Nothing better than a rainy Saturday morning :(

I went to sleep early last and for some reason my body decided to wake me up every hour, on the hour for the last 5 hours... and at the strangest time too- 5:50, 6:49, 7:48, 8:47... notice the pattern?? Weird right?

Unfortunately I got to thinking too much last night and my brain wouldn't let my body rest peacefully. At least its cooled down a lot since mid-August but the rain tends to make mornings a little more depressing than usual.

Last Wednesday night I got my hair cut... and I'm finally adjusted to it. I needed a change desperately and my hairdresser was more than happy to comply. She cut off 4 inches all around and gave me some side layers. I haven't had bangs of any sort since highschool- Yikes! But I'm glad to have them back now. Its a pain when your walking in windy weather but altogether more fun to flip and toss at random :)

I've spent the past 2 days helping my parents reno their bedroom.. let me tell ya.. you accumulate a ridiculous amount of stuff over 30+ years of marriage.. and all of it with a distinct memory attached. Unlike my bedroom reno, I'm not doing everything *hehe* and I'm especially not going to be painting or spackling. I left that up to my dear old dad who surprisingly enough, is pretty handy with a paint roller. I took on the tasks of emptying the room, building the IKEA furniture (a big sliding door wardrobe and 2 bedside tables) and putting everything back in the room. My sisters have also made me the purge police- not an easy feat- which entails getting a 59 year old housewife to let go of the little meaningful and precious "things" she's been holding onto before marriage was even in her mind. *sigh* its going to be a fun next few days but I hope to keep my energy up or else I fear catastrophy.

I have to sing at a polish wedding this afternoon- the Ave Maria in G.. if you know anything about me, you will know how much I fear that song in that key. I know what you're thinking... G isn't a high key. . Well it is for someone who loves the alto range and can't hit anything over an A clearly or loudly to save her life. I went to meet with the polish organist the other day and luckily for me, they have a top notch sound system and very good acoustics.. so as long as the notes come out, I'll be heard. Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck at 2pm today.

I'm so excited because I'm finally getting out of the house and out of the Hammer for a spell!!! My cousin invited me out to Toronto and I have been looking forward to it all week. This crazy renovating queen needs a break! I'm bringing a book and notebook alogn with me, even though the express bus only takes a half hour or so.. but it will be nice to have Jo March- Bhaer and the Plumfield Boys for company :)

Can't wait to tell you all about my adventure, and until then, have a lovely weekend. Hope its dry where you are :D

XoXo  

September 3rd: The initiation of Change and A Bookcase of Wonder..

So its the third day of September and I am finally getting my changes up and running :) Its another beautiful end-of-summer-day with the sun shining just marvelously on the vibrant green leaves and the maple tree helicopters (seedlings) falling.  I've been in doors since I woke up and I finally got through compiling a list of all the books on my bedroom bookshelf.  I have to say, its as much exciting as it is daunting but I am looking forward to losing myself in year long literary abandon!!!  SO enjoy reading through my list and fear not, I shall endeavor to blog along my journey both book-related and non...

I have started up a new blog for my insane undertaking and I hope you will read it and follow along with me in this new wonderful year.  It is entitled    Tales From The BookCase  and you can check it out at CBbookcase.blogspot.com  OR from my blogger profile page (or just google me and it should come up).

Without much more ado, here its the compiled list of books that reside snugly on my BookCase.. If you're interested in knowing what versions, editions etc I am reading, feel free to post a comment or drop me an e-mail at bilichc@hotmail.com

                                               Titles- by Author last name:

Alcott, Luisa M- Little Women
                              - Little Men
Alexie, Sherman- The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
                                 - Reservation Blues
                                 - Indian Killer
                                 - Ten Little Indians
                                 - The Absolutely True Diarty of a Part-Time Indian
Andrews, V.C - Daughter of Darkness
                            -Garden of Shadows
                             - If There Be Thorns
                             - Seeds of Yesterday
                              - Secrets in the Attic
                              - Willow
Armintrout, Jennifer- Blood Ties Book One: The Turning
                                         - Blood Ties Book Two: Possession
                                         - Blood Ties Book Three: Ashes to Ashes
                                         - Blood Ties Book Four: All Souls Night
Austen, Jane - Sense and Sensibility
                           -Pride and Prejudice
                           - Persuasion
                          - Northanger Abbey
                          - Mansfield Park
                          - Emma
Banks, L. A: Vampire Huntress Legends
                       - Minion
                       - The Awakening
                      - The Hunted
                      - the Bitten
                      - The Forbidden
                      - The Damned
                      - The Forsaken
                       -The Wicked
                       - The Cursed
                       - The Darkness
                       - The Shadows
                       - The Thirteenth
Boyden, Joseph- Three Day Road
Bruce, Harry- MAUD: The Life of L. M. Montgomery
Baum, Frank L. - Dorothy and the Wizard In Oz
                               - The Road to Oz
Campbell, Camille - Meditations with Teresa of Avila
Churchill, Jill- Someone To Watch Over Me
Cohen, Leonard- Book of Longing
Conrad, Joseph- Heart of Darkness
Dick, Phillip- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Dickens, Charles- David Copperfield
                                  - Oliver Twist
Butcher, Jim. et al -My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon
Erdrich, Louise- Tracks
Fielding, Helen- Bridget Jones's Diary
Ftizpatrick, Becca- Hush, Hush
Frank, Anne- The Diary of a Young Girl
Gansworth, Eric- Sovereign Bones
Golden, Arthur- Memoirs of a Geisha
Grimms, Jakob & Wilhelm - The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales (Unabridged)
Gunn, Robin Jones- Sweet Dreams
Hart, Raven- The Vampire's Seduction
                        - The Vampire's Secret
                        - The Vampire's Kiss
                        - The Vampire's Betrayal
                        - The Vampire's Revenge
Highway, Thomson- Dry Lips Ought to Move to Kapuskasing
Harrison, Charles Yale- Generals Die in Bed
Hiaasen, Carl- Native Tongue
Hughes, Monica- The Dream Catcher
Humphreys, C.C - Vlad, The last Confession
Jackson, Kevin- BITE, A Vampire Handbook
Kate, Lauren - Fallen
                          - Torment
                          -Passion
King, James - Etienne's Alphabet
Lewis, C. S - The Chronicles of Narnia
Lewis, J. F - Staked
Loggia, Wendy- Ever After, a Cinderella Story
Milton, John- Selected Poems
Marston, Edward- The Wanton Angel
McCabe, Patrick- Breakfast on Pluto
Mojica, Monique- Princess Pocahontas and  The Blue Spots
Momaday, Scott.  N - House Made of Dawn
Montgommery, L. M - Anne of Green Gables
                                          - Anne of Avonlea
                                          - Anne of The Island
                                          - Anne of Windy Poplars
                                          - Anne's House of Dreams
                                          - Anne of Ingleside
                                          -Rainbow Valley
                                          - Rilla of Ingleside
                                          -At the Altar
                                          - Magic for Marigold
                                           -Christmas With Anne
Morrison, Tony - Tar Baby
Morton, Kate - Forgotten Garden
Culleton Mosionier, Beatrice - In Search of April Raintree
Powell, Julie - Julie & Julia
Richardson, Samuel - Clarissa
Rhys, Jean - Voyage in the Dark
Rice, Anne - Interview with the Vampire
                       - The Vampire Lestat
                       -Queen of the Damned
                       - The Vampire Armand
Sagal, Peter- The Book of Vice, Very Naughty Things (and how to do them)
Selvaduri, Shayam - Funny Boy
Shange, Ntozake - For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow
                                       is Enuf
Shakespeare - Hamlet
                     - The Tempest
                      - The Taming of the Shrew
Saint- Exupery, Antoine de - The Little Prince
Sparks, Kerrelyn - Be Still My Vampire Heart
                             - The Undead Next Door
                              - Vampire Mine
Stine, R. L - Bitten: Dangerous Girls & The Taste of Night
                  - First Date
Stoker, Bram - Dracula
Thomas, D. M - The White Hotel
 Trow, M. J - A Brief History of Vampires
Twain, Mark - Classics
Walker, Alice- The Color Purple
Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray
Yeats, W.B - Early Poems

XOXO

September already.. oy!

I can't believe how quickly the summer has flown by.. first all I could think about was graduating and my sisters wedding stuff.. then we reno'd and now its the end of September 1st. You really have to keep an eye on those moments, because once they're gone.. they are gone.
Alas, we should not be despairing for summers end, but rejoicing in the next seasons beginning. Autumn is my favourite time of year. Change is in the air as the world and its wonders prepare for winter sleep. As the warm summer wind becomes a cool autumn breeze, I find myself falling in love again.. with the trees. The leaves shed their usual green and take on bright yellows and rusty oranges, cheery browns and fiery reds before fluttering softly to enhance the earth. Is there's anything better in autumn then to walk amidst the falling leaves and revel in their hues?
Perhaps I'm partial to The Fall because I'm born in November... golden topaz is the most amazing stone and I am proud to have received it by birth. The change in the worlds colours mirrors the change I undertake each year from September to December... the change in age, in maturity and wisdom among the physical changes that come with the passing time. Like the trees I too have grown my shiny green leaves and nurtured them in the sun all summer, waiting for the change to begin. And so I shed my green for colours of the sunset which bring forth inner change of life. As the sun falls, and my branches release their colourful fringes, this change settles around and upon me to prepare me for the cold that is to come. While I enjoy the winter landscape and snow falling upon the sleepy earth, I can't help but love the freedom of walking through the leaves strewn on pathways and roadways and lawns, and seeing the colours lying carelessly about against the concrete.  I love that the autumn days permit all flights of fancy before the constricting restrictions of ice and slush, snow storms and unshoveled side walks. 
Don't you just love sweater weather???
Autumn time is a time of harvesting ones self into ones own spiritual, mental and emotional siloh in preperation for the harshness that winter brings. I for one am looking forward to enjoying each Fall day, indoors or out, with a shawl around my shoulders and a pen or book in my hands.
*sigh*
Oh speaking of books. I've officially started my year long bookcase marathon!!! I will be posting the list en masse asap but in case you're wondering what I've read thus far, here's a small sampling...
Little Women by Luisa M. Alcott
Little Men by Luisa M. Alcottt 
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
The French Chef by Julia Child
I'm currently on the second chapter of Little Men and loving every page!
So here's to the next year, the next season and the next chapter of the book, of my novel and of my life.  Come along with me ye who a brave soul be.. tis a perilous journey but it will be well worth doing in the long run.
XoXo

Another sleepless night..

Tonight I went to visit my cousin and we read LOTR part 1 together and when I returned home I was in desperate need of sustenance. So post-shower I decided to make pb&j quesadillas and watch Julie & Julia.  The perfect ending to a predictable Sunday.

My day went as planned.. woke up early, went to mass at 11:30am, then home for lunch-made amazing veggie risotto with tons of butter *mmmmm*, then off to mass again at 3pm for ridiculous saint feast day.. didn't get home again til 5pm.  Sat at my piano til 7:30 playing through musicals; Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Les Mis, Once More With Feeling (Buffy musical); and relearning The Ballad of Sweeny Todd. Absolutely wonderful to play without interuption for hours on end :) Then I visited my cousin, then home to shower and satiate the munchies I had.

Its now after 2am and this is my second sleepless night this week. Something about weekends messes up my sleep patterns I guess. Maybe I have too much good food and stimulatingly interesting company..

Since I spent the past 2 weeks reading Julie Powell's novel, I have been waiting to grab my mothers beloved copy the books film adaptation and revel in the hilarious jocularity that is Meryl Streep as Julia Child. She's such a wondrful actress whom I never get bored of seeing on screen! Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci are simply wonderful in their respective roles as well- so good infact that I could not see anyone else playing those parts. Thanks to the movie and of course, Julia Child, I am now inspired to become a butter -loving foodie.. but will restrain myself on account of feared potential butter-weight *nervous giggle* so have decided instead to ensure productivity this year and will begin book blog post haste! Thanks for sallying forth my will power JC and JP <3

I am now ready for bed and am praying that my silly internal clock doesn't wake me up at 8am again for the 7th day this week! Isn't it bad enough that I wake up with the sun streaming through my bedroom window- because lucky for me, my bedroom has two windows both facing East. *sigh* wish me luck tonight..

XoXo

Another week goes by..

I didn't realise how fast time was passing until I got to the end of Julie/Julia and woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning. Sometimes its astounding how lifes moments just fly by when your not paying attention.

On Thursday I went to visit my brother at work and a window of opportunity opened up for me. They are hiring but its sort of hush hush- anyway, I took an application and brought it back avec resume the next day and now have my fingers crossed. Hope that things will work out because I need work. In October I have to begin paying back my terribly large OSAP loan and I can't very well do so if there is no money coming in.

Yesterday after dropping off my stuff with my brothers manager, I wandered in Reitmans and dropped off a resume as well. They're not hiring yet but they will be come mid september so hopefully there's opportunity there too.

So far this weekend is going well, I spent last night wandering around Burlington in good company.. we ate, we walked, we sat and people watched and talked of everything under the sun- or in our case..moon :) The air was warm and the breeze off the lake delightful. If I could do it every night until winter I would be content. Alas, all good things must come to an end.. summer winds go as quickly as came and leave the winter chill behind them. While I'm not opposed to sweaters and big mugs of coco, I love the freedom of flipflops and tee-shirts because sweater weather again only lasts so long.. then its back to boots and coats and trudging through ice and slush and snow to get anywhere.. but why am I complaining.. I love Canada.

Well, I am going to post my 2012/2013 reading list soon and I cannot wait for September to start my year of literary abandon!

Happy weekend to you all!

XOXO

You are what you eat..

Thanks to reading Julie Powell's novel before bed last night, I woke up this morning with the desire to create something culinarily spectacular.  So I ventured down to the family kitchen only to realise the fridge held little more than 2 eggs, a cup of milk and a bag of 12 grain sliced bread. Well, I wasn't about to let my productive mood go to waste! I found a bowl, a fork, the small whisk and a frying pan and set myself to work. Luckily, there is always an abundance of sugar and cinnamon in the cupboards and butter-o-plenty in the fridge.

Before I even realised my luck, I began whisking together the eggs with the milk and upon adding the sugar and spice found myself creating a very nice french toast breakfast. I heated the pan and in very Julie/Julia fashion, threw in some large scoops of butter and melted them down. In the bowl of eggs etc, I soaked a slice of bread and threw it into the hot pan to toast on both sides.

I made 2 and a half slices like this, sprinkling more sugar ontop and eating them with canned pineapple on the side. They were so delicious, I didn't even share with the bees!

Felt so good and productive and culinary artist- Julia Child and Julie Powell-like that I took a picture of my masterpiece to share.

Check out the colour on my french toast...Hope it doesn't set your mouth watering too much!

Simplicity at its best to make- more a dishes dirtier than anything but absolutely the perfect no-fuss fancy breakfast idea.  

XoXo

My first step into Literary Abandon...

Over the past 2 weeks I began doing something that I have not done since April. I began reading.

I also began doing something that I haven't done in over a year... I began reading a novel for fun.

I divulge this to you because now I am absolutely obsessed with witty fiction-pseudo reality based novels written by women.  And I've become a literary fiend once more! My current partners in crime are Julie Powell and Helen Fielding and their respective novels.

My cousin E and I began reading Bridget Jones together last week and I couldn't put it down after tasting the initial 5 chapters. I finished the novel in an evening, completely immersing myself in Bridget's world.  The following evening, my cousin and I decided we needed company who understood the pangs and sorrows that come with being a "singleton" and so we endeavored to watch both films based on Helen Fielding's novels; Bridget Jones's Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

This spurned forward the need to reconnect with my "chickness" (Erick Matthews, Boy Meets World) and so I began hunting through my book case for further pieces of feel good chick-lit and female empowerment.  I stumbled upon my brand new-never-read-because-I-was-too-busy-when-I-bought-it- copy of Julie Powell's Julie & Julia and proceeded to split its tightly closed spine.

There is something to be said about falling in love in literature again- You just never know when the "love bug" is going to bite you... I've been bitten before of course- as my gently loved copies of V.C Andrews novels will tell- but never after such a dry-spell.  As many of you Humanities BA's out there will certainly understand, you don't have much time to read for your own personal pleasure 8 months out of the year because you're too busy reading what they want you to. Movies based on literature- which are popping up by the dozens in today's day and age of cinema- are throwing young and old back into the written word at an increasing rate.  I'm ashamed to admit that upon having watched Julie & Julia (2009) about 50 times, I had neglected Julie Powell's novel.  Back in June, I picked it up at my local bookstore for a very good price. When I had had the shiny new copy in my hand and stood before the "Employee's Picks" section of the store, I realized something horrible... I had become a victim of the cinematic experience. At that exact moment, the little book worm in my head dropped its worn copy of Dracula and opened its mouth in a silent scream. I took home three new books that day.

My much loved copies of V.C Andrews novels

My new copies.. loved as well, just not as hard *hehe*

As you know, my sister and I just renovated our shared bedroom and the differences between us are astounding. From the bed table to the bookcases, it is clear who is the book fanatic. Check it out...

              Mine........................... My sisters

Spidey McSpidington III

My sisters Le Petit Prince collection... 

Top of my bookcase :)

Top of my sisters... ... 0-0

The bed table.. from the middle to the right is all my stuff..

My sisters side table..

My side table. 

Darkula a.k.a Darky

I think it's clear to see who the book-worm is in the room... *cheers!* I'll put Darky up against any picture frame any day!! **sorry S* But getting back to the point of this post, books are my passion and I aim to feed that passion until the day I die...  Or can't see anymore... Thank God for audio books!!! There are over 200 titles on my bookcase and I intend on reading (and re-reading) them all. I will be posting a list of my alphabetized shelves (yeah, im a nerd who shelves her books in alphabetical order by author last name...) and intend on posting as I change texts.. it's going to be a fantastical year of literary abandon! 

P.s Can't wait for November when NANOWRIMO starts up... this year is going to be my best, I can feel it!!! 

Anyway, keep reading and drop me a comment or two so I know i'm not entirely alone out here in the  world wide web.. 

Happy book trails to you all <3

XOXO