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Monday, October 29, 2012

Tributes and Sweet People

It's been a busy weekend!  I love it when I am accomplishing stuff. but it's nice to relax and give our nervous system a rest.  I have been saving up my shout outs. :)

I have to mention my neighbour tonight. She gave me a very nice gift from the heart, she brought me a box from Willow Tree, and in it was a statue of a angel holding a little grey cat. The wings of the angel are metal, and it's an original Willow Tree figure hand carved by Susan Lordi called "With Affection I love our friendship!".

I thought this was a very thoughtful token and she included a nice card, saying as she thought it was something to remember my cat by.  How sweet and I already thought she was nice before that but I was truly touched.  Now I put it on the mantle and it is so perfectly cute.  I have also purchased a Willow Tree figure with meaning to it, to give to someone else and I do love these works of art ny Willow Tree.

I picked up Kiki's paw imprints not long ago from McKnight Veterinary Clinic. I hung up the hand painted clay oval with his imprints on a small wall by the front door,  but decided to put it away in my keepsake tote later one.  I chose the option to match the paint to the colour his fur as they said they can match the white.  Does that sound strange?   They provide the fur that they cut off, quite a bit in a bag.  I was surprised. It was super sad to see.  Tears ran down my cheeks once I was in the car on the way home, but they did a nice job and I have something more to remember Kiki by.

After Kiki passed awat, a vendor I work with AllBobbleheads.com, from work offered to make a custom bobble head of my cat in tribute too, at no cost.  It takes about 9 -12 weeks, It was a gracious offer but it didn't pan out. I sent him 2 good pictures of Kiki and didn't hear back.  Too bad, as I thought it would be neat to see what they came up with to capture a view of my cat's personality, but again it was a nice thought.

There have been many people showing me support through this, and I really appreciate them too.  Since losing my cat Kiki, was and still is difficult for me it sure was nice to have a great colleague or two, who were there for me.  Some people I barely know but there are many actual animal lovers out there who know what I went through!  I mean to say, some pet owners are not really the best representatives of animal lovers.  I still have not put Kiki's things away, just into some boxes and given some things that can be used to a lady I knew who has a cat.  I thought the teeth wipes and some other toiletries for cats should be used before they dry out or expire.

Lately, it's just been hard and I am sometimes lazy and partly because I am still upset over Kiki's passing.  No one can tell others to get over it in a week or a month, if you have spent a long time with a pet.  I will work through it on my own time and terms.  Well, it's late but some milk and cookies are in order.  Kiki would approve especially the milk part. 

Have a great week!

                                                 

                                               Look at his little face. lol He was a cool kitty.
                                        

Monday, August 20, 2012

R.I.P. Kiki Bear

I am finally coming around to speaking about it and update you guys.  It's been the worst summer and the most sad one and I did end up losing my beloved cat Kiki Bear.  I posted you about his paw infection and what was going on in the past.

Well, my cat passed away on July 24th, after issues with his health.  I am not sure why as the paw infection was clearing up and then the vet said the paw should be healing quicker.  So she had to give Kiki Convenia, which is an injectable antibiotic.  She administered it to him after other antibiotics seemed to be resistant or not working.  However, once injected, Convenia is in the system and does not break down fast in fact it is believed to have killed some pets.  I had no idea and listened to the vet and I could have asked more questions or asked for more time to look into this drug myself.  I did not and accepted the care for Kiki.

If you look it up, Convenia can result in adverse affects in older cats.  I did not receive the support I
think that I needed from the vet when "shit was hitting the fan", as they didn't want to see him on an emergency when he was not breathing after the shot had been given to him.  It was literally that evening after the injectable shot took place, that he started to get weaker and have troubles eating, but I thought it was hot and put a fan on him.  Since we had left the vets office, I thought he might need time to relax as Kiki would get worked up easily when leaving the house.  He was a cat afterall and not all cats are comfortable moving or leaving their homes and they tend to get sketchy about it.  By Saturday, he seemed to be more tired and by Sunday he was heaving and having more troubles.  I was worried and I called a  24 hour emergency veterinarian hospital, and was hoping they could give me second opinion.  I took him there the next day after work, since I needed to make some more sales to afford more care for him.  So once at the emergency clinic, they needed to put him on oxygen and then it was too late.  He didn't make it onto oxygen.

I am devastated and actually at times I still look for him and I just don't believe he is gone.  It's been a month since he passed away, and I have no answers as to his final treatment of the lethal injection of Convenia given to him by the vet.  She sluffed it off as Kiki may have had underlying conditions and that could be right, however, I just don't think that causation by the lethal drug was addressed properly.  In fact, wouldn't a vet want to know more so she doesn't make any misdiagnoses on other's pets in the future?  I try to think about safety and how I failed my cat in that regard, and perhaps he would have lived longer but I hope he was not in pain when he left.  He gave me a kiss and he snuggled to me, as if his way of saying goodbye.  He was everything to me and I tried my best, but who doesn't think back and think about things they could have done for their pets, perhaps better or researched more or known more about what the vet would put into his body.  After all, we should take that same advice for ourselves as well.  I understand he is in heaven now and that puts my mind to ease.

I loved Kiki, one of the greatest pets I have had the honor of spending my time with.  Thank God for him and he and I were together though thick and thin.  I think of how much Kiki did for me, and I for him and how we built a close friendship, often not replaced by any humans that I have met.  When I was tired or sad, he always cheered me up.  At times he also bit my legs, and scratched for what I thought was no reason, but it's just that I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me.  Perhaps he had a toothache or something else.  I guess the point is he made me feel a sense of family and responsibility, so I always tried my best to take care of the both of us.  I felt like he depended on me and that drove me to doing better, at work, at home and everyday in life.  RIP my friend. Thank-you Kiki Bear.  You will be missed and always loved.





Tuesday, July 24, 2012

-I.A.J.L.G.O.M.- The Food Truck Review

Hey, this post is going to be a quick one, but it is a follow-up to my Calgary YYC Food Trucks post here: YYC Food Trucks

I just wanted to post my food review  of The Perogy Boyz Food Truck meal I ate.  It was now a couple weeks back but totally worth writing this review post.

The food was tasty and they make perogies their passion.  This was my first time ordering from this food truck, they actually did muck up my order but quickly made it right. I ordered the 10 perogies piece meal and I received 6.  Luckily I had noticed that I was shorted.

They served me up another 6 piece, so I actually got 2 more perogies for the money.  I decided to call my boyfriend from his work, which is 5 minutes away so he could sample the eats from this food truck.  He was not really impressed, but that being he is of German and European descent.  No one makes them like Grandma, sorry.  I did order the Californian or basically had salsa like toppings on it, so it was a bit of a change.

Overall, the presentation was nice and I did love the Boylan Root Beer pop they had!  So, here's a little the picture of the eats.  I would overall recommend this meal even if it did cost a little more than a regular fast food place. 

Have a great week!


Monday, July 16, 2012

Pet Corner Monday

Well, The 100th Stampede of Calgary is now over. Too bad it's over and I unfortunately, didn't get down to the Stampede grounds this year.  I did however, check out some of the fireworks even though it has been somewhat of a crazy time for me.  My old cat has been ill and I am going through enough money to start a small business or buy a nice car.  Instead it has all been spent on Kiki,

His paw had been infected from snagging his claw on a blanket and I took him to the vet right away when I noticed it was not getting better.  For some reason the antibiotics were somewhat resistant or so the vet said.  We are finally coming to the end of that antibiotic and hopefully things clear up,  but all the while his poor 1st and 4th digit nails do still bleed.  I keep his paws clean and followed all the prescriptions, and sometimes if he wouldn't let me clean his paw but I make sure to get it done.   I try to do it thoroughly.  I needed to make sure we did everything, on time and consistently, like taking the pills.

So, I was insistent and I didn't let Kiki off the hook on taking any medications or cleanings, but then he was wasn't eating enough with all the medicine.  He seemed like he was listless and throwing up, and not himself.  So I feel like the meds are too harsh and making his overall health worse and tried to talk to the vet about it.

So, the newest detail is that there is protein in Kiki's urine, from the vet's test results.  I don't know how many urine collection this,  and urology that and a lot of terminology later to know it will cost cost me too much money to finally find this out.  It meant there is starting to be mild to moderate kidney failure.  Hundreds of dollars doesn't bother me but it is annoying, and when it started to add up to thousands, I just started to step up my sales at work to afford the bills.  I could not get my cat on medical insurance since he is elderly.  Being he is an 18 year old cat I suppose it's not uncommon and he now has to change his diet to be supportive in his kidney health. 

"Friskies" Chicken Dinner is not going to cut it anymore, although that was just the food to stick to for his diabetes health and was good to our price point.  Now, the food prescribed to Kiki is J/D formula, which is $2 per small can, and he should be eating 1 1/2 of those per day.  So now he doesn't eat all of it.  I mix it a bit with the remaining "Friskies" brand that I have to get his system to adjust.  He should be used to eating the new food on it's own soon.

My main reason for writing this post tonight, is that I wanted to let other cat or pet owners know that I am reading a book, and it's called "How to Keep Your Cat Healthy, The Natural Way".  It actually is very interesting, and speaks about canine and feline diets in the wild versus commercial feed.  I will fill you in more if requested, but basically if you feed your pet commercially made food his or her health will start falling apart especially as they age.

It's because they are not eating enough of what they need, especially if you are not finding all the nutrients to give them.  Of course, there are other factors to good health, but say skin problems, are most likely caused by a deficiency, which thus was caused by lack of nutrition.  Cats in the wild eat whole birds or mice, and those little animals ate all kinds of nuts, fruits, greens etc. because a cat won't eat broccoli doesn't mean they don't need some foliage.  So fresh grasses such as cat grass, that I have grown for him is great, but they need it all the time.

Stay tuned for more updates on Kiki and more information that can help you manage your pets health.  I will try to keep up on the updates although in some past posts I may not have if no one expressed interest in a subject.  I am trying to learn more about pet health but also more on my own as well.  Here's a picture of Kiki's shaved paw, about 3 weeks ago. It doesn't look good and it now looks worse.  I hope it gets better.

Have a nice day.


Monday, July 02, 2012

Take it Easy ~ Tortilla Salad with Tortilla Wrap Chips

Happy Monday, and since Canada Day was yesterday, we do get today off in lieu of it being on Sundays.  These are the best kind of Mondays!  And with that being said it is feeling more like summertime.

I wanted to mention a interesting and quick great summertime salad to make, so you can take it easy.
It's filling and delicious, and it's a great way to use up your tortilla wraps before they go bad.
I usually eat flax tortillas, and in my opinion those are best to use for this recipe.

First you can start washing and preparing vegetables for the salad, which you can use what ever you like and then set those all to the side.  Vegans can use only vegetables and non-animal food products and if you are vegetarian you may want to use some shredded cheese with this salad.  If you do eat cheese, it goes well with the tortilla chips that you will make.

Take your tortilla wraps, and cut them into triangles.  I put them all in a pile, and then cut them all half ways and then cut them into half again and so on.  You will end up with circular triangles.

Now, here's the part where you will be careful and that's frying them.  You only need a small amount of oil in a large pot and you should heat that up on medium to medium-high heat.  Turn it down before it's getting too hot at any time.  Put your tortilla triangles into the cooking oil in small batches.  About 5-6 tortilla chips per batch.

Stay there cooking and watch carefully.  They turn brown fast so stay and cook them and do not leave anything unattended.  If you have to go, then take the pot off and turn off the burner.  Watching closely at the first sign of light golden brown  and then flip the tortilla wrap chip carefully, using metal flippers or turners.  NEVER use plastic or anything like that, as it will melt.  Then prepare a plate or I use a metal bake pan, and put that off to the side away from the burner.  Line the pan with clean paper towel.

When you are removing the chips from the oil, also remove the pot of oil, to a burner that is off and hold it with oven mitts on.  Safety tip for the clumsy.  Remove the triangle chips onto the paper towel ed pan.  Finish cooking all the chips until done, in the same way, and removing them in batches. Turn off the burner and cool the oil at back of  the stove on a burner that was not on.

Then prepare your salad the way you like it. I use a mix if salad greens, cucumber and other vegetables on hand.  Then add on top the tortilla chips and add cheese on top.  I use a marble cheese,
since it's a nice balance of both cheddar and mozzarella.  I think sometimes it is easy to make a salad dressing, but if you are in a rush a good dressing to use for this salad is honey mustard dijon.  "Compliments" brand for Sobeys actually makes a low fat, and tasty one.  Serve right away so the tortilla chips are fresh and crisp.

P.S.Sorry, I did start to eat before taking a picture as I was starving! Bon appetite!




Wednesday, June 13, 2012

YYC Food Trucks

Hello!

Sometimes, you come across something a little later on in the game, sometimes you are the first to notice a trend but don't really need to mention it.  Then you see the trend catch on and it's a revolution, and this time I am talking about a food revolution!

Well, I can tell you that one of the newest trends here in Calgary are the Food Trucks.  All I know is, I am finding out that one can eat like a king on the streets!  From Mexican, to Shawarma, coffee to treats, you can pick up something tasty any day of the week.



The best tip after finding there are about 10 + food trucks in Calgary, is to download the YYCFoodtrucks app, and you can download and then you know where all the food trucks are at, on the go!
www.yycfoodtruckapp.com/

Now, if you would like to see which food trucks are available here in Calgary go to their website www.yycfoodtrucks.com

Now, so you know, 3 Food Trucks that will be at The Calgary Stampede and those are Los Compadres, Naaco Truck and Mighty Skillet.  I know you will like it, so check them out~!

Speaking of FOOD, here's the FOOD that will be down on the Stampede grounds.  See you there!
 http://cs.calgarystampede.com/fun-food/food.html

Have a great week!

NEW~! P.S Stay tuned for more on this in 2 weeks!! The Perogy Boyz Food Truck!



UPDATE!
Here's an article all about Calgary's Food Truck Festival!
Toronto Sun: Food Truck Festival Rolls Into Calgary's East Village



Monday, June 04, 2012

Update Request- Racing Time: The Finish Line of Life Poem by Rebecca Mummery

Hello,

How is your week cruisin' along?  The best I hope.  I am running out of time lately and when I chase time it runs faster and faster.  Here's a profound poem about racing against time.

Enjoy!


Racing time: The Finish Line of Life.


We are all human, and all shall suffer.
When we think, it's rather we try not to,
And when we do think, it's then that life presents itself.
Not that we can see the ugliness, it's rather that ugliness is felt.

What's far more ugly than what is seen, is what is not.
And when we see what is ugly, life is but a comforting hand on a shoulder.
Mystery, it can be the joyful curiosity that leads to discovery.
But the worst kind of mystery is that, that will lead to suffering.
Not everything that lurks behind the corner will greet pleasantly.
The fear in not knowing, all shall suffer.

Many a time, we are caught on unawares,
The bitterness in life embraces us with a ticking bomb,
Sighs, smirks, grimaces and stares.
The time is short, but the climb back up to the top is long.

Time is sprinting away with our key to the door,
And our firm grasp on the grenade will continue to be,
If the door cannot be unlocked,
Time ticking away our life, waging our own private war.

Next time we sit in the Garden of Contentment,
It's fine to observe those in the backgarden of Unfortunate.
We glance backward, and forward strain our eyes,
So we stay seated, contented in the garden with our eyes shut.
But what comes from behind has a journey to complete,
For our eyes are shut, we fail to see the Unfortunate that is gaining on us.

What enters our life with sudden impact,
We may dismiss the alien, the alien is impossible to be the alien in our own life,
But it will never seem the inevitable portion that our life has lacked,
Hence the sudden impact, the driving force that meets the dead end...
The race of time, the finish line of life.
-Rebecca Mummery

Have a nice week!





Thursday, April 26, 2012

In The Year 2012

Think bendable flexible screens that zoom in and out of the picture, with a twist of the wrist!  That's the technology now a days.  TV everywhere.  Thin as cardboard laptops,  the personal computer is moving aside for the ~ "Personal Cloud".

$50 LED light bulbs that last for 50 years.  Nice you nay not have to change not one light bulb more.
On the go mobile payment with just a swipe of your smart phone, and no more need for a wallet. 
Google smart glasses and computers that have touch, gesture recognition, or voice control are all the rage.


E-car revolutions and the new platform from Amazon Kindle Fire moving to takeover ipad sales by the end of 2012.  Square iphone dongle domination?  Invasion of a frictionless sharing facebook community,  everyone will know what book you are reading, where you are reading it, right down to the word you are reading right now.  Brutal slow readers. Tweet it.

Yes, it's amazing how fast things change, and a few months from now we may hear about HTML5, so I hear.  One APP love. @Dropbox is appealing to me this very minute!

Until next time.  Peace. 

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Movers and Shakers~!

Yes, spring has sprung, even as the snow still seems to fly periodically.  If springtime inspires you perhaps to make a move or change, eat more salads and overall invigorate you, then you are not alone.

After winter slowly goes away,  I tend to start planning for vacation or trips, take my exercises more seriously and maybe even moving to a new place.  I also like to start to think or make a draft of my balcony garden plan.  I like to draw it out and imagine all the produce I might be able to grow.  Most times, I do start some indoor gardening before spring time.  I grow sprouts and get other seedlings started.  I like people with hobbies that improve their lives such as gardening.

I like to get an exercise schedule figured out and stick to it when spring comes.  I even eat more healthy food and make a lot more smoothies or salads.  It's time to more the body and get some inches off that were stored up over winter time.  Perhaps, I set more resolutions in the spring time than at New Year's and so I find that interesting.  Maybe it's all the fresh air.

Some people are changing jobs these days in the spring time, perhaps reading about more exciting jobs gets one thinking.  But in the meantime, while at the same place and if you are a little bored these days here are some ways to help you concentrate and not become bored at work.

Hope this helps~!

20 Tips for Dealing with Job Boredom

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Time Flies


Happy April Fool's Day~!

It's already been a month since my last post and well into spring.  So, that's good but honestly it's been a busy past month with work, business, hobbies, and really more to come. I have lots of spring time things to do, and get prepared for camping.
If you don't know that camping is a hot topic around here, then I will prepare you well it used to be. Now it seems I go camping a lot less, since money can be an issue when it comes to spending nearly $500 to go out to a site and camp in the wilderness a bit.  It all adds up including picking up groceries for a long weekend.

Money is always something that we discuss to make our trips as thrifty as possible, so that we can afford to go as many times in the summer as we can.  There may be less of that this year, as I have been looking at a different places in the world to go to, such as an Alaskan cruise.  Maybe not this year but sometime that or a trip to Italy would definitely take care of a couple ideas on my bucket list.

Every Sunday afternoon this last couple months, I have spent some time watching NCAA and NBA basketball games.  I have been enjoying the tournaments and I rarely miss a Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics games.  Kobe Bryant is an amazing player, even with a broken nose this spring. World Peace just knocked down a 3 pointer, which should bring the Laker's way ahead of The Warriors. The Miami Heat, New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns are fairly entertaining teams as well.  But sports IS a big distraction and it takes time and focus away on real issues in the world that are going on.

 The Volvo Ocean Race this spring was riveting, men and women snowboarding and skiing are fun to watch. Shawn White is cool to  watch what he can do on a snowboard.  Also,  I used to watch more UFC.  I have sort of quit watching since Chuck Liddell is no longer in the game. If I wanted I suppose I could catch some old matches on You Tube, but I tend to try to do some extra work or gardening.  Anyways, just looking at a lot of it lets me see how much time I waste and then that is why time flies.

Have a great week!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Manic Mondays Are Back!

I know it's what you, who have came to my blog want to read about~ how Monday's suck right?! lol
Well, they do, particularly if you are not ready for them.  Today was especially hard to get going as I had to attend a work function this weekend, so there was not much of a break in the weekend.

Now, heading into a full work week may be a bit tougher than usual, but the best advice I can give anyone is to pace yourself.  It's going to be a long week.

Make sure to eat your breakfast or pack a lunch.  Pacing yourself may come in the form of a nap after work on Mondays, or a relaxing bubble bath.  You may want to pick up some convenient dinners so there is more time to relax.  Perhaps, that can help you to free up time so you can work on any extra tasks in this time so you don't get behind.  It does save time to not have to cook or clean, but it probably is not the most nutritious so don't forget to have some extra vitamins or even eat a small salad when you need a snack.

Everyday, when I am working and when I finally do arrive home, I go straight away to pick out my clothes for the next day.  If an outfit is questionable in look or size, I may try it on or see if things still fit.  This way, when morning comes as hectic as it already is, my clothes are all ready.  If I don't do this I know I won't have time to change my mind so much on what I want to wear.  So doing this the night before really helps.

Packing up lunches, or the most part also helps in time saving.  One can prepare your sandwich toppings or put out the bag and snacks, like a piece of washed fruit or something of that nature.    If you do wake up late, at least you will not starve all day or have to spend your hard earned money at the cafeteria.  I detest that.  You may decide to spend money there sometimes, but I don't suggest writing over your paycheque for overpriced and expensive sandwiches and soups.  You likely already have groceries in your cupboard to bring these things to work yourself.

You can also program your coffee maker and measure out the grounds and such so it brews before you wake up.  That makes the day a lot better.  If you are over coffee and would prefer a smoothie, then put the washed and chopped up ingredients in a bag or a container for easy blending in the morning.  You could also blend the foods the night before, but you will lose a lot of the nutritional value by the time you drink your smoothie in the morning.  But just saying, it's a great way to get going in the morning.

Now, if you have children, all these time saving tips practically have to be done on a regular basis, such as getting clothes ready for the morning and lunches semi-packed, perhaps make your pancake batter and put it in the fridge the night before for easy breakfast preparation.  I could see how much more one would have to "get ready" if there are kids in the family.

Anyways, speaking of time saving I must cut this post short and if anyone else has some time and pace saving tips~ feel free to leave me a message here.  I would love to hear more about how you carve out more time :) Cheers!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Valentine's Day Coming Right Up

What are you doing on that special and romantic day, called Valentine's Day?  It is sort of a commercialised day and while some couples are good at planning romantics without a lot of money, some are not.

So, I thought I would look back on some ways that men have surprised me with romance without having a lot of mula, and help you out with some suggestions.  These ideas may or may not have been presented to me on Valentine's Day, and some not at all but I wished they would have been.  So not all are tried and tested to be true exactly or are they conventional for just that day.  But  some should help you out- especially if you forgot and are in a pinch to do something special. Again, this can go for both genders, so don't think it's JUST up to the man in a relationship to be the romantic one.

So, first off, a little money doesn't hurt, even a few dollars could go a long way- just to pick up some chocolates and they could be very good ones, or you can buy your significant other their favourite chocolate bar and present it wrapped in a ribbon with a cute card (the dollar store has sufficient cards and ribbon or you can handcraft one), and be sure to write some romantic and meaningful in it.  Right there, only a couple bucks.

You can cook dinner at home and have candles lit when your loved one arrives. So if you have spaghetti sauce and pasta, Parmesan and perhaps a bottle of wine, already in the pantry then it could be a great way to save money and use what you already have.  And for dessert, sometimes less is more.  You could use a touch of white chocolate and milk chocolate, melted in a fondue pot or just use a glass bowl over a pot that it fits on, and melt the chocolate over very hot water.  Then some fresh fruits can be washed, dried and prepared in pieces to dip them into the melted chocolates.  You might have on hand fruit like bananas, strawberries or pineapples.  All delicious on their own or in a fondue session.  Milk chocolate chips work great as well! If you don't have the fruit, simply melt the chocolate and pour it into some sort of heart shaped mold.  Perhaps a little batch of cookies (or even store bought could do the trick) and set out on plate.  Sweet tooth people will NEED something to officiate it's Valentine's Day, so please know the person whom you are trying to woo and impress.

But if you are not such a good cook, even when it comes to boiling water and you couldn't scratch two bucks together to save yourself, then try another approach.  I would suggest not being totally empty handed with ideas, and maybe you can put together a romantic play list of music and have some romantic dance time together.  Then you could decide if you want to play a romantic or another genre movie, or you could have an ace up your sleeve and have the bathtub cleaned and ready to draw a bath.  If it's your wife she would definitely appreciate some spa time after a hard week at work.  It's nice to also come home to a clean house, so maybe if you have time to clean or tidy up- that could be a good start to preparing for a cozy and simple night in.  Dishes being cleaned and put away is always welcomed even Valentine's Day aside!

What if you are crunched for time and had to stay late at work, even on Valentine's Day?  Perhaps the industry you work in just works later all the time.  So if you know this will be the case, you could celebrate Valentine's Day prior on a day you may have off, or you can use a half vacation day and take the morning or evening off- (book ahead).  This will automatically show your loved one some special consideration that you would not miss that day or in lieu of, that they should not miss out on any romance.  Then make them breakfast in bed or you can write a love letter and women spray it with perfume - men with cologne?

Perhaps have a long-stemmed rose ready to go with it and their favourite coffee or tea, or even a coffee mug filled with English toffee candies, and well it should be a hit.  I would recommend your love letter is sincere and to the best of your abilities of writing one.  For instance, don't just write to so-and-so from you, and don't just write "love you" -unless that is something special that you both know of.  I once got a card like that and to say the least it looked effortless.  Put something in the content that will melt a heart.

Sometimes you might have a couple movie tickets that came free with something else laying around.  It's time to use those up and provided you have enough money for your movie snacks, you can also probably survive with out them.  That aside, there are also many great movies on Netflix.

You might want to take a drive, provided the roads and weather is favourable in February, where you might live and get out of the house and the city.  You could go to a look out spot over your city or town and take in the sunset, have some cup of noodles soups and a thermos of hot water and make it a elegant time.  To make it more fun, provided it's allowed and available, you could light a fire in a park metal fire pit as well, and use that as entertainment.  If you are far away from the city lights, you could do some star gazing and who knows, maybe you both will see something in the night sky that surprises you such as a shooting star or an unidentified flying object, jetting off to an unknown galaxy.

Anyways, I also had been given hand made gifts such as a customized t-shirt or pencil with my name on it and some drawing paper.  If your loved one is a smoker, perhaps you can pre-make a beaded lighter case or something of that nature.  I was once was given a amethyst stone bracelet and that is nice since my birthday is on Valentine's Day, and so my birthstone is an amethyst.  Those are a few cheap and sweet ideas for a Valentine's Day gift, but of course you are not limited to those.  It's nice to look on deal sites for extra special things you may otherwise not be able to afford, such as a dinner for two at a special place or maybe some lingerie, or even just something you know your lovie would appreciate.

I think the most important advice I could give any man or woman, and this is being said you care about the person in your life- do NOT stand them up.  If you do plan something and tell them to be ready or will be meeting them at a time, please stick to it.  Also, don't treat it just like a regular day and fall asleep snoring on the couch.  At least attempt to do something with that person, even if it's just have a dance to a song or a nice chat and a hug.  I am no relationship expert by any means and my disclaimer would be, that perhaps nothing works out for you if you take the cheap way and you don't "Get Lucky" but these ideas are merely just ways you can connect and make it a special day~!

Have a great week!


Thursday, February 09, 2012

Photo Book Your Memories!

It seems these days we take pictures with our digital cameras or devices, store them on our computers or storage devices and if we get around to developing them or showing them to our friends, we don't have the pictures in one spot or some pictures don't even see the light of day.

If you are a bit of an amateur photographer, then this could be just the thing to showcase those lovely and well hunted for photos.  Why not make yourself a classic and clean looking photo book, where you can put your most cherished and impressive digital pictures together?  It can also serve as a nice coffee table book for display.

I will try to put together a special photo book in memory of my Grandma.  If you have some pictures of your family or perhaps some of your own photography it can be admired and used as a portfolio book.  Those are just a couple ideas and you can find plenty of deals when it comes to buying photo books.

I suggest checking around on such deal sites like Groupon, Wag Jag or more for a great deal to save money on a photo book as you can save some money!  Also, Staples offers photo book services.  I hope that helps.

Have a great week!



Monday, February 06, 2012

Attention Chocolate Lovers!


Dimmed lights, candles, romantic music and chocolate are primary to set the mood for any couples evening in.   Cupid has come out to play and get ready for the most romantic day of the year~ Valentine's Day! 

You don't have to be in a relationship to enjoy this sweet deal and it's healthy too! 

I had visited ZexyBerry this weekend and tried their fondue cup this weekend and it's was truly amazing!!!

I loved the milk chocolate melted fondue chocolate and the fresh fruit was so fabulous!
ZexyBerry is a new retail store that serves chocolate lover's in Sunridge Mallm and it certainly had everything when it came to fruit and chocolate treats!  I recommend the beautiful hand-dipped chocolate strawberries box, or your choice of other fruit, with dark and white swizzles.  I can see this being a new favorite regular!!!
 
For only $20, enjoy yourself a Chocolate Fondue Package for Two.  It comes with only the freshest fruit including strawberries, pineapple, kiwis and bananas.  You have the choice of melted white, dark, or milk fondue chocolates and 2 skewer dipping sticks that certainly make it easier to eat.

Check out today's deal, because it's sweet like honey!
http://www.swarmjam.com/waf.srv/sj/sj/cn/auction_ActionLogoff?ONSUCCESS=home.jsp


Tuesday, January 03, 2012

WOW! Calgary Chromacolour Creative Art Centre!

Right here in Calgary, there is a place that you can take your whole family to be creative!  You can enroll in workshops and classes for ceramic painting, clay puzzling to wood-carving and much more, so don't miss a deal when you see one and get your artistic side out of the wood work!
 Check it out ~ $20 for $40 worth of pottery painting at Chromacolour Creative Art Centre!

http://www.swarmjam.com/waf.srv/sj/sj/cn/auction_ActionProdDet?ONSUCCESS=swarmofferdet.jsp&PRODID=10538167

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's and all the Best Wishes to you in 2012.

I hope all your dreams come true and may God give you the strength to realize how to achieve your dreams.  May you take time for peace and quiet, to plan your resolutions and changes in life. 
May loved ones you have lost be strong in your heart, bring you light in the dark, and friends bring you laughter so merry your soul can dance like you have no worries. ")

God Bless you and Have a Happy and prosperous New Year!