Catching up and Fitted Sheets

Hey peeps!

I know.  I’ve been seriously MIA lately.  And I owe you several VERY important W-day related posts as well as a Challenge update.  But I’m buying myself another day by addressing a very important issue.

Fitted sheets.

You can thank Shana for this one.  She posted a great list on signs you’re an adult.  I tried to tell her how to fold a fitted sheet since this is something I somehow know how to do and the Sista refuses to learn.  She either puts her sheets right back on her bed, or tricks someone (me) into “showing” her again how to do it. “My brain has better things to remember” is what she claims.  I don’t know what that says about me.

Anyway, I tried to explain it, but decided it really needed pictures. Which means, it should really be its own post.

Here we go, a Twenties Roar How To:

*Note typically I do this all while keeping my left hand in the left corner… but in order to take pictures I had to lay it on the ground.  Proceed in whatever way works for you!

Start by sticking your left hand in the top left corner of the sheet.

Then take the top right corner and turn it inside out. Now tuck it into the top right corner inside the top left corner.

A little blurry - but this is an inside out shot

Almost there!

 

Next take the bottom right corner and KEEPING IT RIGHT SIDE OUT tuck it into the left top corner.

Last big step.  Take the bottom left corner TURN IT INSIDE OUT and tuck it into the top left corner.

Right side. Wrong side. Right side. Wrong side.

You should now have a squarish rectangle with all four corners neatly tucked inside each other.

See all those neat corners all together?

Fold it in half or thirds depending on the size of your sheet

Folded in half

And in thirds again.

A folded fitted sheet.  A thing of beauty!

Tomorrow – invitations.  Promise.

Spreading the Love

Well, since you already got some quality YouTube videos this week – but mostly because today was the day I got fit into the schedule, YouTube Friday is once again pushed aside for more exciting things.

Guest Posting!

The beautiful Vicki over at Crowning Victoria has finally ended her countdown to W-day and is now basking in the sunny south on her honeymoon.  When she asked for help keeping her blog alive and well while she was gone I knew I’d need to ask her to do the same in a couple of months I offered to help no strings attached!

So head on over to Crowning Victoria and you can learn how smooth the Boy is how a certain girl met The Boy!

Happy weekend everyone!

Any Requests?

I’ve been dreading it.  I’ve put it off and put it off. But now we’re getting married in 2 1/2 months, people have started to RSVP.  It has to be done.

The Playlist.

I’ve opened our DJ’s site a number of times.  Looked around.  Felt completely overwhelmed and promptly left.

I’ve had input.  Mainly from Mom who has requested “lot’s of Rod Stewart.”  Hmmm.  Not terribly helpful.  Sista has rediscovered a few favourites which are definitely on the list. Orson – No Tomorrow anyone? I’m lovin’ this song right now!

The Boy only likes one band.  So making him happy is easy enough.

We have our significant songs chosen – first dance, last dance, father/daughter (the Boy hasn’t picked a song for him and his mom and would likely appreciate some help in that department), sister dance – you know the basics.

But here’s the problem.  What are we listening to for the other 7 hours? Now I’ve got some favourites that I’ll have no problem adding.  But in an effort to get more than just Britney, Gaga, and Glee a diverse selection I’m asking you dear readers – What do you love to dance to at weddings? All judgement will be reserved.

Leave a message in the comments – Go.

The Queen and I

It’s getting closer.  We’re under 3 months and W-day is less than 12 weeks away – that’s almost single digits people!

This weekend I spent some time trying to check off some of those things that I could do at the last minute or I could get them done way in advance and seem like a crazy person who is doing things way in advance.  I say try because I really didn’t get very far.  Being uber prepared way in advance (even if 12 weeks doesn’t seem like way in advance) just isn’t in my nature.  Meh.

But one thing that was checked off the list was getting a w-day outfit for my lovely Grandmother.  Nanny, as we call her around these parts, is very excited about the impending day. Based on remarks made here and there for the last 8 years – I’d say she’s been waiting for it likely longer than I have.  She’s the only grandparent I’ve ever known and I’m thrilled that she’ll be able to be there. What’s great for her is I’m pretty sure all 10 of her kids will be making the trek East.  This will be the first time they have all been together since my youngest aunt got married 17 years ago.

The Nanny - isn't she sweet

I just asked her what she’s looking forward to the most about W-day and she said, “Seeing the bride” – so sweet, and “seeing my family.”  I’m pretty sure the other thing ranking high on her list is the Boy and I will be one step closer to bringing her great-grandchildren on the east side of Canada.  (She doesn’t know about the 10 year plan in that department).

Anyway, this weekend Mom and I took her W-day dress shopping.  It was something that was high on Mom’s to do list so off we went.  We headed off to The Bay and pulled about 4 different outfits for her.  She dutifully tried each one on, they looked nice but she clearly wasn’t loving any of them. Then she tried the last one on and we had found “the one.” It was so clearly the one that she suddenly garnered the attention of the entire store. Strangers were coming up to her and telling her how beautiful she looked.

For reals.

I can’t show you what she’s wearing I can only say she looks amazing, and I told her she is surely going to upstage the bride (generally a W-day faux pas but in this case I’ll make an exception).

She’s going to look like the Queen.  After 10 kids, 30 grandkids and 10 great-grandkids I’d say that’s fitting.

Okay, a little teaser.

That's right - we even found her shoes! CHECK!

You Tube Friday – “Not just for gays anymore”

Hands up everyone that loves Neil Patrick Harris?  Have you been loving him as long as I have? From the time you were 7?

Or did your love affair begin with How I Met Your Mother? Do you find yourself loving Barney despite his womanizing ways?

Or maybe you just have a man crush on him.  Seems like a good guy to have a beer with – no?

Well, either way this week’s post is for you.

Last weekend was the Tony Awards.  Even though I love theatre it never occurred to me to watch the Tony Awards.  But I had heard that my BFF NPH was hosting – which I thought would be pretty funny.  Unfortunately there was a Boy watching a hockey game at my house on Sunday, a boy who would never agree to watching any awards show let alone the Tony Awards.  So I checked in on YouTube this week to see what I missed.

Turns out I missed a lot:

I missed the memo that Broadway is not just for gays anymore.

I missed the memo that Daniel Radcliffe can sing and can play other characters than Harry Potter.

I missed handsome man Hugh Jackman throwing down broadway styles with my boyfriend

And he didn’t lose momentum by the end sending us off with his mad ad lib rap skills

So next year, I’m putting the Tony Awards on my list.  Turns out I didn’t know that this awards show is actually exciting and worth watching.  Having watched the many many more videos available on YouTube – the Tony’s showcase performances from all of the current season’s musicals.  Who knew?  Not me.

Raw Food + Delicious = Rawlicious!

Each time my mom and I go to see the Bizios  it tends to be after work and by the time she sees us both we are positively starving.  Since we’re in the city we try to take advantage, and Dr. Bizios always has a suggestion or two.

The last time we were down, we decided to take her up on her top suggestion.  Rawlicious.

This is a tiny little restaurant in the Yorkville area of Toronto.  The claims of its name are all true.  Everything is raw.  Everything is delicious.

Mom and I went in at about 7:30 on a Wednesday evening.  We thought we’d be able to easily get a table.

No dice.

Apparently the Bizios wasn’t kidding! Rawlicious is the place to be!

We had the good fortune of sitting in every area of this teeny tiny restaurant, starting at the wing-back chairs in the front window, to the bar, and finally to a table.

It’s a small menu but packed with intriguing choices – and all Challenge friendly for sure!

I kicked things off with a green juice

And we both enjoyed raw spring rolls – which were good, but the rap was a really weird texture.  If you’re a texture person (brother) these are not for you.  Perhaps go with the nachos that also looked delicious.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture.

For dinner?  Mom ventured out and got raw pasta.  Not traditional pasta of course.  Nope, in this case it was zucchini.  Raw spiraled zucchini.  With “Neat Balls” a combination of nuts and seeds and veggies and mystery, and deliciousness.

I took the advice of The Bizios and went with the Taco.  She’d been right so far – so why fight it?  With salsa and guacamole, some kind of secret sauce and a “neat bread” that you would swear is meat, all wrapped up in a delicious leaf of lettuce.

OMG that’s all I can say.  SOOO good!

We wrapped it all up with a Choco Minty smoothie to go. Very minty and once again very delicious.

All in all I gotta say we both absolutely loved the food at Rawlicious. The service left a little to be desired (it was quite busy), yet somehow it all seemed to be part of the experience – and it was very busy.

Since our first visit I took BFF Kate and the Sista there.  We all had tacos but instead of being wrapped in a lettuce leaf they were wrapped in some kind of dehydrated corn tortilla.  It may have looked sketchy but it did not disappoint – even Kate thought so!

New favourite spot to be enjoyed each time we go to see the Bizios.  Which is only once more for the summer… but she’ll be back.  And so will we.

Beets and Cupcakes

Great news everyone! It’s been 3 years since fate tore Sista and I apart.  She moved to Guelph.  She lived with the brother.  She left me.

But now after 3 long hard years…. SHE’S BACK! Hooray! Sista is moving back to Toronto!!  The Boy is probably a little nervous – will he ever see me now that Sista is closer?

Sista is extra excited that she doesn’t have to read this book – “The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness.”  Hooray for her amazing new job in the T-dot!

Our reunion officially started this weekend and conveniently we sent the boys away for our first visit of the new ‘hood. We met one of Sista’s friends (mine too of course but through Sista, so she gets the cred) down in Riverdale and took a little tour through our her new desired neighbourhood… Leslieville.

Oh I am jealous.  Northern Ontario has nothing on the beautiful up and coming neighbourhoods of Toronto.

Restaurants, Wool Stores and Cupcakes OH MY!

We started our tour with some lovely lunch on back patio at Lil’Baci.  Sista and friend both had the beet and goat cheese salad. It was delish, we all agreed on our love of beets and goat cheese the combination is just delightful.  I had the zucchini soup to warm me up on the drizzly gray day – it too was delish.  Lil’Baci – I’ll give you a Twenties Roar recommends.  I assume it will be in your window or on your website by the next time I’m there. I’ve got clout you know.

Next stop? Wandering down Queen Street East checkin’ out some stores and looking for “For Rent” or Viewit.ca signs. We came across Bobbette & Belle Bakery and had to stop to enjoy quite possibly the most delicious cupcakes I have ever had.

That’s right.  They’re better than Starbucks.  I had Vanilla with Mango buttercream (above).  Sista had Vanilla with Vanilla buttercream. Sista’s friend had Chocolate with Peanut Butter buttercream.  Mmmm buttercream.  So creamy.  So good.

Sista is a good sport about posing with various things for this little blog.  Her friend K came over and asked why we were taking pictures like tourists?

I assumed that meant that K wanted her picture taken too.

We finished off our tour of the ‘hood with a quick trip to The Purple Purl.  K took a card and is considering learning to knit.  I told Sista that if she moves so close to such a fabulous yarn store she needs to learn to knit too… it would be crime against knitting not to.

The final highlights of our tour were all of the other cupcake shops that K took the time to point out to us.  Next time we’re in the ‘hood I vote we take a more active tour and get a taste from each of the 10ish bakeries.  How else can one expect to pick a favourite?

The weekend wasn’t particularly “food challenge” friendly, but it was Sista friendly.  And that’s more important than any W-day deadline.

The Countdown Continues – 3 Months!

This week’s regularly scheduled program has been interrupted to bring you this W-Day special news bulletin:

WE’RE AT THREE MONTHS PEOPLE!

You may recall the lengthy list of to dos we had for this month.  Having just reviewed it myself, I’d say we did pretty well.  No wonder I feel like we’ve been doing so much recently!

What we did this month:

• The Boy turned 30 this month – we happily celebrated our last year, and his last birthday as a singleton
• We had a bunch of conversations with our Priest and in the end decided to change churches.  I now feel much happier avoiding confrontation altogether, but did have an odd experience of cancelling something for the wedding – not something I would like to do more of (the person on the other end of the phone was so worried and sad for me).
• We ordered beautiful dresses for all the maids of awesome.  A miracle dress that somehow looks amazing on everyone.
• We solved the great tux vs. suit debate with an awesome deal and AMAZING suits for all
• I created and ordered invitations.  They’ve arrived.  They’re beautiful.  But you don’t get to see them until they’ve been received by their intended recipients.  For now I’ll give you this tease.

• We picked the Readings for our ceremony.
• We bought everything for the bathroom baskets
• We’ve almost picked all of the music for our ceremony
• We picked a location for our rehearsal dinner but won’t have a date until our Priest can check the new church’s schedule
• Still collecting ideas for centrepieces – and will likely do our warehouse tour in another few weeks
• The Boy called Steamwhistle (his favourite beer) and booked a delivery of kegs

• I got W-Day shoes and the Boy’s W-Day tie!
• Booked my hair trial
• We had our engagement pictures done last weekend, we haven’t seen them yet – so I’ll post once I’ve got evidence of how beautiful they are.  But another sneak peak they involved this beauty:

It’s getting down to details time so here’s what we still need to do:

• Mail the invitations
• Set rehearsal date, book restaurant and invite the peeps
• I’d like as many things done as early as possible which means printing the rest of the stationary items
• Hotel welcome bags
• Make a wine decision
• Another party! Hooray!
• Finalize rentals and choose appetizers
• Shop for wedding bands
• I think I should be able to visit my dress soon!
• Start thinking about thinking about day-of and week-before timelines
• Under the dress shopping
• Shop for W-party thank you gifts
• Order ties for groomsmen
• Finalize ceremony music
• DJ Play and Do Not Playlists

I think there’s more I want done this month… but this is inducing enough panic for one day.

92 Days to go!

Snacks

Snacks is a big problem for me.  The Boy craves chips. I crave sugar.

When I make cookies for the Boy I make a batch and only cook about 10.  I do this for a few reasons:

1. When I have a cookie craving I want about 4 – 2 now and 2 for lunch the next day.
2. The Boy has no restraint when it comes to fresh cookies.  If I make 50 he’ll eat 50.  He’ll feel sick afterward and probably even while he is eating them… but he’ll keep going.  They’re fresh cookies after all – who doesn’t love those.
3. If I only make a few of them and drop out the rest I can in theory make cookies with ease next time.  Only every fourth batch do I need to actually go through the long process of making cookies – all the other times I can just grab 10 cookie balls, stick them in the oven and POOF – delicious cookies without all the work.

This method is great in theory except for one small problem.  Did I mention I crave sugar?  The Boy would tell you I would give him hell for doing this but every once in a while I go into the kitchen looking for… something.  What do I find?  Healthy fruit? No.  Frozen cookie dough ball? Yes. 

Is that gross?  It might be.  But it’s so delicious.

So when I read about these over at Peas and Thank You – I was intrigued, but not quite ready to try them.  With the new food challenge though – I thought now or never and gave them a whirl.

Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls.

They are delicious.  They don’t taste like real cookie dough balls – but they’re still delightful – or pealightful as Mamma Pea would say.

The Boy isn’t a huge fan – and they don’t really help his snack situation since all schools in York Region are nut free. But I think they’re great.  And because they’re so packed full of goodness they’re surprisingly filling.  I did a hot yoga class a couple weeks ago and nearly died and stuck two in a bag for afterward.  Awesome.  Gave me a little pick-me-up on the go.

Now if only I could eat only these – do you think that would count as cleaning up my eating?

Some other great snacks I’m loving lately:

No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Carrot Cake Bites – I added some flax to these and the Boy wants me to try and make them drier – so I’m thinking of trying them again with some ground rice cakes.  These are nut-free which is good for school snacks!

I also have some Raw Chocolate Brownies in my freezer right now.  They are not brownies.  They are more like fudge… that you eat with a spoon.  They are very gooey. But good.  Just not brownies.

And of course having a little Avocado Chocolate Mousse on hand never hurt anyone!

I figure if I can make my snacks healthy healthier that’s always a step in the right direction.

What kind of snacks do you love?

YouTube Friday – Story of Stuff

As you may recall a couple of  weeks ago I told several people “This video is GREAT for this week’s YouTube Friday!”  I told my friend over at A Handmade Story about this video – it seemed to me I had shown it here before, but she’s a diehard and had no idea what I was talking about.  I was going to include it in last week’s videos but it’s quite lengthy.  So I figured it needed it’s own Friday.

It’s the Story of Stuff.  It’s interesting in a disturbing kind of way and makes you think about our consumerism.

What do you think?