The bra effect

Sorry boys, no VS angels here.

Let's talk about bra's for a minute, shall we? They've got a pretty decent battle of pro's and con's happening. It all depends how well they fit and how much of a hippie you are at heart.
Pro; Support
Con; No freedom
Pro; Cleavage 
Con; Straps that don't always match your top
Pro; Coverage

Con; Delicate wash. Really, who has time for that??

Moving along now, I've decided that we all have a bra in our life and it's not a bra at all. Maybe it's a person, maybe it's a debt, perhaps it's fear or possibly it's love. It could be anything really. Pro or con.

Think about that one thing you really want. It doesn't have to be simple. Dig deep down and really pull out what you honestly want. An acreage with the perfect house. Another kid. Travelling as long as you want. Running that marathon. A new sewing machine. 
Now consider what your bra might be. The dead end job that you think is the best you can do? The person you love so much but don't have enough in common with? Or maybe you got the other side of the coin. You have the money and idea to go travel but are to scared to leave your comfort zone. Someone who support's you but also hold's you back. 

Consider now, what would life be like without it.. 

Everyone knows when you get cold, no sexy cleavage and the slow motion baywatch run just got better...... 

I think I've gone off topic now..

The point is, don't let anything hold you back. If you don't get the support you need, find it somewhere else. If you want to be free, cut the straps. When you start to feel strangled, up your size. 

If you want something, go out and get it. 

That's my 2 cents anyway.. 

xoxo

Travel, STAT(s)

So, I finally sat down and did what I've been wanting to do for months now. I picked up my 'journal' from my travels and read it through. It is totally different than this blog. Sure, I was writing about the same places on the same days but what I wrote just for me really says how I was feeling.

It also shows me all the tiny details. I marked down every time I took a bus, ferry, tour, etc.. I also wrote every stop I made on the long distance trains and figured out my total distance travelled from here at home all through my travels and back again. 142 days in 5 months.

Places; near and far

Not including beautiful Canada, I travelled or stopped in 13 countries.
Iceland, The Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, France, England, Scotland and The USA

Planes, trains and automobiles;

I was on 8 airplanes
In 4 taxi's
8 (mostly horrible) ferries
3 long distance buses
Long distance trains x28
I took 2 boat tours and 4 bus tours
And lastly, I was on city buses, tubes and metro trains 85 times!

Learn something everywhere, any where and as much as you can

On top of the 6 tours already mentioned, I also did 10 walking tours.
2 - Amsterdam
1 -- Rome
1 --- Salzburg
1 ---- Copenhagen
2 ----- Paris
1 ------ London
2 ------- Edinburgh

Money isn't everything, but it sure comes in handy

I wasn't sure if I would share this part, but really, why not?
Flights:
         Edmonton-Toronto $266.83 CAN
         Toronto-Reykjavik-Amsterdam + Amsterdam-Reykjavik-NYC-Toronto $1008.10 CAN
         Frankfurt-Athens 122.01 EUROS (Approx. $163.00)
         Toronto-Edmonton $150 ((ish) couldn't find the actual price..)

Travel insurance $208.10
Hostel membership $35.00
Eurail pass $720.00

+Eating, sleeping, other travel costs, shopping, tours, etc...
******
$8725.32
Take away the cost of flights, insurance, rail pass and the membership, that is $6174.29 now divide that by the time I was travelling around (not living and working in Greece) and we get $140.32 per day. I budgeted to allow for $155.00 CAN per day if necessary. SUCCESS!
Keeping in mind that doesn't mean I spent $140 per day. Not all travelling was covered by the train pass, some days we did more expensive tours or restaurants and others we spent next to nothing.


In a grand finale of my stats we have total distance travelled. Unfortunately it's only approximate and based off what I could find online for distance from A to B. Good enough though.
******
31972.66 km!!
or
19867.10 Miles!


I can't wait until I can travel somewhere new again. The world is such an exciting adventure waiting to happen.
xoxo

A day out

Yesterday the sun finally came out. I really feel like I haven't seen it in ages since we had rain and thunder showers all of last week. One scary day we even had a tornado warning...

In a small celebration of the returning sun some girlfriends and I spent a day at the park. Leah brought her precious new puppy and Nicky brought her little girl, Ivy. We also brought along a truly random assortment of food, blankets for lounging in the grass and bread crumbs for the birds.

As I was getting myself together I made a mental note to remember SPF and bug spray. I obviously forgot both and came home with rosy red shoulders and mosquito bites all over. Oops.

We started off around a picnic table enjoying English clotted cream with strawberries and raspberries, Spinach dip with bread and spicy California rolls. I told you it was random..
As is the case with most dogs, Harlem was quickly wrapped around the benches and rather stuck so we packed up the stroller and moved to the blanket near the water.

None of us realized it would be quite as hot and sunny as it was and mostly for the sake of the little one we needed shade. Instead of moving we rigged an umbrella up onto the stroller and continued on with our sitting.

One of my favorite parts of the day was feeding the ducks. For whatever reason it's just so childlike and fun. Ivy seemed to really enjoy it too. One duck in particular had us all laughing. "He" had weirdly scary bright white eyes that looked a bit horror movie and he had a different posture than the other ducks.
Really? I'm talking about a ducks posture...
Anyway, he couldn't seem to get his neck out of the water and he kept attacking the other ducks and ducklings. Mostly from under the water. We named him Sleuth-duck because he looked like he was trying to spy on the others by not lifting all the way out of the water. A bit strange but great for a laugh in the sun.

xoxo

Avocado & seafood dressed gnocchi

I really don't know where it came from, but I have really been loving the kitchen lately... as I'm sure you can tell.. Since moving in here we have bought several cookbooks and I'm feeling more attracted to home and food magazines as well.
Some foods I've made are followed exactly from the book, others are altered and some are all together made up. As far as I can see the worst thing that could happen is it not being good. Not the end of the world.

This weeks dinner creation came from a recipe off pinterest. (If you are unfamiliar with pinterest you should get on it. pinterest.com)

The recipe I used came from here. If you look at the linked post you would see that her recipe is my base but they are otherwise different. She used pasta, I used cheese gnocchi.


To start, you will need

1 avocado
2 tbsp cheese (I like marble or mozza)
Juice of 1/4-1/2 of a lemon
Salt (I used course sea salt)
Pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cube frozen shredded spinach (use fresh if you prefer)
Shrimp, I just used what would be enough for 2 people
Crab meat

Gnocchi (enough to feed your table)

Cook your gnocchi (or pasta), drain and set aside.

Cut your avocado in half, remove the pit and scrape out into a food processor bowl. Add cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix for 1-2 minutes, scraping the walls down as needed and adding in the olive oil. Set this aside when its all mixed.

In a saucepan big enough to eventually hold the sauce and gnocchi, melt butter and add the olive oil. I added the spinach in right away because it was still partly frozen. Toss in your garlic and cook for 30 seconds (ish).
Next is the seafood. I used pre-cooked and so I just needed to warm it. If you are less scared of eating uncooked meat than I am, cook your seafood from raw.

When everything is warm and ready, add in the gnocchi and avocado sauce and toss together.

Serve warm. Adding more cheese or seafood on top wouldn't hurt either..

Enjoy!!
xoxo

Enjoy the Enjoy Centre

St Albert is a pretty small suburban place and doesn't offer a huge amount in the way of entertainment, shopping or venues. What it does offer though is green space. Parks, trails and tree lined streets.

As a big offering to our personal green spaces we have The Enjoy Centre. Though it offers much more, it's main attraction is the greenhouse, nursery and 'market' by Hole's. Flowers, trees and herbs can be found for sale throughout, as well as everything you could need to plant, nurture and maintain your garden.

You can also find and enjoy a great many other things inside. A floral studio, deli and whole foods market, bakery, health and wellness spa, liquor store, kitchen and décor boutiques and a cafe, lunch bar and restaurant.

If you stop in for more than just grab and go (which you should) a stop to eat is a great idea. The cafe offers coffee, fresh brewed iced tea and delicious cakes and pastries from the bakery. And when I say delicious, I mean it. I've tried most of them.

When you want more than a snack you get to choose between the self serve lunch bar (11am-3pm daily) and the full service dining room/patio. Decisions, decisions.
Hint, the dishes served are locally sourced as much as possible. Some of the veggies even come from the greenhouse.

Some of my personal favorite places inside are Hillaby's tools for cooks, Beautiful home and gift and Amaranth whole foods.

Walking into Hillaby's I love to see the sweet little kitchen "accessories", aprons and average kitchen thing's in fun bright colors.
Beautiful has lots to offer and it's all just a little different. Little bits of home décor that would set any room apart from the cookie cutter. This looks a little vintage, that is totally unique..
And lastly, Amaranth. A specialty grocery shoppers dream. No searching for the gluten free, vegan, natural or raw foods section. Everything seems just a little healthier. A little fresher and more balanced.

See you soon

xoxo

The Japanese Spring Festival

Chad and I spent another weekend out in the rain. This trip was to the Devonian botanic garden for it's annual festival. It takes place in the beautiful Japanese garden.

Japanese food, martial arts, dancers, tea ceremonies and more.
I was really looking forward to a traditional tea ceremony because it's something I've never done before and I'm currently obsessed with tea parties. Unfortunately the ceremony was a ticketed event and sold out. .

The first thing we stopped to see was the Taiko drums that were part of the opening ceremony. We also watched an Aikido demonstration. 

One of the last things we saw was dancing. In the end they asked everyone to come up and dance with them so naturally Chad and I ran the other way.

The rest of our day was spent walking around in the rain enjoying the garden. The rain kept the mosquito's away which always make for a more enjoyable experience. We enjoyed sushi rolls, mochi and rice bowls. Tulips, herbs and shrubs.. 

Everywhere we walked there was something else to see. Statues in the trees and the hedge maze are my personal favorite. 

In the end I got my tea party anyway. At home with my man friend. Home-made pumpkin cheese scones, fresh fruit and strawberry raspberry tea!

Summer is looking great already, now all we need is a little sunshine!

xoxo

The desk

My latest project was to revamp my desk. I've had it as long as I can remember and this is it's third look. It was originally a pale yellow, then my dad painted it white to match the rest of my bedroom when I was younger. Now, years later, the white is dirty and scratched and in bad shape all around. It also doesn't have anything white to match with any more either.

I had seen a few pictures of furniture finishes that I really liked and decided to give it a try. "Shabby chic" and "Antique" stood out to me most.

The first step was to clean and sand the desk.

When you have sore arms and a dusty floor you can move along. The drawers had to come out and the handles had to be taken off too.

The next step (that I wanted to skip at first) is to paint the whole thing solid brown. In the end the brown is going to give the allusion of wood showing through. This should be give ample time to dry before you start the next part.

Anywhere that I wanted a distressed or chipped edge I rolled a candle on. The wax will then get painted over.

On top of the brown I chose to use pink. It was between pink, mint and sea foam green. It really should be no surprise that I went with pink..
I had to do 2 coats and let the paint dry in between.

Once everything was dry and set I took out my sand paper again and gently rubbed the waxed areas. This pulls off the pink paint and lets the brown "wood" show through. The more you wax and sand the more distressed it will look.

The final step was to make the fresh pink paint look a little older and more lived in. I filled a cup with water and mixed the brown paint into it to make a wash and then applied it with a cloth and my fingers.

I'm super happy with the finished results and I'm ready for a new project!
xoxo