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.

Judgey Eyes

Phew. I'm so glad that first post is out of the way. It's like a blind date. You don't know what to wear, or who you're meeting, or if they're going to be looking at you with judgey eyes or not. Now that it's over with I can move onto my regularly scheduled unscheduled programming. By which I mean, here's another blog post. I may or may not have already run out of things to say.

Okay well here's a secret that's not a secret anymore. This weekend I started watching The Bachelor Canada, there's been three episodes so far and we caught up. I've never watched The Bachelor before but I was interested by the Canada aspect and also, CityTV has all the episodes online for free. I'm not sure how the normal Bachelor works, but they seem to be eliminating girls awfully fast on this one... which is probably good because at this rate the show will be over in about a month and I can go back to my slightly less guilty pleasures instead. The horrible girls on the show are definitely the ones that stand out so I guess it'll be interesting to see if they are the ones that stay. There are a couple nice ones too. The guy himself, Brad, seems alright though he does have a pretty horrible tattoo. So I guess I have judgey eyes too.

Anyways, it was kinda neat that he booted extra people off on the most recent episode so he could spend more time with the remaining girls. Or– and maybe I'm just cynical– maybe the show only got a limited number of episodes. I'm sure they'll draw it out longer if it's a hit and it comes back next year. I promise not to watch it again if it does.

The show I'm most excited about right now is Dexter, and it's been an intense and awesome season so far. Also loving, The Big Bang Theory. And How I Met Your Mother, though this isn't the best season so far. And I guess that's about it. No wonder I got desperate enough for The Bachelor Canada, especially now that Project Runway is over. For the record– Fabio should have won, I'd be most likely to wear Melissa's, Christopher was out of his depth and knew it, and if the judges said "impeccable construction" about Dmitry one more time I was going to scream (but sorry, even with that weird hair, the clothes were not that exciting or creative which was disappointing because he was one of my favourites throughout the season). I would have swapped Fabio and Dmitry's places based on the final collection, but for the season as a whole I agree.

My favourite reality television is definitely cooking competitions though, so I'm still very excited for the start of Top Chef Season 10 really soon (November 7th). Part of me is getting a little tired of it, especially between the All Stars and the Masters and the Just Desserts and the Canada series. But I know that the instant that show starts I'll be hooked back in.

Do you watch any horrible TV like I do? Is there any of it you'd recommend?