Christmas Wish Lists #1 - Big Ticket Items

The countdown to the holidays began a while ago for me. For most of you, it may have began with American Thanksgiving, but here in Canada, we had our Thanksgiving in early October, so we've had yuletide thoughts in our brain a little earlier. Christmas music started being piped into our radios the day after Remembrance Day, and the shopping season has been kicked off in a big rush since Black Friday. I've been making a Christmas List on my phone for a while now, and for the heck of it I thought it might be fun to share with you some of the things I've put on my list this year. I'd also love to hear what you guys are writing to Santa for this Christmas :D This first Wish List is for some of the bigger items on my list, the stuff that can cost around $100 or more that I don't often ask for.

#1: We R Memory Keepers Typecast Typewriter! Not only would this fulfill my life long dream of being able to own my own typewriter, but it would be such an amazing thing to have and use for my paper crafting! It comes in a few different colours, though I'm actually quite drawn to the pink, which is exclusive to Michaels craft stores. Plus it would make a gorgeous edition to my writing desk :)

Upcoming Goals - December

Long time no see! I apologize for being MIA for so long, once again. In my defense, I had to live through almost an entire two months in a house that was not connected to Wi-Fi - I have no clue how I managed to survive it, aside from racking up a massive data bill on my phone XP But I'm back, and hoping to keep you updated on the regular this month with a variety of interested and (hopefully) geeky posts about a variety of subjects. I thought I'd start by bringing you all back in the loop with my goals for the upcoming month, starting by catching you all up on how my goals went for the past two months.

October Recap: I had a number of goals that I laid out in my first goals post that you can find by clicking here - some I managed to complete in full, some in part, and some were unsuccessful, but that doesn't mean that I didn't manage to accomplish anything from setting those goals in October.

My first big goal was to buy a planner and, most important, to start using it. I have definitely succeeded there :) I typically have way more fun decorating my planner than I do with the actual planning, but I'm sure that's normal XD I carry my new Happy Planner around with me wherever I go, and I'm always looking for an excuse to write or put stickers in it to remember important dates.

I also wanted to do as much prep for NaNoWriMo as I could, and while I did a decent amount of planning before November began, I'm not sure I would have ever been 100% satisfied with any level of preparation before diving in head-first. As for being able to start with snail mail again, and scheduling more blog posts so I wouldn't experience an absence from blogging in November, those didn't work out the way I hoped. Early in October, I moved into my grandmothers. All of my stuff, including my stationary, was all packed in boxes, and while I thought I was going to be without Wi-Fi for maybe three days, it ended up being two months. I won't make excuses, but I'd like to think it's fairly reasonable why those things didn't work out as planned.

5 Most Binge-Worthy Shows

If there's one thing that the cold month of November is good for (aside from novel writing :D), it's binge-watching new and favorite shows on Netflix. One of my favorite past-times lately has been curling up under what I have dubbed the "magic blanket," sitting with my boyfriend and watching TV together, and whether it's something we've already seen or something entirely new, it's one of the best ways to spend an evening. Here are some of my favorite shows to binge on.

#1: The Fresh Prine of Bel Air! Recently my boyfriend and I have been binge-waching this 90's classic since we noticed it pop up on his Netflix recommendations. When I was younger I would certainly flip to a channel where a Fresh Prince episode was playing if I couldn't find any of my favorites on TV, but I never really took the time to watch many of these episodes back-to-back. I'm so glad that I did, because this show really is hilarious! There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and it's worth the watch even for the hilarious fashion choices.

5 Favorite Fictional Pets

If there's one type of secondary character that gets underlooked in a lot of fiction, from books to movies to TV shows, it's probably the pets and other fun creatures. We adore them, we'll even set their image to be our avatar, but I'm curious if anyone ever imagines what it would be like if they themselves lived with one or some of their favorite pets from their favorite fictions. Narrowing the list down to 5 was hard, but somehow I managed.

#1: Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service! The main reason I almost pitched a fit when I watched the new updated version of Kiki's Delivery Service when it was re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray was because, among the many edits that were made, the majority of Jiji's dialogue is cut out! How unfair is that?! The joy of this talking cat is his attitude and his reactions to the world around him. He's also something of an outward conscience for Kiki, and who doesn't need someone like that in their life?

Writer Support #3 - NaNoWriMo & Your Planner

It's been a while since I've done one of these posts, but with #NaNoWriMo2016 right around the corner, I thought I'd write about a few more little insights about writing that I have to share. This post will be specific for those participating in NaNoWriMo for the most part, but I'm sure other writers will be able to extrapolate and use these ideas for their very own writing projects.

I've only recently hopped on the planner wagon myself, but for a long time I've admired pictures of how people organize and decorate their planners on Pinterest and Instagram. The main goal of a planner is to help organize your life, but with the open possibilities of some of the planners out there, I thought about a number of ways that you could use your planner to help assist you through the treacherous waters of NaNoWriMo.

Don't Starve - From The Gaming Enthusiast

It's been a while since I've done one of these posts, but my video game "game" has been strong this summer! Well, mostly I've been playing Sims 4, but I was also recently re-introduced to World of Warcraft, which has been a ton of fun (fyi, if you'd like to hear about WoW from the PoV of a gaming enthusiast, let me know in the comments and I'd be happy to do a post dedicated to WoW :) ). Recently I came across a game on steam that one of my girlfriends mentioned to me when I was helping her with errands at her current/my prior university.

It's called Don't Starve, and it's a game that she frequently plays on her tablet. I'd seen it advertised on Steam but hadn't ever looked into it in much detail. Melissa told me about the survival aspects, and about how different characters that you can unlock have different powers that can help you survive. One thing I remember specifically is her telling me about the starting character, Wilson, whose only power was being able to "grow a sweet beard" XD That stuck in my mind when I came across it again recently, and I took the plunge and bought the value pack that included the base game, both DLCs, and the multiplayer variation of the game. Now I am OBSESSED!

As previously mentioned, Don't Starve is a survival game, where the main goal is to - you guessed it - not starve to death. But you're also working to keep yourself from getting killed by various monsters, to avoid the dark at all costs, and to try and maintain your sanity as much as humanly possible. It's incredibly easy to get into, and I highly recommend this game, which is playable on PC as well as most consoles and in mobile form, for those who would like to ease themselves into the realm of video games.

5 Favorite Things About Fall

For the heck of it, I'm re-vamping an old prompt (one I've possibly already done before) to share my excitement about the coming season. Summer was amazing, but there are many reasons that I've had to look forward to fall.

#1: The Fashion! Ever since re-watching the second season of Once Upon A Time and seeing Belle pull off the adorable ankle boots/tights/sweater look, I've been dying to try it out again myself. Am planning on picking up some new tights and a pair of black lace-up ankle boots, but then I'll be all set!

5 Books On My Wishlist

Because I've been more or less broke the entire summer, buying books has been near the bottom of my priority list. Now that I have a year-round job, once I have a little extra spending money, it will finally be time to hit up the local bookstore where I used to work :) There's a decent number of books I'm hoping to pick up, and some of them haven't even been released yet, but I'm still excited to get my readin' on!

#1: Girl Online: Going Solo by Zoe Sugg! Been waiting quite a long time for the 3rd addition (probably the end?) of this series. I've reviewed both the first and second book in the Girl Online series by the beloved Zoella, and I have mentioned that both of these books were there for me at pretty difficult times in my life, and the anxious main character is somebody I can easily connect with. I loved how she is seeking out being independent and pursuing her dreams, and I can't wait to read more about how things will go for her in the next edition of this series.

Upcoming Goals - October

With the multiple times I've been MIA on TWW(s) this year, I've been trying to organize my time better, while still working through moving to a new place and starting a new year-round job. This month, I wanted to plan ahead and set some goals for the coming month. Maybe I'll even get into the habit of setting monthly goals and I'll update you on their progress as time goes on. For now, I'm not going to start out too crazy, but there are definitely a few things I'd like to get done - or at least started - during the month of October.

#1: Buy A Planner.

While I do currently have a planner of my own, I've been wanting to upgrade to a new one for a long time now. After doing quite a bit of research online, I've decided that when the time comes, I'll be buying one of the new 2016 Happy Planners - which means that a trip to Michaels is in my future :D If I get to do a major haul, I'll make sure to show you guys all of my new crafting goodies!

An Anxious Girl's Guide To Tackling A Project

Quick Note: Mental illness is a serious issue, and I am very aware of this fact, as I suffer from anxiety and depression among other things. Included in this post are my opinions about my own personal experiences, and I am not in any way attempting to make a bold claim about mental health as a whole.

You have something that you need to get done, but you feel that you just can't. You have a mental block that is keeping you from finishing that very important project. Maybe you have an essay that is coming due. Maybe you need to clean and organize your room, which currently resembles the sea of decay. You realize that to most this might be an easy task, but you just can't figure out how to work past this growing anxiety that's churning in your brain.

I completely understand how you feel. More often than not, I have become a slave to my own anxiety, and it has effected my quality of life on a number of occasions. It has even kept me from updating this blog at times, but after getting to know myself, my own needs and desires, I've started to work hard at quelling those anxious thoughts and trying to make my situation as painless as possible. That's why I've decided to create this little guide with a few tips to helping others with anxiety and other mental health issues to finish those pending projects and helping them work at meeting their own deadlines.

So you've picked a date when you would really like to start tackling that project head-on, and even the day before you're starting to dread the goal you've set for yourself. Worry not, because you haven't set yourself up for failure. It helps to figure out the day before how you would like to start your "big day" and then making any preparations the night before that will make things easier for you. Perhaps picking out clothes the night before will help you feel better prepared the next day, even if your project is an at-home one where nobody will see you. It's all about your state of mind, and anything that will make you feel your absolute best is valid.

You also might want to consider pampering yourself a bit the night before, so that you will feel positive, refreshed, and fully rested when you wake up in the morning. Some of my personal favorite ways to lead up to a big day are to take a relaxing bath or shower, put on my softest PJs or a robe, curl up in a bed with clean sheets, a glass of water at my bedside, and then I like to put on a couple episodes of my favorite show. Whether it's something I'll actively watch before turning in, or something I've seen a million times to put on in the background as I doze off. Set up the best conditions for yourself so that you get your best start in the morning, and try to take deep breaths whenever you catch yourself worrying and obsessing about the next day.

Pokemon Go Book Tag!

I found a post with this tag on Lazy Lady's blog and I thought that it might be a good spot of fun! Like the rest of the world, I am obsessed with Pokemon Go, and still enjoy trips out with my boyfriend to go out and find Pokestops and to walk enough to hatch our respective Poke-Eggs. Big thanks to Read At Midnight for creating this tag as well as all the awesome graphics.

I used to read a lot in grade school, but lost interest for a little while in the 7th grade, then in high school I started reading manga non-stop, then my friends convinced me to read the Twilight series, which led to other vampire YA fiction, which led to me reading everything else. Still, I'd hate to say that Twilight started my love for reading in my young adult life, so I'm going to say Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. It was turned into an awesome movie a few years back, but before that it became a book I loved followed by a book I had to hunt down because I couldn't remember the name of the title or author anymore. It took me years to finally order myself a hardcover copy for my collection :)

Animal Onesies - HELP ME CHOOSE!

Hello all! So this post is going to be a little different, because I need your help with something - For a while, I've been wanting to order myself my very own animal onesie. In my mind, an animal onesie would be the perfect thing to wear on those evenings where I'm feeling anxious or blue and need to snuggle up with my favorite snacks and my magic blanket. Thing is, there are SO MANY, and they're all SO CUTE! I figure I could use some outside opinions, so I've decided that I'm gonna share my favorite ones with you, and you can tell me in the comments which one I should get :)

The Sloth!

This is an obvious choice for me for a few reasons - I'm incredibly lazy, I'm not the fastest person out there, and I love to curl up and take couch naps whenever I can :)

Settlers Of Catan Cupcakes

Let's face it - nobody can possibly beat the awesome birthday cupcake cake that me and my boyfriend worked together to prepare & decorate :) Tabletop nerds all around the world will be envious of my awesome baking skills! XP I'd probably brag more if this was my original idea, but tbh this idea was originally created by Nerdy Nummies (you can find her video here) and a lot of other people have re-created Ro's inspired treats, and it was her video and the various Google images I found of other people's attempts of Settlers of Catan cupcakes that made me want to try my own.

One great thing about making these cupcakes is that you can use your favorite cake recipe to make these cupcakes, any kind works! I've seen pictures of vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, and I'm sure even marble would work perfectly well. It's the decorating that matters! For mine, since it was my birthday, I decided on a Rainbow Bit boxed cake recipe.

As for the decorations, there's no strict guidelines or rules - there are SO many options to help create every resource found in Settlers of Catan, and you can use whatever you can find in your local grocery story, candy shop, Bulk Barn, etc. Here is a list of what you need, along with some suggestions on what you might use for each resource.

I'm Back & What's Been Happening

I'M BAAAA-ACK! ..... Again :P

I promise that I will get out of the habit of going on long hiatuses as soon as humanly possible. But it has been a very busy & productive summer! Trust me, when I first came back from a long absence, I intended to stick around, but maybe a week later some real-life stuff happened and I thought "Oh... Guess I'm going to end up disappearing again XP

Tbh, I'm not 100% back yet - due to one of the things that I'm about to tell you about very shortly, I can't really start blogging about fun things in full force just yet, but I promise you that it's going to be happening soon. Since I haven't been around to blog too much about my summer in detail, I thought I'd share the highlights with all of you in this little catch-up post :) So here we go, starting with the biggest event.

#1: I'm Moving!

It's the end of an era - a 19 year-old era to be specific. That's how long I have lived in my current home that I share with my mother and my 8 year-old adopted puppy Rocket. I was 5 when I moved in here 19 Septembers ago, and the time has come for a big change. I will continue to live with my mother, but the three of us will be moving in to my grandmother's house early this fall. For a number of reasons, we've decided that my grandmother could use some extra company, so we've spent the majority of this summer packing up everything in the house and getting it ready to sell. We're nearing the finish line, but there still some work to be done (including packing up my entire bedroom, which is terrifying to think of XP )

#LazyJune Instagram Challenge - Week 2

So I have another week of pictures from the #LazyJune Instagram Challenge to showcase - click here if you'd like to see my first post, including the original list of prompts. Since each week will showcase an uneven number of days, I've decided to show my favorite photo from each week as the first one :)

Day 10: Weekend Plans

"My #WeekendPlans were to spend as much time as possible with this incredible man right here, and that's exactly how it worked out :) Hung out on Friday (he took me on an errand to Michaels, the man is a saint XD), then we saw Warcraft on Saturday when I was done work, and finally on Sunday we spent the day enjoying the gorgeous weather in Port Dalhousie - he even went on the carousel with me :)"

Pretty In Pink Carrot Cake

The first of June marked my friend Melissa's Birthday. Feeling like doing something special, I asked her if she would like me to bake her anything, and out of the list of favorite baked treats she gave me, I decided on Carrot Cake. Personally, I'm not a fan of this particular flavor - vegetables belong on a dinner plate, not a dessert plate - but for a friend I've known since kindergarten, I was more than willing to fulfill her request. Not only that, but I decided to make her birthday treat extra special with some pink cream cheese frosting!

I doubt there was actually carrot cake referenced or featured in the John Hughes movie Pretty In Pink, but let's be honest, I'll take any excuse to reference John Hughes - not to mention Duckie!

#LazyJune Instagram Challenge - Week 1

It's been a while since I picked up an Instagram Challenge, and with how much I love taking and uploading pictures I figured, Why not? This challenge comes from fellow blogger Lazy Lady Life, and you can find a link to her blog by clicking the image above, and her blog is also featured on the left bar under the My Friends heading.

My Captured Moment #4 - My Puppy Rocket

A lot has happened in my life over the past 5 months I've been on a blogging hiatus, and I'll be sharing with you one of the most recent and most amazing changes that has occurred in my life. On April 20th, 2015, I became a dog momma!

This is Rocket Cruise, my new dog! He is 8 years-old, and I adopted him from the Welland & District Humaine Society. He may be 8, but isn't he just as cute as a little puppy?! I can't get over how adorable he is sometimes! Here is the story of how Rocket came to become a member of the family and to find his "Furr-Ever" home!

5 Geeky Tattoos I Want

Recently I had a conversation with my mother about tattoos. She's pretty convinced that I'll never get one, simply because of the pain involved.She may be right on that score; my pain threshold is not so high, bordering on nonexistent. I think an obstacle I have that's bigger than that one would simply be that tattoos are so freaking expensive to get, and since it's something you're getting permanently etched on your body, it's not the kind of thing you should go bargain shopping for. Even so, I still fantasize about what images/quotes I might choose to mark on my skin, and here are 5 ideas that have been rattling in my brain.

#1: Envelope/Love Note Tattoo! My love for snail mail is definitely deep enough that I would display that love on my skin - I'm especially fond of the little love note on the back of the neck, not because it could be easily hidden but because it wouldn't be as painful as, say, a wrist tattoo.

I'm BA-ACK! - News & Updates

Hello my fellow geeks! First and foremost, let me apologize for the incredibly long hiatus I took from blogging - there were a number of projects I was attempting to work on, and generally life just got a whole lot busier. But I'm here today to tell you that I'm back, I'm bad, and I'm nation wide! Well, more like internationally wide, given that I live in Canada and most readers are from the US. But you get the picture!

Not only did I want to tell you guys that I'm back, but I wanted to tell you about a bunch of new topics I'm hoping to start writing about very soon for your enjoyment and reading pleasure!

When I first started this blog, I leaned heavily on snail mail posts, where I shared my incoming and outgoing mail, which was more often than not filled with Postcrossing cards. At some point I decided to focus more on different types of writing, and I feel like snail mail posts need to make a comeback. I've been challenging myself to create more unique and creative pieces of snail mail, coinciding with my #PrettyMail2016 movement, and I'm hoping to share more snail mail posts with my fellow iggles and snail mail lovers in the near future :)

#PrettyMail2016

(Original photo from @_happymail)

Who doesn't love getting mail, right? Well, it's even better to get something super amazing in the mail that the sender has put a lot of their love and soul into. It's easy to tell when somebody's taken a good deal of time with the packages and letters they send out, whether they have a lot of different craft supplies and pretty embellishments to add to their creations, or when someone's decided to get extra creative with washi tape.

More often than not, when I'm sending a letter to one of my pen pals, I'll put way more effort into writing the letter than I'll put into decorating the card and envelope the letter gets packaged in, where I tend to get lazy. But one of my New Years Resolutions is to stop being lazy and put more time and creativity into things that I drop in the mailbox for people. And I'd love for others to challenge themselves in the same way too!

Use #PrettyThings2016 on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook to showcase your gorgeous snail mail photos, because I'd love to see them! Also if enough people join me and use the hashtag, I'll feature some of my favorites, and even a few of my own projects, right here in their own post series. I really hope that I see some super pretty snail mail photos from all of you this year :)