Make a Memory

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but what is a memory worth?

I was recently uploading a photo album on Facebook with some pictures of my life over the past few months and I realized I didn't have very many photos. But this wasn't because I hadn't been doing anything, quite the opposite really.

In this day of the internet and social media, people are constantly plastering images of themselves for others to gawk at. But it seems that when I am having a good time it doesn't even cross my mind to capture it in an image because I am completely immersed in what is happening around me. So often I get home after a night out / event / general good time and I am reminded that I had my camera in my purse and never once thought to use it and I feel some lingering disappointment. This is somewhat compounded when I see everyone else posting multiple images of themselves out living life. I stop to think if I am really missing out on something... But what are they doing that I am not? Interrupting the flow of a good time? Being distracted by a compulsion to document everything while missing out on so much more? Trying to prove something that isn't true, make a situation seem more interesting than it really is?

I don't have the visual proof that I was doing something awesome, or looking fabulous but I know I was there and I remember how much fun I had, and so do the people who I was with. So if you are interested in knowing how I enjoy myself and my spend my free time, stop trying to live vicariously and come experience it for yourself. I can't promise there will be any photos records of it other than what is burned into my memory, but I can guarantee those memories will be incredible ones.

Restaurants

Recently, I have been doing a bit of celebrating and other adventures that lead to eating out. Being the type of person I am, I like to research restaurants in advance and select a place that fits mood. Needless to say I have been on many restaurant websites lately and wow do I hate them. I don't know who started this trend of restaurant websites needing a big flashy intro, club music, and making them creatively challenging to navigate. How is that a good business model? I actually became so annoyed with one website that I refuse to go to the restaurant on the basis of having a terrible site.

I could go on, but my peeves have already been accurately well documented and illustrated by The Oatmeal, see here.

Additionally, I am really disappointed to say this, but I am concerned by patterns in service that I have been receiving lately. Generally, most bars and restaurants that I have frequented lately have been providing mediocre service at best. Which really calls into question the notion of gratuity. When I dine out, I am often looking for a gastronomic experience, but providing good food is not sufficient. The service is key, where the hell do I have to go to be treated like a valued customer? Another observation is that I have received consistently better service from males than females. What is going on here ladies? Time to take that chip off your shoulder and do your job properly.

In other news, I discovered a great Mexican restaurant in Montreal, not one of those cliche places with cheap dirty food and big drinks (probably meant to help you not notice how bad the food is). The food was amazing, the drinks were very tasty, and the place had great ambiance, it is called Limon - you should check it out! (also their website is very functional, and for an added bonus, it has awesome Chihuahua's wearing sombrero's)

Shoes

I haven't had many rant or rave topics lately, most of my thoughts have been easily contained to 140 characters and expressed via Twitter. But I have a few items I want to air out.

First, shoes. Shoes are an essential staple to our lives, for function, health and safety, and fashion of course. While some bohemians reject them, most people own a variety of shoes, some more than others. We live in a society where we analyze and judge each other in many ways and appearance is near the top of the list. With that said, for the life of me I cannot comprehend why people chose to wear shoes that are completely dilapidated, worn down, dirty and barely functional! This is not just about style, but your own health and safety. I cannot believe how many people I saw this past weekend walking the dirty streets of Montreal with holes in their shoes. Holes in the toe, holes in the soles. Holes, holes, holes. I can't accept that these people simply cannot afford another pair. It is simply laziness and lack of caring.

You look like trash and you are probably going to get some bizarre infection!

I can appreciate a great pair of shoes, that are so comfy and easy to wear that you just can't part with them. But there comes a point where you really have to say goodbye and move on. That includes when your heel is shredded, or the tip is non-existent.

As a shoe fanatic myself, I beg of you to take care of your shoes, clean them, buff them, mend them. But when they are irreparable, discard them and treat-yo-self to something new.

Also, another peeve of mine is people who have poor gait and walking abnormalities. The wear and tear on your shoes will happen a lot faster, because they are most likely not designed to support your walking style. If you find you have a strange wear pattern on your shoes, have a gait analysis conducted, this will help you find a supportive athletic shoe, and maybe with some treatment you can correct some issues, as this will obviously impact your health and well being.

Furthermore, to the ladies who lack the coordination to walk properly in a not flat shoe, please learn how or stop wearing heels. You are going to injure yourself, or give yourself premature arthritis, and you also cause me pain when I see you tromping around and torturing your shoes, they never did anything to you!

Stay sharp and keep your shoes neat and clean.

Food Diary

I am not sure how many people keep an actual food diary or log. I have tried variations of this in the past with little to no success. For awhile I was roughly counting calories, just keeping track in my head and being conscious of what I was putting in my mouth throughout the day. That actually worked for me for a short while. But there is so much more to tracking what you eat than just calories. Lately, I have really been focusing on the nutrients in my food and the variety of what I eat. However, I can't be bothered to write in a little journal, book, excel file, whatever, what I eat and how much and blah blah blah.

Somewhat organically, I managed to combine a new and fun hobby with a practical tool such as a food diary. I have recently joined the wonderful world of Pinterest, and while joyously pinning random things that I enjoy, I noticed that food and recipes was one of the most popular categories. It started with me looking up some new recipes for one of my weekend cooking days, and I pinned the photos of each dish and then went ahead and made them. The next time I was trying to think of what to pin, I looked up photos similar to the dinner I had just created that night, when suddenly I thought that I should pin my daily dinner, or something I ate that day, or even just craved. All of a sudden, I have a visual track of what I have been eating lately. While my pins aren't always exact replicas of my meals, making it hard to make caloric comparisons, generalizations can be made. I can see how frequently I consume carbs, or what veggies I get more of than others.

I thought it was pretty clever, and I love looking at the photos. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.. mmmm

If you want to check out What's Cooking click the link!

Choices and Quality of Life

No matter how you spin it, everything comes down to choices. Some days you are presented with a cornucopia of choices, other days it may seem that you are constrained and stripped of any free will. Making decisions of any consequence can be overwhelming. Yes or no, left or right, paper or plastic, chicken or beef.  Sometimes you have so many options, your mind can't even begin to process it all and sometimes you have to face a choice that can change the course of your life.

When recently faced with a monumental decision, I realized how many choices I had been making everyday. I wanted to make changes in my life, and this was not an easy task, I faced many obstacles. However, I chose to continually be proactive and strive for change, despite how challenging and exhausting the process had been. I could have easily decided to do nothing and wait for something to happen, eventually. By making choices, suddenly I found myself with a "good problem to have", I was presented with 2 distinct, yet appealing offers. My career and lifestyle were at stake here. And no, you can't always have both.

I spent 2 days weighing the pros and cons of each option, spinning my wheels, trying to come to a conclusion that I wouldn't regret in the future. The bottom line came down to the choice between a lot of money but a lot of stress or less money but a much more enjoyable existence. While money can provide a certain lifestyle, how good can it be when you are too tired or busy to enjoy it? There were other key variables involved in making this decision, but in the end I chose to have a great life. One of the most difficult decisions of my life, to date. I am so happy with the choice I made and it only took a few hours, endless conversations and some lost sleep. Quality of life trumps all.

It's time to make a choice. What do you say to taking chances?

After writing this blog post I found an article that highlights the factors that went into making my decision on which job to accept. It is about more than just $$ - read more for yourself here

Soup's Up

Soup has to be one of the easiest things to cook from scratch. Even for the most novice chef, you need to walk away from the cans (and tetra packs) head over to produce, put a few colourful and flavourful things into your basket and head back to your kitchen. Soup is also an awesome dish to cook up on a cold winter weekend, and make a big batch so you have extra during the week.

To begin you can make your own stock (chicken + onion + celery + carrot + water x heat to boil and simmer) or you can use a premade stock or quickly make some with a bouillon and water.

Once you have stock ready on the side, you want to start with a flavourful base, definitely saute some onions, you can add celery and carrots, or whatever tickles your fancy. Once that is aromatic toss in the rest of your chopped up veggies and stock, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer to bring out all of the flavours.

Personally, I enjoy a thick and hearty soup, but not necessarily cream soups, so I usually toss in a potato or two. After about 20 minutes on the heat, I like to use a hand blender (or potato masher) to thicken up the soup and make it less brothy. I only do a few quick blends, because I like the soup to be thick and hearty, and still chunky with lots of veggies floating around. If you prefer something completely pureed, just keep the blender in there until you have a smooth consistency.

For those who like a brothy soup, you can always add some pasta toward the end for added texture. The best types are small ones like alphabets, orzo, ancini di peppe, etc. If you are making a simple chicken soup, you can use something with more substance like tortolini.

I often hear people complain that they don't know how to cook, or are not creative enough. Soup is a great place to start, and it is pretty difficult to mess it up. Vegetable soup is one of the most basic things to start with. And for those who need a little inspiration here is what I put in the soup I made this weekend:

- onion, celery, carrot, zucchini, potato, white beans, tomato, spinach; and for a kick of flavour I added some garlic, marjoram and just a light sprinkle of curry powder

This is a wonderful, healthy and inexpensive meal to make. When I plan to cook with lots of produce, I head over to a small independent grocer in my area, it is not a fancy place, but the savings are well worth it, I bought 2 bags of produce for $7.00. Significantly cheaper than your big box grocery stores!

Good Deeds

Once again, the Christmas season tends to bring out the better and yes sometimes even the worst in people. This time of year there are so many campaigns and efforts for charitable causes that are worthy of your generosity. Again, we shouldn't need a reminder such as the holidays to extend our kindness to those less fortunate, but I too seem to get caught up in the day to day throughout the year that I don't focus on these kind deeds. This year at my office Christmas party we were asked to donate goods for an organization that provides various services for women in need. I felt so blessed (and warm inside) to be able to share and give to this organization.

So next time you see a salvation army kettle, a food drive, a toy drive, take a moment to be thankful for what you have and do what you can to help others. It will make someone's day and probably yours as well. Also, with the Christmas spirit in full swing you may be more motivated to engage in random acts of kindness. Sometimes it can be as simple as complimenting how wonderful someone looks today, holding the door open for the people behind you, paying for the order of the person behind you in the Tim Horton's drive thru (how truly Canadian!).

Take some time today (and throughout the year) to do something nice for someone else, it is amazing how it can make you feel!