Too Cute to Give the Cat?

As you know we sure love our fur-baby. So we occasionally get him presents. This story is about a couple of recent purchases for Eddie that I am thinking about keeping for myself.

I bought these items a while ago and was saving them for his Easter surprise. But when I pulled them out to give them to him, I began to wonder if they were perhaps just a bit too cute for him. Not that he doesn't appreciate cute, but rather that if he didn't know they were meant for him in the first place, I could keep them for myself and he wouldn't know the difference.

First there are the toys. I found these little roly-poly chicks in the pet supply area of a store we have here called Winners. They were attached to a card and when I clipped their plastic tethers the other day, I decided that they might have been meant for me and not for Eddie at all. They're like Weebles ... they wobble but they don't fall down.

Food Friday : Baked Spring Rolls

This week's food related post is more about giving you an idea to add to your meal repertoire, rather than giving you a specific recipe. Nick makes these Spring Roll that I absolutely love. I try to be careful when tossing out words like 'favourite' and 'the best', but honestly when I am eating these, those words are what come to mind.

As opposed to the usual way of making spring rolls, his are baked in the oven, making them less fatty than deep-fried ones.

He makes them with rice paper wrappings. These come dry in a flat round package, and you soak them in water for a few minutes to make them pliable enough to fold/wrap/roll around your filling. You can put whatever you want in there, including small pieces of cooked meat, seafood, egg, tofu, vegetables or noodles. (To make them a main course, as we have them, be sure to include some form of protein to fill you up.)

In the ones he made this time, Nick cooked up some egg in his wok. Then, in peanut oil, stir-fried some garlic, chopped ginger, spicy peppers, onions, carrots, and shitake mushrooms (which come dried and have to be soaked in water before using. We buy them by the bag in Chinatown and they last forever in the cupboard, so are easy to have on hand.)

He also cooked some thin rice noodles, and then tossed everything together. Then he moistened this mixture with a splash of soya sauce (we used 'brewed' soya sauce, which I believe is the Japanese style), a dribble of sesame seed oil, and some of the soaking liquid from the mushrooms. He also included some chopped fresh coriander leaves.

The Dare to Wear Love Fashion Show Gala 2013

On Friday we had the pleasure of going to the Dare to Wear Love Gala, founded and organized by Chris Tyrell and Jim Searle. Chris and Nick have been friends since they were teenagers, and Nick is part of their web development team, so we were invited.

This was the 5th Annual Dare to Wear Love Gala, which raises funds and awareness for The Stephen Lewis Foundation, with the esteemed goal of turning the tide on the AIDS pandemic in Africa. The theme this year was Flower Power.

The show features the work of 25 top Canadian designers, each of whom are given six yards of African fabric to create their one-of-a-kind garments. The clothes are then modeled by local celebrities, winners of the fund raising challenge, dancers, musicians, and some super models.

I know my shots have a lot of blur but I like that they show how colourful and dynamic everything was. That said, I do think it's time to replace my little out-and-about camera, a Canon PowerShot, with a newer model. Apparently the new ones perform much better in low light situations and the telephoto feature is significantly improved. The version I am using was my first digital camera and dates back to 2005, so it is no wonder that the technology is better today. But I have to say, this little number has been a work-horse in deed. I love it and hate to see it go, but it is time.

In no particular order ...

Sending Love Across the Miles : Spring and Easter 2013

There is a little boy in my life who is just the right age to appreciate a googly-eyed rabbit card.

So I grabbed by scissors and some paper and, of course, the all important eyes, and set out to make him one. I glued the pieces together with a glue-stick except for the eyes, which I applied with a stronger glue.

Out for Dinner with a Friend and What I Wore

On Thursday I met a new friend for dinner at a spot that she suggested, called Pour Boy Pub. She and I met at my sister's party in February (discussed here) and got along quite well, so we decided to get together. And I am so glad we did because we had lots to talk about, including the fact that we both worked on the same corner for years, but never ran into one another.

Here's to new friends! Yay.

I had not been to the Pour Boy Pub before and really liked it. We both ended up choosing the same meal ... Singapore Noodles, which were very nice, made more-so by the hot sauce we asked the server for. To drink I had a Strongbow Cider.

As for what I wore for this date, there was no question there would be jeans and heavy boots involved, as that afternoon, a blizzard came to town. It was snowing like crazy when I left the house but by the time I arrived at the restaurant (having taken the streetcar) the snow had stopped.

And here we are on Monday and there is no sign of snow in sight, so I think that storm might have been the end of it. I've mentioned before that I find it fun to be out during blizzards, so I am glad that I caught the last one of the year.

I know my outfit is very black, and you know I do try to add colour and pattern to my outfits, but sometimes I just go with items from the black 'staples' section of my closet. I used to be teased at work because I wore so much black. It is a habit that became fully entrenched while in my late teens and has stuck around. Honestly though, I did try to add a bit of colour in that I first had on a pair of blue jeans, but I just didn't dig the look.

In case you were wondering what my hair looks like when I allow it to air dry, this is it. The only thing I did was comb it out and add a bit of leave-in conditioning product while it was damp (L'Oreal Re-Nutrition). I also put a large velcro roller in the bangs. I often go about the house with a roller in my bangs, as this gets them out of my face and also helps to keep them pointing in the right direction (damn those cow-licks that make my bangs go every which way but straight down! True fact ... I very nearly left the house with my roller in the other day. Thank goodness I stopped at the hall mirror to apply a some lipstick before going out.