sneak peak of what's to come this new year with "The City"

just recently, a few of us musicians have been mulling over, thinking, writing and expressing our desire to get music out there and to serve God even more. we recorded a first take of one of our most recently completed songs this past weekend. take a listen, like it, and share it for all to hear! every view is greatly appreciated and most of all, all of the glory goes to God.

Happiness Day #20

Gap came out with plaid shirts for women. FINALLY. Granted, there are only four patterns and I only like two of them but it was a great fit, good fabric and good plaid patterns. AND it came to about the same price as an H&M plaid shirt, only with better quality and I could get it from my store. If you want to check them out, just click here.

I also got some of the MAXIMUMHEAT tights that we get around this time of the year. I'm not a fan of buying clothes or clothing that come in packages (e.g.: tights, pajamas, socks) but I thought I'd give it a try and so far, so good.

I know I've been talking about work a lot lately because I've picked up just a few shifts (just a few...I don't even work half as often as I did during first year) and it's pretty much all that's exciting in my life right now. That and it's a two-day reading week for UofT and I didn't get any "reading" done.

Okay, WHAT?!

How did it suddenly get to Sunday night from Wednesday night...I'm sorry blogger world but I too have failed the blog challenge. But it doesn't mean that I won't continue to do it. I suppose I can start up where I left, which would be Day 19!

I'm happy for well-folded clothes and working a shift where I didn't have to interact with a lot of customers and got to clean the store.

Happiness #18

My mom bought me this Ikea blanket. Yes, it's made our of polyester. And yes, it's baby blue, sort of matches my wall but doesn't at the same time (my walls are light blue, but not baby blue). But it was such a thoughtful gesture, it just made me smile.

Happiness #17

People who stick around no matter how stupid, clumsy or ridiculous you are make me happy. No matter the arguments, no matter the fights, no matter the sighs of frustration or of disappointment -- they're still around.

Loyalty is definitely something huge but also really small that goes a long way.

Happiness #16

I'm going to pretend like it's still Halloween and not almost 1 AM.

Instead of things that I'm happy for (biggest thing today, finally done all my midterms), I'm going to write down a list of things I've always wanted to do or learn how to do or now think about doing...(I know, there are a lot of...different ways of wording it). Just off the top of my head:

• paint a room 
• have a "free" wall (to write/paint on)
• drive stick/manual
• how to play all the other instruments of a band 
• knit 
• use a sewing (thanks Jing!) machine
• use a DSLR (or learn more about it) 
• record music

i was starting to get into thinking mode so i thought it'd be best to stop there. i can't quite process things well after midnight so...my sentences get a little funny. sounding. goodnight! 

CITYouth // One Touch

click it! like it! share it! -- a taste of this summer's CITYouth conference and the videos to come!

PS: there's nothing i love doing more than playing with my worship team mates on the weekend and spending time together. i think i'll make that what i'm happy for today, and just overall on weekends.

Happiness #14

Things to be happy for today: good company & worship

PS: going to go before this post gets negative. my wisdom tooth's gum is currently winning.

Happiness #13

I had a really bad week.

That's all I'm really going to say about it and so, I wasn't at all motivated nor did I even have anything to post last night. I should have and of course could have tried harder to find something, but it just wasn't working, so I skipped yesterday. It so happens as I opened the page to start writing this post, that yesterday was also Day #13 -- not that I believe in those superstitious ideas (my dad was born on the 13th for example and I'm pretty happy about his date of birth), but just for the heck of it I wanted to throw it out there.

What made me happy today or rather, specifically tonight:

Even through the last-minute-ness of Kids' Night and also the lack of response from the kids during the singing (compared to the last three), when we sang "Jesus In My Life" and the rap part came up, there was such a huge response. The kids screamed and understood that they were asked to scream. They sang back the Wo-ahs and I even caught some girls dancing in their seats.

Babies, children...kids make me happy. I hope I become a good mom some day.

PS: I made my first baby mistake today and when I say baby mistake, I mean while I was holding one -- I yelled "ATTENTION" really loudly (my voice can get really loud...) when they were starting dinner...while holding a not-yet-one-year-old baby. Needless to say, it was embarrassing and the baby started crying. Luckily, the baby knew who I was and calmed down soon enough but not a great move.

sterlingstyle: 33 Ways To Stay Creative

sterlingstyle: 33 Ways To Stay Creative: I've been trying to do many of the things on this list to reinvigorate my creativity. I do a lot of 9 and 30. I need to work on the others....

Happiness #12

In the midst of nodding off, zoning in and out, scribbling down illegible answers to questions about statistics and being in a white hot chocolate coma, I ended up writing, "somethingsomethingstatssomething...like the scents of...somethingsomething, just love it. Oh, Toronto!"

I found it right as I snapped out of my reverie and drowsiness, flipping through the pages to make sure that I had at least written something down for every question, if not answered. It let me have a good laugh at myself, after a second most terrible day ever that I can remember so far school-wise.

But life is still good.

sometimes

i wish that time could just stop. stop long enough for me to...

catch up on my hours and hours of sleep,

take pictures and jot down journal entries of memories that just need to be recorded and remembered,

get to know my dslr more since i've abandoned it since its adoption in summer,

not worry about the next midterm or the next assignment, or the readings that i haven't done yet

gather up my thoughts and just process them so they wouldn't be jumped in my mind,

pray, talk to Him, tell Him everything

take a walk, bundled up in fall clothing, breathing in the crisp, autumn air, soaking in the warmth of the sun

have dinner with my family

just have fun with my parents, talk to them

sleep

catch up in all of my courses

work and earn more money so i could spend more ...sometimes,

read the books i've wanted to read again this summer

write something, like my novel three years ago

have coffee with a friend and just laugh over silly things

hang out with people i don't get to see very often



... my eyes are fighting against me from last week and the beginning of this week. it's a fight that i know will hurt to keep defending but i have to, or else school is going to kill me. metaphorically.

Happiness #11

I just had something that I wanted to write down...


OH! Okay, this is definitely a materialistic thing but I'm happy that I've started to appreciate feminine things. I grew up as a tomboy, even though I'm really cute and girly in my baby pictures, dressed up in different outfits (boy, did I have the best clothes too!). I like sweatpants, and baggy t-shirts. I got into rap and hip hop in junior high, and I'll leave the rest of that story for some other time.


But somewhere in the midst of high school, I started getting a handle of fashion and style and shopping and clothes and oh, the mysteries of the materialistic world. Point is and the reason for me being happy about that part of me is specifically because I'm happy that I've started to appreciate perfumes and also just finally figuring out what scents I like and what scents I don't like. 


For those who are interested, the two perfumes that I currently own are from Banana Republic (reppin' the company, haha...even though I work for Gap, but they're all under the same big name): 

"Republic of Women"

"Wildbloom"

Honestly I'm not too sure why I like having images so much in my recent posts (this is just the second though) but I think there's something about being able to see things. I'm a visual learner so it probably has a huge affect. 

I remembered this and got inspired to write about perfume when I was walking out of the mall today (twice at different ones) and was handed a perfume card with Calvin Klein's new scent "Forbidden Euphoria" -- which smelled really sweet, but what I liked about it was the tones of citrus coming through. For those who really get to know me, I'm a fan of anything citrus-y, particularly orange but it has to be authentically...orange-like. What drew me to BR's "Wildbloom" was exactly the freshness of the scent and the hints of citrus. Oh, and when I mean citrus, I mean in particular orange, and then there's lemon, and mangos...or no, that last one isn't included. I guess the orange/yellow fruits? I also like how apples smell, which brings me to my list of to-get perfumes...haha. Please bear with my...shallow side. Or not so much shallow but materialistic would be the right word. 

Calvin Klein's "Forbidden Euphoria"

Description: "Forbidden Euphoria is presented as a fragrance for younger audience and dedicated to independent women. The composition is sexy, modern and livelier than the classic, based on the famous orchid tiger note, which is now sweetened by fruity juices.

The top notes will tempt us with iced raspberry, tangerine juices and delicate peach blossom of fruity flowery essences. The heart reveals amazing floral aromas of Tiger orchids, pink peony and jasmine flowers, while the base beats to the cadence of sensual musk, cashmere wood and patchouli."

Marc Jacobs' "Daisy"
I've actually never smelled this one myself but it seems to be a very all-around scent that keeps popping up so I'm putting it on the list 

Description: "Enter the world of Daisy: fresh and feminine, with a playful innocence. At the heart of Daisy is a floral with vintage edge: violet. Sophisticated, with a touch of whimsy, violet captures the eclectic, vintage flavor of Marc Jacobs' feminine, edgy designs. Always elegant, always enchanting - but not too serious - Daisy is a sparkling floral bouquet, spirited and fresh, wrapped in comfort and warmth."

DKNY's "Golden Delicious," "Be Delicious," "Be Delicious Fresh Blossom," and "Red Be Delicious":
I've always loved the shape of these fragrances (they look like apples!) and the scent of the first one, their newest one, is apparently really popular so looking forward to getting a whiff of that.

Description 1: "DKNY's Golden Delicious celebrates luxury and splendor with its rich and accentuated aromas of juicy golden apple, accompanied by orange blossom and Mirabelle plum."

Description 2: "A refreshing scent in an iconic apple-shaped bottle tempts you to take a bite out of life. A sophisticated blend of apples, exotic flowers and woods creates a fresh, juicy scent that can only be called delicious."

Description 3: "A blend of sparkling grapefruit, cassis, and sunkissed apricot meets a blooming floral heart of muguet and rose wrapped in luminous jasmine. Fresh, vibrant, and feminine."

Description 4: "This delicious scent blends a glittering champagne accord with exotic lychee, while red raspberry flirtatiously mingles with crisp apple. A sensual blend of vanilla bean and amber cap off this sultry experience."

Burberry's "Body"
This one gets to go last because the first time I actually smelled it, it reminded me of...very husky, pungent European women perfume smell. But then they were handing out samples downtown some time ago and it smelled really good. So I got the chance to spray some on, on the way out of the mall, and after letting it air out, it's a very...deep smell. I think it'll take some getting used to but am I glad that it didn't smell husky-like anymore! 

Description: "Body Burberry is a luxury chypre - fruity composition that begins with notes of fresh green absinthe, peach and freesia. Roses and iris are in the heart, leaning on the base of sandalwood, cashmerean, musk, amber and vanilla."

The Body Shop's "Dreams Unlimited."

Okay, so I lied. I had JUST remembered this one right when I was done putting the period in on the last sentence. I've been eyeing this one since I overheard a sales rep talk about it to a customer and when I got a sample, I pretty much fell for it. It's a more prominent floral version of BR's "Wildbloom" and perfect for just going out for a day. 

Description: "This exhilarating fragrance features notes of citrus, green chilli, white flowers and cedarwood. It has been created exclusively for The Body Shop by two of the world's leading perfumers."

------

#endrambling. I just don't want to study. 

Happiness #10

I thought I'd do myself a favour and post what made me happy today earlier during the day. If you haven't already noticed, I am a big fan of run-on sentences and also sentences that aren't structurally the best, which incidentally, doesn't help me a lot with my Syntax class (a branch of Linguistics that studies the structure of sentences).

Onto the point! I'm happy that I had taken the time this morning (it really just took me a couple of minutes) to pack a lunch today. Mondays and Wednesdays are the worst for my money spending because I'm on campus from morning to night, which means that I usually need a lunch, some coffee and also a dinner. By bringing a lunch (cauliflower and eggs with some rice, one of my favourite dishes that my mom cooks, plus some tabasco sauce), I saved myself from easily spending somewhere around $10 and under if I got lucky. It makes me really happy when I realize that I saved myself from spending money. For those who know me really well, I'm not exactly the cheap spender or...I guess you could say that I just like shopping but not so much spending money on myself.

Wait, that last part didn't make sense. Anyway...

Hope your Mondays are going well! My morning was quite terrible but I think I can save the depressing story of a extremely slow subway and hard time getting out of bed for another time. aka never.

Happiness #9

I'm so tired. And for that, I am very, very happy that I will be going to sleep soon and that I had a very good nap this afternoon (though I woke up and still felt really tired -- is my body trying to tell me something?)

I'm also happy for good criticism. And from unknown and ridiculous reason, I keep writing as if it's things that I am thankful for, and not really happy about. But I guess you could say that it just makes me happy when people you know are open to critique and also open for suggesting criticism. It helps better you and it helps do things that you may have not thought were okay. So for the songs this morning on Sunday, I was told that I should choose keys that I could sing in and that were comfortable for me. Which, in one way, is kind of selfish but in a musical ...point of view, if the leading vocalist is singing a song that isn't comfortably in their voice range, wouldn't it be distracting and also not good at facilitating worship for the congregation?

While school may not be something for me to be happy about, life and good times with people is something to be happy about.

Happiness #8

So this is now on track, for Saturday, which will become Sunday in two minutes starting now. By the time I finish this, Sunday will have already started.


One minute.


Things that made me super happy today: worship and praising God & getting good sales.


I put it in that order because anything that has to do with leading worship and music and just all of that always goes first. I love it. And though you may not completely understand the real mentality or misinterpret it, I always say that if it were possible, I would do it for a living or my career or just for life. But alas, this world doesn't allow that easily. Tonight at my youth group was just really special and I think there are a couple of things that just did it so well for me tonight:

• Having a really productive and good practice -- we had a little nicks here and there but there was communication, understanding and time well spent
• The most random combination of kinds of food for dinner but probably the best dinner too -- fish and chips, chicken, rice, this BBQ'd meat, pork dumplings, etc.
• Praying together as a group -- I've grown to really love praying with other people; it's just crazy encouraging and helps get things off shoulders
• A great worship time -- I think that the flow went well tonight from song to song and it was just really refreshing to come back together with the youth after not being together for three weeks. 

Now...getting good sales. I'm not going to give away any numerical values but I will say that on my receipt, I had saved more than I had spent, which really surprised me. A lot of the things that I got were really practical and also final sale but I don't think twice about any of them. Yet. It was a 50% off sale items at Gap today (one of my part-time jobs) and I had made sure to put in some time this morning to stop by and get some stuff. 

And since I'm bored and I like looking at clothes online too (it's a terrible habit of mine...shopping, I mean), here are a few pictures of what I ended up getting:

Ribbed shawl-collar sweater in heather gray

Rayon racerback tank (i actually do have this intense orange colour already) in black (x2)

Knit inset skinny cargo pants in fatigue green (these i can think about...but i've always wanted a pair of green-ish cargo pants; just one of those things)

Ribbon-waist printed skirt in black print

Tie-lapel blazer in river clay

1969 belted denim blazer in light caicos

...there goes my uh. i think we call it narcissism? anyway, at least now all you sort-of noninexistant readers know. ...oh dear. that may not be good. haha. shameless advertising. i considered this my fall shopping spree. AND it was a super great sale. 

talking done. i will be zipping my mouth closed now.

----

ps: i'm editing the time so it seems like i wrote this on saturday, which i did...when i started writing it but it's just so the day numbers of this challenge don't get confused with the actual days. 

Happiness #7

As you can probably see...I've slacked off so I'm just going to write two separate posts. This one's for Friday (I'm writing it on a Saturday, but...have changed the date/time of the post).

Things that made me happy: a nice conversation with a stranger

When did the world get so cold that talking to each other, just small talk, became strange or too weird to do? Right after I caught my train at Sheppard station heading south to volunteering, I snagged the standing spot by the doors and as I was doing that, I noticed the man who was standing on the other side of the doors look over at me and follow my actions. I had a sneaking suspicion that he was looking at my food (Thai Express) but I shrugged it off. As I was standing there, I then noticed he looked a couple of more times. He wasn't scary looking, though I have to admit I hadn't taken a look at that point yet. Just really tall, wearing a trench coat or something. Finally he looked over again, I could tell this time he was definitely looking at my food (Pad Thai) and finally spoke: "That one's my favourite."

And that was the start of a 10-ish line conversation. He even pulled out the Halloween decorations he had gotten from the dollar store for his nephew (or his kid?).

That totally my morning. That and I worked a shift in the morning that since I haven't been working that often, every time that I go in, I find that I enjoy it more and have a better time. AND I had a great conversation with one of my coworkers, who recently started switching courses to go into Speech Therapy later too! After not working at my store for the entire summer (due to a full-time job position I got), I felt like I had gotten out of the loop with all of my coworkers so it was good to ease back in.

Another great one was the fact that I was shopping around and looking at stuff to buy when my manager told me that tomorrow (or now, today) was going to be 50% off sale items. Can I say booyeah? I suppose I'll have to save that part for the next post, which I will write immediately ... aka now.

Happiness #toolazytocheck

I'm in bed, ready to go to sleep so I will keep this very short:

Being done with these three days makes me very happy. So much that I took the night off from studying for my next two weeks of midterm madness.

Happiness Day #5

I did something good today! Or well it was a good deed and as they say it does make you feel good. But one thing I'd like to stress before I go on is that doing good for others just with the intention of feeling better about yourself isn't enough. In fact, it's pretty temporary and fades off in time. But when you do good for people, and remember that these aren't just people who are homeless and broke or who pretend to be BUT they are children of God, that changes everything. God loves these broken down, wearied, dirty, smelly, shameless people; every single one of them. That was what motivated me to do what I'm about to write.

It could have been that I had written two midterms today and felt pretty good about how I did. I don't think it would have been because I had gone to bed at 5 in the morning and woken up 5 hours later (thus also skipping my morning class to study some more). But the point is...something inside me was telling me something. This happened just as I crossed College street to get to the Tim Hortons on the other side.  I was going to congratulate myself  and pre-celebrate with a French Vanilla, which is sitting in front of me at this moment in my subway seat. Right as I crossed over and lifted my head to make sure I was heading in the right direction, I noticed the old, bearded man squatting right beside the stairs leading down to Tim Hortons. He held a large coffee cup to collect change and, though I only noticed later, smoking the last bit of his cigarette.

That something that I had mentioned earlier? That was when it poked me. Mentally, inwardly, spiritually - however you want to call it. I stood in line then, suddenly thinking about what would be the most ideal thing to get this man. Was he hungry? Was he thirsty? Should I just get him a regular coffee or would that. E a bad choice since coffee's a diuretic and would only make him more thirsty? What about a donut? Did they have any Honey ones left? My head was brimming excitedly about my soon-to-be good deed and what comforted me was that it wasn't "me" caring about him but God's love speaking to me. About this homeless guy, smoking a cigarette, squatting outside like it was just the thing he wanted to do.

I ended up doing what seemed most simple and easiest at that time - I ordered a box of 10 timbits. Mixed. My drink in hand and the box in the other, i made my way up the stairs and towards his spot. There was too little time for my mind to get all excited again about how I was going to proceed so the rest of the story went a little something like this:

- Here you go!
- Oh! *coughing and immediatelysnuffinghiscigarettebutt* Dear! *still coughing* Thank you!
- Alright, take care. You have a good night!

I give him a wide smile, turn and walk down the stairs.

I guess you could say that I wished that I had spoken to him longer or maybe at least introduced myself and gotten his name. Then I could carry the conversation and tell him that God had nudged me to get those timbits. Bu I didn't, and in a strange way, I'm happy that I didn't. It was a step that I am so happy that I took. A risk to reach out to one person in need because I followed His leading. When you follow His lead, you can be sure that he won't lead you astray.

What follows after this may be a little unfortunate. As I got around the corner of the stairs, I saw yet another man at the end of the hallway. He was holding a sign, on which he had written words that I don remember (but along the similar idea of needs). I remember waking towards him, still feeling good about my deed, with my hot drink in hand and my spirit just falling because I wasn't able to help him as well. That and also I could have easily offered to give him my French Vanilla but that I didn't.

All in all, there are people out there who have the guts after losing whatever they'd lost to sit at corners and ask for change. I admit I look past them almost all of the time (if not all). We can have hearts to give and the willing spirits but the reality of this world is that there are A LOT of people in need. It's hard to care for each one. One of my prayers tonight would be for those resting in the TTC hallways and corners of downtown, that they would find rest in Jesus one day. I hope the man with the timbits could be encouraged by his tiny box. And even if he isn't, I know that I did my part.

Upside: God's pretty cool. I had two midterms today that I feel pretty good about (that's seriously a first do I'm really glad, as sad as that is) and now ...


Edit: I'm now at home so no longer on the subway


... I need to focus again and start my essay. Wish me luck! 

Happiness Day #4

I will quote John in saying, "I'll need to keep this short and sweet" because I really should study. 


I am happy that I have people to turn to who don't find my whining/complaining-about-midterms and not-wanting-to-study annoying. You don't get much better than that. I'm currently trying to study for my music midterm, and then I will try to start an outline for my essay. Then after my midterm tomorrow will be the studying for my linguistics midterm. 


I'm also happy for mojito (mint) tea that's actually been keeping me awake (or maybe it's all in my head) and for my newly adopted dining room table-turned-study room for me.