Let me start this by saying that I am not very loyal to any hairdresser. I like to shop around, and I get my hair cut maybe once every two years so it isn't a high priority for me since I've had the same hairstyle since grade three. Let us casually move past how abnormal that fact is, though, yes?
When I do force myself to get a trim, it's always too expensive. That's why I tend to go for Groupon hair deals instead. And this was the first actually amazing Groupon experience I've had. (Why were past Groupon deals bad? I don't know, just added on fees, a lot of attitudes when I present my coupon, silent judgement, etc.) I feel like I'm almost definitely going to make this place my go-to salon now. Why?
Every single woman in there was RIDICULOUSLY nice and talkative, but not in that boring "How's the weather? What do you do?" type way. That's probably what I loved most. Most hair places are all about chit chat, and that's fine if you're into that, but usually I find it boring, awkward and nobody's really that interested in anything the other is saying. Am I alone in thinking this?
The hair stylist I had trimmed it exactly the way I wanted, WHICH IS RARE. Most of the ones I've had in the past do whatever they think would look good and it's usually always garbage.
Somehow we started talking about some of the superstitions that my mom has passed on to me and she had totally heard of some of them before and GAVE ME MORE NEW ONES! So, obviously, lot of love for that.
They also do coffee readings. And I think you already know that I'd be really into that.
Just such a good experience. Definitely go here if you're looking for a new place that's actually good. It's near Main Street and Queen Street in Brampton. Also, the Groupon is still available here.
At some point in your life, you're going to throw someone a baby shower. Here's how I did it!
Sample invitation
In my opinion, the best invitations are available on Etsy. I went with Olive Berry Paper and they came out adorable. To be accurate, the shower was supposed to be based on a woodland theme, but came out much more owl-y (but WHO minded? No one!) (I know, booooo, I'm sorry about that.) Honestly, my main goal for the event was to have it not be lame. I hate baby games. I hate large groups of adults playing games. No one needs any of it. I just wanted to have a simple time, with edible food, based around things that that the couple (my brother and sister-in-law) would enjoy.
Bread basket
This was the bread basket - the bread was from Cobs Bread and you need to eat some of this bread if you live anywhere near Toronto or Mississauga. This stuff tastes nuts. I'm forever thankful to Marla for turning me onto it. The little mushrooms are just mozzarella sticks with grape tomato halves on top in a sea of arugula. I would've wanted to spread that all over the table, but arugula is pricey.
Owl cheese
This is the owl cheese that I made with my patient and loving niece Tianna. There's an instructional blog post about how to make one here.
Poutine cups
I wish I'd taken proper photos of these guys, but this is the only one that exists. These are the mini poutine cups I assembled. These were not difficult at all - I just got the jars from the dollar store (three for a dollar), bought the Wendy's fries and gravy individually that morning (no way was I gonna make that myself, plus it was the couple's favourite fast food poutine) and got the cheese curds from the grocery store. Easy peasy. I got the idea for this when I saw this site while I was searching for baby shower ideas. And fries are always better than vegetables.
Caesar Salad Bites
I love the idea of cleanly eating a Caesar salad, so obviously I really wanted to do these. You can find the recipe here. And I don't have a photo of it, but the world's best spinach and artichoke dip exists here and needs to be eaten by everyone alive. Some other things that were served that I, unfortunately, don't have photos of are the wraps that I ordered from Whole Foods (which were surprisingly really good - the blackened chicken salad one especially), my sister-in-law Cindy's amazing stuffed mushrooms, this pasta salad (just add pasta to the recipe) and lychees that came in a can (Who the hell knew they came in cans?! That's amazing.) - and now here are the desserts:
Acorn Cookies
Again, not the greatest photo, but here's what they sort of looked like.
Strawberries w/ Cool Whip and Nutella
Owl Sugar Cookies
And of course I didn't make these owl cookies - look at them! They're perfect! I bought them off Etsy.
Cake!
And this gorgeous cake was made by the beautiful Laurie. Look at this cake! YOU can't make a cake like this! Obviously it was delicious.
All in all, not very stressful to plan. Party Pail had pretty much all the decorations I needed, with numerous dollar store runs as well. These owl frames were in the favor boxes, alongside a small satchel of cookies and cream Hershey's kisses.
And while it's too time consuming to list every song that I had on the playlist that I had on in the background, here's one that's just perfect for a baby shower.
(I apologize that some of the photographs aren't better, my focus was elsewhere. Won't happen again.)
The main reason to take these kinds of pills? If you work out. I got this tip from the ever-clever Jenn who suggested them to me after I complained about body aches caused from going to the gym. They totally work, too. I never feel any kind of pain now, no matter how hard I push myself at the gym. The recommended dosage on my particular fish pill bottle is 2-3 a day, but since these tablets are so damn fat - I only take one a day. Works like magic. Definitely try this out if you're ever complaining of any body parts hurting the day after going to the gym.
Do you see that? DO YOU? Yeah, he's gonna be at Caroline's. Do you understand how good that is? Just incase you don't, let me assure you that it's a big deal. Way too proud of this man. If you're in NYC, there is no reason for you not to be here Wednesday night (November 13th).
You can get tickets here (and they're $5.50 each if you use the access code BREAKOUT).
Can't tell you how many times I think about the lyric, "Loving you is like a song I replay every three minutes and thirty seconds of every day." I don't know why - it's not terribly great or anything - but every time I hear it, ugh, I just love it.
