Sometimes Coffee Is All I Need

...McDonald's coffee that is.

If I had my way, I would start each and every day with a cup of this delicious drink. Sadly, my bank account and lifestyle just can't handle it. I tend to drink either white or green tea in my travel mug every morning at work, and every afternoon at work. On the weekends, I treat myself to some coffee at home when I wake up, but that's it. I've loved McDonald's coffee for the past few years now - since they changed their brew - but only seem to get it on special occasions.

I kind of had a bad day yesterday, mostly for hormonal/emotional reasons, and went to bed thinking to myself - I need to cheer up! And what better way to do that, but to leave a little early for work and go treat myself to a McDonald's coffee.

That's exactly what I did this morning. The moment I left my house this morning I felt just.. happier! I felt completely out of place marching into Walmart (where the closest McD's is) all dressed up in my 3 inch heels and work attire, while people were literally shopping in their pyjamas!!! SERIOUSLY!! But that didn't matter. I had my coffee.

I'm nursing this cup now, wishing I got an XL instead of a M... but at least i got some, right?

I am now in a happy state of mind and am looking forward to powering through this day.

Happy groundhog day everyone!!! (yes... they saw their shadows.. but can we really complain? this winter has been pretty rockin so far!)

Dear John

I'm not going to lie, I am a complete sucker when it comes to romance movies/stories. The older I get, the more they just pull me in and consume me. I can't help it.

Last week, when watching one of my usual shows, probably The Biggest Loser or something, I had the pleasure of seeing a short trailer for the movie "Dear John". From the very moment, the trailer began, I knew it was a movie I would have to see. I couldn't wait for the movie though to know more about the story and found myself without even realizing it, quickly going to amazon to see if there was a book, and to my luck - there was/is! At least I know that I'm not the only crazy woman out there as within a day, amazon's stock had been depleted and their website stated there would be a 1-2 week delivery. I couldn't wait that long, so Saturday I made a point to go to my local Chapters with hopes that they would have a copy left for me. I was in luck!

I got home around 4:30 Saturday afternoon and immediately found myself curling up on the couch with my new book. Even though I was currently part way through "The Girls", I just couldn't wait and had to start reading "Dear John" right then and there. I honestly only put the book down to eat and sleep, and then to do my barn work Sunday morning. Last night in bed, with a tear in my eye, I finished "Dear John". I read the book basically in a day and loved every single word, on every single page.

I warned C last night that I'm going to have to go and see this movie when it gets to the theaters. He said that he would take me. I have the best bf ever!

I Think I Almost Just Passed Out

So, I just received an email from my all-time favourite band, Our Lady Peace, containing the following set of teaser vids...




This spring, OLP are embarking on a historic tour where they will play two of their most epic albums, "Clumsy" and "Spiritual Machines", in their entirety during 2 nights. I am lucky enough to hold a pair of tickets to their "Clumsy" show on March 12 and honestly am bursting with excitement! Now that these teasers have been released, I can't contain this excitement any longer!!!

To make things even better... also the reason I almost passed out, I just heard an interview with OLP front man, Raine Maida, saying that there's a very good chance that 2010 will be another year of new music! Not only are OLP working on releasing another album this year (hasn't even been a year since their last new one!! excited!!!!!!), BUT... Raine is also planning on releasing another solo album this year!!!

Phew! I need to take a little breath here!! Someone pinch me!!

The Magical Moulin Rouge

Umm excuse me? Where has this movie been all my life?????

I don't know why, but before last Friday, I had actually never seen this movie before. Me! The one who absolutely loves musicals! Musical shows, theater, movies! I honestly can't say why I never watched it before, but oh my am I ever glad I did! It's never too late, right?

Moulin Rouge has always held a place high up on C's favourite movie list and we've talked about watching it before, but never really found the time to actually put it in. Last Friday we were both tired from a long week and decided it was the perfect time to snuggle up and put this movie in. Knowing my love for musicals, C figured I would love it and boy did I ever!!!

I remember him telling me as the movie started that the first 15 minutes or so could be weird and it seems to throw a lot of people off from the entire movie. I think I almost completely blanked him out at that point because the moment the movie began I was hook! I didn't want it to end! The music! The sounds! The colours! The scenery! The VOICES!!! Wow! I honestly never realized how good Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGreggor's voices are!

I have this odd little knack when it comes to hearing/seeing new albums/movies that I absolutely love. The love kind of turns into a mild obsession for a few weeks. I don't know why, and I can't explain it, but it happens every time. Moulin Rouge was brought into my life last Friday and I have not been able to stop listening to my favourite songs on the soundtracks over, and over, and over! (thankfully C has both soundtracks as well) I have even asked C to bring the movie over to my place tonight so I can watch it again this weekend. I am in love!

...so do you think I'm crazy yet???

Thinking Positive and Moving On

I am back and my mind is racing with ideas!

Some of you might have noticed that I had gone on a little hiatus from this blog over the past couple of weeks. There has been some personal issues that I had to deal with which I just didn't really feel like broadcasting on here. Through the help of some great friends, I have worked through my issues and am now thinking much clearer and trying to promise myself to look towards the positive in all situations! Life's too short to be down on yourself right?

Along with these personal issues, I've been having trouble figuring out where this blog should lead in 2010 considering my new goals and aspirations. I don't want to lose readership by any means, however I don't think I should ever be struggling about what I should be writing about - all while thinking if readers would like it. I had promised myself when I started this blog that I would just write about whatever I felt like at any given day. No pressure. So this year, expect to see many more pictures of cupcakes, posts about etsy, and really anything else I can think of. ;)

Now that I am in a more positive frame of mind, I have decided that it is the perfect time for me to start moving forward and acting on all of my ideas that I have for my potential Etsy store.

...I also just realized, that I've mentioned Etsy a few times here without explaining it. And maybe not everyone knows what Etsy is. So for those of you who are finding yourself stuck with this look of confusion on your face, Etsy is an online world where people buy and sell all things homemade. If you've never ventured over, I definitely recommend it.

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes. Positive thinking and moving forward with an Etsy store! I've been wanting to open up my own store for a while now and ideas have been flowing constantly. I just haven't really gotten myself to the point where I was ready to start acting on these ideas and getting things done! I mean, I didn't want to open it up and only have 1 or 2 items to sell. I wanted the unveiling to be amazing with several different lines of things to sell! After some thinking though, I realized that some times my ideas are a little too large for this particular point in time. I'm certainly not abandoning my ultimate goal AT ALL. On the contrary!

I have decided that this weekend, I am going to work on beginning to attain this ultimate goal. I've got to start somewhere right? So why not start small? I've begun to make ceramic coasters which I think are pretty darn cute! They're stylish, and they'd make an amazing gift for someone! I considered posting pictures, but I want the Etsy store to be a surprise for everyone. I'm pretty proud of what I've accomplished so far, and don't want to share it until I know it's 100% ready. So, if all goes as planned, I should hopefully have several sets finished on the weekend and get this thing started!

Only have one tiny issue that I'm trying to work out right now.... I need a name for my store! I'm so bad at choosing names for things! You'd have no idea how long it took me to even think of "Tidbits From My Mind". Do any of you have suggestions??? I'm 100% serious here!

From My Kitchen

The latest cupcake creation to come out of my lovely little kitchen. My icing skills are slowly improving each time!

Chocolate with key lime frosting

I Can Always Dream .. Right?

It's the dead of winter, everyone around me is either already away on vacation, or is going to be leaving very soon. Everyone but me. I was crazy enough to buy a house at 23 allowing me to never have enough money to ever go on any sort of actual vacation. I've never actually been anywhere during my 26 years aside from going to Disney World twice as a kid, and LA once when I was 16. I've lived a pretty sheltered life in that aspect, but boy do I have dreams.

As much as I would love to vacation in a warm sunny spot during the winter, like many Canadians do, I would pass up that opportunity in a heart beat if it meant I could save for my dream vacation.

If I had the choice to go absolutely anywhere in the whole world, my choice would be Rome.

To those of you who are new readers to this blog and might not know, I received my Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Classical Studies -- which in basic terms is Greek and Roman art/architecture/literature/history. Although everything about ancient Greek history is amazing, I really found myself drawn towards everything Roman during my 4 years of university.

Absolutely everything about Ancient Roman history interested me and within my last 2 years of school, I found myself completely immersed in that world all while day dreaming about the moment when I would actually be able to physically immerse myself into everything Roman. I honestly am having trouble putting my feelings for Rome into words to write this blog post. The ancient Roman people were a brilliant group of artists/engineers/architects. It still completely blows my mind that so many of the structures such as buildings, aqueducts, arches, etc. are still standing over 2000 years later! You can't even find more recently built structures standing even close to that long. The Romans were geniuses in their own rights and should always be recognized for that.

After my first class in Ancient Roman Art and Architecture, I knew that I had to go to Rome. I have been dreaming about that vacation ever since and to this day, it still remains my number one MUST-GO-TO place. I constantly find myself dreaming of the moment where I can plant my feet within to Roman Forum. Standing on ground that was once walked on by the likes of Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Augustus! Wow! I must sound like a HUGE nerd in this post, but the passion I have for this is intense! I remember when I was writing my thesis on Augustus' role in Roman art and architecture, I made a pact to myself that I would one day visit every landmark that I learned about and wrote about. It will absolutely make my life to be able to see everything built be the Ancient Romans in person. It would be incredible to actually get a true sense of the sheer size of everything, but most importantly to walk on the same streets as so many great people.

One day I shall go to Rome!

So now I pose a question to you all, I'd love to hear your answers!

If you could go absolutely anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?