September Glossybox

the july glossybox i was thrilled about, i couldn't wait until the august one! when i got the august one i was so disappointed (not because it was not worth it or it had bad products - they just were not for me, the products). the september glossybox came and as soon as i opened it i instantly regretted making my complaints about the august box known to glossybox. the september glossybox was amazing! 
thank you glossybox soo much!

the september glossybox was all about red-carpet-ready glamour and was definitely valued at way more than the $15.00 per month we pay for this wonderful box. 
the september glossybox contained:

1. NYX the crimson amulet collection makeup palette: 24 different eye shadow colours, lip colours, blush, liquid eye liner and an eye shadow base. i haven't used the lip colour yet but i've tried a few of the eye shadows and i love the blushes that i tried! the glossybox arrived right before a wedding i went to so it was perfect! i was able to use colours i've never had before! (i dont often wear much make-up) - this is valued at $25.00!
2. Wella professionals mirror polish shine serum: this product is perfect to use on your hair after you straighten it. i find sometimes my hair looks very dry after i've straightened it but this serum gives my hair a nice shine. the smell isn't bad but its strong - this is valued at $16.99 and its full size!
3. B. Kamins Lip Balm SPF 20: its Canadian! thats a plus! :) and its a good product. its not scented, no colour to it and has SPF protection. no complaints here, i like it. - we got a sample size (4ml)
4. B. Kamins Maple Body Lotion: the smell of this lotion is subtle but nice. it goes on nice and is not oily - we got a sample size in glossybox (we also got a coupon for 25% off B. Kamins Lip Balm or Lotion if we purchase some from the website)
5. Dove Cleartone: i love dove and you can always use more deodorant. this particular cleartone product is supposed to reduce underarm discolouration cause by dry skin. i haven't used it yet but im betting it will like it just as much as all over dove deodorants - we got a sample size

*PS.. we got an email from glossybox yesterday indicating they are raising the price of their monthly subscription to $21.00 from $15.00. that is a pretty significant increase im not happy about... but i'll see how it goes*

"a good man"

i asked you if you were a good man, you gave me the wrong answer. 

the answer is not it's one's own perspective. the answer is not it depends. the answer has nothing to do with comparing you to another man, silly. the answer need not be yes, but should be proud. the answer to my question said by a good man should be positive and hopeful. 

a good man cares, learns and reasons. a good man is open to opinion and difference. a good man loves and respects, is stubborn and has believes. a good man seeks enjoyment and understanding. a good man notices, observes and analyses situations. a good man supports and inspires. a good man has passion, a goal, and a desire to do well. a good man is real, proud and honest. a good man is loved by many, in many different ways. a good man is everything i've listed here and much more.. in you my dear, i see a good man.

"waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. be one" - Marcus Aurelius

apple picking

its october! i believe october marks the first month of fall (although i've always considered september more fall-like then summer-like - probably because with september starts school). october/september is all about the fun, love and food.. according to me that is. since its my first fall with a full time job i find it a bit more difficult to get into the usual routines of fall photography and all sorts of baking with pumpkins. mmm pumpkin spice muffins! 
i did get a chance to go apple picking though! its become a tradition over the past few years and i love it. i'm never really sure when the best time to go apple picking is. we always seems to go around september or october but this year by mid september there were only courtland and gala apples available. no macintosh, my favourite!

two empty baskets ready to be filled with apples!

 

we ended up spending about $87.00 on apples! i think it was about $1.29 per pound so thats a fair amount of apples! my mom made an apple pie and an apple crisp for dessert. i was apple to make an apple pie for terry and his parents and my sister also took some back to school with her for her and her house mates.
while we were driving back home my dad accused my mom, my sister and i for stealing apples! we each ate an apple while we were there.. one we didn't pay for. we laughed about it but he does have a valid point. imagine how much money this farm is out if every single person eats one apple each time they visit. 

tiff 2012

my attempt to meet someone famous failed. i messaged my friend, printed the t.i.f.f schedule, packed my camera and headed to toronto all in an attempt to see a celebrity (or as some would call it - to star stalk) and i didn't see anyone famous! actually, its possible i did, but in all honesty i dont watch a lot of tv or follow news on celebrities in general, so i probably wouldn't even recognize them. im not too disappointed i didn't see any stars though - i was happy to be in the city for a day, shopping with a good friend.  and despite me not seeing anyone famous, there was a lot of excitement everywhere in the city. crowds were lining up to see film screenings and camera crew were everywhere! limos and security guards surrounding velvet ropes and red carpets. 

i love downtown toronto in general. its always exciting, the crowds were not abnormal. there were bands playing in the streets, free popcorn and ice cream being handed out, professional photographers offering to take pictures and free magazines.

oh did i mention free beer.. we also lined up for some free beer

after we had eventually given up on trying to catch a glimpse of a celebrity (meg more eager to give up than i) we decided to walk around some of the beautiful and ridiculously expensive neighbourhoods.. and do a little shopping.

the neighbourhoods in the city are lovely. in the busy city, these neighbours actually seem peaceful (this could be deceiving - i've never lived in the city to experience it) but i like it.
we spent from 10:30 to 4pm walking around city then my friend had to leave so i walked around 2 hours for by myself before i decided to catch the bus back home (it takes about an hour to get back to hamilton). i was walking past the ritz carlton through crowds of people when some man told me i should go into the bar, called DEQ, which was attached to the hotel. he said that is were all the celebrities are hanging out. he showed me his camera and he had a picture of him with colin farrell on it!.. if i was dressed nicer and still with meg i would have tried to convinced her to line up and go get a drink at the bar with me - but being alone at this point, i passed at that idea.
after i got home that night i found out that will smith and family and shia labeouf where exactly were i was taking pictures but 4 hours earlier than i was there! 
tiff 2012 - no star sightings by me.. darn - maybe next year.

i believe in wearing lipstick.. like audrey hepburn

lipstick.. not really my thing. i've never bought it in my life, i never thought it looked very good on me. some people pull it off well and it looks perfect, it just fits but im not one of those people. im not sure if i just dont have the confidence to pull it off or it really just doesn't do anything for me. anyways, this week i got the august glossy box and in it were two lipsticks.

the first colour is nice :). i like it. id wear it and i'd say i pull it off alright. its made specially for glossybox members, meaning you cant really buy it in stores.. but if i could, i may actually buy it.

the second colour is ridiculous. its intense and i dont know if there is ever a good time to wear it.

super bright! and as much as i hated it at first i kind of love it now. maybe i will find a time and a place in which it is appropriate to wear it. 

labour day weekend

 the labour day weekend has come to an end and september is officially in full swing. despite being sick since thursday, i was able to make the most of this long weekend.. but with lots of tea. i managed to do a lot of reading and watch a lot of buffy (yes buffy the vampire slayer.. 7 years ago it used to be my favourite show.. now its just absolutely hilarious to watch -  the outfits! oh the outfits!). i also went to the burlington rib fest, made some sangria, went on a roadtrip to stratford and took guinness on some nice long walks. 

rib fest wasn't bad. im not really a fan of ribs (i honestly detest eating anything off bones - ribs, chicken wings.. anything like that) but i do love barbecue sauce.. and barbecues.. mmm everything there smelt amazing! terry and i only tried the ribs from one vender (you are supposed to try a few and vote on your favourite) but we also didn't vote either.. oops. basically it was just a whole lot of people drinking beer and eating carcass - i feel its more a mans territory. 

on sunday we couldn't decide if we wanted to go rollerblading at the bayfront or go on a drive somewhere.. we decided on a drive and although terry didnt tell me where we were going at the time.. it ended up being to stratford. i had never been to stratford before - now i like it. it was my kind of town! used book stores and coffee shops and there was even horse and buggies (like the mid 18th century kind)..

i couldn't find the book i was looking for but thats alright.. terry ended up buying two books :)

         

yummm... chocolate covered espresso beans (some of the best!) and iced coffee

monday was spend watching the ti-cat vs toronto argo labour day classic and watching tv... it was a good long weekend.

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!