Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013 In Review

2013 was quite an eventful year. We went on quite a few trips, I graduated school and we moved across the country! 

I've put together my favourite posts for each month of 2013. Enjoy :)

January



February



March



April  



May



June 

 

July



August


September

  

October
 
 

November

 

December

 

Monday, December 30, 2013

Christmas & Boxing Day Haul

Because I pretty much did my weekly recap on Friday, I am doing something a little different today. I made a video showing everything I got for Christmas plus the haul of Christmas stuff I got from Target on sale! 

Enjoy :)

 

Oh and also! I now have a Facebook page so make sure you like it to be notified whenever I post on the bloggity blog!


Sunday, December 29, 2013

Leafs T-Shirt

Disclaimer: I am not being paid or will be receiving anything for posting this - I just want my T-Shirt!

I found this limited edition t-shirt celebrating all the ladies who are leaf fans and I of course had to order it. 

They have made a goal to sell 100 shirts. If they don't sell 100, the shirts don't print. 

So I am here to shamelessly promote so that I can get my shirt!! haha 

Seriously though, I think they are pretty cool shirts and you should definitely get one :) 


CLICK HERE TO ORDER!!

Friday, December 27, 2013

Christmas!

I totally dropped the ball on blog posting this week. I did have planned posts for the entirety of this week (except Christmas) but with all the holiday crazy and being busy, I just didn't even think about the blog! Whoops :P 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! There is always such build up and high anticipation and then it is over so fast and nobody cares anymore. It is so depressing for someone like me who loves Christmas lol but I still had a really good one and was happy to spend time with many members of my gigantic family. We even had a white Christmas! (Didn't dawn on me to take pictures of that though... sillyness)

Anyway, here are some pictures from mine :)






Again, hope everyone had a great holiday! I plan to post a video on my YouTube channel showing what I received - not exactly sure when because I am quite busy this week but it will go up!

Friday, December 20, 2013

A Homemade Christmas Gift

For one of my presents that I am giving someone, I wanted to do a homemade one and show off my non existent baking skills. I searched the internet far and wide and came across this recipe from House Pretty. I thought this would be easy enough! So here it is:


Start off with all your ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup fancy molasses
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup coarse sugar (I used regular sugar)
 Directions:
1. In a large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Add egg, molasses and vanilla.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add to butter mixture and combine. Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes.
3. Roll by 1 tbsp into balls. Roll in sugar and place balls 1-1/2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
4. Bake in 350 degree oven until puffed and crackly, about 9 minutes
5. Let pan cool on a baking rack for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.


My cookies did not turn out like her cookies did. They were supposed to be more round and a lot smaller but mine just came out as regular cookies. See this is how it works with me: I cook or bake and it never looks like it should but it still tastes phenomenal. Just like these cookies did!


I placed them in an old fruitcake can that I found and spray painted.


And tied a ribbon around it! So prettyful!

If you want to see how the cookies are supposed to look like, please feel free to visit House Pretty by clicking the picture below!
Photobucket
Alternatively, you can also watch a video demonstration of this whole thing on my youtube channel. I assure you, you will be very entertained (psst. it involves an egg being broken all over the counter!) 

Just click HERE to go there!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

A Christmas Challenge!

Brandyn and I have created a little video. And of course, Gizmo and Kitty make an appearance! 

Also, I am going to be getting more frequent with videos but not all of them are going to be posted on my blog so make sure you subscribe to my channel if you want to see more fun vlogs that I make :) 


Enjoy!


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Gift Ideas For Your Man

I have done a little collage of everything I bought Brandyn for Christmas! Do not fret, I have warned him not to visit the blog - not that he ever looks at it anymore anyways (how rude!). Anyway, you can also use this little collage as inspiration if you are stuck on what to get the special gentleman in your life!


That is basically everything. I don't have a link for the Old Navy sweater because it is unavailable now (I don't even think that is the exact one I got). 

Brandyn loves his coffee so you really can't go wrong there. He also loves puzzles. I wasn't actually planning on getting him a puzzle but I walked into Roots and saw that Canada one in this really pretty tin box so I just had to buy it for him!

Hopefully this gives you some ideas for that special friend in your life. Men aren't too hard to buy for :)

Monday, December 16, 2013

Weekly Update

This past week was pretty eventful! Let's let the pictures explain :)

We finally got some sheets for the bed that actually fit our mattress. Our new mattress definitely calls for extra deep sheets - we found these ones at Target.  All that is needed to complete the "dressing of the bed" is some extra pillows! I still have to find one's that I like.


We also completed all of our Christmas shopping this week so the tree is completely filled with presents. I just love the look! :)


 I also got my new Sigma brushes in and they even threw in a gift which is the travel version of a brush I was going to order later anyway! So exciting. I am in love with these brushes and you can expect a review on them in my monthly favourites ;)


We also drove downtown to go to the Christmas market in the distillery district. I have never been there before and was just awestruck. It is so beautiful. If it wasn't so far (and wasn't $400 for a permit) I would definitely be having my wedding pictures there. It was also -20 degrees that night and extremely windy so probably wasn't the best night to go but the only night we could!

Here is my mandatory shot of the CN tower - it is all light up in Christmas colors so I was extra excited.
 





We got to take this picture with Santa for free! Silly me didn't change the settings on the camera so it is a tad over-exposed... whoops! lol
 


We also got hit with this massive snow storm this weekend. This picture was just the start of it... As you can see, you can't really distinguish between the sky and the lake but I assure you, the lake is there...


I still trudged on to work... when I was waiting for the bus I literally couldn't see a thing because the snow was blowing in my eyes! When I got inside work, my face was so red because the snow wasn't really snow.... it was ice...and it was hitting my face. It was wild! What is funny is I actually saw someone out for a jog and I just looked at her and said, "No excuses hey?"



Work was dead.... lol


So that was pretty much my week! I still can't believe Christmas is next week!!! Yay!
This week you can look forward to a special "challenge" I did with Brandyn (it is Christmas themed too!) Also, I'm going to reveal what I got Brandyn for Christmas to give you some ideas for the special guy in your life and an edible Christmas gift :) 

Friday, December 13, 2013

What to put in a Christmas Basket

One great gift to give is a gift basket. I am personally not doing one this year but I figured I can share a few ideas on what to put in one for Christmas!

1. Something really warm and cozy 


One of my favourite parts about winter is being able to snuggle up in a cozy blanket and fleecy pajama pants! You can find some cute pajama pants just about anywhere at this time - especially in gift sets but if you want to keep it budget friendly, Old Navy is having theirs on sale 50% off. Other neat options would be some Christmas themed socks, slippers, or a scarf.

2.  One of your favourite snacks


Trail Mix is always a hit. I don't think I have ever met one person who doesn't like it! You could also get some popcorn seeds and put them in those really cute popcorn cup type things. You can find them at the dollar store! 

3. Hot Chocolate


Hot chocolate is a great thing to throw in there. If you are giving to a coffee lover, a gourmet bag of coffee would be a nice alternative as well!

5. Christmas Treats


If you like to bake, you can make up some tasty little treats to throw in there or if the person receiving likes to bake and you... maybe not so much... Home Sense has so many little kits for holiday baking! I picked up a few myself to give out to some people :)

6. Some luxurious lotion.


Bath & Body Works is always a hit when it comes to lotions and if you are doing a few baskets, they usually have a deal going when you buy multiples as well!

7. One of your favourite books


You may recognize this one from a previous "Love List" I did. I actually went out and bought it! Also, if your gift receiver isn't a book person, a classic Christmas movie would be really great too!

8. Small Christmas Items


A candle, a cute ornament, lip gloss, anything really that is Christmas themed could make its way there!

And of course, you will need a good basket to hold it all in! Something multifunctional that they can use after would be perfect. I like the idea of this tin bucket here and putting some vinyl letters on it!