Recycling with style

This weekend cannot come soon enough! I am making my very first trip to an antique show and I could not be any more more excited! With my newly found hobby of constantly searching for house accessories and scouring second hand stores of used furniture that is in need of some TLC (did I tell you about my fantastic coffee table for $7.99?), I think I am ready to take on the mother load.

On Saturday, I, along with my boyfriend who I'm sure would rather be doing anything BUT this, will embark on a short road trip to Dundas, ON for the Christie Antique Show. I'm in search of the perfect china cabinet for my dining room that I can lovingly sand and refinish. After reading last year's article on the twice-annual Christie Antique Show in Style at Home Magazine I am so stoked about starting my own makeover madness of marvelous finds. The article describes the Show as "a mind-blowing 10 acres of vintage goods from more than 300 dealers." Could there be anything better to do on a Saturday??

Stay tuned for the before and afters. I'm bringing my piggy bank!

Why I wish Arren Williams would come over and visit

For the past couple of months (and by couple, I mean since December), I have been trying to get my house into a livable state. We moved in at the end of December, and immediately started painting every possible wall in the house. We ripped out the carpets, sanded, stained and varnished the floors. Now comes the time to start adding the finishing touches and making the place 'ours.'

It has been quite along process as we both work full time and can only really give'r on weekends. And not every weekend feels like it should be a work weekend, so we often take breaks and decide to watch the Real Housewives of Orange County marathons instead. And by 'we', I mean 'me.'

I'm not very familiar with interior design rules. I do read style and decor blogs religiously and of course I have a subscription to Style at Home, but this fine art is much harder than one would think. The rooms in my house are all different colours... I have an array of warm and... well, cool shades covering every inch of every room. Do they compliment each other? I doubt it. But I think they look good and it makes me feel good to look at them. The colours were incredibly difficult to choose, but now that the painting is almost complete, I'm not changing them.

Furniture, however, is a whole other story. I have been in search of the perfect hallway table, a place where I can throw my keys, the mail and piles of flyers we seem to get every single day. I found the most perfect one, along with three other tables that I thought would fit my hallway perfectly. I narrowed it down to two -one was a chocolate brown little guy, with a drawer and the second one was an iron-looking table with a wood and glass top, that came in a set with two lamps and a mirror. Although the chocolate brown table matched perfectly with the living room furniture, it seemed to get lost in our hallway. The iron table gave the hall a lot of character, but I was afraid it wouldn't match with the floor tiles. I ended up buying both, leaving it up to the man of the house to decide which one we should keep. He chose the set. A wise choice indeed.

It is unreal the things you have to consider when decorating a place. I'm always influenced by the ease of it as shown on HGTV, I get excited and come up with all these ideas, but when it comes down to it, I can't match two solid colours together and make them look good. I envy Arren Williams, Karl Lohnes and others gifted with the incredible taste for interior design. Why is there no 'interior decorating for dummies'?

Why junk food is really, really good for you

We've all been through this. Wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed. Only to do it all again the next day. Work is so hectic that the week feels like one extremely long day. Then it comes. The God-sent Friday. You leave the office at about six or seven in the evening, excited to start the weekend.

At work, every one wants a piece of you. So much to do, so little time, that eventually you find yourself dreaming about what you have to do the next day at the office.

Some people go to the gym to blow off steam (crazies), some people shop... Me, I like to do nothing. On a Friday night, I like to crack open a can of Steamwhistle and read through my Friday edition of the Mississauga News.

Do I want to cook dinner? If you met me, you'd know the answer is 'no' for any other day of the week as well. But Fridays... Fridays are special. Fridays you can kick your feet up... not worry about anything. There are two mornings of sleeping in ahead of you! Is that not the best feeling ever?

On a Friday, I like to turn to another gourmet dinner option - McDonald's. There is no better feeling than taking that paper bag with your favourite combo (quarter pounder with cheese meal), putting it on the front seat of your car while you drive home. When it takes every strand of self control not to dig in and grab just one fry while you drive. The scent fills your car and your breathing slows down, allowing you to enjoy every particle of deliciousness around you. You can feel every part of your body relaxing as you take in the warmth of the deep fried meal that's so close, yet so far.

You park in your driveway, grab your McDonald's bag and head for your front door. Breaking into a subtle jog, just to get to it faster. You can feel the warmth radiating from the bag.

Finally, you sit on the couch, open the bag and see the heavenly shine of the golden arches. It's here, you're here... and you dive in. Every bite is better than the previous one. Why is it not possible for sandwiches to go on for ever?

It's that moment right there, where the whole week doesn't matter. The divine taste is so fulfilling, as if nothing else exists in the world.

And when you polish off the chocolate milkshake that completed your meal and reach for a can of that Steamwhistle, just pop your Blue Crush DVD in and an hour and a half later, you're back on the fitness train!

Picture credit: Worth1000.com

Motivation

I am the world's best consumer. I am easily influenced, love bright and sparkly things and when I see a movie I like, I want to be like the main character. And no, I'm not 13... although sometimes I wish I was. This weakness goes hand in hand with my never-ending quest to get in shape. Since I'm easily influenced by what I see, I often watch movies that will motivate me to get my workout on, eat well and look fierce.

When Into The Blue came out in 2005, I went to see it with one of my girlfriends on opening day. We went to see the 7:00 p.m. show and immediately after I dropped her off at home, I grabbed my running shoes and headed straight for the gym. I worked out religiously (for about a week or so) with Jessica Alba in a bikini always in the back of my mind... after 90 minutes of watching her prance around carelessly in a bikini sporting the most perfect tan would make anyone feel the need to hit the gym pronto.

I often find myslef renting beach flicks for motivation and I think it works really well - for me at least. The unfortunate thing being that I get bored easily and find other things to do. Anyhoo, another one I enjoy (and watch at least once a week) is Blue Crush. After watching it for the first time, I found myself buying mis-matched bikinis and running every other day.

So overall, although my obsession with beach flicks is usually somehow linked to spending money, I do make it a point to start a workout plan everytime.

I watched Into The Blue 2: The Reef this morning (wait until it's on the telly, in the meantime, rent Blue Crush) and I am back on the workout train. But now that I own a house and am on a budget, instead of spending money on a new gym membership or different colour bikinis, I'm making a new playlist for my MP3 player and starting my own circuit training. Running, lunges, squats, crunches and pushups. Along with a healthy diet - you wait and see...

PS South Beach is over. I quit.

And on the sixth day, the Smurf said...

Will somebody PLEASE pass me some bloody chicken wings?!

It's day six of this South Beach diet business and I am slowly starting to question the sanity of the diet creators. The South Beach book comes complete with recipes and a meal plan for all 14 days of the first phase. As a reminder, the first phases requires the dieter to exclude sugar, carbs and fruit from their daily food intake. So the meal plans and recipes are super and actually look very delicious - if you have four hours a day to spend on cooking, steaming and shopping for rabbit food. Personally, I'd rather spend four hours a day watching HGTV or Slice, not worrying about what I can or cannot eat.

The past week has been quite an adjustment for me, as until now I have been a strict follower of an all-carb diet. Granola bar for breakfast, pizza or sandwich for lunch and cheese bread or something equally as fatty and satisfying for dinner, with an ice cold brew to wash it down. Now my diet is limited to eggs, almonds, salads, fish and chicken or turkey breast, with a hot tea sans sugar to wash it down. I am also free to enjoy water and vegetable juice.

This has been such a change that I even found myself dreaming about real food! The other night I dreamt that I was in my high school cafeteria eating chicken soup trying to convince anyone around me that would listen that noodles are actually not carbs if they are part of a soup dish. If only...

But all of this hard work has been worth it. As of yesterday around 7:00 p.m. I have lost 3 lbs! My theory is that the dramatic weight loss will come during the second week of phase one. That's my motivation.

But who are we kidding... I had a slice of pizza last night. Actually two.

My wobbly bits

I am part of the 99 per cent of the female population that is unsatisfied about their weight and notoriously complain about it without even a smidgen of intent of doing something to fix it. As of tomorrow - all this will change.

Just to give you some background information about me: I weigh roughly a few tonnes and am way taller than what is considered the norm. I have this fantastic two piece bathing suit I got at American Eagle a while back, that I proudly wore in the summertime. I had no problem ignoring the numerous amounts of rolls peeking out here and there. My wobbly bits were on full display all summer (all wobblies EXCEPT for my boobies, of course, because when everything else has miraculously expanded, THOSE never seem to grow!) I had no problem ignoring them, because I see them everyday, but I pity all those innocent individuals that were exposed to my extreme hotness...

This summer the two piece is coming out again! Xnay the wobbly bits!! You see, I have two problems... one: I get bored fairly easy with workouts, so I need an incredible variety, or I just choose to sleep instead; and two: I just freakin love food! I mean, french fries! Bacon double cheese burgers! Chicken wings! Just roll me around in a tub of grease and I'll be happy! oh and BEER!! Sweet Jesus! this is why my bikinis go through so much... all the stretching and all the pinching.

Since I have given up on my dream of being a professional beach volleyball player, a latin dancer and a surfer (ideally all at the same time) - as of tomorrow, I will be on South Beach. The diet, of course. Say good bye to freshly baked bread, to devouring six granola bars at my desk - all before my noon cigarette break. And to my new friend, the hot dog vendor at Bloor and Spadina. From now on, I will eat vegetables, think of vegetables and smell like vegetables.

And of course you, my lucky readers, will get to read all about my never-ending quest to lose that last five (OK 20) lbs. And I would like to apologize ahead of time for all the bitching, whining and complaining, because why would someone in their right mind give up all the world's goodness that is junk food?

All in the name of that itsy bitsy two-piece that is waiting for me at the bottom of my dresser drawer. Now excuse me, I have to go make a beet and lettuce smoothie.

Every girl's guilty pleasure (and I don't mean shopping)

I recently moved out of my parents' house. I fled the nest to a new adult world of freedom, only to realize that now... I have to feed myself. I've never been incredibly talented in the kitchen. I can make scrambled eggs, french fries and a mean grilled cheese sandwich. My mom is an amazing cook and we would always have seven course meals for dinner. At the least.

Since I moved out, I've received numerous cook books for Christmas (none of which have been cracked open). But there is only so much Delicio pizza and Kraft dinner my body (and waist line)can handle.

After scouring the cook book isles of Winners and Home Sense, I stocked up on more recipes. I thought I'd start with the easy stuff - desserts. I made a trip to our local department store and picked up mixing bowls, baking sheets and other glorious home ec. supplies and I dove in. Made my first batch of white chocolate and pecan brownies.

By chance, I have found a new hobby and am now addicted to baking. I have officially unleashed my inner domestic goddess!

Here's the recipe below. I wouldn't dare to be selfish, dish about the amazing treats I've baked and not share with my dedicated readers!

What you need:

225g white chocolate

85g or 3/4 cup walnut pieces (also amazing if you use pecans instead)

115g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

2 eggs

115g soft brown sugar

100g self-rising flour (I didn't even know there was such a thing!)

What you do:

1. Coarsely chop 175g of white chocolate and all the walnuts (slash pecans). Put the remaining chocolate and the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. When melted, stir together, then set aside to cool slightly.

2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together, then beat in the cooled chocolate mixture until well mixed. Fold in the flour, chopped chocolate, and the walnuts. Turn the mixture into a lightly greased 7-inch/18 cm square cake pan and smooth the surface.

3. Transfer the pan to a pre-heated oven, 350F/180C, and bake for 30 minutes, or until just set. The mixture should still be a little soft in the centre. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan, then cut into nine squares before serving.

You (and your love handles) can thank me later.

ENJOY!