katy and russell.

I KNOW I should be doing more important things with my life, like, *ahem* working.. but look at how cute these two are!!


He's so dirty, and she's so, I don't know, corrupted.. a preacher's daughter-turned-megastar dating a man who regularly talks to thousands of people about his former sexcapades and drug problems.. I love it. Look at the leather! They're so edgy!

So cute.

weekend!

Weekend. What a glorious word!

Even more glorious if the weekend happens to coincide with a birthday, and even more lucky if birthday presents come in the form of Christmas related objects: seeing A Christmas Carol in 3D, browsing through a craft fair (peppermint bath bombs! yum!), watching the parade of lights and then enjoying hot chocolate with family, and receiving (among other things!) a baking sheet to make Christmas cookies on!! I have never been more excited to hang out in the kitchen.

Also, a bajillion facebook happy birthdays. While some may think receiving mail is more formal (I guess it is.. but I always throw out birthday cards and then feel bad about it..), I like emails, ecards, and networking sites better - less waste! Thanks everyone!

somebody's normal.

I watched the SATC movie again last night, I love that movie so much. It is because of movies like this that I truly believe that someday I will be able to afford $400 shoes and $1000 purses.

And I know this was a movie... and every move and word is crafted to make me feel a certain way.. but with a boyfriend 300 kms away...I got jealous that this was somebody's normal.

treasure hunting.

I am now the proud owner of a vintage authentic mink fur stole.

The irony of my last blog post title has not escaped me.

thrift store grandmother.

I have started putting up some Christmas decorations, my first Christmas decorations for my first apartment! I am enjoying a quiet night at home tonight, knitting and drinking tea. I am truly in touch with my inner grandmother.

I found this incredible blog today written by a high school student named Jane, called "Sea of Shoes". She has exquisite and expensive taste for such a young woman, and has been featured in Vogue. I cannot get over her fantastic thrift store finds, and she manages to obtain high end designer shoes for ridiculously discounted prices. THIS is the kind of Sherlock I'd like to be!

Some examples of her finds:


This girl is beautiful! She was born for this industry!

http://seaofshoes.typepad.com/sea_of_shoes/

So tomorrow, I am thrift store shopping. I don't think I'll find any Prada or Balenciaga, but a girl can hope, right?

wordy.

So it's mid-November, and I haven't done a recap of my October goals. Here goes!


- Read the biography of someone I find inspiring - BUST
Let's face it, I got through 30 pages of the Alfred Nobel book and I was falling asleep.. much too boring. I do, however, now know that there is a basement level to the library (who knew?) and plan on visiting there more often.


- Go on a road trip to somewhere I've never been before - SUCCESS
This one I completed, travelling the Cabot Trail with Donnie on Thanksgiving weekend.


- Try and stay focused at work - SUCCESS
In general, I have gotten better so I will consider this one a success.


- Explore the history of the area in which I'm living - 1/2 SUCCESS?
The only thing I've done towards this goal was walk through the cemetary across from my apartment, which was an event in itself because I find cemetaries creepy. I can't for the life of me (haha...) understand how people who were once talking, walking, loving, learning, and working are now under the ground with nothing but busted down tombstones to mark their places. I did however, find the grave of a former premier of Nova Scotia.


- Find somewhere to volunteer on a regular basis - SUCCESS
I have finished the paper work I needed to get done, now the police check, and I'll be good to go.


- Exercise (cardio) three times a week - BUST
Big fail. I'm still doing pilates at work, and I'm noticing improvements in my body through this, but it's doing nothing for my cardiovascular system. I bought a Tae Bo video, but so far Billy Blanks is chillin in his case underneath my tv.. oops.


- Try one new recipe each week - SUCCESS (surprised?)
This is a success. I've made several things I haven't before, including hummus, edamame dip, squash and pumpkin soup, chocolate biscotti, homemade spicy chicken soup, and several varieties of smoothie. Yum!


4.5 out of 7.


There are six weeks until Christmas, so I'll make my next set of goals for then. Here we go:


Buy a tape measure and fat calipers and determine my measurements and body fat percentage. Pick one thing to improve on by Christmas.


Channel my inner Martha and re-learn to knit (I've got the middle part down, but casting on and off still eludes me). Pick a few mini projects and aim to be working on something when watching tv.


Choose three classes to take in January (pilates, yoga, dance classes, pottery, etc.), and have registration info all lined up and ready to go. I need to fill up my schedule because winter and I are not buddies at all, and I tend to hibernate if I don't have anything planned.


Drink 2L of water a day. I know from my past that I feel like a million bucks when I drink a lot of water, but I've been slacking lately.


Go on a road trip to somewhere else in NS that I've never been to. I finally have a car, so I'm not taking this freedom for granted!


Get all my Christmas shopping done by December 12th. Two weeks before Christmas will leave me lots of time to get into the good stuff, like decorating and baking! Woohoo!


P.S. Don't eat two large pieces of chocolate biscotti before a pilates class. Eww.

chocolate almond biscotti.

Chai Chocolate Almond Biscotti
Prep time: 15 mins. Total time: 70 min.
Makes 36 biscotti.

1/2 c. unsalted butter, @ RT
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp each ground cardamom, cinnamon, and salt
1 c. slivered almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. With an electric mixer, beat butter with sugars until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.

2. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, spices and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until blended. Stir in almonds. Shape cookie dough into 2 logs and place on prepared baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between logs. Press lightly to flatten slightly. Bake 40 mins. Remove from oven.

3. Reduce oven temperature to 325F and line a second baking sheet with parchment paper. While still warm, slice 1/2-inch biscotti on the bias with a serrated knife. Place on baking sheet. Bake 12 to 15 mins until lightly browned around the edges. Biscotti will firm up further as they cool.

Taken from an Our Compliments Inspired magazine.
____________________________________________

I made a few changes to this recipe. I used light becel margarine, pure vanilla extract, removed the ginger and cardamom (I didn't have any at the time), and added 1 tsp nutmeg and ~1/4 tsp cinnamon.

I beat the butter and sugar by hand, and I still don't have a baking sheet or parchment paper, so I used glass casserole dishes covered in tinfoil, and sprayed with cooking spray. I don't have a serrated knife, so I used a small steak knife to cut the pieces, which may have been why I ended up making, like, 15 biscotti from a recipe that says it makes 36.. oops! Needless to say, they weren't 1/2 inch thick!

I tried some tonight with coffee, and decided that I may decrease the nutmeg to 1/4 tsp (it was a bit strong) and include the ginger. Yummy though!

I may need to work on my photography skills .. also, I can't figure out how to get the time stamp off my digital camera.. another puzzle to solve!

weekend reflections.

DC arrived at 1pm on Friday, a beacon of warmth amidst the cold drizzle, snow flurries, and cloudy sky. My apartment seems much more homey with this gentleman in it.

Saturday's shopping expedition was a wild success. Need someone to go shopping with? I will be your personal shopper. I will get you different sizes. I will find you a sweet deal. I will find cozy sweaters to match with those sweet jeans. JeanS! Plural! I have waited 13 and a half months for this moment, to be your partner in crime in a crazy busy messy hip clothing store (..hip? HIP? What am I, 63?), and it met my expectations. Watch out, there will be more shopping trips :)

After a mini road trip into uncharted territory, we scouted out a flag store DC wanted to check out, and then headed home to relax for a while. Later in the evening, we headed out with the intention of checking out a restaurant.. which coincidentally didn't take reservations and didn't have a host(ess), so needless to say we didn't stay there very long.

Navigating the streets of Halifax, we wound up in a labyrinth of a shop, a veritable maze of literary art - a two story used bookstore that was packed to the rafters with more books then anywhere I've ever seen before. There were handmade shelves on top of bookshelves, extending the reach of the shelf to staggering new heights. No fancy catalogue system here - just hand written tags on shelves to identify alphabetically organized individual sections. We started out looking around together, then wound up buried in sections of our respective tastes - me in Travel, Theology, Medicine, and Science, and DC in Scotland, Sports, Political Studies - and he even managed to find a section on Serbia. We were like two starved school children, aching for a new subject to bury our noses in. Tucked in nooks and crannies were surprise chairs, ripped and torn, well worn by the bums of many curious patrons thirsty for new knowledge.

I loved it. I miss school. Really, is that a surprise to anyone?

In this weekend, I have learned (as I re-learn every time DC comes to visit) to never take anything for granted. I may be sitting on the couch playing on my laptop while he is watching Sportscentre, but the physical closeness, the simple fact that his feet are on my lap makes the experience far from ordinary. Really, we don't need much more than my apartment with a fridge full of food to make the weekend special, just each other. The jacuzzi is a nice bonus!

...but boyfriend visits are!

My apartment is clean, groceries have been bought, it's snowing outside, I'm taking the afternoon off, and I have absolutely no plans for the weekend,* except to be lazy and enjoy some time with my man.

*Okay, so I may have plans to drag him to the mall and play dress up.. shh don't tell!!

LDRs =/= fun.

Long distance relationships blow.

walk in the park.

Yesterday I went for a walk through Point Pleasant Park. It was a cloudy day, and I prefer taking photos on sunny days, but I think these ones turned out.







How anyone could live in the praries, I have no idea!! Being far away from any coast seems like a terrible idea to me :)