And the winner, with a grand total of 6 bottles of hair conditioner...

Yesterday was the last day of classes, so today I put off studying for a bit to run some errands. This included:

1. Dropping my (by "my" I mean "my sister's, but she let's me use it") bike off at my favourite LBS (the one with the cutest boys) to get her gears checked out. I have my next triathlon on Sunday, and I want to be in tip top gear shape!

2. Finally depositing about 10 cheques I've been collecting over the past few months.

3. Getting another bottle of gel from Shopper's Drug Mart, because I'm almost out.

Let's talk about 3. I use this kind:
and what's awesome is that I discovered it via a comment from Tina. Isn't blogging the best? No, it's the second best. This gel is the best. Anyway so I went to Shopper's... wait, you don't know Shopper's, do you? It doesn't exist outside of Canada, I believe.

Well, let me just say that other than proper grocery stores, a good Shopper's was what I missed most when I lived in NYC. Rite Aid? Duane Read? CVS? Buckets of Crapola. Shopper's Drug Mart makes going to the local pharmacy fun. At Rite Aid everything seems crammed on the shelves. At Shopper's I think they use back lighting or something but everything just looks pretty and maybe sort of magical.

So I went to Shopper's and decided to treat myself. Though I went in only for $4 bottle of gel, I ended up spending $70. THE GIRL CANNOT RESIST A GOOD SALE. (10x the points day!!)

And it felt good. Buying stuff at Shopper's is relaxing. It makes me feel girly. The promises on the bottles and cans make me feel assured. I feel like I am equipped with all the weapons I need to combat life's 4 major problems: frizz, black heads, sunburn, body odor.

Except... then I got home and unpacked, and you know what? I think this is getting problematic. I guess I could technically be stress-buying worse things, but take a look at what my bookshelf has become:(larger)

In addition to the face wash, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that I have currently in the shower, and the face wash, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that I currently have in my swimming bag, and the face wash I have in my gym bag... I also have:

Top Shelf

• 2x blackhead clearing astringents
• 2x facial exfoliating scrub
• 1x hydroxy masque
• 1x regular face wash

2nd Shelf

• 2x face moisturizers (this is legit. One has spf and one doesn't. The spf one is kind of oily, so I have the other for when there is no chance of sunburn)
• 1x almost empty gel
• 1x almost empty deodorant
  

3rd shelf

• 3x almost empty deodorants
• 3x used-once-or-twice toothbrushes
  
• 1x conditioner (special for curly hair)
• 1x self tanner (some of us are very pale)
  
• 1x make up remover
• 1x those nose peel things
  
• and then I have a degreaser and a chain lube, both for my bike. Ignore them.

4th shelf

• 2x hair spray
• 1x facial exfoliator
• 2x body exfoliators
• 2x half empty body washes
• 1x almost full bottle of gel, but it makes my hair crusty, but I don't want to throw it out
• 3x stuff that you're supposed to put on your hair before you straighten, because apparently they get rid of frizz, but I haven't noticed any difference!
• 3x body moisturizers
  
• 2x hair depilatories
• 1x conditioner (special for straight hair)
• 1x conditioner (special for blonde hair)
• 1x mouthwash
• 1x aloe gel
• 1x after sun spray

Bottom Shelf

• 4x sunscreen
• 1x "sprayable hair wax" (... what?)
• 3x mousse (and two are the exact same)
• 1x conditioner (it was on sale!)
• 1x shampoo (also on sale!)
  

And we haven't even started opening my drawers unpacked boxes.

I'm writing this here so I have to stick to it:

LISA. DON'T buy something until you finish the last one. And okay maybe you can buy it if it's on sale but you can't start using it until the old one is empty and in the recycle bin.

You know what this means. You're almost out of your favourite shower gel (grapefruit from The Body Shop) but you CAN'T buy a new one, you hear me? You have several months worth sitting right there on shelf 4. FINISH THEM FIRST.

Also, when you buy something that you don't like or that doesn't work, it's okay to throw it out. You're not going to use it. Even in dire situations when your other 3 deodorants run out. Plus, surely some of that shit expires, no?

Also also, you never straighten your hair so STOP buying stuff that de-frizzes hair. You continue to pull the "maybe if it was prettier, I'd wear it down more." FALSE. We both know that's a lie. You don't wear it down because you are a LAZY ASS. Plus you have freak-person hair, so none of that works anyway. ACCEPT THAT.

Now stop blogging and go do some thermodynamics. You're going to fail.

Swim Training Update

Yesterday was my last swim session of the term with my coach.

It was a really good work out and at the end we had to do 4 x 50s each as strong as we could. My fastest was 45 seconds. Then Coach said, “add 5 and multiply by 2. Now do 100 in that time”

I felt like I was trying really hard, but I came in at 1:41… one second slower than the goal he set for me. Time was up and other people were waiting to use the pool, so I started to join everybody else in a cool down, but he said, “What about our goal? It’s your last chance to be a super star.”

And it’s true. Last chance to be a super star. So I did 100 again. I really pushed it. I came in at 1:33.

Pretty much every week that guy makes me do something I didn’t think I could do. Today I realized how lucky I am to every week find a new limit. He’s the best coach ever.

An open letter to mathematics

Oh hey, Math.

Listen.

You and I. We go back.

When all the other kids said, "Factoring polynomials? Who cares?" I said, "I CARE I CARE I CARE!"

When all the other kids said, "Trigonometric identities? Nobody will ever use these." I said, "I WILL I WILL I DO USE THEM ALL THE TIME" and every time I cut a corner I use the word hypotenuse as a verb.

When all the other kids said, "Math sucks" I said, "DEAR MATH I LOVE YOU" and then spent my Friday nights doing every problem in the book. Every problem twice. In the book of additional problems.

While Barbie said "Math is hard, let's go shopping!" I said, "Math is fun! Let's start a math club!" and then I titled myself the Minister of Algebra.

But, sugar pants, you've got some explaining to do. ME 303 (Advanced Calculus for Engineers) has ruined everything. This isn't useful. This isn't fun. This isn't satisfying. It's painstaking. It's lame. It's easy but takes so much time. It's a hassle. It's approximate. I HATE approximations. I HATE numerical methods. Finite elements and infinite limits are for people who smell.

I hate you, Robin and Neumann, especially because your names are both not phonetically related to their pronunciation. I hate you, Sturm and Louiville, even though Sturm makes me think of Sturm and Drang which makes me think of Durmstrang which makes me think of Harry Potter which is a good thing but in the end I'm still proving orthogonality so it's not a fun day after all. Crank-Nicolson? Dirichlet? Fourrier? Fuck all y'all.

AND YOU, TAYLOR. The others are annoying but you are DISAPPOINTING. Everybody thinks your series is the greatest. But you have let me down. I almost named my unborn (and unconceived) child after you.

ME 303 is the final math course on my degree requirements. I thought I'd be sad when it all came to an end. I thought math, that you and I would have a tearful goodbye. I thought we'd wave to each other as we drove away, promising to write, and crying ourselves to sleep every night for a month. I thought we might carve our names into a tree and pinky-swear to meet here, at this exact spot, in 10 years and that if we both still happen to be single, we'd get fly to Vegas and get married and be happy forever. That's what I thought. But I guess I thought wrong.

So what I'm saying, math, is that you really better get your head in the game because Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics are some pretty sexy courses. I'm packing it up and switching teams if you don't watch out. You think I'm kidding, but I am not.

GET IT TOGETHER.

Sincerely,
-lfar

This is what good sisters do

I post this even though my muscles are clearly the smallest (like, a painful 3rd place) mostly just to say: I have the coolest sisters.

Also, can I just say:
(Ps. A few more uploads to my flickr... I'll do the huge load when I go home this weekend)

525,600 minutes... aka 3 x 4 months

My life is broken down into 4 month segments.

I've explained this before, but my school program goes like this: 4 months of school, 4 months of work, 4 months school, 4 months work. For 5 years.

When I'm on a school term I live in Waterloo, Ontario. When I'm on a work term I can be anywhere, though previously I have been twice in Toronto and twice in NYC. Next September I move to San Antonio.

I've been sort of nervous about the culture change of moving to Texas. I'll be there for the election and everything. However, many of my nerves were put to rest when I recently discovered a cool little area near where I work called Quarry Market (think Queen Street West, Toronto) featuring some of my favourites like Lululemon and Whole Foods Market. Hooray!

Anyway but what I'm actually saying is that I move a lot. Another important fact to know for the rest of this post is that I'm not interested in long distance relationships. Maybe it's because I'm lazy or maybe it's because I'm pessimistic. But whatever. Fact remains.

I'm currently seeing a boy who's name I will disclose after I double check with him that's okay that I reference him by his first name. He's really tall and I'm sure you'd like him, too. In September, when I move to Texas, he also moves away from Ontario. Due to these relocations, we've agreed to call it quits come the end of August.

I've had a few conservations lately that go like this:

Friend: He sounds great! But aren't you moving to Texas or something?
Me: Yeah, so we're "breaking up" or whatever.
Friend: Then, what's the point?

Other substitutions for "what's the point" include:

- that's dumb
- why bother at all, then?
- no! you can make it work!
- what? WHYYYY!"

All of these responses vex me greatly. The point is called "because for fun" and the answer to why is "well, why not?"

This is how my life works: I move somewhere, I make friends, then I leave. And yet nobody is questioning why I bother to still make friends, even though I don't even keep in touch with most of those friends once the term is over (interesting note: with few exceptions, I only keep in touch with ex-co-workers who blog)

In other news, I think we found a place to live. It's SO beautiful, with a 24 hour fitness centre and huge pool. It's $55 over our budget, but I say let the good times roll, am I right? Also the agent I was speaking to actually said y'all. Unironically. I'm so excited.

Also, you'd pretty much know most of this if you followed my tumblr. Do you? Consider it.

(Comments closed because this post makes me feel weirdly vulnerable. You know my email address if you have something to say)

Every engineer's dream come true

I just got an email from my place of employment (where I will be starting in September.) They need my pant waist, pant length, and shirt size... SO THAT I CAN GET MY WORK UNIFORM (for when I'm on the testing site)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE: let this "uniform" be a jump suit that says Lisa.

Movie Review: Wet Hot American Summer

The first time I watched Wet Hot American Summer was almost 4 years ago with my two best (improv) friends in the whole world, Lisa and Meags. That day was also the first day I ever legally ordered a drink (we were in Alberta, where the drinking age is a year lower than Ontario). It was a great day.

And this is a great movie. I'm going to go all out here, and call it my second favourite movie of all time. (1st place: A League of Their Own)

The movie takes place at Camp Firewood, on the last day, in 1981. Oh come on, you know the last day of camp. It's an emotional day. You have to tie up and find a resolution to all those loose ends and summer friendships.

The camp director, Beth, falls for the local astro-physicist, Henry, who, with the help of all the nerdy "indoor" kinds, redirects a piece of a satellite that is headed straight to the venue of the night's talent show. Koop is totally in love with fellow counselor Katie, who is dating Andy, who makes out with Lindsay instead of watching the kids swim (one drowns, and another takes the motor boat out for a spin). Victor has to take some campers on an outtrip, but he needs to get back in time to hook up with Abby, so he dumps the kids off at the river and heads back (note: a terrific motorcycle chase scene ensues)

Of course, we've got some side plots. Gail, the arts and crafts director, gets some advice on how to stand up to her ex-husband. Gene, the 'nam vet, gets some counselling from a can of talking soup. There's a gay marriage, a kid that hasn't showered in 8 weeks, excessive drug use, and a high stakes musical number for the talent show.

Here, Amy Poehler's character (Susie), annouces the auditions for the musical number:


A tender moment in the goat shed with Katie and Koop:

Looking for Victor (who is the only one who can navigate the river to save the kids):

This movie just makes me laugh and laugh.

Rating: 10/10
Watch it with: a bunch of all your favourite friends who will enjoy it as much as you will

Summer when you're 21 vs Summer when you're 11

As I headed towards the pool earlier today, the squeaking of hundreds of running shoes incited me to detour to check out what was going on in the varsity gym. Tonnes of pre-teens were sprinting around, running drills, passing and dribbling basketballs, high fiving, sweating, shooting, scoring, missing, and taking water breaks.

I thought to myself, "I've never gone to basketball camp," and after a pause though, "And I guess I never will."

And it suddenly hit me that my childhood is long gone.

"What are the chances of it raining this hard?" "Well... 90% actually"

The weather forecast for last Saturday (the day of my sister's wedding) originally were coming in promising sunny and warm weather. As the day approached, the forecasts predicted worse and worse weather. A week prior to the day, scattered showers were forecast. A few days later, 60% chance of rain. The night before gave us a 90% chance of thunderstorms.

The ceremony was supposed to take place under this giant tree. We'd all process from house, down a gravel path, and then up the aisle to towards the tree. We all pretended not to hear the distant thunderclaps over top of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire" as one by one we made our way.

I don't have the official pictures yet, so the ones I'm using are stolen from friends' facebook accounts. Here I am walking the aisle:Then, as the music changed, and Laura, my mom, and my dad were about to start processing, there was a thunderclap and then it started raining. No, it started monsooning. We told everybody to grab their chairs and find a place in the tent (which was all set up with tables, etc). One of the other bridesmaid had stashed some pretty red umbrellas for us behind the tree in case of emergency, but they were suddenly gone. We stood under the tree trying to stay dry while people who did have umbrellas sheltered us on the way to the tent.

Steph, the maid of honour, got to work at making an aisle, but then the power went out! Laura was with my parents back in the house, waiting for the rain to stop or slow down. Then, one of the guys who worked at the place slipped and broke is arm! He had to be rushed to the emergency room! Thunder storms! Power outages! Broken limbs!

But, we got it all sorted out. It was just really chill and relaxed, actually. Chairs weren't in rows, people weren't sitting on "sides" or in groups. I think all the pretension that might accompany a wedding was gone. Lots of people agree, that it just felt so "Laura and Jeremiah," and I think that's due to the comfortable nature of it all.

So then we re-processed. Then Laura started coming but it was sort of funny because that gravel path was a long walk. And if we were sitting outside under the tree, we'd all be able to see her during that walk, but since we were inside the tent, we sort of just stood around for a second, wondering if everything was alright.

And it was! Isn't she the prettiest bride, no, the prettiest human, EVER?The ceremony was delightful. I think I'm considerably anti-romance and anti-wedding but I aww-ed a couple times. Especially during the vows. It was... just, really nice. It was nice! They were so lovey, but in a sincere way.

Jack did a great job of being the ring boy:
And then they were married! (Very good kiss, by the way. I got to see the practice, and the real thing was even better! Brides-to-be take note: one short kiss, then one longer kiss. A+!) Oh, she's so pretty. And they're so happy!
Then we took some pictures, then started the reception. I was the emcee. It was fun. Dinner was SOOO delicious. Laur and Jerm got the dance floor started right (look at those arm muscles!):And the dance floor didn't clear all night!
There was of course a cousin dance off. Steph and I basically ripped the dance floor apart (with some help from Kevin, the best man, and some of Jeremiah's cousins). We danced with most, if not all, of the single boys. (And hey, Lin, I am never going to stop making fun of you for who YOU danced with)

Jack and Rob were pretty pooped by the end of the night, but were good sports and good dancers anyway.The speeches were GREAT (Kevin and Steph went sort of together, and my dad even rapped!) It really was just such a fun fun fun time.

Woohoo for Laura and Jeremiah!

(I'll let you know when the official photographer's pictures are up on my flickr)

My Sister is MARRIED

On Saturday my beautiful sister Laura got maaaarried.

Whoa, back it up.

So Friday was a really busy day around my house.

Jeremiah's aunt and sister making the bouquets and centre pieces:
Everybody helping out to make these little LEDs for the paper lanterns (Kevin saved the day on these btw. Best man for a reason, Kevin!):

Then the rehearsal dinner was great. All of Jeremiah (my brother in law)'s extended family came over for a giant barbecue. After the rehearsal dinner, Erica (J's other sister) doled out some smokin' French manicures:
Then in the morning, while some went out to get their hair done, I got to work at home:
(It was sort of funny. I only have 1 style of doing eyeshadow and 1 set of colours to use... so I tried to mix it up and give everybody a little something different. I think it turned out well).

The pictures from the photographer from the actual wedding day aren't available quite yet, so I'll hold off talking about the actual wedding ceremony and reception until then, but here's a teaser:

Stay tuned until tomorrow for a full wedding recap

Recipe for good times

Ingredients:

- 1 older sister who you never see because she lives in Calfornia
- 1 older sister who is getting married in a few days
- 1 younger sister who is fun to peer pressure
- 1 future brother in law
- yourself
- Sangrias

Preparation and Cooking:

1. Go out to fancy restaurant for lunch

2. Inform waitress of upcoming nuptials

3. Drink Sangrias and eat delicious food

4. Realize you are tipsy. Decide not to inform the others, because future brother in law will totally make fun of you.

5. Sister who drove informs the table that she's probably not up for driving back. At this point, confess that you are also drunk. Future brother in law will make fun of you, but you'll be past the point of caring.

6. Waitress brings free champagne.

7. Oh Golly. Every day should be like this.

Age, it's just a number

Last weekend my sister's fiance (soon to be husband! In 4 days!) had his bachelor party, and invited my dad and 3 brothers to the first half (bowling and swimming, or something).

My brothers are 6, 9, and 14. Everybody else at the party was 20 or older.

Jack, the 6 year old, had a great time hanging with them olda boys. He's pretty good with hanging around adults.

When they all got home, Laura (the bride) asked Jack if he had a good time. He said, "yes, but I think I might have been the youngest one there!"

-----

There seems to be much flurry in the blogosphere about weddings so let me just get excited about mine (by mine I mean my sister's) for a second.

The bridesmaid dress I'm wearing is yellow and a halter top. I have terrible tan lines from when I got burnt doing my triathlon, but I evened it out a bit over the weekend. I've decided to do hair down straight, but I'm worried I'll get really sweaty and my hair will get frizzy. Will use a plethora of hair products and bring an elastic.

I'm also the emcee. Uh, I don't really know what I'm doing. I've been told just to be entertaining. I'm sort of nervous.

I got them the best present ever (with my friend Kevin) and I caaaan't wait to give it to them.

My A+ friend Emma is the photographer. She's going to be great. Pictures to follow.

I want somebody to eat ice cream with

In general, I like being alone.

In high school, if none of my friends had my same lunch period, I'd much prefer to find a space in the caf and eat alone than sit with people I didn't like all that much. I like triathlon because I'm depending only on myself. My roommates watch Grey's Anatomy together, but I watch it on my computer the next day instead.

I especially tend to do a lot of eating alone. I keep a different schedule from my roommates, plus I usually multi-task while eating (by this I mean that I bring my hamburger to my room and read blogs while I eat). I do a lot of hurried, in transition eating. Like when I grab a bag of baby carrots and eat them on the way to class.

Last weekend I went to New York to visit friends, and realized how much I miss sharing meals with people. Just eating at a nice pace and talking with somebody... it's such a lovely social activity, did you know? Brunch with Gillian, this delicious BBQ place with Bri, crepes with a guy who doesn't even have a blog, and sandwiches at Bryant Park with Stephanie

(More on Steph: my first blogger meet up! Verdict: she is really awesome. I was worried that we'd have to be all "OH, SQUEEE" because that seems to be what most bloggers do when they meet other bloggers. And if somebody SQUEEs you sort of have to SQUEE back. But it was just so chill and relaxed and "hey there's an empty table" and great. For real, too bad I don't live in NY. Or that she doesn't live in Waterloo. Also, she is gloriously tall and has very nice skin.)

I keep putting it down to not having enough time, or being too cheap to eat out, but I really think I should make more time to eat with friends more often.

Steph, will you throw another dinner party? I'll cook if you host!

Favourite boys from my class, want to come over for a BBQ?

Anybody in the world, want to get ice cream right now? It's so hot.

As much as I like being alone, I also miss social time. I think I need more of it.

Word Time on a Long Weekend

I spent last Tuesday with my family, and of course did a photo shoot with Jack and Rob.

Some favourites:
We also did a few week's worth of Word Time videos:


Word Time again from Lisa on Vimeo.

Those boys are the sweetest.