Like Music? You're gonna love this!

In a loving attempt to help bolster my beautiful BFF Della Haddock's confidence about her (AMAZING) voice, I'm posting the link to her SoundCloud page. She does some covers,  and some very well-written, honestly beautiful songs. I like to think she's a bluesy-jazz toned Florence Welch. If you have SoundCloud, follow her! My favourite's are her originals Onyx and Soak Your Bones. She also does a beautiful rendition of Wild is the Wind. 

Q. Eclectic's SoundCloud

Enjoy, Share and show her some love! 

Love ya wyfe! 
xoxoxo

***EDIT***

Also, here's a video she posted to YouTube. 

Covering Florence and the Machine's Addicted to Love

Della O'Dare - Addicted to Love

Dinner Rolls for Dinner? Makes perfect sense.

Just a little Wednesday night baking. Celimix dinner rolls. Turned out perfect! 

Spring, you elusive bastard.

Profanity is sometimes necessary. As I sit looking out the window of my school library, all I can think is, "what the hell Mother Nature, what. the. hell??". For a minute it seemed that spring had decided to finally grace us with its presence, however it appears I spoke too soon. This weather is abysmal (been saving that one for a while now). I had high hopes of bringing out blazers, flats and sunglasses soon...Alas, it was not meant to be.
How long will this persist? The forecast shows a glimmer of hope for Monday (?!) with highs of 9 degrees. I guess there's a thin sliver lining to this snowy west coast cloud.

On the bright side, cold weather means more indoor activities. Which means, more baking! Tomorrow I am celebrating the birth of my furry dog-child, Cinnamon. Laugh if you want, but dog parties are more about getting my girlfriends together for a much needed movie and hot tub night, with treats and watching my bulldog Guinness eat a cake that I am making for the two dogs. Hilarity will ensue. I'm making chocolate banana muffins (not for the dogs don't worry), with icing I picked up from Grounds for Coffee. I want to add some mashed banana, as I'm cheating and using a muffin mix from Ed's. I will do more from-scratch baking when this semester is over :)

Cinnamon knows how to party!

Guinness at his most active.

 

This weekend might be more involuntarily hermit-like than I was hoping for, but sometimes a girl's gotta (finally) start hitting the books a little.

COACHELLA UPDATE: my passes are currently traveling through Kansas on their way to me! Expected delivery date is Monday, March 19th. Anyone else going to Weekend 2?? (If you're not going I apologize. I will take lots of photos to share with you <3 )

Tuition Blunders: A Wanted Ad For Help

Fellow Bloggers,

I'm feeling that familiar tug of guilt for being so negligent with my blogging. What was once such a vital little oasis for me has become something of a week-old casserole at the back of the fridge; something I've come to avoid and be ashamed of still having. I am putting it out there to the blogging world that this little blog will no longer be a stale casserole! I am vowing to step forth, and breathe new life into this forsaken place of online blurbing. For better or for worse. I will write. Every day (high hopes, and I am prepared to suffer the consequences of my failure, should it happen).
For all the useless time I spend cruising the internet, trying to find something better to do with my time, I could at least be putting my thoughts out there, and hopefully, some of you will find it interesting. Or if not, let me know and I will strive to find something more interesting to write about.

Friends, this is the beginning of my plight of desperation. A premature twinge to the feeling of absolute hopelessness that I am determined to avoid, has arrived. The more time I invest in researching my future, the more I begin to think about the value of that time. Such time looking at bank loans, tuition costs and quick ways to earn money have made me think that I need to be more proactive. Alas, I am not as independently resourceful as I would like to be. This is where you all come in.
So, I ask, no, I plead for some assistance. If you know me, and I know most of you don't, you will know that asking for help is not something that comes naturally to me. Nor is the idea that I can't find a solution on my own.
So this is my plea: ideas, concepts, however farfetched, I will read and value them all. Dog walking for $50, or contests for much more (yes I have entered some already), please lend me your imaginations. As well as ideas for this tiny blog, I am determined to revive it.
My dream is big: New York University. Your thoughts are my lighthouses, guide me home to New York!

In light of this, I pose this challenge to you: 30 Challenges for 30 Days. Give it a try!

Linky - very inspiring!

Hugs,

         Whit
p.s I'm aware this has usually been Alliteration Wednesday. My Apologies. <3

Back to the Best Coast!

I'm back! 5 weeks seemed to fly by. Italy was just as amazing as I remembered, and then some. I got to pig out on gelato and the pharmacies did not disappoint with their gluten-free selection! Ate lots of pasta and found a gf restaurant in Florence! Learnt a lot, there's still so much art and history that I didn't get the chance to see. I like to leave wherever I travel feeling like I didn't do everything I should've done, it gives me more of a reason to go back. I'm coming back from this trip a very different person though: a little too full of good food, unattached (now enjoying the rainbow after the storm), and with a little more ink ;)
There's so much I'm thankful for, and traveling always reminds me how lucky I am to live where I do, and that I have some amazing friends and family. I believe everything happens for a reason, and the best things always happen after the worst. Once you're through a tough spot, everything looks a little brighter from the other side.
Lots of love to my Euro-family! I'm so glad to have more great people in my life!
Here's some choice photos from the trip; didn't take a lot this time (was too busy eating gelato!)
So good to be home! Missed everyone!

Finding Me. {bear with me, world}

So today's Alliteration Wednesday is on hiatus until tomorrow. Today I'm writing to boast my own spirits, they seem to have taken a hit lately. I'm feeling the accumulation of a lot of stuff, some I'm not sure I can even identify. I think a lot of it has to do with the end of semester, which in comparison to what I know a lot of other students are going through, is very minimal. So I'm taking my frustration out on my blog. Please bear with me everyone.
Got Bob Marley's I Can See Clearly Now playing, a song that's always been special for me. I remember my third grade teacher teaching it to us and we'd all sing while he played guitar. It's one of my fonder childhood memories.
I'm thankful for me. And really, I want to feel that you shouldn't have to search outside of yourself to find something to be thankful for. Yes, I'm thankful for my family, my upbringing and the beautiful city I live in, but today I just wanna be thankful for me.
If there's one person who you always have to put up with, and will always be there, it's You.
As corny as that sounds, I find I'm sometimes the hardest person I have to deal with. I know how to push my own buttons, and sometimes I just get in my own way.
Call it multiple personalities, call it whatever you like, but I think a big part of finding your place in the world starts with finding your place within yourself. And I think that's what I'm struggling with. Just figuring myself out, learning to do what makes me happy, and breathing through the things that don't.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

{via}

Alliteration Wednesdays

Trying out my polyvore again. Not sure how to work it but I'm finding it a little tedious to post and link every photo like I was doing. If anyone has any tips/programs that work better please please let me know!
Today is brought to you by the letter D.

I love D&G cherry print bikinis.
I love David&Young fedoras.
I love Miss Dior perfume.
I love Diane Van Furstenberg wedges.
I love Deka Ray rings.

D. by whitb on Polyvore.com

First Set

First Set by whitb featuring leather sandals

I am slowly learning how to work Polyvore. If anyone has any helpful hints I would really appreciate it! Like why it doesn't say the product info/price when I publish a set, and how I add photos, writing etc. I haven't played around with it too much yet.

Thanks!

Alliteration Wednesdays

Today's Alliteration Wednesday is brought to you by the letter C.
 I hope everyone is enjoying the week, I'm starting to get a little freaked out about the upcoming exam season! Almost time for Italy!

I love Classic Glass Canisters.

I love this Cardigan from Topshop. 

I love City Flats.

I love Cashmere sweaters.

I love Cable Knit Ceramic mugs.
I love this Chantelle Icone demi bra.
I love Chanel nail polish.
I love Candles (1) (2)

Southern Cravings

I've never been to the south. But there's something magnetic about the soulful voice of Adele doing a cover of Sam Sparro's Black and Gold that makes me wanna hunker down on a front porch with a bowl of gumbo and some Cajun music in the background.
And Mardi Gras in New Orleans is definitely on my bucket list.

It's a sunset, somewhere.

A lazy Wednesday morning...and some random ramblings.

are you a romantic or a classicist? 
Where's your sense of bad timing, when you're always early?

 You're a ray of dusty light through the knoll in my barn house/ you're a little beam of sun spit/a little bit of somethin' else.

If you let your little light shine/don't forget to let it flicker/let it waver in the musk/let it breathe, not cough and sputter.

Hold your hands tight/you're just a little ray of sunshine/a little beam of dusty light/a little bit of somethin' else. 

Musings...

Thanks to my lovely boyfriend I got an early start today, and early mornings before coffee make me think a little less before opening my mouth. This post is the consequence of that.
Firstly, I have never wanted to wear a full body suit of woolen knitted garments more than I have recently. What's the deal Vancouver? I miss the Olympic weather..so nice and warm for February.
Secondly, I stumbled across the awesome magazine that is Rue and am in love with their interior designs! I have a feeling the bf would love this one. We've been negotiating a decorating compromise with antlers. I think I could live with this idea.

 

Another time-consuming love I've recently discovered is Svpply. It's a site that lets you find products and people with similar interests. Svpply will recommend items based on your themes and also has gift guides! (one of my favourite uses for the internet. However after this past holiday experience I'll be a little more prepared to do my Christmas shopping next year..like in September.)

Peeps my Svpply here

Through cruising Svpply and many of the blogs I follow, I think I've learnt a lot about my personal style and stuff that makes me happy :) Try it, you might just get to know yourself a little better. 

For example, I've discovered I love porcelain mugs and other items. I also love leather bags, clutches, briefcases, satchels, wallets, pocket books..you get the idea.

I also love weird jewelry. I've never been a dainty accessory girl, and I love pieces that are a little different and attention grabbing. 

Oh and coffee table books. And coffee tables.