I'm a new soul...

Lately, I've been obsessed with Leslie Feist, especially her album The Reminder, which can only be listened to while sipping a Brandy Alexander (always gets me into trouble):

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz Brandy
  
• 1 oz Dark Creme de Cacao
  
• 1 oz half-and-half or heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
  

Mixing instructions:

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the brandy, crème de cacao, and half-and-half. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with the nutmeg.

But I'll leave you with the song from the new MacBook Air commercial: Yael Naim's New Soul. How can you not like a girl who sings, "meeestake"?

With all the fuss about the amount of plastic grocery bags floating around everywhere, I wonder what we'll use as garbage bags in the kitchen, if we don't have them. I'd have to go out and buy them!

If you read the comment already written about this post, you'll learn about the much more user-friendly recycling system in Germany. What do Germans do with kitty litter?

What is frustrating is when the sidewalk plowers drive and plow right through your recycling box and scatter everything all over the street and sidewalk. Why does everyone hate each other sometimes?

I also have this return-ticket to anywhere Iceland Air flies; any ideas about when and where?

Here is a picture of my new cat and chair:

How many blogs do you read?

...And how many do you actually like? I read about 6 or 7 personal blogs but I only actually enjoy reading 3 or 4. What of the remaining? I think I read them the way I read celebrity gossip or occasionally eat Kraft Dinner. That is to say, I read them with a mixture of annoyance, envy and nosiness, not because they are entertaining or have something very relevant to offer me. Reading them allows me to confirm my suspicions about that those people's lives are cooler than mine. I wonder if anyone reads my blog with this same feeling?

Could you live in a glass house?

I was watching an episode of Linda Reeves' House and Home about living in a home that is somewhat open-concept, with lots of uncovered windows and very, VERY little clutter. Very minimalist. I was intrigued by one home she visited, that of interior designer Dina Theodoropoulos whose home is was so clutter-free as to be hotel-like. I would kill for a home like that! Dina said something about how she feels so relaxed and calm when she comes home to a place that is so serene and minimal. I could live like that. I find it cosy to be somewhere that has too much stuff, or even any stuff on surfaces, sort of like my house:


I also went to La Croissanterie, the one on St. Catherine near St. Marc. As part of my goal to try new places to eat, I finally went into La Croissanterie after having walked passed it a million times. It's a pleasant little lunch place with great croissants and great coffee. I had lentil soup and a ham and cheese sandwich. The soup was delicious! The service was good too and no, there is no connection to it's more popular counterpart on Hutchison in Outremont.

I also patronized Boucherie Lagace & Fils in my neighbourhood for a sandwich. Di Rienzo's it isn't, but the sandwiches were nice (too much meat though!) and Mr. Lagace was the most enthusiastic butcher I've ever met.

Welcome to Willow!

Say hello to Willow: my new baby cat from the SPCA. So far she's proven to be a challenge. Why do I get all the sick cats? Mark picked her out from the many cute little kitties in cages, so sad to leave them all behind. Willow was sharing her cage with her brother, a beautiful grey tabby, but we're not ready for 2 cats, so we stuck with just Willow. I noticed one of her eyes looked glassy, but the woman who helped us out assured me Willow was healthy. That glassy eye would prove to be indeed a cold. And complications with her cold/flu mean that she's now on a course of antibiotics, aspirin for her fever and must be force-fed because she won't eat. In our over-zealousness in feeding her last night, we knocked out a couple of her teeth. She seems fine with it and the Internet told me baby cats lose their baby teeth as a matter of growing up, so I guess I'm fine with it too.

Today Mark and I went skating for the first time in 2008. Me on my 6$ Sally Ann specials and Mark with his new Christmas hockey stick and puck. There are a couple of outdoor rinks near my house, though the ice isn't in the best shape. I'll take pictures next time.

Today I am drinking a cup of tea for the first time in 2008. I *never* drink tea, but 2008 is going to be the year of firsts.

Firstly, I went skating at an outdoor rink in my neighbourhood, first I drank a cup of tea and another first includes the absence of New Year's resolutions. Rather, I will make goals. One being to try 2 new restaurants and/or cafes each month. Another being to wash dishes at least once a day. And yet another being to make sure 2008 is a BIG year. 2008 lends itself to being a BIG year in that I will graduate from university and be forced to find a job, we might move to a new city and I'll most definitely be taking an overseas trip. Mark has a few things up his sleeve too. Stay tuned!