Femme Fatales!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Day 17 - Photoblog Challenge

A Place You Went Today

A place I went yesterday was the West Coast Womens ShowOne of BC's largest events.
It's been a tradition for me and my mom and my cousin and as of late my sister in law to go to the Womens Show every year.  It's a day out with the girls and believe me there's lots to see and do.  Of course we always went to the one in Toronto and this was my first year at the BC event without them, but I still had a good time because they were with me in spirit.

I get asked a lot about what it is and basically a whole bunch of vendors get together under one roof and sell their merchandise.  Well over 250 different vendors at least, if not more.  I'm talking, jewelery, hair accessories, makeup, crafts, travel bureaus, food industry, as seen on t.v, fashion, HOT firemen calendars, kids toys, cars...and the list goes on and on.  Fleamarket might come to mind but rest assured it's anything but.  It's a great day out with the ladies for a low $12 admission fee.
You get to taste test pretty much everything they sell food wise.  And they constantly ask for volunteers to do your hair and makeup.

I'll be the first to admit that if you don't go in with an "I'm only gonna spend this much" attitude, you will go over your limit.  Most of the vendors accept Visa and Debit and the ones that don't will take cash.
I went with my girlfriend and told her the hubby took my Visa (teeny white lie) it was still in my wallet, but when I spent what I had gone in there with she reminded me that Jason took my Visa, this kept me from whipping it out and laying on the charges...lol.  It worked!
Every booth is there to advertise their business and you will get things at par, NO TAX!  That alone is a huge hit.  Not to mention some of them throw in free samples of this or that.

It's a great way to experience the community around you and know what outlets are at your disposal.

If you have a Womans Show in your area, I strongly suggest you go!




These Posh Accessories really caught my eye.  I've never seen anything like this before and she had a wide assortment to pick from. 
Groovy things for beautiful people!


These lovely tree trimmings can be purchased at Bombay located in Richmond, Vancouver, Victoria, Langley and Pitt Meadows.





The next few pics will be from the fashion show.
See something you like?  All the pieces were from either Stiches, The Bay or Urban Planet/Urban Behavior.
Clothing supplied from Lougheed Town Centre




I can't for the life of me remember who supplied the childrens clothing but they were absolutely darling!
When I remember again I will post it for sure.


Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty part of the show.
They turned up the heat with  their 24th annual "Hall of Flame" Firefighters Calendar!
Calendars are sold on site throughout the show and all proceeds benefit the Burn Unit at Vancouver General Hospital and other selected charities.


Now I know what you're thinking..."what the hell is this?"  but ladies...watch my video for an insight into the dirty lives of firemen!!  :P  Pun intended!

But.....before we get to the video...here's a few things I purchased.

I got this lovely pack of six bath bombs for $20.
I can't even begin to tell you how delicious they smell.
The only contact info I have to give you is the card below this picture.



I also got this gigantor 3 wick candle from Bombay.  It's Winter Fresh scented and I have a feeling it will last a super long time!
The Shea Hands cream I purchased from the Shea Butter Market.  It's organic and it's one of the best shea butter creams I've ever smelled plus proceeds from each purchase goes towards helping the Tapko widow's group in Northern Ghana.  I'm all for helping our fellow women.


I purchased this gorgeous trio colored Eco Pearls from Terra Eco Pearls.
The local number is 604-948-2007 and their website will be coming soon.





The last thing I purchased was this jewelry organizer.
I've been looking for a place to hang my necklaces because I'm sick and tired of untangling them, so when I saw this I nabbed it right away.
Again I can't remember who the vendor was.




Now, it's time for the best part.  I know I ramble a lot in the beginning but fast forward towards the end if you want.  My treat to you!
(The good part starts at about 4 minutes)



Hope to see some of you there next year!


XoXo,
Zxen

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Day 16 - Photoblog Challenge

Your Closet

I pretty much did a post on my closet already.  I chose my closet in place of my humble abode so I'm just gonna post a link to my closet post.  Honestly not much has changed, give or take a few piles of laundry.

^.^



I would love to check out YOUR closet!  Send me a linkie.  I'm a closet creeper and I love it!


XoXo,
Zxen

Day 15 - Photoblog Challenge

A Stranger and Why You Chose Them



For this stranger post I chose my grandfather and I know what you're thinking..."Why would she choose her grandfather?"

I have a perfectly good reason.  Though yes he is my grandfather, he's also like a stranger to me.
I didn't grow up going to my grandparents house every weekend.  Well I did, up until we moved to Canada when I was about eight years old so anything I remember about him is from earliest childhood, which isn't much.

He lives here in Canada with my uncle now and he swaps between my uncle and my mom's place.  I would love to have him come stay with me but I think it would be uncomfortable for both of us because of the language barrier.
I've been Canadianized so much that I don't speak Romanian anymore.  I can mumble the basics but to have a full on conversation is next to impossible because I couldn't even begin to remember how to translate properly.  I can understand it perfectly, and I can even read it, but to answer back in my broken Romanian is a joke.  Half the time I make up my own words and they sound correct to me but then the Romanian speaking Nazi (my cousin) comes around and makes fun of me.  Very frustrating!

He's a doll though.  He was right in tenth heaven when my son was born and I hate the fact that I feel like I took Dorin away from him when we moved to BC, but such is life.
He ALWAYS saves a treat for Dorin when we visit!
Before we moved, if we'd go visit for the day he would always buy a special cookie, or a chocolate bar from the specialty Italian stores around the house.  Whether it was bon bons, or licorice he always had something for Dorin and I love and miss that.
He's also very old fashioned.  He grew up in a communist country so to have freedom to do things here that he didn't have back home, he feels guilty.
In a time in his retired life where he should be resting and relaxing, he cooks, he cleans and he loves to plant and play in his gardens.  My grandparents were farmers back home and to this day I still dream about their farm house.  They had chickens and pigs, bunny rabbits, a huge farmers field.  We'd always pick our own vegetables and fruits.  I remember the endless cherry trees they had, and the sour gooseberries.
Those were the days!

Even to this day my grandfather is the most generous person I know.  Perhaps a bit senile now (not his fault, comes with age) but he'll still give you the clothes off his back without asking questions.  He's a kind, generous, stranger of an old man and I LOVE him!


These are my grandparents with me and my brother years ago.
My grandmother is not around anymore.  She's always missed though! <3

This was at Christmas two years ago.  My grandfather, my mother and my Uncle.
And then there's ME!  :P


XoXo,
Zxen

Day 14 - Photoblog Challenge

Something You Craved Today
 
Something I craved today?  That's an easy one.  FOOD!
If you've read my last few posts I mentioned that my hubby is whipping me into shape, not because he thinks I need it but because I asked him to.  Believe it or not we both used to be very fit people.  He always had and still has more will power than me so by asking for his help he's helping me to stay on track.  I believe it was five days ago when I started this whole fitness thing with his help (God it feels like forever ago!!) and I haven't fallen off the band wagon yet.  Part of this is because I keep track of what I eat which has helped me realize that holy shit, I've ate way too much in the past.  The other part that I sometimes hate with a passion is I'm actually waddling my ass to the gym.  It's been five days straight of physical fitness and though I feel at times like the gym has kicked my ass, I feel good!
I don't expect to see changes anytime soon.  We all know that it takes a few weeks before your body starts to change.  I don't want to rush into it and lose everything at once, this ain't no Biggest Loser.  I'd rather lose it slowly and know that it's off for good.  But it's not even about losing the weight, for me it goes beyond that, I want my health back and the only person who can give me that is myself!
So what do I crave on a day to day basis?  You got it, food!
Salads, fish, chicken, sushi, fruits, vegetables.  Mmmmm....bet you thought I was gonna say cake or ice cream didn't you?
Fat Chance!



Stay healthy and strong my friends,
Zxen

October Giveaway Winner!


Congratulations to Aranza!


You are the winner of the gorgeous faceted glass bead and sterling silver bracelet.
You will be contacted by e-mail shortly.


Don't forget to stay tuned for next months giveaway.  As Christmas will soon be here, I'm planning a bigger, better giveaway.


Thanks for subscribing and don't forget to tell your friends!
^.^


XoXo,
Zxen

Monday, October 18, 2010

Day 13 - Photoblog Challenge

What's In Your Fridge


This post makes me laugh.  What's in MY fridge?  Food!  LOL  Jason always calls me such a smart ass.  My son will ask what's for dinner and I don't lie, I tell him food.

To be honest my fridge is a bit barren at the moment, I haven't had time to do groceries and let me say up front I HATE MY FUCKING FRIDGE!!!  Okay so it's not technically mine, it's what we have to use while we rent this house.  It's so effing small and has no extra shelf space.  If I didn't know any better I'd say it was made for midgets and I don't mean any disrespect, but jeez!

Food is a big part of my life and it's on my mind from the minute I wake up to when I go to bed, much like my schedule.  Food consumes me and I worry sometimes if this is normal but it may explain why I'm pleasantly plump.
I love food!  
Since we've moved we've both been under a lot of pressure, me especially I think because it was harder for me to say goodbye to family and friends and a secure job, so I turned to food for comfort.  It's my niche.  I love to cook and I love to try new foods.  That being said, since we've moved here I've had a hard time finding my motivation to get fit again, I'll do good for about a week and then it all blows to shit.  Hmph! Very frustrating.
To me being fit doesn't mean being skinny and although I can walk for miles without breaking a sweat, I need to tone up!  That's the hard part.  To help me Jason has offered his Personal Training assistance.  He'll help me keep a record of what I should eat and how much.  God help me!!  Actually I think I'll be better off with his support and help, but I can foresee many arguments, like I said before, I LOVE my food!  :)



This is our fridge.  The front and sides are littered with magnetic family and friends photos and Dorins paraphernalia.


It seems like it's jam packed but don't be fooled.


It's quite barren.  Two things that are on constant supply in our fridge is salsa and pickles.  Ok and Jasons mustard and hot sauce, he puts that shit on everything!


Believe it or not, the jug of milk alone weighs the door down.  Have I mentioned already how much I HATE THIS FRIDGE?!


We have a bigger freezer we use for most of our meats and buns and stuff like that.  the little one is more for quick things like frozen yogurt (yum), frozen endamames, frozen fruit and so on....


These little guys stay on my fridge year round, partly because they're so cut and mostly because they're magnets.  They help to hold our photos up.


That's what's in and on my fridge.
What's on constant supply in your fridge?


XoXo,
Zxen

Day 12 - Photoblog Challenge

The Town/City you Reside


When the fam and I moved here last winter we started by renting a house literally one foot borderline Surrey BC and the other foot Brookswood BC which is a small community in Langley British Columbia.
I'm loving the location because my son goes to a very good school with an amazing curriculum and we're only ten minutes away from the heart of any city.

During the day we don't have any traffic whizzing by and at night time it's so peaceful and quiet you can hear the coyotes howling in the distance.

That being said not much goes on in Brookswood and sadly there really isn't much to see so I'm gonna make this post about another little town I absolutely adore.  Fort Langley.

Fort Langley is the kind of old fashioned town you see in the movies.  Cute adorable stores adorn the town where I window shop constantly.  You can find hand made candles, clothes, trinkets and just explore the town.  It's full of natural history.



We had our family pictures taken in front of the Town Hall building :)

Planet Java is a must treat.  Tons of Marilyn Munroe and Elvis Prestley memorabilia to look at while you eat

I think this best describes why I love it so.  Simply beautiful.

The original train station is still there, though I think it may have been moved and turned into a museum of sorts, I think.  I've never actually been in there yet.

If you keep driving past the town you eventually reach a dead end where I think people can take the ferry to the next part of their destination, again I haven't gone that far yet.
Local flower shop.







Come!  Explore!  Much to see and do!


XoXo,
Zxen

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Breezing Into Fall

This morning was one of the best mornings I've had in a long time.  For the first time I woke up with absolutely nothing on my mind.  I didn't have to worry about feeding the kid, or the dogs, or cleaning the house.  The hubby did it for me and I got to sleep in, which was much appreciated!  Breakfast in bed is something that I believe everybody should experience!

We're always on such a tight schedule from the minute we wake up to the very last second we go to sleep.  Even our dreams are robbed of their proper due because we end up dreaming about what we have to do the next day.

For one day out of a month I have an "I don't give a shit day!"  One day where I do absolutely nothing!  Granted it's usually on my day off from work, but still.  I do absolutely nothing!
So the laundry needs to get done, big deal.  The kids need to be fed and so do the dogs, make the hubby do it!  The grass needs to be cut, what's waiting another day?

In all honesty ladies, I've come to the conclusion that we've been so well bred that certain chores; shopping, cooking, cleaning are the womans responsibility.  Once a month I say to hell with that!

We live in an era of equality and that means both the male and the female population work, that also means guys that you can do some damn chores!!  Or come home with the groceries!  Throw your own socks in the washing machine!
That's why once a month I go on strike!

There's those lucky women out there who have their men so well trained that they may already do these things for you (lucky bitches!) but some of us are not that lucky.  So to you ladies I say, take one day for yourself!  Do what you wanna do!  Go where you wanna go!  Eat what you wanna eat!
We need these days to ourselves to keep us sane.  I'm telling you, you won't regret it.



Anyway, enough about that.  After breakfast in bed, we went as a family for a walk.  Of course my son grumbled and mumbled but the dogs and Hubby were all too willing.  They know not to mess with me during that time of month, and what's better, that time of month plus my day of strike!  Sweet heavenly bliss!
I ended up bringing my camera with me as I so often do and decided to play around with it.  Dorin was my model  :)  He's such a handsome little boy!



He's got a face only his Momma could love!  :P






This is our Cookie.  We picked her out when she was only five weeks old and look at her now!
Our other Lab was walking ahead with daddy so they missed their opportunity for picture whoring.


Yup, he's gonna break a lot of hearts when he gets older.


XoXo,
Zxen