working is for chumps..

I wish.

Sadly, being back in Canada has sent me into a spiral of long hours and odd jobs.
Today I'm working at the Toronto Car show as a Ford girl.  I basically ask you if you'd like to enter a contest to win a 5000 dollar gas card.  This is about 6 hours every single night..

During the days I work for another marketing company, selling financial services.  I can't exactly say that it's my favourite job...but hey, at least its a job.

Saturday evenings I do an energy exchange at a yoga studio.

Life just got so busy.

On another note, I decided I want to run the Mississauga Half Marathon.

I also had an interview at the bank and I had landed a job at a golf course for the entire summer.

Peace and Love.

Jamaican me crazy....

Flying into Jamaica...awesome right?

It's February 16th today.  Guess who still has a tan...THIS GIRL.

A day after New Years Day, I got my little white butt on an airplane with my mom and brother.  I flew down south and a tiny bit east to Jamaica.  The land of wood and water.

It is the greenest place I've ever seen.  So lovely and lush.  Every single shade of green literally covers every piece of visible land.  Coincidence that it's the colour green...

Beaches: brilliantly blueish-green with ridiculously white sand.

The People:  kind, generous and forward.  The Jamaican lifestyle is almost lazy.  But not lazy in the way people typically define lazy.   It's lazy in the sense that the heat paralyzes you; to move is practically suicide.  The best way to spend your day is to find a man with a rope, convince him to get you a coconut, crack it open, thrown in a straw (throw in some rum if you're feeling really Jamaican) and retreat under whatever shade you can find.  Occasionally jump into the water.

A must do:  visit 9 Mile.

What is 9 Mile you ask?  Well, my friends, the one and only Nesta Robert Marley grew up there.  He also wrote songs about freedom there and the journey back to Zion.  At first, you might be a little over whelmed by all the little Rasta men running around, howling with laughter and talking about love, life and the meaning of it all.  Quickly, party favourites makes everyone the best of friends.  You take a journey through the life of Bob.  You see where he came from.  And my personal favourite part... you get to walk into his tomb and smoke a jay with the man, the legend, the one and only king of reggae.  You leave thinking:  there is SO much more to life than all the useless junk I pack into it.

Jamaica was beautiful.  Every single moment of it was breathtaking.  It was the most relaxed I've been in in a very long time.

Thank you Jamaica.


Peace and Love!


***note to self:  get a better camera...or start taking better pictures.***

it came and now it's gone...

Australia has come and gone.  Let me tell you about Melbourne.  The place I called home for four months.

I spent many early mornings on a train riding into the city.  Most of these mornings were spent with my ipod or pinterest.  Every morning at 7:20 am, I would get to Spencer St.  I usually picked up a chai latte and a muffin (if I was feeling hungry).  I walked 20 minutes to the cafe where I worked.  Every single day, my morning was the same.  Some mornings I would catch a glimpse of a homeless person waking up and organizing their little corner of space.  Other mornings, Melbourne would come alive with freebies and busketeers.

Afternoons in Melbourne were filled with free meditation, boot camps in the park and hidden cafes in every single lane way.  Every single day there was something new to see.   I filled my days with patios and cheap beer pitchers.  I explored cafes.  I went to museums.  I took long walks in the park.  Occasionally, I jumped on a tram and found my way to St Kilda beach for some ice cream.  One thing for sure: I drank a lot of coffee.

There's something about Melbourne that touches the deepest depths of your soul.  Whatever it is, the feeling creeps up on you and then completely engulfs you.  You indulge in everything.  Beer is better.  Coffee is infinite.  Sleep is irrelevant.  You just want to do everything and be everywhere.  Dumplings on Bourke, cupcakes on every other corner, cider bars and rooftop patios.  Cinemas in warehouses and art markets in alleyways.

By nightfall, Melbourne turns into fashionable, trendy and somewhat hipster.  Suddenly lane ways are bumping with music you've never heard.  Clubs have line ups all around the building.  There is no end. You get lost in a world so similar, yet so different from our own.

The things around Melbourne:  beaches, koala bears, bars and cities with interesting histories.

Great Ocean road takes you on a different adventure every time you embark on it.

I really do wish I had more to say, but I've been home for almost two months and I find the memories disappearing.

I will return to Australia and see the rest of it one day.

Cheers mate.

***Pictures to follow***
I'm being lazy and haven't transferred them to my computer yet.  AND I lost my phone, recovering the photos has been a tedious and painful process...BUT they're okay!!

Geelong Waterfront Trail

Hello.

Embrace the detours. -Kevin Charbonneau

I set out along the Great Ocean Road last Saturday.  I had every intention of seeing the Twelve Apostles and checking out some falls along the way.  Thanks to some rough weather and a lot of rain, most of the falls were closed.  Once we reached Apollo Bay... I discovered that the Twelve Apostles were still an hour away----Looks like the Twelve Apostles are not in my cards until some other time.

The drive was beautiful.  I loved every second of it.  It was cloudy and it rained for half the drive.  It was a winding road; some part were high above the shore line, other parts were right along side the waves.  It was windy.  The water was a dark deep blue.  The waves crashed against the rocky shore violently.  Standing out there, leaning against the wall, I just took it all in.  All I could think to myself was *breathe*

You know, sometimes life doesn't pan out the way you want it to.  Sometimes all the plans you have change.  Sometimes all your hopes and dreams change.  I honestly never thought I'd be here; in Australia.  I don't even really know how it happened.  Here I am sitting inside on a beautiful Saturday afternoon thinking to myself, 'what should I do with myself today'.  I'm on the other side of the world with nothing but a blank canvas in front of me.  For the first time, everything I used to see before my eyes is gone.  I just want to be.  That's it.  I just want to be.  I want to feel the wind in my hair, the rain on my lips and the sun on my skin.  I want to be in snow up to my knees.  I want the sand between my toes.  I don't want a worry in the world.  I just want to be happy.   What is happiness?


Peace and Love <3

I GOT A JOB!!!!!

I GOT A JOB IN AUSTRALIA!!!!

Life is good.

if everything comes your way, you are in the wrong lane. -Unknown

I DROVE YESTERDAY FOR THE FIRST TIME.  (in Australia...not the first time ever..)

Describing word:  interesting.

The roads are all backwards, much like the roads in England.  The steering wheel is on the opposite side as well.  The car I drove yesterday is a manual.  You should know that I've driven a 5-speed twice in my lifetime--when I was 17 years old.  Driving on the wrong side of everything, in a 5-speed, proved to be quite the experience; without a doubt: interesting.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I guess practice will make perfect; or at least I won't suck at it forever.  

Here's a bit of an update on life in Australia so far:

1. The job that I had, I no longer have.  I decided to quit.  The cafe itself was alright and even the people working in it were alright.  I just felt like the owner was being a bit 'dodgy'  **aussie word for sketchy**
2. The coffee in Melbourne is delicious.  I have a new obsession with Chai Soy Lattes.  Never ever did I think to put honey in it;  this is a must for anyone who didn't know that the combination of honey and chai is heavenly. 
3. Living situation:  moving to a bigger place soon I hope.  
4. I also found two volunteer opportunities coming my way.  One with a museum and the other with a conservation group over on Ocean Road.  I think this will be a great way to get involved and make some friends.

And the job hunt continues.  

Peace and Love, 

Adriana