Ten on Tuesday 04.15.14

Linking up with Alyssa once again for Ten On Tuesday! 

[1] I recently rediscovered my love of country music. Especially the 1990's variety. Shania, Garth, Alan, Brooks&Dunn, the whole gang is just great!

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[2] Why is everything from the 1990's so much better?

[3] I'm still very much on this Good Wife obsession. It is a really well done show, and their aren't many of those anymore.

[4] I think Spring has finally sprung here in O-Town. We were out on the weekend without layers, hats or mitts. It was great! Jay has even broken out his shorts!

[5] This.

In my class someone is always losing a tooth, but so far they haven't actually lost it. I love that their is actually an eye lash being offered. 

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[6] An artist took popular songs and turned them into classic advertisements. 

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[7] How freakin' wonderful is this family?!?! I love that they are so involved with George, rather than leaving him to a Nanny all the time. 

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[8] We went to see Joel Plaskett in concert at the National Arts Centre on Saturday night and it was amazing. He was obviously nervous to be playing such a big venue,  but he was amazing (as always). We got engaged just before a Joel show a year and a half ago, so especially so close to the wedding it was nice to see another show. 

[9] According to Buzzfeed KFC is making chicken corsages for prom. I'm guessing this is all a hoax but if not it is hilarious. I can't think of any lovelier smell for prom than fried chicken and flowers. 

[10] I'm tired. So this is it.

Five Things The Princess Diaries Taught Me

So, The Princess Diaries recently turned up on my Netflix list. 

I squealed. 

I had forgotten about the existence of this beautiful, feel good movie (I know- it was a book first but I never read it)! 

Better yet, the abundance of '90's stars was fantastic and surprising! Mandy Moore, Ann Hathaway and Erik von Detton in the same movie!?!?! Win. 

Quotes from this movie got me through Junior High and then I forgot about them until two days ago. 

In an effort to prevent forgetting them again... 

[1] Never underestimate cleanliness and when you notice it in others- point it out! 

[2] If you hear this and don't know the person yelling, keep walking. 

Otherwise, you will be judged. 

[3] It's never a bad time to pretend you're going for a ride in the car, while waving to adoring fans. 

I'm actually doing this right now. 

[4] A Queen Is Never Late. This is my problem, people think I'm late but actually they are just early. 

[5] This was my motto back in Junior High. I had a free teen magazine from the library that had Princess Diaries stickers in it and this was one of the quotes. I'll admit I went back and took a few more magazines so it could be plastered EVERYWHERE. 

Have you re-watched The Princess Diaries or any other 'classic' films from your teen years lately that struck you with important life lessons? 

Linking up with Funday Monday and Mingle Monday!

Keep Smiling :) 

Image Sources: Tiara, Cleanliness, Wait For Me, Invisible Car, Never Late, Inferior

Rewind, Rewind, You Can't Rewind...

Ok, the title is *another* Joel Plaskett song reference. What can I say, I'm addicted? But it is actually related to the content of this post as I have been in major '90's throwback mood lately. Without further ado, a few of the things I'm missing from the 90's (and I suppose early 2000's).

McDonald's Happy Meal Barbies

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I used to love these toys (well pretty much everything Barbie!). My dad used to be easily persuaded to take us to McDonald's just to buy the toy. Julia and I used to love playing with these, and our mini beanie babies of course! 

Spice Girl Trading Card/Photos 

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Another childhood treasure Julia and I amassed. I had the second photo album, and way too many of those silly photo cards. How looking at the same pictures over and over again used to keep us entertained for hours I'm not really sure. We also used to dress up and put on Spice Girl concerts in the driveway- but who didn't? 

Teen People Magazine 

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I used to love these magazines, and pretty much any other overpriced magazine aimed at teens. I covered my walls with posters of "hot guys" and tried to recreate the crazy makeup tricks. Oh, and after I'd read each magazine about 40 times I would then hoard it away in my room, just in case I ever needed it again. 

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

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I think it's probably hard to find a girl who grew up in the 90's who didn't have a crush on JTT at some point. For some reason boys with terrible haircuts seemed so attractive back in the day. I had a huge JTT poster on my wall for much of elementary school. 

Sidenote: He's 32 now. Eek!

Inflatable Furniture

Source: Tumblr

Around the sixth grade I became obsessed with the idea of inflatable furniture. I ended up with more than one chair, an inflatable smiley face, a pillow with foam dots in it and an inflatable smiley face man. Why this was cool, I'm really not sure. I mean really who doesn't want to sit on a hard rubbery chair that you can't move on for fear of popping it?

Music Of The '90's 

How can I blog about the '90's without a little love for the music that got me through many elementary school dances? Though some of it is pretty cheesy, I still love to rock out to the hits from the days when you had to wait for your favourite song to come on the radio, and then try and press record in time! 

Keep Smiling :) 

Quest for Happiness [Day 26]

Amazing!! (source fanpop.com)

So I might have mentioned once or twice that I am celebrating a birthday in just a few short days.

As I love reflecting today seems like a good day to take a look back on some of the things that I loved growing up.

I'm turning the big 2-4 so here is a list of twenty four of my favourite things growing up. I was a '90's kid through and through.

1. Backstreet Boys: I used to jam to their cassettes while playing barbies and had a huge crush on Brian.

2. Barbies: I loved playing barbies and could do it for hours. I had a wicked limo and pink VW beetle for them to cruise around in, and one of the “Folding Pretty Houses” that did not fold easily at all! Julia and I spent hours playing barbies and had a massive collection by the time we outgrew them (I was probably about 15 when that happened)

Source: IMDB

3. The Babysitters Club: I was a member of one of those book clubs that mailed you a new one every month and I loved these books. The movie was also fantastic! 

4. Spice Girls: I was obsessed with them, I always wanted to be Baby Spice or Ginger Spice when we played Spice Girls in the driveway with the neighbourhood kids. 

5. Titanic: Sometime around grade four I learned about the Titanic in class and became fascinated (seems a little morbid looking back). I still have many books about the ship and the sinking, growing up in Halifax I also was able to visit museums and sites related to the sinking aftermath.

6. Sweet Valley High: Once I outgrew The Babysitters Club I moved on to this series, which was a little more difficult since it was out of print by that time. I scoured yard sales and flea markets and eventually came to have the complete set which I probably read through four or five times. I also loved the short lived TV show in all its cheesy goodness. 

7. Saturday Morning Cartoons: They are truly a lost treasure. I remember getting up early to watch Inspector Gadget, Spiderman, The Little Mermaid, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Care Bears, to name just a few. 

8. Will Smith: I loved his catchy rap beats, especially the Willenium album.

9. Saved By The Bell: This was probably the best show ever shown on TV. I've probably seen each episode at least five times, but never grew tired of it! 

10. Dinky Cars: One summer when we went camping in P.E.I my brother and sister and I created a huge track in the mud and spent hours playing with those little cars.

POGS (Source: Wikipedia)

11. Marbles: Our backyard had a sweet place for playing marbles. I don't know that I ever actually understood the rules but I loved carrying them around in my pockets!

12.  POGS: Again, not sure I understood the rules but I had quite the collection going for a while. 

13.  Beanie Babies: I spent many hours playing with my Beanie Babies and loved when you could get the little ones in your Happy Meals. I think my favourite was a black poodle because it looked just like our puppy, Meeko. 

14. Walkmen: I had this giant silver portable disc player that I carried to school every day in junior high. It was heavy and ugly but I adored it.

15.  LFO aka Lyte Funkie Ones: They were one of the less well known boy bands but I was a big fan. No lie I still have Girl on TV and Summer Girls on a frequent play list.

Source: Wikipedia

16.  Hit List on YTV: It was the easiest way to stay up to date on music news back in the day. 

17.  Family Channel: We first got this channel when I was about ten, and I became addicted immediately. It was the most watched channel on my TV until I was about eighteen. Smart Guy, Clarissa Explains it all and Phil of the Future were some of my favourites. 

18. TGIF on ABC: I used to come home from dances and watch Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Teen Angel. 

19.  Full House: I grew up with this show, it was a weekly staple in our family. The Tanners were like an extension of my family. 

20. Mary-Kate & Ashley: Following Full House I spent many hours watching the straight to video Mary-Kate & Ashley videos and reading the accompanying novels. How the West was Fun is my absolute favourite. When I worked in Alberta we actually used to go rafting near where they filmed it which was awesome!

21.  Original Nintendo: I never really got into Nintendo, my brother and sister took it much more seriously (and were way better at it than me!) but I spent quite a bit of time watching them play it and what kind of 1990's kid would I be if it didn't make the list. 

22. Hair Mascara & Glitter: Looking back it is absolutely disgusting but before a dance at the rec centre I would add all kinds of hair mascara to my messy mane. I also slathered myself with goopy glitter.

Polly Pockets (source: retrojunk.com)

23. Polly Pockets: I always lost the figures but I had all kinds of empty homes for them that kept me entertained for hours. 

24.  Journaling: I was always writing in a notebook. Usually about boys I had a crush on, carefully encoding them by using initials rather than full names- clever I know!

So that about sums up my childhood (or at least the more materialistic side of it!) Looking at a list like this I'm actually feeling my age, most of the stuff on this list wouldn't fly with kids today.

Do we share any common '90's interests or did I leave out anything you loved when you were a kid?

            Keep Smiling :)

Quest for Happiness [Day 9]

It's WestFest weekend here in Ottawa and we live right in the middle of it! About 10 minutes away from our house the streets are shut down and filled with vendor booths selling delicious treats and beverages. 

There is live music on every corner and different community members showcasing talents such as gymnastics, improv, and Elvis impersonation! It is like a perfect summer weekend on the Halifax Waterfront (minus the beautiful ocean backdrop!)

A part of my happiness today was obviously WestFest but looking at the bigger picture WestFest is just a small part. Looking for happiness in my pre-existing life is easier than I imagined when I started this project.

Considering we moved here with a very limited understanding of the city, no idea how transit worked, no plan for where I would work, and the list could go on, we managed (completely accidentally) to find an apartment in the perfect place! 

It was hard to get a good picture from street level

Jay has a short commute to work, when I was working my commute was similar, we are 10 minutes from two grocery stores, the library, and the nearest bus station. Aside from close proximity to basic necessities we also ended up in a great neighborhood. 

Nearly every weekend there is some kind of festival or event in the community, there are all kinds of independent business with delicious treats like poutine, doughnuts, tacos and cupcakes. It is also a fantastic place for walking, which we love. 

This picture sums up today: AWESOME!

So to wrap this up and let you get back to your exciting Saturday night plans (don't worry we don't have any either!) today what makes me happy is my new neighbourhood. 

I am dangerously close to fulfilling my goal of watching an entire TV series on Netflix so that I think is my project for the rest of the weekend! 

I'm off to watch old school Shania Twain videos on YouTube because really how can you not be happy listening to her catchy country twang and checking out that 1990's fashion! This is an amendment on an earlier ruling that only rap videos could be played on YouTube- it's that kind of night! If you need suggestions I recommend What Made You Say That and Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under but really it's all amazing!

Keep Smiling :)

Positivity Is Key

It's been so long since I've written a regular blog post I'm kind of at a loss for how to keep it interesting! Having a blog has opened my eyes to just how blah my life can be at times, there just isn't much to write about! 

Things have been pretty good here in O-Town. Not particularly busy, but the weather's been good! I'm pretty much my grandfather, I love talking about the weather.

 We went to two concerts at the National Arts Centre, if you ever get the chance I highly recommend taking in a show on the Fourth Stage it's very intimate and interactive. Both artists we'd seen before with our favorite fellow Joel Plaskett (sidenote: his new album is amazing!) but this was the first time seeing them play on their own. 

First up was Peter Elkas on a Friday night.  I hadn't listened to much of his music before the show but that proved not to matter, it was still a great show. I would rank it in the top five best concerts I've ever seen (and I've probably seen Joel about 10 times). He blew my mind, the music was fantastic, he was entertaining and the crowd was small but totally into it. 

We had so much fun at that show we dragged ourselves out on a work night to see New Brunswick native David Myles. Last time we'd seen him he was Joel's opening act but he owned the stage as the star attraction. The crowd was wildly excited for the show, making requests and singing along. He is truly fantastic and was so openly humbled by the crowd reaction that it only further endeared me. 

One night we also went to play at a little theatre company near our house. It was about the children of Nazi Soldiers and a romance with the daughter of a concentration camp survivor. Given that the majority of my university years were spent focused on the challenges facing the children of Nazi soldiers in the post-war years it was rather interesting. It was a little overwhelming and crude at times, a bit too much gratuitous swearing for my delicate sensibilities.
 

I also haven't had much time to write since I was busy devouring The Hunger Games trilogy.  Once again a book series that J-Dar recommended months ago, I finally took the time to read it and couldn't put it down. Where Twilight is an acquired taste, The Hunger Games is much less vomit inducing. No-one sparkles & the romance, though present isn't nearly as foolish as that in Twilight. I highly recommend both the books & the movie! 

We managed to make a quick trip home for the Easter weekend, three days & three nights. It was wonderful to get home, see the famjam, and experience that lovely NS weather, but I would have loved to have time for visits with everyone. Hopefully I'll be able to get home for a longer visit in the near future. 

I've talked endlessly it seems about the need to change up my blog & it's format and tried introducing all kinds of stuff to try and make it more appealing. None of that makes me want to write any more frequently, in fact the more I change the less I write. 

I am going to revert back to the diary style entries I was writing back in the fall, perhaps with the occasional cooking or craft project mixed in! I'll work hard to keep it interesting and start taking more pictures!

Please take a minute to check on my MS Walk Pledge Page (The link is in the sidebar) to learn more about Multiple Sclerosis & why I'm supporting the walk this year! 

On the bright side: The Nanny (the awesome 90's TV show) is on Netflix and I watched twelve episodes today. It was amazing! If Netflix would add Dawson's Creek & Blossom I would cry sweet tears of joy! 

Keep Smiling :)