Dashing through the snow...

The only reason anyone ever goes out in the back balcony in the winter, is to take out the garbage. Most of the time we take it out through the front since it's much faster. However, there is a larger bin in the back which is used only on days where there's more trash to take out than usually. Like after a New Year's eve party.

The back balcony is also tucked away behind a corner, which means it won't get too much snow, unless the wind comes from an optimal angle. And when that happens, it looks like this:

Nice.

Friday Inspiration - New York City

Source: 30.media.tumblr.com via Gillian on Pinterest

I love big cities and I have a soft spot for New York City.

Source: 24.media.tumblr.com via Maddie on Pinterest

There's just something about it... I know I'm not alone in this one. I mean, seriously, who doesn't love NYC?

Source: via Alyssa on Pinterest

Even though I've lived in Montreal for almost 7 years, I somehow can't get over the fact that I live in a place from where you can drive to New York. It's somehow very bizarre to me. Admittedly, it'll be a long drive, but that we're still connected by not just land, but a highway.

Source: bluepueblo.tumblr.com via Brie on Pinterest

I've been in the city several times and am always so excited to go back. The last time I went was over two years ago. It's been too long.

Source: kathychiu.tumblr.com via Tanny on Pinterest

But now, my friends, the car and the hotel are booked. We're looking into finding a few nice restaurants, the right museum and tattoo studio.

Source: evanjoseph.photoshelter.com via Irene on Pinterest

Soon we're off to NYC!

Have you been? Would you like to?

Follow me down the rabbit hole

Ok, maybe not so much a rabbit hole, but perhaps you should follow my blog instead.

I finally made a facebook page for my blog. I'm still working on it, but it's definitely up and running. Only a little tweaking needed. That's where I'll add photos and other things that don't fit in the posts. There will of course be blog posts as well.

I got a bunch more followers in 2012 and realized it would be a good idea to make sure you can find the most convenient way to follow Hipstercurious. I also realized I've never really put all the options in one post, so here goes... Click on the appropriate links to directly get to the follow pages.

You can follow my blog through:

Bloglovin'


Blogilista

Google Friend Connect and/or e-mail - see the boxes on the right at the bottom

You can also find me on

Instagram @hipstercurious

Facebook

Twitter @HipsterCurious

Flickr

My shops Brinner and Brinner Supplies can be followed directly on Etsy or on Facebook

Are there any I might have missed? Do you have any neat suggestions for other social media?

Planners and notebooks and journals, oh my!

I love the beginning of the new year. It genuinely feels like  new leaf is turning. I always catch myself thinking what new things the next year will bring into my life. There was a long time when I didn't make any resolutions, deeming them unnecessary and frankly a tad naive. I know I just made some! I also realized that all the hoopla for the new year is not necessarily a bad thing. Granted, waiting for a specific date, like January 1st to make changes in your life is often an easy excuse to postpone doing things, but there's something refreshing about it too.

The most tangible change for me happens exactly on January 1st. I get to start a new planner/diary/journal. I am bias to Moleskine.

I spent a good half hour in the store thinking which one I wanted and comparing the different ones. I've seen plenty of others, but the simple Moleskine books are the best option for me. I'm not going to lie, I kept flipflopping between the simple weekly one and a kick-ass Star Wars one. The only reason why I ended up leaving the Star Wars one in the store was because it was too big to carry around all the time. It was a daily planner, where every day of the year had it's own page. It was a bit too much for me. But, man, was I ever tempted... I ended up choosing the red hard cover weekly planner.

As you can see my 2012 has definitely seen better days. Well, quite literally actually. I carry my planner with me everywhere, so it does get a bit battered after a while. This was the classic soft cover one, which I almost bought again. The reason why I ended with the hardcover, was because it felt sturdier. I use the accordion folder in the back of the book all the time, and in my softcover that pocket came apart a few months into the year. I ended up having to keep fixing it quite a few times. It wasn't too much work, but definitely annoying.

This is not a review of my new calendar though. This is just how incredibly exited I get to start a new one!

I am so looking forward to start filling it out. I get to do some work on it right off the bat, as I'll mark in important dates and already settled plans. I'm also trying to keep up filling in little notes of what we did, even afterwards. I enjoyed flipping through my last years planner so much, that I really plan on making an effort to keep it up. Last year I glued in some little snippets of things we did, like business cards from restaurants...

... cool flyers picked up from places we went to...



... a sticker from a Mexican soda that was very tasty...



...and a collage from leftover wedding invite card stock.


All of these random things brought back some good memories and made me look forward to start working on the pages for 2013.

Do you have a planner? What kind is your preferred one?

Thoughts and decisions for 2013

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope you celebrated with some bubbly!

My evening was lovely and I spent it with friends (and bubbly). You can't go wrong with that.

Last year I made some resolutions for the upcoming year. I didn't make any personal ones, but concentrated more on my business. I made five resolutions and I think it's time to take a look back and, perhaps, make some new ones too!

The first resolution was to revamp the blog. I did that and have been tweaking it a few times since then. I feel like it's reflecting the vision I have much more closely than before, but there are still things to be done. I absolutely did accomplish this, but I feel more needs to be done still. So, I think I need to make a resolution for 2013 to keep working on the look of the blog. I want to streamline the content too. I have some new ideas that I will slowly start introducing in the upcoming year, so stay tuned for that. I love blogging even more than I did this time last year, so I will keep at it. I might have to stop writing every day though as I have some more time consuming ideas, but I think it'll be worth it in the end. All this is to say that the resolution for 2013 is to:

1. Concentrate on all the aspects of the blog, the texts, the look, the photos and make sure they all show more personality.


The second resolution was to learn how to take better photos. Well, that I can confidently say I've gotten much, much better at. I've taken a few photos this year that even people who very rarely compliment anyone have told me they are good. More importantly, I am happy with those photos. I need to do a lot less editing than before and there are several photos where the only editing I did was cropping. However, there are many things to learn still. I want to get better! To continue from last year, my resolution for 2013 is to:

2. Learn to be more consistent when taking photos and keep continuously improving.

The third resolution was to think less and create more. That was a tough one. I have improved on this aspect a lot! I am proud to say that I tried many things that didn't work and I shrugged them off and went off to make something else. I tried to plan less, but the list-maker in me still takes hold sometimes. However, the improvement from last year is significant. There were things that worked out well without too much planning. All in all, I did get better, but there is much more to do. In the end, I can't change who I am, so the resolution for 2013 is to:

3. Create more.

The fourth resolution was to participate in more craft fairs. Which I did. Done and Done! I don't think I need to make this a resolution any longer, this is now an ongoing plan. Keep doing more fairs. Not a resolution, but a part of the business plan.

My fifth and final resolution was to stress less. Yeah... No easy feat that one. I do think I developed leaps and bounds on this one as well. I have been feeling much better in 2012 compared to 2011. However, I am nowhere near where I need to be. One major thing I did realize this year was the cause of most of my stress. So, the resolution for 2013 is to:

4. Concentrate more on me and worry less about others.

Looking at these resolutions makes me feel pretty good. I can compare these to the ones from last year and I can see how they are becoming more specific. Which really means that I am getting more specific on the things I need to work on. I like the trend, so I am super excited to see what they will be next year.

Like I mentioned before, I do have some cool plans for my blog for this year. I want to make sure that I feel inspired writing and that there is something interesting for all of you to read about.

I've realized that for those of you who know me personally, this blog makes a lot of sense. You know who I am and how everything I write about falls into place with my personality. However, I also realize that all of you who don't know me, and there's quite a few of you, this is a rather superficial peek into who I am. I always enjoy reading blogs where you get more of a feeling who the writer is, so I promise to exercise a little less censorship on my own writing.

Perhaps try to be less wordy...

Have you made any resolutions/decisions for 2013?