The Quest

The aim was to go to a number of locations and load up on scoops.

The Plan
Leave work on time (4:30PM) and make my way to first location, get scoop(s), finish on the way to second location, get scoop(s), finish on the way to third location, get scoop(s), finish on the way home, go about business, go to other locations, etc...

Locations:

1. Church & Wellesley
2. Yonge & Dundas
3. Eaton Centre
4. Bayview & York Mills
   
5. Scarborough Town Centre
6. Sandhurst & Finch

Yes, I was serious about this. I knew I wouldn't get to make all, but it was worth a try. We had a few other things to do after work ("a few" is actually an understatement, but whatever), so this was a very hectic night.

What actually happened:
I didn't leave work on time. In fact, I left way after 5PM so I figured I'd just go to the different locations and see what the lines were like.

Location #1: Lined up, thought about it for 5 minutes and walked out of the line.


Location #3: Walked AROUND the line and went up the escalator (the line stretched all the way around to the food court. Screw that!)


I was quite sad -- this was 0 for 3.

So then we left and headed to do our other business, hung out at my in-laws' for a bit and then decided to try again. It was around 8:30PM by then.

Location #6: Parking lot chaos and a line that went around the corner, full of hormone-rotten, full of teen-angst, hungry kids. Oh boy, not going there. Then we also decided location #5 wouldn't be a good idea either. I later learned from my parents that the line went all the way to the escalator, so it wouldn't have worked anyway.


Location #4: The line wasn't too bad, it was almost quitting time and we stayed in line for this one.

After a few minutes of standing in line, the manager came outside and said that 31c scoop night was coming to an end. I wanted to DIE. I'd been thinking about this for a month and I wasn't going to not get ice cream! WAAAH!! But then he said that everyone already in line would get their ice cream and that he needed us to help them out by letting any additional customers know that they weren't taking anymore people. Hey, fine by me!

SO CLOSE!!!


My two scoops: Butter Almond Crunch (the last time I had a flavour other than JAF, I was probably 7 years old) & of course, Jamoca Almond Fudge


GREAT SUCCESS!

I don't know if I've ever multi-scooped before, so this was even better than a usual visit. Plus, I got a bag of popcorn for $1.

Just a reminder...

A whole other wedding website

I admit, even though I've been married for almost 10 months (WHAT?!), I still frequent wedding websites. They're just so pretty and so full of love and pretty things that I can't resist...that and I love wedding things. So pretty -- did I say that already?

Anyway, here's a goodie for all you wedding AND Grey's fans:

Meredith Grey & Derek Shepherd

A proposal just for the bride-to-be -- they're the best kind

My Sister's Keeper

I've been meaning to read this book and now it's a movie. So psyched to watch it. I'll have a box of tissue ready.

What I'm Doing...

I've been keeping myself busy training for a half marathon taking place in 2 weeks. This is run #2 of 5 for which I've signed up. I'm not doing a big fundraising effort this year as many of you know, but I would still like to invite you to contribute to various causes.

For the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada

In support of paediatric research in arthritis at Sick Kids Hospital

For the Terry Fox Foundation

In support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (for Light The Night -- another page should be up soon for the marathon)

Remember, any amount helps and brings each organization closer to their goal! Thank you for your support!

Tweet?

TWITTER.

Should I join this thing? I took myself off of a whole load of social online networks I was on before and am now limited to Facebook...but I'm tempted, much like my sister, to join to follow certain interesting people...

Hmmmm...and if I do, which name can I choose? "Treeh" is already taken :(

Carolyn

It is with sadness that I share the news that Carolyn Tam, one of my honourees for the marathon I ran last year, passed away on Thursday. She had been fighting leukemia and raising awareness for over two years. I didn't know her personally, but we did exchange emails last year, after my cousin-in-law's friend, Carolyn's uncle, let me know about her battle.

Please keep her, her family and friends in your prayers.

Thank you Carolyn!

She's Here!!

My cousin and her husband welcomed their baby girl on Friday :) CONGRATULATIONS VANESS AND CONRAD!!!

Welcome Baby Kaylee Ann!!!

Fresh!

Every year (except last year because I was moving out and moving in and getting married during peak herb shopping time) I buy fresh herbs and either plant them or dry them (when they’re no longer fresh) or grow them (i.e. I buy them potted and hope they don’t die). Like most people, I prefer to cook with fresh herbs. Also, I keep knocking over bottles of dried herbs when I'm rifling through my pantry while I'm cooking, resulting in broken glass and wonderful aromas on my kitchen floor (and some swearing). My mominlaw gave me a beautiful set of bottles of dried herbs and spices and now I'm down two bottles. The bottles were so pretty, I was planning on keeping them and just refilling them every time I run out. :(

I don’t have a green thumb. I haven’t really tested it outdoors other than in my parents’ garden or my flower boxes, but indoors, my plants are screaming for mercy…all TWO of them. Feeding my “magic” fish is part of my routine while feeding my plants – not so much. My brother looks after watering them.

Then I learned about this: The Prepara Power Plant Professional.

It uses NASA technology something something something. There’s a video on the website on how it works (there’s also a video on the internet of someone using it to grow weed. Tsk tsk + wagging finger). I’ve blogged before about indoor herb gardens, but I think this one’s small enough that one, I have space for it and two, it looks pretty easy so I think I can handle it.

I hope they have it at Williams-Sonoma here.

What Sustainability REALLY Means

Would you use paper made from elephant poo?

I WOULD!

Check out The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper Company Limited to take a look at their products.

Talk about innovative and sustainable!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

Today, as all days, is a good day.

Happy Earth Day, fellow Earthlings :)

It's barely 10 o'clock in the morning and I've spotted a few Earth Day initiatives already.

Starbucks: My husband packed his bag with his Starbucks mug last night.

Today's Metro -- as usual, if I wanna read the news, I read it online.

Gotta love IKEA! BYOB(ag)

And my fave - a new graphic tee from my husband. He's good at getting me good ones (he even got me one when he was out of town for his stag hahahaha!). I wore mine to work today. (I live to be festive!) Thank goodness for business-casual, emphasis on the casual.

And for those of you whose cell numbers I don't have, here's a text I sent to almost every cell number on my SIM card:

Happy Earth Day To You!
Happy Earth Day To You!
Happy Earth Day dear (insert your name here)!
Happy Earth Day To You!

Horror TV

Before I lived on my own, I was a huge fan of horror flicks. I actually enjoyed being scared while watching all sorts of twisted messes on a screen. These days, not so much...unless it comes to pregnancy.

I think I have a strange fascination with all things pregnancy-related. I've been waiting to watch a new series, "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" on TLC. I've heard all these stories about women not knowing they're pregnant until their second or even third trimesters. Women having babies in washrooms, not realizing they're not taking a dump -- they're in labour.

This show, as strange as it is, is addictive. I watched almost 3 episodes tonight (of course, I had to take a break to tune into Sarah's Cottage!), and was forced to change the channel when my husband's facial expressions reached their disgusted-peak and his groaning got louder (even though he was laughing at my facial expressions). 

There were all sorts of reasons these women didn't know they were pregnant -- they were irregular, they were on the pill, they didn't gain weight, didn't have cravings, weren't swelling, felt no movement, no symptoms...until the baby came along. In most cases the babies were premature.

The entire thing was scary...but I realize now why I couldn't stop watching. It's the same reason why I don't stop the women in my life from telling me all the messed up things they've experienced throughout their pregnancies -- I want to get as close as possible to no surprises. I wanna saturate myself with so much knowledge about pregnancy, I want to be able to call all these women wimps. BRING IT.

I'm kidding about the wimp part.

But really, it's so important to be prepared, especially when it comes to bringing new life into the world.

Excuse me, I have to go the washroom...and who knows, maybe I'll come back with a baby!

Earth Day is April 22

I'll be sacrificing the LOST recap to celebrate Earth Day watching this:

I'm so excited to watch it!!

Sticks and Stones

I'm really enjoying today's BE newsletter from Goop. Check it out!

Question:

I’m curious about the spiritual concept of “evil tongue” (speaking evil of others) and its pervasiveness in our culture. Why do people become energized when they say or read something negative about someone else? What does it say about where that person is? What are the consequences of perpetuating negativity or feeling schadenfreude?...

9:57PM

DANIEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ADIDAS GRÜN

Adidas has a GREEN line - Grün.

Check it out:

He's TOO cool for school

I thought I'd echo my sister's post about our brother as yet another proud sister.

CHECK. HIM. OUT.

He really is up and coming. So excited for him to do his thang.

Our First Easter

We had a wonderful Easter long weekend.

Breakfast. My Husband makes wonderful pancakes. I found out a few months ago that he was using my SPECIAL vanilla (I wondered why it was disappearing more quickly than I was using it) and luckily they still taste as great with your average grocery vanilla extract. He knows how important delicious homemade pancakes are to me (long story), so I like to think he makes them often because he knows even the smell makes me happy. They're among the few things he makes when I feel it's okay to leave him alone in the kitchen and pile up the dishes (he's a really messy cook and disobeys ALL my dish-washing rules). These pancakes were the "Easter Edition" ones, scattered with Minieggs with a side of Minieggs.

As a child, my Husband never dyed eggs for Easter. When I was a kid, we did it almost every year so I was shocked to find out he never had this experience. So, we invested all 94 cents and bought a dying kit. While we were out and after visiting my in-laws, he started to feel sick, so he napped while I took care of blowing out the eggs and watched SATC (I cropped out the TV).



And so the dying began. For me, the whole thing was nostalgic, for him, it was all new. He drew on the majority of the eggs with crayons and played around with the dye, meanwhile I tried to make my eggs all pretty and girly.

The result, complete with Us-Eggs!

After mass, we went to visit Lolo, Mommy and Lolo, headed home so I could finish my pot roast and then it was off to my sister's house. Like any day spent with family, it was energetic and entertaining...and this time, it was also embarrassing. We watched some old home videos, and I found myself grateful that these resurfaced on Easter and not on my wedding day. PHEW.

After a very full weekend, we chilled. I love Easter.

Good Friday

I thought I'd share "A Positive Minute" with you today.

The indescribable gift

"If you…know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" – Matthew 7:11

Though innocent, Jesus received a death sentence. A part of God's plan, it was done to provide a way for us to be redeemed and restored to fellowship with him even though we do not deserve it. We are not innocent, and we deserve a death sentence, but Jesus paid the price for us.

It is as if we were on trial, the jury comes in with a guilty verdict, the judge sentences us to death, and then a man walks into the courtroom and says, "Wait! I will die in this person's place. Let him (or her) go free." You are released and Jesus is taken away to die in your place.

What a gift! It is one that must not be taken lightly or without eternal gratitude. Praise God for his indescribable gift—his Son, Jesus Christ!

The truth about Motherhood

I worked from home today because of my stupid back (like hell I was gonna go to work and sit at my desk all day – how would that really help the pain?). As everyone knows, working from home has its pluses, mainly that you can work in your pajamas and you can watch Oprah while working (x2 if you have time shifting since they air the previous show at 1PM!).

Today’s episode of Oprah was quite entertaining. Moms from all over the US were reporting on doing it all, the quiet competition among mothers to be the best mother, confessing the little secret shortcuts they take, post-partum depression, saying all the things people never told them about motherhood and marriage after children. It was funny but also added to the nightmare that is my vision of motherhood sometimes. I swear there’s no such thing as hearing all the horror stories of childbirth and motherhood, doesn’t matter how many sisters, female cousins, girlfriends, mothers, grandmothers, aunts you have.

Anyway, I was introduced to www.dooce.com (“deuce”) – a blog from a mother who’s gone through quite a rollercoaster since beginning this blog years ago (she was also on Oprah via Skype) and it is now the source of income for her family. It’s amusing. She is now pregnant with her second child and doing a book tour. Enjoy!

Oh and watch In The Motherhood on Thursday -- I hope I remember to tune in this week! I keep forgetting!

26...and Aging

Am I older than I’m supposed to be? Sometimes I’m not sure.

Most people my age, judging from people I know, are either single, in a committed relationship or casually dating. They spend their weekends (and some weeknights) out and about, drinking, dancing, heck the whole lot and have concocted many a hangover-remedy. While I do have the occasional drink (notice, no use of the plural form over here) or on the rare occasion go out dancing or stay out late, I’m usually exhausted by 9PM (especially on a Friday night). If I know I’m going to be out late, I actually make a point to slip in a nap some time during the day. I sound like your grandmother. I don’t think my body or mind would be able to tolerate the typical mid-twenties lifestyle, but when I do step out of my laidbackness (it’s a word because I said so) and join in the mainstream mid-twenty fun, I enjoy myself.

I do realize that in many ways, I AM older than 26. Having been on my own since 23 (which isn’t that young – I know some people who claimed their independence at as young as 16), I think I’ve grown up substantially more than some people would in a 3-4 year span. Then, the first time I hung out with my friends after I got married, I FELT older, and I think many of them felt older too just being around me and/or my husband. People I’ve met since being married have adjusted their initial guesses of my age because of the wedding band on my finger. They usually say that otherwise, they would have guessed around 2 years younger.

My sister said the morning after our wedding that she felt that our family had gotten older, and indeed it had. I enjoyed bringing our family to another stepping stone in life. I enjoy now being part of and fully understanding all the married jokes, maybe even making my own, and finally feeling and appreciating all the things that my sisters and brothers have told me about how wonderful being married and having a marriage are.

I enjoy aging in case you can’t already tell. I love getting older. A lot of my friends and some of my family don’t understand how I could love getting older so much. I love it. I love birthdays, I love seeing the numbers get bigger and bigger with every passing year, I love going from early- to mid- to late- whatever-decade-I’m-in…I just love it. I want to get wrinkles and laugh lines. I’m curious about stretch marks and swelling, how saggy I’ll be or how much shorter I’ll get when I shrink. I look forward to spending on groceries for growing boys, getting my dream car – a minivan, shopping for a stroller or two (one for running, of course) and loading my purse with candy for secret distribution to grandchildren.

It’s another minute, another hour, another day, week, month, year of having survived in this life and looking back at the amazing things you have to show for it. Make the most of your time here and I promise you’ll enjoy the growing list of things to look back on – all the achievements and the failures and successes and the lessons learned as a result, all the life, the growth…there’s so much.

It’s all borrowed time and I believe the important thing is to realize now that that’s exactly what it is, so every day should be a step forward towards the person you want to be so you can be that person for as long as you can.

I’ll be 27 in a month. WOOHOO!

Run #1, 2009

I did my first run of the year, just an 8K, the Harry Rosen Spring Run-off. I'd never done this one before, but my sister-in-law had and warned me of a huge hill at the end of the run.

She wasn't kidding. Part of the course lets you go down the hill so you get your high off of it, but it also marks the end of the race...in the reverse direction. I thought I was going to die. If my husband wasn't running with me, I think I would have walked, I was so defeated. He has what he lovingly calls "thunder thighs" so he's good at hills. The course itself would have been pretty nice if it was a nice day and it was a little further into spring. Everyone knows High Park turns out to be beautiful at its best.

Hands down, worst race ever. EVER. At least, in terms of me and my history. I had never run a time like this for this distance, and it was at least a whole minute over my usual training km pace. Although I could easily blame the horrid cold temperatures, the gusty winds, the damp ground, the hilliness, my misaligned left leg that had been acting up all week which I had been trying to correct with my orthotics and knee brace, a poor night of sleep, a sore back due who knows--maybe to a mattress too soft for my taste, and who knows what else, I know it really comes down to my lack of preparation. I didn't even think to shave my legs and put lotion on them! I didn't realize until I stripped my outer layer of bottoms (my pants) -- how embarrassing.

I don't know what it was with this race. For some reason, I don't know what, I didn't do any fundraising. Part of me feels hesitant to fundraise this year given the economy and people's tendencies to save more for themselves in times like these and that I really fundraised last year and two years before that and figured my donors needed some rest. That shouldn't stop me. There are people everywhere who are still willing to give what they can and I forgot about those people. Granted, I wouldn't be asking for a lot and I don't necessarily have a huge goal as in 2008 and 2006, but I still could have done it. I should have remembered that that was the key reason I started doing these races in the first place -- to support and spread support for various causes.

The Harry Rosen Spring Run-off is organized in an effort to support research for prostate cancer. You can register for this run and other runs like this and choose not to fundraise. I get that many runners would like to just run, have their times recorded, win money or other things like that, but for me, I thought that maybe if I didn't fundraise, the run would be more for me, more for my own effort and would ease me a bit to not have to perform the "ask". I can't believe I thought this because the "ask" was never really hard to do, and I always have supporters.

I'm hitting myself over the head. I know what to do now, and I know that I really need to work on this.

I'm not a very good hill runner, so I need to hill train.
I'm not a very fast runner, so I need to do more tempo runs.
I don't have the strongest legs, so I need to make sure I work harder on building muscle.
I need to do more yoga to work on my breathing.
I need to do more core work so my form remains intact.
I get sore easily, so I need to up my lactic acid threshold.
I need to be closer to the cause, so I need to fundraise and research.
I need to train harder, longer, and be stronger and more positive that I can do it and I will do it better every time.

This race woke me up when I didn't even think I was sleeping.

To come: the Ask.

BRUNO!

I've been waiting for him for so long!

Live The Good Life

What is The Good Life?

The Good Life is an online community for concerned Canadians who want to stop talking about climate change and start taking personal action to reduce their CO2 emissions. When you join The Good Life, you are also lending your voice to a collective, positive and unified call for everyone - governments, businesses and individuals - to do their part to fight climate change.

Each member can commit to personal actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, join groups and invite or challenge others. All of us have probably done something already to reduce our footprint, no matter how small. Join The Good Life, make it count and let others see you care!

How it Works

When you sign up, you will be able to browse all the different actions and select which ones you can commit to doing now (or very soon). You can also add actions you've taken over the past year.

The Good Life will then track how much Greenhouse Gas (CO2) you have reduced. The system adds up everyone's contributions into a Canada-wide total and tallies provincial totals as well.

Most importantly (and most fun!), you can invite friends, family and colleagues to join you in The Good Life.

The more people involved the better, because it's about taking action - together - to make a world of difference.

Too cool

Read this and this.

artiCHOKE

One day, while tuning into the Food Network, I found Giada making this. It looked so good, I figured I’d try it, and given the success rate I’ve had with some of her other recipes, I thought this would be the perfect first-time-trying-actual-artichokes recipe (i.e. not including Jaye’s now-famous artichoke dip where the artichokes are from a can or jar). I've been asking people for a few weeks now if they've ever had artichokes and no one I asked said yes!

So, I made this and it turned out really pretty, HOWEVER, I learned last night that not only am I not a fan of artichokes, but I’m REALLY not a fan of gorgonzola either.

Well, there was no other way to find out!

It’s April…

…Fool’s Day which means that my brother has something crazy planned and I don’t know what it is and that in itself is scary.


On another note, I just learned about this site. Hilarious.

UPDATE:
So far, this is his idea of an April Fool's joke:

I fell down the stairs again and injured my already injured ankle. The doctors here say it's broken. I'm getting a cast.

April fools!...lame.