Happy things with which to end the week (3)

It's been a good but busy week! Work has been a lot of work, and I'm working on revising my novel some more (I'm at the halfway mark now, so hopefully it'll be done this week). I also got accepted for a really awesome opportunity, but I don't want to say anymore and jinx it. Once it's officially started, I'll be sure to share :)

My mailbox had some happy arrivals this week, two of which were surprises of the best sort, and one I had been excitedly expecting.

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, courtesy of Random House Canada, is a memoir about a woman whose sons, husband, and parents all died in the 2004 tsunami while they were vacationing in Sri Lanka. I've already started reading it, and it's just as devastating– but beautifully written– as I imagined.

The surprises were two young adult novels, The Wrap-up List by Steven Arntson and Delusion by Laura L. Sullivan, which showed up courtesy of Thomas Allen and Sons. I hadn't really heard much about either title, though The Wrap-Up List, about a world where Death sometimes sends a letter telling people to wrap up their lives before it's time to depart, and a teenage girl gets one, had made intrigued me and made it on my TBR before. Delusion is about a pair of teenage magicians, set during WW2. I'm not exactly sure if I'll be reading it or not, but it does have a very sparkly cover.

When I went to pick up the Thomas Allen books, it turned out my mail was at the wrong post office, and while I was at a different drug store I discovered they have a pretty massive nail polish collection. In the discount bins I found a ton of magnetic polish I wasn't interested in, along with this gem for only three dollars:

It's called Buried Alive by Orly. I've never owned a normal Orly polish before, because generally I can only find the Quo by Orly line here in Canada. But I love their glitters, and this unusual brown gold immediately caught my attention. I took some photographs of my current polish– a mustard by Nails Inc. to swatch for this site, and I'll probably do the same when I try this. That'll probably be tonight or tomorrow, depending on when I feel like removing my current chipped polish. I'm going to try to swatch my colours as I wear them from now on (and not just using my phone). I adore nail polish, and I'm trying to make this blog about things I like, and make it pressure-free and eclectic in a a way my book blog no longer is. Whatever I feel like sharing, that's what you're going to find here!

Now I'm back to a weekend of Game of Thrones– rewatching the TV show, not reading the books. I hope you had a happy week as well. If you had any happy things to share, I'd love to know what they are.

Happy things with which to end the week (2)

Remember that post last week where I talked about my amazing poutine? Turned out I was back at the mall on Sunday, shopping with a friend who needed an interview outfit, and managed to get it again. Yum. But that has definitely satisfied my poutine craving for the next couple months I think. Unless I happen to be nearby to it again...

I feel like this photo captures its deliciousness even better than last time.

What else do I have to be happy about? Well there are these gluten-free brownies I made last Saturday, and have since eaten. But I definitely enjoyed them while they lasted. Yum. 

Not the best photo, but the taste was worth it.

While I was at the mall, when I wasn't eating poutine, I picked up a few boring things at the dollar store like a potato masher. But I also treated myself to a perfume I've been lusting over for a couple months now. I got the body cream, shimmer cream, and scrub in the scent for Christmas, but I really wanted something stronger and longer lasting. Unfortunately the only size is pretty small, but for $12 I picked up Victoria Secret's Love Spell. It's described as cherry blossom and peach. All I can say is that it smells amazing. As cheesy as the names are, I have fallen in love with it. Definitely worn it a few times already, which you can tell by the slight use of the bottle. Luckily it's a really popular scent because I'm sure I'll be going back for more in the future.

Looking at this picture just makes me want to spray more on. Yum.

I actually also got quite a few goodies in the mail this week of the bookish nature, so I figured I'd share them as well.

Books, books, books!

A pre-order, along with a spontaneous purchase both arrived for me this week, along with two signed books I won on Twitter. Yay Twitter.

I bought Pivot Point by Kasie West when the author was running a pre-order contest with an awesome prize (one option was a manuscript critique) but unfortunately I didn't win. Regardless, I was looking forward to this book, because it reminds me a bit of the movie Sliding Doors and sounds really interesting. In this case the main character spends six weeks in two different realities, which alternate back and forth by chapter, but eventually she has to decide where she really belongs.

The second novel is The Reese Malcolm List by Amy Spalding. I'd been hearing good things about this one for awhile, especially since it was blurbed by one of my favourite YA authors, Courtney Summers. Then I was reading this post on quitting she wrote on Nova Ren Suma's blog, and it just me so much more impressed with her and excited to read her book. Plus, I have only heard amazing things about the publisher, Entangled, and since Book Depository had it for only $6.58 I decided to just order and see for myself. Right now that novel's up a few dollars, but worth keeping an eye because their prices sometimes fluctuate. 

I think she's got such a gorgeous signature actually, really lovely.

Two wonderful signed books courtesy of author Jessica Martinez, who I follow on Twitter, to celebrate the cover reveal of her third novel, The Vow. I only recently read Martinez's first book, Virtuosity, but I really enjoyed her honest contemporary YA and insight into the world of classical violin, so I'm excited to own a copy. She also sent along her second novel, The Space Between Us which is a story about sisters and secrets, and apparently the second half takes place in Canada, which makes it automatically awesome. Now that I own it, I'll definitely have to read it soon. Can't wait! Thanks so much Jessica! 

Combine these goodies with the fact that I finished a draft of my novel, and managed to get a beta back on it in the same week– which didn't totally tear it to shreds– and that's a pretty happy way to end the week. 

Happy reading, happy writing, happy weekend, everyone. 

Friends and French Fries

Maybe using "friends" in the title of this post is over-stating it. I'm actually not a cat person at all, although the hives they give me make me think the feeling's mutual. But this was definitely one of the most adorable sights I saw while traveling, right after arriving at my hostel in Istanbul on the morning of January 6th. Asides from my view from the shuttle on the way from the airport, it was basically my first sight in Turkey and it instantly felt like I was being welcomed. Of course, it wasn't long before the two matching sweethearts ran off together.

I don't celebrate Valentine's Day and I didn't start this year. I won't bother explaining why I think it's silly, but I had a great February 14th all the same. I got the poutine I'd been craving for months– thank you New York Fries for making a gluten-free one– and M bought me a surprise copy of The Hunger Games, and picked up some delicious movie snacks like Smartfood popcorn and Stewart's root beer for me, Old Dutch Baked Ketchup chips and Pepsi for him. We watched the movie together on his still-fairly-new-pretty-impressive TV. It was my third time seeing it, and his second since I dragged him to a premiere showing when it first started. So even though there were no cards and candy and balloon animals, it was a lovely relaxing night. I hope wherever you were, and whatever you were doing, it was a wonderful day. And even thought it's nothing special on the calender, I hope tomorrow is wonderful too.

If this doesn't look delicious to you, I don't think I understand you as a person.

Happy things with which to end the week (1)

Happy things with which to end the week is a post that Micaela at Dolce Vita Micaela does almost every week, featuring exactly what it says. I love the positivity of her posts, so I've decided it's something I'm going to try to participate in regularly. Plus it's a great opportunity to make use of Instagram and give a little more information about the pictures I post there now that I've officially joined the club. You can find me @strandedhero if you're looking for more nail polish and other random things (probably food, based on this first week).

It was too early for a Halloween manicure so I went with a lovely green by Sinful Colors (Rise and Shine) and a top coat of glitter by L.A. Colors on my thumb and ring finger. A little sparkle always makes my week better.

 

 Last Saturday we went to visit M's parents and his mom made a delicious, but gluten-filled, pizza which meant I got to spoil myself with sushi instead. There's a new local place there that I've now been to twice and both times it's been satisfying and wonderful. I had tuna, avocado, and one with avocado, smoked salmon and cream cheese and all three were great. Any week is better with sushi.

The next day M and I went out for lunch with his mom at the local truck stop where he got a happy meal. "You wouldn't want a sad hamburger," the waitress said and she is obviously right.

I got hailbut and a massive chocolate milkshake. M had a vanilla one, which he usually gets when he goes there with a friend and I was glad to finally get the chance to taste what he'd been raving about. That metal cup in the background was also pretty much full, so that I ended up with double what the glass holds (though I couldn't quite finish it!) It was just as delicious as it looks. I have an intolerance to dairy and so it made me kinda sick but it was definitely worth it. 

After lunch we picked up a massive (1/2 bushel) amount of Cortland apples and I made applesauce from scratch. Thanks to M's mom for her help peeling! I love my homemade applesauce, all it has is apples and a touch of cinnamon in it. I've been enjoying it all week. Oh, also the second photo is before I mashed it, so it's not that lumpy anymore!

And by Tuesday it was finally time for me to justify my Halloween manicure. I went with the Hunger Games orange nailpolish by China Glaze and a slightly sparkly black by Gosh. Again, I went with the accents on the ring and thumb finger– I guess it's a style I'm fond of lately. I think it's a pretty classy Halloween look. I do have a more traditional orange and black (sans glitter) that I might use next week if this chips off in time. Nothing like some holiday-themed nails to cheer you up. 

It's great to look back on these photos on Friday, after I just came home from a fantastic time at a departmental grad student Halloween party, and be grateful. Especially because I'm going to be spending much of my weekend on a midterm that is eating my soul and my all my free time. I really hope I can keep this up though! It was a lot of fun taking photos on my phone– and a lot easier than having to upload and reformat them all, even the quality is better on my camera.

What happy things do you have to end your week with? 

Letting Go and Looking Forward

Moving across the country and starting a brand new degree is hard. I'm not sure why I expected it to be any different. I really want to focus on the positive and the fun for Writing Whimsy, because otherwise, where's the whimsy? But I have to say it. Beginning my PhD has not been easy. Right now I'm realizing that a project I've been attached to since I started in September may not be the one I'll end up doing. I might be able to save elements, but in general– it just might not be the right time for it. Maybe in ten years, when certain costs have decreased. But sometimes, I think, you have to admit to yourself that no matter how much you want something, it's not always possible. That's depressing. I mean, we're always told to chase after our dreams and believe in ourselves. Well, I can't believe in $340,000 magically appearing to do my project, and I'm not sure that my Plan B will work. So if it doesn't, then yes, it is time to move on. I'd rather recognize this now then after three or four years of work. I think the same thing can be said about a lot of life. Sometimes, it's okay to let go.

The other thing I'm struggling with is a take home statistics midterm, but I just got that today and I somehow maybe just managed to do a question worth 8% which is way more than I thought I could do when I was first handed it. So I'm going to somehow believe the rest is possible. I have to try to be a little optimistic at least. 

With that in mind, here are a few things I am looking forward to this week:

• Halloween manicure (tomorrow night! And I have the best orange by China Glaze from The Hunger Games collection).
• Debate club on Wednesday, which I joined and really enjoy. I debated for the first time in three years last week and it went surprisingly well. My partner and I placed 2nd out of 4. Now that the rust is off, I can only get better.
• Trying out another meal on my slow cooker. Probably a roast with potatoes, though I also bought some "simmering steaks" that I think might be good with onions and potatoes. 
• Watching the new episode of Dexter that M and I didn't get to watch tonight. I love that show. 
• Continuing to work with the awesome associate book reviewer I got for my book blog, In The Next Room, and give myself a bit of a break from book reviewing. She just agreed to review a book I was pitched by the author– it sounded great but I didn't have the time or energy for it. It felt awesome to be able to say 'yes' when usually I would have said 'no'.
• Somehow, despite the fact that it feels impossible at the moment, making a dent in this midterm (due next Wednesday) and being able to look back and be proud of all I've accomplished. I guess that goes for life in general.