belanger

the monster ball 2.0 was incredible. if given the chance, you must must must see it. every time i hear one of her songs now, they're so much more personal. that probably sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it's so true. love LG so much.

i went to visit my grandparents the other day, and this was the result.

So, you guys, what is the 411? What has everybody been up to? What is the hot gossip?

i got to montreal on friday, after a 6 hour drive. funny how that seems like a piece of cake after 19hrs. not trying to be all hyperbolic, but the drive through rural quebec was breathtaking. it had just rained out, so there were rainbows left and right. the landscape was filled with old farmhouses and tons of animals. bbycows & goats & horses. want -a house in the country. seeing my family after a year, its like nothing had changed. (luv you guys! ;)

cannot wait to carry out photo projects here. oh, and i will be attending the monsterball 2.0 tomorrow. words cannot describe my excitement.

east coast! (continued)

i went to a part of boston called faneuil hall. it reminded me a lot of the old port in montreal, & so that was comforting. i brought my dog, and if i were into middle aged women and super old dudes, i would have picked up so many digits. we ate at this swanky little place outside, & it was so good.

on thursday, my mom, brother, and i started our day by going across the street to this place where they get all of their food from fresh markets. it was sort of like a fast food place. the idea's cool, and the food wasn't too bad. then we went to the museum of science here in boston. i wanted to go because they had an m.c. escher exhibit set up. it was a little disappointing, but still pretty cool. my favorite part of the museum was the butterfly room they had set up. i could've spent all day in there. the lighting was perfect and so many butterflies flying around (duh, go figure, as if that's supposed to be anything out of the ordinary).

at the end of the day, this is what i have to say about boston: people are dressed very new england-y, and for the most part, they are nice. the accents are cool, but not as frequent to come across than i thought they'd be. i didn't get a chance to check out their subway system because we drove everywhere--- PEOPLE SUCK AT KNOWING WHEN TO CROSS THE STREET. worse than any other place i've ever been. so so so so ridiculous, like hold on 2 more seconds, it (probably) wouldn't kill you.

(also, i don't know who / if anyone reads this, so sorry if i'm boring you. i'd be more than happy to take suggestions if you have any. i'm having a hard time trying to 'find my niche' as far as photography. i want to make every picture i take a reflection of my own work and i'm having a hard time doing so. but, if you're looking for pictures, then hold on tight, montreal will produce thousands)

east coast!

19 hours of driving, & i have arrived in boston, massachusetts. the drive was incredibly scenic. the skies were bright blue, and the clouds white and crisp. at one point we were in new york state and we passed by a vineyard. the sun was setting, and there was a family of deer. the scene was perfect.

our hotel in boston is right by the water, surrounded by piers and docks. oh, and sailboats! so many sailboats, so pretty. we're staying in the business district, so we have to drive a little bit to get to real places.

the first night we got here we went out to a seafood place on the harbor for father's day at a place called 'the barking crab.' jack johnson was blasting while people ate their boiled crablegs. sweet, i guess. we ordered food that made me feel like i was going to die.

yesterday i went shopping with my mom on newbury street. it was adorable. all of the shops were cute & brick & old. oh, and so many dogs! everywhere! it reminded me of new york, where it was acceptable to bring your dog almost everywhere. that's the kind of place i wanna live. after grabbing lunch at a little thai place, i found a record store. i got pet sounds on vinyl, something i've been eyeing for quite a while now. we walked around the library downtown, it was so nice! then yesterday night my mother took my brother and i to chinatown. it was a bit of a let down, except there were so many cute aznbabies.

today, my mom took us to visit one a family she met via being a refugee@ the age of like 10. they had these two grandbabies who were adorable. 'ethan' let me watch mickey mouse with him, & we talked about toy story 3 (which made me cry! saw it in 3d and had to take off my glasses to wipe tears away. call me what you must, but the movie just hit me in all the right places). he is 4 years old, but he took a couple seconds to put up the right number of fingers. after that, we went on washington street to go shopping some more. got a super cool ring that looks like a snake in this store that was like a rhinestone kingdom. i just got back from taking a driving tour of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. So Harry Potter-esque.

things i want to do the rest of the week: go whale watching, see the m.c. escher exhibit at the museum of science, isabella gardner museum, & take a boat cruise. we'll see how productive my family and i feel. then i'm on the road to montreal until the beginning of august! so excited.

(more pictures soon!)

these days

summer nights are starting to make me like bloomington a little more than usual. that's too bad, isn't it? i'm going to boston on saturday for a week, & then montreal until august. oh, & surprise, asian baby!

summertime & the living is boring.

my friends are slowly but surely starting to come home, & i couldn't be happier. here are some cinnamon roll cookies that chase suggested i make. they turned out really well, minus the fact that i didn't realize it would make 6 DOZEN COOKIES. i'm only complaining a little bit though! in other news, i need to start taking real pictures.

my cousin sent me a link to this website, & i want to make all of them! they all look so good (besides the beet ones, ew, gross). i tried the key lime ones, & they turned out perfectly. i'm going to have a store one day, i absolutely have to.

final project

this was my final project. i was really happy with how everything turned out. sorry the quality stinks, they're pictures of pictures.