it really is

It's been a really long time...again. I've been really caught up in a tiny career crisis. So everytime I turn my computer on, I feel compelled to look for a job.

University-me thought everything would be instant. I would graduate, get a "real" job in my field, get engaged, buy a house, have kids and live happily ever after. And while that's still all on the agenda, I thought that by now, I would be between the buy-a-house stage and get-married stage.
I've been struggling to find ways to make myself happy. Spending close to 40 hours of your week miserable is no way to live. I am making efforts to fix my problem, but in the meantime, I need to focus on the good.

So I will concentrate on the little things that make my life great, such as...

• Breakfast at Tiffany's
• The coziness of White Tiger Tea from David's Tea on a chilly afternoon
• My dad's tireless search for my future car
• Starbucks Ginger Spice Latte to welcome the holiday season
• The size of my balcony (seriously, you should see it, it's huge!)
• The anticipation of a weekend away with friends
• The knowledge that no matter how crappy my day may be, I get to come home to a ridiculously hilarious boyfriend and an astoundingly prissy cat.

fancy running into you

A couple of days late, I know.

But I can't believe it's November already!

I had my first Starbucks Christmas latte today!

Before you know it, we'll be decorating the tree

and

baking gingerbread cookies!

happy halloween

On this most momentous of evenings, here are some creepy Jack O' Lanterns to mark the occasion. All of the pumpkins were done by a man named Ray Villafane.

To see more of the artist's work, visit his website here. There's even a how-to tutorial. Enjoy!

the latest art form

Is it me or are the things they can do with cupcakes out of this world?

I offered to make cupcakes for a friend's Halloween party. I wanted to something memorable, so I started perusing the web for some inspiration. The things I found floored me. I knew they were some crazy-looking cupcakes out there, but WOW!

The two I would like to attempt are the adorable owl cupcake and the oh-so-fitting Jack Skellington cupcake.

They seem relatively easy when you consider how cool they look. But things that look this cool and look easy never are. And considering my deadline, I fear I might not have the time to make them at all. I'll give it my darndest, though.
The one I will never attempt however:

Looks awesome, right? But anything that requires TWO cupcakes to make one and has piece that isn't edible is off-limits for me.

If you like what you see and would like to try your hand at the art, yes I said art, that is modern day cupcakes. I suggest Hello, Cupcake. I haven't researched the cupcakes books out there and I'm sure that there are many, but the ones I have seen haven't had such creative ideas. Unfortunately for us Canucks, it seems that cupcake-craze hasn't fully emerged in the Great North as it has in the US. I'm sure it's coming. Making it a tad challenging to find all the cupcake implements.

If I say the word cupcake one more time!!!

...CUPCAKE!

I couldn't help myself.

beat down

I haven't been around lately due to the persistent bug that’s been going around and I’m only now starting to feel like myself again. And thank goodness for that! My cold/flu/Ebola virus didn’t just kick my butt to bed for 5 days and make the past two weeks painfully stuffy and runny; it seemed to have somehow manipulated my whole outlook on my life. And not for the best.


Today is warm and sunny, just the way I wish every fall day could be (but isn’t by any stretch of the imagination). I know I should be in a considerably better mood than I am. But like I said, something seems to have turned my whole world grey and dreary. Maybe it's the not seeing anyone or doing anything fun for the past two weeks.

Consequently, I’m trying very hard to get out of this funk. I haven’t figured out what I can do, other than what I’m already doing. And I know that my restlessness will eventually just go away. However, I prefer to be a little more proactive in such matters.

I realize this might be an anti-climactic post. It ends without solution or epiphany, but I figure posting again might be part of that solution.
 

the smell of halloween

At this very moment, I'm waiting for my pumpkin scones to finish baking. The smell of the pumpkin mingling with the spices, with my Jack O’ Lantern burning brightly right by me and my (black) cat rubbing up against my legs while I type this makes for a wonderful fall evening. I don’t even mind the cleaning-up phase that always seems to follow so closely on the heels of baking.

I don’t know what these scones are going to taste like. I went about the recipe very willy-nilly. Well 3 recipes, to be honest - I really didn’t have a choice to be willy-nilly under those circumstances.

And once these are done, I’ll be making something I definitely can’t screw up: pumpkin seeds! The fun never ends at Halloween!

It seems so silly to buy a pumpkin,  carve it and not toast the seeds. That's poopycoock!

I'm glad to say Rob's a big fan of my willy nilly scones.

happy turkey murder day!*

May your day be filled with juicy turkey, delicious vegetables, delectable deserts, and most importantly friends and family!

*title is not a judgement - I love turkey.

I just think it's funny.



blast from the past



2 rue d'Aras, 5ième arrondissement, 1966
(now L'Hotel Quartier Latin)

 Absolutely adore this picture!
One day, I will make it here and take a picture from the same spot my father stood so many years ago.

phone photo phascination

I went on photo app hunt. It amazes me how good some apps are out there! The ones that come with a fee (and a bundle more features) usually hover around a buck or two, I even found some really good free ones!

Here are my favourite finds:

HIPSTAMATIC

I've had this one for a while. The first application I ever paid for (and the last, to date).




This application, unlike all the others I've found, does not offer the option to alter a picture that is already in your camera roll.



MYFILM LITE

As you might tell from the name, this is the free version of another application (myFilm). This one is so much fun and I'm really curious as to what the $0.99 offers more, because it's seems like the free one's pretty complete (maybe it doesn't have name stamp in the corner).

This all look similar because I didn't really play around with the colours yet, but I really enjoy the blur effects and the overall colours can be changed. It's not as "out there" as some, but I think that's what I like about it.

LOFI

Speaking of out there, this one will definitely completely alter your pictures. You might remember the scone pictures.

It also is the only app that lets make collages. These are only two pictures that the app created, not six.

INSTAGRAM

I haven't totally figured this one out yet. It's more of a community picture sharing application - something like flickr, but the pictures can only be taken when it's in use (I'm fairly confident). There's a way to save your own pictures to your camera roll, but I don't know how. I've done it, oddly enough, but don't know what I did. Sometimes it's saved, sometimes it ain't.

I really enjoy the sharing factor of this app, you can follow other people, browse the most popular pictures and upload your pictures to other accounts (like your twitter or facebook) and so on.

All these camera applications offer a variety of frames and effects. They all have a little something different to offer. Considering that they were all free to download (except Hipstamatic, which now seems limited in some respects compared to the other free ones), I suggest that you try them out for yourself. Nothing to lose. 

scone saturday

Yesterday, my mom and I had a grand time making traditional British scones. We used my Nana's recipe and my mom is right; they just don't know how to make a proper scone here. It's been years since I had a real scone (roughly 13 years ago - last time I was in jolly ole England), but I knew that the "Canadian version" was off - kind of tasteless and always too dry.

Ours were delicious, if I may say so.

It was a fun, messy, sticky experience and a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon! I can't wait to try making my own variation of the recipe.