Monday, October 31, 2011

weekend.

halloween fun:

juno and bleaker.


anthem and shawn hosted a halloween party on saturday night and they did such a lovely job. they had prizes for best costume and pumpkin carving and throw the dart at the skeleton heart. what great hosts :) 
I made this little treat to bring to the party... halloween chocolate bark


this week is going to be SO busy but starting next week, I am on the home stretch! almost another semester down! I can't believe how time flies.

happy halloween friends!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

11 things I'm grateful for.

one of my yoga teachers recently finished her blissology yoga training and she has been teaching us all about it each tuesday.  I am totally loving it- there are all these other aspects to the philosophy than simply yoga.  each week we learn about a new aspect or pillar to this philosophy.  in previous weeks it has been, meditation, food appreciation and nature appreciation.  the last pillar, which we are exploring this week, is gratitude.  during the beginning of class she talked about gratitude and how we should be so thankful for all the wonderful things we are blessed with.  each day it is important to be grateful for those simple things that keep us going.  so in honour of that- here are 11 things I'm grateful for this week.

1. extra long savasana
2. my pink spatula- I baked up a storm this week.
3. the fact that I fit into a kids skirt at value village that I found for my halloween costume
4. the chocolate cookie that jess delivered to me before class on thursday morning.  you betcha I ate it at 8.30 in the morning.
5. all the delicious cheese i devoured at wine fest. the wine too i guess- yah that was good.
6. prompt email replies.
7. free soy upgrades and discounts for reusable mugs at starbucks.
8. a long evening walk- a long, cold evening walk. in the dark. but it was great because I had the best company.
9. skype dates
10. evenings without homework.
11. my friends and family. as always. they are the best ever and keep me going.


I am also so grateful to have had such a wonderful holiday.  I tend to day dream about it from time to time...



I am also grateful for nerds night out last night.  we had such a great time. 

morg and jess- the best biology study buddy. 


what are you grateful for?

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

warning: these are addictive.

make them.eat them.share them.



mmm chocolate deliciousness.

get the recipe at smitten kitchen.  I think this was one of the first recipes I ever bookmarked and now a year later I finally made them.  well, they were worth the wait.  they were really easy to make, using simple ingredients and I really liked the aspect of refrigerating/freezing the dough so you can just make as many as you want to.  I baked half the dough the same day and then the next half a couple days later.  perfect cookies for sharing! after making these cookies once, I think I could make them again just by memory and that makes things so much easier- rather than looking at my laptop every 30 seconds to read the ingredients or what to do next.  I love baking without a recipe! these cookies might be delicious with a little peanut butter added into the mix :)  I'm a major sucker for peanut butter/chocolate combo.


other happenings in the kitchen this week:

buttermilk biscuits from and now for something completely delicious...


biscuit for you!

well these were simple and they turned out great! all flaky just like a biscuit should be.  

happy baking my friends.

it is just crazy what a little baking can do for my mood.  I will have a stressful/crappy/frustrating day and come home feeling a little down.  as soon as I put on some good tunes, get my baking supplies out and start prepping, I am one happy girl.  what would I ever do without baking and yoga.  I went to such a rockin' vinyasa flow class on tuesday night so after that and my morning run my legs were pooched.  tonight zumba and bookclub on the agenda!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

for your ears.

a wise sports, music and Rhys fanatic once told me that the best three things to ever come out of regina are ME(obviously), jordan eberle and the sheepdogs.  in case you were wondering.. I rank first out of those three, just to clarify.

well now that I am absolutely addicted to the sheepdogs, I would say that they come in at a close second.
your ears will thank me..



I would suggest you just save yourself the time and get the album. NOW :)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

weekend.

this was my first "real" weekend in quite a while.  I was working both saturday and sunday up until hawaii and now I'm only working saturdays so I actually have some time to myself.  this weekend I tried to make very minimal plans and I was SO looking forward to it.

friday, I had an amazing hot yoga class- it felt great to release all those toxins and sweat like a crazy person for an entire hour.  so wonderful. then derek and I relaxed on the couch with popcorn and a movie. perfect night in my books.

saturday, highlights included a nice run around the neighbourhood with D and this chicken enchilada spaghetti for dinner


sunday was just wonderful. I have missed sundays dearly. it started off great with homemade crepes!


this was the recipe I used from allrecipes:
*1 cup flour
*1/2 cup water
*1/2 cup milk
*2 eggs
*2 tablespoons melted butter
*1 teaspoon vanilla (don't add if you want to make savoury crepes)

mix the water, milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla.  then gradually whisk in the flour.  I put a small amount of butter in the frying pan before each crepe to prevent sticking.  pour in about 1/4 cup batter and tilt the pan to spread the batter into a large circle. after ~2 minutes flip and cook for another 2.
makes 8 crepes.

toppings are endless:
-nutella and banana
-peanut butter and banana
-syrup
-berries

following breakfast and some relaxation around the house we were off to start our sunday errands.  we hunted down some great finds for our halloween costumes and then ventured out to the nanaimo river to get some sunshine.  I had to do some fieldwork for one of my assignments for school so D took me to a couple different spots to make some notes and get some photos.  it was such a gorgeous day to be outside.




now to enjoy the rest of my sunday evening before a busy week ahead.  hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Friday, October 21, 2011

back in the blogosphere.

Hi lovelies (if I have any readers left after my blogging hiatus),

I think I'm back!! it was nice to have a break and I'm feeling excited about getting back into the blogosphere.  my schedule is just as busy so I have set out some guidelines for blogging.  I will aim for posting 3 days a week- more or less depending on my work load at that particular time.

so let's get started with some things I'm loving lately:

*fall- oh my goodness. fall on the island is so gorgeous.  I take the time every time I pass the park by my house to look at the trees. this picture(that I did not take-thanks tourism nanaimo) sums up the beauty.



*book club.  especially this months book. the pact which I read in 4 days on my holiday to hawaii. a great read- I highly recommend this book and I think I will read another one of her books soon.



*8tracks. my current favourite playlists: change in the weather and when the wind blows, we fly



*my kitchen. seriously, time spent with my kitchen aid mixer is time WELL SPENT :) I made some delicious cookies yesterday and I will share the recipe soon.  I have been throughly enjoying cooking up a storm in the kitchen this week. I have some delicious recipes planned for the weekend


*these nails from cupcakes and cashmere.. if only I had the time for that.

source


now I'm off to hot yoga- perfect ending to a rainy day :) happy weekend my friends!