Just Call Me Mrs.

You're probably wondering where I have been lately. Well, I've had some excitement in my life and I'm ready to tell you all about it. This little Miss is becoming Mrs. Yup, it's official, I'm a grown up.

To explain the context : I love doing the Saturday morning crossword. It makes me so very happy to have a coffee and the crossword in front of me. Sometimes I even pretend to let B help. So on Saturday morning, my 27th birthday, B set me all up on the couch with the crossword and hid in the kitchen. I thought he was just cooking breakfast. Little did I know that this was a crossword that I would never ever forget. Enjoy the video!

I'm sure someday I'll be able to watch this without crying. And while I am a little embarrassed of the pajamas, greasy hair and majorly squeaky voice, I'm so happy to have this video forever.

Photos to come soon!

Paragliding just got better...

I stumbled across these photos taken by George Steinmetz, paraglider and photographer extraordinaire and I had an intense urge to sing out, "I don't think I can han-dle it, wooooo!" all Beyoncé style. They were taken from a motorized paraglider, and the photographer was able to capture images that are inaccessible by traditional aircraft and therefore generally unseen. A regular contributor to National Geographic and GEO Magazines, he has explored subjects ranging from the remotest stretches of Arabia’s Empty Quarter to the unknown tree people of Irian Jaya.

And how did his career in photography start in the first place? Oh, hitchhiking through Africa for 28 months. Bad. Ass. If you have time to spare, check out his website.
And if you don't have time, make time because it is amazing and worth the effort of clicking around. Lazy-bones.

Top Chef

Is anyone else watching this show? It is the best thing that has happened to me since Project Runway. I can't cook to save myself but man do I love to watch other people do it. From the high stakes challenges to the group efforts, every week for one full hour this show owns me.

Do I have any desire to become a chef? Hell no.

Do I want to eat most everything they cook? Hellloooooo yes!

From quails eggs to beef cheeks to consommés to billi-bi I am along for the delicious ride. And the food isn't the only delicious thing - well hellloooo Tom Colicchio! And Padma's ok too.

If you haven't seen it yet and you want to spend an hour salivating and then having a bowl of cereal for dinner, come on over!

Top Chef airs on Monday nights at 9pm on the Food Network.

Best Ottawa Food Blog

Nooschi is an Ottawa-based food diary that boldly tackles my favourite topic of all time: food. Restaurant reviews, recipes, and beautiful photos make this blog a must-see for any self-proclaimed foodie like myself. I could come home from a giant buffet dinner and still get hunger pangs when checking out the latest post on Nooschi.

Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde (click here for the recipe)

Cinnamon Apple Chips (click here for the recipe)

Banana Pumpkin Pancakes ( click here for the recipe)

**I don't even really like pancakes, but I am pretty sure that these pancakes are my soul mates. I will be making them on Saturday morning if you want to come by!

Happy Weekend!

I hope you all have a great weekend filled with bunny rabbits, lemon drops and kisses from rainbows!

Denmark, I Think I Love You.

Sometimes Oprah has great shows, and sometimes it makes me want to pull out my eyelashes one by one. Today, she featured AMAZING Denmark. I didn't even know how much I loved Denmark until I learned every little detail. If I could open mouth kiss this country, I wouldn't hesitate. Among the list of things that makes me want to sell everything and hop on the next flight to Copenhagen:

• the Danes have been named the happiest people on the earth
• it was the first European country to legalize same-sex marriages and provide same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, in 1989
  
• their government has nearly no debt (gasp, my brain cannot understand..)
• 1 in 3 Danes use bicycles as their main mode of transportation
• it is one of the prime contributors of official aid and founds to developing countries
• the education system offers free and equal schooling for all
• a common expression is "Jeg er en heldig kartoffel! (I am a lucky potato!)
• Cheese.

So, when do we go??

Where It's At

I know you are all wondering why I have been so lazy lately and haven't been making regular posts. Well I'm here to tell you, it's not laziness, it's trying to keep up with a busy life that just seems to be getting busier and busier.
Excuses, excuses right? Well at least I can share some photos of what I've been doing so that you know that I haven't been sitting at home watching Maury Povich and eating cheetos.

First up, St. John's, NL - aka my new favourite Canadian destination. Tales of East coast hospitality are not exaggerated, I had an amazing time there, made new friends and partied until the sun came up. George St, I take my hat off to you.
Of course, my little raincloud followed me across the country, so the photos aren't great, but you get the idea...

(Awesome dorky photo, this is what happens when you travel alone. I eventually figured out the right distance to stand from the camera-on-rock setup, but this photo is far more entertaining.)

Next up? Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania with B's family which was awesome and action-packed. The best part? Visiting the Martin Guitar factory - words cannot explain how amazing it was to see these beautiful guitars being made - often by hand - and the smell of the factory was nothing short of heavenly. You know you're in a pretty great place when the CEO is giving tours. I equate the experience to an adult version of visiting Santa's workshop and seeing the elves at work. And it goes without saying that B was over the moon.
This photo is of a soundproof room with some of Martin's best guitars that you can pick up and play. It's pretty surreal to play a guitar that you know you will never ever be able to afford..

I'm trying to be cool here, but this is Tom Petty's guitar. Enough said..

Is It Too Late For Broadway?

My best cousin L and I went to see A Chorus Line last night and all I have wanted to do since is sing and dance. Getting dressed in the morning is kind of a drag... you know what would be better? A musical number.

Sitting at work on a Friday pretending to work sucks...you know what would make it better? A group dance-off.

Our seats were four rows in and you could literally see the sweat fly off the dancers. We were actually the perfect distance because you could see the sweat but you weren't in the row that actually got sprayed with it.

So if you see someone skipping down the street today, doing that side kick thing and singing "I hope I get it, god I hope I get it!" you'll know it's me....

St. John's

Well I finally made it to St. John's, Newfoundland after a very long and very frustrating day. Spending an entire day in airports is not my idea of a good time. And Ottawa isn't exactly the kind of place where you imagine getting fogged in.
And just for the record, I'm all for getting ID'ed at the liquor store, but when the Air Canada rep calls me Sweetie and asks if I'm traveling alone, I'm starting to question what is happening here.
My flight eventually made it out, albeit four hours later and I sure did miss my connection flight by about two hours. No problem, I'll just spend two billion more hours killing time in the Toronto airport.
Sigh.
The beacon of light through all of this was that on both flights I ended up sitting beside some very friendly people, Dan from Windsor on the first and Tom from St. John's on the second. Both had interesting stories to tell and although I usually shy away from having to make small talk with strangers, after a day in airport hell I was eager to have some human interaction that extended beyond pretending not to stare at weird strangers.
I finally arrived in St. John's, happy as a clam to be here, but I guess my luggage had other thoughts, it apparently wasn't ready to make the cross-province journey.
Add pouring rain and shitty directions to the hotel to the list, and you'll figure out how my day ended.

But I'm here now, and I'm sure things will be turning around! My day of conferences is about to begin, followed by a banquet dinner and something called being "Screeched In" which involves everyone's least favorite booze, so I'm sure I will have stories to tell.
More to come soon!

Camouflage art

(images via Accidental Mysteries - a new and amazing discovery...)