GratiTuesday #6 - 8

Finding the positives in every day. 

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So.... Definitely missed posting the last 2 weeks. WHOOPS! Rather than a long rambling post outlining the last 21 days I'll just give you the highlights of the highlights. Extra highlighted.

March 17 - 23
This week I went to the Bridal store, got measured up and dropped a downpayment on my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding. Exciting! I saw two new movies -  Birdman & The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The later was a lunch date matinee with my mom and grandma which was delightful. My sister, Christine, and her fiance had to go up to the GTA for their engagement photos so I hitched a ride so we could spend some time with my other sister, Courtney, who lives up there. I HAD CHICKEN & WAFFLES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND MY LIFE HAS CHANGED FOREVER. Saturday night we went out for a nice dinner, went back to Courtney's place, had some drinks and watched YouTube videos of music from the late 90s/early 2000s and sang all night. Seriously, till 4am. Sunday had a surprise party for a lovely friend of mine.

March 24 - 30
Another new movie this week. The Theory of Everything. On Friday I got to see Bo Burnham live! He was INCREDIBLE! My favourite part was at the very end. He did an amazing Kanye West-style autotuned rant and I've had parts of it running through my head ever since. I am constantly singing it wandering around the house. On the weekend we had our monthly themed potluck get together of my mom's side of the family. This month was at my parents' place and the theme was all appetizers. I decided to try a new recipe & made Buffalo Cauliflower Wings and they were INSANELY GOOD. (Find the Recipe HERE)

March 31 - April 6
My favourite annual event was this week. It's a night where a bunch of local chefs, wineries and breweries all come together to create and amazing meal with pairings to raise money for the hospital. Always so much fun and so much yum. Courtney came down on the weekend so all 3 of us sisters could spend Easter weekend together. On Saturday we got manicures, had brunch at my favourite restaurant and Courtney went to her bridesmaid dress fitting. We all took turns each night cooking for each other. I made a spicy Asian salmon dish, Courtney made quinoa fried "rice" and Christine made these huge chicken meatballs. Everything was SO GOOD. My niece was at her dad's this weekend but we got to have her for a bit on Easter Sunday. It started as a cloudy day but it turned surprisingly nice so we all went for a walk and played in 2 different parks, which she (and we!) thought was just great. Yesterday was Dungeons & Dragons night and it was SO FUN. We adventured around and took out so many goblins & hobgoblins that we all got to level up! I think I am getting the hang of it!

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Play along by tweeting with #BestThingToday & be sure to follow Jim's posts at Positively Jim!

GratiTuesday #5

Finding the positives in every day. 

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Tuesday March 10, 2015 - There is a special kind of happiness when you turn someone into a fan of something you LOVE. Especially when you have been dying to have someone to talk about it with. My sister finally gave in to my pleas to start listening to the My Brother, My Brother and Me and she loves it and I AM SO HAPPY.

NSFW!!

Wednesday March 11, 2015 - GETTING. SHIT. DONE.

Thursday March 12, 2015 -  Today I had an especially good thrift store haul. Some jewelry, some great books, a fantastic decorative unicorn plate...

Friday March 13, 2015 - Ended the work week with a little slumber party at my parent's with my sister & niece. 

Saturday March 14, 2015 - Today I went to a surprise party for a friend of mine. He seemed genuinely surprised so that's always fun. It was superhero/board game themed so I got to play a few games. Because of that, I got to cross off "Play 5 New Board Games" off my 30x30 list since I learned how to play Puerto Rico! Would play again!

Sunday March 15, 2015 - The pure delight of having the first BBQ (homemade) burgers of the year. SPRING, YOU ARE SO CLOSE!

Monday March 16, 2015 - ADVENTURING! After making my first ever character last week, I got to take my Half-Elf Druid on her first outing tonight. I cannot overstate how excited I am to have a D&D group to play with!

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Play along by tweeting with #BestThingToday & be sure to follow Jim's posts at Positively Jim!

GratiTuesday #4

Finding the positives in every day. 

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Tuesday March 3, 2015 - Holy smokes. The mid-season premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was SO SO GOOD. Thinking back to the beginning of the series and how far it's come, I feel sad for the people who gave up on it early in the first season. It's really found it's groove.

Wednesday March 4, 2015 - After dinner my mom & I went to my sister's house to watch some Say Yes to the Dress Canada and talk about the hair & makeup quotes for *her* wedding. Woo!

Thursday March 5, 2015 - Got to leave work a bit early with some other people from the office to go out of town for a hockey game. And I accidentally got a buzz on. A couple drinks on the bus... A couple drinks in the suite at the arena... I'm not a hockey fan but it was definitely a lot of fun. And the pizza & wings were pretty great too.

Friday March 6, 2015 - My sister and I went to a Scentsy/Velata open house. I may have impulse bought a crepe maker & a fondue warmer....

Saturday March 7, 2015 - BAD DAY ALERT! The highlight was definitely spending the evening with my family. My sister and I went over to my parent's place and we ordered some Boston Pizza takeout.

Sunday March 8, 2015 - Bad day turns into bad weekend. Ended up going back over to my parent's and my mom & I started watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If there was ever a show to pull a person out of a funk THIS IS IT. I am in LOVE.

Monday March 9, 2015 - NO COAT! Ok, so it was only +2 outside but it's SO SUNNY so I will take it! I went all afternoon with just a hoodie and no coat and life is beautiful. Also, today was Day 1 gathering for my D&D group! Spent the evening creating our characters for the campaign. I am too excited about this. 

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Play along by tweeting with #BestThingToday & be sure to follow Jim's posts at Positively Jim!

Hearts of the Month: February 2015

A monthly round-up of things I loved.

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HOW TO: Andy Warhol and 6 Ways To Create Your Own Artistic Community. I LOVE this. L-O-V-E. Reading this got me SO FIRED UP! I need to find my Factory!

WORDS OF WISDOM: Dolly Parton’s Tip for Meeting People: Way Existential. Probably the best advice I have ever heard. I want to print this out and hang it on my wall, keep a copy in my bag, tape it to the fridge... COSMIC!

Currently trying to figure out if I can convert my whole basement into a ball pit...

COMPANY: NatureBox. Review and UnBoxing blog post to come, but let's just say.... They are a GAMECHANGER.

ADVICE: How To Be a High Vibe Friend. One of my main goals in life. Needs improvement. This post helped.

ARTICLE: ESSENTIALS FOR A MAGICAL TROPICAL GETAWAY. I am dreaming of the warmth of the sun and missing the Bahamas. This article made me so excited for summertime that I started a new, secret Pinterest board for planning imaginary beach vacations.

GIVE ME ALL OF THE HASHBROWNS. Is it bad that I sort of want to wrangle someone into doing this with me?

GratiTuesday #3

Finding the positives in every day. 

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Tuesday February 24, 2015 - Shopping! Picked up 3 new movies (Big Hero 6, 101 Dalmatians & Breakfast at Tiffany's),  and I FINALLY found the Captain Marvel figure I have been searching for!

my precious

Wednesday February 25, 2015 - There is something magical about a great brainstorming session. I felt on fire with ideas today! 

Thursday February 26, 2015 - My TableTop lootcrate came in today. Went out of town and got some Red Lobster which I had been craving for weeks & Starbucks, which I had been missing since the only one in my town closed.

MOTHER. FLIPPIN. LOBSTERFEST.

Friday February 27, 2015 - Went to get groceries to make my chilli for tomorrow and my dad offered to pay! Woo! I love cooking so I really enjoyed getting it all ready. Just a few finishing touches tomorrow.

Saturday February 28, 2015 - Chilli night with my mom's side of the family. I made Jamie Oliver's Green Chilli and it turned out SO GOOD (if I do say so myself). It was an all around great night - going through genealogy finds, going through old photos and memorabilia of my grandpa's from WWII and hearing some stories about my cousins that made me cry laughing. So much food. So much fun.

SO MUCH YUM.

Sunday March 1, 2015 - Crafternoon! Got all caught up on my January & February One Little Word tasks. Just in time to start this month's!

My February homework!

Monday March 2, 2015 - One of my favourite podcasts, We Have Concerns, used one of my story submissions for their new episode! Again! And it was for their 100th episode, which was also their first live show. Woo! Also great today: not dying via chunk of ice falling off the roof and hitting my head. Seriously, leaving work I escaped this fate by, like, 30-45 seconds. #blessed

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Play along by tweeting with #BestThingToday & be sure to follow Jim's posts at Positively Jim!

GratiTuesday #2

Finding the positives in every day. 

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Tuesday February 17, 2015 - A great mail day! Got some amazing goodies from The Tiny Hobo and the "Gamer Nouveau" t-shirt from TeeFury.

I spy my uniform for this year's Extra Life marathon!

Wednesday February 18, 2015 - One of my favourite artists, James Hance, had an insane sale. He would list an original piece of art on his Facebook page and the first person to message him would get it for $100. !!! The first thing he posted at 9am this morning was a framed 10x12 graphite/watercolour/watercolour pencil piece of Adam West's Batman. Since I'm posting about it right now, I think you can guess who nabbed it! I told him I'd love to have it if he was able to ship to Canada and he said yes- for $5! FIVE DOLLARS! For a FRAMED piece! $105 total for a framed original!!! Losing my mind!!! 

I MEAN SERIOUSLY LOOK AT THIS!

Thursday February 19, 2015 - Had a great Steel Magnolias rehearsal at thr coffee shop. I'm working my way through all the specialty lattes, haha! The Great Northern (maple syrup latte) was SO GOOD. When I got home, I got myself completely caught up on Sailor Moon Crystal. I think it's the only show I am  up to date on right now!

Friday February 20, 2015 - Game night! Is there anything better than having some drinks with friends and playing some games? Many, many laughs were had.

Saturday February 21, 2015 - Turkey pot pie. Enough said. (Thanks dad!)

Sunday February 22, 2015 - We had a "social night" for Steel Magnolias so the cast could get to know each other. Great ladies, great wine, great food, great rehearsal. I also caught the tail end of the Oscars, so I got to to see this...

Monday February 23, 2015 - I managed to secure the donation for a project that I was hoping for & found out that two of my favourite comedians, Debra DiGiovanni & Mark Forward, are coming to town!

Great week!

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Play along by tweeting with #BestThingToday & be sure to follow Jim's posts at Positively Jim!

Friday Foto Roundup: BONUS Food Edition!

Last night I attended the amazing Parade of Chefs event which benefits the local health unit. It's a 7 course meal with wine & beer pairings - each course and drink prepared by local chefs, wineries and breweries! Of course I took pictures of each food item and of course I'm going to share the food porn with all of you.

Hors d'oeuvres: Stuffed zucchini with wild mushroom mousse


Hors d'oeuvres: Mini beef Wellington


Hors d'oeuvres: Smoked bacon marmalade crostini


Appetizer: Stilton cheesecake with warm rhubarb and cranberry vinaigrette


Soup: roasted red pepper bisque with Parmesan croutons


Salad: fresh spinach salad with a garlic and honey vinaigrette topped with toasted almonds, sundried cranberries, mandarin oranges and crumbled goat cheese


Pasta: grilled vegetable lasagne with asiago provolone cheese with freshly made pasta


Main: honey glazed salmon stuffed with fresh lemon herb cream cheese, topped with gremolata and a citrus butter sauce


Dessert: angel food cake with gooseberry compote

Flashback: Bacon? In my cupcakes?

I originally posted this entry on September 20, 2010 back at my old blog. The pictures in that entry have since died, so I've decided to give it new life over here.

Besides... EVERYONE needs to make bacon cupcakes.

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I've been talking about it for a while but tonight I finally did it.
I made bacon cupcakes.

I got the recipe in question from Vanilla Garlic which claims that this was the "original" bacon cupcake recipe on the internet, so I knew I was in good hands.

I followed the recipe pretty much exactly except for one component. As I was frying up my bacon for the batter I had a revelation. A BACON ROSE. The perfect classy addition, and super easy to do. I started by lining a baking sheet with foil and putting a wire baking rack on top. Then I just rolled up strips of bacon and put a toothpick through about 1/3 from the bottom. I took each roll and sort of wedged them in between the wires of the rack so the rose was standing upright with the toothpick perpendicular to the wire. Then I baked those babies for 15 minutes on 350. After I let them cool, I trimmed off the bottoms because the strips were quite wide to begin with, but if your bacon is thinner then you can probably skip that step.

After frosting the cakes I popped a toothpick through the roses and stabbed them to the tops. I skipped topping them with sea salt since the bacon was salty but I did add the turbinado sugar.

Find the recipe HERE and try them out for yourself!