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What’s Your Summertime Drink?


As the temperature rises, naturally, so does our intake of liquids – alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike! Hopefully, there is more non-alcoholic bevvies involved so that we don’t dehydrate ourselves. 😉

Anyway, because I am still paying off a car that I purchased in the Spring, I do not have money to take a vacay this Summer. However, there is nothing stopping me from enjoying my down time and pretending I’m on a tropical island by eating at a Mexican restaurant, going on a nice hike, BBQs/get togethers with friends, etc.

And a large part of this tropical feel is what we eat and drink. Personally, nothing says Summer more than either a gin ‘n tonic, mojito, or sangria.

(The problem with mojitos is getting the mint. I’m somewhat lazy to pick mint from my sideyard, but I’m too cheap to go out and buy fresh herbs!)

Non-alcoholic speaking, when water gets boring, I like to slice fresh citrus fruit and put it into my water AND I’ve been getting into pure coconut water!

So what drink(s) spell S-u-m-m-e-r for you?


Microwavable Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes


When I was little this was one of my favourite summer vacay treats.  They are so easy to make and the best part is you don’t have to turn on the oven to make them.

All you need  is cake mix (eggs,oil, water) icing and ice cream cones.

Prepare the cake mix as per instructions on box

Fill cones about 1/2 way full with the cake batter

Arrange in a microwavable dish (flat bottom cones work better)

Microwave for 2-3 minutes checking halfway

Decorate and apply icing as you wish

Enjoy!

Let me know how yours turn out.


What’s your Summer Shoe Stand-by?


A couple of months ago, pre-heatwave, I was soo excited because I had finally tracked down a pair of Birkenstocks that were MY size. (My feet are slightly wide and size-wise, I’m in-between their kids/adults.) Ideally, kids Birks would work…if they weren’t as narrow.

I had never owned a pair of Birks – in fact, in university, I had relegated them into the ” hippie” category. However, I had a change of heart after seeing them all over the place. After all, how could soomany people be wrong?

After a few wears, I realized that what may be suitable for the masses does not necessarily mean that they’d be good for me. 🙁

Maybe it’s just the style (Arizona, 2-straps) that I was able to find, but they’re not very fashion-forward. Furthermore, they exaggerate the size of my feet by making them look as though they’re about 2 sizes bigger! And overall, the look just isn’t for me, too casual.

In terms of semi-casual Summer Footwear, I am at a bit of a loss. I refuse to wear flip flops or Crocs, just too casual. Especially when doing lots of walking, flip flops just aren’t comfortable AND they’re a definite no-no for the streets of Toronto as they’ll turn your feet black. As for Crocs, I’m just not o.k. about deviating from their intended purpose, i.e. health care professional/gardening/pool lifeguard shoe!

Currently, I am enjoying a pair of Gisele Bunchen’s Ipanema sandals that are made out of a recyclable PVC that molds to your feet. (So no, they aren’t quite flip flops although they may have similar styling elements.) If I wear out my Ipanemas, I’m sorta SOL because the selection here isn’t that great.

I’ve heard about FitFlops, but haven’t invested the time to trying them on. The newer styles are appealing, but of course, I’d be surprised if I can find them here.

So Smart Canuckers, what shoes do you turn to in the Summertime?


Lawn Care: DIY or Pay Someone Else To Do it ?


Is this you in the Spring/Summer/early-Fall? Well, this was me, only wearing less clothes, on Father’s Day weekend on an attempt to mow my parents’ just-under-1-acre property…after months of overgrowth. 🙁  And because the lawn hadn’t been tended to in so long, cutting the grass was more like light-forestry!  I kid you not.

(Condo/Apartment dwellers, the next time you dole out those maintenance fees, just think of those who live in houses with lotsa green space.)

Personally, although I can appreciate a nice lawn, I’m not one for gardening or landscaping.  Nor do I really understand the whole mentality of “keeping up with the Joneses” by making sure everything looks nicely manicured from the outside.  However, at least in my neighbourhood, many households seem to care as they hire landscaping companies to do the “heavy lifting”.

I do not have any experience in dealing with landscaping companies, but I can imagine that their services do not come cheap!

So Smart Canuckers, for those of you who live in houses, how do you maintain your lawn:  DIY or pay someone else to do it?

Btw, where are those teenagers who offer lawn mowing services at cut-rate prices?


Do you hold doors for people?


Ok, so I admit it I’m a small town girl. I grew up in a very small town. (<1000)  A place where it was like Cheers and everyone knew your name!

I was taught to always hold doors open for people if they are in a close proximity to the door. Always say thank you when someone holds the door open for me, and the obligatory your welcome when someone thanked me.  Over the years I’ve noticed how some people almost rush out of  a door rather then hold the door for a few seconds longer for someone.  To me it’s just its one of the common courtesy’s that I  always practice no matter how busy I am. I hold the door for everyone, male, female, in the city, weather etc etc…

So Canada I’m curious.  Do you hold the door open for people or is that just old fashioned? Is it ok to let the door slam in their faces?


Do the new duty-free limits affect you?


It’s been a little over a week since the new (and increased) duty-free limits have been in place.

As of June 1st, 2012, the government increased the previous daily allowance of goods that Canadians can bring back, after 24-hours, from $50 –> $200!

And for Canucks who are spending 48-hours in the States, they are now allowed to bring back duty-free goods worth $800, as opposed to $400 for a week’s stay under the old rules.

As a Canadian who enjoys at least 2 trips/year to Buffalo, these new rules don’t really affect me. Being generous, I may spend $100, but I certainly never recall a time that I’ve spent $200. Then again, I’m referring to Buffalo – not New York City!

HOWEVER, if I were to restock my fridge, doing groceries there and/or spotted a great deal on a designer purse that I’ve been eyeing, I can see myself breaching the $200 mark.

SO will these new exemption limits as per the Canadian government have any affect on you? Or will it simply mean that you wouldn’t have to lie (as badly) to the customs officer on the way back?


Wedding Etiquette Faux-Pas!


Wedding Season is in high gear and you know what that means, yet another opportunity to offend people! (Much like the above Wedding Uggs. Blech.) For the most part, I’d like to think that offending people isn’t done on-purpose, but without curling up to Emily Post, aren’t some things just common sense??

Example #1: Many years ago, I had recently developed a new friendship with a newly-engaged couple who invited me to their Engagement Party…in Montreal. We had a whole bunch of friends in-common who they also invited, so a bunch of us piled into a car for the 6-hour road trip/Engagement Party.

Faux-pas? I was never invited to the actual wedding. 🙁 Fix? Be intentional with your invite list. Don’t invite people to one event and exclude them to another.

Example #2: I’ve been invited to a couple of nuptials where, “Couple requests cash-only” appears on the invite. <– Major faux-pas in my eyes! You & your future spouse might be settled in because you’ve been living with each other for a while and currently need cash to make the mortgage payment, but how utterly tacky is it to mention “cash-only” on an INVITE??!! Not only is it tacky, but it just leaves a terrible impression on your guests. 🙁

Example #3: Recently, I received an invite, in the mail, in which my name only appeared on the envelope. My bf’s name had been excluded. (The Bride is a high school friend of mine and we have the same circle of friends who see each other a handful of times a year.) Anyway, upon urging of a friend-in-common, I emailed the Bride to ask her whether or not I could bring my partner…of 6 years.

Bride responded, “Yes of course he’s invited! My fiancé was in a mad rush getting the invites out and forgot to put partners’ names on the envelopes, so tons of people have been emailing me!”

Fix? We all get busy, but it’s your special day. Invites are important and shouldn’t be an afterthought. So the more Type-A one should be like Santa Claus, making the list and checking it twice…thrice even!

Example #4: Same wedding as #3. One of our friends-in-common never received an invite. So I’m not sure if this was done on-purpose OR if it the invite was overlooked in the fiancé’s hastiness.

Fix? In my response to the Bride, I also mentioned, “Hey, so-and-so hasn’t received her invite. Not sure if she wasn’t invited, so I just wanted to let you know!”. Hopefully, that’ll resolve the issue and there won’t be any hurt feelings.

Maybe I’m just weird to be miffed about these details and not affected by others, re: evite invitations. Sure, they scream cheap, non-traditional, but honestly, those expensive pieces of paper containing crucial info for that one-night goes directly into the garbage pail after the whole ordeal is over anyway!

As with any major event that includes endless amount of details, SOMETHING is bound to be overlooked. However, if as the planner, you try not to cut corners especially where the invitations are concerned, hopefully you’ll manage to avoid offending people, on-purpose or not!


Reminder: Tim Hortons Camp Day, Wednesday, June 6th *tomorrow*


You’ve seen the cups…unfortunately, most of them littering your local parking lots: Tim Hortons Camp Day is tomorrow, Wednesday, June 6th!

On Camp Day, Tim Hortons donates all their proceeds from their coffee sales to the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation (THCF) who, in turn, sends disadvantaged kids to camp.

If you don’t drink coffee or can’t make it out to your local Tim Hortons, there are other ways to donate. Click here for the details that include sending a text, donating specific amounts for camp gear, or even making a donation via your credit card!

So when you pass by a Tim Hortons tomorrow, remember the kiddies…AND to toss out that paper cup once you’re done that double-double! 😉


Gelato, what’s the big deal?


With Summer approaching, what better way to cool off than to get a $1 McDonald’s soft drink/iced coffee (thumbs up!!!), $1 Tim Horton’s Frozen Lemonade (not for me personally), Mister Softee, ice cream cone/cup, or Gelato?

Well, I’ve come to the realisation that I just don’t ‘get’ Gelato. Granted, I’ve never been to Italy, but according to family & restaurant reviews, I have been to the better Gelaterias in the city and still haven’t been impressed by any explosions of joy to my mouth!

I do like the visual presentation: Rows of swirled, different coloured, flavoured ice with real fruit on top. However, in terms of the taste, it’s fleeting. I much prefer good ice cream, frozen yogurt a la Menchie’s/Yogurty’s/Ikea, or just soft serve!

How about you, do you ‘get’ Gelato??


SLS, Parabens, Sulphates: Are they just unavoidable?


Cancer runs in my family. After finding out that another family member has been diagnosed, I have been more vigilant in what I put in and on my body, including cosmetic products.

Recently, I read the ingredient label of a relatively expensive cleanser that I just ran out of: Second ingredient is Sodium Laureth Sulfate (makes things foamy), at least 3 different kinds of parabens (acts as a preservative), cushioned by other chemicals that I cannot even pronounce.

I wouldn’t be surprised if these ingredients appeared in a cheaper product, but not on the label of a seemingly “gentle” facial cleanser that costs close to $30/tube! Unfortunately, toxic fillers such as SLS, parabens, sulphates, fragrance/parfum, etc. don’t seem to discriminate based on price tag. 🙁 Is it too much to ask that good money should also be buying a safer product??

Determined to find a decent cleanser without any of this junk, even though there may not be any concrete links to the C-word, I scoured the drugstore shelves, reading countless labels. One thing that I discovered is that the words “natural” or “organic” or anything along those green-lines don’t mean a thing! As these buzz-words doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re free of toxins. There also doesn’t seem to be any regulations about slapping any words, that carries certain claims, on bottles. So even though something says it’s “100% Natural”, in green font, it actually can be made of 100% petrochemicals.

Eventually I settled on a waterless-cleanser that was on sale from Shoppers. However, after some googling, I found out that the second ingredient was mineral oil (a.k.a. paraffinum liquidum). After a week of usage, with disappointing results, I finally returned it today for a full refund.

(By the way, Shoppers does accept full-refunds on opened merchandise as long as you have the receipt and it’s done within 30 days!)

In order to decide on a cleanser, I have decided to use myself as a guinea pig by testing out a sample that I got from Sephora (Korres), blending oats to create a paste, castile soap, olive oil soap, and olive oil, all for 7-10 days each. Hopefully, I will come to a truly natural, non-toxic cleanser that will work on me!

Do you read labels of cleansers, body washes, shampoo/conditioners that you use?


Beer Store Canada: Leukemia Bottle Drive, May 26th & 27th


***REPOST: Since the long weekend is here!***

During the last weekend of May, conveniently the weekend after May 2-4, The Beer Store is hosting an event where you can donate your empties (or cash) to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada! 100% of the proceeds will go to this charity. 🙂 Last year, they raised over $1.2 million dollars!

So I’m posting this to give you ample notice to put their bottles and cans aside for May 26th & 27th. If this is an organisation that is close to your heart, you may consider volunteering as well. Click here for more details on this charity bottle drive!

While out, the night before garbage day, I was this-close to picking up 2 cases of empties that some person put on their curb!!! What stopped me was that there were lights on and I didn’t want to infect my trunk with beer flies.


And Canada’s Bachelor is…Brad Smith??


Just this week, the identity of Canada’s first ever Bachelor has been revealed to be Brad Smith. (If you ask me, sorta sounds like a sketchy alias that you’d give the police! 😉 ) Before the words, “Will you accept this rose?” comes out of his mouth, I first would like to know who this guy is!

So after some googling, I discovered that this 28yo has played for the Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argos, & Edmonton Eskimos. And his father is former CFL commissioner and current Canadian senator, Larry Smith. <– Also another suspect-sounding name.

If Brad has been in the CFL, I’m confused as to why he had to resort to a Canadian spin-off of a relatively-trashy, American reality show in order to find l-o-v-e.

Aside from not being on the up-and-up of all things CFL, I guess I’m also not in the loop in terms of eligible, Canadian bachelors. So Smart Canuck readers, I’m turning to you: Besides Brad Smith (???), who else would be a suitable candidate as Canada’s Bachelor?


Canada’s the most expensive country to own a cell phone? You better believe it!


Have you ever made the face above after receiving your monthly cell phone bill? Well, I definitely have, but that ended a couple of years ago after I threatened to leave my dog-logo telecommunications company.

(It wasn’t an empty threat either because I did my homework, calling all the competitors, to do a price comparison. With this information, I told said company that I was able to get a deal elsewhere.)

After I said the magic words, “I’m leaving”, I was passed onto a supervisor and put on a special retention plan. 🙂

My old plan was $25 for 200 daytime minutes, free after 7pm, and on weekends. Not terribly bad per se, but after all the features were added + lovely taxes = over $30. And for what? Not much.

My new plan is $17 for 200 daytime minutes, free after 5pm, and on weekends. Plus since they screwed up a bill, they threw in 100 free text messages/month for a year.

Since I’m not much of a gabber, I don’t need more than my plan provides. HOWEVER, Call Display would be nice, but I’m not willing to pay $8/month (+ taxes) for that 1 feature. I’m also unwilling to spend $11/month (+ taxes) for the Call Display/Call Waiting/Voice mail package.

I find these charges to be highway robbery and Call Display, at least, should be free. An Aussie friend of mine told me that all those features are included in his monthly cell phone bill. I asked a couple of friends who live in Asia and they said that an average plan usually includes 300-500 free texts/month.

So when I heard a recent news story, similar to this one from the Toronto Sun, reporting that Canadians pays the highest cell phone bills, it wasn’t a surprise to me!

I’m sure that the majority of high school kids now have either an iPhone (4s) or at least some kind of Smartphone. And I don’t even want to know how much their plans are with Data, texting, and stuff like Facebook/Twitter.

Unless you run your own business, I don’t think it’s necessary to pay for a Data Plan. Sure, it’s convenient to have, but I don’t want to become one of those people who cross the street with their head tilted down, go to dinner while both my partner and myself are on our separate devices, &/or a customer who proceeds through the cash while snickering about something posted on Facebook.

So how much do you pay for your cell phone bill? Have you ever tried lowering your monthly bill by talking to your cell phone provider? And if the data on the news stories is correct, is there anything we can do as a country of cell phone users to LOWER our costs?


Earth Day Canada: Recycle Your Electronics!


recy

Recently after purchasing a new mouse for my iMac, I realized just how many broken peripherals and electronics have been collecting dust in my house!

My family’s embarrassing collection includes 2 unused printers, a couple of broken DVD players, digital clock radio, a PDA, water damaged keyboard, and a whole whack load of broken, cordless phones!

If it were up to me alone, all these items would be thrown out by now. However, for one reason or another, they’re still here so it’s time for me to take action.

Solution #1: I could donate my items to the local Value Village. However, this solution seems pointless since half of the electronics are broken anyway. Eventually, if they are put out and purchased, savvy customers will return them, and they’ll eventually end up in a landfill! Not very environmental.

Solution #2: I googled “electronic recycling [name of my city]” and to my delight, my city is running electronic recycling events this week, at various locations.

Solution #2 seems like a better option to me. Not only can I do some Spring cleaning, by decluttering my house of unused, broken items; more importantly, I won’t be contributing to the local garbage heap!

In addition to temporary Earth Week recycling events, there may be even permanent, Community Recycling Centers that will accept your wares. While I was at a Staples today, I even noticed recycling boxes for items such as empty printer ink cartridges and cell phones.

So just a friendly reminder that if you have to get rid of some household electronics, whether obsolete or just plain broken, check out your municipality for an eco-friendly solution!

Happy Earth Day! 🙂


Free Bus to Casino Rama after 6pm (GTA stops)!


new-editon-cool-it-now-1985

Problem: I purchased tickets to see New Edition at Casino Rama, but the show starts at 8pm, and the casino is approximately 2-hours away. I don’t want to deal with sittin’ in rush hour traffic which will be absolutely brutal!

Solution: Skip the $5 (one-way) bus and do the FREE BUS! Right now, through DSL charter bus service, they are running a promo that offers free rides, at any of their stops, after 6pm.

I called DSL to ask when this promo is ending and the operator didn’t know, but responded, “probably at the end of this month”. However, you are required to make a reservation so that the bus company knows how many spots to reserve at each stop.

This promo is also great for people who are visiting the GTA and want to check out the casino, but don’t want to hassle with driving, gas, GPS, traffic, etc. All you have to do is to reserve your spot and get yourself to the nearest stop!

To check out their schedule, click here and go to the “Getting Here by Bus” link OR contact DSL directly at: (416) 298-1023/(905) 480-0567.


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