she didn't put out, though

guess for how long I generally hit the snooze button?
an hour!
I always have such good intentions for the mornings or even early afternoons and then I just snooze-button through them.
it's not the worst. I am not the worst these days. I'm still getting things done. A lot of work this weekend and a lot a lot of the best kind of socializing.




I'm better at having fun these days. I keep thinking I was always good at having fun but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.
Partially now it's because I have systematically friended all of the most wonderful people in the universe to be my bffs and hang out with me.
These days I can generally find someone I quite, quite like to accompany me to shows I want to go to or hang out with me until 4 a.m. or have coffee in the middle of the afternoon with me.
this is a big contribution to my overall well-being and general happiness these days.
Also, possibly a factor, is my continued commitment to being in charge of my own fun, and my constant resolutions to avoid unnecessary stress. I'm not the boss of these yet, but hopefully some day.
And with that I hope to (somehow) marry being a good worker with being the happiest.
It's all in the works (by 50 I will have figured it out, maybe... but, hey, nothing really actually matters, so that's alright!).




The other night I came home after a long shift and told Norman that I'd probably stay in for the evening. Of course that meant that he came over and we stayed up until something like 4 or 4:30 drinking whiskey and talking about love and art. We were joined by Yulie and her bf and even by our other bud around 3 in the morning.




Norman and I curled up under the Christmas duvet on the couch and reveled in our heart-breaks and our big future plans, and mulled over our current life situations.
Kind of a perfect way to spend an evening.
even the sadnesses sometimes are lovely if you can detach enough to get perspective. Sadness is reassuring because it can be proof of good-hearts and investment in things.





Last night Flash Gordon took me out on the town for a big date to celebrate my birthday and Christmas!



She knows about my current interest in dates and how I never go on them and took the opportunity to take me out on the town and show me a good time!


She got me flowers and gifts! whatthehell! the gifts were the best because they were re-gifts and found things which makes me so much less uncomfortable! Plus they were awesome.

Also, this may be obvious already but it can't hurt to tell you again, I love Flash Gordon.
Haaaa, we went to comedy bar on Sunday and in the bathroom I asked her about if she loves me. She does.
It's funny how some friendships are quick and strong right away and some sneak up on you until you turn around and realize that you're accidentally the best at being friends.
Flash Gordon and I worked together at the stadiums for years now and did a Fringe play that she wrote maybe three summers ago (four? two?) and even after that it took us quite awhile to realize how we should spend more time together.
I think it started when we started going for sushi after work together. So it was nice that we did that again for our special date!




sushi dinner and white wine!

hhaaahaa. so fun. I felt awkward about it being our big date. that's my classic move, feeling awkward on dates.



We went to see Hugo in 3D after dinner. I'd never been to a 3D movie before! I like Hugo well enough. I wasn't blown away by it, but it was nice. 3D is weird. I got a little bored of it after awhile, I found it harder to concentrate on the story because the 3D was distracting me.


on our way out I told Flash Gordon that she wasn't being a good date because she wasn't spooning me on the escalators down like the other couple there, so she happily obliged.


hahaha :) awwww
Flash Gordon and I think each other are the funniest and we fall over laughing at our own selves mostly every few minutes. THAT IS THE ULTIMATE FUN.

We thought about kissing at the end of the date, but... I'm a lady, so...

what a lucky lady I am most days these days, guys.

Aw man, nothing like counting your blessings and thinking about how much you love your friends to get you in a good mood. Now I feel fantastic.

Gotta get to crafting and then shopping and then working tonight!
So, so much to do and it's about to get crrrrazy busy for here on in!

Friday night is my birthday Christmas get-together, Sophiyka and Mike's Christmas party is Saturday and then I'm hosting the Christmas edition of Mixtape Club on Sunday and then I work Monday and then home on Tuesday. JESUS! yikes! wonderful!
so much to do!

I want to see everyone before I go, and I want to see everyone in Saskatoon so bad!
it's finally starting to feel like the holidays!
it comes so slow and goes too fast!

christmas stockings 2010

You know what I just realized?
I forgot to blog about Christmas, really.
I'm bad at getting around to things. I haven't blogged two Christmases ago, either. Or my roadtrip with my mother last summer. Lots of things, really!

Okay today I'm just going to do Christmas stockings! Too many photos to get through.

This was the first year EVER that for first thing Christmas morning at my mum's house for stockings there was anyone besides me, mum, E, and my aunt Vagabond (aahaahaaahahaha I was about to shorten that to vag then realized probably not).
Anyhow, my brother's GF came and it ended up being nice, but I was still a little hesitant about the whole idea of a somewhat-stranger (to me) being at my favourite moment of the year. Am I selfish cow? Yes.

Anyhow, the addiction of an extra person meant not having Christmas in my mother's bed as we normally do (it's surrounded on 3.5 sides by walls so it's ideal for cuddling on to eat chocolate and drink tea and throw wrapping paper in the air).
So we dragged all our blankets into the living room (which is insanely cozy, anyway) and cuddled up there.


I think next year we're going to have to have an actual limit on how many gifts per stocking. It's sooo easy to go overboard, especially when you're shopping over a couple of months for small things.
Man, did we all get stuff. So many things!

See what I mean? I promise you that my mother and Vagabond's stockings are under there somewhere. But where?


My pile! I was brought to my mother in that red stocking on Christmas morning when I was one day old. Did anything that adorable ever happen to you?
Didn't think so.


My stocking, E's, his gf's. E's stocking is a baby-bundler that he received as an infant. It unlaces to allow for extra gift-storage. Also, very beautiful. I wish I had one.
Haaaa I am never content with what I have, always jealous of everyone else. Aren't we all?


Awww my bro and his gf. They were pretty cute in their new Christmas PJs and her Christmas socks.


We made a bit of a mess. Also, notice the pile of presents behind Mum on the shelf. That was only the tip of the iceberg.


Soooooo many nice things!

We always do stockings and then showers/getting ready and go over to my cousin's house for Christmas Brunch (the crowning jewel of our festivities) and gift exchange. I'll do photos from that soon I hope.


I wear my "it's my birthday" necklace pretty much for all of December.
Did I consider wearing it the other day to a birthday party of a bunch of people I didn't know? Obviously.


I think these photos are from when I wasn't feeling well on my birthday. Or Christmas night? That sucked.

Okaokaokaayaoakokay some of the gifts.


I was into the white and brown paper, stamps, and raffia, obviously. so darling.


sssssssiiiiiiigggggggggggghhhhhhhh



I'm not leaving the house today, I don't think. I need that. I'm about to be working all the time. Okay, maybe not allll the time, but way more than I have been. And I show no signs of losing interest in partying.

So many funtimes lately and so many good jokes. Also, I had my favourite kind of Blizzard last night and now that's all I want more of. Mint Smartie Skor. special order because I'm a pain like that. A pain with excellent taste in caaaaaandy.



How the hell did I not end up with that blue bag? So delicate and wondrous. Want Want Want.

I am for sure naming my kid Wondrous. WONDROUS CHEESBROUGH.

perfect.

happy happy valentines all of you i love you

I have no good reason for not updating!
Except for being beyond social, I guess. yeah been going out too much. In a fun way!



Happy Valentines Day!

Especially to Killary my long-term #1 best Valentine, the best Valentine anyone could wish for. I wish I were in Saskatoon so I could take her out instead of her having to spend time with her darling baby and husband, but I can't be...


 
Thanks for the flowers! Also for the other Valentines I've received I love everyone so much. I will blog them right away too. eeeee so lucky. 


yep. classic.

Gotta go work Bon Jovi now, hopefully he sings directly into my heart for once.

does anyone have an apron to cover my apron while i eat? I don't want to get it dirty

Christmas martini!

also, Christmas apron.

Which my cousin made herself for me. Amaaaazed. So beautiful. I think it might be the most beautiful fabric I've ever seen. Maybe. Can I wear this out and about?
Can I please have my own house and family now and wear this around all day?

All I want to do is eat and eat and eat. Everyone else is in the same boat, yeah? I'm not even hungry! It's just that there is way too much delicious food around. Ridiculous amounts of delicious foods!

Yesterday I made my birthday supper (tacos!) and I made my birthday cupcakes. I don't mind cooking too much. And actually it kind of soothed my terrible achingly-bad mood yesterday afternoon to putter around in the kitchen. But especially because it all worked out. If it hadn't then I might have had a real melt down.



Today has been fantastic so far. And we're done now with all the heavy stuff (not quite for my mum since she's preparing dinner). Breakfast is our big crowning jewel of the festivities. And it was all it should be. Along with the regular (but still amazing) eggs and potatoes, we had the (gluten-free!) crepes with gingerbread cheesecake stuff and poached pears my cousin made! Jeeeezus!
So lucky!

Along with the apron I got mostly a tonne of plates and dishes and each one is so wonderful. Good life, this one.


Okay you wanna know about these flourless chocolate cupcakes with maple creamcheese insides that I made for my birthday last night? (I know my cousin does so I thought I'd just post it here for everyone.)

I took a few different recipes and sort of combined them. I'm not the best baker for that exact reason -- that I have difficulty following recipes and sticking to things, luckily these turned out soooo good.
You know how eating gluten-free is all about trying to find things that are almost as good as their glutenful counterparts? Well these cupcakes were some of the best cupcakes I've ever had!

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES (WITH MAPLE CREAM CHEESE):
8 (1 oz) squares of semi-sweet chocolate
(you could do half of the squares of chocolate with 1/2 cup cocoa)
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

okay so I didn't have a double-boiler so I heated the chocolate squares and the butter in a pyrex over top (not touching the water but resting on the saucepan) of boiling water until they melted.
While that was going on I beat the eggs a lot with an electric beater. Then I beat the sugar and vanilla in. I may have used more vanilla than that.

In another bowl I combined
1 package cream cheese (warmed slightly to mix easier
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup (I would use more next time or possibly maple flavouring, you could also do some pumpkin or gingerbread type mix that'd be so good)
1/3 cup sugar

Then when the butter and chocolate were all melted and mixed I poured them into the rest of the cake ingredients and mixed it lightly.
Then poured it into the cupcake wrappers in the tins (it's very runny so don't be worried). Then I dropped spoonfuls of (the also very runny) creamcheese mixture into the centre of the cupcakes.

I baked the cupcakes at 300 degrees for half an hour. Except I forgot about the second batch and they were in there for probably 40 min at least and it didn't do them any harm at all.

If you were to make a cake with this recipe it's suggested to grease the tin and then flour it with cocoa powder. Apparently this amount is good for one 8-inch round cake (without the creamcheese bit -- that's the part I completely made up) but I would suggest making it in a bigger pan and spreading it out very thin. I would also suggest making mini cupcakes. The crunchy bits around the top edges of the cupcakes were everyone's favourites, that's why. These cupcakes are very soft and squishy and a bit more like pudding than cupcakes but I like fudgey brownie-type cakes way better anyway, so it's perfect for me!

Ugh so good. Now I wish I weren't so full so I could eat another.



Anyway, Christmas has been delightful thus far and I'm exceedingly pleased about today, etc. And I'm also pretty exhausted. Maybe I will have a little lie-down before dinner. Mum's making veggie pot pies and a big salad!
eeeeeee! christmas!

I hope you're having a lovely lovely lovely little time wherever you are and also that your family leaves you alone for awhile like mine does because man, so many people get overwhelming after awhile!

vacation day 2, things are looking lazy

the drive in from the airport.

someone drove into that sign a bit and then just kept going, according to the track-marks.
also, if you look closely you can see the snowflake I have in my iphone case these days. one of my favourite things.


thank god someone around here has a tree! this is at my cousin's house. Our family does not do tacky Christmas. I understand that in some households it is tradition to throw everything on the tree and celebrate the children's achievements by putting their macaroni ornaments front and centre. But that is not how we roll.
And I like it that way.
Christmastime should be one of the most beautiful times of the year, I don't know why everyone is always trying to wreck it. So much opportunity for tasteful decoration, why waste it?


My mother has not got a tree for our house yet. Maybe my aunt and I will go tomorrow? I'm ready for one!
I'm going to hang a bough or two in my room.


my cousin and I both wore our Christmas socks!


This is St. King George (whoa, I totally wrote the wrong name a few hours ago and then realized later that it's definitely King George not St. George. I guess living away for 7 years will do that to ya), it's the elementary school right around the corner from our house. I didn't go there because I went to French Immersion (hoity toity). And because I have a fear of castles.
Just kidding I wish that was my giant house so bad.



The "Is It Christmas?" app has started notifying me even though I never even asked! Buzzkill.


This is the view from the kitchen window.
Pretty nice, you gotta admit.

The house beside my cousin's is for sale and I think they should buy it for me for my birthday. That'd be so fun!


tonight I'm going to an art party with my ex-boyfriend from when I was 17. That's how Saskatoon is (for me). I'd kind of like to go to another art party (what's with all the art, ya beatniks?) but it depends on what JM is saying since I agreed to go with him weeeeks ago.

KZ asked in the comments recently what kind of camera I use and I keep forgetting to respond.
I'm still just using my iphone camera. The camera on the 4 is totally decent (5mp I think?) and it's true what they say about how the best camera is the one you have with you.
I haven't used my 10mp point-and-shoot in months nor have I brought out my rebel basically at all.

Also, I'm in love with the editing programs available right in the phone and how I can upload straight to flickr instead of digging out my cable and putting them on the computer first.
I've been using TiltShiftGen the most and Plastic Bullet and even Filter FX for the basic vintage look. And a bit of Hipstamatic, of course.
These are obvi not quality photos, but for what I need them for, I'm happy.