food tales to come later tonight ( they should be good ones )

I LOVE MY AMIGOS!

Until later....havea WONDERFUL day!

I am terribly sorry for the lack of posts the last few days weekends for me are absolutly insane! This past one inparticular...normally i work like crazy and then have sundays off....but this sunday was mothers day here in cananda ( HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOMS OUT THERE!!!)so of course i was working! we had a great service and all the women left happy with their tummies full and a long stemmed flower in their hands!

We also had a wedding reception in the evening that I had to stick around for and the cake they brought in was beautiful i wish i had of brought my camera with me to share it with you guys but i totally forgot it :<

So since i was working on mothers day i am celebrating it with my mom on wednesday evening...she is going to join me for dinner at my restaurant...she hasnt been inside yet so i am excited for her to be able to experience the food I work my butt off for :)

on a different note

Today is world Lupus Day.....celebrate by spreading the word,educating yourself,and donating to find a cure...lets kick this thing in the butt!!!!!!!!

23. I was reading the other day about parrafin.....its a terrible thing!!!! i didnt know how gross it was untill i actually looked it up but it is no good for anything! So i am taking a stand! NO more parrafin candles....only soybean and beeswax...I dare you to take the stand with me :)

24. try and cut out gift wrap...actually dont try it....do it! reusable bags, or newspaper work amazing and really I think it looks kind of cool :)

25. about 5 years ago I traveled to Nicaragua and worked on a organic and fair trade coffee plantation! Since then i have not supported any place that sells non fair trade Coffee and tea...it is very hard work and to think that in some places people are doing this labour for pennies a day angers me to the core! so next time you buy check out the package and look for the fair trade symbol....if its not there its not fair trade and I strongly reccomend you dont support! ask at your local coffee shops if the coffee they serve is fairtrade and if its not, help educate them! this is one thing i absolutly wont bend on! Join me in the movement ladies and gents change wont happen if we dont make it happen! ( oh and use a thermos to drink your fair trade drinks, not those silly paper cups!!!!)

and dont forget to check out the video link i posted in my last post!

seriously check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxGZNNNSDCE

Your friend has an EYE on fashion Dad!!

So its 11:30 am and I am suppose to be at work by noon....it takes me about 20 minutes to walk there and I am not even dressed yet....so what do I decide to do?? no not rush around the house getting ready like a normal person....I decide blogging is WAY more important because I didnt get to you guys yesterday because my bugaboo got me a little to happy on mister jack daniels last night...my bug a boo being Cory (skinabee) see what happened was the other night (wednesday) I said I was going out for a drink with him and when i left work he was still there....I told him i was just going home to change and when the poor boy called me I was in my pjs reading a book almost asleep haha! So in any normal persons mind that means that thursday night had to be double the insanity! we hopped around from queer bar to queer bar in our lovely little queer village....met up with old friends we havent seen in a long time...people we work with everyday and made some new ones (jean claude if you ever read this....I am sorry) He is one of the "friends" we met last night...he was creepy! I am sure corys post will explain the night and make it seem closer to how funny the night was so be sure to check it out :) anyhoo i will blogg more tonight when i get home from work because today is a no drinking day! Have a good day Y'all!

Okay so its almost midnight here in Toronto and I just got home from work. Believe it or not this is actually an early night for me :) Work today was okay but I do need to state that reservations are there for a reason! Tonight we had a party of 44 people that were suppose to arrive at 9pm for their dinner to start! it was 10:00 and still only 20 people were there...how annoying is that for the staff to sit around and wait hours till your friends decide its a good time for them to show up! ok so now that my rant is over....

HAPPY MIDWIVES DAY to all those midwives out there...and thank you for being amazing :)

The Party last night was a total success! amazing food ( see pictures from last post) amazing drinks and even better company! I think it is safe to say that our Sinco De Mayo Party although a day early was a hit and will be happening again next year...heck maybe even next month :)

So here in Canada Mothers day is this comming sunday...unfortunatly for my poor mom I have to work...so I am taking her out for dinner on wednesday to my restaurant and also I think i am going to get her some flowers for her garden :) thats all she ever asks for!

when is mothers day where your from?? what are you getting her?? maybe give me some new ideas??

Speaking of family just thought i would up date everyone on my lil man Nathan! hes amazing healthy and growing strong...he already doesnt fit into the sleeper I got him and hes only 7 weeks old! Its crazy how fast babies grow!

20. Try unpluging your appliances when you are not using them...even though they are not in use there is still and electrical charge going through the wire...which in a way is wasting electricity!

21. NO MORE DISPOSABLE PLATES OR CUTLERY....I think that speaks for it self :)

22. its crazy how much you find when you move and for me its been CLOTHES! I really cant believe the amount of clothing I own...I have been sorting through it and if i havent worn it in a year its getting thrown into the donation bag! its like a spring cleaning of my wardrobe! try it out :) you will have more room in your closet...i sure do!

Anyhoo hope everyone has had an amazing day and an even better night...as for me I am off to hit a local pub with my good pal Cory (skinabee) untill next time...Have a good sleep Y'all !

Happy Cinco De Mayo!!!!!!

Mexico Party :)

Tonights festivities........a party with everything mexican! from the drinks to the food to the wonderful decor tonight is all about mexico!

I am going to one of my greatest friend Dougies house ( he is the one who hosted the last bbq i went to) and tonights theme is.....well i think i have said it enough...I am not sure what I am going to bring but i have loads of mexican bakeries and shops right out side my door step so i think i might take a walk today :) I am pretty scared about the amount of tequilla thats going to be there but it should be a great night :) and you will see just how great tomorrow when i post the pics of all the yummy food and friends :)

I just realized that I havent given any green tips in a while so here we go here are 2 more for you guys to try and squeeze into your everyday life :)

18. Head to your local green store or even some supermarkets carry them, but reusable dryer sheets are wonderful....not to mention the thumbs up that mother nature will give you but the money saved is incredible! try em out see what you think :)

19. Go around your house and change all the light bulbs to CFL's, less energy is used when they give off their sparkle and I find them actually brighter then regular light bulbs :)

Anywhoo hope everyone has a great day! and if you guys care for a good reading blog check out this one....he has made me laugh out loud more time then i can count.....and its not just cuz i know and love him!

http://skinabee.blogspot.com/

Injoy :)

All settled in!

So I am super sorry I havent posted recently but I do have a great excuse :) I MOVED! wooooooo

I have been so busy packing and lugging boxes up stairs but its all been worth it because I totally am in love with my apartment :) from the crazy/interesting characters on the streets bellow me...to the absolute positivity that is Kensington Market! My tummy tickles everytime I think about where I am and how happy I am to be here :) I finished unpacking so quickly yesterday and then went and joined some of my favorite people for a pint and a drag show! all in all it was a fun night :)

Happy World Press Freedom Day!!!!!

Unfortunatly I must run but I will post somthing more interesting tonight :)

Have a good day Y'all!!!!!

Morocco

This was the food me and Cintia ate when we went to Morocco in Yorkville area in Toronto.Sweet Crepes Filled with mascarpone and berries and cheese french toast....my life was compleete this morning :) The Restaurant itself is in a pretty pretentious/rich area in Toronto, and most of the places are pretty "FINE dining" if you know what I mean, but I found that Morocco was Swanky and High class...with out being pretentious, i had a wonderful time, from the amazing chocolate and meals, to the wonderful DJ that was spinning...to the wikid decor of the place, I would seriously reccoment it!

99 Yorkville Ave, Toronto:)

GO TASTE TEST!

National Tree Planting Day

TODAY is national tree planting day in Kenya....I attempted to be a part of this thismorning....although i didnt plant a tree, i bought a tiny basil plant :) everything green helps the earth right??

On sunday i went to a friends restaurant for Brunch and i took some pics of the wonderful food, i must head off to work now but i promise the pictured SOOOOOON!

Have a wonderful day ladies and gents :)

GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIE!!!!!!!!

so i just finished a wikid book and i am needing a new one....any suggestions?? tell me your favorites :)

FOOOD and one thing we DIDNT eat!

SO I know I said within 24 hours and I am really sorry i didnt post sooner....work has been kicking my toosh latly but i wouldnt have it any other way!!! anywhoo better late then never right so here are the pics i promised from the Barbeque with my chef school friends, basically it was a cheese, wine and meat party, so everyone had to bring a bottle of wine, somekind of cheese and somthing to throw on the grill....now the one thing we didnt eat...i am sure you can guess is little turtle hanging out on the long board.....i know its not food related but how cute is this picture!!! haha the burgers are beef and bacon burgers with a cheese that escapes my brain stuffed in the center...I will have to ask my friend who made them and let you guys know at a later date....needless to say they were AMAZING!!!!!

grilled veggies and a delicious wine :) the wine is an ontario blend "Sibling Rivalry" i really enjoy this pink wine...its light and nice at a bbq :) and the cheese, well we had alot more then this but we started small and i must admidt the wine ruined my picture taking abilities! BUT what we have here is bree, grey owl, 12 year old quebec cheder and a camebert style cheese, once again i smell and cant remember the name! BUT it you have never tried GREY OWL i strongly suggest you try and get your hands on it....its hard to find, even in canada ( its from quebec) but if you can its amazing!

herb marinated lamb chops by sarah! and the steak...ok so this was mine! I got three wikid striploins from Rowe Farms, and Marinated them in Ginger,garlic, soy sauce, little bit of saracha and Coke a cola! and it turned out amazing!!!!! the coke sweetened and tenderized an already tender cut of beef! i would say TRY it ...i surprised myself with this one!

ENVIROTIME

15. Try signing up with your local Free Cycle Network, its an online recycling community! better to reuse somethings then to buy everything new...AND its free!!!

16. Remember to turn off all the lights, when your not in the room, or when our loving sun is gracing us with its own light! SAVE THE ENERGY!!!

17. Try an all natural body wash, biodegradable, amd worth every penny, your skin and trees will thank you!

!!!!!!!!HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY ALL YOU READERS FROM ZIMBABWE!!!!!!!!

Some people

Have you ever met someone for the first time and not only instantly clicked with them....but had an overwhelming inspirational vibe from them?? I find myself sweatered with amazing people at this point in mylife, most of whom i have only known for 3 months....I love that feeling when someone says hi my name is.... and your already in love with the person!

Now I am not talking sexual here, i am just talking love....and it makes me smile so big to have finally found a whole bunch of people who are just full of love as well!

Makes me want to burn some insence put on the backstreet boys and have a dance party!

anywhoo....theres my positive banter for the day, i spent all of tuesday walking around finding new places in my favorite city and then went to a bbq with a bunch of my friends from the college days (i make it sound like it was years ago haha) so look forward to pics from that within the next 24 hours :)

Injoy Earthlings :)

Kristen

PS smile at someone you dont know today :) smiles make life worth living :)

Restaurant City

I dont know about you guys, but i have a crazy thing for this game on Facebook called Restaurant City....i am in love with this game....i find myself going on facebook not to check on msgs from friends, but to check on my workers in the game! how crazy! i will leave it on all day to get more levels....i am so concerned about getting all the recipies....does anyone else love the game as much as I do?? why do i love it so much?? its not even that good! haha

What a crazy weekend I had, I ended up in Niagra falls sunday night! i havent been there since i was like 12 and it was amazing i am so happy to have gone :) I spent a beautiful day with a beautiful person and soaked up some canadian living :) I cam home from the falls on Monday night and went out and did asian kareoke with a couple friends from work which was awesome i will deffinatly be doing that again sometime in the near future :) Yesterday i had to go to lunch with a friend of mine because she was suppose to be going on a date...but she didnt want it to be a date....so she dragged me along, it was a nice lunch and the "date" didnt even show up so we enjoyed and had our own little friend lunch date :) We Went to Urban Restaurant on King St. West In Toronto...the food wasnt bad, they had a prix fix lunch menu and I got veggie spring rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce and pan seared trout with a lemon butter sauce and green veggies it was good...not sure that I would pay that much money again for lunch there, but i enjoyed myself! Our Server was awesome, the other employees though...were kinda creepy, i guess they were bored or somthing! anyhoo enough about this restaurant :)

Today is pretty exciting all around the world Armenia is celebrating The Day of Beauty and Mothers, it is also the National Day of Mourning in Rawanda (Genocide Remembrance Day), Womens Day in Mozambique AMAZING!!!!! and internationally today is WORLD HEALTH DAY!!!! so lets Celebrate all these things! I think they are all worth some of your brain power today :)

I woke up thismorning to a message on my facebook...a friend talking about how J.K Rowling is going to be writing another book! Me being the Harry Potter Fanatic that I am got all excited, posted messages on friends walls and basically did a back flip only to find that

http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/2010/4/5/jkr-sometime-in-the-not-too-distant-future-i-will-bring-you-another-book-and-it-will-not-be-harry-potter

She is going to be writing more books....but not harry potter....my heart broke in half....how will i ever get over this! haha

Just a side note my nephew Nate dawg is doing wonderful :) (the pic is of him and my oma this past easter weekend :) )

And lastly i will end this long long long post with some eco-footprint reducing tips :)

13. Use only Recycled Toilet Paper...really...you wont notice a difference, and its so much better for Mother Earth...its one of those things thats such a simple switch i dont get why everyone hasnt done it yet!

14. Next time you buy body lotion, try out a natural and organic brand, I use Burts Bees but there are many brands that are just as lovely and just as naturally organic that you can choose from! they work just as well and the world will smile just a little bit more :) dont you want to be partially responsible for that smirk on the worlds face :) Just try it! it wont hurt :)

Thank goodness for Hats

So i said I would post pics of my new hair cut but i compleetly forgot so here are the before and afters! Quite Drastic, its almost painfull at first to loost 8 inches of hair at once.....but i absolutly love my new doo!!!

Dont really have any new food updates, i have been working insanly at the restaurant, which i am so happy about, i absolutly love working there! Accept that on my last two days off I have been called into work.....that isnt so much fun but oh well what can ya do!

Enviro Minute :)

11. This one might be a little hard for you gym junkies out there, but espcially since its getting nicer outside, I think that everyone should try and forgo all that electronic gym equiptment....go for a walk or run or get on a real bike :) its so much prettier outside anyways!

12. Dont forget your tote bags :) I think that there isnt really any excuse for not having a tote bag with you to replace those nasty plastic bags!!! they have ones that fold up so small and can fit in your pocket.....i keep one in my backpack all the time and its wonderful! (mommy got it for me....thanks mom)

Injoy :)

Happpy Sunday World

I am so happy its sunday TGIS....my weekend begins now :) and it has been a long work week....awesome and busy and fun but long! i came home from work last night and crashed and didnt wake up till noon ( 12:00pm) today...and i feel amazing right now:) so relaxed.....it is amazing what enough sleep can do for a person! But I will tell you that toronto celebrated earth hour yesterday night, and as hard as I tried i couldnt convince my chef to shut down for an hour durring dinner rush! haha oh well atleast I tried, but i would love to say THANK YOU to everyone who did participate in earth hour, i think its such a cool thing and it does and says so much about us as humans, its a small step but its in the right direction!

Today is Constitution Day in Serbia: Constitution Day is a holiday to honor the constitution of a country. Constitution Day is often celebrated on the anniversary of the signing, promulgation or adoption of the constitution, or in some cases, to commemorate the change to constitutional monarchy

See ya learn somthing new every day!

So since i have been absent the past few days i am going to give you 2 enviro tips to make up for it!

9. Eat Ethical meat

I know there is alot of controversy surrounding ethical meat and some practices that are in the rule books such as castration of pigs, but i believe eating meat from ethical growers is better then eating meat that comes from factory farms like maple lodge farms! There are plenty of ethical, hormone and antibiotic, all natural farmers in your markets and stores, you will just have to source them! I know of a few here in Southern Ontario such as Rowe Farms, The Healthy Butcher and Cumbreas. I am sure if you look it wont be hard to find them in your town as well :)quality foods with a conscience!!!!!!

http://www.rowefarms.ca/index.html

10. Try Getting a Natural lint and pet hair remover

Keep away from those sticky sheet rollers, While they are very convienient they are terrible for the world! Stay Away....i repeat STAY AWAY!!!!! Plus stones not only take away lint and pet hair but they also remove pilling on sweaters which is amazing! no more dry cleaners to do that work:)

GO UNGANDA!

so today in Uganda its National Tree Planting Day

I am all for trees :) who doesnt love the green beauties that keep us alive??

I just wish uganda would spread the love tho....

they also have a law that puts homosexuals in jail, and can even bepunished by death....not cool...but trees are a start :)

World Meteorological Day

I find it kind of interesting to see what today is around the world internationally, as well as in specific countries, and apparently today is World Meteorological Day (internationally) so happy atmosphere to everyone! Also today is Pakistan Day today in Pakistan....i hope they have nicer weather to celebrate over there then we do!

Go learn Somthing :)

today I think i had the laziest day i have had in a long time i seriously sat around watching movies and playing games on facebook till about 6...and i only got up to make me and mom dinner, then came right back into my little cave and it feels wonderful :) I think i can handle one day of nothing...but two....i dunno i think tomorrow i will get annoyed and have to go for a run or somthing! So i didnt get my hair cut today....silly me....the salon i go to is not open mondays so i am going to call them first thing in the morning and chop off my locks ASAP :) CANT WAIT

SEEEEE how lazy my day was i started writing this blog yesterday and am not finishing it till thismorning! how pathetic! haha anyhoo its raining again and i hate it, but i am still going to treck through and chop off my locks! i will post some pics later today of my mop head before and after :)
So i guess i owe you envirotips x 2 now since yesterday was so lazy!
7. Make the switch to all natural, organic conditioner for your hair! okay so i have to be honest when i was making this switch i was pretty concerned...i have (till mid day today) long curly hair and i really didnt think that a natural conditioner could pull the weight of my expensive salon bought conditioner BUT i was wrong not only did it work....but i found it worked better....rinsed cleaner! I love it and would not go back ever!

8. Try and eat as locally as you can, maybe work your way down to your own province or state but start out with a broader spectrum, when I started i said North America....now i am down to Cananda and the United States ( mostly Canada) soon i will be working my way to just Ontario, and then southern ontario which will pretty much be the 100 mile diet! Even if you cant bring yourself to give up those amazing oranges imported from Nicaragua or the wonderful banannas from Srilanka I understand your pain just try and eat as local as you can and REMEMBER to support your local farmers....if you dont they will be gone soon!

Injoy Wonderful People :)

Goood afternoon:)

I woke up thismorning with this amazing feeling of energy, happiness and love, and that all crumbled when I looked out my window....its gross outside, why is it that when i am trapped in a kitchen all day and all night its absolutly beautiful, but on the few days i DO have OFF, the weather is dreadfull, maybe thats the earth telling me to slow down and get some sleep?? who knows!

I think today is going to be a reading day, with many cups of tea and my dog right beside me....ugh....as wonderful as that sounds I had my heart set on being outside today....oh well cant change it so might as well make thebest of it! ALSO i have plans to cut my hair either today or tomorrow hopefully....it will be all gone, i have had long hair my ENTIRE life and I think its time for a change :) wish me luck :)

on a side note HAPPY WORLD WATER DAY EVERYONE :)

Celebrate having clean and safe water to drink and think about the outragous number of people who are still drinking unsafe water and think about what you can do to help :)

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

Every year, 1,500 cubic kilometres of wastewater are produced globally. While waste and wastewater can be reused productively for energy and irrigation, it usually is not. In developing countries 80 percent of all waste is being discharged untreated, because of lack of regulations and resources. And population and industrial growth add new sources of pollution and increased demand for clean water to the equation. Human and environmental health, drinking and agricultural water supplies for the present and future are at stake, still water pollution rarely warrants mention as a pressing issue.
To do something about that UN-Water has chosen Clean Water for a Healthy World as theme for World Water Day 2010. The overall goal of the World Water Day on 22 March 2010 campaign is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level so that water quality considerations are made alongside those of water quantity.
UNEP has responsibility for taking the lead in 2010, UN-Water announced at a session during the Stockholm World Water Week in August 2009.

http://www.worldwaterday.org/page/2536

One little diddy before i hit the hay!

Ok so i was just about to catch some zzzzzzz's when i noticed a new blog post on Mr Mraz' page! and I think that this along with every other post on his blog is worth sharing:) this one just hit for me on a personal level! Love Love Love....

http://freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.com/2010/03/10-ways-to-start-conversations-about.html

Thank you Jason Mraz :)

Injoy fellow earthlings :)

Not sure what to title todays post!

Hi there ladies and gents and everyone inbetween :) I am on cloud 9 right now because I just got home from a visit with my New Little Rock Star Nephew Nathan :) The whole time I was thinking how its so weird when you meet someone it takes time for the relationship to develop, but with him....i love him already, its only been 4 days and he is the love of my life, I find it so interesting how I can love somthing so much and I dont even really know him! I think its amazing and I think i might feel kinda bad for the lil guy cuz hes got 2 crazy aunts that he is STUCK with haha! and yes thats my finger making the lil man give the finger less then 3 hours after he was born! AMAZING!

And i didnt realize how much baby theviery there is out there, nathan had to wear a house arrest style bracelt on his ankle that caused an alarm to go off if the babies leave the ward! how sad and pathetic is it that we have to put alarms on our babies so that people dont walk off with them! this makes me pretty angry!!!

So for my enviro tip today i am going to double up becuase i missed one for saturday!

5. Try turning down your thermostat a few notches! Might mean you have to wear a sweater, or drink some more tea, or bring a hot water bag to bed but it saves you moola and saves energy! its a win win situation really :)

6. Try Switching to an eco friendly tooth Brush!

At the rate of one toothbrush every three months, we consume a good number of toothbrush during our entire lifespan. SInce tooth brushes are made of plastic adds to climate change. But now there are tooth brushes that are made from 100% recycled plastic ready for you to grab a hold of :)

try a natural dish soap :)

Today i spent from 8am- now....(midnight) at work and i am pooped and I dont really have any new news for ya accept Nathan is doing wonderful and so is momma! so i figure just an enviro tip will do for today and i will take some pics of my plates at work tomorrow and share them with everyone :)

4. switch to natural dish soap

Natural dish soap works just as well as the leading chemical filled brand, minus all of the polution sent down our drains, its such a simple switch and now a days with the whole "green movement" its not any more expensive, and in my opinion i find that my dishes rinse off alot cleaner with natural then with the non natural, absolutly no soap residue :)I posted a picture of my favorite brand of dish soap:) try it out see what you think :)

i know you will like it

I am off to bed, have an early 5 am start tomorrow and I will probably be working till midnight or so, so you might not hear from me untill sunday when I wake up from a well deserved Hibornation :)

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend :) have a beer for me :)

Injoy foodies and enviro geeks:)

as promised :)