March Break "To Do" List

I have this entire week off from teaching! With not much else going on as well, I have a lot of spare time. I just moved two weeks ago, and with that, spent too much money. With a very small budget, and a whole week's worth of time, these are things I came up with to help me stay "active" (physically, mentally, and creatively?).

• Hem remaining curtains
• Alther clothing: shoulders on three dresses, hem blue dress, stitch holes in stockings, reattach button on coat
• Hang mirror in bedroom
• Organize dresser top
• Get rid of extra stuff (on craigslist or curb or donate)
• Wallpaper/wrapping paper for wooden shelf in the kitchen
• Hang pictures and art
• Fix bike! Get a tune-up
• Install last shelf
• Take photos of organized spaces
• Make blog posts!
• Honest Ed's Challenge???
• Visit friends
• Schedule a doctor check-up
• Learn a new piece from the standard repertoire
• Go home for a visit 
• Bring sewing machine to get fixed
• Paint something new
• Organize end of year student recital
• Make up practice schedules for students taking exams
• Take a lesson
• Go to a fabric store
• Cover chairs with new fabric
• Finish crochet blanket
• Go to concerts
• Go to classical socials
• Watch TV shows!
• Sign up for free yoga month
• Goo gone the old candle jars and cups
• Paint folders for sheet music

Those are all the fun things I can do this week! Here are the less-fun things I have to do today:

• Grocery shopping
• Dishes
• Clean the bathroom
• Vacuum everywhere
• Find a way to get rid of ants

Happy March Break!

Doodle

Magical Day Dream made a cute post about silly things to draw, and I was instantly inspired to take five minutes out of my day to do exactly that. I present to you:

Unfinished Drawing of a Fat Squirrel Drinking Tea

Winter and Art

Friday, February 8th

We were sliding around in the snow!

Someone's bike got buried!

The next day, someone made a perfect butt print in the snowbank!

Electroacoustic concert. Look at those crazy speakers!

Valentine's painting. I love these colours!

Mmmmm crayola!

Closet Cleaning!

Hey! This is not a usual post! I'm moving in a month, and before then I'd like to get rid of some clothes that I've accumulated in the last while. Most of this was handed down to me, so I'd like to do a trade or something! Maybe I could organize a little get together and people can just bring stuff and we can all try and get rid of our things. Or maybe there's something you like, and you'd rather just email me or comment and we can arrange a time for a trade! I thought I'd document all the stuff here, so you know what you're getting yourself in to :)

This is a super stretchy dress with re-enforced cups? I don't know what you call it, but it holds its shape really well, regardless of how stretchy it is. This could fit a large, or an xs.

This is another nice stretchy comfy dress that doesn't look good on a hanger, but fits nicely. It has a criss-cross back, which makes it so hard to photograph! I'd say this is a Small or Medium. Even a Large (It's stretchy!)

This is a cotton dress with elastic at the back. Drawstring at dropwaist. Slit up the side. 

H&M dress. This one fits very small! I'd say XS. It has an elastic waist.

Spandex blend workout top.

Workout top with elastic bra inside (I forget the proper name for that as well!) can be used as a swimsuit top too, for watersports.

Long sweater.

White button-up. It's a wrinkly because it's been in storage, but it can look nice all ironed up! It's got a bit of a stretch to it, so it fits nicely.

Black sweater.

Another black sweater, with 3/4 sleeves and not as long as the one above!

Really really soft grey Turtle neck. 

These pieces didn't really have a place in my regular rotation of clothes, but I hope some of them might find a place in yours!

Yoga and what I'm excited about!

For the last year, I have been doing yoga the cheap way: in my own home, with the help of free youtube videos. My favourite youtube yoga instructor by far is Tara Stiles.

Her videos are quite short (between 5-10min) so I usually do a few in a row. She also uploads a lot of simple cooking videos, which have inspired me to experiment more in the kitchen and try new things.

I just found out this morning that she is coming to Toronto for a weekend! She's coming to do a two-day workshop for teachers or teachers in training, which I am not. Luckily, she's doing two open classes on both mornings. The fee for the class is pretty high compared to most drop ins, but considering she's sort of a celebrity yogi, I'm willing to pay. Also, I've been using her youtube videos for a year for free, so to meet and learn from her in person is definitely worth it for me!
The class isn't until mid May though! I'm definitely looking forward to it!

I think I might treat myself to her DVD set in the meantime.

It's through her yoga videos that I have been getting closer to my goal of being able to do a handstand on my own. I suggest everyone go to her youtube channel and try out some yoga!

Halfway through January Already!

Hi! I can't believe that January is already half over! So, how are those resolutions going? I imagine that this is the time of the month that most people stop going to the gym? I don't know. I'm still deciding my resolutions.

I try to make resolutions about things that I wouldn't try to do during the year anyhow, if that makes sense. I actually think I make more "resolutions" at the beginning of September, since the beginning of a new school year feels more like a "fresh start" than January 1st.
These are my "resolutions" for 2013:

1. Continue to floss as often as possible. Teeth are important, and I no longer have dental coverage! Floss floss floss.
(insert imaginary stock photo of someone flossing)

2. Do a handstand every day. I've been alright with this one so far. Not in the last few days, since I've been fighting off a cold/sinus bug, and doing an inversion is not a good idea for pressure in the head (headaches or sinuses). Ultimately, I'd like to be able to do a handstand with no help from a wall. This might take all year.

And that's it! Those are the only two goals that I would label under "new years resolutions". There are many things that I strive to do every day, but I use each day to enforce them, not just the new year. If that makes sense.

Anyhow, here are some pictures!

My dad built this cup holder for the back seats in his car. He made them to fit Tim Horton's cups, and not my tea bodum!

I accidentally went out wearing my red pants AND my red scarf last week. Luckily it wasn't too cold out that day, so I stuffed my scarf in my bag as soon as I realized how clashy I was! (Moments after taking this picture!)

In other news, I have photoshop! Yay! I've played around with some of my phone pictures, but I can't seem to do things like how I used to with photoshop. I will need to learn the ropes again, since it's been a long while since I've used the full version. If anyone knows some good links to photoshop tutorials, hit me up! 

I also need to save my $$ for a nice camera. My phone camera seems to pick up shadows in the worst way, even in great outdoor lighting. Advice! I need advice!

A Summary of 2012... in FILMS!

Hello!
Over the past few days, I have read and watched a bunch of "year in review" type things by lots of different people. I've been wanting to do a 2012 re-cap myself. I could go over life things that happened in 2012, but I think it was pretty boring and not very interesting to blog about. So, I really love going to movies and I have decided to compile a list of my favourite movies that I saw in theatres this year! I plugged them all into my flickchart since I'm too indecisive to rank them myself.
Here are my top 10 movies of the year! (I actually only saw 10 movies, so what a coincidence!)



10. Cloud Atlas

Even though this is the lowest ranked on my list, I still did enjoy this film. It was a good mix of serious bits, scary bits, and funny bits. The stories were good, but overall I bet it worked better as a book and not as a movie.



9. The Avengers

This was a fun movie. I really like the Iron Man movies, but wasn't really into the other story lines. Oh, I really like Loki though. Tom Hiddleston is my new favourite british actor.



8. Les Miserables

I thought there were many spectacular aspects of this movie, but it's ranked sort of low because of small things that bothered me throughout the film: the shaky camera and Hugh Jackman's vibrato. Otherwise, Anne Hathaway blew my mind.



7. Hunger Games

I really loved these books and I thought the movie was pretty accurate. I would have loved more character development and less shaky camera.



6. The Dark Knight Rises

Not as good as "The Dark Knight", but still pretty good. Once again, Anne Hathaway was my favourite part of the whole movie!



5. Life of Pi

I just saw this recently, and wow! What a beautiful movie! The visuals were stunning, and the story telling was great. That tiger was terrifying.



4. Beasts of the Southern Wild

I think this movie will get some Oscars. I loved it. I just did not love the shaky camera. Why is that a "thing?" It makes me feel so sick.


3. The Hobbit

I'm just such a huge Tolkien fan, I was going to love this movie no matter what Peter Jackson did. I liked all of the added stuff except the Radaghast "chase" scene.



2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I read this book back in high school, and it really changed my life! I don't know why exactly, but I remember feeling so many emotions for months after reading it. The movie captured everything I have ever felt, and I left the theatre feeling like an emo teenager.



1. Moonrise Kingdom

Everything about this movie is awesome. Wes Anderson movies make me feel so happy. I really loved the soundtrack. Especially the Aviary from the Carnival of the Animals narrated by Leonard Bernstein. Seriously, it was so good.

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Think I suck at reviewing movies? That's because I do! Here is a friend of mine who is good at reviewing movies, and watches more than fiction/fantasy! http://petersmoviethoughts.blogspot.ca/