February 29

February 29 only comes around once in awhile. My friend has his birthday today and he knows better than anyone that we should use this extra day to do things we wouldn't normally do. What a perfect day to treat yo self. Maybe you can't take the full day off, but life's too short to be a workaholic for 365 days (let alone 366). What are you going to do to mark this leap year?

Photo credit: here

3 treats

This weekend was tough for a number of reasons. I have to say that I'm not proud of my meltdown (thanks Gav for helping me out). Here are a few of the things that reminded me that I am one lucky girl:

The beautiful roses Ryan gave to me for our Valentine's Day are still going strong!

I happily watched as the park received a glorious blanket of snow in a matter of hours! I love the contrast between the greenery indoors and the white outdoors.

A year later

Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. I tend to bully myself without even realizing it. Maybe this strategy helped to motivate myself in the past, but trust me it's not a great game plan for life.

Joe Beef for Valentine's Day

Ryan and I were both feeling sick and didn't have time to do anything for Valentine's Day last week. We wanted to mark the occasion, so we decided to stuff our faces this week at Joe Beef - a restaurant that's drawing international attention for its fine cuisine and non-fussy atmosphere. Apart from returning home like bloated whales, our evening did not disappoint!

3 treats

This weekend was mainly spent getting over a nasty cold/flu, but I managed to plow through tons of grading and to treat myself!

 Enjoying the last gasps of sunshine on a late afternoon walk with Ryan.

Celebrating birthdays of two friends (don't you love the circular message of the candles?)

Kid food for adults: Shake 'n Bake

Comfort food is exactly what we've been craving lately. I'm excited to share this recipe with you, but I can't take credit for Ryan's idea. It was so much fun (and tasty) to recreate a favourite from his past. Say it with me: "shake n' bake"! 

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3 treats

Since I'm capping off another cra-zay week with non-stop meetings from 8:30am to 7pm, here are a few things that are keeping me going:

Trying Bumble and Bumble products when I treated myself to a long overdue haircut

Admiring the tulips still opening (a birthday gift that keeps on giving)

Are homemade burgers better?

This question came from my fiancé as we stood looking at the multitude of boxed burgers in the freezer section. Thinking back to a nostalgic time in my childhood, I recalled how my mom would mix ground beef and other tasty ingredients and form perfect patties with a little press. I've been trying to find new things to spice up our dinner menu, cut costs, and reduce the amount of packaging that we buy.  I've noticed a lot of restaurants and my friends are bringing sexy [burgers] back. So, why not?

We bought some nice extra lean ground angus beef (on sale) and away we went!

[More after the jump]

Wait, did I just turn 1 year older?

It was the perfect storm of sorts: all of my commitments culminated in back-to-back meetings over 3 days, 40 papers took 10 hours (instead of my estimate of 6 hours) to grade, I somehow painfully sprained my abdominal muscles in spin class, and I was supposed to celebrate the anniversary of my existence in the midst of it all.

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