Sunday 31 March 2013

Happy Easter! :)

I hope you all have a great Easter! I thought this picture was too cute not to share! :)

Love you all! 
Dare <3

Friday 29 March 2013

Liebster Award! :)

So I was nominated for the Liebster award!!! This is super exciting because when I first started blogging I never in a million years though anyone would read my blog. I'd like to thank Dany, from Bluebells and Owls, for nominating me! You guys should go check out her blog cause she's awesome! :)

Now for the rules:
1. You must share 11 things about yourself.
2. Answer the 11 questions your tagger has given you.
3. Choose 11 fellow blogs to nominate. (Nominees must have under 200 Google Friend Connect Followers and be told in a comment on their blog.
4. Next you need to think of 11 new questions to ask the bloggers you have nominated.
5. Finally, thanks the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.

11 things about myself:
1. I am a Sagittarius.
2. I have arachnophobia and emetophobia.
3. My favourite food is ice cream.
4. I can read a book a day.
5. My first pet was a boy cat I insisted on naming Emily.
6. My favourite Disney Princess is Mulan.
7. Dare is short for Daria.
8. I was a cheerleader up until this year.
9. I cried 7 times while reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
10. I am obsessed with Phineas and Ferb.
11. I am 95% certain I'm psychic.

11 questions from Dani:

1. If you could go back in time, would you choose a specific era in history? If so, which one and why? 
This is actually a tricky question for me because there are so many different eras I'd like to go visit! I think my top choice would have to be the end of the Progressive Era of the Unites States, specifically the 1920s. I love woman's fashion in the 20s and I could so picture myself as a flapper! My other choices would be the Victorian era (in Europe) because I've always wanted to wear a hoop skirt, and the Ancient periods of Greece and/or Rome because I'd love to experience that culture. The only thing I'm a little bit skeptical about is the whole plumbing situation, or rather, the lack of one.

2. What would you like to do on a Sunday evening?
Relax with a hot cup of tea and a good book. (This rarely ever happens, though, because Sunday is when I usually do all the homework I neglected to do during the week!)

3. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
I'd really like to be able to pause time so that everything around me would be froze, but I'd still be able to move around and do things. Or I'd like to be able to turn invisible.

4. What do you like the most about blogging?
My favourite part about blogging is 'meeting' new people!

5. Name two of your life goals.
To be a published author, and to find happiness.

6. Do you speak any other languages?
Um... do gibberish and pig-latin count?

7. One person, one question. Who and what would it be?
Meg Cabot and probably 'will you be my best-friend?' though if I ever actually met Meg Cabot, I'd most likely be speechless.

8. What is/was your favourite subject at school?
Writer's Craft class (a.k.a. Creative Writing).

9. Is there any movie or book that has changed your life in a significant way?
Meg Cabot's 'Code Name Cassandra' from the 1-800-Where-R-You series (or the Vanished series). This was the first Meg Cabot book I ever read, and it inspired me to want to become a writer.

10. What is your favourite holiday?
Christmas!

11. Do you have a quote that you live by?
There are quite a few but here is my all time favourite:
"Of course it's happening inside your head, Harry, but why on Earth should that mean it is not real?" (From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

Who I nominate:
1. Marian from Accio Wonderland
2. Treskie from Occasional Randomness
3. Helena from In a Few Nutshells
4. Gorogoron
5. Carolina Eliza from Carolina Eliza Fashion and Beauty
6.  Jessica from Written Paintings
7. The Dramatis Persona
8. Shameta from Honest Mistakes
9. Olivia from Paper Clips and Potato Chips
10. RinskiiJoy from Mismatched Socks
11. Sabrina from Of Distant Dreams

Questions for my nominees:
1. Where are your top three places to travel?
2. Who is your favourite Disney princess (or character)?
3. Do you believe in anything supernatural?
4. Who is your favourite author?
5. If you could choose one junk food to be magically turned healthy, what would it be?
6. If you could live in a world from a book, which would you choose?
7. What are your pet peeves?
8. What is your dream job?
9. What is your favourite accent?
10. Sweet, salty, or savoury?
11. Why did you start blogging?

Have fun! :)

Monday 25 March 2013

Trivia Time!

What is the single most asked question in school?

No, it's not 1+1=2, nor is it "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" (24 mph btw... LBD!)

The answer is "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

That's right. From kindergarden to grade twelve, even especially university, people are always asking you what you want to be when you grow up. Of course in kindergarden, the answers are mostly generic things like a fire fighter, a teacher, a cow boy, a mom. When I was in kindergarden, I wanted to be a princess... or a spy. Or better yet a top secret princess-spy! Heck, if someone offered me that job today, I'd take it in a heart beat!

As you grow older, it's expected that your answer to this question will become more refined. I remember when I was fourteen being handed a bunch of papers and being told I had one week to figure my life out. One week! Okay, so maybe not my entire life (it was after all, just deciding what classes I wanted to take next year), but it felt like a HUGE deal at the time. I was only fourteen! What does a fourteen year-old know about the future?

Four years later and I still don't have my life figured out. Who would have thought? I've certainly tried many things, and failed at many things. I may not know what I want to do, but I certainly know what I don't want to do.

Actually, I have a pretty good idea of the jobs I'd like to have. Top of the list, for instance, would be if someone paid me to read books. I also would not mind being a professional blogger, or a taste-tester for a bakery. You know, jobs that don't require me to wake up before 9:30.

Here's another stupid question I got asked a lot: "Where do you picture yourself in 10 years?" ... um, anywhere but here. That would have been my answer throughout high school, but I don't think that's exactly what they were looking for.

Now, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I where I want to be, and while "anywhere but here" is still included, my answer is a bit more refined. Here is what I hope my life will look like in the future.

1. I am hopefully a published author. Because this is the most realistic of my dream jobs. I just actually have to finish something I write...

2. I have a house/apartment/condo. I honestly only care that it's nice and that it's mine. I so badly want a place of my own. With a kitchen.

3. The house/apartment/condo is located somewhere where the words "snow" and "winter" aren't part of the vocabulary. (I will however, visit my parents for Christmas. Because it just isn't Christmas without snow.)

4. I want to cook and bake and photographically document everything I eat (healthy of course) and possibly blog about everyone of those things! Which is why the above kitchen is necessary. (I told you guys about my food-blog obsession, right? Well did you know I follow around 40 food-blogs?)

5. I am married. Please dear God, let there be someone out their who can put up with all my nonsense and ramblings and all over weirdness!

6. Me and my imaginary dream guy eloped, by the way. I can't deal with weddings... or more specifically weddings + my mother. After our top-secret elopement in some far away, tropical land, we will come back and do the whole reception thing just so no one in our families hates me... and so I can wear a nice dress.

7. How far in the future are we talking here? Because at some point I want to have a kid (just one) but I'm not sure how soon. Haven't quite worked out all details... except for the name! Maybe I'll even adopt.

There are still plenty of loose ends. Obviously!

And I kind of have to suffer through school first. I hear getting a degree is kind of important.

Sunday 24 March 2013

Awkward Dare Makes an Appearance

Do you ever have those moments where all you can think is, "Idiot! Why am I so stupid?!"

I get those a lot. But today's ... today's "why am I so stupid" is ten times worse than the "I left my huge, 25% of my final grade bio paper till the last minute - why am I so stupid" or the "I just inhaled half a jar of peanut butter - why am I so stupid" and doesn't even compare to the "I just read three books when I should have been studying for finals - why am I so stupid".

(... on second thought, that last one wasn't so bad. Books always take priority in my life. And, hey, I still passed!)

I guess you're wondering right about now what exactly I did that was so stupid. Well, dear internet companions, I made the biggest fool of myself ever.

To tell you this story (I promise I'll try and keep it short. Stick to the details) I'll have to go back to the beginning of the school year.

So I kind of had this friend, and yes, he was a guy. Yes, he was pretty good looking, and maybe I fantasized a little about this friendship turning into something ... more. Things were going great too... er, sort of. If you can base a friendship off of texting every single day but rarely seeing each other in person. But considering I talked to him more than I ever talked to my ex-boyfriend when we were still dating, I thought it was pretty good. I mean, he even texted me first sometimes! That's never happened to me before!

So here we are and things are fine, but the BAM! Radio silence. I don't know what happened (actually, this was partially my fault but it's a really long story and I'd I probably bore your ears off).

Then he only started texting me when he was drunk. Not okay (this now justifies my part of the sudden silent treatment - again, long story). For a bit, I texted him back when he would drunk-text me. But then I gave up when at 2 am one morning I get a message that read "Ur hot." I don't know if he sent it or if one of his friend's sent it, but I had had enough.

And we haven't spoken since.

I see him around all the time (we have some of the same classed together), he just never see's me (the classes are really big... okay so maybe I'm looking for him. But is that so wrong? Part of me always hopes he is looking for me to. )

Cut to this afternoon when an unsuspecting Dare is trudging up the many staircases of the gym and guess who is walking down them. Guess who she nearly ran smack-dab into because she wasn't watching where she was going? Guess who, when she finally looked up, could only stare, slack jawed at. That's right: the boy she once had a huge crush on.

I swear it was the longest two seconds of my life. My brain was literally screaming "Say 'Hi'. You can't just stand there. Say SOMETHING!"

But I just couldn't form words. And then he walked on my, without saying anything. To make matters worse, I turned around once the shock had worn off. I wanted to amend this awkward encounter, but he was already gone, and he didn't look back.

I was still am mortified. This is what I do, though. I am a ruiner. I take perfectly good things and I ruin them.

The only good thing I could think of to say to myself during my run afterwards, as if it was any consolation, was at least I had run into him pre-work out, so my face wasn't all red and sweaty. Show him what he's missing...

Yeah, probably not.

Saturday 23 March 2013

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Oh. Em. Gee.

I have no words.

Ok, I kind of have words but they sound a little something like this:

ASDFGHHKJLLIEHILFLKAHFKJHFHKSJJFJJKSASDHGFJHKLAJKGDSKJHJEOUKNZCMNALKHDKSJHFKDHGKHFKAJFJSHLKJFSAGAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!

That was my reaction to episode 98. Followed by repeatedly raping the replay button. I'm sorry but ... OMG, the FEELS!

Have you seen the Lizzie Bennet Diaries? No!? OMG* you absolutely have to watch it! Go! Right now! I'll even post the the link to the first episode right .... here! They are a vlog-style, modern retelling and hilarious adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Not convinced yet? Oh, just go watch them!

... Are you in love yet? I know I am! Because what's not to love when there's a little bit of this:


Some of this:


A lot of this:


Oh, and this. Yeah, we can't forget about this:



OMG! These are so amazing, funny, and super addicting! I watched all the episodes straight in a row! Not kidding.

But now I'm all caught up, and it's telling me I have to wait until Monday to see the next episode! Like, WHAT? This is so not fair. I need to know what happens NOW! Replaying episode 98 will not keep me satisfied for much longer!

These make me want to read Pride and Prejudice so so so badly! And I've tried the classics thing before, A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre... much too wordy for me. But I absolutely must get my hands on a Jane Austen book right this instant! I'm sure my mom has a copy lying around somewhere...

*I would like to apologize for the amount of time I said "OMG" and typed in caps in this post. Those are just unfortunate side affects of fangirl-ing.


Friday 22 March 2013

Dare Vs. The $300 Boots


Do you ever have one of those days that makes you think "Why does the world hate me?", and all you want to do is curl up in a cozy little ball, watch Amanda Bynes movies and inhale a jar of peanut butter (not that I've ever done that, of course...)

Today is one of those days for me. Well, only half-a-jar-of-peanut-butter day, but it was still pretty crappy. (Don't judge me. It was dark chocolate peanut butter! Who can resist dark chocolate peanut butter?)

I'm just exhausted and swamped with school work. So swamped in fact, that I barely have time to eat properly during the day (for example, the peanut butter incident). But what better (and calorie-free) way to cheer me up than to go shoe shopping! Yes, I get to go shoe shopping tomorrow and I am pumped! 

The thought of shoe shopping has me so excited that I was reminded of a shoe related story I thought I would share with you.

So each Christmas it's kind of become tradition that my little brother and I are allowed to ask for one (semi) splurge item from our parents. We get small gifts and stocking stuffers on the side, but it's all about that one thing you are praying just know you're find under the tree in the morning.

So this past Christmas, I asked for new boots. But not just any boots, oh no. These were $300, quality leather, riding-style boots from Roots that scream authenticity, candadien-ness, and all around gorgeousness.

There was one slight problem. Oh, it wasn't that I didn't get them. My mom even loved them so much, she accidentally ordered two pairs and they just happened to be exactly her size. So yeah, we're twinsies now. Or, at least we would have been, if I could wear mine!

You see, these boots had one slight, itsy-bitsy problem: they are almost knee length and don't have a zipper. Yup. You're just supposed to pull them on or something. The next part is technically my problem (or genetics) but apparently my right foot is a little bit bigger than the left, which makes it extremely difficult to pull my almost-knee-length-three-hundred-dollar-drop-dead-gorgeous boots on. It literally took me a full 5 minutes to put my boots on each morning!

Then, the unthinkable happened: the boots gave me blisters! Painful blisters that hurt so bad each step, that I couldn't even wear them for a while. But, I am nothing if not stubborn and I would not let these boots win! (Especially considering how expensive they were). I stuck cotton pads and band-aids on the backs of my ankles in hopes that this would solve the problem. But alas, it was not so. Each time I had to pull the boots on, they pushed the band-aids off the blisters!

So for quite some period of time I could not wear the boots. Until I came up with the most briliant-est, simplest problem solver ever! The shoe horn! (A.K.A. The most genus invention in the world). Now I can slide my foot right into the boots (even my right one) and the band-aids don't get pushed off. Sheer genius. Plus, it now only takes me 56.1 seconds to put my boots on (yup, I timed myself).

So, moral of the story is. Roots should put a warning label on their boots. Caution: Shoe Horn Necessary.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

First I'd like to warn you that today's post will be shorter and a little more somber than usual. And that's because last night I got some very upsetting news.

My Granddad past away yesterday. He had cancer and had recently gotten extremely sick. Of course it's sad, and I'm going to miss him very much, but it's nice to know he is in a better place now. Seventeen years ago, the doctors gave him only five years to live. Twelve years ago I would have too young to even remember him very well and my little brother wouldn't even have been born yet. And so I am extremely thankful that he had the chance to see me grow up, and to know my brother and his four other beautiful grandchildren. Rest in peace, Granddad. You will be missed <3

In case your wondering why I'm telling strangers I only know through the internet this very personal information, well, it's because I needed to get it off my chest. I haven't even told my friends yet. I'm just not good with ... confrontation. And I guess it's way easier for me to type things onto a computer screen than to actually tell people face to face. I will get there... eventually.

What is your take on the belief that everything happens for a reason? Personally, I strongly believe this. Yes, it is a very optimistic view on life, but I like having faith that everything will work out in the end. Now I know some people oppose this view by saying that this belief represses free choice. However, I don't feel that thinking everything happens for a reason means you don't have to make choices. It's a very debatable topic. Post your thoughts below because I'd love to hear them!

-Dare

Monday 18 March 2013

My Life and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

Mr. Werner Heisenberg everybody!
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is a law used mainly in chemistry and physics that was invented by some old guy with a really fun name to say (Werner Heisenberg!) who also just happens to share a birthday with me (no big deal). It is essentially the basis of quantum mechanics - which is quite possibly the most annoying and pretentious subject to learn. It basically consists of being taught rule A, then five minutes later being told that rule A is actually wrong and that you should really use rule B, but only sometimes. Like, what??? Seriously, if you plan on maintaining your sanity, do not take quantum mechanics!

Ok, if you guys are still with me, I'll get to the point now.

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that at any given time, you can only know an electron's position or it's speed, but not both. Talk about confusing.

Right about now, you may be asking yourself, "What's with the chemistry lesson, Dare? I thought you hated science?" I'm getting there, I promise.

In the wee hours of this morning (because obviously that's when I have all my brilliant ideas - when I'm supposed to be sleeping), I woke up suddenly with a thought. An analogy, really. And this was it: my life is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

Do you see this diagram of an atom? The teal and orange balls squished together in middle represent the nucleus, i.e. me. The balls that are floating around on the blue, circular orbits are electrons. They are constantly moving around the nucleus and they represent everything in my life that I have to deal with. For example, family, friends, school, finances, food, exercise, life goals, summer employment, etc. 

All these things are zooming around me so fast and I can't catch up. I can only focus my attention on one thing at a time, and even then, I can only control half of it. Let's look at school for an example. Currently, I'm in science and I constantly have work to do and classes and labs to attend. Just focussing on that is hard enough. But now I have decided that I am switching out of science and there are several information sessions, meetings, and deadlines that I have to pay attention to in order to properly switch programs. I don't know which to focus on at one time: my current school work, or my future school plans? (I.e. Where school is right now vs. how fast it's moving.)

I feel like my brain is going to explode!

Well anyways, just needed to get that off my chest! I hope you enjoyed that minor chemistry lesson. 

TTFN! :)
-Dare

P.S. I blogged this from a Starbucks! (Thought you'd like to know...)

Saturday 16 March 2013

Those Weird Obsessions

I'm not talking about those normal things we love with a mildly weird obsession, like books, Disney movies, David's Tea, eating spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar (I'm not he only one who does this... right?)

I'm talking about those straight up weird obsessions that you never tell anyone about because you know they'll stare at you like you've grown a second head.

We all have them. I know you do.

So that y'all can get to know me better, I've to decided to share with the entire internet (okay, the small portion of the internet that reads my blog) the weirdest obsessions that I have. You should note that this is a condensed version - I have too many weirdness-es (yes, I said weirdness-es) to count.

1) Names. Okay, but not just names, no. Yahoo Answers, "Pregnancy and Parenting - Baby Names". I can spend hours, hours, on Yahoo Answers giving people advice on what to name their babies or book characters. And I enjoy it. I've always loved names. I have a list of all my favourite names saved on my laptop so I can make suggestions or even add to it. I think it may be a side affect of being a book lover, because when ever I see a name I like, I instantly create a character profile for him/her in my head. And when I see people, I always try to guess what their names are (but it's always disappointing when my Nick turns out to be a Tyler, or Sebastian is actually a Michael).

2) Wishing on 11:11. I swear by this... practically religiously. Everyday for five years I wished prayed for a dog every single 11:11. When I was just about to give up, throw in the towel and declare wishing overrated, I got a dog. And I swear to you, he was worth every wish. All 1,825 of them.

Meet Wesley. He's cute and he knows it.
3) Falling in love with fictional characters. But not just a casual "Oh, yeah, I love [Insert name of totally amazing fictional character here]." I'm talking head-over-heals in love. Like if Harry Potter walked through my door right now (Harry Potter, not Daniel Radcliffe), and asked me to marry him, I would. In a heart beat. No questions asked. Same goes for Jesse De Silva from Meg Cabot's the Mediator series and many other people who don't exist in real life. Sigh.

4) Phineas and Ferb. I love this show. It's probably unhealthy for an eighteen year-old to love a show meant for young children as much as I do, but I don't care. I have the lyrics to the theme song memorized, no joke.

5) Food Blogs. One of my worst best methods of procrastination is scrolling through various food blogs and drooling over delicious looking meals and desserts I know I can't have because, by some cruelty, I'm forced to eat caff food. I like to imagine myself making them, though. And eating them. Definitely eating them.

So there you have it: five of my weirdness-es. I have probably told one of each of these to different people and have all gotten the same reaction. The woah-did-you-know-you've-spontaneously-grown-a-second-head look.

Now for no other reason other than the fact that I can, I will proceed to spam you with pictures of my dog!







Oh! Isn't he adorable! Okay one more, only because it's possibly my favourite picture in the whole wide world (and it only took about a million shots to get it right):


TTFN! :)
-Dare


Thursday 14 March 2013

Wow! I feel like it's been forever since I've blogged and I miss you guys! Seriously!

So here's what's been going on with me:

TEA!!!! So remember when I told you I had David's Tea for the first time and absolutely loved it? Well now it's all I can think about! Like I'm craving it. Do you think they put something addicting in their tea??? I don't even care because it's seriously the best tea ever and I mean, it's tea! It's not like it's bad for you. I had to go back and buy some to take home with me but since it's loose leaf tea, I had to buy a tea ball too. But now that I have this tea ball, I feel like I need to put it to good use and buy more tea! (And a new travel mug now that I think of it). Gah! It's a vicious cycle of deliciousness!

I realize you all probably think I'm crazy now, raving about tea of all things. I have four words for you: Red Velvet Cake Tea. I'm not kidding you. This is like my new favourite thing on the planet. With a splash of skim milk and a squirt of agave nectar (which reminds me, I need to go buy more agave too!) this beverage is heavenly! Here's a picture of me drinking some now, in a bowl-sized mug!


What are your favourite tea flavours? Mine are Chai, Earl Grey, and Red Velvet Cake, obviously! But there are so many more David's Tea flavours I want to try such as Mint Chocolate, Cinnamon Heart, Salted Caramel, and Cookie Dough! (Can you tell I have a sweet tooth?) There's even one called Movie Night which actually has bits of popcorn in it (not sure how this would turn out though...)

Question for you guys: Are you a tea or a coffee drinker?

I had this one friend in high school who swore she could tell if people were tea or coffee people just by looking at them. I stumped her though because I like a bit of both. Technically, I prefer lattes to actual coffee but I love the smell of coffee and will occasionally enjoy the beverage with a few shakes of cinnamon (there absolutely has to be cinnamon, though). Overall, I guess I am more of a tea person though (if my above ramblings are any indication!)

Monday 11 March 2013

Tales of the "Talent-less"

Behind me is my beautiful wall of photos which has expanded since this picture was taken into even more gorgeousness! :)

Hey look! It's me! Well... mostly it's a picture of my camera. But now you know what hair looks like! Yay! 

My camera is basically my child. My parents gave it to me for Christmas two years ago because I had gotten really into photography. It's really just for fun, but I really enjoy photo-shoots and editing. My photos are mostly amateurish and no where near as good as some of my friends who are extremely talented. Recently, I haven't been taking very many photos because I've been so busy with school work.

There was a time before that where I was really into drawing. But I dropped art class for a spare in grade twelve. I knew I wasn't good enough to get into University for art so I figured, why bother?

I was on my school's cheerleading team for four years. But again, I didn't keep it up after I graduated. I wasn't good enough to get on a University team anyways.

Before cheerleading, I had taken dance classes since I was four years old. I liked it, but I never did competitive. I just thought I wasn't good enough for it.

What I'm trying to say is that I've basically given up everything I've ever started.

There are times in my life where I've just felt so ... talent-less. I see everyone else with some defining 'thing' in their life and I have nothing. There's my friend who is an amazing artist, one who plays soccer on scholarship, one who can sing, a gymnast, a photographer, a dancer, a drummer. These are all the first things that pop into my head when I think of my friends. What do people say when they think of me? Fast book-reader? I don't think that counts.

It's my own fault really. I never had a 'thing' because I quit so easily. So here is my promise to you: I will be a writer. When I discovered I wanted to be an author, I was in grade eight. I turned to books because I was having a difficult time with bullies and things, and when they helped me, I decided I wanted to help other people in the same way. I sort of pushed the idea away, though, thinking about how unrealistic that was. (At the time, I also had a friend who was extremely into writing. This may also have had something to do with it). It was only recently that I fully embraced that fact that this was the only job for me and the only thing I would be happy spending the rest of my life doing. It was even more recently that I actually let people (ok, so maybe it was only my family) look at my writing. 

This is something I love, and no longer will I let myself give up just because I think I'm not good enough!

It would mean the world to me If you checked out the first short story I ever posted online, which can be found here. Thank you guys! 

Oooh, look! It's me again! Now you know what the back of my head looks like! :)

Sunday 10 March 2013

Today was awesome!

Why was today awesome, you ask? Shall I count the ways?

1) I bought a book! A real life, honest-to-gosh book that I can hold and read over and over and over again. And smell. (I'm not the only one who loves the smell of books, right?) I don't have to return it to the library, and it doesn't expire in 21 days. I don't even feel bad about spending money because it was on a gift card (and I still have 5 bucks left)! Guess what book it is? Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter!!! If you haven't read the Heist Society series, I highly recommend it! I mean, who doesn't want to read about teenage criminals who can pull of the biggest heists this century has ever seen? No one, that's who.


2) My brother is visiting me for the whole weekend! I'm super excited to have him here and I think he's pretty excited to see what university-life is like. Minus the actual work part, though. Actually, he gets to come to two of my classes with me tomorrow morning! 

3) Since my brother has never had Menchies before, I decided we absolutely HAD to go. Three words for you: Cake Batter Fro-Yo... and chocolate chips, score bits, cookie dough chunks, carmel sauce, and chocolate sauce! Okay, so maybe that's more that three words but I just had to express my love for the best frozen yogurt bar on the planet. My brother loved it too and even agreed to try and convince our mother to stop rolling her eyes every time I rave about it!


4) After stuffing ourselves with fro-yo, my brother and I decided to grab tea. And what better to wash down cake batter yogurt with than red velvet cake tea? From David's Tea, of course! Neither myself nor my brother, had ever been to a David's tea before and we were both extremely happy with the experience. We're already planning our next trip!

5) My brother is taking me out to dinner tonight! No caff food for me!

6) It's warm, like 7 degrees outside! Ok, so I know that's not that warm. But's it's only March. In Canada. I've already put away my winter coat!

Hope you are all having awesome days too! 
-Dare




Thursday 7 March 2013

Some Doodles

As per request, here are some more of my sketches. I hope you like them! (I just took the pictures from my "Doodle Book" so they are on lined paper.)


I went through this phase where I was just obsessed with drawing feathers. This is the product of that. I tend to draw flow-y things such as feathers, hair, or dresses.


This one was mainly just fun. Those swirly things are so easy to do (even though they look complicated). I once spent an entire physics class just filling up a page with those.


Obviously my inspiration here was Ariel from Disney's the Little Mermaid! Mermaids are fun to draw because of the hair. 



This is Rapunzel, inspired by the movie Tangled. I think you'll see that disney is a big inspiration for me :)


This one is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, I was feeling a little homesick and listening to Marianas Trench No Place Like Home when this popped into my head.


Hair inspired by Brave. Didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted, though.


Wall-E :) This movie was so cute! I actually submitted this for house clothing design competition. I came second; apparently it was too complicated to have printed on t-shirts :P


This one is actually only half finished, just because I got kind of frustrated with it. The air pixie is my favourite, just because she turned out much nicer. Also, notice how in each one, their hair covers half their face? Yeah, that's because I was having a bad nose and mouth day.

Monday 4 March 2013

To my lovely followers (and anyone who happens to stumble across my blog and stays to read it),

I wanted to give a HUGE "Thank You" to everyone who follows/reads my blog!!! It really means the world to me that I even have any followers when I'm this new to the blogging world. To say I was surprised to see my follower count had doubled and then tripled in only two days would be an understatement! I have great hopes for this blog and I hope you stick around. Again, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! Love you guys! :)

- Dare

P.S. I love receiving comments and hearing from you guys so feel free to ask me anything, share a story, or just say "Hi"!

Sunday 3 March 2013

What I am Currently...

Currently Reading: For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund
Unfortunately, I'm not even done the first chapter yet because I've been so busy with school work! :( I've heard it's really good though and if your interested just based off this gorgeous cover, you can check out the summary here!

Currently Listening To: These amazing covers by Tyler Ward on youtube! Seriously, these are amazing and I think I'm in love. I wish I could sing so badly. Well... technically I can sing, just not well. :P

Currently Craving: HOMEMADE GRANOLA!!! It's seriously delicious! If you guys missed my post about making it, you can find it and the recipe here!

Currently Watching: The Bachelor. Oh my God, this show is seriously addicting! I in no way whatsoever approve of the idea of the Bachelor or the Bachelorette, but I must say it is very entertaining. Is anyone else biting their nails waiting to find out who Sean proposes to?

Currently Playing: Triple Town (Apple and Android Products). Speaking of addicting...

Currently Dreading: Two page biology paper on garter snakes. Seriously, garter snakes?

Currently Wishing For: BOOKS! BOOKS! BOOKS! Today my friend took me with her to Indigo to buy her boyfriend a birthday present... big mistake. So many books have come out and I haven't even realized! But I guess it doesn't matter any ways because I don't have money to "waste" (as my mother puts it. And I guess considering I have to pay rent next year, I should save every penny I can). I literally gasped when I saw, not only the Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead, but also Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter, Sever by Lauren DeStefano, aaaannnnnd (wait for it!) Requiem by Lauren Oliver!!! I have been waiting for these books FOREVER! How on earth did their release dates slip by without me even noticing? I have calendars and spreadsheets to keep me organized for things like this! (And I'm not even joking; organizing every single book I'd read/want to read was how I spent my summer last year).

Anyways... comment with any of your own "Currently"s or, if you love some of the same things I do, let me know too! I love hearing from you :)

Have a great day!
- Dare

Saturday 2 March 2013

Wait...What???

So here's my dilemma. I'm in my first year at university, in biochemistry, and heading towards a Bachelor of Science with Honours. And I hate it. There was a lot of tears and frustration before I finally came to accept the fact that I can switch. My plan right now is to take a duo major of Mathematics and Classics. And I am supper excited to take classics! As an aspiring author (remind me why I ever thought biochemistry was the way to go?) I think am I going to find this subject very interesting. Lots of my favourite books incorporate Greek and Roman mythology and ancient history so I'm hoping I will love the class too!

Anyway this is my problem. The science kids at my school have a very big "we're better than the arts kids" mentality. It's like this huge deal if someone is in arts because apparently that makes them less smart. Personally, I find this disgusting. I haven't really told any of my friends in science that I'm switching yet. Mainly because I had a dream that I told them and they all stopped talking to me. And also because when I told one girl that I was switching to math (well it was half of the truth, I chickened out, okay!) she said rather plainly "Well, at least it's not arts."

Um... excuse me? This is why I was so against the idea of switching programs for the longest time. I was scared people would view me differently. I still am! Why does taking arts classes make me any less smart than when I was taking science classes? It's not like I'm failing out of my science classes, I just hate them. And trust me it is not easy to do well at something you hate.

I do not believe that how smart a person is should be determined by what classes they take. There are all different types of smarts and just because someone doesn't like what you like, or isn't as good at something as you, does not give you the right to judge them. I find it so frustrating how judgemental people can be. Have any of you had to deal with issues like this?

TTFN <3
-Dare

P.S. On the subject of mythology and ...books (when am I ever not talking about books!) I thought I'd recommend my top 5 favourite books that are based off of Greek and/or Roman mythology for those of you who share this interest with me.

1) Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
2) Abandon by Meg Cabot
3) The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

4) Nobody's Princes by Esther M. Friesner

5) Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

These are not my top five books overall, just to be clear, but they are all awesome books that I highly recommend! If you know of any other's, feel free to let me know! I'm always looking for good books to read!