three things on a (january 3rd) thursday

today IS thursday, right? i am so befuddled with the days of the week, thanks to the hols.

number one thing:

i saw this tea box yesterday at vincenzo’s. i did not buy it. i should have, though:

fact: you can never have too many cardinals in the home.

 number two thing:

joanne and i had a fabulous visit, as always:

jo, i lied, our photo IS on the blog, after all!!!

number three thing:

i am now the highly embarrassed proud owner of a puffy coat:

fact: it is impossible to take a *great* pic while wearing a puffy coat.

i had surprisingly wonderful luck at mark’s work wearhouse yesterday [fellow canadians, i know that the store is now called "marks," but this retail establishment will be engrained in my head as "mark's work wearhouse," forever and ever].

this coat fit all my requirements: it’s warm (downfilled), hooded (and this one zips off), w.a.r.m. (WARM!!), black (the only colour i would consider), warm (i hate being cold), and was reasonably priced. then – bonus!!! i got to the cash register and the jacket was 50% off, something i did not know prior to paying! that cardinal sighting at vincenzo’s had something to do with my luck, i just know it!…

wishing YOU a lucky thursday!

just in case the world ends tomorrow…

…it is imperative that you know the following:

~ santa DID come home with me on sunday…

ho ho ho! and merry christmas! (i am going to add in that jingle bell as my xmas jewellery).

…and we are totally ready to celebrate family christmas on the 23rd and extended family christmas on december 25th. i am going to toss my christmas cardigan on, over top of santa, but i am glad for the sleeveless option as opening presents, laughing, and celebrating can make me hot!

~ we have made it to the shortest day of the year. cue the hallelujah chorus [i know i said the same thing last year, but really, it is the most perfect song of rejoicing for this time of year]. things only get better from now until june 21st!

~ i thought i had a pretty colourful shoe collection…

L to R: nike free; asics gel noosa; adidas boston; mizuno wave elixir 7; NB minimus 00

[i am loyal to the sport, not loyal to a brand, haha!].

…but check out the mizuno wave elixir 8s that arrived at the store on monday!

the womens’…

…and the mens’

so, to continue our “this is the house that jack built” verse from the other day, now i want the shoes to go with the tech shirt to go with the compression socks…

~ i have enjoyed a square of coffee culture coffee cake every day this week, thus far:

mmmm, my mouth waters just looking at this photo!

just prepping my body for the sugar fiesta that is christmas day, in our family.

~ this is my new favourite tread-milling ensemble:

the runner’s modeling pose

• brooks “run” long sleeve shirt (sooo light! amazing wicking ability!)
• lulu polka-dot shorts, purchased on sale this summer
• mizuno wave rider 15s

i was trying to put together a really clash-y outfit…but that looks not all that bad, eh?!

~ i finished reading ready player one on wednesday which is book #16 on the year; it is highly unlikely i will get another whole book finished by the end of the year (esp if that is tomorrow – joke!). i do recommend ready player one – it was very enjoyable! i liked both the futuristic aspects and the 80s references -> rush’s 2112; atari; monty python…the latter part of the novel features some unexpected twists and revelations!

~ beautiful christmas lights can make anyone into a talented photographer:

could be the front of a christmas card, no?!

~ and finally…

 ♥ family, i love you!!! ♥ !!!

how are you celebrating the shortest day of the year?? i am really in the mood to watch a holiday movie!!

time stamp

i had to seize the opportunity to have a blog entry dated 12:12 pm on december 12th, 2012!

since i only thought, um, this morning that it would be super cool to do a post on this auspicious day, we’re going to go with a theme of random thoughts!

APPRECIATION – look at the beautiful weather i enjoyed on my drive in to TO this morning!

neat clouds, eh?! and the temp is (slightly) above zero!

ANTICIPATION – while i am trying to live in the moment, each and every day, i am excited about: celebrating christmas; setting 2103 goals; deciding what i want to do with this blog in 2013; planning how i will spend my birthday day on january 9th (i will have the day off of work so the hours are mine to do with as i wish!). so many thoughts swirling through my brain!

EXPRESSION – this week, i cannot stop saying “gives me the pip” -> ie “x gives me the pip“  or “[she] gives me the pip;” more often than not, this phrase comes out in my morning chat with mom. that word PIP is so satisfying!

COMPRESSION – I WANT THESE SOCKS SO BAD!!!!!

(source)

unfortunately, apparently, pro compression is SOLD out, boo hoo.

CELEBRATION – check out this parallel parking job from this morning. please note that this was my first attempt:

textbook, i tell you!

CONSTRUCTION -  there may be a little building going on this eve…

one for little e, one for cutie c….aunti is the assistant!

ideally, i would have TWELVE *shun* items in this post…but then i run the risk of missing the 12:12 pm timeline!

hope you have a lucky 12-12-12!

five friday the fourteenth fotos

your thought o’ the day:

thanks for the reminder, “death valley’s little brother!” (uptown coffee shop)

mom needs this tshirt:

as seen at “harmony by earthwinds” (in uptown)

that would make me laugh, to see mom in that tee when she is out and about with this guy:

dear dad!

i would enjoy receiving THIS shirt!…

again, at “harmony by earthwinds” -> very soft fabric! xmas list item, fam!

snookie is a mom!!!

what does this mean for the future of “jersey shore??” anyone have any info? is there going to be a new season any time soon?? please advise!

happy weekend, friends! seize the day!

~*~*~*~*~

i firmly believe in the life philosophy that what goes around comes around. as you know, i tried quite hard to be nice this week. well!! wednesday eve, i met sharon at s’bux and i had a gift card to use. there was $2.95 left on the card -> i know this for a fact because i even had the s’bux staff print off my receipt when i used the gc the day before.

our total (two decaf teas!) came to $4.10. i gave the barista my gift card and said i had $2.95 on it. she scanned it, and told us that the gift card had covered the whole total – their system had been acting wonky all day, and if the computer accepted our entire bill onto the gift card…well, so be it!

haha! that was a little bonus joy to my visit with sharon!

theme week: friday fotos

there is a plethora of variations on the friday alliteration idea: five for friday, fun facts friday, fit bit friday, friday features, friday fings, f’d up friday [ok, i made that one up, but it'd be workable, no?!]…i’ve decided to go with friday fotos [cutesy spelling and all] because i want to share the shopping trip that mom and i enjoyed on wednesday!

way back in the spring, mom and i decided to set aside a day in august when we could zoom down the 401 to mississauga and spend a day shopping at square one:

yes, conestoga and fairview park are great local malls, but we wanted a different experience!

GREAT summery weather…to spend the day shopping indoors! we had smooth sailing on the drive in from waterloo.

first stop of the day: coffee and a chance to make our plan of attack:

s’bux treats and a&w coffee…food courts are perfect for mixing and matching!

top of my list: lululemon!! we decided to skip stores available in k-w, too.

where is lulu??!

let’s shop!

mom has the patience of a saint: we were in lululemon for almost an hour, and i tried on item after item…with great success!! i am now well lulu’d…for the next while!

photo at home of the goods

[sidenote: i was all set to have mom snap a pic of me clutching 27 hangers of clothing when a sales associate gently admonished that no photo taking is allowed...pourquoi pas?? i am not about to sew up lulu knock-offs!].

then we discovered a new-to-us store:

boom, there goes another hour…and we emerged empty handed!

favourite print of the day (as seen on a dress in zara)

would you believe that after visiting only two stores, it was lunch time:

we each got a pizza and salad combo from mrs vanelli’s pizza – very tasty! and worthy of WIAW!

next up: melanie lyne which was mom’s #1 pick for the day:

i was seriously tempted by these feather earrings…now i wish i had picked them up!

mom had some luck! yippee, now we both had memento purchases from our day.

cognizant of the time of day and impending rush hour traffic, we shortly thereafter left square one to go across the street to…

please set up a location in waterloo, whole foods (and bring lululemon with you, while you’re at it)…

mom’s first visit to a wf, ever!

i compared this mississauga whole foods to the one i visited in sarasota florida, july 2010, and regaled mom with a few of my memories! this mississauga location is huge, bright, very clean, has TONS of product…but the sarasota wf definitely had better salad and hot buffet bars.

i perused the cereals, no surprise, there, but refrained from making a purchase!

we will never, ever learn: once again, we neglected to pick up a basket, so after twenty minutes of wandering the aisles, mom looked like this…

dad gets a treat of kettle chips in his favourite flavour!

…and we were giggling pretty hard! we also had to laugh because for all those hours spent at square one, we covered very little ground…ah well, quality over quantity was the theme of this day.

oh – i got some mint-scented shampoo, too:

this is the large size bottle – i should mark down the date and see how long it lasts!

love that scent!

our return trip to waterloo was also a breeze. it was so fun to travel to an out-of-town mall and spend the day with mom.

what’s your favourite mall? international plaza in tampa was amazing! wish i could have shown it to mom during my vacation. yorkdale mall (in toronto) has a great rep, we just didn’t want to face more time on the 401 to get there.

theme week: three things thursday

three things thursday is a well-used vehicle by which a blogger can randomly chat about a trio of totally unrelated ideas. i can do that! (in fact, thirty thing thursday would probably be ok!).

1. remember back in may when dad transformed the master bath into the chocolate bathroom?

my at-home spa!

well, i finally got around to purchasing new towels. i got them in maybe july (?) then they sat around for a while before i started to use them. i went for white:

nope, i did not stage a “home and garden” pic!

what sold me on the white idea was that floor mat – it’s textured and i love the soft feel under foot. for the towels, i went with the “gluckstein home” line, available at the bay. i’m super happy with this choice! for the first time ever, the initial wash and dry did not produce tons of lint. the towels are soft and plush and feel luxurious. brian gluckstein, you can be proud of your product!

the white towels remind me of staying in a hotel – i like that! initially, i was worried about how hard it would be to keep the white white…so far, no issues.

the next step: my heart is set on getting a compact coat rack upon which i can hang the towels – i am feeling anti-towel rack or wall hooks… but until i can find what i want (ikea??), this is my towel-hanging system:

stairmaster-as-towel-drying mechanism…how stereotypical, having exercise equipment draped in laundry!

all in all, i’m very happy with the bathroom transformation!

2. i totally thought that i had found a new ♥ sweet baboo ♥ to add to my collection which is currently comprised of:

georgie:

(source)

tommy:

(source)

chef michael smith:

(source)

during the olympics, i caught some of the canadian women’s soccer matches. oooo, that canadian coach, john herdman, is a real cutie!!

(source)

then i googled him and found out he was born in 1975. that means he is five years younger than me. boo. that is just too much of an age gap for me to handle. so our love affair is over before it even started. the end.

3. a few weeks ago, zo mentioned in a blog post that she had figured out how to get a twitter tweet onto her blog. zo kindly passed along the step-by-step how-to instructions, and by george, i could do the same thing! example:

scariest moment of these olympics: the realization that i am old enough to be the mother of some of these athletes. :/

—
Cathy (@1970kikiproject) August 12, 2012

as you know, my blog is pretty boring simple in terms of layout, design, photos…and i’m fine with that – now. once upon a time, i did dream of making the kikiblog all fancy, inserting photoshopped and edited pictures, tables, charts etc…i even almost bought a DSLR camera in order to improve my photos! then i realized (and accepted) that it’s the writing and sharing that i enjoy, and a plain jane blog is all i need.

all that being said, it was fun to learn a new twitter/blog trick! now all i have to do is actually compose tweets that are pithy, relevant, and worthy of including on the blog!

got three things to share today? 1) it’s the busker festival in uptown waterloo this weekend 2) i thought my little point n shoot camera was dead again a few days ago but after it got a good night’s rest, it worked fine again the next morning, i so don’t understand what is up with that thing 3) i want to go buy tons of new school supplies even though i am not going back to school. i just may load up on pens, notebooks, stickies and markers anyway.

july thus far: a pictorial review

greetings,friends!

i hope you’re enjoying a fabulous summer! how nice that we still have over a month until labour day [i am trying to think positively, here; internally, i am wailing a bit because summer has peaked, imo]. AND!…five months today is christmas day!!

i know that if i start chatting about the month of july, i am going to get on a roll and not shut up…so à la twitter [i DID tweet a couple times this month!] and instagram [about which i have not a clue, i so need someone to show me what exactly instagram IS] we are going to go with lotsa photos and minimal words today. [tomorrow's post is going to be the opposite: we'll chat more and look at maybe three pictures].

here are selected july highlights…

monday, july 2nd: movie outing with mom and dad to see “moonrise kingdom” at the princess – ***1/2 stars, i say! (and thanks, zo, for the recommendation). this pic is not the best, dad was in a rush to get our tix!

tues july 3rd: “whoo-hoo” walter came to the store to pump up our clinics for the waterfront 1/2 n full ‘thons; here are liz, walter n me mimicking the race poster!

thurs july 5th: i actually BAKED!!! i don’t know who was more shocked, me or the oven. i made bran muffins, no raisins, i hate raisins, it’s impossible to find a bran muff without raisins. those are choco chips on the top cuz i forgot to mix ‘em in!

sun july 8th: shopping with mom – a laughing buddha design is going to be my next tat. (i don’t want this EXACT buddha – this is just to give me an idea!)

that mall outing resulted in the biggest shopping splurge in at least a year! i had some gift cards to use, and there were huge sales. fave items: tie between the feather earrings ($3.99! madonna’s line!) and the “just smile & wave” tshirt (love punny tees!)

tues july 10th: my mail-order, FREE olympic cheerios tee arrived! love the graphic/slogans! would it be folly to wear a 100% cotton shirt in one of january’s disney races? i know the answer. guess i’ll wear it post-race.

tues july 10th, eve: i met sarah (of the pink shoes) at s’bux! we celebrated that she now has a teaching CONTRACT with our local school board. yippee!

as we were sitting outside, along came our friends yang and dan. dont’cha love dan’s shoes? those are the new nike air pegasus+ 29s – only dan can carry off that neon look!

aunti wednesday! (july 11th): a seriously PERFECT day. while little e and cutie c were at their day camp, i sat outside the local indy, hip coffee joint with a rooibos tea, toronto life mag, and literally put my feet up while catching some rays.

thurs july 12th: i tagged along on dad’s weekly market trip!

how’s that for a zucchini?!!

fri july 13th: my free cheerios flipflops arrived! i am set to cheer on our olympians! (i wonder if my free reebok tee is ever going to show up??…) are these flips now my LUCKY footwear since they showed up on friday the 13th??!

also on the 13th: i eagerly inherited this *cast-off* chair from mom and dad – dad has never liked it, so they replaced it. adds a great modern touch to the condo casa main room! and it’s comfy!

july 14th: saturday night at the movies/my worst-lit photo ever – out to see woody allen’s “to rome with love” **1/2 stars. i DID LOL…but “vicki christina barcelona” was better!

sunday july 15th: s’bux with juanita, from whom i am borrowing the *hot* trilogy of the summer!

tuesday july 17th: cathie and i met at david’s tea after our work days were over. even though it was 38 degrees C out (felt like an oven!) we had hot teas! (the air con was on pretty high!).

wed july 18th: 20 minute challenge night at the store! participants received a FREE blue cap for coming out and running or walking for 20 minutes! such a fun time on a hot and sunny evening!

thurs july 19th: william’s coffee with sharon! we planned this meet-up in less than 72 hours…that qualifies as “impromptu,” for us!

friday july 20th: “magic mike” with bff debbie! very entertaining!…and educational, since i have never seen a strip show! ** (two stars)

sunday july 22nd: pizza sunday! almost as good as ice cream sunday. this slice had zucchini, mushrooms and green pepper – yum! it is rare that i desire salty over sweet!

…and later: sunday night at the movies! “what to expect when you’re expecting” -> cute! ** stars [sidenote: bangs are FINALLY long enough to tuck behind my ears, again]

mon july 23rd: i was gifted this fabulous tshirt, straight from denmark! the sequins and 80s vibe are 100% me – and a tshirt is my #1 favourite type of souvenir! you will find out who gave it to me tomorrow…

tues july 24th: a mid-day gabfest with vfbf joanne at vincenzo’s – we had a totally delightful visit – only we coulda used three hours instead of one!

et c’est tout!! july, would you please SLOW DOWN for the remaining days we have left!!?!

~*~*~*~*~

a completely random question of the day: i’d like to take a survey, and i am seeking your input. for this year’s 1970kikiproject, challenge # 11 states, and i quote, “abstain from drinking diet pop (any pop) for eleven months.”

my question for you is this: is the following beverage a pop, yes or no?

zevia: found it at a health food store. it is carbonated, has no artificial sweeteners, and is sweetened with stevia

i have my opinion, and i’d like to hear yours. would it be cheating on the project for me to drink a zevia? [additional note: i DO use stevia in my coffee, every morning].

see you tomorrow!

five for (an american long weekend) friday

happy friday, everyone! happy long weekend, south-of-the-border friends! and happy quilt-auction-preview evening for mom and dad and me! i am so excited – i love this annual friday evening social very much, and i hope today flies by (i am at theOTHERstore) so we can head on out to new hamburg!

1. i am still waiting for my free reebok tshirt to arrive. in the meantime, remember how valumart had 1,001 types of cereal on sale this past week? when i saw that some of the sale cereals had the free tshirt coupon offer on the box, i got greedy i had to snap up two so that i could order another tshirt (the one i already chose is black, and i wanted #2 to be the white one).

tshirt offer! tshirt offer! i know i need two coupon codes!

i used to buy alpha bits all the time, but have not for a very long while, now. i brought them back into the casa just to aid me in the tshirt chase!

i had to hack up the boxes massively in order to retrieve the necessary codes:

not pretty, no patience

well, the joke is on me:

wah!

so, consider this a public service announcement – leave those specially marked boxes on the shelf if you are hoping for a reebok shirt. and if you want some (slightly destroyed) alpha bits, drop me a line.

2. while i will forever be loyal to my tommy…

(source)

…and my george…

(source)

…a new and rather unexpected hunka-hunka is on my radar:

(source)

i cannot explain the appeal, but i have decided that chef michael smith has ♥ *it.* ♥

(source)

of course, seeing as how aunti doesn’t cook, i personally would have no clue as to whether or not his recipes are any good.

(source)

but mom has two of his cookbooks, “the best of chef at home” and “chef michael smith’s kitchen,” and can attest to the fact that he has some great ideas. for example, mom picked up his strategy of freezing lard, butter, or shortening then grating it into your flour when you make baked goods, and swears that chef smith’s idea works perfectly every time.

(source)

me, i am content to simply gaze from afar.

3. for whatever reason, the other day at theOTHERstore our regular radio station (CHYM) was all static-y and the only station that came through loud and clear was the local country music station. listening to six hours of country was a thoroughly enjoyable experience! [uh oh, i fear the desire to purchase a pair of cowboy boots may be looming on the horizon]…oh! and good thing the uptown country festival is coming up on june 16th!!

4. the bay had a full page ad in the globe and mail last week, advertising their HBC summer collection. i would very much like the bikini and the flipflops. and the k-way jacket. and the tshirt. (and the traditional blanket although that iconic item is not part of the summer set). **family, you could buy an item now, and put it away for xmas!** just sayin’!

(source)

5. this weekend is OTTAWA RACE WEEKEND. our half and full marathon clinics have been training since january for these running events. these two clinics are held on tuesday evenings at the store, and go for 18 weeks. i bet i have worked 16/18 evenings, and as a result, i have really grown fond of the clinic members, and their instructors, derek and donna. i am going to miss seeing these folks on tuesday eves! i hope everyone has a super great time in ottawa this weekend (the ottawa marathon is one of canada’s premier marathons) and i want to hear stories upon your return!

one of the clinic members with whom i have gotten chummy is sandy (the same sandy who inspired me to purchase aviator sunglasses). sandy just returned from peru on victoria day, and she presented me with a giftie this past tuesday eve:

a genuine peruvian knit toque!

back in the winter, i had rhapsodized enthusiastically over sandy’s own hat (identical to the one, above) that she had bought on a previous trip – it’s so cute and colourful.

what a sweet r.a.o.k.!!

now, what do you think of this summer 2012 fashion idea: the toque + compression socks + aviator sunglasses + peacock feather earrings??

tell me something random and fun! seven months today is christmas day!

five for (a long weekend) friday

it’s friday, it’s friday! (said in a sing-song voice of joy!). hope you have some fun plans for this weekend!

random bits of chatter:

1. a friend bestowed a r.a.o.k. upon ME this week! when i lamented on the blog about how i lost one of my brand new peacock feather earrings…

at least i have a picture to remember them by!

…the very first time i wore them, gina took it upon herself to make sure that sure that such a sorry situation would not be repeated in the future. earlier this week, i opened my mail to find the cutest card ever…

gina’s friend andrea MAKES cards as a sideline business/hobby, and this is one of her fantastic creations…

…and the card colour is even my favourite ORANGE!

thank you, g!! now i can confidently wear any hook-type earrings without the fear of ending up lopsided by the end of the day. and your card is on display in the kitchen!

[tangent: canada post forgot to stamp the postage stamp on gina's envelope:

no markings!

…so i cut it off and will re-use it. please tell me you do this, too?!].

2. dad has pretty much completed the choco bathroom transformation!

ta da!

remember the before?

the view towards the whirlpool tub…

…now looks like this!

i am absolutely thrilled with the final result. i had a vision in my head of the shade of chocolate i wanted, and this is it exactly. dad has a few spots he wants to touch up, but the main work is done. i have purchased a new white, textured bathmat and the next step is to get some new towels. the chocolate shade is going to be super easy to work with – pretty much any colour will co-ordinate (red and green at xmas, pastels in spring, earth tones in fall…).

3. late last week, my friend ken from the store (you met him here) found out that he was accepted into this november’s jfk 50 mile race. this is special because it’s the 50th anniversary of the jfk so the demand to get in is pretty fierce. what’s even more exciting is that ken is sixty-nine years old young! i am so happy for ken because he has worked really hard at his running over the last few years (his retirement project), has qualified for next year’s boston, has run more marathons this year than i can keep track of (he’s off to vermont, next), plus he is such a nice man. keep up the good work, ken! you’re an inspiration!

4. i don’t care what the calendar says about when summer starts, in my rule book, we kick off the summer season this weekend! may 2-4 welcomes summer, that is the way it is. and i will call it now: the time will FLY between now and the labour day weekend. it always does!

5. i ♥ love ♥ my pink compression socks so much, and have been wearing them with such frequency, that i invested in another pair of compression running socks this week:

this pair is by CW-X – a very respected brand for compression wear.

worn with my nike vomero 4 shoes, on this day!

mini-review: this pair of socks feels great, too! the material is super-silky. they do feel less compression-y (compressive?) than the pink CEPs, but on the flip-side they are a heck of a lot easier to get on and off. this was a good purchase! [as always, opinions are my own, i bought the CW-X socks myself - although i did use my staff discount - and CW-X (sadly) did not ask me to review these socks!].

so, the pink socks will be my fun and giggle-inducing pair, and the black socks will be for when the hammer is going down and i need to look fierce!

i’ll be taking the may 2-4 weekend OFF from this space. see you on tuesday may 22nd for the great may grocery challenge update #3! enjoy a safe and relaxing long weekend!

oops, i forgot to stop blogging!

so, the blogging from a-z challenge ended on monday…yet every day this week has seen me post an entry.

proof that the a-z challenge is still strong in my mind: look at this tshirt that i saw in a toronto storefront! stephanie and fran, i thought of you!

you know what happened? i got used to visiting with you every day…and now i am addicted again i am just really enjoying blogging!

i love this time of year!

blossoms galore – i adore these pink trees, whatever they are.

this week’s happy serendipities continued into wednesday’s aunti day in toronto: i decided to wear the gingham hair clip that mom and got at stitch n kitsch. and look what outfit little e had picked out for the day!

we swapped our barrettes, and little e rocked the completely gingham look:

yes, that is dandelion *cream* on little e’s face!

yesterday, it was finally warm and humid enough to wear the outfit that i have been dying to sport for a few weeks now:

short (+ sox!) season for work is HERE!

can’t wait to wear my orange sweater – must knit faster!

so far, you can’t even tell that any yarn has been used from that giant ball! will i get a whole sweater from one ball??

mom and dad went to visit the blanket at joseph schneider haus yesterday!

each quilt is so unique!

tomorrow is both the mississauga marathon and the toronto marathon. for you out-of-towners, this means two marathons within spitting distance – ok, 30 kilometers – of each other. i’m going to keep my mouth shut on the questionable logic fiery politics of this situation, and just wish all participants a good race!

happy weekend! no blog post tomorrow – promise.