a yummy salad that is definitely not healthy!

my mom got this recipe from a friend a few years ago and i love it! it's called 'chinese salad' and it's sweet, but sour at the same time (because of both sugar and vinegar in the dressing). it's certainly not a healthy salad, but i definitely am a fan. i had been thinking about it for about a week, since we haven't had it yet this summer, and we finally had it with dinner the other night. it's easy enough, so i thought i would share.

1 head nappa lettuce-chop fine
4 green onions

topping
2 packages 'mr noodles' chicken flavor--break up dry noodles while still in bag
1 package only of 'mr noodles' seasoning from above
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup sliced almonds

brown all 'topping' ingredients in butter (i use oil), approx 1/4 cup. DON'T BURN! you can do this ahead of time and set aside until needed.

dressing
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil

heat until sugar has dissolved, then refrigerate until ready. mix lettuce, green onion, topping and dressing together and serve!

this is a very sweet dressing, as you can see by all the sugar in it! it's definitely different, but my family love it; not sure if dylan is a big fan though. we usually double the recipe to have some for the next few days.. mmm i also like lots of the topping in mine. i could go for a bowl right now....

sorry no picture, as i don't have an awesome nikon or anything. it would just end up looking like any other salad. :( 

fall in a cup...

on friday, i got possibly the best email i got all year.
it was from starbucks.
i'm sure most of you can guess what...
...that the pumpkin spice latte would be available the next day (ie saturday).
twitter was all a buzz that it was out, but the email made it official.
so you best bet that after running errands on saturday with my mom, we stopped for one before home.
i walked in and didn't see any signs or advertising for it, which i thought i would see.
it's my turn to order and i ask the girl if they have it.
a guy behind the counter (who was getting treats and food for people ordering that stuff) pipes up and says "oh, it doesn't officially launch until tuesday!"
my response, in a sad/confused/excited way, "but i got the email saying today!" (there were people in line behind me too).
he says, "well, we've got all the ingredients to make one if you really, really, really want one"
i told him if all the stuff was in the back, to not worry about it, but he said no it wasn't and asked if i wanted one.
i smiled sweetly and said "yes! tall please!"

via google

i walked away completely satisfied and a happy girl. even though it was about 35 degrees and i was sweating, i was drinking fall.

*i should have known had i looked and paid attention to the email that it had whipped cream on it, but i didn't and it came with it. so i scooped it off when i got home. now i know!*

props to Starbucks for serving me early! next up is the gingerbread latte.

be a coffee-drinking individual - espresso yourself!

i am in love with my parents new coffee maker..Tassimo; the art of the perfect cup. seriously, this thing makes everything; coffee, espresso, latte, cappuccino, hot chocolate, tea...all you have to do is put your tdisc in the top part (the water goes in the back) and within seconds, whatever you're making is brewing up a storm.

the Tassimo coffee machine=love. 

 for a cappuccino, you put the milk disc in first, it brews it up in seconds all frothy and nice...

then the espresso disc goes in second. and again, in a few seconds, it's trickling into your cup. (actually, for the cappuccino, it's supposed to be the espresso first and milk second. but i follow the latte way of making it (because we were out of latte's) and do the milk first and espresso on top-i like it better that way)

ya, it splatters just a little...

the perfect cappuccino in under 1 minute.

want to know the kicker? Shoppers Drug Mart (which is like your Duane Reade in the states) had a special on about 2 weeks ago. this machine was regularly priced at $169.99, but it was on sale for $89.99. there is also a points card at this store, just like every other store now-a-days. so for one day only, you could trade 40,000 points and pay just $10 (!!!!) for the coffee maker. say what!?? (my mom had a tonne of points, they add up fast) so of course my parents were all over this deal! it's going to be a sad day when i go back to my apartment in toronto in a week or two and i'm stuck with instant coffee again haha

i am obsessed with this thing! and i bought my snazzy yellow cup from the dollar store (holla) so i could have my latte's and cappuccino's in style. now you know what would top it all of? if i find out they have pumpkin spiced latte's. i would be in heaven. (hey Tassimo, did you hear that??)

**just an fyi, i was not contacted by the company, or paid by anyone to write this. i just love waking up to my delicious coffee everyday now that i thought i would share!**

it's friday!! hope everyone has a good weekend!
 ♥

ever see a real angel?

i mean a victoria's secret angel? in person? no? ya, me either.
until today..maybe.

Adriana Lima is going to be at toronto's yorkdale mall today, for the grand opening of the first victoria's secret in toronto.

see?? via

now, if me and my girlfriend decide to go, we ain't spending $100 to get VIP..i don't even think we care to get her autograph. i would just want to get a picture, and probably not even beside her. as if i really want to stand beside a woman who is about 8-9 inches taller me, yet probably only weighs 5-10lbs more!  ha 

but who knows, they have been showing commercials like mad lately, so i'm sure the mall will be absolutely ridiculously jammed. so we may not go. but it could be cool. and also add in the fact that i'm at my parents place, and not in toronto, so it's not a quick subway ride away.

i'm just excitied we're actually finally getting stores in toronto. there's another one opening at the mall i go to all the time, so yay to that. maybe there will be another big angel there for that?

on an unrelated, goodbye note, i can't believe it's already thursday again? time is too fast this summer.

the great debate ...

it's time to upgrade my phone, and i complain a lot on twitter about having to wait. i always sign a 3 year contract and it's always been that at 18months, you get an upgrade..great, that was april (i think). so i go into Rogers and they're all, 'no, we changed things, if you want to upgrade to another smartphone, it's now 2 years."  *blank stare from me..*

at 18months with my blackberry, it was already freezing, had to be restarted almost daily from not being able to open BBM's, if i wanted to take a picture, i had to delete a picture (and i only had about 100 on there). so the fact that they tell me i have to wait another 6 months!? i was complaining to my mom that there was NO way this phone was going to last. either it would die on its own, or it would die a crumbly death when i threw it against the pavement or my wall out of frustration.

well, i made it the necessary 6 months (a very angry and annoyed 6 months) and in the meantime i've been having the great debate with myself...

iphone4 or another blackberry!?

what the blackberry has got going for it: most importantly-a real keyboard, a little light that flashes when i have a message or missed phone call or anything else that i need a reminder for-very handy!!, it's small and fits in my tiny wallets, BBM (blackberry messenger) and well, i'm just used to it.

iphone: well, the screen and the awesomeness that it's a computer at hand, the 5 mega pixel camera (!!), HD video, all the sweet apps (hello, words with friends?! and the awesomeness that is shazam) *oh, i'm Bree_19 if you want to play me ;) *...and obviously a bunch more. the downside? i still kind of hate the keyboard (getting better on my itouch but still would prefer a real keyboard), and no flashing light.
*i might have to get some conductive thread and sew a little piece into the appropriate fingers of some gloves so i can still use it in the fall/winter, i hear that works?*

but with that being said, about a month ago i made my decision. the iphone4.

now see, they came out in canada july 31. and i thought, awesome, by the time i can upgrade, they will have them in stock. WRONG!  i have been on the hunt for the past week and they are still SOLD OUT everywhere! you know what the people at rogers tell me? well, we might be getting 1 (!!) in, we might be getting 7 (!!??). if almost one month after it came out, you still can't keep it in stock, why are you not getting like 100!? why isn't apple able to keep up. it is beyond frustrating. i just want my new phone dammit!! 

and..end rant.

i light the fire...

on saturday morning, dylan and i woke up a little early. me about 7:45am and him 8 (after me turning on the lights and ripping the blankets off him). shortly after that we were on the road looking for garage sales. we had looked the night before and found a site where you can search by area and there were 270 listed for just this weekend(!!!) i thought i would try garage sales on saturday before going to the flea market on sunday. good thing too. (if you missed it, this is what i plan on doing with the frames)

total # of garage sales visited: 21
frames bought: 11
total $$ spent: i think 3.50..$4.50 at the most..what what!
$6 for spray paint
=quite a success
oh and can't forget the dozen donuts we picked up on the way home *my parents were having company that night, not all for us*

it might look like chicken, but it's apple fritters on the left! nom nom nom

all of my purchases! soon to be made sleek and black.

see the picture in the top right with the lady dancing? i might actually keep that picture in there. the rest, well that's my  next task; finding pictures i like and fitting them to the right size. most likely sepia or black and white. and also see the light switch plate? that was .25 cents! i definitely needed a new once, since i still have my old on one, which is purple and sparkly! i was looking forward to starting to spray paint the frames right when we got home, but of course, it started raining. and it's since rained sunday and monday too. this weekend is supposed to be sunny, so i should be able to work on my project then! yay! pretty sure this is my first DIY..go me!

saturday hello...

♥

let me upgrade you...

my room at my parents place is in the process of getting an upgrade. even though i'm typically only here a couple nights a month during the school year, my parents basically gave the whole house a make over and since they offered to include my room, i couldn't turn it down. the walls were a pastel-ish purple with a blue comforter that faded to aqua and lime green bed skirt and curtains. yes, i had it like that for along time! it was time for a change.

my walls are now a dark gray; dark brown wood flooring has replaced rose colored carpet, and my bed set is now almost like a burlap color with black patterned swirls on it. my dad painted my 3 small wall shelves black and i also just got a tall black bookshelf to replace my overcrowded small bookshelf.

since that description of my bed sounded terrible, here's a picture; the walls are a tad darker in real life..

now, i need all new pictures to put up and haven't had any luck finding anything i like/want/something that catches me eye. then it just came to me..i've been seeing picture frame collages around the web and i love it. so that is now my plan for above my bed. something similar to these 2 photos below.

via apartment therapy

via apartment therapy- you may want to click that link to see the rest of the house-seriously amazing.

as long as the weather is decent on sunday morning, i think i'm going to head on over to the flea market again and look for a bunch of frames. my plan is to paint/spray paint them all black, but depending on what i find, that may change. and hopefully they will all be in the $2-$3 price range, because i will be needing quite a few.

anyways, it's another friday already and i can't believe it. enjoy the weekend!
♥

3-5-0...

350th post that is. wow. i can't believe i have actually stuck around with blog for that long! i just want to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and comment on my silly daily life! seriously, for about my first year, i think i had 17 followers, and since about april, it's just grown and i can't even believe it! i love writing a little post everyday, and then being able to look back over the year and see what i have done. i love that i've met so many cool people. i love getting comments on my posts that make me smile. i love that you guys can give me opinions on things (especially important things like a dessert dilemma ;) )...

so let's share a piece of cake, shall we? red velvet of course! via

i also love hearing 'random facts' or little tidbits about people. so tell me something about you! it can be anything!

♥ have a good day, can't believe it's thursday already :)

shopping and CAKE

yesterday's trip to the U S of A was semi-successful. i mean, it was a good day with mom, but shopping wise, we didn't get anything too exciting. first of all, i called the border hotline about 15 minutes before we were going to get there, and they said it was minimal to no wait at the bridge we were going to-great! we get there and the line up was unreal..50 minutes people!!! that's not minimal....
we got to the outlet mall first and took a spin around, but really found nothing. oh wait, i did find a grey sweater with a big bow on it that i can't wait to wear once it cools down (please hurry up with that!) from saks fifth avenue off 5th. i looked in tonnes of stores for a watch, but again, found nothing.

crappy camera phone picture..

up next was walden galleria mall. we took a spin around macy's but then went to cheesecake factory (!!) for lunch first. it was delicious of course, but we've never had room for dessert when we've gone before so we made the executive decision to come back for dessert later after more shopping.
after shopping around for a few hours, i got a black v neck sweater from forever 21 for a whole $9 and i got finally found a watch i liked from macy's.

my parents just took my camera to go out for the day, so another camera phone picture...

came to a total of $60.08 with tax (and it's $150 on the site)..pretty good deal for a betsey watch, actually for any watch really! it's exactly what i've been looking for but haven't been able to find.
a couple hours later, we were ready for coffee and dessert at cheesecake factory once again. as soon as i saw the red velvet cheesecake on the back of the menu at lunch, i knew i was sold. so we got some latte's and split a piece of the cake.

this right here, was the best thing i have ever put in my mouth (via). holy crap. cake, cheesecake, cake, and cream cheese icing. i seriously don't even have words. to.die.for. we were both beyond stuffed, felt like throwing up, but we still ate it. i think i was about to lick the plate, but it was the dinner time rush and i don't think that would have been very appropriate, ya know? i wish i got a whole cake to go .. A+++++++ i could go on, but i won't bore you. i've had a lot of red velvet cakes and cupcake, and this was one of the best. well done cheesecake factory, well done.

lastly, it was target. no luck on finding any cool treats that aren't available in canada. but i got my school supplies, which consisted of 3 notebooks. that was easy. and my dad wanted some beans and tomato paste haha oh, and i got my red velvet cake mix!! can't wait to try it and fool people ;) but i think i will probably stick to homemade for this kind of cake...
anyway, that was our trip in a (not so) nutshell. going back across the canadian border was a breeze, maybe 5 minutes. there you have it, my few purchases and my raving of cake!

it's a good monday...

since i'm home at my parents and my mom is off for the week, we're going shopping across the border today! it's only about an hour drive, so it's nice. we're going to check out the outlets first, then go to a mall and maybe eat at the cheesecake factory..mmm..maybe this time we'll actually have time for cheesecake? ha doubtful. and i'm on the hunt for a watch still, for a late birthday present, so hopefully i can find one. the exchange rate is pretty good right now too ;)
oh, and of course we'll be going to target! obviously. my mom loves that place, like who doesn't? i hear there is boxed red velvet by betty crocker in the states, and even though i love making it myself, i would still like to buy one box and see how it tastes (and if dylan can tell the difference!) i might see if they have ringed notebooks too for a cheap price and get some back to school supplies..i actually love notebook and pen shopping haha even though that's all i need these days in school, i still love going and picking them out.

this is exactly what i expect to come home with ;) (via)

anywho, i guess i better get out of bed, we're planning on leaving around 10am...

have a good monday, i know i will!

♥

book mania

since i mentioned yesterday i have read 8 books so far this summer, and i'm almost 2 more, i figured i would put a list out there for you to see...

-crime scene by larry ragle (reading). this book goes through how science and medical technology are used to solve cases. it then gives 'sensational cases' as an example. i find some chapters boring, because they can be really science based, but it's still interesting.







-slave master by sue wiltz (reading) about a man who lures women in through the internet. it's america's first known cyber serial killer. it's pretty gruesome but still a good book. right now they're laying the murder charges, so we'll see how the trial goes.. (pic via)

-blood secrets by rod englert (pic via). it looks at what really happens during the reconstruction of a crime scene. blood patterns are analyzed, you learn how they can tell what weapon was used, whether the body was moved or not..etc.and actual cases were given too. this was an easy and i actually found this one really interesting. 

 -manson in his own words as told to nuel emmons (pic via). this one is pretty straight forward...hours and hours and hours of interviews were conducted and manson was able to tell his own story. it was interesting to see his point of view, but i thought helter skelter was a much better book, which i read last summer.

 -the secret history of cults by peter haining (pic via). this was a compilation book and gave stories about 12 or so cults in the world. some were interesting and jaw dropping and others a little boring. but some of the stories, you really just can't believe the power that some people can gain over others.

 -you must be dreaming by barbara noel (pic via). this book was pretty disturbing. the author is telling her story of how she woke up during a therapy session to find her therapist raping her. it then continues after the fact and shows her battle to get justice from the old doctor. i couldn't put this book down because i just had to know the outcome and it was definitely a page turner.

-vanished by john wells (pic via). this is a hamilton, ontario based book about a man who dismembered women and had managed to get away with it for quite some time. it follows the case and all the work the officers did to catch the man involved.

-little lady, big apple by hester browne (pic via). see, i do read girly books! this one was a cute, simple, girly book. love in the big apple, what more can i say? i read this one in a few days, very easy read for say, the beach. it's not edge of your seat scandalous or anything, but it kept my attention and i enjoyed it.

-ground up by michael idov (pic via). this one is about a couple who opens a coffee shop in NYC. it follows their marriage, love and the struggles that come along with a new business. it was a bit slow at times, but overall the story was good.

 -lion eyes by claire berlinki (pic via). ugh, this book. i can't really even think of how to explain it. it's kind of a love story that happens over email and also has to do with some CIA agent stuff that comes up. it was another simple read, but kind of silly in my opinion. i got it on the sale table at a book store (wonder why!) because it took place in paris haha







so, i guess if you didn't already know, now you do-i love true crime books. i really don't think i have ever come across a boring one. and just knowing that it's all truth in those words makes it a little scary. i never get nightmares, but then again, i'm not reading them at midnight either. also, sorry for the lack of description for each book, i just wanted to give a sentence or 2 to give you an idea of what they were about and my little opinion.
and you know, so i don't seem like a total creep who only reads about death and torture, i read a few books about love too!

let the summer continue!

ok, so maybe the weather could cool down just a little bit, i'm still tired of the temperature in the 30s plus humidity being at like 80%. BUT i am now done my summer courses!! i had a final last night and then stayed up late to do more work on my paper. i then woke up at 5:45am this morning to finish it so that i could have the day with dylan and relax before my mom came to get me tomorrow. and i just finished the paper now!! whew, it was a biggie, and i never want to see qualitative methods again in my life. i've got one month plus 1 day until i start classes again, so bring on the relaxation and hangin' out like i should have been doing all summer.

some plans in the works already--sunday: family bbq, monday: going across the border with my mom for lunch and shopping, tuesday night: come back to toronto with my 2 girlfriends and go for a drink and then spend the day wednesday shopping/eating/walking around or what not. and i plan on doing lots of reading too. i've only read 8 books and my goal was 12 for the summer. i still have 1 month to go and 2 more books are nearly done, so i just might make that goal.

via weheartit

well, i'm off to drop this paper off soon, get a coffee in me because i'm not fully awake yet and then walk around the market. sounds good to me!

cherry on top award

just a quick post today, i've got a final tonight (that will be 1 summer course down!) and then a big final assignment due friday and then i will be done! and you know when school starts again? september 13 (not sure why so late this year) but hey, that gives me one whole more month of summer to enjoy!! moving on....

it's time for another award!

thanks to Kim, Julie, and Jamie for this award right here.. :)

and i'll pass it on to these adorable blogs here.....
Sera Pie, Brittany and Brianna !

enjoy and happy hump day
♥

a new woman!

my little baby girl got a cute little haircut on friday! now, if you remember from before, she becomes quite the scruffy lookin' thing within a few weeks after a cut, but hey, that's part of her charm!

just a reminder of the before..

and the after!

ok, so looking at these pictures, she may not look at different to you, but i swear, she got a good shave! i still wanted her to look like a terrier, not a poodle, so keeping the beard and crazy head hear was important. she looks like a puppy again :) and it really brought out her gray body haha she's such a mash-up of colors; gray/black-ish body, black head and ears with a red beard..but she's cute and that's all that matters.

flea market sundays

• our first of the summer-me and dyl (last year we went at least 5x, this summer we were not so lucky)
• up at 7:45am
• at the flea market by 9am
• wandering around
• looking for skeleton keys and anything else eye catching-no such luck
• got 3 books (candace bushnell's 4 blondes; a true crime the good doctor; and stephen king's shining ($2 each!)
• breakfast on the way home
• stopping by a garage sale after that
• seeing a new value village across the highway and checking it out
• spotting a moschino purse and getting it for a steal (but no idea if it's authentic or not, but i figure i better grab it up)
• home at noon and back to toronto

 flea market via

i didn't bust out my camera this time around, too bad. it's such a huge market and there's no real organization to it, so i'm sure we miss a lot. but, we love it for an early morning sunday thing to do, i just wish we had time to go more often this summer. i'm hoping we make it to the big one in september at least.

flying our way to a cruise...

dylan and i are big, big fans of air miles! i'm obsessive about checking our account, watching our points go up, and getting extra points where ever possible.

we even roll deep with a gold card, and not gonna lie, we feel kind of special when we hand that baby over to be swiped.

we now have enough points for a cruise!! we are beyond excited! at first we were looking at the western caribbean. but then after looking at a few options, it really only stays around the florida and mexico area; great, but we're going on a mostly free cruise, i want to up the ante.
and then we looked at the eastern caribbean, and while it goes to bahamas, grand turk, and st. thomas, it's way outta our points range.
now if we get to go where i want (and by i, i totally mean we) it will be the southern caribbean--that's where it's at! it would be a 7 day cruise, and take off from san juan, puerto rico. although flights are a bit more than say, departing from florida, getting to see puerto rico for a few hours before departure would be pretty awesome. let me break down the itinerary:

depart from san juan on sunday. 

monday-st. thomas; 

tuesday-dominica; 

wednesday-barbados; 

thursday-st. lucia, WI; 

friday-st kitts, WI; 

saturday-st.maarten; 

sunday-back in san juan

taxes and fees are 231$, and of course, we still have to pay for a flight (all meals, except drinks are covered, and i know there would still be other expenses on the boat and when we're at each destination daily) but to be able to see this...

st lucia via

st thomas via

dylan wants to go in february, on reading week, when there is snow here. i get the point; to escape the frigid cold and then be lying on a beach a day later. but me? i would prefer to go at the end of april, or beginning of may. we would both be done school and this would be an amazing getaway as a grad present to myself :) and i will definitely be in need of a vacay after 2 years of a college for a diploma and 4 years of university for a degree..i worked hard darnit! and did i mention that neither me or dylan have ever been anywhere hot, like domican, cuba, europe, nothing!! EVER! (ok i went to florida/disney world twice when i was really young, but that's it)

here's where i have a (few) questions. who has been on a cruise? would you recommend one? what's your opinion on an inside cabin or spending a bit more to get an 'ocean view'? i mean, you're not spending much time in your room anyway, right? did you spend more money on the ship/on the destination sites than you expected? anything we should be aware of? it will be carnival cruises we go on (as much as we would like norwegian cruise line, they're also out of the point range), but is carnival still good? are there a lot of kids generally? ok, i think that's all the questions i have!

weird happenings of the day...

i just took chloe out for a walk and as i'm close to home this kid stops me for a second. he was maybe 13, or 15 i would say at the most; chubby little kid with glasses and carrying a bag of bread. he says, "excuse me, do you know the quickest route to hell?" he totally caught me off guard. i had to think for a second-i thought maybe he asked the name of a street and i misunderstood or something. but i quickly realized no, i heard right. i answered a simple "no" and his response? "oh, cuz it looked like you might." umm whatever that means!??!   my shirt today says "anything war can do, peace can do better" but i find it unlikely that had anything to do with it. i think he was just a little off his rocker. as soon as he said that, i just walked away. weirdo lol

i had no post today, since nothing is going on and i'm writing my paper for tomorrow's class, but since this just happened and i'm a little confused about it, i thought i would share haha


oh, and if you want to vote for me for my little photo montage i did earlier in the week, you can do so HERE! :):) thanks to anyone who does!

rockstar 101..piecings and tattoos...

on friday, my friend came up for the day. well, actually it was thursday night-we had to watch the jersey shore premiere..obvi! anyway, friday we were going to go to the beaches, but the weather wasn't that great and it was kind of overcast..of course, every other day it has been like 40 degrees. anyways, i've wanted another tattoo for some time, and a long time ago, i saw this picture somewhere and that's what i wanted...

sorry, no idea where it came from...

so my friend had decided that she wanted to get the word 'peace' on her wrist. we went down to the tattoo place and they printed it up and she got it..it looks awesome! then i was going to get mine, but they couldn't do it as small as i wanted, because then it would all bleed together..and no one wants that. so i didn't want to make a rash decision there and then and get it bigger than i originally wanted just because i wanted it then. so i walked away. then dylan came up yesterday and i had made up my mind. once i saw it on my friends wrist, it looked smaller than on the paper.

after he got here on sunday, we went back to Yonge St Tattoos. i picked a font and asked them to do it the smallest they could. they were awesome there and super friendly and helpful. they were able to take me about half hour later because it was just a small one.yay! then dylan decided on a whim to get his eyebrow pierced..i've always liked eyebrow piercings on guys ;) so i went off and got mine done..no pain, nothin. oh, and me and the tattoo guy even talked about matthew gray gubler..i know, right! haha he knew of him from his art....moving on! when i came out all bandaged up, dylan was in getting his piercing..i love it!

hey, look; you've got a piercing.

a little shiny due to the vaseline on it...

i luuurve it!

and there you have it.. we are now this much closer to being rockstars (in our own minds) ;)

today is a holiday in canada-land so that means no classes, although i do still have a paper for wednesday to work on.

AND bachelorette finale tonight!! 3 hours of pure entertainment...or a drawn out love affair that could be cut down to an hour and a half...