Musical musings for October

I am quite the busy bee this week because I head home on Friday until November 18th for my best friend's wedding. The irony of saying I am a busy bee is that a bee is exactly what I am for Halloween this week too. So I find myself with four sleeps left until I get on a big jet plane and only three of them being in the month of October. However, the date posting for this will suggest otherwise, which is just a sign that I should have already gone to bed. This does, in a round about way, bring me to the topic at hand that of this month's musical musings. I must say I love the 'complete my album' feature on iTunes as it allowed Carrie Underwood to dominate my October playlist with the remainder of her Blown Away album purchased at such a small cost. As you will see below, the music that featured for me this month consists of mainly country in combination with young talented men...interpret this however you choose:

1. Wish You Were Here (feat. Becky G) - Cody Simpson
2. I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz
3. 22 - Taylor Swift
4. Begin Again - Taylor Swift
5. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift
6. This Kiss - Carly Rae Jepsen
7. Catch My Breath - Kelly Clarkson
8. Beauty and a Beat (feat. Nicki Minaj) - Justin Bieber
9. Live While We're Young - One Direction
10. Somebody's Heartbreak - Hunter Hayes
11. Wanted - Hunter Hayes
12. Two Black Cadillacs - Carrie Underwood
13. See You Again - Carrie Underwood
14. Forever Changed - Carrie Underwood
15. Nobody Ever Told You - Carrie Underwood
16. Thank God for Hometowns - Carrie Underwood
17. Good in Goodbye - Carrie Underwood
18. Leave Love Alone - Carrie Underwood
19. Cupid's Got a Shotgun - Carrie Underwood
20. Who Are You - Carrie Underwood

I know I have probably said this before, but music really is good for the soul, even at 12:34 am while writing this. Enjoy the music selections and don't judge, just embrace.

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

Quick hockey fix

It may be news to some of you, but the NHL is currently experiencing a lockout much to the dismay of myself and many, many other ice hockey fans. I have in the past professed my support/love of the Vancouver Canucks in posts here and here just to find a few. So you can only imagine how ecstatic I was last Wednesday night when I was one of five thousand lucky ticket holders, who got to witness a few of the boys take to the ice against the UBC Thunderbirds as part of a charity match organised by Kevin Bieska. 

It was such a great atmosphere, a fun game and I loved being there. I definitely appreciated the smaller venue and the ticket price.

This was only made better by the appearance of Michael Buble, who graciously matched the ticket sales donation. 

Now I just hope the lockout will end as soon as possible, not only because I miss the game, but also so that I can take my brother and his girlfriend to a game when they come to visit at Christmas time.

Shopping in San Francisco

A trip stateside must involve some quality shopping time and the trek to San Francisco didn't disappoint in this area. Although I did recently read about someone comparing shopping and dieting in that you shouldn't go too long not doing it as you might binge from deprivation. I think this is very true, which is why I was grateful that I was able to stick to my budget. I hit up the usual suspects - H&M, American Eagle, Forever 21 and Hollister, picking up a few items in the process. My pretty purchases included a striped top from H&M and a striped tube scarf from American Eagle.

I procured a knitted navy sweater from Hollister, which I hope will help to keep me warm during the coming months. 

However, the majority of my shopping budget was spent at Forever 21 on two skirts, two tops, animal print leggings and a bright knitted sweater because I am not quite ready to say goodbye to brighter colours.

The icing on the cake with my shopping has to be that I remembered the address of the Jurlique store. This is my absolute favourite skin care range as mentioned here. Made even better by the fact that it is from my hometown. I picked up a tube of rose hand cream to get me by until I go home next month for a visit. Apparently I wasn't done with shopping because before the week was out back in Vancouver I had bought a pair of black riding-style boots from Spring. 

As you can see I have begun to acquire some of what I had previously determined as fall must-haves. May the shopping continue, within reason of course.

San Francisco

Everything about our long weekend in San Francisco was great and I can definitely see why people rate it amongst their favourite US cities. The travel to and from this lovely destination was seamless and the weather was glorious. We tried to jam in as many touristy things as possible in the two days we were there, but I must confess that the Golden Gate Bridge eluded us. This is all the more reason for a return visit. The Saturday was spent walking around taking in the sights and sounds of the Ferry Building and many of the piers including the famous Pier 39, just to start the adventure. I must say I fell a little bit in love with the local residents of this particular pier; the bountiful sea lions seemed to have not a care in the world. We wandered along Fisherman's Wharf up to Ghirardelli Square, where a purchase of delicious chocolate squares was indeed made. From here we battled up the rather impressive incline to get to crooked Lombard Street with an obligatory walk up and down it. The rest of the day was spent making our way back to the main shopping area for a few solid hours of shopping with a late dinner consisting of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. It was a long day starting around 4am, but definitely worth it. Day two started off with a cable car ride to within walking distance of where we needed to go to get the ferry to Alcatraz. I really enjoyed my time wandering around the famous penitentiary and its surrounds; it was quite the informative and eye-opening experience. After this we did try to edge closer to the Golden Gate Bridge, but the distance didn't really seem to be getting any shorter. We also tried to find Mrs. Doubtfire's house to no avail. We ended the day with more shopping and a late dinner. Monday morning came around all too quickly and was spent writing postcards in Union Square as well as going on one last walk.

San Francisco is a must see US city, I can't wait to go back one day. I wasn't disappointed at all and I know you won't be either.

Quick catch up

I can't wait to tell you all about the fantastic long weekend I just had in San Francisco. However, before I do, I felt there were a few things I wanted to throw into one post as a quick catch up. Life has been pretty busy of late and the TV show episodes to watch are fast piling up. The Carrie Underwood concert last week was great. She put on a really cool show, sang her heart out and looked absolutely stunning in her various outfits.

I baked another birthday cake with Kambie for a work colleague. The cake consisted of one chocolate and one vanilla layer sandwiched together and frosted with raspberry buttercream frosting. I used frozen raspberries for the frosting and found I didn't quite need as much sugar as the recipe called for so use your judgment here. I also got to use my new Wilton cake leveler to slice off the top of the chocolate cake to make it flat. This was because I had chosen to put the whole cake batter into one pan to bake, which meant I baked it for over an hour, checking it at ten minute intervals once I had reached the original bake time in the recipe. The cake was definitely a success and I can't wait for this Sunday, as I need to bake up a storm for the bake sale fundraiser we are having at work on Monday. I am sure I will be in my element, fingers crossed everything turns out. I plan on whipping up a few old creations, one with an ingredient substitution, and trying out a new recipe.

The last thing I wanted to tell you all about is that I have been trying my hand at yoga these past few weeks. Semperviva, a local yoga studio with 4 locations, has an offer for new customers - $30 plus tax for 30 days of unlimited yoga. I wasn't the instigator on this fitness quest, but I am glad I went along. It has been tough and I'm not that great at it, but at least I haven't hurt myself, which is always a positive. I must confess I haven't gone every day since I started, sometimes due to other plans and sometimes due to laziness, but it has felt really good when I have gone and especially when I have managed to conquer a new pose. I am not quite sure if I will keep at it after the 30 days, but I know I definitely need to do some sort of physical activity. I must not allow myself to turn into a bear and hibernate. Anyway check back here soon as I will be providing that San Francisco update before the week is out with photos too.