Davids Tea Review

The husband and I love Davids Tea. We don't go there often but when we have extra cash laying around we like to browse and spend obscene amounts of said cash on tea.

I love tea. I am not too picky about what tea I am drinking. I don't particularly like overly fruity teas and I can't have any tea with ginger as it tastes like soap. Don't serve me ginger tea!! Imagine drinking a bar of Ivory soap...tasty eh?

So today with some birthday money the husband was given we hit up Davids Tea. Yesterday while he was visiting a friend he was shown The Steeper and today he said he had to have it. So we picked it up and I have to say I love it. I was never a fan of those tea balls but I wanted to use leaf tea without making a huge pot. In comes The Steeper: it makes about two cups, perfect for me on those days I don't want to share ;). You place the tea leaves in the steeper and pour boiling water over them. Let it steep then place the whole steeper over the cup and there is a valve that gets pushed down and the tea drains right into the cup. It wont make a mess either when you're switching to another cup. For 20$ I am in love.

We also picked up 3 teas. Orange Blossom, Whiskey White, and Buttered Rum.

Orange Blossom:

Britney: This tea is great. The citrus is not overpowering and the smell...so relaxing! I found it needed a little sugar (half a teaspoon or less per cup). It brought out the vanilla. I can envision myself drinking this after a day of classes to unwind.
Marc: Though I've never had the experience, the smell of this tea makes me think of Jasmine in a garden at night.  It's sweet, teasing, light.  Also, with a little bit of sugar it tastes like drinking a creamsicle.

Whiskey White:

Britney: I wasn't sure about this one. Marc picked up a 50g bag to test it out and although I didn't have a cup of it myself, the few sips I had were pretty good. When you smell the leaves in the bag it smells very sweet and the macadamia nuts are overpowering for me. But once steeped the taste was unexpected. It was not really sweet like I thought it would be, it was quite delicious. Marc will be able to give a better description as he actually drank a cup.
Marc: If like me, you love the ritual and the aroma of drinking whiskey or scotch, you'll probably love this tea.  The smell is identical to a good scotch, but the flavour is of course much gentler.  Very soothing, with a strong sense of manly ritual thrown in for the man who normally might not drink tea.

Buttered Rum:

Britney: Hmmmm. Not to sure on this one yet. The smell is amazing but the taste isn't what I expected. It's a little bitter so I had to add some sugar. Once I added milk the taste improved significantly. I got this one to give me some energy on the days I have 8am classes as I can't drink coffee. So once I start having to wake up super early I will be able to test out my energy levels after consuming a cup. Overall, not a horrible tea just wasn't what I expected.
Marc: This tea reminds me of a butterscotch candy, without the cloying sweetness.  The smell is a journey back in time, to your grandmother's kitchen.

Part Deux

So once Christmas was over the husband and I had a chance to stay home and relax and not drive anywhere. OMG the DRIVING! I am sooo sick of it!

Anyways.....

We celebrated New Years Eve at home. We aren't big with going out, we prefer to just stay quiet. We ordered Indian food and watched some movies. The next morning though we headed up to Hawksbury for brunch with some of my family and then visited my mom for the afternoon. We then got a call that Marcs dad was in the hospital and he was in a lot of pain. The leukemia is back :(. We headed down to Lachute but I couldn't go see him, I'm not ready to go into that hospital again. Lets hope he picks up and can be home soon!

Yesterday we celebrated the husbands birthday...the big 2-9. I set up a whole pirate themed thing for him and he  loved it. He's still wearing the pirate hat around the house :P

Over the holidays I have been in a shoe buying craze. I've been hitting up some deals and managed to snag a good pair of winter boots for half off. The shoes I ordered did not fit :P but they were AWESOME. 5inch platform oxfords baby! *shudders* I was a fucking giant in them! In the end I had to tell myself that there were just that little bit too small and they may actually have been too high for me...maybe. I returned them and got a jacket I have had my eyes on all year. So it worked out.

I hope you have all had a good holiday! And Happy New Year!

New Boots

For the last few months I have been on the hunt for a pair of ankle boots. I have never owned any before and I really wanted something different to wear with tights and dresses during the colder months than flats or my beat up hardcore winter boots.

So the search began.

Now I have big feet. I wear a size 11 and sometimes have to go up to a 12. A lot of Canadian stores do not carry those sizes and if they do they either run small or the styles are...well no one would wear them. But there are some that I know of and are in the area and have pretty good prices: Sears, Aldo, Spring, Payless. (If anyone knows of any other stores please tell me). Another thing that bugs me is I have HUGE feet bones and my ankle bone is...not a normal size. So most times I can't get my monster feet into the little hole.

 So I check out Sears first and well...there isn't much. I find some nice looking boots but they are almost 200$. Sorry student on a budget here! Next I go to payless, I only find what I call "witch boots", you know the ones that are really pointy, black and well a witch would wear. That ain't my style. The other boots they have are flats and I wanted a heel. Next I check out Spring. I go to their clearance area because I will not pay full price there if I can avoid it. I find nothing. One store left. Aldo.

Now I don't really like Aldo. I don't usually have good luck there. Their size 11 is more like a size 9. And the shoes aren't all that comfortable, and the prices can be crazy. But I was desperate. When I went to the site I was in a pretty bad mood, I had a bad day, was stressing out etc. Shopping while pissy is not the best plan but I did it anyways. I go to their clearance section and start browsing the boots. As I get lower and lower on the page I heart drops as I see nothing that looks like it would fit. But then! Then I see a pair of boots that look like they could actually fit. They are grey, have a little wedge, tie up...and they come in my size! So I click buy, go to the cart and put in my info. Within 10 minutes I ordered what I hope would be the perfect pair of boots.

Yesterday they arrive. I was so nervous because if these ones didn't fit then I was screwed. I open the box and my heart sinks at how small they look. Great! I try them on anyways and OMFG my feet go in without any fighting and they tie up good...they fit! And they are so comfortable. So my search for the perfect ankle boots ended at a store I swore I would never shop at again :P

When I went back to the site to post a review I couldn't find them anymore so I guess they are sold out now. Like I said they are really comfortable. They are not tight anywhere, you can loosen or tighten them as you wish, the heel is not too high so I can walk in these all day without wanting to change to flats. They are dressy looking and casual at the same time so I can pair them with anything in my closet.



Update: So after two days of wearing them one of the bottoms of the boots started coming off. Now it did snow and I was walking in the snow, but still the bottom should not have come off. However, with some super glue i glued it back on, and after a good month they have not come apart again.

The other boots bottom started falling apart about a couple of weeks after the first one. It made me fall :P. Like the first boot, I super glued it and have had no problems since.

When I buy from Aldo or Spring (same company) I rarely buy them at full price. And, as I mentioned above, it's because they aren't made to last. The boots were about 80$ not on sale, and I would never pay that. Just something to think about when buying from them. Maybe it's just me, I tend to have bad luck with shoes, but honestly a boot shouldn't start falling apart after two wears.

Anyways I am still wearing them (when the weather cooperates :P) and I still do love them :)

O! And I found out that using some white vinegar gets rid of salt stains. I was nervous to try it but it really did work, and after putting some hot water on the vinegar it left no smell :).

Cooking and Rambling post. Lucky you!

First I want to say that I am saddened by the news today on Jack Layton passing away. He left the public eye for a bit this summer to focus on his cancer with plans to return in the fall. Sadly he will not be returning. I do not follow politics, nor I am "In the know" about politics but there was something about Jack that drew me to pay more attention to what is happening in my country. He fought tirelessly about what he believed in, he wanted a better Canada, a Canada where people helped each other. I never met him but, from what I have heard, he was a great guy. In any case, Jack, you had plans for this country that we will never see but I hope the people in your party stay focused and fight for what you wanted. My thoughts are with his family and friends.

Ok on to other things:

Today the mother came up to go shopping! It was nice to go out for the day with her and my youngest brother. She bought two VERY nice dresses, once of which I hope she wears soon. We went out to lunch and just browsed stores. I bought sheets, I desperately needed. Also my Old Navy clothes arrived from the States! I bought my first ever pair of skinny jeans...yes this fat ass will be in skinny jeans! They will look awesome with my boots that should be here any day. I also got a shirt, Marc really liked it and told me I should order it. I have to agree with him, it does look nice. Once my outfit is together (hurry up boots!) I will take a picture and give you a peak.

This weekend we are heading up to my moms, Marc hasn't been up there in ages and my youngest brother has been begging me to bring him up. We're only going for the day but we might have my brother up on Labour day weekend, if we don't already have plans.

And now a cooking post about what we had for dinner on Sunday! (not many pictures because I forgot to document it)

I wasn't feeling particularly adventurous but I wan'ted to try something new. I'm not a fan of cream of soups but I wanted to add a sauce to the chicken. So I bought a cream of celery. Anyways the meal turned out great, it wasn't heavy at all but left us feeling pleasantly full.

So I cooked the chicken in the oven on 400 for about 40 minutes. I made sure it was mostly cooked (still very juicy, could use another 10-20 min in the oven) because I wanted to cook the rest of it in the sauce.

I then put some mushrooms (I bought sliced because I was lazy) in a pan, with some oil and red wine. I fried them up and put them to the side.

Once the sauce was hot (I used Campbells cream off so I just followed the directions on the can, I did add a little milk to it) I put the chicken in and let it cook for about 10 minutes. By then the chicken was perfectly cooked and still juicy.

I put the chicken on the plate, fried mushrooms besides it and then the extra sauce on top of the chicken. We had fries with it because we were out of potatoes :P and some salad on the side.

Reminder: My oven cooks fast so always make sure your chicken is cooked well, times vary. I don't want anyone getting sick!

 Mushrooms

Salad

Delicious Chicken











I apologize for the badly (spelling or wrong words used, my usual crappy grammar) written post, I am kinda bouncy and feel like I need to do many things. Sitting still and focusing is very difficult right now.

Damn boots are haunting me

Last week I stumbled upon torrid (horrible when you have no money) and I decided to check if my boots (yes mah boots!) were still in stock in my size. They were. I oogled and sighed and maybe cried, I can't be sure, and decided that along with a few other clothing items, I wanted THESE boots for my birthday.

I have been eyeing those suckers for a lifetime since around last holiday season, but I decided to go with a more piratical pair. But I never forgot those boots. I had (have) outfits planned around these boots. And yes I will be a fucking giant wearing them (5inch heel on a almost 6 foot woman) but I don't give a shit. I effin want these boots.  BUT, the damn shipping on torrid to Canada is insane. INSANE people! I will be spending 100$ on these boots and they are on clearance!! I am paying the same (actually more) in shipping than these damn boots cost.

Dear Torrid:
I like your clothes, I have a few pieces from you and they have fit wonderfully. I want to order more, hell i'd go across the border to get them but you don't even have shops close to the border (at least from Montreal...last I checked). Your shipping costs too much. I have ordered from other stores in the States and did not have to pay the insane amount of shipping you seem to think you need to charge. There are a lot of Canadians who would be placing bigger orders and more often if you bring your shipping down (and please do not go on about the border taxes and duty fees I have ordered things with those fees on and it still was twice as less as what you charge). I don't know why you wont even open a store somewhere in Canada, or at least TRY to. I want these boots so bad that I will pay the insane shipping fee but i'd much rather order a bunch of stuff at once from you than have to shop other stores online to get separate pieces because you cost too much!

Please bring down your shipping fees.

Boot loving customer

So yes I will order those boots and will pay the shipping fee. I have been thinking about these boots non stop for a long time so it will be worth it. If they sell out of my size though, before I can order, there will be an explosion of anger coming from my place. Check the news people.

The long weekend

Today is the last day of the long weekend, and it has been a very good weekend! Saturday morning I picked up my brother and we headed to moms. Marc and I spent the night, it was great to see my mom and brothers :). Then we headed to see Marcs family on Sunday, because our niece was up!! It was so good to see her, I could hold her and play with her all day. She is absolutely adorable!

We were worried we wouldn't really get a chance to see her and spend some one on one time with her as some family members were coming over but we left my moms early and we had a couple of hours with her. Marc was able to read to her and give her a toy he got her to go with the book (paper bag princess). I am sad we are not able to see more of her for awhile but the few hours we had was really nice. Also seeing that she recognized us from Skype was a nice surprise :) Marc had a lot of fun with her, he even fed her some little tomato pieces. We both look forward to seeing her again!

Today (Monday) we are spending the day being lazy, we are BBQing our first steaks of the summer and watching some Boston Legal.

Nothing else has really happened the last few weeks, it has been quiet (I like it that way). It has been getting hot and humid though. I did give the dehumidifer a test today: Last summer I would do my hair (either curl it or straighten it) and not 5 minutes later it would be a ball of frizz because of the humidity, so I figured today I would see if I could straighten my hair and not sweat and have it frizz. Well, it stayed straight! It was hot in the room, the dehumidifer puts heat out but I can handle that. So we will see when it gets really humid to give it a good test but I think it will work. I miss having an air conditioner but I am not willing to pay for a portable one and we can't have one hanging out the window over cars (totally makes sense, and one of those cars is ours).

This week I will be heading out with a folder of my resumes looking for that summer job. I am not going to be too picky about where I work, it's just to get a little extra cash. I will also go shopping, yes that makes sense!! My mom gave me some spending money and there is a maxi dress I want to try out. Thanks mommy!!

Exams. Exams. Exams. O look a dress!

I have two more exams to go through...two more. I can do this....I hope.
I don't remember ever being as stressed as I am this week about exams, I am actually making myself sick from stress. It's a little scary. Marc is pretty much leaving me alone because I think I am just mumbling, screaming and crying at random moments.
The two exams I did I think i did ok in. I mean I could be totally wrong and I could be fucked and have to repeat the whole semester but lets hope not eh!
Next Tuesday is my last exam and I want the end of that day to be here yesterday. I have to remember that I still have a huge assignment to hand in on that day too...I have yet to start this monster assignment.
Anyways the dress arrived today! I don't know what to think about it. It's not as nice as on the website and the zipper is SUPER cheap and in a weird spot. It like starts half way down the waist and goes up to the top of the dress. The way the dress falls on me is...well i'm not sure. I tried it on when I got home and I was still shaking from the exam so I wasn't in the best position to try it on. When Marc gets home we shall try it again, I am still stressed but not as much as before. Also  was told to rub some wax on the zipper to help it but I might return it so that wont be the best idea.
Sigh the time is flying until Christmas and I'm starting to get the holiday nervousness of trying to be everyone, do everything, please everyone and please myself. It can't all happen unfortunately.

The boots...They fit!

Thank the boot god!!
At first they didn't fit and I was almost in tears and called Marc in hysterics. Finding boots for me is a stressful event ok. Anyways I get them home from Sears and they look nice and I put my foot in--Good my fit goes in with no problems. Then i put the tongue up and start to zipper the boot up my leg--O no the zipper wont go the last 2 inches. I fight and fight but it just wont go<--that is the point I start freaking out.
After I get off the phone with Marc I take a look at the boots again--Hmm I wonder if these laces undo, in the picture it looks like they are just there for decoration but maybe they loosen. I pull the strings apart and the boots OPENS UP! I zip the rest of the boot up my leg with no problems and almost want to cry tears of happiness. Now that my feet are in them I have to say they are sooo fluffy inside and warm. They feel so comfortable and now I know that I can loosen or tighten the strings as I need. I hope these boots last me a few years because I do not want to have to find new ones.
'Sides that nothing is new in the life of Marc and Britney. We did decide though that if we must stay overnight at Marcs families house then (if we have enough left over cash from buying gifts) we are booking a hotel room at the local old hotel. I stayed there the wedding night and got ready there in the morning and the rooms are not that bad, the prices were a little high but maybe my mom booked me a bigger room I don't know. Anyways we agreed on that, also if we are tired and can't drive back home then we can stay at the hotel, just the two of us ^_^.

O swimsuits..how you taunt me.

For about 3 weeks i had my eye on this swimsuit on an American online  store. It was a good price for a once piece (sure the shipping was a  lot) but i was ready to buy it. Yesterday i go to buy it and what do you  know.......my size is out of stock-practically every size is out of  stock. I checked the damn thing the night before. Needless to say i was  angry.

So began another search for a swimsuit. I wanted something a little  nicer than what i usually get as i will be wearing this to Cuba for our  first year anniversary. But i didn't want to spend a crap load of money.  I looked and looked and there were a lot of ugly swimsuits or swimsuits  to small to even fit one of my boobs but nothing for me.

Then i decided to check on <a href="http://www.modcloth.com/" target="_blank">Modcloth</a>.  I like the stuff they have on that site and i saw a swimsuit there a  few months ago, but it was 90$ US and like 20$ shipping so it would be  about 120 or so. OUCH. It is a classic shape, something that will not go  out of style and i do not wear swimsuits often so it could last me a  long time. The reviews on it were good so now i just need to get up the  courage to actually buy the thing. I really really want it but i get  sick thinking about the money i will be putting down on it. I'm going to  keep looking to see if there is anything else but come 2 weeks from now  if i can't find anything that 120 one piece will be mine.

I bought a dress yesterday instead. A cute dress, something else i  wanted. I was feeling crabby and it was the dress or 4 inch heels i  would probably never wear. The dress won, although those shoes were  pretty sweet.

After all the shopping online (you can break a sweat you know), i cooked Marc a yummy pasta dish.

<a href="http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta-recipes/cheat-s-home-made-pappardelle-with-quick" target="_blank">Recipe!</a>

It is such a good recipe. I could make this a few times a week if i knew pasta wouldn't bloat me <em>:P</em>