It is slowly approaching and I have made a list of things to do when I can once again smell freedom:
1. Eye appointment
2. Dentist appointment
3. Buy and decorate a Christmas tree!
4. Bake something - anything!
5. NAP
6. Massage
7. Go to the movies
8. Laugh again (that was a joke)
9. Use my gift card from Joe Fresh
10. Make a Christmas greeting video like this one
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Sunday, 20 November 2011
THE PERFECT SHOE
Sometimes I'm reluctant to buy accessories and I include shoes in that statement. I just find accessories expensive considering they're just supposed to compliment an outfit. They don't keep you warm or cover up any key parts. That being said, I do like belts, jewellery, shoes...I just don't often purchase them myself.
I can also partially contribute that to being a tad picky. When hubby and I were dating I told him I only buy "the perfect shoe". It's out there, folks. You just have to look long and hard. It is perfectly comfortable, perfectly stylish. Anything less and I just won't pay for it which leads me back to my first statement of "I'm reluctant to buy accessories". (That is called circular thinking - neuro exam FYI.)
This summer I bought a pair of red Toms and love them. You've heard of TOMS right? For every pair of shoes you buy, they send a pair to a child in a third world country. And currently they have a few Movember styles. Here are some finds from their website that I'm currently loving (and you can find them here, here, here, and here). Also - people often say to buy them in a half size smaller than you would normally wear because the canvas stretches a bit. I bought mine in a 7.5 when I normally wear an 8 and I have found them to be just right.
I can also partially contribute that to being a tad picky. When hubby and I were dating I told him I only buy "the perfect shoe". It's out there, folks. You just have to look long and hard. It is perfectly comfortable, perfectly stylish. Anything less and I just won't pay for it which leads me back to my first statement of "I'm reluctant to buy accessories". (That is called circular thinking - neuro exam FYI.)
This summer I bought a pair of red Toms and love them. You've heard of TOMS right? For every pair of shoes you buy, they send a pair to a child in a third world country. And currently they have a few Movember styles. Here are some finds from their website that I'm currently loving (and you can find them here, here, here, and here). Also - people often say to buy them in a half size smaller than you would normally wear because the canvas stretches a bit. I bought mine in a 7.5 when I normally wear an 8 and I have found them to be just right.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID
I have known my best friend since grade five when she transferred to my school from a local private, Christian school. Hers was the first (and thus far only) wedding I have attended as a bridesmaid. When D and her husband moved into their first home two years ago I knew I wanted to give them a special housewarming gift. When I want something like this to be extra special, I always default to handmade - in this case, a drawing.
I searched through all the photos I had taken the day of D's wedding (of which there were many) and found a head on photo of her bouquet. After cropping the photo, I had it printed in I think a 5 x 7 size so the details of the flowers were easy to visualize. Then I bought myself a set of pencil crayons from my local art supplies store and went to town.
My main piece of advice when you are creating a painting/drawing (or even if you are enlarging a photograph) is buy the frame first!! It can get very pricey to have anything professionally framed. One year when hubby and I were dating I made him a drawing for Christmas. It was a fairly large drawing and the cost of framing was somewhere between $100 and $200. My trick is to check out the prints section of Winners/Homesense and find the approximate size frame you would like. These prints are fairly inexpensive and almost always come framed AND matted. Therefore, if you custom design your artwork to fit in the frame you have a relatively inexpensive frame and matte!
I searched through all the photos I had taken the day of D's wedding (of which there were many) and found a head on photo of her bouquet. After cropping the photo, I had it printed in I think a 5 x 7 size so the details of the flowers were easy to visualize. Then I bought myself a set of pencil crayons from my local art supplies store and went to town.
My main piece of advice when you are creating a painting/drawing (or even if you are enlarging a photograph) is buy the frame first!! It can get very pricey to have anything professionally framed. One year when hubby and I were dating I made him a drawing for Christmas. It was a fairly large drawing and the cost of framing was somewhere between $100 and $200. My trick is to check out the prints section of Winners/Homesense and find the approximate size frame you would like. These prints are fairly inexpensive and almost always come framed AND matted. Therefore, if you custom design your artwork to fit in the frame you have a relatively inexpensive frame and matte!
Friday, 18 November 2011
FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
Look what I found from this etsy shop!
It's a bookmark that looks like the Wicked Witch of the East!! (West was the one who melted when Dorothy doused her with water. East was the sister of West and was crushed by Dorothy's house.) Want to see another view?? I thought so.
This combines a couple of things I enjoy - reading and the musical Wicked! Here is a photo from Times Square summer 2010. Hubby and I saw Wicked and loved it.
To incorporate a Christmas theme, this etsy shop has other bookmarks including Santa or an elf's legs.
I think this could be a great stocking stuffer.
This combines a couple of things I enjoy - reading and the musical Wicked! Here is a photo from Times Square summer 2010. Hubby and I saw Wicked and loved it.
I think this could be a great stocking stuffer.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
S.C. - SANTA CLAUS OR SPINAL CORD?
Today was an incredibly long, school-packed day. It began with a psychiatry clinical skills session from 8:30 - 10:00 with a lunch break to follow (filled with studying) and then resumed with a second clinical skills session from 12:30 - 3:30. I spent the rest of the afternoon studying neuroanatomy and then looked at microscope slides in the anatomy lab from 6:00 - 9:30. Believe it or not I then came home and watched more recorded lectures. My brain is full of...the brain.
To unwind I'm doing a quick little blogging session and thinking about Christmas! Knowing I can prepare for Christmas once my exam is finished is one of the only things keeping me going!
I know everyone likes Christmas but I LOVE Christmas. Really, really love it. Don't believe me? I feel so strongly about Christmas that I have been known to say wistfully, "I miss Christmas..." at fairly regular intervals throughout the rest of the year (probably at least once a month). I have been listening to my new Amy Grant Christmas cd since October. I keep Christmas music on my ipod all year and when the shuffle button reunites me with these songs on my mid-July jogs, I don't change the song.
Are you convinced yet?
One of the things I remember most about Christmas as a child is my mom reading my brother and I (and eventually our sister) Christmas stories before bed. I emailed my mom this week and asked for the titles of some of our family's favourite Christmas books. Here are a few truly wonderful additions to your holiday collection!
The Smallest Elf - a story about an elf who isn't as talented at toy-making as the others. When Santa proposes a contest to create a special toy for a lonely little boy, Elvin discovers what the boy really wants most of all. [This might be my absolute favourite.]
The Advent Calendar: Pop-up Book - my grandparents bought this story for my brother and I. It's nice to have a version of the Christmas story to read as a family during the holidays and this one is especially fun because it's a pop-up book. We read this on Christmas morning for a few years before we opened gifts.
The Sweet Smell of Christmas - have you ever owned a scratch and sniff?! It may just be the most fun thing ever!! Even now I love to scratch the pages of this book even though they have looooong ago stopped smelling. This is my little sister's favourite. It's about a little bear and his family's activities during Christmas. There are scents for the fir tree his family chops down, candy canes they put on the tree, hot chocolate for the carolers, an orange in his stocking...you know the deal. I will always love smelling this book. Is that weird?
Tosca's Christmas - for the cat lover in your life. This little kitty, Tosca, doesn't understand why there is suddenly a tree in her living room or pretty paper on the floor. She is scolded throughout the book and I can't quite remember the ending but I'm sure it's happy.
To unwind I'm doing a quick little blogging session and thinking about Christmas! Knowing I can prepare for Christmas once my exam is finished is one of the only things keeping me going!
I know everyone likes Christmas but I LOVE Christmas. Really, really love it. Don't believe me? I feel so strongly about Christmas that I have been known to say wistfully, "I miss Christmas..." at fairly regular intervals throughout the rest of the year (probably at least once a month). I have been listening to my new Amy Grant Christmas cd since October. I keep Christmas music on my ipod all year and when the shuffle button reunites me with these songs on my mid-July jogs, I don't change the song.
Are you convinced yet?
One of the things I remember most about Christmas as a child is my mom reading my brother and I (and eventually our sister) Christmas stories before bed. I emailed my mom this week and asked for the titles of some of our family's favourite Christmas books. Here are a few truly wonderful additions to your holiday collection!
The Smallest Elf - a story about an elf who isn't as talented at toy-making as the others. When Santa proposes a contest to create a special toy for a lonely little boy, Elvin discovers what the boy really wants most of all. [This might be my absolute favourite.]
The Advent Calendar: Pop-up Book - my grandparents bought this story for my brother and I. It's nice to have a version of the Christmas story to read as a family during the holidays and this one is especially fun because it's a pop-up book. We read this on Christmas morning for a few years before we opened gifts.
The Sweet Smell of Christmas - have you ever owned a scratch and sniff?! It may just be the most fun thing ever!! Even now I love to scratch the pages of this book even though they have looooong ago stopped smelling. This is my little sister's favourite. It's about a little bear and his family's activities during Christmas. There are scents for the fir tree his family chops down, candy canes they put on the tree, hot chocolate for the carolers, an orange in his stocking...you know the deal. I will always love smelling this book. Is that weird?
Tosca's Christmas - for the cat lover in your life. This little kitty, Tosca, doesn't understand why there is suddenly a tree in her living room or pretty paper on the floor. She is scolded throughout the book and I can't quite remember the ending but I'm sure it's happy.
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