Sew Hungry

What's better than a good pun? A food truck pun (and a street full of food trucks). Last week I strapped Ruby into her baby carrier and joined some mom friends to eat our way down Ottawa Street in Hamilton at Sew Hungry. Ottawa street is the garment district in Hamilton...get it?

They had a truck to suit your every whim. I wish I was hungrier when I went but all I had room for was one thing for lunch plus a sweet treat. Any guesses as to what I chose? 

{the lineup}

{I'll give you a hint, it was on this menu} 

Double bacon mac 'n' cheese from Frankie Fettuccine - obviously. It was delish (and huge)! Ruby loved it too.

Here are some more photos from the day.

{new to the food truck scene with super yummy wraps} 

 {pig puns a-plenty}

{Sarah and baby J - our dates; ignore my dorky face, it was so sunny!}

{if you follow me on insta you would have caught this already - my very first time eating Tiny Tom donuts}

They have Sew Hungry events throughout the year so keep your eyes out!

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Fakeout Nicoise Salad

I am frugal. Super duper annoyingly frugal. So what I try to do is make meals out of the random food I have on hand instead of hauling it out to the grocery store. Sometimes it works out really nicely, like with this fake Nicoise salad. It's fake because it doesn't have Nicoise olives in it...so I'm not sure what's really Nicoise about it? Say Nicoise one more time. Nicoise. The word has now lost all meaning.

Anyway, if you have some of these pantry staples and want to make a delightful, protein-rich salad, I'd recommend it.

Ingredients:
Lettuce
Green beans (blanched)
Hard boiled egg
Half a can of tuna
Approximately 2 small new potatoes (quartered and cooked)

Optional (in other words, those things I didn't have/don't even like so who cares):
Nicoise olives if you like olives (I don't)
Tomatoes (don't like those either)
Capers (they give me the creeps, but if you're into them, add some)

Dressing:
3 parts olive oil, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part Dijon mustard, one small shallot diced, salt to taste. Combine in a mason jar and shake it up.

Method:
Fill your bowl with lettuce, top with remaining ingredients, then dress. Voila! As if you needed me to tell you have to assemble a salad. But take note, for this one, presentation counts.

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Conversations: Coffee Mug Edition

The scene: Walking into the kitchen on Sunday morning, Nick is pouring me a cup of coffee (in the mug pictured above).

Me: AH STOP! I don't want that mug!

Nick: looking puzzled, stops, and starts to pour coffee out of mug into the sink.

Me: Don't pour it out! (sacrilege!) Just...just... leave it. I will put it in a different mug.

Nick: puts mug down, gives me a look, and retreats with his breakfast.

At this point I realized I was having a slight overreaction to a coffee mug and had alienated my husband who was doing something nice for me. Good start to the day really. So, I apologized. Then, for my own benefit more than anyone else's, I proceeded to highlight which mugs I enjoy for coffee. There were 6. As it turns out, I am pretty picky about my coffee mugs.

To make a quiet but very real point, Nick had his coffee from the bunny mug. #husbandwin

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

So We Moved

Normally this would be where I list excuse after excuse for not being a better (read: more consistent) blogger. Instead I will list only one: we moved.

This was our first time selling our place (verdict is in; it's not very much fun) and the one-millionth time we've moved (still not so fun). The fun part? Our new place! Plus unpacking. I loooove to unpack. So much so that that's how I spent most of my birthday. Moving-nerd-alert.

We are totally unpacked and have only been living here for 3 weeks. As much as I would like to share some photos, we still have some work to do (painting and such) and I'd be happier to show the final results. So instead, I will show you a photo of lovely drawing given to us from our Real Estate agents of our new home.

{our place is the left, my parents' place is the right}

You didn't forget that we bought this place with my parents and we each live in half, right? Well so far, it's working out wonderfully (according to me). I have a sneaking suspicion that I am becoming the annoying neighbour that stops by unannounced (every.single.day). To offer them comfort, since I'm sure they're reading this, in two months I will be back to work and will have much less free time to be wandering over for random visits. 

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Chicken and Waffles

While we were on holiday in Florida, I found out something shocking...Most of the people we were with had NOT HEARD OF CHICKEN AND WAFFLES.

Are you one of those people?

Maybe I watch too much Food Network, but I somehow can not comprehend how this many people have never heard of this dish.

Although I had seen it created, I had never tried it, so when it was on the delightful breakfast menu at Doreen's Cup of Joe, I had to oblige. Side note: if you're ever on Marco Island, I would recommend going there for brunch.

If she had it her way, Ruby would have just eaten the menu.

Just look at this plate. Fried chicken served on waffles topped with leeks. This photo was taken before I doused it in maple syrup. Yes. Syrup on the chicken and leeks. Buddy the Elf would be proud.

Here are Nick's and Ruby's breakfasts (just so you can see how it all went down). Clearly mine was the best choice.

What's your favourite breakfast/brunch item?

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

When Life Gives You Lemons...Give One To Your Baby

Have you seen this series of photos? How funny is it?! I mean, perhaps it's a little mean to laugh at your baby's pucker face but not mean enough to stop me from doing it. There was a lemon tree in our yard in Florida so I had to put Ruby to the test. Here's a series of her reacting.

It started off ok...

Then there was some uncertainty...

And then reality set in...

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Quirky Obsession

For as long as I can remember, my assigned chore at home was loading/unloading the dishwasher. Because of the longevity of said chore, I a) still enjoy it and b) am quite obsessed with the way in which it is completed.

I am a dishwasher rearranger.

For a long time, I didn't even realize it. I would just open it up, see that it wasn't optimally loaded, and get to work moving things around until it was. One day, my dad's friend was over for dinner. After dinner, I opened the dishwasher and started moving things until it made sense. That's when he said to me "oh wow. Your dad told me you did this, but I didn't really believe him". Oh...so 'this' is a noticeable thing? A quirk, you might say.

Well, so be it. I still do it. In fact, I edged Nick out of the way to reorganize it last night. I mean, why waste space? Why hand wash that last dish when there is probably a way to fit it in?

When I found out that most dishwashers actually come with instructions that shows the optimal way to load them, I felt a great sense of validation. I'm not alone. I also thought...I should probably review those instructions to make sure they have it right... :)

image via

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Baby Swimming Lessons

Well it's been a few lessons since her first one, but I had to share this. A pool full of chubby little babies learning to swim - what could be cuter? (even though people still think Ruby is a boy, despite the skirt attached to her bathing suit bottoms...).

Here are some pictures from her first day:

{assessing the new situation} 

{deciding she loves the taste of pool water} 

These lessons are very much a daddy-daughter thing, but I had to take her last weekend (Nick was working). Due to the fact that I was feeling self-conscious in a bathing suit, I tried to stay as submerged in the water as possible. Since the pool is super shallow and I'm quite tall, that meant I was basically doing a perma-squat the entire time, with Ruby as my weight. My legs were actually sore the next day. What a way to trick myself in to working out #theonlywayiteverhappens ...

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Conversations: Super Bowl Edition

The scene: Half-time show. Katy Perry is flying on the shooting star contraption.

Me: What do you think is holding her up there? ...Do you think it's a drone?

Nick: You know those wires that hold the cameras up? <laughing> It's not a drone.

Me: No. No I don't know those wires...
damn it.
(inner monologue: I wish I did before I made that comment...)

disclaimer: I know very little about drones (obviously).

image via

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Lately

{the only way to get things done; baby in a basket}

My apologies for the radio silence again over the last couple weeks. I started the new year feeling ready to blog on the regular again. Then life happened.

Last fall, my parents and Nick and I decided to embark on a journey that most people wouldn't dare try. Purchasing a house together. To be clear, it's more like two semi-detached houses. I mean, we're not that crazy.

There had been so much back and forth with all the various moving parts, that we had almost completely given up on it actually happening. Until the one thing that needed to happen did.

What that meant for us was we then had two weeks to get our place completely ready for sale. Our little condo, which was full of things (aka absolutely not ready for potential buyers). So instead of spending our days doing leisurely activities and playing with Ruby, we were going nuts patching holes, painting, cleaning, de-cluttering, moving furniture and staging our place. Once that was done, we moved ourselves out (to my parents house) so that I wouldn't be trying to round up a dog and a baby every time someone wanted to view the place. Between that, having Nick's parents over for a lovely winter visit, planning my mom's retirement party, all three of us having colds and taking care of Ruby, there was pretty much no time for anything else.

Now, *breathes sigh of relief* that we're out of our place, I can get back to blogging a bit more regularly I hope!

Ps. Selling your first place is a lot more emotional than I ever expected. More on that later...

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

Children of the Corn

Do you remember the movie Children of the Corn? It's about those creepy blonde children that are evil and force their parents to do awful things using the power of their evil little minds. Well, we may or may not be dealing with a little Children of the Corn scenario over here. Nick and I are starting to think that Ruby and Rocky may be working together to kill us.

Rocky had us thinking this for a little while. Our main concern is his antler. He has this deer antler (naturally shed, they sell them at pet stores) that he chews on. It seems a bit like he's sharpening it (in the way an inmate might sharpen one end of a toothbrush to turn it into a weapon). He frequently does this, and leaves it standing on end (sharp end pointed up). I didn't even think a dog could position a chew toy the way he does.
Now, Ruby has shown little twinges of evil behaviour, the creepiest was when she grabbed Nick by the neck, dug in her little nails and then just smiled at him. A loving smile, or a death threat? We can't be sure.

{the weapon; left on its end, ready to stab someone, on the regular} 

{they may look innocent, but I swear they're working together}

These two blonde haired children are out to get us. Just putting it out there, if something bad happens, we were on to them.

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe

A Day in the Life

I haven't done a Day in the Life post for a little while (since August). Now that Ruby is at a very different stage of babyhood, I thought I'd do another.

Number of times I tried to ignore the noise from the baby monitor in the morning: 2 (which means that it actually worked once)
Time I dragged myself out of bed: 7:12am - which doesn't sound so bad until you know I was up three times during the night.
Cups of coffee: 2 3
Number of times I lifted Ruby up to sniff her butt (a practice that I formerly found disgusting): 3
Attempts it took to get little miss down for her morning nap: 2 (not the worst); and afternoon nap: 1 (hooray!)
Toys surrounding me currently: 8
Of those toys, the number that make obnoxious sounds: 2
The average noise level coming from Ruby: 8 (mainly shrieking, mixed with some adorable cooing)
The words used most today: "Rocky, NO". I'm quite certain they will be Ruby's first words as well.
Pages of my book read: 0

The Day's Accomplishments: Made the bed, skyped with my mother-in-law, fixed drafty door (by stuffing a towel between the screen and the glass...hey, I didn't say it was pretty), made and ate lunch using one arm/hand (the other one was holding the baby who would instantly bawl if I put her down), wrote a few blog posts, got Ruby to try oatmeal (wasn't well received). Sometimes you just have to celebrate the small wins.

pinterest | instagram | facebook | twitter | subscribe