Happy Moments: Idaylia's First Trip To The Element! :)

Extra special lobster tacos! 

I don’t want to start another blog trend for myself with a whole bunch of rules. I primarily started writing a blog a day about something that made me very happy lately to de-stress about moving across the country with less than two weeks’ notice and remember the little things in life that bring a smile to my face. Those happy moments often outweigh the crappy, stressful feelings and sometimes even distract me from my horrible nail beds that have been destroyed from scouring and cleaning an entire dusty old apartment. My heritage building has some dusty, messy flaws!

Today’s happy moment came when I took my lunch break and dined at the Element for Taco Tuesday. I love Taco Tuesday, without tacos Tuesday is my least favourite day of the week. Today for Taco Tuesday I got to take Miss. Idaylia Swanson from our GOAT/Juice Street Team to the Element for her first meal there! We dined on amazing lobster tacos. The food at the Element never fails to impress my taste buds, today was no different!

The Element’s Head Chef (who is absolutely amazing) Garnet Goode brought us out celebratory banana crème brûlée. It was amazing! I am a huge fan of the different spins he can put on such a classic dessert (click here to check out the Mexican Fiesta inspired edition)! Not only was it Idaylia’s first Element dining experience it was also her first taste of crème brûlée!

A big THANK YOU to Garnet and Idaylia for making one of my last meals here in the Koots special!

It is pretty early to be posting this happy moment, I’m really hoping when I get home my oven will have cleaned itself and saved me from boiling in my apartment in this 40 degree Interior BC heat. I’m not going to hold my breath on that and just be happy that I’m still so full that I will not need to cook supper! :)

Amazing banana creme brulee! 

Happy Moments: Starbucks Secret Menu Items and Perfect Song Timing

It was so freaking hot yesterday and it is going to be just as hot today. Here is my happy moment from yesterday and a shout out to two amazing ladies in my life. One is not only my co-worker by day; she is also a fabulous barista by night. She has created an amazing "secret menu" low-carb Nutella flavored frap for me at Starbucks and every time she makes me one it gets even better! Props to Jenny Fines for knowing how to chill a homie out!

The second shout-out for my happy moment of the day yesterday going to my MacIsaac Hall roommate for providing the perfect tunes to enjoy that low-carb Nutella frap with. As you can see my car and I agreed that it was hot as hell outside so it hooked me up with the perfect summer song on my car USB key to enjoy that frappuccino with, Rusted Root's "Send Me On My Way". 

I will be honest with you; I am one of the only people that hate "Send Me On My Way". It is one of those songs that seems to get people going and yesterday I finally had that feeling. After years of resenting Sarah Thorsen for downloading it on my university Macbook and it always coming up on shuffle, I finally tolerated it. I pulled all of my music from my old lappy onto a USB stick for emergency tune situations a couple of months ago and I have been dodging Sarah's two additions "Send Me On My Way" and Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There" every time I use it. Yes, it is pretty lazy of me to have never deleted them from my computer, but it seems to be a little easier to skip them when they come on. Don't pretend you don't have songs on your iTunes that you don't like!  

Regardless, I am so happy it was "Will You Be There" and not the Free Willy song that came on while I drove home and enjoyed my frap. It reminded me of two amazing ladies to be thankful for and put a big smile on my face. Had it have been the MJ song I would have totally skipped it... I really do hate that song. 

Sarah seemed to have a thing for movies from our childhood and the songs from their soundtracks. While I was more of a Disney girl she was a big fan of the film Matilda and "Send Me On My Way" was used in that flick, so here it is with a wonderful Matilda montage just for your enjoyment. 

Happy Moments: You Jelly? :)

Today’s happy moment is not only a reminder of something that put a big ole’ smile on my face today, it is a reminder that I need to learn how to make jalapeño jelly.  I am so fortunate to have met many great people while living in the Kootenays and one of them is a Vista Kootenays Account Executive names Ray Evin. Not only did I get to meet one of the members of one of my favourite bands growing up Lillix (his niece Tasha) but because he surprises me with wonderful treats every week.

The fresh kale that finds a home on my desk is amazing but my absolute favourite thing that Ray treats me to is his homemade jalapeño jelly. I put that (wonderful) shit on everything! Seriously, it was on my desk this morning and it has been part of every meal I have had today. On my bacon cheeseburger for lunch and on the chicken ranch club flatout sandwich that I had for supper.

I can't wait to feature it on my lunch tomorrow and find a way to incorporate it on my low-carb chicken bacon pizza for supper.

Note to self: Learn to make jalapeño jelly; you really won't be able to do without it when you leave the Kootenays.

Side note: As I type this I am finishing the very last episode of Parks and Recreation and I feel like part of my soul has been crushed.

Update: Moments after typing that last sentence I googled Parks and Recreation and realized that the unity concert was not the end of the show and that it will be back for a final season (seven) for 2014-2015. I am double happy right now. Until Parks and Recreation returns I guess I will have to just settle with watching Welcome to Sweden again (the first time I watched it a couple of months ago none of the Swedish bits had subtitles because it was the Swedish version that went to air so I feel like I missed a whole lot of what was happening). *

*That's right, I have only been watching Parks and Recreation for the last two months and I thought there was only six seasons. I always considered myself more of a 30 Rock girl, but after going to 30 Rockefeller Plaza I get sad because I do not live in New York. This has made me find room in my heart for both of these incredible shows and forced me to discover that I am not a Liz or Leslie, I am a strange combination of the two characters. Lizlie? 

Happy Moments: A Quick Text That Made Me Smile :)

I know quite a few people who have been posting up photos and moments lately to promote celebrating

the happy moments from their everyday life. Lots of people have told me after committing to do it that it actually made them appreciate the little things more in life and that they really enjoyed doing it and did not want to stop after they reached their target goal or total.

I have been super stressed lately with the sudden change of moving plans and the implications for my career (etc.). Yesterday I posted a really trivial email that made me feel really happy during my stressful day. Moving back to small town Nova Scotia scares me quite a bit because I am such a big fan of travelling and new adventures. That email from TripAdvisor reminded me that in small town BC (Trail) I have managed to discover new things and that I can continue to see the world and travel from Greenwood or wherever the new chapter in my life takes me.

The text that put a big smile on my face today! 

I have LOVED living in BC. Trail, Castlegar and Nelson have all been such welcoming homes and I am so happy that part of my story has been written here.

One of the best times during my year in the Kootenays was while my friend (fellow StFX Alumni and now NSCC Grad) Tom Unwin visited and interned at our station. It was one of the most stressful times, Christmas is radio’s busy season and I was hosting my show while co-hosting the Morning Rocks. We had our major promotion “Miracle Marathon” and so many events within the community but still had lots of fun!

During Tom’s time in the Kootenays for his radio internship there were amazing acts touring, The Stanfield’s swung by one of the first nights he was here and then The Tragically Hip’s Paul Langlois stopped by while promoting his solo album. Both nights were great, but Paul happened to be visiting on a weeknight. I had to be up at 4:30am the next morning so that night I decided to man-up and pull an impromptu all-nighter.

We had an amazing time full of stories about crop-dusting and big leaguing at the show and then made our way from the Spiritbar in Nelson to Finley’s for some late night grub and tunes. It just so happened to be Karaoke night. While everyone else continued to booze, I plowed down some food. Tom and I belted “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” for the twenty people in the bar and then being the solo star that Mr.Unwin is he took to the stage to sing a song we all should have been able to guess (but could not) Loverboy’s “The Kid Is Hot Tonite”.

It was a killer night. I’m not sure I have ever been more tired for a day at work. When we finally got home to Trail I dressed myself and slept for 45 minutes on top of my bed sheets until it was time to get up and go back to Castlegar.

We had many great nights; most involved a community event and then apartment food and beer pong. These are some of the best memories I have made in my tiny little apartment and as I pack everything up I am constantly reminded of them. Mostly because I keep finding ping-pong balls everywhere…

Here is a photo from that night, I look like crap due to the long-ass day (to be honest with you I looked worse the next day). Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) the photos and video of our Meatloaf tribute are not available at the moment and maybe lost forever. Here we are with The Hip's Rob Baker, we were "big leagued" by Paul Langlois  for good reason. Our interview with Paul has also gone missing, strange...