25 Was Good to Me

As I've said before, December is a very special month for me. Especially because my birthday is so close to the end of the year, it's usually the time for me to reminisce about the past year; the time for me to remember the obstacles I've faced and also the good times that I've had.

Yesterday, I turned 26! As usual, I didn't feel any older ... and I am glad. 25 was good to me. 2015 was a good year and I couldn't be more grateful. I finally finished a year of articling that felt like it would never end, I got called to the Ontario bar (officially became a lawyer!), I got a job in BC, I moved to Vancouver, I got called to the BC bar, two of my closest friends got engaged ... and that's just to name a few. It feels like I just celebrated my "quarter of a century" birthday with my friends in Toronto. It feels like just yesterday that I was thinking about what 2015 would bring. It's both thrilling and scary to think about how fast time "flies". Thrilling because I've experienced so many new opportunities in such a short amount of time and scary because I realize that time passes no faster now than it always did. It just seems like it goes by quicker because we forget to live in the moment.

As much as I hate to admit it, living in the moment is actually something very hard to do (at least for me). I'm a "planner" and perfectionist ... and if you are too, then you will understand what I mean when I say that oftentimes it's very difficult for me to enjoy the present moment without (over)thinking about or planning for what's ahead. Nonetheless, I am very aware of this, so I try to catch myself when I'm not being present.

On Friday, Sameer planned a surprise birthday dinner for me. The plan was for us to go to Chewies downtown Vancouver for dinner.  I thought it was just going to be the two of us, but he had invited a lot of our friends without me knowing and it was an awesome surprise. At the beginning of the night, I caught myself obsessing about insignificant things i.e. whether I was over/underdressed for the restaurant, I forgot to spray on my perfume before I left the house, whether I seemed surprise when I walked in ... and the list goes on. There was actually a moment that I remember very clearly when I looked around at all the people who had come out to celebrate my birthday and I realized that likely no one really cares. And in that moment, (believe it or not, in my state of semi-inebriation), I had some form of epiphany ... in 10 or 20 years, what I'm going to or want to remember from the night is not that I was over/underdressed or that I forgot to put on perfume, etc ... What I would want to remember is:

1. how happy I felt to be able to enjoy such good company;
2. how grateful I was to have someone who cared about me so much to go out of their way to plan a surprise for me; and
3. how lucky I am to have so many people who would take time out of their day to celebrate my birthday with me.

"Forever is composed of nows." - Emily Dickinson

Tis the Season of Giving

If you are not already familiar with the Christmas song, "My Grown Up Christmas List" ... listen to it! (the Michael Buble version is my favourite). It's a great song and I've really been relating to it this holiday season. As much as I have been enjoying the season's celebrations, I've also been very mindful to all the adversities that people are facing around the world. Especially with all the tragedy that has been happening around the world recently, I am reminded everyday that I am incredibly blessed to be living the life that I live. With my birthday also coming up, I've had a lot of people ask me what I want for Christmas or my birthday. When I think about it, I realize there's nothing that I really need. 

When I used to think of Christmas or my birthday, the first thing that would come to mind was presents, food, parties, and more presents. Now, I think of love, happiness and family. Maybe it has to do with maturity ... maybe it has to do with moving across the country... maybe it has to do with being away from my family. Regardless, I am determined to do my best this year to help out those who are less fortunate. Everyone deserves to be able to celebrate love, happiness and family 365 days a year.

So, I am starting a personal tradition this year (and I hope some of you will join me!) to pledge gifts to the homeless in my community :) Homeless Partners is a great non-profit organization that allows homeless communities to post their personal stories and gift requests online. You can then pledge/donate gifts based on the wish lists and drop them off to different locations. 

Unfortunately Homeless Partners does not include homeless communities in Toronto. But for my Toronto friends, who are interested in doing something similar, Covenant House and United Way have created lists of items they are collecting to gift to those living in poverty.

With that being said, if you are someone who is thinking of what to get me for Christmas or my birthday, please save the money and donate it or a gift to someone in need this December! (or donate to cause/organization/charity of your choice).

Love openly and give generously, my friends! 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This post is long overdue!

Although I'm not a huge fan of the winter season, December has always been my favourite month and Christmas has always been my favourite holiday of all time! There's something about the spirit of the holiday that cheers me up even when I'm in the worst mood. It also helps that it's also my birthday month :)

In light of that, I was very excited to be able to decorate my apartment this year. We haven't had a Christmas tree at home for the last several years because we were travelling during the holidays. So, I made sure to get one this year. And because I'm a true believer in spreading Christmas cheer, here are some pictures that will hopefully do just that:

Of course I had a festive candle burning in the background - Frosty Pines!

I actually didn't get this one from Bath & Body Works (I felt so guilty).  I got this one on sale at the Superstore and it smells just like a live Christmas tree!

Since my tree wasn't real, the candle really did its job. Got this 6.5 footer from London Drugs and it was super easy to assemble.

Although the whole tree decorating process took awhile, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. We used to decorate the tree as a family every year when I was younger and it was always a really good bonding experience. It was something that I looked forward to every year as December approached. Even as I was decorating my own tree this year, it brought back a lot of fond memories I had from my childhood. It actually made me realize how lucky I was to be able to associate this holiday with so much love, warmth, and happiness.

After we assembled the tree, we obviously had to stop and enjoy the sunset...

As always, Dollarama saved the day.  I got all of my tree decorations there for around $30.

... Oh Christmas tree! :)

Yes, I took this picture a day before I wrote this post.

A quick look at the rest of my apartment:

Welcome!

Snowflakes galore!

And now that decorations are done ... onto Christmas cards! Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!! xoxo