Day in Montreal

Today was the longest day ever.

Dad and I were on the road to Montreal at 10am and I was barely awake. My first appointment was at Concordia with Prof. Acland, which was very enjoyable. He was very personable and gave me lots of information about the school and the program. My interview with him probably put Concordia at the top of my list, actually. The campus was beautiful, great location, etc. Definately a good prospect.

McGill was so-so. My meeting was with a prof who had a wierd office on the outskirts of the campus and it was snowing cats and dogs, so I didn't raelly get a visual impresion of the school. His interview was very brief and to the point; he didn't really "sell" me on the program, but I guess that's not his job. He did reiterate what a highly ranked and prestigious school McGill is, and how few spots there are in their PhD program, etc.

The way home was a real pip. Apart from the lovely snowstorm, dad and I were thrying to leave downtown Montreal at 5 o clock PM! We were stuck in rush hour traffic forever. In fact, I only got home a little while ago, and it's now ten to ten. Ugh.

I brought my knitting bag in case I got back to town early enough to join the girls, but I'm just too exhausted from the ride home. I hope they forgive me. This week has been far too busy for my liking.

I'm excited to have a day off tomorrow, with no travel plans, and no shifts at Top. I have a few errands to run, might check out the gym at some point, do some xmas shopping. I think a day off my applications is in order though.

Setting the wheels in motion

My month is coming together now. I've heard back from all the profs I've contacted, and made travel plans to Toronto and Mtl next week. Having plans set in stone is really relieving stress I didn't realize I had. I guess I was worried about fitting travel in between work, family, applications and thesis. Fortunately, those close to me understand how important these travel plans are.

Sunday Dec 9th I'm going to Toronto for one night. I have a meeting with a prof at York the next morning. I'm getting to stay with Sarah and Dave which makes me really happy and excited. I sprung for train tickets; I figure it's worth it for 2 reasons. 1) I can knit/read on the train and I can't seem to do that on the bus without getting bus-sick. 2) The train is less likely to be held up by terrible weather, which is all we've been getting lately around here.

I'm going to Mtl with my mom and dad (their parents live there from Dec 13th to the 14th. Yes, that means I have to miss crafting circle that week! It hurts. Especially since I was all like "Yeah, we'll do the gift exchange on the 13th and we'll have it at my house and it's the perfect time and blah blah blah!" Oh beans. The next thursday is the 20th, and I hope that's not cutting it too close for out-of-towners. Waiting till after xmas is not the biggest deal, but it's a bit of a bummer.

The Let it Snow party last night was... alright. Last year, I "stopped by" the party after closing the store. I wasn't in the mood to party at all, and I wound up getting hammered and having an amazing time. I guess I had high expectations for last night as a result. It was still fun, but not the shit-show it was last year. I'm glad too, because I have to work today and I remember being hung-over as hell last year.

Speaking of work, I better get going!

Between the trouble I had with the applique, and the fact that I sewed the interior in upside-down, that first wallet is a write-off. Fortunately, my second one turned out pretty great!

Thing is, for the outside of this one, I used scraps from a leather coat project.... so the leather is very very thin. I'm worried that this is the only reason it was so easy to work with... does this mean all my thicker upholstery leather is no good for wallets? That's a sad thought.

This one didn't take as long as the first, but it's still pretty frigging time consuming! I guess the longest parts are; cutting the pieces, THEN interfacing them, THEN cutting them again. I'm trying to eliminate one step in this operation by interfacing the fabric first. Bias tape is also somewhat time-consuming... I guess I'll just have to get used to that.

The good news is that materials are reasonably cheap (especially with the amount of leather I have) and they sure are fun! I'll have to post a bunch in the business forum at craftster to see how much people might pay for them. There's a ladyfest craft sale coming up, but I don't think I'll be ready in time... I should be working on xmas gifts instead of undead wallets!

We're off to Montreal today for Chrissy's wedding tomorrow. Can't wait to show Lisa and Aron the fruit of my crafy labor!