This week marked the end of an era. I traded in my 2012 Kia Soul for a 2014 Kia Rondo. I know Fridays are supposed to be about beauty products and such, but I think my new car is pretty beautiful as well. As much as I loved my Soul, it was not fitting the needs of my lifestyle. On a recent trip into Winnipeg and of course to Ikea, we realized that even with the seats pulled down, the flat packs from Ikea, were a tight squeeze. So here for Beautiful Friday I am here to introduce you to my new car, Dixie. I named it Dixie because another era has ended. Saturday, February 2, 2014 is the day that my family has decided to put my 16 year old tiny toy poodle, Dixie Buttons, to sleep. She has lived such a nice life and has come to the point where quality of life needs to be considered. So in commemoration of her, my car is named Dixie.

She is a fire engine red, hot Rondo. She packs a big punch in her small shape. Inside she has a heated steering wheel and heated seats, power chairs, leather interior and best of all HUGE cargo space.Most of all I am the only person outside of the dealership and car manufacturing plant to have driven her. She had 19KMs on her when I got it. I also have command start now. I can start my car from my bed in the mornings (so wonderful). So below, have a look and if you like it, or think you would like my old car, go see Terry Coleman @ Planet Kia in Brandon.

Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' or Google+ and share this with all your friends. Thanks :)

Weight-Loss Wednesdays #2 - The Struggle Is Real...

Struggles of the Week: This week I have had some fall down moments. I drank pop :(, I have not eaten enough veggies and I did not weigh or measure myself once. Bad Paige, I know.

WIN of the Week: In an effort to save some money and eat better, on Sunday I made some veggie wraps with avocado, peppers, egg whites, a bit of cheese and whole wheat small wraps. I just froze a bunch and throw them in the microwave before leaving for work. They are DELICIOUS!! I actually enjoy them more than the calorie filled ones from Tim Hortons. Paired with an Earl Grey Tea with almond milk in the morining and I am full up and not having any cravings until lunch time.

Goal for the Week: I am going to make an effort to go for walks. Long term, I want to be able to run and enjoy it, but once again, I am on the baby steps plan.

The journey continues...

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Tasty Tuesday: Struesel Blueberry Muffins

I decided this week to do something a little less healthy, but possibly a lot more brave. I have always been a fairly good baker, and thought I would challenge my skills a bit to show you all that a little determination can go a long way. The recipe I chose this week can be found here, but for convenience I have included it below as well.

Streusel Topping
3 T white sugar
3 T brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
5 T melted butter
Muffins
2 cups (or less if you are me!) fresh blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 cups  plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 1/2 cups  unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Struesel Topping: Mix all ingredients together until small pea shapes are formed and set aside.
Muffins:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. 
• Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray or liners. Bring 1 cup blueberries, water,  and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with your potato masher or fork several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by about half.  This will take about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Slowly mix in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)
• Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle struesel evenly over muffins.
• Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, approximately 20 minutes. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

The Preparation: I found this recipe needed some prior baking knowledge and skill. Not so bad you need to be on Iron Chef, but enough that you know some technique. I also found that an electric mixer is almost necessary. Your hand will be extremely tired if you don't.

The Taste Test: While these muffins were incredibly delicious, I found them teetering over the line of too sweet for a muffin. I tend to like a more mild taste in my muffins as I generally eat them in the mornings. This could be remedied by using less sugar or using a sugar replacement such as Stevia or Splenda.

The Switch Up: I decided with the last two muffins I had left on the weekend to try and french toast them. This ended up being extremely decadent and could even pass as a dessert with some fresh whip cream and/or powdered sugar. 

My sister has also requested I make the same recipe using strawberries, so I will let you know how it goes when I attempt that.

Update on Last Week: Thank you so much for loving last weeks Caulifredo recipe. It was my most commented on post so far (facebook comments). I did end up trying the sauce with rice and some garlic mushrooms and it was fantastic as a side dish with some simple chicken and broccoli. Can't wait to make it again.

Let me know in the comments if you try these muffins and how you found them! Also I need some ideas for future Tasty Tuesdays. Talk to you tomorrow!

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Motivational Monday #2 - Decluttering Your Life

Happy Monday!!

The last few weeks I have spent organizing and re-doing my bedroom. I have gotten new furniture, new storage and wonderfully comfortable new bedding. I really like the change. It feels clean, more refreshing and I actually sleep better at night knowing that everything is where it should be. My dog on the other hand hates it. She will not sleep in the new bedding and doesn't even like how I have moved the furniture.

In the process of re-doing my room, I found a lot of knick-knacks and trinkets and books that have been collecting dust for years either on my messy bookshelves or in a box in my closet (taking up space that shoes could otherwise fill). I reminisced about high school and friends that I no longer have, thought about how things change and its not always a bad thing. I also realized that while these trinkets were great placeholders for memories past, I would much rather keep the memory and save the space for new things that can create new memories.

Some tips to help you out:

• Make a yearly notebook and write down quick, small notes to read back later and jog the memory
• Make a blog and document it electronically, it doesn't have to be public.
• Take pictures
• Talk about the memories often. Laughing and reminiscing about the old times is great, but make sure to remain present as well.

Letting go of the material things in life is no big deal. It is the memories that should be cherished. So go forth and organize, purge. Make room for the new. Your whole self will feel better and your space will look better as well without it all. (less dusting time to!!) 

In the comments let me know if you have recently done a purge and how it affected your well being.

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Beautiful Fridays #1 - Beauty Faves of the Moment

As I told you in my very first post, I am addicted to high-end makeup and beauty products. Fridays will be reserved for this. Today I am telling you my can't live without products that I always seem to steer back to.

Hair Products

Sally Hershberger Keratin Spray

Ulta - $12.99
 (can be found in Canada at Shopper's Drug Mart for the same price)

I put this in my hair after showering and my hair brushes super easily and if I blow dry it, it reduces the fuzziness of my lions mane.

Wet Brush

Amazon - $8.99
(Can be found in most salons for $15)

This brush is a miracle. Period. If you need convincing, go watch this video.

Face Products

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion

Sephora - $32.00

I have scaly gross skin on my forehead and cheeks. I discovered this lotion about 2.5 years ago and I would never change, not even for all the tea in China (and I love tea).

Makeup

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Sephora - $62.00

I am talking the original. I think that all the shades blend great and are all complimentary to each other. How I use this palette is an entire post on its own! (hmmm....good idea)

Benefit Dandelion Powder Box

Sephora - $36.00

This shade is the perfect sun-kissed pink in the summer and in winter gives your cheeks that pink, cold glow.

Lip Products

Nivea Lip Butter

Amazon - $3.99
(can be found in most department stores and drug stores)

Summer hydrating and lasts for a long time. I generally will put it on before doing my makeup and my lips are good for any gloss or lipstick I choose.

MAC Ruby Woo (Retro Matte Collection)

MAC Cosmetics - $18.00

If you are looking for the PERFECT shade of red, look no further. I was so afraid to try a red lip, low and behold, it suits me better than most colors. I also love the matte finish as it drys really well, leaving a great color pay off that lasts. I have also seen it look good on most skin tones, making it very versatile.

Well that is all folks. I am sure there is much more I can rave about, but we will leave that for another day. 

Post in the comments what your favourite beauty product is or if you want a further review of something I mentioned in this post.

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Weightloss Wednesdays #1 - What happened to 'Why Not Wednesdays'?

In an effort to continue with my New Year's resolution of documenting my weight-loss journey, I have decided to use Wednesdays to do this and will not be posting on Thursdays. This was to help me keep my sanity between work, school and this, I need a day off.

So my update this week? Well in an effort to keep a bit of information personal, I will not be posting any information of my current or goal weight. Right now I do not feel comfortable revealing that. I will, however tell you how much I have lost and how many total inches I have lost. This will start next week, as I am making my initial measurements today.

Struggles: I am having a big struggle with familial support. I work everyday until 5:00 pm and my Dad usually makes supper. This consists of boxed, pre-packaged food, frozen vegetables and lots of carbs. Going forward I am going to make a bunch of precooked meals on the weekends to hopefully battle this.

I am also finding it hard to exercise. I am getting a gym pass and that will help, but I don't really know what I should be doing once I get there. Have any of you ever had a trainer? Is it worth the money?

Wins: I really enjoyed making the Caulifredo this week. It was such a good alternative to the very unhealthy Alfredo sauce. I also reused the sauce and made a chicken and rice dish. I also was able to eat breakfast everyday this month so far. This is huge for me as I never took the time. I notice that it really gives my energy that boost I was missing in the mornings.
I have also done the unthinkable and haven't had a pop in nearly 6 days. One day at a time right?

Well that's all for now folks, if you have any questions about my progress, or tips on getting started yourself, leave them below!

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Tasty Tuesday: Caulifredo

Hello all! In the process of creating a healthier, happier me, I have come to the realization that my love of pasta and all things cheese will create somewhat of a hindrance on my success. That being said eating salad everyday, all day is not the answer either. In order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I truly believe that moderation is key but that you have to have some variety as well. In my search for this variety I came across a blog called Pinch of Yum. The author of this blog has some wonderful recipes, that are OMG healthy as well. The first of many that I intend on trying was creamy cauliflower sauce. I have since dubbed this Caulifredo as it is an exact replica to Alfredo sauce, which I happen to love.

The Recipe: (found here)

 INGREDIENTS

• 8 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5-6 cups cauliflower florets
• 6-7 cups vegetable broth or water
• 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• ½ teaspoon pepper (more to taste)
• ½ cup milk (more to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Garlic: Saute the minced garlic with the butter in a large nonstick skillet over low heat. Cook for several minutes or until the garlic is soft and fragrant but not browned (browned or burnt garlic will taste bitter). Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Cauliflower: Bring the water or vegetable broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the cauliflower and cook, covered, for 7-10 minutes or until cauliflower is fork tender. Do not drain.
3. Puree: Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cauliflower pieces to the blender. Add 1 cup vegetable broth or cooking liquid, sauteed garlic/butter, salt, pepper, and milk. Blend or puree for several minutes until the sauce is very smooth, adding more broth or milk depending on how thick you want the sauce. You may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender. Serve hot! If the sauce starts to look dry, add a few drops of water, milk, or olive oil.

The Preparation:This sauce is a really simple recipe and went together lickety split! Cooking time was probably 10 minutes total. It also yielded a large portion, so you could switch it up into multiple dishes with some creative thinking.

The Taste Test: I, along with my family tried this out with some whole wheat linguine with some shrimp and fried mushrooms. The result was so good that even my non-vegetable eating, old school father enjoyed it. The taste was on par with the most popular pasta sauces and I myself enjoyed it more even. The result was much lighter than alfredo and you cannot tell that it is vegetable based.

The Switch Up: I had tons of sauce left over. Later in the week I am going to try making a creamy rice dish with it and possibly a chicken pizza. I will update on the results!

Please do me a HUGE favor and share this on facebook, pinterest or any other social media that you choose! Thanks.

Motivational Monday #1 - Dealing With the BIG Things

Welcome to Motivational Mondays!! Every dreaded Monday comes, but I am here to give you some insight into how to change that negative to a positive!

 Even I get kind of sick of myself reading that back. That being said, I am one of the worst culprits for being a Negative Nancy at the beginning of the week. I am usually tired from my weekend sleep schedule, hungry because I never went and replenished my breakfast food on the weekend or just plain grumpy knowing what my week  lies ahead. But fear not my lovelies, I have had an epiphany. Mondays should not be seen as an inevitability, but embraced as a day that can be used to follow through on everything we said we would do. Time is always our enemy when it comes to conquering the big projects in life, but what does everyone use Monday as? A day to mope around, feeling sorry and tired and just not fully participating in their own life.

So drive on my people, organize your makeup collection, vacuum your apartment, go for a walk, eat a salad. Do something to make your valuable time worth while. I have decided (coinciding with my aforementioned resolutions here) that to fill my downtime I am writing this blog, documenting the big things in life, and the small things. The small things are generally what teaches us how to accomplish the big things, or to know which things should be valued more than others.

So what does this quote really have to do with what I am saying? Well if we start to utilize Mondays for the entire 24 hours of time it is, we will have the energy to accomplish a lot more. The fear of the storm is lessened by the addition of time, the lessening of stress and the understanding to fully grasp what it is you set out to do. As this quote says you will learn how to sail that ship, you just need the time to do it. I myself think that a handsome sailor to do the steering would be nice as well, but a girl can only dream, right?

Let me know in the comments what your big things in life are right now, or what small things you use to conquer the Monday blues.

Please do me a HUGE favor and share this on facebook, pinterest or any other social media that you choose! Thanks.

Get to Know Me: 25 Questions Tag

I found this tag while considering what exactly to tell you people about myself. I think this covers the basics.

1. Do you have a middle name?
Yes, Jeanette. Its a family name. My dad wanted to name me so that he could call me PJ. Not once has he called me PJ.
2. What was your favorite subject in school?
I am a geek, I loved math. Still do, hence the whole accountant thing. 
3. What's your favorite drink?
Coca-Cola. or Pepsi-cola, really anything cola. My downfall :(
4. What's your favorite song at the moment?

The Wire by HAIM
5. What would you name your children?
I only have girl names. They are a secret so no one steals them.
6. Do you participate in any sports?
I played softball from ages 5-17. I now play on a beer league in the summer.
7. What's your favorite book? 
Still is and always will be The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Anne Brashares
8. What's your favorite color?
Mint Green
9. What's your favorite animal?
Owls! They're so majestic.
10. What's your favorite perfume?
Poppy Flower by Coach, though this changes daily. I have a problem with expensive things, remember.
11. What's your favorite holiday?
Labour Day. Weird right? I like how it signifies the end of summer and most people get it off work too!
12. Have you graduated from High School?
Yes, 2008. I am soooo old.
13. Have you been out of the country?
Yes, but just mildly into the states.
14. Do you speak any other languages?
I can speak a small amount of french, enough to ask where the bathroom is and stay conversational in small talk. I can also say a few phrases in flemish, which is my mother's heritage.
15. Do you have any siblings?
Yes, a sister who is 5 years older and a brother who is 7 years older.
16. What's your favorite store?
IKEA! and Sephora gets a close second.
17. What's your favorite restaurant?
There is a vegan burger joint in Winnipeg called Boon Burger, it is fantastical and I don't even miss the meat!
18. Do you like school? 
Yeah, I didn't mind it much. I was pretty good at school so it was easy to like.
19. Who are some of your favorite YouTubers?
Tyler Oakley, Sprinkle of Glitter, Rachael Whitehurst, Meghan Rosette, Hannah Hart, Mamrie Hart, Grace Helbig, The Shaytards & CTFxC (just to name a few)

20. What's your favorite movie? 
The remake of Great Expectations with Gwynyth Paltrow and Robert DeNiro
21. What are some of your favorite TV shows?
Parenthood, Scandal, Orange is the New Black, Lost Girl, Orphan Black, Pretty Little Liars, really anything ABC Family.
22. PC or Mac?
I'm a PC user now, but in college I had a Mac that just got too old and I was too broke to replace it. My sister used it now because she stepped on her laptop and crushed the screen.
23. What phone do you have?
iPhone 4S - White - 16GB
24. How tall are you?
5'9"
25. Any pets? 
Yes, my baby girl, a 16 year old tiny toy poodle named Dixie Buttons. She is sooo old, but still trucking. My sister's dog also lives with us, a yorkshire terrier named jake.

There you have it, an insiders look into my life. Hope you feel you truly know me now. Any other questions, hit the comments.

Please do me a HUGE favor and share this on facebook, pinterest or any other social media that you choose! Thanks.

how the cookie will crumble...

Alright so I have taken a week to recuperate from the massive amounts of people that read this blog? (just kidding...there is like two of you...hi mom) Anyways I have also taken this week to think about what exactly it is I want to talk about with you, my people. I have come up with the following schedule that will commence on January 20th, 2014.

Mondays will now and forever (until i choose to change it anyways) be known as MOTIVATIONAL MONDAYS. This is much like how most bloggers do it. I will have a stylized picture, quote or combination of the two, that I found inspiring or just pretty. I will ramble on about how I see the world through the eyes of the image. Deep right?

Tuesdays are going to be Tasty (maybe thirsty) Tuesday's. With my new health kick I am on the hunt for innovative and delicious meals, snacks or drinks (occasionally of the alcoholic variety) that are low on calories, but big on taste. I will take a new recipe each week and make it and give a review on taste, difficulty to prepare, etc. Leave recipes in the comments if you have suggestions.

Why Not Wednesday's will be my day to just shoot the shit. Miscellaneous if you will. Everything will be touched on and nothing is off the table. If you have questions you want to ask me, if I have questions I want to ask you. Pretty much anything goes!

Thursday's are going to be pretty quick little posts. They will include updates on my weight loss, stories of my struggles with my resolutions and just real life tidbits that may or may not tickle your interests.

Friday is going to be reserved for my obsessions, very expensive makeup products. On this day you will find anything from a haul, hair tutorial, makeup tutorial, review of a beauty product, rant of a beauty product or maybe even a giveaway (when I have more than just my mother to give it to).

So there you have it folks...if you didn't notice that means that there will be 5 posts a week!! As long as I do not burn out or loose my passion for writing this blog, it will happen. So if you have any words of encouragement, now would be the time to say it.

For the remainder of this week I will have 1-2 posts giving you a deeper insight into me as a person. If you have any pressing questions about me, leave them in the comments!

Please do me a HUGE favor and share this on facebook, pinterest or any other social media that you choose! Thanks.

and with that the new year begins...

 I have never been opposed to change, but as I sit here writing this, my first blog post ever, I can't help but wonder if the change of the new year is ever a bad thing. Yes there is the problematic first few weeks where you write last years date on all of your important documents, but with the change of date comes new opportunities that you may not have thought about before. I myself never considered making a blog before, but here I am writing to you because I made a resolution to document this year as best I can. This year is going to be great. This year will be filled with change, yes, but also full of travel, chasing dreams I never thought could happen and hopefully, meeting new people. I am writing this to bring all of you, my readers along. 

Even if no one reads this I want to make a dent in this world, leave behind some record of me. If you Google my name the only thing that appears is my various social media pages and some article of a girl of the same name that had a baby without knowing she was pregnant. I want someone to know what I am about and what I have contributed to this world.

So back to resolutions, which is why I am here. Though documentation was my first goal, it has snowballed since. This year I (along with a good chunk of the world) have vowed to get healthy. To put it bluntly, I am MORBIDLY OBESE. (Like that pun with the big letters?) I want to change this. Its not that I am bowing into social norms and need to shed pounds to fit into a materialistic idea of what beauty is. No, I just want to feel better, feel healthy, feel good, etc... So you can also expect some interesting posts about obscure health fads that I will try, good recipes and maybe, just maybe posts about exercise.

You will also note that I am extremely addicted to beauty and expensive, unnecessary beauty products. So expect that to be peppered into the mix as well.

Well if you like what I have previewed for you here, subscribe to my blog, or share it with your friends. It won't hurt my feelings if you don't but in my opinion you will be missing out on a great story or a major fail unfold, who wants to miss out on that? It is said that the human race feeds on great success and extreme failure, all of which I think are fun to read about.