Gung Hay Fat Choy

*image found here
Happy New Year.  The year of the Rabbit, my year, has officially begun with a bang.  Had a bit of snow yesterday, luckily the winters are relatively mild here in Nova Scotia.

"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other ~ Chinese Proverb

Year of the Rabbit

*image found here
My year.  The year of the rabbit.  2011.  New job.  New business.  Good things to come...The rabbit here...

So Many Beautiful Roads

Crossroads.  Forks.  Meet Me Halfway.  How Many Roads.  Wander.  Journey....It's almost 2011!

*images courtesy of 'We Heart It'

Will This Be This Motorcycle Momma's New Year's Eve?

Thinking about The Trews for New Years...

Food Journey's of a Lifetime

Oh wow, wouldn't this add to, simplify and yet deliciously complicate my bucket list..."For pure pleasure, few experiences are as satisfying as a chance to explore the world’s great culinary traditions and landmarks—and here, in the latest title of our popular series of illustrated travel gift books, you’ll find a fabulous itinerary of foods, dishes, markets, and restaurants worth traveling far and wide to savor.

"On the menu is the best of the best from all over the globe: Tokyo’s freshest sushi; the spiciest Creole favorites in New Orleans; the finest vintages of the great French wineries; the juiciest cuts of beef in Argentina; and much, much more. You’ll sample the sophisticated dishes of fabled chefs and five-star restaurants, of course, but you’ll also discover the simpler pleasures of the side-street cafés that cater to local people and the classic specialties that give each region a distinctive flavor.

Every cuisine tells a unique story about its countryside, climate, and culture, and in these pages you’ll meet the men and women who transform nature’s bounty into a thousand gustatory delights. Hundreds of appetizing full-color illustrations evoke an extraordinary range of tastes and cooking techniques; a wide selection of recipes invites you to create as well as consume; sidebars give a wealth of entertaining information about additional sites to visit as well as the cultural importance of the featured food; while lively top ten lists cover topics from chocolate factories to champagne bars, from historic food markets to wedding feasts, harvest celebrations, and festive occasions of every kind. In addition, detailed practical travel information provides all the ingredients you’ll need to cook up a truly delicious experience for even the most demanding of traveling gourmets." Product description found here

If it makes me happy, proud....

O.k. so ignoring the models unhappy facial features I simply love/adore this Erin Fetherston dream from 2009 fall/winter collection. Check it out here to see just how amazing the dress/fabric really is up close...this has nothing to do with my post except that it makes me happy...

The next 10 things on my ‘bucket’ (I do not love this term) list is a bit of a cheat. This is 10 things that I HAVE done; I am proud of and would, will or am continuing to do...

61) Lived in Ethiopia
62) Lived in China
63) Travelled to, London(England), Switzerland, Israel (thanks mum and dad), Dominican Republic, the East Coast of Canada and much of the United States (thanks honey) :)
64) Embrace Vegetarianism
65) Quit smoking
66) Use only green cleaners in our home (baking soda and vinegar etc)
67) Our cats (eternally ungrateful critters in fur pyjama’s) are rescue animals
68) Have mucha post secondary education and am/will put it to good use ;)
69) Use green toiletries that work!
70) Have simplified my life from a non green ‘burbs existence to increasingly sustainable urban living...


Sometimes it's good to remember how much one has accomplished!

A Potential Challege

2010 seems to be ushering in a time of cautious hope. Many of us have had our moxie reigned in in the recent past. I hope that this feeling in the air is akin to Spring, time for a new Cycle.

One of my favourite websites One Green Generation has bravely thrown down the gauntlet, a challenge. To Own and Live our dreams...I have not signed up for this...yet. Part of me is still exhausted and trying to regain and shift my own moxie and part of me is superstitious about saying too much out loud, drawing too much attention to my [insert any intangible here]. I do however appreciate the concept of accountability and recognize that on my working/fluid list of 100 things I wrote that I wanted to get more involved in the blogging community...

The Next 30 on the Universe List

*photo found here

The next 30 items on my bucket list, my wish to the universe, occasionally delves into some less than tangible items, more goals for my innards I suppose.

31) Visit the Taj Mahal

32) Have a dressing gown made at an Indian Cloth Market
33) Make an even more positive difference for animal rights
34) Watch more film noir
35) Read more Gothic Romance novels
36) Listen to more Rockabilly music
37) Go zip lining somewhere tropical
38) Own a condo that faces an active community square/courtyard
39) Visit Morocco, bring home tea glasses
40) Always have flowers around the house (potted)
41) Find a favourite coffee shop and become a ‘regular’
42) Consistently refine and cultivate friendships
43) Attend carnivals frequently
44) Live as close to childlike joys as possible i.e. play on swings
45) Eat Roasted Chestnuts from a street vendor
46) Eat New York pizza in N.Y.C
47) Go on an Extensive Asian Tour (Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore)
48) Eat pasta in Italy
49) Eat Tapas in Greece
50) Dream. Do. Detach...
51) Surrender
52) Continue to simplify. Take action
53) Find work the pays well and utilizes my quirky creativity
54) Start doing more of Martha Stewarts ‘Good Things’
55) Visit San Francisco
56) Stay at least a week at a top star Disney World Resort
57) Participate in a flash mob dance
58) Visit long gone cities such as Pompeii
59) Visit Machu Picchu
60) Visit Mexico’s top markets Mercado Sonora the witchcraft market and Mercado La Merced Mexico cities largest food market

My Word. GROW.

*origins of photo found here .

There seems to be a mini trend for the last few years to not choose New Years Resolutions. I've chosen a list of things to do because I am a list girl. Others have chosen to choose words, touchstones. Some excellent examples of how this is a profoundly individual process can be found here and here and here and here and here , and I'm sure lots of other places as well...

I have reasons that I have chosen 'grow', most obvious is that I want to actually grow from the lessons I receive instead of repeating them over and over as per usual....Here's to 2010, a time to grow, a time to take ownership of changes in my life and steer my own vessel. 

2010 and Beyond

* Picture Unknown ~ Allposters.com

The 2nd day of 2010 and I only have 30 points out of my goal of a hundred for my bucket list...but you know, I think that's o.k. I'm giving myself permission to slow it down and do it/life right...so my first 30 in no particular order are;


1) Write a children’s book
2) Get my M.Ed papers
3) Create a four seasons urban garden (2010 goal)
4) Get involved in my community (2010 goal)
5) Get involved with the blogging community (2010 goal)
6) Saturate myself in the world of Assouline
7) Find a perfect wedding venue (2010 goal)
8) Re-do my tattoo
9) Have tea at the Berkeley Hotel, London
10) Go glamping via uncharted outposts
11) Buy a Brelli
12) Visit Salem, Massachusetts
13) Go on an African Photo Safari
14) Spend an overnight and mealtime at Giraffe Manor
15) See the Lighting of the NYC Christmas tree live
16) Visit Stonehenge and the worlds leylines
17) Visit The Louvre, Paris
8) Go to Savannah, Georgia (do the Ghost Tours)
19) Egypt via Atelier Travel (Golden Age style)
20) Let go of fear
21) Learn to dance
22) Learn to shoot a gun
23) Learn to make my own jewellery
24) Get published as a writer/copywriter
25) Own a cottage on the beach
26) Be authentically me and live it confidently
27) Embrace Fashion
28) Buy and wear way more dresses, fun, flirty and elegant ones
29) Experience New Orleans
30) Live more sustainably via DIY methods

New Years Festivities

http://www.confettisystem.com/ Wow, this site is amazing, so simple and yet so brilliant. Great thoughts for New Years or any other festive occasion! Dress it up and have some fun.

Happy New Year!

It's too amazing to be believed, Victoria Magazine online and it seems to be still in business! I thought it was gone, closed, I had read that it was but here it is http://www.victoriamag.com/. What a wonderful way to bring in the New Year!