Happy Birthday Mom!

To my mom -

 who taught me to be strong and passionate, kind and accepting of everyone.

who gave up a lot so her family could have a bit more.

who would wake up early on weekends to take her daughters to gymnastics practices and competitions.

who once walked through a snowstorm to bring my sister Tylenol. 

Who I love very much.

Happy Birthday!

On Saturday, with the invaluable help of my aunt Wendy, my dad, sister and I successfully threw her a surprise party!

I can't thank everyone enough for braving the bad weather and making it out (and completely understand those who chose not to risk the drive - I don't think I would have risked it either) .

She was completely shocked and (hopefully) happy to see so many familiar faces there to celebrate with her.

Although I forgot to take more, here are a few pictures from the party!

The theme of the party was Paris so we colour coordinated things white, black & pink.

On the carrot cake I stencilled happy birthday with icing sugar. Unfortunately the sugar dissolved and didn't show up as well so I tried to re-do it with sprinkles, which also didn't really work.

Using an image I found online, I traced over the eiffel tower on parchment paper with melting chocolate and let them harden before using them to decorate the edges of the cake (to hide the less-than-stellar icing job).

Our spread was pretty full with lots of kind party goers bringing snacks to add.

And everyone left with a party favour - delicious looking macaron soaps courtesy of Baked Soap.

A few people thanked me for alerting them it was soap as they would have eaten them on the way home.

I ordered these soaps here (more info available on the website here) and they make amazing party favours for any occasion.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love you.

Birthday Wish List

One of the best things about summer (besides the heat, cottage trips, burgers and BBQs, flip flops, etc) is my birthday.

Actually, every other thing in that list I think tops my birthday but it's still an enjoyable part of the summer.

This year I have no idea what I want.

I mean, I obviously have a few things on my wish list but I'd say 99% of those fall in the realm of "keep dreaming sister".

These include:

A puppy.

Presented to me in a box, which upon opening will cause me to cry tears of joy.

Any puppy is acceptable but preferably not a stupid breed. I need one that can be easily trained.

A trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

I will happily wait in line at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for hours with the children and like-minded grown ups.

A baby.

This would realistically come in the form of my husband agreeing to a timeline for us to start a family.

I've given him my timeline so ... he knows.

(A baby isn't on the horizon for minimum another 6 months though)

(Sorry mom and dad)

But I suppose there are some things I want that aren't completely unrealistic.

Take for example this anatomically correct heart necklace.

They're all over Etsy, this one courtesy of Lost Apostle.

I also want a flatscreen tv for the bedroom (I'm thinking a 22") to make more space on the dresser.

Also a cable box cause we've now lost pretty much every channel since things have gone digital.

Also on the safe bet list: books, wine, food.

That's all I've got for now.

Maybe if I keep the list small a puppy and a trip to Disney might happen....

The Miller Tavern

For the past 3 years, John has wanted to go to The Miller Taven for his birthday dinner.

So this year was no exception.

 

I love this place. I always enjoy my meal, my wine, and the general ambience of the place.

 

We started the night with Malpeque oysters (ugh gross) for John and some bread with maple butter for me.

(Oh how I miss bread so badly on this cleanse. I almost caved and ate a baguette with cheese earlier this evening.)

 

 

We also got a bottle of a wine we've purchased from Cave Spring before (and drank pretty quickly) - The Dolomite Riesling.

The dolomite is so named because of the dolomitic limestone that can be found in the Niagara Escarpment and which gives the wine a real minerally, delicious taste.

Highly recommend this one if you're looking for a good sweeter white.

 

I was torn between the burger, the Sri Lankan chicken curry that seems to be my go-to, and the jerk chicken sandwich.

Lured by the combination of pineapple and bacon, I went with the Jerk Chicken Sandwich ($15).

It came loaded with grilled pineapple, bacon, pickled red onion, mango aïoli,

and jalapeño jack cheese.

And it was good.

I cut it in half thinking I'd save half but ... the sandwich was gone pretty quickly.

 

John, having been wowed off his seat last year when he ordered the burger, decided to go a different route and got the Portobello Mushroom Ravioli ($18).

It came with asparagus, pea shoots, rosé cream sauce and chipped reggiano.

I had a bite and even though I dislike mushrooms (cooked, I'll eat them raw), this ravioli was pretty good.

We were too stuffed to enjoy any desert but I bought him some cupcakes from a place near us called Bakes & Goods and I sang a proper happy birthday to him the next night.

 

Check out The Miller Tavern especially if you love seafood.

It's pricey but well worth it if you're willing to splurge.

 

 

Birthday Cake!

Sorry in advance - this post is not going to be very wordy.

My big RN exam is on Wednesday so I'm trying to cram in as much studying as possible.

Just wanted to share with you this bit of baking I did over the weekend for John's birthday celebration!

Being a big fan of fishing I went with a fishing theme.

All you need is a few boxes of rainbow chip cake, some Swedish fish, vanilla pudding for the fishing hole (and blue food colouring - lots of it, especially if your pudding has a yellow tint), and some rock candy (I found mine at Sugar Mountain).

Stab a few paratroopers with toothpick-fishing rods, tie some dental floss onto them and dangle those bad boys into your fishing hole.

And if you're drinking at your party make some jello shooters complete with Swedish fish.

Now back to learning all about pregnancy and pregnancy-related health conditions!

Thanksgiving/Birthday Long Weekend

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

It's a day late but it's also Thanksgiving Monday (aka stay in your PJs all day Monday) so I'm not that late.

This week there haven't been any posts because I have barely had time to sit still let alone make anything worth blogging about.

Monday I worked, Tuesday I went from the hospital straight to work, Wednesday I worked 2 shifts, Thursday I worked then went to the hospital for an overnight shift, then Friday I had a midterm then Thanksgiv'r.

Saturday John and I went for an adventure picnic to the Terracotta Badlands and to the Forks of the Credit River. I had been feeling somewhat nauseous on the drive up so I didn't get to appreciate the badlands to their full extent. I did start to feel a lot better once we found a nice shaded spot under a tree overlooking Kettle Lake at the Forks of the Credit.

Plus serrano ham and havarti on foccacia with a can of Dr. Pepper never hurt anyone.



Saturday night we went out to The Hoxton for my little sister's birthday.

Hard to believe she's 24!

Yesterday was her birthday so we celebrated with turkey and stuffing and cake and pie.

You can't see it too well in this photo but her cake (courtesy of my best friend over at Blondie's Bakery)  incredible - a carrot cake plate of nachos!

Better pictures to follow.

This week: I'm making pulled pork (right now), have a few nights off (which mean essay writing but also blog post - hurray!) and then my first wedding dress adventure on Saturday! Ah!

I also want to make jalapeno cheddar biscuits but seeing as it's a holiday I'm not optimistic that the grocery stores are open and I'm even less optomistic that Shoppers Drug Mart has jalapeno peppers....

Hot Spinach Dip

I'm very lucky because my best friend not only takes me to amazing concerts, she also makes insanely good cakes.

Case in point: my birthday cake this year!

A red velvet Chanel purse.

Might even be better than the real thing!

This cake is deeeeelicious and it's slowly being devoured in an effort to make it last longer.

Since I love parties and party planning, I came up with some ideas for appetizers.

One is pretty simple and for it you need only 3 ingredients.

Pear & Camembert on Puff Pastry.

The picture doesn't do it enough justice.

I also made a small desert table, knowing there would be a cake and not wanting to have a ton of stuff left over.

Earl Grey tea cookies, banana chocolate chip mini-muffins, and smores-pops.

I also made a hot spinach dip. I had found the recipe while I was lookig for something to serve as an appetizer at the fam-jam but we had so much food we decided to skip it.

Hot Spinach Dip
(Courtesy of Martha Stewart)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large pot heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add in 1 medium onion, diced, 2 cloves of garlic, minced, and cook for about 5-8 minutes until lightly browned.

2. Add 2 pounds of spinach (I used 1 frozen package) and cook until completely wilted (or no longer frozen), about 5-8 minutes. Transfer to a collander and press to release extra water.

3. In the same pot, warm 1/2 cup milk over high heat. Add in 1 pkg cream cheese and whisk until melted, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach back in, along with 3 dashes each of worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, 1/4 cup shredded mozarella (I used marble cheddar), and salt and pepper. Pour into a lightly oiled baking dish and sprinkle the top with 1/2 cup shredder mozarella cheese.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese on top is bubbly and golden brown. Serve with whatever you plan to dip into it.

Birthday!

It's my Birthday!

Somehow I've turned 26 years old.
When did this happen? Cause I'm pretty sure that's wrong.

Let's do some number crunching here.

Actual age: 26.

Enjoys baking, knitting, soup:   74

Owns Justin Beiber silly bandz: - 12

Recently played ipod songs include Joe Jonas & Selena Gomez:  -13

Still able to go out and dance the night away:  -19

Completed at least one successful year of schooling:    -5

----

26

Guess the numbers add up after all. Hmm.

I promise I'll get back to posting recipes from the Fam Jam that I haven't gotten around to doing yet (cause the day I tried the pictures were taking years at a time to upload).

In the meantime, here's something worth checking out.

It's probably one of the best things I've stumbled across in awhile (after Pinterest, of course).

*Side note: if you don't yet know what pinterest is go google it and fall in love. Big thanks to Andrea for showing me the pinterest light.*

This is a google map of Toronto where you can 'map your kiss'. What a beautiful way to discover the city.

I absolutely love this idea.

I've already mapped two for John to find.

Hint: One was not actually a kiss location but it's a spot that lead to every single kiss we've shared since.

If you live in Toronto or if you've had a memorable kiss in the city head on over to the website and Map Your Kiss!

 

Now since it's my birthday here's some Selena Gomez.

Happy Birthday Martha Stewart!

I started a totally different post this morning but was frustrated by the loading time of pictures and gave up.

Luckily that post will be saved for tomorrow and today (before it ends in an hour)'s post can be dedicated to the topic that matters most:

Martha Stewart's Birthday!

Yes, today is the Christmas of all things Martha.

Today we celebrate the birth of the Domestic Diva.

Happy (70th!) Birthday, my idol.

You look mahhhvelous, absolutely mahhhvelous.

For the Martha Stewart Living magazines I live for each month, the Everyday Food magazines I covet, and more recently the Weddings magazine (known to increase heart rate by 25-50 bpm), as well as a website I frequent as regularly as Facebook and Perez Hilton, I say THANKS!

Hope you enjoyed your birthday horseback-riding through Skylands, or perhaps by surprising the new owners of Turkey Hill with a visit to the property (riding bareback on a centaur, no less). Her minions kept her well fed and her glass full, no doubt.

Happy Birthday, Martha!

FYI - my birthday is on Friday... what? Oh, a birthday shout out to me on YOUR blog would be lovely.

You're sweet.

Birthday Blitz Over and a Success

What a great 25th birthday celebration!

Thursday night I went out to Cafe Demtre with a group of friends for cake and ice cream. I have pictures that I may post at a later date.

Friday I had a wonderful day with my mom. We went shopping, I got a pedicure, and we went for a really tasty lunch at Gabby's. I know, you wouldn't think pub food could be really tasty. We were going to go to an Indian restaurant that I've been eyeing for awhile but it didn't open until 4 pm. So at the insistance of our growling stomachs we picked another place nearby. We split a chicken souvlaki and a trio of sliders (one pulled pork - drool - one buffalo chicken and one beef) with sweet potato fries. Then we headed back home for chocolate cake.

Friday night we had people over and then we went out to a bar downtown. I chose a place with cheap cover and cheap drinks which turned out to be a bad idea. Not because the place was a dive bar. Because I had way to much to drink. Cheap drinks = more people willing and wanting to buy you a drink/shot.

It was worse because Saturday morning John and I drove up to his family's cottage. Morning turned into 2 pm. And I could not keep food down until 8 pm that night. Gross.

But I'm recovered now and can fully enjoy how great a weekend it was!

I got some amazing gifts too. A beautiful Kate Spade bag from my mom (somehow she must have known how many hours I've spent on ebay searching for cheap Kate Spade bags!), memory foam for our bed from my sister, the magic bullet (now I too can feel like a part of that infomercial family), Martha Stewart's hors d'oeuvres Handbook, a Winner's gift card, and much more.

I also got some delicious baked goods from my friend's who are amazing cake decorators:

My birthday cake from Tracy - notice the '25' has been crossed out to just read 5.

Cookies shaped like drinks from Danielle - if only these had been the only adult beverages I indulged in.

I decorated the place in the spirit of having a 5th birthday rather than a 25th birthday. My wonderful aunt Wendy provided almost all of the decor in the thoughtful gift basket she put together for me last weekend.

The napkins, the plates, the tea set ... all so perfect! Not to mention the 5 fridge essentials I mentioned in a previous post!

I made a nacho dip, soft pretzels, and Aunt Wendy's caramel corn which I brought up to John's cottage afterward and it was a BIG hit.

I also decided that instead of making loot bags I'd put together a loot jar. Included were mardi gras beads, ring pops, lollipops, and these really cool finger lasers from the dollar store! If you see them at dollarama they are fantastic! Short battery life but fun while they last.

I'm on a mission now to lose the 7-8 lbs I've put on since July 1st. Luckily I also have that ol' half marathon I registered for fast approaching so getting back in shape and training for a 13 mile run should compliment each other nicely.

I ran 5 miles this morning and I'm thinking that if I up my run but one mile each week I should be good. So 2 more 5 milers this week and then onto 6 milers next week. If I can comfortably run 10 miles a few times before September 26th then I'm in business.

Yikes. That's a long distance to run.....

A 25th Birthday Idea

I've been thinking that since I will be turning 25 in just over a month's time I should celebrate the quarter century landmark by throwing a birthday party I would have had when I was 5.

I'm talking balloons, streamers, loot bags, a pinata, ice cream cake, party hats, etc.

Not like I don't do all of that stuff every year regardless but this year would sort of be the kiddie party to the extreme.

Now I'm not so sure I want to do that but as I was browsing through the Martha website I came across a section dedicated to kid's birthday party themes.

This one caught my eye only because I want this exact image set up in my parent's backyard:

The Pixie Party

Adorable!

This reminds me of Brownie and Girl Guide camping at Camp Makeewah in the Magical Forest. There was a toadstool that the Brown Owl always put a loonie on top of and it was a race to see who got to the toadstool first.

Gosh I loved Brownies.

I do have to say, though, that I'm a little disappointed with some of the theme Martha & Co. came up with.

For example, the 'Flower Power' theme was described as 'Flowers and balloons are the theme at this party'........

I'm sorry.....what?

Since when does putting out flowers and balloons count as a theme? That's just called a party.

I've come up with much better themes than that.

Like last year's 1950's garden party.

Anyway, I'll keep you updated on birthday plans as they come along.

In other news: umm..... I am getting excited for THIS!

I embrace my Harry Potter nerdiness and if you do too then perhaps we should all organize a get together to watch the 2nd of the two final films next summer.
:)

Cakes and Cupcakes and Birthdays - Oh My!

Wednesday was my Mom's birthday so I baked her a cake. After a bit of nagging I finally got her to tell me what kind of cake she wanted: carrot or chocolate. Knowing she loves carrot cake I went in that direction. I forgot to copy down the recipe but it's in a school-recipe-book from my mom's former school. I'll get the recipe next time I'm over there and copy it down to post here. It's a delicious cake.

I also subsituted apple sauce in place of oil which made the cake more dense and less bad :) That substitution, however, made it impossible to get the cupcakes out the liners...oops.

And I brought those cupcakes to clinical the next day for a girl in my group because it was her birthday. Hope she still enjoyed the way they tasted!

Straight outta the oven:

After decorating - cream cheese frosting (made with brown sugar because my parent's house is sparse in baking essentials now that I'm gone apparently), orange mike & ikes and green icing:

I have to explain, the cake was still warm when I frosted it and was so warm that when I put it in the fridge to cool it down the icing cracked :( Boo hoo.

Anyway, I'm making more baking. It was my friend's birthday on the 2nd and it's another friend's birthday today. I made them cupcakes.



In an effort to save time I used a cherry chip mix but added in a whole load of marachino cherries that I cut into smaller pieces. I also added in a dash of brandy for good measure. This could be a sloppy night as one of the girl's just got back from a trip yesterday and brought back a big ol' bottle of rum with her. She's making rum punch and pina coladas.

Good thing I went to the gym today.

Speaking of the gym, I'm kind of curious as to how tomorrow plays out. The elliptical (one of two, the second of which has been 'broken' since September) is broken so now there are only one bike and 2 treadmills for cardio. In the gym, however, there are 3 treadmills, 2 ellipticals, 1 stationary bike, and a stair climber. Apparently no one cares when machines need to be fixed.

Anyway, ranting aside, I hoped on the treadmill. I have been careful not to run for more than 20 minutes because last spring/summer I did something to my knee. If I ran for more than about 20-30 minutes I got an awful pain in my left knee everytime I went down stairs or bent it. I went beyond 20 minutes today...I ran 6 miles. Which is what I used to do but considering I haven't run that kind of distance in a looong time is both incredibly exciting and worrisome because while my knee is okay now I'm scared that tomorrow it'll be sore again. I really should make a physio appointment but they're so pricey. Maybe I'll ask for one for my birthday :)

In other news (aka nursing news):

1. I gave my 1oth ever needle today! Celebration! And of the 3 I did today my hand didn't shake at all! I did 3 today and 3 yesterday - diabetics have really helped up my needle-giving.
2. I changed a diabetic foot ulcer dressing and packed it....it was gross in a really cool way. I want to find a similar picture but it would (a) gross everyone out, and (b) possibly break some sort of nurse-patient confidentiality laws.

I'll google you's a picture tomorrow. Or you can do it if you're that gross-curious type. The pictures of people with black tissue on the bottom of their feet? Seen it. The ones with deep holes in their feet? Packed two of those bad boys with gauze. Twice.

Ya, I'm that good.

And ready for the weekend.

And rum.