What I've been up to

Yesterday I got to spend some time with my friend Jen! I don't think I've seen her since our Bakemonogatari shoot back in November. Everyone's been really busy this year, so it can't be helped I guess.

We went shopping at Eatons! Initially I was looking for a dress suitable for the League of Legends lounge shoot at AN that I'm being a part of with VickyBunnyAngel and a bunch of other really classy ladies! It's going to be a lot of fun!
The shoot will be based on the photo below. It's the thought of what the League ladies do in between matches, or to wind down after a hard day on Summoner's Rift:

I found this dress in my closet though! I think Shyvana's a tough lady who wouldn't reveal too much skin. The blue could represent her loyalty to Demacia and I think the orange and red designs work well with her identity as a dragon (kinda looks like a fire burst). Plus, I like the idea of a tough girl not letting a dress in the way of her being rowdy. One of the shots I'm taking is arm wrestling so I think it'd be a funny image! It's a little loud but I think in a dark setting it'll blend in alright.

I'm also heading to Vegas in early May so I need to update my wardrobe with some more big girl clothes haha. I want to get away from the jeans and a t-shirt style I've always worn. Bring on the dresses!

I ADORE THIS DRESS! I don't own anything like it and I think it's very classy. A good dress for going around town while still looking like you put in a little effort. It was rather cheap too! I always like it when dresses come with belts.. that way I don't have to worry about buying one hehe.. My boyfriend gave me some money for my birthday, so it's an early birthday present.

We also had some delicious bubble tea and then went over to Jen's place! Ahhhhh a girl's company is so nice.. We played around with her makeup and we took some silly pictures in some of her wigs (most on her computer haha).

The wig I'm wearing reminds me a lot of Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite! The wig itself was soooo nice. So silky and soft...

Jen owns a lot of alpaca plushies.. they are the most wonderful things to cuddle with!
I want to hang out again really soon! It was a really nice break before I start studying for my exams again. To be honest I find that exams are less stressful than essay season. I have some time to actually breathe.

That being said I'll be really busy when I get back home. My family is moving to a different house so a lot of my cosplay stuff is being packed away until June! I'm only able to have a little box in the garage for any cosplay things I might need for AN and other small events until then. I'll be attending one (or both) of the cosplay picnics this month in Mississauga (April 27, 28). I'll be going as Ema Skye from Apollo Justice and Kirin from Monster Hunter. I'll try to do some more updates closer to, but I hope to see you there!

People and Their Dogs

Recently I was taking some photos behind my school. It's nice with a dense forest and a brook running through it. I was doing my thing when suddenly I hear crazy barking just behind me. Turning around I see two (I forget what breed) dogs running up to me and a woman a little ways down the path.

While I adore dogs, small ones always seem to put me on edge. I stopped what I was doing as they were advancing on me somewhat and I had the fast running brook behind me. They of course weren't on a leash.

The woman down the path, calmly walking passed, is calling to her two dogs.
"Sorry! Your tripod must have scared them!" she says to me, I quickly smile (nervously) and wave my hand.

"A-ahh! It's ok! I just didn't hear them coming and they surprised me. No worries!" Of course a normal person would at least come down from the path to leash their dogs and continue, perhaps with another brief apology. But of course, she must continue.

"They were abused before I got them. They thought your tripod was probably a stick to beat them with." Yes that's fine just get your dogs away from my personal space, please, it's making me uncomfortable. Yet this woman felt the need to say this another couple of times, you know, to really let it sink in so I get it.

Lady, Ma'am, Miss...

I understand that your dogs may have had a traumatic experience. You're a wonderful person to have taken them in and given them (presumably) a better home. However, don't you think that if your dogs are so dodgy around strangers that you should have them on a leash? This isn't a dog park.

Rather than blaming me with my tripod, or blaming the dogs' past owners, don't you think you should look at yourself and consider that perhaps you're the one who should adapt? Your dogs are skittish. Skittish dogs will attack if they feel threatened. This is a busy path.

Luckily the dogs found a ball in the sand beside me and decided that was more interesting than my tripod. The woman never did come down from the path...

I feel so restless

It's true... I haven't been blogging much because nothing's been going on in my life and, to be frank, I've just been shackled down to my desk with readings. Being an English major is hard enough when your history prof also decides that it would be good to add further readings to the course... UGH.

I do the work, though I must admit I'd rather drive a fork into my thigh.

I've been thinking of things I want recently. I want to go out with a group of friends and just take a bunch of photos. It's a little less embarrassing (I'm not comfortable when people look at me naturally, so my anxiety is doubled when people see what I'm trying to take photos of) when there's a group of people with you. This is why I like cosplay photography.. because it's already so out there and I take on a different persona when I do it. When it's just me... it's just me. This terrifies me.

I want to go hiking more. I want to go camping more. I adore nature and yet I find that I am secluding myself more and more to the confines of this tiny room. I'm on the DON FREAKING VALLEY for Christ's sake... Honestly I should be walking and getting fresh air every week! Why... why. It just seems like it's not worth the effort. Am I lazy? Am I depressed? What the hell?

It's like I've given up on meeting new people.. making friends. I'm horrible at it and I feel like whatever comes out of my mouth is idiotic and not worth their time. I feel like they're just being polite. I get so nervous that I stutter and tumble through my sentences.. I'd rather just sit on my computer and go on Tumblr or play videogames with friends I've already had for years.

And yet.. when someone takes the time to smile at me or to say hello.. or to go to the trouble to speak with me I feel so light, so happy. This makes me feel even worse for not being able to participate in a conversation so as to make them want to speak to me again. At least this is what it feels like to me.

I don't know anymore. I feel like I can only be myself when I'm not trying to be myself.

Christmas Day 2012

Merry Christmas everyone? Are you enjoying your turkey coma? ;^)

This will be a short post, but I just wanted to wish everyone the best. There've been a couple trying times this year but hopefully the new year will bring us better times! I hope it's not too cold where you are; stay warm!

I also got a new sweater among my other gifts.. super comfy and warm. It's Calvin Klein~ *pinky up*

detail shot

I'll leave you with some food porn.

Xmas Shopping at the Eaton Centre & Photos of the Week #4

Today I was SO excited to hang out with Sachie and go Christmas shopping! (I got a lot of things but can't post them here because I know relatives will be peeking haha) I just hit my holiday break from school, so it was almost a mini celebration to go out and have some fun with her. We don't see each other too often outside of conventions and cosplay, so it's really special!

It was rainy, but not too cold thankfully! I wanted to look cuter than my usual stressed, student self so I ended up wearing a skirt and tights. I need more girly winter clothes I think.. We also went and got food before shopping. I had these delicious bbq pork buns and dim sum! :)

Afterwards we went through the mall. Stopped off at Lush, H&M, Crabtree & Evelyn (I love that place!) and of course Sephora! We tried out a bunch of fragrances from Tocca which I've been dying to check out but never got around to it till now! Sachie is buying me a rollerball of one of their scents for Christmas that I'm super excited about! I never get to take scents with me on trips because the bottles are too big, but this is perfect!

The Eaton Centre in Toronto is all decked out in its Christmas finery too!

The tree changes colours too!

After I got back from shopping today I decided to try out something I've been wanting to do for a while. My common room at residence has been decorated by some of the students for the holidays and the ambiance at night was interesting and warm that I had to take some photos! It's also the first time trying out my tripod and my god are tripods amazing! They let you do things that you wouldn't normally be able to do!

Took these with my Canon T3i and 18-55mm lens.

Wish I could've made the bokeh balls a little better but the room was only so big :'(

Just cropped this one, no Photoshop

I hope everyone is staying warm and snuggly during the exam period. Stay safe!

ROM with the family

Hi everyone! A daily post for you today!

Recently I went to the ROM in Toronto with my family to see the new dinosaur exhibit! I took my camera with me in case there were good photo opportunities although I accidentally lost them all afterwards haha;;

The dino exhibit was really dark, so it was hard to take proper photos, but they had some interesting lighting that I wanted to take advantage of! Overall, they were really impressive! From tiny ones to the large ones.. they were all different shapes and sizes! It was neat being so close to them too... you were close enough to touch (although you really shouldn't)!

After we walked through the other, regular, exhibits.. like China, Japan, Mammals and things like that! I think I like the animal ones the most, although I felt uneasy since I imagine they were stuffed :< I really love animals haha;;

I also visited the Egyptian exhibit (I remember this from when I was a little kid) and had the same creepy feeling as I did then. I didn't take photos for this one as there were actual mummies in there and it felt disrespectful. :/ I've never liked that one...

We also visited the gift shop and I made the BEST PURCHASE EVER! It's a dinosaur hat (I wore it to FanExpo)!!

I had a lot of fun that day.. I kept creeping my brother since he's cute when he makes weird faces XD;;

Birthday Weekend

Last Friday was my birthday! Hurrayyyy~~ •*¨*•.¸¸♪✧

It was a busy weekend with family and my boyfriend. My nana took me out to lunch and I basically spent the whole of Thursday with her, which was nice. 

There's a tradition in my family where whoever's birthday it is becomes the queen/king for the day and the rest of the family members are 'servants' haha. So my little brother Owen catered to me for most of the day (which included copious amounts of gaming lol.. I'm a benevolent queen haha~) and my mom made me a delicious breakfast!

My dad also went into Toronto to pick up my birthday present! A Canon Rebel T3i (or 600D in Europe). The model's about a year old, but I remember my dad looking at it when it first came out.. I've been coveting that camera for a while now haha. It's really nice!

Some quick snapshots:

I have a long way to go before I can take proper photos without the use of the automated settings haha;;
I really love it though.

I also played a lot of the Guild Wars 2 beta event this weekend! So far I absolutely love it♥ I love how you can roam the world and team up with random strangers without any formalities. It flows really well. I think it's going to be a great online community!

I made a human elementalist and a norn hunter :3

Gage made a Zangief look-alike haha.

See you later♥

Free Macaron Day in Toronto!

Today i went out with a bunch of friends to taste macarons in Toronto! It was an official event, with many stores participating and since I'd never had a macaron before I figured it was the perfect time to try one!
Here's the official website if you're interested: Macaron Day TO

They were very delicious.. we walked from one end of the city to the other (almost). If you ever visit Toronto, I recommend the Nadège Patisserie on either 1099 Yonge St. or 780 Queen St. West! Everything in that store looked absolutely gorgeous and tasty. They also had the best macarons I tried today.

They also had other tasty treats for sale! I like the little macaron cake.(*´艸`*) I think food should always look this cute!

We stopped by for indian food and menchies frozen yogurt on the way back~
I had such a great time.. I hope we can do it again soon!

Reading Week + Haircut + Photoshoot Locale

Hey guys! Another daily post for you!

So this week was my Reading Week for school. We don't have classes, but it's an excuse for my profs to pile on a bunch of reading. So far I've managed to get a good portion done.. but I find myself getting distracted easily by other things!
It was nice to be back at home for a bit though. I'm leaving for school again this Sunday... it's too soon!

Today specifically I went and scoped out potential photoshoot locales for my Howl cosplay. My dad is a cameraman and was a photographer in college, so I figured if I could find somewhere close to home, then maybe I could get him to take a couple pictures of me!

I had that one seen in my mind from Howl's Moving Castle where Howl and Sophie first meet and they're going through alleyways in order to dodge the blobby men (I forget if they had names! D:). I found some interesting little walkways that I think would be suitable for some European-themed backdrops.

On a sunny day I think they would look especially great!

I will finish this post off with a photo of the haircut I got today! My bangs grew out so I had to get them cut again.. I like this look though!

Tea Lounge

Last nigth was really fun because I actually did something that pertained to a social life of some sort!

Asuka invited me to go to a tea lounge that was about a half hour walk from my residence. I needed to pick some stuff up at the Shoppers Drug Mart nearby, so it was a pretty good idea! (I ended up picking up a Fekkai shampoo, but not the one I tried in the Luxe Box for some reason.. I'm weird like that.)

I've never been to a tea lounge before, as I've only just started drinking tea. I felt like a super trendy university student when we went in. The place was a little small, but cozy and warm! My knowledge of tea is limited, so it was helpful that the menus gave you a good description of the taste. The tea is 100% organic as well, so you could actually get up and smell the containers with the flowers, tea leaves, etc.

I ordered white tea!

I think it's a very neat idea and wished we had something like this on campus! It would be SO easy to do, as you would only need a hot water dispenser, tea leaves, some steepers and the cups! You can reuse the tea leaves as well, so that saves the customer's and the lounge some money!

They also sold crèpes that were VERY tasty. I had one that was breakfast themed.
It was a good night.. my stomach was so full

On another note! I got my blog on bloglovin'! So if you do that, then you can click on the link below to follow me there:
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

A Weekend at Home

Last weekend I spent a lot of time with friends which was nice! It's hard to meet up with friends when I'm away at school.. it was a nice breath of fresh air.

We ate a lot of good food, but the highlight was when we went for curry (so good omg;;)(*´艸`*).

I also spent Saturday night over at a friend's house, we played League of Legends until the wee hours of the morning and a lot of time was spent playing with his cute puppy Ghost!

He's a collie/golden retriever mix. He's super hyper and jumps around so it was hard getting pictures with my mediocre camera! 〇|￣|＿

I also finally got my copy of Skyrim, which I had forgotten at home because I rushed when I was packing to go back home.. ╭(๑¯⌓¯๑)╮

I play a Khajit! I'm gonna loot and pickpocket and sneak up on people.. ヾ(。◣∀◢。)ノ I can't wait!

Pmall + ASIAN SNACKS

Yesterday I went to Pacific Mall with my friend Asuka. I was really excited because I haven't been to Pmall in FOREVER and this time I'd be able to get some insight on things I normally wouldn't try because I had someone with me who can read japanese. (ง´▽`)ง

We opted for the cheap route, which was 3$ one-way, taking a variety of bus and subway routes. It took about an hour and a half to get there, but I don't mind because it saved us a lot of money! I usually don't buy a lot of things from there though, as it's really expensive. I actually spent most of my money on food!

I usually get peach or pineapple flavoured bubble tea. I've also taken a liking to tapioca after Asuka poo-poo'd me having jelly instead. Like with actual tea, I don't like milk added since it changes to a weird consistency for me. (Although Asuka's milk bubble tea looks a lot cuter...（￣へ￣）)

I bought these delicious chocolates while I was there. The texture is so soft and it really melts in your mouth! Apparently you can only get them during the winter season.

The smell of these crackers (chips?) is a little fishy, but they don't taste fishy at all! They're super crunchy too, which I like. I also love the cute images on the back. ♥

This smells super creamy and sweet! You can definitely smell the milky flavours and it tastes sweet too! The packaging is so cute!

I also had some delicious udon for dinner! I love the thick udon noodles, so I know I'll be buying them when I move out someday! I'm still not very good with me chopsticks though, but I think I'm slowly getting better!

I think my favourite hobby is eating... I love the different tastes and smells of food!

New Lappy!

So today something really nice happened!
My boyfriend bought a new laptop for Christmas because his relatives only gave him money this year.. and he wanted to upgrade. He gave me his old laptop! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))
I'm super happy because his old laptop is a gaming laptop, so now I won't have lag when I play my PC games! It has a larger screen too.. it's really nice. (///ω///)

So now I can play even more games!
If you play League of Legends, my username is TheSweetBean
If you're on Steam add me as Calael
Let's play together!! ヽ(*´∀｀)八(´∀｀*)ノ

Exams and DTAC 2011

I haven't done a daily post in a while! I finally have some time to jot things down..

This past month has been a little crazy! November and early December is always crunch time for post-secondary students because all of the profs give the largest assignments at this time and exams are very stressful. Around this time each year I stop eating properly and my bad habit of chewing my cuticles gets out of hand. I'm usually a wreck!

I'm an English major, so writing many essays is a no-brainer for me. I'm starting to learn how to crank them out like a boss when I know the subject well enough. It's mostly my procrastination that gets to me. I get so worked up about not working on the things I need to, but end up on tumblr and twitter anyways..!

I still get all of my work done though. Hehe.
 
Today I just finished my last exam for the week! I have another one on the 21st, yet I feel like I'm already on holidays. I can't wait for Christmas since it's also the time of my little brother's birthday and my Nana and Papa's wedding anniversary! I miss my family..

It's not all bad though! This Sunday I get to see all of my lovely waifus from MOETRNcos! We're going to be in a huge group of K-ON! girls wearing maid outfits, ready for your service! (lol) Of course I will be playing Ritsu. Please look forward to more pictures and stories on this year's DTAC in Toronto!

Until next time!