Blogmas Day 24 - Christmas Eve at Alcatraz

Merry Christmas Eve :)

When we first planned this trip, I wasn't sure what we could do on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because I wasn't sure what we could do/what would be open... So I booked Alcatraz tickets since they were open today (but not tomorrow)

Alcatraz was awesome!!

We stopped by Ghiradelli square for ice cream and presents for our friends. The ice cream was so good (but I was so full from late lunch)

The weather was not so nice today. It was raining and cold. It's going to be sunny tomorrow again though. 

My family arrives tomorrow :) more then!!

Blogmas Day 23 - the Bay Area boat ride

Okay so day two in San Fran involved a boat ride through the Bay Area. We initially planned on visiting the Golden Gate Bridge, but we decided to do that on Christmas Day instead. Also we were thinking of do the "duck" boat ride but it involved too much land tour (which we do in a daily basis anyway on the muni) so we bought tickets to a private boat tour instead. 

We're on a boat!!

The tour was 15$ a person and it was about an hour long tour of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. 

I definitely recommend this tour since it's cheap and you get awesome pics of the bridge. It also helped that we were the first ones on the boat so we sat in the bow. 

After the boat tour, we went for lunch at Chowder Hut. The food was amazing!!! Best clam chowder ever

We spent the entire morning and early afternoon at the Wharf again. I had to take a pic of the crab. Mm I love crab :)

Blogmas Day 22 - The cable car dilemma

We had a great first day in San Fran. Bobbys parents arrived late last night, and despite trying to stay awake to welcome them, we (or at least I) passed out. Our flight was delayed yesterday as well and it was a little crazy to get to the hotel from the airport... But we made it. The funniest part was having to push back dinner resos at Abbot Cellar by 30 minutes so i could run to Victoria's Secret and use a 30% off coupon which expired yesterday. So we dashed to the Westgate Mall and bought what I needed and took the BART to the restaurant. Well we made it for 730, the original time I made the reservation for (not 8, the new reso time). Aaaand this morning, I found out that our hotel (Westin St Francis) has a Victoria's Secret downstairs. Yay :)

So we met up with Bobbys parents bright and early today. We had breakfast and checked out the giant tree and ice skating rink across the street from our hotel. Then we did some shopping.. Then stopped for some coffee before getting in line for the cable car. The line for the cable car is insane. We waited an hour and twenty minutes. The real kick to the teeth was when it was our turn - we were next in line with first pick of seats... When emergency struck. At least two fire trucks pulled up down the street and a million firemen came out in response to something. They placed a ladder against a building and a few firemen climbed up   This whole situation blocked the cable car rails. The car that just left was forced to come back. We waited at least   30 minutes get everything to get cleared. 

 

The cable car is pretty cool. If you want all the details just ask Bobby. All I will mention is that it's so old school it uses the train turn thingy!! 

The ride was so awesome. We took it to the wharf. There we had lunch (a very late lunch at this point because it was 3pm) and then we walked around. 

We then went wine tasting at Wattle Creek Winery at Ghiradelli Square. Their wine is amazing. Seriously impressed!! 

Then we hopped on the muni and went home. So tired from today's festivities. :)

Blogmas Day 21 - "828"

Today we depart for San Francisco!! 

We are currently waiting at the Plaza Premium Lounge in YVR (thanks for getting me in Bobby!).. so I get to use their computer! Woo hoo. It's so much easier to blog from a computer than my phone ;)

Anyway, so 828 has been the magic number for the trip so far! It was the numbers in the booking reference for our flights, and it was also the room number we stayed at last night.... I know this is a huge coincidence and I am not superstitious in any way, but thought it was cool enough to mention!

Blogmas Day 20 - old Chaos

Officially on vacation! We take Old Chaos with us wherever we go :)

Going to keep this blog short and sweet. More tomorrow

Blogmas Day 19 - individually wrapped snacks

So we had a work Christmas get together/potluck this afternoon... and it was mandatory to bring "individually wrapped snacks". I guess it was to deter people from bringing in homemade goodies to prevent people from getting food poisoning. I don't really see an issue with this because, honestly, when people leave food out in the kitchen, it gets eaten RIGHT AWAY. We are not ones to refuse treats, even when we don't know where it came from!! ;)

So I had this dilemma of what to buy... someone already called mandarin oranges (damn! That's a really good individually wrapped snack to bring!). So I thought I would bring some chocolate. I was going to bring a giant thing of Ferrero Rocher, but decided against it. I ended up remembering these individually wrapped goodies:

I first got introduced to these little bags of yumminess last year at my old job. The cookies look gross but they are soooo good. 

Blogmas Day 18 - TRHoV (The Real Hedgehog of Vancouver)

Okay, I am the first person to admit that I am obsessed with hedgehogs Kiwi (the hedgehog). She's just so cute and she's a little bit crazy... and every time we go away, I miss her. There, I said it, I miss Kiwi when I'm away. Also, I worry about her (is she too cold? is she eating?!?!? is she breathing?!?!?!??!). You can only imagine my paranoia when I have kids... but let's not open up that can of worms years early...

So, to remedy that situation, Bobby got me a dropcam for Christmas. Now I can spy on Kiwi any minute of the day. I even get alerts to my phone when "activity is detected". Unfortunately, live streaming uses a lot of data so I don't live stream unless I am on WiFi.... I need to find a way for others to be able to watch her live feed and watch her cuteness.

I'm actually pretty shocked at how active Kiwi is. Hedgehogs are pretty much "nocturnal" animals, but Kiwi is awake all hours of the day. After reviewing some footage from yesterday, she wakes up at random times to eat/drink/sniff around/scratch her butt and run on her wheel. She's most active late at night (11pm) or early morning (1am), but she's also up around 5am/7am/11am/5pm, etc. My original assumption/estimate of her sleeping 22.5 hours a day was wrong!!

If it is not obvious enough, I am excited to be able to keep an eye on Kiwi when we go on vacation always ;)

So far, these are my two favourite clips:

Today she went out to get a drink (as you can see)... but it was really cute, because she ended up falling asleep by the water bottle for an hour 

Yawning! So cute!!

So right now, we have two weeks free of being able to "save" and "rewind" clips. We also get free notifications when she's active... At first, I told Bobby we will not need this service when the free trial ends... but I'm already trying to justify the 100$/year it costs to keep this!!

Blogmas Day 17 - the microwave

So for the past… 4 years or so, I have lived without a microwave. It’s not that I have anything against them (I’m not super paranoid about microwaves = radiation/cancer, etc).. I just never had one. When you live in downtown and:

-         - You aren’t rich (eg: playing for the NHL.. or married to someone playing for the NHL)

-          - Your kitchen does not have a built in microwave

That probably means that you don’t own a microwave because you don’t have space for one in your teeny tiny aparment.

My last apartment was 500 square feet total (and that’s being generous). Plus, it was kind of oddly laid out. The walk in closet was huuuuge, but lacked actual clothes storage (eg: racks and shelves).. so it was kind of a waste of space. I mean walk in closets are nice and all, but if it came to having a large closet or having a larger living room area, I would have picked a larger living room area. And so, by the same logic, when it came to using counter space for a microwave, or using it for something else (other small appliances/counter space for cooking perhaps?), I chose to give up the microwave. The stove is perfectly fine for reheating food – yes it takes longer, but it also means that your food heated more evenly and it tasted better.

When we moved into our current place, the previous owner left their microwave behind. It was really old – the microwave was white at some point, but it had yellowed. Also, I’m pretty sure that the microwave was really well loved because the oven was in pristine condition. I’m sure they used their stove to cook, etc, but you never get an oven in pristine condition unless it is brand new (trust me, I tried to clean my oven recently, and it is just not possible to get it back to its “brand new” condition). So needless to say, the microwave was donated and again, we were left without one.

For some reason, not having a microwave really bothered my mom. She would ask me questions like “but how do you heat your food”? Um.. in the oven? This answer was not acceptable. Apparently the oven cannot be used to warm food! I don’t know. So not having a microwave really bothered her and what do you know, she got herself and my dad a new microwave and now she “had a spare one that she doesn’t know what to do with.. did I want it?” Uh… sure I guess. I had recently been looking into getting microwaves because I have been looking into self-waxing options at home.. and lets face it , you need a microwave to use hot wax at home… So I agreed to be the bigger person and take her spare microwave out of her hands. Now, will I be using the microwave for food? Maybe… ;) We shall see :)

Et voila!! Thank you for the microwave, mom

Blogmas Day 16 - highfivin' the 'hog

With just 4 days to go until we are on vacation, we finally had a chance to set Kiwi up in the spare bedroom (Aka, Marco's Vancouver bedroom/the third bedroom). The heater is on constantly... and Kiwi is loving it. So much so that she no longer escapes the cage and then accidentally locks herself out, nor does she sleep under her wheel like a troll... 

So, in light of her A+ behaviour, I gave her a high five (and some yummy cat treats)!

Bravo, Kiwi!

Blogmas Day 15 - the Warrior painting, etc

So we got the artwork at my work updated... and this is the warrior lady that now stares at me and makes sure I get my work done.

Picture blurry because I have a "window" at my cubicle that is the only barrier between me and Warrior Lady!

In other news, one of my coworkers brought in chocolates for us to share... I got second crack at it and picked up a very yummy hedgie chocolate

Sorry Kiskis!!

In other, other news, 10 days til Christmas, halfway through the month already and almost a new year!!

Blogmas Day 14 - Favourite Lip Glosses/Balms

Okay.. in spirit of all things reviewed, here is a review of the three lip things I always carry on me. Side note: I have super sensitive lips.. certain lip products cause my lips to swell (and we are talking pricey lip glosses like Lancome's Juicy Tubes from years ago, and also Sephora brand lip glosses)... so happy to report that the following products are good for sensitive lips.

Fresh - Sugar Lip Treatment in Passion

This is my favorite lip balm/gloss/stick... Yes it is all of that in one tube. It's a tinted lip balm (so it's got the super hydrating benefits), but it applies like a lip stick so its not sticky, and its got a hint of shine. I've bought a few of these already (all in the same colour because I am boring like that). The other day, I went to Sephora to pick one up for my brother's gf's Christmas present and I found that they now have a "bold" colour selection too. Passion falls in the "tinted" colour category (which is why you only get a "hint of colour"... and so obviously.. bold means "bolder" colour). I ended up getting her coral because it's such a pretty colour!

MAC - Mineralize Lip Glass in Modern Romance

This is my second favourite lip gloss. I just got it recently and it's been a minor obsession. It's super shiny, and also a has hint of colour (I don't like full colour lip stuff because I am no expert in make up application and I don't want to have to be anywhere near a mirror every time I need to re-apply). This lip gloss is definitely shinier than the Sugar one (duh, it's a lip glass), so it's also stickier. Bobby is not as big of a fan of this lip gloss as I am.

Clinique - Superbalm Lip Treatment

I definitely recommend this lip balm if you have chapped lips. I had really bad chapped lips a month or so ago (whenever it was when the temp dropped to minus 7) and nothing worked (not even the Sugar lip treatment mentioned above). I bought this, applied it and my lips felt relieve instantly (no joke). I applied it again before sleeping and my lips were fully recovered overnight. It's super sticky though, and shiny. The product does not get absorbed by your lips so be careful to only apply a bit (and that little bit goes a long way!) I wish Clinique didn't discontinue their tinted superbalm... but oh well

Blogmas Day 13 - 12/13/14

Ok, so yesterday was my family Christmas dinner (since we are all going to be in San Fran starting next week!!)... so I spent most of the morning running around getting presents/wrapping presents so I missed yesterday's blog.

But anyway, 12/13/14 was spent like this:

Bobby got a couple of Christmas balls

Wrapped presents.. ps: I love wrapping presents!!

Bobby's Christmas look

Lovely none home made food ;)

All in all, had fun with the fam (minus my brother who had another dinner, went to the hockey game.

Blogmas Day 12 - Christmas shopping etc

Had a lot of fun at Bobby's work Christmas party last night. We stayed at a hotel so we wouldn't have to drive home... but unfortunately, we still had to get up early for work.. ugh! 

I was so tired at work today, but I got to leave early for a dentist appointment! And, by some miracle, I only had to wait 10 minutes to see my dentist (usually, the wait is much, much longer!!). My appointment was at 4pm and I was out by 4:45. Oh happy day!!

Bobby and I are still in recovery mode so we are taking it easy tonight - hit up the mall after dinner to get a few more presents... only need to pick up (and wrap!) a few more before our family Christmas soiree tomorrow

Loving my hedgehog Christmas wrapping paper ;)

Blogmas Day 11 - downtown living again

Staying in downtown for the night today... Here is my awesome view:

Blogmas Day 10 - Parking ticket problems

Okay so despite the fact that I overpaid in parking passes, I came home to a lovely ticket on my windshield last night.

Good to know that Impark has invested in some little plastic baggies for their parking tickets - really helps your ticket not get ruined in the torrential Vancouver rain.. Also, they make so much money off people by over charging for parking so I'm sure they have a few pennies to spare for such luxuries.

But all passive aggressive comments aside, I had a lovely conversation with a guy called Steven (Stephen?) not once but twice and he canceled the ticket for me. The issue was that I was told by the people at the train station that I did not have to put the ticket on my dashboard, turns out that I did (even though I paid for a weekly parking pass and I parked in the exact same spot the entire week)... sooo I am very happy to have this ticket canceled because I missed the Impark toy drive (although come to think about it, I'm sure I would've had to spend more than 22$ on a toy anyway....)

Blogmas Day 9 - Longchamp Le Pliage review

Okay, so I finally have a minute to review the Longchamp Le Pliage in black, size small. Please note, I bought this bag in Holt Renfrew (I don't know of any other stores in Vancouver that sell these bags), not Nordstrom, but Holt Renfrew has a pretty terrible website... The Nordstrom website is better so I used that link... Also, please note, that in Canada, this bag retails 140$ pre tax. Anyway.. so the bag measurements are: 9 3/4" W x 9 3/4" H x 5 1/2 D... FYI, I just took a ruler to confirm these measurements. The 9 3/4" width is based on the bottom of the bag. The top of the bag measures about 12 1/2".

I love this bag. It's the perfect size. It's deceptively large for a "small" because it actually carries so much! I am glad I didn't purchase the large size :)

The bag only has one large compartment and one tiny pocket on the side. I thought this would be an issue at first because I HATE digging through my bag trying to find crap. This hasn't been an issue though since the bag is fairly shallow. To be honest, before buying this bag, and shortly after, I looked into buying a purse organizer. Lots of people on Youtube recommended buying one to complement the Longchamp totes, but I don't think they are necessary.. especially not for the "small" tote.

On any given day, I can fit (and perfectly organize) the following items in this purse:

In the large compartment

- Essentials like wallet, coin purse, keys, works keys, hand lotion.

- My super giant agenda. I bought a large agenda to help me plan my wedding. I love this agenda, but it really is too large. It's 8.5" x 11"... Next time, I will definitely be purchasing one size down.. but just so you know, this small bag can hold a giant agenda and can still be perfectly zipped up.

- A small cosmetic bag which holds a compact mirror, tylenol, girl stuff

- My beloved baggu bags! I am constantly carrying two or three of these because I never know when I will randomly purchase things ;). I have a neon orange fox one which I love and I am so sad because I just realized that it's slowly starting to tear in one small area, and a boring grey one I keep around because Bobby refuses to carry the fox bag.

In the small pocket:

- My assortment of lipgloss/balms 

So on top of all that stuff, I can also shove a small folding umbrella, my scarf when I get too hot to wear it, random snacks for when I get hungry.. etc.

Oddly enough, I find that the bag looks better when it's more full (but not too full), but the material is a thick canvas so it holds is shape even when the bag is pretty empty. And speaking of the material, I can confirm that it is in fact water resistant (not waterproof, although I did not test this out ;) ). Ever since taking the train to work, I've been too lazy to use an umbrella at times (especially since my winter jacket is also water resistant) so I have had to walk around my work, or from my work to the train station, etc in the rain... Happy to report that not once has water leaked through the bag :)

Blogmas Day 8 - Jenn-isms

Ugh... so, I realized that I just made the most idiotic mistake ever.

After getting stuck in ridiculous traffic during my morning drive to work in November, I decided to de-stress and take the train to work instead. The train is the fastest way to get from suburbia to downtown Vancouver (30 minutes from Coquitlam to Waterfront)... I used to take the train a lot when I lived in Coquitlam, pre-living in downtown.. and it had some issues. Sometimes the train would be VERY late due to engine problems, which in turn meant that you would be very late for work as well. So I hesitated in relying on the train. In the summer, traffic was pretty non-existent, but I guess as the weather gets colder/wetter, more people are opting to drive to work. Anyway, so I decided to do a trial "take the train to work" run for December and January, and if it's pretty reliable, then I would ditch driving to work altogether (unless I had to be at work early, or if I planned on doing something after work)... /useless rant that no one wants to hear about anyway.

So anyway, last Monday, after my lovely 4 day weekend/vacation... I got the to train station early and bought a weekly train ticket and what I thought was a daily parking ticket. I wasn't sure if I wanted to drive to the station everyday, or just take the 80 seat limousine (aka, the bus) to the station... everyday, I would wake up, decide to drive, so I would buy a daily parking ticket.. until Thursday, when I decided to just go all out and by the weekly one. Well, it turns out that I actually bought a weekly parking ticket on MONDAY, so I paid for parking TWICE Tuesday-Friday... and I didn't realize until this morning when I emptied my wallet of the numerous daily parking tickets.. only then did I realize that the first ticket was a weekly ticket :(

First weekly parking ticket purchased...

Then two dailies...

Second weekly parking pass bought!!

So... 8 day parking which should've cost 24$ ended up costing 36$!! Oh well.. Blame it on coming back from a 4 day weekend I guess :(

Blogmas Day 7 - My favourite nail polishes

Following yesterday's post where I admitted I am not that big into make up... well let's just say, nail polish is my thing ;)

I love nail polish! It's definitely easier to apply (than make up) and it also lasts longer (you don't have to wash it off every night)!!

So.. here are my top three nail polish colours (in no particular order):

OPI - Lincoln Park After Dark

This is my favourite dark nail polish and it is very "goth" like. It's a very, very dark purple (almost black) and I love how dramatic it is. People always comment on this nail polish when I wear it. I would wear this colour every day, but in the summer, it just feels more in season to wear the neon and coral colours. But let me tell you, the minute it is "in season" to wear this colour, I put it on ;)

Essie - Watermelon

This is the best pink nail polish out there. I can't really describe how perfect the colour is. It's a dark-ish pink, it's almost red-like and it's very pretty. My lack of descriptive words is not doing this nail polish any justice - you just have to trust me on this!

OPI - Chick Flick Cherry

Hands down, this is the best red nail polish out there. It's a deep/dark red and it's very... sexy? Is that a word you would use to describe nail polish? I've gone through many many bottles of this nail polish over the last 10 or so years... and the bonus is that it also has the best name ever!!

L-R: Lincoln Park After Dark, Watermelon, Chick Flick Cherry

Side note: Nail Polish Canada is an awesome website to buy nail polish from. They are always a couple of dollars cheaper than drug stores and they have cheap and fast shipping options. Shipping used to be free, but now it's only free for a minimum 25$ order, which is still a good deal if you are buying a few nail polish bottles at once... The shipping is also quick. I have not placed an order in a while, but from what I remember, when I would place an order or Tuesday, it would be processed by Wednesday AM and I would have it by Thursday. It was that quick... but it could be due to location since my packages would come from Burnaby (I don't know if that is the local distributor, or if its Canada wide) and so it would not take very long for the package to be delivered to Vancouver.. But anyway, I highly recommend this website if you don't mind waiting a few days for your nail polish :) Oooh and also they give you a free lollipop as well! One that matches the colour of the nail polish you just bought!! (Not sure if they still do this though.. my last order was earlier in 2014)

Please note: all above opinions are my own

In other Sunday news:
Had breakfast at Caffe Divano today... I am now finding that their chai latte is too sweet (it's nowhere near as bad as Starbucks)... and I mailed our Christmas cards! Woo hoo!

Blogmas Day 6 - MAC Matchmaster Foundation Review

I have been using this foundation pretty much every day since I bought it three weeks ago... and I LOVE IT!!

I'm not a make up expert... in fact, I'm pretty terrible with make up application. My morning routine is: moisturizer, foundation (or tinted moisturizer), mascara, eye brow powder and lip gloss. When I'm going out, I might throw in some eye shadow too.. but I like to keep it simple... mainly because I am too lazy to have to wash all of that stuff off my face at the end of the day.

Anyway, last year, I bought the MAC Studio Sculpt foundation. My main beef with this foundation is that it goes on very dewy... and that's not really a look for me. My skin is not very oily, but since I put moisturizer on daily, my face just looked really shiny with this foundation. And since it had this "effect", I found that this foundation is not very "buildable" since the more you use, the shinier you just become... I ended up making the foundation work by using the smallest dot possible to help even out my skin tone.. but even then, if I ended up getting sweaty from running around, major shine control... and I am not one to carry those oil blotting sheets on me so it was kind of an issue.

So this year, the MAC make up artist suggested that I try the Matchmaster Foundation. Both foundations are pretty similar, in that they are both spf 15. They are also fairly similar in price (the matchmaster foundation is a few dollars more for less product).

What I like the most about the Matchmaster foundation is that it goes on matte (no more shininess!). I found that this foundation works really well with my moisturizer. And it also goes on very light so you can use it for minimal coverage, or you can use more for a more full coverage and you won't look like you are caking the make up on. The whole Matchmaster "science" is that it perfectly matches your skin tone. Not sure how (or if!!) it does this, but I'm definitely happy with this purchase :)

Unfortunately, I have a crappy iPhone 5c camera so I can't take picture to show everyone how awesome the coverage is or compare it to the coverage you get with the Studio Sculpt foundation...

Please note: All of the comments above are my own opinion.

In other Saturday news:
-Went to PiYo today (after missing the last few classes due to being sick and lazy)
-Going to write some Christmas cards today so I can mail them...
-Made pulled pork for dinner today! Can't wait to eat it!

Blogmas Day 5 - Olympic Village in the AM

My day started at Olympic Village (Creekside Community Centre)... it was so nice and peaceful there this morning.

Craft is never this quiet!

Super quiet walkway area... the giant birds are still freaky though

A giant pile of leaves on the seawall

Science World all lit up...

Downtown (Yaletown) from across False Creek.

Vancouver is so beautiful at this time of the year!

For the first time in days, it is finally above freezing in the morning! Woo hoo!! My hair no longer freezes in the morning :)

Blogmas Day 4 - Kiwi gets a new toy

So Bobby got Kiwi a new toy today (a pepper shaped catnip toy)... and let's just say, Kiwi loved it.

I was going to write a more substantial blog today, but I am so nauseous today. I woke up with a headache... it took 4 tylenol this morning to start feeling normal again.. then I got severely gaggy on the train ride home and my drive home from the train station...

A more substantial blog will be up tomorrow.

Blogmas Day 3 - Kiwi hits a new all time low

Another day, another morning of checking in on Kiwi. I didn't find her in her hut so I figured she was sleeping under her wheel... Imagine my panic when Kiwi wasn't under her wheel... Or in her cage!! I have exactly 2.5 minutes to check in on Kiwi before leaving for work and "having to find her somewhere in the apartment" likely takes more than 2.5 minutes!!! Fortunately, she was right outside her door. 

Unfortunately, she was cold (even though the heater is constantly on since the temperature has dropped below freezing and the apartment is about 24 degrees). 

At first I thought Kiwi locked herself out (if she opens or pushes her door a lot, the lock slides over and she locks the door by accident), but the door wasn't locked... Sometimes, if Kiwi doesn't push hard enough, she can't open the door (#firstworldhedgieproblems)

I find that Kiwi is slowly turning into Chaos (I guess female hedgehogs also slowly turn into their mothers?!?!). Chaos loved to explore the apartment. If the door was unlocked, that meant you would find Chaos out and about. Sometimes, you would find Chaos sleeping in random places. Chaos also liked to sleep in random places in the cage (under the wheel or water bottle, etc...). When Kiwi was younger, she never left the cage and she always slept in her hut. But as she gets older... She's become more of an explorer (or a dumbass, pick your adjective). Unfortunately, she is not slowly turning more sweet or mild mannered like Chaos - Kiwi is still very much a brat. Luckily she is cute so we'll keep her ;)

Anyway, so I put Kiwi back in her hut with heated floors. I locked her cage so she can't escape and I shoved a rock under her wheel so she can't sleep under it... 

And that's 6:40am on a Wednesday for me!!

Oh and side note: it's been a steady -4 to - 8 degrees C lately... I don't have time to properly dry my hair in the morning.. Found some of my hair frozen while waiting for the train this morning.  How delightful. 

Blogmas Day 2

Nothing crazy today...

Random congrats to Linda for not only being Starbucks' (the one on Granville/Robson right next to London Drugs) customer of the week, but also strong enough to take a Starbucks quad shot Americano!!

I only recently started drinking Americanos earlier this year... and only recently started drinking lattes (maybe a couple of years ago)... Starbucks' Americanos are really REALLY strong. I get a headache when I drink them... So congrats to Linda for drinking enough espresso shots to keep a bull awake :)

Blogmas Day 1 - advent calendars start now!!!

Firstly, I cannot believe it is already December. Just this time last year, I was counting down the days until my Florida/Manhattan trip! I can't believe it has almost been a year since that trip already!

December 1st means two things to me: 

1) It's my mom's birthday! Happy birthday mom!

2) It is officially okay to open all advent calendars.

Bobby made me an advent calendar last year... It kind of fell apart when we moved though, so Bobby put it back together and voila - a new shape.. Advent Calendar v2.0 now exists. Apparently none of the chocolates inside are the same (I guess the complaints department took my whining about having to eat the same chocolate a few days in a row seriously enough to do something about it)... This makes me excited because there must be tons of leftover candy just hanging around the house ;)

Of course, Bobby has his own calendar too. The box was already open and the beer was already chilling in the fridge by the time I woke up this morning ;)

Anyway, so today I hit up Home Depot on my lunch break (Bobby's shopping habits are rubbing off on me!!). I went mainly to check the wreaths out - when we are at Home Depot yesterday, they didn't have the one I wanted to buy in stock. So I went to the one right next to my work and picked it up (Side note: Today I took the train into work instead of driving.. so it was really idiotic to buy this wreath and then lug it home, but I got it home in one piece!)

I got the White Pine Cone and Berry Wreath and I Love it!! I really did not want a garland leaf since it is so common... So now it is a competition in this house: who has the better wreath? Me or Kiwi? 

We have a light just outside the door, so it was hard to take a picture of the wreath without the picture being too bright. I bough a 14.5inch wreath hanger at Home Depot also (it was the only one near the wreaths), and it is too long (the wreath ends up covering our little peep hole thing). Now I am in the market for another wreath hanger.

Aaaand one last thing: also put our stockings up last night:

L-R: Bobby's, the late Chaos', Kiwi's, Mine

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! It is my favourite time of the year!

Happy December :)