shshshshopping

last night i went to homesense to do a little shopping. i am going to a girlfriend's birthday dinner tonight and don't want to show up empty handed. everyone always says "no gifts, no gifts" when no one is going to refuse (and not love) a little something. i like homesense because it is the same company as winners. i can go in, find the perfect gift, and not be distracted by the clothes!

i ended up buying more for myself than for my friend... of course. i absolutely LOVE flavoured coffees and i found two amazing ones from a company called "pie in the sky" and distributed by figueroa brothers, inc. although i can't find anything about the coffee on the website. the coffee flavours i got... are you ready for this?... coconut creme pie and boston creme pie. mmmmmmm. of course i haven't tried them yet but am confident they will be sinlessly delicious.

i also bought two bottle koozies. what is a koozie? yeah... that was my question too. it's a little zip up jacket for your bottle. i bought them with the intention of using them for alcoholic drinks. for example, if a person wanted to enjoy a pomtini on toronto island without arising suspicion. but then it occurred to me that they are probably for water bottles. one is bright orange with white polka dots and the other is bright green with white polka dots. each one has a cute little mitten zipper tag. i'm assuming they are being marketed towards women, which is why i never thought they were for beer. but they could be for beer. if you like beer. in a bottle. like a corona... alright i feel better now. they were on super discount for $0.70 each. in these hard economic times i can justify this goofy purchase.

i bought my friend a pretty amazing present, if i do say so myself. it is a Liquid Solutions Tea-zer Tea Brewing Tumbler with Infuser Basket in blue. basically a loose leaf tea thermos. what a great idea not to mention adorable. not everyone likes coffee (did i just say that?) but most people like tea. AND loose leaf teas are becoming more of a mainstream rage. or maybe, when you get to a certain age more people can afford and drink loose leaf teas.

afterward, i went to loblaws to pick up some fresh fruits and veggies. i love loblaws AND their organic section is pretty similar to whole foods market. last night i spotted almost everything i buy at whole foods for cheaper prices. i bought grapefruits, blood oranges, bananas, and this. i know it's overpriced for oats but i have to try it! review to come later.

i didn't do any yoga last night but i did do some this morning. i tried the 20-minute lunar flow. i loved the spine twists but some of the weird backward bending moves made my lower back ache and i'm sure i'll be in yoga pain tomorrow. i am heading down for a swim around noon, and tonight am walking a) to my boyfriend's apartment 2.5 miles away and b) to the restaurant, maybe another mile or so.

lazy vs. rest day

yesterday i didn't do any exercise. i didn't get home until 8:30 because i went to the walmart supercentre. i love you walmart supercentre. you are so big and super. i bought: a new tweezer, some dove intense repairing conditioner, three new cheap sports bras (A cup annies can get away with cheap sports bras), a new big bowl for microwaving oatmeal, 4 new drinking glasses (mine have slowly been breaking and i only have two left), some eye make-up remover (i like the rimmel brand), some dairyland fat free vanilla yogurts, and a pomegranate. oh, and a fancy wrapped wine from the wine rack in the walmart. oh, AND i forgot one to mention one of the best things i got. i mean, maybe the best, i have to try it first. here it is:

jolly time healthy pop caramel apple flavour. it's only 120 calories for 1/2 the bag. my box came with 3 packets, not 12. there were two other yummy flavours, like mallow magic, but that one was 360 calories for 1/2 the bag. outrageous! sometimes the walmart supercentre stocks products like this that i would usually only expect to find in the united states. occasionally it has chex mix which is my snack crack. i didn't buy any snack crack... don't want to OD!

i also went to canadian tire which was the main purpose of my trip because i wanted to buy a little (maybe 2 feet) christmas tree for my apartment. but i wanted one with pre-strung lights that didn't look tacky or cheap and it just wasn't my day. there were some nice bigger ones, but i don't want to go overboard. i bought my mom a nice whisk and spatula for christmas. i also got her a membership to costco. she is going to love it. i am going to love it too because i'm going to beg her to take me there. please mum please!

so i got home late, too pooped to work out. and i should mention that i was suffering from bum pain. dammit! so i took a "rest day." it's funny to me to call days when i plan to work out and don't "rest days" instead of just "lazy" or "can't be bothered" days. but it all worked out. normally i "rest" on friday mornings, but today i had a 40 minute swim. today is also weigh-in day and i am down two pounds and barely back in my maintenance range. hooray! i knew my pants were fitting better. even when i am a mere two pounds heavier i can feel the difference in my thighs.

this weekend is going to be fun fun fun until my daddy takes the t-bird away. tonight after work i am going to my bf's parent's house for his dad's birthday dinner (hence the wine). hence: do you like that word? and then tonight a home movie night with friends. tomorrow the ago is free all day (art gallery of ontario) so it would be fun to stop there, and then my bf is having a "november is boring" party. and THEN, on sunday, we are sitting on his roof (third floor street apartment) to watch the toronto santa claus parade! could it get any better? yes it can - by drinking a peppermint latte :) oh, and THEN on monday... i am going shopping in BUFFALO with my bff - it's her birthday.

my question for readers is: what would you buy in the states!?!?! i expect at least 1,000 comments, ha!

oh boy

today i'm not feeling so great. i feel really unattractive... you know, muffin top, pimple, windblown hair, faded jeans, under eye circles. generally bad news. it's so cold and windy today. i look like a monster - not joking. short bleached hair looks like the hair on a muppet after it has been blowing in the wind.

this morning i had my group session at the employment insurance office. really i just snoozed the whole thing away, although i did learn some great resources for improving my english. it was not helpful to me, personally, but i can see how it would be for some people. and it's good to make sure that people aren't cheating the system.

here is a general beef i have: why doesn't tim hortons take debit or visa? seriously... only mastercard or cash. i can understand cash only because they want to keep the lines moving along speedily, but some people don't carry cash (like me, usually). this morning i bought some boxes of that pumpkin spice tea. it's so delicious! anyway, luckily i found an old abandoned tim's card in my wallet, or else i would have had to give up my tea dreams. sad, but true.

in terms of food and eating, i have learned something very, VERY interesting about myself. i need to keep myself neither full or hungry. especially not too full. when i am too full, i feel like i've "blown it," like why bother stopping now... even if i've just eaten a plate of veggies. it doesn't matter... the whole ruining the diet mentally. even though it's ridiculous and i can rationally acknowledge its ridiculousness. so i can't let myself be too full, and ESPECIALLY, not in the evenings, when i am alone. i envy people who live with other people because it's sort of like a block for overeating. i wouldn't stuff myself in front of anyone else because of the embarrassment or the idea of someone judging my eating. but alone, why not? who is going to know? except myself and that's a whole other discussion of feeling bad about yourself!

so that's all i have to say today. today for breakfast i had strawberry carnation instant breakfast made with unsweetened almond breeze instead of oatmeal. a nice change taste-wise but it is not holding me over at all.

fun thursday!

today i am not doing anything resembling a) driving and b) work.

for breakfast i had a cup of caramelo coffee, an english muffin with chocolate peanut butter (yum), and a cup of frozen mango, thawed.

my plan for today is to hit the gym (for either treadmill walking or elliptical), then i am meeting my old boss for lunch, and then i am getting my hair done (a cut and lighter blond). i'm not sure where we are going for lunch, but hopefully there will be healthy options. if not, i'll just eat half and save the rest for later.

that's all i really have to say today. tomorrow is weigh in and i'm hoping it will better than the last few weeks... after thanksgiving weekend though, so i'm not counting any chickens before they hatch!

UPDATE: i just got back from the gym. i wore my HRM this time because it's been collecting dust. i did 20 minutes on the elliptical, then some stretching and situps, then 10 more minutes on the elliptical. then, when i was leaving, the elevators in my condo were out of order and i had to walk up 10 flights of stairs. 350 calories burned... not bad for an hour! and i feel great now! woopee - although clearly i am not as in shape as i was when running. there were times on the elliptical (near the end when i was pushing it) when my heart rate was over 170... apparently it's not safe (for me) to go over 166.

i have a problem

and it's my love of coffee. i love coffee. it's so warm and yummy and makes me feel good all over. right now i am halfway through reading skinny bitch, which tells you that coffee is bad (and everything is bad...) and if you *need* coffee then you have a problem. well, i don't think i need coffee. i don't have it everyday, and sometimes i only drink half a cup and forget about it. and i make a point not to drink more than 2 cups per day (if i'm really jonesing for coffee), and now that i'm in my almost mid-late twenties, i try not to have coffee at night. it doesn't keep me up at night but the tables could turn at any moment.

in other news, this morning i did an anti-boredom workout: bike, arm weights, elliptical, more arm weights, treadmill, stretching it out. i also did this new arm free-weights move that i read about here on fit celeb. except i used 5-pound weights because my gym doesn't have 3-pound weights... and 3 pounds is too light for me. i think jessica biel (from the fit celeb link) has a superfit, awesome body. she is feminine, but also hardcore... that's what i want. although i'm sure some people might think she is too buff, i am not one of them. see!:

weird how that picture is from chinadaily.com, haha. anyway.

i just noticed yesterday that erin from going skinny tagged me for a meme game. here are the rules:


1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

my five:
1) some of you may know that i am learning to sew... i took a class and made a pillow (and haven't done anything since)... until now! on facebook i won a $100 prize from the sewing studio, and i've signed up for the "how to make a summer dress" class... isn't that rad? it's 4 classes and doesn't start until mid-june. but a summer dress? hooray! just think... once i've made one... i can make a thousand, and wear something different every day of my life.

2) i was a very picky eater as a child. my mom would say stuff like, "if you don't eat that broccoli, then you can't have dessert" and i'd be fine with that. now i can't imagine not wanting dessert, hah. i hated all green veggies, most other vegetables, salad, rice (who hates rice?), and all seafood.

3) i ride my bike to work everyday, if it is not raining, or winter. i love riding my bike but only at a comfortable speed. i am not afraid of going fast... just lazy. i work out hard in my actual workouts, so i want bike riding to be something enjoyable and relaxing. i have a cruiser... here i am last summer - now i have a blue milk crate basket at the back to put my stuff in.


4) i have workout ocd. for example, when i'm running, i have to know a) exactly how far i'm going or b) how many calories i'm burning, but not necessarily both. it's a bummer too, because i live really close to lake ontario, and wouldn't it be nice to go for a run by the lake? but noooooo, since i can't plan my route on mapmyrun.com, i haven't even tried it yet. how crazy is that? that being said, the weather hasn't been *that* nice yet... so hopefully this summer i can overcome this ridiculous idea.

5) i was really obsessed with getting a papasan chair and so i got one, in black, and now i hardly ever sit in it... go figure. it's too comfortable. once i sit down, it's very difficult to get up out of it. my dream is to bring it out on the balcony in the summer and read, and it hasn't really been warm enough yet to do that (because of wind) so hopefully soon.

and now i have to tag five people, so randomly i'm choosing: shelley, crystal, mandy, shirls, and laura. tagging people is a lot of work.