Downtown Date

It has been nearly 2 years since I have been on any sort of date or really considered dating. After my last break up I decided that it was time to really focus on myself and do the things that I want to do. Like finish college and move to a completely new city. Check and check. I spent all this time working on myself and really growing as a person, as cliche as that sounds.I feel better about myself and more confident. I know that I can accomplish the things that I want and don't have to have a guy there to support me. It is great to have someone there, but for me I had not been single since I was 18. I had been in some relationship with guys for 5 years. I had grown in those years too, but not as much as I have being single. I am now 25 and decided it was time that I put myself back out there. I feel more sure of myself and I know what I want in a relationship. I know what I will put up with and I am not afraid to be myself. I don't want to put up a front and be someone that I'm not or be ashamed of the fact that I play Dungeons & Dragons. Yes I am geeky, nerdy whatever. I love it!! 

With all that being said, I spent another day downtown Vancouver. This time though was during the day with a guy I had met at the singles mixer thing last weekend. It was the first date I have been on in a while and I was super nervous. The Skytrain didn't make me nervous this time because I knew where I was going. I was super nervous about my date though. If you've ever been to Vancouver in the winter you know that it pretty much rains everyday. I wanted to dress up super cute for my date but having to take weather into consideration I wore my bright pink rain jacket, the same one I wear everyday. But luck was on our side and it was a beautiful sunny day to walk around. We spent most of the afternoon just walking around and window shopping. There are so many stores downtown that were super fancy. I felt like if I walked into them dressed in my jeans and rain jacket they would have kicked me out. Everyone looks so professional looking and nice looking all the time, I feel like I look like a country bumpkin (which is true because I grew up on a farm). Anyway we continued our exploration all the way into Chinatown and got some food. He knew which bakeries were the best ones to get food at and he was right. We got some pork bun things and a coconut cream filled bun. They were called something but I have no clue what it was. They just tasted good. It was a fun and completely relaxing date. The whole time we were walking were we talking and getting to know each other better. It was fun to go out and explore rather than the usual dinner and a movie date. Not saying movie dates aren't good too, but it's harder to talk at a restaurant and during a movie. Exploring we got to talk and go places that neither of us had been to before. Downtown has so many cool buildings and neat little shops that I want to go to next time I am down there. All in all a great weekend and I'm excited to see where things go!!

This was filled with coconut cream and
was delicious. I could eat it everyday.

Song of the Day: Confident by Demi Lovato 

Single of Valentine's

This weekend was probably one of the most interesting weekends I have had since I moved out here. I went to a Valentine's Day Singles mixer. It was a casual evening of meeting other people in the area who are also single. I have never been to a single's night before and it was one of the scariest things I have ever done. I am a shy person and there was probably 100 people there (that might be an exaggeration, but it felt like that many). The first scary thing was figuring out how to get down to the bar in downtown Vancouver. I have taken the bus and skytrain before but never to that part of town. I was debating on going because the weather was so crappy on Saturday, but I decided to brave the downpour of rain and go. I am so glad that I did go though. It was so much fun and I met a bunch of really cool people! It was set in a bar, but the group had booked off the upper bar just for us. We got wristbands so we knew who was with the group and were set free to mingle. At first I was enjoying myself when there were not a ton of people there. As the evening went on more and more people started to show up and I got so nervous. I was talking with one girl and when a table opened up we stole it and tried to hide from people, which didn't really work all that well. I think a lot of people were nervous to go up to complete strangers and introduce themselves. I am not a fan of small talk. I think it is one of the worst things ever invented (who ever invented it needs to rethink his priorities). I think I told that same thing about myself to every person because every asked the same questions. Hi I'm -insert name-. What do you do? That's cool. And end of small talk. Unless you're me and start with a Star Wars joke. Either people get it or just think you're weird. I only did this once and made an instant friend. All in all it was a great night. I hope to be able to go to more meet ups with some of the people I met that night. It was fun to get all dressed up and go out. I typically spend my weekends by myself in bed watching Netflix. Not that that is a bad thing, but I have lived here since June and that's pretty much how I've spent every weekend. I hope that everyone had a great Valentine's regardless of whether it was spent with someone special or good friends! 

Song of the Day: Cake by the Ocean by DNCE

The Quay

On the long weekend I spent my Monday doing a little exploration of downtown New Westminster. I decided that I could walk down there. I looked at the map and was like oh that's not too far from my house, shouldn't take me too long to walk down there. Fast forward an hour and a half later to arrive there hot, sweaty and seriously questioning how I thought it could possibly take 45 minutes to walk there. Going there was pretty much all down hill. It was a beautiful walk seeing as it was warm and sunny out, just a lot longer than I had guessed. Downtown New West has some cute little shops and a mall that has the weirdest hours I have ever seen. On one street I think I saw at least 7 different wedding dress shops, as well as some fancy clothing stores and upper class furniture stores (at least that's what the sign in the window said).
 After exploring I sat down by the waterfront (or Quay pronounced key as I was told later it is called) for a while just staring at the water and letting the nice breeze cool me down. For those who don't know me, I sweat terribly. Doesn't matter what I am doing, I sweat and mostly from my face. I'm sure the people who saw me thought I had just run a marathon or something.
 As I was sitting there I had the realisation that I would now have to walk back home all uphill. Since I have been battling a cold for the past 2 months my cardio has not really been a part of my workout. This was my first real good walk for a while now. I had to stop partway home and get a drink and just sit. I realised on my walk that there are not a lot of benches around New West. Only at some bus stops and at some parks. I thought I was going to fall over when I finally got home. All I wanted to do was get in a cold shower and cool down. Next time I go exploring I'll take the bus. I thought about taking the bus home, but my bus pass was conveniently sitting on my kitchen table waiting to be activated.

Song of the Day: Bite by Troye Sivan

Craft Time!

As many of you know I am an old lady at heart and love to knit. My mom taught me how to knit when I was about 10 years old and I haven't stopped yet. I have made baby blankets, full size blankets and scarves. I think everyone I know got a scarf when I was first learning to knit. 
I have seen all cute slouchy hats at stores and on Pinterest and I decided I wanted to make them myself. I couldn't bring myself to pay $20 for something I could make for less and in whatever colour I wanted. Also that fit my head. I have a tiny head. So for the month of January I taught myself how to crochet. Calling my mom many a times to ask questions (and my Auntie!!) and finding videos on YouTube of how to do the different stitches and everything. 
Many people think that knitting and crocheting are the same thing. They are similar in some ways but very different. I found with crocheting my tension on the yarn was terrible. Each stitch was different some were loose and some were tight. It has been a definite learning curve to figure out how to hold the yarn for crocheting. How I hold it for knitting is quite different. I have had fun learning and finished my first hat this week! 
I love learning new skills and doing something that I have found is almost a dying art. You rarely hear of people knitting, crocheting, quilting, or sewing anymore. It is kind of sad. I love getting to make things that some people just think you can only buy at a store. 

Song of the Day: Let it Go by James Bay

Update!!

So quick update on the cooking of the stuffed peppers. I am proud to say that it actually turned out pretty well. I might have made enough of the stuffing to feed 4 people, but oh well. I have found that when I cook something that requires time to bake in the over instead of cleaning while it cooks, I have a little dance party in my kitchen. Have a great week everyone! 

Song of the day: Put Out Your Lights by Mathew Good