What even happened this October?

So I carved my very first pumpkin this Halloween! As you can see I went for the traditional look, and I think it came out pretty well! Kind of want to make this a new tradition but I haven’t roasted the seeds yet (that’s tonight’s adventure!) so I think we’ll have to wait and see how they turn out. Naturally, I’ll let you know.

Other things that have happened since I last posted were Thanksgiving 2013, which was lovely. The nice thing about living away is that it makes family gatherings extra extra special. Mom and Dad both flew up to Ottawa for the weekend so it was kinda perfect. It was also a little bit sad though because Christmas this year is officially messed up. Now that Kevin has a full time job (rollin’ in the cash- the jerk) he isn’t swimming in free time, even around the holidays, and since Dad’s working Christmas (again) it doesn’t look like we’re going to have a Kratz family reunion. Alas, growing up. Luckily I’m still fun and fancy free come mid-December onwards so it’s not getting me down too much. But enough of that holiday cheer! Let’s get back to the real world! School!

School has been weird. I haven’t been feeling like myself at all lately. For one thing, I keep sleeping in. I’m actually late to class on a regular basis now, which is bizarre. I’ve always been the kind of person who needs to be early for things. I like to be wherever I need to be before anyone else, especially when it comes to classes. For some reason this year I can’t seem to get moving in the morning, and even when I know I’m going to be late, it just doesn’t bother me. Generally I have a harder time getting things done in the fall semester anyways (never been sure why, but the winter semester is always my most productive time of year) so I’m trying not to worry myself, but I really hope this isn’t going to be a permanent change! I miss super-keen me.

I also think I’m spending too much money. This kind of relates to the above because, in general, I’ve never had a problem with getting my thrift on and being the cheapest student I could be. While that hasn’t changed I keep finding myself splurging for no real reason, and with Christmas coming up there’s no foreseeable end to this guilt trip. I have a feeling it’ll all be okay in the end, though. It’s just the right now that I’m worried about.

Oh, and I’ve also chosen my courses for next semester. It’s looking like I’ll only have class Tuesdays and Thursdays, which I have very mixed feelings about, so we’ll see how it all works out.

I think that’s a pretty good update on my life lately! Crunch time is coming up with regards to the semesters assignments, so wish me luck with that!

Young Girl Smacked in the Face with Adulthood at 9:05 Yesterday Morning

So I'm twenty now.

Despite this impressive age I've managed to attain, I got excited like a five year old on my birthday. The night before I was giddy, and I spent pretty much all of Friday with a big, stupid grin plastered all over my face. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I started my day with a google hangout with my Mom before leaving for class. And that Spiderman present I've been holding on to? Nailed it. Totally a book.



But I didn't have a clue that it was Hyrule Historia!!! The best part about this present is that not only will it look fantastic on my shelf/beside me forever, but it came at the perfect time. I've been listening to the 25th Anniversary Legend of Zelda Symphony Orchestra CD all month and I've been dying to dive back into Majora's Mask. In summary, I have been in such a Zelda lately, and now I have this. Joy.

What I didn't know was that there was another little surprise in that bag, these lovely, lovely sterling silver (right? I think that's right.) celtic earings. So pretty. If I didn't mention it, I trained my ears to wear earings again this summer. After around six years of never really wearing them this was very exciting and totally worth the pain. Since the summer I've been wearing earrings almost every day, so this was, once again, the perfect gift. All of my gifts were perfect, I guess, because I don't think that something purchased with love for you could ever be less than perfection. Gift giving trumps all.



My whole family, but especially my mother has kind of a thing for anything celtic, so I like that these earrings make me think of her. Also Charmed. But that also makes me think of comfy afternoons couching-it with Mom and plowing through a few seasons of our favorite witch-y show.

As you might imagine, with all this excitement, I was late to my 10:30 class. To my credit, I was only around ten minutes late, but still. Eventually I ran into the two best friends in all the world, and more gifts were given. I'm just going to put pictures of all of them here because let's face it, you can show off on your birthday. It's not my birthday anymore but let's pretend that the rules still apply.

I got some German coffee that I am rather excited to enjoy. Another addition of the summer was a kind of addiction to caffine, which I'm pretty much over now but I do still really enjoy a good cup of Joe. Plus isn't this just the perfect present for a student? The answer is yes- yes it is.



Along with this I got a glorious Clinique Chubby Stick. It's in the shade 'Whopping Willow', which is really (I imagine) just a typo for 'Whomping Willow'. But you guys. This colour. You guys. Let's go full beauty blog on this and swatch it. Oh yes.



I feel I should offer some form of explanation here. Remember last winter when I got crazy into vlogs on youtube? This summer that subscription sphere grew to absorb beauty channels, and now... yeah. Make-up. I cannot wait to get this shit all over my face. It may seem kind of weird for a twenty year old woman to only now be delving into the world of make-up, but just shush. It's not weird at all. I've been busy. Point is, perfect present, because I would never have bought something like this for myself.

But that's not all! I feel like my friends really upped the game on birthday presents this year, to which all I can say is challenge accepted. I got this Star Trek Earl Grey tea (it smells out of this fucking world). I have to say that the tea itself is a ridiculous bonus to the prettiness of the actual tin it comes in. I also got the Teatanic, which is a tea infuser SHAPED LIKE THE TITANIC. I know, right? This gift was perfection because I have this weird thing. I'm not sure how to explain it. Essentially I consider time in relation to the day the Titanic sank. For instance, WWII started in 1939, right? So to give myself some perspective on the world at this time, I just automatically think to myself, 'oh, that's 27 years after the Titanic sank'. It honestly does help me picture the time period even though I wouldn't say that I have a crystal clear picture of 1912 or anything, it's just... this thing that I do. Teatanic!



As for my actual day, after classes I went shopping with friends and had the best time considering that I have no money, and then I actually had to go to a student involvement training thing on campus for like two and half hours. Not my favorite birthday activity, but hey. We got free dinner. After that it was off to finish The Hobbit with tea and my personal favorite, cake. My friend baked this for me last night. It's true. She baked it for me.

The only thing better than how pretty it looks is how delicious it tasted. And it was full of apples. Guys, I love apples. She baked this. We ate it while we watched The Hobbit. It was like a dream come true.

As a side note about that movie, does anyone else feel like it's sort of a dream when they watch it? I feel that I was waiting for this movie to be made and to come out for so many years that sometimes I still can't believe that it's actually a thing that exists now. Every time I watch it I'm struck by this happiness that this is a thing that exists in real life, not just in my head. It's like when I was little and I got a Buffy the Vampire Slayer advent calendar in the shops. That was a thing that existed, and I was there when it did. Happiness!

After the movie I caught a bus home and played Majora's Mask for about fourty minutes before going to sleep. It may sound like a boring way to end a birthday, but to be honest I think I've done something exciting every Friday night since school started and it was euphoric to be able to spent this Friday scarfing down an amazing cake with some friends and enjoy my favorite story ever happen on the screen in front of me. Ending that magic with going to sleep in my own bed was icing on a fabulous birthday cake.

Birthday #20: Successful.