Images 2

I have the final presentation for my project at work tomorrow, so today will be a long day and late night. I only wish I had enough sleep last night and more chewy ginger candies to power me through the day.
I had a dream last night that I was sleep walking. One of those dreams within a dream. It was freaky.

xo
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Images

Due to my internship/job, I have developed an addiction to saving random pictures I come across on the internet. It might be the subject matter, colors, or design that grab my eye, for whatever reason I save it. I've been using this image bank as inspiration for designs and at times just plain amusement.

And I've decided that I should start sharing it. I'll post a few pictures every few days. Hope you enjoy it.

xo
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Springtime

It has finally warmed up here. Although the thermometer didn't go down much past -5 it was a bitter, long winter. The sun is out longer, giving me light and scenery for my apres-work runs that were previously in the dark. When I leave work I feel awake and alive, and I no longer dread the cold bike ride home. Instead I enjoy the sounds of the birds and the springtimey smells.

I've been brimming with ideas for my own projects. T-shirts for threadless. Prints of my paintings. Patterns to screen print. Bags to make. Last night I couldn't fall asleep because my mind was racing so I got up and sketched. This makes me sooooo sosososo happy. I spent the weekend laying on the couch, reading, sudoku-ing and going for a couple runs. It was fabulous. Last night I worked on Adobe Illustrator tutorials. I've updated my cirriculum vitae and portfolio and applied for some more jobs (in Canada). Being productive has been good.

I am planning to come home, not sure for how long. At first it was for a visit, then possibly permanent, and now I'm unsure. I had a chat with work about my situation (visa and money running out, needing a more permanent/reliable job), and they were a bit bummed about me possible leaving Eindhoven. So we've set up a meeting next week to talk about my future. I have no idea what will be the outcome, as they need project managers and graphic designers not industrial designers, but it's nice to know that they are willing to talk about it and that they do like me and want me around.  I've been hesitant asking for so long (language barriers bring out the shyness in me), but I'm glad I finally did. Ask and ye shall receive, so they say.

upwards and onwards

xoxo

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Happy St Patty's Day!

After having a couple frustrating days at work while feeling on the brink of a cold and chronic shoulder pain, I've managed to concoct the perfect remedy (that surprisingly doesn't contain booze): exercise, cook, eat, chill. Maybe throw a power nap in there (I am the queen of power naps).
Yesterday I went for a run and make a delicious, rich chicken curry with the little ingredients in our fridge. Curry is my fallback plan for any meal. It's so easy and good. Go ahead and try it out if you dare:

1kg chicken thighs (bone in), about 7-8 pieces
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
Some ginger, about a tbsp roughly chopped
One leek, sliced
One can of coconut milk
1 - 1.5 tbsp green curry paste
About 1.5 - 2 cups frozen peas

Brown the chicken thighs in a little oil in a large pan or saucepan on high. Set aside and drain excess oil.
Throw in a little more oil and brown up the garlic, onion and ginger. Throw in the leek and toss around a bit. Reduce heat to medium.
Dump in the coconut milk and mix in curry paste until delightfully homogenous.
Put in the chicken thighs and peas, mix around until everything is covered. Reduce heat to medium-low. Put a lid on the pan/pot and simmer (stirring occasionally) until the chicken falls off the bone with minimal effort.

My cure for the blues today was trying my hand at Irish soda bread. I thought it appropriate, as it's St Patrick's Day and I don't feel like getting drunk. I'm really happy about the results. I couldn't help but try out a slice before snapping a picture.

It was warm, dense, and a bit tart. I hope it lasts till Saturday so I can make some french toast and use up the 1/2 container of mascapone cheese I have hanging out in the fridge.
This bread is ridiculously easy to make.

Preheat oven to 375F
3 cups flour
1.5 cups buttermilk
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp baking soda

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a reservoir in the center for the milk. Pour in 1 cup of buttermilk and set aside the other 1/2 cup. Mix ingredients together, stirring in the remaining 1/2 cup of milk. Mix until you have a soft dough.
Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Knead dough on surface for no longer than 30 seconds to a minute, just enough to make the dough stick together. Pat into a flat circle and slice an X about 1/2" deep and plop it onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 minutes or until the bread makes a hollow sound when you tap it on the bottom.
IMPORTANT:
DO NOT OVERKNEAD or else the carbon dioxide bubbles will collapse.
Also apparently it's important to make sure the oven is fully preheated before putting the bread in.

Voila! Enjoy your bread.

xo
v

Applying myself

Now after a fantastic, exciting month of running around Europe (I believed Dana's mom once referred to me as a "whirling dervish" and that probably applies in this situation) it's back to business. Business being current work and also finding new work.

Since I unfortunately have no steady income here, it looks like I will be heading back to Canada and have been looking for opportunities back home. There seems to be a lot of jobs and companies I'm interested in, so it's giving me some hope. I've been updating my resume and portfolio, and whenever I do that, it always seems like I end up rewriting or redesigning the whole thing. That's probably a good thing though, since after Edhv I have a better handle on graphic design. It just takes time! Ugh. Sometimes I feel like I'm subconsciously procrastinating when I do that.  

It's bittersweet. As I have been incredibly homesick lately and I would love to feel financially comfortable again, it's been such an adventure living here and I've learned a lot and met some incredible people. I am just so thankful for technology (ie skype and facebook) that I feel like I will keep in contact with those who've made such a good impact on my life. But still I feel sad that this experience didn't turn out as planned and I feel disappointed in myself for retreating into familiar home territory. I've been accused for "running away from my problems", but at the same time, I believe that generally people are afraid of changing their minds.

But of course this doesn't mean I'm suck in Canada forever, always looking back to my 10 months abroad as the only adventurous event in my life. I'm looking at this experience as a trial run. I have all intentions on living outside Canada again, but I'll go about it differently next time. It may be for school, or for a job. Or possibly to set up my own company or work as a freelancer or just live as an artist. Whatever it is, next time I will have a solid plan. A big lesson I have learned is to not move to a new country during a global recession without a job lined up before hand. It's a bit of a challenge. I'll also be more choosy about which city I live in, and choose one based on not just who is living there or if I have work there. I will have to put serious thought into it and have a set of criteria to ensure I will stay there a while and be happy.

Anyways, I was talking about procrastinating earlier and right now I'm double procrastinating so I should get to it!

xo
v

Cheerful

Some days you wake up and a small series of relatively insignificant events set the tone for the day.
Today the tone of the day was set from the emails I got when I got to work this morning. I had a nice email from my Grandparents saying they saw the project I worked on in Milan, and they enjoyed the fudge I sent them from Scotland. I also got an email of cute animals from Mom and a quick hello from cousin Michelle, including a naked picture of Burt Reynolds.
Good days always start with Burt Reynold's ass.

Thanks!
xoxo