Sartorial Reprieve

While in Kelowna yesterday, I stopped at Value Village as I have occasionally had luck finding scarves there and came out with a half dozen! Woohoo! A few were of a nice silky material, so a bit dressier for work, although they are so slippery I'll need to hold them with barrettes.

Today, I wore comfortable jeans and an old top, but my bright blue scarf made me feel like I had a new outfit!

I washed them all yesterday in my Wonder Wash (setting it up in the shower) and got evidence of just why I feel gross whenever I leave Value Village: it took five rinses before the water ran clear. The scarves were filthy. Ew.

Fiskars Quilting Set

One of the things I desperately need to do is line my bedroom curtains with blackout material. Thing is, I hate sewing, especially the part where I have to cut the fabric. I can't cut straight; it has something to do with the fact that I'm sort of ambidextrous.

My mother has a self-healing cutting board and rotary cutter which make the prep part of sewing work a snap, so I thought that perhaps I could get these items for my curtain project. I was at Walmart today and found the same kit she has. It's currently packaged as a 'quilting set', but I think that's just because of current trends. The package has the rotary cutter, the self-healing mat, and an acrylic ruler. The package usually costs about 40$. The one I found was marked down to 20$ because the ruler is broken. What a bargain!

The mat and cutter can be used for other projects, like cutting paper, so they are multi-use tools and they won't take up a ton of room.

Okay, let the curtain work begin. :-S

B-B-Bargains!

With the acquisition of my new home being imminent, I realised that it was time to start putting off my tool organization project, something that has become a bit of a running joke. I bought a nice tool box a few years back, but it won't be suitable for the RV. I decided that a couple of soft-sided bags with lots of compartments would be better.

I started my search at Réno-Dépôt, knowing they would have the largest selection so I could get an idea of what I did and didn't want. Then, I went to Canadian Tire.

Canadian Tire might have some of the worst service on the planet, but it really is a great store. It carries the same wide range of items, in both selection and price, as Sears, Walmart, and Zellers. Prices are average; usually better than Sears, but not as good as Walmart or Zellers. Still, it's a great one-stop shopping destination. When in a strange town and needing something, I rather go there than the other options because I know I'll get better prices than Sears, but a better quality and quantity of selection than Walmart or Zellers.

The thing that really makes shopping at CDN Tire worth it are its sales. It doesn't kid around with sales, they're the real thing. When you go to CDN Tire, I recommend checking your budget at the door. If something has been on your 'I'd like this one day list' and it's on sale that day, get it. If you don't, you'll never again find that item for such a low price. I'm speaking from years of regret!

I focused on the tool section tonight and immediately stumbled on a kit of squeeze vises/grips in a carry bag. On my 'ILTODL', regularly 11.99$, now 4.49$. Into the basket it went.

Then off to the tool kits. Found the soft sided bag I wanted and it came with a smaller, more compartmentalized, bag; with the purpose being 'put your every day tools in the small bag, chuck the rest in the big bag.' Big bag regularly 39.99$. Small bag regularly 25.99$. Both bags tonight 14.99$. Not each, 14.99$ for both together.

Finally, I got to the screw drivers. I have two screw drivers with changeable bits. I hate them!!! My fingers are very insensitive and clumsy so I'm always dropping the darn bits when I want to switch from a square head to a star, etc. I've been wanting to get a complete, piecemeal, screw driver kit; the kind with extra long drivers and extra short ones on top of the regular length. It'd be extra weight in the RV, but worth it in aggravation. Found such a kit. Regularly 59.99$, 19.99$ tonight.

Total for all items: less than what I had budgeted for the tool box.

Now, I have no excuse not to get that bit of my life organized. :-)

Gone A Flea Marketing

I decided that a nice drive out of the city was just what I wanted today, so I headed for the Antrim Flea Market. I love browsing at flea markets; you can find some real treasures.

In the hour or so that I was there, I picked up a book on Tarot as well as the following brand new item (should be folded flat, but I haven't got the knack of it yet):



I remember seeing these somewhere, either in a magazine or via a blog and coveted one. I'm so glad they fit in with my future lifestyle, and that the seller had one colour I liked (the others were awful).

What is this item?

A folding basket!



It's a solid construction and will be perfect for just about any sort of errand I want to run, while taking up almost no space when stored away.

Sweeeeeet

3.5 hours and 25$ later, I essentially have a brand new laptop. A very slow, but still perfect for surfing, laptop.



25$. Or I could have gone on eBay and picked up a newer MacBook for 500$ or so.

New Favourite eBay Tool

I adore the new(ish) eBay tool 'make offer.' Not every seller uses it, obviously, but when it's offered, I always make use of it and have had great success with it.

The first time I used 'make offer' was when I wanted to buy three items from one seller who didn't offer combined shipping. I made her offers that essentially gave me free shipping. She accepted!

This week, I bought two skirts off of eBay. The first was 10$ with 5$ shipping. It didn't have a 'make an offer' option, but that was fine since I felt that the price and shipping were fair. The second, though, was 10$ with 10$ shipping. I felt that the shipping cost was excessive, so I offered 6$ for the skirt. The seller accepted.

I think that this tool offers a win/win for buyers and sellers. How often have you looked at an eBay auction, felt that the 'buy it now' price was a bit too high, and thought 'I would have bought it for a couple of dollars less'? Or been a seller whose item didn't sell and for which you would have gladly accepted a few dollars less?

Bird on a Mission

I'm currently more overfat than I am comfortable being, so I've made it my goal for the next few months to lose what needs to be lost.

To kick start the program, I went on a very restrictive, low-calorie diet for four days, then moved on to a much more sustainable, long-term approach.

My normal diet isn't really that bad; the problem is portion control/moderation and over-indulgence. I've set a range of calories to aim for and am using two wonderful tools to keep me in line with that goal: Fit Day and Calorie Count.

Fit Day is a fantastic FREE online journal and tool box for getting fit. You can track your diet, exercise, weight goals, etc. I use it as a meal planning tool to project my calorie intake for the day so that I can know ahead of time if I can indulge in x, y, or z. I use Calorie Count to get nutritional data for foods that Fit Day doesn't have in its data base, like a lot of fast food and prepared foods.

Long-term meal planning has never worked for me, but so far the day-to-day projections are working out just fine. Nine days in, I'm right on track with my weight/fat loss, I feel amazing (my sleep requirements have shot right down!), my energy is through the roof, and I don't feel guilty about the insane amount of money I'm spending on groceries since 90% of the bill is for fresh fruits and veggies (romaine lettuce ain't cheap, folks, and a bird goes through a lot of it eating two salads a day)!

Best of all, I am a lot more conscious of what I eat and everything tastes soooooooooo good. This afternoon's snack of fresh pineapple was quite possibly the best thing I've ever eaten. That's a bonus result of this exercise--I've cut way back on sugar (only have a bit in my coffee, plus the odd piece of good quality chocolate); so fruit is really, really, really satisfying. I know a 'diet' is working when an apple qualifies as dessert.

I'll finish off this post with a bonus 'recipe' because lunch was so delicious.

Raven's Mini Grilled Tomato and Cheese Sandwiches

Cut eight thin slices from a baguette (loaf of 'French-style' bread, the long and thin kind).

Layer the following on four slices (base yourself on the baguette surface area to determine quantities):

-a thin slice of a small tomato;
-a sprinkle of salt;
-a small slice of tomato and basil Havarti;
-a basil leaf

Gently place in a non-stick pan and toast for about a minute on each side until the bread is golden and the cheese starts to melt.

Makes four. Serve with a great big salad.

To Market, To Market

One of my favourite weekend activities when it's nice out is to walk the four kilometres or so to the Byward Market. I bring a canvas bag and load up on breads, fruits, veggies, and cheeses at specialized stores. Sometimes, I'll pop into the Natural Food Pantry for vegetarian and organic options and/or La Bottega for premium Italian imports of biscotti, cheese, and pasta. I like to wander the artisan kiosks, smell the flowers, occasionally adopt a couple of pots of herbs, and listen to the buskers. When I've had my fill, I bus home. It's a splendid way to spend a couple of hours.

Today, I also had a mission. For the past ten years, I have had to walk or bike to work or school. Every time it rains, I curse the weather because I'm going to ruin my shoes and get my feet wet. For some reason I can't fathom, this bird who is willing to spend the money that needs to be spent on proper winter boots has been too cheap to buy galoshes. This week, I snapped. I decided that while I was on my veggie expedition at in the Market this weekend, I would pick up these beauties:



Now, I just need to find a navy blue rain slicker to complement them. Yup, I don't have a raincoat, either. *rolls eyes*

When I move to Winnipeg, I won't have to give up my favourite nice weather weekend activity since that city has The Forks!

The Perils of Bilingualism

At the grocery store this evening, I looked for an acorn squash for a recipe I'll be making later this week. I found three kinds of squash: butternut, spaghetti, and peppery. I came home squash-less and prepared to return to the store after doing some internet research... which made me go DOH!

This is what the pepper squash looks like:



Yup, that's an acorn squash en anglais. But, en français, it's a courge poivrée. As in peppery squash.

Silly me. I was looking for a courge with the word 'gland', or something related to the word gland, in the name.

I think I'll stop trying to expand my culinary horizons with English recipes... or at least ask the Office de la langue française to translate new ingredients. Or else, go shop in an English province (a hop, skip, and a jump across the river, conveniently enough).

One of the little 'annoyances' I will miss when I move to Manitoba....

To Buy One or Two, That Is the Question

I went to Stokes this morning to buy a tea infuser. They offered me two choices:

a) one tea infuser with a handle for 2.98$
b) two tea infusers (different sizes) without handles for 2.99$

What, praytell, would I do with two tea infusers, I wondered and reached for the single package. Then, I realised that, doh, I was going to need one for work, too.

I've fallen in love with spearmint tea and haven't found it in tea bags, so I bought some last night from the tea house where my writing group meets. They only sell it in loose leaves, hence the need to purchase a new toy.

Anything that can get my mind off coffee is 2.99$ well spent in my book. :-)

I Hate Shopping at Walmart

As I headed out for a first aid meeting this evening, I noticed just how gross my (rental) property looks because of garbage strewn across the parking surface, along the fences, and the flower beds in front. It's definitely spring! I decided to corral all of that stuff upon my return since it just so happened to be garbage night.

On the way home, I remembered that, hey, I'm all out of garbage bags. I had this thought just as I came up to the exit for Walmart. It was 8:30 and the store closes at 9. I figured I could grab the garbage bags, stock up on my favourite pizza that was on mega sale this week, and also buy some TP, tissues, and cat litter. I was in line at precisely 8:40. Said line stood still. The cashier was a typical Walmart cashier who has no sense of time. It took her 20 minutes to get to me (there were two people with five articles between them ahead of me) and almost 5 minutes to ring me up. My debit card wouldn't scan and she was no help at all, just staring vapidly into space instead of offering me a plastic bag or other tip. I finally gave up and used my credit card instead. Then, her printer fluffed up and the paper got jammed and wrinkled, but the receipt was readable. She started to fiddle with the machine and I told her that the receipt was fine. She asked me if I was in a hurry. I am proud to say that I was very calm and polite when I told her I'd been waiting almost a half hour for her to ring up a grand total of 13 items and I just wanted to go home. GRR.

I'll probably be known in my neighbourhood as the crazy chick in the skirt who picks up garbage at 10PM. There was plenty of light from the office tower across the street to illuminate the yards. I picked up almost a full bag of trash!!! I won't be embarrassed to live here tomorrow. :-) I caught my neighbours looking at me through their living room window as I worked, but won't call them lazy for not picking up trash themselves since he did more than his share of shoveling this past winter.

Ikea Seems to Hold Its Value

I bought three bookcases last year for 75$ and just resold them for 75$. *blinks*

Getting a Good Deal on a Last Minute Flight

Winnipeg is a three day drive from where I live so I had to take a flight out for my Friday interview. I didn't have much time to research flights and I had to be in Winnipeg for a certain date and time. Add to that that flights within Canada are generally much more expensive than flights outside the country. I expected to disburse at least 500$. With some savvy, I came in at 370$, a genuine bargain.

Here are some of the factors that enabled me to get this awesome deal.

1) Knowing My Resources

The first place I check when looking for flights is expedia.ca. Expedia sums up nicely exactly who is flying to my destination from my city. It claims that it finds the best deal, but I find that's rarely the case. So, now that I know which carriers provide service, on to step 2.

2) Going Directly to the Airlines

I often get a bit of a look from people when I say that I buy directly from the airlines. Yet, I have have never found as good a deal on 'discount' sites as I have by going directly to the airlines. It could have something to do with the type of travel I do or the destinations I'm going to. For example, I doubt I would book a flight to Cuba directly from a carrier since I'm certain I could get a better 'all inclusive' deal from a sun-vacation specialist. Once I'm on the airline websites, I search for my dates and go on to step three.

3) Keeping An Open Mind

I didn't want to take a lot more time off work, so I hoped to fly out after work on Thursday and then fly home mid-afternoon Friday. Both Air Canada and WestJet offered flights ranging from 134$ to more than $1,000. I focused on Thursday first. According to Air Canada, I had two options:

a) leave my home airport at 6:20AM (meaning be at the airport for 4AM!) and fly directly to Winnipeg for 134$;
or
b) leave my home airport later in the day and pay $500 for a mid-morning departure or $700 for a later day departure that would take me through Toronto, extending the length of the journey from two and a half flight hours (plus airport time) to seven flight hours (plus airport time). There was also the 'executive' class flights that were in the +$1,000 range.

Westjet, had very similar prices and options, but offered a 2:10PM 'seat sale' on a direct flight to Winnipeg for 134$. It would involve taking an extra day off work, but this was a pretty sweet deal.

Then, I looked at my Friday options. Air Canada's prices for mid to late Friday were comparable to Thursday's, but they did have a direct flight leaving at 8:45PM for $134. Westjet, on the other hand, offered flights that were only in the $500+ range. Which brings me to the final step.

4) Not Hesitating

I weighed all my options and decided to take an extra day off work, fly out at 2:10PM Thursday on Westjet and fly home Friday at 8:45PM on Air Canada, for a total cost between the two of about $370. I bought the tickets immediately knowing that 'sleeping on it' would result in flights filling up and cheap seats no longer being available. I knew that the price was excellent and that I couldn't hope for anything much better than that.

Interestingly enough, the base cost of the flight was the same for both, but Westjet wound up costing me $10 less. I could have saved $5 with Air Canada by stating that my luggage was carry on only, but would have then had to shell out $50 if something in my luggage was deemed inappropriate for carry on. With the way regulations are now, I decided not to take a chance and ponied up the $5.

This was my first time buying one way tickets so that I could fly on separate airlines, but it worked out great. My Friday flight was a half hour late departing, so I got home insanely early Saturday morning, but at least it was Saturday morning and not Sunday.

The timing of my flights also meant that I was able to enjoy Thursday evening in Winnipeg and a full day on Friday.

This was my first time flying Westjet and I was very impressed. There's a wee bit more legroom and they actually serve a snack with the drinks. So does Air Canada, but you have to pay for the snack. :-)

Now that I know that a deal for Winnipeg can be found, I'm not so nervous about needing to return for other interviews or, best of all, a home hunting expedition!

Must Be Something In the Air

Moments ago, I stepped out to return an empty 12-pack of beer. No less than four of my neighbours stepped out the door at the same time to do the same thing. The dépanneur clerk was a bit dazed.

When my turn came, I handed over the 12-pack and a snack cake and got back 50 cents. Drinking beer might not actually save me money, but it supports my brownie habit since I'd drink beer even if I didn't eat the brownies, but I wouldn't pay for the brownies. Works out well. :-)

Reading Labels

I've had a craving for grilled cheese sandwiches for days now. Must be the (insane) weather. Yeah, that's it.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are a treat since they're made with ingredients that have almost no redeeming nutritional value--real butter, commercial sliced white bread (CSWB) and fake cheese slices (FCS).

Tonight, I decided it was time to indulge, so I headed to GT. They had the CSWB I favour (Weston), but not the FCW. I usually buy Kraft 'real cheddar' slices. I don't care what anyone says, processed cheese is processed cheese, but these slices have a less 'plastic' feel to them. GT offered two options, both containing 24 slices. The first was by Black Diamond (maker of the some of the best sharp cheddar in the whole world) for 4.99$. The second was a brand I'd never heard of, for 88 cents.

I looked at the ingredient labels for each. Black Diamond's first ingredient was cheese. The other had oil and starch as its first ingredients and didn't even have the words 'cheese' or 'milk' anywhere in them. You can guess what I bought.

The resulting sandwiches were very, very good. :-) I've got lots of FCS and CSWB left, so I can have a few more sandwiches over the next week until I'm all grilled cheesed out, and then I'll be good for several months.

Little Things That Irk Me

(very little)

1) Unexplained Mini-Windfalls

There was a small deposit made into my chequing account two days ago. It's described as a 'branch deposit.' I wasn't expecting anything payments for anything, so I have no idea where this money comes from or even if the deposit was made in error. The bank was of no help ("According to our files, ma'am, that entry was a branch deposit." (Ma'am?!)) How long am I expected to leave that money in my account before I can do something with it, like move it to my high interest savings account? Money appearing from nowhere might sound great in theory, but it's annoying for someone who tracks such matters. I won't get into what happened the last time this happened, other than to say that the bank (not the bank I'm currently with) charged me interest for a five figure deposit they accidentally made into my account....

2) Changed Packaging

Like many eaters of tofu, I have a favourite brand because one curdled soy bean is not the same as another. I've been eating this brand for about fifteen years. I can't even tell you the name of it!!! I just grab the beige package for a full-sized brick, or the pink box for half a brick. Well, now they put their flavoured varieties (YUCK) in the same-colour packaging!!!!!!!!!! It wasn't until I'd ripped open the pink box today that I realised that I was holding herb-flavoured tofu that is normally sold in yellow packaging! Thankfully, this wasn't dramatic for the meal I was preparing and worked out fine, but what if I hadn't been planning to make something savoury with it (thyme tofu uncheese cake anyone)? Very, very annoying. If a gal can't count on her tofu, what, if anything, in the universe can she count on? There was also an announcement on the box for new 'feta-flavoured' tofu. Oh, brother. Let me guess, they're going to jack up the price, too?

*takes a deep breath*

I love my life!!! I mean, these (and having a hard time getting out of my parking spot because of the snow) are the most annoying things that happen in it!!!!

Beautiful, Unique, and Functional

I try to bring into my life things that are beautiful, unique, and functional and I pay attention to detail. Whenever I have my own home again, I'd like to have a 100% personalized house, down to the toilet flusher (cue in laughter). One thing I never considered was mailboxes.

My first thought when I came to this site was to roll my eyes as I thought "Yay, more junk for the rich crowd." But, I still gave the site a perusal and decided that I like the offerings. Seattleluxe.com sells a wide variety of mailboxes for both residential and commercial uses. Custom, anti-theft, multiple unit and unique mailboxes are a few of the thousands of varieties of mailboxes that Seattleluxe.com sells. The right mailboxes can both beautify your home and protect your identity from mail theft.

Seattle Luxe sells a variety of other products ranging from butcher blocks to mirrors, and just about everything is beautiful, unique, and functional. It's definitely one to bookmark if only for inspiration in outfitting a home.

Did Some More Research...

And discovered that my new Matt and Nat bag is considered eco and vegan friendly and the profits go to a local company in Montreal.

There's a really nice message in the bag:

chose life choose positivity chose the golden rule choose to be at peace with yourself choose salvation scegliete di fare una differenza choose to make a difference choisissez de faire une différence choose to be different choose to be a rebel choose to be funky choose to be yourself choose to create a fashion statement

Feeling Extremely Sheepish

One shopping tip I find very useful is to make a list of things you need and/or want with dimensions, reasons, and other info. It's wonderful for those situations where you're at a flea market or garage sale and something catches your eye, but you're sure if that something would be of benefit to you.

The most important thing is to carry the list with you.

Had I been carrying my list on Tuesday I would have realised that the wonderful purse actually fits the description of an item on my 'needed and/or wanted' list. I've been looking for a large purse to use as a day bag while traveling. It would have to be large enough to carry a wallet, guide book, notebook, lunch, snacks, water bottle, camera, and a change of clothes and toiletries when just popping into a motel for one night while on the road, but not be so big that I would be tempted to stuff the kitchen sink into it. I also wouldn't want it to look like a travel bag.

So, two days later, after obsessing over the darn thing, I went back to the store, looked the wonderful purse over, checked off all the requirements, and bought the darn thing!

Curbing Impulse Spending With Standards

Today, I found an amazing purse. It was love at first sight. I have a weakness for unique handbags, but I rarely do anything stupid and I'm not one of those gals who accumulates purses. I try to buy them inexpensively so I can rotate them out of my closet within a year.

Today, I came very, very close to being stupid, however.

The purse was 70$, marked down from 140$. For that price, I assumed that it was leather and, thus, worth buying. I'd made a decision a while back to not buy vinyl/PVC purses any more unless they're practically being given away since they simply don't last.

I grabbed the purse, but slowed down enough to thoroughly search it for confirmation that it was indeed leather. Instead, I found a label that said '100% PVC.' Obviously, the price tag was for the designer name, another pet peeve of mine. Back on the shelf it went. Phew.

But now I want that same purse. In leather. Oh, what a beauty.

Did I mention that it's orange?