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Jul 6, 2012

Favourite Things Friday

I discovered a few new favourite things this week. Check them out and see if you don't get hooked too.




Tim Hortons Frozen Lemonade. I've never been a fan of lemonade (or lemon anything, really) but on a hot day...this is one of the best things I've ever tasted. So refreshing. It has the perfect level of sweetness, and I like that they use a lot of crushed ice. Nothing worse than ordering a slushy drink and have it be mostly liquid. Thanks to Meghan for bringing some for "the boys", otherwise I probably would never have known about it. This may be my go-to drink for the summer.




Kelsey's Deep Fried Mars Bar. Now this isn't something that I would eat every day, but I had to try it. It's a Mars bar wrapped in an egg roll-like wrapper, deep-fried and decorated with a sprinkling of icing sugar. It's also served with a small dish of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce drizzled on top. The inside was a little too sweet - but that didn't stop me from eating the whole thing (with some help from Tom). I honestly think the crust is the best part. Just give me a plate of fried wrappers with some chocolate sauce to dip them in and I'd be a happy camper.




The Staybowlizer. We bought this at Lee Valley Tools last night. It's made of silicone so it's heat and cold resistant, and it turns any two pots or a pot and a bowl into a double-boiler. It also holds a bowl in place on the counter if you need both hands to pour or you need it to stay steady while you wisk. None of our pots were purchased at the same time so they never fit together properly. This is going to make melting chocolate for pretzels, or steaming Tom's favourite dim sum pork buns so much easier.



What new discoveries have you made recently?

Jul 4, 2012

Going Out of Business

As you may or may not know, Target is coming to Canada in 2013. (Happy Dance!) They are taking over most of the Zellers locations, including the one closest to my house. Because of this transition, Zellers is selling off everything in their stores, furniture and fixtures included, and most items are 10-30% off. I'm sure the discounts will get deeper as the closing date nears, but for now I thought I'd take a wander through and see what they had. (Tom should have known better than to tell me they sell paint.) I'm not a shopaholic by any means, but I do have a very hard time passing up a closing out sale.

I ended up saving about 20% on my purchases all together. Take a gander at some of my finds.

I bought this woven basket to hold the pillow and blankets for the hammock when it's not in use and folded up. The basket is about 18" x 14" x 9" deep. A pretty substantial size. We're always dragging the pillows in and out so it'll be good to have a permanent place for everything.


Of course I had to check out the paint. They mostly have spray paint, with only a few cans of regular paint along the bottom shelf. The selection wasn't huge but I did pick up some more primer - they only had grey - and a can of suede paint in navy blue. Someone had test-sprayed the blue paint so it was already marked down to $1.99. I ended up getting it for $1.19. Best deal of the day.


I also bought a smaller woven basket that matches the first one, to keep the odds and ends on my desk in one place. It's 12" x 8" x 6.5" deep. The shelves in my craft room are filled with boxes and containers, all neatly labelled of course, but there is always a pile of stuff that doesn't go together and is too small to be boxed by itself. Like post-it notes, and lip balm, and an extra computer mouse. You know, important things. Now I can toss them all in the basket and it'll look pretty on my desk.


Did you know that Snyder's makes Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper flavoured pretzels? I did not. That is my favourite chip flavour so you know I had to get some. Not good since I'm gearing up to start a Whole30 program in the next week, but I guess they'll still be waiting for me afterwards. It could happen.


I also bought this leather belt. I bought it because Tom is tired of me borrowing his "good" one all the time. But I only did that because I didn't have one. It's called sharing. But he'd better not even look at my salt & pepper pretzels. Sharing only goes so far.


And I bought ribbon. Of course I bought ribbon. I think I have a ribbon addiction. As I look at the picture below I notice that all of the colours go together. The striped grosgrain even contains most of the other colours. A happy accident.


I also bought some other things - mascara and socks - but they're not so interesting to look at. I'll probably go back again in a couple of months to see what other bargains I can find, or maybe I'll hit up the other Zellers stores in my town (there are at least two more).

What's the best bargain you've found at a closing-out sale? I always wonder about the fixtures - have you ever bought any?

Jul 1, 2012

Red and White

There are more Canada Day celebrations going on around here. Yesterday involved a quick trip to the vet, followed by an hour lazing on a blanket in the park (and then some outdoor baths when the dogs decided to roll in poop!) We had dinner with our neighbours and then I broke out the treats.


We had red and white cupcakes decorated with strawberries and icing sugar. I'm not going to claim to have baked them or frosted them, but I did add the extras. That counts, right?



These cupcakes were so very good. But that red icing was dangerous - my hands were stained just from putting them on the plate.

I also bought some red velvet cookies with cream cheese frosting. Red velvet is still a novelty for us in Canada. We've heard about it for years, but it's only recently that anything has been available in stores.


To add some more red - and to up the nutritional value - I brought out a bowl of fresh cherries. In a white bowl of course. And decorated with one of the flag headbands I bought for the dogs. Don't you love how the silver fringe looks like fireworks?



These cherries are so wonderfully sweet. I've probably eaten 5 pounds of them by myself in the last few weeks.



Just to finish off, I made a Canada Day wreath for the front door. It's kind of silly and kind of hippie-ish, but I think it's fun. Sort of like if Mr. Snuffleupagus fell in red & white paint.


I used a pool noodle with the ends taped together for the base. I then cut up red and white tshirts into strips and loosely tied them around the noodle in alternating colours.




I finished if off with a Canadian flag in the middle and some red and white roses at the top.

Our front porch is a bit plain right now, so it adds some colour, along with the gorgeous purple and red potted flowers we found last weekend.




I hope everyone is having a terrific weekend - the weather is gorgeous here - and Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians!





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I'm linking up here this week!




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