The countdown is on!

Oh gosh. Just a week from today, my trip to Italy with my parents and sister is coming! It's come up so fast, I can't believe it. (I could have sworn it was just October when my dad forwarded me the email confirmation of the hotel booking in Rome.) But I'm so excited-- the last time I went was in grade 12 for a school trip! We'll be visiting Rome, Venice, and Florence all in ten days time. As a result of stalling over the last week, all this week I will be packing, packing, packing. I did get myself a pair of nice sandals the other day, comfortable enough to walk around in for ages. I just hope the tan lines from the straps won't be too severe!

I, of course, can't wait for the food experience; what ever I may be eating over there, I can't fathom just yet. I love looking at the art and beautiful scenery, but I also will love sitting in an outdoor cafe sipping my macchiato and watching the world go by. It sounds corny, but there's nothing nicer than that!

Except for the gelato.

This trip will give me a great opportunity to hone my photography skills; I'll be sure to take some awesome food photography as well, because I have been lax lately. Well, except for this grilled cheese sandwich I made a few weeks ago:

I used cinnamon raisin bread and added sliced apples with (real) cheddar cheese, and it turned out to be pretty darn good. I found the recipe in a magazine a few years ago and scoured the net for it, alas with no luck. But it's easy enough to make solo, and how can one go wrong with grilled cheese?

The weather down here just can't seem to make up its mind as to whether (haha) it should stay warm or go cool! Some days it has been warm enough for shorts and iced drinks; other days it has been cool enough to want to stay in doors and drink tea! Aahh, silly Canadian weather. We've also been getting a lot of rain and thunder showers. The rain sounds lovely and relaxing, but the thunder that is accompanied tends to scare one of my pooches, and he hides in the basement. During the school year when things were getting ridiculously loud in the residence I was living in and needed to work, I put on my head phones and listened to this. It helped considerably! As did this to take me away from the dead of winter/school, and into a tropical paradise.

I took these pics outside of my bedroom window during a sun shower on Thursday, because I loved the colour of the sky.

I was fiddling around with my camera at the same time I took the pics further up, and these came out! How fascinating and mysterious. I believe I had my camera set to manual when I took these....

Before I sign off, I have to show this. Some of you may have seen this commercial on television waaaaaay back in the day.... But at long last IT HAS COME ON YOUTUBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alrighty, take care now!

~M.

(and guard that sandwich with your life!)

The Station

I was going through my old school notes yesterday, and I found this writing by Robert J. Hastings that my gr. 12 writer's craft teacher had given our class for inspiration. Some of the pictures are my own and some aren't (though that may be obvious). Having said that, when you're finished reading this, get outside and live, live, live!!

TUCKED AWAY in our subconscious minds is an idyllic vision in which we see ourselves on a long journey that spans an entire continent. We're traveling by train and, from the windows, we drink in the passing scenes of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at crossings, of cattle grazing in distant pastures, of smoke pouring from power plants, of row upon row upon row of cotton and corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our conscious minds is our final destination--for at a certain hour and on a given day, our train will finally pull into the Station with bells ringing, flags waving, and bands playing. And once that day comes, so many wonderful dreams will come true. So restlessly, we pace the aisles and count the miles, peering ahead, waiting, waiting, waiting for the Station.

"Yes, when we reach the Station, that will be it!" we promise ourselves. "When we're eighteen. . . win that promotion. . . put the last kid through college. . . buy that 450SL Mercedes-Benz. . . have a nest egg for retirement!" From that day on we will all live happily ever after.

Sooner or later, however, we must realize there is no Station in this life, no one earthly place to arrive at once and for all. The journey is the joy.

The Station is an illusion--it constantly outdistances us. Yesterday's a memory, tomorrow's a dream. Yesterday belongs to a history, tomorrow belongs to God. Yesterday's a fading sunset, tomorrow's a faint sunrise.

Only today is there light enough to love and live.

So, gently close the door on yesterday and throw the key away. It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad, but rather regret over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who would rob us of today. "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24, "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Taken by Mattie Gunterman

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, swim more rivers, climb more mountains, kiss more babies, count more stars. Laugh more and cry

Taken by Noelli on flickr

less. Go barefoot oftener. Eat more ice cream. Ride more merry-go-rounds. Watch more sunsets. Life must be lived as we go along.

Taken from Virtual New Zealand

The Station will come soon enough.

Sights, Sounds and Spottings

Back in March or so when I took a trip to the mall, I wandered into this store called Teatro Verde; a really cute little place full of all sorts of things for home decor; if I didn't already have enough stuff in my room, I would have brought home so much! (Thank heavens I have a room at school to do that.) I did end up getting this handy(what an oxymoron) door stopper, which I love having.

The brand that makes it, known as Fred and Friends, is so neat! I love browsing on their site every so often, for there's always something interesting and possibly useful to find. Such as today when I came across this, and thought how I would love to use with my toast in the mornings. Kitschy, I know, but Frenchy never the less.

Usually every Monday, I get these emails from something called Sweet Spot.ca, in which they have a list of the sweetest items they have found. In their most recent email, they listed this absolutely gorgeous Betsey Johnson Evening Tea Party Dress, and needless to say I fell in love with it upon first sight (and wept at the price). No doubt you may also. I also really liked this bag that was listed from Anthropology. So nice!

I've seen this clip probably a gazillion times, but it makes me incredibly happy every time I see it! It was something for the How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? auditions in Belgium. How I would love to take part in something like that!!

As I was browsing around online today, I found new pics from the up and coming movie The Lovely Bones, directed by the one and only Peter Jackson.

All pics from bad taste.it

Looking good.....

from Tribute.ca

Speaking of movies, I saw The Reader last weekend; it was a very good movie, and I can see why Kate Winslet won the Academy Award! I also give kudos to the other actors who took part in the film, because they were equally fantastic. It's a rather sad movie, but it is also one of those movies that make you think, and question moral obligations. It's also quite different from what you expect, which is what makes it interesting. If you were in Hannah Schmidtz' (Winslet's character) position, would you have done the same thing she had in the trial?

What Freaked my Freak this week (in a good way)

 Just last weekend, my parents and I drove down to Kitchener (ON) the visit my Grandmother for an early Mother's Day visit and take her out to lunch. We ate at this snazzy restaurant called Wildcraft, and oooohhh myyy goodness, it was wonderful! I unfortunately forgot to take my camera with me, so you'll have to rely on your imaginations for this one. They serve the most phenomenal casear salads ever; the best I've had so far in  a restaurant. I liked that the dressing was really light, and not overpowering, and the bits of parmesan cheese in it. And there were capers, which I have never tried before, but they turned out to be very good in the salad. For the main course, I had the "fish and frites", which I enjoyed. The presentation was impressive: three skewered fish sticks in a tempura batter, coming with tartar sauce, a lemon wedge and coleslaw in separate sections on the plate; a bowl of fries came on the side, but I found they were a bit too much (though they were delicious!). Now, the dessert knocked my socks off: we ordered a dessert plate to go around, consisting of a pastry cheese cake, a chocolate peanut butter cake, and a cappuccino flavoured creme brûlée. I had the latter dessert, while my parents and Grandmother had the rest; words can't even begin to describe how phenomenal it was!!!!! I was so sad I wasn't able to eat all of it because I was so full. It wasn't your average creme brûlée at all; it wasn't exactly custardy, but more of a blancmange texture. It was definitely my fav part of the meal. My Grandma seemed to really like this place too. If you ever happen to be in this area, I highly recommend this restaurant! 

Alrighty, having already gushed over that, time to gush over another favourite topic of mine... LOST!!!!

Is there

anyone left out there who still is as faithfully devoted to it as I still am?? One by one, all my friends who were watching it have given up, and all I can do is shake my head. Kind of sad for me, because I have no one to share my awe and dumbfoundedness with! (For instance, wtf is up with Richard who doesn't seem to age?) Either way, I'm super pumped for next week's season finale; if there are still Losties out there, I'll be with you at the couch with the popcorn and m&ms!

Oh, and on a final note, this is supposed to be the end result of a cake recipe that can be cooked in the microwave. That's right. It's an easy recipe to make, but apparently I over baked it (ho-hum). I got the recipe from my aunt:

4 tablespoons  flour 

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons  cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons  milk

3 tablespoons oil 

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug (Micro Safe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.  Add the egg and mix thoroughly.

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT!  (This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

If you make this one day, let me know how it turns out!  Have fun....