Mandy In Calgary

RIP Olive

2012-01-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

I just found out that Ruby's best friend Olive passed away last week. So here's a photo to commemorate the good times.

Olive, Ruby, and Poppy, in a spooning three way

Get off your ass and start taking more picture MANDY!!!!

2012-01-06T15:11:00.003-07:00

Jeff Harris: 4,748 Self-Portraits and Counting from We Know Music on Vimeo.

Get off your ass and start taking more picture MANDY!!!!

A Reminder

2011-12-22T14:33:00.002-07:00

Istanbul not Constantinople

2011-12-08T11:03:00.001-07:00

They Might Be Giants

Did I mention that I have a tumblr now... I joined mostly because it's easier to read everything from my dashboard rather than going to a dozen diffent tumblr sites a day. Basically I'm being lazy, and I'm still not a big fan of Google Reader (but I still use it, just weekly, not daily). If you want to follow me, serch for Punkrawkknitter... that's about it. Most of original content posting will still be done here though, so fear not, I have not abandoned my blog.

November in Review

2011-12-05T11:13:00.001-07:00

It was tumultuous.

Oh, you want more? Or rather, I want to tell you more, this is a personal blog after all, so get cozy and listen up.

We came back from Japan, it took us over 25hrs, including stop overs, it was not a happy time. I really don't like flying, but it's a necessairy part to the whole "getting to cool places that aren't here" formula.I will post about Japan... maybe? Either way, a lot of pictures have been posted to Facebook, and there are more to come, when I can bear to dive into Picassa again.

So... then the Boy and I broke up.

It was mutual, and we both saw it coming, but it still sucks. We're still good friends, and he moves out for good in about two weeks. It's the whole redefining of our relationship and trying to figure out where the new boudaries are and, y'know, living in my own head again that is really difficult. I do think I need to be alone, and I don't regret our decision to split up, but getting comfortable with just me (and the pug), is taking some time. It doesn't help that we're in some kind of transitory state where Boy is around sometimes, but not all the time, and I'm supposed to keep tabs on him anymore, and he doesn't have to keep tabs on me, but techically we still live together-ness.... run on sentences are made of this....

So there are reasons I may be blogging lots in the near future, or not so much. I have plans to keep myself busy, take up some new photography projects, bake more, redecorate. I'm also getting cable, so TV will either inspire me to write (I've become much more indignant with old age), or be a huge time suck, we'll see.

In the meantime, take comfort in the fact that for the most part, I am ok... sad, but functioning. I cut my hair, short. I'm knitting a lot. I'm listening to the "Hunger Games" Triology on book tape. Life moves on.

Back

2011-11-10T13:19:00.001-07:00

Still getting over jet lag and spending lots of time cuddling with the pug. Tokyo loves little dogs, and we saw at least 5 frenchies... This was shot in NYC, and it's way too cute not to post.

I will do a few vacation photo posts soon!

T-23 Hours

2011-10-25T11:06:00.002-06:00

So I'm pretty nervous... I mean, I'm a naturally anxious person, but when big things, like voyages to distant Asiatic lands come around, I go a little off the deep end... I get angry at really little things. Like yarn. I check, double check, and then triple check, and still manage to forget something. The fact that Boy is very laissez-fair doesn't help. "Things will work themselves out", "Just roll with it".... I can't and I feel it's irresponsible if I do. Either way, I leave in a little less than 23 hrs, so between now and then, I need to get some money exchanged, go to they gym, clean my bathroom, play with my pug, make bacon maple caramel popcorn, pack plane snacks, sleep, and then go to the gym again. Perhaps I'm spreading myself too thin....

The End of the Beginning

2011-10-14T09:24:00.001-06:00

This is the sixth week of the "6 week Body Transformation" program. This is also the week where I almost completely fell off the wagon... I'm only going to the gym 2 times this week instead of 5, and I've been eating really badly. Rest is good every once in a while, and should be encouraged, it lets our bodies heal, and often time, allows me to get other stuff done, however I've been feeling pretty blah and low this week. This could be because I haven't been eating all that well, what with the japanese food last night (It was my Dad's Birthday), the Caramel Apple Spice (350 sweet sweet calories), the instant noodles with cheeze sauce (450 cal, 38% of your daily fat intake!), and y'know, Thanksgiving... But I also think it's because I haven't been working out as much, or lack of sunlight, or my body (and brain) is reacting bady to the increase of carbs and sugar... either way I've been feeling pretty gross. Strangely, I don't feel bloated, rotund, or in any way huge, but my energy and mood has been low.

I did however reach my goal of losing 10lbs, which I'm pretty happy about, and I'm also about 3" smaller in my waist, and about 2" smaller in my hips... this is also good. When I get back from Asia, I'm going to start seeing a nutritionist, mostly because I think my biggest issues are with food, and while working out is good for me, it's not the biggest factor when it comes to weight loss. I would like to lose another 10lbs, and then I think I'll be happy and switch to maintenence mode. I did do some digging up of old food journals and I realized that in the last 2 years or so , I've lost ~ 30lbs... which is awesome! I'm also pretty psyched about the fact that with this whole 6 week thing, is that I've lost the weight without giving up on the foods I love. I still ate pizza, cheese, and sushi, I even ate some cake and cookies... I just ate less of it, and most of the time, in smaller quantities, which means that I will probably maintain my current weight with my new habits, which is one of the biggest reasons I did this whole 6 week thing... I wanted to develop good eating habits.

So all in all, I think all this hoopla has been a success!

In other news I found out the pug can eat 5 pieces of sashimi in less than 30sec, even the octopus! I also started a new knitting project, a striped scarf, using some really lovely Noro Iro yarn that I've been hoarding for over 6 years.

This picture has nothing to do with anything, other than the fact that I mentioned Pugs and Sushi... but I do find it really funny

Quit being a Jerk Snipi

2011-10-06T10:57:00.001-06:00

So Snipi is being a jerk, and won't let me snip this link, so I placed it here for safe keeping...

Behold, a flowchart for complimentary flavours

Click to embiggen

Rave Pug

2011-10-01T14:05:00.000-06:00

I went to Rocky Horror last night and ended up with some glow bracelets, so I put them around Ruby, to make Rave Pug. By that time it was 3am and I found it way too hilarious... also no pictures because it was 3am! But I found this gif... and it made me laugh

Fancy Rave Pug

6WBT - Week 3 Recap

2011-09-28T17:03:00.000-06:00

This week went alright, and my weight stayed pretty much the same as week 2. Not much else to say about that...

This Past weeks Menu:

Lemon Chicken in Milk with Roasted Potatos - this is a Jaime Oliver recipe that has been getting rave review for the past few years. I had a whole chicken taking up precious freezer space, so I thought I'd give it a try. It was good, the sauce was really good... was it better than my usual go to Roasted chicken... not really. The part of the chicken that were braised in the liquid were quite flavourful, but the rest of the chicken (mostly the breast) was still pretty dry. I'll be using up the leftovers in some chicken pot pie... mostly becaue I have a surplus of celery... AGAIN!

Zucchini waffles - I've posted about these before. This time, instead of seasoning with Curry Powder, I used Italian spices (lots of basil and oregano, some Mrs.Dash). I made these mostly to use up the four zucchini's looking forlorn on my counter.

Savoy Cabbage Gratin - This is another recipe that was well recieved with the food blogosphere. I'm not a huge fan of cabbage, but I had a head that needed eating (a lot of that this past week...), so I figured the best way to deal with a whole head of cabbage was to cook it all in one go. This had a decent amount of cheese in it (I followed Orangette's suggestion and used San Marcellin, it's a really nice cheese!) and the carmelization/crispy bits were really tasty. Next time, I'll add bacon. FYI a dinner consisting of braised cabbage and beets will make for very stinky farts the next day.

Cheater Foods:

I had dinner with my folks at Edgemont City... we had Peking Duck... 'nuff said

I attended a fundraiser for La Caravan Dance Company, and it was catered by Sidewalk Citizen Bakery and L'Épicerie... there were crostini with an awesome goat cheese and paté, cheese puffs, lots of bread and jam, sausage rolls... basically I was in carb heaven... luckily I drank about 5 bottles of water that day (refillable water bottles, I do care about mother earth) so I think that offset some of the carb loading.

Huevos Rancheros at Blue Star Diner - This was a really tasty dish, and for being diner food, it was pretty healthy (and gluten free!). I tend to avoid mexican dishes in restaurants because I hate cilantro (which is an essential mexican herb), but these didn't taste of cilantro at all! For a breakfast egg dish, it also wasn't smothered in cheese. Brunch Win!

Film fest started this week, so I'll be eating more popcorn than usual. The Boy and I went and saw "Asterix and Obelix vs the Vikings" this past Sunday (Popcorn and a small Ice tea were consumed). It was an enjoyable film, if not very silly, but it's Asterix. I spent the rest of my evening calling the Ruby "Pugmatix".

Other stuff I've been up to:

So I don't spend all my time being a lame-o and working out (just most of it). I do other stuff too y'know....

I got my tattoo coloured on Saturday. It looks pretty good, and once it stops peeling and looking gross, I'll post a picture. Tattoo session 2 was definitely less painful that session 1. Oh, and if anyone wanted to know, getting laser hair removal hurts more than getting tattoo-ed, that being said, tattoo sessions tend to last longer.

I've been crocheting a lot in anticipation for Pug-O-Ween. I've been making eyeball dog toys, and I'm working ona couple simple monster hoods/bonnets as door prizes.

Why of course we have a flyer...

I embroidered a Tara MacPherson design (from Sublime Stitching), but I'm not quite finished with it yet. I feel it needs something else, but I haven't decided what yet.

I finished watching "Dexter" Season 5, mostly while crafting. Somehow working on eyeballs while watching a show about a serial killer seemed fitting

I started watching "Happy Endings" Season 1. It's a bit like "How I Met Your Mother" but funnier.

I have a new training goal for Ruby

2011-09-28T16:40:00.001-06:00

Best of Both Worlds

2011-09-26T21:54:00.002-06:00

Someone buy this for me for xmas... Boy doesn't see the sheer brilliance!

I can finally have pie *AND* quiche in the same sitting!!!!

Week 2 - 6WBT

2011-09-22T11:02:00.000-06:00

So week two was slightly more productive than week 1. I went to the gym 5 times, and ate (imho) better. I'm not going to say that there was no cheating, but on the whole I think I did better. Unfortunately, I ended the week weighing only 0.6lbs lighter than I started at the beginning of the week, but I'm pretty sure that's because my cheat meal was sushi, which is crazy carb, salt, and sugar heavy, so I'm probably retaining a lot of water. During the week my weight did dip down to 152.2lbs... I was pretty psyched since I started out the summer around 160lbs-ish. Hopefully, but rehydrating my body and working extra hard tonight at Spin/Yoga, I can get back to that 152 starting point.

Speaking of water, I don't know if I mentioned it, but one of the challenges with this whole 6WBT is to drink 3-4L of water a day. I probably get in around 3L a day during the week, and slightly less on the weekend, but I'm surprised how much better I feel when I drink lots of water. I'm not super energized, but I do feel less saggy and feet draggy. I also get a kick out of my pee being clear.

This past weeks menu:

Beef Ragu with White Quinoa: this was kind of a protien punch, I used stew beef instead of lamb, cause that's what I had
Baked Lemon Salmon w/ Sautéed Chard: I started to sautée my chard with red pepper flakes AND garlic, the red pepper gives it a bit of a kick, which is nice
Sesame Peanut Tofu: This recipe was alright, not great, but ok. The sauce was very good, but it didn't coat the tofu very well and globbed around the pan. I also would've liked it more if the tofu was crispier, either grilled or baked (I'm not going to fry)
Spiced Coconut Spinach: this too was just alright, the spices and coconut were a nice addition, but this sidedish didn't really pop the way I thought it would. Either way, it made nice leftovers
Baked Cassoulet: I stole this recipe from Julie, it was good, but it too didn't wow me. I think it would've been better had I used a spicier sausage. I used Cumberland sausage, which is mostly pork and herbs. It was good, but the leftovers were better.
Minestra del Sedano (Italian Celery Soup): I made this because it would use up 2 of the 3 bunches of celery I had in my fridge (thanks CSA!). It's good, but next time I would probably throw in a can of crushed tomatos, because the tomato paste + broth, wasn't really flavourful enough. I would also carmelize the onions, not just brown them.
Lentil Salad: I've made this a few times before, and it's always really good. This time I roasted some beets and threw them in, an idea I got from an old Spoonme (RIP) salad I loved. That salad also had bacon lardons, arugula, and goat cheese, so my version is still healthier, if less indulgent. I reheated the leftovers and served them with a fried egg... I love eggs

Cheater Items:

Breakfast @ OverEasy including Toast & Herbed Potatos
Half a Bag of regular HardBite Potato chips (I ate these after I dropped off Ruby at the Vet for her eye surgery... I eat when I worry, it was also weird being at home and not having the pug around)
Breakfast @ MainDish including Toast, Potato Cake, and bacon: One day I will make a version of the Main Dish Potato cake, and I will eat it all in one sitting, like a fat kid on his birthday
Sushi Dinner @ Shibuya, including a shared bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen, Baby Octopus Karaage, and Salmon Tataki
A Half Pint of Cider and a Cocktail @ the Unicorn, along with bites of other peoples appies
Lots of popcorn, of the microwave, bagged, and movie variety... popcorn is touted as a "healthier" snack alternative, and it is, but it's still carbs, and it's still a vehicle for butter, salt and cheese (or noosh, tasty tasty noosh)
One Cheddar Feta Nigella Seeds scone from Sidewalk Citizen Bakery (via The Silk Road Spice Merchants): I've been eating Aviv's bread for close to 2 years now, and the fact that I will probably have to low carb for the rest of my life seriously saddens me

A to Z meme

2011-09-19T10:59:00.000-06:00

Just a wee throwback to the Livejournal days... besides it's Monday, and it's rainy and gross...

A. Age: 26

B. Bed size: Double... we should buy a Queen, but y'know, money

C. Chore that you hate: Putting away dishes, scrubbing the tub
D. Dogs: Ruby aka She Who Stares at You While You Pee

E. Essential start to your day: Pee, Wet Hair, Prepare Dog Food, Put Dog in Stay, Do Hair, Release Dog, Watch Dog Finish her food in 30sec, Watch Dog come back and stare at me for more food then burp

F. Favorite color: Purple
G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 5’3"

I. Instruments you play: Techically I can play the Alto Saxophone, the Piano, and Basic French Horn, but I haven't touched a musical instrument in almost 8 years

J. Job title: Geological and Geophysical Data Analyst
K. Kids: N/A
L. Live: Calgary, Canada
M. Mother’s name: Lau
N. Nicknames: Mandy

O. Overnight hospital stays: Once, when I got my jaw fixed

P. Pet peeves: Other people's butt warmth on public seats

Q. Quote from a movie: "Clever Girl" - Jurrasic Park
R. Right or left handed: Right handed
S. Siblings: One Younger Sister
U. Underwear: Panties, Always
V. Vegetable you hate: Spring Onions

W. What makes you run late: Sleep, the Dog, the Boy
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Dental, Orthodontic, basically my head has been x-rayed over half a dozen times
Y. Yummy food that you make: Crack & Cheese, Maple Rosemary Ribs, Upside Down Gingerbread Pear Cake, Cream Puffs...

Taken 7-8 years ago, I was so shiny back then...

Z. Zoo animal: I really like the Red Panda's, the River Hogs, and Capybaras

Analog River Hogs

Little Balls of Meat - A Co-Blogging Adventure

2011-09-14T14:57:00.002-06:00

So about two weeks ago Jenna came over to make meatballs. She was dog sitting at the time, so she brought Sophie along, which pleased Ruby. Jenna calls the recipe "The Worlds Best Meatballs", when in reality, the recipe is called "My Favourite Meatballs"... potato-potato, they were pretty damn good.

Now, normally, meatballs contain at least two types of meat (usually pork and beef, but I've seen sausage, and lamb thrown in as well), but these only called for beef, which is good, cause that's all I had on hand. At first I thought they would turn out too tough, because that's my experience with all beef meatballs, but that wasn't the case, the balls were nice and tender. (FYI: I'm going to try and work the word "balls" as many times as I can into the post - real mature!)

I didn't take any pictures of the balls cooking process because I was busy cooking... so here's a picture I stole from the website where we got the recipe

I think what made the balls really stand out was the sauce. It was a pretty basic tinned tomatoes + tomato paste + herbs, but it was really good. I forgot how tomato paste adds a lot of "oomph" to tomato dishes. I did find it a bit too sweet, so when I make it again (and I will), I'm going to reduce the sugar to 1 tbsp, instead of the 4 tbsp in the recipe. Jenna commented on not measuring out the oregano, but really, I would just keep adding until it tastes right, especially when it comes to dry herbs, which vary a lot in quality. We only simmered the sauce for about 45 min, instead of the 75 min recommended in the recipe. I don't think any major flavour was lost to the reduced simmering time, if we did simmer for longer, it would of thickened a bit and maybe be even more sweet due to caramelization and water reduction.

And as for using generic Co-Op ingredients instead of fancy organic-single source-local-fair trade ingredients.... meh. There are times when I try to be a good citizen of the earth, and there are times when my wallet and convenience just say no. Because I believe that a lot of the flavour from the sauce came from the tomato paste, which is pretty heavily processed (in the sense that it's tomato puree simmered for ages and then canned, not that it has a lot of scary ingredients), I don't think if we used something better it would have necessarily made the dish taste any better. Free range beef would've been more tough, but probably tastier. I would also think of using fresh oregano next time...

I think Jenna takes a long time to cook because she's a slow with a knife... that 's just a matter of practice though.

However there is always time for doggie pictures... it took us awhile, but we finally taught Sophie how to play tug

See Jenna's post on the evenings events here

The Mutant Gene Strikes Again - UPDATE

2011-09-14T11:29:00.001-06:00

UPDATE:

So I picked up Ruby from the Vet's and instead of Cone-Pug, I got Stoned Pug. Either way, I'm happy to have her home.

I took Ruby into see the Animal Opthamologist this morning, to get this weird lump in her eye checked out. Turns out they don't know what it is, it could be benign tumor, it could be a wart, there is a slight chance it could be cancerous, but until they remove it and send it away for testing, they won't know for sure... so Ruby's getting surgery...again. On the plus side, they could fit her in today, so it won't be such a drawn out process like the whole leg thing. Oh, and since they're going to have to put her under anyways, they're going to remove her ugly lip wart! This is just basically bad news for my wallet (Thank Goodness for Pet Insurance!) and I'll have to live with whiny cone dog for at least 2 days.

Week 1 - 6 Week Body Transformation

2011-09-13T10:33:00.001-06:00

So last week was the begining of my gym's "6 week Body Transformatiom" program, which I joined. The program allows me to work out as much as I want (with no extra fees), and they track weekly measurements, give out meal plans and there's some nutritional info thrown in as well. All that being said, I only went to the gym 3 times, which is my norm. The meal plan emphasized a lean protien, low carb, low sodium, no dairy, veggie heavy diet, which I tried to follow. Thing is, I suck at meal plans, and when it comes to food, I like to follow the beat of my own drum. So I mostly ate lean protien and veggies, but y'know, some cheese did sneak in there, and I cheated A LOT on the weekend. I can't help it (I probably can), but once the weekend rolls around, it's suddenly really hard to say no to carbs. I did only drink 1.5 beers (compared to Boy's 5) on Saturday night, and I managed to mostly avoid bread... by giving it to Boy. I did eat dessert and frankly, I don't feel too much guilt over it. Nor do I feel bad about the Spinach and Cheese Croissant from La Créperie I ate on Sunday... It had spinach! Spinach is healthy!!! (ridiculous amounts of béchemel sauce is not... but it is delicious).

So, more for my sake then your, a list of my cheater foods:

Half Pint Stongbow (I drank this after running around downtown for 2.5hrs, on a doggie scavenger hunt, so I think it was well deserved... I did cardio dammit!)
1 bottle Pumphouse Blueberry Ale... this beer actually taste of blueberries
Club house sandwich... I only ate half the bread... and picked off *some* of the cheese...and I had a side salad instead of fries.. with dressing on the side... I'm slowing turning into one of the picky eater girls I hate.
1/2 Mocha Pot de Crème, this had a layer of chocolate on it instead of a layer of melted sugar (like crème brulée)... it was really good, and I shared it with Boy
1/3 of a Cinnamon Bun... I should mention that Boy brought home this monstrosity, baked with love by one of the Spolumbo's Mamas. The damn thing was a size of a pie... I couldn't say no, it was soooo good. I did, however, make Boy promise not to bring home anymore sugary carbs until after we get back from Asia. He then bought bakalava at the Farmer's Market... Jerk
Chinese Family Dinner... My mom's birthday is this week, and today is the MidAutumn Festival, so my whole family went out for dinner. I can technicaly get out of these dinners, but it looks bad, and I only really get to see my extended family at these events. Besides, the food is delicious and free (since I'm still considered a "kid")
Lots of Mooncake, did I mention it's the MidAutumn Festival... all you need to know about mooncake is that it's delicious, especially the kind with egg yolks in it. More about MidAutumn Festival here

On the flip side I did eat a lot of fish, eggs, chard, and chickpeas.

So in Conclusion, in one week I lost 1.4lbs... which is average, and I know I can do better...

In somewhat related news, I found a kickstarter project for a pretty cool running app called: Zombies Run!. Basically you run in the real world and the app tracks your time and distance and then awards medicine, supplies and weapons for your in app home base. There are zombie noises.... this may be the only way I'll ever start running.

This week I'm signed up for 5 classes at the gym, and I'm more prepared for healthy eating (there's even a block of tofu in my fridge)... so we'll see how I progress.

Labour Day Weekend... Laborious indeed

2011-09-07T20:26:00.002-06:00

It was a pretty busy weekend, that being said I did manage to sneak in a nap or two. I had my folks over Friday night for a BBQ, the first time I've hosted them since I've moved in. Yes, I know, bad daughter, but to be fair, my family doesn't really do the "home cooked family meal" thing very often. We eat out... a lot, if there is anything to be celebrated, we eat out. If we've realized that we haven't seen each other in over a fortnight, we eat out, that's just how we roll. We do come from Hong Kong stock after all.

Anyways, I stuck with some classics so I wouldn't embarrass myself by making something new and unknown. I made Maple Rosemary Sticky Ribs, which was by far the crowd favourite, Pork Satay with peanut sauce, and a simple salad with balsamic dressing. For dessert I made Bubble Waffle Balls (aka Egg Puffs, or Gai Dan Zai) using my fancy egg puff pan, but they turned out too dense and cakey... I need to work on my technique. The one's you can get at dessert bars, or at the Richmond night market are much more crispy and hollow inside.

Saturday was a whirlwind... I went to the gym, walked the dog, went to the Farmer's market, got a tattoo, and then promptly fell asleep at 8:30pm... skipping out on a play with Jenna (I know I'm a bad friend). That being said, the tattoo looks pretty sweet... but I'll do a full write up of that later.

You don't get to see the real thing yet, mostly because it's peeling and kinda gross. So you'll have to make do with the artist's rendering. Also I'm getting it coloured in two weeks...

Sunday was a bit slower, the boy and I slept in and then wandered down to Eau Claire for the BBQ on the Bow festival and BBQ competition. The winner in our eyes, was Big T's chili cheese fries, but I'll never say no to pulled pork. We brought along the pug and she met some other canine BBQ enthusiast, like a pair of really annoying chihuahua/jack russell/pug mixes... not all small dogs are yappy, screechy menaces, Ruby is proof of that, if you have a small dog, train it to behave well! We then made the long (a least for the Boy and the Pug) walk back home, to nap... we woke up just in time to make a quick dash to Canadian tire so Boy could pick up a new tool bag, and I could buy this...

Yes that is a giant stock pot... big enough to hold my Pug

I then spent the rest of the evening making bacon potato corn chowder and watching "Arrested Development".

On Monday I made, and canned tomato sauce, and then Jenna came over, with Sophie, to make some meatballs. I'll be co-blogging about that later too...

Warty McPug and the Sheltie named Sophie

OH EM GEE

2011-09-02T09:06:00.000-06:00

I should really start a Tumblr... but lookit! It's a Mother Fucking Triceratops!!!

Sob

2011-09-01T15:04:00.000-06:00

Everytime this song comes on my ipod, my heart melts a little... I should watch season 1 again...

Wha!?

2011-08-30T10:20:00.000-06:00

My dryer is broken and I had to call a repair man to come and fix it... this is what being a grownup is like...

Creepy Crawlies

2011-08-25T08:37:00.002-06:00

In an effort to keep the gross theme going... I found insects all over my food yesterday. First, I was eating a nectarine, the pit has split open, no biggie, tiny fuzzy white bugs were tottering around inside, they looked like tiny grey fuzzy horseshoe crabs... gross. Then at dinner I was chopping up some broccoli and a big fat caterpillar tried to make a run for it on my stove... I fed it to Ruby. As Boy said... this is what I get for eating organic.

End grossness

Stuff Ruby Shat and other Summer happenings

2011-08-23T10:40:00.021-06:00

Today, while picking up and flushing Ruby's poo (my life is v.glamourous no?) I found a needle in her turd... proof that she did jump on the couch on Sunday and also quite probably, ate one of my felt plush donuts. I shall keep my eye for beaded dog poo...

So kinda a gross way to start a new post, but hey, that's my life, kinda gross. I've been alternating between being really busy and being really lazy, both states are not condusive for blogging. I've been spending a lot of time in the sun and I've got a nice tan to show for it. No burns yet, mostly due to my militant application of sunscreen and a fear that has been induced by having really pale friends. I've also spent alot of time bonding with Netflix, "Mad Men" and "Arrested Development" to be specific.

Ruby has been mischevious. Occasionally the Boy, who is wrapped around Ruby's furry little paw, convinces me that we can leave her with roaming privileges when we go out. The past Sunday we left for one hour, to try the new "Blue Star Diner" that opened up down the block... we come back and one of my felt plush donuts is missing, one of my needles is missing, and there are craft supplies all over the floor. This is worrying because I moved most of my craft stuff onto the counter, off the couch. This means that Ruby climbed onto the couch, onto the arm rest, possbily ONTO THE COUNTER, and knocked stuff down... and then proceeded to eat a fucking needle. So far there are no syptoms of an intestinal obstruction or puncturing, but she is on a close watch... I spend a lot of time scowling at her.

She may be cute, but she'll be in my bad books until she passes my fucking donut

I went outdoor climbing for the first time in probably 2 years a few weeks ago. It was for my friend Andrea's Stagette, and while I had to get used to trusting the ropes and the harness again, it was a lot of fun. So much in fact that I bought a new harness. My old one was getting a bit tight (Walrus on Walls) and it also made me really sweaty. I haven't had a chance to test out my new harness yet, however, because my climbing partner, Boy, is constantly sleepy. It's frustrating...

A few other things I have been up to:

I participated in Calgary's first Audio Mob, which was fun once I got my Ipod synched with the mobs, there was a lot of duck-duck-goose, one might say there was too much duck-duck-goose

Oh Hey, someone took a picture of me and my kickin' Battle Axe!

I went to Drumheller and got pulled over for the first time ever... I got two speeding tickets in July...

that is lame

This picture, however, is not lame

Best gift shop purchase EVER!

I went to Taste of Calgary and succeeded in spending $80 in 90min... Never doubt my abilities to queue

I bought two new Cameras (okay, Boy bought me one), a Fish Eye 2 and a Russia Day Lomo (note the sperm feature)

I like the Fish Eye effect, but this camera is bulky as hell

Exactly the same as my old Lomo LC-A+... only red, and it came in a fancier box

I started crafting again, more specifically, making felt plush pastries (hence the above donuts). The theory is, if I can't allow myself to eat high fat, (delicious)sugary carbs, then at least I can make them, and then look at them, and them pine after them... it's like a sad teenage girl and her Edward shrine... but with donuts and cake. I might start making a pizza scarf soon too...

I went rafting and didn't drown

Note the relaxed foot (belonging to Dani I believe), and the paddle...distinctly not drowning

I became the lead organizer for the Calgary Pugsters, since the former organizer got a last minute job offer in Northern Alberta... I'm a few steps closer to becoming the Crazy Pug Lady

I've lost 3lbs! But I don't feel any size difference, so I'm not going to count my eggs just yet. I'm participating in a 6 week Body Transformation program at my gym starting in Sept. It's basically the same as the Stampede Detox, only it lasts for 6 weeks. I get unlimited workouts and a meal plan (which I never follow cause I'm awful, or meal plans are awful...take your pick) My goal is to loose 10lbs before I leave for Asia, because I know this vacation will be a ridiculous food fest and I'll probably gain at least 10lbs while I'm gone. (I'm going to the Tokyo Ramen Show for Christ's Sake... an entire expo... devoted to RAMEN!)

I will swim in that bowl of noodles

Weekend thus far...

2011-07-31T20:20:00.000-06:00

Up at 8:30, Spin/TRX, Walk the dog to Inglewood SunFest, Rafting from Bowness to Prince's Island, Giant Orange Freezie Pop, half scoop Pralines and Cream ice cream, Peking Garden Birthday Dinner (for my aunt), in bed by 9:30pm. Up at 8:30am, Pulled Pork Hash at Diner Delux, Royal Tyrell Museum, Hoo Doos, one Passion Fruit Sorbet Waffle Cone from the Kool Kastle, Picked at everyone else's fries, Picked at Boy's "Raptor Strips", World's largest Dinosaur, Horseshoe canyon, Home. Made Strawberry compote, made Blueberry Lime Pie filling, leftover Stuffed French Toast (Diner Delux), Roasted Chickpeas w/ italian Dash & Noosh.... nausea

Carb loading for no good reason, you can call me Fatty McFat Pants Woo

The Internet is great

2011-07-29T21:21:00.002-06:00

Gym Rant

2011-07-25T20:23:00.000-06:00

I've you've ever talked to me about working out, chances are that I've bitched about people who wear makeup to the gym. It doesn't make sense to me. The whole point of going to the gym is to push your body until you are tired, sweaty and sore. If you don't look at least a wee bit disheveled after a work out, you're doing something wrong. So girls who wear make up to the gym, you are impressing no one, and guess what, you'll still sweat a yoga. Case in point, a collection of Before and After Shots of Joggers...

See the rest of the series here

Camera Stuff

2011-07-21T10:46:00.000-06:00

So my LC-A+ broke... I took it camping and used the cable release to take some long exposure photos with sparklers, and somewhere between those photos, my bag, the flat tire, the rain, the worst cold I've had in years, the rain, allergies, the whiniest pug EVER, and the rain, my camera broke. I didn't notice it was broken until I tried to take a picture of some sweet Pokémon graffiti by my place (when do you ever see Pokémon graffiti? Never!), and then realised that one side of the top of my camera had popped off, the shutter button was stuck, and the film advance wheel would spin and spin and spin. I was pretty sad. That night me and the Boy did our best Lomo surgery to try and fix the ol' Gal but the shutter didn't open and the lights didn't come on, and oh it was hopeless... we were tired and I was super bummed out and frustrated. Then we went to bed, and I woke up the next morning with the way obvious revalation that I probably needed to buy new batteries. DUH! With new batteries the Lady has come back to life... I think. I shot a test roll last night that I'm going to get developed tonight. (Dear Blacks, don't fuck me around with your 1hr photo this time!) When we put the camera back together we ended up with an extra bit of light blocking foam, which we don't where it fits, and one of the bits that hold the top of the camera to the body did snap off completely, so we'll see. Hopefully she's back in working order, and I can spend my precious monies on buying new and different cameras instead of a (very expensive) replacement.

If my LC-A+ is back to working order, then I have the nice task of cleaning up all the glue and re-upholstering her, since I tore off all the fake leather grip from the front to get at her innards. Luckily I just got a nice stash of fabric from The Dainty Squid

I had my eye on a Superheadz Slim & Wide but the LSI La Sardina is looking to be the best choice for a cheap-ish wideangle camera... besides, one of the models has a squid on it!

Click to Embiggen

That being said, I have coupons and a GC to spend at Dick and Janes and word on the street is that they're getting a new shipment of LSI wares in a few days.

Weekend thus far...

2011-07-17T20:44:00.000-06:00

I'm still a bit dizzy and I feel really hot, but here goes...

This Weekend I:

Chopped wood
Slept with a pug
Started a fire
Changed a flat tire (almost all by myself)
Drove home at no more than 80 km/hr
Slept for 16hrs straight
Ate cake
Made tater tot casserole over a fire
jumped into a glacier fed lake (ok, it may not have been glacier fed, but it was fucking cold!)
Sweated out a fever
had my face explode with snot
wander aimlessly in Shoppers Drugmart looking for Vaseline
Took 4 showers

I'm still sweatin' it out.

Scale Dips

2011-07-12T14:51:00.000-06:00

So the sun has been out, I've been eating (relatively) well, drinking ridiculous amounts of water everday (min 4 mugs of tea, often more) and the number on the scale is finally starting to dip lower. It's not a lot, but it's progress and all the life style and eating habits I've made are pretty easy to continue long term. I haven't felt any changes in my size though, which is where it matters most. My clothes feel no looser (yet!) so, while I know I'm on the right track, I've still got a long way to go.

A few changes I've made:

I take a multivitamin everyday

I try to drink a litre of water everyday. Unless it's a treat, I try to only have water or tea with my meals

Eat more fibre and protien, eat less carbs, especially refined grains

I try not to be so hard on myself when I slip up, some days are good, some days are bad, just roll with it

I drink a glass of lemon every morning after I wake up
Eat meat only sporadically

I've been eating a lot of quinoa and chickpeas. I try to eat more vegetables than meat. I get my first CSA box today, so I'm excited to see what crazy greens and veg are to be found within. Starting next week I'm participating in a "Stampede Detox" at my gym. Basically I can take unlimited classes and I get a nutritional consultation with the nutritionist. I'm a little wary about the nutrional consultation because I'm very quick to dimiss advice if it doesn't fit into my life. I can't completely cut out certain foods (pizza, cheese, etc) and when I do, I tend to binge at a later date and it takes me forever to get back on track. But I hope that all the gym classes I can handle for two weeks kick starts a more active me. With a lot of my friends moving away come mid-August, I hope to fill the hole (at least partially) with more active pursuits. The rest of the hole will be filled with wine, whining, bugging Boy, annoying the pug and probably pizza. I'm also restarting Pole classes again today, mostly to see if I can still do it, and if I still like it.

I booked plane tickets to Tokyo! After all the hub-bub of a few months ago, I decided to go to Japan anyways (Con: Possible Cancer, Pro: Possible Super Powers!). A quirk with the booking also means that we'll be spending 4 nights in Beijing, which is pretty exciting too! 3 days in Beijing is just the right amount of time to see all the major sights. We also plan on hiking the Great Wall, which is pretty neat since everyone I know has only seen the really touristy portion (Badaling). I've already started scoping out stylish yet functional footwear for the trip.

In anticipation for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.2" I've been listening to "The Deathly Hallows" on booktape. It's been going well, but everytime I borrow an audio book from the library, there are missing chapters, or bits of chapters, and it's really frustrating. I listen a lot on the c-train and before I go to sleep. The copy I have is narrated by Jim Dale and he has a very deep british voice, and it's very good at lulling me to sleep... his Hermione voice is super awful though.

Vancouver Picture Post

2011-07-10T22:43:00.000-06:00

I went to Vancouver last month... here are some pictures

Flying over Alberta

Night Jumping... it's a thing

A neat double exposure that makes Dani look like she's breathing fire... it's one of my faves from this set

Fresh morel mushrooms and fiddle heads... so jealous of BC produce.

We were there right after the Stanley Cup riots...

The broken windows of the Bay were boarded up, people Graffited over them

A neat mural in a neat store on Granville Island... Double your fun!

Takoyaki stand the Richmond Night Market... sooo delicious

Totem poles at Stanley Park

My Ladies! (minus Chelsey)

Jump!

Adding some spontaneity to the tree

My Boy!

Things I want to do this summer

2011-07-06T10:44:00.000-06:00

So the sun has been shining and it's been really nice for almost two weeks now, so I guess I can finally say that summer is here. A few ideas have been bouncing around in my head so I'd thought I would share them with you... Whether I actually get around to doing all of this things listed (New Years Resolutions...) is a whole 'nother matter... I nap a lot ok!

Things I want to do this summer:

Attach LEDs to my dog and have her run around in the dark while I take long exposure photographs. Rainy Day alternative, attach LEDs to my Roomba to get photos like this:

Source

Play with sparklers and attempt light painting (to make photos like this)

Source

Make pie at least once. Bonus points if said pie is in a jar.

Make Jam

Infuse Liquor

Grill more stuff. So far I've used the BBQ 4 times this season... that's actually pretty good considering I don't eat meat much anymore. (I wonder if you can grill eggs?)

Make GIANT Bubbles

Source

Fly a kite

Attach a kite to the pug and make her run around, see if pug takes flight.

Eat food on a stick. It hasn't happened yet, my life is still devoid of popsicles, corndogs, and kebabs... WTF! Oh wait, I had pie on a stick from Sugar Pie Bakery... in April, which doesn't count.

Have my parents over for dinner, probably BBQ, cause that's simple and we all like that. Probability of me over compilcating things and freaking out anyways, 95%.

Make Pineapple Mojitos

Raft down the Bow, when the water isn't so crazy high and scary fast.

Watch the last Harry Potter Film and oogle Ron/Rupert Grint, now that he's legal.

I will probably cross off at least 3 or 4 of these items next weekend when I go camping, if the weather stays nice, so here's hoping.

Little Things

2011-07-05T16:23:00.001-06:00

Sometimes it's the little things that make you smile. Boy's light saber is still broken and we can't find the reciept to return it. I've been spending my time trying to figure out how I'll be filling the giant friends shaped hole in my life come mid-August, when a large chunk of my social circle moves away for school... I'll survive, but kinda bummed nonetheless.

MOAR PUGS

2011-07-03T19:05:00.000-06:00

tired from Matt Wiebe on Vimeo.

Seriously though, this video is adorable. In other news Hay fever is a bitch... a snotty, sneezy, generally gross and irritable bitch.

Guess What!?

2011-07-02T13:21:00.000-06:00

Steve Jobs has a Pug!

Green Pug Lantern

2011-07-01T16:10:00.000-06:00

Pearl the Pug is so Awesome

Ruby is going through some kind of "Terrible Two's" phase where selectively forgets all of her training. She's been jumping on the couch when we're not around, and messing with my cushions (and food chain friends!) as well as the whole "cornbread incident". She's also taken to squeezing herself under the couch when she knows I'm made at her, only to get stuck, and then whine for help to free herself... Uhg! The internets tell me this phase last 3-6 months, so I hope it passes soon.

Attempting not to regress... I am not a whiny 14 year old girl...

2011-06-28T11:59:00.000-06:00

I'm super frustrated right now, for a number of reasons:

The Well Database I keep trying to load keeps crashing (four times and counting!)
Said Well Database also crashed my computer... twice
I finally gave up, deleted said well database and am recreating it from the bottom up... it's taking a fucking long time
My friends are being stupid and it's generating jr. high-esque drama, that I really should be over, but I'm not, because inside, I'm still 14
Ruby broke into a bag that was on a chair and ate a huge chunk of cornbread...and tinfoil

So instead of writing an overly hyperbolic LiveJournal post detailing all my woes, I'm going to write a Blog Post about stuff that has made me happy over the past week.

The sun has finally come out. I ran out of multivitamins, and I don't think my body has even noticed, so happy is my brain basking in the sun.

I rewatched WALL-E, and I think I now have to buy it. (I borrowed it from the library), included in the super awesome blu-ray version is the short BURN-E, which is hilarious, and watched twice. I also had a weird moment during the movie where I panicked because no one was home to hold my hand...

Burn-E - Click here for more home videos

I made cornbread and it was delicious and plentiful. That is until the Pug got at it. I gave about a quarter of it, wrapped in tinfoil, to my friend Coll, who put it in his bag, which was on a chair. We then went out to a concert. We got home,the bag was on the floor and there was tinfoil and cornbread crumbs EVERYWHERE... it was also 1am, and I was pretty drunk, and in no condition to vaccum, but it had to be done... uhg!

I went and saw Electric Six at the Gateway! They came as part of Sled Island, which I have my reservations about as a music festival, but I actually really enjoyed the show. Four bands played, and I liked 3 of them, which is a win in my books. The first band really wanted to be Morrisey,they were good, but not every original, but since I enjoy mopey 80s pop, it was alright, I think they were called Morse, or Moose...just looked up, they were called Mode Modern. The next band, Orgone, was from LA, and they played really energetic Funk/Punk numbers, and they were super good. Mattandy bought all their CDs. The thrid Band was Electric Six, which I have lots of love for, and then there were the Ravonettes, we stayed for maybe half their set and then left. They're aparently very popular, and they have the whole synth-echo machine sound that is very popular right now, but it doesn't really do it for me. They played two songs, that actually had a beat, and were a bit harder, and I like those two songs, but the rest of the set (that I saw) didn't really do it for me. To each their own I suppose.

Mandy's Favourite Electric Six Song

I made oshi-zushi, using marinated roasted peppers, grilled zucchini and candied salmon. Not particularly authentic, but really tasty, and a neat way to make sushi. Also way less work than actual rolls or nigri.

This week I only have to be at work for the 3 days, this is great, however paying attention and staying focused at work for those three days is not so great.

I'm making enchiladas tonight!

That's about it. I feel better now, more centred, less rage-y. Drink more tea, eat less carbs... yes...

Carb Lust

2011-06-24T08:39:00.000-06:00

Source

My eating has been getting better. I still have my cheater moments, but I'm getting better at saying no. The amount of quinoa and chickpeas I eat these days is ridiculous! My Regular CSA cancelled their season due to a really horrible spring, so I joined another one, so we'll see how it goes. I sent my cheque out last week but I don't know if it arrived or not due to the postal strike. I feel for the postal workers, but I miss my mail.

Summer Solstice Update

2011-06-21T15:06:00.002-06:00

Stuff has been happening, but I seem to forget to chronicle it all for you... So we fall back onto the list!

Ruby is getting a grey beard and it makes me happy
I Went to Vancouver last weekend with friends. For travelling with so many people it was a good trip. By the end however, my allergies made me pretty irritable and not so much fun to be around. Vancouver still holds it's spell over me, and I'll need to go back since I didn't eat at any foodcarts or go to Light house park. But on the plus side, I had my first Japadog, and bought clothes in Aberdeen Centre and they FIT! (take that ridiculously tiny asian girls!) Boy still wants to move there...
I've become mildly obessed with this tumblr site Before&Afters. It's kind of inspiring and kind of grotesque. The majority of the girls pictured lost their weight over a long period of time (at least a few months) but sometimes the question of "how skinny is too skinny" comes up.
I found out that Black's in Market Mall will develop film, C-41 and E-6 (and medium format and B&W, but I don't shoot those) for less than Vistek. That being said, the guy on the phone said they won't cross process film, which is a bummer, but maybe if I ask nicely at the till or hide my slide film in a colour neg. cannister... hmmm. A Black's Bonus is they're open mall hours, so I can drop/pick-up my film at reasonable evening hours.

After a lot of research, I finally gave up and decided to go to Tokyo this November after all. I went to Japan and all I got was this stupid cancer. Really a week in Tokyo isn't going to have any detrimental effects on my longterm health. So the plan is 5 days in Tokyo, one day trip out of Tokyo (probably Nikko), one day hanging out in Chelsey's town, Takasaki, and an one day in Kusatsu, a hotspring town. The best part of this... Mei and the Kittenbus will be screening!!!

I just discovered what Kigurumi is... I want a Totoro one so bad!
I made carnitas, and they were DELICIOUS! I used this recipe, and bought corn tortialls from here, along with a bottle of salsa. I made my own pico de gallo, which was too onion-y, but live and learn. I still have a stack of tortiallas in my freezer, so I predict enchiladas in my future.
Boy bought a bike, and my sister bought an accordion. I feel like I should invest in a new hobby object... a new longboard perhaps?
This weekend I'll be seeing Electric Six at the Gateway, I expect it to be fabulous.
Have you seen all the photos on my flickr account yet? You should go take a look and marvel at all the Dogs!

Stuff Boy Said...

2011-06-10T16:18:00.000-06:00

After I told him the pug breed originated in the monasteries of Tibet...

I wonder if anyone's ever set a pug on fire in protest?

Things that are bumming me out...

2011-06-09T14:28:00.000-06:00

Lack of consistent sunshine, no more of this kinda rainy, kinda nice crap... I want a week of sun, I want more than a weird chest tan!
My mani and pedi is chipping, and it's only 5 days old. It's ok if I painted my own nails, and they start chipping at the 5 day mark, but dammit, I paid a (v. reduced price for a) professional to paint my nails! UHG
The lack of film processing labs in Calgary. I have my reasons for shooting film instead of digital, and there should be a place that will process my film. There is still enough of a population to support at least one decent film lab...
My lack of progress on getting healthier. Had another freakout last night and ate 2 bowls of cinnamon toast crunch in protest... I have such a weak will.
My trip to Japan this November is 90% cancelled due to my parents fear of radioactivity and earless rabbits (long story short, I needed their connections for a place to crash in Hong Kong).
I'm pushing Japan back to next April, so I can experience the Cherry Blossoms. This means I get to wrestle with Mr.Indifferent/Indecisive about where to go instead. I was thinking Maui, but also in the running, are

Benelux countries
Moscow/St.Petersburg
Cuba
Thailand
Orlando
Barcelona
Paris

Ruby's inability to walk off leash nicely. Once she figures out I'm not holding onto the leash, she goes crazy and tries to eat EVERYTHING AS FAST AS PUGLY POSSIBLE
Boy got sick with the flu, and I'm waiting for when I eventually catch what he had and get sick.

I got white world problems y'all... Tonight I'm going with my sister to pick up an accordion from a Tattoo artist

Sunday

2011-06-05T13:57:00.000-06:00

Food I've eaten today:

a hotdog
a kettlebunwich (from the Lazy Loaf Cafe)
Potato Salad
Small hand-full of Black Pepper Kettle Chips
One can Brisk soda
One scoop Butterscotch ice cream cone
lots of water

Hours Spent Outside Today, so far: 4.5

Today was Doggie Olympics with my dog training club (Clever Canines). Ruby did OK... alright, she totally sucked at the relay events, but did really well at the individual sit/stay, and down/stay events.

Currently all three of us are piled on the couch, attempting to nap due to too much sun. I'm wearing high waisted shorts...

Spock Finger Guns

2011-06-01T14:10:00.000-06:00

Not a huge fan of the song, but this video made me smile... doing much better today

Freakouts and Awesome People

2011-05-31T13:15:00.000-06:00

I had a major freakout last night. Basically, I was feeling like shit all morning, so I decided to go home right before noon to sleep it off and hopefully wake up refreshed and well rested and not sweaty, sore, headachy, and nauseous. I got home, slept for about 6 hours, and then got in huge fight with Boy, ate dumplings, cried with the pug, and then slept for another 8 hours. Pretty much I've been feeling pretty low lately, and my moods have been swinging a lot. This happens every year or two, so I don't know if it's just a relapse of my depression, if it's seasonal, hormonal, or if I genuinely have something to freakout about.

I tried to see my family doctor a few weeks ago, but she has three kids under 10 and has crazy hours, so I saw the first doctor that was available rather than waiting months (months!) for an appointment. We talked about it, I thought it might be a bad reaction to the birth control pill and was thinking about switching to an IUD. We decided to try improving my diet and taking a multivitamin for a few months, before re-assessing, at which point we'd decide if going off the pill or starting another medication would be the best course of action. Of course since I've seen the doctor, my eating habits have yo-yo-ed, one week I'm super good about cutting down sugar and refined carbs, the next I'm bingeing on pizza and wine. I'm pretty sure a really crappy food weekend contributed at least partly to the meltdown last night.

I just ate deep fried dumplings with rice, brocolie and korean potatoes, and I feel like shit. (I'm weak and i forgot to pack a lunch) I really do think that changing my eating habits will make me feel better but that also bums me out. It's proven that when you feel depressed your body craves high sugar, high fat, carby foods, but that's pretty much the exact opposite of what you should be eating, so I'm going to be fighting myself the entire way... great! I'm also trying to keep track of my moods, journaling a wee bit if you will to see if I can identify any triggers (other than being really irritable when I'm tired and/or hungry, and when I'm the presence of two or more piles)

So here's where I ask you a favour. If I'm being irrationally irritable, or difficult, or generally not my usual self, please let me know. Also, please be nice about it, there's no need for "MANDY U CRAZY!!" and other such antics.

Now for something completely different...

I have a new favourite tumblr feed: Awesome People Hanging Out

Nancy Reagan and Mr. T

Jack Mcbrayer, Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, Jon Bon Jovi, Conan O’Brien

Charlie Chaplin and Albert Einstien

Beer and Books

2011-05-31T12:42:00.000-06:00

I finished another book, so I thought I should tell you, since it is one of my resolutions and everything... I read this book mainly based on this review. I enjoyed it, it took me a long time to read through because I'm easily distracted and I like to read before bed, so I tend to fall asleep whilst reading.

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

The cover was also holographic. I get sucked in by shiny gimmicks...

Most of the books I have out from the library are cookbooks, and while I do flip through them, and some of them have numerous pages of just text, I don't count them as "books". I don't know what my next book will be, but right now, I'm 4/10 books down. Granted, it's mostly light reading, but some reading is better than none.

My weekend was kinda crazy busy. Saturday I went on a neighbourhood walk with my dog club down in Cranston, I attended a Potluck at Julie's house, and then I went to Beerfest, afterwhich we went to District and I drank a mojito out of a one liter mason jar... Sunday was mildly better, I went to brunch and then down to Lilac fest. I've aleady started amassing strange tanlines on my chest, and only on my chest. Sadly, due to the earlier brunching, the group decided heavily against street meats, and I was too hungover to put up a fight, or go on my own. There was a waffle stand though...

I don't really have much to say other than:

Cranston is really, really, far away. I'm glad I now live in the inner city. I can see the appeal of living in suburbia, but I know it's not the lifestyle for me.
I felt way more comfortable surrounded by strangers at the potluck than at Beerfest. I think this is because everyone at the potluck loved food and was more open to conversation. Beerfest was very rowdy and chaotic, and felt more like a marketing opportunity for clubs/bars rather than a place to sample lots of beer.
I love that I can order a bucket of bacon... I <3 District

Feelin' Pretty Low

2011-05-27T10:14:00.000-06:00

Been pretty sad this week. I don't know if it's hormones (fuck you Uterus and your need to shed your lining every month!), the fact that I haven't seen the sun in 6 days (S.A.D), or just me (moody moody Mandy). Either way, it's supposed to stop raining by tomorrow, so hopefully I'll feel a bit better and less mopey.

Things not helping my mood: Boy coming home super late, and super drunk, and falling asleep in the bathtup with the water running... best thing to wake up to at 5am!

Double Exposure!

Zee Ruby

One bright spot this week was I got my first roll of film back from the lab. I used Vistek this time, because someone on the Calgary Lomography website recommended it. Their hours are stupid (they close at 6pm), and it's pretty expensive, $16 for processing and scanning. They also didn't scan the first 6 photos on my roll of film. It's not a super huge deal, because I can scan them myself (when I get access to a photo scanner) but it's kinda annoying since I already paid for it. I'm going to try Robinsons in Inglewood next time, their hours are stupider (close at 5:30pm) but they're way closer to me. I'm also hoping that with a smaller shop, come smaller prices. You can see the whole set on Flickr

I was super happy with my photos though. Not all of them turned out, but that's okay. I was especially happy with my Double Exposure experiments. I used slide film this time, and got it cross processed (processing with chemicals meant for another kind of film), so the colours are really bright and saturated. I also took most of my photos outdoors in bright light, so that probably made things better too. The next couple of rolls I'll be getting developed probably won't have the same superb results. I've been using up my stash of Blacks colour negative film (reg. film) because it's expired (only by a month, so nothing extreme), also Blacks film has processing included, and since I bought this film over 2 years ago, it's practically free! I have one more roll of Blacks to use up, and two more rolls of Slide film that came with the camera, and then I'll have to swim the murky waters of trying to find decently priced quality film... I expect I'll be trolling ebay.

I also made brownines w/ crushed up girl guide cookies. Mostly because I was tired of looking at the box of GG cookies on top of my fridge, and Boy asked me to bake him something. I used this recipe, and they're really good, just awfully unhealthy, but such is the way of brownies. I gave a bunch away, and I'm hoping Boy eats most of them today in a hungover stupor so I don't stuff my face when I get home.

I have a ridiculously busy weekend coming up, but hopefully the rain will stop and I can get some quality longboarding and lomo time in. I'm going to Lilac Fest on Sunday so I'm looking forward to taking lots of pictures of colourful things in the sun....and food on a stick. I'm such a sucker for food on a stick.

In totally unrealted news: I love these shoes

Needlepoint Lobster Loafers!!!

I also think this pair is hilarious

Festive HO!

I also find this very funny

Interesting...

2011-05-18T12:54:00.000-06:00

So it's French, it's animated, it deals with (evil) kids with superpowers, and it uses Muse in the trailer...Hmmm... The animation style bugs me a lot less than the new Tin-Tin trailer.

Synopsis:

NYC, Central Park, 2010. Five young teenagers are violently assaulted. But they’re not your average teenagers… they’re prodigies. The trauma of the assault incites them to lash out against the world in a cold and calculating way. The five chillingly brilliant minds come together to concoct a perfect revenge. The only person aware of the pending doom is Jimbo Farrar, a sixth prodigy, who has gathered them. As long as he fights against his five counterparts with all his might, there’s hope for the world. But should he turn over to their side, it’s only a matter of time before a disaster of apocalyptic proportions ensues…

Weekend Update

2011-05-16T11:58:00.001-06:00

My new Camera finally arrived on Friday! I took an entire roll of film over the weekend, which to a seasoned photographer is nothing, but it's a big step for me, who still has two year old film in her SuperSampler. I need to remember to change my ASA settings when I try to take multiple exposures, I have feeling I will be getting a few dud prints back, but I'm still super excited. My camera came with a wide angle lense and a lense cover called a Splitzer that I want to play around with aswell. I also need to DIY some Red Scale film.

Splizer looks like this

and can take picture like this

Saturday I attended the first Pug Meetup that I organzied, all by myself. We got about 20 pugs to show up, which is a pretty good turn out, and I even got a bit of a chest tan. I took a lot of pictures of pugs (obvs!), so I'll post those when the film gets developed. Ruby did really well this time, she was very social, and not the awkward loner pug I've seen in the past. Even when she'd off playing with other dogs, she would periodically breakoff and come back to me, which is sweet, it's like she's making sure I'm still there. We also went to the Main Dish Celebrity Burger Cookoff, where Ruby had a wonderful time scrounging for scraps and even took a sip of my beer. (It was an accident! I dont' actually give beer to my dog, she kinda ninja'd up to my cup and took a sip before I noticed). Boy was super tired from work, so we stayed in, and I watched "HP and the Half Blood Prince". You know you're in your late twenties when....

<3 Ron 4EVA

Sunday was pretty quiet, woke up, ran some errands that involved going to the mall, had brunch at my favourite breakfast place, OverEasy. I also bought new bearings for my longboard, hopefully to get more roll for my push. I replaced the bearings in my board, all by myself! Ok, with minimal help from the Boy. I do find the ride to be smoother, but I don't know if I get more distance/push yet. I'm going to take it out for a longer test ride this week to find out. I'm also going to man-up and go the Longboard clinic this wednesday, I skipped last week cause I'm a wuss, and I went to yoga instead. A part of me is kinda happy that I bought such a crappy longboard, because it's forced me to get to know all the bits and bobs, and consequencely fix them. If I bought a spiffy new board, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to get familiar with everything "under the hood". I think that should I ever buy a new longboard, I'll know a lot more, and can be more specific with what I want.

There are 3 pizza places within walking distance from my home. The newest one is the ressurected Pimento's. Go try their dessert pizza cones, especially the one with nutella... OMG!

Food, Food, Food

2011-05-16T11:22:00.000-06:00

So week one of "Mandy Eat Healthier and Stop Being a Walrus" is going well. I'm not as strict with myself as I was with the 30 day eliminaion diet, but the goal here is long term, so I feel if I cut out all the things I love (pizza!) I'd just binge later one. So moderation is the name of the game. So I still eat small quantities of cheese, butter, yogurt, and processed sugar, but that's made cutting back a lot easier. I also let myself "cheat" about once a day. I'd like to cut down to a "few times a week", but it's still early on, let me have my candy.

This week's menu:

Roasted Broccoli Hummus
Omu Rice
or rather fried rice on flat omlet, I haven't been able to get the semi-circle shape right since the first time I've made this... gotta bone up!
Risotto with Spinach and Pumpkin Seeds
(and a giant ball of mozzarela...)
Roasted Mushrooms with Kamut Spaghetti
This was technically a cheater item, since it conatained butter, and Kamut is a type of wheat. But I feel that the fact that I didn't eat pasta until I felt gross, the wheatyness of the Kamut Spaghetti, and this being a meat free meal, it's okay, it's still goes into the "healthty" pile.

This week's cheater foods:

2 Cadbury Mini eggs (the one's with pop rocks inside)
1 mini Cinnabon (my boss-boss brought them into the office, my will power is only *so* strong)
Half a Stroopwaffle (Damn my Dutch friend!)
I pretty much threw diet out the window once Friday evening rolled around, so I'm not going to go into all the "bad" foods I ate during the weekend, other than to say it was DELICIOUS!

WANT!

2011-05-11T10:02:00.002-06:00

Ok, so the floor stencilling reminds me of the Riddler, but that headboard!!!! LOVE!

Doy!

2011-05-10T10:42:00.000-06:00

PhotoSource: Silk Road Spice Merchant, also where I get my spices

Inspired by this recipe for Chai Oatmeal, I thought I would give my morning overnight oats a chai spin. Turn's out you need to shell and grind Cardamom pods, you can't just bash them around in the mortar and pestle like I did. Spent a good chunk of my breakfast time picking out/spitting out cardamom husks... ew!

Return of the Walrus Girl

2011-05-09T13:06:00.000-06:00

Last wednesday I went to the Royal Board Shop Free Longboarding Clinic. Basically it's a free beginner longboarding class that's held weekly (I think). A lot of people showed up, and a lot of them weren't beginners, but I do suppose that there are beginners to longboarding the sport, and there are beginners to downhill longboarding, or carving, or pumping, or whatever. Either way, I still have trouble doing anything fancier than a slow straight line, and so there was quite the learning curve for me to climb. I wasn't the only girl, or the oldest person there, but I was probably the largest and most inexperienced girl. This shouldn't matter, but like with pole or any active sport really, I feel that if you're smaller, you have less to move, and therefore you have an advantage. I was one of the few solo participants as in I didn't bring a friend or knew someone who was coming, and I have no snowboarding or skateboarding experience. I'm trying not to feel too discouraged, because everyone was really nice, and the instructors were really helpful and I did make progress (I can foot brake...sorta!), but I'm really socially awkward, and when I put myself out there, I get really self concious and that does a big number on my self confidence, and you need loads of self confidence to try new things and be okay with sucking.

I need to work on my core strength and balace, which is nothing new to me, but I would've figured that after 9months of going to the gym, I would be adept at stuff like this. My balance, especially, is horrendous. I'm always the first to fall over in yoga. I also tore a huge hole in the crotch of my shorts, which didn't help matters much at all. I need to stop being so down on myself...

I kinda missed the window for "May the Fourth be with you" jokes...

2011-05-05T10:58:00.001-06:00

Hello lovely people of the internets! I suppose I hsould update you on the happinging in Mandy-town, and what now and stop posting about flat faced dogs...

Ha! Like I'd ever really get tired of Flat Faced Dogs... This pug is weilding Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor

My cleanse/diet has gotten off to a really rocky start this week... as in it didn't start. I didn't do any grocery shopping last weekend, and this week I've been busy/lazy/sore/grumpy, so I haven't been doing much cooking or prep.

Also, my place is still in complete disarray, and I get depressed everytime I see it, so I've fall into a cycle of avoidance, where I never look past my laptop/knitting/book/pug to see the big messy picture. I also try not to spend too much time at home, so I go to the gym, I walk the dog, I participate in longboading clinics, I listen to authors speak, etc, etc, etc. Boy is no help, even when I ask for help, but he's out of town this weekend visiting his boyfriend, so I'm going to overhaul the place, mostly for my own mental well being. I feel like it's very hard to be productive and stable when I live in such an cluttered and unstable environment. I say unstable in that I can never find what I'm looking for, what I want/need is dirty/used/lost and that the whole situation feels overwhelming.Boy isnt' much help either, no matter how many times I ask for it, so I do feel really alone in this. But hopefully, after this weekend, I'll whip the place into acceptable shape and then it should be easier to keep it that way.

In other news... I've been spending money like it don't mattah... which is bad, but I did come into a bunch of birthday money last month so it's not like I was being THAT irresponsible...sorta...

I bought myself a LOMO LC-A+ off ebay along with a bunch of accessories (Fish Eye lense!!!), and it's currently making it's way through the postal system to my heart. While I've been enamoured with lomography for awhile, I didn't really think through how expensive this new hobby would be. Not only do I need to buy the camera and film, but I need to pay for processing, and possibly printing. Unless I buy a scanner and make my own prints. Uhg, it's all downhill from here!

This is an iPhone case, but the pattern is the same

I also bought a new iPod case from My Paper Crane... I love how happy all the fruit and veg looks, not terrified like muppet veggies!

This past month I attended two speaking events, Frank Warren from Post Secret, and the author David Sedaris. I really enjoyed both, especially Sedaris. I was too afraid to get him to sign something for me, mostly because I don't know any good jokes, I know he's pretty observand and judgemental (read his books!) and I'm not particularly clever. I know these are all pretty lame reasons to not meet someone you respect and admire, but hey, I'm a wuss.

Wall Lust

2011-04-26T09:06:00.000-06:00

From the Purl Bee Swatch Portrait Project Journal

I think it's pretty embarassing that I've lived in my condo for almost a year and a half, and my walls are still really bare. I have lots of decorating ideas, I'm just fundamentally lazy, and indecisive, but mostly lazy. I really love the idea of a hoop wall (or hoopla), but I'd have to create so many embroideries... I think this fabric hoop wall is a good inbetween.

Rocking out...

2011-04-18T16:39:00.000-06:00

I'm emnamoured with the french bulldog. I *almost* wish I could let Ruby on the couch so I could teach her how to jam...

In other news, I inherited my folk's old roomba, guess who'll be torturing the pug tonight!!!! Robots are awesome...

It seems like I only post to bitch about the weather...

2011-04-14T10:49:00.000-06:00

It snowed, AGAIN! I was mildly more prepared for this dump of snow because I bought kickass rubber boots last night from Safeway (I was too lazy to drive all the way to Walmart). My new boots are purple with giant white polka dots and, even though they are a size 5, fit my feet nicely...my calves on the other hand, not so much... apparently I have giant calves. I've always kinda known this, but still, when rubber boots mock you... I also discoverd that my left calf is larger than my right, but I know from doing single leg lunges and such, that my right leg is stronger than my left, so what gives?

Something flipped a switch in my brain the week, so I've been cooking up a storm.

The return of this week's menu:

Flax Crackers

This was a FAIL, in that I didn't use a Silpat (I don't own one...shut up, I have, like, a lifetime supply of parchment thank's to Boy's Sister's old Bakery Job) and the flax/water mixture stuck to the pan something fierce. I only got maybe 6 crackers out of the whole ordeal, and the rest are large flax crumbs.

Birthday Cake

This recipe made 3 layers using 7.5" round pans. After I baked the layers, I leveled, wrapped, and froze the cake. I'll be filling and decorating the cake tonight so it'll be ready for tomorrow night, but if the scraps from the leveling are anything to judge by, this cake is going to be crazy delicious. Tip: Don't buy cake decorating tools from Ikea, they're all crap

Oatmeal Cookies

This too was a FAIL. I think it's because I didn't grind my oat flour fine enough, and/or that my butter was too warm. Or maybe it's because I went insane, or was suffering from exhaustion deprivation, and portioned out HUGE cookies to bake, and of course they all melted and smushed together into one gaint sheet of oatmeal cookie. The lavender icing I made also tasted slightly toxic, so I dumped it. ARGH!!!

Oatmeal Lace Cookies

These were delicious, if ridiculously shattery

Chicken and Biscuits

I'm not from the South, but I love Chicken and biscuits, it's like chicken pot pie without the whole mess of having to deal with making pastry. I also had some buttermilk that needed to be used up, so biscuits were the ideal candiate, that or more cake... mmm cake...
Note: I didn't use the biscuit recipe from the link, I made buttermilk biscuits

I've also been eating a lot of pasta, and leftover Sweet Potato Hash. I really love S.P Hash with fried egg, it's so yummy!

I know it's supposed to be "Spring" but I still feel like breaking out with all the heavy winter cooking. I bought a frozen Tourtiére from CRMR Home a few weeks ago that I'm itching to devour, and I really want to make French Onion Soup. To be fair, it may be spring everywhere else (at least according to all the food blogs) but we still haven't had the huge influx of veggies and greens yet. BC veg is only just starting to trickle in...

So Delicous, so Far Away (in this case NYC)

Since I've been spending so much time on the internet, reading food blogs, I've self diagnosed myself with "Food Truck Envy" (FTE). FTE is characterized by cursing the geographical location of your city that causes summer to only last approx 3 months, a mild hatred for hot dogs (combined with a secret love, confusing I know) and a yearning for tacos. I've just recently gone over to the Taco side, previously my extreme dislike of cilantro kept me away, but me and cilantro have started to get along, sort of... it still tastes soapy and gross, but not as gross as it used to, and combined with enough meats and condiments, I can look past cilantro's grossness.

Along similar lines, I can't quite make up my mind if I want to go to Vancouver for a weekend. I have two opportunities coming up, one with Boy and one with my friends ScoJo, but right now, I'm leaning towards saving my money for Japan.(Dear Fukushima, please stop leaking, Mandy) Then again, I'm craving food on a stick something fierce, and the Richmond Night Market is coming up... I wish we had something similar in Calgary, then I could get my eats on without the $400 plane tickets.

I've decided to go on another cleans starting in May. Not as serious as the one I did last September, but more or less the same. No Dairy, No Sugar, No Wheat. Exceptions: Yogurt and small quantities of cheese, Natural sugar sources (Honey, Agave, Cane Syrup, Stevia, etc), and I'll limit myself to one serving of alcohol a week (Le Sigh...).

This weekend I'll be going to see a film about a Homicidal Tire called Rubber:

I'm also going to the Garter Girls show for my (belated) Birthday Celebrations, and I plan to spend a ridiculous amount of money at my Local Comic Book Shoppe. Can you believe it's been close to 6 months since I'be bought comics... crazy!

Williams and Sonoma has been teasing me with this pan...

Egg Waffle Pan, Y U NO Be With ME!!!

I wanted to buy it for myself for my birthday, but it's out of stock in Calgary, and they don't expect to get it in for another month...and the online store won't ship to Canada... and there are none on Ebay... Woe!

Afternoon tea

2011-04-05T15:23:00.000-06:00

Mother Nature is a Tease

2011-04-01T10:21:00.000-06:00

So we got a few nice, sunshiney days this week. Of course they were weekdays, so I couldn't really enjoy being outside and one with the slush and mud since I was at work, but I did spend a lot of time staring out my window at the sky.

But this is Calgary, and the weather can't really make up it's mind as to what season it actually is, so tonight and tomorrow, we're getting a dump of 20cm... fuck!

So here is a list of stuff I'm looking forward to this summer:

Blue Green Eggs!

Getting my CSA veggies and, more importantly, EGGS!
Last year, I tasted my first farm fresh eggs, and i don't think I can ever go back. So much better tasting, the yolks are so bright they're almost orange. AND sometimes you get funky coloured shells, like blue, and spotty brown, which makes my innner Martha squee! I also desperately need more green in my diet, and joining a CSA is quite possibly the best way to drown oneself in chard...and kale, and spinach, and beet greens...etc

Longboarding
Ok, so last year, I kinda only half assed my attempt at longboarding, but really, I joined a gym, self improvement was made! I recently oiled up my board so it no longer squeaks and squeals like a weasel in heat, and it it should make turning more smooth,but since the sidewalks were still some variation of iced-over/snow covered/be-puddled/gravel strewn, I haven't gone out to practice much. This year, I will try to over come my fear of moderate declines...

View from Thomas Campbell Hill, our nearest Dog Park (Source)

Walking the dog after dinner
So the days are getting longer, and it's staying fairly warm into the early evening. But right now, it's still a bit of a rush to walk the dog before dinner so we can take advantage of the sunlight and the warmth. It would be way better for my schedule to be able to walk the dog later in the evening, and that way I would be less rushed, so it would be a more enjoyable experience for me and the pug.

I bought this dress, and I want to wear it! I'm also going through a Waldo phase...

Not Wearing Pants
I'm not talking about a "no-pants zone" or anything like that, but more like how I miss seeing my legs. I want to wear shorts and flippy floppies. I also just bought a bunch of dresses on sale that I would like to wear, but right now, I would still need to wear leggings or tights, which is fine, but it's April Dammit! I would also be wonderful to be able to mindlessly wear sneakers or sandals all the time without having to consider the slush level outside.

Taking Ruby Camping
This could be a disaster, or it could be awesome, but I want to try it and see if two people and a pug can peacefully co-exists with the wilderness...and in a tent. I would also like to take Ruby to a lake and see how she reacts to still water and sand.

In other news, I took a yoga class for the first time in ages this week. Me and yoga have a spotty relationship. Everyone loves yoga, and can go on and on of how great yoga is. I tried it a few times, registered for a full class even, and my opinion was always "Meh". But I didn't hate it this time, I wasn't even all that indifferent, I actually kinda liked it. Also for the first time, I felt like I was "working out" at yoga, and not just standing around tyring to keep my balance. I'm going again this monday, so maybe this week was just a fluke and I'll hate it all over again, but maybe, just maybe, yoga is starting to grow on me.

This weekend is full of eating, a party, possibly kareoke, and yet more eating... that's what birthdays are for right? Eating!

Road Trip Musings

2011-03-24T15:53:00.001-06:00

View Larger Map

A seed was planted in my brain on St.Patricks Day by Dani's friend François. A Road trip to Vegas...and because I just saw Paul and next year will be last one held in San Diego... Comic Con! While I'm in California, I might as well go do the whole Disneyland-Universal Studios-Sea World thing, and because I'm a geek, I'll also go to Lego Land. A scenic drive up the Big Sur to San Franscisco and then onwards to get my hipster on in Portland, and then the Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle. From there I could just drive home... or visit friends and family in Vancouver and Kelowna and drive home through the Rockies instead of Montana.

Right now, it's just a seed, and the idea may never grow past that, but it sure is a lovely seed.

Amusing...

2011-03-21T15:21:00.000-06:00

More Here

When I'm in a Funk, I feel like a Lump

2011-03-21T14:57:00.000-06:00

Nothing Says Cheer Up like Frolicking Red Pandas

Ever since I got back from Houston, I've been in a bit of a funk. Basically, I've been floating around in an overly anxious and moody haze, and I haven't really been in the mood to do much of anything other than sulk. This happens occasionally, and I try not to beat myself up too much when it happens, but me being moody me, I tend to work myself into circles and feel like crap at the end of the day no matter what. So that's why there has been lack of posting. There has also been lack of picture taking, which means less posting...

So even with me being all whiny and crabby, stuff has been going on. Before I left for Houston I went on a Progressive food tour, part of the First Thursday events, and I also tried out the Home Tasting Room with my LJ friends Jenna and Rose as part of the Big Taste Calgary Dining Festival. (There are picture of both events, I just can't find my camera cable)

In Houston I found a cocktail bar/restaurant that I became quite smitten with called Hearsay, and discovered that gingerbeer + gin + honey = massive delciousness. I wish there was a place like this in Calgary...well, you can sorta say that Milk Tiger is very similar, but I felt the Hearsay had a more robust menu, and a much nicer space. I love Milk Tiger, but it feels really cramped in there.

I also finished reading another book, Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw, thanks to long airport waiting times. This was a collection of A.Bourdain vingettes, kind of an response to 10 years after the relase of his big hit "Kitchen Confidential". I found it enjoyable, but then again, I like his style. I did enjoy the opening chapter about eating the forbidden ortolan, but in all honesty, I don't think I would enjoy such a meal, not because of morale reasons (ok, a few), but because I don't like to eat burning hot foods.

Since I got back two weeks ago, I ate at the Vin Room, also part of the Big Taste, went to kareoke, stayed up way too late, and watched as Boy got mauled by a tree.

This entire time I've been flying through 3 seasons of Veronica Mars, and pretty much giving up on the thought of healthy eating. Last week alone, the following cheater items were consumed:

two bags of cheezies
a Croque Monsieur
(from La Crépes Patissierie in the Kingsland Farmer's Market...So GOOD!)
an apricot tart
(also from La Crépes)

a Peppermint Patty Cupcake from Crave
a large bowl of Cacio E Peppe
(FYI, don't use gruyére as the main cheese, way too sticky)
Chicken Fingers and Fries at the Saddle Dome
a Fish Fillet and fries
(my McDonald's not-so-secret shame)
A lot of Pringles
way too many Meatballs
(to be fair, it was St.Patricks day, and it was $0.25 meatball night at the Hose&Hound)
way too much Chinese Food
(I blame my mother, who always over orders, and then sends me home with FOUR boxes of leftovers)

I feel that it's okay to eat cheater items 2-3 times a week, after all, you can't be good all the time, and sometimes junk food is just delicious. But it's all about balance right? Last week, and we're not even getting into the previous weeks, or the Houston trip, my eating was definetly not balanced.

My melancholy moods also didn't really inspire me to cook much, so I subsisted mostly on the giant leftover chickenI roasted (Hutterite chicken = 9lbs!), warm lentil salad and fridge cleaning fried rice (also w/ leftover chicken).

I've also been keeping my eye on the tragic happening in Japan. Luckily Chelsey is doing fine, but I may have to reschedule my impending trip. My parents have also been glued to JapanWatch2011, and they keep calling me to warn me about the dangers of radioactivity. Maybe it's because they grew up in the 60s, but my folks, especially my dad, are really scared of nuclear fallout.

I can't fucking wait for Summer

I'll write another post soonish about all the new (to me at least) restaurants I've been visiting, but right now, I think I'll stare out the window at all the snow that's falling... on the first damn day of Spring.

WHY IS THIS NOT ME!!!

2011-03-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

from HERE

Vintage Fluevogs, Pugs, Stripey Tights, AND Sunshine...Why can't this me be me!?

It's raining in Houston, so the humidity is driving me and my hair crazy. Stupid Houston...

Stuff that's been happening

2011-03-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

I loaded a whole whack load of my old CDs onto my laptop. So now I can rock out the smooth song stylings of Shiny Tunes 4, the Backstreet Boys AND the Amelie Soundtrack (I'm nothing if not ecclectic and nostalgic)

I can't get Cacio E Pepe out of my head after making it for the first time a few weeks ago (needed more cheese)

I tried my hand at Tofu Dengaku, it wasn't as mind blowing as I expected it to be. I blame the fact that I've never made an overly impressive tofu dish (hell I'll settle for mildly impressive) without frying it. I also used white miso, because that's all I had

I am craving fried rice

I've been watching Season 1 of Veronica Mars and I can't get over how cheesy/awesome/predictable/overthetop it is. I love it!

Kristin Bell looks a lot like an old friend (okay, they have the same facial features), and its making me think of her a lot

This post about the alot is funny

PostSecret recent string of voice related messages is making me sad I lost all my old voicemails of Boy when I renewed my cellphone contract and they upgraded my voicemail services

Voice to text is the most ridiculous (and useless) voicemail feature

I want to bake a cake so I try my hand at making vertical layers, but I don't want to eat two cakes on my own (with help from Boy). I also don't feel like cleaning my place so having a cake eating party is out of the question. Ideally I would make a vertical rainbow layercake for my birthday... but that's a lot of work, and I'm out of red food colouring

Being a "grown up" has been getting me down lately. I've been thinking a lot about my decision to become a home owner vs. free wheeling renter. I would very much like to spend my property tax money on dog sweaters, glittery chunky yarns and shiny boots instead.

It irks me a bit that it's supposed to warm up next week while I'm in Houston. I would very much like to brag that it's 25°C in Houston while it's -40°C in Calgary, but no, you all get to experience balmy -10°C temps....

I'm worried that Ruby's Hip Dysplasia in her left leg (the good one) is flaring up prematurely

NKOTBSB tickets start at $70, way too much for a trip down memory lane

I've stayed up past my bedtime (11ish) for two night in row, galavanting about and drinking wine. I feel like I'm too old for this shit.

Pug (not Ruby) in a Pinapple Hat...just cause

Tee Hee

2011-03-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

Drawn by Grant Snider

I would like to add : Ghost of Parental Disappointment, and (I can't think of a nifty creature to associate with this one) Dreams Crushed by Everyday Responsibilities... I would so rather spend my car insurance money on fancy cheeses and party hats, but I can't...cause I'm a "responsible adult"...fuckers... it's not even a nice car...

Blah Blah Blah - Febuary Edition

2011-02-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

So I haven't written anything of substance in over a month... my bad. Then again, not much of substance has occurred, is there ever much substance to my blog posts anyway? I lament about my diet and exercise habits and then post links to baking... so really...

It's been ridiculously cold out, so I haven't been really going out much. We took the pug snowshoeing again, this time I had the Boy hold her leash so she wasn't assaulted by snow with every step we took. We went to Harvie Heights just outside of Canmore, it was nice, not particularly scenic (unless you really like looking at the Trans Canada), but it was good for a romp in the snow. The pug has also continued her 5:30am whining sessions that began back in January when we switched her to raw. I'm glad she likes her new food so much, really; she's much healthier, trimmed down, and, I think, slightly less stinky. But the whining has gotta stop. If we really tire her out the night before, there is usually minimal to no whining the next morning, but with it being so cold in the evenings as of late, we rarely get more than a quick jog around the block before we come back inside to the warmth.

This picture has nothing to do with anything other than I feel strang making a blog post without an image of some kind. This was a water colour done by Jenyffer Maria and I wanted it so bad, but it was too expensive and now it's been sold...

I haven't been cooking anything particularly interesting lately, so I don't really have too much to say. I made another batch of jam, this time mandarin vanilla, but I didn't bother canning it (I ran out of lids, and I was, frankly, too lazy to do all that boiling), so I just portioned it out and froze most of it. It tastes really good stirred into some Greek yogurt for breakfast. I did make some banana bread and peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to appease the Boy, but that's about as much baking as I've done in the past month.

Been feeling pretty overwhelmed by life and trying to find balance with what I have and what I want. I realistically don't have much to feel overwhelmed about, but that doesn't stop me from being a big worry wart and freaking about small things (like Internet over usage fees, whether the dog chews I just bought were deep fried, and why I can't find any of my hiking socks). I think this time of year is when I get the most anxious, I spend so much time inside, and therefore inside my own head, that everything becomes an issue. I'm looking forward to when I can walk the dog after dinner and a) have it be light out, and b) not freeze my ass off.

Boy bought a PlayStation Move, so now all we need is a Kinect to complete his "collection". Well that's kinda a lie, we don't have a Nintendo console, only the Wii, but we do have a PS3 and an Xbox. I haven't played around with the PS Move much since Boy brought it home yesterday, and I went to bed at 6pm (I was feeling really nauseous), but he says it's a lot of fun.

Oh, and I've finished my second book of the year "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini. I really enjoyed it, and I thought it was a pretty accurate depiction of what it's like to be depressed. Despite being a book about teenage depression, it was actually really funny. I originally wanted to read it because I'm a snob, and I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie, but the movie isn't available on Netflix Canada as I was led to believe, so I might rent it on iTunes.

The first book I finished reading was "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" by Sloane Crosely. It's a collection of humorous essays about Sloane's life in NYC. It was ok, and not as funny as I hoped. I picked it up from the library because I read somewhere that her writing style was similar to David Sedaris, and it is, but not as funny. I might check out her more recent book "How Did You Get This Number" later this year.

Currently I'm reading "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler. Kessler was the commissioner for the US FDA under Bush(II) and Clinton. I'm only about half way done, but it's making me feel a bit better about my relationship with food, and how it's not just me. The book shows how there are valid psychological reasons why lots of people have issues with making healthy choices and portion control. It also goes into how the food industry takes advantage of these issues. It's a bit dry, but so far a good read.

Speaking of David Sedaris, he's coming to Calgary for a speaking engagement/book reading in May, but I don't know if he's worth the $45+ ticket price. I mean, I saw Anthony Bourdain for $35, and that included free cheese and wine tasting in the lobby... the ticket price is just high enough to make me think twice about attending. I'm also not a huge fan of Sedaris's fiction writing, and his newest book "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary" is a work of fiction, and I'm pretty sure he'll be reading from it. (Boy bought the book for me back in October, but I still haven't read it yet...I should do that... I'll take to Houston with me).

BTW I'm going to Houston...again. This time I'll be staying at a boutique hotel, and not the Hyatt, so we'll see how it goes, the hotel is a bit farther from the office, but they have a free Happy Hour and late night Cookie Buffet...COOKIE BUFFET!

Hells Yeah!

2011-02-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

Make your own picture HERE

Word of Warning, the laser eyes app doesn't work on pet eyes...or glasses

Just Cause...

2011-02-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

More Dr.Who Valentines HERE

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T10:02:00.003-07:00

This is Finnegan McDuff... He is better at Shenanegins, Ruby is better at Hijinks

I wrote a few post these past few weeks, but I was too lazy/busy/distracted to upload accompanying pictures, so I suck... new posts soon, I promise!
In the meantime enjoy this picture of a pug.

This is not Ruby, her aversion to clothes, and especially hats, would make this kind of picture near impossible.

Agreed

2011-01-31T15:20:00.001-07:00

Via mugsofpugs

Ruby Tuesday

2011-01-27T21:37:00.006-07:00

I meant to make this post on Tuesday...

Snowshoeing in Paddy's Flat Campground in Bragg Creek

Housekeeping

2011-01-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Please Excuse me while I mess around with template for the blog...

Must not buy...

2011-01-27T11:21:00.005-07:00

Currently squashing the desire to procreate of the sole reason to have a valid excuse to own awesome stuff like this:

Okay, new goal...

2011-01-20T14:39:00.004-07:00

It seems silly to start a new goal after I made so much hub-bub about cleanses and resolutions just last week, but this week has really pushed me over the edge.

Is it possible to eat whole, delicious, healthy foods, without spending lots of money, and giving up those junky so-bad-they're-good foods? Yes, but I can't seem to balance healthy with occasional indulgence without sliding over to the walrusy side of things.

Take this week for example, I knew, nutritionally, it would be a bad week. Tonight I'm going to the Stan Roger's Night at the Hose & Hound, where it's also is $0.25 meatball night. Tomorrow is my company's Winter Celebration party at the Sheraton, and corporate catering is never healthy. Last Sunday was my family's Chinese New Year dinner (way early due to my parent's impending vacation), and my mom, being Asian, and my mom, ordered way too much food so I ended up with 4 take out boxes worth of leftovers in my fridge. Said leftovers include: fried rice, roast duck, roast chicken, fried noodles, a ridiculous amount of pineapple pork, and some pan fried greens with seafood. All delicious, but unhealthy things. I can't even say no to leftovers, because it's assumed that since I live with a young white male, that all the food will magically disappear into his gullet. To Adult Asians, all young males are food vacuums, especially Caucasian ones. Sadly, unless it's pizza or pasta, Boy doesn't particularly care for leftovers, and I'm too cheap to throw them out (starving children, waste of money, labour, resources, etc,etc, etc). Boy also doesn't like to dig around the fridge, something I though all people learned how to do in their teens. I've left all kinds of goodies front and centre in the fridge with hopes that Boy will find them and eat them (mac&cheese, pork buns, cupcakes) but if it's in a plastic container, it's invisible to him. Hell sometimes the invisibility can be caused by Ziploc bags.

Y U SO DELICIOUS FAY BURGER!?

So I knew I would be eating badly this week, and what do I do with the remaining few days that are not consumed by calorie laden happenings? I order Boogies burgers and Vietnamese noodles...sigh... Vietnamese noodles are not unhealthy in themselves (although it's really way too much noodle to veg&meat ratio) but when you add dumplings and extra spring rolls, the healthiness tips into fatty fat pants territory.

Anyways, this rant is also spurned by what I saw this morning, post-workout, pre-breakfast on the scale... a number that was 5lbs more than what it should be, which means I'm now almost 20lbs from where I want to be. Boy also recently bought back the Wii he sold my Dad, and so I've been messing around with WiiFit, and my Mii is huge...and apparently I'm obese. The so-frank-they're-mean game designers also worked in all kinds of disappointed faces and noises for when you loose challenges, it's dispiriting. It also doesn't help that my skinny sister set all the previous records, so now I have to beat her challenge times from two years ago.

I think that what really bothers me is that I don't lead a very unhealthy lifestyle. I work out, I don't drink a lot of pop, I don't drink excessively, i don't a lot of candy or sweets, and I sleep a lot. My down fall is food, and how much of it I cram into myself. Ruby has lost weight recently because I've switched her to a raw, grain free, free range, organic diet. Also, since she's a dog, her meals a automatically portioned controlled. Where's my super nice benefactor who prepares my delicious, healthy, portioned controlled meals, and who also crochets me awesome hats?

So new plan... Monday to Friday I must:

not eat out unless invited by someone other than Boy
cook without gluten and processed/refined sugars
limit my dairy intake (limited to yogurt for breakfast, and small amounts of half&half/milk and/or cheese for cooking)
pack my lunch everyday
not drink
control my portions (1 bowl of pasta = OK, 3 bowls of pasta = Fatty mcFat Pants)

Weekends are free game, as long as I party with food in moderation (foie grois pizza is a sometimes food...)

I agree

2011-01-17T14:41:00.001-07:00

Pugs Not Uggs!!!
Originally uploaded by gemma correll

Apologies for the crappy formatting of the previous post. I was tired, and I really didn't feel like getting up to my elbows in HTML.

What I've been up to for the past month and a bit

2011-01-16T16:27:00.007-07:00

What I've been Cooking/Baking

Really, really, good

Red Velvet Cupcakes

These were for work, they were appreciated, but I made way too many and so I ate alot of cupcakes for a few days...

Gingerbread Snowflakes 

These once again, could've been softer, I need to remeber to taste my baking during the process and not after. The cookies were tasty, just way more crisp than I was aiming for  

Rosemary Butter Cookies 

These were the hit of the cookie bags 

Matcha Shortbread Christmas Trees 

These cookies were cute, but were kinda awful, total dud 

 Apple Cranberry Jam 

My first foray into preserving was a success, next up, Vanilla Mandarin Jam!  

Sugared Pecans 

I made these for my mom because she used to be addicted to Mashuga Nuts, but she thought they were too sweet, then again, my mom thinks all foods are either too sweet or too salty. I liked them...  

Martha's Crack&Cheese

 a ridiculous amount of my cheese stash went into this

  Fake Raincoase Crisps 

I've never had the real deal, so I can't make a comparison, but these crackers were really tasty, with and without cheesey accompaniment  

Gourgéres

 or Cheese Puffs for the non-French

Paris Mushroom Soup

From Dorie Greenspan's "Around my French Table" which I will be totally checking out form the library

Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup)

This was really good, but it got the freezer treatment really quickly since I didn't want to ooze garlic from my pores

I've also been experimenting with Miso Butter, which is something Daniel Chang from Momofuku fame came up with. So far I don't really know what all the fuss is all about, but I did make it by sautéeing veg in butter and then adding miso, rather than combining miso and butter first. Experiments will continue... 

 Right now I'm trying to get inspired and start cooking more again instead of always eating some variations of curry&rice, or leftover roast meats w/ tater tots. My fridge is errily bare, so I need to go stock up. I was planning on going on a not-so-intense cleanse during the second half of January, but I don't know if that will pan out. Maybe I'll just try to cut down my gluten, sugar and dairy consumption without the hassle of eliminating it completely.  

Stuff I've been Making   

Actually an in-progress shot of my first sock, but I'm too lazy to take a picture of my 2nd sock

My other sock I finished one sock in about 2 months, and now I need to knit another, and already I'm feeling some sock burn out... this is why I'll never knit a sweater, becasue it'll take me YEARS!  

 A Hat for Ruby in preparation for upcoming snowshoe adventures (She's outgrown her other hats) 

Left to Right: Matt, 3 heart Years, Mandy

  3 year Anniversary Felt Dumplings  

What I've been Watching   

Sherlock 

with Benedict Cumberbatch! (Most British Name Ever) and Martin Freeman

Pushing Daisies

I was avoiding this show, because I loved “Dead Like Me” and it was cancelled before it was ready, just like “Pushing Daisies”, but Boy bought be both seasons, and I'm super addicted. I've been holding off on watching the last episode, because then there will be no more, forever

  The last 4 episodes of Dexter Season 4

Lithgow is so creepy!

 It was also Ruby's 1st birthday on Dec 29th. We didn't do anything special because I was house/dog-sitting in Balzac, and Ruby was having tummy troubles. Also having a b-day party for your dog is kinda lame. I did giver her a moose bone to gnaw on a few days later, so I guess that was her present, moose bones and a new diet. We started to feed her raw about a week ago, and now she's so damn excited to eat. It's like she gets wet food everyday! She's 15 now in small-dog years, and she's already starting to turn a bit grey on her chin.

Alot of ramblings you don't care about and one thing you should really care about

2011-01-13T11:52:00.007-07:00

This is Mandy: slow, grumpy and kinda blue

My brain seems to be everywhere and nowhere this week. On Monday, I forgot my cellphone, jewellery, retainer and tampons at home, resulting in a very grumpy Mandy wandering out into the cold to buy tampons and a bag of consolatory maltesers. Today I forgot my breakfast and my lunch. They're sitting in my lunch bag on the couch, where the dog will probably get restless and drag it down to the floor and try to break into the tupperware to devour my leftover pork and the apple cinnamon yogurt I prepared for breakfast. So Lame.

I really thought that things were supposed to get better. I would go back to work, well rested after the holidays and fall back into a steady routine that would make me feel satisfied. I would feel motivated to cook dinner at least 5 days a week, take the dog for long daily walks, pack my lunch everyday to save me calories and money, and finish my other sock so I'd have a pair. But the truth is that it's always dark out, it's really fucking cold, my laptop was broken, and it took me almost two weeks to muster the motivation to go grocery shopping. Winter solstice was Dec 21, our days are supposed to be getting longer, but it still feels so dreary, walking to work in the dark and coming home at dusk. When it's this cold outside I don't want to be outside, the dog doesn't want to be outside, so we don't spend much time outside, maybe a quick ten minute walk around the park and then we hustle back inside. The cold makes both of us grumpy. The dog however has a lot of energy, especially since we just switched her to raw food, so she's been extra annoying lately with so much energy to burn. She's extra whiny, and she's always on the look out for forbidden things to chew and my sneakers are always missing. (Ruby likes to steal them and then nom on the laces, she doesn't destroy the shoes or anything, she just enjoys chewing on laces and my sneakers are way lighter to carry around than Boy's boots)

Speaking of the dog, we've started training again, and she's a big pile of "I've forgotten everything I learned in the past 6 months". But I suppose it gets me out of the house and moving, and any exercise is good for Ruby's gimpy legs.
We're going to try agility tonight, but I dont' expect much to happen. I've also volunteered to help organize the Calgary pug meetup group (the Pugsters!) because our normal organizer is graduating this year and a bit swamped with school work. This is quite possibly the most social thing I will be doing since high school band.

I did want to write a post about this article by Amy Chuafrom the Wall Street Journal about Asian Parenting that is currently causing the Internet to go all a tizzy. But all my initial anger from reading it has since dissipated in the past few days. I will say that my parents did use "Tiger Parenting" techniques, but not has intensely as Mrs.Chua, and I think I turned out fine... then again I did suffer from depression, had some kind of identity crisis breakdown when I left University and I still suffer from self worth issues, so yeah... I'm not going to totally blame my parents for all my issues, but they did play a part. Despite my "Asian" upbringing, I'm still one of the most white-washed Asians I know, which I think causes a lot of tension on the ways I feel how my life is and how it should be. It also causes tension on me and Boy's relationship, because we come from fairly different upbringings, and we see the world a lot differently from each other. It's one of the major reasons why I'm really hesitant to have children, not because I wouldn't love my child, but because I would have certain beliefs on how to raise the child, and they would totally clash with Boy's.

While I'm on my soap box, I would also like to bring your attention to OpenMedia and the plight of the Internet. The Canadian Government is being pressured by Internet providers to change legislation so that they can charge Internet users by how much data they download, much like cellphone data plans. This would drive up Internet costs to approx $150.month, minimum. As a person who uses the Internet to watch TV, and play games, this is really awful.

The CBC can explain it better than me...

Sign the petition y'all and then write to your MP: Stop the Meter

Resolutions and such

2011-01-03T11:34:00.015-07:00

First day back at work and I obviously have no motivation to much of anything. Add to the fact that half of the office is still on holidays, and Mandy doesn’t really get much done today.

First a gripe… I chose to walk to work today, a decision I was happy with for about 5min, until the wind picked up and I subsequently froze and became totally numb from the waist down and the neck up. (Even I can’t justify snow pants when it’s only -11°C) I had past the point of no return, so I couldn’t just turn around and walk to the train, I committed myself and I had to get to work. The last 3rd of my walk is indoors through the +15 system. A lot of the food courts and shops in the +15s were closed, which, fair enough, there isn’t a lot of business during the holidays to stay open, and if they’re closed today too, so be it. But I had to be at work, and at the very least, the building managers should’ve been at work too, if only to unlock the +15 doors so I (and other downtown commuters) could get around without freezing our asses off. Locked +15s are frustrating, having to backtrack and try 6 out of 7 possible exits from some anonymous office building because they’re all locked is even more frustrating. The lights are on, I can get into your building, I should be able to get out, unlock the fucking +15!

Onto Resolutions… Last year’s resolutions re-cap

1) Lose 10lbs
I lost 20lb… and then gained back about 5lb… but that’s still more than 10lb!

2) Start climbing more
Big ass fail. Boy working nights, sharing a one car and general laziness are all factors, but I did join a gym.

3) Buy, install and get proficient at Pole
Totally didn’t happen. I haven’t touched a dance pole all year…Bad Mandy!

4) Get out of debt
I climbed out of debt only to fall back into the hole… I blame the dog and her gimpy leg!

5) Get a Tattoo
Decided on another design, poked around a few studios, but nothing major happened on this front. I’ve had “get a tattoo” as one of my goals for about the last 5 years, but it never happens…

6) Summit at min 2 mountains
I don’t think I summated any mountains. I mean, I didn’t even really go hiking much this year… lame
7) Bake and decorate a layer cake
Totally did this!

8) Save up at least 1/2 of what I will need for an Asia trip
Decided to postpone the Asian Adventure to this November, so saving of trip starts NOW!

9) Have my craft room cleaned and organized by mid-febuary
I think the craft room was clean by July… I will say take that as a win…

10) Write up a chore rota and have me and Boy actually stick to it
Ha Ha Ha… this never happened, and I doubt it ever will. Me and the Boy of worked out a new system consisting of me nagging and sighing loudly and him begrudgingly doing what I ask of him 2 weeks later.

This year’s Resolutions

1) Lose 15lbs, a lot of inches, and feel stronger
This is to account for the 5lbs I’ve gained back and the rest of the weight I need to lose to get to my ideal goal weight. I’ve also come to terms with the fact that I need to work out not just to look better but mostly to feel better about myself and to feel physically stronger. I totally understand that my basic Mandy-mode is to sit on the couch and eat cheezies, so I will never look forward to the gym, but I do feel better when I work out.

2) Buy a Pole and get better at Pole Dancing
This will happen this year…yes it will

3) Save up at least 2/3 of what I will need for the Asia trip
Barring some natural disaster or terrorist attack, this trip is happening. Tokyo ain’t cheap, neither is Hong Kong anymore, so I need to save.

4) Get out of debt
Duh…

5) Have Ruby be about to hold a 20min sit-stay, learn the down command and have consistent recall
Now that she’s on the mend, I gotta up my training game, no more slacking due to gimpyness and/or laziness

6) Make Macarons, Fresh Pasta, and Croissants
I really have no excuse now, I have all the tools I need, time to conquer some culinary fears

7) Read at least 10 books from cover to cover
I spend too much time putzing around the internet, I need to read more, and as a bonus, I’ve already finished one book! (Thank you busted laptop and New Year’s Day Hangover)

New Years Day = Hang Over Day

2011-01-01T18:22:00.002-07:00

My laptop is currently on the fritz, and until I fix it or buy a new one, posts will be even more sporadic. However, I can putz around on Boy's desktop until he awakes from his post- work post-drunken stupor. I have lots to share, but I'm feeling lightheaded and lazy....

Happy New Years!

UPDATE: Fromage

2010-12-19T23:19:00.005-07:00

I just counted... there are 13 different kinds of cheese in my fridge at this moment... just thought you should all know.

I lied, I just found a block of jalapeno havarti... takes the count up to 14, 15 if you count the gross fake parmesan Boy insists on sullying his pasta with.

Crotch Blowout and other inappropriate descriptors

2010-12-13T11:43:00.004-07:00

Last week was a bit of a write-off, I mean, I was pretty mopey, and spent most of my time avoiding cooking, so there isn’t really much to post about, but I’m gonna try…
for the good of the blog!

I’ve been taking the Pug to underwater treadmill sessions for some post-surgical rehab. Essentially, Ruby lost a lot of muscle mass on her injured leg, and we need to build it back up, mostly so she won’t be lopsided and y’know, a stronger leg means she’ll actually use it. Her hind right leg (the injured one) is 5cm less in circumference compared to her hind left leg. We have a lot of work to do. Ruby is pretty freaked out by the treadmill apparatus. Firstly, to get to the treadmill we have to walk by all the sick dogs in their kennels, and a sick dog is a whiny dog. Then the tread mill is pretty much an aquarium with a conveyor belt as it’s base. So it’s echoey in there, and the water fills up to about Ruby’s chest and there are bubbles, and then she has to walk, and she’s so damn whiny the entire time….

So Damn whiny! Apologies for the crooked picture, I'm not used to my new Ipod yet...

I normally go buy a few pairs of jeans once a year, on Boxing Day, at Unlimited Blue on 17th Ave. This year, in the spirit of saving money and being less wasteful, I’m choosing to only buy one pair of (probably skinny) jeans. This means I have to mend all my old jeans. All of my jeans since jr high have suffered from what is known as “crotch blowout” by denim aficionados. This means that because my thunder thighs rub together while I walk, the crotch of my jeans will wear out significantly faster than the rest of the pants. Normally I don’t bother to mend my old jeans because I like shiny new things, and I usually need to change sizes due to weight changes (usually gain). This year however, I’ve lost weight (hurrah!) so I still fit comfortably in all my jeans and a few pairs of old one’s too. So I spent Saturday was avoiding mending like the procrastinator that I am. I did patch up 2 out 4 pairs of jeans, and Ruby’s stuffed squid; she has a habit of tearing out the eyes of all her plush toys, it’s kinda disturbing.

I feel like I blew my creative load with all the Christmas decorations I concocted over the past few weeks. The past week I had a few projects that I could’ve worked on, but my heart just wasn’t really into it. So my sock remains unfinished, it’s pair un-started, and there are no cookies to be had. However I have lots of plans for this week interms of baking, so hopefully that gets the juices flowing again. I also bought a gigantic new pot for canning, so now I have no excuse not to jam.

I didn’t really cook this past week (see “blowing of creative load” above) so I only have one recipe for you, and it really wasn’t that good. It made better leftovers, and the addition of sundried tomatoes and a few spoonfuls of bacon jam elevated it from “meh” to “mmmmmm”.

Poitimarron Soup

Going through the motions

2010-12-08T10:47:00.006-07:00

I was supposed to post this two days ago, but I kinda forgot... so here's a cute picture of a bunny

I’ve been struck with a whopping dose of lassiez-faire melancholy moods. I’m not super sad per say, but definitely going through the motions. I’m at the tail end of my second cold in two weeks; I’ve reached the hacking cough and stuffy nose stage, so I know that the end is near, just not damn well near enough. I have to think about how I position myself when I sleep so I can manage the flow of snot, and therefore ensure I can breath and not honk through the night. The cough is another matter entirely. I can go for hours without a peep, breathing normally, and feeling fine, and then I spend the next 30 min trying to dislodge my lungs from the chest via my mouth… unpleasant to say the least.

I’ve also kinda given up at work. My vacation starts next Friday, and I’m finding it very hard to concentrate on much of anything in the meantime. It’s like my brain is already sleeping in and hang out with the dog, baking gingerbread and skating, but my body is still begrudgingly dragging itself to work every day. Next week is going to be brutal! I don’t think the extreme carb and sugar loading I’ve been doing has been helping much either. Thanks to all the fine folks who came over last Saturday for my friend Jenna’s Wine & Dessert Birthday Party, I’ve been over run with cake. The fact that I baked two cakes for said event, isn’t helping much either. My first cake wasn’t served at the party because it didn’t de-pan properly, so I ended up with a delicious mess of a cake… it was mildly tragic. I still have my block of Nectar’s fruit cake to consume and I ordered a Stolen from Aviv for next, next week… I’m going to gain back all the weight I lost…wah! Due to the colds, I haven’t been going to the gym as much either… December you sugar coated, fat filled, excessive month!

I haven’t really done much else this past week. I cleaned and decorated the apartment for the previously mentioned B-day party. I did buy a (fake) tree and decorated it on Sunday. I also bought a bunch of canning supplies to make jam, but all my pots are too small to fit the canning racks, so now I have to buy a bigger pot. I’m almost done my Christmas shopping too, which is also mildly exciting. Basically I’m in limbo until I’m on vacation when I can jump into my winter break activities whole heartedly (who wants to help me clean out my storage locker and reorganize my pantry?), I feel useless going through the motions of everyday life.

I do suppose I can look forward to mending all my jeans and a few of Ruby's plush toys… mending…sigh…

I didn’t cook much last week, there were a lot of leftovers and I went out for my office xmas party and with my parents. Boy also ordered pizza one night… so yeah….

This past week’s menu

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Yogurt cake
Another Upside Down Gingerbread Pear Cake
Broccoli, Chicken, Cheese and Rice Casserole (this was mediocre, and I'm too lazy to search for the link now)

Mandy and the Lunch Hour Blogpost

2010-11-29T13:32:00.003-07:00

There are two things I do to break up the monotony of my day:

I give Harry Potter titles to the mundane actions and objects in my life
ie: “Mandy and the Luke Warm Mug of Tea”
“Mandy and the Half Shaven Pug”
“Mandy and the Never Ending Spreadsheet”
“Mandy and the Unending Supply of Dirty Dishes”
I reuse lines from the chorus of “Bitches” by Mindless Self Indulgence
(this is mostly when I think I’ve done something good, occasionally awesome)
ie: “Bitches love me cause they know I can Ice a Cake”
“Bitches love me cause I’m wearing wooly socks”
“Bitches love me cause I found the missing embroidery needle under the couch”
“Bitches love me cause I stock”
(as in make chicken stock, not stock shelves in some kind of retail hell)

If you’re not familiar with the song, here is a rendition done by Pikachu

The past week’s menu:

Potage Parmentier, or Vichysoisse if you drink it cold, or Potato and Leek Soup if you’re a big suck and refuse to let me have some fun

BACON JAM, I haven’t tried this on anything, only off a spoon, but I’m getting a loaf delivered today so I’ll do a full write up of the bacon-y deliciousness later this week

Upside Down Gingerbread Pear Cake, this was pretty fantastic, but I brought it to a ducken dinner, so everyone was pretty full before we got to dessert. Making this cake kinda re-affirmed my hatred for working with molasses, that shit is sticky and slow moving as hell…HELLLL!

Lots of leftovers and BagelBites…shut up, I was sick, no one wants to cook when they’re sick!

Lack of pictures because the good camera is in Las Vegas with the Boy, my camera is full of suck and will probably be replaced this Boxing Day… or as soon as I can swindle one of the 8 cameras my Dad owns.

My mind is spinning

2010-11-29T12:40:00.002-07:00

Octowreath
Originally uploaded by hine

I love this wreath! I'm almost done with my felt ball wreath, and now I've fallen in love with another felted wreath...damn!

Post-ette

2010-11-25T22:45:00.001-07:00

Still sick, I feel well enough and guilty enough that I dragged my sorry sickly ass to work today, however I’m still not over the hill. I got the ol’ 1-2 punch of cold and stomach bug, and so, I’m tired but I can’t sleep, I’m constantly vaguely nauseous, I’m dizzy enough to not be able to concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes at a time, but not dizzy enough to not be bored. I feel feverish one minute and then ice cold the next… basically sickness has turned me into a menopausal woman.

Also the dog has diarrhea and has been snubbing her food for the past few days… her weight loss is noticeable… I don’t know if she’s choosing not to eat because she’s picky (we graduated her to Pug food from Puppy food about a month ago) or because she’s sick. She’ll still eat wet food, but I can’t tell if she’s just eating through the pain or if she’s actually holding out for the wet stuff. She also sneezed for 20min straight last night, which, while cute, was worrisome.

In other news, I need to buy skinny gimp pug some booties stat...

The Cone of Shame and other happenings

2010-11-23T13:27:00.008-07:00

The past week felt pretty lax for how busy it actually was. We took Ruby into the high end Vet Hospital, and decide to have her surgery there, so Thursday morning we dropped her off, and we fretted until we picked her up Friday morn. Coming home to a pug-less apartment after almost 8 months of pug/human cohabitation is a strange experience. You realize how much you depend on rhythmic pug snores to fall asleep, and how socks and slippers are not as good at keeping feet warm as pug rolls.

She’s got a shaved butt, stitches, and she has to wear a cone when we’re not around. She’s doing really well in terms of recovery, and once the stitches come out, we’ll be taking her to the Marda Loop Vet Clinic so she can have the underwater treadmill experience she’s always wanted. Kinda like Disneyland, but wetter, and more conveyor belty.

So many balls!

Spent most of the weekend indoors, only venturing out into the cold in search of brunch (in both western and dim-sum form), and to do some minor grocery shopping (one needs butter and flour to make mediocre cookies). I worked on my sock a lot, and watched a lot of internet TV. I couldn’t really wrap my head around how to knit a gusset and ended up frogging and knitting part of my sock 6 times. Knitting is supposed to be calming, not so damn frustrating. I also worked a bit on my project that involves 500 balls, felt balls, but balls none the less… balls!

The Boy has been on the verge of sickness for about a week or so and he finally tipped over the line yesterday. He also thought it’d be a good idea to bring me down with him. Stuffy noses, sore throats, mild hacking cough, and general malaise are what you can expect at Casa Del Mandy. I managed to drag my sad self to work today, but he choose to stay home for another day to allow his body to heal, and exercise his thumbs of course… He’s leaving for Las Vegas on Friday without me, it makes me sad. I can’t really afford a trip right now, in both the time and money sense (vet fees are expensive!). So I’ll spend the weekend alone with my half shaved pug, eating cake and knitting more sock, hell maybe I’ll finish my first sock and then start my second… then I’ll be on my way to a pair!

Show’s I’ve been watching

The Trip
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play themselves on a restaurant tour of Northern England. The humour is very british, and there are a lot of impressions…a lot. But at one point Steve Coogan plays “pop corn” by flicking his throat… it’s brilliant!

Kitchen Confidential
An old show from about 5 years ago loosely based on the Anthony Bourdain memoir “Kitchen Confidential”. The show is a bit cheesy, but there are some good lines, and it passes the time sufficiently.

“Muffins are for people who don’t have the nads to order cake for breakfast!” –Seth (played by Nicholas Brendon aka Xander from Buffy)

Mad Men Season 1
You can watch the first two seasons for free on the CTV website, for reals! The commercials are really loud though. I feel a bit strange watching a show about advertising and then being advertised to during the show. I also find it’s not that hard to accept how different ‘60s American culture was, but rather that people were dicks back then and they’re still dicks now, they just hid it better back then.

The Past Week's Menu

Beef Vindaloo and Basmati Rice
Less impressive when I tell you it the sauce came from a jar

Gluten Free Chocolate Quinoa Cake with Coffee buttercream frosting

Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’m not a big fan of this recipe, the cookies turned out dry and more rounded than I normally like. I used fleur de sel instead of table salt, so maybe that had something to do with it… My cookies looked nothing like the cookies in the link...

Cheddar Dill Beer Bread
I make this bread because I’m too lazy to make cheese biscuits. Yep, I’m too lazy to do one more step of cutting butter into flour, I prefer the lazy man’s mixing action of stirring with a spoon. Also butter’s expensive, not that beer isn’t, but I don’t buy beer, the Boy does…

Lots of leftovers

It’s too damn cold….

2010-11-17T15:52:00.005-07:00

I’ve lived in Calgary my entire life, I’m used to the cold, but normally, we get a gentle, occasionally steep, descent into winter. This year it was like I was pushed off a cliff. The skin on my face is not used to being frozen, then thawed, then frozen again, and is breaking out. I have yet to find the perfect combination of hat/scarf/mitts/jacket/sweater that allows me to walk to work warmly, but not so warm that by the time I get to my office I’m a sweaty mess under my layers. I haven’t had time to make enough soup, my soup stock are low, and it’s cold dammit!
I would also like to point out that because the snow that is falling is the wussy dry, dusty kind, I’m not really in a winter wonderland kinda state of mind yet. For that you need the big fluffy wet snow, the kind that’s great for building snowmen with, the kind that drivers hate…then again, driver’s hate all types of snow. I’m a bit spoiled since I don’t drive to work, or do much driving at all except on weekends.

So we finally got an appointment with the Vet Surgery specialist on Tuesday, and all signs point to having to cut up my pup and remove the head and neck of her right femur. She has Legg-Calves-Perthes, and the only way to successfully stop the pain is surgery. Luckily the complication are minimal and down time is next to nil. There will be no bed/cage rest for wee little Ruby, she has to use her gimpy leg as much as possible so scar tissue forms and hold her leg to her hip, sans actual joint. It’s still a bit nerve wracking though, since there are risks with any surgery. But I’m looking forward to having an energetic pug again, who can run and jump. I might take her swimming for some post-op rehabilitation, but Ruby has never shown any particular interest in water, so it might be an exercise in futility. The other option is underwater treadmill, but the facilities that offer that treatment charge a lot!

This is what I think of when I imagine Ruby on an underwater treadmill

Haven’t really been up to much this week so far, just pseudo hibernating in the apartment with the dog, watching lots of stuff on the internet and knitting. Started watching the new season of “Nevermind the Buzzcocks”, “Mad Men Season 1”, and random episodes of “No Reservations Season 5” and “Good Eats” Season 14. For all the knitting I do, I’ve only got maybe 5 inches of sock cuff done, so I’ve decided to label myself a “slow knitter” cause grandma’s knit way faster than me… and they probably drop fewer stitches. It's going to take me until christmas to knit a whole pair of socks...

Part of the whole hibernation mode has also given me huge carb cravings, I've been eating alot of pastries and bread... I don't have an inbetween, I can not eat junk food, or I eat way too much of it, I have yet to find my moderation groove. Then again, I'm searching for a moderation groove during the holiday season... man I love pie... Boy isn't helping, he keeps buying me pie...

The "200 Kettlebell" Challenge isn't going so well. I find it hard to motivate myself to go the gym every day, even if it's just for 15min, and the gym's a short half block walk away. My gym is also only open in the mornings on the weekend, and as you all know, I'm not a morning person, especially when on the weekend. I've only gone 12 days out of 17 in November. I'm contemplating the idea of dropping out, or at the very least shortening my goal to 20 days instead of 30.

This past weeks menu...

2010-11-14T16:58:00.005-07:00

Thai Green Curry with Mahi Mahi, Broccoli, and Peppers
Maple Rosemary Ribs
Beet Risotto
Rosemary, Oregano, Garlic Roasted chicken with Potatoes
Chicken Stock from the roast chicken carcass
Bolognese Sauce
PB&J cookies
Apple Raspberry Crumble

Right now I smell of onions from making the Bolognese... it's not so appetizing. I'm trying to save some money by eating out less and using up all everything in the house before I go groccery shopping again. It's going OK, I did go out 4 times this week, twice for brunch and twice for dinner. We also have a crazy load of leftovers to go through...

I've also knit half a sock cuff and wore my new dinosaur socks this week...

The mini Dino's say "Rawr"

2010-11-03T16:15:00.002-06:00

I’m still surprised it’s November already. I think the lack of snow and the relatively warm weather has been messing with my brain, so I feel like it’s still the end of September. So I’m a month in behind… great.

Halloween this year was pretty low key (but not as low key as last year… stupid flu). I got back from Houston the Friday night before the big day. Saturday night we went to a party at my friend’s Greg&Jenn’s house. It was nice, quiet party, with lots of food and zombie board games. I made monster cupcake, pumpkin with cream cheese frosting. The thing was the monsters were supposed to be spiders but someone (Boy!) ate all my black shoe string licorice. The actual Halloween night was spent drinking wine and eating cheese on the couch while reading comic books and episodes of “Community” (new favourite show). I didn’t finish my monster mask in time, so I spent an hour before the party on Saturday turning my face into a sugar skull. It look pretty good, however I forgot to take a picture, so hopefully one will eventually end up on facebook. The Boy decided to run with the Mexican theme and went as a Lucha wrestler, which was a bit of cop-out since he has a collection of Lucha masks, but hey, we had a “theme” going.

We took Ruby to the vet last Saturday and they took some x-rays and diagnosed her with “avascular necrosis of the femoral head”. Basically, for whatever reason, the blood supply to the hip joint stops/decreases and the head of the femur starts to die. This causes bone shards and bone rubbing on bone, and is generally super painful, hence all the limping and whining of the past month. The vet prescribed some pain meds, and referred us to two orthopedic surgeons (both of which we’re still waiting to hear back from). The meds have brought back Ruby’s energy, so she’s a lot more active and cheerful now, but she’s still super gimpy. I’m taking her in to see another vet today for a 2nd opinion, just to make sure we got the diagnosis and treatment right. Her surgery will involve cutting off the dead part of the femur and then letting scar tissue and muscle create a “false joint”, so her leg won’t be attached to her hip anymore… which I think is weird, but apparently the surgery is fairly common. A full recover should be made in about 3-4months post-op. I know this sounds awful, but I’m kinda looking forward to the “cone of shame”.

Other than that, not much has been going on. I did decide to join the “200 kettle bell swings for 30 days” challenge, and my glutes kinda hate me. I’m starting a sock knitting and a hula hooping class this week (two different classes, not one super awesome knit while you hoop class). I keep going to craft shows and spending way too much money, and I need to start my Christmas shopping… uhg, Christmas….

And because I feel guilty when I post with no pictures, here are two pictures that I feel the need to share:

The craftroom of Twinkie Chan, the colour coordinated yarn makes my heart swell

Giant plush Cat-bus from the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo, I have to touch this before I die, unfortunately you're only allowed to play in it if you're 12 or under

FIGHT!

2010-10-30T12:39:00.003-06:00

FIGHT!
Originally uploaded by lucy lou

I'm super jealous of these costumes. If I had that squid suit, I would sleep in it...seriously.

You should check out Lucy Knisley's work, I've become mildly obsessed with her lately.

Houston update

2010-10-27T19:12:00.006-06:00

I think three days of eating out is finally taking a toll on my body. I woke up this morning feeling like crap, Total Crap. I don’t think my body is used to handling so many processed foods. I mean I’m eating out in restaurants all the time. I can’t just have a bowl of soup because the only soup being served is cream based and covered in cheese. The salad options aren’t that great either with the bacon topping, more cheese, and doused with more (probably bottled) dressing than needed, or wanted. The serving staff here are also very eager to up sell, they always seem very hurt that I just want an entrée, no appetizer, no aperitif, and no dessert. I get that I’m not the usual “business trip” customer that their used to. I choose not to abuse my corporate card, and I suck at schmoozing. I normally change before I go out trolling for dinner so I look like me, granted a humid frazzled me, because I’m not used to the humidity yet, and neither is my hair.

Speaking of clothes. I find that there are 2 types of girls here (I’ve only been in downtown, so I won’t say this is representative of the entire female population under 30 in Houston) those that dress like it’s fall (long pants, scarves, sweaters, boots) and those that dress like it’s still crazy hot out (sun dresses, flip flops, short shorts, etc). To be fair, it’s been hot here, for me at least, hitting at least 30°C every afternoon. We had what, 5 days go over 30° this summer? It just feels strange that I’m somewhere so hot at the end of October.

I think it would’ve been easier to swallow had I actually been on vacation, because my mind can handle the “ You’re going to sit on a beach and do nothing for a week and it will be fabulous!”. But I’m in Houston to work, and I’ve never left Calgary to work before so I still can’t quite wrap my head around it all.

Work has been a bit…strange. I’m here to learn from another business unit, so I have all these meeting set up with members of said unit to talk about what they do, how they do it, and how it can all help me. But those meeting take up only about 2/3 of my day, ¾ if I’m lucky. So I have all this down time between meetings with nothing to do. I feel like I should be doing something more productive but I only have access to my Calgary work email, and nothing else. So I sit in my guest office and noodle around on my email, and check facebook furtively.

I’ll leave you with this:

35 Sad Pugs in Costumes

and a 36th Pug:

Space Pug

2010-10-27T11:55:00.002-06:00

Source: doozywhoop

The Boy tells me that Ruby's still really limpy and that she's now added falling over to her repetoir of gimpy tricks. I'm really worried. We're off to the vet as soon as I get back. I really hope it doesn't require surgery.

Dear Texas

2010-10-25T18:09:00.002-06:00

What is up with the portion sizes? Seriously, it's like you want me to gain all the weight back! Not cool Texas, not cool. Also, cut it out with all the humidity!

What's going down in Mandy town

2010-10-21T14:09:00.004-06:00

Did I mention I’m not focused today? Did I mention that the office is particularly empty? Did I mention that I just finished part 1 of a 2 part project and I’m hesitant to start part 2 because I’ll be in Houston next week? Did I mention that I’ll be in Houston next week?

It’s for work, I’ll be there for 5 days, I’ll be doing some job shadowing in another business unit. I’ve never been on a business trip before (unless you count a weekend in Fort Mac, but I don’t, cause it’s a hole) so that’s kinda exciting. Houston, however, is hot, and humid, like 30°C hot…I’d hate to see what it’s like in the middle of summer. I’m staying downtown and I’m not allowed to rent a car (I’m not trained to drive for company business, so no car rental for me!) and Houston doesn’t really have much of a transit system, so I’m basically stuck downtown for a week. I don’t think it’ll be as bad as I assume it will be, but still… 30°C! I’m being an adult and staying at the Hyatt, which is a 2min walk to the office, instead of the Magnolia, which is a 20min walk to the office. The Magnolia has a roof top pool, a nightly cookie buffet, and free chauffeured town cars. The Hyatt has a better gym and an outdoor pool… I’ll stay at the Magnolia next time, but since I’m unfamiliar with downtown Houston, I thought I’d be a responsible adult and stick close to work… that’s also what my mentor and mom advised me to do… stupid responsible adult-ness… they have a cookie bar!

Speaking of cookies, I have totally dropped the ball on keeping up my cleans during weekdays. I got back from vacation and basically didn’t really feel like it. I hadn’t done the grocery shopping in a while as well so there weren’t too many sugar-free, gluten-free options unless I wanted to eat nothing by white rice. So I’m going to make October a write-off month in terms of eating better. I’m still eating well, it’s not like I’ve gorged on Double-downs and chocolate milkshakes since I got back, but I definitely could be eating better… I’ve missed bread and cheese so much!
Some people at my gym are embarking on a 30-day no sugar challenge for the month of November, and the head trainer is telling people to look at my blog… which is weird. I mean no sugar for a month is a very good challenge, but I don’t think my blog post are all that inspiring. I’m glad I did it, and I did feel a lot better, but I sure as hell don’t want to another one so soon, maybe in January after the excesses of the Holiday season. I also think that they’re being a bit more lax about what kinds of sugar their cutting out. I cut out all sugar, even natural sugars, except fruit. But if honey, or evaporated cane sugar or agave nectar was on the ingredients list, I didn’t eat it. That made things a lot more difficult, and I ended up eating a lot of pineapple. I am trying to cut down on refined sugars though, natural sugars, for the most part are absorbed more slowly in your body so you don’t get those crazy energy spikes and crashes, as least not as much.

There will also be a “200 kettle bell swings” a day challenge going on at the same time that I’m contemplating joining. I struggle with 75 kettle bell swings let alone 200… everyday, for a month! But I do suppose that by the end of the month I’ll have super strong core muscles and maybe even abs (that are still covered in nice warm tummy fat). I fear over working myself, and having noodle arms for a few weeks before I start feeling strong again. I’m still undecided if you can’t tell.

Kettle bell swing

Dog training wraps up at the end of the month with Doggie Olympics (the day after I get back) and while I expect Ruby to be a competitor, I don’t expect her to be a winner, she’s way too wiggly for that. But the end of dog training means I’ll have a lot more free time on my hands, so I think I’ll take a knitting class… Socks101 to be exact. I haven’t touched knitting needles in almost a year so I’m a wee bit rusty.

So that’s pretty much an update on what’s going down in Mandy town. I’ll be carving a pumpkin on Saturday if anyone wants to come over, BYOP. There might be cookies involved.

Dog Training

2010-10-21T11:57:00.008-06:00

I have tomorrow off so today is my Friday… so I have the focus of a kid hopped up on sugar in a toy store…a *glittery* toy store.

So since I don’t have access to my vacation photos at the very moment, I’ll talk to you about dog training… or how I suck when handling big dogs.

Sally not respectin' mah authoritay!

A few weeks ago, we switched dogs as an exercise in training class, only for about half an hour, so it wasn’t like I was shacking up with a stranger dog. Anyways, I got Sally the yellow lab… Sally’s about 90lbs… Ruby is just under 17lb… big difference! Sally was also way more dog aggressive and curious, so she’s not as chill as Ruby, and with her added size, I was a bit over my head. Apparently I’m also not “strong” enough in my stance, so Sally wasn’t really respecting my authority… so she moved around a lot during sit stays. That being said, Sally’s owners said I was doing really well with her, and threatened not return Ruby because she was so much better behaved than Sally.

Things I learned from this exercise:

I still really like small dogs, not rat dogs, but under 30lbs
I need to stop slouching and leaning on stuff in front of my dog, it makes me project a lassiez-faire attitude which apparently dogs don’t respect. ( I suppose this applies to real life and people as well)
Big dogs don’t squeak when you step on them

Here are a few more pictures from that class:

Ruby on a couch!

Ruby trying not to be intimidated by a Doberman

Maybe I don't need that gym membership after all

2010-10-12T21:34:00.002-06:00

On the other hand, Ruby's already got a bum knee and she's damn wiggly...

Okanagan Fall Wine Festival, Part 1

2010-10-08T17:11:00.006-06:00

We're currently in Penticton, chilling at the Vancouver B&B. It's pretty nice, and more importantly, it's not a sofa bed. Matt's Grandma, bless her, is lovely and has a lovely house, but sofa beds will never be good sleeps.

So far we've visited a lot of vineyards and drank a ridiculouse amount of wine, then again, we're in wine country. The weather's been nice, food's been pretty damn fantastic and I've been missing my puppy something fierce. There are a lot of dogs in the Valley, like, A LOT... Next time I'm totally bringing my poopie...

So here's a bit of a photo dump to tide you over...

Ze Boy looking out over the Okanagan Lake

Kusagi Gardens in Kelowna

The Balcony overlooking the vineyards at Quails Gate

The Arch at Mission Hill Estate Winery... crazy huge place

The goats at Carmelis Cheese Farm

And because it's my blog after all...

Squid Riding RUBY!!!

Hello October

2010-10-01T11:10:00.004-06:00

It's no secret I love Blur, if you haven't seen the video feature this two fine milk cartons, watch it now

The Cleanse if over and done with!

Ok, so I started re-introducing forbidden foods into my diet about a week ago, but still…

Dairy had no effect on my system whatsoever so… Hooray I am not a lactard!! Sugar and gluten are different stories. Gluten made my tummy hurt something fierce, and I would get mild headaches, this was after half a slice of brown toast. I’ve been since able to handle larger quantities of gluteny foods as the week has gone by (4 pierogies, and a slice of Hawaiian pizza), but sugar still makes me dizzy and super headachy. I had bubble tea and sushi last Saturday, and that really threw me for a loop. Last night was Jo’s rehersal dinner, which was all polish food, carb-heavy, delicious polish food. I ate a few too many pierogies and may have over done it on the poppy seed cake; I also had two glasses of wine after one month of complete sobriety. Mandy’s tummy was not happy last night… Mandy’s tummy was even more upset this morning.

I’m a wee bit sad that the number on the scale is starting to increase again. I knew this would happen, and I’m only about halfway to my weight goal, but still, it was nice to see a significantly smaller number for awhile. I did notice that I don’t sleep as deeply when I eat sugar and I have been feeling more “run down” this week. I don’t know if it’s diet related or if it’s because I’ve actually been busy, but I thought it was worth noting.

In the interest of a healthier lifestyle and weight loss, I’m going to do my best to continue with gluten/sugar free eating during the week, and only eat the “bad” things on the weekend. I already don’t eat much red meat, and I’ve been doing well with eating less meat in general, so hopefully I’ll continue down the road to feeling better and, more importantly, better about myself.

So other than food, my life still has been pretty busy. Between dog training, helping Jo with wedding prep, getting ready for my road trip, going to the gym, and y’know, work and sleep, I haven’t had much time for blogging or picture taking.

Pretty excited for my trip though, especially since I’ve been feeling pretty burnt out lately. We’re heading out this Sunday to Nelson, BC, with stops in Turner Valley and Longview for Burgers and Jerky, respectively. Boy wants to stop by Crows Nest Pass to see the Frank Slide site, and then it’s a 5 hr drive to Nelson. We’re going to Aimsworth Hot Springs on Monday so I can get my soak on in a cave.

Expect some posts from the road, I will be bringing my laptop with me.

Blurb

2010-09-28T13:34:00.004-06:00

This is mostly for the benefit of my friend Leanna, and also because, even though I have a twitter account, I refuse to tweet..

I did a google image search on "Stephen Fry" and copied the most ridiculous picture I could find

British National Treasure, Stephen Fry, is set to join the cast of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes’ sequel. He’ll play Mycroft Holmes, brother of Sherlock. (The Hollywood News)

Has anyone else notice the ridiculous number of copies of one of Stephen Fry's books on the display shelves of Ikea? It's the swedish translation of course...

Things that are pissing me off right now

2010-09-21T15:31:00.001-06:00

People who pronounce macarons as “macaroons”, they’re totally different kinds of cookies!
Self righteous vegans
People who write blogs as if their pets are speaking
People who refer to their pets as “fur-babies”
People who refer to themselves as their pet’s parent (You are not Fluffy’s mom, you are Fluffy’s owner! Fluffy’s mom was another cat!)
The amount of gas in my system, Thanks black bean quinoa salad!
The lack of access to my own car… deciding to share one car with Boy was a bad idea, especially since he works nights
I’m really craving cheese and carbs… a croque madame has been in my thoughts a lot

30-Day Elimination Diet - A Little Over Halfway Update

2010-09-20T11:42:00.006-06:00

I'm at work, so I don't have access to my camera, so make do with this picture of Ruby in a real life dog pile that I pilfered from her doggy day care website. If you care, starting from the botton left: Olive, Ruby, Poppy (Ruby's BFF) and some unknown to me boston terrier (I think). I really should rename this blog " Cute pictures of my dog"...

So it’s day 20 of the cleanse/diet thingy, and things are going well... I guess… The sugar withdrawal has long since subsided, I’m eating smaller meals (mostly), snacking less in general and I feel okay, but not substantially better. In fact, if you take away the withdrawal symptoms, I pretty much feel the same. The sugar withdrawal was a pain, I was super grumpy, kinda depressed, my body was achy and tired. I had this constant pressure on the back of my skull that reminded of how I felt when I came off anti-depressants. The symptoms kicked in on about day 3, and were noticeable enough that Boy commented, so it was more than my normal moody self. They subsided around day 6, and I’ve been feeling pretty good since. The only few noticeable changes I’ve seen is my face is smoother, not the skin anywhere else, just my face and that I sleep better, as in I conk out within 15min of getting into bed and stay asleep until morning.

Eating hasn’t been as difficult as I initially anticipated. I do have to do a lot more prep, hunger can no longer be satiated with a handful of shrimp crackers from the pantry or a quick zip down to Starbucks. I think this is a good thing. I did spend a mini fortune down at Planet Organic stocking up on stuff, but I feel it’s all stuff I will use, even after this 30-day diet thing is over. Gluten free pasta is crazy expensive! Foods that I miss a lot: beer (not technically a food), pastry, and cheese, I’ve been eating a lot of eggs, and cheese and eggs go so well together! I’ve been pretty good about bread and milk though, I thought I would be craving those two hard. I think I miss the convenience of eating out more than anything. We’re at the point in dog training where we go to a lot of urban areas, letting our dogs get used to all the distractions and making sure they still focus on us and behave well. The downside to this is that we keep walking past pubs and it I keep smelling chicken wings… damn delicious, deep fried chicken wings… gah!
I did cheat once… last week… with empanadas. To explain, we had a South America Lunch and Learn at work and lunch was provided. I did bring my own lunch, but I snooped around the food table anyways because there’s usually fresh fruit. But they were serving Empanadas!!! I love Empanadas, and they were FREE!!!! So I hemmed and hawed and finally broke down and ate two. I got a headache almost immediately, and for the next 2.5hrs or so, my stomach was not happy with me. My body was also super achy, so re-introducing forbidden foods after this is all over will take some time.

A few things I’ve made for the first time since I’ve started this diet:

Omu-rice with tomato, bacon and peas: So this is really just a play on tomato fried rice with egg, but my omu-rice actually came out how it was supposed to look, and for the first time making something, that matters!

Hummus: Alright, so I made hummus once before in a jr.high Home-Ec class, but I don’t think that counts

Socca, they call it a (http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/06/socca-enfin/) chickpea pizza, but I wasn’t that impressed, I think I need to go to Nice to try the real thing

Zucchini Chickpea waffles: This was actually a pancake recipe, but I felt lazy and silly so I stuffed it into my waffle maker, it turned out really well!

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Corn, Roasted Peppers, Black Beans and Chili Lime dressing: This turned out pretty bland, and since there’s still a giant container of it sitting in my fridge I better think of a way to spice it up soon before it goes bad, but I got over my quinoa fear!

Overnight Oats: This has been my go to breakfast food for about a week, instead of almond butter on corn cakes (think rice cake but made out of corn). It’s okay, but I still miss yogurt sometimes, and I totally wish I could afford berries…

A few things I haven’t made yet but I have in my fridge so I damn well better make them:

Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken: Yes, I’ve never roasted a chicken before… Shut up, I’m a baker not a cook, I’m allowed to fear bone in meat!

Falafel: Truth be told, I’m going to shove this in my waffle maker too, only because I’ll get to say “falafel waffle” over and over again

Kale and Pumpkin Seed Risotto: I’ve made risotto once before, and it was a bust, I think the fact that I was a super cheap student and used pilfered coffee creamers had a lot to do with it. This time it’ll be dairy and parmesan (;_;) free, but it should be way more delicious

Mandy In Calgary

RIP Olive

Get off your ass and start taking more picture MANDY!!!!

A Reminder

Istanbul not Constantinople

November in Review

Back

T-23 Hours

The End of the Beginning

Quit being a Jerk Snipi

Rave Pug

6WBT - Week 3 Recap

I have a new training goal for Ruby

Best of Both Worlds

Week 2 - 6WBT

A to Z meme

Little Balls of Meat - A Co-Blogging Adventure

The Mutant Gene Strikes Again - UPDATE

Week 1 - 6 Week Body Transformation

Labour Day Weekend... Laborious indeed

OH EM GEE

*Sob*

Wha!?

Creepy Crawlies

Stuff Ruby Shat and other Summer happenings

Weekend thus far...

The Internet is great

Gym Rant

Camera Stuff

Weekend thus far...

Scale Dips

Vancouver Picture Post

Things I want to do this summer

Little Things

MOAR PUGS

Guess What!?

Green Pug Lantern

Attempting not to regress... I am not a whiny 14 year old girl...

Carb Lust

Summer Solstice Update

Stuff Boy Said...

Things that are bumming me out...

Sunday

Spock Finger Guns

Freakouts and Awesome People

Beer and Books

Feelin' Pretty Low

Interesting...

Weekend Update

Food, Food, Food

WANT!

Doy!

Return of the Walrus Girl

I kinda missed the window for "May the Fourth be with you" jokes...

Wall Lust

Rocking out...

It seems like I only post to bitch about the weather...

Afternoon tea

Mother Nature is a Tease

Road Trip Musings

Amusing...

When I'm in a Funk, I feel like a Lump

WHY IS THIS NOT ME!!!

Stuff that's been happening

Tee Hee

Blah Blah Blah - Febuary Edition

Hells Yeah!

Just Cause...

Happy Valentines Day

Agreed

Ruby Tuesday

Housekeeping

Must not buy...

Okay, new goal...

I agree

What I've been up to for the past month and a bit

Alot of ramblings you don't care about and one thing you should really care about

Resolutions and such

New Years Day = Hang Over Day

UPDATE: Fromage

Sob

Things that are pissing me off right now