Catching Up

The last month has been full of family, travel, work and, of course, food. Where to begin?

Summer sunsets.

Belated birthday outings, featuring friendship with
a side of veggie burgers and vegetable chips.

Canada Day relaxation.

A necessary 3AM trip to The Naam.

Drive-in dates!

Summer time BBQs of veggie
dogs and tofu kabobs!

Mischievous kittens.

Birthday sushi fun times!

Riverside chats.

Young entrepreneurial-themed discussions over
newly-discovered (and huge) vegan breakfast dishes. 

In the last month, I have knocked a few items off of my spring/summer to-do list:

• A new healthy food routine: I've gone devotedly into one of my favourite snacks - green smoothies - with new recipes from Simple Green Smoothies! The recipes are delicious and refreshing and give me a little cleansing boost in my days.
• Attended my 3rd Calgary Stampede and did some serious two-stepping.
• Consistently spent at least one hour per day outside - power walks with mi madre are almost essential in ensuring that this happens, while simultaneously offering good exercise!
• I tried out a new exercise regimen for one month, courtesy of the kind-hearted Sophie Gray and her Plyo Madness eBook (only $10!). It was intense and included 3 rest days per week and made me (especially my legs) feel tight and lean by the program's end.

I also started to read a new book (Gone Girl, for anyone who is curious), and am currently making my way through a philosophy book I bought in Portland that critically examines different aspects of sexual practices in college (from the "walk of shame" concept, to the act of gay/lesbian individuals experimenting with opposite-sex encounters).

Additionally, I have expanded my résumé further: This summer, I have been both a baking intern at Vegan Vices, as well as more recently a host at Nuba! For anyone who is in this city and is not yet familiar with Nuba's Lebanese cuisine - I can assure you, you will find something that you like, and the prices and service and taste will keep you coming back for more. It is very exciting to have been employed at a restaurant that I so dearly advocate for as a customer, especially a veg*n customer!

While I have not yet exercised my world-wide legality since my birthday, I enjoyed a relaxing day at home with my family and have used one gift received as inspiration to take up hats as a new wardrobe element.

The weekend before last, I partook in my first music festival! The Pemberton Music Festival was resurrected this year, and it was exciting to be there with my whole family and see such an array of talent and individuals all in one place over the span of a few days. More photos from that event will be posted following this.

Overall, the last month has been good to me. I can feel both the strength of the summer season and the imminent autumn, bringing with it my standard crazy year with some new twists. There is barely 3 weeks until I begin my residence advisor training, and from there it will only become more interesting as the school year rolls into effect, I'm sure.

More details and thoughts to come...

Summer To-Do List (Ongoing)

Every day, I make a to-do list on my Brookstone Boogie Board:

I can easily write and erase my lists for
environmentally-friendly prioritizing!

I check off items as I go throughout the day, and it is a very simple way that I love using to stay organized, reflect on what needs to be done (and in what order), and to feel satisfied with each "check!" placed beside an item.

For the summer, I think an ongoing list would be nice to upkeep, so I shall endeavour to do so and see how many items I can cross off. For starters, I have a few basic items and a few that are unique to this summer:

1. Get outside for at least an hour each day!
   It may sound simple, but it's easy to stay inside when it is hot and bright all the time.
2. Develop a new healthy food routine to work around flexible summer schedules.
3. Stay on top of an exercise routine or schedule.
4. Try a 30-Minute Hit women's kickboxing class.
   Free trial has already been booked! Will cross this one off early on in May.
5. Go to my 3rd Calgary Stampede! 102nd anniversary.
   Timing of this event will fall near another related to-do list item...
6. Celebrate my 21st in some sort of exciting way.
   I definitely want to use this as an excuse to cross off #7.
7. Road trip for a day or two across the border!
   G's parentals have kindly provided us with the A-OK to spend the night in their extra space!
8. Visit UBC a few times and become familiar with my upcoming role as an RA
   i.e., visit the PRC and have fun times
9. Read two new books.
   I would like to finish An Abundance of Katherines and read into my Body Language for Dummies and 30-Second Psychology books - plus a new novel I may come across!
10. Get back into writing.
    Ideally, I would be making that more of a reality with the blog... But physical pen-to-paper writing would be very soothing to return to often.

This list will be on-going throughout the summer vacation!