Paul McCartney!!!!

Saw him this past Monday when he came to the Air Canada Centre, and seriously it was the best concert ever. He's such a good performer, and so funny! Ahh, needless to say he won me over with his charm. If he comes back next summer, I'm so on it.

New camera! Huzzah!

First picture taken on it. That's my doggeh, Beau.

I finally got it. It wasn't a Nikon or Canon, but a Sony a330. So far it has served me well; I used my housesitting money for it, a very nice way to treat myself! I've been experimenting with it around the house, taking shots of just about everything. As time goes on, I'll get more adjusted to it--first I have to get used to the SLR lingo...

Looks like this could be one of those pictures on your Windows desktop

Oh Snap!

Hi guys! I was pleasantly surprised when I dropped by Lizzy's blog (after not having done so in awhile) to see I had been tagged. Merci, Lizzy!

The rules:
1.) Get very excited that you won. YAYYYY!
2.) Choose ONE of the following options of accepting the OMB award.
a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight or for as long as you can focus. (I do not condone this one!)
b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
c) Write a "Soundtrack of Your Childhood" post.
d) Make your next blog post a vlog (video post). Basically talk to the camera about whatever you want.
e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning before you do anything else (hair, make-up, etc.) and post it.
3.) Pass the award to at least 3 (or more!) other bloggers, but don't forget to tell them!

I thought it would be fun to do the soundtrack of my childhood. Letters A,B, and E were not an option, mainly because they'd result in something potentially awkward. Then again, awkward is my middle name. (I liked the sound of D, though, but I can't figure out my cam!) Any how, heeere goes:

-Macarena, Los Del Rio

-Bittersweet Symphony, The Verve

-Anything Spice Girls

-I Saw the Sign, Ace of Base

-Together Again, Janet Jackson

-Backstreet's Back, BSB

-Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind

-MMMBop, Hanson

-Hit Me Baby One More Time, Britney Spears

-Mambo No. 5, Lou Bega

-Don't Speak, No Doubt

-Space Jam, Quad City DJs

-No Scrubs, TLC

-Jump Around, House of Pain

Oh gosh, there are so many more I could add here! These songs bring back a lot of nice memories. They are also a testament as to how old I'm feeling right now.

Righto, I now tag... You. Meaning, everyone who comes across this (and hasn't done this yet). This is because my social network isn't that large, (ahaha) and therefore my pickings are slim.

Doo-Wah-Doo

Allo, again; happy summer! I figured it was about time I got back into the swing of blogging, after my month and a half hiatus. The pic above was from a few summers ago, when I was living the life of an Ontario Ranger. I was on... A lake. Ready to embark on a bracing, all-day canoeing adventure into the wilderness! Ahh, good days they were. But this summer, I've stuck around at home. I'm unfortunately jobless this summer, but that's ok, because big things are in store. One particular "big thing" of note is my sister's wedding! I'm telling you, from what new family members and friends I'm going to be introduced to (and the usual gang), it's going to be an excellent night. And morning. Hehe. Also, now that I think of it, I'm not completely jobless. Not if you count a house-sitting/bird-sitting job for a few weeks. I made a new friend in the process; her name's Teeny. And for a small bird, she can certainly make a lot of noise! But she's a darling, and fun to watch when she knocks down her climbing ladder, and swings on her perch. I also make fart noises with my hands to her--while she seems to like them, she can't quite figure them out.

It's been absolutely roasting outside, which means I've been swimming a lot. It also makes for fervent desires for iced cappuccinos. Particularly those from Tim Horton's.

Ok, in other news: I haven't been baking anything as of late. However, since it's summer fruit season I hope to get around to making something with peaches or blueberries. I've had my eye on a peach betty recipe and one for a blueberry buckle. Mmm.

Everybody follow the World Cup?? I personally didn't... I did however keep up with Paul "the Oracle" Octopus (count on me to do that sort of thing). He seems to be a very laid back fellow.

Picture from Kansas City.com

Paul's all like, "I chuz diz box like a gud octopusseh so i can haz moar foodz"

Also, coming up this August in concert news:

KAPOWY.

But not together, unfortunately. Just Sir Paul. Unless Ringo decides to make a surprise appearance. But I'mma supa excited! (picture from here).

And seeing as it is Wednesday, here's something to make it more happy. Aaah, I love it!

Ciao!!

When life hands you Quaker Oats, make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

What started off as 30+ cookies last Friday went down to 3 1/2 by Sunday

If there's one thing better than homemade chocolate chip cookies, it has to be homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Honestly, it beats every store brand oatmeal cookie out there; there's nothing quite like biting into an oatmeal cookie that's soft rather than crunchy, and with a satisfying amount of chippits rather than just a few or none. Rarely do I have them, but for the past few weeks, I've had a fervent desire for some homemade oatmeal goodness. So I skimmed the net and some cookbooks for a half decent recipe, and I settled on an old Hershey recipe, found here. I don't know if it was the best oatmeal cookie recipe out there, but it was pretty darn good, and the cookies turned out really nicely! Not dry at all. I was a bit worried that they would be under or over baked, but neither happened. I would say just time them to how you like your cookies, soft or a bit crunchy--next time I would do mine a minute or so longer, because I found them a bit soft.

*Try not to over bake them! Even though they don't look quite done when the timer goes, they definitely are. Just so long as they look set. Once you take them out, they'll continue baking for a bit, and they'll harden up as they cool.

CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups (325 mL) all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (500 mL) quick-cooking oats (not instant)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt
• 1 package (350 g) CHIPITS® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (2 cups/500 mL)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F (180°C).

2. In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs until creamy.

3. In medium bowl, mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips.

4. Drop from 1 tbsp (15 mL) measure onto lightly greased baking sheet.

5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Conclusion...

Hmm, ok. Can't say I entirely loved the conclusion to Lost. In fact, I kind of wanted to fling something heavy at the tv screen. All I could do was repeat was "nooo! Just nooo!" Then my friend and I had a big discussion about its hits and misses. Yes, generally it was a good episode, and there were some absolutely wonderful moments of the show, and no, it doesn't make me love the show any less. I just did not like the last 15 minutes. I won't reveal any spoilers to those who haven't seen it yet--in fact, don't go just by my opinion. Lots of people out there loved the ending! But it certainly wasn't what I wanted to see, and it just left me feeling dissatisfied.

The End is Nigh

Ahh, it has been a wild ride these past six years watching Lost. I'm amazed that I even stuck around to see every single one, but I'm so glad I did. But I'm pretty sure I knew I would when it first premiered! So in honor of this wonderful, albeit quadruple mindf*** of a show that is concluding tomorrow night (waah), I present to you my favourite moments from the past six seasons (there were many!), and in no particular order.

*On a quick note, none of the images belong to me, they are courtesy of Lost Media.

"NOT EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY JOHN!"

"Have a cluckity-cluck-cluck day, Hugo."