My Monday {Thanksgiving}

As I just mentioned before I never ever had Thanksgiving before. So this year, surprisingly, I ended up with having two!
First I got invited by a really really awesome friend of mine (she reads my blog sometimes! So Hi there!! ;)) on Sunday and than, my family had Thanksgiving on Monday. It was interesting to see how different and yet similar those two feast were. I'm grateful for both.

So my families Thanksgiving was on the actual day of Thanksgiving, Monday the 8th. But it wasn't just Monday the 8th, it was also the day of my first Interview, here in Canada. Come to say: My first interview ever. (Jep and this is a reason to freak out! So true. Thank you)

So I spent my Monday morning with reading helpful(?) tips and tricks ( though it just turned out the way I was afraid it would turn out: I didn't need any of them), making myself ready and mainly trying to subdue my nervousness. I was meeting a friend before since the weather was beautiful and I couldn't get anything in my head anymore anyway.
Here we were. My nervous self downtown. I had brought my camera just in case I needed distraction (which I totally did!) and I found this awesome bookstore by accident

more on it later :)

I than had to go to H&M unwillingly. One fact more about me: I pretty never ever wear tights! Why? Because I wear them once and I can throw them away (I get ladders in my tights always). I actually had bought those once I was wearing on that particular day at American Apparel for a lot of money (hence: They would hold longer. They did not!) So back to cheap H&M tights...

My friend arrived after that and we had a coffee at Starbucks passing our time until it was time for me to go.

On our way. There is something about shoes in Vancouver, that you find them everywhere. But definitely not where you'd expect them to be...

And I got my Internship! Just like that! ;) YAY!

So we headed back home (with someone really jumpy and smiley)...and had Thanksgiving with my host family :)

Our table :)

Still dressed up from the Interview :)

My host parents

Yum!!!

Someone asked me to take a picture of all those shoes :P...here we go!

Our new student Pasc cutting her pies (and I had three pieces of this awesome chocolate one!!! I should stop complaining about gaining weight...no wonder why!)

And I learned how to play pool that night as well!
I'm so filled up with happiness I'd probably would burst ;) So I say thank you to everyone I met here so far for making it one of the best times in my whole life♥

Do something every day {crazy}

I think we should break up routine with something crazy everyday.
I went through the kids-water-park yesterday. Bare feet. Skipping :)

Beautiful autumn-ish Vancouver ♥

And there might have been a smile on one or two of the faces of people passing by :)

From old routines to new routines

I was thinking of how fast something new can become routine and normal (again) in your life. A bit more than two month ago I couldn't even believe that my trip to Canada was true. I mean, I wasn't really leaving right!? And now it seems like I woke up in my bed here for like forever.

The sun flooding my room is definitely one of my favourites. During the week it takes longer now, to happen, since the sunrise is a bit later each day. But I wake up to a sun flooded room every day of my weekend. And I get to see the mountains every morning while I have breakfast in my room.

On another thing, I didn't really realize how obsessed I am with my bus stop. But I have tons of pictures of it at every imaginable weather and cloud constellation. And after all, I get to pass this spot at least twice a day.

My bus is the 22nd and it takes me about 30 minutes to go Downtown. Sometimes the bus is packed with people so you can just merely squeeze in yourself and your bag. But sometimes it's empty enough to sneak into one of the blue seats. I like the colours of the buses here (Yellow and Blue) and I love my way Downtown, first through all those houses, all a bit different from each other, than through some industry area (I always find some cool spots I'd love to take pictures in with a certain picture obsessed friend ;)), through Chinatown with all the red and the brick walls, tiny shops, a bit green from the park and sparks of different colours on every corner and finally a bit through downtown down West Pender St until it's time for me to step out of the bus.
(Jep I'm obsessed with colours...sorry...)

I love how quick you find certain places you'd always come back to (even if it start to be quite freezing...)

...or certain things you would always do again and again (Well, you need to warm up somehow, right!?)

Or some things which will never change. Like making your nails a bit more colourful each day ;)

I love the feeling to be close to the sea and close to so many huge mountains. To know that there are raccoons, skunks, bears, dear...outside there. See that autumn here is that just as beautiful as it is back home.
But also to always know, that even if this time here is beautiful and new and exciting, there are always family and friends waiting for me at home and a different but just as beloved routine as well as new challenges I will come back to when my time here ends. And I'm thankful for everything I am going to experience until it's time to go back home :)

Enough of deep thoughts for now. I'll promise!!. And (btw) if you have any questions about anything here, feel free to ask :) (otherwise I'll just go on posting in my random sort of way...)
Greetings Jo :)

My first Pie EVER {double chocolate pecan}

I never ever made a pie in my life. I don't know why. It's not like I would not bake. I love double-triple-layer cakes, super fudgy caramelized nut brownies, cupcakes with filling and frosting...whatever. But a pie had somehow always sounded too intimidating to me.
I also always connect Pie to Thanksgiving (all this pumpkiness ♥) though since we never had Thanksgiving I sort of never got around to be seriously confronted with the Pie-thing. Until this year.

I got invited to my friends place and was suddenly facing this whole Thanksgiving-Pie-concept. But you know me better as that I would give up, right?!
So here we go:

 My own double-chocolate-pecan-pie-Thanksgiving-challenge

 
(Recipe from Annie's eats. And since this was my first Pie ever (I know I mentioned that, but I so have to mention it again! :P) I just really followed every single step. So here you go...

Pots? Check! Recipe? Check! Cups (ahhhh I bought my very first own set of cups!!!♥) Check! Ingredients? Check! Let's go!!

I love butter for baking!

First step. Refrigerate.

Getting some support ;)

Chocolate ♥

Who says a girl can't handle a knife!?

Second step: Roll! And If you're lacking tools: Starbucks To go cups are awesome! ;)

Sneaking outside while the dough is in the fridge again...

Mountains...

Preparing the filling...

So just that you know: Not everything turned out the way it was supposed to be...

...though you can always just go on and see how it turns out at the end, right?

And I wouldn't say it turned out that bad ;)

Happy Thanksgiving and a thumbs up for cool challenges in your life! (Uh! And I didn't take any pie home again...I think that's good, isn't it!) ;)

Oh and so just that you get an impression...there was heaps and heaps and heaps of really really delicious food!

 Thank you so much for having me!:)

Birthday present for a friend

If you can't find crazy, cool and unnormal oven mittens...make them special yourself...

Happiness

I wish sometimes I could share my happiness with others...

 The feeling of warm sun on your skin, music in your ears and mountains on the horizon

 Walking

 All this little in between. Sparks of colour. Reminder that time changes and moves on constantly but that it also provides space and opportunities for new things to happen...

 I could either see 6 lines in front of our house, noise and litter...

 But you can also see flowers, black and shiny crow feathers on your way...

And and endless blue sky

Happiness inside your stomach :)

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and a bit late, but better late than never: My weekly instagram addiction 

Being up early, road trip pizza at steamworks, cooking with friends, my mornings, persuaded someone to buy a kindle, Canada place, leaving ships, nails, that or that or maybe that :P, lunch, new things, old things, sushi with my class on Friday, daily lunch, yum fries, home ♥

Day 50 {The day I got my Piercing}

I know I keep repeating myself but it really really smells like autumn every morning now. Actually it smelt like winter this morning. Crisp air...
I love the view from my bus stop. I can see all the way down to down town, grouse mountain and North Van. This morning, only downtown was bathed in sun, everything else was more or less gray. I still love it.
Apparently we are really lucky with the weather right now. It is the driest period since 30(!?) years. Which made me think of: I only had two days of rain since I arrived in Raincouver...not that bad, isn't it?

Anyway. I didn't have to make a sprint to catch the bus this morning, but was able to catch it just in time and even got a seat to sit. Score!
School was just like everyday (though I love school...here...) but my mood somehow changed in my Elective class. And definitely not to its own improvement. So we were sort of stuck after school. What do you do when you feel blah? Get your friends to persuade you to go down to the water! And what do you do there? Right! Find a starfish!...I'm really easily entertained ;)

My mood was good again for sure. But here's this thing with me: I normally come up with stuff quite quick and I normally decide on things just as quick as well. This time it was getting a piercing...
poor people around me ;)

My journey on how I got my piercing
Since we didn't really knew where we could go, someone came up with the idea to go to the tourist information. Poor information. I sort of saved them by asking someone who was selling tickets inside the building. We got our map but had to make a stop first at a certain place for someones craving for sweet things in the afternoon ;)

Not mine though ;P

Another thing I forgot to mention and which I love about Vancouver are all those really really friendly people. So while we were buying our lemon coconut thing our Barista actually turned out to be from Germany as well. And being an open person to people in general, I introduced her to our quest of fining a piercing store. Which led us just up Granville in general (left side though! Thank you Blenz Barista girl!).
Up and up and up and up...to the more scary part...
I have to admit I was sort of nervous at this point. But sometimes that's ok in life.
The store turned out to be a really good find (can you say that?). Nice, open and friendly people! And half an hour later we had a happy someone and slightly shocked friends (but in a good way).
And what's the lesson of this story? Never ever judge anyone for their outer appearance and don't think that you can't turn a boring day into an exciting one ;)

SK instead of DK {The Burger Edition}

So Sunday was DK Time again. Which means meeting a group of awesome girls and cook and bake together! Sounds good doesn't it? And it is good for sure ;)

Chopping up the Onions for sweet maple onions

Measuring up ingredients

Doesn't this already look awesome?!

Don't say that girls can't handle a knife!

Salad from Anna :)

Four girls in the kitchen...lucky I was being busy taking pictures outside the kitchen ;)

Kat's Yum Fries. Being turned around half time through...

Someone's really serious about their job :)

Carly's Vegan Milkshake...really really good!!!

Colleen teaching us on how to cut Avocados...apparently we messed it up the last time :P

Can you find me?

Burgers ♥

Ready to go!

And I think it was definitely worth all the cutting and chopping!!! Really really yum!

That along with chatting, laughing, design pages, blogs, photos and Toby ;)