things better than coffee #01

I was considering putting today's morning routine in this list -- waking up to my boyfriend calling me, having a scrumptious breakfast with coffee, and then working out for an hour -- before realizing that it contained coffee. Whoopsies!

So here we go! This is the first of a weekly edition of things that are better than coffee to me!

1) Cuddling
For me, there's no better way to feel comforted or relaxed. Whether it's cuddling with the significant other, or having my dog curled up next to me (yes, my pet sleeps with me every night!), it feels so good having someone warming up next to you, completely submitted into each other's arms (or in the case of the pet, their paws?). Either way, I'd take cuddling over coffee any day. It's a sure way to beat the lonely blues!




2) Pleasure Reading
Since I'm an English major, most of the time I read what I'm required to (i.e., Plato and James and the Giant Peach) rather than what I want to read (though I'll admit, Roald Dahl is a nice, quick read). So when I get a moment to pick up a book I'm interested in, I savour it. My week off from school is slowly coming to a close, and I've managed to read three books in that time. Yay! One of my recent faves is Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch, where the protagonist asks the question we all have -- "What if (fill in the blank here)?" I love reading for pleasures' sake.


3) Winners
One of the most underrated stores that I usually forget to put in my 'favourite stores' list is Winners. Brand names at low prices is their motto. My last purchases from them were a long grey cardigan that I've been searching for, and a pair of skinny jeans. Given that all my jeans are dark due to their ~magical slimming powers~, I took a risk and bought a lighter pair. I've gotten a lot of compliments from this outfit and owe it all to Winners. Sometimes it's a hard scramble to find something you truly love there, but it's worth it!


4) Revlon Beyond Natural Concealer & Highlighter
Back when I bought mark. products, I fell in love with their concealer. Liquid concealers just don't do it for me, so the creamy kind is what I crave. I found the answer in this Revlon product, that retails for about $11. I'm in shade light-medium, and it does wonders for covering up my dark undereye circles and has great coverage for my blemishes. Plus, the highlighter is multi-purposeful -- I've used it not only as a highlight for my cheeks, but it's a great base for your eyeshadows! Only complaint is that I wish more product came in each box!


5) Two-Bite Brownies
Given all my ramblings about exercise videos and going to the gym, I might have fooled some of you. But I have to admit -- I absolutely love food. This week, my favourite are those two-bite brownies that you can find practically everywhere. Of course, I try to eat them in more than just two bites that way I'm not tempted to eat more, but it's hard to resist! Their moist, full of chocolate, and yeah ... definitely not part of a well-balanced diet, but I see no shame in eating some every once in a while!


Do you relate to any of these? What kind of things would you put on your list? (And if you don't like coffee, just consider other 'addictions' and find out what's better than them!)

can't wait for summer!

I went to the gym yesterday with the boyfriend (and 3 other people were supposed to show up, but none of them did!). While the snow and harsh winds blew by the large windows, we both sighed and said, "I can't wait for summer."

Of course, once spring rolls around [haha, spring rolls] I know I'll be just as happy. But getting the Victoria's Secret catalogue yesterday with Adriana and Miranda wearing bikinis on a warm beach just made me yearn for those summer days & nights.

Wishlist:

Victoria's Secret


Inspiration Outfits




More to come soon, probably!

Of course, I'll probably be looking at stores like Forever 21 and H&M for my fashion fix, but a girl can dream, can't she?

the best things in life are free?

I'm having to admit to myself that I'm ... a bit broke. I had a part-time job during school last semester which I could not handle and pretty much destroyed any chance of a high average. So, this term, I decided to go back to just being a student. Which is wreaking havoc on me everytime a girlfriend invites me out to something.

The last two nights though have been 'nights in', and they've been just as memorable as the nights out I had last weekend. I celebrated nine months with my boyfriend on Wednesday, and we spent a majority of it just cuddling on my couch and watching Mr. Bean episodes. Hearing him laugh and feeling his warm chest so close to me was the perfect way to celebrate.

Then, I had some Wendy's (oh boy, I'm healthy!) and rented Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist with a couple of girlfriends last night at one of their houses. And it was so relaxing, and the atmosphere was calm yet fun.

As much as I love the fabulous things and would love to go on a cruise/buy expensive shoes/own more than 2 Mac make-up products, sometimes the best things in life really are (practically) free.

our lips are sealed ...

Just recently I went out for dinner with the gals, those friends that I've had for over five years. We've all gone through our rough patches, but it's nice to know that I can count on them ... for most things.

During the dinner, there was one friend in particular who kept diving into private matters that we all didn't want to discuss in a public setting. She demanded to know how far we've gone in our love lives and accessed whether that made us a 'real woman' or not. It was clear that many of us gathered at that table would have preferred changing the subject, but she kept on pressing.

The thing is, you can't count on her to keep her mouth shut. When I revealed to her (in a private setting, mind you) what my love life was like, the first thing she did was tell a friend who I hadn't told yet and was also planning to do so myself in a private setting.

She's also one of those people who frequently updates her Facebook status and MSN statuses with what she's doing. If she heard of Twitter, she'd be updating that thing every 10 minutes.

When it comes to private or personal things, how much should we reveal? Is it right for them to broadcast it, knowing it was said in confidence? Or should we just let it slide, knowing that things are 'better out in the open'?

have a pretty day

Today, I'm having myself a pretty day. A day where I pamper myself up in good ways so that I'm able to look at the mirror and smile at my reflection, rather than nitpick at things I could change.

I started the day off with breakfast (as one always should) and then did an at-home workout. Basically, I youtube'd any sorts of exercise videos I could find, until I found Training with Tammy. Combining her six videos with some of my own cardio made me feel FANTASTIC. After a shower and drying my hair, and then applying that kiwi face scrub again, I felt like well ... a woman. And nothing helps like a photo shoot of yourself to make you see the good side.

Of course, pampering myself up with exercise is because I'm going to eat out for the next two nights. And I've been eating at restaurants WAY too much lately. In the past two weeks alone I've gone to three restaurants, and by tomorrow it'll be up to five.

Tonight I'm heading out to celebrate a friend's birthday at Kelsey's, and hope to just get an appetizer and a drink. Tomorrow, of course, is Valentine's and me and my significant other are headed off to this quiant restaurant called Cafe Limoncello, so I'm excited about that.

Considering that I'm going to be eating both these meals after 9pm, and eating too late isn't good, I hope balancing it with exercise will help? ... Maybe?

Anyways, I suggest you give yourselves a pretty day every once in a while. It's amazing what one hour of exercise can do and it really changes the way you feel!

oooo, kiwi face scrub

I've grown really fond of Mario Badescu Skin products. I'm even more fond of the fact that several months ago I received FREE samples (no shipping and handling, either!) and I still haven't used them all yet!

Basically, you go to this website and fill out the questionnaire, and answer questions about your skin type. Then, at least in my experience from a few months ago, I received an e-mail telling me what products would be best and that I could get free samples. Sign me up, I said!



Since I have combination skin, I received a bunch of products catered to my skin type. In little jars that have lasted me a while, I received drying cream, under-eye cream, moisturizer with SPF, cucumber lotion, and a few face scrubs.

Today I decided to try out the kiwi face scrub, which actually contains kiwi seeds, smells of kiwi, and has a rich green texture to it. I applied it, left it on for a minute, then gently rinsed it off. WOW, my skin was SMOOTH. Plus, my face smelt like kiwi and my complexion looked like it was even, rather than the patches of red I have on my cheeks and nose.

I'd suggest you try out their samples! I'm really tempted to actually purchase a few things such as the Ceramide Herbal Eye Cream that reduced my undereye circles (that I misplaced somewhere and that makes me so sad) among other things.

Lots of celebrities endorse Mario Badescu, and I suppose now I am, too!

envy-ious? same here ...

Today I took part in a video exercise study at my university -- $10 for an easy 50 minutes of participating. Score for easy money! (Wow, that doesn't make me sound like a prostitute at all. I kid!)

The basic idea was to full out a questionnaire about my body image and how I feel about it. Next, they showed me a picture of this gorgeous aerobic instructor -- blonde hair, perfect height, toned legs, wearing only a t-shirt and booty shorts. How's that for intimidating?

The questionnaire asked how I'd feel if I had this aerobic instructor in real life, and I admitted that I'd feel downright embarrassed about my own body image. Then I had to work out for 25 minutes with a video starring her.

As I started working out, there was a catch to the experiment. I had to look at a laptop to the right of the TV and read out three colours -- the colour of a word, rather than the word itself. This was meant to 'distract me' from being intimated by her physique.

Now, I just really want to get the DVD series because it made me feel so good afterwards.



Do you feel intimated by those girls? Or do you feel a boost of motivation to get the bodies that are apparently envied by all?

addictions to caffeine are strong ...

My first year of university, I drank about a cup of coffee a week. Since there's three coffee chains on my campus, I couldn't help getting a delicious cappuccino or latte.

My second year of university, it increased to three cups of coffee a week. These were mostly drank during my night classes, and then on those mornings when I had an early class and didn't want to fall asleep during them.

Now, during my third year of university, I'm up to a cup of coffee a day. I prefer making instant coffee at home with one spoonful of coffee and two spoonfuls of sugar, but am a sucker for Maple Lattes from Second Cup, English Toffee cappuccino from Tim Horton's, and pretty much anything from Williams.

Knowing that my cholesterol, weight, and sanity are at stake, this blog is going to help me find the finer things in life, things that are "better than coffee" -- whether that's things that I love, things that I treat myself to, or things I do to make my body and myself feel good.

Come join me! :)