pretty girlie things: valentine's day nails.

ever since i was a wee lassie, i have loved having my nails did. i like how something as simple as pink nails can make you feel extra girlie and how the perfect colour can totally complete your outfit. and as much as i love having someone do my nails for me, i have finally learned how to give myself a proper manicure, including painting my nails so they don't look like a three year old with two left hands did it for me. with some guidance from my fabulous friend and personal beauty guru neena, check out her blog daily beautiful things, and lots of practice, i have donned some seriously stellar chicklets. because things like painted nails are at the top of my priority list, i have been scoping out some options for my valentine's day mani, and have come across a few super sweet contenders. 

with a little bit of inspiration, some patience and a lot of wine, it's amazing where your imagination can take you and your nails.

february photo a day challenge.

i have always loved the idea of participating in a 'photo a day challenge' and how it kind of forces you to be inspired by the everyday things around you. so when i conveniently stumbled upon the "february photo a day challenge" on fat mum slim, i decided i would give it a whirl. i'm two days into the challenge and am already plotting and scheming the photos i get to take over the next month. i very much appreciate that there is a list of the photos you need to take, and how everyone's interpretation of those items vary from photo to photo. whether you choose to blog, facebook, tweet or my weapon of choice, instagram your photos, it's not too late to play along and make february a wee bit more fun. here's the list!


your view today. words.

bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos. 'nuff said.

sundays are family days in mia famiglia. usually always based around too much food, plenty of drinks, card games and lots of laughing, we start the party early in the afternoon and end up crashing and burning on the couch in our sweatpants by 7:00pm. 

rule #1: do yourself a favour and wear pants with an elastic waist, otherwise they will end up undone.

this past sunday we got together at my brother matty and his girlfriend christina's house. my dad caught wind that we were coming, and told me we weren't invited unless we made stuffed jalapeno poppers. i can't blame him, these poppers are probably the best on the planet: they're wrapped in friggen' bacon. i figured that with the super bowl happening this weekend, i would share the recipe that is so good, 
it's the main reason i get invited to my family functions. those assholes. (for the record, i found the recipe on pinterest. surprise, surprise)

rule #2: don't let the old man know you are attending sunday dinner, unless willing to make poppers.

how we do: bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos

{makes: 20 poppers}

prep time: 20 minutes 

cook time: 20 minutes 

eating time: 30 seconds

you will need:

10 jalapenos

2 hot italian sausages

10 strips of bacon

4 cups of cheddar cheese

toothpicks

sour cream for dipping

heat your oven to 400°. start by washing your jalas, cutting them in half and removing the insides. 

i like to make paulie do this job, even though he always touches his eyes after. this time, he wore latex gloves, the pussy. 

we also like to leave a few seeds behind, the hotter the better. 

once your jalas are good to go, you can start working on your stuffing. remove the casings from your sausages (or saseech, as nonna calls them) and empty the pork into a bowl. i chose not to photograph this step as it always makes me puke in my mouth a little bit. grate your cheese with the finest choice on your grater, and add it to your saseech. mix it up real good. if you wanted to make a vegetarian version, you could use black beans instead of sausage, and skip the bacon. but that would be silly.

now you can start stuffin'. take a pinch of your saseech and cheese mix, and fill the jalas. we like to stuff the shit out of them 

so they're good and full. slice your bacon strips in half and wrap each jala, securing it with a toothpick.

even raw, your jalas in a blanket are drool worthy. place them on an ungreased baking sheet and pop them in the oven for 20 minutes, until the saseech is cooked, the cheese is melty and the bacon has crisped up. you may want to drain off any grease about five minutes before they are ready, this prevents them from getting soggy.

i promise you the finished product will have you invited back to sunday dinner. every sunday.

rule #3: eat quickly, even if they're scorching hot, otherwise you ain't gettin' nothin'. you snooze, you lose.

30 by 30.

for the past six months or so i have been working on compiling a list of 30 things i want to accomplish by my 30th birthday, which, in my little pea brain, seems a million miles away. in reality march 2nd will make me 28 years young, so i have two whole years to complete my list. it's sort of like a bucket list, but with a little more heat behind it. with a two year deadline it almost lights a fire under my ass to get shit done. and because i'm a self diagnosed 'lister', and find the practice of writing things out and then crossing them off to be therapeutic and fulfilling, i thought there was no better way to embrace the unfortunate, inevitable, 'dirty thirty'. it even sounds wrong.

i finished writing the list yesterday and thought i would post it as motivation to actually cross off as many items as possible. not all my selections are life-altering or profound, but mean enough that they've become a priority -- at least priority enough to complete in the next two years. so here it is. as each item gets eagerly crossed off, i will be sure to share the process and any lessons learned (well, maybe not each item). and because this list has been in the making for some time, i have already had the chance to accomplish some of my "must-do's".

1. buy and move into “big boy & big girl” home.
2. visit scotland.
3. sing karaoke solo. drunk or not. preferably both. {completed 10.12.2011}
4. have nonna teach me how to make her homemade sauce, meatballs and pasta. {sauce & meatballs completed 02.20.2012}
5. plant a garden with nonno. {completed 05.20.2013}
6. take a photography class. {completed 03.31.2012}
7. save for and plan a surprise weekend away for paulie.
8. get hip tattoo touched up and new one on wrist. {completed 12.27.2011}
9. learn to crochet.
10. try sushi. {completed 03.2.2012}
11. make a huge ass photobook of the honeymoon.
12. take home the oldest pooch up for adoption at the humane society.
13. go on a motorcycle trip to port dover for 'friday the thirteenth' with my old man. {completed 07.13.2012}
14. master hollandaise sauce. {completed 03.09.2013}
15. condense and organize all craft supplies. {completed 02.22.2012}
16. go camping and sleep in an actual tent in the actual woods.
17. go skinny-dipping. alone doesn’t count. {completed 06.08.2012, 06.09.2012 & 06.10.2012}
18. teach india to play dead.
19. learn the proper use of “than” vs. “then”. for good. {looks promising: completed 02.13.2012.}
20. take a dance class.
21. visit and photograph the ‘comfort maple’ each season, then frame the series.
22. visit 10 new wineries in the region.
23. read ‘the great gatsby’ already. for christ sakes.
24. spend a day on toronto island. {completed 08.25.2012}
25. buy a sewing machine and learn how to use it.
26. spend more time with oma.
27. learn how to play euchre. {completed 03.16.2012}
28. have mom teach me her homemade chicken soup recipe. {completed 11.25.2012}
29. learn how to do a fishtail braid on myself. {completed 04.02.2012}
30. not get pregnant. if that happens, make a new list.

*should be on the list, but i'm a weiner and never thought i could accomplish it: see oprah winfrey live. {completed 04.16.2012}

hearts & crafts: cute shit you can make for valentine's day.

i know how some people feel about valentine's day. that it's a 'hallmark holiday', overly marketed, smarmy, not necessary and blah blah blah. clearly i don't agree, and am willing to take the extra lovin' that comes my way that day, all day. it's a holiday where one of the official colours is pink, acceptable in any and every shade, how could i not love it. yes valentine's day, i will take you in all your cheesy glory.

in preparation for this perfectly exorbitant day, i have started working on a few hearts and crafts that have made me a very happy girl. i had pinned this valentine's wreath a while back and contemplated how i was going to make it my own ever since. i liked the idea of the bunting and using felt and yarn, but wasn't sure how else i was going to pull everything together. a trip to 'michael's' later, and i had a bag of red and pink shit to play around with. this is what i came up with.

and it makes me very happy.

if you want to make one of your own, you're in luck: i have a tutorial! shout out to my assistant paulie, who helped me with some of the photographs. he seems to think he is better with the camera than i am. whatever makes him happy and gets me what i need.

how we do: valentine's day wreath

this is everything you will need. well, almost everything. once i got started, i realized i forgot to include a glue gun. 
because the only one i own is hideous and absolutely covered in glue, i chose not to take this picture over.

 once you gather your supplies, you can giddy up onto the fun stuff. i started by tying the white yarn to my wreath form, and began wrapping it around, making sure to use enough tension that the yarn stays in place, but not so much that you cut into the form. this part is the most tedious of the project, but once you get your yarn wrapped around a few times, you will get into a groove and will be done lickity split.

i wanted to have one small section of pink yarn to add some interest to the wreath, so once i finished with the white yarn, i tied it to the pink and continued on until i was finished. if you want to do blocks of colour throughout, just follow this process.

wrapped and ready to rock.

time for the details. hearts are a dead give-in for v-day, so i cut out doubles of various shapes and colours from my felt, 
making sure to have them as exact as possible. these would become my little heart pillows.

sewing is not really my forte, but this is simple enough that india could do it. 

sew both hearts together with your embroidery floss (it's thicker than thread and shows nicer) and leave an opening towards the end. stuff your cotton balls in until it's as full as you desire, and sew up the rest. ta da. easy peasy lemon squeezy. make as many of these as you see fit. they are super quick, and would be really cute for the fridge if you hot glued a magnet to the back, or a safety pin to make a brooch.

hot glue all your bits and bobs wherever you like. at this point, everything you are working with is so damn cute, 
you could close your eyes and throw it at the wreath and it would look perfect.

the goods. i am so happy with how it turned out, and after asking paul six times if he liked it, he muttered how cute it was under his breath. 
i love forcing him to say nice things to me, after all, isn't that what valentine's day is all about?

total costs: $22

total time: 1.5 hours

total # of "fucks" said due to glue gun burns: 4