'Tis the season...

Fa la la la la la la la laaaaaaa

So I decided that for my quaint one bedroom apartment I would buy a holly tree instead of a little christmas tree. My reasons;


1. I don't like fake trees (even back in Nova Scotia to this day we still get a real one)
2. I wouldn't be around long enough to get a petite real tree  (I'll be back out east at some point and it would die)
3. By having this holly bush, even after the holiday season it can remain a seasonal plant and     liven up my apartment! 
4. I like it...it's purdyyy


I wanted to stick with classic gold and red so I started by attaching little red bows that had a tiny gold pipe cleaners wrapped in the middle. Then I put pretty white lights around the branches (Tip: Check out Value Village for cheap and pretty lights. I got two long strands of lights and they were only 2.99 each) Then, I covered one of my side tables with red and green tissue paper and put some mini candy canes and bows around the base of the tree. Keeping it classic. And soon there will presents there (me and my girlfriends are having Holiday Girls night tonight, can't wait to tell you about it)


Next, keeping with season appropriate plants. I also purchased a white and red poinsetta for decoration. 

Here, another strand of lights from VV and the same bows I used on the tree. I attached the bows to the lights and strung them across the room divider in my place. They bring such a cosy feeling to my place, I might have to leave them up all winter!

Wishing you all happy holiday decorating! xo

First of many Christmas dinners

A few friends and I got together last night for a delicious feast.  To Eat; We had bacon wrapped figs for an appetizer,  followed by a hearty lamb stew and yorkshire pudding, finished off with fresh chocolate mousse with whipped cream and raspberries. To drink; a medium body red wine to toast, followed by our favourite beers, and with dessert Bailey's on ice. Nothing says Christmas to me like some creamy Baileys. Yum yum. We also had the He and She Christmas album playing in the background and lots of holiday cheer :) 

Take a look;

Yorkshire Pudding

I was always so intimidated by Yorkshire puddings but they were SO SO easy to make. I made mine plain because they were being paired with a lamb stew, but you can add beef/vegetable broth to the recipe if you want to give them a flavour of their own. Here's the recipe I used.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs with milk. Stir in flour. Set aside.
3. Divide butter evenly into the twelve cups of a muffin tin, about 1/2 teaspoon per cup. Place tin in oven to melt butter, 2 to 5 minutes. Remove tin from oven, and distribute batter evenly among buttery cups.
4. Bake in preheated oven 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake 25 minutes more or until puffed and golden.

The Stew

I neglected to take a picture of the stew myself because we were in the height of our meal but its a classic Irish lamb stew, made with Guinness. Great leftovers and a total hit. 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/irish-lamb-stew/

The Dessert

We served our mousse in little teacups and made whip cream from scratch. This is a rich recipe but its light so it was a perfect match following our stew. Check out the recipe from the link below. There is a video, watch it! It was really helpful so we knew what the heck was going on.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateMousse.html

Many more get together and meals to come! xo

Favourites right now

Favourite mug

Favourite tea

Favorite smells

Impromptu Creation

My friend Eugene Draw (best known as Dr Draw) is an amazing musician and creator. A couple weeks ago he called me up to dance in a video he was working on for World Aids day. I brought some other dancer friends, we had an awesome director Desh Fernando and we weren't sure exactly what we were doing, we just dove in. Open, willing and creative people coming together with purpose, made this a success. I know its past World Aids day, but the final cut of this just came out and besides, its never too late to appreciate a good cause.

Click the link below and see what we made. I think it turned out really beautiful.

Voices

warm winter woolies

Classic wool socks, girlie wool socks, hand made hats and scarves or knit slippers, sweaters, tea cosies and more. Whatever it is, wool is the perfect way to keep warm when the frost sets in. 

This next on isn't all wool BUT its is a new, purple ruffle, throw I bought for my bed that I'm super excited about! It's soft and luscious and even though it's not 100% wool, it is still snuggly for the cool evenings. Thanks HomeSense. Love.

stay warm all.

cosy comforts...

Even tea with a friend seems extra special when it's the holiday season. Love festive baked goods, flavoured coffees and winter teas. I just love blogging in December.

Patience

pa·tience

   [pey-shuhns]  Show IPA

noun

1.

the quality of being patient,  as the bearing of provocation,annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss oftemper, irritation, or the like.

2.

an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness orannoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with aslow learner.

3.

quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence:to work with patience.

 As I sat down at The Tampered Press to blog this morning I couldn't get my Mac to connect to their wi fi. I tried multiple times, restarted my computer etc etc. It wouldn't connect, so rather than packing up my stuff and going, I sat with my coffee and I waited. Patiently waiting. 

This may sound simple, yeah, wait it out. Just give it a few minutes to connect. But in the past I have been the least patient person in the world. When I finished high school I didn't wait a minute before I flew off to Toronto, I would rush relationships, ideas and even though I grew up in the east coast I would get so bored fishing! No breaks, no vacations, no silence just go go go.

 Now a few years ago in theatre school I wrote in a journal I was going to 'practice more patience'. I continued to write this in journals and papers and whatever else, that I was going to 'practice more patience'. I recognized in myself that  I often want to rush and skip over important moments and steps. Whats that quote, its not about the final destination its about the journey? Well whatever it is, its true.

Even just now as I waited for the internet to connect (so I could sip my coffee, blog and read the news) I didn't mind. I didn't mind waiting. WHOA a revelation for me! And now writing this blog is that much more rewarding. Also, the other day I was teaching  group of adults at the circus school and afterwards one woman commented on how patient I was with their group. She didn't know, but that was definitely one of the best compliments someone could give me as a teacher and as a person.

  Now for fear of jumping to conclusions too quickly (and not taking my time to fully realize my revelation)  I will not say I have succeeded in practicing patience. But I do think patience has found a nice little place in my life and its making me a happier person :)