morning routine

What time do you go to bed, and when does your alarm go off?
9 pm bedtime after a 2-episode NCIS marathon (these days). 5 am wake-up. My first alarm goes off silently on my Fitbit. On a good day it gets me out of bed right away. If not, I have a backup alarm set on my iPhone for 5:15.

What's for breakfast?
A protein pancake topped with fresh fruit and peanut butter, or scrambled egg whites on an Ezekiel english muffin with tomato and a side of greens. 3 cups of water. Black coffee. Always black coffee.

Next steps?
A run. Now that the weather has been getting nicer, I've been boycotting the gym, opting instead for outdoor runs. There is no better way to start your day that hitting the pavement while jamming to some good tunes. It clears my head and gets me ready to take on the day.

What are your thoughts towards mornings?
I am much more of an early bird than a night owl. I love the silence of the morning before everyone else has woken up.

- s

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This position, every morning. 

What time do you go to bed, and when does your alarm go off?
The daily struggle. Bedtime is ideally around 11, although on weekends it tends to be later. Wake up each day at around 6-6:30 to feed crying cats. If I'm good, I stay awake and get on with my day. If not, I go back to bed until 7:30-8. This is pretty great for me—before it was bedtime 2 or 3 am, wake up at 11.

What's for breakfast?
Depends! Either steel cut oats with chia seeds and some sort of fruit, or scrambled eggs with cheese. Black coffee for me, too.

Next steps?
Read the news. Catch up on blogs. Listen to the radio. Radio happens throughout this whole process. The day starts off right as long as I hear "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" at 7:40. I like to get ready before eating breakfast so I feel like my day can start right away.

What are your thoughts towards mornings?
I am getting there. I love the silence when it's still dark—my favourite is around 2:30, 3 am. Since I've given that up, 630 is proving to be a decent substitute. I like the time to myself before I have to get moving.

- g

on having dance parties with best friends

I'd post a nicer, high-def photo, but this is all we've got!

Last weekend one of my best friends celebrated a birthday. We did the whole bit—got dressed up, went for dinner (Ottawa friends, have you been to Union 613?) and had some delicious food and drinks. It was a great way to celebrate and to spend a rainy night. The original plan was to go out dancing after dinner, but truth is, we are pretty antisocial when it comes to going out so we decided to spend the night in.

Our night was pretty typical—sitting around the living room, listening to records, watching the animals and chatting. This time, we ended up reminiscing more about our past 5 years here in Ottawa. All the silly times we have had, people we have met, and places we have been! It’s been especially nostalgic lately since we are graduating and moving all over the place. I gotta say, it’s going to be weird to not have my best friend(s) living in the next bedroom(s) over. It’s pretty sad to think about… even though we can be in constant contact, it’s just not the same.

As the night went on, we ended up turning our living room into a dance party. Lights off, Top 40 hits playing, the little ‘strobe light’ flash function from the iPhone, and all the furniture pushed aside. Hello living room dance club! We played all the ridiculous music (that we obviously know all the words to), sang along, and busted out our best dance moves. Lots of laughing, freaking the cats out, and getting blisters on our feet.  It was fun to let go, have fun, and be really silly together. This is something we do a lot, and is certainly a good reminder to not take ourselves so seriously! It is so easy to get caught up in the world of school, jobs, relationships… everything. Sometimes, it’s fun to crank the tunes and bust a move with your best gal pals. I took a video that evening, but for the sake of my bffs, I'll just post a silly photo of us :)


Overall, it was a fantastic night. It was just what I needed before the final stretch of undergrad began! What do you do when you need to let loose? What is a fun night out for you?

- g

scenes from this past summer

Photography, particularly film photography, has been a hobby of mine since high school. Back then, I would quickly go through a roll of film, get it developed, scan the prints, and share them on Facebook with my friends. Since the camera on iPhones got way better (compared to the Blackberry and iPhone 3 I had in high school), while in university my camera sort of got pushed to the side. I still love taking photos, but nowadays it takes me significantly longer to finish a roll of film. Not only do I want to use my shots wisely, but I often forget that I've started a roll of film until months later.

Here are some shots from this past summer that I got developed at the end of February! I finally got around to scanning them last week... Progress, yeah?

Scenes from San Francisco, and time spent with friends.

- g

on graduation and becoming an adult

Warmth, please?

I don’t know if it’s the unrelenting weather, or the fact that I am almost finished my degree, but lately all I have been thinking about is how I want to go on vacation, travel, explore, adventure… whatever. I am really wanting a break from the every day monotony of my life. I am ready for a change of pace! I feel like I have been trapped indoors for far too long, and I am just dying to get out to do something different. Unfortunately, I don’t know if that’s going to be possible—each time we seem to get a taste of spring weather, it is followed up by snow. This past weekend we had about 10cm. They’re calling for more. I don’t know if I can take much more of this! 

I feel like right now I have this urgency to travel and explore because I am unsure of how much time I will have to myself once I graduate. This sounds odd, because I know that I will be quite “free” once I am done school, and that the potential is there for the world to become my oyster. This is a running theme in my life. But is this realistic?

My roommate and I were reflecting on the ideas and plans we have dreamed up during the course of our degrees. They have been all sorts of things… buying cars, travelling, living without roommates, interior decorating, moving and living abroad… the list is endless. Lots of dreams for when school would no longer be a stressful reality. Well… we are quickly approaching this time. Less than 2 weeks of class until we will be finished our course requirements to receive our diplomas. Now that we are going to be finished with undergrad, what’s next? That’s where those dreams have been put on the back burner. Responsibilities, or responsible decisions end up taking forefront as opposed to planning that backpacking trip/car purchase/whatever. Jobs and the realities of becoming a grown up take precedence. 

I remember saying throughout the course of my undergrad (and maybe, possibly today) how I don’t want to be one of those people who say they are going to travel, go to graduate school, etc., and ultimately never end up doing it. That I didn’t want to be somebody who ended up settled down before they even got to “live”. I know that I am verging on sounding like an episode of GIRLS, but it’s true. I think these words have come out of every young person’s mouth at least once. I am still saying this. But where does responsibility and reality set in? Where do we end up making compromises?

It is impossible for me to take a 6 month backpacking trip once I graduate because I have no money. I can’t live abroad because I have no money. I can’t have the “ultimate job” because I don’t have a Master’s degree. I have limited life experience to bring to the table. In order to “live” the kind of life I might crave, it’s become the reality that I am going to have to settle for a bit. In order to work—to earn some money and life experience. The hope is that eventually I am able to do all of the things I’d like to do. Which is to travel and go to grad school. 

My big dilemma in all this is, what if I don’t get to have the experiences I want? What if I end up settled into something? Life happens, I get it. I guess for right now I’d like to remain hopeful, not hopeless. Live with no regrets, try to go with the flow, and desperately hope it all works out.

- g

so, how was your day?

In lieu of our typical “Currently” posts, Samantha and I thought we would switch it up by following the template of the blog “So, How Was Your Day”. We are both huge fans of the blog, and love reading about people in different capacities and how they organize their days. I was also a huge fan of Design for Mankind’s “Dailies” series—I love reading how people live!!

This was what my (Gabi) Friday looked like, and the questions at the end are what Sam had for me.

On their website, they get people to post a photo of themselves on their bed. Here's one from when I was home for the holidays at some point—when my hair was all one colour!

 So, How Was Your Day?

Breakfast: Cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese. Water.

Lunch: Scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa.

Dinner: Butternut squash risotto and wine.

Morning: I am so not a morning person. I am slowly learning to adapt into being one, but since our Fall reading break came along my routine was kinda shot down. I’m working at bringing it back though. So this morning my alarm went off at 9am, and I rolled out of bed around 10. Typically one of the kitties has burst into my room (they’ve been fed at 730 when my roommate leaves for work) for some attention, and that’s a sign that I’ve been in bed too long. I quickly get ready (check the weather and pick an outfit, and listen to the radio while I attempt to do my hair and makeup), and then eat a bagel while one of the cats (Wilbur) watches me in hopes I will drop something. This morning I went to drop off a plant at work on my way to meet a friend.

Noon: The friend I met this morning does Reiki (which is a type of energy work that balances your chakras and energy) and I met up with him and we came back to my house. He did reiki with me, and I came out of my little meditative trance feeling super calm. One of the cats was super intrigued by what was happening and while I was laying down having reiki done, the cat came and jumped up all around me and absorbed some of the energy too. Apparently animals are super in tune with the energy and Sheldon was super calm this whole afternoon/evening. Very cool. After my friend left, I had lunch while catching up with some blogs, and left my apartment for an appointment.

Night: After, I met up with a former roommate/really good friend and we went and got a coffee and ran some errands. This also included a trip to Chapters to look/ogle all the things we want, as well as make some purchases (a book on American Sign Language for her, and the game Jenga for me). After a couple hours, I went to meet another friend I met through volunteering for a beer to catch up and chat! Val (my current roommate) came and joined us, and then once we were done there, Val and I went to the grocery store to pick up goodies for dinner. She made a trade with me: Val cooked dinner (risotto) and I cleaned/polished/sprayed all our shoes and fed the cats. After eating, I Facetimed with Sam and we talked about dogs and cats and pets and just overall being silly. Now I am writing this post and will have a relatively early night as I have to be up early tomorrow for a volunteer shift.

This was a really nice Friday for me. The last month I have been totally booked up on Fridays; but since training finished up for one of my volunteer gigs, I now have my Fridays free. It’s really nice that my weekend starts on Thursdays! Also, in response to my mom’s comments from my last post: I am having some wine now, and I already had a beer. No, I am not an alcoholic :)

1. Now that your Fridays are freed up, what does your ideal day look like?

Hmmm… I am still learning what an ideal day in general for me looks like. I am still learning how to balance work and play—what too much or too little of each means to me. But for right now? It’s likely to include a relatively early rise, but still a bit of a sleep in. Breakfast, time with the kitties, possibly a volunteer shift, and then spending some time with friends. Ideally with no school work to be completed… I like to take Fridays off.

2. Tell me more about this reiki stuff.

Well… Reiki is basically an “alternative” therapeutic treatment that aims to balance your energy and to restore you into your body’s homeostasis. At least that is my understanding, anyway. It is done by a reiki practitioner who transfers energy to you through their palms. Basically you enter a meditative state and the reiki practitioner balances you out by “hovering” their hands over various areas of your body and placing their hands on others. It was pretty neat, non-evasive, and I felt really refreshed after. I’m interested in having it done again.

3. What are you favourite shops (clothing, coffee, misc) in Ottawa?

That’s a really tough question! I have so many! For coffee… I am a Bridgehead fan. It’s an Ottawa-based coffee shop that has many locations across the city and a couple years ago they opened up their own roastery (which also has a coffee shop inside) and they do a great cup of coffee. I also love Planet Coffee (which so happens to be conveniently located next to my work) for their pastries and food. Food wise… I love a La Bottega sandwich, indian from Basmati on Somerset W, Pho in Chinatown; as well as the many local restaurants we’ve tried out (Town, Sidedoor, Cafe Absinthe…)… there are just SO many to choose from. Clothing… I love all the local shops in the Byward Market and on West Wellington. OH and my favourite used bookstore: The Black Squirrel on Bank past Flora. Gems. Pretty much anything that can only be found in Ottawa, I like to frequent. There’s a big “Support Local” following here, and I am definitely a fan.

Check back soon to read how Sam’s day was. How was your day?