#11: Attend a potluck

I feel like a potluck is just such a must for any proper university experience. Most people go to many, I had gone to zero. So I stuck it on the list. And then I went to a potluck. And it was amazing.

The potluck was our last POWE social event of the semester, and I had a blast. I almost shed a tear, realizing how much I love these girls. As I videotapped them dancing to Beyonce and laughing hysterically, I realized how fantastic POWE is. It's exactly what I'd envisioned, girls being girls and supporting one another and just being silly. While eating delicious food.

Best. Night. Ever.

*For those totally confused as to what POWE is, it's actually a committee aimed at helping women in engineering. It began as a way to promote career-related opportunities; this year it feels like it's grown into a sisterhood. I have the chance of being on the committee as their VP University Affairs. And I really couldn't see myself anywhere else.

12 Before '12

I was reading one of the five thousand blogs I follow semi-regularly the other day, and saw this very cool concept of doing a "12 before '12" list. Basically it's just twelve things you want to accomplish before 2012. I like the short time span and the fact that if I complete this, I'm gonna feel hella accomplished on January 1st 2012. So here's mine!

1. Learn how to use photoshop.
It's my unofficial New Year's resolution (right under eat better and actually go to the gym) to really upgrade this blog. So I must learn to use this tool. My friend Katie, over at Adieu Aurelia is a total pro at it, and has inspired me to try as well, because I seriously covet her blog's look these days.

2. Finish a book.
I used to love reading. Now all I can really say I've read are coursepacks about pipe sizing and textbook about reactions engineering. Barf. So as soon as December 21st hits, I will throw myself back into the third book of the Millenium trilogy (which I had started but has been collecting dust all semester now).

3. Actually get a real night's sleep.
At first I wanted a proper night's sleep, or a sleep marathon. Now I've decided to perform a "bed-in," and so mom, you've been informed now, sometime during break I will spend 24hrs in my bed, getting up only for the bathroom and food.

4. Pass all my classes.
Ya, for some, that's a given. But for the engineering world..... It's always a toss-up. So in order to feel like I truly deserve my Christmas vacation, I plan to be absolutely insane and study like 15hrs a day for 2 weeks. Then I will pass everything, drink a lot of champagne, and then... well, see #3. Also having this on my list is like my positive thinking moment of the day!

5. Finish training my cat.
We've conquered the morning routine, she can now hold off until 10am before jumping on me. Sometimes she won't even jump, she'll just meow or she will lie on top of me and purr really loud until I get up. Which I can't say is the worst thing ever. Still. We gotta polish that one off before she meets Grandma Line, cause those shenanigans won't fly in her house, lemme tell ya.

6. Write a post for my bestie Sarah's wonderful new blog, Art for Art.
I really want to work on my writing abilities, and I feel like this is a great opportunity for a really cool project. I just need to brainstorm on what exactly I'm going to talk about!

7. Write a book review for the lovely Sarah.
So again, more writing. Sarah just needs a ton of writing samples from people and well I love to whore around my writings. I plan to write on a book I fell in love with years and years ago. Stay tuned, I'll post it on this blog too!

8. Paint my nails AND toenails.
Ok this one sounds dumb, I know. But for about two months now, I haven't painted either, and I feel naked! And unkept!

9. Invest in fleece-lined leggings.
Winter is coming, ok? And while I used to hate leggings so so much (leggings are not pants!!), I kinda love wearing them with tunic-length shirts now. So fleece lining means I can continue this even when it's freezing outside. Yay! Also did you all know there's fleece-lined jeans? My question is, how long must those take to dry after a wash, RIGHT!!!

10. Watch the new Twilight movie.
I'm just curious to see if I'll have a seizure too...

11. Finish my pile of magazines.
Every December, I buy a copy of all the magazines I love (Glamour, Fashion, Elle Canada, InStyle, and even the dirty dirty Cosmopolitan), because this month and only this month, I get to read MY horoscope. In big, expanded form. Right now I have my core five piled up on my desk, begging for a read. Before January 1st, I will get through them all!

12. Become a bona fide tea addict.
I feel like this will bring about many positive things. Firstly, it helps keep you from getting sick, cause the heat kills bacteria or something. I'm not sure about that one, but a med student told me that, so I took it as factual. ALSO. Tea is mostly water, which means I will drink more water, which will do wonders for my skin and such.
But most of all, let's be honest, I just want to look cool carrying a cup around all the time, and chai tea is yummy.
How will I measure this feat? If my tea drinking abilities are at 3 cups a day by January 1st, I will give myself a thumbs up in the mirror and consider this task accomplished!


Wish me luck, and let's check back in January 1st to see how (hopefully) well I did!

Favorite Christmas Music

Love love love

Those who know me know I'm a sucker for romance. Not cheesy stuff, like flowers and chocolates, but really really cute, well-thought out things.

A friend of mine (my bromance actually) recently showed me this website about 10 relationship words that can't be translated into English, and it was so adorable I thought I should share!



Mamihlapinatapei (Yagan, an indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego): The wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who desire to initiate something, but are both reluctant to start. 
Oh yes, this is an exquisite word, compressing a thrilling and scary relationship moment. It’s that delicious, cusp-y moment of imminent seduction. Neither of you has mustered the courage to make a move, yet. Hands haven’t been placed on knees; you’ve not kissed. But you’ve both conveyed enough to know that it will happen soon… very soon.

Yuanfen (Chinese): A relationship by fate or destiny. This is a complex concept. It draws on principles of predetermination in Chinese culture, which dictate relationships, encounters and affinities, mostly among lovers and friends.
But interestingly, “fate” isn’t the same thing as “destiny.” Even if lovers are fated to find each other they may not end up together. The proverb, “have fate without destiny,” describes couples who meet, but who don’t stay together, for whatever reason. It’s interesting, to distinguish in love between the fated and the destined. Romantic comedies, of course, confound the two.

Cafuné (Brazilian Portuguese): The act of tenderly running your fingers through someone's hair.

Retrouvailles (French):  The happiness of meeting again after a long time.
This is such a basic concept, and so familiar to the growing ranks of commuter relationships, or to a relationship of lovers, who see each other only periodically for intense bursts of pleasure. I’m surprised we don’t have any equivalent word for this subset of relationship bliss. It’s a handy one for modern life.

Ilunga (Bantu): A person who is willing to forgive abuse the first time; tolerate it the second time, but never a third time.
Apparently, in 2004, this word won the award as the world’s most difficult to translate. Although at first, it does seem have a clear phrase equivalent in English  (the “three strikes and you’re out” policy),  ilunga conveys a subtler concept, because the feelings are different with each “strike.” The word elegantly conveys the progression toward intolerance, and the different shades of emotion that we feel at each stop along the way.

La Douleur Exquise (French): The heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can’t have. La douleur exquise gets at the emotional heartache, specifically, of being the one whose love is unreciprocated.

Koi No Yokan (Japanese): The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love.
This is different than “love at first sight,” since it implies that you might have a sense of imminent love, somewhere down the road, without yet feeling it. The term captures the intimation of inevitable love in the future, rather than the instant attraction implied by love at first sight.

Ya’aburnee (Arabic): “You bury me.” It’s a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person, because of how difficult it would be to live without them.
The online dictionary that lists this word calls it “morbid and beautiful.” It’s the “How Could I Live Without You?” slickly insincere cliché of dating, polished into a more earnest, poetic term.  

Forelsket: (Norwegian):  The euphoria you experience when you’re first falling in love.
This is a wonderful term for that blissful state, when all your senses are acute for the beloved, the pins and needles thrill of the novelty. There’s a phrase in English for this, but it’s clunky. It’s “New Relationship Energy,” or NRE.

Saudade (Portuguese): The feeling of longing for someone that you love and is lost. Another linguist describes it as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist."
It’s interesting that saudade accommodates in one word the haunting desire for a lost love, or for an imaginary, impossible, never-to-be-experienced love. Whether the object has been lost or will never exist, it feels the same to the seeker, and leaves her in the same place:  She has a desire with no future. Saudade doesn’t distinguish between a ghost, and a fantasy. Nor do our broken hearts, much of the time.


Romantic, isn't it?

#4: Attend both chem eng banquets

Chemical engineering hosts two banquets every year. I only ever manage to attend one. So this year, I'm doing BOTH. Here is part 1, the fall banquet.

Here's a few pictures from our chemical engineering fall banquet, held at a DELICIOUS restaurant called Steak Frites. Let me emphasize delicious again.

My Arabic Besties

My main girl Massie

I messed up the red eye fix thing, now most of my friends have scary eyes!

#25: Go to Circus

Not A circus, just Circus. As in Montreal's very own afterhours club. Ya, no big deal, it opens at 2am and closes at 10am. One day I want to just stand outside at 10am and see who/what comes out..

Anyways a few weeks ago, three friends and myself finally ventured to it after a fabulous dancing outing, and I made it in. TIL FOUR AM. I felt like a pretty big deal being up so late. However, the photos of our evening are a little silly due to overconsumption to alcohol and thus not appropriate for this blog. Fortunately there's no pictures of me, just my friends, so only they can be blackmailed with this. Not me!

P.S. It's been two weeks and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep.

Lights on

I think part of why I love Christmas time so much is because of all the pretty lights everywhere. They just make me all soothed and peaceful. Probably because bad things can't happen during Christmas. It's like a rule, no? Anyways, here are some cute pictures that leave me feeling very calm and blissful.