The Blarkness Chronicles

Vday gift to me (and my nails)

2012-02-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

I don't celebrate Valentine's Day, and I don't think Mike and I have done dinner or any of that cheesy stuff in ages. What I usually do is buy a Valentine's gift for myself (I don't need a man to buy me anything, lol). Last year, I bought myself a Rose Gold Fossil watch and this year, I kept the same rose gold theme and bought a pair of Stella and Dot earrings.

These Sidewinders Studs are adorable. I love the serpent/snake-like shape. See, what you may not know about me is that when my sister-in-law came back from the Philippines with baby gold hoop earrings for me, it took me about two hours to put them on so I vowed to myself to never take them off. Three years later, I finally got the courage to take them off and I have been enjoying changing up my earrings daily. I ordered these last week and they arrived right in time for me to wear tomorrow for Valentine's Day.

Now since I don't celebrate Valentine's Day, it's a little ironic that I painted my nails pink and red just for this occasion, haha! I really like this red and pink combo so it just made sense to have them like this for tomorrow.

I also may or may not be going out for dinner with Mike tomorrow night. Oh silly me, so against this fake holiday but yet, I buy myself a gift, paint my nails in a Vday theme and now DINNER...what has gotten into me???

Are you celebrating Valentine's Day? If so, what do you do to celebrate?

Things that made me happy this weekend...

2012-02-12T17:09:00.000-05:00

After a really bad day this week and having to work all last weekend, it was nice to be home this weekend and just veg.

I booked a trip for my hubby and I to go visit my mom and stepdad in San Jose, CA for April. We will be there for nine days. Not quite sure what we plan to do yet.

This Pinterest photo makes me smile so hard because the kid is so stinking cute. I am pretty sure it's Mason (Kourtney and Scott's kid). What a stylish boy with a swagger walk.

Source: f-a-s-h-i-o-n-a-t-i-o-n.tumblr.com via Leesh on Pinterest

I had a lovely chat with Elisse this morning. It's so nice to hear a friend's voice every once in a while. Each time we tried to get off the phone, we still had one more thing to say.

I finally bought the e-reader sleeve I have been eyeing from Rogue Theory. I can't wait for it to arrive. The sleeve I had (which is an actual leather Kobo sleeve from Roots) is staining the back of my reader. So upset.

And lastly, this doesn't make me happy at all because I am going to be missing out but I am excited (and very happy) for my BFF. She will be throwing her 6th Beauty Board this coming April. If you are in the Toronto area, tickets go on sale tomorrow here. I can't stress enough how much of a great event this is. You will be surrounded with other beauty junkies, delicious food, lots of prizes and an awesome swag bag. Get your tickets early because space is limited.

Now I am going to get ready to watch the red carpet and the Grammys this evening. I hope there are some worthy performances.

What made you happy this weekend?

Beauty wants and surprises

2012-02-09T19:41:00.000-05:00

Since I have put myself on locked down with buying any makeup, here are two things that I am lusting over. After March, I may pick up these two...

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Benefit Watt's Up!. Benefit is one of my favorite brands. I practically love every item they have. In the summer, once I have my hit of sun, I like to highlight my bronzed skin with something shimmery. I think Watt's Up will add that bit of J.Lo glow without the overkill.

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Nars Blush in Torrid. For years, I have always used Orgasm and finally I decided I would like to try something else. Torrid has that shimmer like Orgasm but is much darker. I find that Orgasm doesn't add enough colour to the apples of my cheeks. Yes, I am that girl who over-exaggerates her blush.

***

So, I said I was on lock down from buying but it doesn't stop me from accepting products given to me. I have the bestest sister-in-law in the world who quite often hooks me up. So, the two products below is what she gave me this past weekend.

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MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick in Morange. I have been wanting an orange lipstick for a couple of months now. I was really envious when my BFF, Stfne showed me her new Tom Ford lipstick in Wild Ginger. I was tempted to buy it for myself until I receive this Morange lipstick from my SIL. I wore it yesterday and I am in love. It's the right shade of orange, bright but not too bright.

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I also got this discontinued concealer brush from my SIL. It took me a while to figure out exactly what kind of brush it is but I was almost positive it was to apply concealer. This brush is working so well with the INGLOT concealer I bought while in New York. It's covering up the gigantic zit on my forehead nicely.

***

Okay, okay...I bought two of these beauties at a discounted price. I am not breaking my rule because I actually ordered it at the end of 2011.

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I bought Chunky Cherry before my trip to Vegas. It's like a big crayon and works perfectly to line and fill in your lips. After some tweets back and forth with @beautysweetspot, she convinced me to buy Whole Lotta Honey but I also decided on Fuller Fig, a darker plum colour. What I love most about these sticks is that they will fit in your clutch.

***

Last but not least, more lipsticks to add to my collection. I didn't buy these. They were sent to me by the lovely, Reni. She was talking about these Revlon Lip Butters and L'Oreal Balm on Twitter and I knew that they were not selling in Canada yet. She was kind enough to send me two of each (Sugar Plum and Lollipop Lip Butters and Plush Plum and Caring Coral Balms). I am currently using Lollipop, a bright hot pink (far right) and Caring Coral, a nice peachy colour (far left).

What are some beauty products you want or are currently using?

So you had a bad day...

2012-02-07T19:39:00.002-05:00

I had the baddest of bad days. It was to the point that I was shaking, trembling and on the verge of crying, followed by bouts of anxiety attacks. Obviously it was about work. It was so bad that I was tempted to walk out but mortgage, upcoming trip and my hubby popped into my head. I went to the bathroom, locked myself in the stall and cried. Yes, call me a wimp, call me weak but I think I just had a moment where I was sure, I had had the last straw. I somehow made it through the day because my new colleague, who sat outside the washroom stall and just talked me through it. She's a darling and even though I have only known her for three months, today she was my savior, my rock.

I usually don't want to write about work on my blog (because who knows who is reading it) but tonight, I am going to throw myself a huge pity party (at the dear Elisse's suggestion) and then move on because tomorrow is another day, right?

It's okay to...

2012-02-06T20:15:00.002-05:00

...not want to stay at a resort because the beds have a bedspread, the shower has a shower curtain or there are cats or coatis [pic and pic] roaming around.

...hate your hair because you told your hairstylist to cut your bangs differently and add layers to your hair.

...have adult acne and be really frustrated with it. Any product suggestions?

...make up nicknames for certain people who live in a bubble, who are slightly dense or those who feel entitled.

...have nerdy glasses because you like the look but yet be embarrassed to wear them to work. I know they won't get the look.

...be obsessed with etiquette. I bought the Emily Post book on etiquette, it should arrive any day.

...not know when to use who and whom (whoever, whomever).

Pinterest and Bora Bora

2012-01-29T13:08:00.000-05:00

Last night I came across the photo below from The Cool Hunter's post on Amazing Place to Experience Around the Globe and pinned it. My inbox then exploded with over 80 repins. Crazy huh? I continued on to pin and repin all night. It's so addicting when you have the time. If you want to follow me on Pinterest, check my sidebar for the link.

Source: thecoolhunter.net via Leesh on Pinterest

Bora Bora is definitely one place I would love to visit...when I win the lottery because right now, it's never in my budget. A girl can dream right?

Fill in the Blank Friday (travel edition)

2012-01-27T21:07:00.001-05:00

My weekend has not started off to a good start. After a full day conference, I took the GO train home only to get to the stop before mine and find out there is a pedestrian accident ahead. I am not sure how long the delay would be so I left the train and began my adventure. My super nice hubby was able to pick me up halfway on my trek home. After a some food and bubble tea, we come home to find out our credit cards have been compromised. It's almost 9 pm and I don't think anything else can go wrong tonight. So, I'm going to settle in, do some Fill in the Blanks over at Lauren's blog, turn in for the night and do some reading. Speaking of Lauren, congratulations are in order to her and Craig on the birth of their baby girl, Fern, last weekend.

1. My favorite place I've ever traveled to is Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It's like a second home to me.

2. Bora Bora is somewhere I'd love to go someday.

3. I pass the time on a plane (or bus, or car ride or train) by reading on my ereader or listening to music.

4. My three must-haves when I travel are my iPhone, advil (I believe it cures any ailment and a large scarf (can be used as a blanket on the plane, a cover up on the beach and a scarf when cold).

5. My favorite travel companion is Mike, my hubby.

6. The craziest thing that ever happened to me while traveling is nothing so far. It's not really crazy but my hubby and I have been recognized while traveling by our twitter names or Beach Junkies blog.

7. The most exotic food I've ever tried while traveling is nothing yet but hopefully, I will be up for a challenge one day.

8. If I could live anywhere else, I'd live in Punta Cana. I would like to be a beach bum for the rest of my life.

9. I have been to five (Ohio, New York, New Jersey, California, Nevada) states in the U.S.

New York City recap

2012-01-24T08:25:00.000-05:00

It's been almost a month since I went to New York City. I promised a post so here it is. For a more detailed report on what we ate and the hotel we stayed at, check out our travel blog, Beach Junkies.

Being my first time to New York, I honestly did not know what to expect. Everyone raved about this city so I was kinda getting annoyed and began thinking I need to expect a lot. I got nervous that what if I am that one girl who hates New York. I was getting irritated at the fact that some things were already going to cost a lot, like the hotel, the car service, food but you know what, it's how my hubby rolls when he goes to NYC and since he was paying for everything, I had to roll with the punches. Like Mike always says, never do a budget vacation.

We planned since September what we wanted to do and see, as well as where we wanted to eat (maybe I should say "I" because Mike wanted to take me to where I wanted to go) . We made all our dinner reservations and sort of planned where we wanted to eat for lunch. Mike picked the hotel since he was paying and this boutique hotel did not disappoint. Too bad without Mike's corporate rate and it being the holidays, the hotel is mad expensive. Anyway, when we arrive at Newark, our adventure began since we decided to take public transportation to get to Manhattan. When we finally arrived at Penn Station and came up to street level...I'm not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed. In my head, I was thinking..."this is New York? So not how I pictured it".

Royalton Hotel. Mike picked Royalton Hotel and as I mentioned, it did not disappoint. Best service, staff and room hands down. I loved coming back to our hotel each night. The lobby bar had excellent bartenders and delicious drinks. I have to say that we were spoiled with the huge room we got. We paid over half the price they normally charge for a king loft suite. If you want to read more about the hotel we stayed at and see photos, click here.

Midtown. Being this my first time in New York, as much as I tried to look at the map of Manhattan, I just didn't get it. Once you arrive there and get your bearings, it all makes sense. We had planned to walk around 5th Avenue one day, Times Square the next and another day in Soho but after seeing the traffic, I told Mike I just wanted to stay around Midtown/Times Square and save Soho and Meatpacking and even Union Square for the next time we come back to NYC. There is just so much to see and I rather explore bit by bit rather than an overkill. Walking around on 5th was awesome, I was in awe at all the stores. I really wanted to go to FAO Schwartz so it was the first thing we did. I was seriously a kid in a candy store! As for Times Square, my jaw dropped. One thing about me is that I love lights, especially when something is lit up at night. Mike purposely avoided Times Square until it was night time so I would get the full effect and I loved it!!! I got that same feeling when I hit the Vegas strip for the first time. All through the trip, we walked everywhere, we didn't step into a cab at all.

Uniqlo. One of the highlights of the shopping we did. This is where I did my damage. My favorite item I bought was the Heat Tech Knitted Shorts. I love wearing shorts and uggs around the house so the shorts keep my booty warm. I also bought four pairs of their easy color legging pants. These legging pants are thicker and a bit looser than leggings, basically, they are skinny pants. I purchased other stuff but I can't remember it all.

Grayline Holiday Light Tour. I am a huge fan of "hop on hop off" bus tours. Grayline has a great deal that for $59 you can peruse the all loops tour for 72 hours. This would have been a good thing for us to explore but the problem was, we were there from Dec 23-27 but they were not running on Dec 24 and 25. It would have been useless for us. Next time though, we will be exploring the city with this bus tour. Instead, on our last night, we took the holiday lights tour so we can see all the stores with window displays. We sat on the top deck of the bus for two hours and froze our butts off but it was worth it!

Here are some photos. You might remember that Mike bought me a gorgeous yellow coat for NYC and I wore it because it was pretty mild the entire time we were there but because we only brought carry on luggage, we were stuck with only one jacket. As much as I love that yellow coat, we got sick of it and I have probably only wore it once since we got back. Tip for next time, don't bring such a unique colour coat because you will get sick of it and it is not fun blending in with the cabs. And remember the Cole Haan Air Colby boots I bought, well, those were the most comfortable boots ever. I wore them during the day while we walked for over eight hours. They did not hurt my feet at all.

I love New York. It was everything people said it would be. I can't wait to go back.

Delicious drinks at Royalton bar, 44

Crumbs bakery

Gaga workshop at Barneys

Rockerfeller Center

Me and the hubs at Times Sqaure

Christmas tree at The Plaza

FAO Schwartz

Gorgeous tub at Royalton Hotel

Let me tell you a little story...
While we were in FAO Schwartz, I saw a Cabbage Patch Kid display. I walked in circles looking at all of them and then when I picked up one, I looked the the given names and it read, TYLER GINO. I freaked out a little because what a coincidence that out of all the boy CPKs, I picked up this one and my late brother's name is GINO. It was such a good feeling =)

My love and hate relationship with Mexico

2012-01-23T11:36:00.001-05:00

Last night, my hubby told me the news about a Canadian woman who was beaten at a Mexican resort (Riu Emerald Bay in Mazatlan, MX). As much as I love, love, love Mexico, this news may have just done it for me. I am officially terrified. I have defended Mexico from the first time we heard the news of the slain couple in the Riveria Maya. When the random shootings or beatings were happening, I always blamed the cross border cities but now, it's happening at resorts. Resorts that we may have one day planned to stay at. The last two incidents (this one where the woman was found in the resort elevator bleeding to death and the one where a couple was found burnt and buried on the beach in Huatulco) have got me thinking whether or not I would ever go back to Mexico. While these two incidents happened on the West coast, who is to say that it won't start happening on the east coast - Riveria Maya and Cancun? Sure, there are hundreds of resorts but I wouldn't want to be in that one resort where something bad happens. How would I feel if I came across a bloody body just steps away from my hotel room? I would be shitting my pants (excuse my language). But then again, this could happen at a hotel in NYC, Miami, Vegas, even my hometown. What bothers me is that going to beach resorts use to be my go-to happy place, now I don't think I can be happy if I have to constantly watch over my shoulder.

I am aware that violence is around us every day and we shouldn't have to live in fear but when I take time off work and spend my hard earned money (don't even get me started on how expensive all-inclusive vacation are becoming) on a vacation, I want to enjoy myself, feel safe and be able to relax. Right now, I don't think I can find it in Mexico.

I know right now if my travel agent is reading this, she will be shaking her head. She will disagree with me. Mexico is her favorite place in the world. While I can share her sentiments - I love the food, the beach, etc - my heart belongs to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. For now, I can keep my fingers crossed and only hope that my beloved island remains a safe haven so that I can continue to go there and feel like I am at home. I may have stop my dreaming of a vacation in Mexico and just remember the times I went and how much I enjoyed it.

What are your thoughts? Have you been to Mexico? Would you return with all the violence that is going on?

2005

2007

2008

It's that time of the month...

2012-01-19T20:35:00.004-05:00

...and no, I am not talking about getting my period. It's Glymm time!

Last month, for my birthday, the lovely Elisse got me a three month gift subscription for Glymm . If you haven't heard of Glymm, it's like Birchbox, Luxebox, you know all those types of subscriptions that will send you a couple of full-size or samples of beauty products.

December box. Elisse was adamant of making sure my first Glymm box would arrive before my trip to New York and it did! I was so excited to receive it. Now stupid me threw out the card that describes all the products included in the box (I also threw out January, so I will be sure to keep February's). Sadly, I can't remember the product names but I can tell you, I received two hand creams, some face lotion, a perfume sample, lip gloss and a little container of jelly beans (this was my favorite item-which makes me think, I would so sign up for a candy of the month subscription). The Caudalie hand and nail cream came in handy in New York since the cold weather dried my hands. This cream was scented with sweet oranges and really added the moisture my hands were craving. The Ahava hand cream has too strong of a scent for me. I used the face stuff but didn't notice anything, hence probably why I don't remember the name. I am going to give the perfume sample to my mom and I have yet to try the lip gloss.

January box. Body lotion, face lotion, cleansing cloth, eve pencil and brow gel is what filled this month's box. I'll admit I was a little disappointed to not find any candy in the box. It was the one thing I was looking forward too! I just applied the Burt's Bees Milk & Honey lotion. Although it went on smooth, my skin still feels dry and I wasn't thrilled about the scent. I can't wait to try the Kaia 100% biodegradable bamboo cleansing cloth. My favorite company, Consonant Body raved about this product (which makes me wonder if Consonant will ever come out with a cleansing cloth - get on that now!) and I was curious to try it. Now thanks to Glymm, I get the chance. I will report on it next month. I am also excited to try the Anastasia clear brow gel. I am back to trying to re-grow my brows and retain a nice shape so this gel is going to help the process.

Sorry, I didn't include links or more feedback on some of the products. I promise when I receive next month's box, I will be more thorough since it will be the last of my subscription.

Do you subscribe to any beauty boxes?

2012 Mini Goals

2012-01-17T11:32:00.001-05:00

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This year, besides trying to go to the gym, I want to set up some mini goals for myself. Goals that I hope to attain at some point throughout the year. Some are for the first few months and some might be done at the end of the year.

Personal.
*Stop buying things just because they are on sale. I live in a tiny condo, there is no room to stockpile. Most of the time, the sale items are things you don't really need.
*Pick up another hobby. Last year, I took sewing classes. So it's either buy a sewing machine or take another class of some sort. Maybe knitting?
*Read 25 books this year. Last year, my Goodreads goal was 15 and I surpassed it by reading 19.
*Write more snail mail letters to family and friends.
*Instead of hoarding magazines because there is something I like in an issue, I'm going to tear out the page and paste it in the ideas journal I received from the lovely Candice.
*Use Pinterest more to get inspired.
*Try to do more craft projects.
*Go on at least two beach vacations and one city vacation. Going away is the only thing that keeps me sane.

Fitness & Health.
*Write down what I eat and what exercise I did in a journal. I want to find out what upsets my stomach but also keep track of my eating habits.
*Obviously, try to lose 8 pounds.
*No eating after 8:00 pm on weeknights.

Beauty & Fashion.
*I need to shop buying clothes for the next three months. Just in December I bought two winter coats, three pairs of boats, three silk blouses, two sweaters, four pairs of pants and a watch. I did enough damage in one month that most people do in three months.
*No more buying nail polish, bracelets, makeup or scarves.
*Limit my nail polish wear. My nails are so soft from me buffing them because they get stained too easily from the dark polish I wear.
*Try to not wear black all the time. When spring arrives, I want to switch to pastel colours. This is when I will start to shop again.

Relationships.
*Do once a month date night with Mike. When we were in New York, we both discovered that we love sitting in hotel bars drinking. We are going to check out different hotel bars in our own city for date night.
*Visit my mom this year.
*Make a huge effort to see or talk to my dad.
*Call at least one friend a month and see how they are doing. I will pick a different friend a month. We never make phone calls anymore and have live conversations. Or even better, Skype - yes, I am talking to you Elisse. Everything is over text, What's App or Twitter these days.

Blogging.
*Make more of an effort to write posts for our travel blog, Beach Junkies.
*Discover 1-2 new blogs a month and make a connection with the blogger.

Professional.
*Either try to enjoy my job or get out, meaning start applying for jobs.
*Try to let things go and just do as I am told even if it's ridiculous. Trying to defend myself or point out something to my boss takes up too much energy.

Fill in the Blank Friday and some Blogger Tag Q's

2012-01-13T21:14:00.002-05:00

Fill in the Blank Friday use to be a staple in my blog. At least I would know that I would have something to post on Fridays. This may be Lauren's last FITBF before she gives birth, so I have to participate (and also, if I didn't do this, I am not sure if I would have even posted anything today). Below this FITB are some questions from Kasey's blog. I have answered them because she was sweet enough to tag me.

Today we had a pretty bad snowfall in the morning but it has now melted away. Do you have snow where you live? Well, wherever you are, I hope you stay warm and have a lovely weekend!

1. The last thing I ate was a fried egg sandwich. It took me about an hour to eat because I kept on getting interrupted.

2. The last song I listened to was Crew Love by Drake. My iPhone was on shuffle, this was the first time I heard the song.

3. Using the letters in my name I can spell {Leesh-not comfortable using my real name} see, heel, she, he, heels, eel, eels

4. If I had to dress in one color for the rest of my life I would pick black just because everything I own is black.

5. If you were to look in my bag right now you'd find a wallet, bottle of water, ereader, notebook, iPhone, coin purse, GO train pass, lotions, hand sanitizer, meds, makeup, chocolate, and a whole bunch of other crap.

6. When I finish filling in the blanks I'm going to go and check my Twitter feed.

7. My all time favorite song to dance to is Calabria by Enur.

Questions from Kasey Lynne's blog

if you could suggest ONE book for someone to read, what would it be?
Divergent. It was the last book I read and I loved it.

name one song that would get you out on the dance floor.
Any song really. I do feel though that the first song played after a dinner is the most important. If you pick the wrong one and don't get people on the dance floor, the party will suck for the rest of the night.

what is your favorite dessert? (please share a recipe)
Toblerone Creme Brûlée - this is the easiest recipe and it's so delicious.

what is one item you MUST have in your purse at all times?
Wallet or maybe iPhone

if you could meet one person from your favorite sports team, who would it be?
I don't watch sports so I don't have a favorite team but I'd want to meet Kobe Bryant.

if you could pick two actors/actresses to be in a movie together, who would you choose?
I would say Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bollock but they already made The Proposal. Even though he is not technically an actor, I would say Justin Timberlake with Jessica Alba (just for the hotness factor).

if you could take cooking lessons from one well known chef, who would it be? what would you choose to learn how to cook?
Paula Deen and I want to learn how to cook some southern food (with a pound of butter).

create your own cupcake flavor.

Vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing and bacon crumbled on top. Sweet and salty!

what is your favorite item of clothing?
Black skinny pants. It's a staple in my wardrobe.

are you a coffee person or hot chocolate person?
Coffee but consider myself more of a tea person.

what would be your favorite thing to do on a date?
Dinner and a movie - a good old fashion kind of date.

It's okay to...

2012-01-10T19:08:00.002-05:00

...be devastated that Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are engaged. Anyone but her. Just not her.

...buy a shower head that has flashing disco lights.

...love Justin Bieber. How can you not after watching this video of him on the Ellen Show.

...not want to read any other book after reading Divergent. Yes, I liked it that much.

...be jealous of Jessica Alba's post-baby body even though you know she has the time and money to get her body into awesome shape.

...get all choked up and teary-eyed each time you see the Titanic 3D trailer. It's that damn song, My Heart Will Go On that gets to me. I have seen the trailer in the theatre twice and both times I bawled.

...have Take Care by Rihanna and Drake on repeat every single day.

... love Justin's singing on T.I.'s track, Dead and Gone.

...be sick for the entire weekend and do nothing but rest.

Welcome 2012 and welcome me back to blogging

2012-01-09T19:20:00.000-05:00

This is my first post of 2012 and you know what I realized...I haven't blogged in almost two weeks and I really miss receiving comments from my readers. I guess you have to blog in order to get comments <-- stupid me!

I took an unintentional blogging break. I had planned to do a post about my first ever trip to NYC, a year in review for 2011, my goals for 2012 but instead, I got lazy when I returned home from my trip. And then I got sick. I honestly did not go on my laptop for almost two weeks. Any blog comments I made was through a new app I am testing out, Byline, I checked in Pinterest through the app and of course, I still managed to be in the loop through Twitter. I still have a bunch more blogs to comment on but honestly, I hate being on a computer after I come home from work. Which leads me to believe that blogging is easier at work. I will do my next post at work as soon as I get to my desk.

So, I am going to scrap all the posts I wanted to do...well, I still want to tell you about some of my goals and I still want to post some photos from NYC (I hope you enjoyed that little video I posted). I will just do it when I am ready. Please bear with me while I get my bearings. I will start off tomorrow with the first "It's okay" post for 2012 and then go from there. Also, please help me find the motivation and strength to keep blogging because I miss you readers. Maybe make my day and leave me a comment with one of your goals for 2012.

For now, allow me to greet you a Happy New Year! I hope Santa was good to you and that you rang in the new year with loved ones, good food and an enormous amount of alcohol (I know I did). I look forward to another year of blogging and commenting with everyone out there. May 2012 bring you everything you wanted and more....

Tango Julep - the drink I made for New Years Eve

New Years Eve nail art (butterLONDON Cream Tea and OPI Rainow Connection)


Me and the hubby with our new favorite - Honey Jack Daniels

Belated Merry Christmas

2011-12-28T18:29:00.000-05:00

I had an amazing time in New York. Any vacation I take with my hubby is a ton of fun. We shopped, walked forever and ate lots of good food. We arrived home yesterday and Mike got right to work to create a little video of our trip. Enjoy!

A New York Christmas from BeachJunkies on Vimeo.

Hello from NYC

2011-12-26T00:10:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. I'm truly enjoying my stay here in New York. It's super crowded but I love it. It's so festive and just a bustling city. I'm not one for busy, crowded stuff but I'm taking it all in.

I'm blogging for the first time from my iPhone, using the Blogger app so excuse me if this post looks like crap. I'll write a more detailed post when I get back but I'll post some iPhone photos for now.

New York...here I come!!!!

2011-12-22T09:55:00.002-05:00

By this time tomorrow, I will be exploring New York City for the first time. I am going with my hubby, Mike, who is taking me to see the city as my birthday gift. We will be there for four days and staying at the Royalton Hotel. We have our dinner reservations all lined up and as for what we are going to do during the day, we are winging it and will just galavant up and down the streets. I am not one for words this holiday season so here are some photos of what we plan to do (all via NYC The Official Guide).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will have free wifi in our hotel room. If we do, we will try our best to blog and tweet about our New York adventures. To follow along, check out our travel blog, Beach Junkies or follow us on Twitter @BeachJunkies. I doubt I will be blogging on here while I am away so I will leave you with me wishing you a very Merry Christmas and may 2012 bring you much more happiness, love, wealth and success.

I spy with my lil eye (v3)

2011-12-19T13:38:00.000-05:00

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As much as I say I can't stand the Kardashians, I love their Christmas photo. It's so glam. Kinda funny that Kris Humpries is not in it. When Mike's family wanted to get a professional Christmas photo done, I secretly wanted to do it Kardashian-style. Maybe one year I can suggest it.

On Saturday, my good friends Jes and Richie hosted our annual BC Kris Kringle party (BC stands for Breakfast Club, a nickname given to our group of friends years ago). We played some games, exchanged gifts, ate and drank a crapload of sangria, made by yours truly. I only thought Jes and I would be drinking it. Who knew that all the guys would want some too. Mike and I had so much fun at the party. I am looking forward to next year's party already. So the pic above, well--it was like pulling teeth to get everyone to take this photo. If they find out that I posted on my blog, they will not want to take one next year for sure!

B with her headband from Much Love Illy

I had to get this cute headband for B. Her mom was saying that most people think that B is a boy even though her ears are pierced. Now with this headband, doesn't she make the cutest baby girl?

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If you love bacon as much as I do, you would also want to check out the BACON MANia food truck. Their menu has everything bacon. Apparently my niece and nephew know I like bacon since they asked me what I would do if I had a house made of bacon -- of course I answered, I would eat my whole house for breakfast.

{via}

In the new year, when the the Rogue Theory shop comes back from vacation, I really need to get this eReader TECHEE SLEEVE. I missed the deadline to order before the holidays, so as soon as the shop goes back into full swing, I will place my order.

I love this song: We Are Young

2011-12-17T14:25:00.000-05:00

I remember watching this certain Glee episode - Sectionals for season three. See, I sort of gave up on Glee but I happened to watch this episode and it was quite emotional for me - Santana and her issues, Mike Chang and his issues with his dad, the glee club divided...well, the song at the end when the entire Glee club gets back together actually made me cry.

Now I played this song for Mike and we have been playing this song constantly the entire week. I listen to the Glee version and he listens to the original. I don't think the both of us can get enough of either song. When we are both in the car together, we sing it at the top of our lungs. People driving beside us must think we are crazy.

This might just be our New York theme song...

Book Review: Divergent

2011-12-15T20:12:00.001-05:00

As usual, I read this book because my sister-in-law, the teacher of high school students recommended it to me (because her students told her to read it). Since I am so into young adult novels, I always take into consideration the books the students are reading.

Description from Goodreads:
Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place her in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

To me, it's amazing that a 23 year old wrote this book. She has so much creativity and an imaginative mind. I really enjoyed the concept of factiona and how at sixteen, these teens must decide how they want to live their life. Each faction lives differently and have unique moral values and ways of life. Within the book, you get a good diversity of friendships and relationships, along with action. I can't wait for the next book (if there is one) or for when they make this into a movie.

I could not put this book down, just like The Hunger Games. Divergent comes in second, after The Hunger Games as my favorite, must-read books of 2011. If you have read the Hunger Games trilogy, this will be your next book to pick up and read.

Throwing in the towel for 24 Days of Christmas

2011-12-13T06:30:00.000-05:00

I suck. I am unable to complete one of my December goals - to post up daily my 24 Days of Christmas. I got up to Day 8 and now I am behind five days. It didn't help that I was out a couple of nights for birthday dinners and then over the weekend, I felt run down and a cold coming on. I don't think I can catch up. Honestly, I don't want to catch up. It's too hard to blog daily about the same thing. Well, at least I tried.

I may blog about some of my favorite David's Tea from the 24 days of Tea and maybe I will still share a Christmas song or two. Now that I got that out of the way, here's what been happening with me:

I bought two sweaters and three silky type dress shirts from Joe Fresh and only spent $115.

I watched New Years Eve with my hubby on the weekend and it's a crap movie. Please don't waste your money to see it. Trust me when I say to wait for it to come out on DVD.

Mike and I are in the December issue of MoneySense. Go check it out on the newsstands, we are on page 64.

I'm feeling a pang of guilty because I am receiving plenty of Christmas cards from family, friends and bloggers. I didn't really plan on sending Christmas cards out this year. I honestly haven't been feeling that festive. As some of you may know, Christmas is and has been very hard for me. Going to New York for Christmas is suppose to help me love Christmas again and I hope it works.

When I was at the One of a Kind show, I purchased these magnets for a blogger I follow. She didn't want to give me her address to I can send the cute magnets to her (kinda hurt a bit but I'll live). If you want them, let me know in the comment section and I will send it to you. I just don't know what to do with them.

24 Days of Christmas: Day 8 (and my 1000th post)

2011-12-08T21:15:00.000-05:00

I drank it and forgot to take a photo of it. Do you like my birthday nail polish?

Tea of the day | Sweet Dreams (organic)
This herbal tea is a delicious blend of chamomile, lemongrass, hibiscus, licorice, lemon, orange and rose petals. I normally don't like any kind of chamomile tea but I am beginning to like a cup before going to bed. This was a perfect nightcap to my birthday.

Exercise of the day | I took a rest day because it's my birthday.

Good deed of the day | n/a
I didn't do anything but my two very good friends, Maureen and Mr. Dee treated me to a delicious meal at Buca. Good company, delicious Italian food and yummy sparkling cocktails - who could ask for more?

Christmas song of the day | Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee
This song remind me of Home Alone but it's also a staple in my Christmas song list. There's another version I'll post later but the original is always the best!

Eye candy of the day | Guys of Vampire Diaries
Since it's my birthday, you get more than one guy - Michael Trevino, Matt Davis, Zach Roerig, Steven R. McQueen, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder - I can't believe this show has so many hot looking guys and every season, they add more, even if it's for a couple of episodes.

{p.s} This is my 1000th post. I swear I didn't time it to hit on my birthday but I am kinda happy about it. I am not gonna lie, I am backdating this and the next post because I am so behind in my 24 Days of Christmas. It's hard to believe that I have written 1000 posts in the last four years. I thought that I would have a post dedicated to the 1000th post but I forgot to check and only realized it after I published this one. Thanks again for sticking around and reading this blog of mine. I look forward to sharing 1000 more posts with you in the years to come.

35 birthday gifts

2011-12-08T06:30:00.000-05:00

First of all, I want to thank those who gave me some feedback about leaving this blog and creating a new one. Today would have been the day I started it but after much debate, I have decided to keep this blog (well, I have to now since I ordered some "call me cards". So, stay tuned for my 1000th post and again, thanks for reading my blog and I hope you continue to follow along.

Today's my 35th birthday.

My wonderful mom sent me the most awesome gift. She sent me 35 gifts for my 35th birthday. Isn't it such a cool idea? It was so much fun opening up each one. She's so thoughtful and sweet. Thank you mom!

Birthday cards from my mom and stepdad

Box of goodies

1/ Emi-Jay hair ties 2/ Nail art stickers 3/ Thank you cards 4/ and their envelopes

5/ OPI nail polish - Swimsuit...Nailed It and Rainbow Connection 6/ Nail tools 7/ More nail tools 8/ Cinnamon M&Ms 9/ Jelly Bellies 10 & 11/ EOS lip balms in Sweet Mint and Summer Fruit

12/ Socks 13/ leopard ear muffs 14/ Pajamas 15/ Underwear 16/ Wildberry Orbit gum 17/ Cinnamint Orbit gum 18/ more Wildberry Orbit gum 19/ Spearmint Orbit gum

20/ Hello Kitty Christmas t-shirt

21/ Bookmark 22/ Animal print bandages 23 & 24/ Peppermint bark 25/ Bracelet 26/ Ring 27/ Bracelet

28/ Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer 29/ Bath and Body wallflowers

30/ Dress from LC Lauren Conrad

31/ Brown footless tight 32/ Grey leggings 33/ Animal print leggings 34/ Black skirt

35/ Christmas memories book

Thank you to Elisse who sent me an early birthday gift because she couldn't keep it a secret. She gave me a three month subscription to Glymm. If you don't know what it is, check it out here. My awesome hubby is taking me to NYC for my birthday but we are going during Christmas and he also got my these boots. Thank you also to those who sent me a birthday card or gift. Birthdays are great, aren't they?

24 Days of Christmas: Day 7

2011-12-07T20:00:00.000-05:00

Tea of the day | The Skinny (organic)
It sounds like this tea is made for me. Not that I am skinny but I am hoping that if I drink it, it will make me skinny. It is made up of pu'erh, oolong, ginger and ginseng.

Exercise of the day | Inner Thigh Leg Lifts
I did this exercise twice on each side. Can you feel the burn?

Good deed of the day | n/a
I am beginning to think I am a horrible person. Good deeds come naturally to some people but not me. I must try harder.

Christmas song of the day | You Don't Have to be Alone
This song is so sad but so good.

{via}

Eye candy of the day | Patrick Dempsey
My eye usually gravitates to younger guys but Patrick Dempsey just keep getting better with age. He doesn't look dorky like he did in the 80's. I can see why he got the nickname McDreamy.

24 Days of Christmas: Day 6

2011-12-07T19:17:00.000-05:00

First things first. I am not gonna lie. I wasn't able to post yesterday so you will get Day 6 and 7 from me today. I was out last night so I didn't get a chance to complete this for Day 6.

Tea of the day | Detox (organic)
This green tea is a blend of rooibos, sencha, ginger, ginkgo, lemongrass, and juniper berries. I didn't have a cup of this tea yesterday because I opted for coffee. Today I drank it at the end of the day so I only had a few sips. I hope to try it again when I start a detox in the new year.

Exercise of the day | Walking
I walked several blocks last night before dinner because I had to run some errands. Walking is better than nothing right?

Good deed of the day | n/a
I forgot to do something nice. Oops.

Christmas song of the day | Give Love on Christmas Day by Jackson 5
I think my mom and aunt are in love with this song because they pretty much both blogged about it on the same day. They both like the meaning behind the song so if you are listening to this, please really listen to the words.

{via}

Eye candy of the day | Adam Levine
Who cares that he sings like a girl, his hot body and awesomeness make up for it. We all know that he can pull off the jeans and t-shirt look but I kinda like him all dressed up.

New Boots

2011-12-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, Mike and I went to Cole Haan because I wanted to get a pair of winter boots. I have had the same pair of Puma and Skechers boots for years and I really didn't want to use them for when we go to New York. I wanted a fresh pair that I can take to New York but also use when I get back home. I bought Air Colby Waterproof boots in black. These are so comfy and I know will be great when I have to trudge through snow.

Air Colby

I was satisfied with my purchase until Mike saw boots that he liked...for me. Enter the Air Kennedy Buckle Boots. There were so many colours to choose from - beige, black, houndstooth and these chocolate brown and grey pictured below. I don't know how to pose but trust me that these boots look awesome. Thank you Mike for buying these for me for my birthday!

Air Kennedy Buckle

With the three new boots that I got in the last two weeks, I have to promise myself not to buy anymore. I do need a really good, comfy pair of black heels/pumps. Any suggestions?

24 Days of Christmas: Day 5

2011-12-04T20:03:00.001-05:00

Tea of the day | Countess of Seville (organic)
This green tea is scented with bergamot, orange oil, cornflowers and orange zest. Although it smells really good, it's just like an earl grey scented with oranges. Not a favorite for me.

Exercise of the day | Six minute Pilates Upper Body Workout
Six minutes...that's all I need to start to tone my arms. This quick workout is perfect for us who simply don't have time to work out.

Good deed of the day | Talking to the new girl at work
This morning my team was introduced to "S" and that was it. We had no idea that she was a new employee or even what department she is working in. We had clients booked in our classroom space today, so we thought that we were being introduced to a client contact. Anyway, we figured out that she was a new employee when in the afternoon, she came to our cubicles to say that our department seems like so much fun (we were discussing last night's Kourtney & Kim Take New York episode). Damn Skippy our department is fun! Anyway, my good deed of the day was that I went over to her cubicle to talk to her a bit more and make her feel welcome as she got the worst introduction ever!

Christmas song of the day | Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Christina Aguilera & Brian McKnight
Christinas kills this song and the bonus is Brian McKnight is one of my favorite singer. The two of their voices together just blend so well together for this Christmas song.

Eye candy of the day | Paul Walker
Doesn't he look dapper in a suit, although he looks much better like this.

24 Days of Christmas: Day 4

2011-12-04T19:58:00.000-05:00

Tea of the day | Chocolate Maté
This tea has raspberries, almonds and chicory but taste like those chocolate wafer cookies. Delish!

Exercise of the day | Three sets of 10 squats with a kettlebell
A kettle bell is a great piece of equipment to use when you workout at home. The only problem for me is that the 15 lb kettle bell Mike got is too heavy for me. I can though use it for doing squats.

Good deed of the day | Reusing a TTC day pass
Today Mike and I went to Yorkdale shopping mall. After we walked around, we ended up buying a day pass to take the subway to Yorkville for more shopping. When we came back to Yorkdale to go home, I wanted to give the pass for someone else to use for the rest of the afternoon. I couldn't find anyone so I left it on a window sill with hopes that someone will find it and be able to use it.

Christmas song of the day | This Christmas by Chris Brown
Have you seen the movie, This Christmas? It's one of my favorite holiday movies, it's up there with Elf, Love Actually and The Holiday. I like to say it's a combination of The Family Stone and Soul Food. Check it out if you haven't seen it. I know that most of you hate Chris Brown but both his performances, Try a Little Tenderness and this song are pretty good.

Eye candy of the day | Ben Affleck
I love Ben in this movie. That's all I have to say...

24 Days of Christmas: Day 3

2011-12-03T18:44:00.000-05:00

Tea of the day | Crème de Menthe (organic)
Today's tea is a rich, dark blend of organic pu'erh tea and peppermint, sweetened with all the creaminess of organic Madagascan vanilla, licorice and cinnamon. I now know that I am not a big fan of pu'erh teas. This one in particular did not smell all that great when I went to drink it. It's hard to describe the scent but I do know that I won't be drinking it again. So instead of drinking it, I poured it out and made myself another cup of Read my Lips.

Exercise of the day | 30 basic sit ups
Nothing fancy, just a couple of sit ups. Remember I am starting off small here.

Good deed of the day | Setting up a blind date for a friend
Okay, it's not really a blind date but I finalized plans for Mike and I to introduce this guy Mike knows with one of my friends. The four of us will be going out for dinner this week. It all started when Mike made a kijiji sale and I had to deliver the goods. I met the guy at the mall and thought that he was cute and really nice. All I had to do was give him the book and get the money but he was kind enough to chat with me for a while. After I immediately asked Mike if he was single and it turns out he is. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these two hit it off.

Christmas song of the day | O Holy Night by *NSYNC (acapella version)
O Holy Night is the one Christmas song that when sung right, it can actually bring me to tears. It truly reminds me of when my family was still together - when my parents were still married, my brother still alive and my grandparents (both have passed away) visiting us and going to church on Christmas Eve. I believe this is the best version of my favorite church-like Christmas song. I'm warning you now, I may post different versions of this song.

Eye candy of the day | Justin Timberlake
Well, if we are talking about *NSYNC, it just makes sense to have Justin Timberlake to look at today. I don't know about you but I think he was super hot when he left the boy band and was all distraught over the break up with Britney. He was dark and sexy...and then he brought sexy back with all the suits he was wearing. These days, he is still looking good but not as much as before, not like this.

24 Days of Christmas: Day 2

2011-12-02T20:46:00.000-05:00

Tea of the day | Green & Fruity
This rooibos has tropical flavours of papaya, apple, mango and peach. It smells so delicious, like candy on a beach.

Exercise of the day | Combo Shoulder Raises
I did two sets of ten of these combo shoulder raises. At first I was confused with lateral vs front raise but after a few tries, I got it.

Good deed of the day | n/a
Nothing today. People were rude to me today so I wasn't in a good mood.

Christmas song of the day | All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey
This is the ultimate Christmas song (and most recently Bieber ruined it by doing the duet with her, don't get me, I like the Biebs but not with this song) and it totally reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas movies, Love Actually. You know how there are some Christmas songs that are sad? Well, this is totally opposite, it's so upbeat and festive!

Ryan Reynolds celebrity profile
Eye candy of the day | Ryan Reynolds
I know that I really should be posting a photo of his naked body hotness but we all know that it already looks like. This guy is the perfect combination of good looks and sense of humour.

my little football player

2011-12-02T06:51:00.000-05:00

He barely knows me and I barely know him. He's shy when he first sees me but when he warms up, he is attached to my hip. He is my little solid football player. This kid, B is my sister-in-law's sister-in-law's kid. Let me put it in easier terms - Mike's sister's husband's sister's kid. Does that make sense?

I saw B last at a birthday party in September, and the time before that was Canada Day weekend. When I first see him, I usually like to tease him but he tends to hide behind his mom and dad. Once he sees that all the other kids are playing with me, he decides he wants to play too. Then he never leaves my side. I had to carry him when the fireworks went off because he was scared. He's a solid kid so I truly got a workout that day from carrying him.

When will I see him again? I don't know but I do get withdrawal from not being able to hug this cutie!


Me and my little football player - look at those chubby arms, I just want to bite them!

24 Days of Christmas: Day 1

2011-12-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

Just a little tidbit for you...I bought the 24 Days of Tea from David's Tea and because of this and my BFF's Blush Pretty: 20 days to pretty, it inspired me to do my own 24 days of Christmas (okay, it really should be 24 Days to Christmas but I already made the image above and I am too lazy to fix it.

Tea of the day | Read My Lips
This black tea is filled with vanilla, peppermint, chocolate bits and spicy red peppercorns. It smells delicious - chocolate bits and peppermint, yes please! Seriously this tea smells like peppermint bark candy, you know the kind you can only get at Christmas. If it tastes as good as it smells, then I may have found my new favorite tea.

Exercise of the day | Ten push-ups
Let's start off small. I just did ten push-ups and maybe I will do ten more before I go to sleep. Push-ups are an easy exercise to do because you don't need any equipment and it can be done anywhere. The hard part is actually doing it.

Good deed of the day | I let a couple of lawyers sign up for a sold out program.

Christmas song of the day | Last Christmas by Wham
This is my all-time favorite Christmas song. Way back when the radio use to be a constant in my life, I would always wait for the first time I would hear it on a radio station and that would let me know that the holidays are finally here.

{via}

Eye candy of the day | Brody Jenner
I know that all of you will be like, what the heck, why would she pick that guy for eye candy of the day...well, Brody is my one true love (after my husband of course). How can anyone resist those eyes and eyelashes of his. Yes, I know he's not an A-lister and yes, he's dating Avril but I still crush on him anyway.

December Goals (and a November recap)

2011-12-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

My fellow blogger, Elisse suggested that I recap and see how I did with my November goals. So here we are at the first of the month and I am happy to tell you guys that I did not have coffee once this month! I splurged on David's Tea and kept drinking tea (I really tried to drink caffeine-free most of the time) every day. But this morning, the first thing I did when I reached Union Station, I walked over to Starbucks, used the gift card Elisse sent me and got a tall toffee nut lactose-free Americano Misto and boy was it ever delicious!!!!

I had three other goals, one of them I completely forgot about - trying new healthy recipes. The other two, not painting my nails for two weeks, CHECK and running on the treadmill or doing Pilates once a week...I utterly FAILED on this one. I do have a fitness plan to put into place for my December goals and I hope it works out. So with that said, from now on, I only plan to set three goals a month for myself.

This month is going to be a tough one because I will be in New York over the holidays so I won't be setting a goal about eating healthy. Since I cut coffee out, I will try to continue to leave it out (with the exception of a coffee today and one on my birthday-hey it's free from Starbucks). I had my fix this morning so I will try to maintain the no coffee rule.

I will start today my 24 Days of Christmas. It will be sort of an advent calendar but I will have to fulfill five things every day. This will be my first goal, to blog everyday for 24 days straight. Each day, I will have to blog about the following:

Tea of the day
Exercise of the day
Good deed of the day
Christmas song of the day
Eye candy of the day

Start to keep a journal with ideas, inspiration and thoughts. Candice from Tea Thoughts sent me a beautiful journal so I might as well make use of it. Elisse inspired me to do this because she writes in her journal daily.
Apply hand, foot and body lotion every night before I go to sleep and also in the morning. I get lazy in the winter and end up all dry and scaly, it's not a pretty sight. I don't want to let myself go during these hibernation months. I have stocked up on moisturizing body products-soaps, body butters and buffers, as well as lots of hand lotions and foot creams.

What goals have you set for yourself this month?

What I received: Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

2011-11-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

When Much Love, Illy and Sandy a la Mode announced that they were organizing Cold Hands, Warm Hearts, I didn't waste any time and signed up right away. This swap has to be my favorite because I always get good stuff. Check out last year when I received a package from Michelle.

This year, I was paired up with the lovely Candice from Tea Thoughts. This girl is a beauty. Ironically, we both mailed out the package before the deadline date and we received it both on the same day. I have to say, Candice spoiled me. She sent me a ton of goodies and I love every single one of them.

yummy chocolates

purple glitter polish and a gorgeous blue polish | cocktail ring and necklace (how cute that it has my initial)

Nine West wristlet and a journal for all my ideas

beige gloves which will work perfect for when I need to use my iPhone

So, am I right? She spoiled me. This is exactly why I like joining swaps - you get cool stuff and get to meet really nice bloggers. Thank you to Candice for the beautiful package and a big thanks to the Cold Hands, Warm Hearts hosts - Ilene and Sandy. You guys are awesome and so organized. I hope you host this swap again next year!

November confessions

2011-11-30T08:59:00.000-05:00

I feel awkward getting my photo taken. Mike and I had to do two photo shoots for a magazine and I'm so not a natural. As Mike says jokingly, "Modeling is hard". So what do you think of our "travel insurance" photo shoot. Yes, I know it has nothing to do with travel so we had to do a re-shoot. More awkwardness.

I did take the day off to watch the noon show of Breaking Dawn only to find out the high school kids didn't have classes. I didn't know what to do because I can't deal with teens. Luckily I found a theatre with quiet folks, you know, mothers/daughters, couples and other people watching the movie alone.

One day at home, I went to pee and sat down only to find out the lid was closed. Couldn't stop laughing about this.

I lasted a whole month without coffee. December 1st, Starbucks, here I come!

I was craving meat so bad that I took Mike to The Keg for his birthday and ate a 10oz prime rib. Boy was it good.

I scared the crap out of Mike while he was watching American Horror Story. I got him good.

Even though I shouldn't be spending money, I got those booties and love them.

2011 One of a Kind Christmas Show

2011-11-29T07:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to the One of a Kind Show with my friend, Kat. This is the second time going with her and I have a feeling this might become a tradition. We tend to gravitate to the same booths and we don't spend a lot of time dilly-dallying. We go in, walk the aisle and get out in two hours tops. This show I didn't find many interesting things. I really wanted to see Whipped Cosmetics but they were no where to be found (this made us incredibly sad because we love their soaps). Here are some of my purchases:

Froosh handmade body treats has real creamy body butters and delicious smelling soaps and scrubs but I decided on getting their peppermint foot butter. This is perfect for the winter season because my feet get so dry.

I have passed by Demo several times while walking around Liberty Village, I go into the store and smell every single soap but I never come out with anything. It took the OOAK show for me to finally buy their gigantic soaps. They were selling the soaps 4 for $20 but I really like how the guy said to just cut them in half, so I feel like I got 8 for $20. I purchased peppermint, lemongrass, almond and cinnaberry (I can't remember the name but it's the one with all those colourful bits in them). I can't wait to test them out.

Kat and I are huge fans of Foxy Originals. We are such huge fans that we thought we should buy matching necklaces. Just kidding. I had no intention of buying anything but after she tried on this necklace in silver, I asked if they had it in gold and next thing you know, I bought the same. It's so dainty and pretty!

I bought some little magnets but I am not going to post a photo of it because I bought it for a blogger and I want it to be a surprise. Overall, it was fun to walk around but I much more enjoyed the company of Kat. I am happy I didn't go overboard and just bought a few things. Until next year...

I spy with my little eye (v2)

2011-11-28T09:33:00.000-05:00

Eye candy first. Immortals is a movie that I typical would not want to go and watch. Especially after many people told me how gory it is. But since Mike wanted to watch it, I would never turn down a movie date with my husband. Although there was a lot of blood shed and heads cut off, the shirtless hotties truly made up for it.

Every day earrings. Marc by Marc Jacobs heart brass and crystal stud earrings.

Holiday glitter polish. Deborah Lippmann Get This Party Started limited edition.

Perfect set from Benefit Cosmetics. The Big 10. I would use every single products in this set.

Candy Cane cheesecake, yes please!

If I had an iPad, I would get this case from J. Crew.

Prairie Girl Bakery

2011-11-26T09:32:00.001-05:00

I read about Prairie Girl bakery from the Hip and Urban Girl's Guide early this year. I decided to finally make the trek over to their King St. location before my commute because I discovered that their Treat of the Week was Chocolate Toffee - who doesn't love chocolate and skor bits?

They have a half dozen mini cupcakes for $9.95 so I picked up Vanilla Lemon, Vanilla Chocolate, Chocolate Peppermint, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Toffee, and Banana Peanut Butter (clockwise starting from the top left).

Chocolate Peppermint is BY FAR my favorite-see photo below. I've tried lots of cupcakes (c'mon, I even went to CupcakeCampTO) but these cupcakes have the best combination of moist chocolate or vanilla cake and creamy icing. Most buttercream icing is either too buttery or too sweet. Their icing is perfect.

Below is the Chocolate Toffee cupcake. I was quite disappointed with it. I don't really know what I was expecting but when I took the first bite, I knew that this cupcake wasn't for me. I think it was the toffee icing, it was just too sweet for my taste buds.

Prairie Girl bakery has two locations: 18 King St at Victoria St and in the First Canadian Marketplace on the concourse level. You can view their menu here and don't forget to follow them on Twitter @prairiegirlbake to find out what their Treat of the Week is.

Readers: feedback please!

2011-11-19T10:13:00.001-05:00

I am several posts away from my 1000th post, to be exact, I am 18 posts away. When I hit 900 posts, I thought to myself, "wow I wrote a lot of posts, do I keep going after 1000?" This is when I thought I should start a new blog. Besides, since I am no longer a sun worshipper when I go on beach vacations, I thought the name "blarkness" was no longer fitting.

I'm not really sure what to do. I'm going to do up a pros and cons list and after you read it, I would love your feedback.

I will be turning 35 in a couple of weeks. I will get a fresh new start with a newly created blog > I have to redesign my blog and create new sidebars, blog header, etc....

I can change my blog address, title and twitter name > I will have to find a name that is not taken, check blogger, twitter and gmail if the name is available

I can keep all my followers > I will lose all my current followers

I can re-direct readers on this blog to check out my new blog > someone readers might not want to follow me anymore

Readers/followers/people in general know me as blarkness > I would have to re-build all my relationships all over again

Less than 1000 posts > 1000+ posts too many?

I'm so torn between starting fresh and working hard at a new blog or just go with the flow and continue to do what I have been doing (even though blog name bothers me slightly). I would love to hear your thoughts and most of all, would you continue to follow me if I created a new blog? Do you think it's worth all the trouble to see if one blog name will work for blogger, twitter and gmail? I know I definitely don't want to keep two blogs going....

HELP!

Movie thoughts: Breaking Dawn: Part 1

2011-11-18T20:59:00.001-05:00

I wrote Movie thoughts as my post title instead of movie review because we all know what it's about. Instead, I will just give my thoughts without giving anything away.

After seeing the trailer and reading the first half of the book (I quickly re-read it this week before watching the movie today), I wasn't quite sure what the movie would entail. But there is so much more scenes than what the trailer was showing. I liked the movie. Breaking Dawn was my favorite book of the saga and it's probably because it's the first one I read (My MIL found the book in a rental car, gave it to me and said, "maybe you should read this. I don't like it, it's about vampires), so the movie might just also be my favorite movie of the saga.

Yes, I did go and watch it by myself, it's tradition for me to watch it on my own on opening day. I opted out of watching the very first show even though I bought a ticket for the 12 pm (it was a PD day, no school for kids) so there was a bunch of teens running and screaming around the building. Instead, I found a theatre for the next showing that was quiet and filled with couple, girlfriends and mothers & daughters. Here are some of the things I liked about the movie, don't worry, I am not giving anything away or spoiling it for you:

OMG, Jacob looks hot now, he's older, still buff. When he comes to Edward and Bella's wedding, I love on him the disheveled look, messy clothes and scruff on his face.
The wedding ceremony (location and how it's decorated) is beautiful.
I love how they played Flightless Bird, American Mouth and Bella's Lullaby during the wedding scenes.

Honeymoon location, Isle Esme is so picturesque, wherever it may really be.
Bedroom/Honeymoon/sex/breaking the bed scene was cheesy.
Cullen's House is gorgeous, I want to live in a house like that.
Acting in the movie is way better than all the other movies. Bella isn't annoying and she doesn't do that shuddering thing <--you know what I mean.
The pack (in their wolf form) talking to each other was the most cheesiest part of the movie for me.

Seth, the youngest member of the pack is adorable. I love this guy, he's sweet caring and funny!
I was a little squeamish about the part when Bella gives birth, a little disturbing in my opinion.

And this is my favorite song from the movie:

When you watch the movie, don't forget to stay until after the ending credits, there's a small scene at the end. I was warned about it so I stayed and giggled to myself as most of the people walked out.

Did you watch Breaking Dawn? What did you think of it?

The Callet

2011-11-15T08:13:00.000-05:00

If you are anything like me, you probably like to carry limited stuff when you are out and about on weekends, or even when you have a Girls Night Out. The Callet would have come in very handy for me when I was in Vegas.

The callet is a case for either a Blackberry or an iPhone. There are slit pockets in the back of the phone for your ID and credit cards. It's great because it's a phone case and wallet all in one. I need to get one STAT!

Doesn't this make for a great Christmas gift for your girlfriends? You can thank me later...

10 Day You Challenge: 1 picture

2011-11-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot about this 10 Day Challenge. I started this challenge back in July through Krysten's blog, Why Girls Are Weird. So, finally I will be completing this challenge with one picture of myself. This was taken at Kariya Park near our condo.

Don't you just love my yellow jacket? Mike bought it for me and we have dubbed it my New York jacket - although I have started to wear it already. Maybe Mike bought it so in case I get lost in a crowd in NYC, he will be able to find me.

I've decided to include some other pictures from the park. As I mentioned in another post, we were at the park for a magazine photo shoot. While we were waiting for the photographer, we decided to take a couple of shots. I imagine that the changing of leaves must have been really pretty last month. We will probably come back to the park when the cherry blossoms bloom at the end of April.

Sally Hanson Salon Effects: Laced Up

2011-11-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

{via}

Part of my November goals was to not wear nail polish for two weeks. I was doing so well, only I received a phone call that my hubby and I needed to go to a photo shoot. Our photo will be in a magazine because of our travel blog, Beach Junkies. I will let you know what magazine and issue (and page #) when I receive more info.

Well, if you know me, you know that I hate to be seen without my nails all done up. In keeping with the "no polish for two weeks" goal, I decided to try out Sally Hansen Salon Effect Real Nail Polish strips. I thought I was being smart but it turns out, the strips is made of real polish so I'm cheating. I am technically wearing nail polish, at least it's Day 12.

I totally didn't put on the thumb strip on properly

I picked up Laced Up for $10.99. It looks so easy to apply and it is, except when it came time to apply the strips to my right hand (I'm right handed). After applying to all ten nails, I used the hair dryer to smooth them out and make them adhere more to my nail. I finished it off with a top coat. Now, let's just see how long it lasts. If it all works out, I plan to use Glitz Blitz for my birthday and Frock Star for when I go to NYC.

UPDATE: An hour into putting these strips on, the corners started to peel off and catch on everything. I am getting so annoyed. I either didn't wipe my nail enough with polish remover or the strips just are not adhering to my nail. I much rather have my nails painted with polish and then chip a day or two later. The strips peeling off are worse than chipped nails.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I got a lot of compliments on my nails. Maybe I will try another pattern if I find the strips on sale. I don't think it's worth the $11 I paid. It's more than a bottle of polish. I have had them on for four days and they are really chipped. The bonus is, because there so much of a design with a nude base, it's not that noticeable. I am taking off the polish strips now, and it takes quite a bit of scrubbing.

I spy with my little eye (v1)

2011-11-12T09:53:00.001-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, my two coworkers and I looked at photos of the world's cutest dog, Boo the dog. I am not a dog person but if I were to get a dog, I would want one just like Boo. And yes, Boo the dog is real. Watch this cute video of him falling asleep.

You all know I am obsessed with The Vampire Diaries, well check out this hot werewolf.

I'm in love with all things sparkly, would sparkly Chuck Taylors be over the top?

A Barbie doll with tattoos, yes please!

There were people out there who shot down The Change Up but these types of movies should be rated or reviewed, it is what it is...a comedy, not an oscar-worthy movie. This movie was much more funnier than The Hangover 2 and Bridemaids. If you need something to watch this weekend, I would recommend this one.

Who knew butter could taste so good? Last month, I was introduced to whey butter from Stirling Creamery. I can't wait for when they start selling their goat cheese butter at Whole Foods Market.

A metal hurricane sleeve from Bath & Body Works would brighten up a room during the holiday season. Some of my favorite candle scents - Gingerbread, Spice, 'Tis the Season and Winter Wonderland.

Six more days until Breaking Dawn...I've got my ticket, do you have yours?

November Goals

2011-11-08T11:36:00.002-05:00

It seems like there are many bloggers who are writing down their goals for the month (Life's Fascinations and Kaileen Elise, to name a couple). I thought I would join in and maybe it might just give me the motivation to reach my own goals.

I want to try not to paint my nails for two weeks. I love nail polish and I feel weird when I don't wear any but because of this, my nails are stained. I need to give them a rest, a little breather. I took off the orange and black nail design I had for Halloween on Monday, it's only been eight days and I am jonzing already to paint them.
I would like to at least run on the treadmill and do 40 minutes of Pilates once a week. I was so good a year ago with Pilates almost every day and the treadmill at least three times a week. I am not sure when and why I lost my motivation. I'll start off slowly and hopefully, I will start to feel good again and will want to go more often.
I need to try to new recipes, healthy recipes. For the past six months, I have been a lazy cook. I actually hate cooking these days. If I learn how to make something healthy and yummy, hubby and I might just stop eating crap. Do you have any recipe suggestions I should try?
I'm going to try to drink more tea than coffee. Suddenly these days, I find that I crave for coffee. Not a good thing in my books. If I can ween myself off coffee (especially americanos and cappuccinos) and just buy a stack load of teas from David's Tea, I'll be good to go. Just to let you know, I had my last coffee this morning.

Now speaking of goals, after I turned 34, I made a list of some things I wanted to do before I turn 35. Seeing that today is November 8 and we are one month away from my birthday, I wanted to revisit my 34 for 34 list and see where I am at. I am so far behind and I have a feeling I won't be able to complete half of them, especially going back to Jamaica and Miami for my birthday. Sigh...

Mattel Game On!

2011-11-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

Back in July, Elizabeth contacted me and sent over a Mattel Game On! Kit. The kit included everything I needed to host a company-wide game social - a game board, prizes, Game On! party cups, Game On! party coasters, 1 USB and two Game On! Summer Guides. Now since the people in my company aren't that fun, I thought I should play with friends one time and then another with my crazy in-laws. Well, summer came, and it went but summer fun doesn't have to stop when summer ends. On the Halloween weekend, my husband's friends were getting together and I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to get our "game on".

As we get older, and start to have kids, it's very hard to get a group of friends together, let alone without their kids. And then when we do get together, the chatter ends up being about the kids. Well, on this night (with the exception of one kid, who pre-occupied himself with xbox), we got to be adults and play an adult board game.

Enter Bezzerwizzer...a name of the game that none of us could pronounce (oddly enough, this weekend, one of girls saw a Bezzerwizzer commerical). Since we were all couples, we decided that we would divide the teams as couples (we all secretly hoped for one of the couples to get into a fight, and it happened). After reading the rules, we got our Bezzerwizzer on. I am not sure how you get your "game on" but we like to bend the rules a bit or just make up our own rules. The game begins by each team picking four category tiles and placing them on the game card in order of preference. You will want to put the category you know most about last because you get more points. When you answer a question correctly, you will get to move the number of spaces according to your game card.

This game is like trivial pursuit and can really test your knowledge about every category. What makes the game different from other trivial games is the fact that you can "bezzerwizzer" or "zwap". Bezzerwizzer is a tile that you can play to challenge the team who is answering a question for their category. Basically you want to play this tile if you feel you are more knowledgeable about that particular category. A Zwap tile can be played to swap one of your category tiles for another team's tile. You will want to choose one of their category tiles you know a lot about and give them one your category tiles you know nothing about.

We played one round and my hubby and I won. But since I was hosting this game social, I couldn't win one of the prizes, so we did a sudden death round. First team to answer a correct question wins...and here's the winners with their prize.

Since I have one more prize, I hope to play with my sibling-in-laws and their other half. We always have a good time playing board games.

Thanks to my hubby's friends for playing and allowing me to take pictures of them. A special thanks to Elizabeth for sending over the Game On! kit. I truly apologize that it took so long for me to host a game social. After this one night, we realized that as adults, we should play board games more often because it makes us more interactive and social.

What I received: Warm Hug Scarf Swap

2011-11-03T06:35:00.000-04:00

There's no rule against swapping with your co-host when you host a swap right? Well, the lovely Elisse and I decided to be swap partner for our Warm Hug Scarf Swap. I was very hesitant about doing this scarf swap after reading that a fellow blogger was hosting one too. Looking back, I am glad Elisse and I went through with it. We had 28 people sign up and boy, was that more than we expected. Thank you to everyone who signed up. I hope you receive a scarf as pretty as the ones I received. I was lucky that Elisse sent me two (secretly, I sent her two too!).


two scarves - one purple & gold and the other a cobalt blue infinity scarf, Starbucks gift card and cobalt blue teardrop earrings

I hate asking my hubby to take a photo of me so I will admit that I am one of those ghetto people who take a photo of themselves with their phone in front of a mirror (hey, at least I don't use it as a profile pic).


I love this infinity scarf


I am going to use this one to try out the 25 ways to wear a scarf

Thank you Elisse for agreeing to co-host this scarf swap with me and also to being my swap partner. It was fun and I can't wait to see what everyone else gets. If you have participated in Warm Hug Scarf Swap and received your package, please leave a link to your blog post or tweet in the comment section. I want to see what you got!!!!

What I received: 3rd annual tea trade

2011-11-03T06:30:00.000-04:00

On Monday, I received my package from Janet P. This is the second time I joined the Gussying up the Tuttle's tea trade. Thank you Janet for sending me some interesting teas and jewelry, and to Melitta for organzing her 3rd annual tea trade.

Product review: Nip + Fab Moisture Fix

2011-11-02T07:13:00.000-04:00

Did I ever tell you how much I love it when companies tweet you back? Well, Nip + Fab is one of those companies. You should follow them @NipandFab. After a bunch of tweets back and forth, I mainly wanted to know if they could send me some samples because it's hard for me to spend money and commit to a products without trying it first. Sadly, they do not have samples. Finally, I bit the bullet and picked up their Moisture Fix at Shopper Drug Mart because it was on sale. And let me tell you, they did not disappoint. Even my hubby can tell you he really likes this moisturizer. I tend to have dry skin and also skin that breaks out. I have been using Moisture Fix for about a month now and with the bitter cold approaching and my iratic skin, my face has never been better. No more dry patches or tight skin, I don't have as much breakouts and I only need to use very little in the morning and at night. I am not going to pretend to know what all the ingredients do, so please check out the link above and see for yourself what this product is all about. I really like the pump, it's so much better than having to dip your fingers in a container.

Now that I have tried one of their products, I won't be as reluctant or have to wait for a sale to try out some of their other products like - Eye Fix, Dark Circle Fix and many more. If you are in Canada, you can find Nip + Fab products at Shopper Drug Mart and if you are in the U.S., they recently lauched their line at Target. What would make this a better company is if they start giving away samples with purchase or through Twitter.

October confessions

2011-11-01T09:32:00.001-04:00

I accidentally locked my hubby out on the balcony while I took an extra long shower. Thank goodness he's patience and a good sport because he wasn't that upset that he was stuck out in the cold in with slippers and no iPhone or smokes.

I bought cobalt jeans that don't fit me with hopes that I was just bloated while I tried them on. Now I have to return them. UPDATE: I tried to return them and found out that the pair I bought was sized incorrectly. I'm actually a smaller size. Yay for cobalt blue jeans!

I have *NSYNC's That's When I'll Stop Loving You on heavy rotation.

I unfollowed someone on Twitter because their tweets were annoying the crap out of me. I now feel a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I seriously need to get back to the gym and start eating healthy. I recently saw someone people who have gained some weight and I took a vow with my hubby to never become overweight. I best be losing some weight quickly before it gets outta hand.

I'm so addicted to The Vampire Diaries. I won't even make plans because I want to be home to watch it live. Seriously, if you don't watch this show, you should. It's in its 4th season so, there's time to catch up (You should also watch Sons of Anarchy). Trust me, these shows do not disappoint.

52 more days until I finally get to see the Big Apple. I will gladly take any suggestions of what to do, see or eat in New York.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T15:40:00.002-04:00

I normally love Halloween but this year, October seem to have come and gone. This is probably why I didn't even think about Halloween and costumes. My friends were going to throw a costume party but last minute, they decided that guests did not have to dress up. I won't lie, I was happy. I just didn't have time to throw something together.

The last time I dressed up was in 2009. I had two parties to go to - an adult party and a kids party, hence two different costumes. My hubby and I went as whacked out fairies for the kids party and then for the adult party, we went as a Clockwork Orange with two of my girlfriends. That post is my most viewed post on my blog.

So, here are the photos of our costumes. Hopefully next year, I can prepare ahead of time and start to put together a costume. Now that I have some sewing skills under my belt (tonight is my last sewing class), I can get more creative in putting together something great. Let's just hope that there will be a party to go to.

Happy Halloween!!! Hope you had a fun time if you went out to a party this past weekend and have even more fun if you are doing something tonight. After today, I won't have to watch when I switch channels, there won't be anymore scary movies that I might run into it.

10 Day You Challenge - 2 songs

2011-10-25T06:42:00.000-04:00

How the heck does one choose TWO songs. Do you choose your favorite songs? Your wedding song? Your jam? A song that you don't want anyone to know you listen to?

I decided to go with one fast song and one slow...

1. PYT by Michael Jackson

2. Learn You Inside Out by Lifehouse

What two songs would you choose?

Monday Memories: Grade 8

2011-10-24T13:41:00.002-04:00

I can't believe I'm letting you see this but I'm going to put my pride aside, suck up the embarrassment and let you have a good laugh. Do you remember when yearbooks were just a black & white photocopy? Well, my dad brought one over to my place yesterday. Here's me in grade 8 with bangs and caterpillars for eyebrows.

What makes me laugh is that I wanted to be a doctor and I thought my fate would be a mortician?!?!? Can I be more morbid and weird...

Delicious Show

2011-10-22T17:37:00.000-04:00

Today, Hubby and I went to the Delicious Show (at the Better Living Centre) courtesy of Hip Urban Girl's Guide. I won a pair of tickets from them last week. It was a smart idea for Mike and I to skip breakfast and head straight for the show. Let me tell you that all the sampling left our tummies full.

As we tried to make a game plan of how we were going to tackle all the booths, we got easily distracted by samples. After only visiting five booths, we bought goodies from three of them. I will show you later what we came home with. We left the Cakes, Cupcakes & Sweets section for last but now I'm thinking it was a bad idea. I love chocolate and all things sweet but by the time we reached this section, I was full and couldn't even thinking of trying or buying anything. I would have bought some cupcakes from Bite Me Bakery or maybe some macarons from Rubelo (although $3 for one macaron and no samples - I'll pass thank you very much) but we settled for some mini candied apples from Bruce County Nut and Fudge Co. I don't even like apples, that's how good these candied apples are.

So, prior to the sweet section, we went through aisle by aisle sampling everything from oysters from Rodney's to cheeses to shortbread cookies (there are so many shortbread companies - our favorites: Coach House Shortbread Company and Sprucewood Handmade Cookies) to lots and lots of dipping sauces. I was intrigued by the DIY sodas from Soda Stream Canada and the free coffee from Nescafe Dolce Gusto outside of the Better Living Centre. There is so much to sample or buy, so if you are planning to hit the show tomorrow, make sure you go hungry.

Some other booths we got to sample:

Butter from The Stirling Creamery - whey butter and goat cheese butter are quite different than your typical butter
Regular butter flavoured popcorn and Sweet Fire popcorn from Shriner's Creek Kettle Popcorn.
Bread dippers and balsamic vinegars from Wildly Delicious Fine Foods
Mexican salsas and corn chips from Mad Mexican Food Products
Mustards from Mrs. McGarrigle's Fine Food Shop
and so much more...

Before I leave you with photos, which we didn't take a lot of because we were too busy eating, our absolute favorite was the Takoyaki from Akasaka Japanese Restaurant. They were grilling these balls especially for the Delicious Show, it's Japanese street food. We tried both the Octopus and Lobster ones. We have an idea of how we can make these at home. If we are successful, I will be sure to blog about it.

Cake display from Gladycakes

Grilling at Akasaka

Takoyaki

Shriner's Creek Kettle Popcorn

Cupcakes from Cupcake Diner

Waffles from Waffle Bar

3 for $5 oysters from Rodney's Oyster House

Macarons from Rubelo Patisserie

Macarons from Moroco Chocolat

What we bought to take home

Spicy Asiago and Garlic shortbread

Cinful - caramel apple rolled in their signature cinnamon glaze

Sundried Tomato and Herb Spread from Derlea Foods Inc.

Chipotle Lime from Mrs. McGarrigle

Corn nacho chips, chunky guacamole and morita salsa

Delicious bread dippers from Wildy Delicious - the first booth we went to

This was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We came home with some delicious eats and treats. Thank you to Lisa & Wendy from Hip Urban Girl's Guide and Annette from the Delicious Show for the tickets. We truly enjoyed the show and can't wait for the next one. I'm off to go eat again now...

just some randomness (although I should be working)

2011-10-18T12:04:00.000-04:00

Today and tomorrow I will be working from home. I have to say, I am quite enjoying this for many reasons. One of them being my ability to write up a blog post. hehehe! It's lunch time so I will take a few minutes to blog. Do you ever work from home and get sidetracked?

Last week I received some blog loving from a little kasey love, The Girlie Blog and in HER shoes (who by the way has a fabulous giveaway going on, please check it out and enter). Thank you lovely ladies for the shout out on your blog!

Read some Love Rules on this new blog I started following. I can't wait for the next set of rules.

I know that everyone goes with Michael Kors watched but since I'm on a strict budget, I've become a Fossil fan...my next watch.

My dear friend Kat posted a while ago about our GNO (Girls Night Out) back in 1999. I'm the one in the middle with the leopard skirt. I can't believe 1) how young I look; 2) how skinny I am and 3) how stylish I was wearing a leopard skirt. I know that if I tried to wear that same leopard skirt today, it wouldn't go past my calves. I bought it in the kids section. ahhh, the good old days...

I'll leave you with a song my hubby played before he left for work this morning. This song makes me want to go to Vegas STAT! Hope you are all having a good day. Maybe this song will put you in a better mood by making you want to jump around and dance!

Major Lazer - Original Don by IMFmag

Monday Memories: Morning Glory

2011-10-17T22:22:00.002-04:00

One morning, I had a twitter rant about some smelly person on the bus or train. This sparked my sister-in-law to tweet me to spray some Morning Glory. I burst into laughter and only she and I would be able to laugh at this. See, back when I first met my hubby, I hung out with his sister a lot. We would sometimes be on the subway and encounter a very nasty smell. Me, with no shame at all, would immediately spray my purse-size Calgon Morning Glory body mist. This was my go-to perfume, as well as an air freshener on public transportation.

Just today, there was some disgusting smell from when we moved some office furniture around. The stench almost made me puke. I then proceeded to use some air freshener I found lying around, plus some Lysol disinfecting spray. This totally pissed off many people in my office, especially my boss (who was appalled and gave me crap when I told her that I Lysol the soles of my shoes when I get home - she says it contains too many chemicals - but there's so much disgusting stuff on the sidewalks). I don't care if it bothered everyone, at least I prevented them from smelling that combination of crap, barf and stinky feet. They will thank me one day.

Yes, I am that person who will do anything to mask nasty odors. I will use body spray, hair spray, hand cream, anything I can get my hands on to get rid of the smell. So, when my sister-in-law, brought up Morning Glory, I just had to giggle remembering the times I would spray the body mist all around the subway.

Hotmail account closed for good

2011-10-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know that this isn't the most flattering photo of me. I was drunk at a wedding and kinda chubby (heck I look pregnant). I think this photo was taken back in 2007. Anyway, the reason for me posting this photo is that I just went through my hotmail account and I found this photo of my and my hubby.

It was funny and sad going through my emails. I got to reminisce looking at photos attached to emails that I saved but yet, I got a little choked up when I read all the email exchanges from my brother's friends and my friends when Gino died. Those emails I forward to my gmail, I never want to delete them. It's those emails that help me cope with my grieving.

I have had my hotmail account since July 12, 2000 and stopped using it in 2008. So an era has come to an end. I have deleted all my emails and will be closing it in a matter of minutes. Now I just have three emails, my personal gmail, an email associated with my blog and my work email (okay, I have two more but I don't use them that often, an email associated with the travel blog I have with my hubby and another email for the scarf swap I am co-hosting <-- shameless plug).

How many email account do you have?

I want...

2011-10-12T07:56:00.000-04:00

We all have a list of wants and for me, my list is ever growing. Here are some things I want now, well, at least in the next couple of months.

After reading about an ebelskiver pan on Breakfast with Toast and a few email exchanges with Danielle, I have decided that I want to get one. This is the post that started it all.

It's difficult to carry your entire makeup bag in a small purse so I think Tarte's Shining Stars Limited-Edition Best Sellers Collection has everything I need to touch up my makeup. All the items are super tiny and should be able to fit into a clutch. The only thing is I would need to also carry a eyeliner brush to apply the liner.

I'm so in love with anything blue - cobalt blue and navy blue. I only own one Chanel nail polish (Black Satin) and it was a gift to me. Maybe this Blue Satin one will be my birthday treat to myself, rather than my usual birthday lipstick.

Don't forget to sign up for the Warm Hug Scarf Swap I'm co-hosting with Elisse.

My Top 50 chick flick list

2011-10-11T07:53:00.000-04:00

I thought it would a great idea to list my top 50 chick flick movies so I have it jotted down somewhere. It will probably change from time to time but this is my list in no particular order (well first five are my top favorites).

The Devil Wears Prada
Love Actually
Sex and the City
My Best Friend's Wedding
Sweet Home Alabama
A Walk to Remember
13 Going on 30
500 Days of Summer
The Holiday
Titantic
Notthing Hill
The Proposal
Pretty Woman
Two Weeks Notice
10 Things I Hate About You
She's the Man
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
The Sweetest Thing
The Wedding Planner
Chasing Liberty
What a Girl Wants
Save the Last Dance
Never Been Kissed
Jersey Girl
27 Dresses
Grease
Valentine's Day
Mamma Mia
She's All That
Someone Like You
A League of their Own
Waiting to Exhale
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Legally Blonde
Crazy Stupid Love
Playing by Heart
Center Stage
Maid in Manhattan
Bounce
Clueless
Jerry Maguire
Step Up
Cruel Intentions
Stepmom
Boys and Girls
Mean Girls
The Notebook
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Made of Honor
Armageddon (if this doesn't count as a chick flick, then Can't Hardly Wait)

What are some of the movies on your list?

Or do you have a list on your blog? If so, please share with me!

Warm Hug Scarf Swap

2011-10-10T21:02:00.000-04:00

With the cold quickly approaching, I thought about adding to my collection of scarves. I figured that other people must be in the same boat as me. This is when I decided to ask Elisse of Fur Elisse if she wanted to co-host a scarf swap with me. Thankfully she agreed! There are dozens of swaps going on right now and I know that a fellow blogger of mine is hosting one too. Don't worry if you have too many on your plate, I am sure Elisse and I will co-host another one again (depending on how this one goes).

I love scarves, I already started wearing my leopard infinity one I bought in the summer. Elisse is a big scarf fan too. If you are like the both of us, join in the fun by signing up. We are trying to make this a simple swap so for now, all you need to do is email us. One last thing, sorry international readers, this swap is only open to Canadian and U.S. residents. Here are the details...

It’s easy to join, and you don’t have to be a blogger to sign up!

1) Send an email to warmhugscarfswap@gmail.com by October 20
2) You will receive a quick 2 minute questionnaire to fill out so your swap partner knows your likes/dislikes
3) You will be assigned your partner on October 24
4) Send your package by November 1

What to include in your Warm Hug package:
• Packages should total $20 - $25
• As well as a scarf, please send your swap partner a packet of your favourite hot drink (could be a bag of tea or a gift card for a cup of coffee).
• A small card or note saying hi and introducing your self makes a nice, personal touch!

Feel free to blog or tweet about this Warm Hug Scarf Swap.

What I received: Sparkle Swap

2011-10-08T11:50:00.001-04:00

Last month I joined Kaileen Elise's Sparkle Swap. I missed it last year so I was quite excited to sign up this time around. I never received any emails from the person who got me which is kinda cool because it then became a surprise as to when I would receive the package and who would be sending it. She sent my package in a very pretty box. I am so use to seeing brown paper wrapped box so receiving this was a nice treat.

It's really nice to receive items that you like and that someone took the time to find out more about you. Cassie did a great job because I love what she sent me. I can't wait to check out her blog and learn more about the super sweet girl who sent me my sparkle package. Here's what Cassie got me...

Included in my sparkle package from Cassie - a cute card, a soy candle, On the Go kit from J.R. Watkins, chocolate (although it doesn't say what kind) and a ticket stub diary

This candle smell so yummy

Lip balm, hand and cuticle salve and two hand & body lotion from J.R. Watkins

I already started to add in some of my ticket stubs

Thank you again to Kaileen Elise for organizing the sparkle swap (you just wouldn't understand how much work she put into it unless you were part of the swap. She sent out questionnaire and a really pretty pdf with all our swap partner's contact info and survey answers) and a special thanks to Cassie for my sparkly package. This was a fun swap. Now I just hope my swap partner received the package I sent. I'm getting a little worried (that's because stupid me sent it by surface mail instead of air mail).

Just some random thoughts

2011-10-05T21:09:00.001-04:00

I couldn't really come up with a clever title. All I want to do is share some random things that have caught my eye or that I am already loving.

Check out my friend's blog post on Happiness. I love this post and you will too once you read it.

I'm in love with the combination of cobalt blue and leopard or red and leopard.

Sprucewood shortbread cookies are my daily snack. I picked up four boxes at The Clothing Show - dark chocolate, raspberry, lemon and maple.

You may remember him from Jay Leno but when he's on Chelsea Lately, Ross Matthews cracks me up. He is more funny as a TV personality rather than on a blog.

Bicoastally introduced me to Suri's Burn Book and I know lots of people are reading it. If you need a good laugh, you need to read it.

HOT = 90210 and The Vampire Diaries. NOT = Survivor and Gossip Girl. Two TV shows that are hot on my fall TV line up because of hotness factor and dramatic storylines and as for the other two, they have now fallen off my lineup. I am no longer interested.

Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes is awesome if you don't need a waterproof formula to hold a curl to your lashes. The short, heart shaped brush is ideal if you have tiny lashes because you can maneuver and cover each lash. Sadly for me, it doesn't hold up the curl of my lashes so I am going to try and layer it with a waterproof mascara. **Did you check out my nails? I did the design with reinforcement tabs.

10 Day You Challenge - 3 films

2011-10-02T19:01:00.000-04:00

1. The Devil Wears Prada - I can watch this movie, over and over again. I actually just watched it on TV this afternoon even though I own a Blu-ray copy of it. I read the book and was very disappointed but the movie certainly made up for it. One scene that I love is when Andy Sachs transforms into a Runway girl and you see her walking to work in all sorts of outfits. Anne Hathaway was perfect for this movie. Her haircut in the movie when she gets a makeover is one of the inspiration for me to cut bangs. Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie:

Emily: Andrea, my God! You look so chic.
Andy Sachs: Oh, thanks. You look so thin.
Emily: Really? It's for Paris, I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.

Emily: Okay, I am hearing this...
[she moves her hand in a speech mimicking sign]
Emily: And I want to hear this.
[she closes her hand]

Miranda: That's all...

{image via}

2. Remember the Titans - this is a feel good movie, one that isn't a chick flick. I love football movies even though I don't understand a thing about the game. If you haven't seen this movie, go and watch it. There is so much meaning been the whole story, oh wait, it's based on a true story (and if you are a Sons of Anarchy fan, Opie had a lead role, Gary Bertier, in this movie, it's a huge transformation). And Ryan Gosling is in it, although he isn't as sexy as he is now. Here are some of my favorite lines from the movie:

Older Sheryl: People say that it can't work, black and white. Here, we make it work every day. We still have our disagreements, of course, but before we reach for hate, always, always, we remember the Titans.

Coach Boone: [to his players] Tonight we've got Hayfield. Like all the other schools in this conference, they're all white. They don't have to worry about race. We do. let me tell you something: you don't let anyone come between us. Nothing tears us apart. In Greek mythology, the Titans were greater even than the gods. They ruled their universe with absolute power. Well that football field out there, that's our universe. Let's rule it like titans.

{image via}

3. Step Up 2 - I love dance movies, but this movie, I tend to watch it more often than others and it's probably because I like every single dance routine in it. The first Step Up was more romantic where as this one is more about street dancing. One of my favorite dance scene is when they are salsa dancing to Robin Thicke's Everything I Can't Have and also the final battle scene.

{image via}

Picking three movies is tough. There are so many that I like but these are ones that stick out. If I were to ask you to name three movies on the spot, what would they be? It's tough to answer huh?

September confessions

2011-10-01T13:22:00.000-04:00

This month, a colleague on my team at work quit. She was miserable and mistreated. As much as a like her as a person, I'm sort of glad she left. She handled too much of her personal life at work instead of doing actually work.

I'm even more obsessed with The Vampire Diaries since this season's premiere. All the guys are hot on this show - Stefan, Damon, Jeremy (my #1), Tyler, the list goes on and on.

I know I always say that Quest Crew is my favorite dance crew and that I think they are better than Jabbawockeez but after watching tons of YouTube clips of performances and with Quest doing stuff with LMFAO, I'm leaning more towards the Wockeez.

Speaking of Jabbawockeez, I'm so itching to go back to Vegas to party it up and watch Müs.i.c again.

I've discovered the Spanish version of On the Floor (Van a Bailar) by J.Lo and now I can't stop listening to it.

I've pretty much gained all the weight I tried hard so last year to lose. Now my goal is to lose those 12 pounds again. Why can't I wake up early to go to the gym?

I have three months of In Style magazines sitting on my night table. I'm avoiding looking at them because I have no money to go shopping for a fall wardrobe. If I skim through the magazines, I know I'll get inspired and want to shop.

I hate lying to my niece but whenever she wants to play a game on my iPhone, I tell her my phone is dead.

Sewing Project #1 and my own project

2011-09-28T20:41:00.000-04:00

Monday was my third sewing class at The Sewing Studio. This week's project was a drawstring bag (aka - shoe bag). I had cut my fabric really crooked but I am pleased with how it turned out.

Now last Friday when I had to prep (wash, dry and iron) all the fabric I bought, I decided to cut the fabric and iron on the interfacing for a little project I had my eye on...little baby slippers. I found this pattern online early this year but didn't have access to a sewing machine to make it. When my instructor told me that because I am a student at the studio, I could take advantage of some free studio time to do some sewing. Because on Wednesdays, fee studio time is only from 2:45 to 5:00 pm, I asked to leave work early and was able to get in an hour and a half. I made the cloth shoe in an hour (and that's because I did all the cutting, interfacing and pinning at home). I was a little ambitious thinking that I would be able to make two pairs today. So, here is the final product - the practice (or test) one. I am quite proud of it and hopefully, I can find some time to make more. What I love most about this shoe is the rubber sole fabric a salesperson at Fabricland showed me. Don't they look like little baby Toms shoes?

Sephora by OPI: Sample Sale

2011-09-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to my nail challenge. Earlier this year, I started to go through the 18 piece set of nail polish I got from my sister-in-law for Christmas. I wanted to test out one polish a week. Well, I started with the light colours in the winter and by the time I got to Sample Sale, it was summer time. I just can't wear dark colours in gorgeous sunny weather so I took a break. Now that the cool weather is upon us, I am going to pick up where I left off.

Sample Sale is a nice deep red but look what happens when you add some Sephora by OPI Blasted Gold...

Doesn't it look so much better? Okay, I'm a little obsessed with adding Blasted Gold to every colour I wear but I just love the look.

Nail tip #11

To get added moisturizing benefits, take time to massage oil or cream right into the nail bed using small, circular motions. Try using Rosebud Salve, olive oil or Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream. This trick is great to do before going to sleep.

Last day of summer - my summer recap

2011-09-23T20:13:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was officially the last day of summer, although it felt like summer left us last week. I am not quite ready for Autumn, actually I am not a fan of the cold so I am dreading the long winter ahead of us. Today as we welcome the first day of Fall, I want to look back on my summer of '11.

Favorite food - chips and salsa
Favorite drink - Pornstar shots (at Vogue Supper Club)
Favorite song - Give Me Everything, Pitbull and Ne-Yo
Favorite TV show -Entourage
Favorite hairstyle - Fishtail side braid
Favorite nail polish - gold with black shattered
Favorite beauty item -Inglot AMC gel eyeliner
Favorite hangout - Alice Fazooli's patio on Thursday nights ($4 Stellas)
Favorite summer read - The Help

Some of my memorable moments:

My mom's month long visit
Trip to Punta Cana with Mike to celebrate our 5 year anniversary
Trip to Las Vegas with Maur, Kat, Steph, Elisse and Reni
Ponce Pool Parties

Hope you also had a wonderful summer! What are some of your summer favorites and most memorable moments?

What I received: Favorite Things Swap

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

Back at the end of August, I joined Leeann's Favorite Things swap over at Join the Gossip. I was paired up with Shutterbug at thingamajig. Before I show you what she sent me, please check out her blog. She's got quite an interesting concept. She takes a photo and supersizes it. You need to guess what it is by leaving a comment. I love playing along, it really get my brain thinking.

Thanks Shutterbug for the lovely pens, luggage tag and mascara (which I can't wait to try). I hope you receive the package I sent to you and like what I got you.

blog and twitter friends

2011-09-21T07:14:00.000-04:00

I recently read a post about blog friends over at the little things we do. I have been wanting to write about this topic for a while. What pushed me to write it was a conversation I had last Friday with an old friend/new friend.

Let's call this old friend/new friend, N. I call her an old friend because I have known her for maybe 10 years now but I also call her a new friend because of Twitter. We got reacquainted through Twitter and now we know what is going on each other's lives without having to call or email one another. We went to a bar for happy hour two Fridays ago and since we were the first to arrive, we got to catch up. We also got into a discussion how Twitter is awesome because it connects you to people you don't see on the regular and now suddenly get to see them regularly. It's a quick way to communicate and even make plans, and because of this, I got to see her twice in the span of one week. I also said to her that I feel like I am starting to find it difficult to connect with people who are not on Twitter. It's almost like, I want everyone to join. I honestly think people are intimidated by this social media tool because 1) they don't know how to use it and 2) they really don't see the benefits of it. I love Twitter for many reason but I'll save that for another day, another post. So now that I have connected with N again, I foresee many more drunken nights.

@mo_par, @ness3, @vodka_and_soda and me (missing: @SRowena)

Okay, with that story out of the way, I am going to go on to blogging and then I will talk about Twitter more.

BLOGGING

I know not everyone has the time to blog. It's time consuming, heck, it's like another full time job. But if only people knew how many wonderful bloggers they would come across, maybe more people would blog. There are blogs that have a certain niche. Then there are others that blog about anything and everything (I fall into this category) but yet, there are people out there who find me somewhat interesting and continue to come back to read about what I have to say. I have loyal followers and also random commenters.

There are bloggers who are your real life friends and suddenly decide to blog and then you have bloggers that you follow, who you end up meeting and can now call them real life friends. I have had the pleasure of meeting two bloggers in Vegas, inHERshoes and FurElisse and because of this first blogger meet up, I am looking forward to plenty more in my near future.

If I ever get to California again, I must try and meet Join The Gossip, Bicoastally, a little kasey love, Linny's Vault and life is bananas.
If my path in life leads me to Texas one day, I need to meet the twinkies - Dolce Vita and Royal Mail
When I make my next visit to Vancouver, Solo Lisa, Life's Fascinations and Sam Made, I am setting up a date to meet each one of you.
A blogger who lives a mere drive away from me, Better Than Coffee is on my list. I will need to have coffee with her and discuss Vampire Diaries.
And lastly, two important bloggers I definitely need to meet, Fab Brunette - one of the first blogs I started commenting on and she inspired me to blog more and the little things we do - the creator behind Fill in the Blank Fridays, because of her, I have gained new followers to my blog.

If I did not mention you but we have emailed and commented a few times, it's not that I don't want to meet you. I do certainly do but trust me when I was that my meet up list could go on forever.

TWITTER

To my surprise, my sister-in-law suddenly joined Twitter and I would like to say that she's pretty addicted. She even bought the same app that Mike and I use. I asked her what made her join since we have been telling her about it for a couple years now and she said, "One night I just wanted to check it out". Meanwhile, her husband tried Twitter and just realized it wasn't for him. At least he didn't knock it before trying it. That's what bugs me about most people, they don't want to try it before making a solid decision about it. This social media tool is a great way to communicate with companies. My favorite tea company, David's Tea, is very hands-on with Twitter. Whenever I mention them with a question, they reply. With some companies you get great customer service, almost better service than if you were to call on the phone to complain. This is one of the reason why I like Twitter but I also like that it's a place where I can communicate with old friends or acquaintances I don't see often. I know what some of my friends are doing on the daily and I know what's going on in their lives. Sure, we may have lost the personal communication but with everyone's busy lives, at least we are still keeping in touch - just on a different level.

Now because of Twitter, years would probably go by before I would see N again. I use to hear about her every now and then because of mutual friends but now I feel like we have re-connected. If I were on Facebook, would we have started to hanging out again? I'm not quite sure and I will never find out (because I'll never join). But N claims that Facebook doesn't bring people together like Twitter. I'll just take her word for it.

Monday Memories: Swan's Crossing

2011-09-19T12:08:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the bad photo, this show is anicent... {via}

With all these new shows starting this season, I can't help but think of a show I watched back in the summer of 1992. What triggered this memory was seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar come back to television with her new show, The Ringer. Although I was never a Buffy fan, I do remember this show, Swan's Crossing - it was like a soap opera for teens. I spent most of that summer in Edmonton watch this show in my grandmother's apartment in the nursing home she lived in.

10 Day You Challenge - 4 books

2011-09-14T12:27:00.000-04:00

How do you narrow it down to four books? Be forewarned that I do not read those life-changing, serious books. I like to keep it fun and light so here are my four fun favorite books.

Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Love the One You're With, Emily Giffin
My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands, Chelsea Handler

If you want to know what other books I've read, check out my Goodreads profile and maybe add me as a friend.

What's up with me...

2011-09-08T20:28:00.001-04:00

I know I last posted on Tuesday but I will admit, the last couple of posts were all scheduled posts. I was inspired over the weekend. Anyway, here are some tidbit with what's been going on with me...

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Guess where I will be spending Christmas??? Yup, New York City. It will be my first time ever going to NYC. I'm excited but not that excited yet because it's still months away. If you have been reading my blog, you will know that I am not a fan of Christmas. I dread the day and I usually end up crying at some point on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. To fix this, hubby thinks that I should experience Christmas in New York and maybe it will change my feelings about the holidays. So if you live in New York or have been to New York, please leave me a comment on suggestions for shopping, tourist attractions or restaurants we should go to.

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I signed up for yet another swap. I joined Join the Gossip's Favorite Things Swap and received my swap partner's info on the weekend. I almost have the package ready to go. But I just signed up for Kaileen Elise's Sparkle Swap. It's not too late to join, just sign up by Saturday. I also am signed up for the 3rd Annual Tea Trade over at Gussying up the Tuttle - you still have some time to sign up! So, yes, I love joining swaps. It's a great way to meet new bloggers and receive some cool things via snail mail. I have only had one bad experience with a book swap. I sent over books to my swap partner but never received anything in return. I even followed up and emailed my partner to see if she received my books but no answer. That's okay, it's not going to deter me from joining other swaps/exchanges.

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I signed up for an introductory sewing class at The Sewing Studio. I start on Monday and once I complete the eight classes, I can cross off another one off my 34 for 34 list and will leave with a zippered pouch, drawstring bag and a custom design skirt. I'm so excited and I am glad I got the courage to take a class on my own.

I saw The Help over the long weekend and it was a great movie. I would definitely read the book first and if you are wondering, the movie probably follows the book 90% to the tee. My hubby watched it with me and he couldn't stop raving how good of a movie it was. Before the movie, I saw some trailers of movies that I must see - Breaking Dawn (Part 1), New Year's Eve and The Vow.

Now in other boring kind of news...a team member of my department resigned today. My boss hasn't announced it but my colleague told me while I was getting some coffee in the kitchen. But really, I knew all along that she was going on interviews. Good for her. She needed to get out of there. I now need to gear myself up that in two weeks time, it will be hectic at work because I will have to start doing some of her job which is entering registrations. Fun <-- in the most sarcastic tone ever.

Lastly, let me tell you that Zico Coconut Water (in mango or pina tropicale) mixed with orange juice is awesome. Healthy and refreshing.

p.s. I added a new page tab up at the top. I am starting to compile a list of restaurants I want to go to, you know a resto bucket list. Do you have one?

10 Day You Challenge - 5 foods

2011-09-06T04:44:00.000-04:00

With food, photos will suffice, no need for an explanation or description.


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Nail Art: white picket fence

2011-09-04T04:12:00.000-04:00

I asked my husband, "what do you call this nail design?"

His answer: White Picket Fence

--- I'll go with that.

I did my nails quickly while watching Jersey Shore one Thursday night and I couldn't think of anything creative so I applied the criss-cross pattern and then added Cheeky Monkey Dancing Queen. I am not very pleased with the application, it's all crooked but as they say, practice makes perfect.

Pet Peeve: racerback tanks and visible bra straps

2011-09-03T10:54:00.000-04:00

{via}

It ABSOLUTELY irks me when I see women wear a racer back tank top and they have visible bra straps. Do they not know that they have racer back bras or contraptions that will turn a regular bar into a racerback one? This is like wearing a bra with straps with a strapless top. You wouldn't do that so why do it with a racerback???

Fill in the Blank Friday (Sep 2)

2011-09-02T23:09:00.001-04:00

With only an hour left before Saturday arrives, I just completed today's Fill in the Blank Friday. To join in the fun, stop by Lauren's blog. Have a great weekend everyone and I think for most of us, it's a long weekend.

1. One thing that is completely superfluous, but that I could never give up is buying accessories. I have plenty, I don't need anymore but I just keep buying to add to my collection.

2. Good looking guys make me feel awkward.

3. I can't leave the house without, my sunglasses . My eyes are super sensitive to light now. When I was in Vegas and forgot my sunglasses in the hotel, I was freaking out and wanted to buy a new pair right away. Thankfully Maureen let me wear hers.

4. Cool ranch Doritos is my favorite snack.

5. Lately I've been drinking coffee a lot. I don't know if it's because I don't sleep enough but I am starting to crave for coffee.

6. If at first you don't succeed, don't be a quitter like me. Someone needs to teach me how to dust myself off and try again. (Aaliyah reference, may she rest in peace)

7. Fall is not my favorite season because it means winter is around the corner. I feel like an outcast saying this because everyone tells me how much they LOVE Fall.

August confessions

2011-08-31T09:56:00.000-04:00

I'm addicted to Jersey Shore and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

I'm embarrassed to be in a bikini in front of my friends so when we went to our friend's pool party, once I got in the pool, I stayed in the pool.

I'm obsessed with Ryan Gosling after seeing him in Crazy, Stupid, Love. If you haven't seen the movie, GO NOW!

Someone is driving me crazy. This person is mental and has no common sense, compassion or any understanding of how to be a decent person.

I didn't workout once this month but I still did short, quick exercises while watching TV. I also did a lot of walking.

I've relied on coffee one too many times this month.

I'm excited Chad Michael Murray is coming back to One Tree Hill for guest appearances in season 9. Looks like I'm not yet crossing this show off my list.

Dancing in the aisle at Bouclair with my husband puts a smile on my face. I regret though not Shazam-ing the song we were dancing to.

Very jealous of Lil Wayne's tight leopard print pants and Bieber's combo of red skinny jeans and leopard shoes.

10 Day You Challenge - 6 places

2011-08-27T20:04:00.002-04:00

Punta Cana. It's my home away from home. Love the culture, people, food and especially the beaches. After going here six times, it begins to feel like we just belong in Punta Cana. My hubby and I dream about living there. We consistently look at homes near the beach.
San Jose/San Francisco. My mom and stepdad live in San Jose and my favorite cousin (we are the same age) live in this area of California. I don't get to visit that often but when I do, it's always a ton of fun. There is still so much I want to explore in both cities.
Ponce Pool. My dear friends, Jes and Richie bought a beautiful house last year that has an in ground pool in their backyard. I've only been there twice this summer but it's my new favorite place to hang out now in the summertime.
DD Cottage. My hubby's best friend and his GF are like our only couple friends who don't have kids. So when they invite us over, they normally kidnap us and hold us captive for the entire weekend. We drink delicious sangria and watch movies until we fall asleep on the couch. We eat lots of good food and just always have a good time. Most of the time us girls go out shopping and leave the boys to watch their stupid horror movies.
Las Vegas. I love this city and it's mainly because I feel like a carefree person when I am there. I want to go back again soon because it's like the good old days, plus, I can actually party until the wee hours of the night. I know that they say three nights is enough but I honestly could have used one more day and night when I was there in July.
Jamaica. I won't lie, for years, I was terrified of going to Jamaica and it wasn't until two other couple decided to go on vacation with us but we all wanted to go somewhere where most of us haven't been too. So we went and guess what, I LOVED IT. The food, the people and the island time of life in general. I felt that I really got to relax because everyone moved at such a slow pace. I need to go back. Stat.

Top: Punta Cana and Las Vegas, Bottom: Jamaica and San Francisco

Happy 30th birthday Gino!

2011-08-26T06:18:00.000-04:00

Today, Gino would have been 30. It's still such a tragedy that my brother decided he could not live on this earth anymore. He was so young with so much still ahead of him to live for. The last birthday I spent with him was his champagne birthday, on August 26, 2007 for his 26th birthday. 10 months later he passed away. I am glad that I will always have the memory that I got the chance to spend his last birthday with him. He was in the company of great friends and I know that he had a good time. I only wish that I had spent many more birthdays with him. I also remember him asking Mike and I to come out to Afterlife (a club downtown) to celebrate one of his birthday, maybe it was 23 or some young age. I am pretty sure if Gino was alive today, he would be spending it in Vegas with his friends. I know he has always wanted to go and I'm pretty sure most of his friends haven't been themselves.

So to my brother, wherever you are, Happy Birthday!!! I will celebrate in your usual style with your friends this evening. Since you left, they have somewhat designated me to always bring the jello shots. I guess they wanted me to take over your job.

I don't have many photos with my brother. This was taken at my wedding. I do remember that someone at his party for his champagne birthday took a couple of photos of us. Sadly, she never sent them to me =(

CNE 2011

2011-08-25T21:05:00.001-04:00

On my day off today, I went to the Canadian National Exhibition. I try to go once a year but last year, I am pretty sure Mike and I didn't go because we were in Jamaica. Anyway, I got my admission pass through Air Miles and off I went on the GO Train to the EX. Oh ya, I went by myself...

I didn't think I would be there that long considering I'm by myself, I had no one to share food with and no one to drag me to certain attractions but I was there for four hours. Kinda shocked me! I did go to the Food building, the Arts & Crafts building, the Home and International Pavilion. I also watched the 2:00 pm show of Beyond Broadway: Aerial Acrobatics & Ice Skating Show. All in all, I had fun just walking around. I talked to a lot of vendors (the pierogi lady shared her secret recipe for her cabbage rolls and her butter sauce for the pierogis) and I also got compliments on my outfit and sunglasses (hey, it totally made my day).

I am getting use to doing things alone (and not waiting to find someone to go with me), first going to the movies, then CNE, next step is to have dinner on my own. Anyway, here are a few photos from my day. I didn't snap a picture of the three dozen Tiny Tom donuts I bought before I left CNE. Let me just tell you that Cinnamon is my favorite. Also, if you want to know, the Deep Fried Oreo was yummy and my favorite of this year. Two years ago, it was Taco in a Bag.

Food building. Love the animal print foot massage things but I would never use them.

Deep fried Oreo. Go to the booth on the grounds besides Strikers, they sell for $2. The booth at the food building sells it for $5.

with chocolate sauce and icing sugar

yummy goodness

I found the place that sells deep fried mac and cheese

a little too much for me. I only ate one

sand sculptures - this was the most interesting one

Singing, aerial acrobatics and ice skating

this game freaks me out!

If I was good at games, I would want to win this for Mike

waiting to take the train home before it rains

Rooting for a football team

2011-08-24T09:12:00.000-04:00

After reading some recent posts from Chick 101 - Football for Girls, I decided I need to find a team to follow. I could choose a team that fellow bloggers are a fan of, or choose one that Mr. Dee or SFT or my cousin likes. I could root for the Jets who is a favorite of my father-in-law and brother-in-law but what fun would that be at their house if we are all cheering for the same team? I could also use this guide to help me decide:


Click to enlarge {via}

So, the reason I have to pick a team to root for soon is because my mom is going to pick me up a t-shirt (the jersey is too much $$) from Victoria Secrets (so what, I think their stuff is cute) of the team of my choice. BUT I have to tell her by Friday. Oh the pressure!!! So readers, help me decide. What team should I root for?

This collage has a few of the shirts/jerseys I like. Mr. Dee and SFT's team is included in the collage, along with my cousin's team and two other teams that fellow bloggers are fans of. The others, well, I just like them because of the colour combos (such a chick thing to say).

Who is your favorite team and why do you like them?

3rd annual tea trade at Gussying Up the Tuttle

2011-08-23T14:33:00.000-04:00

Last year I signed up for Gussying Up the Tuttle's tea trade and it's that time of year for her 3rd annual Tea Trade. I received a lovely package from Chelsea B last year, the tea she sent me was delicious.

So, if you are a tea lover, don't forget to sign up before September 15.

Monday Memories: Bedtime and pager greeting

2011-08-22T06:09:00.007-04:00

Do you remember back in the day when you had a pager? Did you ever ask someone to do your pager greeting? When Mike and I first started dating, I would always ask him to do my pager greeting, more specifically, I would ask him to sing Bedtime by Usher.

4 year blogiversary!!!

2011-08-21T12:45:00.000-04:00

{via weheartit}

That's right, I have been blogging for four years now. It probably wasn't only until maybe late 2009 that I actually started to receive comments and have followers/readers. I never intended to have readers, I mainly started this blog as an online journal, now four years later through my blog, I have met bloggers in real life, found a way to keep my mom in the loop of what's going on in my life, express my sadness when my brother passed away and won plenty of giveaways. It's really just fun to be part of the blogging community. People who don't blog, don't understand or get how you can have blogger friends. I don't ever feel the need to explain to them because if you are a blogger, you know what's it's like to be accepted by a wonderful group, especially at times you don't feel like you fit in with your friends or just seem a little lost in life. My followers are a great bunch who support and care for me as if I were their family and because of them, I am truly grateful.

I didn't want to make a big deal of today. I thought about doing a giveaway, some posts leading up to my four year blogiversary but instead I thought it would be nice to just reflect on what I have written about since August 21, 2007. I'm going to share with you some posts throughout the years.

My first three posts on August 21, 2007:

This isn't the first time

travel & jewelry

How sweet it is to be loved by you

Asides from a giveaway post, the post with the most comments (June 13, 2011):

Back from Now Larimar (Punta Cana)

Series I started:

Blog Friend Fridays

Monday Memories

Nail Polish Challenge

Hardest post to write (July 29, 2009):

Reflection - one year later (Part 1)

Surprisingly, the post with the most amount of page views:

Can't get enough of SoA

My first blogger meet up (July 8-11, 2011):

Asian Sensation: Las Vegas, here we come!

My first tweet up dinner (August 6, 2010):

Origin Restaurant- tweet up dinner

Some random facts about me:

Part One

Part Two

So there you have it, a little blast from my past blogging. I'll leave now saying that if you have been following my blog for some time now - Thank you with a big hug and I hope you continue to follow me and my life's escapades. If you are new to my blog, I hope you find something interesting about this blog and keep coming back.

p.s. when I told my husband that today was my 4 year blogiversary, he laughed at me!

me time

2011-08-19T09:41:00.003-04:00

This is my third day off this week. I had Monday, yesterday and now today off. As much I would have love to be away, I am broke and can't afford to go on a short trip to a city or even to Mexico with my sister-in-law and her family. I had opportunities to accompany a friend to her work site visits across Ontario but my days off don't coincide with the days she is going on these site visits. So I'm stuck in my city, in my condo, but hey, I don't mind. I am well-rested. Here's what I did this week:

*I watched Red Riding Hood, some old episodes of Entourage, Friday Night Lights, Sons of Anarchy and Lipstick Jungle and today, I am going to the theatre to watch One Day. I am not sure if I mentioned it but I didn't enjoy reading One Day so I am going to check out the movie to see if it's better.

*On Tuesday after work, I got to spend some time with my BFF, Stephanie. I love that her studio is downtown because I get to see her more often than before. We have been friends since 1998 and from 2002-2004 we worked at the same firm and even sat right next to each other. When she moved to Ajax, we saw each other less frequently but it didn't put a damper on our friendship. I met her at her studio and she took me to Blushberry so I could finally try their frozen yogurt I kept reading about on Twitter. I opted to not be so daring since it's my first time. I got chocolate froyo with Cap'n Crunch and Stephanie also got chocolate froyo with walnuts. I can't wait to go back and try their fruit snow and different combination with the froyo and toppings. I have to admit, their chocolate froyo is much better than Pinkberry's, which is super chocolatey.

Queen St. and John St.


Chocolate froyo goodness

*Last night I painted my nails. This week I was smart to give my nails a rest not only because I have been painting them constantly but also because I had lots of filing to do at work. This week's inspiration is from Lindsay over at Something Fancy. I love the polish with glitter tips look. While Lindsay went with khaki and gold, I went with butterLondon's Tea with the Queen and Sephora by OPI's Traffic-Stopper Copper.

the glitter looks gold in this photo but it's really a rose gold

*So with the NFL starting back up again, I had to confirm with my secret football tutor (let's call him SFT from now on) when the season will start. He told me that pre-season games have started as of August 12, looks like I am going to have to re-read my favorite Football for Chicks blog and get all the terminology right. I am by no means a sports fanatic. There's a lot I don't know and I usually end up asking a lot of dumb questions. Thankfully SFT and Mr. Dee are very patient and take the time to explain things like the rules and players to me.

It's time for me to get ready and start off my day. Hope everyone has a nice weekend whatever you are doing. I can't believe that there are only a couple of weekends left before September hits. Where the heck did summer go?

p.s. I had Popeye's chicken on Wednesday night. I normally don't eat crap like that but let me tell you how delicious it was, especially when I dipped the chicken in their hot Louisiana sauce.

top 3 underrated tv shows

2011-08-18T01:48:00.002-04:00

Sometimes you get so involved with a show and wonder if there are other people out there who watch the same show because it doesn't seem as popular with the lack of advertising. Here are three shows that I think are or were underrated:

Sons of Anarchy.

I first heard about Sons of Anarchy through Joel Madden's twitter. He raved about this show and I had no idea what it was. Then my hubby found a couple episodes from the first season and we were hooked. So hooked we watched the whole season in one weekend. I think most people who we recommend the show to, end up doing the same thing. Who would have thought that we would get addicted to a show about a motorcycle gang? But SAMCRO is a bad-ass gang who no one should ever test. If you mess with them, they will f*ck you up! The show follows Jax Teller and the rest of the guys from the biker club. Jax may be the sexiest biker but I do like Opie and Juice. Tigs is pretty hilarious and Gemma, well, Gemma is Gemma and thank god Katey Sagal won an Golden Globe for her character. Season Four starts this September and luckily for us Canadians, we are getting FX in November so we can keep up with the show. I think that it's underrated here in Canada and so unknown because we don't even get the darn channel. Well, it's all about to change.

Friday Night Lights.

Five seasons in, the best damn show ever and they cancel it, well, ended it. I can't remember what network it was originally on but after almost canceling it, DirecTV bought it. And then NBC would show it after the current season airs. Again, I found the first season and spent one weekend plowing through it. My hubby got addicted too so we spent many nights watching a few episodes before going bed. We even brought season three with us to Cuba in 2009 and watched the whole boxed set every night when we got back to our room. Friday Night Lights is based on the movie with the same title. It follows the Dillon Panthers and the people in the town of Dillon. Yes, it's a football show. I have this thing for football movies and shows and ironically, I don't know a thing about the sport. I only started to watch the NFL this year before Super Bowl. Anyway, Coach Taylor is my favorite character and I love his relationship with his wife, Tami and his daughter Julie. There's also some serious eye candy on the show through the five season - Tim Riggins, Matt Saracen, Luke Cafferty, etc...This show has taught me a lot about football and relationships so I was pretty upset to hear when they were going to end it after season five. I will say they tastefully ended the series and gave full closure to all story lines. From what I hear, they may be making a movie with my beloved Coach Taylor and Tami and of course, I will go and watch it. I wish more people, including myself watched FNL when it was actually on TV during the first season, maybe they would have had more seasons but the problem is, high school TV shows can't go on forever unless you continue in college (like Beverly Hills, 90210) or you can fast forward a couple of years but then it just ends up not making any sense and drags on forever (like One Tree Hill). Even though I would have liked more seasons, it ended on a high note and with perfect timing.

Lipstick Jungle.

We only had a season and a half with Wendy, Nico and Victory. We got to enjoy gorgeous fashion, an intense relationship with Nico and Kirby (Robert Buckley) and the backdrop of New York. This show came at the perfect time...Sex and the City just ended and although we all knew nothing could ever replace Carrie and the girls, I feel Lipstick Jungle could have come close. At least Lipstick Jungle had a longer shelf life than Cashmere Mafia. I can recall the network wanting to cancel and people were actually petitioning it. I just don't know why they didn't continue filming. I loved seeing Lindsay Price each week, this woman is a beauty and I loved how she portrayed a fashion designer. All the woman played strong powerful working woman roles and that's what I loved about the show. I honestly wish this show went on but at least, I will always have the first season and half of season two to watch over and over again.

What are your underrated TV shows?

10 Day You Challenge - 7 wants

2011-08-17T00:18:00.003-04:00

I thought I would skip the obvious, world peace, win the lottery, look gorgeous, be taller, etc...here's what I want right now.

Beach house in Punta Cana. I heart Punta Cana. My hubby and I would like to live there one day. I am already eyeing the house that I want to live in when we move there. Wouldn't it be great to live right on the beach?
Debt-free. I am tired of credit card debt. The mortgage I can handle but I need to smarten up on my wild spending and concentrate on getting rid of my debt so I can move to Punta Cana.
LED TV and couch.We have had the same couch and TV since we moved into our condo in 2006. The couch is worn out and getting uncomfortable. The TV has a huge shadow on the left side of the screen. Damn you Samsung!
Another vacation. Yeah, yeah, I know I just came back from Vegas and went to Cuba in April and Dominican Republic in June but I so could use another vacation right now. Am I being greedy and selfish? Heck yes!
Lose five pounds. I know I am skinny (more like my limbs are skinny but I have a muffin top), well, more like skinny fat but honestly, if I just lose five more pounds, my clothes will fit better. I hate being stuck in between sizes. If I start to work out again, I can get into the shape and weight I want. I'm just lazy.
New iPhone. Maybe the iPhone 5 when it comes out. It's either I stick with my 3Gs and get a compact digital camera that's tiny and can fit in my bag or get a new iPhone. I am tired of crappy pictures for my blog.
My brother alive and with us. I would give up all the other things I just said to have my brother here today. He was gone too soon and I would give anything to see him again.

Beauty Board: Summer Loving

2011-08-16T23:55:00.002-04:00

BlushPretty, the most awesome makeup artist in the GTA and also my fabulous BFF had her 5th Beauty Board this past Sunday. If you are unfamiliar with Beauty Board 1) you are missing out and 2) you can check out some of my other Beauty Board posts here, here, here and here. This fun event is definitely for the beauty junkie, not only can you test of some great products that are hot on the market, you get to network, listen to great tunes, eat delicious food, sip on cocktails and leave with an amazing swag bag. Check out all the goodies I received (okay, some of the things in the photo I bought - Cheeky Monkey nail polish and Consonant Body face wash - and some I won from buying raffle tickets).

my goodies

Now after all the testing and reviewing, I got the chance to shop around and also meet a couple of bloggers/tweeters. I forgot to bring my camera, so I was stuck taking crappy photos with my ghetto iPhone.

Stella & Dot

Featherbands

Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics

Revolution Organic

Consonant Body

I really like the networking aspect of Beauty Board, after all, we know that all ladies attending this event have something in common - we all LOVE beauty products. Two of my favorite companies, Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics and Consonant Body were both on hand and ready for questions. Andrea from Cheeky Monkey rocked the board with her tape to try on polishes. I am sure everyone in the room left with purchasing at least two bottles and Kristina at Consonant Body had some awesome deals going on with their products. So, of course, I had to stockpiles with the deals they were offering up at Beauty Board. Who could go wrong with $10 nail polishes and organic foaming face wash.

Other companies at the event, Vasanti, CoverGirl, Dalish Cosmetics, Revolution Organic, Avon|Mark, Stella & Dot and Featherbands. Check out BlushPretty's site in the next couple of day, I am sure she will have a full report on her successful event.

I had the lovely pleasure of meeting Elaine from Toronto Beauty Reviews, Donna from Makeup by Donna Marie and Keltie from chit chat, this and that.

me, Keltie and Kat

me and Maureen

I had a great time and I want to thank Stephanie from BlushPretty again for putting on such a fantastic event. Also thanks to my partner-in-crime, Maureen who I went with to Beauty Board with and helped her win the scavenger hunt. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, we can't wait until the next one!!!

help me!!!!

2011-08-13T10:12:00.003-04:00

Does anyone know why my right sidebar is appearing on the bottom of my blog page? I check in Template Designer and I have it checked off to appear on the right. This boggles my mind. I just don't get it and I am using the most simple template. Maybe I need someone to design a new blog layout for me. Anyone up for a challenge? Or can anyone at least tell me why my blog template is acting up?

UPDATE: I went to the Blogger Help Forum and found this answer and it seriously worked!

"Open your last post in the editor and re-publish it. If this doesn't work open it, use the Edit HTML tab and add at the end of your post and re-publish your post"

Foxy Originals

2011-08-13T09:52:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago, my coworker told me that Foxy Originals was promoting a free shipping promo for three days. I jumped at the chance to order some new jewelry. I was going a little crazy ordering too many things because they were offering a cute blue jewelry roll if you spend $100 or more. I know that I really didn't need to be spending that much so I decided on two pieces - a ring and earrings. I placed my order on a Friday and by Thursday the following week, I received a great looking package at work. Talk about fast, FREE shipping.

I love their packaging, it's so pretty. I choose the cubic earrings and sahara ring. I am in love with both pieces. I can't wait to go to their booth if they are at the One of a Kind Show again in December. I will for sure buy more because they have pretty good deals at the show.