a week that felt like months

I haven't had a break since my last exam on August 19th, so you can imagine how happy I was  today to be able to just sit at a Starbucks with a venti green tea lemonade reading one of my guilty pleasure novels (Mini Shopaholic). Why has life been so busy? It was mostly due to bridal shower planning for a friend of mine who's getting married this October. The biggest challenge was making the scones for the high tea event. The first batch we made tasted good but were as dry my skin during the winter months. The second batch were the perfect texture, but tasted like cardboard. Luckily, our final batch (that we made the night before the shower), were the perfect blend of the first 2 trials. The shower was a hit! I was afraid that people will be reluctant to play some of the games that we had planned, but everyone seemed to have enjoyed them! I didn't get a chance to take too many photos for the shower, because I was helping the bride take pictures with her camera. I did, however, sneak a few photos with my point & shoot when I had the chance.

some veggies to cancel out the sweets

of course I had to sneak a self shot with my bff of 19 years :)

the best way to celebrate

Yesterday marked my official last exam for the Human Resources Management program and to celebrate, Nathan and I went to fill our bellies with some spicy Chinese Muslim food. My taste buds aren't normally exposed to this much heat so I was sweating with a runny nose all throughout my meal. This, of course, didn't stop me from stuffing my face with lamb. We are definitely coming back to try out some of their other dishes. This was my secret restaurant #3 and so far, all my picks have blown Nathan's taste buds out of this world. He's bringing me to his pick next week, but I highly doubt that it'll top our lamb themed night. I will just have to wait and see where he brings me.

After dinner we decided to walk off our meal and to hunt for Mr. Chestnut's chestnut truck. Unfortunately, we didn't end up getting our roasted snack, but we did manage to get some lovely mosquito bites along the way.

This was a great way to end such an exhausting week. I don't think there's a better way to celebrate than with food - especially since my exam-time diet is a pretty poor one filled with overly processed foods and snacks. Also, I don't ever remember feeling so relieved and happy after finishing my other degrees back in University.  And I definitely don't remember working and studying so hard for finals! Now that school is out of the way, I can finally start on all my summer projects: cleaning, reorganizing and painting my room, biking, camping, sewing, photographing and the dreaded job hunting.

But tonight...I make scones!

first born tomatoes

I felt that it would be important to document my very first tomatoes. I wanted to keep them forever, but I eventually made them into a tomato avocado salad with goat cheese and balsamic dressing. I've since picked more tomatoes from the garden, but they just don't feel as special as my first ones. I wonder if this is how having children would be like. I'm the second of two kids in my family and if my parents treat us like tomatoes, then they definitely love my brother a lot more.

I would like to believe that I'm more than just a tomato in my parents' eyes.

happy belated birthday post

 Cake, bears, stars and toes with those who matter :)

Karen also brought me to the Royal York Hotel for a secret date. Pictures for that will be posted at a later date. Just doing a quick post tonight in the middle of my procrastination. I find it hard to stay focused on studying for more than 1.5 days straight. I think that's my studying threshold.

How to Train Your Dragon under the stars

bento love

birthday mango bear with ginger ice-cream

giving our toes some loving

one year older

colourful studying

Colourful sugar seems to be a frequent visitor during my studying. I miss the days when I could eat a whole package of sweets without feeling guilty. Well, time to wash down those candies with some jasmine & rose bud tea. I'm hoping the medicinal properties of green tea will cancel out all the sugar consumption from the past few days.

arc-en-ciel love

+ 5 hours of actual studying
+ 1 hour for lunch
+ 1 hour for dinner
+ 3 hours of snacking
+ 2 hours of internetting
12 hours that I've been sitting in front of my computer
 
My upper back hurts and my eyes are a bit fuzzy.
More skittles should remedy this situation.

Does anyone else eat skittles in order?

picnic under yellow umbrellas

 

Celebrating Michele's birthday by the water with all the ladies. Although times like these are far and few between, we always manage to pick up where we left off seamlessly. If all evenings could be this relaxing I would never grow another wrinkle again...

...are wrinkles even grown?

une amie pour toujours

A real friend is someone who will let you bribe her with sushi in exchange for her Saturday night. She will also help you with an assignment when all your group members have deserted you. And when you break one of her beautiful wine glasses, she will be more concerned about you getting hurt than the fact that she now has one less glass in the set. When you can spend 6 hours straight with each other with nothing but The Food Network and The Shopping Channel, you know you've got yourself a keeper ;)