library list

i am soo not the type to research vacation destinations. but our fifth annual vegas birthday trip is coming up in a few weeks, and i happened to see some vegas travel books at the library. the thing about vegas is that everyone will have the same top ten attractions. you have to see the lions at MGM, the fountains at Bellagio, the roller coaster at New York-New York, etc. this year i am really looking forward to eating pancakes on fremont street, breakfast at the pool every morning, and watching the LOVE cirque de soleil show. also, loving the funny book of little essays by nora ephron.

it's the weekend

(davey from the gander SPCA)

i can't believe it's the weekend. this week flew by. i feel like this whole month has flown by. we had a complete blizzard this morning, but by afternoon the snow was melting. really strange weather.

j and i have a sweet long weekend at home planned. i am looking forward to playing pool, walking a pound pup, and going for sundaes at mcdonalds. the secret is to ask for extra hot fudge on the bottom, and extra peanuts. also pretty excited for some pancakes.

kitchen lately: a few things you should try

(buckwheat granola from oh she glows) 

(change your life bread from my new roots) 

i've been in the kitchen a lot lately, trying recipes from the internets. the two above were amazing. that granola is killer on top of oatmeal (or ice cream). the bread is not the same as regular, real bread, but still good, and really filling. both these recipes will be in my regular rotation. my favourite thing is to take a slice of that super healthy bread and load it up with nutella.

i've also been juicing every day. loving my green lemonade, especially with some dark green kale thrown in.

dark chocolate coconut ice cream

i am semi obsessed with ice cream, but also really picky. i don't want one of those big containers of ice cream. i like the tiny expensive pints of ice cream, like ben & jerry's and haagen daas. thing is, you usually can't buy it here. small town problems. 

i love seeing ice cream recipes, but i don't have an ice cream maker, and i don't want one. so i need ice cream that can be made sans ice cream maker. so this recipe is awesome. 

dark chocolate coconut ice cream (from here)

1 can coconut milk
3/4 cup cocoa powder (i like it really chocolaty)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

mix it all up really good with a whisk or fork in a tupperware container
place in the freezer
every half hour, take it out and whisk it really good

my ice cream took about 3 hours to be good and ice creamy. the next time i wanted some, i set it out for half an hour before i spooned it out.

this is sort of like a frozen version of this.

hotel review: marriott harbourfront hotel, halifax

we stayed at the marriott harbourfront this weekend. when i booked i was actually picturing the westin, so i was really surprised when the cab dropped us off here. it ended up being a great home base for taking in ecma shows. 

price: around $150 per night, which seems normal for downtown halifax
bathroom: nice, and the shampoo smelled minty, which i loved
pool: yes, and a nice big hot tub
breakfast: none, unless you upgrade for $30 per night. we ended up doing this because i was using points. the breakfast was really nice, with eggs, fruit, muffins, lox, etc. though if you aren't in a hurry, it's probably more cost effective to just go for breakfast at one of the restaurants nearby
tv: good channels. i watched the requisite kardashian marathon. addictive
location: probably the best part of this hotel. you can take breezeways to the casino, the delta, lots of restaurants. so you barely have to wear a jacket, even in winter, which is cool
parking: we cabbed from the airport, but there appeared to be a huge parking garage that you could pay extra to park in.

notes:
- my reservation was messed up when we got there, i think because i was using points. but the front desk was quick to make it right. very important
- the front desk staff were also cool about printing off ecma tickets and stuff for us
- there's a starbucks in the lobby. i love starbucks, so this is a big plus in my mind

on the weekend: halifax and ecmas

 (caesars saturday morning while watching the meds and jenn grant)

(a little birthday gift for j awaited us at the hotel) 

(seahorse saturday night) 

 (my girls with the lead singer from soho ghetto, our new fav)

(enjoying some tim chaisson at the songwriters circle on sunday) 

(elevator shot + my new rachel zoe blanket sweater)

oh my gosh. such a good weekend. we got to take in so much music with our ecma wristbands. when kim stockwood sang this song, jon was like, jess, are you crying? um, yes, it's a good song. and we were all completely in love with soho ghetto, who put on such a great show, then came over and hung out with us since it was jenny's birthday. j and i ended up spending a while just hanging out at the delta hotel lobby. seriously, there were musicians everywhere. i was a little star struck. 

j and i tried to decide what our favourite meal of the weekend was, but we couldn't. we went for a birthday supper for jenny to the wooden monkey, which was so good. they even had non-alcoholic beer. and we tried brunch at tiempo. perfect. but for me, it really was all about the hot stone bowl bibimbap at minato. 

even though j and i live far away from all our friends and family, i still feel really close to them. i think it's a combination of having known my friends for such a long time, and using facetime to keep in touch. i think both jon and jenny enjoyed their birthday weekend. and i haven't had that good of a time in a while. so lucky. 

also, i did some much-needed shopping. as if shopping is ever necessary, but really, my jeans were getting too tight. 

it's friday

it's friday, and it's my husband's birthday, and it's by bff's birthday in a couple days. so basically this weekend is all about birthdays. j and i are flying to halifax to see some music, see my girls, eat some good food. all i can think about is bibimbap and kimchi. i think we will go for the korean food when we arrive late tonight. i don't even want to drop my luggage off at the hotel. take me straight to the pickled cabbage please.

this week has been intense. it flew by, which is good since it wasn't exactly a good week. on the plus side, a bad week makes a weekend away all the better.

it's friday

let me tell you about last friday. i got home from work really craving a vanilla cupcake. so i made some amazing cupcakes from here, and iced them with this. they were so good that i ate four right away for supper. then in the morning i ate the remaining four because i'm an adult and i can eat whatever i want. so this weekend i am going to try to eat something healthy. maybe. and a burger or two, definitely.