Tag | 50 Random Questions

I've been a little off the radar for the last couple weeks and I didn't want you to think I was neglecting you! So I went on tumblr and searched for the 50 Random Questions tag. 

I wasn't tagged by anyone..deal with it ;P

1. Where were you 3 hours ago?- Sleeping in my bed, having a weird dream.
2. Who are you in love with? Le boyfriend.
3. Have you ever eaten a crayon?-Nope.
4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?-A candle and a CD case/holder thing.
5. When is the last time you went to the mall?- Last week.
6. Are you wearing socks right now?-No
7. When was the last time you drove out of town?- Hmm.. it's been a while. I flew out at Christmas.
8. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?- No, not for a long time. What movie would you recommend?
9. What was the last thing you had to drink?-Yes
10. What are you wearing right now?- My pjs and my high school hoodie :)
11. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?- I don’t have a car.
12. Last food that you ate?-An everything bagel. Mmmm.
13. Where were you last week at this time?- On my way to work.
14. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?- Two button ups for work, a crop tank and some black tights,
15. What is your favorite animal?- Probably a dog.
16. Your dream vacation?- England or Greece! (Managed a trip to England last summer; would LOVE to go back!)
17. Worst injury you’ve ever had? - Stitches in my forehead after tripping over my own shoe. *takes bow*
18. Have you been in love?-I think so.
19. Do you miss anyone right now?- Yes
20. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?- I wish I had one haha.
21. What are your plans for tonight?- Working until 9:30 :(
22. Who is the last person you sent a text message?- John
23. Next trip you are going to take?- To Johns parents for Easter.
24. What do you want to know about the future?- Will my kids be assholes? haha
25. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?- Not yet.
26. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor’s visit?- I guess so?
27. Where is your best friend?- I assume at work.
28. How is your best friend?- Just dandy, thank you for asking.
29. Do you have a tan?- I have a bit left over from my trip to Cuba!
30. What are you listening to right now?- The sound my laptop makes when it's over heating.
31. Do you collect anything?- Not officially. I'm a bit sentimental though.
32. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?- I know a few, I try not to contribute.
33. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?- I think back home with my mom.
34. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?- Yes of course
35. What does your last text message say?- "Meeting w my boss for the next hour and a half though. I'll tty after"
36. Do you like hot sauce?- No, spicy doesn't agree with me.
37. Last time you took a shower?- Yesterday
38. Do you need to do laundry?-Yes. Our washer was broken for a week or so, so we've got quite the pile.
39. What is your heritage?- Canadian, French, Scottish, Venezuelan (Spanish)
40. Are you someone’s best friend?- I hope so.
41. Are you rich?- Nope.
42. What is your favorite food?- Candy, mashed potatoes, smothering steak, fresh baked bread.
43. What is your Song of the week?- Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby - O' Brother Where Art Thou OST.
44. The best thing you eat for breakfast? - French toast.
45. How many languages ​​can you speak?- 2, English and French
46. What color is your hair?-Naturally dark brown, right now it's kind of auburn-y brown
47. How many brothers / sisters do you have?- One sister.
48. Your OTP?- Mary Poppins and Bert haha.
49. What color are your eyes?- Dark brown
50. Do you have tattoos / piercings? - Just my ears pierced. Would maybe like to get a tattoo.

I tag you to answer these 50 questions! If you have any other questions, ask below!

I hope you have a great day guys :)

Haul | Dynamite + Payless

Hey guys! 

Today I wanted to share with you a few things I picked up a couple weeks ago at Dynamite. 

They recently opened one up at a mall near me, and I'd never been into one before, so I thought I'd check it out. I managed to find four tops I really liked and as an added bonus they were all on sale!

I love this cute lightweight jacket. I've been seeing a lot of monochrome/ black and white for spring this year and I love the pattern! I picked this up for $22 (I think).

Keeping with the monochrome theme, I got this long sleeve crop tee. It's a really soft material and wont be too heavy even into the summer. This was only $15.

I also got this pretty royal blue top with 3/4 length sleeves. Also very soft, and I thought it could be nice with a pair of leggings or jeans. The neck line is really flattering as well; I think this was also around $20.

This is my favourite piece I got. It's again, really soft, and a bit cropped. It will be perfect when it starts to warm up a bit with a cute skirt or some shorts, and I've worn it a couple times recently with some high waisted jeans (check them out here, in my American Apparel haul). I love this sweater so much and it was also around $20.


I also popped into Payless one day just to look around. I have small feet (size 5.5) and I find Payless doesn't always have the cutest styles in my size, but I was pleased to find this pair of heels that I actually really liked. 

Please ignore the washing machine ;) haha!

They're the Fioni brand that Payless carries and they seem very comfortable; they have a thick heel, which is great for me since I'm a tad unstable in heels. I haven't had a chance to wear them out yet, but I can't wait until I do!
I seriously can't wait until spring. *sighs*


That's all for today folks! Which pieces are your favourites?

Have a great day :)

Winter Favourites

Hey guys!

Winter is soon coming to an end (fingers crossed), so today I wanted to share some of the things I've been loving the past few months. Though chances are, with the Canadian weather, that I've still got several more weeks of miserable cold and snow. 

At least the sun is out today! Let's get started.

First up, are a couple of candles from Bath & Body Works. I'd never been that big into candles before now, but I was at the mall one day and Bath & Body Works was have a big sale while all their winter scents were out, so I went in to have a look. I think I probably sniffed a couple dozen different candles, some lovely some not so much, and finally decided on three. Two of them I really liked, the third (Apple Garland) smells lovely on it's own, but I find it doesn't give off much of a scent while it's burning, but maybe that's just my nose. Here are the two I loved:

Snow Day is a great Christmas/ general winter scent, that I would describe as minty-vanilla. I love this candle; it smells sooo good and my boyfriend likes it too! It fills our apartment with deliciousness and makes me crave something sweet. 

Black Tie isn't one of Bath & Body Works winter scents, I think it's out all year round (I might be wrong), but it's more of a night-time scent in my opinion. Although I've definitely burnt it during the day because I just love the way it smells. I would describe it as 'sexy man scented.' That's it. That's what I think of when I give it a sniff haha. I couldn't tell you what "notes" are in it (are there notes in scents? Or is that just wine and liquor?), I'd say kind of perfume/cologne-y. But basically, delicious, in a sexy kind of way. The boyfriend isn't as big of a fan of this one .. maybe he's just jealous ;)

Next up, a couple skincare items. In the winter my skin gets really dry and dull (doesn't everyone's?) and these products have really helped me out!

 Vasanti: Brighten Up Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator (mouth full) was recommended to me by Ande, a beauty blogger at thebeautyblog.ca. I needed a really good exfoliator and I kept buying ones that did absolutely nothing. This one works great! It really feels like it's doing its job and I can see that it's doing its job. My skin definitely looks brighter and less dull, it's smoother and I'm getting less blemishes due to clogged pores (gross).

I just spray it on after cleansing my face and before applying moisturizer. Now my skin is clear!

LUSH Tea Tree Water is my saviour! For the last two or so years my skin was having a slight freak out. I don't know what caused it, but I was constantly breaking out on my cheeks and chin, occasionally on my forehead, and it was very, very annoying. I'd never really had that many problems with my skin before, even though it is oily. But all of a sudden it decided to declare war on itself and have a connip-shit. Then one day I went into LUSH and saw this magical little potion. I'd heard good things about tea tree oils/waters etc. So I decided to give it a try. And I'm never letting it go.

*Another handy tip: Before Cuba I had some blemishes on my back. I sprayed some of the tea tree water on a cotton pad, swiped it over my blemishes and the next day the were reduced a lot and gone in a couple days!*

 I got the Body Shop Olive Beautifying Oil as a Christmas gift from my sister (along with a body butter and body scrub, also great) and my first thought was, "olive?" I didn't expect it to smell the way it does. It smells so good; not too strong, and quite fresh. I haven't tried it on my face or hair yet, but I love oiling up (ew, let's not use that phrase again) after a shower. It's helped with my hapless, wintery, dry skin and leaves me smelling great :) One down side, or rather something I had to get used to, was that it does leave you a bit sticky for a while after you rub it on. Not too long, but longer than a normal lotion.

 I'm loving the Rimmel Match Perfection blush in 002 Light/Medium. I bought this before my trip to Cuba and loved it in the summer weather as well as winter. I usually mix the two darker shades together and I like using it as a kind of blush/contour hybrid. All three make a nice rosy-ish shade. I think the idea is to blend it however you like to complement your skin tone. It's buildable as well, so you can have a more natural, or bolder look to suit your style.

That's it for my favourites this time around! 

Have you tried any of these? Any favourites of your own that you'd like to recommend? Leave a comment below!

 

Homemade: Chicken Noodle Soup

Hey guys!

Lately I've been in a bit of a cooking mood. I'm not the best cook in the world and I like to follow recipes; I'm not one of those clever people who can whip up a delicious meal from memory, or out of the blue. I wouldn't say my cooking is bad, I just don't have a ton of experience with it.

 My boyfriend made some roasted chicken breast the other night and when he was packing away the leftovers I could just hear my Grammy saying, "Don't you throw those bones out, you could make a whole other meal out of them!" She's a very budget-friendly lady. So I put the bones in the fridge as well and Googled how to make chicken noodle soup! 

After reading a couple recipes on how to do it from scratch, I decided on this recipe here, with a couple adjustments of my own, to suit what I had in my cupboards. It had all the instructions as well as a handy, helpful video (I also texted my sister with a couple of questions). The whole process was actually pretty easy, just a bit time consuming as you first have to make the broth, from the bones, some veggies and spices, before making the actual soup (total time was about 3 hours). But it's well worth the time and effort because the soup turned out really well! And you can get loads of other work done while it's simmering away. You can rest easy, knowing exactly what ingredients are in it. No preservatives, much less salt and no weird chemical sounding ingredients that you might get with store bought soup, or even store bought broth.

Homemade chicken broth, leftover roast chicken, egg noodles, carrot, celery, onion, pepper,salt and thyme = Yum!

I'm quite proud of my soup, I know that probably sounds strange, but for me it was a real accomplishment.

Gettin' all them angles in haha.

Making food from scratch makes me feel very grown up and clever. 

What's your favourite dish to make at home? Or that your parents/grandparents make? I'm always calling my Grammy to steal some of her recipes!

Do you have any suggestions to make my soup tastier next thyme? .. Get it? Hah..haha.. 

Happy cooking!

Cuba 2014 - Part 3

Back again! Here's the last installment of photos from my trip to Varadero, Cuba. 

The second to last day we spent on the beach. Feeling the impending doom of returning to cold, snowy Canada, we wanted to soak up as much sun, heat and loveliness as possible, and I think we were all a bit tired from the previous days' action.. It was also Valentines Day! We figured the trip was present enough though, so no huge romantic gestures or events for the boyfriend and myself ;)

Just the boyfriend and I at breakfast. It was a low-key morning :)

The waves were huge this day and really fun to jump in!

We relaxed on the beach all afternoon. It was "Cuba Day" at the resort and they had a yummy barbeque by the beach, which we enjoyed. 

Our plan for the evening was to go into downtown Varadero, to a restaurant recommended to us by one of the resort staff. She said they have the best lobster in Varadero. 

 Again, no pictures of this unfortunately.. Too busy living life I suppose ;) We took taxis into downtown, and shopped at the large market square they have there. We bought some souvenirs for ourselves and friends/family.

I love these salad tongs, for my sister and her husband.

And a little t-shirt for my soon to be niece or nephew! (excitement!!)

A car made out of Coca Cola cans! I thought this was awesome haha. For my little cousin.

After the market we made our way to the restaurant, which was small, but you could tell the food was going to be amazing. If you're ever in Varadero, it's called La Rampa Restaurant on 43rd Street. We all ordered the 2 lobster tails (15 pesos) and some beers. We all scarfed it down pretty fast and it was really delicious. The lobster was cooked in tons of garlic, and it came with sticky rice and some vegetables. We all enjoyed it so much, I wish I had a picture to show you!

After dinner we decided we didn't want to pay for taxis back, and we knew there was a double decker bus that takes you back to all the resorts for 5 pesos a person (6 of us), as opposed to 40 pesos for two taxis, we'd seen it dropping people off outside the market, so we were going to walk back that way. But then one of our friends saw one of the charter type buses parked on the road and there were no passengers, only the driver. So he went and asked if he would take us back to our resort and the driver said yes! And only 3 pesos a person. I don't think he's normally supposed to do that sort of thing, but he made a few extra pesos for himself. It was one of those funny, spontaneous things that happen when you're on vacation..but I definitely wouldn't always recommend getting into a strange vehicle in a foreign country. We recognized the company of the bus he was driving though, so we felt safe enough. 

We spent our final night in Cuba on the beach after dark, (drinking of course) and we built a shelter out of the stacked beach chairs because it was a really windy, kind of chilly night. 

Two security guards came by and we all had a really nice chat with them, they hung out with us all night until we left. It was interesting to talk to them about their lives, and if they enjoy their work, etc. They said resort jobs are pretty good jobs to get in Cuba, if you can. The language barrier was kind of funny, lots of miming and hand gestures. The security guards were very friendly, and both had families, so we gave a lot of the clothes and things we'd brought, to them to take home. They were very grateful and gave one of our friends a nice bottle of rum! 

It was a great way to spend our last night. Chatting and drinking with friends, old and new, reminiscing about the trip, and life in general. 

The beach after dark. No one around but us!

  

The next day was our final one in Cuba. Our bus to the airport didn't leave until 6pm, so after breakfast and checking out, we stored our luggage at reception and spent the last hours by the Rock Pool. We were all a bit hungover, and just wanted to relax before our flight. We discovered a giant checker board outside by the Rock Pool, so a couple of us played while the others watched from the shady benches. We were all pretty tired from the last couple days, so we actually napped by the pool, under a small hut/umbrella, it was actually really nice. 

Goodbye Cuba!

Eventually it was time to get changed, and hop on the bus to the airport. Our flight was a little bit delayed, and we got back to Canada around 2am. Needless to say, we did not accomplish much the next day haha. 

It really was a great trip. It was my first time traveling with friends as opposed to family or significant other, and I really enjoyed it; lots of memories made. We've already been talking about where we'd want to go next year! Any suggestions?

All photo cred. goes to my boyfriend and myself.

Cuba 2014 - Part 2

Here's Part 2 of my trip to Cuba!

Starting where we left off; Day 5 - the Jeep Safari (cue dramatic, action movie music)

This was the day we were all most excited for, we booked this excursion through our travel rep at the resort and none of us were entirely sure what to expect, or which activities we were going to be doing. We had a rough idea, but there were lots of surprises! It turned out to be everyone's favourite day. 

Wake up time was 6:30 am, which on a vacation seems blasphemous, but our bus was picking us up at 7:45 and we had to get breakfast beforehand. Our double-decker bus picked us up and took us to the Jeep depot, I guess you'd call it, where there were TONS of jeeps all lined up, for different tour groups. Along the way we had to pick up people from different resorts; it was cool to see some of the other resorts in Varadero, as well as some of the cities,towns and countryside.

There were these funny little taxi buggies everywhere!

Cuba is full of beautiful old fashioned cars.

A bus similar to ours and some horses!

And finally we got in the Jeeps!

You got to drive your own Jeep and follow a guide. I think there were 7 or 8 Jeeps total. We first drove through some small villages and saw lots of children and families. It was at this point that you saw how poor the country is, but everyone seemed very happy. All of us had brought toiletries, and clothes to give away to people, but we didn't know we were going to be driving through these villages on the excursion and unfortunately left most of it at the resort. We made do though, giving away spare hats, sunglasses, tshirts, cuc pesos, that we did have with us to some of the kids and mothers who would stand by the side of the roads. Some of the kids would come running from their houses or playing fields when they heard/saw the Jeeps coming. It makes you realize how fortunate you are and some of the things we take for granted. 

The first activity on the agenda was snorkeling! I'd never done it before and was a little nervous. I don't have many pictures from this because obviously I didn't want to get my camera wet. But it was really fun and I'd love to do it again! There was a touristy type area with a bar and market near the place we went to snorkel, so afterwards we got a beer.

After snorkeling we got back in the Jeeps and headed to a cave with a fresh water pool. It was really cool and one of the best parts of the day, one of the nest parts of the trip even! You first had to walk down a big winding staircase, into the cave and then when you jumped into the water, it was SO refreshing. I found out when I got home that my mother had gone to the same cave when her and my grandmother went to Cuba years ago, which I thought was very cool.

The pool was small, but so very, very awesome :)

After the cave we drove to a farm. Lots of gorgeous landscapes along the way. And once we got there, there was another small market stall selling fruits. We all bought some of this delicious peanut dessert bar that tasted like sweet peanut butter, and I also tried some starfruit for the first time. I liked it, it was kind of citrus-y. The farm had a restaurant on it, and you could tell it was a tourist destination, but it was much more authentic than the food at the resort. We had lunch at the restaurant and it was by far the best meal we'd had so far (and of course I forgot to take pictures of it; we were so excited for real food). It started with a delicious soup. I don't even know what was in it but it was so flavourful, we finished the entire large bowl they set on our table. We were also given a kind of squash and delicious fresh pineapple. Next a salad of lettuce and shaved carrot, some really yummy beef, rice and black beans and for dessert some sugared guava and cheese. 

After lunch, the others went into the farmers house and had Cuban coffee with him (they said it was really good). I don't drink coffee so I had a peak around the farm. There were lots of birds, goats, a donkey, some cows, a man with a bull you could ride and horses you could ride (which I did).

Some old farm equipment and a chicken.

The landscape was beautiful.

The clouds looked so ominous, it rained a little after we got back in the jeeps, but only for a few minutes.

My first time on a horse! They were tied together and you just go around the farm, still fun!

A pretty bird

The farm was fantastic!

The last activity of the excursion was taking a ride down the river on a boat. We had to drive about 45 minutes in the Jeeps to get there and saw lots of sights on the way. 

A cool mural on a wall in the city.

A bit of an inside joke..

Passing another boat just like ours.

After the boat ride we drove the Jeeps back to the depot, got back on a new bus and headed back to the resort. We got back around 7pm, it was a long day but so great! We napped, showered, ate and then saw one of the shows the resort puts on. It was kind of Lion King themed..but with no animals. Lots of fire and cool/scary lifts and jumps performed by the dancers. Needless to say we all slept really well that night. The day really was amazing.

Next up in part 3, the last 2 days in Cuba, very bittersweet. 

Stay tuned :)!

All photo cred. goes to my boyfriend and myself.