Hey y’all!

I’m so glad you guys like my little glass plate idea!  I tell ya, a lot of fun can be had by a girl who has an embarrassing amount of scrapbooking sheets… and I don’t mean scrapbooking…

Today I have one more presto-chango trick for you that yet again involves pretty paper and clear objects I have around the house:

I got this awesome clear tray for my birthday one year (it’s from Ikea, where else).  There are really so many ways in which to use it: displayed on top of my dresser with pretty perfume bottles on it, serving drinks and snacks, or most of the time it is on our ottoman in the living room for balancing drinks and empty ice cream bowls on

So in order to spruce it up a little, I stole my idea from the glass plate post and got to work on cutting out a piece of old wrapping paper to fit on the bottom of the tray.  To attach it I just used little pieces of clear tape along the corners and sides.

You guys must think it is a constant cocktail party at my house!  After being on my feet all day long at the cafe and being a busy body in general, I really try to work in some chill time at the end of my day.  I find that it keeps me grounded.  Sitting outside surrounded by pretty things does that for me

Instead of chilled beverages enjoyed outside, expect to see lots of warm and cozy drinks once the weather turns!

I have a few more rolls of cute wrapping paper and I am itching to switch up the look again! Oh the possibilities are endless!

]]> http://revelblog.com/2010/08/one-tray-many-looks/feed/ 4 http://revelblog.com/2010/08/one-plate-many-looks/ http://revelblog.com/2010/08/one-plate-many-looks/#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:31:39 +0000 Revel! http://revelblog.com/?p=2599

Way back in March I posted some Sprinkles Cupcakes that I had made.  My family was coming over for Sunday afternoon coffee and I wanted to spruce up the plain glass plates that I had.  The little blue dots that came with the mix were so darn cute!  Then I remembered a stack of scrapbooking papers that I had and went to work on customizing the plates specially for the occasion.

And then it struck me:  I can change the look of the plates to match what I am serving at parties or get-togethers!  I like to pick out an accent colour or pattern from the appetizer or treat that I am serving and then pick a paper that would compliment it.  This is especially great for when you are throwing a party with a colour scheme or a theme, for example a bridal shower, Thanksgiving, birthdays, Easter brunch….

Have a look at how these $1 plates (yes, I picked mine up at the dollar store…true story!) get a new life every time I serve something else on it:

The “how-to” is really dead simple:

• use clear glass plates (I have side plates, but you can do this with dinner plates as well)
• select a piece of scrapbooking paper that you want to use based on the colour or theme you want to work with
• use a small bowl with the same diameter as the bottom of the plate to trace as many circles as you would need on the back of the selected paper
• cut out with siscors
• lightly apply some glue from a glue stick to the paper (don’t worry, it should come off really easy after use)
• stick to the bottom of the plate – hold it in place until the glue dries

I am all for cheapo-do-it-your-self-recycle-what-you-have party tricks!  It goes to show that you can give a plain stack of glass plates like these some attitude!

]]> http://revelblog.com/2010/08/one-plate-many-looks/feed/ 16 http://revelblog.com/2010/08/fall-cleaning/ http://revelblog.com/2010/08/fall-cleaning/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:18:56 +0000 Revel! http://revelblog.com/?p=2588 Today is a computer free day for me (well…. except for this post, that is…).  I have the day off work and really need to get some cleaning done around here.  And with the greatness of the internet being such a huge distraction I have decided to unplug for the rest of the day!

For a moment I was worried about all the tweets that I would miss (the horror!), but then I reminded myself that the internet will still be here tomorrow so no need to fret!

This summer has been busy in a very fun way – meaning that I was so busy having fun that I got behind on doing some things around the house.

Right now I have my fun and energizing playlist blaring, a fresh pot of coffee is almost done brewing and I am ready to kick some deep-cleaning and organizing butt!

With the wonderfully crisp weather we are having I am declaring today as my official “Fall Cleaning” day.  See you all tomorrow (you’ll still be around tomorrow, right?!)

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Aaaahh I love long and slow summer evenings!

To complete the picture, I decided to make a refreshing mocktail to sip on until the mosquitoes come out (or the little family of racoons that live in our big tree)

I totally just went through my fridge and realized that I have some nice ingredients for my celebratory friday-night-yay-it’s-still-summer-drink.

Carbonated Spring Water (Sodium Free no less, hehe!)

Frozen pieces of mango (left over from the fish tacos)

A couple of cute key limes (on their last legs)

Fresh ginger (chop up fine before putting into the drink)

And there you have a nice and refreshing little drink!

So if your week has been hectic and you are feeling squashed and depleted like the poor little key lime below, make yourself a little mocktail and kick up your feet.  If anyone’s looking for me, I will be out on the deck…

]]> http://revelblog.com/2010/08/friday-night-mocktails/feed/ 11 http://revelblog.com/2010/08/how-chicago-made-me-realize-how-much-i-love-my-taste-buds/ http://revelblog.com/2010/08/how-chicago-made-me-realize-how-much-i-love-my-taste-buds/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:15:25 +0000 Revel! http://revelblog.com/?p=2523 Most of you know that I spent last weekend in Chicago at the Healthy Living Summit (HLS).  It was fabulous spending time with some healthy, beautiful and positive girls (and a few guys!).  Now that Chicago is a few days in the past I have had the chance to read a lot of recaps and also to reflect on my own experience at the summit.  Since I am not a diary-style food blogger, I figure it is alright if I give you guys my own thoughts on the weekend in my own way.  For some of the amazingly inspiring (!!!) recaps (some of which brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps all over) you can check it out here, and here, and here, and here, and here… and lots more here. (Phew that’s a lot!  And it’s still just a drop in the bucket!)

I am lucky to say that I never really took part in disordered eating. Sure I went through periods of restricting my food intake or purely working out for the calorie burn, and I still turn around right away when trying on new clothes to see what my butt looks like in it, but nothin’ too crazy or damaging.

Hearing peoples testimonies about overcoming disordered eating and distorted self-images has made me realize just what a huge responsibility we all have.  The things we say or do, or comments we make about feeling fat can be internalized by those who hear it.

I was walking around with the lovely Courtney and Hillary on Friday, playing tourist and snapping pics….

(Hi girls!)

…when came across a couple of signs and I just had to stop and take some pictures:

Y’all have heard me say this before, but  I REVEL in my taste buds.  I really enjoy tasting delicious meals and imagining different recipes and playing around with different ingredients and flavours.  And seriously, I love to EAT and enjoy!

Being around a group of healthy bloggers just totally confirmed this point for me.  It is healthy to enjoy good and real food.  It is healthy not only for your body, but (equally important) it is healthy for your mind and heart!

How about you – do you revel in your taste buds?

I’ll leave you with some Chicago pics. What a fab city!!

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Toronto chicas represent!  (via)

(via Emily – my super fab roomie and new real-life friend!)

For more pictures of the HLS, check out this link!

I am back from Chicago and had a fabulous time at the Healthy Living Summit! The sponsors did a great job providing us with balanced and nutritious meals throughout the weekend, but I was still happy to be eating a home cooked meal on Sunday night.  And I was even happier coming home to Derek cooking some a-mazing halibut tacos!

This halibut has a story behind it though which makes it extra-extra special!  And just look how thick and flakey it is! Wowey!

My brother-in-law caught this halibut way up north in British Columbia, by the Alaskan border.  Lucky for us he is very generous and gave us a huge care package of fish when we left after visiting a couple of weeks ago.

It was pretty darn funny, because we wrapped the frozen fish up in a cooler, stuffed it with newspaper, duct taped it up, put it inside another box and made sure we got all sorts of ‘fragile’ stickers when we checked it at the airport in Vancouver.  We treasured our box as if it were gold, only to see it tumble on to the conveyor belt at baggage claim once we got to Toronto!

The good news is that the fish handled the journey just fine – it was a huge 100 pounder after all.  Such a tough guy!

To cook the fish, Derek rubbed it with some salt and pepper, and also with lots of blackened cajun seasoning. Bake in the oven at 400F for 15 minutes or until the meat flakes apart.  Squirt with lemon and/or lime once done.

I bought a bunch of key limes last week simply because I thought they looked so cute and pretty in a bowl on the kitchen counter, and these were perfect for squirting on to the fish.

For the mango salsa we chopped up the following:

• mango
• avocado
• red onion
• red pepper
• tomato
• cilantro

Squeeze some more lemon and lime over it and mix!  There was actually a lot of mango salsa left and it was delicious as a little side salad.

For the tacos we just used store bought taco shells – and it is worth the extra $ to get the ones with the flat bottoms that stand up on their own (I’m all about eliminating any potential disasters!).

Served with a side of corn to round off the meal. Hey – I figure it is now prime corn season and I need to get my corn-fill before they are gonners This one was perfectly sweet and juicy.

And there you have the perfect summer meal! Light, fresh, healthy and tasty!  But really, the star of the show was the fish.  You just cannot beat the freshness and the taste!

Alright – I’m off to go find some dessert in my HLS swag bag! I think I need some chocolate…

]]> http://revelblog.com/2010/08/fish-tacos/feed/ 11 http://revelblog.com/2010/08/epic-adventures-in-british-columbia/ http://revelblog.com/2010/08/epic-adventures-in-british-columbia/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:24:34 +0000 Revel! http://revelblog.com/?p=2422 Derek and I just got back from playing around British Columbia with his brother and girlfriend for eight days. Sad when family live far away – but happy when you have a fun place to visit!  Here’s a photo journal of our time – gosh, just looking these pics make me wanna pack my bags again (oh wait, I’m not done unpacking yet…). Wanderlust is a fantastic thing!

Barbecue in Kitts Beach, Vancouver…

…posing with OLD AND HUGE trees on Vancouver Island…

…chillaxing on the patio in Tofino to take in the view after a long day…

…going for leisurely walks on the beach…

…isn’t this just the perfect setup that these people had?  Wetsuits and booties: check. Coffee: check….

… watching kids play in the waves as the sun set…

…having amazingly fresh sushi…

…a foggy morning that allows the girls to go on a photo-taking and tea drinking mission while the boys surf in the cold…

…resulting in some cool pictures…

…back on mainland BC, hiking to the camp site with your tent, food, sleeping bag, etc on your back…

…only to be rewarded with these MAGNIFICENT views…

…being classy and chilling a bag of Chardonnay from a box in the glacier water… and tying a rope around it so that it doesn’t float away…

… more hiking and more MAGNIFICENT views offered as reward…

…brotherly snowball fights on the mountain…

…skiing down the mountain in shoes and with hiking poles…

…pointing to our campsite – can you see the little yellow and blue tents way down below on the little inlet by the lake?? So cool…

… sleeping at the foot of a glacier…. and praying at night that there won’t be an avalanche…

…out-housing… oh the joy…

… our very gracious hosts!  Thanks for showing us a crazy great time!  We love you guys soooo much!

Disclaimer!! not included: us surfing… SURFING!!, going back to “Shelter” in Tofino for food and drinks 3 times in a row, fireworks in Vancouver on 3 different nights, 4 people hunched over in a little tent playing Euchre as an escape from the bugs, the inevitable bug bites, emergency helicopter swooping in to rescue some dude off the glacier, missing 3 ferries out of Nanaimo, and, and, and…

I also love to mix sweet and savoury – it keeps my taste buds interested and excited!  A late summer afternoon little platter should contain some fresh and sweet figs…

…and some herbed goat cheese (which is growing on me by the way! And yes, I realize it’s not vegan)…

…all stacked up nicely on top of some homemade crackers!

These crackers are very yummy and crispy.  I love crackers that are crunchy and seedy, and these have almonds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds in them.  Very hardy, thick and crunchy!  And they are vegan to boot!

{recipe from here}

Ok, now I am ready for some guests!  And also a nice glass of chardonnay.

I hope your weekend involves some corn on the cob!

Now the question is: how long can we sit outside without mosquitoes bugging us to go back in?

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