finals week :|

me either, leo.

me either.

pray for me.

:S
vanessa

let the festivities begin :)

december: |di-ˈsem-bər,| - n.
a month of lights, snow and feasts;
time to make amends and tie loose ends;
finish off what you started and hope your wishes come true

happy december, y'all.

:)

vanessa

ps. i can finally sing this song aloud again *wipes away a single tear*

cold december night - michael bublé

i risked my life for a sweater (black friday)

a tad dramatic but let me explain *kevin hart voice*

i try my best to avoid any stores that are having major sales as:
a) i hate line-ups
b) the smalls are always the first to go anyways
c) i fear being trampled

however, seeing how friday was "black friday" and i was already in the downtown core, i decided to give it a go.
now, "black friday" is a fairly new concept to canadians - our day to go buck-wild at shopping centers is boxing day (december 26th).
but in an attempt to keep us on this side of the border, merchants in canada have started to have "black friday" sales like their american counterparts.

after class, i headed to the mall and immediately left after seeing the crowd of people.
i opted to visit a department store called the bay located across from the mall instead.
and that is where i scored what is now my new favorite sweater:

(grainiest photo ever)

sweater - hbc; tank & jeans - forever 21; boots - aldo

standard mirror selfie

i also clearly discovered the mirrorgram app on my iphone.

speaking of iphones, this happened:

my craving self just had to get a quesadilla on my way home.

as soon as it fell, i knew it was a wrap.

i was so mad, i didn't even order my quesadilla.

first world problem.

did any of you guys venture out on black friday?

:)

vanessa

it's a LOVE HAITI relationship.

"what you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
build anyway."

*warning- this post is quite image heavy...

around this time last year, i had the pleasure of going to fonds-parisen, haiti.

 panoramic photo i took while on the roof of our hotel in fonds-parisien.

now, this was in no way my first visit to la pearle des antilles - both of my parents were born there and many a family vacations were spent in haiti.

my sisters and i at 'kaliko beach club' 

what made this particular trip so special was the fact that we went down there on a mission - to build a church and an orphanage.

our first day in haiti (my dad is in the yellow shirt - 'sup JL)

although we found out very quickly that erecting two buildings in two weeks time was a rather ambitious feat. 

but through a lot of team work and prayer, we were able to build the church building from the ground up.

church sign which is now hanging on the new church building :)

the building they used to worship at was deemed unsafe after the 2010 earthquake.

they would meet under this makeshift "building" instead.

trying to figure out where would be best to build both the church and the orphanage.

completed foundation.

we had many locals come and help us lay the cement.

team work makes the dream work.

our littlest helpers :)

after much confusion, we got first section of the building erected!

by the time we finished getting the building up in it's entirety, it was pitch black out.

but that didn't stop the preacher from testing out the new building.

impromptu church service.

i left before the church was completely finished.

but it looks something like this :)

myself and the other ladies would spend the day sorting through the donated items.

we had a party later on in the week with food and gifts :)

another little helper :)

earlier this week, a group of 15 more brethren (including my lovely parents) traveled back to haiti to work on the orphanage.
i'm sad that i'm not able to attend this time due to my exam schedule but i wish them all the best down there.
i can't wait to see the photos of the finished orphanage!

:)
vanessa

ps. some random photos of the children i would have brought back with me were it not illegal...

looooved me some lobens.

"everyone smiles in the same language."

pps. we found one soccer ball in the box of donations.
i couldn't believe how much joy something as simple as a soccer ball could bring to these children.
after they finished their homework, these two boys would come and play soccer with me.
you're looking at the future haitian national soccer team, y'all.

"never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting..."

i stumbled upon this poem a couple month's ago while wasting my life away on tumblr.
immediately after reading it, i wrote it out in it's entirety in my quote book.
it's sort of become a personal credo of mine and thought i'd share it you:

happy wednesday :)

vanessa

"every revolution begins with a spark."

so, i just got back from a late night screening of the hunger games: catching fire.
my thoughts?

as a fan of the trilogy, i was once again impressed with the film adaption.

the cast, led by the impeccable and hilariously candid jennifer lawrence, did an amazing job bringing the characters i fell in love with in the novels to life.

my only issue?

my sister, bro-in-law, cousin and bff decided to spend $19.50 on the imax experience.

i had never seen an imax movie before and everyone was saying that this film MUST be seen in imax.

well, with the exception of the assigned seating which proved useful as we were late, i don't understand the hype.

perhaps we were just sitting too close to get the full experience but i'm pretty sure it's just a cash grab.

next time, this girl will stick to the normal cinema experience...

but just as when i finished watching the hunger games, i now want to take archery lessons because how badass is this?

but all in all, it was amazing film!

if you are a fan of the books, you will not be disappointed.

i can't wait to watch the third book in the franchise, mockingjay, come to life on the big screen.

and, just throwing this out there, if anyone reading is casting for this movie, i'm beyond available and willing to play tree #3.

did anyone else see this film or any other movie this weekend?

:)
vanessa

ps. i saw this and i laughed because it's true:

one girl, four guitars.

as mentioned in an earlier post, i love me some tori kelly. 

so, when i caught wind that toronto was a stop on her tour, i made it my personal mission to score some tickets.
well, score some i did and off i went with my sister and my bff avery to the show last night.

my sister elle, avery and i

we all met up after work and headed over to the venue, the opera house, in the leslieville area of toronto.

doors opened at 7:30pm but we wanted to arrive a little earlier to get a good spot as this venue is standing room only. 

we were able to get an amazing spot - on the balcony, centre stage - and waited impatiently for tori to arrive. 

she came out sometime around 8:30pm and put on the most magical show i've ever seen.

no band, no backup singers, no gimmicks - just a mic stand, 4 guitars and her voice.

this would be miss tori

in a world full of half-naked girls twerkin' on stage while lip-synching to some auto-tuned track, tori is truly a breath of fresh air. 

i'm not sure how it's even possible but tori's vocals are even better live (see clips below):

pyt (michael jackson cover)

all in my head 

dear no one

the way she would transition from the craziest falsetto to a luscious belt in a matter of milliseconds was mesmerizing.

i'm stanning hard right now, so let me just end this by saying that tori is an incredibly talent singer-songwriter.

the amount of God given talent she possesses is unreal.

if her tour stops by your town, i would highly recommend seeing her in these intimate venues before she blows up.

the show was well worth the $20 price tag.

:)

vanessa