i wish i had sarah's house

Well, it's 2 hours till Sarah's House - my favourite Saturday morning indulgence. I'm totally hooked on this show!
The second season of her show is a renovation on a 60's backsplit in uptown Toronto. This house has many similarities to my own home except ours is a 4 level backsplit without the slanted roof issue. So while they make fun of everything about the house, they do an amazing job transforming it. My favourite part of the home is the entryway. I want to somehow have a room divider like that instead of the wooden shelving unit we have.
But where would we keep our Nintendo DS's and games?

fabulicious

I've been spreading the word about this awesome dining discount. For everyone who wants to dine in Niagara-On-The-Lake on a dime there is a promotion going on starting next week. Fabulicious is a promotion of recession priced dining with a set price of between $20 - $35, which includes starter, entree and dessert. I've only ate at a handful of these restaurants but we couldn't resist reserving a late lunch at Zee's.

Fabulicious discount dining from Thursday February 26th till Monday March 2nd - reservations started this past Monday.

girling it out

For the past couple of years my sister and I can always count on our mom buying us MAC gift certificates for Christmas. We love it! And, as embarrassed as I should be, I'm thirty and still receiving valentines gifts from my mom. She totally shocked me by going beyond chocolates this year and buying me this Hello Kitty MAC make-up bag and gloss.
Totally unbelievable. If it wasn't for Family Day holiday I'd be right over at the Bay buying up all the eye shadows right now.

big love

Happy Valentines and Family Day Weekend!
I love that we have both these holidays rolled into one. Tot's enjoying lots of time with us as we are watching the Westminster Dog Show waiting for the Toys. I was thinking of making a new collar for Tot. It would have a recording and speaker device that could play music. Great for walks or to blast the Westminster Dog Show theme when your dog walks into a room.

We had a few visitors on Valentines yesterday. My sister and brother in law and their son Ronan. It was Ronan's first visit to Niagara Falls and he was in awe of what he saw.
We ate at the Rainforest Cafe - which is the most fun place to bring a child. Ronan kept grabbing Nuno's hand to show him all the aniamatronic animals. When it came time to leave, Ronan just wasn't too hot on the idea. Can you blame him?
Afterall, he had to get into full winter gear and sit for goofy photos.

what I wouldn't give for another taste

ignorance is bliss

I was going through past issues of Everyday Food magazine looking to try something new for dinner and I came across this recipe, Sesame Shrimp and Noodles (from October 2005 - Issue 26). This is the quickest & easiest recipe I've ever made. It's so fragrant when the dressing comes out of the oven, you'll feel like you ordered this entree at a restaurant. You *must* try it!

Sesame Shrimp and Noodles

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 ounces thin spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 6 ounces medium shrimp
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

In a medium pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain; return to pot. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together marmalade, soy sauce, oil, vinegar, and ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Add shrimp, bell pepper, and scallions; toss to combine. Transfer to a rimmed (or toaster-oven) baking sheet, and spread in a single layer. Heat broiler (or toaster oven). Broil, 4 inches from heat source, until shrimp are opaque throughout, about 3 minutes. Transfer contents of baking sheet to pot; toss with pasta to combine.

Nuno and I cook shrimp dishes for dinner at least twice a week. This may change though. I have a family history of high cholesterol; my poor father has heart issues. Nuno found out the other week that his oldest brother 's cholesterol is quite high. So we've gone and had ourselves checked. I'm just dying to know what the results will reveal. If either of us has a poor result I think we will be doing a diet evaluation and sadly, shrimp will have to go.

the lululemon story

For Christmas one of our reps out in Vancouver sent me a gift certificate for Lululemon. For anyone who's been living under a rock, Lululemon is a brand of athletic wear that is associated with yoga, but is worn by people who are into sports and dance etc. The clothes aren't easily available for someone living in Niagara as the closest location is in Oakville. I was pretty excited to use this card on a pair of yoga pants. At the same time I bought the pants, Lululemon had a warehouse sale in Niagara Falls of all places. I must not be totally aware of just how trendy these clothes are because I innocently enough went to the opening day of this sale looking for a discount on their overpriced shirts. Before 9am, when the sale started, there was a line up of at least 500 women. The line snaked back and forth and I was one of the last people to actually make it into the building!
Now, I'm not sure if there is a gentle way of saying this without coming across totally judgemental, but I don't believe all the high school aged girls in line are into yoga or athletics. This was confirmed once I made it in and the first thing to sell out in moments of opening were their bags. Not yoga mat bags - fancy handbag bags. So now I'm a little more enlightened to the fact this brand is status for some. Kinda turns me off the brand altogether. That is until I took my first yoga class in my lulu outfit - amazing!

tot's valentines placemat

The last of the winter style decorations are now packed away. I always take my time taking down Christmas decor because so many items work for January. I don't know if decorating for Valentines is common, but I put a few items around. Of course there is a Pez display and the heart candle favours from our wedding. But there is a new addition to the Valentines decor this year.
Hot Tot got a placemat from Target to help celebrate the day. You may think a dog wouldn't care much about something like this, but she noticed it right away! Katie can attest.