TIME TO DOWNSIZE...

Just a couple weeks ago, my purse contained:

1. Practically empty bottle of water
2. Makeup case
3. Anna Sui mascara
4. Tylenol Extra Strength
5. Mail polish (from the Beiber collection--oi vey!)
6. Pouch full of essentials (meds, lip balm, subway tokens (??), glasses cleaner, tea bags, Tide Pen, etc)
7. Hand cream
8. Apple
9. Loose foundation
10. Receipt
11. Hand balm
12. Pen
13. Banana
14. Coin purse
15. Prescription meds
16. Wallet
17. Starbucks coupons (that didn't work at the Starbucks I went to, WTF?!)
18. Face primer
19. Dark chocolate with bergamot (best $5 I ever spent)
20. Lip gloss
21. Microwaveable popcorn
22. Face cream
23. iPhone
24. Pack of tissues

DEAR HAIR...

Thanks for growing out faster than I had anticipated after I got all antsy and decided to get some bangs earlier than I should have. I regretted the decision very shortly after it was made (read: a couple of days) and started growing "them things above" and now the rest of you below are a lot longer than before.

However, I'd really appreciate it if you could grow about, oh, eight more inches overnight so I can rock this totally awesome look:
(Taken from this month's Loulou Magazine, the hair--done by John Donato of Donato Salon & Spa--is a look I've been coveting for years but never had the guts to attempt. Now that I'm 28, I figure I only have my late 20s to rock this look so it's kind of now or never.)

Kthxbai,
Dom

HELLO AGAIN

This is what I've been up to...

Sean and I went to a Toronto Raptors game a couple weeks back. It was my first ever basketball game and I had so much fun! We got tickets from a family friend and boy am I glad we did because we're poor and would never have been able to afford those awesome seats! I could even see everything on the court because there were two much shorter kids in front of me. Score! Or "winning" as some people are now saying. Oh, but the best part of the game, is this:Despite the fact that I don't look crazy excited, I've been wanting a foam finger for just about forever! I picked one up after the game. It was pretty fun poking Sean in the nose, in the cheek, in the bum...just about everywhere possible--until he got mad and threatened to take it away :(

I fell asleep twice while attempting to watch this:You're right if you guessed The NeverEnding Story. Unfortunately I started coming down with a cold during the first attempt and the cold was in full force during the second attempt. Sean decided to go ahead and watch the rest of the movie during our second attempt. He realized another attempt with me was futile. (I told Sean that we are totally naming our cream Chow Chow Falcor. He said we could only if I watched the movie without falling asleep.)

Little known fact: I bake when I'm stressed out. This past week has been really stressful so not only did I bake Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins from How Sweet It is, I also baked Torie's Cherry Chocolate-Chunk cookies from Martha's website. They both turned out fab:It was a relaxing afternoon baking muffins and cookies. And because I was then stress-free (sort of), I decided to eat two muffins and four (or so) cookies. I lost count after the fourth one.

Tylenol Cold is my best friend. I'm pretty sure I blogged about this a year or so ago but really, this is my one go-to when I have a cold. I tried the Echinacea tea and the whole "feed a cold" thing but it didn't work. Absolutely nothing worked until I popped the magic, blue nighttime pill and then another yellow daytime pill in the morning. I don't even get colds that often--I usually contract them from co-workers--but nothing works like Tylenol Cold. Tylenol should make me their spokesperson.

Dinner earlier tonight was roast organic chicken leg with spicy green beans and white rice. My stomach didn't like something about it and decided to expel it. After my stomach settled itself, I decided to make Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil--but with fettuccine. It wasn't pretty but it sure was tasty:
I don't know if I ever mentioned that Sean and I went to Corey and Bree's house to make caramel apples back in October, a couple weeks before Halloween. This is Sean attempting to eat his caramel apple and it makes me smile:
This is me when I was oh....two and a half, I think? My parents loved to dress me up in pink and red. Like LOVED! I think their morning conversations were like this (but in French): Mom: What should we dress Dominique in today? Dad: Pink dress and red tights? Mom: What about red dress and pink tights? Dad: Nah, we did that yesterday. Mom: Oh yeah, let's switch it up today.
They'll still tell you that pink and red are a match made in heaven.

THANK GOODNESS FOR NO BANANAS

Someone ate the two really ripe bananas that I was going to use to make muffins earlier this afternoon. A little stumped, I walked right back up to my room, sat in front of my laptop and contemplated my next step. I browsed through my bookmarked "muffins" folder and nixed all the ones involved healthy ingredients like ripe bananas and applesauce, and then came across these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins from How Sweet It Is. Could it have been a sign? Did someone eat my ripe naners on purpose; so that I could fulfill my life-long dream of baking these muffins that taste like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? I scanned the ingredients list, knew that I had all of them on hand and got to work. (Seriously, what good baker doesn't have 2lbs of butter lying around at room temperature on a Sunday afternoon?)

I quickly got to work, mixing all my ingredients together:Less than 30 minutes later (including baking time!), I had 16 muffins that smelled like something my grandma would have made me. Or, maybe. Actually, I'm pretty sure my grandma baked no such thing as it was my grandfather who did the cooking in that household and I don't actually ever recall him making anything other than savory food, but whatever. I digress. Check out my muffins:Complete with a delicious, crunchy layer of turbinado sugar. There's nothing butter than a baked good with a hefty, I mean, healthy layer of turbinado sugar:I ate two or three before deciding it was time to leave the kitchen and immerse myself in other activities in fear of devouring every single one of those muffins. The next day I decided it was time to take Jessica's advice and enjoy said muffin with a pat of butter:
I am so glad I did. Reheated in the microwave for 15 minutes and with a pat of butter, it was the most delicious thing I've probably eaten in a week. Maybe since that seared scallop and leek dish I have yet to blog about.

OBSESSIONS...

+ Stassen Jasmine Green Tea. After searching high and low for over a year (possibly two years) for Stassen Jasmine Green Tea, I finally found it at Foody Mart when I totally wasn't looking. I had even checked Foody Mart for Stassen's tea before but couldn't find it. Anyway, I totally bought a box (of 100 bags) and then went and bought another box the next day (just in case). This tea is anything but subtle and I love it, despite having a major hate-on for anything jasmine-scented--especially perfume. The trick is to brew it for a short period of time and the tea bag can be used twice, which means it's only half the cost (I paid $5 for my entire 100 bag box, not the insane price on Amazon).

+ Deflated double chocolate meringue cookies. I made meringues and decreased the amount of sugar that was mentioned in the recipe with the intention of decreasing the sweetness. What resulted was this:But it turns out that these meringue cookies taste just like chewy chocolate chip cookies and they're gluten-free! It's "winner, winner, chicken dinner" for anyone who follows a gluten-free diet. The trick is to pull them straight from the oven after 18 minutes. Plus, at 30 calories a pop, you won't feel guilty after you shove the fourth one into your mouth. The giraffes totally approve. I really need to post that recipe.

+ OPI's Teenage Dream nail polish from the Katy Perry collection. This came out in...ummm...early-January, I think? Anyway, I got my hands on it a week after that and then it was sold out for ages! I recently got a back-up bottle and managed to snag a couple extra bottles for some co-workers and I absolutely love this crazy sparkly, pink polish. It's totally work-appropriate--at my workplace anyway.