OMG I'm a grown up!

I'm going to be 30 in a couple weeks. Turning 30 has me starting to reflect a lot more on what I want, what makes me happy, and what I'm spending my TIME on.  In my smash book, I created a list of 30 things I want to do the year I turn 30.  Some of the things are bigger to-do's, and some of them are just simple things that can be done in an afternoon... things I always say I'm going to do but never get around to doing. Some things I've done before and I know they make me happy so I know I want to make a point of doing them again.

1. Go to where the palm trees are (Will be doing this both in October AND March!)
2. Throw an awesome party
3. Get another tattoo
4. Take a circus class
5. Pay off debt (If all goes as planned, should be around November!)
6. Bake a rainbow cake
7. Go on a road trip (Running out of vacation time for next year, so it might be a short one!)
8. Plant a garden (I can not wait to eat all those vegetables!)
9. Take a crafty workshop (Stained glass, glass blowing, pottery, etc.)
10. Make a quilt (Already chosen a pattern!)
11. Host a girly margarita day (To enjoy my back yard)
12. Go to BodyBlitz 4 times to max out my RMT benefits
13. Make an awesome Halloween costume (I'm always so last minute on this one.)
14. Print our wedding photos (It's been a year and a half...)
15. Take a hoola hoop class (I just signed up for a 4 week class starting in a few weeks!)
16. Blog at least once per week (Lucky you reader! Lucky you!)
17. Roller skate at least 250KM OUTDOORS. (So regular indoor practices don't count!)
18. Go to the beach (locally).
19. Try a new type of food
20. Make Sourdough (See here)
21. Watch a sunset (This is a reminder to myself to slow down and enjoy every day.)
22. Get really good at eyeshadow
23. Make creme brule
24. Surprize a friend with dinner and drinks
25. Ride a roller coaster
26. Finally go on a Niagara wine tour.
27. Make ice cream
28. Be REALLY good at my job.
29. Write more letters to people
30. Surprize myself.

That last one is a reminder to myself to push my own limits. I play it safe too often. I'm not looking for one particular moment that I think will count for that. But when I turn 31 I want to look back and say "Wow, what  great year, I did so much I didn't think I could do."

Currator of Awesome

Ok, so thinking about Christmas got me thinking about my shopping and I continued browsing the web for last minute gifts. While none of these items made it onto my wishlist this year (because I didn't know about them) I wish they had been. So if you wanted to buy me a "just because" gift (or hey, I have a birthday coming up in a few weeks!) Here is a collection of awesome things from around the internet that should be on everyone's wish lists.  (These links are not hooked up to any affiliate programs, so feel free to click through and know that I'm not getting a dime for you doing so.)

First up - these are probably the greatest salt and pepper shakers I have ever seen in my life.
$23.29 from Shopplasticland.com

Your friends will know you are truly classy when you have them over for a festive meal and you place these precious jars of cocaine and speed on the table for them to season their dinners with.  No self-respecting home should be without these.

Next in this collection is an item that actually did make it on my my wishlist. Because its friggin rad. It's a cooler slash boombox.  I'm thinking this would be fantastic for holding contraban while rollerskating along the lakeshore in the summer time.
$49.99 from Wicked Skatewear

All that skating around with the cooler will for sure make one work up an appetite. Which is why you need to go home and have some toast! With a new DOMO toaster!

If you had this happy little face toasted into your bread every morning there is no way you can not smile at it.
 $49 at Urban Outfitters

And last on the list is  the head of a unicorn. To proudly display on your wall in all it's majestic glory. 

I can't even say anything about this. It's just too awesome.
$12.99-$29.99 on Think Geek





Merry Ho Ho Ho!

I've been trying to think about something to write about for the last couple days. I'm coming up dry.  I have nothing to rant about, no funny stories to share right now, life is busy getting ready for Christmas.  We have a lot of driving around to do over the next two weeks as we go back and forth between family visits and home.  So I'll just say
Merry Christmas!


Please binge drink responsibly.


And here is a picture of my favourit Christmas show.

Can Pinterest make me skinny?

Let me first start by saying that I love Pinterest. I've found so many great ideas for my home, kitchen, and life. It really is a great source of inspiration. (Or things to just copy-cat). 

When Pinterest started gaining in popularity it had one big problem. It was filled with pro-ana material and "thinporation."  They were very quick to change their terms of service to dissallow this type of content, but it hasn't fully gone away.  It's definately more subtle, and wrapped up to look like diet and healthy lifestyle content.  I normally don't feel compelled to say anything about what I find on here, but the other day I found a pin that really agravated me.

The reason why this bothers me so much is because it's just wrong. As in incorrect. Infactual. And kind of a dumb idea.  The idea of this pin was that if you follow along and go without the specified thing each month then you will be "bikini ready" for summer.  I'm not a nutritionist, a doctor, or even someone with any formal training on healthy living. What I do have is enough personal life experience to say THIS WILL NOT WORK.  Let's break this down.

1. Each thing you "go without" for a month is actually a really good idea. But simply removing something from your life for 30 days and then allowing it back in isn't going to have any long term effects. You need to make long term changes in your life to see any long term changes in your body.

2. How much biscuits, gravy, and soda are you consuming that giving it up for 30 days would have ANY sort of effect? 

3. Here is a much better idea: All Months - Don't exceed your calorie limit, enjoy all foods in moderation, and choose fruites and vegetables whenever possible. Every week record how you FEEL. After 6 months go back and compare how you feel now to how you felt when you started.  Also try excersising. Maybe go for a jog.

If you take nothing else from this, remember: "Bikini ready" is a FEELING. If you feel good in it, then you rock it girl.

Damn it's cold here. But not that bad.

I've just spent the last 3 nights in Whitehorse on a work trip. I was not feeling very optimistic coming up here. Of course I was confident that the work part of the trip would be ok (and it was), but I was not sure how I would cope with being in a small town so far north in the winter.

So I packed my warmest sweaters. I bought new winter boots. And I brought mittens that are good to -30. The temperatures while i was here fluctuated between -26 and -30. Now keep in mind that I spent most of my time indoors. Outside time was limited to smoke breaks and a bit of time outdoors in the evenings shopping downtown.

It is dry here. Which actually made the cold a little more bearable. In Toronto, when it goes cold it is damp. You feel it deep in your bones and you can not get warm no matter how man layers you wear. Here, as long as I bundled up I was fine. The exposed skin on my face hurt a little bit after about 5-10 minutes outside, but I was never outdoors any longer then that.

In the end, I'm actually really happy I got to come here and see this northern part of our country. It is beautiful. And the people are so friendly.

I don't have too many photos, but here are a few to share:

From my hotel lobby. I stayed at the Best Western Gold Rush Inn. I'm not going to write a whole review on it, but let's just say it is exactly what you would expect from a Best Western. A clean bed and a clean bathroom, and friendly staff. Nothing else.

Main Street at night is beautiful. The trees are coated in ice and when they hang the lights off of them it is stunning. I would never be able to capture it with any sort of justice using my iPhone. But I tried.

And I got myself a gift! Earrings made from the ivory of wooly mammoth tusks! My understanding is that when the mammoths died they were preserved under the permafrost and are found during mining.

I would love to come back To Whitehorse in the summer time and see the midnight sun. I was a little disappointed that I did not get to see the northern lights while I was here. Activity was low this week and it was cloudy at night.

So all that is left to do now is pack up my suitcase and head to the airport. Happy to have insisted but certainly ready to go back to Toronto where he forecast for this weekend says plus 10 degrees!

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I'm afraid of sourdough

I actually love sourdough bread. One of the yummiest things I can think of from my childhood is a big piece of that crusty bread with cheese and kielbasa. I also really enjoy baking things; so if you think about it, it should be a logical idea that I would make sourdough bread occasionally. Nope.

Every once in a while I get the idea in my head that I will. I go online and look up a recipe. You can't just throw ingredients in a bowl and expect sourdough bread to come of it. You need sourdough starter. As I read through how to make that I get so queasy and grossed out that I abandon the idea completely.

Do you KNOW how sourdough starter is made? Let me explain...

First you mix yeast, milk, water, and flour. Then you let it sit for a day on the counter. (Ok... Kinda ick but I can handle that.) on the second day you mix more flour and milk and water and add it to your mixture. Only then can we refrigerate this beast. Every day you go in and mix it up.... All the while it is gaining in volume. (Starting to really creep me out here!) after I think 4 days, you are supposed to give away half of your nasty yeasty mixture to a friend and keep your other half.

So from there you can make sourdough bread. It doesn't sound THAT bad, and I could probably handle it if it wasn't for the next part. You don't use it all... Oh no... You let this jar live in your fridge, and once a week you FEED it more milk/water/flour mixture. You have something in your fridge... Essentially going bad... That you FEED so it continues to grow. How are other people not completely repulsed by this idea?

Science is gross.

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A case for low-contact roller derby

I love roller derby. I've been playing for almost two years now. I have found though that people who get involved fall into one of two camps: those who say roller derby saved their soul and those who say roller derby destroyed their soul. I started at one end of that spectrum and gradually shifted to the other. It was incredibly painful to fall out of love with something that had done so much good for me at one point.

Roller derby is a community-oriented sport, in the sense that it becomes your community. To be truly great at this sport, it also becomes your lifestyle. This became a problem for me. I have so many other things going on in my life that are equally, if not more, important. I wanted to play this awesome sport, but I no longer wanted to dedicate as much time and energy to it.

That it what prompted a few equally disillusioned friends and I to form a LOCO team in our city. LOCO is low-contact and low-commitment.

Low-contact means "no big hits". There is still pushing, but nobody is going to wind up and knock you down as hard as they can. I like this because it means a few less bruises and forces people to focus on positional blocking, which I am pretty good at.

Low-commitment means I can come and go as I please. It's about showing up to practice and skating with my friends having a good time. Sure once we grow attendance will matter if we play a bout, but bouting is not the most important part for me. It is more of a treat. If I was in this for the bouts I would choose a more competitive team. If I need to take some time away to focus on non-derby life it doesn't matter. If I want to show up only every other week - that's cool too. As long as my abilities on the track don't slip to a point where I'm endangering myself or other people then it's ok. Our main goal is a good time when we get together. Not a trophy or a high ranking.

That's not to say we don't care. We have an awesome coach who is training us to be great. We work on strategy and skills and keeping ourselves in shape. We work on getting better. But we all know that we don't want the level of work and commitment that comes with being an all star team.

My hope is that this recreational level of roller derby continues to grow. There are tons of articles written about what needs to be done to have roller derby more widely recognized as a legitimate sport so all I will say on that is that having super relaxed rec teams like this are definitely a step in the right direction.

Tonight LOCO teams from across southern Ontario are facing off for their year end tournament, Elle Grande LOCO. Good luck to London, Kitchener, Brantford, Sarnia, Toronto, and Stratford. Remember why we are all here, and that every tough there is a trophy to be won, this is a celebration of our love for this sport.

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The warmest hobo

Its the time of year again where the hours of day light is shorter, the temperatures are lower, and my pride in my appearance plummets to uncomfortable lows.

9 months out of the year I really love fashion. I dedicate a lot of time to trying to make he latest trends work for my body and pulling together go-to outfits that make me look pulled together. It's fun and I really enjoy the process of finding new clothes and dressing myself. And when I have an outfit that is just right, my hair, makeup, and accessories get just a little more love to help polish off the look.

Spring is so freeing. The super cute shoes all come out of the closet, the lighter fabrics make their appearance. The skirts! The dresses! I'm like a flower waiting to bloom!

Summer comes and brings with it so many new fashion possibilities. Summer is all about colour and I can't help but smile when I look at all the fun things I wore this summer. Bright green jeans with a hot pink blazer! Neon blue fit an flare dress covered in red cherries!

Then it's time for fall. Fall fashion is m absolute favorite. Leggings, cardigans, boots, light easy layers. Fall provides hands down the most flattering fashions for me. Some days are just warm enough to pull off a summer dress if you pair it with leggings and a cardigan. I get the most mileage out of my clothes in September and October.

But then winter comes. Suddenly the leggings aren't warm enough and you have to consider pants. The little cardigan just won't keep me warm either so I have to switch to a heavier sweater. As the days get shorter, the morning sunlight disappears and I'm getting ready for work while it is still dark outside. When you wake up in the cold and dark it gets increasingly difficult to care. One day you decide to wear a pair of jeans. Then a few days later it is jeans and a hoody. Getting deeper into winter you care less about looking good and more about just staying warm and being cozy. Wearing heavier layers you don't notice that you have gained a couple pounds. Your skin gets dry from the harsh temperatures and windy days; maybe you try a new product to moisturizer but hat just gives you super oily skin and you break out.

One day around mid March I will start thing about all the spring fashions I am starting to see in magazines. And I will look in the mirror and wonder what the fuck happened to me. Somehow over the winter I have started to look like a hobo.

Maybe with this insight I can prevent this cycle this year. I'm headed to Whitehorse for work trip in a few weeks. I'm struggling to find outfits that are business appropriate but will keep me super warm during times I have to go outside. (Mostly to and from vehicles.) Really thought, I just want to wear track pants an a wool sweater from December through February.

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The great couch hunt ended

The search for a couch ended with the marriage still in tact.

 Look how we got it home.

What? Celebrities are people too?

This was on the front page of the 24hours paper in Toronto.

Turns out celebrities are not immune to natural disasters.

Couch shopping is traumatizing me

We need a new couch pretty badly. When we moved out of our apartment this past weekend, we actually left ours next to the dumpster. It has some tears in it, and one leg was broken. If we both sat on the couch, one of us was always down hill from the other. Bad situation all around.

So we are in our new home and trying to settle in, but it is difficult to chill out when you have one chair that is doesn't belong at the dining room table. So off to the local mass market furniture emporiums we go.

I have to say that in all the stores we went to, I can't seem to find one with an appropriate level of customer service. Maybe I'm just a bitch, but I don't want to be followed around like a sketchy teenager. Ok seriously, I am not going to be shoplifting from the furniture store so please... Just let me browse in peace! I know where to find you when and if I have a question.

At Bad Boy I actually asked the sales person (politely!) to give us some time to browse alone. He said ok, but then proceeded to follow us around very closely anyways. STOP WATCHING ME SHOP! It made me so anxious hat I just wanted to leave the store. So we did. I can't commit to a large purchase like this when you stress me out.

At The Brick we had the exact opposite experience. Which is funny because their furniture is twice the price. We actually had a sofa and love seat combo that we loved, and when we wanted to get information about their current promo, we couldn't find a sales person. When we did, he said one moment, then went to get us a different person. She came over, we asked our question, she went away, and sent a THIRD person to talk to us. I know we are not middle aged yet but I promise we have currency we want to give you in exchange for goods! I guess the lack of people wanting our money there was good thought because it gave me time to reflect on how much I actually want to spend on a sofa.

The whole process of choosing a couch is traumatizing me. I give up, I'm going to Ikea. Again. Ikea loves me. They understand me.

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Everyone needs goals

I say I'm going to do a lot of things. I have a lot of brilliant ideas that once I start I don't finish. Lately I've had an attitude of wanting to go back and actually accomplish some of my old goals. One of the things I've been saying forever was that I wanted to go to Hawaii, take surf lessons, and the get a tattoo of a hibiscus. I've been in love with this idea ever since the first time I saw the movie Blue Crush.

Have you ever looked the cost of tickets to Hawaii though? It's not a trip that we can just decide to go on one winter, we would have to save up for it. And since we like to go south every winter we end up choosing more affordable options.

But now I'm in my new job and I'm going to be traveling so I have the opportunity to rack up the frequent flyer miles. Aeroplan has a cool app that lets you set goals and shows you how far away from reaching it.

So I am 23% of the way to having enough points to get two round trip tickets to Hawaii. I think I can accomplish this by next winter. If not then definitely I will be there in time to book the tickets for the winter of 2014/2015. Within 2 years I will finally finish something I've been saying for 10 years that I want to do. It feels nice.

I also got a credit card that gives me Aeroplan points to keep my expenses separate from my regular life.

So this is my new hobby, collecting Aeroplan points. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

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My life in boxes

We are moving in 10 days. I think the worst part of moving is packing up all of your belongings. It begs the question "Why do I own so much crap?". I'd like to say that going through my belongings has made me come to some profound realization about myself and consumption, but it really hasn't. But I have had many far less earth shattering realizations.

1) I might be a sock hoarder. I have a lot of socks who's mate has long since left. I think it might be time to let them go. Seriously, I have a knob hill farms basket full of single socks.

2) it might be time to start using the good stationary. I love notebooks and paper and envelopes. Im pretty sure I have more of it then the number of letters I will mail in my entire life. I should, write more letters. (I'm probably not going to do that.)

3) I need to start LOOKING for a cleaning product in the cupboard before going out to buy some. I have discovered 3 bottles of Fantastick all purpose cleaning spray in the bathroom along with the one in the kitchen I normally use. All of them are open.

4) I own a table cloth. Huh... Who knew....

5) When tomato sauce goes on sale, stocking up is not always the best idea. We don't have much storage space, so apparently I have been hiding them. I found about 8 cans of tomato sauce hidden in the back of various cupboards.

6) I started to pack the booze but stopped because I've discovered I need it to get me through the chaos of packing everything else.

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Buying jeans makes me hate myself a little

I need new jeans. Again. Every time I need new jeans the task of acquiring them takes me months. Seriously, months.  I'm pretty sure that the "just-right" pair of jeans for me does not exist.  Sometimes I think I've found the magical pair that meet all my criteria, but soon after something goes wrong and I'm back to needing a new pair.

I don't think I'm asking a lot from my jeans either.  I just want a durable pair that fit me in all the right places, are not faded or distressed, are the correct length, and don't cost a noticeable fraction of my salary.  Is that too much to ask?

I fail to see the value of $120 pair of jeans.  Which I realize makes this even more difficult. My husband will pay whatever it costs to get good jeans since they are the only kind of pants he wears.  Last year we were in Lucky Brand Jeans store getting him some and I was bored so I tried on a pair.  It was like the flowers suddenly bloomed and the birds started singing. These were the most magical pair of jeans I had ever tried on.  My butt looked incredible and they fit perfectly everywhere.  I decided it was time to spend the big bucks on jeans.  Four months later they were garbage.  They had worn a few holes in them in various spots. I was heart broken.  It wasn't like I wore them every day either.  I wear jeans maybe 2 or 3 times a week. Sometimes less.

Whenever I finally do find a pair from a random clothing store that are in the $50 range they fit alright. Never perfect, but well enough that they will do.  Within a few months though the butt is all stretched out and saggy looking. Bringing me back to needing new jeans.

So today I was at the mall trying on jeans.  I went to the Levis store.  The associate tried to explain to me the curve ID, which seems to be fancy marketing speak for "we have different cuts of pants".  With too many different shapes of pants, not a single pair fit me in the right way.  The curvier ones gave me saggy butt, the less curvy ones gave me muffin top.  The whole process made me hate myself a little bit.

Yesterday I was at Winners looking through the jean selection.  That was even more depressing. Every pair of jeans in that store was either made for teenagers or "mom jeans".  Nothing for someone who is neither of those.

Why does buying jeans need to be so difficult?  It's pants.  I give less thought to buying leggings and they show off ALL the flaws.  Jeans are supposed to be the pants you put on with a t-shirt when you don't give a fuck.  How can they be my go-to pants when they cause this much headache?

I probably have rabies

I am a big fan of self-diagnosis. A the first sign of any symptom I am all over the internet trying to figure out what is wrong with me. A few months ago I had gastritis (like legitimately diagnosed as such by a medical professional.), so when months later other symptoms arrised I naturally tried to find a way to link it to that via the Internet.

Allergy season came and went and while everyone was complaining about how bad they were this year, I insisted I actually  had chronic esophagitis. One day in there I was sure it was actually lung cancer.

I play roller derby and I get bruised quite a bit. One day my skates were not fitting quite right and I was wearing really thin socks which caused rubbing on my ankle that bruised really bad. Diabetes. Knee pain from practice - osteoarthritis.

Which brings me to rabies. I was bit by a freaking dog the the other day. And the owner was a complete asshat about it.  I was walking down he sidewalk and there was a lady walking her small dog ahead of me going very slowly. I moved to pass them on the right when the dog growelled and jumped out, biting my leg. I screamed ouch and jumped away. The lady kept walking. I'm like "excuse me!!! Your dog just BIT me!".  The lady told me I shouldn't have snuck up on them and then calmly walked away.  I was stunned. How do you just walk away from a situation like hat without taking ANY responsibility? So to that lady I just want to say a big FUCK YOU.  I reported it to public health, but without a name they can't do much. I don't wish anything bad to happen to the dog. I just want a safe city for all people and animals. What if the dog bites a kid?  I was lucky, it didn't break the skin, just left a big bruise and a lot of anger.

Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges...

There is so much change going on right now in my life and all of it is good.  After a few years full of ups and downs I feel like the universe has picked me up and placed me right where I belong

I got what might very well be my dream job, in an industry I know very well, and it includes travel! (Obviously I will blog every single trip!).  My husband and I are moving out of our apartment that overlooks the highway and we found a cute house to rent. It has a garage for him to do man stuff and a yard for me to plant a big vegetable garden in the spring!  There are lots of good thing happening to my friends and family too and I'll tell you more about those things later. But overall, things are just good and I'm happy.

Change is a constant in life, and a lot of it at once is kind of overwhelming, but I'm excited to see what is next!

Also, I found like $30 in American change while going through the apartment packing. I need to make a trip south of the border to spend it.  I kind of feel like a hobo with a plastic bag full of change.