It is 51 days until Christmas.
And 46 days until I go home to Canada for the holidays.
BAHH!! I can believe Halloween is over and that I already feel like rejoicing, setting up my Christmas tree, getting my Christmas baking on and getting out my Michael Bublé Christmas album. Too soon?
How was your Halloween by the way? I dressed up with a couple friends on Friday and we went out in the city where J’s from in Belgium. I pulled together a last minute “nerd” costume from my closet (it wasn’t too hard to find!) and we were off. We walked into our first bar and guess what?! There was not a costume or person dressed up in sight. So there we were a couple of witches, a nerd and a cat in a city where nobody dresses up. I felt for a moment like I was from a scene in Bridget Jones Diary (lol!) but I guess Halloween is just not a thing here yet 😉
I was busy finishing up a project this weekend and decided to go for a nice, long walk on Saturday instead of my usual run. We came across this gorgeous 16th century castle and many beautiful, colorful trees getting ready to shed their leaves for the winter. The sound of the crisp Fall leaves under my feet as I walk is one of my favourite sounds ever.
And now I am back to studying for the week.
I have a bit of a confession to make. I am one of these people who are prone to being easily distracted. One minute I am writing an Anthropological essay and the next minute I am in the kitchen baking a batch of pumpkin bread. And then while I bake the pumpkin bread I start cleaning my apartment and while I’m cleaning my Skype goes off and all of the sudden three hours have gone by, I have a clean apartment, fresh cake out of the oven and talked to half my friends/family back home but my essay is still there. Half written and hanging over my head.
Procrastination much?
Which is exactly why I love making achievable goals to scratch off my lost. Goals are a way to keep me on track and on top of my school work, getting my activity on and making sure I have time to do the things I love in between like baking and cooking up wonderful eats and treats for the blog!
I think some November goals are in order! 😀
And just in case you need the motivation! 😉
What are your November goals?
How long have you been away from home? I can’t believe you are going home very soon, in just 1 month, right? It’s lovely to be back home, eating all the local food again, being with friends & family again, etc. I understand the feeling of ‘rejoicing’, I can’t wait for the holidays and American Thanksgiving! I love your costume, you are a gorgeous NERD btw, haha! Me too, I get easily distracted all the time and multi-task basically everything at least everything gets done in time! Awesome November goals…how did it go so far?
Your costume is so adorable! Can’t believe Christmas is coming up so soon! I tend to procrastinate too so writing down your goals sounds like a great idea! Love your November goals 🙂
Hi Ceara,
First off, I love your nerd costume..great glasses 😀
Your list is great and really motivational. I think I’ll have to do that as well…except for writing the papers..I’ll let you do that!
I love this! Way to move 🙂
I like your goals for the month, good luck! I dressed up as a cat this past Halloween and now I’m still eating leftover Halloween candy 🙂
It’s great to have actual goals for the month, and most importantly (I think) to have goals that you can actually accomplish!! You can totally nail all of these girl…I believe in you!! Also, you had such a fun costume! It doesn’t look last minute at all!
Thanks for the motivating words Katrina!!! 🙂
Love the pictures and love the beautiful old castle! And I like Ceara that you constantly remind yourself of your goals and how you are all the time motivated ! That is really fantastic!
Thanks Hadia! <3
Love the November goals, I should try to meditate more, adding this gola to my list.
🙂 Good luck with all your goals Catalina!
Um yeah, I remember when I lived in Paris and we had to trek all the way over to the Pompidou area to find costumes to begin with. We each spent 15€ on a pumpkin (that was like $23 with the rate back then!) and made jello shots out of gelatin sheets.. pretty remarkable. We went out all dressed up and we were literally the only ones. But we’d anticipated that (Paris.. I mean, come on. Dressing up would *never* be cool. How unfun!) so we just embraced our loud Americanness for the night and made believers of our French boyfriends. Though I doubt they’re still hanging Halloween banners and perusing Pinterest for costumes these days…
Love those November goals! I’m right there with you. Deepak Chopra actually launched a meditation challenge today with Oprah (who is basically Beyonce’s mom in her queenness – I’m allowed to steep in a little guilty pop culture!) so maybe you should try that to help motivate your meditation! I’ve been trying to do 8-10 minutes every day lately and I love how much easier it’s gotten over the last week. My goals are definitely to do yoga 6 days a week, meditate 6-7, run 3-4, eat less “junk”, and work on some new artistic goals I have to open a little Etsy print shop or a food-based creative “agency”! Yay for goals! 😀
That is a GREAT story Cheryl!!! It def. brought a big smile to my face!!!! And I love your goals!! I need to look into the Deepak Chopra meditation – good luck with the challenge! If it is good enough for Beyonce and Oprah it is good enough for me 😉
Yes, I do need more motivation and concentration so I’m glad you posted this! I can be easily distracted just like you Ceara, I start doing one thing, then continue with another, not even finishing the first one… I’m glad you had a nice halloween (yay the nerd costume, looks good ) and time flies, so Christmas is just around the corner 🙂
Glad to know I am not the only one 😉 Hope you are off to a great start on your week Mira!
I can’t believe Halloween is over and the holidays will soon be here! I’m ready to set up my Christmas decorations, too, though I think I’m going to wait a few more weeks! But I will start baking Christmas goodies soon! 🙂 And I love your nerd costume! Such a great last minute find! That castle you came across looks gorgeous! And you set some great goals for yourself.I definitely need to add in the “eat more greens” one! 🙂
I know, I cannot believe it either! Hehe, I might wait to set up the Christmas decorations as well – though I do already have my Christmas candles and Michale Buble Christmas album out! I couldn’t help myself!
BEAUTIFUL pictures Ceara! What a lovely area to take a walk. And, you’re costume was adorable. It is hard to stay on track when you have so many passions, but you seem to get it all done anyway. I think it’s because you write your goals down, that’s supposed to help you succeed.
Thank you Linda!!! Writing my goals def. does help me stay on track 😀
My November goals I guess are just to keep on track and not get caught up too early eating too many Christmas like sweets….so that when Christmastime rolls around I can really enjoy something tasty without feeling too overindulgent. Love the nerd costume! Too funny. And crunchy leaves around a castle, oh, how wonderful!!
Those sound like wonderful goals Laura!! 🙂 I feel the same way – looking forward to Xmas and all the Christmas baking as well!
We are counting the days until you get home for Christmas! We are going to cook up a storm of delicious Ceara recipes – can’t wait!. Goals for November? Walk and move more, eat a smoothie everyday, not check my work email after 8pm, and spend more time with family and friends!
Counting the days as well Mama! <3 I LOVE your November Goals!! Cannot wait to go for walks, bake and make smoothies together when I'm back! 😀