Happy 200th Birthday, Pride and Prejudice!

Last week I discovered The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a modern-day video blog of Pride and Prejudice, which is a cute and witty adaptation of the original story.  At the time I didn't know Pride and Prejudice was about to celebrate a milestone, but it coincides nicely with today marking the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

The story of the Bennett's and most importantly, the love story of Elizabeth and Mark Darcy have stood the test of time over two centuries.  The story has been read by millions and millions, and has been adapted into many formats, such as movies, video blogs, TV mini-series, and has spin-offs such as Austenland, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, etc.

I love Pride and Prejudice and read it every year, if not every second year and watch the 1995 BBC film with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth (he is Mark Darcy) every year.  Jane Austen wrote a female lead that his intelligent, witty, and quick minded, which was a rare thing for a female lead to have over 200 years ago.  I will continue to enjoy this story for years to come.

Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995 - The best adaptation starring Colin Firth)

Pride and Prejudice (2005 - starring Keira Knightly)

Bride and Prejudice (2003 Bollywood version starring Aishwarya Rai)

Lost in Austen (TV mini-series starring Gemma Arterton)

Shepherd's Pie, Acetone, Squats, Crafts, and Curry

I made this Paleo Shepherd's Pie recipe for dinner last night and it's the second time I've made it.  However, last night I made it "almost-paleo" by adding a can of corn (drained), which is not paleo, used red wine vinegar instead of cider vinegar (don't have any), and added paprika, black pepper, ground allspice, and sodium-free diet Herbamare.  All the ingredients for the meat mixture were cooked in a large cast iron pan and I decided to add the mashed sweet potato and cauliflower on top of the meat mixture once it was cooked and put the entire pan in the over.  This saved having to combine the ingredients in casserole or baking dishes and it meant less dishes, which I like.  This recipe is easy to do, it's tasty and is excellent to have on a very cold Sunday evening.

Now I digress from food to nail polish because that's how my mind works.  It jumps from here, there, over there and back here.

There's a reason why I don't get manicures or put nail polish on my fingernails.  Because it's a b**** to take off.  I had a manicure back in December and figured since I was getting one that I would go all out, get a dark colour and have the Shellac nail polish, which is guaranteed to not chip for 14 days.  It really does work.  My nails did not chip for 14 days plus.  The problem is that my nails grow super fast and my nails were looking like crap and started to chip.  My esthetician told me to wrap a cotton ball/pad in Acetone and place it on my fingernail and wrap the fingernail with aluminum foil for 20 minutes.   When I heard this I thought it was way too much work and how would I ever be able to do both hands.  I tried soaking a cotton ball in Acetone and rubbed the polish, but nothing came off.  Yesterday,  I soaked my fingernails in Acetone for 15-20 minutes and the polish flaked off.  I don't foresee getting another manicure for quite some time, but I am looking forward to another pedicure.  It's  such a treat to have your feet soak in a bath and have someone work on them while you sit in a heated massage chair.  The best part is when you share this experience with your best friend, drink tea, catch up with each other and pick out funny named nail polish.

The New Year Squat-A-Thon group is a little over half done and everyone is doing amazing.  120 squats were required for today.  I'm so proud of everyone in the group for taking on this challenge and sticking with it.  People are telling me they can feel a difference in their legs, buts, and abdominal muscles.  I already have plans for another exercise-a-thon (stay tune for the exercise) that will begin shortly after we reach 200 squats.

Did you see this 2013 Creative Pay-it-Forward Facebook post earlier this month:

"2013 Creative Pay-It-Forward: 

The first five people to comment on this status will receive from me, sometime in the next calendar year, a gift - something bizarre, odd, comical or pretty- a surprise I've made by hand. 

There will likely be no warning and it will happen whenever the mood strikes me.

The catch? Those five people must make the same offer in their Facebook status."

Well I did and decided to comment on my friend's post, which meant I too had to make this offer on my Facebook page.  I did so despite not being a crafty person or a baker.  Say what? Yes, that's right!  I am not a crafter.  Somehow the crafting gene skipped me, much to my dismay.  I can't cut a straight line and I can barely draw a stick person.  It's quite sad really when I see what my parents', especially my mom, sister, nieces, and friends can make.  I'm so envious of people with talent.  What I need is a book, blog, anything that's called "Crafting for Idiots".  Despite all this, I will tackle this challenge as I have 5 people for my 2013 Creative Pay-it-Forward.  I already have an idea and some of the supplies for one of my people, now I need to get the rest and meet up with Vicki so we can have a craft night.  I hope it turns out and I hope I can come up with something for my other 4 people.

Adam and I made this Canadian Living Curried Cauliflower with Chickpeas recipe tonight.  Since we didn't have any spinach, we decided to use one green pepper and one orange pepper and I substituted the regular sugar with coconut palm sugar.  We found the recipe to be a little bland and decided to add some gluten-free soy sauce and Frank's Red Hot sauce.  If I made this recipe again, I would add a can of tomatoes or coconut milk.

Seven Things

Well it was back to work yesterday and after being off for over a week, it was hard to wake up early, leave the comfort of my warm bed and house and head outside in the freezing cold weather for work.  I'm always sad to see my vacations come to an end because it felt like it just started.  Where does all that time go?

The New Year Squat-A-Thon is in motion and everyone is doing fantastic so far.  Today's challenge was 30 squats.  Nutmeg, my English Bulldog watches me as I do them and jumps up as I come down and sometimes jumps up my leg as I stand up.  I think the weight of her jumping on me should add to the level of difficulty.  It's 35 squats tomorrow.  I've already started thinking about what to do once we reach 200 squats.  A Lunge-A-Thon (HATE lunges) and start with one lunge per leg per day, or as a colleague suggested, a Push Up-A-Thon?  Don't worry, something will come to mind.  

Last week I noticed an outdoor skating rink near a local elementary school and upon closer inspection, Vicki and I discovered it's fully operational.  It's time to pull out the skates, wipe off the dust, and take a twirl around the rink.  I think the last time I skated was back in 2007, maybe 2008.

My birthday is soon approaching and yesterday Adam asked what 7 things I want for my birthday week.  You see for Adam's birthday, he had something each day (a present on his actual birthday, pizza for dinner on one day, candy another day, a day of playing video games, etc).  So far I have 3 things listed and it's all food: homemade blueberry buckwheat pancakes on my birthday, Pilo's for dinner one day, and steak, green beans and a sweet potato for another dinner (steak and green beans is my all time favourite meal).  I don't know what else to pick.  Maybe spending an entire day in my pjs reading a good book.  I'm sure I just did this over the holidays, but why not again.  Perhaps a mango smoothie or ingredients to make home ice cream?  Any suggestions?

  

Happy New Year 2013

The year of 2012 has been a year of many changes.  I went to San Antonio, Texas for a system coordinator workshop, moved out of my apartment that had been my home for 5 1/2 years and moved into a new place with my boyfriend, Adam that is much bigger than our previous places.  My mom and I visited my sister in Trenton for a few days in the spring.  My friend Vicki and I visited our friend Lady M on Wolfe Island this summer.  I've been to Montreal a couple of times for shopping and to see Coldplay in concert.  Adam and I went on our first camping trip together and spent time hiking, going to the beach, and building fires.  I won an acting assignment at work until the end of May 2013, which includes new challenges that  long to tackle and also earn some extra money.

I also started a new diet last March to determine which foods were bothering me.  I avoided certain foods for a month, two months, and 6 months.  I felt like a gluten-free vegan that eats meat.  Let's see what I avoided: dairy, casein, refine-sugar (includes cane sugar), eggs, gluten grains, yeast (baker's and brewer's), bananas (I used to eat a banana every day), cranberries, pineapples, mushrooms.  This diet also made pay stricter attention to ingredients and I would read them like a hawk.  You would be surprised to know how many things have sugar and yeast in them.  Why is there a need for yeast and sugar in broth?  I started feeling better, had less phlegm and nasal congestion (I know, it's sounds gross), my skin was clearer, and I lost a lot of weight - averaging 2 pounds per week.  I was able to reintroduce goat's milk (i.e. cheese) after a month and sometimes I would feel okay and sometimes it made feel weird.  I have it every now and then.  I've also re-introduce eggs and bacon back in October, but I only have those once a week or sometimes once a month.  I've had some bread recently and afterwards my throat felt like it was closing up some.  The first month on this diet was the hardest, but after a while you don't miss the eliminated foods in general (yeast, sweets and candies).  Sure, I get cravings but that's when I do some investigating for recipes that are sugar free, dairy free, yeast free, etc. and make something.  It's such a treat to have something yummy.  It is hard to eat out because so many restaurants include foods that I shouldn't eat, but they also have options like gluten free pasta or tortillas.  Thank God, there's Pinterest, fellow bloggers, and recipes sites on the Internet.  They have made it much easier to follow this type of diet and I have been experimenting with different recipes and different types of foods that I wouldn't think of ever trying such as ice cream made out of coconut milk, Agave nectar, Stevia, buckwheat flour, coconut palm sugar, coconut flour, etc. 

Another big change has been the addition to mine and Adam's family, Nutmeg, our English Bulldog.  We drove to South Western Ontario in October to pick up a scared, quite, and adorable 8 week old puppy.  The first couple of weeks were the hardest as she changed our lives by getting up in the middle of the night, required constant watching to make sure she didn't have any accidents or chew the wrong the things.  Slowly as time goes on Nutmeg began to understand our routine and what she can and cannot do in the house.  She has given us laughter and tears (especially me, when she would rather bite me than her toys - she has stopped this, or from her gassy moments) and has us doing stuff together outside of the house, such as walks, Puppy Kindergarten 1 and Puppy Kindergarten 2 at the Ottawa Canine School.  Nutmeg has also brought us fame in our neighbourhood as we're the owners of an English Bulldog puppy.  Seriously, we take her for walks (or try to, she hates going for walks) and run into people and they ask us if this is Nutmeg, or someone will yell out from their doorstep "is that Nutmeg?".  I'm not kidding.  We never thought she would be so famous.  I love her very much and am happy she's joined our family.

Day One

Hanging with my toys in the toy box

Playing with my new rope

Love playing in the snow, but not crazy about these booties

 I'm looking forward to 2013 and what it will bring.  So far, I have a Girls trip to Chateau Montebello to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday and camping trips with Adam and Nutmeg.  I created a New Year Squat-A-Thon event on Facebook, an idea that I stole from my esthetician, which starts with 20 squats today (January 1st) and every day increase your squats by 5 until you reach 200 squats in one day.  Some of my friends and family are very keen about this and others not so much.  Contact me if you want in on this event and I will send you a Facebook invite.  Not sure what will happen after the 200 squats, maybe the dreaded lunges, but I know I'll have stronger buns and legs. :-)

Hope all of you have a great 2013.

I promise to blog more this year.