Well, here I am 18 days into 2013, and while I've already had some ups and downs, on the whole, this year is going pretty freaking well.
I started at BCIT (one class, don't panic), and I'm at total loss for what I want to do. Essentials of Marketing is a staple for many BCIT programs, and I've been told declaring a program bumps you up on the list when registering for classes, but tying myself to one thing right now seems like the worst thing I could possibly do!
Maybe I'm being overly dramatic, but Nobody puts Baby in a Corner! (too much?)
Moving on.
I'm looking forward to a lot of things in 2013. I'm not the type to make resolutions, as I never understood the rational behind changing your life on one particular day. If I'm going to change something in my life, I just should.
None of this:
"At exactly 12 Midnight, I will - be a better person - drink no more - lose weight- kill less puppies - watch what I eat"
February 11 - Celebrating one year with pretty fucking awesomesauce boyfriend I really am quite a fan of him, and have decided to keep him. I must apologise to all the women in the world who are looking for an 'awesomesuace boyfriend'. I have taken one off the market. Go find your own!
March 17 - 5K Fun Run, For St. Patty's day. Run - Run - Run - Eat Lucky Charms - Drink beer. Our team name: Fiddle Dee Dee My Potatoes, said in my patented Munchkin voice. [Edit, I can't actually run in this, becasue it's actually on March 16th, and I have to work, but the team name continues, and I'm buying the team some green hair spray]
April 20/21- Fan Expo in Vancouver. I decided on my costume, now to make it. I am SERIOUSLY looking forward to it, but researching and making a hoop skirt, and getting just the right shape of skirt is going to interesting.
June - My 26th birthday. Okay so it's not a noteworthy birthday, but birthdays are fun despite, and I hope I never dread growing 'another year older'. Possibly a trip after that up to the lovely but small Kaslo, BC to visit a friend on her Rural practicum for [essentially] teachers College.
July-ish - My Annual trip up to my uncles cabin on the shorelines of Adams Lake. Oh, a week with nothing to do, nowhere to be, sunshine and drinks, boating and hiking, waterfalls and swimming, and endless Ceasers.... *sigh* if I must.
September - Start more course at BCIT, and slowly Take Over the WORLD!
October - My second Halloween at my work (this Costume Shop). I will be much more prepared this year (hopefully), enough to enjoy myself a little too. I may even reuse my hoop skirt somehow
That pretty much beings it full circle for 2013, and I hope to go to the same or equally fantastic New Years party to ring in 2014. Every year in another year I want to live, love, and laugh my way through and I for one am looking forward to all the planned events, as well as those adventure that blind side me and keep me on my toes.
Happy 2013 everyone.
Next blog Post, making that freaking costume...
designing a life that's more
Anna Felicity
Cookies for all!
I was inspired to post because I came across an awesome looking pin, and through some digging I found out the pin was traceable back to an on-line newsletter from DVO.com, a company that sells a recipe organizational software... Wow, what a world we live in! I still prefer my hand written, flour covered papers.Here’s the article:
http://www.dvo.com/newsletter/monthly/2010/november/tabletalk4.html
Note: I made mine without the benefit of this, because I rushed in full speed ahead, without researching where the image had actually come from.
TIME:
Making dough - 10 minutes
Chilling dough - 3-4 hours
Cutting out and baking and cooling cookies - 20 minutes
TOTAL TIME:
4 ½ hours
INGREDIENTS:
For the sugar cookies, I used the ‘rolled cookies’ recipe from my old standby Joy of Cooking
Cream:
½ cup butter
½ cup white or brown sugar (I used white, but I think they would have been better with Brown)
Add:
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla (or any flavour extract of your choice)
1 ¾ cup of flour
1 tsp salt
Food Dye, I used liquid food dyes, and the colours came out distinctly pastel. Next time I think I will use gel or paste food colours to get those rich autumn tones.
EQUIPMENT:
Kitchen Aide Mixer
Separate bowls for mixing in the colours
Resilient arms
INSTRUCTIONS:
Make the cookie dough, just barely combining in the flour, as the dough will be get very mixed up when adding the food dye.
Separate the dough into four (Or however many colours you want, but I think 4 should be the max, otherwise it starts to look messy) parts.
Add the food dye to each part, the dough will get VERY soft and warm during this, and chilling the dough is a necessity.
Chill the dough in the fridge for 3-4 hours
Remove dough from the fridge, and let it soften a bit on the counter.
Preheat oven the 350C.
Do not roll out all the cough at once. Take a small (1-2 tbsp) portion of each colour of dough for each cookie. Roll it out flat, making sure the colours are all joined but not too mixed together. Use a lot of flour to make sure the dough doesn't stick to the counter, so you can just pick it up and roll it again, instead of having to scrape it off like I did (I ended up mixing the colours more and more together into a dull beige).
For each of the few cookies, roll out more of each colour.
I rolled my dough out to about 1/32 cm thickness.
Cut out whatever shape you like. I used little bears, because I didn’t have a leaf cookie cutter, but I think a leaf one would have been the best.
Place the cookies onto a pre greased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on the cookies sheets.
REACTION:
I like them!
They would have been better if I had researched the pin instead of just guessing.
They would have been better with gel dye.
They would have been better if I had rolled out the dough in parts instead of all at once, resulting in a beige gray-ish mess by the end.
But at the end of the day, they were still seasonally themed sugar cookies, and they look really adorable! I am going to pull this little trick out for easter with my chick shaped cookie cutter, and some real pastel colours!
VERDICT: Pin-Win, but I think only for the recipe, not so much my execution of the colour sections.I’m eating some as I write this post. They are a seasonally themed food item, and now that I’ve worked out the kinks, my relatives can look forward to many more sugar cookies, all the colours of the rainbow (and maybe even some rainbow ones)!
designing a life more delicious
Anna Felicity
Home is where the Heart is
 |
| Mounted VPD escort |
The weather wasn't perfect, I'm guessing someone stepped in some horse poop at some point (left by the Mounted escort from the VPD, there was presumable no other horses on west 4th that.), there were hecklers, and the sound system wasn't turned on until half way through the speeches, but you couldn't hear them anyway because the fire trucks were lowering their hydrolically controlled ladders the whole time (Buuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, EeeeeeEEEEeeeeee, click into place, other truck, Buuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, EeeeeeEEEEeeeeee, click into place. Drive away very loudly.)
 |
| Flag over 4th |
That being said, even though I’ve only had the privilege of the Seaforths company since last December (when I started volunteering with their musuem, helping them with their textile collection), I found it quite an emotional event.
 |
| The last time that flag would fly |
Beside the fact that my Man was the lucky (read:cool, calm, and collected) soldier chosen to lower the Canadian Flag, and hand it off to a WWII veteran standing by (I think I was much more nervous than he was), it was an amazingly sombre moment. Seeing all the troops lined up on Burrard street facing the armoury, all I could think was, the last time they marched out in the fashion was in 1939, (and yes your knowledge of history is correct) to go to war.
Rob MacDonald (now retired from the Army, but still tirelessly devoting his free time to the Seaforth Museum), accepting the flag from the WWII veteran, so that it could be retired and put on display in the now dispersed museum at Jericho.
Standing on the grass, I was suddenly overcome with a greater appreciation for our army than I’ve felt before (and that’s saying something, considering almost every member of my family was either in, or has some connections with the army). Looking back now, a few days later, I can see the faces of my contemporaries, my friends, and even my Man, and I know, they have all volunteered, and there’s a possibility they could be called upon to serve their country, and I am only proud.
 |
| Moving down 4th Avenue, not an average Sunday sight |
I watched them march up Burrard, and then (thankfully) got in my car and drove up the Jericho along Cornwall. I waited just past Alma and 4th, and caught a glimpse of the formidable sight coming down 4th, over the crest of hill. It was truly a sight to see.
The then marched on to the grounds at Jericho Garrison, where there were a few speeches (some as aforementioned, went unheard), but there was one that resonated well with the crowd.
 |
| Outside Jericho Brigade |
Jim Short, the Seaforth Padre, and former area Padre, as well at the minister at my aunts church in Ladner (I live in a very small world) , gave a well worded speech with one very central and resonating theme. Home is where the heart is.
The Seaforths are not a small unit, and they are taking over a space much, MUCH smaller that the space they previously enjoyed. That being said, with most people being (understandably) uncertain of their new surroundings, the phrase "Home is where the Heart is" rang true. There's is such heart among those people, that there is no question in my mind that Jericho could be a good home for them for a while, and the march back, I'm sure, is going to be even more epic.
The whole day was a rare thing to see, and I feel so happy that I know all those great people, and was able to see it happen.
 |
| Rob MacDonald accepting the flag |
The drinks leading late into the night didn't hurt either ;) (Thanks Candace!)
The Seaforth Museum curator, Rob MacDonald, captured the days events well in a Facebook post:
A long but (bittersweet) good day. The parade went off without any visible hitch, the media turned-out in unprecedented number (I was interviewed by CBC Radio/TV, Global TV, CKNW Radio, God knows who else).
The troops didn't visibly react to the 3 munters who called them 'babykillers' and 'murderers', nor to the three women who flashed their paps...but everyone gave a subtle eyes-right to the old lady who proudly held up a hand-lettered sign which read "My father was a Seaforth Highlander in 1939!"...
designing a life of appriciation
Anna Felicity
Leave a lasting impression indeed!
I subscribe to a lot of on-line shops newletters, and trend setting sites. And I mean A LOT!
Shoes, home décor, clothing, art, jewellery, nail polish, beauty tips, exercise routines, recipes (both good for you and deliciously bad for you), life hacks, health, yoga, even a few tech newletters, costumes and even a few historical societies.
More often than not, I read the subject of the e-mail and decide not to look into it, but today ModCloth caught my eye!
**I really like ModCloth, because I find their sizing charts quite accurate, which is helpful for a bustier girl like me, and they have some great policies on returns. A friend of mine once ordered a coat, and even though they sent her completely the wrong coat, she sent them a message about it, and they replied: "Sorry about that, we'll send you the right jacket right now, please feel free to do whatever you want with the jacket. She gave it to me, free coat!!**
I clicked on the e-mail and this was the first thing I saw! How freaking gorgeous is that?!?
I clicked on the link for the site, and the next thing that caught my eye, inspired me into the mood to make more dresses for fall! My frugal side of course took over, and I'm going to check out the sale section tonight. I'll keep you apprised of my decisions....
I may just end up buying something today, as I'm in a buying mood for fall.
I bought boots yesterday, they arrived in the mail today. I can't wait to try them on tonight! Pictures to come.
Update: The pictures of the boots as promised
designing a life more fashionable
Anna Felicity
Shoes, home décor, clothing, art, jewellery, nail polish, beauty tips, exercise routines, recipes (both good for you and deliciously bad for you), life hacks, health, yoga, even a few tech newletters, costumes and even a few historical societies.
More often than not, I read the subject of the e-mail and decide not to look into it, but today ModCloth caught my eye!
**I really like ModCloth, because I find their sizing charts quite accurate, which is helpful for a bustier girl like me, and they have some great policies on returns. A friend of mine once ordered a coat, and even though they sent her completely the wrong coat, she sent them a message about it, and they replied: "Sorry about that, we'll send you the right jacket right now, please feel free to do whatever you want with the jacket. She gave it to me, free coat!!**
I clicked on the e-mail and this was the first thing I saw! How freaking gorgeous is that?!?
I clicked on the link for the site, and the next thing that caught my eye, inspired me into the mood to make more dresses for fall! My frugal side of course took over, and I'm going to check out the sale section tonight. I'll keep you apprised of my decisions....
I may just end up buying something today, as I'm in a buying mood for fall.
I bought boots yesterday, they arrived in the mail today. I can't wait to try them on tonight! Pictures to come.
Update: The pictures of the boots as promised
 |
| The adorable tag they came with |
 |
| Love the unexpected red zipper! |
designing a life more fashionable
Anna Felicity
Create or die (or at the very least feel crappy)
Lately I've been feeling the desire to create.
It's always dangerous when I get into this state, because by the time I get around to sitting down with my glue gun, a little bit of glitter (okay a lot of glitter) and some kind of surface (be it fabric, paper or wall), the result is neither creative nor attractive.
It generally ends up looking like a dog ate a box of glitter, some pom-poms (where the fuck did those pom-poms come from?!) and a bird, and then projectile vomited it all up. My desire to create something beautiful and significant isn't satiated, and I have disgusting (albeit shiny) mess to clean up.
I have no doubt that my issue here is, in no small part, due to a lack of organization and appropriate inspiration, but here I remain, at a loss as to where to go next.
On my list right now is:
- A (creative) cork board (thanks Pinterest for ruining my ability to actually come up with my own unique and individual ideas)
- A man's shirt (I have the fabric, I have the book, and I even have the very oddly proportioned man (thanks Boy))
- Finish my winter coat (that I started 3 years ago, and never quite decided what I was going to do with the cuffs)
- Fix a particular dress that I have (It should be a simple fix, but it seems to be seriously eluding me)
- Make a bouquet of fabric flowers (No particular reason for this one, I've just been checking the out a lot on-line and they seem pretty cool. Plus Martha makes them seems so cool and clever, they really are a Good Thing!)
Thoughts? Suggestions?
I think I'll start with an old vintage/antique looking picture frame, and the multiple squares of cork I found yesterday, and go from there. This may go badly (yet again), but at least this time I some direction (and some glitter!).
Wish me luck! Pictures of successes and likely failures to follow
designing a life full of creativity and GLITTER!
Anna Felicity
It's always dangerous when I get into this state, because by the time I get around to sitting down with my glue gun, a little bit of glitter (okay a lot of glitter) and some kind of surface (be it fabric, paper or wall), the result is neither creative nor attractive.
It generally ends up looking like a dog ate a box of glitter, some pom-poms (where the fuck did those pom-poms come from?!) and a bird, and then projectile vomited it all up. My desire to create something beautiful and significant isn't satiated, and I have disgusting (albeit shiny) mess to clean up.
On my list right now is:
- A (creative) cork board (thanks Pinterest for ruining my ability to actually come up with my own unique and individual ideas)
- A man's shirt (I have the fabric, I have the book, and I even have the very oddly proportioned man (thanks Boy))
- Finish my winter coat (that I started 3 years ago, and never quite decided what I was going to do with the cuffs)
- Fix a particular dress that I have (It should be a simple fix, but it seems to be seriously eluding me)
- Make a bouquet of fabric flowers (No particular reason for this one, I've just been checking the out a lot on-line and they seem pretty cool. Plus Martha makes them seems so cool and clever, they really are a Good Thing!)Thoughts? Suggestions?
I think I'll start with an old vintage/antique looking picture frame, and the multiple squares of cork I found yesterday, and go from there. This may go badly (yet again), but at least this time I some direction (and some glitter!).
Wish me luck! Pictures of successes and likely failures to follow
designing a life full of creativity and GLITTER!
Anna Felicity
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)