Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger over the holidays. There was just too much stuff going on, and frankly, I was happy to sit on my parents' very comfy sofa in front of the fireplace and read my book (read an entire Nora Roberts trilogy in a week. Oh, the glories of junk literature!) However, I'm back in Halifax now, and so the blog goes on.

Super quick holiday recap. Spent a ton of time with my family, which rocked. My parents and I built an ottoman & picture frames for the family room. I love Rona! I am a total daddy's girl, so I had a lot of fun with him in his workshop, and I miss him right now. My mom & I bonded over shopping and jewelry making, and I can't believe that I'm not going to see her until June! My parents have done a fabulous job on their new house, and I didn't want to leave, it was so pretty & comfortable! My sister & I had a rocking time at Fionn MacCool's on New Year's Eve. I was out until 4:30, which I haven't done in quite a while, so that was an event. My already tall cousins have gotten even taller, my Nanny is shopping for a new car, and my small cousins are respectively adorable and crazy (Connor would be the crazy one. Man!) I'm sad to be back in Halifax right now, but I know that once I'm back in my normal routine, I'll love it as much as ever. But as much as I'd love to live here forever, I don't think that I could. I'm a family girl, down to the ground, which means back to Ontario for me. It appears that I have an LTO (long term occasional job) for September at my favourite school in Mississauga, so my plan of teaching for a year and then applying to my Ph.D. is coming together!

On the present front, this Christmas was a bonanza of kitchen goodness, so stay tuned for lots more recipes and cooking experiments/ fiascos. It could be either, you never know! But for my lovely kitchen (not as lovely as my parents, obviously, but lovely for student digs, that's for sure), I have a lovely new:

• Slow cooker (yea for a hot supper waiting for me when I get home from school!)
  
• Espresso maker (Coffee addicts rejoice!)
• Milk frother (to compliment said espresso maker)
  
• Roasting pan with drip rack and sturdy handles (Yea! No more foil!)
  
• Nigella Lawson's cookbook Feast (which has in it many lovely roasted chicken recipes, which will give my roasting pan a good workout)
• Digital meat thermometer (also for those lovely chickens, and some sweet rare roast beef. Yum.)
• Cheese grater (IKEA rocks. This one has two sizes of holes, and the graters clip right onto a tub in which you can store the cheese after you're done. Smart!)
• Heatproof measuring cup (The numbers melted off of the old one)
• Place mats (since my old ones shrivelled up in the washing machine)
• Thermos & travel mug (so I don't spend money on Starbucks/Second Cup/Tim Hortons)

And yes, I fit all of this stuff (plus three new pairs of pants, two new sweaters and a new pair of shoes, three posters, and everything that I brought to Ontario with me, parka & boots included) into two suitcases and a carry on when I flew home this afternoon. And this is a massive slow cooker. I am a genetically gifted packer- you wanna go on a road trip, you call me, 'cause I can pack enough stuff for a small army into the trunk of a Smart Car. I'm also really good at getting the weight of suitcases just right. WestJet limit= 60 lbs. My bigger bag= 59.2 lbs. Thanks for the genes, Dad!

My first slow cooker experiment is a sort of chunky, spicy tomato sauce with peppers, onions, and hot Italian sausage. I'm not sure if it's going to end up like sauce or stew, but I'll let you know. It looks like it's gonna taste good, though.

For all of you who are heading back to class or work tomorrow, good luck and have fun. For all of you who are still lying on a beach somewhere (cough, the hubby, cough), have fun and see you soon!

Oh, and a PS for Dennis & anyone else who was wondering- I used the picture of the audio version of The English Patient in my post on it because it was the best quality one that I could find, and also because I just thought it was neat that they got Willem Dafoe (who plays Caravaggio in the film) to do the reading. I normally find Willem Dafoe kinda creepy, but as Caravaggio or as Gill in Finding Nemo, he's the man.

Fantasy Christmas List

My Christmas wishes are generally quite modest. Some new socks, a sweater or two, and a few books, and I'm happy. It makes life a tad difficult for anyone who wants to buy me a gift, because I'm never good at volunteering ideas. However, if I have a fairy godmother, or one of those mysterious millionaire uncles (you know, the ones who seem to pop up in books every so often) out there who are looking for ideas, here is my fantasy Christmas list:

1) Smythson of Bond St. Premier day planner- emerald green leather cover, Smythson's classic pale blue paper, and gilt edging. You all know how much I obsess over day planners. This puppy is the holy grail. You know that scene in Bridget Jones' Diary when she goes running out in the street in her leopard knickers to find Darcy? The one where she tries to explain the comment in her diary that she hates him & that he has a pickle up his a** by arguing that "everyone knows that diaries are fully of crap"? The one where he's not running away, but buying her a new diary? Smythson is where he's getting it from. Sigh, oh how I love Colin Firth. However, the planner is not something that my own personal Mr. Darcy is going to get me for Christmas, as it's 90 quid and must be shipped from England.


2) Penguin Classics Complete Library- 1,082 great works of literature by one of my favourite publishers of the classics (unfortunately, that means that I already have a number of these, so there would be some duplicates.) It weighs about 750 lbs, and contains works from Edwin A. Abbott to Emile Zola, totally nearly 500, 000 pages. All for the price of
$7, 989.50 (US) with free shipping.

3) Montblanc "Virginia Woolf" fountain pen- the resin body is carved in waves to reflect the publication of one of Woolf's most famous novels, The Waves, in 1931. With a gold nib and clip with a ruby accent, this is one special pen. Imagine what you could write with it! Although Montblanc hasn't listed prices on their website, it's currently running for about $500.00 US on Ebay. If I was choosing on the basis of looks, I'd have to go for the Dickens pen, but I've got a soft spot for Woolf right now.




So there you have it: my fantasy Christmas list. No crazy cars, no 60 gig Ipod (although I certainly wouldn't say no to one of those), no big ol' diamonds. I know that none of the above will be under the tree for me on Christmas morning, but maybe I'll get some Chapters gift certificates and add to my already substantial Penguin collection. I don't have room for 750 lbs of books here anyway!

O Tanenbaum...

I'm a bit of a Christmas junkie. I'm so excited now that all of the malls are decorated, and I'm currently listening to Diana Krall's Christmas CD. The hubby and I are drinking hot apple cider, and we just finished decorating our first ever Christmas tree together (excuse the grainy photo; the only camera we currently have is a cell phone).

Yes, I know that it's only November 17th, but I couldn't help myself! If it makes you feel any better, our tree is only about 2 feet tall, but it's adorable. For the past three Christmases, the hubby has been in the Dominican Republic, and I've been at home. We generally only saw each other once or twice during the whole WINTER (oh, the wonders of long-distance love), so the fact that we get to spend Christmas together this year makes me incredibly happy (no Dominican because of our brand new nephew.) I'm so excited that I had to get started now--hence the early embracing of the festive bush, as the hubby likes to faux-PC call it.

My family is huge on Christmas tradition, so I'm really excited to go home and participate. We always decorate the tree on the first Saturday of December (never before, or else my dad pulls his Scrooge schtick), and my parents always pretty up the front of the house with garland and white lights and pointsettias. There are certain foods that we only ever make during the Christmas season- shortbread, lemon squares, snow pudding, truffles, lace cookies- and I've been helping my mom bake since I was old enough to hold a wooden spoon. Oh, I love Christmas! I love buying presents for everyone, and Christmas Eve mass, and having our house jam packed with people for turkey, and opening every little wrapped-up thing in my stocking (my mom even wraps Chapstick!)

Although I'm not at all excited about the prospect of the hubby and I residing at our respective parental abodes for two weeks over the holidays, I still can't wait to go home and get all Christmassy. Until then, I'll just sit and blog and admire my tiny little tree and dream of Christmas Eve.