.simply.girly.

ooey-gooey goodness...

2012-02-13T08:53:00.001-05:00

it seems whenever i'm at my parents, i just have to bake something. it probably has something to do with the fact that my kitchen (in toronto) is the size of a very small closet, thus i have no room to do anything. the amount of sweets around is now out of control.

tinted pink rice krispies.

dangerous because some are pretty small and you just pop em in your mouth as you walk by. all of a sudden, you've eaten 12.

then we made chocolate ones, and my mom dipped some in melted chocolate.

my dad decided he wanted to make cinnamon buns. who am i to protest that?

right: fresh out of the oven. left: turned upside down and all the ooey-gooey goodness is now on top. (he used this recipe)

all day and night, and for the rest of the weekend, it was just snack, snack, snack. good thing summer isn't too close. actually, we had a little snowstorm, so it was the perfect weekend to be at my parents with a fire going, and baking up desserts.
(i also made other valentines day related cookies, and that's coming up later this week ;))

love birds...

2012-02-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

valentines day is in the air; from the chocolate, the pink and red everywhere, and now starbucks' new cups. i'll admit, i may love them more than the christmas cups.

chocolate overload; hot chocolate and m&m's-my weakness.

danger. danger. get this away from me.

love.birds.love.always.

i have a 4 weekend. lovely, yes, but the lack of hours is no bueno :( i plan on baking up some valentines day treats to keep myself occupied while i'm visiting my parents at home, and possibly seeing the vow with dylan on saturday night. i'll be keeping the makeup to a minimum, wearing waterproof mascara, and loading my purse with kleenex. anyone else seeing the vow this weekend? or doing anything fun?

♥♥♥

happy as the sun...

2012-02-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

quality time on a saturday night, spent with a guy who makes me homemade cards. and our little one, of course. i'll take it.

squeeze together now.

little one is just so sad; "are the pictures over yet?"

morning coffee is a must for us.

goodness in a cup.

we always try to have a decent breakfast and coffee early in the morning, before he has to leave for class or work. good thing i'm a breakfast pro, and a morning person, too.

you're kinda cute...

2012-02-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

saturday night, dylan came up after work and he brought me a little surprise. what does he pull out? just a homemade card. he certainly keeps busy at work, that guy.

happy with my card (also, i was playing around with the premium features on picnik since we all have access now (though super sad/mad it's closing), and i made my eyes blue. sweet. ps-years ago, i tried blue contacts at the eye doctors and fainted. never tried contacts again.)

he's so sweet..

i'm going to blow his cover and say he didn't make this up, it's from online. however, i told him my valentines day card must be homemade and creative.

dylmark.

i love him.

instagram round-up...

2012-02-05T12:49:00.001-05:00

another lazy sunday here! isn't there some sports things on today? something that people make a big deal about? soccer? baseball? whatever it is, i most certainly will not be watching it. (just kidding, i do know it's football, but i do not know who is playing, and i really won't be watching it. i especially will not be watching the halftime show with madonna. cannot stand that woman. end rant.) anyways, back to more exciting things, and not sports, i'm linking up with jenni again for an instagram roundup.

1) sunday morning cup of coffee. 2) currently reading this and fyi, it's not very good.

1) i had just brushed her. can you tell? didn't think so. my scruff-muffin. 2) she's so cute and just lets me swing her around.

1) i got my ring (from dylan) cleaned and it's all sparkly and clean again. 2) an instagrammed pic of nyc last year, just because i'm excited to be going back :)

1) when we actually had a bit of snow; miss it. 2) i got a christmas card in the mail last week, a little late but that's ok. it was to dylan, but he gave the sender my address. also, it's a miracle it made it to my place considering the address and postal code were wrong. mind blown.

i couldn't pass up a pineapple for $1.99 this morning, though i had no idea how to cut it. but i managed.

turns out my mom is coming for a visit today because of the superbowl and my dad having buddies over. guess we'll probably watch a girly movie and go out to dinner. take that, sports!

we spent the day in central park...

2012-02-03T08:53:00.000-05:00

it's the most wonderful time of year again. well, almost. no, not christmas. it's time to head to nyc!!! i was able to book the majority of it yesterday and by now, you all know that i live for that city and that's where my heart is. so the countdown is on ;) i was able to book our bus tickets there ($16 what what!), and the apartment we're staying in (same place we stayed last year, just a different room). i just have to wait for the next batch of bus tickets to go up on the site so that i can book our way home. it would just awful if i "forgot" to book our way home and we got "stuck there" hehehe

we'll have 4 full days, and then one day we're going to take a day trip to washington with the same bus company that we go to nyc with. it should cost us around $5 for that. i'm the queen of deals, bargains, and traveling cheap!

oh hey, look where we are!

(don't you just love my wonderful photoshopping??)

looking forward to our NYC/DC trip in 86 days ;) until then, i'll just try to keep my mind occupied and not get too excited, too early. i'll start by enjoying my 3 day weekend and having a good coffee.

the missing engagement ring...

2012-02-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

a long time ago (this has been sitting in my draft for a while), i asked a question on twitter, but i thought i would ask it here too. it's certainly nothing deep and philosophical. it has to do with engagement rings. i noticed when looking at pictures on facebook, that a few of my engaged friends didn't have their engagement rings on in pictures when they were going out with friends/ at a bachelorette party. (note: i guess i'm really nosy to notice this); i noticed this on more than 1 girl.

a few pictures were at a hotel drinking before going out. so i suppose they could have put the ring on after the pictures, and before leaving. but there were others where they were out without it. this struck me as weird, to be honest. i asked on twitter, 'do girls want to appear single?' 'are they afraid of losing it?' what gives? i mean, once i get my ring, i'm not planning on taking it off!! unless i'm in the shower, in a pool, or on a beach or something, i'm pretty sure that ring will be glued to my ringer. just because i'm going out with my girl friends does not mean that thing will stay at home.

thoughts on this?

via

and just because, what's a post about engagement rings without a pretty wedding picture?

lazy weekend...

2012-01-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

this weekend, i ate good. like i do most weekends at home. i spent friday and saturday relaxing, making food, and just eating it. then i went back to toronto for a work party on saturday night. my mom slept over and sunday we got some breakfast, went to the book store, and then hung out in front of the tv, watched way too much, and then watched crazy, stupid, love. i'm getting sick, so this was a good weekend for me.

i {heart} vera wang. had to snap a picture while walking by with dylan.

woke up saturday morning, my mom says, "you want peanut butter cookies?" yes! and then i made a couple dozen.

look what i finally found!! oh-my-god-good!!

i was watching rachael ray last week (love her show and easy recipes) and she made this, and i decided i must make it immediately. so me and my mom did for lunch on saturday.

spinach artichoke and ricotta pie. it turned out delicious.

and then we made candied pecans with a hint of cayenne pepper thrown in.

my piggy bank is growing! $500 and counting. grow, baby, grow! (i've written more here about what it's for)

how cute is this? these 2 guys were waiting so patiently while their owner was shopping for jewelry. tails were wagging and they were just hangin' out.

and now, it's monday again. luckily, i only have a 4 day week again. i could get used to this. now lets hope my head clears up and soon enough, i don't want to rip my whole throat out. yes, rip it all out. sore throats suck.

hey girl...

2012-01-27T09:14:00.002-05:00

only people from hamilton and the surrounding area will understand this, but it's great. although personally, if i had to pick a canadian "ryan" it would 110% be mr reynolds ;)
currently, my Internet is down, and therefore doing this from my phone and can't add a picture, so just imagine the hottie below this text, & when it works again, i'll update this.

Happy weekend!
(looks like i got an image to upload!)

america, but better...

2012-01-26T08:50:00.000-05:00

this video is hilarious. minus the tar sands, and the seal clubbing (lets not talk about how awful canada is in that department), canada is pretty good!

go canada !

i have friday, saturday AND sunday off this weekend. i'm stoked. i'm going home for a bit, and then on saturday night, if you can believe it (but i guess it's better late than never), we have our work 'christmas' get together! ha just a little late.

we're in nature...

2012-01-24T08:54:00.000-05:00

me and dylan used to be *quite* the hiking couple. in fact, pretty much the first time we really hung out, he took me hiking. unfortunately, it's been a while since we've been, but last night, i was thinking about it.

october 26, 2006. 1 month before we 'officially' started dating. doesn't it look like an engagement photo? haha that's what everyone has always said.

water's a flowin' (these are now from 2008).

so young. so cute.

strong like hulk.

checkin' out the view.

ohh dangerous.

living on the edge.

look, we rock climb! (not really, it's an illusion).

see, another illusion. but lets just pretend i can really rock climb with no harness.

muscles; don't mess with me.

it's been so long since we've been hiking. this spring, i'll be sure we get out there. especially because it's something dylan really loves to do. and hey, if i can feel my legs burning, and get a good workout while i'm at it, why not?

instagram round-up...

2012-01-22T13:04:00.000-05:00

i bet you didn't expect to see me around here on a sunday, did ya? i'm linking up with jenni for the best of instagram.

i had won an online contest through twitter from a book store, and when i came home the other day, i saw this huge package! i had no idea what the prize was, but these 2 books were inside. no wonder you people like online shopping; coming home to a package is great!

a few weeks ago, i took chloe for a nice walk while it still quite warm. and now, there's snow :) although i wish there was more. the amount on the right (taken yesterday) is pitiful for a january in canada.

the cutest puppy in a basket (!? what's wrong with his legs??); a delish cake pop, and my day yesterday. (ps. i haven't finished 'one day', haven't seen the movie, and i have no idea what it's about, so SSSHHH!!)

how to deal with -16C weather-start with a toque, add a scarf, and then bundle up in a warm coat. then brave the elements.

so far, this sunday is shaping up pretty good. i've watched bruce almighty, and now the brady bunch movie is on tv. i'm drinking good coffee, and snacking away. sundays are great.

awkward and awesome...

2012-01-19T08:58:00.001-05:00

i figure it's been a while since i've done an awkward and awesome, so why not today?

awkward:
-getting asked for my number by a regular at work. it went a little something like this: "blah blah blah conversation..hey, you should give me your number and we should hang out some time" "oh sorry, i have a boyfriend" "the good ones always do" and then cue my face going bright red.
-not understanding accents. i'm horrible. it really does make things uncomfortable.
-waking up at 2 am and seeing from my bedroom that my kitchen light has gone out. obviously, my first instinct wasn't that the lightbulb burnt out, but that someone was in my place and had turned it off. (ya, my kitchen light stays on all night)...i swear i'm normally a logical person. and then i went and flicked it on and off to make sure it was burnt out (which it was), and i went back to sleep peacefully ;)
-being too lazy to wash a glass when i was done, therefore drinking OJ from the container. and then it dribbled down me. good thing i was alone. (it was nearly done. i wouldn't drink from a container knowing i may have to share with someone)
-how accurate this video is..between 12 and 16 seconds, this is how i am when a butterfly is within 30 feet of me. then i cower in fear and hyperventilate.

awesome:
-being told i have 'perfect skin' and a 'perfect nose' by 2 different people. *blush* if you say so ;)
-finishing 4 of the books i got for christmas. i'm just motoring along.
-laughing so hard i'm crying over funny youtube videos. alone. wait, maybe this should be under awkward?
-having s'mores in january, especially because i never got to have one in the summer!
-90210/criminal minds/desperate housewives are back after a long hiatus.
-snow is in the forecast for today!! woooohooo (hold back the hate mail :))
-i have 2 weekends off in a row. this is unheard of.
-the fact that me and dyl have kind of planned out what we would like to do for our 'summer getaway' at the end of april. if all works out, i'm (well dylan too, of course) excited!
-my mom now knows how to text, and even use ALL CAPS. this leads to funny messages from her. things like, "hi honey, it's WINDY WINDY WINDY outside, don't bother with your umbrella, love mom(my)"

i'm so weird that i wear dylan's undies and pose so oddly in them.

i'm pretty sure i've posted the above photos before, but i thought i would add them in because they kind of fit with the 'awkward' theme. anyways, i'm on my 6th of 7 days in a row at work, and i'm just about spent. tomorrow night cannot come quick enough.

january s'mores...

2012-01-17T08:54:00.001-05:00

a friday night at my parents, flurries outside, and a fire inside. pretty great if you ask me. what made it even better was roasting marshmallows in the fire and making s'mores in january!

who can deny a s'more?

sure it may not be the best way to toast a marshmallow (in a household fireplace), but if you're only eating a few, there's no harm ;)

free as my hair...

2012-01-16T08:53:00.002-05:00

i've gone and done it again. i changed up my hair. i'm on my way back to blonde, and while i was at it, i cut a good 3-4 inches off. it hasn't been this short in probably, 5 years. i was over the brunette, and i just feel more 'me' as a blonde. to be honest, i hate the 'transition color' that i always have to have when i make my way from dark to blonde, but it'll have to do for 2 months. she got it as light as she could and this will just have to do. don't get me wrong, i think the colors are great, i've just never thought they suited me; i prefer really blonde, or really dark.

ta-da.

back in september, it was this long! ahhh lord, it's going to take me another 5 years to get it this length again.

so, in a couple months, my hair has gone from long and blonde, to shorter and brunette, and now shortest and light blonde. always changing, never satisfied :)

happenings...

2012-01-12T08:53:00.000-05:00

a few things going on lately, courtesy of the instagram app, of course. (username: simply_girly)

1) forgot how great earmuffs are until i just got a pair 2) smizing? is it working? tyra?

1) i love pancakes 2) i love food, and yes, i love chinese food 3) portion control? low carb diet? not in a million years.

1) i love the birthday cakepops from starbucks. 2) it's time for the wonderful crest white strips again!

the book in the picture is 'go ask alice' and let me tell you, it was awful. the character was beyond annoying and i was so ready for the book to be over. right now, i'm reading 'i hope they serve beer in hell' and i have to say, while it's so raunchy, disgusting, and he is a major douchebag, i find it quite funny. but that's just my sense of humor. definitely an easy read.

...

2012-01-11T08:53:00.000-05:00

one day, we'll be here...

via
doing just this...
and i can't wait...

but not for quite some time, i imagine.

somebody that i used to know...

2012-01-09T08:53:00.001-05:00

i'm just busy working away. such is life. and when i come home, i have fun on my webcam. sexy pictures for dyl? nah, he gets these babies. lucky guy ;)

i'm a ball of fun.

ps. have you all seen this video that's going viral? probably. 5 people, 1 guitar and a wicked cover (of a song i've never heard). seriously, i love it. i'm obsessed. i can't tell you how many times i've listened to it in the last few days. it's already on my iphone. give it a listen and love it, too. you're welcome. also, i found the original and listened to it, and this cover is, in my opinion, way better.
** i just found out on the news that they're from just outside of toronto! woohoo canadian talent!

through 5 years...

2012-01-06T08:53:00.001-05:00

i completely forgot to post about this 'video' i made for our anniversary. actually, i just uploaded it to youtube not too long ago. i showed it to dylan when we were in the hotel in quebec, and he loved it :) so, if you care to see 5 years worth of pictures of us in 5 minutes, take a look!

have a good weekend!

girls christmas dinner...

2012-01-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

this was our 8th (or maybe 9th?) annual girls christmas dinner; typically it's a potluck, but this year i was outvoted and we went out for mexican (we've actually only gone out one other year). surprisingly, it was rather easy to pick a date this year with 6 working girls. so on december 21st, we filled our bellies, and guzzled sangria.

the damn lighting makes it look like the side of my head is shaved.

*pale is in*

*longer arms needed*

the food was delicious, the drinks were yummy, and it was good company. after dinner, we went to a too-crowded-too-got-get-me-outta-here-bar. thank goodness we only stayed an hour. i'm over that scene!

new years eve...

2012-01-04T08:53:00.001-05:00

new years eve was very low-key. we had some eggnog, watched an episode or 2 of how i met your mother, and .....wait for it...we were in bed by 11. i know. it's a miracle i made it that late; by 9:30 i could barely keep my eyes open. i randomly woke up at 11:56 and then heard all the cheering and fireworks outside. shortly after, i was back asleep ;)

jacknog; turns out, i wasn't a fan. sailor jerry's spiced rum is much better with eggnog.

french press + milk frother = amazing. + mimosas, too.

i felt like being extra nice this morning, and made coffee, mimosas and blueberry pancakes before dylan woke up.

morning kiss.

peeling garlic for dinner. god i love garlic.

not happy with my cake...bottom layer cracked right across.

smiling, even though i'm holding the ugliest cake i've ever made. still tasted great though. and i'm still eating leftovers today.

new years day was much better than nye in my opinion. we ate well, as you can see, watched a lot of how i met your mother, and didn't leave the house once. and, i also forced dylan to watch kourtney and kim take new york with me. he said he judged me for it and that he had never seen a group of more sad, boring people in his life. sundays episode was a little boring though, no? but i do see his point ;)

2011 in review...

2012-01-02T08:53:00.003-05:00

so i'm a little late on the 'year in review' post, but that's ok. i've been busy, and quite frankly, it takes a long time to put together! so lets see what i was up to in 2011.

january

we took a day trip to niagara on the lake, declared, yet again, my love of books, and showed that we're a little weird, on on 2 different occassions.

february

we had to put our 15 year old family dog down, ate some good food with the fam, and celebrated a friends 24th birthday.

march

this little blog turned 2, i got really stressed with the last bit of school, dylan made me look silly with photoshop, shared my big crush on matthew gray gubler, got a reply from khloe kardashian on twitter, and shared my thoughts on expiry dates (i don't follow them).

april

my girl friend got an adorable puppy, i graduated from the university of toronto!, i got to take some cool pictures of birds, made some delicious coconut macaroons, went to the antique markets, and once again, traveled to my favorite place ever; nyc.

may

we cooked together, i enjoyed the beautiful weather, and dylan turned 25 and i made him a cakewhich.

june

we had a picnic in the park, shared my love of camping, we had a nice dinner to celebrate my grad, i took chloe to woofstock, i blogged while tipsy on sangria, i saw lady gaga practice for an award show in the streets (and other celebs), and we went to wonderland.

july

i enjoyed numerous drinks on patios, i saw donny and marie in concert with my mom, and she about died of happiness, i celebrated with friends, i turned 24, and got a tweet from 'liam' from 90210, and i got caught in the rain while out with my girl friends.

august

we saw death cab for cutie for the second time, chloe went on an adventure around town, i tried five guys for the first time, went to my cousins wedding here and here, i had fun while shopping, had coffee by the pier, and went to niagara on the lake with my mom.

september

dylan moved into a new place, we enjoyed the pool life, i welcomed the early signs of fall, i didn't start classes for the first time in about 21 years, i enjoyed tiff with my mom, chaz bono tweeted back to me, i shared (what is still) my favorite pasta recipe, chloe turned 4, i got a bunch of free stuff, i went to the dark side, and i got a job.

october

we had a friday night date, we went apple picking, i barely decorated my place for halloween, i obsessed over my purple pants, we cooked together again, and i shared that i think i have a possible ghost following me (ps, it's happened multiple times since that post).

november

dylan cooked me a delicious dinner, i admired the beautiful christmas windows, celebrated another friends 24th birthday, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary in old quebec city and old montreal, and i told you guys about my grey hairs.

december

i showed you my place decorated for christmas, me and my mom went to the christmas market, and it got even more beautiful at night, i shared our christmas card, spent time with family, loved christmas morning, and was happy that me and dyl 'skipped the gifts' this year.

overall, i would say this was a pretty good year! i looked back on so many posts, and thought "oh ya! we did that!" lets hope that 2012 is the year i get a job related to my degree and that pays way more than what i'm getting right now haha (not very hard). cheers to 2012!

christmas part 2...

2011-12-30T08:52:00.001-05:00

*part 1 of christmas here* as i mentioned before, me and dyl skipped the gifts (minus 1 book for each other, since we're book junkies), and just put money away for our next trip. it worked out really well and while we got some weird looks from people when we tell them that, we would both rather go away than get more stuff.

i picked 'the death and life of great american cities' for dylan. the man at the cash said it was an 'excellent choice!'

and he picked margaret atwood's alias grace and got it signed by her when she came to town a while ago! she's a popular canadian author, so it's pretty cool!

he made out like a bandit, too (from my parents)

the books (and movies) i got in my box of books i mentioned yesterday!

champagne time.

parents making homemade biscuits/rolls/whatever you want to call them.

grandma (dads mom) and me

the grub.

chocolatesssss. and also sooo tired.

our little 4-pack.

i've gotta say, this year was a success, and i'm counting down the days until next year ;) now bring on the snow!

christmas magic...

2011-12-29T08:52:00.001-05:00

oh christmas. you were awesome. as usual. i got spoiled by my parents, and lets face it, that never gets old! the only down side is that it didn't snow. boo his.

christmas eve family picture.

the animals should be used to this by now. but mocha (the cat) really hates it.

christmas even pj tradition.

and i get to pick 1 present from under the tree to open. it ended up being this bracelet i had asked for :)

my mom goes overboard. i asked for maybe 3-5 things this christmas. my dad just shakes his head. (a lot of things were like $20 and under, but i'm aware it's still an awful lot.)

sniffing out her goodies.

a box of books from my amazon list!! what's better?!

stocking time! i won 5 whole dollars on that scratch ticket! i'm rich!

looking on...

whatcha got there grandma? they were opening my gifts to them.

i got a bunch of gift cards, a french press and milk frother (woohoo!), a big travel bag, clothes, jewelry, makeup, a bunch of movies, a lot of books, and some other things. my amazon wishlist is now empty! i'll show ya which ones tomorrow.

what was your favorite thing you got this year??

christmas sneak peek...

2011-12-28T09:06:00.001-05:00

i've got quite a bit to catch on with christmas! until then, here's a few pictures from my phone.

a christmas eve tradition; a picture with the pets in their santa hats (chloe threw hers off, bugger)

christmas morning stockings

mimosa's in the morning and then moving on to eggnog and rum

cheers!

dylan, the hard and fast non-believer, brought this lovely cake to christmas day dinner. ha!

i want to read everyone's posts about christmas, i just need the time! give me a bit :) i'll get mine up shortly, too.

oh. ps. IT SNOWED last night!!! a few days late (we had an ugly green chrstmas) but it's here!!!

.simply.girly.

ooey-gooey goodness...

love birds...

happy as the sun...

you're kinda cute...

instagram round-up...

we spent the day in central park...

the missing engagement ring...

lazy weekend...

hey girl...

america, but better...

we're *in* nature...

instagram round-up...

awkward and awesome...

january s'mores...

free as my hair...

happenings...

...

somebody that i used to know...

through 5 years...

girls christmas dinner...

new years eve...

2011 in review...

christmas part 2...

christmas magic...

christmas sneak peek...

we're in nature...