Happy Halloween!

Although this post is a tad late I really wanted to celebrate one of my favourite holidays of the year! 


I hope you all had or are having a fantastic Halloween and enjoyed dressing up. This year I was the lovely Joan from the show Mad Men. I learned that I am most definitely not the most attractive red head although I did find myself a handsome Roger :)


Since I would not be trick or treating this year, I wanted to make something to treat myself with. At work I am involved with "mommy bloggers" and every now and then I actually enjoy one or two. One blog had cupcakes I just wanted to make, so introducing: Eyeball Cupcakes! They were easy to make and fun to decorate (my favourite part).


Step 1:
Alright I guess I have to confess... I made them out of the box. Use 1 package of chocolate cake mix and 1 package of JELL-O Chocolate Cooked Pudding and Pie Filling. Bake accordingly and fill the cake paper liners 2/3 full. This was a little learning for me as I filled the cups right to the top and these guys are a little larger than anticipated. 

Step 2:

To make the icing, use 1 package of  Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, mixed together with 1/4 cup butter,  1 tsp. vanilla and lastly 4 cups icing sugar, sifted. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition. Spread evenly onto cupcakes.

Step 3: 

Gather 24 ring-shaped chewy fruit snacks, I was looking everywhere for those green rings however I had to get creative, as candy was in high demand, and cut the sour key rings to look more like circles. Count out 24 M&M's or Smarties. 

Step 4: 
Decorate! Use the red decorating gel to make the veins of the eyeball and enjoy! 


Makes 24 cupcakes.

XO

Read My Lips

I like colour on my lips. Anytime of day. 
When I first noticed the trend of the darker lip I was hesitant to try. Yes, I like playing with make-up from time to time but to be honest, I stick to a pretty routine make-up application every morning so stepping outside of that routine is more like walking on the wild side. Then I thought of one of my favourite questions: "Why Not?"  COME ON it's a lipstick, you can take it off!!! So I played with it and I surprisingly liked it!


At first glance it's like whoa, but when applied to the lips you appreciate the colour. This particular little guy is from The Body Shop's Delipcious line and in the shade Elderberry ($12.00). 

The cool thing with this line is that it's created from 100% food grade ingredients, with naturally derived ingredients, natural food flavouring and fruit seed oils. This colour for me is pretty much strictly night time wear so for daytime I went to a little friend named JOE. 


The inspiration came from Miss Blair Waldorf. While watching Gossip Girl I noted that she always had a nice shade of gloss on. It was just right. A little pink, a little red, shiney yet subtle. When I glanced over at Joe's beauty line I saw it and I said to myself "Kelly, thats the one".

Joe had many shades in their Fresh Glass line but this shade is Pomegranate ($6.00). After closer inspection, I learned that there were little hints of sparkle in the gloss and I was disappointed yet surprisingly pleased when I tried it on. They just seemed to disappear in this gloss of perfection. 

What are you wearing theses days?
The good 'ol chapstick or do you dare to dab a little colour?

XO

Fitness R U T

And I'm climbing out. Last year at this time I had completed my second of three half marathons of the year. This year I am NOWHERE near that, and it just doesn't feel good. Remember those running goals I had? Yeah, sad to say but I didn't complete one of them.

These past couple months I have just been flat out lazy (catching up on some serious Mad Men episodes, yeah I am only on season 2, I know I'm behind) and not feeling like myself. I'm simply not doing enough exercise and it's bringing me down. So today at work while I was completing media drops throughout the city I decided that I was NO LONGER going to use "no time" as an excuse, because it was working quite well for me. 
Some ways I feel that I am going to complete this mission of getting back in shape are:


1. Plan.
I am going to plan my work outs for the week and commit myself to them. I know I am not going to realistically run 10km every day when life gets busy but having goals is a step. 


2. Write it down. 
This little idea came to my yesterday while watching Bulging Brides. 
I am going to write down my intake so I can monitor how I am doing. Often after a couple of days of eating and exercising well I tend to feel entitled to something BAD. This book will be a little reminder of how I feel when I eat well. 


3.Sign up. 
I love to run and however I get nervous with the darker days and running alone so I am going to sing up for a gym! I don't really LOVE the thought of GoodLife but they offer classes and I enjoy that. I just hate juice heads. Tonight is my first class, a Pump class that is apparently high energy and lots of fun! Oh and the gym is in the mall. What a coincidence!?


4. Look cute, feel cuter. 
Being a past employee of lululemon athletica, I know cute work out clothes. Luckily over the two years I had worked there I accumulated a nice sum of clothing to work out in. I am an honest believer that looking good while working out is a source of motivation. 


5. Make work out dates!
Although this plan didn't really pan out this past Sunday, in bed cancelling my yoga plans, I do think it is more fun to work out with friends and the good ones hold you accountable to your commitments and call you out when you are being a baby. 


6. Get good jams. 
Nothing says "Go for a run Kelly" than a good song. My newest fav running tune is Jamiroquai- White Knuckle Ride. Dooo itttt.

Wish me luck!
XO

excited.

After being on the internet, Twitter,  or your blogroll,  for less than 10 minutes, you would have seen this picture. THE FIRST look at the amazing collaboration: Lanvin for H&M. November 23rd people. 

How sweet it is...

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I am holding on to that feeling of being thankful, especially for the little things. One of these things include benefits from work! It's one of those "don't know what you have until it's gone" kinda things and while I was going through school last year without having massages...well lets just say things got a little tense. 


One of my favourite things to do is visit the spa. "A spa? Isn't that kind of like your mother ship?" - Legally Blonde 2 anyone?


Well yes, I clearly have a lot of favourite things but few things make me feel as good as a massage. Having never booked one in Toronto before,  I went to the trusty 'ol google and searched for a spa in the east end. My hood. One came up that was close to both work and home so it was meant to be!
Sweetgrass Spa it was and SWEET it is.

photo cred: sweetgrassspa.ca

The lovely entrance that you are greeted with. 

 If you are anything like me, you appreciate a good bathroom. 

This adorable little area is for mani+pedi and cocktail parties! 

The front entrance on 111 Queen St. E. 

I went for a basic massage but there are so many other treatments I would love to try! I also learned this is an all woman's club. You can go, hang out in their lounge area and just relax. As I was leaving, a woman walked out with a fresh new mani pedi and just casually said to charge it to her account. Now THAT would be nice, screw benefits. Just kidding. I recommend that you go and if you are heading for a massage, ask for Jodie, she was just so sweet! (pardon the pun)

XO

Lucky

Whenever I hear of people winning cool things, my first reaction is "damn, why didn't I win?". AND THEN it occurred to me how I never really try to win anything. This was the problem. So since then I have entered almost any contest that interests me and crosses my path. This time I won and it's a pretty awesome prize!!! 

The Tommy Ton event that I attended a little while back had really paid off! I was one of 12 selected winners of these lovely framed photos that were displayed at the event. The photo includes these beautiful Balenciaga booties with specks of blue within the print. I can officially say I sorta own a pair of Balenciaga heels. 

*Side-note* When I first received the voicemail from the lady from Holt Renfrew, all I heard was WINNER and SHOES! Not remembering what I had actually entered to win, I assumed I had won a brand spanking, expensive, new pair of shoes. I yelled across Sobey's to my coworker and she was excited for me! Then I listened to the message again and there you have it, I had won a photo of shoes.

At least I know these lovely little things won't hurt my feet.

XO

All About Apples

I've started a little tradition. Apple picking every fall. It's a nice way to get outside, enjoy the fresh air and gain some local produce. This year I set out with the boy to Applewood Orchard and Winery. 

 

I was inspired, while flipping through the Toronto Sun (odd, I know) to try and make a SCOOKIE. It's a cross between a scone and a cookie.  Rita Demontis provided the recipe and it didn't look that difficult so I thought I would take apple picking one step further this year and actually make something with them!


If you want to try, here is the list of ingredients:

• 3/4 Cup of unsalted, softened butter
• 3/4 Cup granulated sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Large apple (Spartan or Empire). Cored and grated. (I used two apples, I still felt that it could use more!)
• 2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 Cup shredded old cheddar
• 1/2 Tsp each baking powder and baking soda
• Pinch of salt

Here is the final product! You can find the whole recipe here. They are quite tasty no matter the time of day. In the morning with tea or in the afternoon with your lunch. I would have liked to have taken photos of the whole process but truth be told I don't have all the fixings to bake prettily. When the recipe called for a second bowl I maybe had to use a pot, and I guesstimated with my tea and tablespoons.  Yeah, not pretty. I have made a list and look forward to a complete kitchen!

XO

Shoulders

It's one area that personally, I never really think of accentuating or dressing up. Yes the shoulder pad fad of the 80's was hideous however we have seen shoulders highlighted on the runways over the past couple of seasons. I like studs as you can tell from here and here and I like how it is mixed up with other various beading. I did however get one comment about being in battle, but isn't life like that sometimes? 

 
Joe Fresh: $19

I thought I would try it. I found an inexpensive shirt to see if it would work. Worn with basic boyfriend jeans and some simple black tie up wedges, I think it's cool. 


 Look at me and my shoulders through my amateur lens and amateur camera. Camera shy? Oui. Especially since I am notamodel and also have zero make up on, hence the far away shot :) 

XO