Inside & Out

You may remember my public declaration back in October: "I'm going to start exercising." I thought writing it for the world (or at least for the three regular readers I have) might motivate my lazy arse. t didn't.

I didn't even bother making exercise one of my new years resolutions this year because I knew I would break it but now I'm making a new promise to myself, one you've heard before: I am going to start exercising. School is finished as of friday (praising the martini will be taking place to celebrate), spring has sprung and it's time to get healthy, not just my body but my mind. I want to spend the time left before I begin teacher's college - wow that feels good to write - pampering my mind, body and spirit. Sound cheesy? Maybe so but I don't care, I intend to make the most of my free time.

A friend of mine won a gym membership at the Fireman's Fashion Show a few weeks ago and she passed it my way since the gym is right around the corner from my house. I figured this was a sign, it's time to try the dreaded gym once again. I was a gym girl for a couple years but then lost interest. I officially quit the gym a year ago, I was tired of paying a monthly fee for something I wasn't using. A few months back I considered the idea of joining the new gym near my house for a fleeting moment but figured I would likely be throwing my money away once again. Thanks to Lori's winning ticket I'm now a member and it's not costing me a cent.

I went to my first cardio/weight class Monday night and although I looked like I was about to explode (picture a panting tomato) and was sweating like a stuck pig within five minutes of starting, I felt damn good when I was done and can't wait to go to the step class tomorrow night! The facility is super small and I think that's what I like most about it, there were only six girls working out in the cardio/weight room and another six in my class when I was there Monday; I love going to classes with only a few people, there's nobody to hide behind so I push myself harder. I'm still aching from that class and every time my muscles scream at me I feel like screaming high fiving myself, but that would be weird.

I might start a new blog to keep track of my attempts at becoming healthier... we'll see. In the meantime I'm going to post weekly updates of my progress, not to bore you but to help me keep track of where I'm at.

My mental hygiene attempts over the past week have involved water. I posted here about my love of baths a month ago, that same night I ordered some of those super cute cupcake bath bombs by Feeling Smitten. I've tried two of them and so far this one is my favourite:

Frosted snowdrops = YUM.

It smelled sweet and left my body feelings smooth and silky. I figured it would dye my tub blue and was stoked when I came back 20 minutes after the tub drained to find no residue. Perfect!

I actually tried the butter cream icing pictured below first, since it wasn't my fav bomb I was pleasantly surprised with the blue baby above.

I was a wee bit disappointed with the butter cream icing. The scent of the little cake before I placed it in the bath was divine! It was faint but I still had high hopes for it, once it was in the water the aroma was barely sniffable. I thought it might have just been me so I yelled at Mike and asked him to come and take a sniff, he couldn't smell anything at all. I even made him to smell my arm after my bath and he shrugged his shoulders: nothing. There wasn't much to this one, it didn't have the same silky texture in the water as the blue bomb. Maybe it was a dud, if there was a little more scent added to it I would have enjoyed it almost as much as the silky frosted snowdrop. Hmmm, maybe next time I should order a big one! I bet that would satisfy my sweet tooth.

Speaking of my sweet tooth, I'm terribly angry with Tanya. We finally made it out for a stroll Uptown last night, it was a beautiful evening and she took me out for gelato. A new addiction, just what I need, thanks Tanya. Passion fruit and chocolate hazelnut were my choices and what a perfect combo for my first gelato experience. My taste buds spent today crying out for more but I will not give in, I will not indulge... at least not until Mike gets home from Vegas. He's going to die when he tries the chocolate hazelnut, it tastes just like Kinder Buenos and he loves those things. What will it take for me to forgive Tanya? Another stop at gelato heaven maybe?

All Buttoned Up!

While wasting time on Etsy today I had the brilliant idea of searching for buttons. I have a thing for buttons and I can't believe I didn't think of looking sooner. Here are a few of my favourite finds. Some of these puppies are super sized!

A button with polka dots? What a perfect combo. This one was made by Button Bliss.

Here are four fabulous buttons by Laura Walker of VeronicaButtons. I think the first is my absolute fav!

Finally, these funky three holed buttons by Roundrabbit.

This is...

my jewelry box.

I think this was a christmas gift from mom and dad a loooong time ago but I'm a bit fuzzy in my mind, maybe my mom will help me out with my memory lapse.

Inside is a mess of 'stuff' I wear on a regular basis... I need some new earrings. Hmmmm Etsy earring hunt anyone?

The topic for "This is..." was chosen by Anastasia

A New Look

What a relief it was to step outside today and not flinch from the cold. It finally felt like spring should today so I figured I would celebrate new beginnings (weather and personal) with a fresh look for the blog. I'm really pleased with the results, what do you think?

The last time I changed my background and header I had a few people ask me how this was done, basically I googled blogger tutorials and waded through a zillion blogs/sites until I found a few that sounded more like english than latin (I don't speak computer geek very well...yet). Let me save you the trouble of doing all that searching yourself and share some links with you.

* First things first, you'll need an account with Photobucket or Flickr in order to snag a url (web address) for the pictures you choose once you get started*

It can be confusing reading tutorials/help pages if you're not sure what the different parts of your blog are called (main, header, body, footer etc). Take a quick peek here for a simple explanation.

Split Decisionz provides a really simple (compared to others) tutorial for changing your background. Be sure to check out her other tips as well, she has some great helpful hints AND some free templates!

Free Patterns for Backgrounds *save the patterns you like to your photo sharing account and then you'll be able to access the url needed as described in the tutorial by Split Decisionz*
Squid Finger (download patterns from the site and then upload to your photo account)
Citrus Moon (right click and 'Save As' on any pattern you like, then upload to your photo account

Free Photos *sites with photos you can download for free which can be used in headers, posts etc. without worry of copyright infringement - the 'eyes' pic in my header was from one of these sites*
stock.xchng
Free Stock Photography
StockVault.net

Tips and Tricks with Blogger
Our Blogger Templates - lots of free templates to save you the trouble of creating your own and loads of tutorials and tips if you decide to take the 'do it yourself' plunge
Blog U - pretty easy to follow and he'll answer your questions!
Beta Blogger for Dummies - there is way too much info on this blog so it can be slow but if you find what you need the explanations are easy to follow

Playing with the design of your blog takes time so don't expect to make big changes super quick the first or second time you try. I'm certainly not an expert, I've spent loads of time tonight trying to figure out what html code is creating that faint blue highlighting you see below and have finally given up for now! That being said, I am fumbling my way through the process of personalizing blogs and will try to help you out if you have a problem, so please just ask!

In a Daze

Nothing could kill the mood I'm in right now. I opened my mailbox today to find the best news EVER! I am one of 70 students who have been accepted at the university I've been crossing my fingers and toes hoping to get into! It's real now, I'm going to teacher's college this September!!

I can't stop grinning and I feel like I'm floating! Life is good!

Tantalizing Tuesday

The sweetest thing I can share with you this week is found in the post below: super sweet but for hugging and kissing only, please no chomping the baby.

If you have a chocolate chip muffin lover in your household you'll have to give this recipe a shot. I have made three batches o in the last seven days, you guessed it: the man loves chocolate chip muffins - oink oink. I'm now the muffin baker extraordinaire. Thankfully it's a quick and easy recipe.

Chocolate Chip Mmmmuffins
found on my latest 'great find' recipe site: RecipeZaar

What you need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup light-brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
optional: 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Grease 12 muffin tins
3. In a large bowl stir together dry ingredients
4. In another bowl mix together wet ingredients
5. Make a well in center of dry stuff and add the wet, stir just until it's combined - don't go crazy!
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes
8. Remove muffins tin to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes
9. Remove muffins from tin to finish cooling
10. Serve warm! Super delish.

The only thing that makes me go 'meh' about these muffins is the fact that they are pretty dense, more like a scone than a muffin. The positive to that is that the chocolate chips float throughout the muffin rather than sinking to the bottom.

Apparently I'll be making chocolate chip muffins on a weekly basis now, does anyone have any good choc. chip muffin recipes?

Perfection!

I have had such a great few weeks and it has been topped off with an unexpected visit from Cara! I thought I was going to have to wait until May to meet my new niece - niece not by blood or marriage but by love and friendship - but thanks to Herwig having to head this way for business Cara came home much sooner! Yay! Of course she brought Miss. Rosemarie Olivia Anna, aka Rosie, along for the ride!

I'm smitten. She's perfect and I can't stop staring at her.

Truly a beautiful baby girl... and I think she likes me! I had Cara and Rosie all to myself last night and enjoyed every single minute of our time together.

Here's the fabulous mama and her little nut! Cara I'm so proud of you, you're such a good mom!

This shot makes me laugh, the flash was a little too bright I think.

Take a good look at this face ladies and gentlemen because she's destined for greatness!

Fab Clutch

I fell for some fabric today!

As soon as I saw it I knew what project it was meant for: the cute little clutch from Amy Carol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing!

I'm so happy with how this turned out. I made it a tiny bit bigger than the pattern recommended and it fits my long wallet perfectly.

I LOVE SEWING!

Here's the back end:

It's a soft clutch, the cotton flannel facing gives it shape and thankfully some cush too so my blackberry won't be bashed around.

What do you think?!

This is...

the contents of my handbag.

For the last few months I haven't been carrying a purse, my pockets have replaced my handbag. The positive bits of having no purse: I've managed to limit the amount of unnecessary items I have on my body and I've had one less bulky thing to worry about while trudging through the snow this winter. The main negative is the daily hunt through the closet to find my blackberry, lipstick, MAC lip glass and wallet, I never remember what coat I wore last and half the time they're spread between pockets and sometimes between coats.

Soon spring weather will arrive and I won't have the pocket room that I do now so it's time I get back into purse mode. What's that pretty splash of colour beneath my pocket contents you ask? Read my next post to find out!

"This is..." theme for this week chosen by Iris & Lily.

Ladies Were on Fire!

What a fabulous night I had with the girls! Six of my amazing girlfriends joined me for dinner at my place and following that we headed to a nearby club where we met up with a few other girls and watched a pile of handsome firemen strut their stuff at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind's 3rd annual Hot Night in The City fundraiser. What a blast!!

By sending an email to the organizer in advance to ask if there was any chance I could reserve seats I managed to snag 12 seats in the second row! We were close enough to get clear views of the models yet far enough away to avoid being yanked out of our seats and up on stage (first row was hauled up for dancing).

I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. I'll definitely be attending next year and intend to drag along an additional row of girlfriends (that includes you mom).

While I was checking out the latest fashions on some fine looking displays, Mike was in New Orleans at Emeril's restaurant (which apparently has an 8 week waiting list)!! Seriously, what are the chances of that?! He didn't even make reservations in advance, he arrived in New Orleans last night and met up with a colleague, the two were chatting about basketball while waiting for the valet parking guy and a woman standing next to them slips into the conversation and tells them that she used to work for the owner of the basketball team they were discussing. They start chatting, find out she's Canadian and owns some companies in New Orleans... the next thing they know she tells them that they really have to try eating at Emeril's, but there's an eight week wait, she proceeds to place a call and BAM! Mike and his colleague have reservations at Emeril's restaurant for them and the person they were there to meet with. What the?! Talk about lucky!!

Thanks to Emeril Mike has tried a new food, one I never thought he would put near his lips: escargot! Woo hoo! He becomes braver with age, I love it.

You know where I'll be expecting to eat when we eventually make it to New Orleans together...

This is...my demon.

Etsy is one of my many demons, I spend far too much time bouncing around this fabulous site adding to my "one day..." wish list. Thankfully I have some self-control and am usually able to look and not buy, if I lacked self-control I would have handcrafted goodies spilling out of every room of my house.

"This is..." is a meme that was started by three buttons, want to join in? Just pop on over here and post a comment asking to join the "This is..." blog roll. Every Sunday three buttons posts her "This is..." for the week and let's us know who is choosing the theme for the following week. Join in, it's fun.

The theme for this week was chosen by drewzel.

Makes Me Melt

I'm not a real celebrity loving sort of girl, Johnny Depp is the exception, but after watching the most amazing flick EVER last night I have fallen in lust with the sexy creature seen above: Jim Sturgess. Yum in so many ways - those eyes, the voice that sounds like honey, the accent and that smile. I'm smitten.


If you haven't seen Across the Universe you really need to. Julie Taymor is the most fabulously creative woman: the storyline is excellent, the choreography, sets, costumes... it's all jaw dropping. The cast is refreshing, the main characters are all (formerly) unknowns with voices that are out of this world. I'm not a huge Beatles fan but hearing their songs sung by new voices forced me to listen to the lyrics, I certainly have a new appreciation for their music.

I've mentioned before that musicals on the big screen are not really my thing but this one is like nothing I've ever seen. Rent it and let me know if you agree. This video clip will give you a taste of the visual elements included in the film, simply amazing!

Easter Giggles

Emily has a new mom...

Actually Neve is the new mom, Uncle Mike was just babysitting in the pic above. Mike is Neve's favorite toy when the family gets together, you can see from the pic above why this might be: he's like a giant doll that Neve can dress up and boss around. I love watching the two of them having fun together. My husband is going to be an amazing father one day.

Take a guess at what Neve, Daddy (aka big bro John) and Uncle Mikey are up to in this shot... isn't it obvious? They're swimming in Mexico.

Hugging daddy, or maybe strangling him...



Leaving the "customers" to swim without supervision.



Clinging to daddy - such a cutie!

Hippity Hoppity Easter

We hosted Easter for my side of our family today and it was a wonderful day filled with good conversation, fabulous entertainment (thanks to Neve high on sugar), and lots of good food.

I ate far too much and thoroughly enjoyed every bite of little Billy the turkey, Sarah's amazing sweet potatoes (oh my yum), dad's perogies (our good friday family tradition), Mom's phenomenal pineapple strawberry cake thingo (light but a fab treat for the taste buds) and lotsa Lindt (fav in the chocolate department). Oh and of course I ate a bit of everything else spread out on the table, ugh. I am presently stretched out on the couch and seriously considering diving into the leftover perogies - what is wrong with me?!

I'm thrilled with the family picture we took today. I've been wanting an updated photo and I think this one is perfect!

An apology to my mom for being snappy pre-dinner, I need to let go of the fact that she can't just sit down and not help in the kitchen. I get frustrated because I want her to relax and let me take care of things, she deserves a break, but the reality is that she wants to help and needs to be doing something at all times. Mom, from here on in mom I promise I will let you help without argument... well, I'll TRY to anyways! Thanks for everything you did today mom, I love you!

Happy Easter everyone!

Slacker

My big bro commented today that I've been "slacking" in the blog department this week. My response was: "I didn't have much to say... Shut up." The 'shut up' was thrown in because I knew I was about to hear a snicker and a smart ass remark about how unlikely it was that I didn't have something to say.

Now that I think of it there has been lots for me to blog about in the last week, I just haven't felt like it. I've been in a bit of a funk, not sad or depressed just lazy and unmotivated. The end of my final term is quickly approaching, I'm still in limbo regarding teachers college (I'll know on April 3rd - cross your fingers), I'm bored at work and I've had enough of winter. I'm tired of scraping my windows in the morning, tired of layering clothes, tired of wearing socks and most of all I'm tired of complaining. I want more sunshine and less shiver.

I heard on the news yesterday morning that some weather brainiac has predicted six more weeks of unusually cold weather in Ontario. I can't stay in this funk for six more weeks so I'm forcing myself out of it. Tomorrow I'm going to work my butt off on my final assignment which is due this week, Sunday is family day and Monday I'm going to drag my butt off the couch to hit the pool with my girl Jessy. Time to de-funk.

Tantalizing Tuesday

I posted the amazing roasted turkey recipe a few weeks ago and promised to follow-up with the giblet gravy. Easter is this weekend already, crazy how time flies, if you're planning on making turkey try out this gravy... it's super delish.

Giblet Gravy
recipe thanks to the Food Diva

What You Need:
3 tbsp butter
gizzard, neck and wing tips from turkey
1/4 cup of each, carrot celery, onion diced
1 small bouquet garni: leeks, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, celery stalk, 10-15 peppercorns
1 qrt chicken stock, or pan juices with fat removed
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water
garlic clove
sage stalks
salt & pepper
cheesecloth & butcher twine (for bouquet garni)
saucepan
strainer

What You Do:
1. Prepare the bouquet garni by making a sandwich. If you're unsure of how to go about this you can watch this short free 8 minute video made by the Food Diva. The leek and celery act as the bread; fill with parsley, thyme, bay leaf, celery and peppercorns. Wrap & tie with cheesecloth.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter
3. Add gizzard, wingtips, neck, giblets, celery, carrots, onions
4. Add salt and pepper.
5. Over med-high heat cook until vegetables and meats begin to caramelize
6. Add chicken stock, scrape bottom of pan to deglaze
7. Add bouquet garni, season slightly
8. Add sage stalks and garlic clove
9. Simmer for at least an hour until meat is tender & broth is flavoured (I let it simmer for a few hours but am sure to keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn't boil dry)
10. Strain into a clean saucepan
11. Add some liquid from turkey out of pan (once turkey is cooked through)
12. Add about 1/2 of cornstarch mixture, simmer until slightly thickened
13. Season, keep warm
EAT.

This is...better late than never

Drum roll please... This is my creation!

Her name is Emily and she is my first handmade doll. She took me a little less than two hours to make thanks to the pattern supplied by her namesake over at Inside a Black Apple. I decided to stitch her smile and use buttons for eyes rather than painting her facial features - I love how she turned out. Now that I know how simple dolls are to make I cannot wait to make more!

Here she is meeting her big sis.


"This is..." theme for this week was chosen by BettyTheGeek.

Tantalizing Tuesday

Allow me to introduce my first ever attempt at lasagna:

And a fabulous attempt if I don't say so myself.

I spotted the recipe for the above beauty on the fabulous Pioneer Woman Cooks blog awhile back and have been anxiously waiting for the perfect opportunity to try it out. Why wait? Well, Mike is not a lasagna sort of guy, all the bumps and array of colours frighten him, when I suggested tonight that he try a bite tomorrow he said "hmmm" which is more a yes than a no in my mind so here's hoping the upcoming bite will tempt him into becoming a lasagna lover. I digress, back to the original story: I've been looking forward to trying this dish and tonight was the night! I had a dinner with my good friend Pat planned for this evening and since she has cooked for me the last few times we've gotten together I took tonight as an opportunity to return the favor. As usual I had a lovely evening with Pat, we try to get together for dinner once a month and it's always a good time!

Pat makes a damn good lasagna, although she would suggest otherwise, so to hear her and her daughter Jen say they really liked mine meant something! I think the addition of sausage meat is an absolute necessity - it gives the dish a swift kick that is just yum. I would cut back on the overall amount of meat next time; I like my lasagna a little more saucy and a little less meaty. The cheese on the other hand was the perfect amount, ooey gooey goodness.

High five to the Pioneer Woman for including step by step pics with her recipes! For the original go here.

Oooey Gooey Good Lasagna
originally titled "The Best Lasagna. Ever."

What You Need:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I would suggest you use a pound...then again maybe I used too much?)
1 lb breakfast sausage (I couldn't find a tube of it so I bought a pack of sausages and squeezed the meat out of the skin stuff - I'm sure that must be the technical name "skin stuff")
2 cloves minced garlic
1 large 29 oz can whole tomatoes
2 tiny 6 oz cans of tomato paste
4 tbsp dried parsley flakes (2 and 2)
2 tbsp dried basil
2 tsp salt (1 and 1)
3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (plus a few extra shakes)
1 lb mozzarella cheese slices (fairly thick slices are best)
lasagna noodles (I used the type you don't have to prepare ahead of time - easy peasy)
9 x 13 lasagna pan (or a fabulous carrot cake pan works perfectly as seen above - thanks Pam!)
skillet (I love my cast iron pan)

What You Do:

1. In a skillet, combine ground beef, breakfast sausage, and minced garlic.
2. Cook until brown.
3. Drain, drain, drain! You'll have loads of fat, get rid of at least half or prepare to drop dead due to clogged arteries - you can't say I didn't warn you.
4. Add whole tomatoes and tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, 2 tablespoons dried basil and 1 teaspoon salt.
5. Mix together thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, appx. 45 minutes stirring occasionally.
6. Make your noodles now if you want OR cheat and use the type you don't have to pre-cook and skip this step altogether.
7. While the meat mixture and noodles are cooking, mix low-fat cottage cheese in a bowl with 2 beaten eggs.
8. To the cottage cheese, add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt and mix well.
9. Now it's time to assemble. Lay four lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, overlapping as you go.
10. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles.
11. Lay 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese slices on top of the cottage cheese mixture.
12. With the spoon, make a line through the middle of the meat mixture so you’ll distribute it evenly.
13. Spread a little less than half of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese slices.
14. Repeat the process! Add another layer of four lasagna noodles and top with the remaining half of the cottage cheese mixture and another 1/2 pound of mozzarella.
15. Finish with the remaining meat mixture and spread evenly.
16. Finish it off by sprinkling a generous layer of Parmesan cheese!
17. If cooking right away stick it in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly (that's assuming you're using noodles you boiled yourself, if you use the no-cook noodles you will need to cook longer to ensure the noodles are not rock hard! I placed my finished lasagna in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and cooked it at 350 degrees for appx. 1.5 hours. YUM!

A side salad is the perfect addition to this meal. Mmm mmmm good.

Ear to Ear

Grab a cup of tea, this was meant to be a short post but it's not... Friends, babies, a new blog I love and some very cool sites are in store for you today. Enjoy!

March break is here and that alone is enough to make me smile. The main attraction this week is a much needed visit with one of my best girlfriends in the whole wide world: Jen! Only 3 more sleeps until I pick her up from the airport - YIPPEE! For the past eight years Jen has been working on cruise ships so unfortunately I don't get to see much of her. It has been a few years since I've had her all to myself for longer than an hour or two so I am super excited knowing that once I pick her up on Thursday afternoon I can hog her for 3 whole days! Wooo hoooo!

I met a fabulous new man today... he is the tiniest little guy I have ever had the pleasure of holding in my arms and his name is Carter. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me when I went to meet my friend Tamara's new baby boy but trust me when I say he is perfectly adorable. Carter was born on February 28th, he was a month early and weighed in at just over 5 lbs. He was 4 lbs something when he went home and his mommy figures he is appx 5.5 lbs today. Carter is the smallest baby I've had the pleasure of cuddling: his lips were perfect little rosebuds, his eyelashes were so teeny tiny they were barely there, his little nose was like a button (literally) and his fingers... ahhhh I better stop or soon I'll be hearing the chiming of a grandfather clock rather than the gentle tic toc I am able to ignore most days.

Here's a closeup shot of the the very simple card I made for Carter, of course I had to use a rub-on transfer:

The blue paper doesn't actually have a burnt look - not sure what's up with the color in this shot.

Other bits from my world...

I found a fabulous new blog named How About Orange which I think is strange, not the blog but the fact that I found it, because just this past weekend I mentioned to Tanya that I am really loving the colour orange lately. Why did I share that thrilling piece of info with her? Because she's the sort of girlfriend with whom I can share such useless bits of info and rather than looking at me with boredom and disgust, or simply ignoring me, as others might she acknowledged just how fabulous orange really is. Anyways, I found this new blog and think it's bloglicious.

While poking about my new fav orange blog I linked to this other amazingly wonderful site: tastespotting and let me tell you, this is one site where I see myself spending many free moments. Links to people's blogs where others have found amazing looking/tasting recipes that they stumbled upon and felt the need to share! Like this one. If you click on the tiny pic it will lead you to the blog... you could land at a blog such as this one - this recipe is not in English, you're all so lucky to have me here to state the obvious aren't you? What is says in a nutshell is: Zuccini "sushi". Grill zuccini sheets, fill with mozzarella cheese or mushroom risotto; roll it up and add color with paprika. I'm such a linguist! not really, it was written under the pic here.

Since I'm on a roll I should tell you that tastespotting led me to thisvery cool site where I see myself wasting more of my study time. On NOTCOT you'll find pics with descriptions that will lead you to cool, quirky and often just plain weird sites incyberland. The following pics were snagged from sites I found while trolling :

A close-up of the pin on this girls shirt - read description below for details.
I need one of these... seriously, I'm a slob.

Lola, a messy eater, has somehow managed again to get a
nasty stain on her shirt just before going out. But the fantastic kotztierchen'
gives the stain a purpose by simply making it part of her outfit. Lucky her!

Check out this crazy hotel in Athens, so cool!

One of the rooms you can rent:

And the hotel pool! Love it!

That's enough smiling for today. Good night!

This is...

looking out my front door.


Perfect timing for this weeks "This is..." chosen by Brooke. March certainly has come "in like a lion" here in Southern Ontario: 35 cm of the white stuff fell yesterday, a record snowfall for us. Thankfully today is a good day, the snow has stopped falling, the sun is shining and one of our very best friends brought his snowblower over to blow us out!

The first pic was taken looking out our front door and the pic above Mike snapped of me from our garage - that's our saviour Colin in the background! Corner lots certainly do have their downfalls, we have a LOT of sidewalk to maintain.

Let's hope March "goes out like a lamb" - I think we're all ready to see some green!