Spice Girls Lovin'

Re-watched Spice World not long ago and I remembered what I thought the first time I saw it when I was ten.........

OMG I WANT A BIG COMFY ROBE AND A COLORFUL TENT-LIKE HAVEN IN MY GIANT BACKYARD.

The feeling hasn't changed.

#8: Play beer pong at BDP

There is, at McGill, a long standing tradition where the most sketch-tastic bar near campus transforms into a beer pong war zone every Tuesday night.

Embarassing fact #1: In first year, I lived in a residence directly across this bar and NEVER went.

Embarassing fact #2: I'd actually never played beer pong. Ever.

That is.......... UNTIL NOW (and by now I mean about a month ago, because I wanted to post a picture along with this but the person who took pictures still hasn't posted them so I decided to blog without them).

Turns out beer pong is SO. FUN. And I don't suck, which might be why I think it's so fun? As with most things on my bucket list, I really wish I'd done this before. And more often!

Re-match in the new year?

Christmas dream wishlist

This is my ultimate wishlist, to which Santa would definitely say "dream on".

1. Bracelets
I don't know what my deal is, but they're making a comeback in my head. I kinda wanna go back to that look of stacking a gazillion on each wrist.

Love this. Also navy + gold = amazeballs color combo.

I need to throw in a bit of shiny.

I'd like one in each color please.

2. A new duvet cover
I love my current duvet. It's amazing visually and also I'm totally emotionally attached to it. I originally bought all the fabric with these great plans to make a patchwork duvet cover and then realized I kinda didn't have much sewing skills. I put them away for almost 2 years until Amanda, my amazing coworker for the summer, helped me get it done. The duvet isn't just like oh cool, check out my arts and crafts project, it's more like a statement that I can do anything I set my mind to.
...Nevertheless it's getting pretty worn out, and I'm ready for a bit of new visual stimulation. While I put the other one away and pretty much save it for my kids.

This super cool website, DENY designs, lets you pick a piece of artwork and turn it into various things, like a duvet cover, a shower curtain, etc. I love love love this one and the one below.

This with some emerald green sheets would be amaaaaaaaaazeballs.

I've been in love with this for 4 months now. Probably good Anthropologie shut down their website in Quebec, or I might order it.

3. Annnnd some clothes/shoes.... obvi

Sick chevron pattern on this cozy sweater.

This with some royal blue pants would look amazinggggggg.

Hearts. On elbows. THAT IS ALL.

I've been looking for caramel-colored boots foreverrrrr and these are pretty much perfect.

I've been wanting nude pumps forever, and between the almond toe and the thicker heel, these are fantastic.

Fresh take on herringbone.

Saw this one on Nashville.. I'm in love. Half with the show, half with the dress.

#26: Get published

Last year, when I decided to re-align my life ambitions and goals, I had a conversation with Judy Pharo, the associate director of McGill's Engineering faculty. Two things to note are that, a) I loveeeee Judy Pharo and b) this conversation marked me, for some reason. I guess it's because she was the first to suggest that I could mesh my love of engineering and my love of ...well, everything non-engineering. But mostly casual writing. Like right now, for instance.

Anyways, she suggested I get an article published, and even recommended a particular magazine here at McGill. It mostly went in one ear and out the other, until a friend who worked for said magazine asked me to write (or more so said something like "if you want to, that'd be ok").

I got a little too excited and then procrastinated for about six months. Finally in July I finished my article, sent it away, and then obsessively checked my email every day (and the magazine website), to see if a) my article was approved and b) the magazine was out.

Finally a) and b) came true so here we are. It's not a big fancy magazine. More like tiny and technology-related. But it fit my topic (women in engineering, duh) and I had "connections". And now it will fit in the dramatic tale of how I got to the top starting from humble beginnings.

Here is the link to my first published article, in the magazine Technophilic:
http://issuu.com/technophilic/docs/f2012-mcgill/21

P.S. I may have stolen like 15 copies and mailed some to my parents. One day they could be worth a lot on ebay. But I felt guilty and had to get that off my chest. Phew.

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?

#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.