Introducing... The Queenstown Chronicles!

FINALLY!

I'm very excited to announce the launch of my new blog "The Queenstown Chronicles"! The blog will have a student-focused goal of blogging the ups and downs of my mediocre graduate student life that is about to begin in September. I'm also trying out blogging on the Wordpress platform, so cheers to learning new things! Lemon Your Life is still alive as of right now, but I hope to focus of my Queenstown Chronicle adventures for the next 365 days.

See you over at the new blog for now :)

xx
Felicia

Earl Me Grey

Do you ever feel as though you're the only one on your wavelength? Think, radio frequency.
Maybe you say something and no one catches on, so you just keep it to yourself, in your head, the next time you think you want to say something out loud.

Do you ever feel as though you're drinking Earl Grey from a tea bag, while everyone else is caught up with the latest loose leaf tea blend named after a cosy Christmas feeling?

Sometimes, I don't even feel as though I'm from this time. I was born in the wrong century. Yet here I am, using a computer and completely dependant on my phone. So, what's the deal, world?

No matter how hard I try to catch on to current things going on around me, it always feels like I'm a little out of step. At this point, it's very hard to think something is NOT wrong with you. I mean, sure in Grade 4 you coloured a shield representing all the things you liked to do with stick figures (who are we kidding, I drew full portraits) of the people with whom you are closest, and the big letters on the bulletin board said, "I AM UNIQUE." But aside from that, doesn't it seem like there is some common binding force that bonds people, and most times, you're just not feeling the bonding force field?

Sometimes, the definition of being "unique" feels more like an imprisonment to a lonely world, rather than a celebration of differences. Sometimes, it can be hard to remember the elementary school lessons on why we should see the things that make us different as good things, not bad things. Even in my twenties, I forget these lessons some days.

But, I like Earl Grey. It's not that I don't like change, it's that I don't feel I need to keep up with the times, to feel good about myself. I operate on a different frequency, and that's okay. It doesn't make me less, or weird, or even how we often use the word, "different." It just makes me, me.

Maybe I was born in the wrong century, or maybe I'm just me.

Maybe I'm on another wavelength, or maybe I'm just me.

Maybe no one understood what I said, but that's just me.

Maybe I didn't feel the binding forcefield of being unique, or maybe... I'm just me.

Maybe I like Earl Grey, and maybe, that's just me.

Earl me grey.


Felicia 
xo

Heads Up in September!

Some new ideas are a-brewing...

Stay tuned for the launch of a new section in September! I'm still trying to work out the technical details, such as starting a new blog entirely or attaching this new project to Lemon Your Life, which I don't know how to do on Blogger quite yet!

The Donut

We're about halfway through every Canadian's favourite time of the year: Tim Hortons' Roll Up the Rim to Win. 

"What are you at?"
"0-7," she says. "I never win anything."
"Oh man, I'm only at 0-4. I used to win a lot more than this!" 

Well folks, I'm at 1-4 now, since "WIN/GAGNEZ UN BEIGNE/DONUT" is looking at me as I type  this. 

You know, it's funny, I find when we talk about winning in Roll Up the Rim, (because seriously, who wins the $100 gift cards or the car?), we never really mention winning a donut. It got me thinking that I'm actually happier that I won a free donut instead of a free coffee. Although winning a free coffee means another shot at rolling up the rim, the donut is a nice treat. How often do you get a free donut? Not very often. 

So, what's wrong with a different kind of treat? Why would I feel a little disappointed initially that I didn't win a free coffee? Who am I to complain? I still won. 

I think the difference lies in our expectations. We expect to win the coffee and we think there's an extra benefit with another chance to win again. Plus, a coffee lasts longer than a donut (which will disappear in about 35 seconds, but coffee you can drag out a little longer).

So why do I feel more satisfied, after thinking about my empty winning coffee cup, with the donut? 

Maybe it's more satisfying to win the donut. Maybe it's more satisfying to encounter something we don't expect. Maybe, when we drop those expectations and are surprised by the donut, or a situation we don't anticipate, we become more open to enjoying the donut or situation. Maybe when we drop our expectations, we stop overthinking and planning and anticipating the impending second shot at winning. It's more about living in the moment. Eat the donut. Enjoy the donut, without downing the free coffee in a hurry to roll up the rim again. Letting go of the desire to plan and anticipate and of our expectations, whether these expectations are of a coffee cup, a situation, or a person, also allows you to let go of the little stresses that seem to plague our everyday lives. 

It's not really about getting another chance to win. It's about appreciating the win you have, and enjoying the donut. It's about not overthinking which cup you may get next. 

Maybe, just maybe, the donut is more satisfying than the coffee. (Who are we kidding, the donut is always more satisfying.) 

Felicia 

A Somewhat-Non-Revival?

Reviving the writer in you is sometimes hard to do. I took a break because of school, and I just couldn't afford to lose concentration, but there comes a point when I'm always called back to something I enjoy. 

If you're near me during school, you'll hear me repeatedly say, "I hate writing, I hate reading." I mean, how many of us claim to hate the things we're studying? We do them 24/7 and we study them because we enjoy it, but somehow we're still emulating hate all the time for it. Or I am at least. So, here's my confession. 

I don't hate writing. I love writing. I love making a mark on the page. I used to love copying lines because I could practice perfecting my handwriting. I love words. I love these black lines appearing as I type. It's so cool. That is such an understatement... But isn't it? 

Words give you this freedom. You're confined to using 26 letters of the alphabet, yet sometimes we still don't have the words to express a feeling. Other times, we have so many words we can't get them out fast enough. 

I love reading. I thought I hate it because of school, but I don't. I mean, why else did I have the urge to read the other day? I didn't even want to watch Friends, I just wanted to sit in bed and read. HOW RARE IS THAT FEELING NOWADAYS? Too bad I had studying to do though, right? But maybe I was scared. Scared that reading wouldn't pull me in the way it used to. 

Let's look at it. Are we scared of the things we love most? What if one day we just, stop loving those things and they don't interest us anymore? Am I the only one who's scared of this? What if you open a book, and it doesn't hold your attention? This book was a sanctuary to you, it was a whole other world to escape to, and it took your mind off of anything and everything. Through this book you were a hero, you were a villain, you were the princess you were the riddle-solver. You were unrelenting and flawed. 
But you were someone. 

I started this post about words and blogging and writing and reading. But really, it's about change and how change makes us lose the things we love, the things we feel comfortable with. It makes me feel lost, I think. Someone asked me what I'm interested in besides what I study and soccer, since that's what I play, and for a while I couldn't come up with an answer. Do I now know myself anymore? I can't process how I feel about it right now, the turmoil and anxiety this is giving me, so I'll jut leave it there for today. 

Google says that chamomile tea is calming but my stomach says that chamomile and I just aren't friends. So maybe this kind of answer, about change and all those things that make us anxious, maybe this answer we can't Google, or Wikipedia, or Ask.com. Maybe this one, we have to go with our gut feelings. Literally. 

--
Felicia

P.S. When I googled chamomile tea, 4/5 websites that I clicked suggested it was good for calming stomachaches, and 1/5 websites said people allergic to ragweed or something else can sometimes get a stomachache or rash from it since apparently they are distantly related. Just a fun fact. 

Leibster Award Nomination Post

I don't own this photo and I just grabbed it off a blog. Credits to whoever designed/posted it. 

Although this is way past due, fulfilling a nomination is better than letting it disappear into the abyss, right? 

Thanks to Adele over at all-things-adele.blogspot.co.uk for the nomination! 

Since I used to loved doing these Q & A things on Facebook and Piczo and such back in the day, I'm actually quite excited for the excuse to dig into a some nostalgic fun. 

1.) Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I constantly make metaphors while trying to make sense of and overanalyzing every little thing that occurs in my life. I started blogging to voice these speeches I would give to myself, and to practice my typing skills (just kidding). 

2.) What is your favourite thing about blogging?

Endless ears. Whether no one reads your blog post, or many people read your blog post, it's as though cyber space has ears and just listens to everything you think is important enough to "publish." Plus, how satisfying is that word? Like, hey guys, I just published another blog post. I'm accomplished. Is that an ego boost, or what? 

3.) Sweet food or savoury food?
Sweet. Unless it's bacon. Then I pick bacon. Or candied bacon. Wait, is that sweet or savoury? 

4.) Favourite film?

How do I feel today? Sad? Do I want to go through 2 boxes of tissues? Okay, The Time Travelor's Wife. Am I happy? She's the Man. The Proposal. The Little Mermaid. Guilty pleasure even though I won't sleep for days? The Blacklist. Nope, shoot, that's not a film, that's a series...... 

5.) What do you like to do in your spare time? (besides blogging, haha)

I don't actually blog in my spare time. I blog when I'm procrastinating and when the mood strikes me. What is spare time, anyways? #lifeofastudent

6.) If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would it be?

My bedroom, because they don't offer direct flights to anywhere else that has my closet, my favourite books and my bed. 

7.) Do you prefer tea or coffee?

... See "About Us" page. 

8.) What is your favourite colour?
Chartreuse. Yep, I'm one of those people. Maybe neon coral? Neon salmon? 

9.) Favourite type of restaurant? (e.g. Italian, Chinese, etc)

I will never say no to a good steak. 

10.) Are you a cosy night in or party all night kind of person?

Around 8-10 pm I'm a cosy (movies and popcorn) night person, but if I make it to 2 am I'll make it all night (early hours pizza is the best pizza). 

Over and out. 

--
Felicia 

Two Minute Tuesday

Before adding anything out of habit, try your coffee natural. #RespectTheBean, as Nabob Coffee says. 

Metaphor: Sometimes we get carried away by how great things sound, we forget what the core values (of our coffee, of our own personal values) are. So before you go adding the milk and sugar and whipped cream, try your coffee black, and appreciate it as coffee, not as a dressed-up drink! 

Thanks Nabob Coffee for inspiring today's blog post idea. 

For more information on Nabob Coffee, visit the link below: 

http://www.nabob.ca/en