Summer has almost come to an end. I was lucky enough to have enjoyed nearly four months of vacation from school this year, as my final exams were scheduled early.

It had a rocky start, emotionally, but any issues I had were resolved not long after and I’ve been able to enjoy the season with a smile and a positive attitude. I tried to do the things I like and have missed (as one should!). While I’d like to see my friends more often and constantly spam their Facebook walls with “I need to see you ASAP to catch up!” messages, such plans rarely quite come to fruition considering that our schedules almost never match. So when the opportunity to hang out with them, or to travel with them, does arise, I jump at the chance. These activities kept me away from my blog a little, but I took the time today to create a small compilation of photos from my summer. Mostly for my memories sake, but for your viewing pleasure as well, hopefully!

This summer, I’ve enjoyed…

Going to Florida with my best friend — At the end of May, my best friend (of almost 20 years!) invited me to go on a trip to Orlando, FL with her and her family. Not one to usually prefer sun vacations, I still followed her for a week of sun, relaxation, swimming in the pool and at the beach and (lots of) shopping. In the end, I greatly enjoyed spending time with these people that I consider like my second family.

Relaxing at a cottage — A coworker of mine owns a cottage by the lake and she invited me and some other coworkers to spend a day with her over there. Swimming, relaxing, boating and eating were on the menu. The area is absolutely beautiful and peaceful, it was a perfect place to be on a Saturday.

Going on small photography excursions — My boyfriend is constantly looking for nice spots for photography, so we had fun going on small photography excursions. It was mostly him handling the camera, as I prefer shooting candids of people usually (as seen above!), but I did enjoy going to these places. Among them, the Parc-Nature de l’Ile-de-la-Visitation is a natural park located just 15 minutes from my house but had never noticed before. While it’s at really close proximity to the city, it’s still very quiet and offers beautiful views.

Having a picnic at a parc — Lots of unhealthy foods, but so much fun talking and hanging out with long-time friends.

Photo by Joan Marcus

Getting to see Wicked on Broadway — So, SO happy that they’ve been presenting Wicked here in Montreal. I’ve wanted to see this musical for a while now, and my dream has been fulfilled! I was sitting second row, too! The show met all my expectations; I could see it again, and again, and again…

Photo by Karissa H.

Seeing 2NE1 in concert and shopping in Manhattan — Three of my longest friends and I went to a tiny 1-day-and-a-half trip to New Jersey and New York. On the menu: attend a 2NE1 concert in Newark (which, by the way, was TOTALLY AWESOME!) and to spend the next day shopping in Manhattan before heading home by Greyhound at night. It was, in the end, sort of tiring, and frustrating at times (stuck for 3 hours at customs, and for 1 hour and a half in the Lincoln Tunnel), but ultimately fun and fulfilling. I was able to spend time with my closest girlfriends, eat good Scandinavian and Japanese food and shop for my new fall wardrobe.

Finding the perfect earrings — I’ve mentioned in a previous post how I was looking for the perfect herkimer stud earrings. I ended up going with these from LuaMae Jewelry. They are gold-filled and priced perfectly for my budget. I love, love wearing them every day. By the way, Lua offers amazing customer service and is just overall lovely to deal with!

These made me reminisce and miss summer already, but I will jump head first into fall, excited for once to start classes again. I’m taking a class called Food Marketing, how exciting does that sound?

But I will also make it a point to post more over here. I had a recent layout loss scare! I accidentally applied the update for the WordPress theme that I used as a framework for my blog layout and consequently overwrote all the coding I had done. I had no personal backup and was absolutely devastated. Thankfully, the host server did have a backup and was able to perform a rollback — phew! I truly was on the verge of crying. Always back up your work if you cherish it, people! And cherish this blog I will!

Tags: concerts, jewelry, personal photos, photography, summer, travel

Jewelry, Myself, Photos, Things I Like, Travel