Delete?

I seem to have neglected this blog for quite some time. My apologies. I switched my other blog from being a "Crafting" blog, to a blog about different areas of communication, and my life in the communications world. Since I made this switch, I've found that I've been able to incorporate more of my personal side with the content, which makes this blog a little irrelevant. For this reason, I'm considering deleting it. I will be setting up a Red Dress Gala blog or website in the upcoming weeks, and managing three blogs doesn't seem all that appealing.

So, what do you folks think? Time to hit the delete button?

Musical Monday

Do you like Lil Wayne? Drake? Ludacris? And even a little Slim Shady?

Then you might be just as impressed with this guy as I was...

Let's Pretend It's Workout Wednesday!

So my February challenges were to do 15 sit-ups every day, and to not eat any desserts such as cupcakes, cookies, etc...

There were a few days early into the month where I missed doing my 15 sit-ups, so I made up for it by doing 60 one day, and 45 on another. But after a while too many days went by where I didn’t do any sit-ups, and I lost track of how many I was behind by. So mid-February I cut the sit-up challenge. Lame I know.

As for the no dessert, I was doing pretty good. I substituted my usual dessert for things like waffles, or oatmeal, or cereal, which made things easier. However, there were 3 instances where I cheated. I wasn’t going to mention those times, but then realized I would only be cheating myself. So confess I shall. When I went to a party in the middle of February there were a plate of little dainties like butter tarts and date squares. I didn’t know they were there until a few hours into the party. By that time I’ve had a few glasses of wine, and grabbed two little desserts without even thinking. Fail! 

But I didn’t let that slip stop me from continuing on with the challenge. However, I did cheat again when I went out with Laina and Lauren last week for crepes. I had a peanut butter cheesecake crepe. It sounded way too delicious to pass up!

The last time I cheated was either this Monday or Tuesday. I bought an apple jack at school because it was only 1 or 2 days in from reading week and I was already stressed out. Dessert to the rescue!

Even though I didn’t complete one challenge, and I cheated a few times with the other, I’m still happy I made an honest attempt, and I will continue to create challenges throughout the year. 

Want to know March’s Challenges?

1.       10 Sit-ups every day (we’re going to try this one again folks)

2.       Only 1 glass of juice or pop a day, MAX! Pop clearly has a lot of sugar in it, but of course so does juice. Juice typically has even more sugar than pop, and is loaded with carbohydrates. I never really used to drink water, but I just got back into it a couple of months ago, and I kind of like it now. Plus, the dietician I saw yesterday said that putting Crystal Light in it is perfectly acceptable.

3.       Save all of my toonies. It’s not the biggest money saver in the world, but I do happen to collect a lot of change. So if at the end of the month I have $50 worth of toonies to deposit into my bank account, I’ll consider myself $50 richer. (A friend of mine saved all of her loonies and toonies into her piggy bank until it was full, and when she finally opened it, she had enough money in it to buy herself a new bed...it was about $800 or so!

Wish me luck!

P.S. It's my birthday next Saturday, if I haven't advertised it enough so confirm your attendance on Facebook folks!

Reading Week Finale: Days 7, 8, 9 & 10!

Day 7 – Thursday February 23

I slept in until 11:30 today which was absolutely glorious. I didn’t have to work today which was also glorious, so I used the day to check off some of the things on my to do list. 

Lauren, Laina and I were supposed to go to Festival Du Voyageur but because I was super excited about it of course we didn’t go. Instead we went to Moxies downtown. I had seafood linguine which had little baby octopuses in it that I didn’t notice until the end of the meal. Blech! But the three of us had fun time chattin’ it.

After dinner we went to Kawaii Crepe because I was craving a peanut butter cheesecake crepe. I know, I know, I’m not supposed to be eating any desserts this month, but did you hear what I said? PEANUT BUTTER CHEESECAKE! Don’t be hatin’. 

Moxies Photo Shoot

Kawaii Crepe post its and Laina

Lauren was getting super antsy as she always is, so after Laina and I ate our crepes we ran across the street to the Greenroom to meet up with Sarah, Brandon, and Megan. Mitch’s band Wang the Merciless was playing so we wanted to go and lend our loud cheering voices for the boy. I’ve never been to the Greenroom before, but I really had a great time. 

Mitchevus

Day 8 – Friday February 24

I slept in again today which was fabulous as usual. I made myself a delicious breakfast: cinnamon raisin French toast smother in peanut butter and Nutella, and topped with blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. I didn’t have to work until 6:30 so I had another day to chill at home and work on a few things. 

I eventually headed off to work. I work at The Body Shop which can only be so exciting. Customers come in, browse, and leave. End of work day. Now I don’t usually have my phone on me while I’m at work, but I wanted to take a few pictures of possible prize giveaways in case my fellow creators of Undressed Winnipeg magazine actually want to put some work into doing some publicity. 

I told Katie that I’d go to her place after work for a girls night in, but by the time I got home and had a shower, I decided I was too lazy to venture back out into the cold. And so I called it an early night and fell into bed with Zac Efron my cozy blankets.

Day 9 – Saturday February 25

I spent the majority of the day working on some sick ideas for the Red Dress Gala I will be hosting as part of my IPP, which was a lot of fun. You guys are in for quite a treat with that one.

I worked at Penningtons at 2 and it was quite the busy day so of course I hid in the corner furthest from the customers so I didn’t have to do  any real work worked my ass off trying to help customers. 

After work I did some grocery shopping then headed home. I cooked the best tasting steak I’ve ever had, and made some killer mash potatoes and veggies. Once again I work a bit more on my IPP, watched T.V., then went to bed.

Day 10 – Sunday February 26

Which brings us to the last day of my reading week.  Today was my last day to sleep in and boy did I sleep! I’m going to miss not being able to sleep until 11:30, and man what I wouldn’t give for a few extra days of vacation.

Like yesterday, I spent most of the day working on my Red Dress Gala. Our written IPP proposal is due this Tuesday so I wanted to make sure I got the bulk of it done today. Working on my proposal was great because I got a ton of other great ideas flowing out of my over active brain. 

Aside from writing my proposal, I had a day filled with The Academy Awards. My roommate and I watched the pre-show...which was four hours long by the way...and the red carpet....another hour or two....followed by the actually awards...three hours long! 

That pretty much sums up my reading week. Nothing crazy exciting, but I relaxed, had fun, and got some work done, which was my goal for the week. I’m not particularly looking to this week of classes, but all of March is going to be a pretty fun and eventful time school-wise. We get a day off to go somewhere beyond the perimeter to work on our travel assignment, we have two or three days off to go and watch the second year IPP presentations at the convention centre, we get another day off to present our own IPP ideas to a panel of judges, and we get to launch Undressed Winnipeg at our school magazine fair. 

March is also a good month because I get to celebrate my birthday. So if you haven’t confirmed your attendance to this epic event, get your booty to Facebook and do so RIGHT NOW!

Reading Week Continued...Days 4, 5, & 6

Day 4 – Monday February 20

As predicted, I didn’t get to Grand Forks on Monday. Oh well, what can you do?! Instead I went to my cousin’s house early in the morning to give her another piano lesson. We’re in the beginning stages right now but I’m hoping she tries to practice as much as she can so she can be as good as me; which will be easy considering I’m no piano pro. 

After the lesson, being the amazing daughter I am, I decided to take mama Jennings out for sushi. I’ve been craving sushi for weeks since Jackie Doming keeps instagramming pictures of her delicious looking sushi 

adventures. 

I created a big to do list of things I want to get done over the break, and one thing I was able to cross of my list was organizing our storage closet, which happens to be in my bedroom. Junk has been piling up in there and it has been driving me bonkers. 

To Do List

 Even though I made myself a long to do list, I also wanted to fix relaxing into the reading week equation. What better way to relax than to play Mario Kart with the roommate?

Day 5 – Tuesday February 21

I woke up at 8AM because I had to return the camera I used for Sunday’s photo shoot, to the school library. I didn’t mind getting to school so early because that gave me time to squeeze in a nice workout at the gym. I did a workout for about 45 minutes then intended on working on my passion party ads for Undressed Winnipeg magazine (a local magazine exploring the fearless, the fresh, and the frisky sides of sexuality I Winnipeg). I was excited to get some work done but all the computers on campus were running suuuuuuuuuuuper slow...which means I didn’t get a chance to do anything productive.

If only I could have finished...

The main reason I went to school on Tuesday is because I applied to be a student ambassador for the Red River College open house. I stayed at school until 8PM giving tours to potential new students and their parents. It was actually a pretty fun time. I got to meet some current students in other programs (all is business and accounting) which was nice because I only knew CreCommers up until then. 

After a long day of touring I rushed home, showered, and got dressed to meet Lauren at Kawaii Crepe, A.K.A. the tastiest place in Winnipeg. After we ate we headed out to The Cheer for the Individual Professional Project (IPP) fundraiser put on by 2^nd year CreCommers. We got to mix and mingle, and watch the CreComm band, which is always a good time. One of Mitch’s bands, Wang the Merciless, was also good.

Lauren Parsons

CreComm Band

Me, Mitch, and Laure

Mitch Kruse

Day 6 – Wednesday

I gave tours at school again from 9-2. After that I met with the other creators of Undressed Winnipeg to set up dates for more photo shoots and stuff. Then I tried to works on my ads again but the computers were still working against me.

I got home around 5 or so and decided I needed a nap. It’s not so much that I needed one, but wanted to take advantage of the fact that I could have one. 3 hours later I woke up, made some dinner, and had a quiet evening in front of the T.V., followed by a solo dance party in my room before bed, as I always do!

Any interesting stories from anyone’s vacation so far? I know Sydnie is having a great time in Phoenix ;)

Reading Week: Days 1, 2 & 3

This reading week I plan to relax, work, and check of a chunk of things off of my “to do list”. I know, relaxing doesn’t really seem to fit in, but I’m definitely going to try. Check my blog daily if you’re interested in how I spent my “holiday”. 

Day 1- Friday February 17

Normally I have classes until 3 on Fridays but my advertising instructor Melodie was kind enough to hand us our assignment and send us off for reading week. Which would mean I would leave school at 2 right? Wrong! I signed out an ENG video camera for the week so I could hopefully work on my Alpha Phi montage. My tape was full so I needed to get everything onto my hard drive so I would have room for more filming. It seemed like a quick and easy task, which of course meant it would actually take forever. I didn’t leave school until 5:30!

After I FINALLY got home, I ran a few errands and took a 45 minute nap. Not long but it did the job. Then my friend Lauren came over and we hung out for a bit until heading out to Bryan’s party. It was a lot of fun getting to know people from other sections. Earlier that day we all declared our majors and I got to know some of the other girls in CreComm who I’ll be spending time with next year. 

Day 2- Saturday February 18

I didn’t get to bed until around 3AM, but I got to sleep until 11 so it wasn’t too much of a big deal. I was actually pretty exhausted from the night before, but had to shake it off because I had a 1-4 shift. I really didn’t want to work because I wanted to enjoy my Saturday, but I also have to pay the bills. So off to work I went. My Saturday night was pretty chill. I took yet another nap, made some dinner, watched Valentine’s Day with the roommate, had a mini dance party in my room as I do most nights, and then went to bed.

Day 3- Sunday February 19

Today was a lot of fun. I woke up at 8AM (since I’m so used to getting up early for school) but then just lied in bed for about an hour or so. After I cooked myself some breakfast, I showered and ran out the door to head to my friend Kimiya’s house. Recently I wrote an article about her and her views on sex before marriage. She’s grew up in Somalia so the sex practices there are a lot different than they are here. It’s a really interesting story so if you’re interesting in reading, you should pick up a copy of Undressed Winnipeg magazine at Red River’s magazine fair on March 30^th. Or message me if you would like to order a copy. Anywho, I went over to Kimiya’s house to take some photos of her to go along with the article I wrote. She’s a model so she’s getting pretty used to being in front of the camera. 

The Beautiful Kimiya Yussuf. Follow her on Twitter: @kimiyayussuf

Right now I’m just chillen in bed watching 127 hours and eatin some pizza. 

Tomorrow’s Louis Riel day and as much as I would LOVE to go to Grand Forks with my little sis Michal, I highly doubt that’s going to happen. My life’s super predictable that way, but I’ll save my sob story another post. 

Since I’ll be in regular old Winnipeg tomorrow, I’m going over to my cousin’s house to give her another piano lesson. After that? Not quite sure what the rest of the day has in store for me. I might head down to Festival Du Voyageur with my friend Claire if she’s free, but we shall see. 

What are you all up to this week?

If you don't have anything nice to say...

We all encounter people we don’t like on a daily basis. They’re at school, at work, in the mall…they’re everywhere. But how do we interact with people who aren’t in our good books? I’m a people watcher. Not in a creepy stalker way, but I pay attention to how people interact with each other. I often see this: two people talking with one another, both seemingly engaged and enjoying what the other person has to say. Seeing this leads me to assume that these two people like each other…but you’d be surprised how often that isn’t the case.

Usually once I get the chance to talk to one person from the conversation I’ve been spying on, they usually can’t wait to say things like “Oh my god I hate her”, or “He’s so annoying”, or “If I have to see her face one more time today I’m gonna SCREAM!” These statements always confuse me because just moments earlier, these two people seemed to be enjoying each other’s company. 

A lot of people fake being nice; they pretend to like people whom they can’t stand. Do they put on a happy face to avoid hurting the other person’s feelings? Are they nice because it takes less effort? Are they trying to avoid conflict? 

Personally, I hate being fake with people. It just takes way too much energy, energy that could be put to better use. If I don’t like someone, I’m not going to be intentionally rude to them or anything, I can be civil. However, I never feel in the mood to go out of my way to smile and chat with people who drive me absolutely insane. I used to be a “loud mouth.” I used to always say what was on my mind as soon as it popped into my head. But for the past few years I’ve adopted the old “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” motto. Seeing as how I’m so opinionated, following this motto has left me to be fairly quiet (not always, but a lot of the time).

But this whole quiet streak I’ve been on has been really getting to me lately, yet I’m not quite sure how to fix it. Should I revert to my loud mouth self who doesn’t care what she says out loud? Should I start being fake and pretend I like everyone I’ve ever met? Or is there some in between balance I can be comfortable with?

Decisions, decisions.

P.S. My quietness isn’t always because I’ m in the presence of people I don’t like…just to make that clear!