TWENTY ELEVEN ROUND UP: PART 2

Adventures

2011 was also jam packed with adventures. 

CADTOOL was the main one….HELLO! We labeled quite possibly the greatest trip of life CADTOOL as soon as we starting talking about it. Pretentiously we would randomly tweet, fb or put our bbm status as CADTOOL. It got kind of awkward when we wouldn’t tell friends what the infamous CADTOOL was. But all is fair in love & vacationing….

CADTOOL = COACHELLA AND DISNEY TRIP OF OUR LIVES (incase you were wondering…)

In the fall of 2010 my friends (Rachel, Thea & Courtney) and I decided to embark on an amazing journey. We had dreamed of going to COACHELLA for quite some time and decided 2011 would be a great year to do so. So we left on April 6th. It was MIGHTY FINE. Make sure you put ‘road trip with your besties’ on your bucket list.

Seriously the list of memories goes on and on and on….

-Driving through the beautiful North West Washington Coast

-Hitting countless Targets

-Driving straight to San Francisco…driving over the golden gate bridge after being up for 24 hours

-COACHELLA!!! everything about COACHELLA!

Amazing bands// Arcade Fire/ Lauryn Hill/ Brandon Flowers (THE KILLERS DID A CAMEO!! I PEED MY PANTS) / Chromeo (DANCE PARTY WITH 80,000 NBD)/ Kanye/ Swell Season/ Angus & Julia Stone/ Kings of Leon/ Mumford & Sons (Probs my fav show!)/ Bright Eyes/ The National/ Cold War Kids/ Tallest Man on Earth/ Black Keys… oh my gosh the list goes on…

Along with the amazing bands there was amazing food, funny people and a flipping indie crafts tent! Coachella was truly hipsters paradise.

-Disneyland (my most favourite place on Earth)

-Hollywood

-IN & OUT BURGER

-Portland

ahhhhhh there were so so so so so so many amazing memories.

best trip of my life, thus far…

Read up on more CADTOOL stuff here & here!

I also got to go to EUROPE!!…On a Missions trip with my church (which I’ll talk about in the next category)…but on route to Crimea we were able to stop in LONDON. London is one of those cities that grabs hold of my heart. It’s grip has loosened but it’s still there. It’s a city where my life was changed. I fell absolutely in love with Jesus and started to actually see Him transform my life. Ohhhh, it was beautiful. So yeah, I was beyond stoked to have a layover in London. Obviously I made my way to Top Shop.

Other amazing adventures were…

Bon Iver & James Blake on September 25th!

Biking round Stanley Park w/ Rachel

Joining the y! (yes, I consider this an adventure)

So 2011 Adventures are over and done with. I am very much looking forward to 2012’s…no big trips planned yet but certainly adventures…

What was your favourite adventure of 2011?

love you to the moon and back,

s.s.♥.

TWENTY-ELEVEN ROUND UP... PART 1

2012 has already transformed me…into…drum roll please… LUCILLE 2 (Arrested Development reference..come on people!)  So today I discovered that I have benign paroxysmal positional vertigo….yep, that’s exactly how I responded. Basically I’ve been getting real dizzy whenever I lie down. The doctor informed me that tiny crystals have been built up in my ear and they mess up my sense of gravity. (I defs just imagined my ear as being that of the caves where the Fraggles lived…Fraggle Rock…I’m old…)

But instead of boring you with talk of vertigo & crystals…tonight I’m looking back not forward. There is so much to be thankful for. 2011 was a daaaaang good year. A daaaaang, good one. I’ve been blessed beyond belief. Sometimes I just look up and smile like a little kid on Christmas morning. I’ve had years of ups and years of downs. This past year has been one of ups. Now don’t get me wrong, life wasn’t always peachy keen, there were some downs…just those downs seem but a spec when compared with the ups I’ve been blessed with. So over the next couple days I’ll be giving you three main highlights of my life…here’s the first…

Now if you don’t like that mushy-gushy, lovey-dovey, heart sparkling, love..then by all means, stop reading. Wait for tomorrow’s highlight on 2011 Adventures. But if you read this and then puke, don’t complain to me..I did warn you fair and square.

Falling in love was most defs a top highlight of 2011. My goodness. God has gone above and beyond.

See, I’ve been waiting for a while for my M.O.G. I absolutely hate waiting. I am not a very patient person. I can’t even stand waiting at a red light. I knew that I wasn’t going to be alone forever, I knew God had someone for me. I just couldn’t stand waiting for him. Waiting sucks….but somethings are worth the wait.

James was most definitely worth the wait. Funny how we doubt God. I always thought I’d end up with a guy who was ok. Someone who I thought was good looking and loved Jesus but never did I imagine I would end up with someone this great. But that’s how God rolls. He wants to bless his children and He is going to go above and beyond our hopes, dreams and prayers. And that has been the case with James. He is the most incredible man I know. Honestly, I couldn’t have dreamed up someone who is better suited for me. His heart after God’s heart constantly pushes me to grow closer to God. The dreamer inside of him inspires dreams to not only awaken in me but to see them to fruition. He is constantly challenging me to serve God at a greater capacity. He loves me crazily and is not afraid to show that love. Basically, he’s incredible and brings out the best in me. Oh, and he’s flipping gorgeous.

In 2008 after many failed crushes and flings, I wrote a list…

 

The list.

Let me tell you this…God has gone above and beyond anything that I ever prayed about my MOG. And he’s going to do the same for you!!! Do not settle for anything less than God’s will. HE WILL COME THROUGH. I madly wanted to be in a relationship in my early twenties but when I look at it now, I am completely different than I was then. If James & I dated a few years ago it would not have been good times. God knew the timing. He knows the timing for you as well.

The woman in Song of Songs repeatedly warns girls to “not awaken love until the time is right.” God knows the right timing for you. Wait for His peace.

Waiting sucks, but it is SO WORTH IT. Our heavenly Father is going to completely bless your socks off with your moG! Just wait.

Ok, I’ll stop preaching now :) 

So yeeeeah. Falling in love has been incredible. At the end of our night on New Years we read through my journal where I recorded every day adventure/special dates we went on. (One of my favourite dates was kayaking to an island where James built a fire and cooked food he had brought. We spent the afternoon frolicking in the sun.)

It was an amazing time as we reflected on God’s goodness. He is sooooo good.

stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on Adventures..I promise there will not be any mushy-gushy-ness….

xoxo,

s.s.♥.

3..2..1...

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!!!!!!!

2011 was the most incredible year of my life. God is SO good. (2011 wind up will be posted tomorrow). I hope you have a fun & safe NYE ringing in 2012! Look forward to 2012 because the best is truly yet to come.

Enjoy this cute vid…

stay gold,

s.s.♥.

p.s. thank you sooooo much for reading! it warms my heart that i get to share my life with you. i hope you find inspiration & that your eyes may be opened to what makes your heart sparkle in your world!

NYE ATTIRE

I gone and done it…got my eyes checked that is…this afternoon to be exact. Now, what does this have to do with New Years Eve attire? Patience, child.

I went to the eye doctor because I’m getting old. My eyes just ain’t what they used to be.

Fun fact about yours truly…I’m partially blind in one eye…I have two scars from this crazy disease I got as a child. The disease is usually found in new born babies & cats. I got it when I was about 9….weird I know. Anyways, the disease attacked my retina and left me with two massive scars that made my left eye pretty much blind. My other eye has taken over my main vision and has been pretty much perfect…except I can’t really read the tv listings and driving at night is a wee bit sketchy…so I went to the eye doctor a year and a half ago to get a prescription. I then got some sweet, ridiculous glasses at a store downtown…today I found out that they messed up my prescription and I’ve been wearing the wrong glasses for two years. Yep. TWO YEARS.

Well moving on…(I promise, I’m getting to New Years Eve attire), at the eye doctor’s today I had a thought… WHAT ON EARTH AM I GOING TO WEAR TOMORROW NIGHT! So I did what I always do when I  have a fashion question…I texted my bff, Rachel. But at that exact moment my eyes were beginning to dilate. aka my pupils were going all crazy town and it looked like I was on some serious drugs. If you’ve ever had your eyes dilated you’ll know you can’t see real well, i.e. can’t read your phone. So I had to get James to read my texts from Rachel and I would type back (yay for blackberry keyboards! betcha couldn’t type blindly with an iphone).

At the end of our texting conversation we had reached the conclusion that 1. I was an idiot for waiting so long to plan my nye outfit. 2. I’d probably just have to scrounge something up from my own closet…

I’m going to a small dinner party with friends. The requirement for my outfit is simple. SEQUINS. Thankfully, I have a few sequin lovelies but if I had more time I’d defs save up for one of these sweet numbers…

all outfits can be found at my pinterest !

What are your NYE plans? and more importantly, what are you going to wear?

Hope you get your sequin on!

xoxo,

DIY: SOCK BUN

If you’re on pinterest or have read any beauty blogs lately, you’ve probably been introduced to the beloved sock bun. This little bugger kept popping up all over my life and at first I was like, "give me some space…you’re too hard to accomplish…i can’t understand that russian girl on that youtube tutorial…" but then a co-worker explained it in detail and I got it. You know when you just get it?  Hot diggity dog, I got it.

It was a beautiful moment. Mainly beautiful, because I found me a new main hairstyle. Seriously, I now rock the sock bun at least 3x per week. It seems a bit hard at first but my advice is…KEEP TRYING! It took me awhile too, and I have lots of annoying layers.

Follow the directions below…

photo cred: my gorgeous bf who i force to take pics of me…aka james liira

Directions:

1. Supplies needed- hair elastic, brush & prepared sock. (Cut off the toe of an old sock and then roll it into a donut..nuff said!)

2. Put hair in high pony tail. Place sock 1/3 up pony tail.

3. Begin wrapping hair around sock. I try to do it tight but not too tight. Tight enough that your hair is wrapped around the sock but loose enough for you to spread it out.

4. Start spreading hair around the sock so it resembles a donut. If you have layers that are sticking out the middle of the donut, don’t fret.

5. Roll the donut up your pony tail. It’ll grow bigger as it rolls. If you have loose layers, tuck them underneath.

6. Ta-da! It’s done! No bobby pins required. For reals.

7. Isn’t she a beauty…(I’m referring to the sock bun, not myself…that would be weird)

8. Have fun with it. Wear it on the right. Wear it on the left. Wear it up high. Wear it down low. And remember…wear it with confidence. Some people may stare, some people may laugh…haters gon hate.

Go forth & rock that sock…bun.

over & out,

s.s.♥.