Lazy Long Weekend...

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I don't know what it is... why I can't sleep in... its wasn't the sunshine this morning... I had my sleeping eye patch thing on... perhaps it was because I sensed that it was bight and beautiful outside... not that I'm outside... but if the sun is up so am I!.. 

Yesterday morning I harvested some lavender from the garden... last year's tiny lavender are this years large lavender... I can't wait to see them next summer!..

The plan is to dry them out... but first I thought I'd get a few days of them in some water... Oh yeah... check out the sweet jar... picked it up at winners for... um... something like $3... saw them yesterday... exact ones for $10 a piece!.. yikes!.. how do placed so drastically differ in price!?.

The Orchid in the kitchen has sprouted a new stalk off to the side... its reaching towards the sunlight that comes in the back door...

And I've got some potted mossed now in the front room... in an old tool carry box thing... I picked up some picket fence slats at the Vintage Chicks sale with the intention of making some old tool carrying boxes... 

This all started today with snapping a couple iPhone shots of the lavender and orchid... and they were crap quality... so I pulled out the dslr with the big lens and I retook those shots and then a few extras... like these two... can't pull out the came without these two fur babies making an appearance...

Cleo was up in a couple orchid shots... then she sat in the bright morning sun...

Milo is the ultimate pose machine... he sits and looks one way... then holds... then turns... then holds... such a little man!..

Then I looked over next to the kitchen island and this is what is sitting there right this moment... gave me an idea... each day... or post... it might be neat to have a "self portrait" of sorts... so today this is it:

I know I said that its a lazy long weekend... I still feel the need to go clean the house!.. I just can't sit on the couch all weekend!.. and the more we get done in the house this weekend the less we have to do this coming week... this week will be busy enough with getting ready to go back to NL for a visit on FRIDAY!.. maybe tomorrow I'll get back to finishing the cushion covers on my wing backs... that I started last summer... yeah... still not done... gonna get on that!..

Dear Sugar...

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...I'm resisting you!.. Okay I did eat some Too Tall Oranges and Cream Cake last night in bed... but that's it!..

Today I'm drinking Jasmine Green Tea... no sugar... no honey... Not tea with milk and honey...




I'm not saying it's over completely... just unnecessary sugar... of course we'll meet again on special occasions... and out at restaurants...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Lamest Blogger Ever...

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I've turned into a lame ass blogger... one blog posting a week... that's lame... maybe its because it's summer... or that I've been feeling blue lately...  I haven't been working on any projects... well except for the paper stars that I started before my birthday in hopes of having a sweet star string of lights up that evening... I got three out of ten stars completed... 

Last week I fell asleep early most nights... nothing major going on... This weekend was pretty low key... that was nice... restful... yesterday we woke up bright and early because I think we were both asleep before 8 Friday night... I was just pooped... bright and early yesterday we headed up to the hobby shop for Furs to pick up some RC car parts... and then to the mall... Southcentre... I picked up some more Clinique and some Birkenstock Giza's... 

I've been lovin' the Clinique skin care line... I was starting to run low on the facial soap and clarifying lotion so I picked up more of that and then added the pore refining serum to my repertoire... today is only day two using it but it seems to be working already!..

...we ran into KIX in the mall... and I asked about the slim chucks... they're supposed to be getting some in for the fall!.. Whoot!.. While I was there I saw this Chuck monster... size 17!    the striped Toms next to the Chuck are a mens size 9... GIANT CHUCK... should have got a shot of my size 6 foot next to it...

Our Kitteh's have been soo snuggly lately... you can't sit down without them sitting onto of you... and they've both been getting on the bed at the same time... which is not normal for these two!.. works for us though... LOVES some kitteh snuggs...

Watched a pbs thing yesterday afternoon while I was couch potatoing...  a dr. fur-something guy was on there talking about eating healthy and micronutirents and how if you truly eat what your body needs it can help prevent and reverse heart disease and other health issues... 

His big things to eat were... GOMBS... Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries/Beans and Seeds... and then he was also saying that a salad should be your MAIN dish!... sounds good-ish to me... Last night I had a giant spinach salad with tomato, apple, mushroom, blueberries, poppy seeds and pine nuts... This evening my salad... pictured above... consists of spinach, lettuce, watermelon, finely chopped white onion, blue berries, half an orange squeezed all over and the half orange cut up and thrown in, a mushroom and pine nuts... and surprisingly its is TASTY... yeah... even the raw onion...  raw onion and watermelon together are good!..

Oh I did do a little gardening  yesterday... I made the back garden a little larger and moved over the silver mound and lavender that were overgrown and taking over some other plants... the silver mound looks like it's dying now... think it needs some water... its been hot all weekend... 

Got a few shots of the garden on my dslr... too lazy to upload them... all photos above are iPhone shots... 

Oh... back to the healthy salads thing... its an easy way to get a pile of super healthy foods... all at the same time... and shit if the salad is big enough it is super filling... I'm going to try to eat at least one large ass salad a day AND I'ma try to cut out unnecessary sugars... should probably warn my coworkers that I might sugar rage out... I've got a sugar addiction... gotta kick it... that shits bad for you!..

We're heading to the West Coast of Newfoundland in just 12 days... Stay tuned for some bloggy goodness from Newfoundland... and lets see if I can unlame my blogging in the meantime... 

xo

Birthday Week!..

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Do you milk the birthday week!?.  Chris and I both do... he cooked supper all week for me!..

Saturday I got my hair did... regrowth was out of hand... My hair dresser is the bees knees... if you're looking for a good salon in Calgary go check out The Ginger Group... Ask for Candice!..

I wish I could have her at my house in the mornings to curl my hair!.. We had people in for drinks last night to celebrate!.. my birthday eve!.. so I got her to curl my freshly coloured locks...

The weather outside yesterday AND today was fantastic... it was windy as usual but the sun was just splitting rocks... It's about 24 degrees in the house right now... thank eff for the air conditioner in our bedroom!..

My Furs stuffed a salmon and BBQ'd it late yesterday afternoon!.. it was tasty... we couldn't find an Atlantic Salmon so we had to get a Sockeye... it wasn't as moist as the last Salmon we BBQ'd... I think the Sockeye is a slightly less oily fish...

Om nom nom nom...

Check out the cake my Furs got for me!.. yeah... that says 28...

My beverage for the evening... Summer Slush... Ingredients: two containers of pink lemonade concentrare, one cup of hot water, three quarters of a cup of sugar, a bag of frozen strawberries, six cups of warm water and a bottle of peach vodka... put all of that together and puree with a stick blender... then throw it in the freezer... it freezes into a slushy mixture... mix it half and half with sprite and you're good to go!.. Neib Amy brought Aperol... mixed it with lemonade...  A fabulous drink!.. super tasty summer beverage!..

Until it rained we celebrated outdoors on the patio... and had a fire... roasted a few mallows...

Onto the presents!..

My brother and girlfriend sent me a beauty shirt and the cutest metal bow bracelet... 

Neibs A&B gave me a gift card for Aritzia!.. which came in handy this afternoon!..

Yesterday A&B and a coworker brought me fleurs!..

This morning for my birthday Furs brought me out to breakfast... we went to Vendome... a super sweet restaurant that Candice told me about yesterday!..

...the Chai Lattes were good...

...the food was great...

...and the decor was simple and pretty...  check us out in the giant mirror... good ol' blurry zoomed in iphoto shot!..

They had the sweetest looking pastries in their display!.. While we waited for our breakfast we shared a Cape Breton Cheese Biscuit... Om nom nom...

Then my Furs and I went out to do some birthday shopping!.. 

I was looking for some slim chucks but couldn't find any at the mall... I ended up with these cream canvas Toms... and then the sweetest sailor shorts... black blazer with striped cuffs... running shorts... a couple tanks... and a military looking shirt... and some distressed jeans... I love birthday shopping!..  Thanks Furbaby!..

After we got home and had a little rest we went out with A&B to Booker's Crab Shack... all you can eat crab!.. OM NOM NOM... only because it's the last day of Stampede they're still running on their "Stampede Menu"... super lame... I was looking forward to their Jalapeno Mac and Cheese... AND to their Key Lime Pie... neither were available... they have a tasty brownie dessert we've discovered... but it's no Key Lime Pie... 

We stuffed ourselves with crab...

...bucket after bucket...

...lots of garlic butter...

...lots of shells...

... annnnd finished off with a wicked cuppa tea... er well three cups of wicked tea!..

Just a couple of hours and the birthday is officially over... I'll be spending the last few birthday hours counting Zzz's...

How was your weekend!?.

xo

Lacey

Stampede Parade 2011...

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Headed dt yesterday at 5:45... AM... got up at 4... AM!..  Work peep Cass and I headed down together... it was my first Stampede Parade...

...my iphone self portraiture is severely lacking... sorry Cass!..

We went to get shots of the float that our company designed... and fabricated... and that I PM'd...

We got there early an got a second row sidewalk seat... some people had stayed downtown all night to get a front row... the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were going to be opening the parade...

...for the fist two hours we were dt we just watched morning commuters heading to work...  ...we were close to a street corner so I got to get a few shots as people were stopped at the lights... ...click on the shot above and check out the bling on that chicks phone... amazing...

Then there was this cowboy... total mountain man cowboy... his truck look like it had been sprayed with something... some sort of dirt film... see the scraper marks and writing on his window... thats not frost!..

...of course cowboy boots everywhere!..

...and hats...

...unfortunately for the people who had spent the night on the sidewalk waiting to see the Royals they drove by faster than the fighter jets flew overhead to open the parade!.. 

...AND you could hardly see them!.. probably for safety reasons... I think everyone expected to see them in a horse drawn carriage... or chuck wagon... they could have at least used a pope mobile!..

...I got a few shots of the bands and parade participants... lots of horses... those photos all seem to start to look the same after the first few shots...

...this old guy who squeezed his little stool into the front row of the sidewalk was very impatient for the start of the parade... he would get up every few minutes and peer down the street!.. we were very close to the beginning of the parade route...

...this WOWED the crowd... it stopped and let out a big MOO!.. its horns were huge... he did a dainty circle and then continued on!.. The rider must have had to use a 10ft ladder to get up on top of that thing!..

...cowboys like vintage cars...

...and Locs!?.

Here she is!.. what a little beauty!  She won second place in the municipality entry category...

...side view...

After we took our shots we hightailed it up and out of downtown... the C Train back to Chinook Station where we had parked was PACKED... it's a good thing that we left early or I wound't have made it back to work...

A BIG thank you to Diane... who we met at the Parade... she gave us her seats so that we could get shots of the float!.. and she also took this shot of us!..  Thanks Diane!..

Yikes... thank eff I have an appointment to get my hair did next Saturday!.. look at them bangs!.. yikes!.. 

Now for some chill out weekend time... I can't believe its 1pm now and I'm still in my comfy clothes... I've been editing photos... emailing... chatting with friends... started the towels in the wash... packed up and turned on the dishwasher... ate some toast and had two cups of peppermint tea with honey... and mixed up a batch of that and tossed it in the fridge for iced tea later... fingers crossed that works out!.. 

What are you getting up to this weekend!?.

xo

Lacey 

Weekend Recap...

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Meant to blog all weekend... but I was out in the sunshine... and I know that the weekend isn't officially over but I'm about to change over the laundry and go hop in the tub... get my head ready for Monday!..

The weather was beauty all weekend...  Friday... neib Amy and I ran out and she picked up a pair of rollerblades... too bad someone didn't ask us if we needed assistance earlier... we were trying on the wrist guards backwards!.. Baaahahha... I have a few iphone photos of that adventure... 

We went to a trail that you get to from 52 Street SW and the train tracks below 90th Ave...  We went west... it was sorta sketchy... a few people were living on the side of the trail in the trees in a pile of sleeping bags...  And on the way back!?. a guy was stood up on the side of the trail taking a leak... AKWARD!.. Its an okay trail but I think next rollerblading trip we'll be checking out parts of Fish Creek Park...  do you know anywhere that's good for rollerblading in the SE?..

Friday evening one of my work peeps popped over for a BBQ... a huge pile of food got cooked... I was too busy cooking to get photos... only this shot of the Apple, Peach, Strawberry Crisp in progress...

I'm so glad I bottled as much as I did the past couple of Falls!.. Makes for and easy and delicious dessert... 

Most of the neibs were out for some fireworks... except for the contrary ones that came out to complain and threatened to call the police!.. there were some neighbourhood kids out with their parents just to watch the fireworks!.. 

Check out my running outfit... Saturday AM... of course I was up at the crack of dawn... Neib Amy and I headed out for another run... It was great!..  I always jump up on top of the toilet seat in the morning before heading out to work to check out my shoes with my outfit... We ran for almost an hour... there was a bit of walking and a super steep hill climb... 

...Today I'm a little achy from the lollerblading one day and then running the next... I planned to take it pretty easy today... and did... other than standing up for a couple of hours to bottle these beauties...

Ranier Cherries...

One sink full of cherries... the other filled with lemon water...

...my weapon of choice... oxo cherry pitter... after a few cherries I found that it seems best to pit from the bottom... so that they shoot out from where the stem connects...

These cherries are pretty... but not as sweet as Bing Cherries... I'll bottle a batch of those in August... once we're back here from our trip home...

10lbs of cherries ='s about 460 cherries... yeah... I counted...

Last year bottling was much easier because the Momma was here to help... once pitting was complete it was bottle washing and boiling time...

...made a light syrup for these...

...oh... if you bottle things... GET AN OVE GLOVE!.. it's the bees knees!.. I know... NERD!.. but it is so useful... you can get a good grip on the hot bottles... and not burn your hands off...

They turned out beautifully... the syrup has turned light pink and the cherries have all lightened up a little... 

...and because I'm a sucker for punishment... I just can't sit down and chill out at all... I tried this "healthy" recipe that I found on the BodyRock website...

If you look at the Portobello's to the far right I scooped out the brown part of the mushroom too... those ones were better than the ones with that brown left in after they were cooked...

I followed the recipe exactly... they were not bad at all...  though I still prefer some form of bread crust...

...oh... instead of using spray on the pan I used parchment... 

...next time... I'll leave off the fresh parsley... turns out I'm not a big fan...

...THEN... I made this pizza with a crust that Furs and I picked up at Superstore yesterday...

I'm not the biggest fan of tomato sauce... so I used pesto...

...then some garlic... diced tomatoes... and leeks...

...a few cut up chicken breasts... that had been BBQ'd... some pine nuts... I'll toast those in a frying pan next time before putting them on the pizza... and some parmesan cheese... then I threw the thing on the BBQ for about 8 minutes... really it was on there just until the bottom was done... I turned it once...

...OM NOM NOM... it was gooood!..

...now tub... then movies in bed!.. How was your long weekend!?

Oh... I almost forgot... BRING IT ON MONDAY!..

xo