Week 2

That Sunday after landing we spent the day roaming the beautiful countryside, eating at a local restaurant that our professors raved about. The owner was named Gina, with her eating at this quaint place was like home. She spoke great english which made for great service. It was a multi courses meal, we had a lovely pasta named four cheese penne to begin with which I still have dreams about now. Then the main was chicken and french fries (comfort food.) 

Once finished the delicious food the wandering began, walking into small shops that seemed interesting, getting gelato just because you can, seeing cute boys and proceeding to giggle. All activities in which thrilled the group. 

The following Monday began class, where we learnt about Italian culture and the differences from Canadian culture. For that week, class was not always in a classroom, we visited a grocery store which showed us how in Italy they display their beautiful food for you to select. It’s an amazing sight to see. 

Following the class we were allotted free time, in which to do whatever we wanted. Which meant exploring or lazing in bed because of the wine hangover you had from the night before. 

The group learnt very quickly about something called the Piazza, which is where the locals gather during the day and night to eat. The cafe was Cafe Teatro, and boy was the service there amazing. Besides feeling at home there was one staff member who was very attractive. Each night there would be people down in the piazza and many drinks to be shared. 

The week was a blur of getting comfortable with the surroundings and with the new people you were around. The week went by so quickly. With memorable moments of dancing in my room with my roommate to Love on Top. Such a jam. 

The week quickly blurred to our only weekend in which we weren’t meant to travel as a group. So a few of us decided to take a trip to Verona on that Saturday. Verona is such a beautiful town. One of the main attractions is to see Giulietta’s house to see the balcony and statue. The place was absolutely packed but it was great to see everything. While visiting you must get a picture with the statue holding her bare breast. It’s hilarious. Then you can leave a note on the wall for her to read. Something about love which does not make sense since we all know what happened in her love life. But you must put a note on it. 

Heading back to Conegliano was amazing, picked up some McDonald’s in Mestre and made our way back. That Sunday was spent being lazy, slept in and spent the day being a bum in my bed. Great Sunday. 

Italy from the beginning

Studying Aboard is something that I never thought would be possible. Maybe in a dream. But I got to live in a small community in Italy and study 3 courses. This experience was something that is still shocking. But I will try and put them into words. 

The beginning, I lived in a small community called Conegliano, Italy. Which is about a forty minute drive from Venice. I travelled there with 15 students. None of whom I had met beforehand. This experience was about to get crazy. 

I was going to live in a country that I hadn’t been to before with brand new people I met maybe about 30 minutes before the first plane to Italy. It was about to get weird.

Thankfully everyone who I travelled with turned out to be a great person. But more about the people at a later time.

The first day of travelling was busy, we had three flights to get us to the final destination which was Marco-Polo airport in Venice, Italy. We spent about 6 hours waiting around in the Heathrow airport, with this wait, we found some food to eat and some outlets in order to pull in all the electronics and maybe catch a nap.

This would be where I asked someone I barely knew to be my roommate for the next month. We had bonded over Facebook profiles. This would turn out to be a great decision later on in the trip. We had only known each other a few hours at this point. But I guess my assumptions of her worked out to be the best roommate pairing ever.

Finally we arrived, we were poked into buses that would ship us to our final destination. An Ex-convent in Conegliano, Italy. A place I would shortly call home. 

The first night we arrived, we had our first taste of true Italian pizza and culture. We ate at a restaurant called Alfergo. Let me begin, this is nothing like american style pizza. This was delicious and an art. I ate at this same restaurant about three more times. Just delicious. 

We were introduced to the local wine of this region, which is Prosecco. Now not being much of a wine drinker, I expected to not like it. But it’s to be said that this bubbly wine is delicious and should be tasted by everyone. If you are someone who does not like wine, this would be a good start for you. So fantastic. Each one of us had some to drink and experience Italy. 

This is only the first blog on Italy, many more to come. 

Love ya lots

“J”

This was the view from my room <3

Worst Blogger Ever

Worst blogger award goes to this one I suppose. I have been so busy and consumed with school and a job that I haven’t had time to sit at a computer and type out what I needed too. 

No I will not be stopping blogging, I love writing out my feelings even if it is only read by people I know but sometimes it’s good just to voice how you feel.

Things that I need to catch everyone up on:

#1. I went to Italy, I studied there for about a month. There will be many blog posts of this because let me tell you, it was something else. To visit somewhere is a joy, to live in a community and become a part of it, is a completely different feeling. More to come I swear on this one. 

#2. I am currently in Toronto, Ontario. On to the next and final trip of this year. I am sneakily here to see a concert which should make a 21 year old feel shame but for me, it gives me great pleasure. I am going to see One Direction. The best part is that I know I will not be the only “older” fan at this concert. Loving One Direction is not a crime, I mean come on, they are basically my age.

#3. I am finishing up my last paper of this semester as we speak. I will be heading into my final year at university finishing this degree. Then I have the joy of doing graduate school, we will see. Many new adventures to come this year and I’ve never been more excited to actually see what happens

#4. I am going to keep this blog as a lifestyle blog, I will still post things in fashion but I think that I want to have a space in which I can share everything I love, whether it’s music or a new coffee shop which opened in Downtown, St. John’s, I want the ability to create whatever I want. I hope you enjoy.

There will be plenty blogs from while I was travelling, They will be coming in the next weeks. 

Love ya lots

“J”

Semester is over

School is over, I have finished this semester which is awesome. I am feeling incredibly happy about this semester being over. I am feeling a little over worked, as a student people assume that I have free time. I do not have free time. If i do have free time, it’s spent sleeping. The other “free time” is spent studying or working. Because as a student, shocker I have bills. So, this semester being over, is a weight off my shoulders. My grades will be posted soon and then by that time I’m going to be days away from leaving for Italy. I can not wait to go, it is going to be an experience of a lifetime. Living there with 19 other students, it’s going to be a blast. Every good adjective to describe something, this experience will be. I will miss my family and friends but that doesn’t mean this won’t be amazing. 

Since I started school I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do and what to be, and I realize now that I have figured it out, with the patience of friends and family, I have found a degree that I would love to have. With their continued support I can achieve it within th next year and a half. This feeling is amazing. I am so thankful to have finally figured it out. 

I’m trying to think of ways to show my experience, so I think I will post as many photos as I can, and I might think of another way to show. Because my parents always say that I never share with them my experience while I’m away so, I’m thinking of ways to show them while I’m there. If you have any suggestions that would be helpful! 

Thanks so much

J

Take time to Yourself

Something I have learned lately is that you need time, time to clear your mind, time to stop stressing of the things that are out of your control, time to take a break. This weekend I was given that opportunity. With no plans in sight besides a cup of tea and a new show to watch, meant that this weekend could be relaxing and rejuvenating. For the remainder of this semester will be jam-packed with work and school, I took this weekend to do nothing. Absolutely nothing, not getting out of my pj’s and only really eating horrible foods for myself.

Now most would think that wouldn’t you on a free weekend want to spend it with people that you love and experience life, yes that is nice but sometimes don’t you want to cuddle up in a blanket and watch shows. Since I had no school work I needed to complete that’s exactly what I did. I had a lie in on Saturday and Sunday, had tea in the morning, went for a walk both days just to be out in the sun.

I can honestly say that it feels like I got to have a holiday, a break from everything. I feel recharged and ready to go with what will be a very busy next couple of months for me. So let’s keep the positivity high and be super excited for what is to come.

NEWSSS!!

NEWS!!

So, as before I was saying I might have some news. Well the news is…

I’m going to study abroad. I’m going to be studying in Italy for a month in May. This opportunity is amazing. I can not even begin to describe how excited I am! I will be taking 3 courses while there but I am sure to take tons of photos while I’m there. I can’t believe that I get to do this. It wasn’t confirmed that I was going until early February but I still had a couple loose ends which had to be dealt with. I know that not many people get this sort of opportunity and I wouldn’t be able to do this without the help of my parents but I will not take it for granted. 

After I finish school, I will be travelling to London, just to do some sightseeing and since it is my favorite city in the world. I’ve already been but I would like to have some suggestions on where to go and what to see. 

I hope you can tell how excited I am about this experience. I can not wait!!! More to come about it soon!!

busy, busy, busy...

School, school, school, work, work, work, study, study, study, you see how my life has been going. Since I started this semester I feel as though I have been swamped with just work and guess what it’s only the 3rd week of the semester and there is so much more to come. 

Now, one thing I would like to discuss is what I want from this blog and what I would like to achieve. So, I started this blog in hopes that I would be able to figure out what I want to do in school and in life. The more I have started to follow more blogs and the people who run them, the more I love this community. I have figured out what I want to do in school or well I have for now and I am quite happy with the decision. I have decided on a Communication degree with a minor in english. I hopefully will be finished this degree in one year, hopefully, if all goes well and I put on my big girl pants and get my shit together. 

So for this blog since I have figured it out, I wanted to tailor it more towards a lifestyle and fashion blog. Mind you I would also like to update this blog more often then I do now which means that I will have to create posts beforehand and not last minute like I do now. But I really do love writing for this blog, I feel as though it gives me somewhere to spew my random thoughts. So for this year I want to have outfit posts and photos from my life and more stories. That is what I want.

In 2 weeks give or take I will be leaving my beautiful home to go to Edmonton with my mother to visit my brother, while I’m there I will try and get some beautiful photos. We will see! Besides just that as everyone knows there is the West Edmonton Mall, which I will be doing some damage in. I have not bought clothes in months and I can not wait to buy some. All the spring lines are coming out and I’m just to excited to see what will be trending this spring and summer!

Now on another note, I may have a very exciting announcement coming in February, I will have to keep you posted on it! But very exciting for me, I’ll know more soon and when I do, you will too! 

Sorry for being such a bad blogger, I really need to get my stuff together! Oh well I’m only young!

Thanks 

J

Blackout 2014

Cold. Cold. Freezing. Cold. To everyone who lives in the Northern Hemisphere you might get to know what cold is. But to me cold isn’t just a mild low digit number in Celsius, cold to me is when you are waiting for your bus at your local bus stop and it’s 7 am and it’s -24 degrees celsius. I don’t know if you can understand how cold this is but well mind you it is very, very cold. So cold in fact that I could not feel my legs while waiting for the bus to come. I live in a very cold place during the winter, where some people think that having a little snow is troubling. How about you imagine that you have so much snow the snowbanks are taller then you could ever imagine to be.

At the same time I do really love Newfoundland, it’s a very nice place filled with lovely and friendly people but damn is it cold during the winter. This weekend a massive storm hit Newfoundland, where it sent this province into a frenzy. We had rolling blackouts since thursday, and on Saturday my home lost it’s power for a whooping 15 hours in total. With the weather being as cold and as stormy as it was the heat in our house was dissipating quickly. Obviously we survived this little set back or I wouldn’t be able to write to on a laptop but you see it’s not something that was fun. But thankfully because of everyone’s efforts been able to pull through. The power plant workers are trying to get everything back together through our power systems. We had 190,000 “clients” without power on Saturday, thankfully there are only 30,000 homes which are without power now.

But what I would like to say is the kindness of the people, everyone has come together and helped out, there were some businesses open yesterday in order to aid in getting supplies such as candles, lighters, batteries, anything that could help you in these situations. Schools have been postponed after the christmas break. We would have started today Monday but they did not want the power grid to surge again so they decided it’s best to keep everyone safe and not in school.

I’m thankful for the people who are working so hard to get us power and heat, without them a lot of us would still be in darkness. Thank you to every person who has helped a neighbour or family member when necessary. I am so thankful to live in the province. 

Thanks

J