Sweet Summer.

As the years pass I find myself becoming increasingly obsessed with time. Anyone close to me knows how much I love lists and calendars. They both have the power to either help me sleep at night or put me into hysterics. I often lay awake in bed at night obsessing over every little detail of the next day. I have no idea when this obsession started. With summer just beginning I’ve obviously started planning out every weekend until September when I start classes again (I can't imagine how annoying I might sound to the people I'll be spending my time with). But I somehow still manage to worry that the summer will fly by and I won’t have done anything significantly exciting. I already have several weekends planned and marked on my calendar; a music festival and family road trip. But today I decided that I’d try something different to help ease my anxiety.

I was inspired to come up with a “Summer To-Do List” by an amazing blogger I follow religiously. Rather than setting long term and almost absurd goals similar to the ones you would see on my bucket list (hug a sloth, see a tornado in real life, learn to play an instrument), I chose to keep my summer goals achievable, fun and realistic! I obviously haven’t been very kind to my blog (see two previous posts). But I thought this would be the perfect way to keep my blog updated and to finally start using my amazing camera; a gift I received for my birthday. I had quite the list but thought it’d be wise to narrow it down to ten things.

1. Read 6 books by September.

2. Ride a tandem bicycle.

3. Bottle my own wine.

4. Spend an entire week without television.

5. Stand up on water skis.

6. Make my own jewellery.

7. Sing karaoke.

8. Sleep outdoors and watch the sunrise.

9. Skinny dip.

10. Sew my own dress.

There are a few on my list that I am very confident I will have completed by September. I absolutely love to read and have a bookshelf full of amazing books, I just have to make the time. I could easily accomplish #8 and #9 in one night! Perhaps after drinking one of my bottles of wine? There are also a few on the list that I’m a little uncertain about. Water skis? My upper body strength is questionable. Sewing my own dress just might require a little more than a needle and thread. When reading over my list to decide whether or not I should make any eliminations or changes before I press the "PUBLISH POST" button and there's no turning back, I realize #4 is a little laughable, especially with all of the upcoming summer television. But I’m pretty certain I can live without the Kardashians and MTV for one week (not without difficulty)!

My main goal for the summer is to feel like I accomplished something. I want to take advantage of the next three months and I want to use a big fat marker to cross off the things on my list as I go. It will essentially be my summer journal and I can’t wait to share it!

Case of the Mondays.

After starting this blog, I soon realized how difficult it is to keep it updated. Which is why I’ve become so obsessed with Twitter. It allows me to whip up quick, pointless updates that no one really cares about in fewer than 140 words. I love it! Unlike Facebook where constant updates can actually get extremely annoying; that's the whole point of Twitter! Anyway, I do plan on updating much more in the summer once I am no longer a slave to the books.

Because I’ve been so undecided on what the focus of my blog would be, I’ve decided to keep it relatively general. My first post was all about the places I plan on someday traveling to. On a day like today, day dreaming about the future can either be an instant pick-me-up or make you want to pull your hair out. The reason for my turbo-bitch mood today has been a combination of several things. A little pms, the annoying, indecisive weather, and school that seems to be dragging on for months is undoubtedly going to get to me. Unfortunately for me, Midol only seems to help with one of the three. I may have control over Aunt Flow but Mother Nature isn't quite as easy to manipulate and school is a whole other post in itself.

To keep my spirits up today, I purchased a little book I came across at the campus bookstore called My Future Listography - All I Hope to Do in Lists. I'm a huge list person; grocery lists, to do lists, lists of things I’ve already completed combined with the to do lists. This book was perfect for me on a day like today. It's filled with cute illustrations and blank pages with titles like:

- Things you'd love to be knowledgeable about

- Spiritual places to visit and practices to try

- What you'd like to do for future birthdays

- Festivals and parades you'd love to attend

I have yet to start filling it out but I did read most of the pages and I’m really excited to start! It feeds my motivation to graduate, travel and explore!

Along with the purchase of my cute new journal, I went to lunch, watched Clueless and napped for longer than I probably should have. I'm currently parked on my couch watching Keeping up with the Kardashians with my study notes for my final exams by my side. The episode is almost over so perhaps it's time for me to wrap up this post.

A serious case of the Mondays actually turned out to be a half decent afternoon/evening to myself!

:)

Daydreamer

At least once a year I come up with this extravagant plan to move to Australia for a year or volunteer abroad in a third world country. I get myself so excited and convince myself that ‘this time, I am actually going!’ And every year, it’s the same thing. The novelty of it all wears off and reality sets in; thousands of dollars of debt and a diploma to earn. Instead I settle for a week vacation once a year in Cuba or the Dominican Republic; putting myself about another grand in the hole. I’m all talk and I know it. But there really is nothing I would love more than to spend a month in Europe with a backpack hopping from hostel to hostel and country to country on a train with my Europass. As I crawl closer to graduating, of course I’ve started thinking about traveling again. I’ve read several travel blogs and Googled countless Eurotrip budgets for students. I’ve even picked up catalogues from the travel agency downtown. I’ve caught myself daydreaming about a trip to Europe for a couple weeks now. So, just for fun (with the potential of turning into something REAL this time), I’ve come up with a little post about where I’d like to go and places I’d love to explore.

Ideally, my European dream would happen in the summer. I’m aware that hostels become a little pricier in the high season and tourist attractions jack up their prices. But I don’t need to explain why travelling in the summer would be a heck of a lot better than the chilly seasons. I also realize that my itinerary may seem a little farfetched, but these are only ideas, many of which I’ve ‘borrowed’ from other 20 something’s that have traveled before. Without the specifics, here’s a list of the places I’d love to see most (in no particular order).

- France: Paris, Normandy

- Germany: Munich, Berlin

- Austria: Vienna, Salzburg

- Czech Republic: Prague

- Sweden: Stockholm

- Denmark: Copenhagen, Skagen

- England: London, Manchester, Liverpool

- Scotland: Edinburgh

- Ireland: Dublin, Galway, Cork

- Greece: Athens
- Italy: Rome, Verona
- Spain: Ibiza, Madrid

I won’t go into full detail of what I’d like to see in every single country I visit. Instead I’ll just mention a few, starting with Skagen, Denmark.

Skagen, Denmark
From what I’ve heard, Skagen is a charming little city with a population of less than 9,000 people who live in little picturesque, yellow houses with red roofs lining the beach. What I’m dying to see most is what most people visit Skagen to see. The northernmost point of Denmark, where two parts of the North Sea, the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, meet.

Salzburg, Austria
I want to visit Salzburg, Austria simply because my favourite film of all time was shot there. Every Christmas Eve, I force my entire family to watch The Sound of Music. With absolutely no relevance to Christmas, there really is no reason behind the tradition. My S.O.M obsessed self wants to sing and dance around in the same spots as the Von Trapp family and Fräulein Maria did. The hills will be alive with the sound of Lyndie!

Galway, Ireland
I’ve been told that the air in Ireland smells sweet. Considered Ireland’s Cultural Heart, all anyone needs to do is Google Galway and you’ll understand why it’s the fifth fastest-growing city in Ireland. After doing a little research about Galway, it seems as though there is always something exciting happening in the pretty city. Although the humid weather is often rainy, I’d gladly explore with my rainboots and umbrella. And do I really need to remind all the lady readers that Hilary Swank’s character in P.S I Love You found Gerry (Gerard Butler) in Galway? (Yeah, I know it’s a movie – whatever!?)

Ibiza, Spain
One of my lovely friends Jenny is a serious Ibiza enthusiast. Although she’s never been, I’ve heard her mention on more than one occasion how much she would love to go. I’ve heard it’s beautiful and there are some places in the world that I’d visit simply for its beauty; Ibiza being one of them. Ibiza Rocks is a summer-long festival of live music that runs for 17 consecutive weeks with concerts every Wednesday. For all of you music connoisseurs out there, artists that have made appearances at the Ibiza Rocks festival in the past have been Calvin Harris, Florence and the Machine, the Kooks, Prodigy (hello, Big Shiny Tunes 2!) and LCD Soundsystem, just to name a few.

Rome, Italy
Two words. Pasta and architecture. With a passion for all things tasty, how could I backpack around Europe without visiting one of the tastiest places in the world? I’m talking about food and beautiful, tasty people. How many countries mention ‘cuisine’ on their Wikipedia page?! I’m not sure how the Italians would feel about a vegetarian but I bet I'd impress them with the amount of pasta I can consume (gnocchi is my favourite!) Oh! And gelato! I’d eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if it were acceptable. Rome’s architecture is as beautiful as the language spoken. The Coliseum, St. Peters Square, The Trevi Fountain, the bridges, the catacombs! I could probably spend an entire month in Rome and still feel like there’s more to explore.

I could go on for pages about why I want to visit the places I do and after writing this post it makes me yearn for a European adventure more than ever. I envy all of my lucky friends that have had or are having the time of their lives travelling. For now, I’ll have to settle for The Sound of Music, Eat, Pray Love, and other chick flicks about travel. The closer I get to finally graduating, the sooner my daydream will become a reality!

Paris, France

Verona, Italy

Stockholm, Sweden

Salzburg, Austria

First blog ever.

Please bare with me while I attempt to create my first blog. I'm still not sure what i'm doing here or what i'll blog about exactly. But I can promise to be completely honest with everything I share. I can tell you now that my writing style isn't perfect and at times i'm sure what I write about will be boring to some. From a few of the blogs I've started following, it seems like everyone has a common theme. I couldn't exactly come up with one thing I would feel like writing about everyday. So, instead i've chosen to write about all things Lyndarae. I'll try my hardest to keep it relatively interesting. I'll write about my current obsessions, things that make me laugh, things that make me cry and anything else that I think is worthy of sharing with people who decide to follow.