me lucky charms: a wee st.patty's day mani.

i think i looked at 648 st.patty's day mani's before i decided to just try my own. i wanted something cute & colourful, 
with a st.patty's day nod and matte finish, and after some fiddle fartin' around, this is what i came up with. 

aye sha shy sha shy! 

(i don't know why i say this whenever i think of anything irish, but i do.)

how we do: st.patty's day mani

you will need:

clear base coat

matte (or clear) top coat 

green nail polish

colours for your rainbow~whatever combo you like

white nail art pen

q-tips for clean up

start by choosing which colours you want to use for your rainbow. i was happy with only a few colours, and chose red, orange, yellow and teal blue. i made sure i liked how they looked with the green i was using on all my other nails, and choose the order i would paint them in.

step 1. start with fresh, clean nails that you have filed and shaped to your liking. paint a clear coat onto all of them.

step 2. paint 2 coats of green polish onto every nail except your ring finger-this will to be your rainbow nail.

step 3. create your rainbow by painting stripes of your chosen colours. i couldn't do this step & photograph it at the same time--i apologize, but i know you can do it! if taping off the lines and painting them is easier for you than freehand, go for it. i tried, but found it faster and easier to do them without the tape. i also like how it didn't turn out perfectly, which is hard for even me to believe. i made the last stripe of my rainbow, the teal blue colour, a little wider than the others so the clouds wouldn't cover the entire stripe. paint a coat of matte top coat (or clear top coat if you want them shiny) over all your nails. i have fallen in love with the "sephora by opi" matte coat. it dries quickly, and lasts 5 days without chips or scratches. beauty effin' product ($12 at sephora).

step 4. once your matte coat (or top coat) is dry, you can get all cloudy up in here. i used a white "sally hansen nail art pen" ($7 at shopper's drug mart) to create an outline of the clouds on the tip of my nail.

step 5. once the outline is dry, you can fill it in and repeat this step to ensure full coverage.

*note: the reason i applied my top coat before the clouds and not after was purely a trial and error discovery. the first time i attempted this, i made the clouds and then applied my matte top coat.  i don't know if it's the nail art pen, or the matte coat, but the combo of the two resulted in the clouds cracking and splitting apart. not nice. not happy. you mani, & you learn.

i hope you love them as much as i do.

and if you don't get lucky this st.patty's day, your nails sure as shit did!

tuesday tit for tat: keep your fleurs friggen' fresh.

i'm going to try and make tuesdays more fun with what i'm calling 'tuesday tit for tat'.  if i learn something worth sharing, i'm gonna give it to ya straight up--sharing is caring, so be excited. i figured i would start with something i know...and i know flowers. while working as a floral designer a few years back (i miss it a lot, and often) i learned a handful of tips & tricks when it comes to keeping your flowers fresh, and for as long as possible. the difference between having fresh flowers in my home and not, is actually quite amazing. walking past them in the morning or having them there during meals, especially during the colder months, is just that little extra somethin' somethin' that makes me happy, it's the little things right? so here ya go...my dutch roots are just giddy about this.

i couldn't resist picking up a couple bunches of lovely white tulips from the market this weekend, and at $3.99/bunch, you can't possibly go wrong. i spend more money on a bottle of wine, and that only lasts...well, let's be honest, it doesn't last long. i made sure to pick the bunches with the tightest buds, and checked that none of the stems were broken or badly bruised. once i got them home, i removed all the packaging, and laid them out. choose the vase you want to display your flowers in, and fill it 3/4 full, having your vase ready to go will help you get your flowers into the water as soon as they are freshly cut. this is key, as you don't want them hanging out in the air to dry up and start to seal. this makes it difficult for the stems to drink up all the water they need. start by removing all the leaves that would sit below the water line. leaves that sit in the water will form bacteria, which your stems drink up, and causes them to parish faster.  

once all your lower leaves have been removed, you can organize your stems into the shape you are going for. if you want your flowers even and compact, line them up by bloom. if you prefer them helter skelter and natural, line them up so the stems are even, and hold it up to your vase to make sure you like where they will sit. with my flowers being all the same, and to suit the vase i was using, i wanted them as tidy and as even as possible, so i lined up the blooms.

*tip for fresh cut tulips* before cutting your stems, add a shot of either vodka, gin or whatever clear alcohol you may have into your vase of water. tulips continue to grow even after they have been cut, and unfortunately, they don't grow nice and straight. adding a shot of clear booze keeps them from going all willy-nilly. i know, total opposite to what booze does to me too. rule of thumb: one for me, one for you, a step worth doing for the shot alone. give your stems a nice fresh cut with sharp scissors or a knife, and on as much of an angle as you can. an angled cut prevents the stems from sitting flush on the bottom of your vase, which makes it harder for them to drink, and it increases the surface area that your stem can drink from. i know. who knew?

now you can arrange your flowers in the vase the way you like. i prefer them as full and clean as possible, which is why i chose simple white tulips, perfect for spring. they look lovely in this turquoise vase i found at an antique shop in my neighbourhood, and couldn't be prettier.

a few more tips & tricks.

every 2-3 days, dump out the water and wash your vase with a splash of bleach and hot water. don't use soap, as it gets stuck in the cracks and crevasses of your vase, which becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. bleach will kill anything in the vase, keeping your water cleaner, longer. give your fleurs a fresh cut before putting them back in the vase.

unlike most potted houseplants or planters, you want to keep your fresh cut flowers out of direct sunlight, and in the coolest place you can. sunlight heats up the water, causing bacteria to form, again, depreciating their lifespan.

flowers that have the longest shelf life: carnations (i know how some people feel about them, but i have really come to like them done in a simple, monochromatic posey), alstromeria and chrysanthemum's will last you 1.5-2 weeks easily. peonies, lilies, roses and daisies seem to last around a week before they get all funky. 

don't wait for your man (or old lady) to buy you flowers to have them in your life. for some of us, it happens few and far between, so buy them for yourself and love every minute of them. hey! a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. hell, they may even get the hint and start buying them for you more often. but probably not.

sunday brunch: bubble & squeak.

during the christmas holidays, my boyfriend jamie oliver ran the sweetest series called "jamie's family christmas". from the comfort of his stunning english cottage, he had his family & friends help him make some of his favourite festive meals. his home was perfectly decorated, the series was beautifully filmed, and really inspiring, filled with lots of british comfort food classics. one of the meals that really stood out, was jamie's "boxing day bubble & squeak", first because of how delicious it looked, and second for the name. so i did a little research, and learned that "bubble & squeak" is a traditional english meal, made from leftover vegetables and basically whatever the hell you want. conveniently, we had some friends over for the best roast dinner paulie has ever made the night before, and had everything we needed to give this recipe a whirl. we tweaked jamie's recipe just a wee bit, and voila. enjoy.

how we do: amanda & paul's sunday brunch bubble & squeak

{serves 4. even though there was only 2 of us.}

prep time: 15 minutes

cook time: 45 minutes

eating time: done before your coffee

you will need:

olive oil

1 pound of leftover mixed veg

1 pound of leftover potatoes

8 strips of bacon

8 breakfast sausages

3 medium sized tomatoes

4 large free range eggs

salt & pepper

*throw the 'young the giant'  album on while cooking. good brunch making music i feel.

make yourself a cup of coffee already.

 heat your oven to 450°. in a large oven-safe skillet or frying pan heat up a nice amount of olive oil. add you mixed veg to the pan, and tamp it down with a potato masher. we had carrots, red peppers, asparagus, red onions and mixed shrooms that had been roasted in salt & pepper, and topped with a splash of balsamic vinegar, but you can use whatever blows your hair back. on top of your veg, add the potatoes. we had leftover roasted garlic mash, but roasted or even scalloped potatoes would be equally delicious. tamp the potatoes into your veg, until it's evenly incorporated and your mix is covering your entire pan. the point of this step is to create almost a "hash", that will crisp on the bottom and sides, and give you a crust. let this do it's thing for around 25-30 minutes, pressing it down every once in a while.

while the veg is frying, you can get your sides ready to rock. lay out your bacon and wieners on a non-stick baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. we had never cooked bacon in the oven like this before, and loved the way it turned out--crispy, less greasy and a lot less messy. once cooked, pull them out and lay them on some paper towel.

with your oven still hot, core and half your tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt & freshly cracked pepper. my favourite part of breakfast or brunch is always having a side of tomatoes. fried with your scrambled eggs or just fresh and seasoned, i like having a lighter side with such a greasy meal. pop these in the oven for 7-9 minutes, or until soft.

at this point your potato and veg mix should be perfect, so tamp it down flat, and use the back of a soup spoon to make 4 little evenly spaced pockets. crack an egg into each one, and put the entire pan in the oven along with your tomatoes. the eggs will take about 10 minutes to cook them sunny side up.

are you so hungry you could eat your pets?! i was. but come on, look at them! especially india. 
she has become quite the full figured girl over the winter.

a little hot sauce, a mug of coffee (or a mimosa. or 2. or 3) and you are bubblin' & squeakin' for the rest of the damn day. 

thanks jaime. you're more than just a pretty face with the cutest speech impediment i have ever laid eyes (and ears) on. 

happy sunday.

happy fuckin' friday: marchstagrammin'.

i have been a busy little instagram bee! trying to stay creative when you are given such a simple task is the hardest yet most fun part of the 'march photo a day challenge'. choosing whether to interpret the item assigned for that day literally, ironically or creatively can change the entire outcome of your photo, and i like that. i think the best shots that have come out of this little challenge are the ones that are taken simply, and in the moment. if you're participating in the challenge too, i hope you are able to step outside of that little square display screen on your iphone or camera, and are looking at the world from a fresh perspective.

keep snappin'.

ps-happy fuckin' friday!

{from left to right} a smile. your neighbourhood. something you wore. window. 5pm. fruit. up. bedside.

first comes love, then comes marriage, then my uterus tries to exit the building.

in the wake of my turning another year older, i have been inundated by a question that seems everyone in my life wants me to answer: when are you and paul having a baby? normally the question is presented in a polite manner: "do you want to have kids right away? are you and paul trying yet?", and as much as i appreciate that it's on the minds of my friends, family and colleagues, translated literally, "are you and paul trying yet?" means "is paul frequently tapping that ass without a one-piece overcoat?". and i don't know how i feel about that. is it appropriate to ask non-newlyweds if they are getting down and dirty on the regular, sans protection? something tells me no. no, it's not.

now if i would have been asked even a year ago if i wanted to have kids, i would have told you that there was a better chance of throwing myself down the stairs before getting knocked up. i actually can't remember ever wanting to be a mom. even when i was little, i can remember 'playing house', and never wanting to be the mom-i preferred being the kid, or the student, even the pet cat. but over the last year, specifically the last six months, i have changed my tune. it's like my hormones have shifted and it sparked my maternal clock to stark ticking. at first i could shut it up with a glass of wine, but the wine now has reverse effects...the more drunk i get, the more i find myself talking about having a baby. i've even caught myself asking paul the same questions everyone is asking me "well, are you going to tap my ass or what?". just last week paul came downstairs to find me bawling my eyes out in front of the tv, watching tori spelling (who i love) give birth to their third baby:

paul: "um. are you crying?"
me: "wahhhh! i want one"
paul: "you're fucked"

these conversations make paulie an awkward little boy, even more so than he already is, if you can believe it. he doesn't ever seem to say when he wants to start a family, he just says "when it happens, it happens". the truth is, we could get pregnant today, and he would be happier than if the jays won the world series--and  for paul, that is really fucking happy. i see how he interacts with kids and animals...and i like the way they are drawn to him and his kind, sweet nature. if he's in a room with either, you can bet your ass, they are all over him. i want to be the mama to his babies, i want to see him hold a wee paulie in his arms (we're only having boys. 3 of them).

so why the hesitation to get off the bench and onto the field? because i'm scurred! shitless! 

we can't be the only friends in our group avec baby! there's only a handful of us who are married, never mind being two steps ahead of the game. i know, i know, what a pathetic excuse to put my life the next step on hold, but i really want to enjoy that part of my life surrounded by the people i love. have kids that are the same age, that can grow up together and develop the kind of friendship i have with my friends. i want more "paul and amanda" time to do our thing. shallow? maybe. selfish? sure.  the truth? 100%.

for now i have come up with a list of things i will say when asked "are you trying yet?". 

so if i pull any of these out on you, don't be alarmed.

"unfortunately, paul has no testicles."

"kids are in our 15 year plan."

"i'm allergic."

"can't. i'm totally barren."
 

side note: when i do get knocked up, i will own this t-shirt.