A Few of My Favourite Things

"When life gives you lemons, just say F**k the lemons and bail."

Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

This sentence has been going through my head for the last couple of weeks. I've really taken a break from all things lately. My blog, exercising, etc. Life sometimes throws you a curve ball and when that happens to me all I want to do is drop everything and lie in bed with a good book that I can lose myself in, or cry while eating a bowl of ice cream. But eventually I  have to say to myself "OK Paula today you have to get off your ass and do what makes you happy. Stop being a sorry suck and look to the positive."

I know this all sounds pretty cryptic and sorry for that but, this blog isn't a place I want to use to complain about things or talk about things that make me sad and depressed. This blog is for the things that make me happy and to show off my talents and passions. So with that said, I think the best thing to do to get back into the swing of things is to do another edition of My Favourite Things.

So much for this being a weekly blog post. Unfortunately it takes me a while to write these suckers so for the time being this is something I will be putting up when I can, as opposed to every Wednesday. Hopefully at some point this will be a weekly post but just bare with me here, until I can get my crap together. 

For this edition of A Few of My Favourite Things I wanted to talk about art. I love art in all it's forms. In school I was always most excited for anything to do with creativity. I hated all things History and still do, don't get me started on French or Math. English wasn't too bad I guess. If we read a book and I enjoyed it I could tell you all about it, but I hated been forced to read a book that didn't grab my attention and therefore, all assignments that went with it where either never done or done in a way that I knew I would pass. Thank you Cole's Notes. I felt all those subjects where just a waste of time, and I always counted down the periods until I could finally walk into my Art, Photography, and Drafting courses. These were the classes I loved and lived for.

A couple years ago a good friend of mine taught me how to crochet a blanket. Since then I have created blankets, hats, and scarves. I just find crocheting so relaxing and I love all the different stitches you can do and patterns you can create. I have a whole pinterest board dedicated to different crochet projects I want to try from things as simple as bookmarks for stocking stuffers, and coffee cup warmers to full out sweaters. I usually do most of my best T.V. watching while sitting and crocheting for hours.

Some crochet projects I LOVE and can't wait to try. 

                            

 

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You can see more on my Pinterest Crochet Board here.

I am currently working on completing a blanket I started for my nephew for his baby shower....a year ago. His 1st birthday is coming up in the next few weeks and I am desperately trying to finish this thing. However this blanket is becoming a bit of an issue as I keep screwing it up. If I'm not missing a stitch on a row, I've added too many. It's starting to frustrate me beyond belief, but I'm determined to finish this thing if it kills me. 

I love you Caleb but you may just end up with a wonky looking blanket. For this I apologize in advance. 

A hobby of mine is photography. I may not know all the ins and outs of a camera. I may not even be the greatest at it or have a lot of talent, but I love capturing moments and details. I love the photos where somebody is crying because they've just been proposed to, or laughing so hard because someone did something they found hilarious. They might not look magazine worthy in the photo but its the emotions behind the photo I love. I'm not big in to staged photos but sometimes they are necessary, like with weddings. I also love detail shots. Getting up close to something like grains in wood or the eye of an animal.

All photos above are my photos. Please do not copy and use as your own.  

The first Christmas Richard and I had together he bought me my very first Camera, a Canon Rebel XT. It's an older model now as cameras progress quickly and new models come out every year. I do want to upgrade at some point as new features such as higher shutter speeds and larger ISO's, among other things, are on newer models. I've been saying for years I want to upgrade but prices on camera aren't exactly cheap. Photography is definitely an expensive hobby to have as you often find what you think will be a simple picture to capture often requires some high quality equipment to pull off.

Here are some cameras I love and am really looking into upgrading to.


Canon Rebel T3I D-SLR 
This is not the newest model D-SLR in the Canon family, but is one that has all the features I want or could need. Because this is something of a hobby and not a profession I don't see the reason to upgrade to the latest and greatest, but look at the price tag! Holy Expensive Batman. I would most likely have to sell my old camera to help pay for this one, which is something I am really considering doing. I think I keep putting it off because of the price tag but also because my brain keeps saying 'You already have a camera so there is no real rush to get a new one'.





FujiFilm XF1
I love the vintage look to this camera. Yes again another expensive camera, but other then my iPhone camera I don't have a point and shot camera. There are many occasions where I don't want to take my SLR camera with me for fear of breaking it or it getting stolen, like at amusement parks and haunted houses, impromptu dinners with friends. So a good point and shot camera is key. I want something that can take great photos like an SLR with the extended options of setting the shutter speed or ISO and with a higher mega pixel. This is that camera, and like I said the added bonus of it having a vintage look to it is just adorable. This one in particular comes in 3 different colours but I really like the look of the brown.







Now you can take a horrible photo and turn it into a masterpiece with the right editing program. So with that being said I also want a legit copy of Photoshop Elements. I hate this 30 day trial crap that ends up screwing with my computer. I'm not the most computer savvy person out there so legit copies of programs are always best for me. Looking into the options that come with Photoshop and the heavy duty price tag of that (do you see a pattern here, photography is hellish expensive) I think that for what I would need it for, fixing exposure and colour balance, I only need the Photoshop Elements. Which is fantastic since this is only $70-$90 in price as opposed to the $500+ price tag that comes with the full version of Photoshop CS5.

Photos are really important to me, and on my iPhone alone I have 6 apps for photography: Instagram, InstaCollage, A Beautiful Mess, iPhone Camera, Photoshop Express and CamMe. All of these apps I use on a daily basis to take photos, edit them, and post them on Instagram, Twitter and even here on this blog.

I also try to get involved with blog photo challenges and Instagram Hops like the ones on A Night Owls Blog and A Beautiful Mess. 

OK enough about Photography let's talk about my favourite passion of all time: Interior Design. I flip flop a lot when it comes to the question of 'What do I want to be when I grow up?' I've wanted to be a Personal Care Giver, a Paramedic, Receptionist at a Hospital (worked as one at a Doctors Office for 2 years), a Photographer, an Actress. That last one will never work because I'm super shy in large groups of people and I have no talent so that's out. But I still practice my award winning speech in front of my mirror while doing my hair. If you read my About Paula section you will know that a dream of mine is to someday be in a movie, even if it's just as an extra in the background.

Source

All these professions eventually fizzled out and my love for design and decorating always come to the forefront. I think I have always wanted to do something in this line of work. I loved watching shows like Trading Spaces as a teenager and HGTV was always on my TV at my parents house. I even went to college for Architecture, before I realized that I had a learning disability that was affecting the mathematical part of my courses, oh and college also costs money. They frown at people who can't pay for it.

When I moved in with Richard my dreams of becoming something got pushed aside and the stress of paying bills and being an actual grownup became a major priority in our lives. But it was always there in the back of my head. Then we got engaged and planning a wedding really brought it all back again. Designing a space and theme for an event was so amazing. Watching all my ideas come to life and work and look amazing brought all my passions out and made me realize this was what I was suppose to do. On some level I was meant to design and decorate. With this realization comes the decision of: 'Do I risk quitting my job and going back to school, and work at getting the dream job I want?' I have struggled with this decision endlessly. Interior Design is not a subject I can take night courses or online courses for. I would need to quit my job and get student loans to help pay for school. Then the dreaded thoughts of 'what if I spend all this money and I'm not good at it. I can't find a job, no one will hire me.' Or worse I begin to hate the job I've always wanted to have. It's these fears that have made me decide that going to school isn't what I want to do. This is my passion! I love doing it because it's something that makes me happy. The minute it becomes an actual job I will most likely hate it. 

Hell maybe I won't hate it. Maybe I could go to school and become a professional, and live the dream. Maybe I wont fail and I can make a life for myself doing something I love. These thoughts have gone through my head as well, but it all comes down to the decision that this is something I love doing. I'm lucky in the sense that I have a job where at 5:00pm I'm no longer a Receptionist. I come home and I get to do what I love. I have a Condo in which I get to use my passions and create a space where Richard and I can live, entertain, and call our own. I have the Social Committee at work that I get to use to show off my interest and creativity with event planning, and I have friends that like what I do and believe in me and my skills. One in fact who has asked for my help in planning their wedding next year.  

I'm also looking forward to finally showing off my skills on this blog, which was the whole purpose of the redesign to it in the first place. In the coming weeks I will be showing off Before and Afters of Richard's office in the Condo. Which is a HUGE challenge as Richard and I have very different tastes when it comes to design and decorating. Not only is his office his personal space but it also acts as a spare bedroom for guests as well as our dining room. So creating something that shows off his very dark, gothic, and eclectic tastes as well as keeping it warm and inviting to guests when they stay over is a challenge. Especially when one of Richards hobbies is collecting decorative knives and swords. 

Do you have some of the same hobbies and interests that I do? I would love to hear about them! Leave a comment or you can contact me, and don't forget to follow through Bloglovin or Email Subscription for updated posts.