Australia Actually: Calgary

Food Babies, Kensington, & Edmonton!

by Chelseawroteit - 4:51 PM

HELLO! ^_^ This is the first weekend in six weeks where I didn't have to think about school! Pardon me if I write with too many exclamation marks, i'm just really, really happy and really, really stoked about being able to relax, finally (for three weeks at least!).

I'm just happy that i'm on blogger instead of google docs trying to finish a paper! haha. Summer classes started July 2 and ended August 14 for me. I took two classes, which is considered full-time in the Summer. I was basically out from 9 a.m to 9 p.m everyday, doing this little juggling act but still trying to have a life. It was hectic to say the least, but I got out of it alive!

One way that I de-stress is by hanging out with Jesse and going on a food trip. In most cases, I am always in the mood for soup. Even if it's hot outside, i'd still have soup. It's just so tasty and comforting!

SOUP ALL DAY ERRDAY

Laksa from Banana Leaf Topical Cuisine! It was 100% spicy, coconut-ey goodness.

A little TMI: We both got bad stomachs after eating here :(

I will give it the benefit of the doubt and come back to try one of their dry dishes next time.

Pho & spring rolls at Quynh Vietnamese Cuisine. Food was delicious, and we got ours in about 15 minutes. Now THAT'S service :) I substituted egg noodles for my pho because I don't really like thick noodles because they make me full so much faster.

EXPLORING KENSINGTON

It has literally been more than a year since i've visited this neighborhood!! This car has been here for as long as I can remember. haha.

Look at this funky house-- free dishes and vinyl discs at the front!

I always make sure to stop by Oolong Tea House when i'm in the area :) I was a bit shocked to find that my little tin cost nearly $10!! But as usual, I would say that it's a worthy trade off since i'm completely hooked to it! The tea I got is called "After Seven"!

CUE: OMINOUS WEATHER CHANGE!

I just realized how much I love rain.. except this time (August 4) we had a hail storm and a flash flood in downtown.. the pictures looked pretty bad, but luckily I didn't see any floating cars on my way home...

My view at work. It started hailing like crazy shortly after! I wouldn't wish for my enemies to be out (without any shade) at that time lol

T-SWIFT CONCERT IN EDMONTON

The drive to Edmonton was a bit gloomy! I half slept, half karaoke-d in the car. The traffic moved so slow once we actually hit the city cause they were doing construction on a major road.

Made sure to have time to meet with this girl here! LOVE HER! She moved to Edmonton almost two months ago. How are we supposed to go for our Timmies dates when you're three hours away? lol I hope it won't be too long til we see each other again, Minah :)

Taylor's tour trucks got me all excited!!! SO OFFICIAL. lol! There must have been 9 of them lined up at the parking lot.

Cost an arm and a leg to get these seats cause we had to buy from vividseat.com, a ticket re-sell website. The concert was worth it, but I wish they made it explicit that the website was American, not Canadian! I had to pay over $200 because of the currency difference.. a girl's gotta work, you know?!

Two hours before the concert.. All settled in! It was a bit chilly inside. I made the mistake of deciding to buy merch an hour before the concert started. The lines were horrendous! hahaha I can't believe we nearly missed the start of the concert cause of this :P We were too close to leave the line.

I had a fantastic time at the concert, despite the fact that I was standing beside two of the most un-dancey people in the planet. To my left was Jesse, and to my right was someone else's boyfriend. They did NOT shake it off! It was very awkward dancing and singing when I was standing next to these statues haha! I did end up yelling my heart out and dancing along though :)

Had an absolutely amazing time watching T-Swift's concert that night! Wish I could see it again!

xx,

Chelsea

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Feb 28, 2015- Rolling with Change.

by Chelseawroteit - 2:52 AM

I've been home in Calgary for a solid month now! It's amazing and weird to look at instagram and find things that I did in Melbourne to be "13 weeks ago". I brought a print of melbourne CBD and it's hanging right next to my door, and yes I taped it there so I could pretend that was gonna be my view outside the window. I miss Melbourne for so many reasons, but the biggest one would probably be because I felt so free when I was living there. It was the same happiness that I got when I traveled to korea alone. I just love immersing myself in different cultures, and i'm the happiest when I live in the heart of the city-- especially one that's abundant in fashion, good food and scenery.

I've been following fashion blogger Chloe Ting for a few months now, and last night I watched her newest video.. I felt a huge pinch in my chest and a knot in my belly just seeing the suburbs in melbourne again (where she's based!). She went to the south melbourne market with her friend, the market which was literally only a few blocks from where we used to live but we never had the chance to visit! *facepalm* Another one that Jesse and I regret not going to was Brighton beach. There were so many things that we didn't get to do because we got caught up in the daily grind.

Chloe Ting's video:

I think I saw her on the tram. I'm 90% sure it was her!!! What a coincidence..

I was really depressed for the first two weeks of being back home because i've had to adjust to so many things all at once. I knew this was gonna happen, but it didn't really make it any easier. The biggest difference is probably not living with Jesse-- my buddy, my boyfriend, the person who didn't leave my sight for over 9 months was suddenly living across the city from me. Just 3 weeks ago I was swimming in the ocean somewhere in australia... my brain can't even reconcile that difference.

And so did my immune system. In the 3 weeks that i've been back, i've gone to the emergency department twice and have gotten sick for a week. Yikes! Talk about being out of sorts, hey? Don't worry, it's not serious... just a severe allergic reaction to an unknown source. haha. Since then, i've taken measures to get myself in a healthier place, starting with naturopathic medicine. It was the first time i've had a cold & flu and didn't pop a single tylenol or benylin, and I kicked it in 5 days. All the while, I went on with my life and I didn't let it bog me down. I've realized that getting over a disease doesn't just require physical effort, but you really have to think about how you're dealing with it emotionally and spiritually. I believe to some extent that our "problems" can manifest themselves through ailments and other imbalances in our lives.

I can't stress about my situation any longer. I can't cry about settling back into this so-called reality, because the reality is that I have SO MUCH going for me. I just need to remember what i'm here for. I've come up with a follow-up 5 to 10 year plan (in true chelsea fashion!) and I can't wait to see those dreams turn into reality. Australia took 4 years to actualize, and it was so amaaaazing and worth it! I know now that it's somewhere that I could move into and settle down in-- which was the whole point of the trip.

As for soul searching, I think i've finally decided on what to do with my career, and i'm pretty happy about it. Matter of fact-- I just turned in my application!

Here are some pics i've taken since getting back: