'Cause This Is Music For The Young And Foolish

After being verbally smacked by a music store employee, I decided that I'd spent enough time/energy trying to track down the 2-disc limited edition of the new Kooks album and I'd just order it online. Then a week passed and I still didn't have my Kooks album. I contacted customer service and was told that they were out of the limited edition and were awaiting shipment from the supplier. The thought of missing out on the 2-disc limited edition made me want to cry a little so yesterday I popped by the music store while doing my boss's banking and bought it. To say I "popped by the music store" is a bit inaccurate.

Slow day at work, you ask? Erm, yes. Employee of the month right here.

Anyway, cds are my crack. I can't stop at just one. In addition to the new Kooks (2-disc! limited edition!) album, I also bought Counting Crows Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, Sia Some People Have Real Problems and The Mountain Goats Heretic Pride. On top of picking up Adele's 19 last week. Is there CD Buyers Anonymous? If so, I should probably think about signing up. Especially since I'm planning on picking up Sarah McLachlan's new cd tonight. I'm so weak.

I've only had time to listen to Adele's album so far but I plan on remedying that just as soon as I've loaded all the new music onto my ipod. I'm not making any promises, but perhaps I will review some of the music on my blog. Not fancy professional-like reviews mind you, just any thoughts I may have while listening. I will start with Adele:

Adele has an interesting voice. If Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Corinne Bailey Rae and Regina Spektor had a love-child, Adele would be it. I loved the album after my first listen. Now, after multiple listens, there are a few songs that make me grit my teeth. Also, I have yet to learn any of the lyrics (which is rare for me and might be an indication of the songs' catchiness - yes catchiness is a real word. Don't test me, I'll kick you.) That being said, I would recommend this album if you like bluesy pop and unique female voices (like my friend Cale, who has this weird love of unique-sounding female singers. It's Cale's birthday today. Happy Birthday Cale! For your birthday, you can listen to my copy of Adele's cd.)

We're The Golden Crust On An Apple Pie That Shines In The Sun At Noon

I love blogs that share recipes. I especially loves blogs that have recipes and pictures of the food. One of my favourites is JustJenn. Her cupcakes make me drool (heh, that sounds dirty.)

I took pictures of the apple pie making process last weekend and S laughed at me the whole time. He knows I have a blog. He's completely uninterested in reading it or any other blog for that matter. He doesn't understand why I love blogs. I don't understand why he doesn't. Anyway, can someone please prove him wrong and tell me how interested you are in the pie making process and how grateful you are that I'm sharing a (semi)secret family recipe? Anyone?

Apple Pie with Crumbly Cheese Topping

I used a mix of 4 different apples: (from left to right) golden delicious, granny smith, braeburn and fuji.

I used 6 golden delicious and 3 each of the other apples. I ended up with way too many apples. Next time I'd probably cut back to about 10 apples total.

I sliced the granny smith into thinner, smaller slices than the rest of the apples. They're crunchier than the other apples so if you make them the same size as the other apple slices you end up with crunchy apples in your pie.

Lemon zest is what makes this pie amazing. It adds an element of freshness to the pie. This is the zest of 2 lemons.

Add 2 cups sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Mix it until the juice from the apples makes the dry bits stick to the apple bits.

Pile it into 2 unbaked pie crusts. Are you wondering why I go to all the trouble of making homemade pie filling but still use store bought pastry? Shortening freaks me out. It's gross and unnatural. Also? I'm lazy. Don't judge me.

For the topping, mix together 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 cup shredded cheese (use the smallest size grater you have.)

Mix it together until it looks like this.

Pile on top of the apples, making sure no apples are exposed.

Bake in a preheated 400degree oven for 40 minutes. I always bake the pies on a baking sheet to catch the juice that inevitably spills over the edge. The top looks a bit burnt in this picture but it tastes best that way.

Serve with a scoop of ice cream or, if you're pretending to be on a diet like I am, frozen yogurt.

I Never Had Your Beauty Mark Nor Did I Have Your Black Hair

A few weeks ago Holly blogged about Mario Badescu skin products. She included the link to their skin survey, which lured me in with the promise of free samples. I love free stuff but free beauty products? Definitely qualifies as a Best!Thing!Ever! I wasn't sure if I could partake in the free samples, being Canadian and all, but today in the mail I received:

Seven (7!) samples. I can't wait to play with them.

We'd Spend The Whole Weekend Lying In Our Own Dirt

My weekend in pictures:

taking a catnap, before the bandages come off

why I could never be a vegetarian

puppy love

ferocious beast

wedding invitations - almost ready to be mailed out

apple pie with crumbly cheese topping

Unphotographed weekend happenings:

- Westy's team lost, meaning they're out of the running to play in the RBC Cup in Ontario.
- S bought a suit (1 more thing we can cross off the wedding to do list!)
- I did absolutely no studying for my final (oh and I haven't finished the coursework yet either. And the final is on Saturday.)
- S decided that no, he doesn't want to go somewhere tropical for his 30th birthday. He's reverted back to his crazy Alaska idea.

I Am Just Your Ordinary Average Everyday Sane Psycho

Erm, I just signed for a package and when the courier handed over his clipboard, he had to move a photograph of a rabbit so I could sign. So I'm signing and he tells me that it's a picture of his bunny. And it's her birthday today. Now, I'll fully admit that I have a picture of Stella at my desk. I don't carry it around with me though; it's taped to the wall. It was one of those moments where you know that if you allow yourself to laugh you'll end up dismembered. Awkward.

But It's Gonna Take You To Invite Her Cuz You Seem So Determined To Spite Her

When S and I got engaged, we decided we wanted to elope. We wanted to be married by an Elvis impersonator in Vegas. We wanted to make our wedding a vacation, stress-free and fun. Our plan to elope was canned after receiving a devastating lecture from my mother about "family responsibility" and selfishness. S and I had been focused on "our day" being about what we want (and it should be to a certain extent) but it's also about family and coming together to celebrate with the people who mean the most to us. Vegas was scrapped and we started to plan a wedding.

We decided early on that there were some things worth spending money on (bitchin' venue! cupcakes!) and others that weren't so important (um, flowers? decorations?) We decided to try to save money on the not-so-important things by doing them ourselves. Fast forward to last night where S and I are hunched over the coffee table, trying to assemble our invitations using sticky dots that are the approximate size of an atom. We bought a wedding invitation kit, thinking that homemade invitations are twee. Unfortunately, homemade invitations that are made in our home? Look like crap. And are frustrating and time-consuming to make. Fortunately, we figured out early on that the problem was the infernal sticky dots and the situation improved greatly when we got rid of them.

Wedding Crafting Lesson #1: double-sided tape is your friend

So we picked up some double-sided tape and our invitation output increased. Things were moving along at an impressive rate until S dropped a french fry on a finished invitation. At which point I channeled Monica Geller and lost my shit. It wasn't pretty. I'm not proud.

Wedding Crafting Lesson #2: no food in or around the crafting area

In the middle of my lecture on Responsible Fast Food Consumption, I realized how crazy I sounded and we had a good laugh. And quit making wedding invitations.

Wedding Crafting Lesson #3: wedding crafting sucks

Hopefully tonight we have more luck. We didn't do save the date cards (because we are bad wedding planners. And, um, lazy) so we really need to get the invitations out soon. I keep having a dream where I forget to send the invitations out and no-one shows up at the wedding. I'm hoping that when we actually mail the invitations I will stop being a crazy. Or at least stop having crazy dreams.

Take It Down Out To The Laundry Scene

Stella has a puppy bed and a puppy blanket, yet she shuns them both in favour of a big ol' stinky pile of laundry.
Hey, we just removed her ovaries and her thumbs - if she wants to hang out in our dirty clothes, it's fine by me.

Besides, she looks so comfortable.