The Blogmopolitan Quiz Part 3

I'm linking up again with Two Thirds Hazel for pretty much the coolest link-up imaginable. I tried to fill this one out as fast as possible because I typically put waaay too much thought into these things! So fun!

things learned

today I am 23 years old. although I definitely don't want to be one of those people who gripes about being old while still in my early twenties, I feel a little freaked out by 23. I know for a long time, I thought I'd have my life all figured out by 23. but I don't. I don't really have anything figured out, but I have learned a lot of things, especially over the past year.

A Starbucks birthday cake pop is the best way to celebrate.

while I may go into 23 still telling people that I'm 21, here are 22 things I learned about myself, relationships, and life while I was 22.

one: it's okay to say no, and to express what you really want.

two: and a follow up to number one, it's okay to not know what you're doing with your life, and it's okay to say that out loud [still learning this one]

three: moisturizing your skin is the most important thing in the world. or, well, it's up there.

four: love doesn't always work out. this was probably the hardest lesson I've learned over the past year, but also one of the most valuable.

five: I am a girly-girl. I think for a long time I tried to think I was "one of the guys," but I finally learned this year that a) I am not "one of the guys" and b) it's okay to be girly.

six: feminism is not about female supremacy. I think this past year, I learned that I am a feminist.

seven: being an auntie is the best thing in the whole wide world.

eight: it's okay to not be okay.

nine: being strong doesn't mean you're not hurting. it means that you can face your hurt with bravery.

ten: sometimes champagne is the answer:

eleven: people watching is sometimes the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

twelve: Dr. Seuss is pretty much the best philosopher in the world.

thirteen: sometimes you don't know what you like or don't like until you try it. so try it.

fourteen: you won't meet your future Mr or Mrs Right on some dating app. you'll need to download and delete the app several hundred times before you realize this.

fifteen: it's important to never stop learning.

sixteen: be yourself. the truth about who you are will always come out, so you may as well be you from the start.

seventeen: it's okay to keep reading seventeen magazine. but it's also okay to exchange it for a cosmo. you do you.

eighteen: that thing that you waste all of your time doing? it's not time wasted. it's what you should be doing.

nineteen: in the end, things won't matter. invest in relationships, not retail. (wow, I'm deep)

twenty: going to bed early is AWESOME.

twenty-one: Beyonce, hot chocolate and a good book are usually a good cure for anything.

twenty-two: learning to love yourself is the hardest thing you may ever do. but it's also the most important.

there's my list! what are some of your life lessons?

xoxo

there are 5 blogs that I faithfully check every single day for new content. one of these is the fairy princess dairies (check it out! it's fun and fabulous). jordyn, the author, constantly raves about being obsessed with gossip girl. a few weeks ago, I was home sick from work for two days and decided finally to cave and get netflix. and I decided to start my netflix addiction by binge watching gossip girl.

and I am OBSESSED.

to be honest, the first few episodes had me feeling pretty meh. I actually told my roommate that it was the dumbest show I'd ever seen and that I hated all of the characters. she left for work, and when she got back 8 hours later I was flipping out about how obsessed I was and how crazy it is. 

I've just finished season two and I have three main thoughts:

one: I have to add Blake Lively to my girl crush list. she's probably number two at this point. I feel like she is made of sparkles, joy and sunshine.

two: I am ashamed of how much I am like Blair Waldorf. I totally have a love-hate with her, and I'm [hopefully] not as plotting/manipulative/crazy as her... but I feel like I understand her pretty well. I hate to say it, but it's true. She frequently says things that match things I've said/thought. Here are two:

three: in a lot of ways, even though GG is totally over the top and ridiculous, the characters (however hateable) all reveal very true things about the world. like how true is this:

okay am I being crazy? you know you love me. xoxo, R

favourites

here's a little friday fun! my five favourite cheerful places to look at when I've got free time or need a laugh!

1. #myfriendsaremarried - omg, this is seriously the funniest tumblr. as a single girl with a lot of married friends, this blog is basically constantly reading my mind.

2. ps.heart - this blog is a) incredibly beautiful b) written by two beautiful lovlies and c) my inspiration when I can't find my creativity. check it out!

3. anna akana - I love Anna's thoughts on life. she's smart, funny and a feminist. she's recently exploring making short films and I'm loving all of her twisted creativity.

4. fitsugar - way to make fitness look glam, fun and fabulous! I love reading articles on here. it motivates me and keeps me interested.

5. sexplanations - Dr. Doe, a sexologist that I adore (and pretty much want to be when I grow up!!), explains sex concepts in a clear, frank way - plus she's hilarious and goofy.

share the love - tell me what your favourite cheerful websites are!

how to get up early to work out

I am SOO not a morning person. At all. Buuut... I much prefer being finished my workout early in the day so that I can have fun in the evening. Getting up before work to work out has proven to be incredibly challenging. So here is how to get up early to fit in a work out in 15 easy steps.

1. set around 500 alarms the night before.

2. tell your roommate to call you at 5:45 am so that you really can't avoid the workout

3. argue with your roommate about why she should get up at the crack of dawn just to make sure that you do.

4. learn to deal with the fact that you're an adult and have to be responsible for your own wake up times.

5. go to bed really, really early. so you can get up at the earliest time of day and feel energized and ready.

6. Lay in bed for 45 minutes wishing you could fall asleep.

7. Watch 3 episodes of Sex and the City since you can't sleep anyways. Start drifting off as you contemplate whether you love or hate Miranda.

8. Wake up to your first of 500 alarms. Turn off all of your alarms because you're sooo going to get out of...

9. Wake up an hour later and realize you totally haven't made it out of bed yet. If you get up now, you can still fit in a 45 minute Zumba video before work.

10. Bargain with yourself for fifteen minutes. If you just get up and go for a light jog for 30 minutes, you can totally have the full-fat latte at Starbucks.

11. Holy crap, now you've only got half an hour. If you really think about it, you can only work out for 20 minutes because you have to get ready for work after and you really don't want to be late.

12. Maybe you can fit in a quick power walk. You did wake up early, after all.

13. Nah. Decide that if you just eat healthy for the day and try to walk a lot while at work, you can skip the work out.

14. Sleep for 15 extra minutes.

15. Have the full-fat latte at Starbucks anyways. Decide you'll start tomorrow because "Thursdays are a better day to start a fitness/diet regimen anyways."

fairtrade beauty finds

social justice and human rights are incredibly important to me. one way I've tried to make a difference is via Fairtrade - a trade justice system that ensures farmers get paid fair wages, have safe working conditions and that the environment is respected (look for the green/blue symbol!).

Okay, this picture is a little outdated...

I'm all about Fairtrade coffee, tea, sugar and chocolate, and recently I've been exploring Fairtrade beauty items!

This sugar scrub is seriously incredible. It leaves your skin feeling SO soft and it smells amazing. Within one use, it became one of my favourite beauty products. It's also made in Vancouver, so it's great to be supporting small, local businesses!

This Fairtrade shea butter lip balm from Ten Thousand Villages pretty much instantly heals up your lips. It feels so smooth - and my lips were noticeably better within a few hours.

This Fairtrade foot lotion is my go-to solution in the winter. It'll leave your feet feeling happy even in those sad, dry winter months - and it smells lovely!

So there you have it - my [current] Fairtrade beauty favourites. This is one thing I'm always on the look out for - so if you have any favourites please let me know!!

currently

a fun list of the things I currently can't get enough of

[watching] Game of Thrones. This season has been incredible!

[reading] Lean In for Graduates. Sheryl Sandberg has some incredibly insightful thoughts.

[listening] to Dreams by Boots + Beyonce. So so so addicted.

[making] a schedule for my blog posts for the month of May! Exciting things coming!

[feeling] a little lost, confused, sad, excited and relieved. Lots of stuff going on. 

[planning] fun things to do when I visit my home town later this month!

this is the plan!

[loving] my amazing coworkers. 

some of my crazy aforementioned coworkers 

Blogmopolitan Quiz 2

I was so excited to find out that Erin had done another Blogmopolitan Quiz! So much fun to feel like a celebrity. I'm basically Beyonce. Right?

(you can click on it to make it larger)

So much fun!

ualberta class review

It's reading break! yay! That means I'm halfway through my last semester at the University of Alberta. Woah. That's insane.

Although I would definitely argue that I've learned a lot more through non-academic university experiences (student groups, who I am as a person, student governance, how I react to stress, etc), the last five years of my life have been filled with some really great classes and instructors - so here's a list of my favourites.

First Year Classes

Medical Microbiology & Immunology 133: I had super low expectations going into this class. I'd been aware that I loved pathology for a long time, but I wasn't prepared for how much I was going to enjoy an entire class spent on human disease. LOVED it. The prof, Judy Gnarpe, totally made the class. I think this was my absolute favourite first year class.

Psychology 104/105: To be honest, most 100-level classes are not so fun. They're really broad and the general science ones were incredibly boring most of the time. And even though psych 104 and 105 were not an exception to this, these classes convinced me to change my major from biology to psychology. This, obviously, was quite the life-changing decision.

Second Year Classes

Anatomy 200: This was an incredible class. The prof, Dr. David Begg, was one of the most incredible profs I've ever had. He inspired me to pursue what I love in life instead of what I think is expected of me. Also, the class is super fun. Hard average? Yes. Hilarious sex jokes from a professional anatomist? Also yes. I mean, I've always been a bit of a macro-physio nerd so this class was right up my alley!

Psychology 233: Personality psych is by far the most fun of all the psychs. As y'all know, I'm pretty obsessed with personality theories, so this class was fantastic for me. I think the number is different now though. Seriously the best second year class I took by far. And I also took it with my favourite prof ever, Jennifer Passey, and her sass made the class even more enjoyable.

Psychology 275: Brain and behaviour was one of the most fun classes I've ever taken. It piqued my interest in neuroscience and physiology. I definitely recommend it if you're sort of interested in the brain or in where human behaviour really comes from. I also recommend that you take it with a Singhall. :)

Third Year Classes

Biology 321: Despite the fact that biology is my minor, there isn't much of it on this list. Mechanisms of Evolution, however, was the most fun bio class I've ever taken. The prof, Heather Proctor, was hilarious, smart and captivating. I loved this class - AND there's no lab. Praise.

Pharmacology 305: This class might have been the most fascinating class I've ever taken. Titled drugs of abuse, this class studied the mechanisms of addiction. I felt like throughout the class I was making a mental list of drugs I would try and drugs that I most certainly would not try. This class was really hard, but definitely worth the mental effort. Our prof (Martin Davies) was hilarious and the subject matter was obviously pretty interesting.

Psychology 305 (Special Topics): Social Influence. This class actually takes the cake as the very, very best class of my degree. It was fascinating and fun and I feel like I learned so much about how marketing works. Honestly, I didn't ever skip this class because I didn't want to miss a thing (and that says a lot because I am an avid class skipper). You wouldn't believe the way we influence each other - and sometimes don't even realize it. Everyone should take this class. Of course, it was taught by my absolute favourite professor Jennifer Passey. Seriously. Take this class.

Psychology 339: Abnormal psych is every psych student's pride and joy. So much fun - it's all stuff you actually want to remember. Symptoms of this class include walking around like you can diagnose any person's oddities and deciding that you have a new disorder every week.

Psychology 365: Advanced perception blew my mind. It's like proving that your whole life is one big optical illusion. It was really fun, really interesting and the prof, Karsten Loepelmann was one of my very favourites. In fact, I purposely took all of the classes he taught because I liked him so much. I recommend this class to everyone - but it is certainly not easy!

Psychology 375: As a follow up on the second year brain and behaviour class, this class dives into cognitive neuroscience. I learned SO MUCH in this class and I didn't even realize it. It's definitely not an easy class but Dr. Jeremy Caplan is one of the best professors that ualberta has on staff. This class sparked my interest in research and allowed me to explore my interest in normal brain function.

Psychology 377: And how could I put 375 on this list without mentioning its sister course? This class provided an in-depth look at the neuro side of brain dysfunction and disorder. It had a really cool component where we got to watch a movie about a psych disorder and then write a paper on it. This was a fantastic class.

Fourth Year Classes

Psychology 403 (Special Topics): This class provided an in-depth look at the neuroscience of memory. This class makes the list for three reasons: 1. The content was incredible and fascinating. 2. The prof, Dr. Jeremy Caplan, is on my list of favourite instructors. He cares so much about students and the material and that really makes all the difference. 3. This class was organized in such a way that it may have prepared all of us for graduate school. Also, in this class, I became convinced that I might have an over-sized amygdala. If I ever get an fMRI done I'll let y'all know.

Psychology 403 (Special Topics): I'm currently taking this class - we basically get an in-depth look at different therapies and get to practice on each other. It's so much fun and our prof (Roy Frenzel) is a clinical psychologist so we get to learn so much from him. This class is helping me to revisit my "diagnose everybody" phase - except this time I'm diagnosing everybody's conversational style with a different form of therapy. It's also prep for grad school, like the other 403, but the counselling kind, instead of the neuroscience kind.

Psychology 494: I took ergonomics because it was taught by Karsten Loepelmann, and when I signed up for this class, I didn't even know what ergonomics were... and I came out of this class judging the design of everything everywhere. This class was about studying how to create things for human use. Despite the fact that we spent a little too much time talking about plane crashes (anxiety, anyone?), this class was extremely interesting and way more fun than I'd ever guessed it would be.

You made it to the end of my list! Sorry for the cray-cray long post. So you tell me - what have your favourite classes been?

ENFP Confessions #5

For my birthday last year, a really good friend of mine bought me a very cool present (she wrote this post!). It's a journal that asks you a question every day for a year - and there is space for five years. I don't know if I explained that right.

A few days ago, on February 6th, to be exact, the question was Are you seeking excitement or contentment? And I had a REALLY hard time with the answer for a little while. But the reason this post is an ENFP confession is because I'm going to talk a little about that little P (perceiving) at the end of my type!

When people get to know me, it's pretty common for them to ask me if I'm sure I'm not a J (judging). I'm internally organized, I like {when other people have to follow the} rules and I'm never late for anything. I keep an immaculate order to my mind. So why am I a P? I love spontaneity. I don't mind changing my schedule around, I love {when I get to} break rules, I can jump from one conversation to another without feeling phased. I have laundry all over my bedroom, I love trying new things, pushing my comfort zone and I hate all household chores (although that last point might be an N thing).

Us P-types thrive with internal harmony and external cray-cray-ness. So my answer for the question? "Both. I want internal contentment and external excitement."

[Crunch the numbers: 365 questions, 5 years and 1825 answers.]

High Five for Friday

It's Friday! Yay! This weekend I'm going to a retreat with the executive of my student group and I'm really excited. I'm giving a mini workshop on nonverbal communication and I have about a billion improv games planned - I'm sure my fellow executives (all introverts) are probably just thrilled. lol. Oh well.

Today I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for a five greats from the past week post called High Five for Friday! Yay! Here are my five: 

1. I got a sticker from Aerie Real's new campaign - they're no longer retouching their models which is really exciting to me. I hope this means we're one step closer to letting go of the ideals of photoshop altogether.
   
2. This week I managed to get ahead in my classes. I don't have any midterms or assignments now until after reading week, so I'm resisting the urge to slack off.
3. It's currently international week at the university and today was also Chinese New Year - I got to see some really fantastic lion dancers! They were seriously fantastic; I couldn't look away! Hence the poor photo quality. 
   
4. This week I went to see Dallas Buyers Club with one of my besties. It was absolutely incredible and I definitely recommend seeing it if you are into pharmaceutical history, AIDS prevention/treatment or if you just enjoy an amazing and emotional plot.
5. Today was filled with really good chats with friends. These hands belong to an inspirational and incredible friend of mine. I love Henna. Also she's holding a glass jar and I'm pretty much obsessed with glass jars so I forced her to let me photograph her hands! :) 
   

Hope your week was filled with many high points and have a great weekend!

ENFP Confessions #4

Sometimes I feel like my imaginative life is maybe more active than my actual life.

Recently, some friends and I went to see the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It was fantastic - a definite idealist movie and I definitely recommend seeing it if you want some inspiration. [Favourite quote: "Beautiful things don't ask for attention."]

From the moment I saw the movie's trailer, something about it stood out to me. If you haven't heard about it, it's a guy who lives in a daydreamy world where he is a heroic champion and must go on a journey to discover his true identity. And that stuck out to me. 

I know I've mentioned it on here before how intense my daydreaming life is - sometimes it distracts me from what's really going on in my life. I can daydream for hours if nothing interrupts me, and I always go on the most exciting and incredible adventures. In my head. Yup. 

So I was pretty convinced that this movie was going to be about an introverted, male version of myself (and I was right). I think my little daydreaming problem is such a beneficial gift - sometimes it teaches me valuable things about people, relationships and myself. Sometimes, however, I need to go live my adventures instead of daydreaming about them.

ENFP thought for the day: I think emotion and imagination are rational logic in their own ways.

Blogmopolitan Quiz

So I basically feel like a celeb right now. You know those quizzes at the interview section of Cosmo? Well this super cool blogger put together a similar quiz for us blogging ladies to fill out.
This was seriously SO fun.
It didn't quite fit properly in my template, but you just have to click on it for it to get bigger!

Love it!

in case you haven't heard

So something crazy happened about an hour ago and I feel like it's worth posting about. It's no big deal or anything but BEYONCE RELEASED A NEW ALBUM. With a video for every song. oh my dear goodness gracious. Queen Bey. Forever. And always. AAAAH!! This ENFP is freaking right out!

Post by Beyoncé.

procrastination list

I'm procrastinating on studying for my Cell Bio final, and I thought I'd share my procrastinations with y'all.

1. I just counted how many lip glosses/lip chaps are on my desk. The answer is 5. Is that necessary? I don't know. It's an addiction I can't fully explain... especially the lip gloss thing, because I hardly ever wear it (I hate it when my hair sticks to my lips). 

2. I tried to make banana bread, and after I mixed it all up I realized I don't have a bread pan. Soooo I tried putting it into muffin tins. It really didn't work out. Looks awful, but tastes amazing, so I guess it's not a complete lose.

3. I really appreciated reading through this. How many of these things apply to you? 

4. In the spirit of counting things at my desk, I also have 9 notepads on top of my desk. That's not including the ones in the boxes under my desk. I know, I know I don't need that many notepads. but they're kind of my favourite thing to buy for myself. They're so pretty, I just can't resist.

5. I can't quite get enough of this mash-up, despite the heavy influences of my least favourite song ever. What do you think? 

Well I guess it's back to cell bio for me. Happy exams, friends!

ENFP Confessions #3

Relationships are probably the most important thing in the world to me. I love people in general, and I've been known to tell people that I don't do acquaintances. We either are friends, or we're not friends, and there's no real in between for me. My relationships are part of my identity. In the words of my favourite ENFP...

I have a really hard time letting go of my relationships. The getting to know someone process is incredibly life changing for me with any relationship, particularly deeper relationships. My relationships become a huge part of who I am; it's challenging for me to accept that sometimes the most healthy thing is to take a break from a relationship.

I know this post seems kind of serious, but it's something I'm seriously thinking about tonight. Sometimes, letting go of the things we hold dearest can allow us to be extraordinarily free. 

I will!

Two posts in one day! what!?

I just saw this video from one of my favourite video bloggers, and it really inspired and motivated me, so I wanted to share it here!

ENFP Confessions #2

I'm intensely passionate about an extremely wide array of things... and all of those things don't necessarily go together, either.

Seriously, I'm really hyper-passionate. Sex, faith, singing, education, human rights and social justice, fairtrade, writing, getting to know others... the list goes on. At least there's somewhat of a common element; you can kind of narrow down the list. I really love people!

And I hear a lot of other ENFPs have this struggle too! I regularly wonder if I'll ever decide what I want to be when I grow up. If I ever grow up, that is. It's so hard to figure out what "my thing" is... I guess I both love and hate this about myself. I love that I love so many things. But I also desperately wish that I at least had an idea of what my future would hold.

In the end, I think I'll keep living a life of happiness and love. To be totally honest, as confusing as being hyper-passionate can be, my life is very full of love and joy because of it. So... I think I'll just embrace this hyper-passionate part of myself - it is, after all, a pretty good problem to have.

ENFP Confessions #1

Trying to keep my thoughts on point is like trying to keep a wave on the sand. Honestly, sometimes I think the reason I talk to myself so much is because the thoughts don't fit in my head anymore. The other night, I didn't know my roommate was home and I was chatting away to myself. Later on, she got up to go to the bathroom and my face went BEET RED! She must think I'm crazy!

I'm just like Dory from Finding Nemo; enthusiastic and talking a mile-a-minute... except far less forgetful. Conversation is of extremely high importance to me, so I'm unlikely to forget the things you tell me.

My feelings and my ability to trust others? That's another confession for another time :) ENFP out!

Encouragement - the Girl Behind the Blog

Hey everyone! today I'm linking up for the first time with The Girl Behind the Blog and I'm so excited to share my first ever vlog with you all! I know it's super awkward and very weird, I've never done anything like this before, so my video editing skills were a little amateur!