product review: yes to carrots lip butter

After a raid at BlushPretty headquarters, my BFF, Stephanie gave me a new lip butter to try out - C Me Smile in Citrus. I have heard of Yes to Carrots through Stephanie but I also saw some of their products at Shoppers Drug Mart. They offer a collection of paraben free products and use fresh organic fruits and vegetables. I have yet to try some of their other products but the lip butter is a good start. Click here to check out their website.

richies on larry king live

Last night I tried to stay awake to watch Lionel and Nicole Richie on Larry King Live. I was watching when Lionel was on but I must have fallen asleep just before Nicole came on (it was passed midnight). I love Nicole Richie. She was hilarious when she was doing The Simple Life but now, she has turned her life around and is much more of a person to admire. She has got great style, has an adorable little girl (who makes an appearance near the end of the video) and an awesome, caring boyfriend. Who could ask for anything more???

one more week

After this crazy transition week at work, I am really, really looking forward to getting away for a week to our secret location. Well, it's Mike's secret location. He doesn't wish to disclose any information about where we are going. Anyway, it's been a busy, emotional week at work and I am not sure how next week is going to be. I will suck it up and remember that in a week's time, I will be away from all the hustle and bustle and can sit on the beach and read (maybe even play some AC).

rough beginning

It`s only Tuesday and this week has been crappy - let me tell you why:

• I had to work late Monday night and come in early to work this morning
• I am currently working for two bosses as this is the transition week
• my co-worker`s mom passed away and it`s really made me sad today
• I`m irritated by something at work
• I am not getting the right amount of sleep that I need
• I miss my brother like crazy
  

But some things that are making up for my crappy beginning:

• I got to meet up with Dee today and catch up with him
• I had a glass of wine at my desk when I finished for the day
• the Hubster and I finally booked our vacation, we leave in 10 days and just booking has lifted a huge weight off my shoulders
• I lost two pounds since starting this whole body cleanse
• Most people who I invited to the Grade 8 reunion thing are responding and are willing to come out
  

Tomorrow is Hump Day (as MoPar says), at least it`s mid-week and we can all look forward to the weekend!!!

P.S. - I have a bit of a buzz going on, so I hope this post makes sense.

vacation booked

All booked for our vacation. It`s been a whirlwind of a time trying to book. First, there were two other couples and a baby going with us and now, it`s just me and Mike. I really wish that we had people to go with but timing, price and location are just not on our side.

Apparently, according to the hubster, I can`t tell you where we are going. Let`s just say that I have caved in and we are going back to Cuba, even though I said we would never go again. But this resort is an exception. We are going to be highly secretive about where we are going and you will just have to wait until we get back to see some pictures.

weekend filled with movies

It was a pretty quiet weekend that led to an extremely busy day at work today. I haven't been this busy in over two months. I am about to call it a night because I have to wake up at 5:15 am in order to get to work before 7 am. Yes, it sucks but there is nothing I can do about it. Here's my short and sweet post of my weekend.

I basically did nothing but bake cupcakes (see previous post) and clean up around the condo. In between that, I did manage to watch 5 movies over the weekend, 2 in the theatre and 3 at home. Here are my ratings and thoughts for each movie:

Ghost of Girlfriends Past - I watched it with Julie and she liked it because she's a huge Matthew McConaughney fan. The story was cute and I love the fact that Jennifer Garner's younger version of her character Jenny is played the the girl who played the younger version of her in 13 Going on 30. It's a DVD rental but not one of my favorite chick flicks. [blarkness rating: 3.5/5]

Paul Blart, Mall Cop - I didn't find it funny and I hate that mustache that Kevin James is sporting, it creeps me out. The story was boring and predictable. I actually fell asleep watching this movie [blarkness rating: 1/5]

Bride Wars - I saw this movie before with my mom but Mike wanted to watch it. I didn't like it as much as I did the first time. Here's my review from before [...]

Star Trek - I finally convinced Mike to go and watch a movie. I am glad that we chose this movie because Mike loved it and that enhanced his movie experience. Hopefully he will go again with me, provided it's a movie that he wants to watch. Star Trek was awesome. Everyone was right, you didn't have to know anything about Star Trek in order to understand what was going on. I highly recommend it - it's better than Wolverine but Wolverine has all the hot bods in it. [blarkness rating: 5/5]

Notorious - I had heard that the movie was crap but in my opinion it was okay. It kept me interested but I hated the fact that Derek Luke was chosen to play Diddy. He's not pretty enough to play Puff and the way he played him just made me laugh. I couldn't take him seriously. I liked the actors they got to play Lil Kim and Faith but I am on the fence about the guy playing Biggie. In the end, like I said, it was okay...I am just glad I didn't pay to watch it in the theatre. [blarkness rating: 2.5/5]

sprinkles red velvet cupcake

My cousin Marilen bought me cupcake mixes from Sprinkles - red velvet and lemon. I have had these for quite some time but never had the motivation to bake them. Well, today finally, I had the urge to bake. Sure it's not from scratch but it's still baking. I even got to try out the icing thingamabob that my mother-in-law bought me. So, here is me making the red velvet cupcakes.

I do have to say that rec velvet cupcakes are messy. It looks like a vat of bloody mess. I sure hope it tastes good. The cupcake mix got all over the beater, my tank top, my hands, all over the counter.

It still looks a bit revolting but I think that this mix can definitely make more than 12 cupcakes. I hope I followed the instructions right.

Fresh out of the oven, look at the gigantor cupcakes I have created. They can out this nice reddish brown colour. Look at the cupcake on the bottom left, it's huge!

Making the cream cheese icing was interesting. I didn't have the 3 3/4 cup icing sugar the recipe called for. I only had about 1 cup so I had to improvise. Luckily with Mike's approval, the icing turned out just fine.

As you can see Mike iced two cupcakes with the icing thingamabob and then gave up and just spread the icing on. The little dots are Sprinkles signature decoration (I tried them and they were gross - no offence Sprinkles - so we stopped topping the cupcakes with them.

In the end, they tasted pretty good. Mike who is not a cupcake fan loves them so I take it that they are a hit! Next week, Mike and I will make the lemon ones.

attention all matt saracen fans!!!

Did I get your attention by just saying Matt Saracen? Last night when I went to watch Ghost of Girlfriends Past, I saw the new Alexis Bledel's new movie, Post Grad and yup, Zach Gilford, otherwise known as Matt Saracen from Friday Night Lights is also starring. Maureen and Marie - movie date for August 21st?

whole body cleanse

Tomorrow is Day 1 of my 15 day cleanse. I am nervous but I want to do this cleanse before I leave for vacation. Mind you, we still haven't booked yet. I will be posting a lot on how I am feeling and if I lose any weight over the next two weeks. Stay tuned!

don't we all want a matt saracen?

Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) is the new Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson)

[even though Matt was around before Edward, I think]

Whether you watch TV or read books, you probably have fallen in love with a character. You dream about him, gawk at him and wish that you could find one of your own in real life. If you watch Friday Night Lights (yes, I talk about this show a lot), you probably have a soft spot for Matt Saracen (I also have one for Tim Riggins-Taylor Kitsch). I thought I would do a post since my friend wants a Matt Saracen. Maureen, this is for you:

victoria day weekend

Long weekend...it takes so long to arrive and when it does arrive, it goes by so quickly.

Let's recap:
Friday - Maureen and I were suppose to paint the town red but typical me, changed my mind and wanted a more chill night. We opted to try out Jam Martini Bar, a small little place in Port Credit that Mike has always wanted to try (silly us, we went without him). It was half price appetizers so we got the following: Fiji Shrimp, Peppered Beef, Surf & Turf and Crab Cakes. We also got their special salad and ferrero roche cheesecake. For drinks I got a Pink Geisha and Sex and the City and Maur gor Purple Pussy and Electric Lychee. If you are on Twitter, Maureen (mo_par) tweeted all night and included pictures of our drinks and some of our food. Maureen slept over and we just watched Friday Night Lights and played some AC, actually only I was playing AC. The next day, we continued to watch FNL.

Saturday - Maureen left around 3 pm. Mike and I napped and later at night he went to Jack Astor's. I stayed home and watched Ocean's 11 and Varsity Blues. It was a lazy day Saturday.

Sunday - Richie called an impromptu BBQ. Chuk, Giselle (thanks for the aloe vaseline!), Lauren, Aidan, Jon and Judy also stopped by. I can't believe that Mike and I were at the Ponce's house for almost 12 hours. Sorry Jes & Richie for invading your space. The night was capped off with one hour of the Survivor finale. Go JT!!! It was back to the condo to watch the reunion, the season finale of Gossip Girl and then the 2nd half of the finale (we missed it cuz of the long drive back from Ajax). Here are some pictures of the kids:

*RJ - he is a dancer. You should see him move*

*Rylen and Aidan - doing their superhero poses*

*Lauren - when you look at her, she does this cute side head tilt*

*the yummy dessert that Giselle brought*

Monday - another lazy day. Mike and I tried to watch Paul Blart, Mall Cop and Bride Wars but the streaming kept cutting out. Instead, we continued to watch Season 1 of Friday Night Lights. Yes, I am addicted. Season 3 comes out today!!!

things I am doing while twitter is down

Twitter is down right now. I think they are doing maintenance. So with half an hour left of work, instead of twittering, I am:

1. actually doing some work
2. putting hand lotion on and looking at my manicure
3. thinking that I really want to go on this damn vacation in June
4. trying to look for some type of case to put my headphones in
5. wondering why so many people on the subway this morning were wearing their sunglasses (how bright could it be, we are in a tunnel)
6. checking what movies are coming out this weekend, in case I don't end up downtown bar-hopping on Friday night
7. reading my brother's blog - he was so funny with his weekly recaps

I am meeting my high school friend, Carmen after work at On the Curve for some drinks. I haven't seen her since December. We have a lot of catching up to do.

friday night lights: season 3

I am beginning to get withdrawals from FNL. I finished watching Season 2 with Mike on Saturday (15 episodes all in one day) and now Mike is trying to watch season 1. He better catch up because season 3 is coming out on May 19th - too bad it wasn't before the long weekend because you know I would be watching it.

If I can hold out for a bit longer, I might just bring it with me when Mike and I go on vacation (no, we haven't booked yet) so we can watch some episodes when we turn it for the night.

I can't stress this enough, if you are looking for something to watch during the summer when all shows are on hiatus, I highly recommend this show. Maureen and Marie can also vouch how great this show is.

One last thing...the boxed sets are not expensive. Season 1 & 2 are selling at HMV for $19.99 each and Season 3 is priced at $24.99.

freezing your assets

Last week, I discovered that my BFF freezes her credit cards. I thought that she got the idea from Confessions of a Shopaholic but it turns out she has not seen the movie yet (although I am sure that Rebecca did this in the book). We all giggled at her but really, it's a smart idea. If there is a big item that she wishes to purchase, thawing out the card will give her some time to think about if she really needs it. Although I only have two credit cards, I am thinking I should follow suit and freeze at least one of them.

swapping bags

If you are like me and tend to switch bags or wallets frequently, here's a great article to help you out - http://www.anewmode.com/beauty/swap-bags-without-losing-your-essentials/.

I am notorious for my big clunky wallet, so I am going to follow one of the suggestion in the article to have a slim card case for ID and debit/credit cards, a wallet for bills and other stuff and a coin purse for change. I use to use this method but wanted to try out having everything in one wallet (which I love) Well, with spring/summer on the way, it might be easier when I have to switch to smaller bags or when I go out at night.

fabFive songs for the week of may 11

FabFive Songs (May 11)

friday night lights

I don't like or watch football, I'm not interested in the NFL or Super Bowl but I have this weakness for football movies and I guess now TV shows. After watching Taylor Kitsch play Gambit in Wolverine, I vowed to myself that I would make an effort to start watching Friday Night Lights. Well, season 3 just finished airing so I decided to start watching season 1 online. And boy am I ever hooked. I spent Saturday to Tuesday watching a couple of episodes each day and in four days, I watched 22 episodes. I slept late sometimes and even watched a few episodes at work. I LOVE THIS SHOW. What I like about the show:

• The relationships: all of them are strong and passionate and made for each other. There are heartbreaks and loveable moments that really get into your skin.
• Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) and Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford): These two are such eye candy and their characters just melt your heart. Tim is a bad boy with a caring heart (don't we all want this kind of guy) and Matt is just so sensitive and sweet (we secretly all want this type of guy too).
• Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly): She is hot! I don't want to give away anything but she did something bad but she can be forgiven because she's so hot.
• Coach & his family: You can't help but wish that you had a family like theirs. Coach and his wife have excellent communication and parenting skills. Julie should be so lucky.
• Football: the games, the practices, everything surrounding football. I love those tense last few minutes of the game, the excitement and feeling of accomplishment the team gets from winning. I am beginning to wonder why I don't like football in real life.

As Mike says, if you like One Tree Hill and Remember the Titans (like I do), you will definitely enjoy this show. I have two more seasons to catch up on until season 4 starts in the fall. I just have no idea if NBC picked it up because I believe it's been airing on DirectTV (which I don't think I get). Does anyone know what channel this show airs on?

[ blarkness rating: 5/5 ]

dr. leesh

Since my brother's death, I have had a few people contact me out of the blue wanting help. Others may think that it's so wrong to be asking for help when I, myself also need help. But here is the way I see it:

If someone goes out of their way to find your number or your email online, they obviously went through a lot of trouble to find out how to get a hold of you. Meaning, they really wanted to talk to you because they could have just let it go or talk to someone else.

Yes, I have had to deal with my brother's sudden death, I have had to deal with my divorced parents smothering me, I have had to deal with the emptiness of not having my only sibling around, I have had to deal with not letting my own relationships with other people fall apart. It's a lot to handle but it's manageable with help. After the intial shock of losing my brother, I wanted to talk to someone, someone who had been through what I was going through. I know many people who have lost a loved one but I didn't know anyone who lost someone to suicide. I did talk to my friends who lost a parent or a sibling and even though they gave great advice and let me ask them many questions, I still I felt lost, alone and felt like I had no one to turn to. Like no one could ever understand what I was going through. A friend's sister (who lost her husband in 2006 shortly after my destination wedding) told me to seek help, to go to therapy and get counseling. That is when I started my search for a psychologist, group support, forums, survivors of suicide, anything or anyone who could answer my questions and help me get through this rough time. But I got nowhere.

After a few months of searching, I found the Suvivor Support Program. I went for my interview right away and it wasn't until 2 months later I finally was assigned to my two peer counsellors. After eight sessions, I felt that the program really helped me out. There were times when I just didn't feel like going to my session because I was tired of talking but I dragged myself to go and always felt better. While doing this support program, I went to therapy and am still going to this day. So, I thank my friend's sister for giving me this one piece of advice.

So with all that being said, I don't get upset when people randomly call or email me wanting to talk about something that affected them because of my brother's death, I don't mind when they just need someone to listen, I don't want to turn my back on them and say that I have my own problems to deal with...because I too was once in their shoes. I was once in their position when they didn't know who to call, who to talk to, who to reach out to. I am so thankful that after feeling lost and alone, I found a group who I could relate to. I realized that sometimes you have to be there for others even though you are going through your own issues. No one ever wants to feel lost and alone when they feel like they are at their lowest point.

Plus, for me, if I get to help someone out just by listening, I know that I have done a good deed. If people are willing to talk about their story, it's a big step for them. It's hard to talk about what you are feeling and at times, it's easier to talk to a stranger. If that stranger happens to be me, I am all for it. No one should ever have to feel like there is no one to turn to.

brazilets

Mike and I finally got our bracelets from Brazilets today. We still have to put them on but for now, I have to think of my three wishes. The bracelets are a 200 year old Brazilian tradition. You are to tie on the bracelet with three knots and each time you tie a knot, you have to make a wish. When the bracelet naturally falls off, your three wishes will come true. Proceeds goes towards the Brazilian rainforest. Check it out!

blake & belle

I am so tired this afternoon - I want to nap but I also want to watch Friday Night Lights. I am going to post these two cute photos from the weekend. I will recap when I can put my thinking cap on.

I got to hold little baby Blake, he was chilling for a bit and then got upset, so I handed him off to his dad. He is a chubby little boy, very calm and relaxed.

I don't see Belle as often as she sees her other Titas but we always have a fun time playing. Last night we played with puzzles, a star game and read some books. She tired me out!

UPDATE: Now that I can think more clearly, I don't have much more to say about my weekend. Friday was Movie Night with Maureen (see previous post), Saturday, I woke up and decided that I wanted to do nothing but watch Friday Night Lights (more on this in a future post). We had some unexpected bad news which changes up out Saturday night slightly. As the picture above show, we were in Brampton on Saturday night. I played with Belle while everyone else watch the fight. I was tired but I had to keep playing. We got home and again, I watched FNL. Sunday, Mike and I had brunch with my mom at this place that she raves about and eats at all the time. Mike was exhausted but I dragged him to the mall. I bought nothing except for hand soap and car freshner. Mike was a walkng zombie and caved in and had his first Americano. He LOVED it. He may be hooked now. The rest of Sunday was spent watching FNL, yet again. What can I say - I am addicted!!! I went to sleep around 12:30 am because I couldn't stop watching.

movie review: wolverine/17 again

Tonight was movie night with Maureen. We first ate at Shoeless Joe's and then watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine and 17 Again. I liked both movies. I guess because I wasn't expecting much from either of them.


OMG - Ryan Reynolds - HOT BODY! Taylor Kitsch - Pretty cute. Hugh Jackman is just Hugh Jackman - gotta love him. I am not a hardcore comic book freak nor do I know much about the mutants in the X-men series but I liked this movie. I like how it goes back to the past and you learn more about Wolverine. Not that much violenence, which I am really cool with but I loved the last fight scene. All I have got to say is Ryan Reynolds' character (Deadpool) totally creeps me out. I'll probably have nightmares about him tonight. One last thing...the girl who turns into diamonds is my fav!


I'm not a big Zac Efron fan, I kinda think he is dutty like RPattz but I may have develop a slight crush on him. He should have taken the Footloose role because secretly, I would have watched it. This movie is quite funny and weird at the same time. There are parts that are so awkward, it will make you cringe in your seat. It's not like the movie BIG or 13 Going on 30 but it's cool to someone to go into the past because wouldn't we all want a do-over?


| blarkness rating: Wolverine - 4.5/5 and 17 Again 4/5 |