Happy Canada Day!!!

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians! 

Things I've been Loving!

1. This is the cutest story EVER. It's like a real life fairy tale.

2. This is the most hilarious video ever! And sooooo true!

3. Is it wrong to like this so much?

4. I laughed so hard after seing this!

5. I NEED to see this because, um, Emma Watson!

6. OMG! These are adorable! I don't think I'd be able to eat them for fear of destroying the cuteness.

7. If you haven't read this book, you should. ASAP.

8. This  FREE Double Crossed pdf I was so happy to find!

9. These are so cool!

10. This intense arm workout! I plan on doing it again tonight!

TTYL :)

Dare

36 Confessions

1. You may be expecting me to explain my long absence by saying I've been "super busy", but the truth is, I haven't been.

2. Over the past few weeks, I've actually written many blog posts... and then deemed them unworthy to share with you and deleted them.

3. Okay, I guess you could say I have writers block.

4. I hate my job.

5. I love money.

6. This causes a minor conundrum.

7. I have recently discovered (okay, recently admitted) that I have a problem with getting close to people. I let them in enough to think that they know me, but before they can divulge in the secrets of soul, BOOM! Walls go up, and I push them away.

8. This will ultimately lead to me living alone, an old maid with 27 cats to keep me company.

9. This fact makes me more upset than I will let on.

10. I used to dream in fairytale endings.

11. I guess I already have the damsel in distress part down.

12. Where's a knight in shining armour when you need one?

13. And while I've always been a feminist and believed that a woman shouldn't depend on a man to rescue her (I even wrote a poem on it a couple years ago), the truth is I really want someone to save me.

14. And I'm going to need a lot of it. Saving, I mean.

15. Maybe I'll share that poem with you someday.

16. I have an issue with food.

17. I like to be in complete control of what I consume, planning everything out days in advance.

18. But I spiral into a depressive state if I loose will power and eat something unhealthy or just eat too much.

19. This is an issue because I do not have the greatest will power. And because ice cream is my favourite food in the whole world.

20. My mom thinks I'm on the verge of an eating disorder.

21. This is not true.

22. I think.

23. You know how when you are feeling sad about your appearance you are supposed to pick out the things you like about yourself to make you feel better? I can't find anything I like.

24. This depresses me.

25. Books are my best friends.

26. This also depresses me.

27. I have an issue with this guy at work and I don't know what to do about it.

28. I love coffee.

29. I cried during a Glee episode and I'm not embarrassed to admit it.

30. I got Vine and then realized I don't have a life and therefore do not do anything that I can post a video about.

31. On the topic of smart phone apps, Snap Chat is really stupid.

32. Reorganizing my bookshelf has been the highlight of my week.

33. I got in a fight with my dad last night.

34. I feel pretty bad about it.

35. I told myself I was going to go to the gym tonight, but I probably wont.

36. This list has turned out way more depressing than I intended...

Choosing Sides

My friend and I have this ongoing thing where we never like the same love interest in a book. I was Team Gale, she was Team Peeta. I was Team Edward, she was Team Jacob (DISCLAIMER: This was before the movie came out because Taylor Lautner is hot and Robert Pattinson is... well, not!). She shipped Stelena and I shipped Delena. In Enna Burning by Shannon Hale I even fell for Sileph but she knew all along that (spoiler alert!) he was evil.

Once, just once, we agreed on the same character. That was in the Host, and just to be clear, we both loved Ian (duh).

But why are love triangles so popular?  

I get that they create conflict but sometimes I feel like they take over too much of the plot (cough! Twilight). And ultimately, it just sucks when the main character chooses the wrong love interest you weren't rooting for. And right there the author looses half of their fan base!

There are usually five possible situations:

1. You like the 'right' guy. Congratulations! You fell for the same guy the author had in mind the entire time. Unfortunately, you were forced to put up with the main character's relentless debating and cringe through 'romantic' scenes with the other guy. But in the end it wont matter because you will be happy... until the author decides to make the love doves terminally insane, switch point of views, or make a movie out of it and cast only one good looking actor. 

Some examples of books where I experienced this situation are Twilight, the Host, and Vampire Academy.

2. You like the 'wrong' guy (and you didn't see it coming). Sucks to be you because now you have to put up with tons of romance between the main character and the guy you don't like. And what happens to your guy once he's been rejected? You'll never find out. If you're lucky, there will be some offhand comment mentioning he ended up in district three, he's finishing his education at Stanford, or he's off "finding himself" somewhere. Might as well put the book down now and save yourself boat loads of frustration. 

A (huge) example of where this happened to me was while reading the Hunger Games.

3. You like the wrong guy, but you see it coming. By this I don't mean that you're friend already spoiled the ending for you or you saw the movie before reading the book. I mean, you're rooting for the guy who's practically the antagonist. Yikes, I know. 

This happened to me with Shatter Me. I just think Warner and Juliette bring out the best in each other. They need each other. Of course, the series hasn't ended yet so there's still a chance. But I'm like 99.9% convinced she will end up with Adam.

3. The author jerks you in every direction. You go from liking one guy, then he does something stupid and you like the other guy, but then the this guy leaves the picture and you go back to liking the first guy, and just when you think she'll finally settle down, BAM the other guy reenters and steals the main character's heart right back. What just happened? I'm confused...

Unearthly did this to me big time! At first I liked Christian then Tucker then Christian again, and then Tucker again and GAH! I couldn't even remember who I was rooting for by the end of it, I was just happy she picked someone and stuck with it! 

4. You like a guy who's not even in the running. Awkward. 

This happened to me in Legacy. London was just so amazing and it was that far of a stretch to imagine him and Alera ending up together.

5. You don't even like the main character. Um, Twilight. Just saying...

So that's why I don't really like love triangles. They cause more frustration than good and when done incorrectly, they can completely overpower the plot. And yes, by saying that I am implying there is correct way to pull off a love triangle. Take Hourglass by Myra McEntire or Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead for example. Both of the authors managed to create some tension in the form of a love triangle, while not letting it take over the entire storyline. They also didn't conveniently brush off the other love interest. In fact, Myra McEntire switched to Keith's POV for the second book and gave him his own love interest. And Richelle Mead even put Adrian in her spin off series, Bloodlines, which is about Sydney Sage (AH! I ship Adrian and Sydney so hard!). Although I admit to being sceptical at first, I found it to be an excellent tactic for everyone because now people who liked Adrian/Keith get more of them and people who didn't like them at first (i.e. me) get to see them grow and develop as characters and learn to love them too.

Here's a list of some more of the love interests I liked for popular books:

Twilight - Edward 

Hunger Games - Gale

The Host - Ian

Delirium - Alex

Throne of Glass - Dorian

Starcrossed - Lucas

Shatter Me - Warner

The Selection - Maxon

Hourglass - Michael

Vampire Academy - Dimitri

Unearthly - Tucker

Airhead - Christopher

Heist Society - Hale

The Tiger Saga - Kishan

The Diviners - Sam

Firelight - Will

Legacy - London

Clarity - Gabriel

The Steampunk Chronicles - Griffin

Fire - Brigan

Die For Me - Vincent

Bloodlines - Adrian

Mortal Instruments - Jace

The Infernal Devices - Will

And I will forever be:

- Dare ;)

On My Life Right Now

Hullo darlings! :)

I thought you all deserved an update on my wonderfully fabulous life, cause, you know, you care.

And I love you for it! <3

And I know I've so overused the whole list thing, buuuuuuut I'm going to do it again anyways because I like lists and I don't care! :)

1. Oh gosh, now I don't know where to start! Ok, how about with where a spend a majority of my time: WORK. My bosses are super chill and really awesome and I like my job... usually. Occasionally a co-worker may spill blue pool cleaner in my hair, I now hate the song Wagon Wheel because it plays twenty times a day on the station we listen too, and often sometimes the customers are downright rude and obnoxious (No, it's not my fault that vinyl in the repair kit is clear not blue so please don't yell at me at me. No, I cannot change the price of chlorine for you. And I got a C- in chemistry so please don't argue with me about pH and alkalinity because I DON'T KNOW). But all in all, it's a good job with good hours meaning good $$. (And there are some nice customers too!)

2. On another work related topic: My boss's feelings towards me confuse me. Well, just one. The BIG boss. Like, the guy who owns the place. Here's my deal: people like me. They just do. I am friendly, and therefore people I meet generally like me... until proven otherwise. I am not used to people not liking me (unless I don't like them back) and it bother's me to no end! What did I do to make them not like me and how can I fix it so they do like me!? There are two girls and they like me, one middle man, and he is indifferent towards me (which still bother's me but whatever). But the big boss sometimes seems like he likes me and sometimes he doesn't. So how am I supposed to know if I should keep doing what I'm doing or if I need to change to be more ... likable? Maybe I should bake cupcakes or something so he likes me... do I have a problem? Okay don't answer that.

3. This is another work(ish) topic so bear with me. The big boss is really good looking. And he's only in his twenties so don't look at me like that! I'm not creepy. He's got a cute, boy-ish face, but he is fit, muscular but not like steroids-buff, and really tan. He wears really nice jeans though, that fit perfectly (or not so perfectly, I guess, depending on how you look at it) ... which could also mean he's gay. His eyes though, are his best feature. They are like liquid pools of amber and I want them ! Okay, maybe I'm a little bit creepy...

4. I got a gym membership! Yay! I know I said I wasn't going to because they are pretty expensive but then my friend brought me in for a free trial and I loved it so much I stayed! Now's I'm going to bring some more of my friends to the gym and we can all work out together! :)

5. So one of my friends (the one who brought me to the gym) is trying to reconnect me with a previous friend of mine... but this friend basically stabbed me in the back last summer when I got in a fight with a mutual friend of ours and that mutual friend told all of our other friends that if they wanted to stay friends with her they couldn't be friends with me. And everyone chose her. Even some people who I considered my best friends, like the girl my gym friend is trying to get me to hang out with again. Even though my gym friend doesn't know about last summer at all. Gah! If you could decipher any of that please give me some advice! I don't know what to do and right now, I am going out to a sports bar with  both of them on friday!

6. I have herby decided that my all-time favourite song will henceforth be She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5. No matter what songs I like for a period of time, this is the one I always come back to. Always.

7. But um, on the subject of music, have you heard Demi Lovato's new album? Cause it is AWESOME! I love Demi so much! <3 

8. And this Avril Lavigne song has also been playing non-stop in my head. I love Avril. Always have, always will! 

9. Don't hate me, but I only just watched Rise of the Guardians... BUT OMG I FRIGGING LOVED IT! The Feels! I don't know why, but I have such strong emotions when it comes to the name Jack. Like, if I met someone tall, dark, and handsome with the name Jack, I would marry him. So needless to say, I loved this movie! Gah, so much! I also feel like Jack Frost's character was just so perfectly portrayed! And I have a slight hero complex... oh well!

10. BTW, I passed physics!!!!! <Commence Celebratory Dance Party> 

11. Books are awesome (but you already knew this). I just missed reading so much I can't help but drown myself in literature. But since I work 9am to 6pm practically everyday, I'm usually up late and exhausted in the morning. But books are worth it.

12. For your entertainment, here are some awful photos I found of myself on my computer. I clearly have way too much time on my hands.

And now that those unflattering pictures of me are on the internet for all to see, I think it's time to call it a wrap!

But guaranteed I will think of something else I wanted to tell you tomorrow morning and have to make a new list! 

It's a wonder you all put up with me.

-Dare <3

Macaroni Crowns and Bacon Ice Cream!

Yes, I know Mother's Day was yesterday (in North America... I just found out the UK has a different Mother's Day! What!) but I was too busy yesterday having fun with my mom. I still really wanted to tell you about my day because it was pretty awesome, which was a surprise. A good surprise, don't get me wrong. But a surprise none the less. 

Past mother's days have always been touchy topics for me. For two reasons, 1) my relationship with my mom has always been pretty rocky (working on rectifying that though!) and 2) my parents don't get along, but they are not divorced and still live under the same roof. 

My dad was in Toronto visiting family this past weekend though, which could be the reason my mom was in such a good mood. 

Anyways, my brother and I did the whole breakfast in bed thing, like always, with the homemade cards and small gifts (I got her a travel mug because she has this habit of leaving the house with a mug of coffee and not realizing).

When you were little did you give your mom coupons for presents? Like: I'll wash the dishes, or twenty free hugs. Well I did, and yesterday my mom finally redeemed a rather weird one that said "Redeem for one free handmade Macaroni Crown". 

Unfortunately, we didn't have any macaroni so I had to make due with penne. I think it turned out quite nicely! So did my mom ;)

After church, we went downtown to this little deli called the Piggy Market which had really good sandwiches and, get this, homemade dark chocolate BACON ice cream! It was so good! I mean, obviously. Bacon, chocolate and ice cream are my favourite foods, why wouldn't I expect them to make a delicious combination? We decided that it was going to be our new Mother's Day tradition! Don't you love it when new traditions are born?

We also ended up going out to dinner later at this really good Vietnamese place and on our way there we saw the brightest double rainbow ever! And you could see both ends! It was so pretty and I wish I could show you a picture but they are on my mom's phone which I don't know how to work :P

I'm really glad that my mom and I are getting along better now. I've started to treat her more like a friend and less of a parental figure. We still have our moments, but things are ... better. I hope things get even better as I get older!

Hope you all had a lovely day too! 

Dare :)

Why, Hello There Summer!

Is is just Canada, or did Mother Nature completely skip over spring every where else too? It was like, dreary and snowy and then BAM! 27 degrees (Celsius) outside, sunny, and I've even got a sun tan! Don't get me wrong, I love the summer, but I just feel like spring was neglected. I like spring weather, where you can smell the snow melting and the rejuvenation of nature. It's just so calming and a nice was to ease into the summer heat. But whatever, I'm not complaining about the heat, it's ten million times better than winter.

Since the weather was nice enough, I decided to take my beautiful camera out of hibernation! Yay! It deserved some TLC and since my mother is always badgering me to takes pictures of our barn I took my favourite model (my dog, Wesley) and went to work.

Let me explain the whole barn thing. No, I do not live on a farm, though occasionally we get chickens and sheep and sometimes goats on our property. But that's only because I live next to a farm. The people who own the farm used to own a lot of property including my family's. Our house is close enough to the original owner's that an old barn foundation was left on our property. I call it "the Ruins" and it makes an excellent background for photography.

Here's a collaboration of some of the barn pics I just took and some of the ones I took last summer.

Other than pretending to be a photographer, what have I been doing? Working! Tomorrow is my first day off in like a week and I'm pleasantly surprised to tell you that I actually like my job! :)

I've also been catching up on my reading but unfortunately, I've been quite disappointed with the books I've read so far. Even Daughter of Smoke and Bone which I was really excited to read because I'd heard it was really good. :( 

Here are some songs I've been listening to lately, you should check them out!

These boys are better looking than One Direction, I swear!

I was really happy to find out she could sing and wasn't just another Disney star with a microphone shoved in her hand and heavily auto-tuned.

Demi Lovato will forever hold my heart!

This song is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

Ok, enough photo and music video spam! I will talk to you later and I hope I have something more exciting to talk about! :)