Closet Wonders

Every now and then I have the urge to put on something cute and stylish, something out of the ordinary (my ordinary which consists of sweat pants) 

Today was one of those days. And if you look at this picture and think "what is she talking about those are sweat pants aren't they?" then I would say NO THEY ARE LEGGINGS AND THAT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT!

And then I would tell you to look at how awesomely awesome my shirt is!

And then I would tell you to ignore the water spatter on my mirror and pretend that it's clean.

I bought this shirt a few years ago... actually almost 5 years ago from Zara and it is one of my most favorite! I love Matryoshka dolls!

For anyone who doesn't know Matryoshka dolls are those little wooden dolls that have smaller dolls inside of them and I think they are fabulous!

Some people in the past have given me strange looks when they see me in this shirt but I don't care because it makes me happy and I think that's what fashion should be. It doesn't matter what is happening on the runways of Paris or Italy, if you find signature pieces that you feel good in that's all that matters! Plus I am definitely one for looking good but not blowing your budget, I think this shirt was maybe $30.
 Speaking of Paris I have a thing for the city (despite never have gone there myself) which is why I was excited to find this shirt:

"I Adore Paris

The City of Love"

$7... that's right I said 7 bucks!

Nice Buns Betty

Because I have decided recently that I want to be like Martha Stewart (minus the jail time and monotone voice) and be an excellent homemaker I took a mini kitchen adventure yesterday and made me some dinner rolls!

Here are the little devils before oven time

And after

And here they are resting on my counter

This was my first ever attempt at baking buns as I've never made any type of bread with an exception for banana bread... it was experimental but I admit they turned out quite good!

I thought maybe I did something wrong because they were so small but I followed the directions to the T and then I asked Mom (because Mom's know all) and she said dinner rolls are supposed to be smaller than regular buns so I said alrighty, smothered a baby bun with budda and chowed down!

Here is a picture of my cute little kitchen just for the fun of it!

My Pledge to Pledge

I have a new savior that I must pledge my love for...

I know, how witty I am! A pledge for Pledge! But enough about me this post (my second of the day! I know I just said enough about me but ... well I lied) is to tell the world my newfound love affair with Pledge Multi Surface because it truly is amazing!

Because my new home has lovely appliances and those lovely appliances are in beautiful stainless steel and that beautiful stainless steel has a magnetic pull to my son's dirty fingerprints I had to roll up my sleeves and do some testing in the name of cleanliness (and sanity because I admit that the sight of dirty fingerprints all over the fridge made me cringe every day...)

The first product that I tried was Windex (I know it seems weird but when I was working for a cleaning company we actually did use this on almost EVERYTHING in the show homes) and the results... crap! It didn't cut through the greasy prints at all even after I gave it a little elbow grease.

The second product (home made option) was vinegar and water. The results for this...crap again!

Finally I broke down and bought something that wasn't already in my cupboard and THIS is what I came home with...

And the results?

This is an AWESOME product and after it single handedly tackled the mess on my fridge I then moved on to the hood fan, my stove top (which is induction) and even my wood entertainment unit! I was ecstatic and on a roll so naturally I had to go on a cleaning spree and the whole house got a taste of my wrath... so with that here is my pledge:

Dearest Pledge Multi Surface, 

I Kendra vow to use you to work magic on my household for many years to come. 

Love yours truly.

Soup-er!

I HAVE to write about how absolutely delicious the soup I made yesterday was... and after you read this you HAVE to make it!!

First of all there is a reason I made this delectable soup which is where I will start; on our semi-honeymoon me and D spent the day touring around and we stopped at this quaint cafe off the highway for lunch where I had Cream of Potato & Bacon soup and it was SO good that I could have died! (Yes I realize I exaggerate a lot...) SO of course I wanted to make it which is exactly what I did yesterday and here is the recipe:

Cream of Potato Soup With Bacon

6 strips of bacon, diced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4-5 large potatoes, cubed

6 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated cheese (i like marble)

1 bay leaf

Salt & Pepper

Chives (for topping)

In a large frying pan cook bacon until crisp, put on paper towel lined plate. Reserve 2 tbsp of cooking fat from bacon and put in large soup pot.

Add onion and garlic to pot and cook for 12 min on med heat. Add potatoes broth and bay leaf; cook on med-high until potatoes soften, 15 minutes or so. Once soft take potato masher and mash potatoes in pot. Add sour cream, bacon, salt & pepper and bring soup to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes (soup will thicken during this time)

Serve topped with grated cheese & chives.

I promise you this soup is SO yummy and it's an awesome (and easy) comfort food when it's cold outside! I took some pictures but I'll be honest my camera isn't the best and I'm not very talented at picture taking so they don't fully do it justice but when I figure out how to load them I will put them on here for a visual.

This weekend I'm making Italian Wedding soup for my Daddy's Birthday (his favorite!) so I will post that one if all goes well!

French Trumps Kind

You may remember that a few months ago I attempted to change my diet and eliminate red meats as well as eat healthier and with conscience. I thought I should update what has become of that decision... you may be able to tell from the title of this entry which way I was swayed (that is if you did read my past entries on the books that influenced my decision - French Women Don't Get Fat & The Kind Diet but if not the result of my "experiment" is) eating vegetarian just didn't work for me.

For awhile I was doing really well, I had cut out red meat from my diet completely and I was flirting with vegetarian foods and soy milks and cutting out sugars and I felt a lot better (inside) from even just a few small changes I could tell a big difference in my digestion and there was even a difference in how I felt after eating - not being bloated or having indigestion or simply not having that feeling of having over eaten but still feeling an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. All together it was pretty good, the downfall of my efforts came in a few forms:

The first form was money; it is very expensive to eat with a conscience... when you buy meats that are fed and raised properly although it makes you feel better about eating it your wallet is drained every time.

Buying organic fruits and vegetables are another big expense of eating vegetarian, even without buying organic I found I spent a lot of money on my fruits and veggies and I struggled to find meal plans for them and ended up throwing a lot away at the end of the week which was not something I enjoyed doing... I struggled making meals for the family to keep them happy as well as keep my goals in mind.

The second form of my downfall was that I really missed eating meat. Having a love for cooking it was a very hard adjustment eliminating beef from my diet and recipes although I did replace a lot of my ground beef recipes with ground turkey and they turned out pretty good but for some things it just wasn't the same... and after awhile of feeling deprived I just decided it wasn't worth it

Life is short and I don't want to spend mine feeling guilty for eating a certain way or feeling deprived while surrounded by others who are enjoying their burgers and steaks and I munch on a salad... or a very disgusting "mock-sausage" *shudder*

Its not to say that I didn't come away from this without learning anything, now that I know how my body reacts to the foods I put into it I know I need to limit my red meat intake and being an animal lover I of course want to do my part in whatever way I can to support local farmers and choose meats that were raised in a healthy environment with as little hormones injected as possible. 

Lucky for us Albertan's we have access to good quality beef that is properly raised on farms around our Province which helps us promote local farming as well.

I want to be a smart consumer (literally and figuratively) and I do want to be healthy; this has opened my eyes to eating with health in mind above anything else which I think is of great importance especially when it comes to making meals for my son and teaching him how to eat properly.

Wednesday I made my favorite beef soup (which you can find the recipe for tagged in my Wellbeing entries) and I enjoyed every last spoonful of it! 

That was the first beef meal I made and consumed since my attempts to go vegetarian and I had no remorse for my decision. 

For anyone who is vegetarian or vegan I give you my praise as anyone who lives in such a way is no doubt very strong willed. 

For the rest of us who aren't (or simply just don't care about this debate and love their meats) I have but one request - eat smart, savor your food and 

Bon Appetite!

Home SWEET Home

I have some BIG news... drum-roll please...

I am a homeowner!!

Me and D have just purchased our first home in a lovely, quaint and small town.

At first I was very hesitant on moving to such a small place, never having lived anywhere very small ever it seemed like it might be a big transition to make and being 40 minutes from our family and friends was a bit of a daunting thought but here I am two weeks into the small town life and I love it!

It is so lovely here and despite the mountains being my favorite place to be I am quite content in this prairie town.

You can hear the cows 'Moo' from the fields throughout the day which has become as equivocal as the sound of sirens back home. I doubt I've ever slept in such silence (except for camping) and I definitely have never felt so safe. There is such a feeling of community here and although I've only yet met our neighbour I'm confident that we will make some great friends too.

Also, because it was something I always spoke (complained) about before I have to state that I finally feel at home. 

This house is our home and I don't think there is a greater feeling than knowing you have somewhere to call yours... okay there are greater feelings but it is pretty awesome!

Me and D have already made our plans for future renovations and redecorating and it's so much fun to know you can actually do what you want and nobody else can say otherwise.

Another perk of buying outside the city is our mortgage is so much less than it would have been there, we can afford to LIVE, to do what we want and enjoy the things we normally do without worrying about our budget.

I highly recommend it to anyone stuck in the rat race wanting to get out!

I have to sign off now as I am currently in the process of stealing internet connection and I'm afraid I will be caught and the whole town will hate me... or at least my neighbour.

Fab Faves of Fall

Aside from the fact that Fall is my FAVORITE season and I can never get enough of the picture perfect back drop that Nature presents to us this time of year there are a few other things I quite enjoy about it... some old and some new, that I would like to share with you:

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

This is my all time favorite latte from Starbucks, it's delicious and reminds me of Thanksgiving... which brings me to my next fave...

Thanksgiving Dinner



I love comfort foods and I love spending quality time with my family, the combination of the two is perfect!

Although this picture does not showcase the typical foods MY family has, with a Ukranian background we typically swap out potatoes for perogies and veggies for sour cabbage rolls! YUM!

Leggings

They're everywhere right now and with a price of around $15 you really can't go wrong with this seasons "it" item. I love the look of them paired with a sweater-dress and I'm excited to say I picked up my first pair on the weekend! 

Boots

I'm getting a tad tired of wearing Ugg knock-offs so instead this season I intend to invest in a nice pair of flat soled boots that will still keep my footsies warm but also provide me with a level of style.

Sweaters

I love love LOVE sweaters!

They are my wardrobe staple through the Fall and Winter months, to me nothing is better than being cozy and cute in a knitted piece (also pairs well with leggings...) 

This one above is from Zara.

My last fave is *drumroll*

Vintage Inspired Clothes

On my trip to buy leggings I came across this super cute dress at Dynamite.

I love the vintage vibe it has with the perfect mix of classy and elegant, I noticed the vintage trend in quite a few other stores too which I am definitely digging right now!

It's All in the Details...

As promised here are some of the details of the Wedding...

Our Invitations:

I wanted something simple but still elegant;

I found the pre-cut white invitations which came with the eyelet cut pattern on the bottom and the small white bows.

I purchased the "Love" stamp at the craft store to add a bit extra and printed them at home.

Our Programs:

I purchased white card paper and vintage inspired scrapbooking paper as well as white ribbon from the craft store.

I made the programs booklet style with 4 pages and printed them off in the same font as I used for our invitations.

I included a little story on how we met and Derek's proposal as well as some pictures of us through the years.

Ceremony Ritual:

Part of our ceremony included a ritual where each guest took a stone as they entered the Ceremony hall, they were instructed to write an intention on the stone for us and our marriage.

The Dress(es):

My gown was ivory with a lace overlay, the detailing in the lace was done in spun gold which gave the dress a sheen to it and a little extra.

The Bridesmaids wore navy blue dresses with flower details on the left side under the bust.

Something Blue:

I wore Manolo Blahnik's Something Blue shoes (as seen in S&C movie)

{Something Borrowed - Grandmothers cuff bracelet

Something Old - Earrings Derek gave me as a gift

Something New - Garter}

The Ceremony Location:

Shawnessy Barn provided our rustic and unique backdrop to our Ceremony.

The Decor:

The Barn was decorated with twinkle lights, faux white and navy blue roses as well as strung lanterns and candles lining the aisle runner.

Grand Enterance:

My Daddy walked me down the aisle, coming in from the big double door enterance at the back which faced the park.

We hired a violinist to play as well.

Pictures:

Done by a talented family friend we took some pictures in the park behind the Barn as well as some in the rustic strip mall of Bragg Creek where our Reception was held.

I took this picture on the morning of the Wedding,

my makeup sponges were stuck together like this:

There you have it, some of the details that made our Wedding Day what it was!

Inspirational

Once again Lady O has served up a bit of inspiration my way. I've always been a fan of Oprah herself and I'm usually not a big fan of the high profile interview shows but the other day I had a moment to myself (Aiden asleep) and I was able to curl up infront of the tellie and watch her show where she had J.K. Rowling in a private interview.
For those of you who live under a rock she is the author of the Harry Potter series.

I watched in silence through the entire show and I felt as if J.K.R. were almost speaking directly to me... I know how corny that sounds belive me but I truly felt the weight of every word she spoke resignating within.

For as long as I can recall I wanted to be a writer; at first I wanted to write songs and then it became poetry and then for awhile I wanted to write editorial but in between and more now than ever I have always wanted to be a novelist.
I've dreamed of the day my writing would be published and fall into the hands of many people eager to dissolve into my stories. I want to be able to capture something that people sit back and say "wow" as they stick thier book mark in between pages.
And corny as it sounds I've always dreamed that I would meet Oprah by making the bestsellers list!


But back to the inspirational Ms. Rowling - One thing she said in the interview that stuck with me was a piece from her 2008 commencement speech for Harvard University:

"I've often met people who are terrified—you know, in a straitjacket of their own making—because they'd rather do anything than fail. They don't want to try for fear of failing," she says. "[Hitting] rock bottom wasn't fun at all—I'm not romanticizing rock bottom—but it was liberating. What did I have to lose?"

In hearing that statement it hit me that my problem is fear. I suppose in the back of my mind I've always known this and when I told D this fact he pretty much stared at me with a look like "I could have told you that" but for some reason hearing this from her mouth, from somebody who's been there and gone through the process of being turned down and finally reaching the top... someone who didn't have any schooling to back up her creditials to write this book that became a phenomenon ... it made me sit back and think "I could do that too".
To once again quote Jo, when O asked if she'd always wanted to be a writer or if she'd always known she would be she replied that writing has always been a part of her and when she didn't write she felt lost.
I can relate to that having always had a journal and writing this blog and the many attempts at story writing I've made I can truly say that writing is in my blood. In response O said 'that's how you know you were born to do it' and in hearing that I felt shaken to the core... despite being told I am good at it and being told I should persue it I just never gave myself enough credit to say Ok but somehow in hearing that statement I felt like a wave of "Duh" (for lack of a better way to put it) slammed me back into the couch. Perhaps THIS is what I am meant to do.
This is the answer I've been looking for all along.

I don't in a million years believe that I would ever be at the status J.K.R. is, being the first billionaire author! But I do have a hope in me that I could have a book out there and even if only one person were to buy it and be touched by my story that would be enough for me (even if that one person were my own Mother!)

So I've decided that I shouldn't hold back anymore from trying to reach my dreams. Next time I have a good idea I'm going to work with it, even it takes me years to go from start to finish I will persevere and I will believe in myself. As Jo said "The hardest part will be to get published" and I know that will stand true but if I can do that I can prove to myself that dreams come true.