Friday, March 30, 2012

Crossing off the To Do List!

So spring had sprung....




And I got motivated to get my butt in gear and get some things crossed off my to do list. The problem is that Scott and I have hardly had a minute to breath for the last few weeks! I know this is the story of my life but it's TRUE! So I just wanted to share a few of the happenings in this house over the last few weeks! So once we got St.Patty's and Scott's deep frying frenzy(thanks for lending us that contraption James!) out of the way we headed to Toronto last weekend to see Motocross!! It was insane, the sound of the motors alone was enough to throw your senses overboard but then they fly around this track at 80km/h and you just hold your breath when someone bails that they don't get flattened by their competition! I had a video to post for you to see the start of the race but I can't get it off my cell and onto my iPad so just come over and see it! Lol :) While in TO we of course did some shopping and stumbled across this line of lemonades! There was a NEON pink, green, blue, yellow and green and I wanted them all but I settled on this 3 melon lemonade and it was delicious!




Try it out if you seem them!
Once back at the house we realized Clay has moved on from the shower and has now discovered the toilet! Every time you flush the damn thing he is at your legs to get to the bowl, doesn't even give me a chance to get off the toilet first!








What a cutie though! I really am in love with him!
Next I forced Scott to take me to the dollar store for some organizing material to do this:




I don't have a before shot but lets just say everything fell on you when you opened the door! It was awful! Now everything has a place and even 2 weeks later it is still looking this awesome! This cupboard and the simplicity it brought to the baking aspect of my life really kick started and organizational frenzy! But best of all it made cooking this delicious little things that much easier:



If you have yet to try the box cake mix and a can of pop when making cupcakes, you must try it! You will fall in love, this time around I tried out some chocolate cake batter with cherry coke :) mmmmmm! Find a similar recipe here on Cookie and Cups awesome blog!

So on the same organizational note I also paired down the bathroom built ins from this disaster:



To this:











How rocking is that? Now don't ask me to actually clean anything but I could organize all day! Hehe, makes Scott made though because A) he hates a dirty house no matter how organized the cupboards are and B) he has a small hoarding problem and cannot part easily with anything! I had to draw the line a vitamins that expired 5 years ago and that he has not taken since we met almost 4 years ago!

Next up Scott put the chalkboard table to good use and had a friend come over and help us draw up some deck plans!



We are super excited to get going on the backyard and have you all over for a Big BBQ with all these great ideas! Will keep you all updated on the transformation as we go! Dismal before photo this week!!

Lastly for this lengthy too long coming post, we have Scott and I's first Year of Dates DATE! On March 31st! Haha

This time around we kept it simple with dinner, a few movies and some get to know you quizzes!






No worries I changed the title of the quizzes from "Do You Know Your Wife?" to "Do You Know Your Common Law Partner?" to keep things safe for Scotty!




Hoppy Easter and get out there like "dumb and dumber" here and enjoy this awesome spring weather!

Xoxo

Emma B

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Spring has sprung!

Sorry I have been MIA this week but between work, side jobs and being addicted to a certain Canadian-made CBC horse show which shall not be named out of embarrassment I have had not a second to come up with any meaningful blog posts.

Alas I came up with one and since it proves rather difficult to sleep when your whole house is shaking with thunder and hail, here it is!

As an ode to the recently appearing signs of spring, Scott and I decided to barbeque tonight for dinner when my sister was coming over. So after a trip to get BOTH of our propane tanks filled we were cooking with cheese!! Our favorite accompaniment to BBQ chicken is my famous pasta salad. Many people have asked for this recipe and I never share it because well.....i like to keep it a secret how frigging easy it is!!! Now my secret will be out :(

So to start, boil a pot of pasta. I like to use bowties or fusilli but it's up to you!

Next, get out the rest of your ingredients.



We've got some bacon bits, Greek feta dressing, mayo or whipped dressing, diced peppers, feta cheese and this time Scotty wanted mushrooms so I threw a few of those in too! Add all ingredients to the drained pasta and toss!! Easy peeeeeesy! I usually use about 2 parts mayo to 1 part dressing to make it more creamy than oily.




I'm sure this one will get pulled out for many a summer BBQ and I can't wait! While we are on the topic of summer BBQ's I have to share with you a brilliant pin that I found on my friend Jenn's wall today!!!


Remember those mason jars I used for cheesecake a few weeks ago, while this summer they will become my reusable byob best friends. No more mixing out of a cooler or Smirnoffs in a can! Now I can premake whatever I want to drink that night and just unscrew a lid at the BBQ! Genius!

What would you make in them?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Photo a day - 6 to 9

5pm - Scott's Birthday Dinner & first time getting to use my DIY chalkboard table! I absolutely love it and all the potential it creates, game night score on the table, awkward seating arrangements made easy, menu display for weird eaters.....I could go on and on!




Something I Wore - I got my nails done this week and they are obviously something I sport everyday whether I like it or not, but I love em! As for the ring, pay no note. It is just another silly stunt by moi to try and get a real ring out of Scotty! Lol




Window - This little fella enjoys long walks along the back of the couch, tuna water out of the can and his idea of a romantic date is watching the trains go by and the squirrels play out of mommy and daddy's bedroom window every morning. You should see when he hears a train during the day and he is not in that window, he bolts like a bat out of hell to get there in time!




Red - #stopkony2012...I have not really shown my support for this cause on Facebook or twitter because I feel that I don't know enough about the Invisible Children Organization. But I do agree that something must be done and I definitely agree that social media is one of the best platforms for the everyday person right now. I hope they can accomplish their goal, and although I have read a few critiques of the organization I think any publicity is good publicity. It gets people like me asking questions??




Well we are off to my parent's house today to enjoy some cottage living for the night and to have some of the awesome cupcakes I made last night. I will leave you with a pic of the process half way through and on Sunday I will show you the end result!!

Emma B



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, March 5, 2012

3,4 & 5 - Photo a Day

Sorry for taking so long for this post but this easy weekend at home turned out to be a busy weekend at the cottage when Scott bought a snowmobile from his mechanically-inclined friend James!

So right into it then:

Day 3 - My Neighborhood

Decided to take a literal approach to this one...



We bought in this neighbourhood 2 years ago and we have never regretted it...not even for a second. It is such a quiet, calm and cute place to live!

Day 4 - Bedside

I wanted to take a picture of my sleeping bf who I am so grateful to have beside me every night(unless he has eaten cheese) but alas he wouldn't go for it :( So here is my second choice:



The cat treats are to get my cat to cuddle with me at night...the NyQuil is for the mean cold that followed me home from Florida...The elephants are for my personal satisfaction...the "unshaded" lamp is due to above-mentioned cat who pulled the cord off the table along with his tail :s

Day 5 - Smile

Hehehehehe...no words required!




On another note, it was Scottie's birthday dinner with me tonight and I gave him his present!! A "partial" year of dates was awaiting him..



Yeah!!! I will post as we go...stay tuned!


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Friday, March 2, 2012

2 - Photo a Day!

So today's caption is fruit! Check out my photo:




We headed to Scottie's rents tonight for his birthday dinner and I was entrusted with making the dessert :) Thanks to a little help from Babble I concocted this mean cheesecake in a jar recipe with a slight twist....I added cherry and blueberry pie filling! Hence the fruit :) Was totally delicious! Try it out sometime.

See ya tomorrow for "your neighborhood"!

Emma B

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

March Photo A Day

Upon entering the blogging world, I subscribed to a number of blogs to get some creative ideas. The blogosphere is filled with insane creativity and I love that I can be a part of it now! I will post later today on the desserts I made for Scottie's Bday, an idea that came from 2 bloggers :) But for now, here is my next creative challenge: A Photo A Day! Straight from the mind of fat mum slim (check out her Aussie blog, it is alot of fun!), it is a challenge to take a picture a day. Here are this months captions:






Here is my first photo:










My Favorite UP.....Do! The Sock Bun :)

Join the Photo A Day club here! Join me in some fun :)
Emma B