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Holy crap! I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’ve written here. There have been lots of changes in my life since I was here last, some good some not so good.

• In the fall I was invited by the makers of my Remicade to an event in Toronto. The event was kinda like a brain storming session on how better to get information about IBD out to other patients as well as the general public. I had the opportunity to meet with other IBD’s from a cross the country as well as the head of Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, top doctors and of course Jansen (makers of Remicade). I loved being part of this group an am looking forward to working with them again in the coming months.
• In September I had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica to photograph the Roar conference. The conference was incredible. I loved listening too and chatting with writers and bloggers from Canada and the US. If you have ever thought about traveling to Costa Rica just do it. It is so beautiful. I’d be lying if I didn’t mention the fact that I’ve been dreaming of the warmth while we were there. I’m so ready for this winter to end.
• Just before Christmas I had the opportunity to again talk about my crohns and how it’s impacted our family over at The New Family | 1000 Families Project. 

Now onto the more personal things.

• Our daughter has been accepted into all her programs of choice for college next year. She has decided to head to Seneca for Cosmetic Techniques and Management and we couldn’t be more proud of her.
• Our Son started at Mohawk College and is taking two courses this semester and like our daughter we are very proud parents.
• I started taking care of myself better and have started working out and eating better. Although it’s something that i’ve been wanting to do for a while it just kinda happened. After New Years when Andy and the kids were heading back to work and school I needed something to do to occupy my thoughts and working out three days a week with a trainer and three days a week at home plus planning meals seemed like a good choice. I started on the 6th of January and although I don’t have a scale I did measurements on the 13th I’m happy to say as of February 13th I am now down 13.5 inches and feeling stronger all the time. (I’m be writing more about my weightloss in an other post)
• The biggest and hardest change for me was the death of my brother James. On December 21st James died from an accident. I still have a hard time accepting that it’s true as I just never in a million years imagined my life without him being in it. He was such a great person and loved by so many people that somehow he just always seemed to be bigger than life. I still cry lots and think of him multiple times in a day and i think that will continue for a long time. It’s really hard to imagine our family events without having him be there. His smile and laughter were always infectious. His caring ways were life changing really. I always knew he was a good person but at his wake and funeral the numerous stories that were told to us about him helping out people when there was no gain for him was incredible. He never talked about things that he did or expected anything in return he just wanted to help. It has been 17 years since our mom died an i had honestly forgotten how much it hurts.

The post Lots of Changes! appeared first on CL Buchanan.

As a few of you may have heard Andy and I bought a bike a few weeks ago. We use to ride years and years ago, almost 19 years to be precise. Funny coincidence – our son will be 19 shortly Well since we’ve gotten it we are having a blast. This week I may have told him to hurry up and finish dinner so we could be out and ride. I know I’m mean but it was a really really, really nice night and I just wanted to go for a ride.

We were planning to head down to see my friend Michele at Chateau Des Charmes on Saturday and when I messaged her she replied with a link. The link was for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Charity ride from NOTL to St Catherines. The part that really sold it for me – Juice and Tig from Sons Of Anarchy were going to be there. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy to give to charity but I’m a HUGE SOA fan.

Well we went and did the ride and we had a GREAT time. It was an great experience for sure. Riding along side of 400 other bikes is pretty cool. There were also lots of people that stopped to watch as everybody cruised be

If you would like to see some more photos from today head on over to the gallery. Ride For Kids Sake Gallery

Here’s a little set of photos that Andy took of me doing my thing today.

How fun is this!

Also my favourite #FromTheBackOfTheBike photo so far

So do you ride?If so have you ever done a charity ride before?

The post Ride For Kids & Sons Of Anarchy ~ St Catherines and Niagara On The Lake appeared first on CL Buchanan.

If you’ve ever been to Social Capital Conference ( SoCapOtt ) you will completely understand my next plea  –

Please Don’t Go!

Karen and Lara, the genius behind the SoCapOtt conference, announced that this year would be the last, unless someone else stepped forward to take it over. I’m going to cross my fingers that happens because it will be a shame to lose this one. I’ve been photographing it for the four years that it’s been running and every year I walk away having learnt so much and this year was no different. It’s the smartest conference I’ve ever attended. The people that spoke know their stuff inside and out and they are more than happy to share it with the attendees and ask as many questions as people want to ask. Now I know a lot of people say that “it’s social media how hard can it be” well if you’ve ever tried to achieve something using it you know it can be hard. There is a right way, a better way, an a useless way of doing it. My thought is if I’m going to be doing it I am going to try to get the most out of it. Now it’s always hard for me at SoCapOtt because well I’m there to take pictures but the speakers draw me in and I just really want to sit down and listen to so many of them. This year I walked away learning a lot of little tidbits again. There are some speakers that I sought out to find where they would be speaking near me so I could go sit, listen and take notes. Here are a few speakers that I would have loved to stay put for –

1. Vivian Cheng was speaking about Pinterest and how to use it more effectively. Did you know there was an optimum size for images that will get them seen more? Well I didn’t either. Did you know you’ll get more hits by adding a definition to your pin? I think I kinda knew this but Vivian made me understand so many more reasons why I shouldn’t skip this crucial step. Again, if you’re going to use Pinterest you might as well get the most you can out of it.
2. Trefor Munn-Venn to say he is brilliant is an understatement. There were so many things that when he said it you just went – ahhh that makes so much sense. I also don’t think his brain ever stops. As people were talking you could see him thinking. I liked them. 
3. Perry Monaco was speaking about LinkedIn and how to get the most out of it. I’m already on finding a talk of his in Toronto to attend.
4. I think one of my favourite things was that Sarah from Thank You Ninjas was there. I’ve read a lot lately about this amazing movement but had no interaction. Well on Saturday I received two anonymous cards thanking me. I can’t tell you how great it made me feel. If you want to make a difference in someones day – go buy some cards and start sending them out.

I said that I would only mention a few because if I didn’t limit it I would be here until Thursday! if you want to know more about the speakers and what they were talking about….. Here you are. Seriously go read them. Ok you might not want to because the conference is over and you can’t listen and I don’t want anyone bummed about what they missed.   Karen and Lara – Thank you for the amazing speakers and content you have provided over the last four years. I know that I’m not the only that is sad to see this amazingness come to an end! Now for what you all want, yes I know the truth,………………
To see the rest of the SoCapOtt photos head over here.

This is where you can find me on the world-wide web. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram

The post SoCapOtt 2014 appeared first on CL Buchanan.

It’s taking me a while to write this post just because I wasn’t sure what to say. Don’t get me wrong it’s not that kind of didn’t know what to say it was more like I was overwhelmed at how amazing The Great Canadian Cheese Festival in Prince Edward County (PEC) truly was. There were so many more vendors than I would have ever thought and there wasn’t just cheese, there was wine, beer, preserves, meat, cutting boards. Really everything that you would ever need to enjoy all the artisan cheese that was showcased.

First off as many of you know I did and ambassadorship with The Dairy Farmers of Canada earlier this year and let me tell you it was pure AWESOME! They were also the ones that hooked me for with the festival. Also because of them I was able to enjoy a fun day with my sister-in-law who – accompanied me around the county and ate cheese and other yummy things with me and didn’t laugh at me for being so in love with certain cheeses. She’s kinda awesome like that.

I know you just want to see some pictures so here you are……

It was really, really, really hard to pick out a favourite cheese from the weekend but here are a couple of my favs

1) Upper Canada Cheese Company – Guernsey Girl. It’s the first time I had ever had it and it’s completely amazing. In the slideshow above it’s the cheese that is being grilled. When I grilled ours I left some on longer than others and I will admit I preferred the ones that were grilled a bit longer. The crispness on the outside and ooohie goooieness of the onside was to die for. 

2) Quality Cheese – Brie – I had every intention of making me friend Candace’s (Life in Pleasnatville’s ) Cedar Planked Brie. Well I didn’t get that far. Everybody was out one night so I though I just have a bit with a glass of wine and some fresh bread I had just bought from the Hamilton Farmers Market. and well one thing led to another and a couple of neighbours popped buy and before we knew it the brie, bread and wine were gone an I didn’t even take a single picture. The ladies couldn’t get over how good it was. They each took a picture of the wrapper so they knew what kind to buy when they bought brie again. I love sharing things that I love with people.

3) Savvy Wine – Beer vs Wine. I had met Debbie a few years back in Ottawa at A YMC Winterlude event. It was the first tine I had ever done a wine tasting of any kind and I was really surprised at not only how fun it was but how much i learnt. Well I got to catch up with Debbie again at #TGCCF after watching her do her Wine vs Beer demo. Once again I was pleasantly surprised at what I learnt – You can pair beer with Cheese too. Who knew? Well Debbie knew and that’s why she’s so great at what she does.

my next favourite thing is not a cheese. I know, shocking! Rest assured though it’s a wine In all the time I’ve been going to the county I had never tried any of their wines. Well that changed this weekend. I tried many from different vineyards as well as some craft beer. My favourite wine was the Pinot Grigio from Three Dog Wines. I’m not great at talking about wines but I know what I like and I loved this. I loved it so much that I bought two bottles and went back and bought two more. The other thing that I like about Three Dog is how interactive and fun they are on Twitter, ThreeDogWine, if you aren’t following them you might want to do that.

I need to give a huge shoot out to Chevy Canada for hooking me up with a great ride for this trip (don’t worry the day of the cheese festival I didn’t drive because I knew we’d be sampling wines and beer and drinking and driving is a big no-no in my book). I drove a Chevy Trax for the week and it was a lot more fun that I thought it would be but what blew me away was the gas mileage. I drove from Hamilton to Ottawa to Pec to Kingston and back to Hamilton all on 2400km ………$100 worth of gas. Oh I know I was blown away too. My daughter was with me and she loved the stereo. It was also great that although her iPhone was plugged into the stereo through a convenient plug-in in the dash I could still answer my Samsung because it was contacted through the bluetooth – the best of both words. The other thing for me is that with two teenagers about to get their licence it would be a great vehicle for them to learn on as there wasn’t any blind spots, it had lots of great safety features and of course tree was On-Star. I’m not going to lie thought as I’m looking very forward to driving the Buick version of this vehicle. Although it was fun and sporty I think I’m more at the stage in my life where I’d prefer more of  that trademark Buick ride or sporty. Stay tune as a comparison between the two.

Now go forth and eat some Canadian Cheese

xoxo

The post The Great Canadian Cheese Festival – PEC appeared first on CL Buchanan.

In business you get inquiries all the time and from everyone.- from people you don’t know at all to friends. When I get an inquiry I know that my pricing isn’t going to fit into everyone’s budget and I’m ok with that and really if you say no it’s not going to hurt my feelings because I understand. There are things that I want and it just doesn’t fit within the my budget either. I am begging you though – Please just say No!

I figure if you don’t like my style you’re not reaching out to me anyway.

I would honestly rather you say no than “oh I’ll let you know” and after me reaching out to you a couple of times you still haven’t given me an answer or the worst is if you just completely ignore me. If you want me to do it for free or a discounted rate you’re going to have to tell me upfront because I’m not offering that. After all I have one kid graduating from high school this year and another one next year. -I got some big things to pay for on the horizon. If we’re friends or acquaintances it’s 10 times worse when you don’t get back to me because I see the pictures and I do take it personally then. If you tell me upfront I don’t take it personally at all I’m actually relieved that you’ve been upfront with me.

Just be honest and upfront with me. Actually not just with me with every business big or small. It’s important!

PS- those of you that have a company or a brand you need to be honest with people approaching you as well. After all nobody likes getting the run around or being ignored. Just say NO

The post Just Say No! appeared first on CL Buchanan.

This week I received a note from a friend asking about some pictures of her daughter. She’d seen another friends pictures and wanted some of her daughter. There wasn’t a special occasion – she’s just growing up too quickly. It’s common practise to have photos taken to document a special milestone in our families, I do it to and I’m a photographer for crying out loud. I loved that my friend wanted images just because her daughter was growing up too quickly and she wanted to make sure to capture these moments.

Well before I knew it there were a few other Mom’s that wanted their children photographed as well. Needless to say I didn’t say know after all I do love a party We ended up photographing 4 kids on Sunday each for roughly 30 mins (which is a perfect time for kids). We were done before any of the kids had a chance to be bored and were all still happy to be there. FYI – You’re only going to see three girls portraits in the sneak peaks below because one of the sessions was done for a Father’s Day present.

Let me say I loved photographing these kids. They are funny and smart and just a true pleasure to be around.

Everyone loves pictures with their friends

I know how gorgeous are these kids!

Now parents I know you’ll be tempted but please don’t screen shot any of these images as they lose so much of their awesomeness when you do. I know you want them to display them and I promise I’ll get you your images soon.

Thank you so much Tricia for having me into your house to photograph and also for setting up my new KW studio xoxo

The post Growing Up Too Quickly appeared first on CL Buchanan.

Well it’s coming to that time of year again where we honour the people in our lives that have been a true inspiration to us, who have loved us, cared for us and likely even lied at one point or another for us. Come on – all those days she called in sick to school for you – she knew you weren’t sick.

I’m curious when you think to who is always taking the pictures in your house is it your Mom or your Dad? Chances are it was your mom behind the camera. Now that I’m grown and was looking to frame some photos I had a hard time finding a picture of my mom let alone a picture of us together. Women really need to get past this whole photo thing because frankly no one is going to say “OMG she looks awful”. No they will say “OMG look at her smile, look at her eyes, look at how happy she is, and SHE’S BEAUTIFUL”

Ladies it’s time to get in the picture. Your children want pictures of you!

Ok so this is where I come in. It’s ok to tell the people buying you gifts what you would like. If you don’t you are going to end up with gardening gloves, a knee pad and a new spade all over again. Not there’s anything wrong with that but honestly is that what you would pick.

Because I mentioned photos of me and my mom I thought I’d include some. note that there are a couple of pictures that are in fact my mom and my sister.

So tell me who in fact took the pictures in your house growing up and who is the primary picture taker in your house now.

The post Mother’s Day Gift appeared first on CL Buchanan.

I’ve seen this recipe floating around on Pinterest for some time now thinking how good it looked. Well, a couple of weeks ago I had my friend Robin from ShopWithRobin over for lunch so thought I’d give it a whirl. Well it was even better than what I expected. I headed to my local farmers market to pick up everything that I needed. I’m a big believer of shopping local and buying fresh ingredients so it’s no wonder that I do the majority of my groceries at the Hamilton Farmers Market. There was no way that we’d each be able to eat a whole half so I cut it in half once it was finished under the broiler and served it with a nice green salad and a nice cold Pinot Grigio from Colaneri Estate Winery

Lasagna Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

The original recipe was posted here on Closet Cooking.

I made some changes of my own and started cooking.

• 1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and seeded
• oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 pound Italian sausage
• 1/2 TBLSP oil ( I used Truffle oil but you could use whatever kind you’d like)
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp chilli pepper flakes
• 1/2 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes ( i used italian tomatoes that I canned)
• 1 TBLSP tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning and oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 TBLSP basil, chopped
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 TBLSP basil, chopped
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded

Instructions

FOR THE ROASTED SPAGHETTI SQUASH:

1. Brush the inner flesh of the spaghetti squash with oil, season with salt and pepper and roast, skin side up, in a preheated 400F oven until tender, about 30 minutes. When squash is done, middle will be tender and pull apart easily.

FOR THE LASAGNA MEAT SAUCE:

1. Meanwhile, cook the sausage meat (removed from casings) and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the meat, tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the spaghetti squash is cooked and then mix in the basil and remove from heat.

FOR THE LASAGNA STUFFED SPAGHETTI SQUASH:

1. Fluff up some of the inside of each spaghetti squash half, divide the mixture of the ricotta cheese and basil between them followed by the sauce and the mozzarella cheese.
2. Broil in the oven until the cheese has melted and turned a light golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.

Serve immediately. Leftovers may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one week.

 

I made this on Saturday night as well and it was just as good as the first time. I think our family has found a new staple.

The best place to watch for my food photos is on Instagram – CLBuchanan

I’m having fun switching my old favourites over to some healthier option. What is your favourite re-invented food?

The post Yummy Lasagna In A Spaghetti Squash appeared first on CL Buchanan.

Ok so last week I posted some pictures of some homemade spring rolls that I made. I had many people ask for the recipe. I have to admit as much as I loved everybody thinking I was a cooking genius for making these …….. I got the recipe off of Pinterest. Now the ones I made were traditional veggie spring rolls as well as a BLT roll. I had never worked with rice paper and I will say it was easier than what I expected. As long as you are careful and take your time you’ll be ok. One thing that you might want to do is use a mandolin to do your veggies as they need to be sliced thin. I first bunch I did by hand and well there wasn’t anyway i was doing that again.

Here is the Pin that I got the original recipe from I just used a few different things inside mine – Click here

Spring Rolls

To assemble the spring rolls, soak a wrapper in warm water 5-8 seconds
Place the basil on the bottom and top with some noodles, carrots, cucumber, and sprouts and wrap up as if you were wrapping a burrito.
Cut in half on the diagonal and serve when ready.

and this is the sauce that I used, which was very very good – Click here

Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce 

makes little less than 1 cup

4 tablespoons light soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
Red pepper flakes or chopped fresh chili to taste

Whisk everything together till the sugar dissolves.

*I also added a little bit of shallots*

Now the BLT spring rolls. 

Honestly who doesn’t love bacon!

Once again here is the pin that this recipe came from – Click here

However please go the original post to read their tips and tricks.

Here is what you will need to make these.

Spring Roll ingredients:

Now it’s your turn to share some of your favourite pins or recipes with me.

I love truing new things so don’t be shy.

The post Pinterest Does It Again – Homemade Spring Rolls appeared first on CL Buchanan.