places I've been lately, things I've been seeing

 

this time last year

Since this blog didn't exist a year ago, I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos from a field course that I did last May. It was such a good class. We drove all over the Lower Mainland looking at amazingly different ecosystems and basically walked and picnicked for credit. Or, at least, that's how I choose to remember it. I took a lot of photos on our incredibly warm, sunny excursions and I distinctly remember riding my bike to school everyday and wearing shorts for the first time that year. Which leads me to wonder where the warm weather is right now. Shouldn't it be much nicer in May? Is this our spring? Because I'm pretty sick of rain and clouds and being cold all the time.

Of all he places that we visited on this course, I think Crescent Beach and Boundary Bay might have been my favourite. (That's where the first shot at the top of this post was taken, along with the two flower close-ups.) I liked it because it felt like a small beach-side town, not part of this sprawling Metro Vancouver metropolis, and the beach felt like a secret place, with salt marshes, rare flowers, and lots of cool birds hiding out in the area. The only I thing I didn't enjoy was the crazy length of that day, but the rough parts are easy to forget when you're looking back at photos a year later. I'm going to have to try to get back to some of these places...it's not like they're that far, I'm just kind of lazy these days. Enjoying the opportunity (short, though it is) to spend my days doing little to nothing.

taking care of business giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Sadie giveaway! I discovered some great new music through all of the links that you left and rediscovered some old favourites, too. Much appreciated! And now, the winner of the giveaway, chosen at random, is Lindsay! Congrats!

Here's one of the songs that Lindsay recommended for getting things done:

I just wanted to thank everyone who's extended wishes of good luck and asked about my school project. I've completed the biggest and toughest phase of the project with a presentation called "substantials" (how daunting) last week and now I have two weeks to complete my work and pull it together for the final public presentation. A lot of people have been asking what I'm working on. Well, the short story is that I'm in the last weeks of my Masters of Landscape Architecture degree and my graduate project involves retrofitting a suburban neighbourhood to make it more walkable. The emphasis of my project is on improving biodiversity and human enjoyment of the landscape and that's all I'll bore you with for now. Perhaps I'll share an image or two of my design when this is all over, but for now I just wanted to thank everyone who's helped me out and made this easier.

On that note, the Sadie Etsy shop will be closed from Thursday, April 14 until May 5th to give me time to finish up my school work and get new summer Sadie pieces ready to share with you. I have some exciting things planned for this summer (in life and on the blog). In the meantime, stay tuned for some really awesome day in the life posts and more! I can't wait to ditch this winter-y banner for something brighter come May. Spring! Summer! The best time of year is just ahead of us. Two weeks, people, two weeks.

Here's the getting work done song that I can't live without right now (can't vouch for this video, though...but you really should listen to this song):

P.S. Are any of you big readers?

spring in vancouver

I love this time of year in Vancouver. The magnolias and cherry trees are starting to bloom everywhere. All of the north/south streets are in full bloom and the others are coming. Soon it will be snowing flower petals here. It's a magical time of year that makes me want to get on my bike and head to the seawall, to Commercial Drive, to all of the places that I haven't visited in way too long. It makes me love my camera, too. Is it spring where you are?