titleless

I just sat here for about 10 minutes trying to think of a title but my mind just doesn't seem to be working. So, titleless it is.

It's been sooooooo long since the last time I posted but there just doesn't seem to be anything interesting to write about.

Yesterday Amy, myself and our flatmate Neil's mom took the train to Glasgow to do some shopping. There is a store over here called Primark that is so incredibly cheap it is unbelievable. We don't have one in Edinburgh so Amy and I have gone to Glasgow a few times to get some shopping in. I don't have a lot of money so had to restrain myself but I did manage
to find some cute summer shirts for a pound each. Yep, a pound. I also found a really cute purse (I'm addicted to purses). We also got some new tattoos while we were there.... of the Henna variety.
Here's a pic of mine:


I love it. It makes me want to get a real tattoo there. I can just see myself when I'm 80 with a wrinkly old neck and the short curly haircut that every old woman has and this tattoo showing. Not the prettiest picture. I think I'll stick to getting them in places that are somewhat easier to hide.


Amy loves hers too. They say they last 2-5 weeks but Amy just got out of the shower and it's already a little faded. Oh well.

In other news... We are heading over to Northern Ireland for a few days in July. The main things that we will be able to see are the Giants Causeway, Carrick rope bridge and Belfast City. Here are some pics.


Yikes!! The bridge doesn't look too long in the picture, but I'm sure once I'm standing there ready to walk on it I'll be thinking otherwise. Can't wait!

A Few of My Favourite Things

There are a few stores here that I have grown to love. Every time I walk to the shopping area I have to go in them to look around. For the most part I have never bought anything from these stores because they are out of my price range, but I like to dream. Today I bought something for the first time at one of my favourites. The store is called Cath Kidston and its a vintage inspired home ware/accessories/clothing store. It's a small shop but they have a little bit of everything. They have several different vintage inspired patterns and each of the mugs, purses, or whatever you're wanting to buy is available in each of the patterns. Here are a few of my favourite patterns:

And my personal favourite... cowboys! You can get anything you want in this pattern.... purses, wellies, baby clothes, baby bags, a crib set (so cute!)

I bought a mug in this pattern today. I was going to post a picture of it but it's not available on the website.

Seriously, I could spend hundreds of pounds in this store.

Another one of my favourite stores is called Monsoon. It's a clothing store that sort of reminds me of RW & Co. Probably because I love everything in the store but can't afford anything. Here's a link to the website. They have some beautiful dresses.
Monsoon

My favourite store here that I ACTUALLY buy things at is called New Look. It's another clothing store, but wayyyyyy more affordable. A lot of the clothes are a little too 'hip' for me, but I always manage to find something I like.

These are a few of my favourite stores here that I will miss shopping at. I signed up to recieve a magazine from Cath Kidston, but I put down my Canadian address so when I'm home I'll still be able to get a little taste of the store.

Our Last Three Months

I can't believe we only have three months to go. Incredible. I have such mixed feelings about going home. I can't wait to see my family and friends. I can't wait to hug my nieces and meet my sweet little nephew for the first time. I miss my parents house and my bedroom (even though I'll only be there for a few weeks before I move to Waterloo). I'm excited to get my own apartment and finally be able to buy things at IKEA that I've loved for years but couldn't buy because I didn't have my own place. I'm excited to share my stories and pictures with the people I love in person.

BUT...

I love my job here. I love the people I work with. I love the fact that the bar closed at 12 but a bunch of us stayed till 3 am just talking and laughing. I love the city and the Royal Mile. I love being able to walk through buildings and on streets with so much history. I love the fact that for 5 pounds I can fly to Paris if I wanted to (which I do). I love being surrounded by Scottish accents, even though I'm so used to it now that they don't even sound Scottish anymore. I love that I'm annoyed at all the tourists in the city, even though I was one of them nine months ago. This feels like MY city and I'm going to miss it.

Don't worry, this is not my way of telling you that I'm not coming home in September. I'm just saying that it will definitely be a bittersweet moment. I can't wait to go home, but I (and Amy) will miss this place.

With that being said, Amy and I are going to try and make the most of our last three months here (without spending a lot of money). Here's what we've got planned:

- Not much going on in June. We'll maybe try and go to a few highland games in the area.
-We might head over to Northern Ireland for a few days in July. We'd stay with our flatmates mom and get to see the Giants Causeway and Belfast city, among other things. The end of July is the Clan Gathering, which has the world highland games championships.
-The month of August is the Edinburgh Festival. There will be lots of street performers, shows and people. It's going to be busy! Right now the plan is to quit our jobs around August 17th or so. Our oldest sister Lacey is planning on coming for two weeks so we want to be able to travel with her without worrying about working. We're not sure exactly what we will be doing when she is here but some highlights will be: showing her the city, going to London, somehow getting to France and Paris (we may take a boat from Dover, England to France) and possibly heading to Spain or Germany. Our cousin AJ is also planning on coming over for a few weeks so Amy and I will have one week with just Lacey, one week where Lacey and AJ are here and then one week where Lacey is gone and its just AJ. We are planning on going to Croatia and Prague with AJ... that is if we save up enough money. We've always got our visas though! We'll head back to the city for a few days to show AJ around, before heading home somewhere around September 10th (which is the day we left Canada to come over here!).

Those last three weeks are going to be busy...and expensive! Hopefully we can save up enough to do most of what we want to see. But, like I said, we've always got our visas and I'm not opposed to maxing them out if it means we get to travel before we go home.

On a side note, the weather here has been INCREDIBLE the past week. It's been sunny and about 25 degrees. The past few summers here have been really rainy so hopefully this means we'll be getting a warm, dry summer! Just like home :)