end of summer

it is the last day of august already, i cant believe how fast this summer has passed. maybe its because when you work full time you dont really get a summer, or maybe its because i didn't have a vacation to look forward to all summer or maybe its the fact that im pale as can be.. whatever it is, it seems this summer flew by. the nights are starting to get cooler and leaves are already falling to the ground here. as labour day approaches, we know the end of the summer is closer than we are ready for. 
dont get me wrong, i am absolutely crazy about the fall. i just feel every year i am unprepared when it settles in. im not really ready for eating dinners outside on the deck to end, or for the sun to set before 8:30. im not ready for sandals to be put away or to see thanksgiving decorations everywhere i go. but fall was come when its ready..
and im okay with that.
fall does win when it comes to fashion.. and i am kind of exciting for pumpkin spice lattes to come back to starbucks.. and hamilton gets pretty beautiful in the fall :)
heres to september and an awesome long weekend!

via weheartit

just another weekend

this weekend was fairly low key.. nothing new at all. i completely enjoy weekends like that.
friday- i worked 8-4 then got home, got ready and went to the gym (yay me! - first time in a while). the rest of the night i stayed in and started reading a new book. oh and as usual, i got my friday evening coffee (starbucks is my place of choice).
saturday - i woke up to guinness sniffing my face at 8 am.. hes a little weird like that. late morning i went over to terry's house to help him and his parents rip up their kitchen floor. they are doing a bunch of renovations to their house and i offered to help (to be honest, i wasn't much of a help.. i watched and once in a while carried some heavy tiles out to the dumpster). i guess i did bring coffee's though.. that should count for something! after a few hours i went home to shower and get ready.. we were in need of a cold beer and some food!

we thought it would be a good idea to get the party platter for two of us. 

BAD IDEA. next time we need at least two others with us

im pretty sure we ate 1/4 of it! there was soo much food! chicken wings, fries, onion rings, nachos and quesadillas. it was nice though, the brassie has live music playing every saturday (i just found that out). the singer was talented and we both liked the music.

sunday - i woke up to buckwheat and banana pancakes (i love my mom!) and i worked at the store the rest of the day (i pretty much only work there once a week right now). not very interesting.

and to finish with some exciting news..

guinness graduates from beginners puppy school tomorrow! its going to be pretty cute - definitely photo worthy!

new or known..

last week i got a lovely comment from an amazing young blogger. she said she nominated me for the liebster award which is an award given out to bloggers with less than 200 followers. ive never heard of the award before but as im honoured to be nominated by michelle over at step by step i will gladly follow the rules.
so here are eleven facts about me:
1. i was in school for 20 years of my life, which is more than many. i took the usual junior kindergarten to grade 12 then i took four years of university to get my honours bachelor degree. on top of that i did a year of research in paediatric exercise, in which i had to write a thesis paper and following that i did i post grad college degree in human resource management. come september, it will be the first time in a long time that i will not be starting a new school year.
2. my dad had picked the name of a future dog years before i got my dog. i used the name he chose (even though guinness is my dog) because im almost positive my dad will never buy a dog for himself.
3. i lived away from home for four years during my undergrad and when i started my thesis course i moved back home.. its a hard transition.
4. i love big cities - at this age/point in my life i am still dying to live in toronto for a year or two just to experience living in the big city. a big city in which the subway system is the main form of travel and it seems like there is never nothing to do. i do not however have hopes of ever raising a family there.. i'd just love to live there while i am still young.
5. i appreciate the seasons we have in canada but i really do think winter is too cold, spring is too rainy and summer is too hot. my love is for the fall with its beautiful colours and perfectly tempered weather.
6. my favourite breakfast is homemade pancakes (made with anything from chocolate chips to oats, bananas to cinnamon).
7. i pretty much have a job that is a dream come true right now. the only thing that i hate is that it is only contract!
8. im starting to develop an obsession with winter jackets. i've bought one the past two years and i find myself already checking out the north face website frequently to see if the winter jackets are in stock.
9. i would much rather stay in with a good book or a movie any day than go out to a bar or party. i promise you i do mean any day.. even newyears eve! its not that i dont love people, id actually probably prefer having people with me on new years - its that i prefer the environment of being inside.
10. i always prefer whole wheat or whole grain to white bread (or pasta) with the exception of pizza crust. pizza just tastes better made with white dough.
11. i'd love to own a polaroid camera.. one day i will!

now to answer the questions michelle set for me :)

1. How many siblings do you have and where do you fall in the lineup?  I have two sisters and I am the oldest

2. What is your job/what is your career goal? my goal.. any job in which i can use my education and experience. i'm working in a hospital right now and i love that the job requires me to use my background knowledge from both of the areas of educational experience i have, human resources and kinesiology

3. What is your favorite thing to do on a Friday night? stay in and watch movies with my sisters, my friends or my boyfriend.. wine may be involved.. or maybe coffee.

4. Do you have any secret talents? i can't think of any.

5. What is your favorite TV show? criminal minds

6. Who is your favorite band/artist? snow patrol is my favourite.

6. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? i cant answer that question because i haven't been everywhere i want to see in the world. 

7. What is your favorite event to watch in the Olympics this year? the summer olympics.. there are too many to choose from. i love watching the gymnastics and the diving most i think

8. What is the number one thing on your bucket list? i've never made a bucket list but something i really want to do is travel to scotland or ireland. Oh and also i want to visit new york city around christmas time.

9. Is there anything you are deathly afraid of? no

10. Do you play any instruments? nope

11. What is one book you would recommend? white oleander by janet fitch

next up.. i need to ask 11 questions

1. what do you love most about the city you currently live in?

2. who inspired you to start a blog?

3. is there a recipe that you absolutely love to make and you make so often you are practically known for it?

4. what is your favourite movie?

5. why is the above mentioned movie your favourite?

6. do you have a favourite poet, artist or photographer?

7. do you get all four seasons where you live, if so, which is your favourite?

8. if you got to start from scratch and decorate your own bedroom.. where would most of your furniture/decorations/accessories come from?

9. have you ever skied or snowboarded?

10. what is your favourite song at the moment?

11. have you ever attempted a D.I.Y project and if so, what was it and how did it turn out?

Check out these blogs (bloggers i've mentioned- these questions are for you!)

Cassandra @ 25 in my 25th

Jessica @ moscatovilla

Melina @ melina with love

wine and chocolate

wine and chocolate yes, two of my favourite things.. this is basically what my saturday consisted of. although my birthday is tomorrow (monday), terry and i thought it would be a better idea to celebrate my birthday on the saturday. i was asked a couple of times what i wanted for my birthday and honestly all i wanted was a nice dinner or a nice day together to do something fun, something like wine tasting. lucky for us, living in hamilton, we are less than an hour away from niagara-on-the-lake, one of the largest wine producing regions in Canada. 
terry went ahead and booked a wine tour for the two of us. the tour started around 1:45, check in to be around 1:30. we got to our first winery around 2:00 and there we got to try some white wine and two different icewines - riesling and a cabernet sauvignon. icewine, if you have never tried it, is more of a dessert wine. its extremely sweet, sometimes to the point where it is recommended to drink it with some dark (bitter) chocolate. i loved it though! it literally smelt like jam. the wine expert had a little something to say about each of the wines we tried. 

after the organized wine tasting we spend about 20 minutes walking around looking at the selections of wine and trying a few different ones we didn't trying during the tasting. then off we were to the next winery. 
the next winery was niagara college. this is actually one of the only two colleges in north america that offers a school for wine making. here we got to walk out to the vineyards and go down to the cellar to see the machines they used and where the wine is stored. we also got to see the teaching classroom in where the students learn how and eventually make their own wine.

barrels and barrels of wine.

we learned some information along the way - such as: red wines are typically stored in oak barrels and wine wines are typically held in steel. the longer the reds are stored in the barrels the stronger tasting they often are and it is completely up to the wine maker how long they want to store the wines. also, the reason wines have different names is because they are actually named after the grapes that are used to make the wine (there are 100's different types of grapes).. icewine is actually made with frozen grapes that have to be picked when the temperature is between -8 and -12 degrees celsius.

next we went to a family owned winery called caroline cellars.. the wines here are not sold in the lcbo (if you are from ontario you are familiar with the lcbo, if you are not, the lcbo is our liquor store.. as we cannot buy liquor from any grocery store or convenience store here in canada.)

lastly we went to reif estates winery where we tried a riesling, a cabarnet merlot and an icewine and we also learned a little about the history of the wineries in the niagara region. 

it was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday and a fun thing to do in general. i could never imagine going every weekend or anything (you do try between 3 and 6 wines at each of the wineries- this does add up!) but id love to go again sometime. adding to make it a great day, the weather stayed clear from rain!

july glossy box

a year ago i thought id never make a post about any form of clothes or products, it just wasn't something i would do. i've changed my opinion... i actually thoroughly enjoy reading posts about beauty products people have used and their opinions on whether they loved or hated them, just as i love reading about books others have read.
i got my first glossybox in the mail today and the only reason i actually ordered one is because i've read about it in many of the blogs i read weekly. if you have never heard of glossybox, it is a little box of beauty products (usually around 5) sent each month to your door in a cute light pink box. its $15 a month and contents can be anything from hair products to foot cream and from nail polish to facial cleanser. each subscriber makes a beauty profile and glossybox sends products based on these profiles. i opened mine as soon as i got home from work and i was impressed with everything i got for the $15.

 nicely wrapped in a baby pink box

the july glossy box contained:

1. Zoya Nail Polish -the colour is called reagan, its a deep fuchsia pink and supposably has a subtle blue undertone -  valued at $8.00
2. Alessandro International -  pedix heel rescue balm -  this just came as a sample size so im unsure of the retail value of this
3. John Frieda go blonder spray - this im excited for! you just spray it on and it is supposed to lighten the blonde.. cheaper than the hair salon! -  this is full size and valued at $13.99
4. Burts Bees lip shimmer -  i love burts bees products - valued at $5.99
5. Dove softening creme body wash -  i just like most body washes as long as it doesn't have a really harsh sent. i find dove usually has a very subtle fragrance - full size and valued at $5.99
6. Beautysoclean sanitizer wipes -  these are different, apparently it is like hand sanitizer but for your makeup. strange concept - it came with a sample of about 4 wipes


total value was about $34.00 + the sample size products i didn't add.
from what i've read about glossy box, boxes usually range from $30 in value to even around $60! for paying only $15 dollars a month, either is impressive.