So I’ve done two runs in less than 24 hours. Reading that, you might think that I must have loved the first run so much that I just couldn’t wait to get back out there for my second, equally awesome run.

I’ve planned out my running schedule for June to make sure that I’ll be able to hit 50 miles for the month, which involves running every other day. I have a fun and exciting (lies) doctor’s appointment on Thursday morning followed by work in the afternoon, so I doubt I’ll have time for a run then. Thus the back to back runs.

But just in case ol’ Grumpy Cat didn’t explain things well enough, I’ll just leave this right here.

Yeah. Just pretend I started at the last mile of each run and it’s all good.

You know those days when you seem to spend hours and hours doing work yet it doesn’t at all feel like you’ve achieved something? Yeah. I had one of those yesterday.

It started off all good too, I managed to eat breakfast, scrub some linoleum and even straighten my hair before going to class and I wasn’t even late. I only left at almost noon but shut up, I know I have low standards.

I then spent three hours listening to my prof lecture and people present, which is not really my favourite way to spend a sunny day. I wish I had a picture to insert here, but I was lulled into a semi comatose state, so no picture for you.

Take that sad and adorable pug as my apology.

Anyways. I then went on to try and complete an internship application because it’s paid (!!!) and it’s remote. So basically, a unicorn.

Google unicorn at your own peril.

Anyways. I’m 95% sure my  application sucks but I also don’t really want to sit on it. I want the damn thing off my hands so I can forget about it since my chances of getting the internship are somewhere near zero.

So then, with brain cells pouring out of my ears already, I sat down to write a paper proposal. This went just as well as you might imagine it went. But I wrote it and even remembered to print it off.

http://instagram.com/p/aH6E2BFwsx/

You should be proud.

(not) Sorry for that. I figured you should all want to claw your eyes out as much as I do.

But as much as I really do hate Mondays, I can’t complain too much when it looks like this:

From my running route. Not too shabby.

I was so excited about the blue sky that I took a photo of just the sky. And some trees. And wires. Eh. I figured I already looked insane trying to catch my breath after my run so I don’t think taking a photo of the sky really hurt my rep too much.

And now since I have absolutely nothing to say, let’s finish off the summer bucket list.

21 – I bough a Nikon D3200 back in January but despite being super excited back when I first got it, I’ve barely used the thing outside of internship or freelance photos. While some of this is due to my lens being shipped off to Nikon back in April, I still had tons of time to take photos and practice with it… but I didn’t. The camera store just called me to tell me that it’ll be about $150 to replace the lens so now I just need to call them back tomorrow to get the ball rolling on that since I have some training  shifts going this week which means I can actually afford it! So yeah. 100 decent photos by the end of the summer or bust!

22 – I absolutely love HBO’s Game of Thrones and there’s really no good reason why I’m still on season two. So once I finish book two I’ll watch the second season and then I’ll read book three and then watch the third one and then I’ll be caught up! Why did I not do this earlier?!

23 – We don’t get a ton of sunny days here in Vancouver and so I’d like to make the most of it. Obviously I’ll have work or school or other shit to do most days but I really want to get outside every single sunny day that I’m not at work or school for, even if it’s for a quick run or just a walk to get some Starbucks. Even studying outside in the patio will do!

the bridge… probably a bad place to fall from

25 – Playland is the big attraction park around here and while I always went in highschool, I haven’t been there in a few years now. I don’t love all the rides and the lines get a bit insane but I still think it’s worth it.

26 – I used to write for my school paper but with my practicum, internships and freelancing I’ve let that fall to the wayside. Annoyingly enough, meetings are at the same time as one of my classes but I’m hoping I can still pick up a few stories here and there. It also doesn’t hurt that they pay $10 per story, which would go nicely towards that guitar. Or Starbucks. I’m not picky.

27 – I started watching SNL in September, which means I got all invested just to watch my three favourite people leave the show and to realize that I missed Kristen Wiig in all her hilarious glory. That won’t do at all. Netflix seems to have SNL – minus musical guests – so I should be fine till I finish the second Song of Ice and Fire book and get onto watching Peter Dinklage be his bad ass self on Game of Thrones.

<3

28 – There ain’t much to say here. My room is a mess and it’s starting to annoy even me.

29 – I’ve wanted to play paintball for years now and it will happen this summer. I’m sure I’ll reach a point during the summer when I want to hurt people and since I don’t have a sadistic little prince to slap, paintball will have to do.

30 – This one is a no brainer. It’s summer. Vancouver is a coastal city. I’ll haul my pale ass to a beach or die trying.

But before I get to any of that, I’m off to write a few hundred words on a chapter I haven’t read in a book I don’t own.

The week is off to a fabulous start already.

I used to do these back when I first started the blog and I think it’s a nice way to post all the random things I never got a chance to work into my usual posts. Time will tell if this will become a weekly tradition or if it’ll be saved for when I have a lot of stuff to talk about!

1. my first run

come pick up your sunglasses helicopter guy! / and maybe a piano? / first outing of the year for these babies :)

I finally got out for a super slow 2 miler, so I’m now at 148 miles left for the summer!

2. this weeks obsessions

new morning essential / pretty flowers in our patio / gogurt :)

That eye roller feels AMAZING first thing in the morning and gogurt is my drug :)

3. since I don’t have a third item, I thought I’d do 11-20 of my summer bucket list

11 – I just found out that Vancouver has a circus school and as a former gymnast I would absolutely love to do this! I’m going to try to wait for a Groupon but if not I’ll see if I can afford it with my birthday money.

12 – I could really stand to lose a few pounds and 15 seem like a good number for me. I’m 5’8″ so 15lbs makes a noticeable difference but it’s not too extreme. I hope that the 150 miles will help me with this one but I’ll have to cut out some of the crap I eat too.

13 – Stanley Park is a huge, beautiful park in Vancouver and its surrounded by a seawall that’s always filled with runners and cyclists. I’ve rollerbladed there but I’ve yet to ever run it and it’s something I would love to do this week. It’s 13-14 miles long, so running it would be the longest distance I’ve ever run.

14. I have a ton of beauty products lying around. This would be fine if they were all unique products and I was someone who was creative with my makeup on a daily basis but they’re not and I’m not. I’m mostly a neutrals sort of girl and many of those products are just backups and extras that I’d like to get rid of. I have enough makeup, perfume and body lotion to not need to purchase a single product this summer besides possibly a powder and maybe a mascara. But that’s it. Expect regular ’empties’ posts on all the stuff I’ll be using up this summer.

15 – I abolutely love my friends but we’re all really bad at organizing get-togethers and I’d like us to be a little bit better this summer. We have weeks when we see each other every couple of days and then weeks were we never see each other and I’d like to commit to hanging out at least once a week, even if it’s just watching a movie or playing board games

16 – I have incredibly curly hair that I almost always straighten but I’d like to learn how to manage it without heat or at least with just a few curling iron touch ups. I have it natural right now and it’s actually looking pretty good but the ends look really scraggly so I need to sort those out somehow without losing too much length.

17 – My friends and I used to go bowling fairly often but I haven’t been in months and months now. L suggested that we go cosmic together, which would be a really fun way to knock that one off the list. Plus, I haven’t been drunk in far too long ;)

18 – I’ve done a bit of freelancing in the past month and I’d love to do some more this summer, just to build up my portfolio. I already have one idea and hopefully I can get a few more out this month!

19 – L, M and I have been meaning o go berry picking for years now and I’m determined to make it happen this summer! I’ve never been and I want to see what all the fuss is about.

20 – I took a horseback riding lesson thanks to a Groupon last year and I really want to take another one this summer since I love horses and I think I did pretty good for someone who’d never ridden before.

I think I’ll stop this here and finish up tomorrow! I have some reading to catch up on anyways.

How’d you guys spend your weekend?

So I’m finally posting that summer bucket list I promised you guys during my first post back. Oops.

so much to do, so little time

I figure I should probably go over these in some amount of detail too, instead of just giving you a pretty little graphic and shouting “see ya later bitches!” as I run out the door.

So:

1 – As I live in BC, there are a few steps to getting a full driver’s licence. The first is getting your L, which involves passing a knowledge test. The next step is getting you N which is what allows you to drive, though with a few restrictions. I really want to get this over the summer as at this point I’m already 20 and I’ll need it post-graduation if I hope to get a reporting job.

2 – Code Academy is a website that teaches you basic coding. It works in tracks, which are basically just types of coding. I’m on part 2/7 of the first track now and I’d really love to get this done by the end of summer. It does take a decent chunk of time but I think if I focus on getting one track done every week – excluding the weeks when I have finals and papers due – then I should be done by the end of August.

3 – I have a lot of student loan debt and I’d like to reduce it. $2000 seems like a good number given my general lack of expenses right now.

4 – The Grouse Grind is a popular trail on a local mountain here and it’s know as “mother nature’s stairmaster” due to the fact that it goes up 2610 feet over just 1.8 miles. Ideally I’d like to climb it at the beginning of June and then again at the end of August to see how much I can improve over the summer. The average finishing time is 90 minutes and the women’s record is about 31 minutes so ideally I’d like to get under an hour by the end of the summer.

5 –  while I’m paying back the $2000 I’d also simultaneously like to save up $500. I think the plan will be to put 1/3 of each paycheque to each goal and then once I’m done with the $500 I can put 2/3 to the $2000.

6 – I go kayaking a few times most summers with my family and while that’ll do I’d also really love to go ocean kayaking with my friends. What I end up doing will depend on my budget, since as you’ll see I have quite a few rather pricey items on my bucket list.

7 – I really want to spend the summer blogging every single day. I don’t have a ton to do now compared to the school year and since I’m currently not writing that much I figure this would be a good way to keep working on my writing. I think most people have heard of the “10 000 hour” theory and while I’m obviously not going to get that much over the summer, I still think that practice makes perfect.

8 – I used to be such and avid reader in grade school but with the sheer amount that I need to read for university, reading for pleasure has gone down the toilet. I figure that I can probably handle reading 10 books in 12 weeks, especially if I chuck a few shorter ones in. I’m currently on book 2 of the Song of Ice and Fire series and I mean to finish that series during the summer and also hopefully read a classic. The rest will probably be just fluff reads but as long as I’m reading it’s already a huge improvement!

9 – I use to play guitar back in high school but once I stopped taking classes my parents returned my guitar and I haven’t played since. I know which guitar I want so it’s just a matter of saving up that remaining third of my paycheques and buying it!

10 – I really want to get back into running again as it’s the only type of solo exercise that I enjoy. I figured a mileage goal was probably the best way to stop me from slacking so I’m aiming to get 150 miles in this summer. It works out to just over 10 miles a week which I think is manageable. I’m not aiming to run any races but I had a 4 mile route that I loved and I would really like to be able to run it in under 35 minutes again.

I think I’ll stop right here since this blog post is already getting too long.

What’s on your summer bucket list?

I was incredibly  psyched, I felt like a proper beauty blogger! But it’s been a couple weeks since then and my internship just came to an end so I’d basically forgotten about it.  So needless to say when my dad handed me a huge box I was really confused as to what it was but then I saw the New York return address and all but ripped it open!

http://instagram.com/p/Z_VF7wlwt0/

look at my enormous package! giggity

I legit squealed in delight when I saw everything that was in there! This is a terrible photo but they sent me SIX full size products! I got the serum plus a bunch of other stuff and I am so excited to try it all out! I haven’t used most of it yet but both the Anti-Redness Serum and the Detox Eye Roller both feel really nice on so I’m really looking forward to testing the rest of the products! I’ve never had this much stuff to review all at once so I need to figure out some sort of schedule so that I’m only testing one product at a time and not overdoing it.

In other awesome news, it’s finally sunny here! Considering it’s almost June this is probably not all that impressive to most of you, but in Vancouver sunny weather is A BIG DEAL. In fact, it’s such a big deal that I am finally hauling my pale and unfit ass out for a run! First run of the year! So if I never update this blog again, I died on my run. RIP Kat.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever gotten in the mail?

But anyways. I know I promised you guys my summer bucket list but I have other stuff to talk about so it’ll have to wait a bit.

I had my first shift at what will hopefully be my summer job yesterday and I loved it! It’s at a cafe on Granville Island where my friend’s (L)  friend is the chef and I’ll be working in the kitchen! Yesterday I was just in for an hour as a trial shift and I peeled a bunch of yams, made some fries with their fry cutter and then deep fried them.

http://instagram.com/p/Z9D–3lwun/

pretty, if rainy, park on the way to work

The chef seemed happy with how I did and apparently he even texted L  to tell her I did well! So hopefully that means that I’ll have a job this summer. He said he’d schedule me a few training shifts next week so we’ll see how that pans out.

http://instagram.com/p/Z6D8pqFwkG/

mango shaken iced tea <3

Then, I hung around downtown for a bit reading the second book of the Song of Ice and Fire series at a Blenz. I really need to catch up on that TV show, I’m only on the second season. And no, I don’t know how that happened either.

Then, I kept a friend (M)  company while she ran errands and when we came back to her place, her mom put me to work prepping for M’s little sister’s birthday dinner. You know you’re at someone’s house a lot when you basically become the bastard child ;)

And then of course I had to stay to enjoy the AMAZING meal. Seriously, they could adopt me and I would be thrilled. And 300lbs overweight.

And that kids, is why I didn’t post yesterday. We also ended up watching War Horse around 10pm so I didn’t get home till past midnight and when I did, I wasn’t exactly capable of doing anything besides dragging myself and my food baby up to bed.

What have you been up to recently? Anything cool? I also had a super cool delivery today that I’ll tell you about tomorrow!

But now that I have relatively little writing to do maybe it’s time to try this whole blogging thing again. I’m not 100 percent sure what direction the blog will go from here. But I’ll start with a short recap of the past year and then we’ll just go from there!

I didn’t do much over the summer after I quit, to be honest. But during the fall I got incredibly busy, taking five classes, working and trying to complete my sociology practicum at Habitat for Humanity.

I managed to do all of it but it left me exhausted and burned out. I spent the entire winter sick and didn’t really get better till early March.

Understandably that didn’t really get my spring semester off to the best start but all in all I think I did okay. I completed two internships, learned how to type properly – don’t laugh – and started freelancing.

So that brings me to now. I’m taking a couple of summer classes, starting a summer job at a friend of a friend’s cafe and hopefully continuing to freelance and maybe pick up another internship.

I haven’t run since last fall but as soon as the weather gets nice next week I have full plan to charge up my Garmin, find my sports bras and get to it. I had a four mile route that I absolutely loved so I want to try and work my way up to that.

I have a summer bucket list too but I’ll post that tomorrow! I always have so many ideas when I first start something but then it just tapers off to nothing…

What have you been up to recently?

I’m pretty upset – I have a half marathon in about a month – but at the same time I can’t say I’m horribly surprised. I’ve been nursing multiple aches and pains for months now, and I haven’t had a pain free run in months. So really, I suppose I should have seen it coming. But I was stubborn and thought I could make it another month, run the half and then take a break. Dumb and cocky? Yeah. But hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

On the bright side, my physio did say that he’s completely fine with me cycling, as long as I roll the heck out of my IT band afterwards. So the plan is to spend maybe seven hours a week or so on my bike. If my knee starts hurting, I’ll have to switch over to the elliptical, which I really don’t want to do, but I suppose it’s time to (wo)man up and be an adult and all that. I want to keep up as much endurance and leg strength as I can, so that my return to running isn’t too bad

No workout summary this time, there was one hot and painful 5 mile run but that’s been it.

So yeah. I suppose this one goes into the ever growing “I’m not invincible” pile.

JULY GOALS:

1. STICK TO MY HALF MARATHON SCHEDULE. I want to run the Lululemon Seawheeze Half in under 2 hours. This means I need to stick to the schedule. I’ll be posting my schedule every Monday and recapping on Sundays.
2. Apply for the two positions at my school’s paper that I’m interested in. Writing the cover letters tonight, editing and submitting tomorrow.
3. Keep up with all my readings for classes. I’m only in two classes, so I have no ecuse to slack.
4. Find a new job. I’ve been a sales assistant and cashier at the furniture/home store where I work for almost a year and I’m over it. Time to find something new.
5. Fit into the jeans that I can currently not quite buckle. I’m 158lbs now and I’ve been as low as 146lbs within the past year and I think if I got down to there again I could actually buckle those jeans of mine.
6. Take care of my hair. I have INSANELY curly and messy hair and so I’ve been getting it permanently straightened for years. Last time I got it done was in February 2010, I believe. It’s about 1/2 grown out now and I want to grow it out fully and see if I can learn to tame it in it’s natural state rather than spending $500/year on straightening it.
7. Try a running club out. I want to try running with other people since none of my friends run and I’m tired of going to races alone :/

So there we go! Seven goals for the month. I’ll check in weekly to update you all on my progress and hopefully I’ll be able to stay on track!