Indoor Gardening

I remember when I was little my dad would always start his summer garden in trays in our house.  I decided to follow in his footsteps this year and plant myself an indoor garden.

I went to Home Depot and purchased my indoor gardening tray that comes complete with peat pellets.  The peat pellets are great for transplanting the seedlings outside when the weather gets warmer.  They are small discs of peat and when you add water they 'grow' to a small 1.5-2" net of soil.  You can open the top of the small net that surrounds the soil and begin to plant your seeds.

The seeds I also picked up from the Home Depot, I chose tomatoes, dill, onions, spinach, mini bell peppers, and two types of flowers.  I also bought peas and more flowers for when the weather gets nicer to be able to plant outside!  Peas are my favorite freshly grown veggie.

Bringing out the Irish in me...

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day.  Probably one of my favorite holidays (mostly because of my obsession with beer!).  My Grandma was Irish and she sent us St. Patrick's Day cards every year.  I'm thinking maybe I should take over her tradition now that she has passed.  Who doesn't love getting a greeting card in the mail, a friendly hello with an artistic flare!  I'll add that to my to do list, maybe I can start making cards for Easter.


One of my best friend's birthday is today and what better way to celebrate than wearing green and taking part in the Irish festivities!  I stopped in at On The Verge in Guelph today and picked up a great gift and birthday card.  The card is by 'Bald Guy Greetings' and is probably one of the funniest cards I've ever seen.  Even if you are just looking for something to do, I recommend going in to this fantastic little store and reading their cards.  I promise it will bring a smile to your face!
The birthday gift I chose for her was a four leaf clover sterling silver necklace.  How appropriate!  I was so tempted to keep it for myself...

I've picked up a 6 pack of Mad Tom IPA by Muskoka Brewery for tonight - yum yum yum.  Check out the cup I'll be drinking from in the picture below - I picked this lovely up when i was in college and it still hasn't gone missing!!  It turns bright green when there is cold beer in it - ha!

Happy Pre-St. Patrick's Day to all my Irish readers (even if you are only Irish for a day!)
xo

Cabbagetown Brew

I was working in Toronto a few weeks back and needed to stop at a coffee shop for some free wifi action.  I was in the Cabbagetown area and saw this little gem called 'Cabbagetown Brew'.  What a great find!  Excellent coffee, baked goods and the atmosphere was perfect. 
I had a 'Cabbacino', such a clever name, as well as a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie!  

I sat in a huge comfy white chair with my laptop with the news playing on a tv on the wall infront of me. The perfect spot to write some emails and update some blogs :)

Mr. Pong's Bar

I was in Toronto on the weekend and had a drink with a few friends at Mr. Pong's Bar in Little Portugal, Toronto.  This new Dundas Street hot spot was great.  The walls of the bar are covered in a cartoon of a Panda bear seeking revenge. 

When we walked in I thought it was small but when I sat down I was surprised of how much I enjoyed the size.  So much more intimate, but yet not cramped.  I hope to return to Mr. Pong's soon!

BlogTO and Toronto Life have great write ups on Mr. Pong's.  

Things to wo when you are Snowed In!

So I made it in to work today but our boss was nice enough to let us go home early before the mess decided to get worse.  I work directly beside the 401 highway so all day we were cringing watching the traffic crawl.

My balcony looks like a snowy jail cell... ergh.

I can't exactly go anywhere tonight so I grabbed a latte on my way home and have decided to come up with things to do while I'm stuck in my house.

1.  Online shopping - I'm in an upcoming wedding and the bride would like coral or "mint" green coloured bridesmaid dresses.  The wedding is in Jamaica so I figured the new summer lines might have some good options!  Here are some of my favourite sites:

• ASOS
• ModCloth
• Simply Audrey
• Anthropologie
• Etsy

2.   Search Pinterest - I'm completely obsessed so I don't want to waste my whole night on this one ;)

Follow my pins here: http://www.pinterest.com/mswhipp/boards/

3.  Laundry - I have a mess in my room so cleaning up that plus washing all the clothes in my laundry hamper, this should keep me busy for a while!

4.  Try a new recipe - This one I will have to get creative with.  I don't want to have to make a trip to the grocery store so I need to think of something to make with what I have in my cupboards!  I think a casserole will be the best idea, so easy to throw something together and then bake it.  I have ground beef, mushroom soup, frozen peas and corn, cheddar cheese, whole wheat pasta and some bread crumbs.

5.  Yoga - its really quiet outside because there aren't many people out and about so I have peace in my house.  I can spend half an hour following an online yoga class.  My favourite at home yoga classes are through podcasts.  I follow Yoga Download, Yoga Today and Tara Stiles.  The issue with the podcasts is that you have to know the postures beforehand to be able to follow.  If you are a beginner you might want to follow something on Youtube.

6.  Change the photos in my picture frames - something I like to do every other month to change up the scenery in my house!

7.  Clean out my closet - starting my spring cleaning early.  This can take a long time so maybe I will only do my dresser today.

8.  Facetime my parents - I don't even know if I should do this, my parents are in Florida and it will probably just put me in a jealous rage.  Ha!  I text my Dad this morning to let him know about the pile of snow we received last night and he let me know he was about to go for a swim in their pool.  Real nice pops.

9.  Plan out the rest of my weekend - this I would probably be doing now even if I was at work :)

10.  Watch a movie - Obviously.  Snow days always end with a good movie and a glass of wine!  It's almost valentines day so maybe a romantic themed movie.  My absolute favourite movie of all time is Pride and Prejudice - classic.

The Bauer Kitchen

This past weekend I was bridesmaid dress shopping with my friends and we decided to go for lunch in the trendy Uptown Waterloo.  I chose the Bauer Kitchen because none of my friends had been there before and I had a great dinner experience there a few months ago. 

Image from Bauer Kitchen Website

Their lunch menu offers a large variety from sandwiches and pizza's, to smoked brie cheese with bacon jam platters!  I always find the Charcoal group does a great job with their restaurants and the Bauer Kitchen is no exception.  If you are looking for coffee and a muffin the Bauer Kitchen also has an attached cafe which also makes the restaurant smell amazing. 

I ordered the Margherita Pizzetta with a side harvest salad, both were excellent.  We also arrived just in time for their "make your own caesar" bar.  Such a great idea, they give you a glass with your choice of vodka or tequila and you get to rim and fill with all of their offered toppings.  Check out the picture below of just some of the toppings to choose from!  I love a good dill pickle caesar so this was fantastic.

Make your own Caesar Bar!

My choice from the lunch menu - Margherita