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Ok so I’ve been looking for grey nail polish for weeks now. Cannot find it ANYWHERE! Always silver and if I wanted to look like a hipster 80s throwback, I could I suppose. But I do not want to. I want solid medium grey. I wear black nail polish, generally speaking, but it’s time to loosen up. I think grey is the next step.

The thing about nail polish is, I feel terrible every single time I buy it (which might explain in part why I stick with one colour that I don’t have to buy too often). It’s full of chemicals, the remover that goes with it is terrible as well, oh the animals, oh the environment ahhhh. It’s a stupid vice. And I’m phasing it out slowly. But not before I get my hands on some grey….

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The popcorn machine has been a complete success. I don’t know how I lived without this thing before. Easy to assemble (place cover on machine and plug in) and I don’t burn myself with hot oil like I did with the stove top method. Bliss.

I am, however, still using stove top method for my espresso. Which is causing me some problems. I got the above pictured stove top espresso machine for my birthday about a month ago and I’ve used it quite a few times and still, STILL, I am not making espresso. I am making strong coffee. And don’t get me wrong – strong coffee is awesome. But I want espresso. With the caramelly stuff on top. I haven’t got the water:espresso ratio down yet either. Boo. What I really would like (hello wedding registry!) is an actual espresso machine. With a metal foamer and everything. But that will take time so for now, does anyone out there know how the hell to make espresso in my espresso maker?

In other news, I made a vegetable pie last night that had a lot of promise to start but turned out only so so. Here is a list of possible reasons why this decline in tastiness happened:

1) I used white wine instead of vegetable stock (win) but forgot to supplement the wine with a little bay leaf and other such vegetable stock spices.
2) I effed up the pastry, forgetting that I needed double the chickpeas for this one, and so the top was too small for the pie.
3) I accidentally added vanilla almond milk to the vegetable mixture.

I’m thinking 1 and 3 had the most impact. Sigh. It wasn’t terrible in the end, but it wasn’t great either. Thank goodness for the side of beets and turnip with marjoram. New recipe tonight I think…I’m thinking stir fry.

Update: just took a sip from my recently brewed pot…Yowza but that’s strong coffee. Not espresso. My pumpkin mug is disappointed.

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Because I’ve been so sicky lately, I haven’t had time to do regular people things. Like get groceries, for example. A., being the darling he is, brought me Campbell’s soup, something I never eat (holy sodium overload batman) but always crave when I’m sick. However, I was particularly lazy this cold so I didn’t even make the soup and then before I knew it, it was Saturday night and we had no food for dinner. Except this Campbell’s soup. Cream of “wild” mushroom, which I realize is not vegan but I care not when I’m sicky. Anyway, the only other things we had in the house were weary looking collard greens, rice, onion, garlic, and chickpeas. Now what I should have done was make something with those ingredients and forget the soup. But did I do that? No. Because I thought I could pull off some casserole thing that I remembered some parent of a friend of mine making as a child (I get strange notions whilst cooking). This parent used to put Campbell’s mushroom soup with pasta (for me rice) and chicken (for me chickpeas…totally the same, right? …) and albeit limited veg, pop it in the oven et voila! Yummy mushroom casserole. I was really in the mood for comfort food cooking so I thought, yeah I can totally do this.

Either I didn’t pay attention as a child (totally possible) or I over-estimated the timelessness of such a recipe (most likely), but either way this recipe sucked. Big time. First, I ended up using a trillion (read three) pots. I’m a one pot meal kind of gal so this irritated me. I do not like extra dishes. Second, I overcooked the rice. I realize this is not the recipe’s fault but I’m going to blame the recipe anyways because I needed to be doing too many things at once. Finally, Campbell’s cream of mushroom is disgusting. It really is. Stodgy, salty but otherwise flavourless ickiness. The “casserole” came out as a giant blobby mess. I ruined a perfectly good tin of chickpeas. Most irritating.

The moral of the story? Do not trust the instincts you had as a child when it comes to food. And avoid over-processed foods masquerading as tasty meal time treats. And if you are lactose intolerant and haven’t eaten dairy in ages, do not open with Campbell’s cream of “wild” mushroom. Ugh.

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So I haven’t posted for a few days because I’ve been sick. The kind of sick where you just want to lie around all day and watch bad tv. The kind of sick where you don’t sleep at all but always want to. Ugh. Sore throat, nausea, ugh. And with this whole swine flu thing, I really couldn’t go anywhere. People are really uppity about it and I can’t blame them I suppose. So house arrest it was. A. kept me well supplied with soup, pumpkin spice soy lattes, mags and flowers and I developed a random fondness for Stephen and Chris. And an unsurprising hatred for “Heartland” (worst. show. ever).

I never really mind being sick, probably because I’m one of those people who refuses to work through it. When I feel sick, I stop everything, put on A.’s clothes, set myself up in front of tellie with tea, and wait for it to pass. Ignoring the illness isn’t going to make it go away and will likely make it worse. The problem, of course, is that when I’m better I’m waaaaay behind on whatever I’ve been working on. In this case prepping for the LSATs, training, and finishing some MA stuff off. Blerg.

Off to work now. More interesting posts later.

>I am mucho excited about my most recent little purchase. I was wandering through Zellers, looking for cheap white 100% cotton sheets to wrap my oh-so-sensitive wedding dress in and I got lost in the small appliances section. I think it was fate. I was grumbling to myself about the casino-like nature of department stores when I saw it: an air pop popcorn maker. The last one in stock. Now, I’ve been wanting one of these forever but have been reluctant to spend too much money on one. And technically I probably should have waited until I found one with glass rather than plastic parts. But I was too happy about the price to care.

Tonight’s West Wing snack: popcorn!!

Note: I found the sheets in the end (yaya!) but now that the dress is all wrapped up, I have nowhere to put it (boo). I wish we had an under-the-bed space. Huh…excuse to convince A. that we simply must buy a bed frame? I think so.

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Thank you, sexy AB. Awesomeness.

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A couple of weeks ago, Fialonia alerted me to the fact that an exhibition site down the road from my house was going to be holding a wedding show. Would I like to go with her? she asked. Why not? I thought. I may have most of the big stuff done, but I still need to register (yayaya new knives!), get chairs for the ceremony, and figure out how the hell I’m going to get to the actual wedding. And in my experience, wedding shows are the place to get the ball rolling on this stuff. I used to work for a party rental place, see, and they always had a stand at these things, enticing people to rent tents, chairs, and chocolate fountains. I never wandered around much at the time because brides and all things bridal freaked me out, but how bad could it be now that I actually am a bride-to-be?

So on Saturday, Fialonia and I were off to the show. I was greeted at the door with a form to fill for the chance to get a free honeymoon (win!) and a sticker that I was to wear proudly that said ‘Bride’ (lose). Next I was handed a bag with free Burt’s Bees hand lotion and some wedding mags (win!). But then I was met with a tulle-swathed archway and two birdcages with real doves (double lose) and it was at this point that I realized I had made a mistake. I was, however, bound and determined to at least get chairs (or perhaps enter a draw to get free chairs…) so I went through the archway with Fialonia who was already snickering.

Egad.

Where to begin. Well first there was the music (which it turned out was coming from the fashion show – more on that visual atrocity in a moment). What is it about weddings that says Shania Twain, Phantom of the Opera, or ZZ Top, exactly? So I’m walking around, being told by ZZ Top that every girl is crazy ’bout a sharp dressed man, and trying to find a party rentals place. Aside from one, ONE, stand devoted entirely to the rental of chair covers (ugly, satin-y chair covers that most chairs would die of shame wearing), I couldn’t find a single party rentals stand (big lose). What I did find was a billion (read: four) stands of DJs who all looked like Ricky or Julian, a number of travel agency stands (mildly helpful I suppose but only if you are planning to go to Mexico and we are not), some crazy jewelry stands (win I suppose in that I was able to pick out a ring for A….lose in that it was waaaay out of our price-range), and stand upon stand devoted to photography – cheesy, misty wedding photography. Every stand was covered in taffeta or tulle or some combination thereof. And because of the stupid Bride sticker, every stand I walked by meant being handed pamphlets and asked if I needed a DJ/photographer/insurance/honeymoon/penis cake/pole dancing lessons etc. Ugh.

After walking through what felt like miles of stands, entering the odd gift basket contest along the way and pushing through crowds of smug bride-to-bes, Fialonia and I discovered the source of the music – the fashion show. It was just starting and so we decided to stay and watch – Fialonia because she wanted to make fun of the bad wedding dresses and me because a) I thought I might be able to get some ideas for bridesmaids dresses and b) ever since I purchased my own wedding dress, I have become obsessed with confirming that it is in fact the prettiest dress in all the land (aside from Miss Knit’s dress which I am sure is beyond stunning). So we watched. First, a round of flower girls/junior bridesmaids. Nothing wrong with this aside from the fact that they were wearing tiaras and the sugar was just oozing from the stage. Oh, and the comment made by the fashion show DJ about how each of these little ladies would be a bride someday (which spurred a little feminist rant from me about lesbianism, independence, expectations, conformity, etc). Next a round of ring bearers – cute. A round of groomsmen – yummy. A round of mother-of-the-brides – yawn. Why must all mother-of-the-bride dresses include a jewel encrusted jacket with Klingon shoulder pads? Ick. A round of bridesmaids. Here’s where things started to get funny – why on earth would I ever ask my bridesmaids to buy let alone wear a muted lemon full length ball gown complete with bum crystals? Vomit. And then a round of wedding dresses. Awful, every last one. Part of the problem was that none of the dresses fit properly; many of the girls could have fit an extra set of knockers in the front…others looked like sausages in casings. Another problem, however, was that the dresses all looked like meringue curtains. With giant flowers. And/or giant bows. And randomly placed jewel explosions. Vomit vomit vomit.

But the pièce de résistance was the stand immediately to the right of the fashion show – the stand devoted to selling wedding dresses that was stuffed with smug bride-to-bes all scrambling to get a deal on a piece of meringue dress. Who, I ask you, goes to a tradeshow to try on wedding gowns? Doing this means stepping behind a curtain, donning an over-sized wedding dress and then stepping out and modeling said dress in front of your family, friends, and everyone at the wedding show. It also means battling over dresses with other bride-to-bes. And paying $1500 for a dress that was made by 5 year olds in Malaysia and that looks exactly the same as every dress on the market today. Ick ick ick.

To be fair, though, the show wasn’t all bad. I did end up registering with the Bay – well, starting a registry with them and being awarded $50 in gift certificates in return. I’m only going with them for the Denby but whatever. And I did enter a number of spiffy gift basket contests. But I would never go back to the taffeta madness again. There’s another show coming up in the spring but I’ve learned my lesson – online and thrift stores from here on out.

>I don’t know how it happened, but somehow at the end of August all of the wedding stuff (well, the big stuff) just came together. It started with the ceremony location. I was wandering through Google searches for secular ceremony locations in Ottawa, wondering how we were going to fit 150 people anywhere pretty. And I came across the gazebo in Rockcliffe Park (see above). Now this picture doesn’t do this location justice – generally the place is covered in flowers. It’s covered in case it rains (which it will because this is me). And it fits how many? 150 people. Ceremony location? Check.

Then came The Dress. I’m not posting pictures of The Dress because it’s too beautiful to be photographed. Or I just want to leave some things a surprise. Or both. Anyway, I found The Dress on PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, a wicked site filled with designer gowns being sold for 1/4-1/2 of their original price because they’ve only been worn once. The Dress is, well, fantastic. Teensy bit traditional but not so much that I can’t jazz it up with a gorgeous piece of ridiculous jewelry (I’m thinking big chunky amber necklace…). I love it. As does A. (that’s right, he’s seen it and no, I don’t think our marriage is cursed now). Wedding dress? Check.

And finally, the all important reception location. This was causing me some grief. First, it had to be a place that fit 150 people which in and of itself was tougher than I thought it would be. And I didn’t really want to have the reception in a hotel…or a community center…or the Legion. Not that there is anything wrong with these places, but they just aren’t us. So already I was limited. But when I went searching I was faced with another problem: money. If we had the wedding in town, near our ceremony location and the hotels, we had our pick of hotels (meh) and museums or galleries (yaya!)…but we were looking at $150-$300/head. HAHAHAHAHA. Not happening. If we had the wedding outside of the city, we could pick from much cheaper and in many cases nicer character homes and golf courses (meh)…but we were looking at a pretty hefty commute of 45 minutes from the nearest hotel which doesn’t sound like a lot unless a) you have no car and b) you have no extra money lying around to help others with transportation. Which is important, I think, given that people drink at weddings. Asking guests to fork out whatever amount in cab fare didn’t seem right and we couldn’t really afford to rent shuttle buses (a friend of mine did this – a good idea, actually, but just a little too pricey for us). Plus I like the convenience of being close to the hotels and the ceremony location. What to do, what to do.

On August 18, I went out with A., fialonia, JLP, RL and FL for dinner at Restaurant 18. A. and I had been here before, and I had considered it as a location but thought it would be waaaay out of our price range. But when I looked it up, it actually wasn’t that bad. Then I met with the wedding coordinator person and realized it really, REALLY, wasn’t that bad. Is it a tad expensive? Certainly. But it’s perfect. It’s pretty, near the hotels, has good food, doesn’t require us to have a DJ, and the woman running the joint is well-organized and friendly. Yay! The picture above is the outside and the picture below is the only shot I could find of the inside. All stone and covered in funky art done the by the owner. Location? Check.

Now I just need to find someone who will marry us…

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So I lied. I just wasn’t feeling the olives. Well that and I knew that the basil I had in the fridge was going to go all soggy gross ick on me soon (enter more thoughts re: owning my own herb plants…reminded of this post…thoughts begrudgingly step aside). Instead, I decided to cook up a pesto-y pasta dish from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. The recipe calls for cashews but I replaced them with almonds because a) cashews are more expensive and if I wanted expensive, I’d go with pine nuts, b) cashews are more fattening (not that I’m watching my weight or anything, but I am aware of the fact that I’m not getting any younger and my metabolism isn’t what it used to be. Case in point: after a week of drinking and eating fatty Scottish food, I actually put on weight. Oh the horror), and c) I had almonds on hand. The recipe also calls for dry mustard but I had a nice peppery dijon in the fridge that worked just fine. Finally, this book suggested topping the pasta with sliced cherry tomatoes and serving it with a salad. I did not. First, who the hell slices cherry tomatoes? Halve them, sure, but slice? Pfft. And second, I have no patience for salads. Too much work for a side dish, in my humble opinion. I decided to mix in some tasty kale with a pinch of coarse sea salt. The result was most excellent.

Starving Student Lemon-y Pesto Pasta

*1 large clove of garlic
*the juice from half a lemon
*1 tsp dijon mustard
*1/2 tsp salt
*ground black pepper to taste
*2 tbsp olive oil
*1 tbsp water (or white wine…)
*1 cup almonds
*2 1/2 cups (packed) of fresh basil leaves and tender stems

+pasta
+leafy greens

In a food processor, combine garlic, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil, water, almonds, and basil and blend up until fairly smooth (this can be frustrating…I would start by chopping the garlic, then add everything except the basil and almonds and blend up for a bit, then add the almonds and basil in batches). Set aside. Cook the pasta (I chose spaghetti but would go with spaghettini next time). Once pasta is done, drain but set aside a bit of the pasta water. Mix the almond fun in with the pasta – if it is too dry, add a bit of the pasta water. Serve with the all important leafy greens. Yummy!!

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So this is Freja Jean Livingstone Norrgard. With her pal, Phil the Bear. Phil is made of felted sweater. Felted, expensive sweater. See, my cousin LL’s husband, darling P., was doing laundry and well, it seems he’s not fantastic at laundry, particularly when it comes to washing expensive sweaters. JLP is quite the seamstress. And so the birth of Phil the Bear, one of a few best pals of Freja Jean. Other pals include Mr. Moo, Chokes the Giraffe, and Yellow Elephant.

No new recipes today – I’m going to test out a previous olive-y recipe on A.. It’s super strange cooking for him again but super great. Like Fialonia, he’ll eat just about anything which is most helpful on days when I have to make a dinner out of ketchup, almond butter, kale, and rice (it worked!). So after today I promise I’ll start getting more creative. I’ve gone through all of the recipes in my vegan books so I think it’s time to make the leap into veganizing non-vegan recipes. This could get interesting…