Welcome to an Awesome Life

If you love coffee and food, and appreciate dry humour and childish antics then we're off to a good start. If you are interested traveling, DIY, home remedies, and random nonsense to you I say: Welcome :-) And I suggest you start by reading About Me to see if you'll want to punch me or not before continuing. I hope you enjoy!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Disorganized? Who, me?


Right, so you all hate Mondays... I don't really "have" Mondays anymore... blah blah blah. Well, for your information, I'm no longer unaffected by Mondays. I'm actually glad to see Monday today. Yup. I said it. Boyfriend has gone to the city to work for the day and it's rather cool outside so I threw open the windows for some fresh air, made myself some tea, and sat down to tackle a stack of miscellaneous crap that has accumulated on my end table (it's really more of a bookshelf).

Once I had enough piles, I realized that some of the piles needed a home in the office, but the office looked like a tornado had passed through. Then, I decided I would just tackle organizing anything I could today, so I got on Pinterest and started searching office and kitchen organization. And then I got lost in the lovely world of Pinterest and started searching everything. 

3 hours and a lunch-break later and here I sit. Nothing is organized, and I've created an even bigger war-zone. There are piles everywhere, along with the aftermath of my lunch-making escapades (I made poutine for which, of course, I had to make bacon). It was a 3-appliance, multi-utensil adventure and we have no running water today. I think it's time to pour a vodka, or maybe crack a beer. This is going to require more effort that I had accounted for. 

One thing that I desperately need to include in my office organization is a place to store all of the nail crap I've accumulated. Just this weekend I bought 4 new bottles of nail polish and took over the kitchen at least twice to try fun things with my nails. Last night, I made my own version of these sunset nails using this tutorial as a guide. They were super easy to do and turned out alright, but I definitely need some smaller brushes if I'm going to start painting palm trees and such. 

*Ignore my ring finger, I was just seeing what the colours looked like in a marbled effect, which was my original intention when I sat down to paint them.
Ombre sunset nails



Speaking of sunsets, here is a photo I snapped of the first official sunset of Summer 2012. The colours in the sky were incredible! 



Alright, I think that's enough procrastinating for one afternoon. To organize, I go!!


Thursday, June 21, 2012

In a Nutshell

Well,  I haven't posted since Monday, but I've just been so busy... you know.... living my life and being all awesome and stuff. It's time consuming, just for the record. Anyway, if you'd like to see what I've been up to this week, read on:



1) I was reminded yesterday how much I love swimming. I spent some time swimming and floating my troubles away at a super-elite swimming hole, complete with waterfalls, "jacuzzis" and a lazy river. No, I'm not telling you where it is ;-) 

But I will give you a tiny peek. So pretty, no?
2) I'm actually kind of mad at the central air right now. I've been outside enjoying the heat for the last few days, feeling it go from sweltering to super-relaxing as the sun got lower in the sky, so the central air was a giant slap in the face when I got home from Paradise last night. So sue me.

3) I became friends with the chipmunk from last week. Now he needs a name other than "Chippy". Suggestions?

Great success!
Billy Goat chipmunk




















  


4) Discovered: great patio with amazing food, right downtown Campbellford. If you've never been to Capers, you HAVE to go. The first server who saw us was probably a witch or something because she was miserable and made no effort to hide it, basically calling us morons for wanting to sit on the patio in "this heat" and then ignored us when we sat outside anyway. However, our second server was amazing, so friendly and chatty and attentive despite being busy. I wish I got their names but I failed at that. First server = older curmudgeonly Mormon-looking woman, second server = young and bubbly and cute. That's all I've got, good luck. But seriously, don't let my witch-talk get in the way of your taste buds.

You. Must. Go. Here.

5) This summer, my mom and I are taking a road trip through the North-Eastern States. Major points on our route are: 
  • Burlington, VT
  • Portland (with a side-trip to Rockland), ME
  • Boston, MA 
  • NYC 
  • Possibly Watertown, NY at the end, if needed
After asking everyone for some tips on where to go and what to do in these cities, one of my friends (who lives in Maine) sent me THE greatest tour-guide email, full of great tips on where to eat and what to see and do while visiting her state.  Having locals give you their insider information is genius. Just sayin'. If her tips play out favourably, I will let you know!


6) When you light cattails on fire, they smoke. If you wave smokey cattails around while being assaulted by various asshole flies, said flies piss right off. Although, I don't recommend going and setting any fires just because I said something on fire was cool, because I'm not taking responsibility for anyone starting forest fires or some shit. 

Bye bye buggies




Yup, I think that's about the extent of my week. Until next time! 



Monday, June 18, 2012

Hello again, Monday!

Happy Monday! 

To save you from my usual babble, I will summarize my weekend with a short-but-awesome list of what my weekend looked like:



1) We went for a midnight stroll on Thursday night to grab some Whistle Stop dessert poutine. Yum.
Strawberry Dream Poutine

2) I was able to use up a few more of our absurd amount of too-ripe bananas by making these muffins. I used 1/2 cup of white sugar & 1/4 cup of brown sugar instead of the full 3/4 cups of white sugar, and I added about a teaspoon of vanilla to the banana mixture. Next time, I'd replace even more of the white sugar with brown (I'm a bit obsessed with brown sugar), but these were still very very delicious!
Mmm Banana Crumb Muffins

3) I spent Friday night having Vodka Friday with the girls, however I decided to drink pretty much everything BUT vodka, and ended up with a Hangover of Death all day Saturday. No, I do not have photographic evidence of this one.


4) Despite my liver trying to kill me all day Saturday, I was able to acquire two new pieces of art for our walls, created by the ridiculously talented Ashley Wilson.
So much going on in this one!
I have wanted this one since I first saw it. The colours!



















5) Hangover of Death finally (mostly) subsided by Saturday night, so we went to a late screening of the newest Happy Madison film, That's My Boy. As usual, Adam Sandler knows how to cause side-splitting laughter. Hilarious movie with a great cast, which happens to include Blair Waldorf Leighton Meester to help me out with summertime Gossip Girl withdraw...


6) I decided to have craft time, so I went on Pinterest and decided to make these Father's Day cards. Super-easy for anyone who may be craft-challenged!




Aaaaand that just about sums up my weekend. How was yours? What did you do to amuse yourself in this heat? 


Thursday, June 14, 2012

Crayfish & Bucket Lists


My week has been amazing for far and it isn't even Friday yet.
So there. 

It all started with a cottage adventure on Monday night with a few good friends for a mini-birthday party. We wore flower leis, danced to 90's music, and drank a few too many. We made s'mores with giant marshmallows and Reese peanut butter cups, and lit a ridiculous amount of citronella candles to keep away the mosquitoes (it worked). Then things get a little fuzzy...

Lots and lots of fire oooooo

... I woke up the next morning, after having passed out (1st to pass out apparently) with my lei still around my neck and my drink beside me on the night stand. My big bottle of vodka was almost empty and there was a paper bag on a roosters head, which I'm certain ties in with the video that I discovered on my phone of one of my girlfriends leading a discussion on male-roosters and their human body-part name-sharers. I think it may have been a good night, judging by the aftermath.  Once everyone was up and moving, we went for breakfast and then for a drive to some waterfalls where we skipped rocks and played with crayfish.


Click on the picture to get a better view of "Pinchy"







 Back at the cottage, I found a chipmunk that I was determined to become friends with and tried to bribe him with peanuts. Chippies might actually be the cutest little creatures of life: 


GIMMETHENUTSWOMAN!!
Trying to lure him inside... shh!!



















Eventually we had to head back to reality, and when I arrived there, I found a message from an old friend that contained a ridiculous picture of me from back in the good ole sailing days. 


Me at 16, doing what I loved most :-
I really was innocent at one point in my life (although this picture probably does not represent such a time).





Since we were headed to Canada's Wonderland the next day, and Mike had to work in Barrie disgustingly early in the morning, we decided at the last minute to head up that way for the night. We didn't end up checking into the hotel until 11pm, but it was worth the extra sleep-time that I knew I was gunna need for dominating an amusement the following day. 





And dominate I did.

After Mike finished work, we checked out of the hotel and made our way to Wonderland to celebrate another birthday. Being mid-week during the school year, the park wasn't overly busy. The longest line that we waited in was 20 minutes, and that was for the brand new roller coaster Leviathan. We took advantage of the short lines and rode as many rides as we could, including a water-ride (which soaked us). And the best part of my day was when I got to cross something off my bucket list: I finally found enough people to tackle the Xtreme Skyflyer with me. It. Was. AWESOME. I'm officially going to take on as many of them as I can. And you should too!

Waiting in our "x-ray gear" to be hauled up 170ft and dropped to the ground at over 100kms/hr.


All in all, it was a busy and excellent few days, and the next few are sure to be just as good. 



Today, I am on a mission to find a fun DIY project to start.... any suggestions? 


Monday, June 11, 2012

Just another Manic Monday

Well, I'll say that was a successful weekend! 

Saturday was the local dragon boat races, and while they were forecasting thunderstorms all day, Mother Nature decided to play nice and only gave us a couple of small showers in the morning. I love watching our community come together and rally for such a good cause. People get into this festival, and I do mean REALLY get into it. Our downtown is transformed into a sea of pink everywhere you look, and people can be found randomly breaking into song and dance at any given time. Check out this article about Saturday's races, complete with a slide show (Nanny is in photo #13) and a short video. The final tally for funds raised won't be announced until the fall, but they are so far sitting at over $170,000. That's a lot of money from a town of 75,000 people. If that isn't community spirit, I don't know what is.

I was feeling a bit "festive" and made some Pink Lemonade cupcakes. Mmmm summer!


A few blocks up the street from dragon boat races, A Taste of Downtown was happening. If there's one thing that I love about living in Peterborough, it's definitely our amazing selection of restaurants that reside in our downtown core. Mike and I, forever following our taste buds, decided to hit up Charlotte Street for the rare treat of getting to eat at all of our favourite restaurants at once. Apparently we didn't quite get enough during the day because after several drinks with friends, we walked back down to Whistle Stop for one of their 50+ poutines. Ohhhh mouthgasm. Very quickly devoured by 3 of us were Pulled Pork poutine, Philly Cheese Steak poutine, and Strawberry Dream dessert poutine (if you love funnel cake, you'll love dessert poutine). I really can't get enough of this place.


...Apparently I failed to take many photos of my weekend, but that's fine. I will have many more delicious encounters with food and will find many more awesome things to fill my time with that will all require photographic evidence. 

And now, I go (with a promise to take more photos). I have 5 hours to plan, gather, get ready, drive 45 minutes to a cottage, and set up for this evening's event: a mini-birthday party of sorts for a good friend. Cheers!


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Blondes and Boobies: Some Local Awesome

I had my first true "girly-gossipy hair salon" day today. Not that they aren't normally a bit chatty as my stylist is also a long time friend... but the two clients who came in just after me were (coincidentally) also girls I had known forever. We discussed everything from male strip clubs & Passion Parties products (totally unrelated stories) to crazed murderers & stalker fans. As cheesy as it sounds - it was kinda refreshing. The only thing missing was vodka....*sigh*.... Anyway, my hair is officially ready for summer, thanks to the one and only Miss Jess of Fusion Hair Studio . I am blonde. Really really blonde.

And sometime in the next 24-ish hours, my hair will also be pink for this weekend's Dragon Boat Festival . My grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, is one of the original members of the hosting team "Survivors Abreast". Typically my mother and I take care of putting together lunches for the 100+ volunteers the night before the festival, and this year will be no different. There have been some years we have also paddled on supporting or community teams, but this year we are both sitting it out... as far as we know anyway. 

Nanny :-)


Now this is where I'm gunna get serious for a moment: To anyone who knows me, you know that my grandmother, "Nanny", is a very important part of my life. Without her influence, I'd never have discovered my love for at least three different activities - riding horses, acting and sailing. She has always encouraged me to follow my heart and live my life with a smile on my face. The love and support from her are so unconditional, so genuine and so uplifting on the darkest of days. She is funny, and clever and so very brave, and she lives her life to the fullest in ways that I only hope I'll be able to match. Nanny has overcome so many obstacles in her life and never lets anything take her down. Most recently she beat cancer - again. Her clean bill of health is still very new, so seeing her fellow dragon-boaters this weekend is going to be even more special than it usually is. And that Nanny, ever the go-getter, has not just one dragon boat team to support her, but TWO. See, she is also the founder and president of Canadians Abreast, Canada's national breast cancer survivor dragon boat team.They have traveled the world over, fiercely paddling for their cause. Consequently, I have treasures from every corner of the globe but my favourite are my photos and memories from last July, when Nanny took me to Sydney, Nova Scotia to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a local dragon boat team. We didn't get to spend much time together, but I was able to mingle with some of her beloved teammates and even catch some good photos of the adventure. Plus, a little bit of sea-air does wonders for a soul in need of a break from reality.

All mushy stuff aside, I had better see some of your faces out this weekend to cheer on the local dragon boat teams as they race to raise funds to kick cancer's ugly ass. 


Now, I sleep. 



Monday, June 4, 2012

I Fired My Job & Hired My Inner Child

Yesterday was my last day of slave labour at my life-sucking job. 

After several years of working for yet another greedy, game-playing company, I finally hit rock bottom. It. Got. UGLY. After writhing around in the darkness way down at the "bottom"(begging for it all to end), for what seemed like eternity, reality finally tossed me a lifeline: I realized that I needed to get out - fast - or die a slow, miserable death. Simple as that. So I picked up what was left of my self-esteem and willpower, crunched some numbers and decided that I could afford to ditch "real life" for at least half a year. And now I am doing just that. 

Today my new story begins, and it's going to be full of all things Awesome.

My goal is to spread the Awesome while learning more about myself and the planet I call home, and I hope you choose to join the adventure. But I should probably warn you:

I'm blunt, sarcastic, and I have a twisted sense of humour. I love food, drop more than my fair share of the f-bomb and may give you the impression that I'm a cross between a drunken sailor, a 5-year-old and a crazy cat lady. I take a lot of pictures, own a lot of shoes and drink a lot of vodka. I love markets and tall-ships and creatures of most kinds and books and home made things and pretty cars. I like to make cupcakes, colour pictures and do puzzles. I'm all kinds of A.D.D. and it's pretty Awesome. 

If you're still reading, then you must be at least slightly amused so keep watching this space. You never know what I'll be up to next! 

In the meantime, bear with this mess as I figure out how to blog (It will probably help if you get as drunk as me). And maybe enjoy this photo of me trying to teach that Boyfriend guy how to brush his teeth:


Until tomorrow....