Resolutions for the New Year

I'm not one to make resolutions as I've found that they always become quickly forgotten by the time February rolls around. Instead of committing myself to very strict resolutions, I've decided on a couple of vague guidelines to follow throughout the year.

Last year in February, I started working out religiously and eating healthier. With the event of the holidays and exam season, my healthy diet has definitely taken a toll as well as my gym visits. So my plan is to get back into that healthy lifestyle and now that I'm finished my degree, I can have more free time to go to the gym.

Along the same line, I also plan to eat healthier. Since I have so much more free time on my hands, I wanted to attempt to learn at least one new recipe a month. I felt that one recipe isn't that far off of a reach that if I can't reach that goal, I won't be as disappointed with myself.

In my spare time, I also want to get back into the flow of reading as much as I can. I used to be a huge book nerd before University, where I would devour books on a daily basis. It got so bad that there were some weeks where I would barely get any sleep since I would become so engrossed in a book that I would stay up all night trying to finish a book. Once I start one, I can't put it down till it's finished. I've recently gotten into the Divergent series in an attempt to read it before the movie is released. I'm a huge advocate of reading books before watching their respective movies so I that was my mission for January. I'm currently on the last book of the trilogy and I'm about half-way through it. The series is fantastic and definitely compelling but not as complex as I would wish. It is after all a teen-novel so I can't complain.

Lastly, I set a resolution to spend less overall. I have a tendency to impulse shop and as many other girls I am an admitted shoppaholic. I tend to purchase things that I don't necessarily need, but more on the basis because I like it and want it. I started slowing down my spending in December primarily because my expenses had to be re-directed towards Christmas presents. So in doing so, I created a wishlist for myself of the pricier items that I would like to own and living vicariously through that list. I know that sounds weird, but every time I looked at the list, it refrained me from making an unnecessary purchase. In doing so I actually ended up saving myself quite a bit of money during the holidays, which allowed me to attain one  tof the items on my list! I ordered it a couple of days ago and can't wait for it to arrive in the mail.

What's great about my last resolution is that it goes hand in hand with one of my previous ones where I want to learn some new recipes. I'm a huge foodie at heart and love going out to lunches and dinners with friends, which can become costly. So by limiting the money I spend from eating out at random fast-food restaurants and reserving it for nicer ones, I save more money and have more time to eat at home instead of eating out unhealthily.

Did you guys make any reservations for the year? And if so what were they?

Cookies and Cream Fudge

It's taken me awhile to finally show the fantastic cookies and cream fudge recipe I found over at Cupcakes and Cashmere, but I'm more than excited to share my fabulous treat that had everyone swooning over the holidays. I'm a sucker for Hershey's Cookies and Cream chocolate bars and by no means did I plan on the outcome of the fudge to taste similar. So when I got reactions asking me if I used any of the chocolate bar in the recipe due to how identical it tasted, I was pleasurably surprised. I modified the original recipe slightly, out my own idiocy when  grocery shopping and didn't purchase enough supplies, so the overall taste is less sweeter than the original.

I used this recipe, but I replaced sugar for icing sugar once I realized that I didn't actually have any at home. This actually sped up the cooking process as the finer sugar melted a lot faster than I had expected. I started the process by doubling the recipe, and by the time it came to incorporating the marshmellow cream, I realized that I had only bought enough for one portion. So only 3.5 oz were used.

I also omitted the pinch of salt because of the decreased cooking time due to the icing sugar made the entire mixture extremely difficult to mix.

Location Scouting and Congratulations!

Last week I was asked by my friend Abdi to help him scout out a location for his friend's surprise wedding proposal. We spent a couple hours in the afternoon in the downtown core of Ottawa looking at beautiful pathways, a bridge covered in love locks, out the back of the Parliament library and a couple of trails in Westboro before settling on the tree-encased pathway. Surprisingly, the pathway wasn't even on the original list of locations and we just happened upon it by chance while visiting the bridge.

My friend Abdi did a beautiful job capturing the moment even in the dead of winter, during one of the coldest snaps of the season. Can you guess her response? Obviously she said yes from the smile on her face!

Congratulations Troy, I wish you and Meghan both the best!
Please check out Abdi's page for more of his beautiful photography. I wish everyone the best and hope that everyone has just as great of a start to their new year!

Under the Tree

I don't know if anyone else ever feels the same, but the holidays never appear to be over until the Christmas tree has been taken down. Every year I try my hardest to keep the tree up for as long as I can, but my father always insists on taking it down before his return to work after being off for a couple of weeks. One of my favourite parts of Christmas has always been the pile of presents under the tree. No, not the fact that I'm getting presents but just looking at all of the beautifully wrapped gifts propped up against each other. I love seeing the look of excitement in the eyes of others' when they peak at the gifts trying to figure out what is for who. So here's a quick recap as to what I wrapped up to place under the tree this year. I tried to keep within a theme of pink, white and silver, although some presents were more difficult than others to wrap and I had to use whatever remains of wrapping paper that I had left in order not to waste any.

I've always had a distaste for sticker tags and really wanted to use cardboard tags with twine to address my gifts to this year, but in short of my late wrapping, these adorable metallic tags were all that I could find at Target.

I'm already excited for next year's holidays and picked up some great discounted wrapping paper from Target and Loblaws!