Graduation Gift Basket

So I mentioned that the reason for my vacation to the Maritimes was to attend the high school graduation for one of my younger cousins (who ended up graduating a year early and still finished second in her class - I'm such a proud big cousin!). Instead of giving her a card with money in it, which I know every grad LOVES, I decided to do up a giant gift basket to get her ready for residence life instead. I bought most things at Ikea, since there isn't a store on the east coast (so I knew she wouldn't be receiving duplicate items). I went a little crazy while I was at Ikea, and didn't really think about how much space it would all take up in a suitcase, but I managed to make it work...I did need to pay to check an extra suitcase on the flight though... 

*I've tried to include links to the websites to buy the items whenever possible*

I did wait until I got to New Brunswick to buy this, there's no way I could have fit it into a suitcase. I had one the exact same as this one (only in lime green) back when I lived in residence years ago, and I loved the hip-hugger design. 

Cost: $9.97 at Walmart

I always go a little crazy at Bath and Body Works during their June semi-annual sale, and always end up buying way more then I could ever possibly need or use. This year though, I went with a purpose - to spend money on my cousin!

Cost: 

Carried Away Shower Gel and Lotion (travel size): $2/each

Moonlight Path Creamy Body Wash: $4

Dark Kiss Lotion: $4

Hand Sanitizer: $0.50

When I graduated from high school, I received a number of brand new towels/ handtowels/ face-cloths, and I still have some of them to this day, 8 years later (I've moved so many times since then, some have been lost along the way, and some have just worn out). I think it's such a practical, useful gift for someone about to move out on their own! Also, I had talked to my younger cousin's mom to find out the colour scheme she was going with for her dorm room - black, white and fuschia - so I tried to stick to it as much as possible.

Cost:

Pink Bath Sheet (Ikea): $11.99

White Bath Sheet (Ikea): $14.99

Black Bath Towel (Ikea): $6.99

Pink Hand Towel (Ikea): $3.99

4-pack White Wash Cloths (Ikea): $2.49

8 pack Face Cloths (Walmart, 2 packs): $3.97/each

Even though my cousin is staying in residence, and has already purchased a meal plan for the year, I thought it was important to buy her a pack of cutlery. This Ikea pack is much nicer than Dollarama stuff, while still being cheap enough that it doesn't matter if it gets lost. Who doesn't need a spoon to eat a bowl of cereal at 3am during exam week? 

Cost: $9.99 for 20 pieces at Ikea

A few people asked me why I thought my cousin would need a giant pack of straws when she went away to university...I just chuckled. The Raspberry Lemonade Blistex is my favourite lip balm ever, I bought 7 or 8 of them a few months back when they were on sale. Everyone should have a travel-sized mascara to throw in your purse! And the bag clips are handy for everything! We use them to lock in the freshness of cereal, chips, pasta, etc, etc, etc. I think Luke and I have 2 or 3 of these 30 packs in our apartment.

Cost:

Straws (Ikea): $1.50 (100 pack)

Bag clips (Ikea): $1.99

Blistex: I can't remember exactly, but I want to say ~$1

Benefit Mascara: Sample size, came in a subscription box 

My cousin LOVES tea, so I wanted to introduce her to loose leaf tea (which you know I am a big fan of, see my review on the David's Tea Pitcher HERE). I bought her a new teapot for brewing loose tea, a set of 4 teacups and a 100g tin of my favourite tea from David's (the Mango Fruit Punch, only available during the summer months).

Cost:

4 pack Tea Cups (Ikea): $2.99 (the style I bought are discontinued, which is why they were so cheap, but these are similar)

Teapot (Ikea): $9.99

Loose Leaf Tea (David's Tea): $15/100g (the tin is free when purchasing over 100g)

This stuff is fairly boring, but great for a dorm room desk! Plus, everything matches the colour scheme my cousin is going with.

Cost:

Dokument Wastepaper Basket (Ikea): $5.99

Dokument Pencil Cup (Ikea, 2 pack): $2.99

Dokument letter tray (Ikea): $9.99

Dokument magazine files (Ikea, 2 pack): $7.99

I would have loved this when I was in university! It's a free-standing laundry basket with two separate bags so you can sort lights and darks. Then, once a bag is full it just slides off the arms holding it in place and you can throw it over your shoulder with the attached handles. So smart Ikea!

Cost: $14.99 at Ikea

Everything came to a total of $163.84 after tax (the laundry basket was the only thing purchased in New Brunswick, where tax is 13%. Everything else was purchased in Alberta where tax is only 5%). I originally decided that I was going to spend ~$150 for this cousin, since we have always been close (despite the 9 year age gap). I didn't do too bad, I can deal with going over by less than $15, and I think it ended up being a very well-received gift. My cousin was very excited about how many things I had crossed off her list of items she knew she needed, and her parents were excited with how much money I saved them by buying it for her. I thought I did alright, there were quite a few items included in this gift. I had wanted to include a roll of quarters for laundry as well, but then I wasn't sure if machines these days only take loonies/toonies.

I'd love to hear about some gift baskets you've given people!

xoxo,
Fallon

*Please note I paid for everything pictured in this post with my own money, and none of the stores mentioned asked me to write reviews for them. These are all my own thoughts and opinions*

Vacation Time!

I haven't forgotten about all you lovely readers of my blog (if you even exist...). I've currently on day 10 of a 12 day vacation (10 day vacation when you subtract the two days used for travel). I'm originally from New Brunswick, so I came back to my hometown for a little cousin's high school graduation, but Luke and I also decided to use the time and enjoy the rest of the Maritimes. We spent 3 days/2nights on Prince Edward Island (I'll do up a review of the cottage we stayed in at some point) and another night in Halifax. I have some amazing pictures which I can't wait to share with you all!

Also, once I get home I'll have to blog like a maniac - I should have a decent sized pile of mail waiting for me (subscription boxes, JustFab order, Julep mystery box...)

Stick around, I have lots to come!

Weekend In Review

It was a fairly busy weekend for us, lots of errands and running around.

Friday night my mom joined Luke and I at What the Truck, an event held a few times each year at different locations around Edmonton. I love food trucks, and this city has an amazing amount of them (and all of them are delicious!). You can view the menu for the event we attended HERE. I ended up going to Casa Doce for a chicken taco (the cilantro on them was so fresh!) and picked up churros for all of us (actually they were called churrettes, and were little bite-sized versions, so good). Luke and my mom both went to Drift, mom just wanted fries (and her churrettes) and Luke had a pork belly slider with potato crisps, and bought fries to share with me. We found a bench to sit on, and left with our bellies full :) That evening was spent in front of the TV, watching the hockey game (Yay LA Kings!) Once the Stanley Cup came out onto the ice, I decided I could finally eat the chocolate version Luke had bought me for Easter (when he gave it to me, I told him I wouldn't eat it until the actual Cup was won, and I stuck to it!)

 

The box was a little beat up, but the chocolate still tasted good!



Saturday morning, Luke and I got up and went shopping. He decided he wanted new shorts, and he knew Old Navy had a sale on. I definitely did not need any new clothes, but I still walked out of there with 2 new dresses, a maxi-skirt and a tank top (and only cost me $75!). Luke had two full bags of new clothes - shorts, activewear, etc and it only cost him $88. Such great deals there! From there it was on to Ikea, where we decided to have a cheap (and not terrible) lunch. I have a cousin graduating high school this week, so I went a little crazy buying her tons of things for her new dorm room (she lives ~8hours from the closest Ikea, so I know she won't have any of the same things). I also found an adorable set of mint green dishes for Luke and I for only $12.99! I stopped at the Lindt Outlet and loaded up on chocolate for my dad for Father's Day and then the pet store for degu food (I've only found one store in the city that sells it). While I was there, I got to hold a chinchilla, which only makes me want one more, and one of the workers showed me the degus they had just received as a surrender. Luke immediately spoke up and said I'm not allowed getting any more...Our last stop was Walmart, where I got way too excited about buying a hand-held vacuum. That evening, a friend was BC was in town so her and I went and sat on a nearby rooftop patio and caught up for a few hours.

Sunday morning after sleeping in, Luke made me nachos for breakfast (he knows I'm not a fan of breakfast food, so I loved it). The next few hours were spent shopping at the West Edmonton Mall with my mom, where I picked up more David's Tea, some adorable new accessories at Forever 21 and my dad's favourite moisturizer from Lush. I might have also bought another new dress from Old Navy... After I got home, I decided it was time to clean the degu cage. I underestimated how large that thing actually is, and it ended up taking me close to 3 hours. During this, Luke was out for a 10km run. Sunday night neither of us wanted to cook, so we went to a local Indian restaurant and got buffet take-out - the greatest thing ever! Normally I don't feel like I get my money's worth on a buffet, and I always eat so much I feel sick. This restaurant will give you a styofoam container to fill with items from the buffet, and charges the exact same price. Every time we go there, I end up with three meals' worth of food for $20.

I'm not entirely sure why I felt the need to share all of that, I'm pretty sure no one actually reads my blog yet...

xoxo,
Fallon

David's Tea Iced Tea Pitcher

I've always had an intense hate for tea and coffee, until I discovered David's Tea a few years back. I still struggle to drink it hot, but I love their fruity teas over ice! I had purchased the 18oz steeper shortly after realizing how much I liked it, but it would only make 1-2 glasses at a time. I got pretty excited when I realized I could buy a pitcher from them. 

Gathered up everything I would need - pitcher, tea, Agave and spoon.

Don't mind all the appliances in the background, like I've mentioned before we have very little storage space in our kitchen, and so our Keurig/Swirlio/Breakfast Sandwich Maker/Popcorn Maker/HotDog Toaster all live on the table....

Luke can't drink large amounts of green tea, so we usually stick to the Rooibos or Herbals, but he had a craving for Lime Gelato green tea.

We've been going through a lot of tea now, we make a new pitcher about every second day. It's cut down on my Pepsi drinking, so I can't complain about that!

The David's Tea Spoon is unnecessary to own and you can use any spoon you'd like, but I like having a spoon that is only used for my tea.

It's not really mandatory on how much tea to use, it all depends on your personal preference if you like it strong or weak. For us, we've been filling the infuser to the center mark, and it's been turning out amazing!

The infuser screws into the lid of the pitcher, as you can see below.

You'll need to boil water and fill the pitcher half-full. We didn't own a kettle until recently, so we would just use a pot on the stove. It's important to not screw the lid on tightly, it needs to release some of the steam. It needs time to steep - we usually find about 5-7 minutes is plenty.

I love the Agave you can buy at David's Tea. It's a sweetener that easily dissolves in liquid. I don't know much about it, although Luke informs me they make tequila out of agave  - don't worry, this tastes NOTHING like tequila. I decided to use the regular stuff with this pitcher of tea, although I also own the Raspberry Flavoured Agave. I don't measure it, and I always figure it's better to put too little in, you can always add more to your own glass.

We use two full trays of ice cubes every time we make a new pitcher. Just fill it up, detach the infuser from the lid, reattach the lid and shake it up to cool it off!

I love these glasses, I bought them at the Interstellar Rodeo music festival last year. They're actually made of plastic, so they won't break and the logo hasn't washed off yet!

If you like tea at all, I would highly suggest trying this! They have amazing flavours out right now for summer - the Mango Fruit Punch and the Watermelon Mint are fantastic iced. We bought our pitcher during a promotion last month, and now get 15% off loose-leaf tea until the end of August! Let me know what your favourite flavours of tea are in the comments below!

xoxo,

Fallon

*Everything pictured in this post was purchased with my own money, and David's Tea did not ask me to write this review. It is entirely my own thoughts and opinions.*

JustFab Semi-Annual Sale

If you're not familiar with JustFab, it's kind of like a subscription service, except for shoes, purses, accessories and denim. The cost is $39.95/month per item, but if you sign in to your account between the 1st and 5th of each month you have the option of skipping the month, and you won't be charged for it. If you miss the window to skip, your credit card will be charged and it will sit in your account as a credit until you choose something. Basically everything on their site is $39.95 each, plus $6.95 shipping to Canada (no matter how many items you buy at once - you could buy 1 or you could buy 5, you still pay the same shipping).

JustFab is currently holding their semi-annual sale, where you can buy 2 styles for $39.95. I've been really good about skipping months, and have only made one purchase from their website in the past year. However, I just couldn't resist myself yesterday and bought two new pairs of flat booties. I've been trying to sell quite a few of my heels (I never wear them!) and have sold some of my booties with super high heels, so it's only fair I replace them...

I'll be sure to post pictures once I receive my new boots!

If you'd like to check out JustFab, here's a handy little link for you! Happy shopping!

xoxo,
Fallon

*Please note this post contains referral links*

Concert Bucket List

I love music, and I attend a large number of concerts and festivals each year. At some point I will post a full list of all the bands I have seen live; I haven't done an actual count in awhile but I believe it's somewhere around the 300 mark? That being said, my concert bucket list is quite small now, since I've had the opportunity to attend concerts of almost all my favourites.

As of today, here are the bands left on my concert bucket list (in alphabetical order):

Alt-J
Amos Lee July 26, 2014 at Interstellar Rodeo in Edmonton
Arcade Fire (tickets are already purchased to see them in August!)
Bell X1
Beyoncé (Sadly her tour date in Winnipeg is the week after we're there this summer)
The Civil Wars
Damien Rice
Dave Matthews
Florence and the Machine
Foster the People (they will be at SonicBoom this year)
The Gaslight Anthem (I can't believe I haven't seen these guys yet, it's L's favourite band...)
Incubus
Jack Johnson
Jay-Z
Joe Purdy
Kanye West
Lana Del Rey
Muse
Of Monsters and Men
Passenger
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Ryan Adams (I've already bought tickets to see him in October!)
The Strokes
Sufjan Stevens
Tool
Vampire Weekend

I'm sure if I said no to more concerts, I would have been able to buy the house I wanted by now...but I wouldn't trade my concert experiences for anything!

xoxo,
Fallon

Bacon Fest?

So I guess Edmontonians REALLY like their bacon... http://www.baconfestyeg.ca/About.html

I can't believe they're having an actual festival for this...I'm very intrigued though. I love bacon, and I'm curious as to what the food samples would be. I will be around the city on the day this is happening, so who knows - I might just end up being there...

xoxo,
Fallon

Julep Summer Mystery Boxes

Julep has released two new mystery boxes for the summer. The first box is guaranteed to contain Elana, a pink polish with gold glitter. The total value of the box is valued at $109. The second box is 100% mystery, no spoilers have been given. The total value of that box is $110. Each box can be purchased for $24.99, and according to the website there will be no overlap between the boxes.

It's been quite awhile since I've purchased a mystery box from Julep, but I couldn't help myself. I just ordered the 100% Mystery Box, plus at checkout I was given the option of a $9.99 mystery add-on (valued at $42). I can't wait to see what I end up getting!

If you'd like to join Julep, here is a handy little link for you to use :)


xoxo,
Fallon


*Please note this post contains referral links*

Degu Cage

The degu cage I custom designed has finally arrived! Actually, it arrived over a week ago, but it took me a bit of time to get pictures of it and get them uploaded to my laptop because life has been a little busy.

I knew my boys needed something bigger to live in, and this thing is massive! A co-worker has a little hobby shop in his garage, and was able to take my design, and with a few minor tweaks, make this:

Hero had to check it all out before I moved the degus into it...

He even made little staircases for them to get up and down between levels!



Another co-worker used to work at a glass shop, so he was able to get me an incredible deal on the glass panels for the sliding glass doors.

The bottom shelf is where I shoved one of my pre-existing aquariums in.

Like I said, this cage is massive! I realize I'm short at only 5'2", but this towers over me! I need to stand on a chair to see the top shelf.

This entire project ended up costing me $350 (not including anything inside the cage). Each time I clean it, I figure it'll cost me about $50 in bedding (I use Carefresh, which seems to be one of the best for absorbing the smell). When I had the five of them living in a much smaller cage, it would start to smell after only a few days, but I'm hoping this new cage will be good for close to a month due to the huge increase in surface area. So far, it's been just under 2 weeks, and the living rooms smells completely normal.

 

 

Doug and X currently have the penthouse suite, living on the top two shelves. The top shelf is the perfect height for their flying saucer (which Doug loves to destroy, little brat stands beside it and spins the wheel with his paws - we call it his "arm day". I seem to be able to get ~3 months out of these before he completely destroys it).

 

The 5 brothers (we now have names for the two with completely black noses - Allan and Bruce Springsteen - the boss). The three with pink on their noses haven't been named yet, but I'm sure it will be hockey related. By my estimate, they were born on the day of the gold medal men's game at the Sochi Olympics, and we adopted them on the day that Ryan Smyth retired. They currently have the aquarium on the bottom, plus the two shelves above that. They are still young and little, so this is plenty of room of them.

 

So far, the new cage seems to be a big hit, they run up and down the stairs, and have plenty of space to be alone if they choose to be. I'm so happy with this :)

 

If you'd like to see the actual plans or close up details to make your own, just leave a comment!

 

xoxo,

Fallon





Hot Dog Toaster Review

 

So, our Hot Dog toaster showed up a few days ago, and Luke was only a little bit excited about it...

 

Of course hockey is on in the background...

The box

One side of the toaster (I'm going to pretend there isn't a cat on the table right now...)

Other side of the toaster

Hero seems to approve, this isn't nearly as scary as the Keurig...

Also - we never actually eat at our table, our kitchen is very limited on storage space so the table is mainly used for storing small appliances (you can see our Keurig and Swirlio in the back of this picture)

This toaster is pretty neat. You place your hot dogs in the center, and the bun on the outside. All of the heat is directed towards the center, so it just warms your bun (who wants a fully toasted bun for a hot dog?!)

 

There are 5 different settings for cooking, we put it on the 4 for our first one. It wasn't quite cooked as well as we'd like, so we cooked everything again, this time on the first setting.

The plastic is quite cheap on this, but we didn't expect much (we only paid $10 after a discount).



There is also a stop button to pop everything if you don't want to wait for a full cycle (typical of most toasters, really.)
It also included a little set of tongs to take out the hot dog once it's cooked (it's HOT!)

I don't even really like hot dogs, but I had to have one just to try out the toaster... if you put enough cheese on it, you can't even taste it :)

Don't be jealous of my sweet Sesame Street plate...



We bought our Hot Dog Toaster from Beyond the Rack, so even if it's not on their website today, check again tomorrow. If you haven't signed up for BTR yet, here's a LINK for you to use :)

Overall, this thing works. Will it be used often? Probably not, but I guess it'll be an interesting conversation starter...

xoxo,
Fallon

*Please note this post contains referral links*

Gutsy Walk

I was diagnosed in February 2013 with Crohn's disease. At the time, I was incredibly sick and ended up missing over two and a half months of work. After being released from the hospital (where I had to spend 10 days and endure every test imaginable) I had to take over 20 pills each day to help my body recover from a massive flare-up. Even now, over a year later, I still have to take 2 different types of medication every day, and a total of 7 pills. Overall I'm feeling better then I have in years, and my gastro specialist is very pleased with my progress. I still have my bad days, but I no longer need to plan where I'm going based on the locations of the closest public washrooms.

As of right now, there is no cure for this disease, and it is something which I will need to live with for the rest of my life. This is where you can help out! On Sunday, June 8th I will be participating in the Crohn's and Colitis Canada's Gutsy Walk at Rundle Park in Edmonton. Canada has one of the highest rates for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in the world and those rates are increasing. Most alarming, the number of new cases of Crohn’s disease in Canadian children has almost doubled since 1995. By donating to my fundraising efforts, you can help support research and education which will hopefully lead to a cure one day!

The goal set for this year's Gutsy Walk by Crohn's and Colitis Canada is $2.8 million, with a goal of $155,000 at the Edmonton location walk. My personal goal is $500 (but last year I was able to raise over $1000!).

Please click on THIS LINK to donate to my fundraising efforts!

Thank you,
Fallon

Goals/Bucket List

I've always been a goal-orientated person, I think it's so important in life. My goals are constantly being updated, and I try to make sure I have both long term and short term goals on the go at the same time. These goals range from financial to educational to experiences to my career. I've never actually discussed most of these goals with anyone, and I don't even have them written down anywhere, I've just been storing them in my mind...but maybe if I put them out there for the world to see, it'll make me that much more motivated to achieve them! I also have an extensive bucket list, which I'm also going to post below.

So, here it goes...

1. I want a house. This seems like it might be silly, but I've never been the little girl who dreamt about my wedding, I was the weird 5 year old planning a library for my future house. I know exactly what I want (and what I can get in the neighbourhoods I'm interested in for the amount I'll be willing to pay).
2. I want my only debt to be my mortgage. This is why I haven't bought a house yet, I'm paying off my car/trips/shopping/etc, and until I see zeros all across the board, I refuse to buy. I've been making great headway with this so far this year. Note - I'm not saying I'll never owe money on a car again, I just know that the one I currently drive should last at minimum another 5 years.
3. I love hockey (my Canadian is showing with that sentence...). I would love to watch all 30 NHL teams play at least one game. I went crazy on this bucket list item this year, and am now only missing Montreal, Boston, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Minnesota, LA and San Jose. I've seen all of the other teams at least once (and a lot of them multiple times). This seems like something I should cross off before I complete #1.
4. I'm currently waiting for the results of my CWB Level I exams; once I pass those it's a two year wait before I'm eligible to write my Level II. I aim to have my Level II before I turn 30.
5. Canada is a beautiful country, and I want to see all of it. Not only that, I want to go to a concert in every province (the territories might be difficult for concerts, but I want to at least visit all three of them). As it sits right now, the only two provinces left for me to attend concerts in are Quebec and Newfoundland (I've only driven through/been at the airport/train station in Quebec, so I don't even count any of those as visits).
6. Concert/Music Festivals - I think I'll just save this one for a post all on it's own.

I'll try to keep coming back to this post and editing it as I complete items or add to my list (I know I have more, but I just can't think of them all right now...). What is on your list?

xoxo,
Fallon

Calgary Marathon

I haven't had a chance to blog in a few days, we had traveled to Calgary for the 50th Anniversary of their Marathon. If you ever want to feel really bad about yourself, stand at the start line of a race and watch the people participating. I've never thought I could ever run, but as I stood there cheering on Luke, I was watching everyone pass me by. There were people in wheelchairs, there were old men with walkers, old ladies with canes and children as young as 7 or 8. It really made me think that perhaps there is a chance one day I could cross a finish line (of course, I'd actually have to buy sneakers first...).

I was so proud of Luke. He was quite sick (easily the sickest he's been in the entire time we've been together), but he fought through it. Despite being sick to his stomach twice before we even left for the race, he insisted he still wanted to do it and went out there with the 4000+ others to run the 10km. He didn't have his best race, but he did do it on an empty stomach, slightly dehydrated. All that really matters is that he crossed that finish line (with a great burst of speed at the end I might add!).

Luke getting close to the finish line :) Credit for this picture goes to our friend Lisa.

I finally got my pictures to upload correctly :)

xoxo, 

Fallon