Ramblings of a Fab Brunette

A Week in Bullets

The end of another busy week... on the edge of a sugar coma, tired and excited and with so much news to share, let me bullet it for you all so we don't get too confucious!

• Princess is in Preschool!
  My little Princess is now in a bilingual preschool. And I love it. She can now say 'Bonjour' and 'Au Revoir' easily, and it's so adorable. I admit I was nervous on her first day by herself - would she listen to the teachers? Get along with her classmates? But she seemed to do great! And it seems to tire her out a bit as well, which always sounds good to me! Every morning for two and a half hours my little darling will be playing, learning French, and giving me a bit of free time - yay!!
• Bakers Market Was Great!
  Today was my second bakers market in Vancouver - http://www.bakersmarket.com for more details! And it went so well! It wasn't as busy as last time, but I think it was the rain... oh that rain! I made a vanilla-vanilla, chocolate-chocolate, vanilla-buttercream, red velvet, and our specialty this week was a chai tea cupcake, filled with chocolate and frosted with chocolate-chai buttercream - delicious!! Each week I want to do a different specialty cupcake - last weeks was the pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and marzipan pumpkins. Next week? Who knows - I may do a green tea - chocolate cupcake, or perhaps something liquer inspired? Stay tuned!!
• Mom Meetups Can be OK.
  As some of you may know I've been searching out some friends, mainly for Princess but also for me. On Friday, I had completely forgotten my 'Maybe' reply to a meetup at the Rocky Mountain Flat Bread Company - a cute little pizza place that has a kids area to play in, which is great because you can eat and relax while the kids go crazy. Tee-hee. Well, I completely forgot, and J ended up taking the day off, so I thought, why don't we go do lunch... at the Rocky Mountain Flat Bread Company? He had never been and I thought it might be a good idea considering we needed to entertain a three year old. Well, I met the other moms who had arrived to the meetup, and they actually seemed pretty cool. All their kids were Princess' age and they all got along - one boy and Princess were absolutely inseperable!! They held hands everywhere, it was adorable!
• And I've Been Shopping.
  Oopsy. Oh well, let me live while I'm still alive!! I won a pretty amazing pair of Louboutins on Ebay, purchased a super cozy felt-lined zip-up hoodie from Lululemon (in pink), a cute little pink coin purse from Coach, a headband and skinny jeans from Banana Republic, and who knows what else?!

So I've been having fun and lately have been too exhausted to stay up and blog (my blogging time is usually at night after everyone's gone to sleep!), but I have some good posts coming up :) So stay tuned!!

xoxo

Fab Brunette

ps. Apologies for all the lame-ass words 'stay tuned' and such. Cliches. Blah blah blah. I'm just tired. Whenever I have a Bakers Market I get super excited and nervous and can't sleep the whole night.

pps. My new Louboutins:

November 09 Goals

Goals for November:

1. Make 5 New Cupcakes or Remake Past Cupcakes: What I mean is, I need to revamp and tweak some of my recipes - currently on the list are: matcha cupcakes, chai tea cupcakes, apple cupcakes, chocolate mint cupcakes, peppermint cupcakes, et al.

2. Enter Iron Cupcake Earth. Very excited to finally be entering ICE!! I will be posting my cupcake on here :)

3. Enter Daring Bakers Challenge. Also super excited to do this - I'll be posting my creation on here as well!

4. Put Princess in Pre-School. We've been searching a pre-school out for Princess for a few weeks now, only a couple of hours in the morning, but I definitely think it's vital for her. BTW, her name isn't actually Princess, you cute readers who actually think I copy Katie Price, no no no, that's just her 'codename', like the Invisibles.

5. Be in the Bakers Market for Three Saturdays in a Row. I've already signed up to do this on November 7, 14, and 21, but I do have the tendency to back out of things when they're too difficult/stressful/annoying/tiresome/time-consuming. So I'm definitely going to make sure I do them all!

6. Find a New Band to Adore. My current faves are The Killers, Amy Winehouse, and Airborne Toxic Event. I like all music and tons of music, but these three bands are on constant repeat. Um, is there anything else this crushworthy out there? I will find out!

7. Do NaNoWriMo. If you don't know what this is, you should check it out here: http://www.nanowrimo.org, because I'm currently all out of words ;)

xoxo

Fab Brunette

Halloween with My Princess

2006: 9 months
Minnie Mouse

2008: 1 year, 9 months
Belle, Beauty & the Beast

2008: 2 years, 9 months
Ariel, The Little Mermaid

As you can see by the pictures, my Princess is super cute and super girly. I dress her in the finest Princess costumes from the Disney Store - expensive? Nothing's too expensive for my princess! It's so much fun to see her dressed up!

I always get excited for Halloween when Labour Day comes around in September - you have to shop early from Halloween costumes to get the best selection and all the sizes.

This year, I had all these ideas of what she could be - Snow White? Tinkerbell? Sleeping Beauty? The Princess options are endless and I would often check out the store to see what was new and all the accessories that go with it (ie. light up shoes, crowns).

Well, my precious little Princess had a surprise in store for me this year.

We would go out window shopping, just checking things out, and her eyes would light up on a set of fairy wings, or a ballerina tutu, or a huge princess dress. And I would be as happy as a clam, putting them up to her, asking which colour she would prefer - pink, hot pink, or purple?

But then her eyes would drift off... and notice something else...

 

Well, not exactly that... but a fabric cuter version.... Everyone, meet my little Princess in her Halloween costume, a dinosaur - a tricerotops named Sara, to be exact.

 

Happy Halloween!

 

This Saved My Life

Alternate titles to this post include "Where Have You Been All My Life?" and "How Did I Manage Without You?".

When you reach a certain level of despair,it is quite difficult to even pretend to feel positive about the future. You basically give up, in a sense it feels as though the sun will never shine again for you.

Then you find it. The reason to live.

The difference between a life in ponytails or buzz cuts has been found thanks to one product available in this world.

 

 

Aveda Smooth Infusions.

I obviously take my hair very seriously, because I felt a huge twinge of disappointment when I first moved to Vancouver - damp-ish weather, constant rain and drizzle, created a hair catastrophe. Thirty minutes spent curling hair goes right out the window when stepping outside here. It went completely flat in five minutes - I had never seen anything like it.

So then I kept straightening it, thinking I was doomed to a boring life, but even then, the hair would fall completely flat - my blow-drying was for nothing! The ends, damaged and broken as they were, turned to little thorns, all frizzed out and crazy. And there was this little kid looking wave in the front. Ugh, it made me shudder when I looked in the mirror.

So I was doomed.

And then someone left me a comment on my blog. (Thanks Liz!)

So I walked into an Aveda Ego salon, and my life was literally saved. At first I didn't believe it - a frizz busting product that wouldn't make my hair flat and greasy?

Let me tell you ladies, this works AMAZING! And my hair now lasts for days - I can sleep on it, get it wet in a quick trip to the car, even be somewhere kinda humid - and my hair is perfect! It lasts three or four days at least!

And I thought I'd have to move again! To somewhere with zero rain or humidity - does a place like this exist? I didn't think so.

So listen up girls in wet climates - Vancouver, London, Seattle, etc - if you hair is unruly and tragedy awaits you daily, definitely try this product. It will save your life, just as it did mine.

ps. I love Aveda products and write this from the heart - I am NOT getting paid to write any kind of review :)

pps. I only purchased the conditionar and the 'prep' lotion to put in wet hair. And it works like a charm.

Gratitude & Food

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

After my last blog post where, I'll admit, I was a little pissy, you guys still brought it. IT. The love. The appreaciation. The joy and fun of blogging at its best. My weekend was pretty busy, but I would read your comments and I felt so happy.

Anyway...

This was the first weekend that Le Petit Cupcakery was at the Bakers Market in Vancouver, and it went pretty well. I sold about 120 cupcakes and it was a lot of fun meeting new people and selling the goods! Pictures are up on my Facebook Fan page of Le Petit Cupcakery.

Tonight I'm actually cooking dinner. Amazing, isn't it? I'm attempting to make BBQ Meatballs from the Pioneer Woman, and Baked Mashed Potatoes from Giada De Laurentis - both godesses in my eyes! Wish me luck! And don't worry about my non-diet, which is what I'll be calling it from now on, it's all about portion size and salads. Lots and lots of veggies. FTW.

xoxo

Fab Brunette

Hoping For a Fresh Start. Now.

I started this blog about six months ago, and for six whole months, I've bemoaned my lack of weightloss to a point that could become annoying. I weighed myself weekly, congratulated myself on a pound of weightloss and then became depressed when two weeks later I gained back 3 pounds. The ups and downs would get to me, I would get no where - I started limiting my food, but then at night would binge on cookies or cupcakes or pizza - the emotional eater in me excitedly came out at night. I would congratulate 'good' behaviour with shopping, food, shoes, and then allow myself to indulge in sugary foods and suddenly would gain another 5 pounsd and I'd freak out. Completely lose it on myself.

Meanwhile my waist size has grown bigger, my body is so out of shape I can barely do sit ups, and I've become more and more down on myself because of it. I look around and see all these thin women, ladies who are in shape, who excercise, eat well, and look great. I, on the other hand, would jump on the scale, see the numbers rising, tell myself I was having a 'bloated' day and reach for another cookie.

I would get in such an emotional upheaval, my body image suffering constantly, never feeling good enough to do anything, go anywhere, and it became too much for me.

I've decided I can no longer do this to myself.

I can't keep going on the scale and posting numbers for all to see. It doesn't keep me in check anyway, so what's the point. And these numbers don't really  mean anything - I know that when I previously lost weight with a personal trainser, I had a considerable amount of muscle on me. I know that when you work out you will never be as light as a scrawny girl - weight is just a number, it doesn't factor into what you look like or what body type you have.

In highschool I weighed between 120 to 130 pounds, I was never truly fit because I never actually worked out. But I was a slim girl, yet all though high school I complained about how fat I was. Seriously. Through college I was about the same. I wasn't toned and taut, but I was 125 and I still felt fat.

I met J my second year of college, and after wining, dining, and going out with him for about 3 months, I had gained 15 - 20 pounds, just as he did. I was wavering between 140 and 145 and my skinny pants no longer fit. Slowly but surely I my weight went up to about 150 pounds, which for a girl standing 5'8" isn't bad, but I had no muscle on me, just flab, and I was upset about it, not enough to do anything about it though.

I was 155 pounds when I found out I was pregnant. And then gained 50 pounds.

That's right, 5 0.

My doctor was awesome though, because she said it was healthy, she said I was tall, this is what the baby wanted - unlike my girlfriends' doctors who put them on 'strict' diets while pregnant so they wouldn't gain too much weight. I would burst into tears if my doctor ever did that. And then I'd change doctors. Anyway -

After pregnancy I lost about 30 pounds in one month, I was about 170 pounds after that. And then kinda stayed between 165 - 170 for a long time. Until I got a personal trainer. And dieted. And within 2 months I was down to 150 pounds, fit, my hips no longer exploding, my thighs were slim - I loved it!

J & I went on vacation, and after we came back, we no longer felt the need to workout, we felt we looked good, what was the point of sweating at the gym when we were perfect? We slowly started eating more and more fattening food, always late at night - pizza, chicken wings, beer. This is where I also went through a purging stage where I would throw up maybe once or twice a week after a big meal. Healthy right?

I eventually stopped purging, started getting over the fact that we were getting fat again, and pushed all that to the back of my mind. Instead, I just continued eating. I was bored, upset, and stupid.

Now I sit here, at 170 pounds again, depressed, fat, and annoyingly self-involved about it. So I decided to free my mind of this poison, this crazy thing in my head that says I "need" to be thin, that I need to look hot, FUCK YOU weight loss. That's what I'm saying.

I've had enough. I'm fed up with counting calories. Trying to find the soup with the least amount of fat in it. Only to eat 3 slices of pizza after. I've become bitter. I just can't keep doing this.

I need to start fresh.

I am going to look at food differently. I am not going to weight myself. Or measure myself. I just don't care anymore.

I will eat food that's fresh, healthy, eat as much or as little as I feel I need. I will listen to my body and see what I need. If I'm truly not hungry, if I'm just bored, then I won't eat. I won't stop by Starbucks for that extra non-fat green tea latte before bed. It hurts my tummy anyway.

I have to go back to basics on this one.

Try to excercise 3 times a week.

Add veggies to my meals.

Listen to my body.

Do yoga.

Meditate.

Think before I eat.

Chew every morsel thoughtfully.

Strive to live like this everyday.

No more grab and go. No more eating from feeling gulty, pressured, bored, emotional, or vengeful. No more laziness. No weighing, measuring, and stressing about how my pants fit.

I just need to stop it all.

And start anew.

Wish me luck.

xoxo

Fab Brunette

ps. You can reach me at my new email: fabbrunette@gmail.com.

pps. Weigh-In Wednesdays is crap blogging material anyway. You won't miss much ;)

Double-Chocolate Chip Muffins

How would you like to come home to fresh double chocolate chip muffins on the counter? Yummy, warm, gooey and chocolatey - these muffins are the best, simple to make and you really can't mess it up. The best part of this muffin? You can add whatever you want to it - chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate, cranberries, almonds, pecans, blueberries - it's up to you and your refrigerator!

I need friends and hair help. Please.

Things I need: an electric mixer, a babysitter, and some friends.

Things I have: socks slipping off my feet, laundry in the dryer, and a hangover and an annoying 3 year old who won't be quiet but insists on galloping around the room like a horsey then yelling at her toys to stay still.

Last night I went out to dinner, J, I, and the Princess, we took the train downtown so I had not one, but two glasses of white wine. The kind that smashes your head in the morning and makes you feel like you're under water . . . until J wakes up at 5:30 am for work, Princess starts jumping on you to wake up, and then eventually you have to bark at her to go potty because you see she might be trying to do a number 2 in the corner.

At dinner last night it became apparent that there is so much we have to teach children, and it is so frustrating to do it - she wanted a crayon that J was holding, instead of simply asking for it, she does this super girl lunge across the table, scratches his hand and grabs the crayon - to which I say, no no no, take the crayon back and tell her to ask for it nicely.

10 minutes of crying later she finally gives her daddy a hug, says sorry, and then attempts to swipe the crayon again. Finally she actually asks for the crayon, colours with it for a minute and throws it across the room. OKAY.

There was a group of girls out on a bachelorette party, and it looked like fun. Giggling. Silliness. I miss it. I need to make some friends so I don't end up a lonely mom who bakes cupcakes for a living. I joined up a mom/toddler group and we're going for a meetup this Wednesday, but in my past experiences with 'other moms', they are always older than me, always very motherly, and not the kind of girl you can discuss silly and raunchy things with while drinking margaritas late into the night. |Oh no, these women meet only for coffee, talk about 'mom' things, and never really turn into friends. But here's hoping!

I went to the gym yesterday as well, and many things on my body are very sore. As I predicted, I started sweating 10 minutes into the cardio portion of my 45 minute workout, and maybe two seconds later my face was a very reddish shade of purple. Hot. It also helped that I was surrounded my women of all ages that were super fit, and looked like they all knew what they were doing while working out. Actually, it was inspiration. To be quite honest, I enjoyed the gym and am going back tomorrow. I hope.

In other news, I need to figure out what the hell to do with my hair in this weather. I do it all nice, spend 30 minutes making it look pretty, voluminous, shiny - and step outside and my hair falls flat, gets frizzy and so so yucky.

Girls that live in wet climates (Vancouver, Seattle, London) what do you do with your hair? How do you get it to stay nice? Without investing in a large amount of hats, I'm not quite sure what to do! HELP!

Until next time,

xoxo

Fab Brunette

Social, Edible & Sweaty Points

• Vancouver, Beautiful Vancouver
  Having J around makes stuff more fun, it simply does. Vancouver is a city full of pubs, chic resto-lounges, and dimly lit bars that I am looking forward to discovering - sans bebe. Many trendy restaurants may look child-friendly but the absence of a kids menu makes the world of difference in choosing a place to eat. Also, I knew this was going to happen, but J wants to move into our own little place asap. Like now. Which makes me say 'I Told You So!' in my annoying sing-songy voice and he just rolls his eyes. We are currently living in a huge house, which is divided and also staying here are his brother and the rest of his workers. Some of these workers are 18-22, which poses a problem when trying to sleep at night. Or having any privacy really is gone as well. So we've been scouring Kijiji, Craigslist, and other renting sites to check out what's available in our favourite neighborhoods - Yaletown, Gastown, Fraser Beach, Kitsilano - expensive, but we'll find something!

• God I Love My Coffee (and my Tassimo)
  Recently, I won a freeTassimo coffee system on Twitter. (Me and 300 other Canadian bloggers.) At first I didn't want to believe that it was true - but it was! My coffee machine arrived yesterday, and I tried almost every T-Disc I had, meaning I didn't sleep a wink last night, instead I was so hopped up on caffeine I could feel myself shaking. I loved it. Regardless, I cut down the coffee consumption to only 3 today - one cafe crema, two cappucinos - and I am in love. This thing is amazing. I don't even have to go to Starbucks anymore. My machine is black and morning sun. Gorgeous.

• Gym Goers, Be Aware
  For all those hipsters who use the Kitsilano Fitness World, please be aware I will be joining tomorrow. Oh yes, I, the one who just bought her first running shoes in five years, is joining the gym. I have chosen you as my homebase, although my membership is good at all locations, because you have the best 'child minding' hours, and I know how to get to you easily on the bus. So if you see me, in the locker room changing super fast, trying to figure out how to use a weight machine, slacking on the treadmill for fear of falling off, or jumping off the stairmaster after a minute - please, don't be afraid, it's just me, a brunette that does NOT look fabulous at the gym. When I work out I get very sweaty, my hair falls flat and my face goes bright red. Sexy.

• New Oven, New Cupcakes
  I know this sounds silly, but when I'm baking cupcakes, I get into the zone. Not 'da zone', but the zone. The one that people get when doing yoga, or running, or drawing, or playing music - I get that when baking cupcakes. Creating new ones is my favourite thing to do. And since I've lived in this house, the oven has been wonky and I couldn't bake a thing - the landlord came by finally and brought a new oven! So tomorrow I'll be baking up a storm! Which will bring me to...
 

• Vancouver's Bakers Market
  The Vancouver's Bakers Market is relatively new, but it's amazing. Tons of local bakeries, people who bake from home, all come together every Saturday to sell their baked goods. It's been selling out early every single weekend, so I definitely can't wait to get out there and sell my cupcakes! The first weekend I'll be there is October 24th, and I am so excited to bring out Halloween-themed and Autumn-themed cupcakes, as well as my normal standbys - vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet! I really wanted to get it all done this weekend, but I still need to buy a mixer here, as well as boxes to transport and sell my cupcakes in.

• My Etsy Store
  I also began working on my Etsy store for Le Petit Cupcakery - more places to buy, more sales to be made, right? I hope so! So please check out my Etsy store and remember that I only deliver to the Greater Vancouver Area - so pass the word along to all of your Vancouver bloggy friends!
• And on a More Social Point...
  I have finally taken the initiative to find Princess some new friends and join some Mommy/Toddler groups on meetup.com. She does have a fourth birthday coming up and totally needs a smashing princess / dinosaur party full of crazy kids and cupcakes, you know what I mean? Mission: Find Princess Friends has begun!

I hope everyone's enjoying their week so far! Only a day or so until the weekend!!

xoxo

Fab Brunette

Rainy Tuesdays

Today is the first rainy day I've seen in Vancouver. It is a Tuesday. J finally made it down yesterday, he drove, with most of our possessions in tow - along with my beloved Miss Sixty boots, which after wearing them to dinner last night I noticed that one of the heels have completely gone. A trip to the shoe repair man is of desperate need, not only to fix my boots but also my YSL purse... I almost couldn't believe when my purse broke - I mean, you spend so much on a purse to have it break? Crazy.

My favourite coats have made it here too - my beige vintage wool coat, my Miss Sixty coat, my brown leather jacket (faux, but still chic!) - but my fur coats have been left at J's mums house... I need to get those now. Well, I'll wait for them but I want to wear them now.

The rain today is putting my mind at ease, a peacefulness is descending over me, and I love it. Everything seems to be coming together now, finally. I really do love my man. As crazy as we are together, the attitudes, the stubborness, the yelling, the making up - it's all worth it.

Ooh, I also bought actual running shoes for the gym today. Cute white Nike's with hot pink swooshes. What I mean by 'actual' is that for years I've been wearing Puma or Diesel 'lifestyle' shoes (as they're called in the store), with no actual support for your feet, so now I have real shoes. Wow. I feel like I'm slowly getting somewhere, perhaps I'll even go for a job tonight - in the rain? Hardly! I am NOT a rain jogger. But kudos to those that are!

Anyway, just thought I'd stop by, say hello, and let you know that some good posts are coming - cupcake related, fun shopping posts, and tons more pictures!

xoxo

Fab Brunette

ps. Thanks for reading!