CN Tower Stair Climb = Success!

This Saturday morning, we participated in the CN Tower Stair Climb to benefit the United Way charity of Toronto, and it was a big success! We woke up bright and early and drove to Toronto (about an hour away) for the big climb. Climbing the stairs was no easy task - as one of the world's tallest free-standing structures (the tallest of North America), the stairs are precisely 144 floors and 1776 steps. I worked up quite a sweat but just kept going and managed to complete the stairs climb in 27 minutes and 30 seconds! They stamped a card for us at the beginning of the climb and at the end in order to time us. Then, at the end, we picked up a t-shirt where they recorded our time on the back. Many women who were wearing a shirt from last year had times that were 30 minutes or over, so my goal was to climb the stairs in under 30 minutes - and I succeeded! Of course, I didn't really think of this as a race...I just wanted to complete the climb!

A funny thing to mention - you can see the number of each floor painted on the wall as you travel upwards - and once I found out that there were 144 floors, I could tell how far away I was from the top. Once you reach the top, some volunteers stamp your card and you go around a corner....where you are faced with more stairs! There are about 10 more flights of stairs after you finish the race to reach the very top, where you can go outside and catch a view from the top of the tower, look through the glass bottom floor, etc. So, once you've just climbed all of those stairs, the last thing you want to do is climb more stairs! There were plenty of sighs, groans, and most likely some swearing once people discovered that they had more stairs to climb when they thought they were finished!

Also, I have never been inside the CN Tower before, even though it is such a national landmark and I live so close to it, so it was pretty neat to finally be up so high! It was incredibly rainy and foggy from up there though, so we couldn't see any kind of view - maybe next year, I'll be able to see the city from that high up!

I am happy to have raised about $275 in donations for this excellent charity - thank you so much to everyone who donated!

Thank you also to my fiance, Paul, who agreed to complete the climb with me! We both had a blast! He climbed the stairs in 21 minutes, so congratulations to him as well!

Tag, You're It!

I've been tagged by Posh Doodles - http://poshdoodles.blogspot.com/ ! This is a really fun game, thanks for tagging me!

Here's the rules and my 7 facts afterwards:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

My 7 (deadly) facts!

1) I have played the piano since I was 4 years old and accomplished my grade 10 piano performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music by age 13. Now, I just play music for fun in my spare time, and plan on recording my own original music soon (I used to be in a post-rock band that toured across part of Canada and recorded/released our own album!)

2) I have been a vegetarian for my entire life, I was raised that way by my parents...so I have never eaten meat before (unless it was in something that I wasn't aware of)!

3) I'm crazy about collecting all sorts of Japanese kawaii items, especially pads of paper and stationary sets! My room is filled with all sorts of cute little figurines, plushies, all things from Japan - my favorite being Relax Bear :)

4) I used to dye my hair all sorts of crazy colors - back in high school, I didn't seem to go more than a month without changing my hair color. It has been every color in the rainbow. It has been dark brown for a long while now, which is close to its natural color - but truth be told, I haven't seen my natural hair color since the seventh grade.

5) I love being in my pajamas. If I could stay in my PJs all day long, I would be one happy girl. This doesn't happen as much as I'd like it to, considering my crazy work schedule and wanting to have a social life!

6) I love coffee! I don't really need it to wake up, but it is my drink of choice. I used to drink Diet Coke, but now I rarely drink it...and I prefer coffee over any alcoholic beverage. I usually like to have a coffee in the afternoon, and one after dinner.

7) For some reason when I was a kid, I never stepped on the cracks in the sidewalk...and I still find myself avoiding them when I walk down the street.

People I've tagged:

http://florspace.blogspot.com/
http://imfoxyandcrafty.blogspot.com/
http://kellyskraftyblog.blogspot.com/
http://catherinetterings.blogspot.com/
http://afieldjournal.blogspot.com/
http://papergirlproductions.blogspot.com/

http://marjoriescracked.blogspot.com/

CN Tower Stair Climb for the United Way

Yes, I'm going to be climbing all of those stairs! 1776 of them, to be precise. I have decided to participate in a fundraiser that benefits the United Way Toronto where I will be climbing from the bottom to the top of the CN Tower! The CN Tower is one of the world's tallest free standing structures (it used to be THE tallest) - it is still the tallest free standing structure in the Americas.

I will be participating in this event on Saturday, October 25th - if you would like to sponsor me and place a donation, that would be wonderful and very much appreciated! You can sponsor me here:

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=1923912

It is a safe and secure website where you can easily donate by credit card. Any donation that is $20.00 or more, and you will receive a tax receipt in the mail.

Thank you so much and wish me luck for the climb - that is a whole lot of stairs!

EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival: Share a Recipe!

This is a recipe that I would love to share with you - my fiance's creation, so we've called it "Paul's Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta"! The picture above, I will admit, isn't exactly what it will look like. I google image searched and found it because it was the most similar one that I could find. Our recipe has way more of the sun-dried tomato goodness than the one in this picture!

Description: This is a wonderful pasta creation with pesto-like sauce made from sundried tomatoes, garlic, fresh basil, and red pepper flakes. Can be made with your favorite pasta, but we usually use spaghetti. A great alternative to the same boring pasta with tomato sauce!

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1 package whole wheat spaghetti (375g)
1 1/2 cups sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
3 tbsp olive oil, if needed
3 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 leaves fresh basil

Directions:

1. Bring large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Once the water boils, cook the pasta until al dente, about 9 minutes.

2. While the water boils, prepare the sun-dried tomato sauce. Put sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor, keeping most of the oil separate and reserved for later. Add garlic, basil, red pepper flakes to the food processor. Puree until blended together into a smooth paste, about 1 minute.

3. Put the reserved oil into a frying pan, about 3tbsp (add additional olive oil if needed). Add sun-dried tomato mixture to the pan. Add salt, sugar, balsamic vinegar to the mixture. Mix the ingredients together and spread the mixture across the pan evenly to flatten. Heat the mixture on medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes, being careful not to burn or overcook.

4. Drain pasta, mix sun-dried tomato sauce with the pasta thoroughly, and serve.

Enjoy!! If anyone decides to make this recipe, you'll have to let me know how it turns out for you! It is one of the meals that we make if we want to make a quick, easy, and tasty dinner!

Nintendo DS Cases / MP3 Player Cozies / Camera Cases!

I've been really busy knitting away lately and made some brand new Nintendo DS cases! I recently purchased some new fabric from Japan featuring some of my favourite San-X characters on some of them, so I was very excited to use them in my creations! All of these cases are available for sale in my Etsy shop in the Nintendo DS Case section of my shop. These cases are made to fit the Nintendo DS Lite but can also be used for a variety of other things - to hold your mp3 player or iPod, your camera, or just as a general pouch to hold make-up, art supplies, or anything else that you might think of!

The one pictured above is a gray knit pouch with a yellow kawaii Mamegoma seal fabric on the inside. The fabric is all completely stitched by hand to line the pouch. There is a zipper on top to ensure that your DS is fully protected.


This second case is made with an electrifying purple wool with a black and white fabric on the inside - the adorable Monokuro Boo pigs! The two pigs are inside a heart, it is pretty darn cute :)



Here is the third new pouch that I have put up in my Etsy shop - this one has a soft navy blue knit exterior with a super cute pig fabric lining. There are little pigs all lined up, with the occasional onion, too! What pigs and onions have to do with each other, I have no idea, but it's super cute Japanese fabric!

I should also mention that each pouch has a matching 1" pinback button attached to the front of the pouch to decorate it!

October's Featured Etsyblogger: BFBeads

October's Featured EtsyBlogger is Jen of BFBeads, which stands for Baby Friendly Beads. BFBeads creates a unique and useful product for mothers of babies everywhere - baby friendly jewelry for breastfeeding. From BFBead's shop profile:

"Baby Friendly Beads are the original, adjustable-length, one-piece design for nursing necklaces. Because there is only one, continuous piece of cord used in my necklaces, there is no risk of the pendant breaking off and scattering beads everywhere."



The image above is a "Reminder Bracelet" for breastfeeding - wear it on the left wrist or right wrist as a reminder to keep track of which breast was nursed on last during a feeding. I just love the colors of this bracelet - the pink, green, and purple beads look great together!

You can also check out BFBeads' second Etsy shop, Mama's Magic Studio, as well as her blog, Mama's Magic.

While I am not a mother, I find BFBeads' jewelry to be super stylish and any woman could wear the necklaces and bracelets for any occasion! What makes BFBeads' jewelry extra special is their unique purpose to help out Moms by giving the baby something to focus on while breastfeeding.

Etsy Bloggers Blog Carnival - Relaxation!

I just joined a fantastic Etsy Street Team called Etsy Bloggers - a group of Etsy members who love to blog! I am so happy to be a part of this, where we can all share and support each others' ideas and creative projects through blogging!

This is my first entry in the Bi-Weekly Blog Carnival on the topic of relaxation. I don't seem to allow myself much time to relax - I am always doing something, it seems! I do have a few things that I like to do when I relax:

1. Knitting - I love to knit! Nothing is more relaxing to me than picking up those knitting needles and getting to work on a project, either for myself or for my Etsy shop! Even though my mind is pretty active (depending on the project!) and my hands are constantly moving, it is pretty relaxing for me. Sometimes I like to have the TV on in the background, and sometimes I just like to knit without any distractions.

2. Video Games - I haven't been playing very many games lately, but I love to sit down on the couch and get into a game. I'm waiting for the new Animal Crossing game to come out for the Wii - those games would eat up hours of my time, and I wouldn't even notice! Sometimes I'll just pick up the controller and grab a quick game of Pac-man, or play an old favorite from the Mario series. For the most part, I find being able to sit down and play a video game on a rainy day a pretty good way to relax.

3. Yoga - This is a great way to relax, and a great way to devote an hour of your time just to yourself. There are yoga classes at my gym that I like to attend when I can. At the beginning of the class, where we just close our eyes and take long, deep breaths, and devote 100% of the time to relaxing and forgetting about everything that may have stressed us out that day - this is one of the most relaxing activities that I can imagine.

Review: Japanese Treats

I love so many things about Japan - someday I hope to travel there! I love the video games, the cute little characters (I am obsessed with Rilakkuma), and I love the candy! Thankfully, I happened to stumble upon North America's largest indoor Asian shopping mall a couple of years ago - I had no idea that it even existed; since I commute to work, I was not familiar with the area and would spend my lunch hours exploring and stumbled across it! How cool is that!

Anyway, I am always picking up little toys and trinkets there, and of course, candy! I'm always on the lookout for new flavors of Pocky, Japanese Kit Kat bars, and other things that you can't find anywhere else - except for maybe on eBay or J-Box.

My selection for today includes: Orange Pocky (hadn't seen this flavor before!), Strawberry Pucca, Beer Pretz, a Kiwi Chewy candy and a Kit Kat bar - one can assume is tea flavored. The problem is, if it isn't written anywhere in English on the package, I have no idea what it is really called. The chewy candies (they come in the smallest package on the bottom right side of the picture) are awesome - we always buy them when we're out at this Mall, but I can also find them in a few Shopper's Drug Mart stores in Toronto. We picked up a Green Apple flavor, a Tropical flavor, and a Kiwi flavor (pictured - the other ones aren't in the picture because we ate them and threw out the packages). They're super tasty, yum!

The Orange Pocky - I loved this one. Even though it was that fake kind of orange flavor, I thought it was great! Paul (my fiance) thought differently - he said that it reminded him of some gross flavor that they clean your teeth with at the dentist. So, I enjoyed the Pocky on my own!

The Beer Pretz - I thought that this was super nasty! I can't even describe how it tastes because it took all of my energy to even swallow the first bite without spitting it out - it was a weird smoky flavor, but then also salty and even sweet. Sick. However, Paul seemed to just love this one for some reason! He said it reminded him of Hickory Sticks (those potato chips) but I really like those, so go figure. Afterwards, I found out that Beer Pretz actually contain Pork and Chicken Flavor, so I feel really bad that I bought it for us since we're both vegetarians. I guess we won't be picking this treat up again regardless!

The Kit Kat - this was really yummy. There is a picture of a cup of tea on the front, so it must be some kind of tea flavor that isn't green tea - because that is a separate flavor of Japanese Kit Kat. I didn't really taste the tea flavor though, it just tasted like really smooth yummy milk chocolate with a bit of the Kit Kat crunch. It tasted great, but didn't nearly rank as high as the Vanilla Bean Kit Kat bar that I've had before, or even the Strawberry one. It was still really good and I would consider getting it again.

The Strawberry Pucca - it is a pretzel treat with an almost liquid center that tasted like strawberries (the fake kind of strawberry flavor). At first, we didn't really care for this one, but then kept eating them and realized that they were a bit addictive! Something about the salty and crunchy pretzel with the sweet strawberry center, it was pretty good! I came home from work expecting to enjoy them and found that Paul and one of his friends had finished them off, but that's okay because I can always get some more :)

If you're ever able to give some of these chocolates or candies a try, you should go for it! If you don't have any kind of Japanese candy store near you, you can easily order some of it from eBay or J-Box.