carrot cake cupcakes.

These are not very pretty, but they taste(d) good! (There's only one left.) Vegan carrot cake, baked into cupcakes with a basic margarine-icing sugar-vanilla icing. The margarine is unfortunately not vegan. I used spelt flour instead of all purpose, since I didn't have any all purpose flour, and they did not rise especially well. No matter, it makes a nice flat surface for the icing!

Naked

Dressed

I should consider taking a cake decorating course - my icing sucks. I tried to get fancy and make curly cues using the spreader, but that obviously didn't work. Ha! Perhaps I didn't use enough icing... I had to ration it since I made a smallish batch of icing. Other cupcakes that I've ogled online have a huge pile of artfully swirled icing. But man! That's sooooooo much sugar. But it looks so nice.

My cupcakes are for eatin', not for lookin' pretty.

knitting progress.

The ribs and lace tank is coming along, slowly but steadily. I find it hard on my hands to knit more than two rows at one time: small needles + cotton yarn = RSI. (yeah, I'm making excuses, so what?)

the awesomest cupcakes EVER!

From VeganYumYum, Knit Night Cupcakes.

knitting update.


I haven't been working on the ribs & lace tank very much, but I've made *some* progress over the past month. It might be ready by fall...

This is the last post for today. I've been making up for lost time!

sha-na-na-na, ba-na-na.


Yummy delicious banana bread and muffins. This is Pam's recipe, and we've been making at work with mixed results. Either the oven temperature is not right or there's too much liquid, but whatever the reason it's been sticking to the pan and falling apart or sinking in the middle. I tried it at home and it turned out perfectly. Then I made it at work using the full recipe for the bundt (no muffins) and it popped out of the bundt pan like nuthin'. I did a little dance in the kitchen because I was so happy. No lie!

It really tastes good, even after being frozen and defrosted. It seems like a lot of sugar (2 cups for the bundt, 1 cup if you make a 9x5 loaf) but doesn't taste sugary or overly sweet. Just sweet and delicious. I had a small piece today and had to go back for seconds!

camping poker.

I'm not a poker player, in fact I don't play cards at all (especially not Canasta ahem), but I've watched World Poker Tour on TV and liked it. While we were camping I had a quick lesson and lo and behold! I won the pot. (it paid for our campsite) Beginner's luck, baby.

The winning hand

The booty

camping food. edited

This is a yummy chili dog that I made while camping at Grundy Lake earlier this month. Vegetarian chili (thanks Michael!), veggie hot dog, grated cheese, and chopped onions and peppers on a poppy seed bun.

coming soon.

Updates coming tomorrow! And photos.

i heart yoga.

I've just finished up my 2-week unlimited pass at the yoga & pilates studio near my house, and I'm very sad. It was so nice to go to as many classes as I had time for! I wish I could have tried more, but two classes in one day is too much. Plus T-man would miss me. :) J. and I met up for a pilates class last week and went out for a drink afterward - now that's motivation! It was fun. Next time I'm buying.

After my first yoga class there, I was so blissed out. Aaaah. I found the class challenging, but not so hard that it was discouraging. In subsequent classes, I've had a hard time not falling asleep in savasana... I did fall asleep in one class, for just a second. So embarrassing! I'm developing a method to catch myself before before slipping into dreamland.

Speaking of falling asleep, it's time for bed...

cornucopia.


T-man and I went a little crazy yesterday... We went to MEC to get another bike lock (I'm going to start double-locking my bike at work. It seems like overkill but a bike was stolen from in front of the cafe and I'm paranoid) and we ended up buying a couple of shirts, a couple of hats, and a million different kinds of energy bars. I didn't used to eat these things, but they are handy to keep in my purse in case I need a quick snack. I've lost weight since starting the new job, and I don't want to lose any more!

There are so many different kinds of bars and of course we had to get some of each flavour. And there are Power Bars with extra protein (24g compared to 10g) so I had to get some of those too. Do I need more protein or carbs or fat? I don't even know!

After MEC we went to the drugstore, and while I was browsing in the expensive makeup section, T-man was filling the basket with retro candy: Mike and Ikes, Hot Tamales and Goodies. He pointed out, but did not purchase, the rainbow-striped Twizzlers - perfect for Pride weekend! (Don't worry, T-man also picked up a new fancy toothbrush and a new tube of toothpaste.) I felt so good about not buying the $44 primer that I treated myself to the summer knit.1 magazine. Because I need another knitting mag full of patterns that I don't have time to knit. hehe. (I will eventually end up buying the $44 primer, although I hope that it's cheaper at Sephora, or perhaps I can find it at Duty Free. But that's a separate post.)

whose day?

I am the worst daughter ever. I did not realize it was Father's Day until 9:30 pm, when my dad is already sleeping. No phone call! No visit! No card! No present! Ugh. Uuuuuuuuuuugggghhh.

Update: I called my dad on Monday and all is well. I'd better have a kick ass present for his birthday next week.

links added.

I've just added a list of bellydancing links to the right nav. Check 'em out! I quite enjoy browsing the Tribe.net communities and I've picked up some good practice tips. If only I practiced more instead of surfing the web...

no title.

Too tired to post anything interesting. I was up before 5 am today - yikes! And I rode to work. Yay me.

Since I've got nothing, go and check out Andrea's blog: http://www.greentea.tk/
I don't know what Kendo is, but it involves swords and Japanese warriors and that sounds cool. (I'm also too tired to read, apparently.)

Off to bed!

ribs and lace tank.


I made some progress on the tank over the weekend. Knitting + cottage = goodness. I still have a long way to go - it's not even halfway done!

shortbread sampling.


This is the set up for the sampling session I did last week. I was beside the meat/deli counter, which is not my favourite place to be, but it got a lot of traffic and we were successful - the store is going to continue to carry our products and we got excellent feedback.

Look at those delicious shortbreads! Now go and buy some. :)

busy weekend.

I had a whirlwind weekend... drove up to the cottage in terrible Friday afternoon traffic, fought off the mosquitoes (unsuccessfully), went out for dinner and found out that I went to the same high school as our server, stayed awake past 10 pm, did a whole lot of knitting (the ribs and lace tank is coming along), swam in the lake, watched T-man go wakeboarding (?!?!?!!?), did a little canoe trip around the lake, drank wine, read the intro to Hermann Hesse's Siddharta but none of the actual novel, raced back on Sunday afternoon for rehearsal. Now I must do laundry and get things ready for the week ahead.

Will post photos this week! I also have pics from Layali Arabesque from last Sunday.

R.I.P.

The beater bike that T-man so lovingly restored was stolen from in front of the house on Wednesday night. If you see anyone riding this bike around Toronto - the lime green brake cable will give it away - please steal it back and return it to me!

update!

I'm still a bad blogger... does it make a difference that I feel bad about it? I do really want to post more and share my thrilling and exciting life with y'all. I have yet to work out a good method to include computer time in my day. (Currently Facebook sucks up all my computer time. Evil, evil Facebook.)

I am looking at a very busy week ahead... today I am meeting J & A for brunch, then I have a rehearsal in the afternoon (for my dance recital!), and in the evening I'm going to Myth for Layali Arabesque.

Going out on a school night? Am I crazy??

Lucky me, I don't have to get up early on Monday because I am doing shortbread sampling at a retail location on Monday and Tuesday. The hours are 11 am-2 pm (lunch hour) and 5-9 pm. Even though the shifts are short, it will end up being a long day when I factor in set-up and clean-up time. I'm a little nervous about it... dealing with the public like this is not my favourite thing. It will be easy though - who doesn't want to try a free sample of a cute little delicious cookie? I just have to smile and look approachable.

Wednesday is a regular work day, and it's my one free day this week to run errands. I will probably just nap on the couch. Hopefully get some knitting done - my tank is SO not getting done this month.

On Thursday night, a couple of girls from dance class are coming over to practice for the recital. Not sure why I volunteered my house, since it's a disgusting mess - a little better now after vacuuming and sweeping. Maybe inviting them over was a way to force myself to do chores.

This coming weekend, the in-laws are in town and we're going up to bro-in-law's cottage. Hopefully I can finish work early on Friday and drive up in the afternoon, since I have to be back on Sunday afternoon for The Last Rehearsal Before The Recital. It's especially important that I attend since I'll be missing BOTH classes this week. Good thing the girls are coming over to practice!!!

Time to get this busy week started... I hope to post a knitting update today, but no promises! :)

japanese tap dance.

From Zatoichi, The Blind Swordsman. Tap dancing goodness! This looks like SO much fun.

bad blogger.

This once-a-week posting thing is not good. I apologize to my loyal fans... er, fan. I am going to re-post part of an email I sent W. earlier this week, because it sums up my life these days:

Things are going well at the cafe, but I'm still soooo tired in the evenings. I hope it will get better soon! A few days ago, I was thinking "PHM still does physical stuff, like go to the climbing gym, I'm sure I'll get used to this" but the next day we were talking, and she told me that she hasn't been to the gym in months and she has no energy for physical activity outside of work! uh oh. That doesn't bode well for me. T-man is getting out on his bike more often (and on my old bike that he fixed up) and is excited to go for longer rides... but I look forward to lounging around on my time off. We'll have to find some balance.

I DO like the new job, and I enjoy biking to work (4 days this week, woo hoo). I even rode in the rain on Wednesday! That was not especially enjoyable, but I saw lots of other cyclists on the road so the "poor me" didn't last too long.

I will be re-starting my food log, for two reasons:
1. it keeps me posting on a regular basis
2. I've been eating like crap this week, and my body is mad at me. If I don't bring good snacks and lunch to work, I wait too long between meals and after I eat, my stomach doesn't feel great. Then I don't want to eat or make good food because I feel nauseous. So I don't make dinner and the next day, I don't have good snacks or lunch to bring to work. And with all my physical output, I need to pay attention to my input. (my output isn't extraordinary by any means, but I'm exhausted all the time, so for me, it's a lot)

Did I mention that the ride to and from work is getting easier? (there's some positive news for you!)