27.11.12

I love: outerwear

I must preface this with a little story: years ago, I was really into The Hills (who am I kidding, I still love it). In the second or third season, Lauren goes to Paris to help with this amazingly ritzy ball, complete with gowns and a ballroom. Then a gorgeous Frenchman whisks her away in her gown (and a really cute coat) on the back of his moped. If my memory serves me right, there's champagne under the Eiffel tower in there somewhere too. Anyways, at the end of her perfect night, she runs up the steps of her hotel and when she looks back at him over her shoulder (how coy), it's like a giant love slap in the face: HER COAT IS GORGEOUS (and has a bow). It's in that moment that I discovered that love at first sight really does exist.


In my search for true love (aka finding this coat or a similar one), I've seen a LOT of coats. Here's a few that have inspired a bit of love lately.

I ordered this jacket in smoky coral. Results TBD, but I'm excited.

A bow!


I loooooove how the sleeves are black like the top.

Okay so Black Friday was a little too successful, I also ordered this one. Basically in my mind, a camel toggle coat looks exactly like that. So shouldn't I reward myself for finding a perfect mind match?

12.11.12

#32: See Redpath Museum

This is super embarassing, but I've never actually been to this museum, which happens to be right in the middle of the McGill campus. Also, as I discovered Friday night, it's also Canada's oldest museum.
And really shouldn't I have gone into most the of buildings of my own campus?
SO I DID.

I would have probably never actually gone to the museum, but Saturday night was flashlight tours! Starting at 11pm, every hour on the hour, you could get into the museum and do a visit.... in the dark. So I grabbed my awesome POWE co-president, Vanessa, woke myself up (this was the same evening as iron ring), and we headed for "a night at the museum, where everything comes alive," as Vanessa put it. Clever girl.

Turns out we didn't make it to the 11pm entrance, but instead went to the midnight one (maximum darkness outside, right?). I learned a lot of cool stuff about McGill and Montreal, downloaded a flashlight app on my phone due to pitch black-ness, and saw the biggest collection of rocks and shells I've ever seen in my life. And also a lot of embalmed animals.... that looked a little too real and alive in the darkness.

Here's the only picture I took due to no lighting whatsoever and no flash allowed... It's Vanessa and I in the first Canadian lecture hall, located near the entrance of the museum. Before the lights were off. Before things came alive.


#38: Get my iron ring

Wow I have super duper neglected this blog. Fortunately, I'm coming back strong with a tear-jerking story: how I got my iron ring.

Let's do a little reflection on the last 5 years. I've cried my weight in tears about 10 times, I've lived weeks in the library (and considered getting my mail delivered there), and had countless meals from vending machines. It has not been easy. But how did I keep motivated, you ask? I think I've been around my hockey-playing brother too much, because I started using visualization. Apparently a lot of them do that before a game. Focus on winning, seeing yourself make the right plays, blablabla sport talk blablabla. Anyways. My visualizing was iron ring ceremony. I saw myself walking up to my dad, him putting it on (usually, in my head, he also had one tear strolling down his cheek for dramatic effect), and so on. I just kept thinking that when I got to that, I'd be almost done. I'd be an engineer. I'd wear it til I died. (Let it be known I wish to be buried with it if I die before I have children. Otherwise, let it become a family heirloom to be protected WITH. THEIR. LIVES.)

Well Saturday, that all came true. Minus my dad crying. Sorta.

Iron ring is a tradition for Canadians who graduate with an engineering degree. There's a big ceremony with rituals and all (top secret!), culminating in receiving a ring. The ring is put on by another engineer, someone who also has a ring (hence my dad... yay forestry engineering!). The ring is worn on the pinky of the engineer's writing hand, to "seal" calculations and signatures. It represents the weight of our responsibility (falling bridges, Chernobyl, etc...) and so on. Also there is a legend, which I like to pretend is true, that the rings are forged out of the remainders of the Quebec bridge (it fell a gazillion years ago TWICE because of calculation errors) to remind us not to get complacent in our work.
Anyways I'm a huge dork clearly, because I think this is all super cool. Also yes, I'm such a girl, I went into engineering for the jewelry. Obvs.

Saturday I stood and performed all the rituals. I took my ring to the front of the room, gave it to my dad, and he put it on my pinky while reciting something that I forgot cause I was too entranced in the moment and also I was searching for tears in his eyes. He definitely choked up, but so did I.

It has been a totally crazy, horrible, wonderful, and life-changing experience. And now I have this super cool ring to remind me every day of how I can accomplish absolutely anything I want.