Long-Distance Dinner Date

My fiance and I couldn’t be together this Valentine’s Day since he’s away for work (only 18 more days until he moves back! -but who’s counting…)

I can hardly wait for him to return, although I must say, we’ve gotten pretty good at long-distance dating.

For Valentine’s day we decided to do dinner and a movie. We ordered each other dinner and had it delivered (I got him pizza, he got me Thai food) Then we both downloaded the same movie and watched it together while on gmail video call.

These kinds of date nights have been so important to keeping us close during this extended time apart. Although it’s great to chat on the phone or send texts and emails, there’s something so comforting about just being together and not having to say anything. You don’t get to have a lot of shared experiences when you are living in different time zones, so a movie night is the perfect thing!

No-Bake Toblerone Cheesecake (aka danger!)

My soon-to-be sister-in-law, Amanda, introduced me to this recipe.  She said she got it off the Kraft website, but it doesn’t appear to be there anymore.

This cake is extremely tasty and easy to make… It’s pretty dangerous!

For my cheesecake-loving-Dad’s birthday, it was the perfect thing!

Here are the directions from Amanda:

What you need:

– 1 1/4 cup of Oreo baking crumbs

– 1/2 cup of butter

– 2 pkg of cream cheese

– 1 cup of peanut butter

– 1 cup of sugar

– 200g of Toblerone (4 mini bars or 2 regular size bars)

– 1 1/2 cups of cool whip (thawed)

Directions: Melt the butter in the microwave and mix the Oreo crumbs with melted butter than press it down in a 9″ spring form pan (I usually use the back of a spoon and push it and smooth it out to the edges- it doesn’t seem like it will be enough but it definitely will cover the entire bottom) Refrigerate crust for at least 10 minutes Beat cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar until well blended Cut half the Toblerone (100g) into small pieces and mix into cream cheese mixture Whisk in 1 cup of cool whip into mixture Spoon mixture over crust and refrigerate for 3 hours Microwave remaining cool whip (1/2 cup) and remaining Toblerone in the microwave for 1 minute and pour over mixture and refrigerate until firm When ready to serve run knife along the edge of the pan to loosen cake and remove the rim.

Then invite people over to eat it with you (so you don’t try to eat the whole thing yourself!)

From Christmas Bells to Wedding Bells

Happy New Year!

Well 2014 has certainly gotten of to an exciting start.  I am filled with gratitude and warm, fuzzy feelings upon my return from our family vacation to Mexico. It was an incredible trip filled with fun and adventure with all of my favorite people.

The trip got of to a pretty spectacular start when my boyfriend proposed to me on the beach on Christmas day. I feel so fortunate to be marrying such a wonderful, loving, kind person.

Looking back on 2013 with so much appreciation and looking forward to all that 2014 has to offer!

Happy Holly-days!

Happy holidays everyone! I’m going to take a holiday hiatus, but I’ll be back with new posts in the New Year!

Custom Manicure Money Card

For my grandmother’s birthday, we treated her to manicure/pedicure.  Her usual spot didn’t have gift cards available, so I created this card:

I wish I’d taken a better photo, but the hand is cutout and stays in place when you open it. I taped the money and hand in place to keep it all together.

I decorated the nails with glitter and used sparkly stickers for the stones on the ring.

Hope this serves as inspiration for the manicure enthusiast on your list!

Getting a Jump on Resolutions: Fitness

With my holiday to Mexico rapidly approaching, I’ve bumped my fitness routine up a notch.  Here are some of the things that are helping me stay motivated at the gym!

I’ve added The Seven Minute Workout to my regular workout routine with the help of this app.

My favorite workout playlist includes Girl Talk, “All Day” and “Feed The Animals” both are mashup albums that will definitely get you moving. Songza also has plenty of playlists that are perfect for working out to, right now I’m loving their 90’s Jock Jams playlist

When it comes to workout wear, Lululemon is my favorite, the quality is amazing and it lasts forever, but Joe Fresh offers lot’s of good stuff for a lot less.

At this time of year all I want to do is hibernate so forcing myself to the gym is a bit of a feat, but knowing that I’ll be in a bathing suit in a week is helping me stay on track!

Irish Coffee

On a trip to San Francisco, a friend told  us that we needed to make a stop at Buena Vista Cafe for their famous Irish Coffee, read about the history of it here

We went, and we were not disappointed by what the handsome, serious, silver mustached bartender whipped us up. Clearly this was a crowd favorite, as just about everyone else there was having the same thing.

We watched the process carefully so we could make it ourselves.  This drink has become a staple at our brunches and is always a crowd-pleaser! The perfect addition to your Christmas morning!

What you need:

Coffee (I like a dark roast)

Irish Whiskey

Sugar Cubes

Whipping Cream

Add 2 sugar cubes, an ounce of whiskey and about 3 ounces of coffee to your glass and stir. Whip cream for about 2.5 minutes, it should just be just starting to firm up, but should still be quite runny. Then pour whipping cream over a spoon to layer it on top of the coffee.

That’s it! It’s delicious and has a nice kick!

Links to Peruse to Cure the Monday Blues: December 16th, 2013

This weekend Toronto got snow -and a lot of it! Everything looks so beautiful and Christmas-y, but it sure is coooold.  With less than 10 days until Christmas the countdown is really on!

Here are some of my favorite links from this past week:

Check out the incredible things this artist does, using snow as his canvas (mymodernmet.com)

The 2013 youtube Rewind -I’m still trying to figure out who most of these people are… (youtube.com)

These historical celebrity look alikes are pretty cool (justsomething.co)

This guide to the movies you missed in 2013 will be handy next time I don’t know what to watch (buzzfeed.com)

How to wrap a cat for Christmas  (pawbonito.com)

The incredible scenes this artist creates in her studio will amaze you (boredpanda.com)

The creepiest things kids said…is also kind of funny…but mostly really creepy (buzzfeed)

A Russian snowboarding crow (youtube.com)

Who knew Kristen Bell had so many awesome tats? (funnyordie.com)

Makeup Mania

Tomorrow I’ve got a photo session to update my actor headshots.  In an effort to save money, rather than hiring a makeup artist, I’ve opted to do my own makeup for the shoot.

I used up all my points at Shoppers Drugmart and picked up some new stuff!

In preparation, I’ve been watching hundreds of minutes worth of youtube videos to perfect my skills. So far I’ve learned that there are a million different makeup brushes and a lot of conflicting information about how things should be done.  I’ve also learned that make up videos are kind of hypnotic.  Here are some of the tutorial videos that proved to be most helpful (and mesmerizing):

For Eye Makeup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPqySxcuSbo

For Natural Makeup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxvmTCVcft0 I love all the pixiwoo videos- they get bonus points for being British and having great accents. But be warned these videos are a bit addictive, so many looks!

A full Makeup Lesson from Bobby Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78QDpdBbLUs

I don’t wear a ton of makeup, but I love to play! lots of experiments ahead.

UPDATE:

Here’s a sneak peek from Saturday’s photo shoot with Denise Grant (who is absolutely lovely by the way!)

Gift Idea: Mega Movie Mix

When it comes to movie snack food there are 3 main food groups: popcorn, chocolate and candy.

The combo of the flavors and textures of popcorn, Peanut M&M’s and Sour Patch Kids is pretty much the best.  If you haven’t tried it, you probably should.

So here’s a gift idea that’s perfect for teachers, neighbors or co-workers, it’s inexpensive, easy to put together and amazingly tasty! The perfect pairing for any Christmas movie marathon.

I mixed up a batch and packaged it up in cellophane bags from the trusty dollar store. Add decorations and a hang tag and voila! The perfect gift to keep on hand!