it so much and hoping that the next group of kiddies at Toulouse are loving it right now!

Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse

Place du Capitol - center of Toulouse

ESC Toulouse - our school of exchange for the Winter term

The Toulouse canal - went running down these trails in the Spring

Cheers,

Chelsea *

First Blog Post Ever!

What better way to start off a new year and a new decade than to start a blog to share my thoughts? In the past few years, I have really wanted to keep a blog but never got the chance to... mostly because of stupid excuses like "I'm too busy" and "it'll interfere with my work and studying". For those who knew me in high school, I was an avid user of Xanga and frequently posted updates about my life and feelings. I really miss having that type of outlet to express my thoughts... so enough with the excuses! I'm finally starting a blog! 2010 is going to be a fresh start and I'm hoping it's a year that will bring many positive changes. :)

So New Years was a few days ago and as I was counting down the last few seconds of 2009, I realized I didn't have any New Years resolutions! I usually don't really set any resolutions for myself and when I HAVE set them in the past, I never quite followed them. So this year, I'm hoping to be a little more disciplined. I really didn't know what resolutions to set for this year but as I was checking my Twitter today, somebody had tweeted a "New Years Resolution Generator" for inspiration. Try it out here if you're still trying to find a New Years Resolution: http://moninavelarde.com/newyears/

My New Years Resolutions:
1. Update and maintain my blog on a regular basis
2. Engage in physical activity at least 3 times a week
3. Do more real cooking and experimenting in addition to the baking I usually do
4. Learn to calm down and stress less
5. Improve on maintaining contact with old and new friends
6. Do a better job at avoiding foods I'm sensitive to
7. Reconnect with my parents
9. Challenge myself by learning something new (exactly what... TBD)
10. Live. Laugh. Love. Basically, enjoy life and cherish every second of it.

So that's it for now... Happy New Year to everyone! May 2010 bring many challenges, adventures, and new memories.

Cheers,
Chelsea *