niagara lovin' at the ice wine festival.

canadian winters can be crazy brutal. so cold that your nose freezes within minutes of being outside, your toes curl up like you're being electrocuted and you immediately want to turn around, and head back inside where you can warm up. however, when almost half the year is friggen' freezin', you can't hermit it up to rot in your house, only to become vitamin d deficient and paler and paler by the minute. sometimes you have to get your parka on, a couple pairs of socks, your waffle long johns and your toque, and brave the great outdoors. with the ice wine festival rolling through niagara this month, it's easy to stay warm outside with a glass of frosty riesling sparkling ice wine in your hot mittened hands. amazing how that happens.

this past weekend, i was lucky enough to enjoy the fun of the festival with my friend nataschia. she was asked to photograph the event (she is a fabulous photographer and can photograph the shit out of anything~love her here) and invited lil' ol' me to tag along and help her out. we made our way from vineland, to st. david's and then through niagara on the lake, stopping at some of my favourite tried and tested wineries, and getting to experience others for the first time. it always blows my hair back when i discover a little pocket of wineries i never knew existed before. living in wine country has its perks, and with over 75 wineries in niagara, i almost feel obligated to try each one at least once. it's a shit job i know, but someone's gotta to do it.

the ice wine festival kicked off this month, and with so much to do, see and drink, it's worth a few trips, even in the cold. each of the participating wineries offer some fun activities while you sample their wine, from roasting homemade ice wine infused marshmallows over a fire, to sampling wine at an ice bar in a vineyard. and if you want to be catered to, bus and limo tours are worth the money to have you and your friends drunk asses hauled from stop to stop. if touring from winery to winery isn't your bag, you can just make your way to downtown niagara on the lake, where the main street is chock-a-block with pop tents of the best vendors in the region sampling gourmet food, dessert and of course, ice wine. if you are local and in need of some winter fun, check out the festivals site, get your crew together  
and your long johns on.

roasting homemade marshmallows over the fire at flat rock cellars in jordan. 

ravine vineyard is my favourite winery in the region. 

the view is almost as good as the riesling. almost. 

some downtown niagara on the lake fun. 

loving the sunset at peller estates. 

the only pic i got of nataschia and i. i'll take it.

pretty pinterest things.

this week was an exceptional one on pinterest if i do say so myself. i found lots of inspiration for valentine's day hearts and crafts, stumbled upon two new blogs that i am loving, this nail blog and this diy blog, and started a new board dedicated to beards. because who doesn't love a 
sexy as all hell, perfectly trimmed, manly beard.

these are a few of my favourite pinterest finds of the week. 

happy weekend!

double waterfall braid. an edgy half moon mani. using maps to wrap gifts; great idea for 
honeymoon & moving gifts. fennec fox. the world's smallest fox, can be domesticated, and i want one.

*speeding ticket update: i am happy to report that i have only broke the speed limit once twice since getting my speeding ticket two fucking fridays ago. this is a serious accomplishment for me, and although i am proud, i have to say, that my car has never had its ass rode so hard in all it's life. i am pretty sure there have been a few times when the car behind me was so close while driving, we were actually connected. like a train. if i drove a beater, i would slam on my breaks and make the asshole drive into me. the whiplash would be worth it.

so now i have to wonder: is driving the speed limit and not getting a ticket (once in 12 years) worth the annoyance of having my poor little car's rear end violated on the regular? i'm leaning towards no.

ps-my father found out about my ticket, and has referred to me only as "andretti" ever since. greeeaaaat.

home bittersweet home.

as i mentioned in an earlier post, the house we live in now is not our forever home.  le sigh.

finding our house was an absolute fluke. paul had started working for a shady company building locomotives in the boonies of welland, and one day, after taking me on a field trip to see where he worked, we came across a beautiful old home in a lovely neighbourhood off the main street. because curiosity always kills the cat, i went straight home and onto 'mls' to creep it out. before i could even find the house i was crushing on, i stumbled upon our current humble abode. i booked a showing the next day, fell in love four seconds after walking through the front door, and we bought it two days later. a 30 day closing, three lawn chairs as seating in our family room and my double bed later, and we were moved in and as happy as a dog with two dicks. life was good. paul had a seven minute commute, i had a garden to plant and we were clueless as to how ghetto our neighbourhood really is.

because nothing ever goes as planned, paul was offered a job five months after moving day. in toronto.

his cushy little drive to work turned into three hours of highway driving a day, starting in the wee hours of the morning, the move had actually set us a half hour farther from his new job. almost five years, 400,000 km's and about the same in coffees later, and we are ready to face the facts; it's time to start looking for something permanent. this has proved to be easier said than done. as rick (one of our best friends, who happens to be our real estate agent and has curly hair) would say "it's time to put on your big girl socks and take off your underwear". clearly rick's curls are too tight and he shouldn't attempt saying things like this in public. especially to clients.

the fact that i'm head over heels in love with my house (if i could pick it up and move it to one of the neighbourhoods we love, i would) makes me do the stutter step into finding our "big boy and girl house". the one we want to raise a family in. the one we want to grow old in and are forced to move out of by our children when we're too old to care for it ourselves. i have been told a few times that when we find our barbie and ken dream home, i will finally let go of the one i love now...but i have a hard time believing that. with a list of stipulations, expectations and preferences, i know that finding a house that feels like home will take some time. paul says i rush into things, ahem buying a house after being in it for four seconds, where as he likes to take his time, think things through and really let it sink in good before he commits. this time around, his foot is down and we are not going to settle for anything less than "this is the fucking one". 

while out for breakfast yesterday, we wrote a list of all the things we want in our next home, and have come to the conclusion that it has to be out there. at least something close to it. rick convinced us to go to an open house for a home in one of the neighbourhoods we like. he said it would "motivate us" to continue the hunt and make the move. so there we were, paul, rick and i. i'm pretty sure the real estate agent thought we were some hippie threesome looking for something cozy with a large master bedroom and extra-large tub. 

it was the first big step. and i'll admit, it scared me. it kind of excited me. 
but it mostly made me want to put my big girl socks on and take my underwear off. 

no baloney. call simioni.

coconut oil: not just for cooking anymore.

when it comes to growing long, soft, healthy hair down to my waist, i am willing to do just about anything. i have been growing it out for over two years now, and am two shakes of a lambs tail away from fully liberating myself of the burden and shaving that shit clean off. i have been patient, dedicated and faithful, yet i feel like if paul didn't cut his hair for six months, it would be a foot longer than mine is and look ten times more fabulous in a messy bun and headband. he's more of a girl when it comes to his beautiful thick hair than i ever could even dream of. if he had it his way, my hair would be chin length and brunette for the rest of my life. tough titties.

last week he came home blabbing about how his boss and his wife have fully changed their lifestyles, and have started cooking only with coconut oil. without going too in depth about it's chemical composition (i got a 70 in science) coconut oil is over 90% saturated fats, which scares people into not using it. i let paulie do some research, and although those saturated fats are present, the main acid that make up the fat is very good for you. i don't need to know anymore than that, nor do i care to. it smells like heaven and i want to slather it all over myself like you're buttering up a thanksgiving turkey.

beyond the health benefits that coconut oil possesses, are the beauty benefits that have me so excited i had to share. you can use it to remove eye makeup, as a moisturizer (i love how it smells like tanning oil) and as a massage oil. one of the world's best kept beauty secrets, coconut oil is like crack to your hair and scalp. skeptical when i read this as i had come to understand that your hair doesn't benefit much from applying products topically, i was always under the impression that you need to ingest the nutrients that will affect your hair, i did more research. turns out, indian women have been using coconut oil since the dawn of time to add nutrients and moisture, leaving their hair shiny and soft. and god knows, indian women have princess jasmine hair that i pay a lot of money for in the form of extensions. it will help if you suffer from dandruff and dry scalp, and the proteins in it will nourish damaged hair and promote re-growth. i told you i did my research.

so when paul walked through the door last week with a gigantic tub of coconut oil, i snatched it from him and claimed it as mine. i 'you tubed' a coconut oil hair treatment that you can watch here, that was easy to follow and is clearly working for the girl. she does a start to finish tutorial and has many videos on other treatment methods. a tablespoon of coconut oil, two hours and a head totally wrapped in saran later has me walking around like i'm jennifer anniston. it feels like when you get your hair freshly cut and dyed, extra soft and full of life, i can't keep my fingers out of it. i make paul run his hands through it every chance i get...i feel like a real girl. i plan on doing the oil treatment twice a week until it's as healthy as i can get it, and then take er' down to once a week. too much protein can cause adverse effects, stripping your hair and leaving it dry and brittle. i honestly pictured removing my saran turban, washing my hair out, and discovering i am bald as a bean.

if you're desperado for the hair of your dreams, buy a tub of virgin coconut oil. best $15 you'll ever spend.

the oil is pressed, so scrape a little out with your finger, 

and the warmth of your hand will melt it within seconds.

happy fuckin' friday: the time i got a speeding ticket.

so my first post of the year is going to be a bitter one. 

i got my very first speeding ticket this morning. let me rephrase that, i got my very first ticket this morning. it's friday, so there weren't many cars on the road and i was actually going to make it to work with a minute to spare, i was innocently singing along to fleetwood mac, 
in my own little world, just cruisin' along. 

i came around a bend on the stretch of highway about 100 meters from my exit, and all of a sudden it was the fourth of july in my rear view mirror. i almost didn't pull over because i didn't think he was coming for me; but he was. hoping that a young gentleman, preferably of the handsome variety, who maybe got laid last night or even better, this morning, was going to step out of the car, i turned "rhiannon" down on my ipod and said a little prayer. 

no dice.

i rolled down my window and was greeted by an officer with an uncanny resemblance to j.k. simmons, you know, the guy who plays the dad in "juno". i used to like him. he was around my father's age, so unbuttoning my shirt was now a sick idea and was not going to help...i would have to play another card. he looks me in the eyes and begins his spiel:

"ma'am, do you know why i pulled you over?" -juno's old man

to myself: do i look like a ma'am? i hate when people call me ma'am.

"ummm...honestly? i have no clue"-very unhappy me

"well, you were going 100 in an 80" -juno's old man

to myself: no shit. only 100 eh?

i shook my head. 

he asked me for my licence, registration, yaddy ya da, and told me he would be back in a few minutes. i rolled my window back up and pretty well shit myself. a thousand things ran through my brain: wtf, it's friday for christ sakes. are they even allowed to give tickets out on fridays? i don't think they are, i'm looking into this...definitely not going to tell my dad about this...ew, the picture on my driver's licence isn't going to help my cause, he's totally going to ticket me just for having a hideous pic. thank god he's not hot.

i could see him stepping out of his car to come bring me the news, 

a lovely sunshine yellow piece of paper in his hand. 

"well, i looked into your record and see that you have never had an issue in the past" -juno's old man

"riiiiight" -very scared shitless me

"so, i am going to reduce this to only 15km over, that way it doesn't affect your points. i know what that can do to your insurance. the fine is for $37 and you have 15 days to pay it" -juno's old man

cue amanda bursting into tears.

"thank you so much. if i had points put against me, my husband would divorce me"-very relieved me

the cop giggles. i wasn't being funny.

happy fuckin' friday everyone.