Where Have I Been?

I have to admit, I've been a below average blogger over here on Dream Catcher. Don't worry, I have an explanation: I have another blog, I have for a while now.

Dream Catcher will always be near and dear to my heart. It's a blog space without any rules, the main theme of this blog is me, meaning that it's whatever I want it to be. My other blog is focused on me as a budding career woman, prospering adult, and everything else that I am and have begun to become.

I'm not giving up on Dream Catcher, it's not going anywhere, I've just chosen to focus more on my other blog. I'll still continue to stop by every once in a while and share, but my main focus is Children with Chequebooks.

Follow along with Children with Chequebooks so you can get all my updates!

xoTaylor

Songs on Repeat

When I like a song, I really like it. I tend to even overdo it but hey, when it's good, it's good.

Here are a couple of songs that have been on repeat in my room lately:

Jack White does no wrong in my eyes. I'm beyond excited for his new cd!

I'm obsessed with this live version of Riptide. B-eaut!

Lorde's cd in general has been on repeat but this one is great. 

Tennis Court is another favourite. 

Enjoy and I hope you get obsessed too!

xoTaylor

Currently

*I hope this summer brings me some new records*

watching old school MTV. I watched Laguna Beach, then The Hills, and now I'm on to The City. The moral of the story here is that I need to find something more productive to do with my time. 

listening to some new music. Some of my loves lately are this, this, and this. 

drinking coffee. Second cup of the day and it's not even noon yet. I'd call this a successful morning. 

reading Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. I thought I would be way more into this book than I have been so far. I probably need to give it a little more attention. I've had a car for the past week so that means no taking the bus, which means less time spent reading. 

trying to improve my work ethic. I'd call myself a hard worker, I just want to be the kind of person who has intense concentration in all areas of my life, whether it's at the gym or sitting at my desk. 

learning that a simple life is usually a happier one. Now that I'm moving home at the end of the month I really want to simplify things. I want to live without clutter. This is hard for me because I really, really get attached to my material goods. I don't even feel ashamed saying that because I bought everything so I think I should love them dearly :)

dreaming of summertime. I'll be back in my hometown by the end of the month and that has led me to dreaming of a summer of trips to the market, hanging by the pool, bike rides, ice cream dates and day trips to the beach!

loving the fact that spring has finally arrived. There may still be a chill in the air but I'm still running around town with my windows down!

feeling happy and motivated.

Have a lovely Thursday. It's almost the weekend!

xoTaylor

Hair Revival

Sometimes life gets tough and your bills take all your money and you put off getting a haircut for months on end. Before my haircut last week I hadn't sat in the salon chair in 5 months. It was brutal.

My bangs were almost non-existent which was driving me NUTS.

Luckily my wonderful mother called me up the day before I was supposed to come home for the weekend and told me that she had made (and paid) for a last minute hair appointment for me the next day *cue choirs singing and little baby angels flying around with trumpets*

Now I have my bangs back, my dead ends gone, and I'm ready to take on the world (okay…that was a bit dramatic).

Anywhooo… in other news I'm spending the weekend trekking downtown everyday for a leadership conference that work is sending me to. I'm kind of nervous. It's hard for me to spend time with a bunch of people I don't know but hopefully I'll learn lots and have a good time!

I've also got moving on my brain! We're officially moving in 37 days. It stresses me out to look at all the crap I've brought to this apartment. Especially when I have to think about how I'm downsizing big time back to my old bedroom. Guess I better start simplifying!

Have a good weekend!

xoTaylor

The Final Decision

This is a post that I've been dreading writing for a couple of weeks now.

I mentioned earlier that we had been trying to decide whether we should move out of our apartment early or not. Erika and I were flip-flopping and so scared about making a decision. Eventually we gave ourselves until the upcoming Sunday to make a decision. We would have time to think and then by Sunday, the decision would be final.

By the time Sunday came so many things had changed. Kristina wasn't sure about B.C anymore, Erika had found herself set on one decision, only for us to give her new information and send her back into the decision process, and I was flip-flopping myself.

My decision came down to this: I missed home, which is typical for anyone, but I don't feel like my life really revolves around being in Toronto. I'm here and I'm enjoying it, but I'm also finding myself pulled back home a lot because that's where I love to be, with the people I love. I'm also living a life where I live to work here, something I wouldn't be doing if I were to move home. I'm not happy with working a retail job that I'm miserable at and just scraping by at the end of each month. Furthermore, things have only gotten tighter as the holidays have ended and all my retail shifts have dried up. At this point it just financially makes sense for me to move home.

I want to pay off my school bills and get a car and start saving money. I don't want to scrape by anymore. I want to be able to contribute something to my future home, the one I plan on being able to buy, instead of spending years renting and throwing my money away.

But here is what's great:

I have always said that I wanted to move out and live with my best friend and guess what? I did. And it was an amazing experience. I still love her the same way I did when we moved in. I'm sure I'll miss her like crazy when our bedroom doors aren't down the hall from each other.

Also, I've learned a ridiculous amount about responsibility and being an adult. I think this decision may even be a testament to that. Yes, I'm moving back home, but I'm doing so to further my life in a different way. I don't want to have student debts that I can't pay off and I want to be able to save money and start creating my life.

This was a great year. A great and very hard year, but it was great. I met people, I went out on my own, I learned so many things, and I had fun.

So I am moving on to the next phase in my life without regret. I'm ready for what is coming next and I'll forever look back and smile at every happy, stressful, fun, crazy, and amazing moment that I had in Toronto.

xoTaylor

Currently

watching Runaway Bride. I watched Pretty Woman this weekend and so I figured this was only a natural progression. 

listening to the radio. I got one for Christmas and I love listening to it. It's like a surprise playlist everyday!

drinking water. My friend and I are in a health competition and we have to drink 8 glasses a day. It's so much harder than it sounds.

reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. It's good but I'm not completely obsessed with it like I though I would be. I'm excited to move on to 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup.

trying to make myself workout more. Why must I feel so lazy?

learning to be happy in my current situation. No matter what I'm doing it is a stage in my life right now and I should just enjoy it while it lasts.

dreaming of warmer weather, sandals, walks outside and iced coffee.

loving all of the people in my life. I'm so lucky for every single amazing person who I call my friend or family.

feeling optimistic.

Have a lovely Thursday. It's almost the weekend!

xoTaylor

Busy Life

*Pretty colours on my desk*

I've been trying to keep myself busy lately. I find that I get a bit depressed when I sit around the apartment too much so I made a resolution to go out and enjoy myself!

Yesterday my roommate, Kristina, and I went out on a thrifting trip. I got a sweet flannel shirt and as much as she tried, she didn't find anything. Womp womp. Later that night I met up with my friend, Erica, from work and we saw Monuments Men. I always love getting to chat with her and it's good to get together outside of work where no one can tell us to stop talking and get back to work haha!

Today after I finished work I bundled up and set out for a little adventure in the city. I headed to the World's Biggest Bookstore (which it actually isn't but hey, you can't blame them for trying!) Everything is 50% because it's closing at the end of the month. So sad to see a Toronto landmark like that shut down but I'm glad I got to go! Oh and I got the A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book for half price! So excited! I've been wanting it since it came out this summer.

After that I decided to just walk around the city and see where I got. I grabbed a coffee and picked a direction. I ended up walking by the old Maple Leaf Gardens arena, which is now a Loblaws grocery store. I heard it was cool to see how they'd turned an arena into a grocery store and that they'd kept some memorabilia inside. It was so cool in there. Not just because there were still original seats and amazing memories from the landmark, but because this was like the mecca of all grocery stores. It honestly was more like a gourmet food market. I mean, they had mushrooms that cost $250.00 per serving, and a sushi bar, and a bakery and it was wild.

Other things that happened while I was downtown:
* I saw a guy fall off of his unicycle and laughed (why are you unicycling in downtown Toronto dude?)
* I gave a homeless man money and he asked me for more (rudeee)
* I bought this:

Isn't it beauttiiffuull?

Now I'm sitting in bed watching Netflix and knitting.

Pretty solid day if I do say so myself.

xoTaylor