Welcome to the real world

...that's what they told us when we graduated highschool but I guess this time it's fer real. Convocation was yesterday and it was bittersweet. The founder of WarChild Canada, Samantha Nutt, received an honorary degree from Western and she gave a very powerful and eye-opening speech. It was kind of depressing at parts because of the reminder that we're graduating into a world of financial collapse, environmental tragedy, and 24 active war-torn countries. The age of irresponsible self-interests is over, although she believes that it is not something to be feared or grieved. She urged us to tackle the many problems that our parent's generations have left behind for us, reverting the damage that they have left on our planet.
"Ask yourself the big questions, "who am I?" and "what do I want to do with my life?". At this crossroads of our lives it's important to not lose sight of those important age-old questions. We all want to live the "good life" but it's so easy to get lost in the daily grind and become short-sighted about our goals in life. After all, as my neuroscience prof once said, "the most important thing you learn from going to university is how to delay gratification and to work towards a higher goal". Even though I have chosen a long and arduous path with graduate school, delaying gratification until my early thirties, I know that ultimately it is the only path that will truly satisfy my intellectual needs and will make me happy.

I had to be at the University at 8:45 am, which meant waking up at 5 am to drive there. I did my makeup in the car lol. Finally some "outfit posts" of me in my graduation regalia!

Honors Bachelor of Science! The outfit is all about the shoes because you can't see anything else. I had huge blisters on my feet by the end of the day >< Good bye Western. It has been a bumpy yet thoroughly satisfying ride.

I'm off on vacation next week to Punta Cana! I've never been to the ocean (nor do I know how to swim...). I can't wait to sip pina coladas, swing on a hammock between palm trees and soak up the sun ^_^

Science vs. Romance

Hewo, welcome to my blog!
I'm 23 years old and just finished my undergrad in psychology with a physiology major. I'm starting my masters in neuroscience in September at a new school, but I will be closer to home and civilization (Toronto and adequate retail therapy). I will be studying the neural changes that accompany depression using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). There are so many things I want to do before I commit two years of my life immersed in scientist studies. A lot of things that I didn't have time to do during my undergrad--such as creating this blog =)

This blog will chronicle food adventures, OOTDs, FOTDs and anything that makes me happy ^_^ I hope this blog will help me beat laziness. I've gotten in the habit of only dressing up when I'm going out somewhere nice or for a special occassion, or when I see my bf lol--otherwise I wear pjs, don't wear makeup, and I might not even brush my hair. I even stopped dressing up for school. I would wear the plainest clothes I own on repeat everyday because I don't like wearing my nice clothes when I'm not putting all my attention and care into an outfit...if that makes any sense! I blame it on school and lack of time...but I don't want these to be excuses anymore! I want to be one of those people who always look put together and polished. I really believe that putting an effort into how you dress is a reflection on how you approach life...being lazy in your appearance projects a lazy and apathetic attitude!

This school year went very well and I think I finally learned how to effectively manage my time, or at least how to study! Not very useful given that it was my last year, but better late than never! I hope to organize other aspects of my life as well. I really value time and I'm always striving to be productive, so hopefully this blog will help me with my goals.

Warning: You can also expect some emo rants, lists, and random things that inspire me.

And now for a food post to start off my new blog: Curried sweet potato fries with lobster

My bf and I love to cook...we were inspired by an appetizer we had at Milestones and were trying to figure out how to cook it while we were eating it! So here is our impromptu recipe:

2 sweet potatoes
half a stick of butter, melted
spices
boiled lobster
lemon juice

The deep fried fries ready to go in the oven

The spices we used: fennel seeds, coriander seeds, hot curry powder and regular curry powder + about half a stick of butterThat's how much lobster meat we got out of it =\ not worth the effort if you ask me =P

The finished product!Inniskillin ice wine

Mack tasting the yummy fries ^^I burnt my finger frying the fries =( it hurt all night

That's all for my first blog entry! more to come!