Quick update for my loyal readers

Today I needed to go to the grocery store for some milk. I put on my shoes, grabbed my purse, and went out the back door of my building. Instantly, I was met by a huge, dense plume of smoke, and the smell of burning timber. A historical building was fully engulfed in flames a mere block away from my home! I dropped all plans of grocery shopping, and joined the gawking townspeople on the sidewalk. 

At that time, the building had been burning steady for a few hours. Fire crews had come from all the neighbouring towns. They were pumping water from the river, because they had already used up too much water from the town towers. 

It made for an interesting afternoon. The building has been extinguished now, but it is beyond salvaging. It will be demolished. 

Memories Jar - for positive mental health

There’s a jar that I keep on my desk. In it are little slips of paper that have written on them happy moments that happen to me. I call it my memories jar. Each year on New Year’s Day (or thereabouts) I dump out my jar, read these happy notes, and start all over. 

I like the practice of having a memories jar for three reasons: 

1) Every January I get to read all of my little notes from the previous year, and that makes me happy. 

2) Seeing my memories jar on my desk every day makes me think of the things I have written down and stuffed in there, giving me a daily reminder that life is alright. 

3) Sometimes I look at my memories jar and realize I haven’t added any notes to it in a couple weeks. This causes me to reflect on recent weeks gone by, and assess what has gone well, rather than dwell on negative things. I then get my little slips of paper and play a little catch up. 

Shrinky Dinks with the Kiddos

Do you remember my post a few weeks ago about DIY ShrinkyDinks using any #6 plastic? Well, I brought this craft into my class at the daycare, and it was a huge hit! 

I was able to get a large take-out container from my local grocery store. It was meant for one of those huge rectangular pizzas, and the lid was made of #6 plastic! *yay* 

I cut the lid up into 24 rectangles, about 2”x3” each. I rounded the corners of each rectangle, and hole punched them each near the top. 

DIY Couch Deep-Clean

This is the story of how I saved my couch from more than a year’s worth of old, dried, stained, super smelly cat urine. Sit back, this is a long post.

If you’re a cat owner, then no doubt you know how hard it is to get rid of the smell of cat urine. A couch as bad as mine, many people would just throw out. It was B-A-D! Smell-up-my-whole-living-room-bad. The girl responsible for the smell had to find a new home because after months of vet visits and in-depth home observations, the cause of her peeing could not be identified. It was a tough decision, but she’s in a nurturing rehab environment now.

I’m going back to university in a month and can’t afford a new couch, so I found a way to clean and deodorize mine. It’s been a month of hot, humid weather (the weather in which cat stench thrives), and so far no odour!

Shepherd's Pie

If you follow my blog, you may have figured out by now that I’m a meat-and-potatoes gal. I don’t throw many spices, flavours, or wild vegetables into the mix very often. And what is one of my favourite meat-and-potatoes dishes to make? Why, shepherd’s pie, of course! 

This recipe is loosely based on a recipe that I found online years ago... Hold on to your hats people, this one is quick! 

Sharpie on Ceramic Dish: Trinket Dish

We’ve been talking about woman’s health a lot lately, with my 3 part series on bra fitting. Let’s do something artsy, mkay? 

I present to you my version of Sharpie on ceramic dish: 

 Ain’t she purdy? 

I’ve seen a lot of hype on Pinterest about this craft project. I’ve also read a lot of bloggers claim that this particular craft is a bust/hoax/fail. Well, with a little bit of research, common sense, and careful handling, I can proudly confirm that this craft can be very successful. 

Bra Fitting 101, Part 3

I’ve recently educated myself about bras – their sizing, fit, cut, etc. The most shocking thing I learned was that 80% of women are wearing the wrong sized bra!! Guess what... I was one of those 80%, but not any more! 

This is the final part of a 3-part series in which I have tried to be as informative as possible about bra fitting, without being too overwhelming (I hope). Part 1 was a nice intro on some bra basics. In part 2, I talked all about my old bras that were all the wrong size, and compared some signs of an ill-fitted bra to a well fitted bra with pictures. Today I will be sharing how to measure yourself to find your real bra size (you’ll be shocked at the size you come up with... I was). 

Bra Fitting 101, Part 2

I’ve recently educated myself about bras – their sizing, fit, cut, etc. The most shocking thing I learned was that 80% of women are wearing the wrong sized bra!! Guess what... I was one of those 80%, but not any more! 

This is part 2 of a 3-part series talking about bra fitting. Part 1 touched on how a bra works, and common problems women face when fitting bras. Today I will be showing you one of my bras that I thought fit perfectly, until I learned the truth *duh duh duuuuuh* 

These are the bras I’m going to use for my demonstrations! The ill-fitted bra, to the left, is a 34C, which is the size I have been wearing for the past decade. The well-fitted bra, to the right, is a 30E. It sounds like a ridiculous size, but stay tuned for part 3 and it will all make sense. (they look better worn under the tank, I promise) 

They look pretty similar, right? WRONG! 

Of the common fitting problems I mentioned in part 1, this old bra has almost all of them, and the new bra has none! Check it out: 

Bra Fitting 101, Part 1

Ok ladies, today we get up close and personal with our breasts. This is a topic that caught my attention a few months ago, and now I have made it my mission to spread the word.

I’ve recently educated myself about bras – their sizing, fit, cut, etc. The most shocking thing I learned was that 80% of women are wearing the wrong sized bra!! That statistic, as far as I can tell, is unverified. But based on the bras sizes stocked by most stores, and the average size of ladies, I’d say it’s an accurate stat. And guess what... I was one of those 80%, but not any more! 

It all started with this video by Caty135, and became a multiple hour research project of mine (because I don’t trust anything unless I’ve heard it from multiple unrelated sources... it’s the academic in me). What I learned made a lot of sense, and I want to share it with as many people as possible! 

I will share this information in 3 parts. Guess what?? This is part 1! YAY!! Part 1 is about the bra, how it works, how it doesn’t work, and common problems. Part 2 will show pictures of an ill-fitted vs a proper fitting bra, and describe the difference. Part 3 will show how to measure yourself, so you can get your own shiny new bras that fit!