Things that made my Week

-Watching baby sparrows grow and gain independence. Around my neighborhood, the sparrows are making babies like crazy (they apparently make families 2-3 times during mating season), and the majority of them it seems come to our backyard for our seed and bits of bread. The babies are crazy cute, just sitting all plump and impatient, waiting for Mom or Dad to feed them. Could waste half the day just watching them!

-A new perfume from Sephora! Grace, by Philosophy. I've always loved its scent; in fact, it's the first perfume I've gotten in a while that I truly love to have on. Folks, I think I've found my signature scent at last :) Another one I really liked was Falling in Love. But another time...

-Dan in Real Life. Saw it for the first time last Friday night, and I thought it was a cute movie. There were a few things I didn't quite like about it (such as the attitude of the two elder daughters), but I overlooked that, and I sort of wish I could get away to a place like that with my family and have that much fun. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic.

-Coming across Halloween and Christmas magazines from Martha Stewart. Which reminds me that it is now only half a year away. What is it about this time in the summer that makes me think of the Christmas season?? Terrible, I know--but deliciously terrible. Heheh.

Now that I've humoured you with a familiar Christmas image, let's move on, shall we?

-An incredible video starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, entitled Smooth Criminal, the song by MJ. It's awesome, awesome, awesome, and the scene fits wonderfully with his music. I could watch it over and over without getting tired of it.

-A NEW DRESS! That's always exciting. Very cute and summery, from Urban Outfitters. Now if only it would warm up a teensy bit more outside...

-Jumanji; I watched it a few nights ago on AMC, and it just brings me back to my lost childhood in the 90s. So does Honey, we Shrunk Ourselves. I now ask you this: what's your favourite 90s movie??

-Introducing the Badass of the Week.

-And finally, a really fantastic crepe I had for lunch one day when I went down to the Market. It had egg, spinach, mushroom and cheddar cheese on it, and it was FABULOUS.

That's all for now, dear readers! Stay well :)

~M.

Photo credits: Myself; Boston.com; The NY Times; Snarkerati; Grace Magazine

“In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.”

~Michael Jackson, 1958-2009

From here

Oh, Canada!

It's that time of year again: the 142 birthday of the wonderfully unique, historical, ever peace-loving, and 2nd largest country in the world. For my fellow Canadian bloggers I wish a very happy celebration day to you! Drink a Timmy's ice cap, eat a beavertail and go watch fireworks, and remember why Canada's so darn amazing. For fellow bloggers who aren't Canadian, that's alright; just think well of us today, and have something maple! But on a slightly more serious note, we should also be taking into account the First Nations peoples that were settled here before the Europeans arrived; they are a significant part of Canada's history also, and have been largely ignored, sadly. This clip is great to watch, and is very informative.

Now I present to you 21 random (but fascinating!) facts about Canada in honour of Her's truly:

1. At 3,855,103 square miles, Canada is the second largest country in the world, behind Russia.

2. More than 50% of all the lakes in the world are in Canada

3. Canada has six time zones

4. The east coast of Canada was settled by Vikings around the year A.D. 1000. Archaeological evidence of a settlement has been found at L'anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland.

5. Canada is a major producer and consumer of cheese. In 1997, Canadians produced 350,000 tons of at least 32 varieties of cheese and ate an average of 23.4 pounds per person, with cheddar being the most popular.

6. Canadian journalist Sandy Gardiner coined the term "Beatlemania".

7. In its history, six flags have been flown over Canada.

8. There is a 75 percent chance that a public road in Canada will be unpaved.

9. North America's earliest undisputed evidence of human activity, 20,000-year-old stone tools and animal bones have been found in caves on the Bluefish River in northern Yukon.

10. Newfoundland was the first part of Canada to be explored by Europeans. Ironically, it was the last area to become a province, in 1949.

11. There are no skunks in Newfoundland.

12. Stretched in a continuous line, Canada's coastline would circle the earth more than six times.

13. Its population density is 8.6 people per square mile, making Canada the ninth-most sparsely populated nation in the world.

14. Four Canadians have been featured on U.S. postage stamps

15. In 1642, a group of religious mystics from France were inspired by a vision to build a missionary city in the Canadian wilderness. Led by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve and an Ursuline nun name Jeanne Mance, they founded Montreal.

16. Canada is known as the home of large animals like the moose and grizzly bear, but it is also home to about 55,000 species of insects and about 11,000 species of mites and spiders.

17. Vancouver Canada is tied with Zurich Switzerland for the highest quality of life of any city in the world.

18. North America's earliest undisputed evidence of human activity, 20,000-year-old stone tools and animal bones have been found in caves on the Bluefish River in northern Yukon.

19. Of all of the world's producers of natural gas, copper, zinc, nickel, aluminum, and gold, Canada is in the top five.

20. Canadians consume more Kraft Dinner (aka Kraft Macaroni & Cheese) per capita than any other nationality on earth

21. Between 1763 and 1867, five constitutions were written for British North America including the Royal Proclamation in 1763, the 1774 Quebec Act, the Constitutional Act of 1791, the Union Act in 1841 and the BNA Act in 1867.

*Facts courtesy of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader of Extraordinary Facts, Random Facts, Canadian Facts and Trivia, CBC Archives

Have a lovely day!

~M.

I wandered Lonely as a Cloud

A lovely poem by William Wordsworth (which I studied this year!): I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed---and gazed---but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

This and that...

This is a fridge magnet I got a while back; not true of course, but it's pretty darn close! I love it.

Well, my week has been average. Spent my time recovering at home from all the walking; I've been catching up with friends, the news of the world, my summer reads... (Really, reeeally want a cappuccino maker now!) And speaking of books, it's almost heeeere!!!

Have been in the market for a skirt lately; I was out this weekend, and I looked around but didn't find anything of interest. Although...

I did come across this dress online from the Gap, which I think is cute. Also am in the market for a new swim suit, which is even more difficult. I'd love to find a retro style bathing suit some place; I just think they're incredibly cute and so wearable!

Like this one!

In movie news, I have to say I am looking forward to seeing Bruno; when Borat came out I didn't have much interest in it, but last week when I saw Sacha Baron Cohen's character parading though at the London premiere, it just made me laugh. And laugh.

With this, he kind of reminds me of a wacked out grown up version of Peter Pan. I think it's the hat.

And if I no longer laughed at that, a clip from Zoolander will usually do it. I try to pepper my conversations with the odd Zoolander quote.... But other movies I am waiting to see this summer are:

-Julie and Julia

-500 Days of Summer

-Paper Heart

-The Time Traveler's Wife

What movies are you looking forward to seeing this summer?

Summer has finally arrived in my neck of the woods! The temperature is up, the sun is out, and the pool's about to be opened sometime this week. Can't wait! Really can't wait, if it's supposed to be roasting, though...

Hope you all had a lovely weekend... And a happy Father's day! My fam and I spent a nice Sunday afternoon at home at had a lovely steak dinner.

To conclude, I shall finish off with a beautiful picture from flickr, entitled "The First Mist of Summer".

Taken by Jimba, the link here

Back from across the pond

After a tedious and tiring eight hour flight, I returned home last night. I missed my dogs and my bed, but I was sorry to leave Italy, for I had a grrreat time all last week! Was with my parents, which was great, depending on the day and my mood (kidding, they were awesome the entire trip). Starting off in Rome, we walked alllll over, seeing everything from the Coliseum, to the Forum, to Vatican City. Somebody once said that Rome was basically an outdoor museum; how true that is. We went to Venice for two days, and it was beautiful! It has got to be one of the loveliest cities out there. If you go to Italy, Venice is a must! After Venice, we went to Florence where we met up with my sister and her bf; had a fun time there too! The food, of course, was amazing: ate lots of thin crust pizza, pasta and gelato. And of course cappuccinos. I said macchiatos in an earlier post, but cappuccinos are much nicer. Unfortunately there was little time to shop because of all the sightseeing, so I wasn't able to pick up nice clothing from big name places. Boo. I did pick up two Vogue Italia magazines, which sort of made up for that. The weather over there was fantastic; sunny and warm! Alrighty, without further ado, here are some my favourite pics that I took.

Now it's back to the real world.... Darn.

~M.  

Holy cow!

(This will have to be brief, I'm afraid)

It's June! Whoa! Almost summertime! Longer days, warmer nights, more sun, and more iced cappuccinos. 

So, I'm no further in my packing for my trip than I was when I made my last post. Tonight I was feeling tired, so I had two cups of tea and now I'm feeling perky and ready to continue my packing. One thing that worries me is packing more than I need to; I'm so used to packing up most of my clothes to take to and from school, which takes up much of my suitcase, but I only need a few tops! Big yikes if I find items that I just may want to bring home. The other day I got myself two brand spanking new pairs of capris', which I love! They are comfy and they look great.

I tried a new ice cream today, from Breyer's called banana cream pie. It wasn't too bad; for a banana flavour it was pretty good, though rather plain except for the graham cracker swirl. I'd prefer some with chocolate flakes in it. And in a sugar cone. However, all of these flavours sound lovely. (Why am I discussing ice cream right now? WHY???)

I also came across a cute clip from Malcom in the Middle, featuring the late great Bea Arthur in it. I never really knew much of her, except for Golden Girls, at least until she passed last month. After viewing/reading up on her, I came to see what an incredible woman she was, and so funny! I wish I knew about her years ago so I could appreciate how wonderful she was when she was alive...

Ok! Back to packing! I may or may not have time to post tomorrow, but if not, enjoy these first few weeks of June, and I'll catch up when I'm back! Ciao!!

~M.