Spring in my step

How did we get to Friday already and, for that matter, the end of March? Yes we are here, yet not that much closer to summer in the weather department. Life is good though and nothing beats finishing the workweek than a little bit of late night shopping. I needed some new black flats mainly for work because I find that, like most things, I go for quantity over quality so they don't tend to last that long. I was in desperate need of a pair because my alternate options really don't go with my black work wear staples. Just another reason why I can't wait for summer, bring on no socks or tights or stockings. I tried on several pairs at Spring and narrowed it done to two choices before finally deciding on these:

As you can see I also picked up the latest issue of LouLou magazine and cannot wait to read it from front to back at some point this weekend. Also, whilst I was in Spring these cute shoes caught my eye, but alas they were not in the budget:

Next time maybe, unless they get overshadowed by even cuter shoes if that is at all possible. To finish on a sweet note, this is my absolute favourite kind of chocolate at the moment:

Melt in your mouth deliciousness, don't take my word for it, instead see and taste for yourself!

Movies, movies, movies

Expressions and sayings are interesting things. For example, take 'when it rains it pours'. This, for me, relates to the fact that since Sunday I have been to the movies twice including tonight and will go again this coming Sunday. Prior to these visits I hadn't been in a couple of months, which is quite sad really when you consider that it is one of my favourite pastimes. I guess life and conflicting schedules have been getting in the way of late, although I did ponder going to the movies solo. Anyway enough about me lets focus on the movies I have seen or are about to see. With the two I have seen so far, one was a hit and one was a bit of a miss. Friends with Kids was an entertaining yet emotional comedy if you can even say that about this genre. Nonetheless, I definitely recommend going to see it if you want a laugh and don't mind a bit of inappropriateness.   

Friends with Kids movie poster (image courtesy of IMDb)

On the other hand, Safe House might have had the very talented Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, but it didn't have too much else going for it. I walked out of the cinema feeling a little bit disappointed with the plot and the ending. If you love either of these actors and want some action then maybe this is the movie for you. For me, neither of these things were quite enough.

Safe House movie poster (image courtesy of IMDb)

This brings me to the movie I will be seeing on Sunday, which is of course the movie of the moment, The Hunger Games. I first mentioned the book series here back in September 2011 and have been dying to go see the movie. However, because there isn't allocated seating I couldn't bring myself to brave massive line-ups during the first week of release. Therefore, I have been patiently waiting and now the wait is almost over. I hope it is lives up to the hype and does the book justice. I guess I will know by Sunday evening. May the odds be ever in your favor!

The Hunger Games movie poster (image courtesy of IMDb)

Homemade pizza take two

The first half a dozen times that I made pizza from scratch I used a recipe that required the dough to rest for two hours as mentioned here. This to me seemed like such a long time especially if making pizza on a weeknight after work. Hence why I went searching online for a pizza dough recipe that didn't need as long to rest. After a bit of a look, I chose a recipe with only ten to fifteen minutes of rest time, which can be found here. The recipe mentions using an additional two tablespoons of water, but not when to use it. Therefore, I added it after the flour and the dough turned out well. I did leave the dough to rest for a bit longer than the recommended time, but only because I was waiting for my peppers to finish roasting. I pureed the roasted peppers to use for the pizza sauce, adding cooked chicken pieces, raw chopped broccoli, mozzarella cheese and random dollops of basil pesto. These ingredients seem to be my go to pizza toppings and after this recent attempt I think it is time to experiment more. Just to note, I am not sure if my dough was rolled thin enough because it required approximately twenty-five minutes of baking time. The end result was just as good as my first pizza dough and significantly quicker to make, which means it has now become my go to recipe.

Inspirational cuteness

The weekend is here, which is great because my poor brain has taken quite the beating this week with information overload. Life sure is interesting at the moment, what with starting a new job and possibly moving soon! So in an effort to avoid falling asleep in the middle of typing a sentence, I thought it would be nice to keep this simple by showing you the cute items that have caught my eye lately. I think everyone could do with a bit of random cuteness every now and again. What better way to achieve just that than with this adorable Kate Spade clutch that I am coveting:

The frog clasp is too cute for words, making the clutch a perfect accompaniment to any eveningwear attire. Clearly I feel like I don't already own enough bags because I am also quite taken with this Aldo bag:

Cuteness did find its way into my letterbox this week with a lovely and thoughtful package from my best friend back in Australia. It really doesn't get any cuter than the randomness below:

My apologies for the overuse of the word cute and all its variations, but it was unavoidable really as you can see from the pictures.

P.S. You know you are tired when you try to plug your iPod cable into your camera and it takes a while for you to realise that it is the wrong one!

Musical musings for March

It seems only fitting that I do my musical musings for March this week, as I was part of the excited crowd at the Lady Antebellum concert on Monday night. It was an awesome concert and they did not disappoint playing live; it was so good. It kind of made me long for a trip down to Nashville for some more country music and even some boot scootin'. This is definitely on the travel to do list.

This month's musical purchases from iTunes are quite diverse yet with a strong country flavour and a bit of a UK influence:

1. I Run to You - Lady Antebellum
2. This - Darius Rucker
3. Not Over You - Gavin DeGraw
4. Honey Bee - Blake Shelton
5. Domino - Jessie J
6. What Makes You Beautiful - One Direction
7. Ever After - Marianas Trench
8. Don't You Wanna Stay (with Kelly Clarkson) - Jason Aldean
9. Big Blue Wave - Hey Ocean!

The first two songs were definitely a result of Monday night's concert with Darius Rucker being one of two support acts. The selection of Honey Bee comes from my current obsession with The Voice including the banter between Blake Shelton and Adam Levine. If you were going to play odd one out then I know it might seem strange for a person of my age to still be purchasing boy band tunes ala One Direction. I'm clearly just a diverse person with an inner screaming school girl that every now and again comes out to do things like select music much to the dismay of others. Regardless, maybe one or some of these songs will make it onto your playlist.

March's music can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Banana cupcakes with a surprise

This weekend I planned on completing two baking projects, however due to a combination of some nicer weather and a bit of procrastination I only completed one. You may or may not be aware that it is the Oreo cookie's 100th birthday this year. As such I have been seeing a lot of recipes popping up with this delicious cookie, which by the way looks great for its age, as a key ingredient. So of course I had to get in on the act as well. Although, I was a little bit disappointed at the lack of Oreo cookie varieties available at my local supermarkets. I settled on the original Oreo cookie, which was the easiest decision to make as I struggled to decide on how I would like to incorporate it into a recipe. 

I finally selected a Martha Stewart banana cupcake recipe that can be found here, which did not actually have Oreo cookies as an ingredient. To rectify this, I placed an Oreo cookie at the bottom of each cupcake liner and hoped that it wouldn't rise as the cupcake baked.

When it came to the frosting, I figured that I had made enough of it by now to roughly know what to combine to create a batch without consulting a recipe. I used the following:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 & 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp honey

I chopped up the butter and whipped it for about thirty seconds before I added the vanilla essence and honey. The icing sugar was added a little bit at a time to avoid a snowstorm on the counter top. Once it was all combined I whipped it for a further minute.

With all the flavours already involved in this baking project, I probably didn't need anymore, but I couldn't resist. Once I had frosted the cupcakes using my Wilton M1 decorating tip, I added a sprinkling of white chocolate chips (leftover from my raspberry white chocolate scones) and Skor toffee bits. 

This was one of my most enjoyable baking projects on a Sunday afternoon so far. I am hoping it is inching me closer to the goal of creating my own original and delicious recipe.

Flowers on Friday

I think every Friday should start with wonderfully exciting news and finish with a bunch of pretty flowers because that is how today went for me. I got a job offer this morning that starts on Monday, which is fantastic and I think will be a great opportunity for me. It doesn't hurt that it is only a ten-minute walk from my place. This news meant that my Friday was now wide open and as such I decided to do a few errands. Whilst I was out and about I picked up some flowers, which I didn't mean for me, but it kind of just ended up that way. I am really glad it did because they do brighten up my room. Well you just have to ignore the fact I have a makeshift vase at the moment. This little purchase made me think that it would be great to end each Friday, or maybe every second one, with a small bunch of flowers. I used to think fresh flowers were a waste of money. However, I definitely don't feel that way anymore because even a few can turn a frown upside down, make an existing smile even brighter and add a sparkle to the room.

Have a fantastic weekend and consider doing what I am doing tomorrow, have a computer-free day; my MacBook deserves it!

Rainy day activity

Considering it is less than a week now until the first day of Spring I do feel like the weather should be improving for the better. Instead there has been a constant chill in the air combined with rain and lots of it. For as much as I love Vancouver I definitely do not love the winter weather and do not think this will ever change. I do however like to use the weather as an excuse to stay indoors in a comfy outfit usually in the form of sweatpants or pyjamas. With comfort taken care of all that is left is to entertain my mind and provide a distraction from the dreary weather. On a side note, if I was brave enough to venture out then I could check out one of the adventures suggested here. To be honest though it doesn't take too much convincing for me to stay indoors during the winter months. I use the time to daydream about adventures or, more productively, bake, blog, read and catch up on the endless amount of television that I have become consumed by. At the moment the main focus has been reading. I often forget how much I really enjoy reading until I get back into it and a good book sure does help. Of late I have been catching up on two of my favourite James Patterson book series, one featuring the main character of Alex Cross and the other focusing on the Women's Murder Club. They are both such an addictive read, especially with their short chapters. Now that I am pretty much caught up with both of these series I have picked up a couple of random books from the Vancouver Public Library. I am a big advocate of borrowing from your local library, especially for those books that have caught your eye, but you are not quite sure whether they would be a good enough read to buy. I am not one to really read romance books unless they are period novels or the occasional chick lit, but for some reason I have been drawn to a couple of Nora Roberts book series. The first one I read and enjoyed was the Bride Quartet, which I highly recommend. As such I have just begun reading The Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy. I am racing through it although it is not lost on me that once I am finished the first book I will have to wait for the second one's release in May. This is the price you pay for getting engrossed in a book series. Luckily enough I do have at least two more books to read to tide me over, The Bourne Objective, which is part of a series, and The Book of Awesome, which I believe will be a light-hearted reminder of the simple things in life that bring joy and happiness. As you can see I do like to mix it up a bit when it comes to my reading choices. The journey your mind gets taken on through the written word is a fantastic bit of escapism and one I really enjoy.

The coliseum-like Vancouver Public Library (images courtesy of Wikipedia)

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

Scones are one of those baked goods that you can churn out using any number of flavour and ingredient combinations, which is one of the things I like about them. My personal favourite is raspberry white chocolate so when I happened upon a COBS Bread location last week I knew I had to pick one up. It was this action that got me thinking it would be great to bake a batch myself and so that is exactly what I did. For the recipe I choose click here. I picked this recipe because it seemed simple without too many ingredients, which is exactly what I want when I am making scones. Instead of using white chocolate chunks I used chips, as this was the only kind I could find at the supermarket. 

After I had kneaded the dough I put it onto a chopping board and cut it into ten pieces of roughly the same size. 

As my scones were slightly bigger I baked them for fifteen minutes instead of ten and they turned out wonderfully. A freshly baked raspberry white chocolate scone really does taste delicious. Why don't you see for yourself and make a batch today!

Flutter by

As we speed through each day we are always collecting, whether it is the memories created by the day's events or through the acquiring of new possessions. I would like to focus on the materialistic side of collecting. Now I have never been one to collect the likes of stamps or coins and I don't consider myself a hoarder by any stretch of the imagination, but I did once like butterflies. I was reminded of this the other day by an email I received from Aldo introducing their new 'other' bag. One of the bag's designs happened to be butterflies.

Whilst I never went so far as to get a butterfly tattoo or anything like that, I do believe I have an array of butterfly themed items boxed up with most of my worldly possessions back in Australia. When people know that you like something it can easily become the go to gift idea, which is definitely not a bad thing. As such I do have a daily reminder of this phase in the form of a lovely butterfly charm that bears my birthstone, amethyst. It sits with other charms of meaning on one of two necklaces I wear everyday. It was a very thoughtful present and one I treasure. 

I do still like butterflies, but definitely not to the extent of years gone by. On reflection I think it would be nice to add a butterfly charm to my Pandora bracelet for nostalgia's sake. I found the below option whilst browsing their website and I think it would make an adorable addition to sit alongside my existing charms.

At the moment, my likings have seem me gravitate from one flighty animal to another as I have become quite taken by birds. There is not a specific type of bird, but the possibilities when it comes to bird-themed items are endless. I don't have to look much further than one of my favourite websites, Oliver Bonas, for inspiration. Here are just a few items on there that have caught my eye so far.

As it were, I have already been gifted a couple of pieces of bird themed costume jewelry, which I could quite easily add to in the near future if something a bit closer to home catches my eye.

Volunteering my time

My schedule this week has allowed me the opportunity to explore a resolution I made at the beginning of 2011. At that time I was still trying to embrace the whole concept of New Year’s resolutions, of which I have constantly made and managed to fail at following through with. The resolution was to do some volunteering. I had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t really financially possible for me to donate money to causes and charities. Instead, I thought it would be better to donate my time, which I felt would give me a much greater satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Once I had made this resolution at the beginning of last year, I did try to approach it with some gusto. However, like most things I attempt, my enthusiasm tapered off, especially when I realised some of the events would not be feasible to get to without having a car due to the location and time of them. I shamefully put the idea on the backburner until this week when I signed up to volunteer for two events that will take place this coming summer. The first one is the BC Cancer Foundation’s underwear affair event, which is definitely for a worthwhile cause and should be an interesting event. To find out more about the event and to volunteer your own time click here. The second event, EAT! Vancouver – Food + Cooking Festival, is more a labour of love as I thought it would be a great opportunity to immerse myself into the foodie world, whilst volunteering my time. If this sounds of interest to you click here for more information. Both of these events are quite a few months off and they aren’t a done deal as such, but I am looking forward to them coming to fruition. Meanwhile, I feel like I have only scratched the surface when it comes to volunteering possibilities and it makes me feel a little bit more fulfilled with each one I come across and sign up for.

Blondies

Last week I was going through recipes I had previously bookmarked when I stumbled upon one for blondies, which was perfect as I had been wondering what to do with a partial bag of leftover butterscotch chips. As a result, blondies seemed like the obvious choice for my next baking project. I used the recipe found here and spent part of my Saturday whipping up a batch. When preparing my baking pan I also used some parchment paper for the bottom and two of the sides to help with lifting out the finished product. I also found that I had approximately two tablespoons of semi-sweet chocolate chips so I added these at the same time as the butterscotch chips, which I think I had just enough of. 

The blondies turned out well and I savoured one with a cup of tea as a Saturday afternoon treat. 

This recipe is quick and easy to make so if you need a last minute treat you should definitely give this one a go as a nice alternative to brownies.  

Flavours of the moment

The rest of my week has definitely not matched the excitement of having been in New York at the beginning of it. I have however had the opportunity to tackle my always growing to do list as well as think of upcoming baking projects and adventures to have. A trip no matter how long it is always reignites my strong desire to travel and discover new places, now if only I could find that ever-elusive money tree. In the meantime, a few simple treats have kept me company as I begin to lay the foundations for what I hope will be an amazing time in my life.

Chocolate covered gummy bears (image courtesy of Dylan's Candy Bar)

Chai tea lattes (image courtesy of Starbucks)

Kettle corn (image courtesy of Wikipedia)