Musical musings for October

Technology failed me last month and is the key reason why I am posting this in November as opposed to October. My beloved macbook of six and a half years decided that it would no longer connect to the Internet. After a trip to the Apple genius bar, an authorised third party repairer and an attempt at a quick, cheap fix I am now resigned to hooking my macbook up to the Internet via a cable. It may sound a little bit silly, but in all honesty I totally prefer this option to putting money into something that is on borrowed time. The cable is doing the trick at zero cost and hopefully will allow me the time to save up for a new macbook because I don't want to go back to a laptop even if they are cheaper. So there you have the back story as to part of the reason why I am doing this at least ten days later than normal. Regardless, country still reigns supreme except for Taylor Swift as she decided to go more mainstream and so did I for just one catchy song:

• Love You Like That - Canaan Smith
• Automatic - Miranda Lambert
• Sun Daze - Florida Georgia Line
• One Great Mystery - Lady Antebellum
• 747 - Lady Antebellum
• Style - Taylor Swift

I've definitely been listening to music more, especially at work, which is why it is great to mix new songs with old favourites. 

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

2014 fall television

How quickly the months fly by and we find ourselves once more wading through the many new fall TV shows adding a select few to our existing viewing rotation. As sad as it sounds, this is one of my favourite things about fall partly because the weather makes it enticing to stay indoors and indulge in what may seem like a bad habit. Unfortunately, one show has already been tried and discarded, Bad Judge. However, there are still seven I am trying and one more still to come:

• A to Z (NBC Network)
• The Flash (CW Network)
• Forever (ABC Network)
• Gotham (Fox Network)
• Stalker (CBS Network)
• How to Get Away With Murder (ABC Network)
• Scorpion (CBS Network)
• State of Affairs (NBC Network)

Throw in all the other shows I am already watching and I have quite the full plate of television viewing so thank goodness for pvrs. My only hope is that I have enough self control to mix inactivity with some sort of physical exertion. Time will be the telling factor for sure and maybe the weather too.

Caramel apple oreo pops

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful and grateful for all things, both big and small. Well this is how I look at the occasion seeing as I am not a Canadian. By the way, I feel it only fitting to be eating homemade pumpkin pie (not made by me) while I write this. I am thankful for so many things, primarily being happy, healthy and having been afforded so many amazing opportunities in my life so far. However, for everything I am thankful and grateful for, I know I have not tapped into all of my potential and fulfilled half my goals in life. In order to do this, I need to breakdown a few self-imposed barriers, but perhaps thoughts and words for another musing. Thanksgiving allows me the opportunity to do a bit of baking and spend the Sunday prior in the company of some really good people, who have been generous enough to open their home to me time and time again thanks to one of favourite people. For the baking portion, I was excited to use some limited edition oreos I had purchased from Target during my recent holiday. I do so very much enjoy the treasure trove that I find each time I visit this store. I used them as the key ingredient in a Bakerella recipe I found here.  

Unfortunately, like so many recipes I try that require a polished finish I am yet to be able to decorate beyond an amateurish skill level. Hence, the below photographic evidence of my attempt to disguise the mess I created coating the pops with the candy melt. 

My saving grace is that they tasted delicious and the rustic look was actually surprisingly appealing. Just one of many sweet treats consumed post-turkey dinner, which was scrumptious both the first time and when leftovers were eaten a day later.

An array of recent happenings

How quickly the rain erases all memories of the glorious summer weather and all the fun that went with it. Before the rain came though, I managed to fit in a few fun activities and am hoping this isn't the end of them due to the weather. So I do like to think of myself as someone who will try to try lots of things, but for all the trying I also enjoy doing some of the same activities. With this in mind, I saw out September with a play by the name of Educating Rita, which is the first of four shows that I got a really great deal to see over the next several months. Next up was a pre-season NBA game, a hot ticket and one I was doing for the second time. This past weekend featured another visit to the pumpkin patch at Southlands Farm because what is fall and Thanksgiving without this kind of outing. I have to say that it is these kinds of activities and the potential of so much more undiscovered fun that is part of Vancouver's charm. I just hope that the rain and the coming months don't turn me into a couch potato, which would be very easily aided by a well stocked pvr and some fresh baked goods.

Brownies and cookies, oh my!

I might not have been blogging as much as I would like to, but I have been baking just a tad bit more. The latest recipes I whipped up were for a batch of cookies and brownies. I like to think I bake for a few reasons, and on these two occasions, I baked because I wanted something fresh and delicious with the cookies, and because I had a fantasy NHL draft with the brownies. The cookies were baked from a recipe I found here. The two things I did differently to the recipe were to add semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips and I baked them for fourteen minutes.

The different flavours in the cookies came together deliciously and made for a most enjoyable cookie or half a dozen. Pumpkin spiced m&m brownies made an appearance last Friday night, baked for Saturday's fantasy NHL draft. I had gotten the m&m's on my Hawaiian adventure and sampled a few straight out of the bag before deciding they might be best in a recipe, hence the brownies. I'm not sure if it was a good idea that the whole bag went into the recipe instead of just a cup, but half a brownie square was all I could bring myself to sample. This is because I think brownies for the most part are a bit too rich for my liking.

Cookies are definitely my preferred eating choice over brownies, but when it comes to baking I enjoy trying all kinds of new recipes.

Hawaiian adventures

My Hawaiian adventure had to be written about in the month it took place and as they say better late than never. A holiday was very overdue by the time it was upon me and what made it even more exciting was the fact that some of my immediate family would be a part of it. I left for the island of Oahu what feels like many Saturdays ago and stayed for a week. My sister, brother in law, nephew and niece met me at the hotel. We then spent a glorious and restful week doing the following:

• Shopping at the Royal Hawaiian Center, Ala Moana and the Waikele Premium Outlets
• Dining at The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang's and Dave & Buster's
• Visiting the historic and interesting Pearl Harbor
• Taking drives to the North Shore and around the coast
• Experiencing an impressive Atlantis submarine tour
• Playing at Wet 'n' Wild water park
• Picking up candy and cookies in Target and Walmart
• Watching animals roam at the Honolulu Zoo

The week started off slowly, but was very quickly over like all good things and before I knew it I was back home full of new happy memories. Hawaii is a place I would like to return to one day, but probably to one of the other islands so I can truly get some rest and relaxation.

Musical musings for September

I'm back with wine in hand and my pvr currently playing a new fall show in the background. Whilst I did contemplate hanging up my blogging hat this month, I decided not to as I do love this creative outlet and the chance it gives old and new friends to take a glimpse into my life. So all this brings me to the last day of September and several ones into fall with new songs on my playlist and another country concert under my belt. I was lucky enough to go to the Blake Shelton concert where he put on a great show. One of the things I loved the most was that he had a support act between all acts providing entertainment while stage changes were done.

Of course a Blake Shelton song made its way into my iTunes library and I even strayed enough to purchase a non-country one. A John Legend song and one by Lady Antebellum were the result of me reading The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. I read it in anticipation of the screen adaptation coming to cinemas next month. However, the book had such a tragic ending, the kind that required many tissues so I am not sure if I can bring myself to watch it even if James Marsden is the leading man. Once again songs were bought from new and old artists:

1. Yeah - Joe Nichols
2. Neon Light - Blake Shelton
3. Girl In a Country Song - Maddie & Tae
4. A Girl Like You - Dallas Smith
5. Hope You Get Lonely Tonight - Cole Swindell
6. All of Me - John Legend
7. I Did With You (From "The Best Of Me") - Lady Antebellum
8.  Where It's At - Dustin Lynch

Just like previous purchases, these songs will be on replay for a while yet, which is an exciting thought. 

September's musical musings can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Musical musings for August

In less than 36 hours I will be enroute to a much deserved Hawaiian adventure and I cannot wait. It has been over a year since I have had a whole week off work and I am definitely regretting waiting this long to do so. Whether I am working or chilling at home, music plays a part in my day and as such I need to keep my playlist fresh by mixing old with new. I am yet to figure out how to get rid of some of my song choices from the cloud, but thank goodness for the ability to skip songs as I hone in on country and more country. Before I mention the new additions to my music collection, I have to very quickly write about seeing Jake Owen at Sunfest earlier in the month. He was definitely the only highlight of the festival for us as we sang the night away with him then left the next morning to salvage the rest of a long week.

Prior to the festival, I had bought a couple more of his songs and have added three other artists before the month was done:

1. Pass a Beer - Jake Owen
2. The One That Got Away - Jake Owen
3. God Made Girls - RaeLynn
4. Leave The Night On - Sam Hunt
5. That Don't Sound Like You - Lee Brice

Clearly country music isn't getting old any time soon and that's okay with me.

August's musical musings can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Cookies times two

Last Sunday night I really wanted fresh baked cookies, but I decided this too late in the evening to do anything about it. A good night's sleep didn't weaken this desire so on Monday evening I made some chewy lemon white chocolate chip cookies courtesy of this recipe. Unfortunately, I only had lemon juice, but no actual lemons so these cookies were sans zest. After eating at least half a dozen of the cookies across the week I definitely think the lemon zest is a key ingredient and one I will make sure I have on hand next time.

Round two of cookie baking happened yesterday as part of my fantasy football draft preparation. This is the first year I have been a part of a fantasy football league and I figured you shouldn't turn up empty handed to the draft bbq. With this in mind, I found a recipe for twix bar chocolate chip cookies. For the recipe I used three of the fifty-gram size twix bars. I enjoyed making these cookies and hope they taste as good as they smelt baking them. I know that the unbaked cookie dough tasted delicious. 

I think baking twice in one week has renewed my passion for baking and I already have a few ideas for my next creation.

Choc-banana or coffee-banana smoothies

One of the best things my housemate ever bought for communal use was a magic bullet. This thing has been a lifesaver for every meal of the day more times than I can count. For me, it mainly gets a workout for weekend breakfast or weeknight dinner when I just want something small or have had a particularly gluttonous eating day. I generally drink two variations of the same smoothie with the staple ingredients consisting of milk, vanilla frozen yoghurt, ice and a banana. In the morning I will usually include some instant coffee dissolved in hot water. Right now I am using an instant coffee picked up from Trader Joe's on my last trek across the border. If the smoothie is my dinnertime option then I use Smucker's chocolate syrup instead. I find that the amount of ice you use will determine your consistency. I like mine with a thicker consistency so I use around 6 cubes of ice each time. I am honestly not sure how healthy these smoothies are for me, but they taste delicious and make me feel good for having them as a meal choice over what I know clearly would be a bad choice. I think this definitely has to count for something.

Perfectly pretty pedicures

Summer is the time of year when your toes get to taste freedom as they hang out in flip flops or with sand between them on the beach. I like to use the glorious summer weather as an excuse to get a pedicure, usually every three to four weeks, because freshly scrubbed feet and newly polished toes make me happy. Plus, I figure since my feet get quite a beating during the rest of the year squeezing them into closed toe shoes and boots that this is the least I can do to try to make up for it. I usually go to the Pure Nail Bar in my neighbourhood for my pedicure. They are reasonably priced, do a good job and I like the set-up in there. I just had one last Friday and seem to be all about neon or bright colours at the moment. I am sure this will change as summer gets ready to leave for another year. It makes me sad to think that probably in a month's time I will have to hide away my toes more often than not, but until then I think there is still some time for a few more pedicures.

Musical musings for July

Wow another month of 2014 almost over and once more it feels like it happened in the blink of an eye. In hindsight, July didn't feel like a particularly busy and exciting month plus the weather seesawed between quite hot and rainy the past couple of weeks. So now we are closer to the end of the year rather than the beginning and this thought makes me realise that I do need to make my months exciting. It is a good thing that I have some of this covered next month as I start it off with my housemate at Sunfest. Just over four days on the island camping and listening to country music is going to be so much fun. Country music purchases saw my iTunes library grow by four songs:

1. Dirt - Florida Georgia Line
2. Burnin' It Down - Jason Aldean
3. Day Drinking - Little Big Town
4. Loved - Lucy Hale

I think it might be time to consider purging my music library to make room for all my future country music purchases.

July's musical musings can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream sandwiches

I have decided that a summer's day should always end with a homemade ice cream sandwich. Although, I imagine this kind of eating habit wouldn't bode well for my waistline. Regardless, it was a lot of fun whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream sandwiches today using the recipe I found here. The inspiration to make these came from seeing a picture of something similar on instagram yesterday. I couldn't resist attempting ice cream sandwiches myself because cookie dough is my kryptonite and I hadn't done any real baking or the like recently. I wasn't sure if this would be a successful attempt because of what was involved in the process, but I am pretty happy with the end result. I think practice will make perfect, but I definitely will have to enlist help to eat any I make.

Bowen Island

Visiting Bowen Island has been on my to do list for quite some time now so I was really happy to be able to finally make this happen on the weekend. Not even the threat of rain could deter a Saturday afternoon hike. Bowen Island is a fifteen to twenty minute ferry ride away from Horseshoe Bay. Before we were even on the ferry, a couple of seals kept us entertained whilst we got ready to depart. The ferry journey was over so quickly, especially because of the distracting spectacular views. We took a leisurely hike around Killarney Lake, which was a pretty moderate one with some nice views along the way. The day was finished off with a welcome drink, some pub food and a couple more seals while we waited for the return ferry to the mainland. The rain never came and for that I was thankful because it allowed me to have the most enjoyable time possible in a new environment. 

Musical musings for June

I cannot believe we are halfway through 2014 already. I have to say I just don't like it, time needs to stop ticking over because I have so much I want to do and I am not making it happen. One thing I am definitely trying to keep up doing is listening to new music even when I am still loving stuff already in my iTunes library. This helps me to not overplay the songs I love so that I don't get sick of them. My music choices are usually a combination of artists I already listen too and new ones. With this in mind, the five additions to my playlist were:

1. I Don't Dance - Lee Brice
2. Dirt Road - Kip Moore
3. Fallin Over You - Chad Brownlee
4. Whiskey in My Water - Tyler Farr
5. Give Me Back My Hometown - Eric Church

Yes it is all country music and I have no plans to shock you with a new genre anytime soon. 

June's musical musings can be found on these albums (images courtesy of iTunes)

Leggings galore

We are officially in summer, but the weather is still being quite temperamental including lots of rain today before the sun finally came out. This works well for me when it comes to my wardrobe as I seem to have become a little bit obsessed with American Eagle/Aerie leggings. It all started back in February with some online shopping as mentioned here. From here my collection has more than tripled with no end in sight as I still have my eye on a few more pairs and may make them mine before the weather definitely turns into summer. It doesn't help that they keep bringing out new ones. The different patterns are so appealing and make it easier to wear them by themselves with long tops. It is a pretty affordable obsession so I just need them to stop tempting me with new designs.

Perfect oatmeal cookies

Sometimes baking doesn't need to involve every dish and utensil in the kitchen. This is especially true when it is a spur of the moment decision to bake on a weeknight. I had suggested baking cookies, but as soon as the words came out of my mouth I started to think about what this would mean so late at night. I didn't want lots of dishes and I definitely didn't want to use any electronics. With these things in mind I found a recipe here. It is a simple, easy and delicious recipe that didn't take long to whip up especially with some assistance. Even better was the fact that the recipe didn't produce too many cookies so the more I shared the less temptation for me. It just goes to show that delicious baked goods can come from a spur of the moment decision. All you need is to find a recipe to suit the occasion and have all the ingredients on hand.

Foot fetish

Yesterday I allowed myself to go a little bit shopping crazy and pick up a few things I needed and/or wanted at the mall. I literally spent the whole day there and thankfully did not come home empty-handed. When it came to shoes, I set myself a somewhat measly budget of $100.00 with the hopes I would be able to pick up two or three pairs of flats. I am happy to say that I was successful with this challenge because that kind of budget may seem unrealistic. I picked up three different pairs of shoes from Call It Spring including a pair of boots, which I definitely was not in the market for seeing as it is summertime now. The boots were too cute to resist and who doesn't love additional discount on a sale item. Strangely the shoe sizes I brought home weren't my norm so I hope my feet don't swell and I live to regret my cute new purchases. 

Instagram

Social media isn't really my thing and I am 99.9% sure I will never return to Facebook, but I couldn't resist the pull of Instagram once I got my iPhone last year. It quickly became a regularly used app and now I admittedly access it daily. I would like to say I just use it to check in with friends and give them a snippet into my life with random photos because of being on the other side of the world and all, but I also like to follow bloggers, celebrities and randomness. It does help keep me in touch with things and occasionally it inspires me in life and what I get up to. I think in this day and age it is hard to avoid being a part of some fad or craze, but anything in moderation doesn't hurt.

Chocolate cupcakes with mint chocolate chip frosting

Surprisingly, it took me over a month to christen the new kitchen with some baking, but I think it was worth the wait. What better excuse to bake then my housemate Corinne's birthday this past Tuesday. It had to be cupcakes over a cake as I have yet to perfect the art of basic cake decorating without it looking like a child did it. When you live with someone I think it gives you a good idea of what they like so with this in mind I decided on the cupcake recipe including frosting that I found here. As part of the baking process, I was really excited to be able to use a couple of items I got in a house warming present - some very cute liners and a cupcake scoop that is one of a set of three. The liners were great because of the height they had and the ease in which they peeled away from the cupcakes. I may have been a bit heavy with the scoop as I only churned out twelve cupcakes, but this was perfect.

I did two things differently with the recipe. I used milk instead of heavy cream and I sprinkled the cupcakes with dark chocolate and mint chips as opposed to putting mini ones in the frosting itself. 

The cupcakes turned out really well, which always makes me happy when it comes as a result of trying out a new recipe. I know the birthday girl enjoyed at least one of them and that also made me happy.