Archive | January, 2015

Lunch For Breakfast

31 Jan

A friend of mine who is also trying to get in to better shape invited me over for lunch, well, technically it started as we were going to go out for lunch then for a walk but it turned in to her inviting me over for lunch and then we’d go walking. I figure eating in is always better for the wallet so I’m game…it helps that she’s a chef so she’s amazing with food lol

When I got there she had this lovely spread all ready to go…

2015-01-29 12.08.20

 

Thing is, somewhere along the way I got it in to my head we were having breakfast so I got there, saw this lovely food and immediately thought “salad for breakfast? huh?”

Lucky for me I’m willing to eat almost anything at any time of day, regardless of what I think I “should” be eating…though I was kinda sad I wouldn’t be eating a pancake, which is what I would have ordered if we’d gone out lol

This is a better view of my breakfast/lunch:

2015-01-29 12.18.47

 

That my friends is a cup of Tetley tea, a glass of water, a slice of gluten free toast (she has gone gluten free, I have not), salad with tomato, cucumber, a hard boiled egg, cheddar cheese, avocado, salsa, two salmon cakes and some ranch dressing on the side. I like my dressing on the side because then I can dip my knife in and lightly distribute dressing to every second or third forkful of salad instead of drowning the entire salad.

What a lovely way to start the day!

She even went so far as to have dessert! She amazes me. If left up to me we’d have been eating toasted sandwiches or cereal lol

For dessert I had:

2015-01-29 13.18.02

 

There was a whole bunch of cut up fruit, I selected mango and cantaloupe. She also has kiwi and, hmm, something else I’m blanking on right now, watermelon maybe? The little bread looking thing is home made cookie/loaf, it has cranberries and orange in it and holy crap was it tasty! I ate two pieces! lol

Actually that is a lie, she sent me home with some leftovers and in those leftovers were two more pieces of the cookie/loaf and I ate them later in the day sooooo I ate 4 pieces in total, over the span of hours…like that makes it any better? lol I’m not sure what to call it, it had the texture of a cookie, but the shape of a loaf cake.

We didn’t end up going for our walk, which sucks, because we got so busy gabbing we completely lost track of time and when we finally looked at a clock we both had places to be. We are going to try to make this a regular occurrence though, not always eating food at her place, but walking every Thursday. We both usually have that day off and theoretically should be able to make it work. I’m hopeful for it as it would be nice to go walking weekly with her, it’s always easier to stick with any form of exercise, easy or hard, if you are being held accountable by someone. 🙂

Advertisement

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Cost Of Getting Pretty

30 Jan

I am not that person that spends huge amounts of money on grooming. Partly because I don’t have extra money to be throwing around and partly because well, why?

So it is weird for me that this week I have spent so much money on things to make me pretty lol

The beginning of this little shopping spree was when I made a “quick” trip to Shoppers Drug Mart. I went in with the intention of getting some advice and walked out with these…

2015-01-29 15.43.11

 

Anything French is bound to be over priced lol 😛 I was looking for a new moisturizer, sigh. I love the moisturizer I normally use, it works and it is completely affordable but for the past month (or maybe a bit longer) it hasn’t been working quite as well. I’ve been getting dry patches on my face which I was able to deal with (sort of) by applying more moisturizer but whenever I have to put foundation or primer on my face boom! dry patches! and yeah, that can’t be happening when I am going to auditions.

So yeah, I went in with the intention to ask about a new moisturizer figuring I needed something for the next month or so, just to get me through the rest of winter and the lady convinced me I needed not just a new moisturizer but also a moisturizing cleanser. Why am I so susceptible to sales pitches? Arg! She swore that in a week I’d look at my face in the mirror and be all “wow, is that my skin??” I am already thinking that when I look in the mirror because for some weird reason the right side of my face has broken out *rolls eyes* That was not what I wanted! I’m sticking with it, hoping this is just my face getting used to the new product and in a week or so the break out will have cleared up and I’ll have pretty, moisturized skin…my hopes for this aren’t amazingly high but I’m trying to have at least a little lol

Then Wednesday I had a hair appointment, this was planned so not like a surprise I would be spending money there lol They were having a promotion which I got to take part in because I haven’t been in so long, it was a “We Miss You!” promotion, if I spent $50 or more I got $25 off at the till, if I spent $100 or more I got $50 off at the till, not a bad deal! I go to the Aveda Academy for my hair cuts, not because I am some Aveda snob but because if you get a student to cut your hair it only costs $35 and that includes the aromatherapy and massage. 🙂 I knew the $35 haircut wouldn’t allow me to get a discount at the till but my hair was needing to be tidied up at the ends and my bangs had grown out ages ago so it seemed like as good a time as any to book an appointment. When I was there I ended up buying a product for damage control, I blow dry my hair and use a straightener so putting something in my hair to help protect it makes sense. I normally would have found a similar product for cheaper elsewhere but because of the promotion I was able to buy the product and get almost the entire cost of it taken off my bill so I almost got it for free, yay! It looks like this:

2015-01-29 15.43.30

 

In case you were wondering, this is what they did to my hair, try to look past my bad skin k?

2015-01-30 01.04.40

 

I have not been able to recreate the curls or get the bangs exactly right but that is because hairdressers have magic that I do not lol My hair before the cut was down to the top of my butt so I feel a little bald right now even though other people still think I have really long hair, it’s all in the perspective I guess.

Lastly, I received something in the mail I ordered weeeeeeeks ago and I have oh so impatiently been waiting for lol I had been watching a YouTube video about beauty products for pale skin, despite how I look in the above picture I am quite pale, not red, and have trouble finding foundations etc that match my skin tone. Well, this one video mentioned a company called Redhead Revolution and omg my life changed! I went to their website, http://www.redheadrevolution.us and couldn’t believe what I was seeing! People who looked like me…models with my skin tone, and freckles, and hair colour…I was seeing makeup and various skin products that are designed for someone like…me…That just doesn’t happen, ever. I got giddy, not even making that up, I actually got giddy and did a little bounce in my chair, I then proceeded to scour that website looking at everything. It was amazing. *happy sigh* I want to buy it all. 😉

I decided cautious optimism was the best way to proceed and I bought a sample bottle of 3-in-1 Love Your Freckles Tinted Moisturizer. I was leery of buying anything that goes on my skin that has any level of tint or colour to it that I couldn’t first test (like how you would at a store) but the website even has a section that helps you figure out your undertones and which shade would be most suited for you. They have a tag line “Makeup for the 2%” and I love it! It makes me feel like I am part of a cute little club instead of the weirdo that doesn’t blend in lol The sample size is only 2 fluid ounces, which meant nothing to me until I got the bottle in the mail, it is super tiny! I’m putting off trying it until I have this whole dry patch thing under control, I don’t want to waste any of this precious little bottle.

For the 2%

For the 2%

So that was basically my week, I feel like I bought huuuuge amounts of beauty products but I suppose compared to a lot of women I barely bought anything lol. Let’s hope they all live up to the hype! 🙂

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Jagerhof Restaurant

29 Jan

I went out for dinner with a friend on Tuesday to a restaurant called Jagerhof – there are supposed to be two little dots on top of the “a” but if you think I know how to get them there you are delusional lol 😛 We went on the suggestion of a co-worker of mine who has a second job there and she was definitely right to suggest the restaurant!

It’s a small quaint little place, I can’t say if it is decorated in any sort of traditional German way since I have never been to Germany but it was nice. The lighting was super dim, something I hadn’t really noticed until I took a picture of my dinner and the flash went off making me feel so amazingly conspicuous that even though I didn’t care for the picture I took I refused to take another one lol Which means this is the only picture I have…

Eggplant Ravioli

Eggplant Ravioli

I ordered the Eggplant Ravioli which is eggplant stuffed with camembert, breaded with panko, served with baby arugula and spicy tomato sauce.

It was good. Not amazing, but good. I would have really liked a veal schnitzel but they only had pork schnitzel and I don’t eat pork sooooooo an alternative had to be found lol Luckily I checked out the menu the day before I went and realized I was pretty much hooped when ordering at this place. Apparently German food is all pork, ugh. This and the pasta dish (if I got the ham taken out) were pretty much the only entrees I could order. It is rare that I am so limited at a restaurant but oh well, there are a lot of vegetarian dishes out there, can’t hurt to sample a couple more of them! lol This dish was tasty, just not very filling, I think if it was served with a more substantial salad that would have been better. The actual eggplant portion of the dish was something I would definitely recommend! 🙂

I also ordered the Vienna Apfelstrudel for dessert, which again, was not amazing, but good. This one is my own fault, I didn’t ask if there were raisins in it when I ordered it. I forget that some people put raisins in apple strudels without mentioning it in the food description and I hate raisins. sigh. I was really batting two for two that night lol

Vienna Apfelstrudel

Vienna Apfelstrudel

The above picture is not one taken by me but one I found online that someone else who was commenting on the restaurant posted, this is exactly what my dessert looked like so I feel confident it really is a picture of the Jagerhof’s apfelstrudel. 🙂

Luckily the beer I ordered was great! Yay for beer! The online menu doesn’t have a list of the beers Jagerhof serves and I can’t recall the name of it, it was a light Austrian beer that was recommended to me, which I guess means I can’t take the credit for ordering it can I?

It was a fun night out with my friend, we always have a fun time though so that was a given lol and hey, it’s always good to try somewhere new. 🙂 This place is very popular, we had reservations for 6:15p and before we were done that place had filled up and there was a line up which is a far better review than I could ever give, what with my not eating pork and not liking raisins lol

Their website is:

http://www.jagerhof.ca/

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

My New Weapon

25 Jan

I have a new weapon of mass destruction!…or as you may call it, a new kitchen knife. 😛

Safeway has been running this promotion where every $10 you spend you get a sticker, if you save enough stickers you get a knife. Depending on how many stickers you save up will decide which of the knives you can choose from.

These are your choices…

2015-01-23 16.57.27

 

When the promotion started I decided if I was going to try to get enough stickers to get a knife then I was going to go for the most expensive knife on the list lol I also realized very early on there was almost no way in hell I’d be able to save enough stickers for the knife I wanted as it needed 150 stickers. That’s a lot of money!

Luckily my mom wasn’t collecting the stickers so she saved the ones she earned and gave them to me. With her contribution to my collection I actually managed to get enough stickers to earn the Chef’s Knife. 🙂

So many stickers!

So many stickers!

It’s not like I actually need a fancy new kitchen knife, my cooking doesn’t warrant impressive tools lol but if I was spending the money anyways I might as well try for a knife that is out of my price range, right? Right!

If I had wanted I could have used my 150 stickers to go towards a knife sharpener or a knife block. I would have had to pay an additional amount for either of those items but I didn’t really want either of them so no temptation there, shrug.

So since I know you are all just dying to see it, here is my new kitchen knife…

2015-01-23 23.27.15

 

According to the packaging it is a German Five Star Zwilling Knife. It is stainless steel, ice hardened, forged from one piece, has a hand guard and has a handle made of synthetic material. None of that really means anything to me but maybe it does to you? 🙂

I have absolutely no idea what I am going to use the knife for, I don’t do a lot of chopping or cutting but maybe now I will, if only to use this fancy-dancy knife lol 😛 Look out veggies and meat, here I come! (insert evil laugh here)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Dinner For Breakfast

24 Jan

This is actually about a breakfast I had a couple of days ago, I just didn’t want to publish two posts on one day so I put off publishing it until today lol 😛

Normally on my days off I make a toasted sandwich as my first meal of the day. Since I usually sleep in on my days off my first meal of the day is a combination of breakfast and lunch. The toasted sandwich is one of my favourite things to make and to eat, you can customize it so easily to suit whatever mood you are in and it takes a freakishly short amount of time to make – something that is crucial to me!

One of the main ingredients of my toasted sandwich is turkey bacon, it is imperative that my toasted sandwich have turkey bacon in it cause (1) I need to squeeze in protein wherever I can get it (2) I love how it tastes (3) without it my sandwich would just be egg, cheese and condiments and (4) I like it.

Well yeah, Wednesday I got up, stumbled in to the kitchen and realized I forgot to take the turkey bacon out of the freezer and plunk it in to the fridge on Tuesday so no turkey bacon for me. I know I could have taken a knife to it and hacked some of the turkey bacon off and used that but doing that messes with my sense of order so no, that wasn’t happening lol.

I was at a loss for what to make when I decided I’d have dinner for breakfast. I figure, people treat themselves every now and then and have breakfast for dinner, why can’t I reverse that? Out came some breaded chicken and on a whim I added some yam fries to that and boom! Dinner for breakfast!

2015-01-21 14.02.27

The chicken is a breaded cutlet from M&M Meat Shops, so tasty! The yam fries were something I picked up as a treat when grocery shopping one day, lucky for me they cook in the oven for the same length of time and at the same temperature as the chicken. The yellow stuff is honey mustard sauce. I dipped both the chicken and the yam fries in that lol 😛

Not gonna lie, it was too much food for a first meal, ugh. I felt really gross after eating it, just too full and icky feeling. I guess I am used to the toasted sandwich sized meal I normally have and swapping out was not appreciated by my tummy. I didn’t think it was that big of a meal when I was putting it on the plate but hey, my stomach doesn’t lie about these things so I guess my eyeballs were wrong, oops!

Even though it was too large of a meal it still tasted really good, as I knew it would since I have had it for dinner before lol Sadly, two yam fries committed suicide and jumped off my plate, one on to the floor and one into the sink so they didn’t fulfill their destiny of being eaten and instead were thrown in the garbage, what a waste, sigh. But probably good for my waist line! lol 😉

I definitely like having breakfast for dinner more, mostly because that usually means pancakes and who doesn’t love pancakes? But this was ok…though I made sure I put the turkey bacon in the fridge so I could go back to my toasted sandwich the next day!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Place To Write

23 Jan

I don’t know about any of you but when I go online I am almost always sitting cozily on my living room chair, legs stretched out on to an ottoman, the cat is on my legs, the laptop is on my lap, a cup of tea is nearby and the tv is on but at a low volume. Depending on what I am doing online I am either ignoring my computer until the ads are on or I am ignoring the tv because I am absorbed in what is on my computer screen lol.

That is about as dedicated to a writing space as I have ever had. It has never bothered me, and still doesn’t, but every now and then I imagine living somewhere with enough space that I could have a little desk set up where my laptop lives and I could sit and be all grown up about it all. Since I don’t see myself moving anytime soon I didn’t see this vision coming true anytime soon.

I envisioned something like this...

I envisioned something like this…

Well, last night I was organizing a chest that lives in my bedroom, it holds all sorts of items and for some odd reason I felt like going through it all, shrug. Good thing for me that I live alone and can indulge my weird urges to organize whenever I want lol. 😛 After I was done organizing the chest I decided to continue on with my little organizational mood and sort out the table I sit at to do my hair. The only reason I don’t dry and straighten my hair in the bathroom is because I don’t have an outlet in there, an annoyance that irritates me to supreme levels, sigh. But yeah, since I don’t have an outlet in the bathroom I set up a table with a mirror, a hair dryer and straightener and added fantasizing about having an outlet in my bathroom to the list of things I will look for in the next place I live lol

Recently I bought a large-ish wall mirror to put on the wall above the table and I think it was putting up the mirror that made me want to organize the table area a bit, I wanted to make the space pretty. 🙂

The table itself is old, it used to belong to my Grandmother on my dad’s side, I don’t know if it is old enough to be considered antique, or special enough to be counted as antique but it is old. The paint job is in a horrible state, it is cracked and chipped in spots and is an unpleasant colour. One of my summer projects is going to be to strip it and repaint it, I’m quite looking forward to that, but for now I just deal with it as is. I don’t know why I like it so much, shrug, I just do.

Anyways! After I organized it (you should see the inside of the drawer, it is all sorted with containers an such), I had this nice clear spot on the top of the desk/table that fairly screamed to be used for writing. And hey, who am I to deny the table a chance to be a writing table as well as a grooming table?

So here I sit, laptop on the table, a cup of tea to my left, a lit candle just behind the cup of tea, the hair dryer and straightener are off to the side so I have space and I am writing. It kind of makes me feel like I am back at school, sitting at a desk while typing, but not in a bad way. I’ve made less typos while typing due to a better position in relation to the keyboard so that’s nice lol I don’t know how often I will actually sit here to type or go online for other things but maybe every once in a while, when I am feeling particularly grown up…which means almost never lol 😛

Something I am toying with though, and try not to laugh ok? I often get told I should write. Not write this blog, but write stories, I have an oddly active imagination and am always coming up with stories, or having really vivid dreams that could be a story all there own lol Whenever I have decided to try writing any of them I have always been writing while sitting in the living room with half my attention on the tv so I would get distracted and put it away. But maybe if I have a dedicated spot, with no view of the tv!, I might focus a bit better…maybe…Course, after I sat down this evening I spent the first half hour watching youtube videos lol

Here is what my little space looks like,

The best I can do for now

The best I can do for now

I know it isn’t fancy, or pretty, and it is nothing at all like what I imagined in my head but it’s the best I can do, for now!

Normally the candle is on the other side and where my tea cup and my day timer (the pink thing) and iPad (the green thing) are my hairdryer and straightener live but when this is my writing space I move things around a bit. It is a little odd looking up and seeing myself reflected back at me lol Normally if I am looking up when writing it is to figure out how I want to word something so I am looking in to space but now I’m looking in to space while appearing to be looking at me, how vain can ya get? 😉 lol

Tags: , , ,

This Girl Can

22 Jan

 

I have watched the above video, oh I don’t know, 5 times or so…and that’s just today! I love it! I love that it is showing women of all ages and fitness levels engaged in all manner of fitness activities. I love that the women are having fun, working hard, feeling awesome. I love that it shows being active can make you feel good, or at least be one factor contributing to you feeling good. I love that it motivated me to go out and sweat. Oh, and I loved the song used. 🙂

That is a lot of love for a video that isn’t trying to sell me anything lol

Tags: , , , , ,

This Is For Adults?

19 Jan

My work has decided I have to take the Food Safe Course. That is a course that people who work with food have to take to make sure we don’t kill people. My job wasn’t supposed to have me working with food all that much but as the job changed over time it resulted in my having to make breakfast two mornings a week. Breakfast is porridge, freshly baked pastries, muffins, then there is the bread for toast and the juice, coffee and tea. Not a big deal, but because I am now slaving away a bit more in the kitchen, in an industrial professional kitchen, I have to take a course, sigh.

I don’t really mind having to take the course since I get paid for it. It is estimated to take approximately 8 hours to complete and it is all done online from the comfort of my living room chair. I have to have someone watch me write the exam, make sure I don’t cheat (those untrusting souls! lol) and it is time sensitive, once I start the course I have a specific amount of days to learn everything and write the exam. I’m not worried about it, it’s just learning, I’m sure I’ll be fine.

What took me aback a bit though was the “text” book I received in the mail today. I knew it was coming and was expecting a text book, like what you would get in University or when you take the First Aid/CPR courses. You know what I’m talking about, lots of words, perhaps some small diagrams if they are needed but mostly a bunch of reading to get through that is boring but necessary so I can pass the test.

Instead, this is what I got…

2015-01-17 01.04.20

I should have known from the cover that my expectations were too high…

Seriously?

Seriously?

I feel like they gave me a colouring book! I mean c’mon, this is ridiculous. And before you think this is the only page like this, it isn’t. Every single page has cartoons drawn on it and the pictures take up half if not more of the page, of every. single. page.

Since when does education come in the style of a comic book?

I can’t decide if I should be insulted because they seem to feel they need to dumb down the way they teach the information they are trying to get in to my brain or if I should be amused that my education on this topic is going to be taught while I am colouring in pictures because there aren’t enough words on the pages to keep me interested…*confused face*

I’m thinking I’ll lean more towards being amused…it’s healthier than feeling insulted, or if not healthier it is less likely to give me wrinkles! lol 😉

Tags: , , , , , ,

Candle Drama

18 Jan

I love candles. Any size. Any type. I love em all! 🙂 I find it so soothing to have a candle burning while I’m puttering around the apartment, it helps if the candle smells pretty but some of them I burn just because I like the look of the candle or I’m trying to get it down a bit so when it is on display it looks more creative lol 😛

I received a lovely smelling candle at Christmas time, the scent is black cherry. I would never have thought of that scent but as soon as I sniffed it I couldn’t wait to burn it and have that scent fill my apartment.

Smells amazing!

Smells amazing!

Unfortunately, the pressure change in the plane cracked the jar the candle is in and according to the sticker on the bottom of the jar and results of many a google search if there is a crack in the glass you should not burn the candle. NoooOOOOoooo! 😦

Can you see the cracks in the glass?

Can you see the cracks in the glass?

Not sure if you can see the cracks in the glass, there are two of them and they are thwarting my ability to light my candle, boo!

I keep debating on burning it anyways, maybe putting it inside my deepest pot (without the lid obviously lol) so if it explodes or something the glass is at least a little bit contained but then I think that is probably a bad idea, I dunno, I haven’t decided yet, shrug.

I asked my mom if she remembered where she bought it from so I could look for it here but she couldn’t recall. When I was in Safeway the other day I found this…

New candle!

New candle!

It is Juicy Black Cherries instead of just Black Cherry, which, you wouldn’t think would make a difference but it does a little bit. When neither candle has been lit and I sniff them both they don’t smell quite the same. The one my mom gave me smells better but this one isn’t bad. I figure when I have finished burning the one I bought from Safeway I will attach a wick to the bottom, melt the wax from the candle I am not supposed to burn because of the stupid jar, pour that wax in to this jar and boom! Second chance at burning the lovely smelling candle I got for Christmas! 🙂

I never thought taking candles on a plane would be problematic but not only did the candle I was given get damaged but some of the candles I made and took with me had side effects. Those ones shrunk so if you tip the jar upside down the candle will slide out, fully formed, it’s weird. I’m assuming they will be ok when lit, and hey, maybe when they get lit they will somehow secure themselves to the jar? Here’s for wishful thinking! 🙂

Tags: , , , , ,

A Summons!

17 Jan

I got a letter in the mail yesterday from the Ministry of Justice Sheriff Services, which is ridiculous lol Sheriff Services? What am I, in a small town? In the wild west? In the States?…no offence to Americans! I just know from tv small towns in the States have a Sheriff as the head of the police force. Oh the things a person learns from television lol

My first thought was “what have I done lately that could be getting me in to trouble?” lol 😉

Me in Alcatraz a really long time ago

Me in Alcatraz a really long time ago

Turns out I am being summoned for jury duty! I am quite possibly the only person to be excited about this, which I know makes me a weird-o but come on! It’s awesome!

Maybe I find it so exciting because I studied the judicial system in depth while in University and I found it fascinating. I have sat in juvenile court before, watching how it works, comparing it to how it is supposed to work, I was thoroughly absorbed in the proceedings and am psyched to not only observe this time but be involved, even if it is only for a short time.

I assume a short time because what are the odds I’ll actually be picked for the jury? I’m thinking not high, shrug.

My summons date isn’t until March, which is sooooo far away, I wrote it down in my daytimer which is the only way I will remember it lol

dilbert_jury

 

So what do I know about jury duty? Not much, other than everybody seems to try to get out of it 😛

I know I can’t get fired from my job if I am selected…I think…I already showed the letter to my managers so they know the dates I might be off performing my civic duty, they didn’t seem inclined to boot me out because of it, though they weren’t too happy about it either, obviously. My one manager started talking about if I am sequestered and such but c’mon, this is BC, how big of a case could it possibly be? *rolls eyes*

From some basic googling it seems there is no specific dress code. One lady who blogged her outfit for every day she was on a jury had some very nice business-ey outfits whereas Lebron James dressed fairly casual (I think he plays a sport of some kind?).

Being summoned to jury duty isn’t limited to humans as a cat got summoned in Boston, not even kidding about this one!

jury-duty-cat1

Everything else I know about jury duty I learned from movies, American movies, and the letter they sent me detailing how it is very important I don’t miss the jury summons, how I shouldn’t drive there because I will be an unknown amount of hours and they won’t pay any parking tickets I get (meanies!), and how I could try to get out of it but good luck with that…ok, that is paraphrasing but you get the drift lol 😛

I’d love to say I’ll keep you updated when the whole summons and potential jury duty happens buuuut I’m pretty sure that’ll be against the rules lol 😉

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries

%d bloggers like this: