364 of 365.

i can't believe how quickly this month went by. 

it felt like one day i was stressing over exams and the next, i'm sitting on my bed, eating pineapples while working on my manifesto for 2015. 

i didn't get a chance to really blog this month due to school and work engagements.

as a result, i am going to combine all my photos into one mega-post...

day-trip to casa loma:
casa loma (spanish for house on the hill) is a gothic style house and gardens located in midtown toronto.
despite there being many a field trip to casa loma in elementary school, this was my first time visiting the mansion.
the story of the rise and fall of sir henry mill pellatt, the owner of the landmark, definitely reminded me of the terrible things that can go wrong when you do "the most".

the following photos were taken by my friend, jessie: 

view from the watch tower - if you look really close, you can see the CN tower through the fog

santa called us into a room to take a pic with him.

we obliged.

ex-lancer reunion <3

pre-christmas festivities:

jenn's home!

bah humbug.

toronto christmas market at the distillery district:

christmas day:

impatiently waiting.

very happy with her manicure kit.

budding picasso.

christmas breakfast.

new found love of pancakes. 

tai working on her "darn yarn" christmas gift.

success.

christmas movie marathon.

usies.

our quasi-annual family christmas music video that's missing 85% of our family, lol.

random photos:

trying to take pictures while nico moves about.

room makeover:
i'll be sure to document the finished product in the near future.

end of an era.

littlest helper.

december 29th, 2014 - my parents' 30th wedding anniversary:

i get tired of most people after 30 minutes.

so, 30 years is beyond impressive to me!

my heart.

pinterst fails:

i don't even know why i bother.

hope you all had an amazing december and are enjoying what's left of 2014!

<3

vanessa

damn grace and gratitude, where the hell ya been? *kanye voice*

answer: drowning in finals.
i saw this gif the other day which sums up my sentiments post-finals perfectly:

anyways, post-exams i've been busy with work and catching up with friends i've been ignoring the past couple weeks.

i wish i had taken more photos but sometimes you're just too busy having fun to snap pics, ya know?

anyways, here are some random snapshots of the people/things that captured my heart over the past couple of weeks:

getting "turnt" one last time with jamille before she leaves us for the land of cowboy boots and rodeos.

we had our first snowfall of the season and my sister captured this beautiful shot of her son, nico.

it reminds me of "where the wild things are" for some reason.

speaking of nico, he and his rosalina started a youtube channel.

it's called the "nico and roro show" and i think it's the cutest thing!

let these girls be a reminder to us all that racism is taught.

children do not see color, they are taught to see color.

i'm not even a fan of cats but i need this feline in my life.

so pretty.

i love sprinkle donuts and i love christmas.

so naturally, christmas colored sprinkled donuts are my ish right now.

while at the beauty supply store, i stumbled upon this little girl on a conditioner bottle.

for whatever reason, i feel that if i'm ever blessed with a daughter one day, she will look like this girl.

random, i know lol.

my cousin saturne gave me a copy of this photo from her wedding and i'm obsessed.

this is like 15.3% of my family.

we're large in number and we're insane but i love us.

on my "study breaks", i started re-watching buffy and have fallen in love with these two.

i can't remember how their love story ends but as of right now, i'm rooting for them.

and lastly, they sing this every time it snows <3

to any one who wrote finals recently, hope they all went well.

:)

vanessa

snapshots: american thanksgiving 2014

it was my family's goal this year to celebrate both canadian and american thanksgiving.
canadian thanksgiving went off without a hitch and this past weekend, my mom and i headed up (down?) to pennsylvania for round two.

i was too busy enjoying the company of my family that i didn't really take that many photos but will post the random shots i did manage to score.

shoutout to my aunts and cousin for heaven on a plate

his eyes were bigger than his stomach *crying emoji*

post just-dance shenanigans

the matriarch 

bandidas reunited <3

cousins - the next generation 

hanging out with "jenkins" and "amelia"

babies got me like...

the sweetest girls are born in february...

la-la <3

my aunt essentially lives in a forest and at any given moment you will find yourself surrounded by at least two deer...

my mother was adamant that she get a photo beside the deer.

this was as close as she'd get to them, haha.

hope all my fellow americans had a wonderful thanksgiving weekend with yummy eats and great company. 

back to studying i go.

six finals in seven days...pray for me.

:)

vanessa

ps. me thinks i may have found my christmas jam of 2014:

i can never resist  a good choir session/soul clap a the end of a song. 

ever.

[dih-sem-ber]

the month of joy, happiness and finishing what you started :)

here's to the most amazing december!

annnnd to 30 more days of me singing this song, haha!

cold december night - michael buble

:)

vanessa

ps. when my sister showed me this, i nearly died:

my wittle nicklaus absolutely slaying his first class photo.

i'm obsessed.