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

evening spent in

Good evening! I'm currently curled up on my makeshift couch (my twin bed with pillows all along the side) with my dogs as I type this. I just spent the evening watching Mirror Mirror (absolute cheese, I love it!) with my 11 year old sister, Clare, while drinking tea and eating candy. It's been so long since we've had some good sister time together. I'm 19 and she's 11, and I've always wondered what it's like to have a sibling closer to my age. But honestly, I can't imagine it! I love having a sister who's this much younger than me. It's so cool seeing her go through things I went through almost 10 years ago. I'm relating ways she acts now to how I acted at her age.

Speaking of tea, mmm I love tea! I used to be completely against tea and coffee. But just last year I started drinking both and I have a newfound love for them! I mainly drink Twining's earl grey (with cream and sugar to help my sweet tooth), but my two other go-to teas at the moment are the Brazilian Green Yerba Maté (so amazing with honey and milk!) and Davids Tea Coco Chai Rooibos. I've actually met the amazing group of people who make the Maté tea, that's how I came across it. But be forewarned  you become addicted! And my friend Alyssa who I volunteered with for 6 months introduced me to Davids Tea, where she used to work. She had my try a few different flavours, but I'm hooked on the Coco Chai Rooibos! And then there's coffee. Because of my sweet tooth, I can't do straight, black coffee. But since I work in a café, I get to experiment with drinks. Different flavours, different types of milk, you name it! One of my absolute favourites is an extreme hockey mom mocha.

Loose leaf Yerba Maté!

Earl Grey tea in the moustache mug I stole from my Mom

Take your regular drip coffee (in my case, locally roasted and freshly brewed), and pour until about a third of your cup is full. Next, steam (or warm up if you don't have a machine to steam) up some almond milk, chocolate syrup and hazelnut flavouring. Pour it over the drip coffee and add a hint of cinnamon sprinkled on top. Heaven in a cup, I tell ya!

Steaming up some almond milk!

Now it's looking all yummy in my to-go mug!

Well, that's enough for tonight. I've got one more day of work before my day off, woo!
Hope you had a fantastic weekend. Time for me to log off, watch Zoella's newest video, and start up a new book!

Madelaine