Craving Fab Pastries Challenge #1: Results

I can’t believe a whole month has already passed by. They always go too quickly, don’t they? I’m really looking forward to seeing if any of my blog friends decided to participate in this month’s challenge and see what they created. Head over to Fab Brunette to link up and see what everyone else did. Come back here tomorrow, which is when I’ll be announcing what July’s challenge will be!
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This is the part where I admit that I was a little bit intimidated and a lot excited. This David Lebovitz recipe seemed like the perfect way to ease into the whole pastry making business, and for my first go, I’m definitely marking this off as a success.

 

Ingredients were measured out by weight, so I was incredibly thankful for my scale. It’s an old restaurant scale that our old roommate brought home and let us adopt when we parted ways.

I don’t own a tart pan. I looked everywhere for one, but the only one I found was out of my price range. If I was going to fork over big bucks, I would have headed over to Williams-Sonoma. I resorted to using pie plates, I made two because I brought them to our Father’s Day celebration.
 

I really wanted to make a summer fruit tart with some sort of cream or custard filling, but no one else seemed to like that idea. Since baking an entire tart for myself is little bit much, I decided to cave and give the people what they wanted. Banana Cream Pie filling. I used this recipe that I found on Tasty Kitchen, and everyone told me that they loved it. For the record, I loved it too.

Ten On Tuesday

#36

1. What was/is your favorite live action (meaning not animated) kids movie?
I don’t think these were necessarily kids movies, but I was obsessed with Adventures in Babysitting and Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead. I currently own both of them on DVD!

2. What is a bad habit you have? Are you working on breaking it?
I’m super forgetful. I’ve been working on fixing that my entire life.

3. Describe your father in 3 words.
Strong, Loving, Giving.

4. Which character in the Breakfast Club were you most like in the ’80s?
While I have seen the Breakfast Club, I never related to it, so I honestly can’t pick someone that I was most like. (Also, in the ‘80s? I was born in ‘86.)

5. Name 5 songs you know ALL the lyrics to.
Pretty much every Spice Girls song and every Backstreet Boys song, even now. There are plenty of current songs that I know most of the words to, but none that I know all of the words too.

6. Do you make pancakes from scratch or a box mix?
Scratch. Stephen and I promised each other that we would be a family that only ever makes pancakes from scratch.
(We also promised each other that we would be one of those families that always has a variety of cereals to choose from. We currently have seven varieties.)

7. What was your worst job ever? Why?
My first family that I worked with as a nanny. Without going into too much detail, we were a bad fit.

8. What was your favorite class in high school?
Band. I was a flautist.

9. Favorite summer guilty pleasure?
Slurpees and Iced Coffee drinks.

10. Please share your best money saving tip!
Learn to make your favorite Starbucks drinks at home. Last summer, I was making up to 2 trips a day to Starbucks (during a 2 week period only, thankfully) to buy iced coffee. I came across this iced coffee recipe on Smitten Kitchen and decided to start making it at home. With a touch of French Vanilla creamer, it’s fantastic!
In my defence, the apartment I was living in last summer was a block away from two Starbucks’. Literally right across the street from each other. Hell yeah.
The closest Starbucks to me now is a 5 block walk.

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Just a reminder that if you're participating in the Craving Fab Pastries Challenge, we'll be posting our results tomorrow, and you can head over to Fab Brunette to link up!

A Peek Into My Life

My favorite posts recently have been ones where bloggers post pictures of everyday things in their lives, so I thought I would give it a go. (Most recent inspiration here.)

Leave me a comment with one thing from my life that you would like to see, and I’ll take a picture of it. It can be almost anything (my room, my bus stop, my cupboards, etc…). What do you want to see?
The only thing you can’t ask to see is my nanny kids. Hopefully you’ll understand.

I’ll do a post sometime next week with all of the pictures!

Stop & Smile

{How true is this? Image via Saying Images.com}

10 things that made me happy this week:

1. My new camera.
2. Iced mochacchinos on my balcony after work.
3. Lunch time picnic with my nanny kids. We sat on a blanket beside the park at their school.
4. Being told that I should open my own bakery, because I make amazing cookies. (I was flattered beyond all belief.)
5. Ice cream sundaes with Stephen on the balcony. (I told you that I live there in the summer!) Also, Nutella drizzled over vanilla ice cream.
6. Text conversations with people that are awesome.
7. Snuggling up under a warm blanket during a thunderstorm, reading a book and listening to my Ray LaMontagne station on Jango.
8. The way my Friday kids get all excited and yell my name when I show up in the morning.
9. Seeing the cute pug on our hike yesterday. The little grunts coming out of her melted my heart!
10. One of my friends (who’s crazy and lovely all at once) referred to us as gourmet gangsters. I still laugh when I think about it!

7 Quick Takes (Vol 6)

1. Guess who got a camera? That’s right, this girl did! Stephen and I were out shopping yesterday, and while I was off getting some stuff done, he chatted with some sales associates. They both highly recommended our final choice, and I just went along with it…I honestly didn’t have much of an opinion on a camera. We chose the Panasonic Lumix FH20. It’s my starting out camera, once I get to know how to properly use a camera and we have some more money, we’re going to upgrade. You’ll have to bear with me while I get the hang of it.

2. We finished all of our shopping for the wedding next week. It’s been so long since Stephen and I have gone out anywhere that requires dressing up that we had to go out and get new outfits. I’m looking forward to finally having a chance to go out and have some fun! Stephen briefly considered getting suit pants that had a stretchy waist “because they’re better for drinking!” I laughed at him, and was glad when he wasn’t serious.

3. This weekend we’re celebrating Father’s Day. I realize that we’re a week late, but we wanted to be able to do it on a day that everyone could get together. We’ll be going bowling, and then have a backyard BBQ.

4. Stephen’s brother and his girlfriend are expecting a baby due next month. They’ll be heading to Alberta in early August (Edmonton to visit grandparents, Calgary to visit us), so Sharon and I have been planning some stuff to do while they are here. Our list is so jam packed that I think they really should just move here! I hope that we become sister in-laws some day.

5. I’ve been craving iced coffee all week, but I haven’t actually treated myself to some yet. I’m out of coffee at home, so I can’t make my own. I need to get to the grocery store as soon as possible. Or get myself to the nearest Starbucks.

6. Speaking of coffee, I heard about a place in Calgary that serves a Nutella Latte. I’m obsessed with getting one, so I may just have to call up a friend to come join me sometime soon. It’ll help me cross off one of the items on my summer list!

7. I can’t really think of a seventh thought, so I’ll just ask you a question instead: What’s your favorite thing to eat at a BBQ? I’m in charge of desserts, so I’m trying to think of what to bake.
I love eating chicken smothered in BBQ sauce, grilled corn on the cob and lots of watermelon!

Key Lime Pie

Last week, I decided that it would be a good idea to invite a friend over to bake a pie with me. Then I decided to invite another friend and her sister to join us. I also decided that the Calgary sister might as well join us, and she wanted to bring along three of her friends. My pie baking date suddenly evolved into me hosting a BBQ. What?
I’m still not entirely sure how that worked out, but it’s ok. I had fun, and I think everyone else did too.

Since I had promised everyone that there would be pie, I made my Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana pie. I knew that one pie wouldn’t be enough to feed 8 people (not with the way my friends eat), so I decided to try my hand at Key Lime Pie. Can you believe that I have never had key lime pie in my life? Being the crazy person that I am, I decided to bake it for the first time and try it out on my guinea pigs friends. This pie is so simple to bake and requires so few ingredients, that I baked it half an hour before my guest were due to arrive. During that half hour, I also had to vacuum, sweep and finish getting dressed. Easy peasy.
My only word of advice is to watch your zest, I messed up somewhere along the way and I got a bit of the pith beneath the zest. Either my friends are saints and didn’t let on that they tasted it in their slices, or it only ended up in the last two slices of pie. Despite that, the pie was amazing.

Key Lime Pie
From Joy of Baking

(Printable Recipe)

1 Graham Cracker Crust (I made my own)
3 Egg yolks
1 14oz Can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Key lime juice (approx. 12-16 key limes)
2 tsp Grated lime zest

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Beat egg yolks until light and fluff. Gradually add in the condensed milk and beat until light and fluffy (yet again).
3. Beat in lime jiuce and lime zest.
4. Our filling into graham cracker crust and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until filling is set. (It will still be slightly jiggly in the middle.) Once cool, cover and refrigerate until serving time.

{My friends devoured the pie before I could get a picture of it all sliced up, but you can use your imagination.}

I topped mine with whipped cream (sugar and vanilla added). A friend commented on how she normally has meringue with her key lime pie, so next time I may try that out.
A read somewhere that just before you’re ready for dessert, stick the pie in the freezer for around ten minutes to help firm it up for easier cutting.

I’ve Got A Confession To Make…

I like reading bad chick lit. There, I said it.

I realize that this isn’t exactly revolutionary, but I feel like it’s a secret that I’ve been harboring away from the world. Whenever I’m checking out library books, I be sure to use the self checkout because I don’t want people judging me based on the books that I read. If I’m at the bookstore, well, I just try and and pay for my purchases as quickly as possible. It’s silly really, but I can’t help it. Chick lit happens to be a perfect escape from reality, with no thinking involved. It’s normally light and easy to read, and I don’t get too emotionally invested.

The reason this has been on my mind is a week or two ago, Stephen and I stopped by a used bookstore that’s down the street from us. They had books out front that were 4 for $10, which is a fantastic price, especially for hardcover books. I immediately grabbed these two books:

I had a really hard time picking out my other two books though. I picked through the bin several times, and by then, Stephen had wandered off into the store. I decided to just go ahead and grab some chick lit. The only books in the bin that sounded remotely interesting were these two:

I peaked inside the covers to see how much they retail for normally; $29.99 and $32.95, respectively. There’s no way I’d ever pay that much for silly books like this. I have to apologize to authors, but I just couldn’t bring myself to pay so much for a book that I’ll probably devour in less than a week. And that’s if I only read during my commute to work. If I actually sat down to read these at home? I’d be done in an afternoon. I probably won’t even remember what these books are about in a few months time, but that’s just what I’m looking for after a long day at work. I need something to distract me, but nothing too intense.
Kind of like the way that I love watching reality shows, but that’s another post for another day…

Do you like reading chick lit? What are your favorite chick lit books?
You can find me on Goodreads here.

Ten on Tuesday

#35

The questions this week are ones that I chose, so hopefully you liked them!

1. If you could trade lives with another blogger for a day, who would it be and why?
I would love to trade lives for a day with Bianca from Good Night Little Spoon.
I seriously adore mail, and I’d love to be able to receive all of the awesome mail that she does.

2. Do you prefer receiving handmade or store bought gifts? Be honest!
If the person actually took the time to make me something that I would love, then I would 100% prefer handmade gifts. If someone is giving me a handmade gift just to be cheap, and it's noticeable, I’d probably prefer store bought, so I could at least return it.
For the record, I have never received a handmade gift that I didn’t like.

3. Would you rather camp or stay in a hotel?
As long as the weather is nice, I’d rather camp.

4. What’s your favorite comfort food?
If chocolate, coffee and ice cream count, then those would be it.
They’re my go to happy food for when I have a really bad day.

5. You’re having a really bad day at work. How do you unwind when you come home?
If I can, I’ll indulge in some ice cream, chocolate or a white mocha from Starbucks. Since that’s not always plausible, I’ll put on my pajamas, insist that Stephen cuddles with me and watch a feel good show.

6. What’s your favorite chore? (Or, the chore you hate the least)
Before I moved into an apartment, I liked doing laundry. I love having freshly washed clothes. Now that I live in an apartment, and doing laundry involves an elevator ride to the basement, I hate all chores equally.

7. What got you interested in blogging?
A friend of mine showed me live journal back in 2004, and I liked the idea of a sort of online diary of sorts. When I got bored of live journal, I started discovering blogs on blogspot and wordpress and that’s when I feel in love with a handful of lovely bloggers. I saved their blogs into my bookmarks and would go back every day hoping for an update. I eventually decided that I needed to get my own blog!

8. Are you currently reading a book? What is it?
I’m currently reading Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella

9. Do you have a favorite artist?
Kurt Halsey is my favorite at the moment. You can see his work on his website here.

10. Have you ever met someone famous?
I’ve met a couple actually, some are only known in Canada, if that, but here’s a few that I can think of off the top of my head (Click their names for links to their websites):
The Dudes
Kyle Riabko
Tommy Lee
(My personal favorite) Matt Dusk (I’ve met him twice. He’s amazing)
My eye looks all crazy, but here’s the proof:

Waterfall Valley

Friday morning, I had been at work for less than two hours before the boys had started bugging each other and I knew I had to get them out of the house to save my own sanity. It had been raining all week, but the sun was finally shining, so I knew that we needed to go on an adventure. My Friday Family lives close to Bowmont Park, so the boys grabbed their scooters and we headed over there for a walk.

{Where we started out. The waterfalls are down by the river}

When I was in high school, I would often venture over to Bowmont Park during the summers with a friend. Back then, there weren’t paved pathways and stairs leading to what has been dubbed “Waterfall Valley.” We would have to hike twice as hard to make it there, but the end result was always worth it. It used to be one of my favorite summertime activites; we’d spend hours sitting by the river and climbing all around the waterfalls.

{Stairs leading up to a lookout point}

{Describes how Waterfall Valley was created}

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the city was developing pathways leading to this particular area of the Bow River. I’m glad that more people will have access to one of my favorite spots.

The boys were absolutely thrilled with the discovery of these waterfalls, and loved the fact that we could spend all morning there. They were perfectly content spending the entire time alternating between throwing rocks into the river and into the waterfalls.
I suspect that we’ll be making many return trips there this summer. I’ve already promised them a picnic, and we definitely need to show their sister how much fun it is there!

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day to one of the most amazing men in my life.
Thank you for loving me as if I were one of your own, for making me never question what a good Dad is like.

Thank you for always being close to offer your love and support when I need it the most. Thank you for being so caring and giving.

Thank you for encouraging me to grow into the person that I am today. For teaching me how to stand on my own two feet.

Thank you for showing me the value of hard work, and what it means to provide for your family.

Thanks for having a ridiculous sense of humor. For always making me laugh, especially when I need it the most.

Thanks for raising three wonderful daughters, and never once making us feel like we weren’t enough.

I love you, Dad!

Stop & Smile

10 things that made me happy this week:

1. I took my Friday Boys on a hike to see little waterfalls (above). Best part is that it’s walking distance from their house. We’ll be making return trips all summer long.

2. I found my dress and shoes for the wedding. Both were cheaper than I was expecting to pay.

3. There was a midnight madness sale at a store, so I picked up some t-shirts for dirt cheap. (2 @ $2.50 and 2 @ $5)

4. Thanks to a comment left by Allie, I found Jango. It seems to be a pretty close alternative to Pandora.

5. Stephen cooked me a big meal on Tuesday (steak, baked potatoes, asparagus). It’s been quite some time since he’s been home to do that for me.

6. I went to a used bookstore on Monday and picked up 4 hardcover books for $10. I love a good sale.

7. I convinced my sister to download Skype, so we spent a good chunk of time on Wednesday night talking and playing games.

8. Would you hate me if wrote (for the third week in a row) that the sun came out again? It rained all week (yet again), so I’m happy to see the sun.

9. I’ve been watching season two of How I Met Your Mother, always makes me laugh.

10. I wrote out my summer list with bright colored Sharpies and put it on my fridge.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 5)

1. I got the Sweet Blog award from My Leigh Ashley. Thanks love! Blog awards always make me smile.
2. It’s been another rainy and cold week here in Calgary. We’ve only had glimpses of warm weather, so I’m kind of feeling deprived right now. When I’m reading blogs and people are complaining of their hot weather, I get a wee bit jealous. I can’t help it, if you were here, you’d probably understand. Although, I do have to admit that Calgary is looking exceptionally green and lush right now.

3. My nanny family has been passing around some sort of stomach bug/cold to each other this week. I’ll spare you the details, but it really hasn’t been pleasant for them. I normally catch whatever they have, and this time was no exception. I seem to have caught the cold portion of their sickness, so let’s keep our fingers crossed that it’ll stop at that.

4. I’m in full wedding outfit shopping mode. I left it kind of late, as the wedding is July 2nd, so I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’ll be going after work tomorrow to check out a few dresses. I saw one online that I loved, so I’m praying that they’ll have it in store.

5. While shopping on Wednesday, I noticed that Bath & Body Works was having a sale, and that the antibacterial soap was 6 for $20. Their soap is my favorite, but for whatever reason, I didn’t stop to pick it up. I was telling Stephen about it the next day, and he was all “Why can’t we just use regular soap? Why does it have to be all girly?” I couldn’t help but laugh at him. He’ll never understand why I like certain brands of anything.

6. I’ve been trying desperately to find the Canadian equivalent of Pandora. We don’t get it here, and I haven’t been having any luck. I suppose my next best bet is just listening to radio stations. Any that you’d like to recommend to me?

7. I invited some friends over to bake and eat pie this weekend. I’m kind of excited to have them over, especially since I haven’t seen one of them in ages. I need a good girls night.

Buttermilk Pound Cake

When I first came across this recipe on 17 and Baking, I was instantly intrigued. I became obsessed with knowing how this simple pound cake would taste; Elissa even promised that it would taste better the next day. Any baked good that will taste better the next day is always good in my books, so I filed away the recipe. There was never really a time for me to make it. Everything else seemed so much more appealing than plain old buttermilk pound cake. I finally decided to push all other recipes for root beer bundt cake and s’mores brownies aside to try this one out. I have to admit that I’m completely smitten with this cake. I love how dense and moist it is, and I may or may not have eaten it for breakfast several days this week. The only downside is that Stephen didn’t like it. He finds pound cake to be too plain, so if you feel the same way as Stephen, I recommend dressing it up with whipped cream or even a sweet lemon glaze. For someone with an insatiable sweet tooth, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved just how subtle this cake was. Trust me and try it out please!

Notes about the recipe: My Safeway was out of buttermilk, so I made my own. Put one tablespoon of vinegar in a measuring cup, and then fill it to the one cup mark. Let it sit while you’re gathering your ingredients, for about 10-15 minutes.

I used my homemade vanilla extract (I’ll make a post about that when I make more). It’s the stuff in the sippy cup. I’m classy.

Buttermilk Pound Cake
From 17 and Baking

(Printable Recipe)

1 1/2 cups unsalted room temperature butter
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
Juice of one lemon

Preheat oven to 300F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. In a stand mixer, beat the butter. Add sugar and cream together. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.

{See the vanilla bean flecks? They’re full of flavor and make me insanely happy.}

On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, making three additions of each. Stir in lemon juice.

Pour batter into bundt pan. Bake for about 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a rack to finish cooling.

(Note: please let the cake cool in the bundt pan before taking it out, otherwise it will end up looking like mine did. Don’t be impatient like I was.)

{Patience truly is a virtue.}

My Memory Box

While digging through the containers under my bed, trying to find some papers, I came across my memory box.
To some, it might not look like much. It’s just a plain black box, showing signs of wear and tear along the edges. The lid doesn’t even sit on properly anymore, but for me, this box holds all sorts of little treasures. You see, I like to take memories and tuck them away for when I need them in the future. I’m the kind of person that likes to reflect back upon my favorite moments, and I adore having little tokens from those times.

It had been a while since I’ve looked through the box, so when I took the lid off, I was a little surprised by the mess I found inside. I started sorting everything out and reliving memories here and there. It was the perfect way to pass a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon.

I’ve kept all of my concert tickets neatly tucked away in a little folder. I was surprised by just how many I had in there; I’ve been to more concerts than I had realized. Live music is such an awesome experience to me, so looking over these tickets reminded me of my favorite songs from each show.

In a separate folder, I stashed away all of my sporting events tickets. For someone who doesn’t even follow sports, I had been to a surprising number of events. I once had a friend who would get free Hitmen Hockey tickets from his Dad. I had a brief love affair with lacrosse, fuelled by my best friend. We tried to make it to every game.

I’ve been to a few plays, and reading over these booklets makes me feel as if I’m back in that moment just before the play starts. It’s a wonderful feeling.

I have piles of artwork that children that I’ve babysat and nannied had made for me. I find it hardest parting with artwork that my current nanny kids created. The above picture is of a heart, back when C-Bear was just learning how to draw them. She’s long since improved.

I have two rolls of film that have been sitting, undeveloped since I was a young teenager. I’m curious about what’s on them, yet have never taken them to get developed. The roll in the front came from my first ever camera, a gift from my grandparents.

Programs from my high school graduation sat near the top of the box, reminding me of a day when I was so excited to have my family all come together to celebrate me.

Small tokens from past vacations are tucked between every layer of papers, reminding me of the first time I was in charge of taking my sisters on an airplane, without my parents. Of the time shortly after high school that two friends and I took a Greyhound bus from Calgary to Toronto for a summer vacation. Of the time that I visited my uncles in Golden, BC and ate dinner at the Eagle Eye Restaurant, sitting atop a ski hill.

This is just a small sampling of letters that I had in the box. One of my best friends was amazing at writing encouraging letters and letting me know just how amazing I am.

So tell me friends, do you tuck away memories like I do? Do you keep them in a box?
If so, what’s in your memory box?

Ten on Tuesday

 #34

1. What would the title of your autobiography be?
Probably the same as my blog title: Craving Cupcakes.
Poetic, I know.

2. What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard a child say or seen him/her do?
I have a series of blog posts dedicated to the funny things that kids say, you can find it here.

3. What is your favorite kids game to play?
I love playing hide and seek after dark, so much fun!

4. If you got invited to a potluck BBQ tomorrow, what would you bring?
You know that I would bake something, probably cookies and/or a cake.

5. If your ears are pierced, how old were you when you got your ears pierced?
I had them pierced when I was baby, and then I believe they got infected and my mom took the earrings out and let it grow over. I got them re-pierced when I was around 12 years old.

6. If you were celebrating your 30th anniversary, where would you want to go?
I’d love to plan a big vacation for Stephen and I…maybe a cruise somewhere tropical, or go to Europe.

7. What one blogger would you love to meet and why? And what would you want to plan to do with them?
While there are a bunch that I’d seriously love to meet, I’d have to pick Andi from Fuegita Bonita. We’ve been blogging friends for 6 years now, and need to hurry up and meet already! We have all sorts of things planned, from parties to baking together. It will be awesome when we finally meet!

Side note: I’ve actually already met a blogger, but never blogged about it. I discovered a few months ago that Leah from Five Blondes lives in my apartment building, and invited her over to decorate cupcakes with some friends and I.

8. On a scale from 1-10, how good at you at home decor? (Pictures welcome.)
I’d say that I’m probably about a 7. I still have a lot to learn, and having some extra cash would help out a bit. I know that people can decorate beautifully on a budget, but my budget is literally $0. I have to make do with what I had before I left my parent’s house. I have a photo album on facebook that gives a tour of my condo after I moved in, let me know if you want to see it, and we can become friends.

9. Do you have good fingernails?
No. I’m trying desperately to break my habit of biting my fingernails, and it’s a slow process. As soon as I get nervous about something, all bets are off. I can’t paint my fingernails because I chip them within the first day, and I can’t stand having chipped nail polish on my fingernails.

10. Pickles: Dill or sweet? Baby, spears, or chips? Plain or on a burger?
I’m not a big fan of pickles. I like sweet pickles on their own, and rarely crave a plain Dill Pickle. I’d prefer my burger to be without.

One Of Those Days

{via We Heart It}

Every so often, I get in such a bad mood for no apparent reason, and Saturday was one of those days. Maybe it’s because I worked long hours all week. Maybe it’s because it was gray and dreary, and then suddenly it was bright and sunny...and I had no plans to go out and enjoy that sunshine. The logical thing to do would have been to go out and enjoy it anyway, but I was in no mood to be alone. Maybe it was because after having Stephen home every night the week before, he was back to working night shifts, leaving me alone at night. Whatever the reason, I was just grumpy.

When I get in these moods, I annoy everyone around me. I even annoy myself. It can be hard to snap out of these moods, but I was determined to stop being so grumpy. First thing I did was get in the shower. sometimes all it takes to lighten my mood a bit is a nice long shower to wash everything away. I was instantly feeling a bit better. Then, I made plans with a friend. It’s for this coming weekend (we’re going to bake pies!), but just knowing that I had that to look forward to made me smile. Then it was on to cleaning the apartment. I got lazy last week and let a lot of things slide, so cleaning was actually therapeutic. (Who am I?!) I managed to squeeze in an unexpected web cam date with my sister. Seeing her three puppies were definitely the way to cheer me up. Lily and Jaybo have grown so much since I’ saw them last! I loved the way they were come running to the computer when I called their names. Since it was starting to get late, I settled in to catch up on the season finale of Glee. Glee always makes me smile.

I made sure not to let this bad mood follow me into Sunday; I woke up semi-early and had my morning coffee on my balcony, while reading blogs. Instead of procrastinating, I went and ran some errands. Occasionally, I’m struck by how much I love that downtown Calgary is so sleepy on a Sunday before noon. I loved walking down Stephen Avenue, amongst the small early lunch crowd. The plans for the rest of the afternoon included some baking, blog writing and movie watching. I think it’s safe to say that I tackled my bad mood head on and kicked it to the curb.

How do you get over a bad mood?