Sunshine, books and pretty scarves.

I've been having a pretty wonderful week. I've been taking full advantage of my last week of enforced holidays. Next week it's back to work, back to being able to pay rent, back to 5 days on/2 days off (but not in that order).

On tuesday, I ate an entire baguette because I was finally working a bit again, and had euros in my pocket and decided to celebrate by eating, even though I wasn't hungry. This baguette included tomatos, goats cheese, eggs and jam, but not all together. I was still full this morning. Before work, I sat by the river in the sun, reading, trying to get some colour into these pasty legs of mine. After work, I made sugar cookies and watched Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason in Polish and remembered how much I dont like watching movies dubbed in Polish - the same guy does all the voices, quite monotonously, but it gave a new twist to an old favourite. And, the sugar cookies are quite amazing. Might snack a couple now...

Today, I shopped, having recently found that I have no white bra nor tshirts that I don't swim in (problem with weightloss - now a size S in bottoms and M in tops!). So, I took advantage of H and M's massive lingerie selection. I was tempted by many a cute lacy pink bra, or sexy blue panties, but I stuck to my guns and went for the plain white t-shirt bra. I also discovered some cute basic tops for 7 Euros... done! I splurged on a scarfe though. It was so perfect because I had chosen a peachy-pink top and a turquoise blue top, and the scarfe is beige with peachy-pink and turquoise blue flowers. I opted against this gorgeous denim skirt I saw, because once I tried it on, it made me look pregnant. No, not fat. Pregnant. The fit was perfect except for the little bit that the front which bulged out like a baby bump. I have as much desire to look pregnant as I have to be pregnant, so I had to leave the cute denim skirt with the bows on the pockets...

I indulged again in a 'Chelsea' grilled panini, with an Iced Tea at a little place called something like Bagel Sandwitch Bar, or New York Bagel Bar or whatever. All I know is there was a photo of NYC's Hard Rock Cafe and the Naked Cowboy on my table and a huge New York State license plate print on the wall. I finished up at 5:30pm, with no desire to go home, so I spent 2 and a half hours reading in the sun by the cathedral. It's sunny so long now, it's past 9pm and it's not even fully dark yet.

For tomorrow I envision more sunshine, reading, possibly at the Parc Tete d'Or or at Croix Rousse... and possibly a lesson... still waiting for the confirmation from my student....

Snow, Borscht and Boots.

It really is Murphey's law... just the other day, I got an email from Berlin where it has already been snowing. Outraged, I articulated my disbelief that central Europe got snow before Quebec, although mentioned that I shouldn't tempt fate, I may have bought winter boots but I do not yet have a warm enough coat. Well, last night I left the house to get some snacks at the bakery, it was 1'c and SNOWING. I was frozen. I came home shivering but smiling from ear to ear. My jacket was covered in snowflakes, my hair was damp, and I had gotten many a sour look from people I passed on the street as I grinned like a cheshire cat and caught snowflakes on my tongue and giggled as they got caught on my eyelashes. This morning, my hands were chapped and red, for lack of gloves suited for snow but I was still happy. Enjoying the first snow of the season was so worth it. I was quite devestated when I woke up this morning (more like afternoon, but that's just semantics) and there was no soft white layer of snow covering the world yet. However, I did get compensated by the fact that it was a gorgeous autumn day, the sun was shining and the tree-lined streets of Notre-Dame-de-Grace were all the shades of yellows, oranges and reds. I totally love my life.

Today I also bought my tickets to New York. I'm staying for 3 days and 3 nights which include Halloween. Checking the weather in NY and NJ, I was quite disappointed to learn there would be no snow, and summery temperatures over 15 degrees. (Yes, I said summery... perspective changes here in Montreal). To continue the theme of weather... it's now 3 degrees and I walked home thinking '3 degrees is not cold'... and it's not. Thank god I am coming to this realisation now, psychologically preparing myself for the temperatures to come, which promise to be well below freezing before I fly out of here. I leave on what is technically the first day of winter, December 21, but every quebecois I speak to assures me I will not be leaving without a good taste of a Canadian winter, it will easily reach -20 by then.

In other news, I have finished midterms and am utterly ecstatic with that fact. Now, just have a lot of papers and take home exams to write. Unfortunately, I need a textbook for one of my take home exams (worth 45%), an essay exam due on Wednesday and it was sold out at the bookstore and I have to wait till Tuesday to get it. Meaning, I wont be sleeping on tuesday night. At present, I have finished a total of 30% of my Concordia semeseter. Still a long way to go, and it's going to be hard work.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to get up early and head to the train station to do some field research for my architecture paper. It's only 500 words but I have to visit the site which I've chosen to write about - the train station in Montreal. I'll be able to finish it by dinner easily. I'm also going to take some photos around NDG and downtown with the gorgeous autumn colours.

Ok, that's enough for now.

x A