Blog Carnival

This post is a part of 20SB’s Looking Back Blog Carnival, and Ben & Jerry’s is awarding free ice cream to lucky bloggers and readers!

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for more information, if you are confused.

This post is from November 18, 2003, when I was in grade 11, aged 15 turning 16 later in the month. The contest asks me to give readers an idea of what I was like when I started blogging, and my friends, this was me. Every single blog post I wrote contained approximately one hundred exclamation points, was 1/3 caps lock, and I was excited! about! EVERYTHING!@@#(!

Well I was having some trouble signing in to blog but I figured it out just as I was about to give up.

As you may have noticed from my sisters blogs, this weekend was CRAZY!! Absolutely insane!!
Friday – I went to A’s work and then we drove around to wait for the guy shes likes to finish work (she works with him) and then we “conveniently” passed by him while he was waiting for a bus to catch and we gave him a ride even though it was 100% the opposite direction from her house! oh boy. He thinks I am mental, I was so mad hyper@
After we went to S’s house cuz he was having a party and we stayed there for a bit then went to McDonalds with T and … someone else i really cannot remember who at the moment. Anyways. It was a very fun night. Then me and A we re talking on her webcam to her fridn T who thinks i am absolutly mental but it was SOOOO funny! It was right wicked. Then we went to the football game which ( :( SADLY) our school lost
:( It was all so upsetting, and a very close game. Good try boys.
Saturday night we were supposed to have a family night for erica but SINCE SHE NEVER CAME HOOOOOME we had one without her (we had one cuz it was going to be our last night together as a family). BUt she came home in time for dessert. (typical).
I have to go unload the dishwasher and pick somehting up at Stefs house but I will finish this extra long blog later.

To be continued …
much love, UGZ

Laugh away, my friends. But don’t make fun, because you know you all would have written a post exactly like this if you were a boy crazy 15 year old whose best friend had a car! Names altered to protect the innocent. Except Erica. Where were you Erica? Why didn’t you come home for your family dinner?

Micaela Tuesday: In love with a dress.

I found this dress at Forever 21, my first purchase from the store since it hasn’t been in Toronto for very long. At 5’8″ and no longer nineteen, I found most of their dresses indecently short which is sad because they are just so gosh darn cute and cheap. However I found this one hiding alone in a corner and I loved how it is plain but subtly cute. The kind of dress you can throw on anytime, for any reason and it never lets you down. At $22.90, I really couldn’t go wrong. I knew before I tried it on that it would be my next great love.

Just a few from the stag and doe.


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Michelle (brunette bridesmaid second from the left) and her boyfriend Jeff and got engaged yesterday, the day after the stag and doe! She is the second of my bridesmaids to get engaged in the last couple months. Now our little friendship trio with the other bridesmaid Michelle (on the right) will all be married within a year. How fun is that?

Just a few because they are off facebook and not the best quality! Lots of our friends and family came out and it was fun to show Kent’s Toronto friends what a stag and doe is. Thanks to everyone who came out, and I’m sorry if I didn’t get a chance to talk to you. Everything just went by sooo fast! So many people helped us with everything and we are so, so thankful.

Pizza and Pie

I have a love-hate relationship with food. As in I used to love it, and now I hate it. Mostly because it makes me puke, and that is totally not fun. I did manage to make 2 things lately that I was able to make and eat without being sick. Which is a wonderful thing.

The first was Pesto Pizza. I made it for a family reunion we went to last week. It’s my aunt’s favourite appetizer and quickly turned into the fiveblondes favourite as well. Here’s how mine looked. Good enough to eat right?


It’s really easy to make and doesn’t take a lot of ingredients. Basil (fresh or frozen), red onion, mayo and Parmesan cheese. YUM Spread the mixture on some flat bread and bake it in the oven. So simple and so great.

I also baked a pie the other day! I have been having a craving for Peach Pie for about a week now, it’s my favourite kind of pie. So at the grocery store I bought some peaches and there they sat. Until I finally gained some energy and baked the best peach-strawberry pie ever. It’s not really that pretty, because the pie plate I used is HUGE and next time I need like double the filling that I made so it looks fuller. But that doesn’t really matter because wow it was good. And I used my Pampered Chef pie plate which totally rocks!



One thing that I am so sad to have no interest in whatsoever right now, is burgers. I used to be a total burger lover, I had to try them everywhere I went, and now the thought grosses me out. Also looking at any food in the morning will have me running to the bathroom. Oh how I miss food.

50 day wedding countdown.

50 days until the wedding and here is a sneak peak of mine and Lauren’s shirts for the stag and doe tonight:

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Alcohol is here, games are on their way, prizes are ready, sound equipment is being delivered, all that’s left is the fun! (finally!)

Five-and-a-half-blondes

kate kills g

DISCLAIMER: No grandparents were inured in the delivery of the happy news.

Sorry, Kate! I couldn’t resist. I had to post this.

Raspbaby

1b

Guess what blog friends! The time has come for a very exciting announcement, because on May 17th Scott and I found our some very exciting news. I’m PREGNANT!!

I’m due January 18th, 2010, so as of right now I’m 10 weeks +2 day.
Since I found out I’m expecting food hasn’t really been my best friend. Nothing is appetizing, which is the worst thing right now because I’m CONSTANTLY STARVING. If I go 10 minutes without food I feel like I will die because I am so hungry. The other bad part of that is that when I’m starving is when my body decides that it feels horrible, so lets make the pregnant girl go and hug the toilet for a while! I’ve only really been throwing up since the 9th week (so it’s been a bit over a week of that), but it really sucks and I can’t wait until the morning sickness is gone.

Just wanted to get those negative points out of the way because the rest is great! It’s so amazing and crazy knowing there is a human being growing inside of me. I’m not showing yet but I’m excited for when I start showing because it will all feel more real.

My whole family is so excited for Scott and me. The four other blondes have lovingly started calling the baby ‘raspbaby’ since one week the baby was the size of a raspberry and the girls thought that was adorable. This week the baby is the size of a prune, which really isn’t as cute as a raspberry. wk10_lg

Sooo I’m not really sure what else to write about, but feel free to ask questions and I can answer them in a separate post!

Daily Addiction

Since I live with the Culinary Master of Canada, I get to enjoy a wide array of delectable meals on a daily basis. Seriously, he will concoct up an amazing meal, cook it for me and leave it in the fridge for me to eat at night, or spend three hours cooking for me in the evenings (we eat late dinners – visitors take this as your warning!). He has a huge imagination when it comes to food, and comes up with taste creations that I never thought even existed. Recently, he has started grilling fruit. I don’t know if this is a regular practice, but man, it should be. The boy will throw any fruit on the grill, and it comes off tasting better than that fruit has tasted before. Last night I decided to document it, because I wanted to share the goods. BBQ

Last night Tim did a surf and turf, pictures is steak, asparagus, red peppers and … peaches!!! There was also some extremely fresh halibut searing in the oven. We are very meat and veggie heavy in our household. No need for fluff like pasta or potatoes. Unless it’s risotto, which in that case is a whole other story altogether. There is always room for more risotto.

Tim used the grilled peaches to make a grilled peach chutney, which he seasoned with mint and was the best thing ever. Grilled Peach Chutney

My food photos aren’t exactly Pioneer Woman worthy, but you can at least get the gist. Here is the end product:
Dinner

And we were stuffed after! It tasted great, and we had enough steak leftover to make a pizza later that night (we eat A LOT – if we eat dinner early, then we have to eat two dinners!)

Another great thing to grill is pineapples. If you ever make homemade hamburgers, grill some pineapple slices for a topping on the burger and your life just might be changed for the better. More things I would grill: strawberries, mango, bananas (mmm… for bananas foster), or any kind of fruit really.

What is your favourite thing to grill on the ‘que?

I am adding comments people give me on Twitter because dammit, my followers (I hate saying that word) are awesome people with great comments:

@darylcognito: @leahblonde to be complete asparagus needs to be wrapped in Prosciutto (Mmmm … more meat. I mean, very good idea)

@calgaryfitness: @leahblonde Wow ur man is a great cook! I ? grilling fruit…I have a great recipe for grilled peaches stuffed with veggie/feta quinoa YUMM. (Wow, must get said recipe ASAP!)

@danellew: @leahblonde Yum!! I’m jealous :) (Note: It is not hard to get an invitation to dinner at the Tim & Leah household! You pretty much just have to bring wine and be prepared to bring board games)

Long time no talk

The time came and past a long while ago when I was due to update this blog. I’ve been slacking, majorly.  What can I say, I’ve been busy with lots on my mind and working hard.

So what better way to come back and win you over then a blog with photos! Because a photo represents a 1000 words and boy I’ve got lots of photos!

On the weekend Erica, Denis, Scott and I went to Toronto to see the Blue Jays play and to visit with Micaela and Kent! First up was the baseball game which sadly they lost. Boo!! But the highlight of the game was when we were on the jumbotron! For all of 5 seconds, too fast for me to take a photo.  I think they were spying on me taking photos of Micaela and wanted in on the action.

Next we met up with Kent’s sister and brother-in-law and checked out Woof-fest, a dog festival on the streets of downtown Toronto.  There were dogs EVERYWHERE, and dog products everywhere. From dog strollers (???) to dog carriers and toys, to dog photo shoots and paintings. You name it for your dog and they probably had it. Too bad I’m not that big of a dog fan.

After we were sick of dogs we went out for a nice pub style dinner on a patio and headed back to Mic and Kent’s apartment to get ready for our drive home. It was a nice day trip to Toronto.

Then on Sunday I had a very exciting first. My cousin ‘hired’ me to take photos of her and her friends! We went to beautiful St. Marys, had great weather and got some nice photos for them. Here’s a teaser for you Lara!

60 day countdown update.

This morning, Kent called for me and I walked into the living room to find him trimming the edges on the maps that will go in our wedding invites. He asked me how I wanted it done and I showed him. A few minutes later I looked at how he was doing and the edges around the border were all different sizes, just not right. “It doesn’t have to be perfect,” he said. I replied, “If you’re not going to do it perfectly, can you not do it at all, because I would rather just do it myself.” He laughed at me and fixed them. I’m trying not to be an anal bride, but it’s hard sometimes…

My friend Amanda came over today and, like any friend of mine who has walked through these doors in the past couple weeks (thanks Jen and Larissa!) she got roped into helping with invites. We had one setback when the postie told us that mayyyybe our rsvps would go through the mail as postcards with just regular stamps, but really we should put them in envelopes or double the stamp value on them. We went for envelopes. I really don’t want to risk all my rsvps being lost in the mail or sent back to the senders. Disaster! But overall I am very very happy with them and excited to get them sent out, hopefully tomorrow! I love being so involved in making them and am starting to decide what my next project will be. Favors, I think.

Our stag and doe is June 27th (our three year anniversary!) near London, Ontario. So if you live in the area we would love to see you there! Let us know if you need more details. My bridesmaids, family and Kent recognized my high stress level about it from my post two weeks ago and are being super helpful. Sometimes I try to do things all on my own and I forget that I have so many people willing to help. I remember last year my boss saying to me on one of my reviews, ”You never ask for help!”  I guess it’s my tragic flaw.

I leave you with a beautiful photo that I found on Lauren’s tumblr, which I reposted on my tumblr. We my need to replicate this at our wedding reception.