MONTHLY VLOGS?

Guys!!!!! I filmed a vlog!!! (I also made one last month, but don't watch that, it's garbage) ahaha, I'm pretty bad at this, but hopefully with practice, and when school ends, I will be a lot better at it. Give it a watch if you have 5 min to spare ;)





LOL (lots of love),

--Jackie

Legal 19!

A few days ago, I turned legally 19. And for those of you that don't know, the legal drinking age in Ontario is... 19! Gurl got turrrrrnnnnt (I'm kidding, I would never do that lmao) But, I wanted to do something, so I got together with a friend and we went to a rooftop bar/restaurant in the heart of downtown Toronto.

We mainly went there for the photos, though, seeing as everything there was expensive af. We were not disappointed, the view of the 6ix was great, and the food that we did order tasted great (no photos of the food, whoops!) Then after that, we went to get some real dinner at a nearby ramen place. The ramen was delicious, and my only complaint was that it was a bit too salty. All in all, a great night :)

It was so bright!!!!

Sipping beer like a 5 year old :D

Yes, it's the iconic "follow me around" picture

Thanks for reading,

--J

PS. The reason I keep delaying that DIY notebook post y'all want is because I'm waiting for a very specific back-to-school sale!!! In that sale, the notebooks I'll be using will cost 5 cents instead of the usual $1.10. Yes, call me a cheapo; I do not care. But the tutorial is coming, I promise!

Taking Long Walks ft. Pokémon GO

I really like walking. Now, that might sound really strange coming from a person who HATES exercise, it's actually true. I often take super long walks (I'm talking like 10km) for whatever reason (eg. the dogwood photo challenge, just cuz, and Pokémon GO) and sometimes I see cool things.


So, I thought I'd take this change to share some of those photos with you, and also to rant about the app that is Pokémon GO.

I love the above photo. It was taken during Nuit Blanche of 2015. This is an art piece showing how much garbage we make in a year.

These photos were taken from that day I went downtown to try and take a city-type photo in Chinatown.

Now, these last photos were taken during my first official adventure for the purpose of playing Pokémon GO. The last photo of the Don River is unedited.

Now, I just have a few things to say about Pokémon GO. Let me first just say that I know it hasn't been released in Canada at all yet, so I'm to expect problems with the official apk, but STILL.

The servers suck SO much. Like, the amount of times I've arrived at a Pokémon gym and found that the servers were down is so frustratingly high. Also... isn't there more you guys could do to make your app more battery saving???? Like why must the screen be on to load anything? If only the page could still be working while the screen was off, that would be SO much better.

All of this is just me being salty that it hasn't been officially released in Canada... And also the fact that I've run out of Poké balls. :(

With that being said, despite all the anger that this game has caused me, I actually still really like it.


Thanks for reading,
--J

The First Year Experience

First year was an interesting year for me, but, now that its all over, I can look back and see what I've done. So here's a list of some of the things that I've done and learnt this year.

• This year was the first year I'd ever lived away from my family (except for summer camps, of course). It was a new type of freedom, which came with both good and bad things. A good side of freedom is being able to do whatever you want, when you want it. Want to eat snacks at 2AM? Go for it! But, being completely free isn't always good because you're stuck with doing things like laundry, and having to buy your own things.
• Unlike high school, attendance isn't taken in universities, as I'm sure most of you know. But, however, that doesn't mean you don't need to go to them-- even if in the moment they seem useless because near finals, you will regret that. I had a class where going to lectures seemed useless because the teacher would drone on and on about useless examples, however, when finals came around, I panicked because I learned that those examples were actually important (hopefully I don't make the same mistake again, haha) Contrastingly, sometimes lectures are truly useless. Like, my physics class, for example. Going there did not benefit me academically in any way. I was not more prepared for tests and I did not understand more material by going. In those instances, I don't think it would hurt to skip a few classes (or all the classes ;) )
• On Monday, I had to say goodbye to the campus, and my dorm, a place that had become my home for the year. It was bittersweet because yay summer! and because I had to leave knowing that I would never see my dorm again, or ever live on campus. 
• I learned that moving out can be fun, but it's super stressful. Many times, I caught myself wondering "How the heck did I fit it all into my suitcase when I came here?" 

So, what's happening now? Well, I recently found a summer job (but more on that later!) so hopefully, I will gain some new experiences and make money. As for next school year, that will be filled with moving out (to my own apartment!) and maybe, for the first time, getting my own pet.

Thanks for reading this catching-up post with me,
--J

PS: Now that it's summer, expect many more posts to come!

Who am I? ...I Don't Really Know.

Who is this girl? I have no idea...

I know that I'm weird, and I know that I'm random, but I really have know idea who I really am. I tweeted a tweet earlier on the lines of "you are you, and that's all you're ever going to be, so be the best you you could possibly be," and I've decided, it's time to find who I am, and the best I can be.

Today I realized that a lot of what I do isn't for me, it's for other people. For example, I wouldn't say certain things because other people didn't want me to, or not post a picture I liked because someone told me it wasn't good enough. Not only that, I would also wait for and desire validation from others, usually in the form of likes on social media.

I'm tired of this. I don't want to live a life where I'm pretending to be someone else, when I don't even really know who I am. So, from now on, I will post whatever I want, say whatever I want, when I want without a care in the world, because this is me.

It's time to find out who I really am. I'm going to do this by first finding out what it is that I like, and then putting it out there in the world, even if someone else doesn't like it, because, let's face it, someone out there will always be a hater. I want to study more, learn more, and create more.

Overall, I just want to be me, and just me. And, surely, someone out there will like me for who I am..... right!? (lol).

So yeah. Since this is a pretty big part of my life, expect more updates.

--J

A New "New Year's Resolution"?

I said in an earlier post that I would only have 2, buuuuut, I think a third has creeped its way into my life.  The new one is..... exercise!

Now, now, I know that you all think, "Omg she is just like all the other annoying people who are like 'this year, I'm going to get super fit' and stop the regiment after a month." But I'm going to REALLY try. Try to exercise more, that is, just more, not every day.

I've been on and off following Cassey from Blogilates, but haven't actually done most of her workouts. But, recently, I've found myself back on her page more often and trying some of them out. (As a result, my body is sore to the max!)

If you guys also have exercise on your list of things to make a habit, and haven't given Cassey's workouts a try, here's one!

Have fun!

--J

Moving in | Uni Life

On August 30th, I moved into my university, and since then, I've had about a week to settle in. Here are some pictures of my dorm surroundings.

Can you believe this is the principal's house? It's so beautiful!

My current desk setup. (That notebook is my bullet journal) *

Oh look! A shelf! And a DIY clock!

My floral bedsheets and my postcard/polaroid collection.

The view outside my window.

Moving anywhere can come with a lot of excitement and troubles. However, moving into a university dorm is quite unique because everyone else is just as confused, scared, lost, and excited as you are.

The day began with me waking up way too early after a sleepless night. I packed the last few things and anxiously waited around until it was time to leave. Finally, we began our 45 minute drive to my university campus. My family and I were greeted with joyful cheers of "Welcome home!!!" All of the volunteers for the move-in day were so excited and helpful.

Later that day, after my family had left, after I'd met up with a friend that I'd gone to high school with, after I'd met my roommate, it dawned on me how quiet my room could be. Sure, the walls of my dormitory are thin, but there was an overwhelming sense of calmness and quiet (which I grew to like) and for the first time, I missed home.

The first few nights were very strange. Back at home, I have a set routine to most aspects of my day. For example, my first time showering at the dorm was SO strange! I had no idea where to do what, when to do what, and where to put what. The process ended up taking so much longer than it usually does at home.

But now, after a week, I think I've got it handled pretty nicely. I sort of have a routine going on, and hopefully it'll only get better. :)


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More to come,

Jakie

*If you want more detail on my bullet journal, please comment down below c:

Packing my Bags | Moving for Uni

Today is my last day in my house before I move into my dorm at university (pics coming as soon as i settle in!) and I don't really know what to feel. I think everything is just a mixture of feelings right now.

There's the feelings of nervousness from having to leave everything I know and venturing into an unknown and potentially scary place. As an anxious person, I don't like being in a place where I don't know exactly what's happening to me, or being in places where I'm not in total control. Being in a foreign place forces me to experience both of those at the same time.

I also feel excited and adventurous. At university, I'll be able to reinvent myself, find new friends, and experience "adult" life. (I put adult in quotes because who am I kidding? I'm not an adult :P ). I can feel the sense of freedom at my fingertips. I'll be able to do whatever I want, whenever I want, with reason, of course. (Midnight snacks galore!)

There's also stress. University is so DARN expensive! Whyyyyyy >.< But also, apart from the price tag, there's also the stress to do academically well. School hasn't even started and I've already received emails from profs on quizzes and evaluations happening in September. 

I think all endings and beginnings, like this one, are faced in a similar situation—one with many mixed feelings. So, it's time to put behind my childhood (at least for now), and start moving in the direction of something new—university!

Meeting LaurDIY

This past Sunday (August 8th, 2015), Lauren of LaurDIY had a meetup in Toronto. And... well, I couldn't not go, could I? I mean, Lauren is one of the my most watched YouTubers, so when given the chance to experience her in the flesh, I was all for it. :P

I had previously seen her at the Youtube FanFest Toronto, had a few of my tweets favourited by her, and sent her fanmail (which she acknowledged and thanked me by posting an Instagram), so I'd like to say I had a fair amount of contact with her. But, I'd never met her, not really, and now I can say I have. :)

I filmed a little video of the process of getting there and included pictures of the actual meeting. But, keep in mind that vlogging in public is something that I'm TERRIFIED of, so I didn't get very much footage, and there's no dialogue at all, haha.

Enjoy!