the happy list

I feel like I've been slacking in the productivity department here on my blog, I'm sorry! I've been so overwhelmed with work and getting everything prepared for when I move to England (which is in a week by the way... wow).  I figured that with all the crazy changes going on, I'd make a list of things that are making me happy right now. I saw this post from Gia at Lovely Serendipity and Camie at Wild-Spirit! They're fantastic bloggers who I aspire to be someday. So here they are, a list of things that are making me happier and happier everyday.

1. My countdown to England... it frightens me and amazes me all at the same time!

2. Listening to new artists I've found - Time for T, Wilcox Sessions, Rusty Clanton

3. The feeling I get when I've helped my younger sister with her math homework, and she understands! Yay!

4. The Vampire Diaries - ok, so I know I'm behind on the times, but I just started watching it yesterday and I'm already hooked!

5. The March Instagram Challenge that I made for myself (and anyone who feels like doing it!) - it's helping me take more photos of things I normally wouldn't take a picture of :)

6. My first blog comment! Thanks Shainee :) <3

7. Cuddles with my dogs after a few days of not living at home with them.

8. Making mental lists of things to see and do while I'm in England - now just to get them on paper!

9. Feeling comfortable in my own skin wearing less makeup than usual!

10. Coffee Haagen Dazs - I may or may not have eaten an entire pint last night in one sitting while shamelessly watching around 8 episodes of the Vampire Diaries.........

Hope you enjoyed reading those little happiness facts about me, now go make yourself happy too!

Madelaine

A (un)productive day filled with dreamy jazz and lazing in bed

Do you ever wake up one morning and realize that as much as you want to be productive that day, you just can't seem to think of what you should do? That's how I've felt the past two days. I was really hoping to get lots done, but I just couldn't find enough things to work on to keep me occupied and not procrastinate or get distracted. So instead of doing things that I should be doing, I watched chick flicks on Netflix, read self published books online, and lazed around eating cookies and drinking tea. Oh dear... definitely not what I'd call the most productive day out there. I feel like there's so many things I should be doing to get ready to move to England, but I just can't think of anything else!

So here I am, sitting on my bed as per usual, listening to beautiful playlists on 8tracks and enjoying the company of my dogs. It's a bleak winter day outside, but I feel all cozy inside. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday are playing through my room and I'm day dreaming of wandering the streets of Paris on a rainy spring day.

February Playlist: LOVE from designsponge on 8tracks Radio.

The weather is still very much wintery here in my small town, but a girl can dream, can't she?

Madelaine

the past few days

This photo makes me dream more and more of Brighton,
and England in general...

Why hello there!

I'm sitting here in bed thinking over the past few days. I've been busy working, meeting up with Nadia about England, and resting from crazy days. It doesn't seem to be anything compared to December where I only had one day off other than Christmas holidays, but still!

On Thursday afternoon, my UK visa was issued to me and sent to my front door. I'm not going to lie, I fan-girled a bit just about getting my visa! How am I going to live in sanity in England with everything 1D, Sherlock, and tea going on around me? Oh dear me...

I've somehow managed to get myself back into a horrible routine of not waking up until 10 or 11 on my days off. It's making me a lot lazier when actually getting to work on days I'm supposed to go in! I don't like it. Bad, Maddie, bad! I was planning on waking up early today, but I've been feeling pretty sick the past few days. And after the Neo Citran I took last night hit me, I was out like a light!

I made my first Youtube video which was an insane step for me! You can read my last post about it... so nerve-wracking getting in front of that camera, though! But I've been receiving some lovely comments from other Youtubers on it, giving me lots of hope for the future of me on Youtube, haha!

My Dad and I bought tickets to see Owl City and Echosmith in Spokane, WA at the Knitting Factory. We also booked our room at the Davenport Hotel for the night before my planned flight to England! It's scary how close the move is getting... wow! My younger sister, Clare, is in love with Owl City, so it will for sure be a great weekend! Not to mention the massive brunch at the Davenport on Sunday morning, mmmmm.

I spent Saturday and Sunday working at my Dad's café and it was crazy busy! We've had so many people in town the past week for ski races and other events. Sunday was insane, just three of us and our biggest Sunday yet! I ended up coming home afterwards, immediately stepping into the hot bath, lit some candles, and started reading Pride and Prejudice. I then broke Whole30 (I've been doing it a second time with my Mom, we completed it really well last October!) and had a bowl of ice-cream  I had never had such an insane, hectic, frustrating day at work.

And today, I slept in, went to the café to talk to my Dad about my flights (we're booking them tonight), & picked up Insurgent and three DVDs from the library (The Brothers Grimm, Downton Abbey season 1,  and In Her Shoes). Afterwards, I met up with Nadia and we looked into homesharing with some other people our age in Brighton. Phew! At least now I feel like I had a semi-productive day off. Somewhat.

Well, time for dinner and then I think I'll pop in one of the movies!

Madelaine

-- photo from Pinterest page found here

a year of reading...

I gave myself a goal this year that is a pretty big leap for me! I absolutely love reading, but I found that I just don't read all that much. So this year, I've challenged myself to read 50 books this year... I know! I don't know what I was thinking but holy crap, I hope I do a decent job. I have a feeling like I'm going to end up reading like... five. But we'll see how I do! So here's my list...

1. About a Boy
2. The Alchemist
3. The Amber Spyglass
4. The Art of Racing in the Rain
5. The Book Thief
6. Bridget Jones' Diary: A Novel
7. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
8. The Catcher in the Rye
9. Cinder
10. Divergent
11. Geek Love
12. The Giver
13. The Golden Compass
14. The Great Gatsby
15. The Handmaid's Tale
16. The Help
17. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
18. The Host
19. Insurgent
20. Into the Wild
21. The Invention of Hugo Cabret
22. The Joy Luck Club
23. The Kite Runner
24. Les Misérables
25. Life of Pi
26. Little Bee
27. Little Women
28. Looking for Alaska
29. The Lovely Bones
30. The Marriage Plot
31. Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store  A Novel
32. My Sister's Keeper
33. The Night Circus
34. One Hundred Names
35. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
36. Pride and Prejudice
37. The Princess Bride
38. Push
39. Stardust
40. The Subtle Knife
41. Tales of Beedle the Bard
42. To Kill a Mockingbird
43. Treasure Island
44. Tuesdays With Morrie
45. The Virgin Suicides
46. Water for Elephants
47. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
48. Will Grayson, Will Grayson
49. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
50. A Wrinkle in Time

Most of these books I already have on my Kindle which is super handy. It'll be great because I can continue my challenge while I'm living in England for four months. The others, I either own or are at my local library. I've also added a GoodReads widget on the side of my page so you guys can see which one I'm on! I'll try to keep this post updated too and cross off each book as I've read them.

Madelaine

-- photos from Pinterest pages found here, here, and here

moving to England

I'm moving to England! Hopefully. I'm still anxiously awaiting my UK work visa acceptance, but my fingers are permanently crossed! But that means a shit ton of planning, pardon the language. I'm moving there with a girl from my town, Nadia. She and I are both SO ready to get out of our small Canadian ski town of 3,500 people and move to the big city for a while!

So, I'm spending the afternoon in a local café (not my dad's, it's way to crazy in there right now for pizza day!) writing lists upon lists. Researching my first move EVER is difficult enough, but doing it half way across the world from where you're moving!? Oh no... way tougher...

Cities I'm looking at moving to:

• Brighton - the fact that it's on the coast just makes me giddy with excitement! I miss living on the ocean, I miss the salty breeze and everything it has to offer. So this smaller city is definitely at the top of my list!
• London - I fell in love with London the first, and only, time I went there (last summer). So it's only fit! I know I would love living and working there. So much to see and do! It's completely different from my current lifestyle, which scares me a lot, but it also excites me! I need to scare myself, I don't do it often enough.

Then there's the problems of flat (or apartment) searching. It's fairly pricey to live in England, especially London. So trying to find a 2 bedroom flat that's reasonable compared to the amount of money that we'll be making it work? Difficult! I've tried a couple different websites: Flatland London, Zoopla & Gumtree. Along with some others. Nadia and I are getting to the point where we've seen so many, it's painful! Guh. No fun. If anyone has tips for finding decently priced 2 bed places in London or Brighton, please let me know!!!

Madelaine

-- photo from Pinterest page found here