Happy things with which to end the week (3)

It's been a good but busy week! Work has been a lot of work, and I'm working on revising my novel some more (I'm at the halfway mark now, so hopefully it'll be done this week). I also got accepted for a really awesome opportunity, but I don't want to say anymore and jinx it. Once it's officially started, I'll be sure to share :)

My mailbox had some happy arrivals this week, two of which were surprises of the best sort, and one I had been excitedly expecting.

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, courtesy of Random House Canada, is a memoir about a woman whose sons, husband, and parents all died in the 2004 tsunami while they were vacationing in Sri Lanka. I've already started reading it, and it's just as devastating– but beautifully written– as I imagined.

The surprises were two young adult novels, The Wrap-up List by Steven Arntson and Delusion by Laura L. Sullivan, which showed up courtesy of Thomas Allen and Sons. I hadn't really heard much about either title, though The Wrap-Up List, about a world where Death sometimes sends a letter telling people to wrap up their lives before it's time to depart, and a teenage girl gets one, had made intrigued me and made it on my TBR before. Delusion is about a pair of teenage magicians, set during WW2. I'm not exactly sure if I'll be reading it or not, but it does have a very sparkly cover.

When I went to pick up the Thomas Allen books, it turned out my mail was at the wrong post office, and while I was at a different drug store I discovered they have a pretty massive nail polish collection. In the discount bins I found a ton of magnetic polish I wasn't interested in, along with this gem for only three dollars:

It's called Buried Alive by Orly. I've never owned a normal Orly polish before, because generally I can only find the Quo by Orly line here in Canada. But I love their glitters, and this unusual brown gold immediately caught my attention. I took some photographs of my current polish– a mustard by Nails Inc. to swatch for this site, and I'll probably do the same when I try this. That'll probably be tonight or tomorrow, depending on when I feel like removing my current chipped polish. I'm going to try to swatch my colours as I wear them from now on (and not just using my phone). I adore nail polish, and I'm trying to make this blog about things I like, and make it pressure-free and eclectic in a a way my book blog no longer is. Whatever I feel like sharing, that's what you're going to find here!

Now I'm back to a weekend of Game of Thrones– rewatching the TV show, not reading the books. I hope you had a happy week as well. If you had any happy things to share, I'd love to know what they are.

DAVIDsTEA: Three Tasty Teas

When I made my recent, "Happy things with which to end the week" post, there was something(s) very important I forgot to include. I'd say I forgot them on purpose, in order to dedicate an entire post to them, but the truth is I was so excited about them, I brought them to work right away and never took any photos. Well, problem solved! Last Thursday I stopped by David's Tea after a long day, and came home with three new babies. They are:

I know every parent thinks this, but they really are pretty.

From left to right, we have Pink Flamingo, Creme Caramel Rooibos and Red Velvet Cake. That's a herbal, a rooibos and a black tea for variety. I also purchased a pretty teaball, because the one I'd been using is made of bamboo which makes it annoying to clean at times and not great for finer teas. When I went on Thursday, I had a friendly and helpful employee help me find exactly what I was looking for, even if I didn't realize it yet. I am definitely happy with my purchases, and thought I'd share a little bit more about the teas I took home.

Pink Flamingo is might be the one I'll drink the most often, especially in the summer months, because it's such an easy, light, and delicious tea. I'm actually in love with a tea called Paradise Found, but it turned out it was seasonal and isn't available anymore– luckily I still have a bit stored up at home. But Pink Flamingo was recommended to me as something close, and although I don't know that it's very similar, it comes across as a lot more citrus-y to me, it's definitely similarly delicious. It's a herbal tea that combines citrus fruits like orange and tangerine with lemonglass and hibiscus. It's also naturally caffeine-free.

Creme Caramel Rooibos is a simple tea made that contains rooibos, caramel pieces and flavouring. It's a bit of a more winter-y tea for me. Really smooth and delicious, it isn't overpowered by caramel or sweetness. My only problem with it was that it's so fine it really goes through the mesh of my tea ball. A smaller mesh, or placing it directly in the disposable teabags would definitely prevent this for anyone who dislikes having loose leaf tea floating in their water. Also caffeine-free, it's the kind of tea that would make a great treat without any of the caloric guilt; all of David's Teas are below 5 calories per cup.

Red Velvet Cake was recommended by the employee at David's tea as his favourite chocolate one, and from smell alone I can tell why. It's caffeinated, which is nice on occasion. I tend to go for non-caffeine teas so I don't have to think about how much I'm drinking, but every once in awhile it's nice to have something that can perk you up, and chocolate and caffeine are perfect for that. Plus, it's great in tea form because it's not nearly as strong as coffee or soft drinks or other things that sometimes make me feel twitchy. It also turns out to be February 2013's tea of the month. It's a black tea that contains beetroot and both dark and white chocolate bits. It's not overly sweet, but definitely not bitter either, even though I steeped it for awhile. At the moment, it's my least favourite of the three, because from the divine smell alone I was thinking it would be more chocolate-y, but it's still delicious. I will definitely be brewing it again in the future, and see if that cuts back on my chocolate cravings. In the meantime, I'll just keep smelling the tea in the bag, it's like cake you don't have to bake.

 

Do you drink David's Tea? If so, recommend your favourite! If not, it's definitely worth checking out. I haven't been disappointed yet- by both the service and the tea.

Happy things with which to end the week (2)

Remember that post last week where I talked about my amazing poutine? Turned out I was back at the mall on Sunday, shopping with a friend who needed an interview outfit, and managed to get it again. Yum. But that has definitely satisfied my poutine craving for the next couple months I think. Unless I happen to be nearby to it again...

I feel like this photo captures its deliciousness even better than last time.

What else do I have to be happy about? Well there are these gluten-free brownies I made last Saturday, and have since eaten. But I definitely enjoyed them while they lasted. Yum. 

Not the best photo, but the taste was worth it.

While I was at the mall, when I wasn't eating poutine, I picked up a few boring things at the dollar store like a potato masher. But I also treated myself to a perfume I've been lusting over for a couple months now. I got the body cream, shimmer cream, and scrub in the scent for Christmas, but I really wanted something stronger and longer lasting. Unfortunately the only size is pretty small, but for $12 I picked up Victoria Secret's Love Spell. It's described as cherry blossom and peach. All I can say is that it smells amazing. As cheesy as the names are, I have fallen in love with it. Definitely worn it a few times already, which you can tell by the slight use of the bottle. Luckily it's a really popular scent because I'm sure I'll be going back for more in the future.

Looking at this picture just makes me want to spray more on. Yum.

I actually also got quite a few goodies in the mail this week of the bookish nature, so I figured I'd share them as well.

Books, books, books!

A pre-order, along with a spontaneous purchase both arrived for me this week, along with two signed books I won on Twitter. Yay Twitter.

I bought Pivot Point by Kasie West when the author was running a pre-order contest with an awesome prize (one option was a manuscript critique) but unfortunately I didn't win. Regardless, I was looking forward to this book, because it reminds me a bit of the movie Sliding Doors and sounds really interesting. In this case the main character spends six weeks in two different realities, which alternate back and forth by chapter, but eventually she has to decide where she really belongs.

The second novel is The Reese Malcolm List by Amy Spalding. I'd been hearing good things about this one for awhile, especially since it was blurbed by one of my favourite YA authors, Courtney Summers. Then I was reading this post on quitting she wrote on Nova Ren Suma's blog, and it just me so much more impressed with her and excited to read her book. Plus, I have only heard amazing things about the publisher, Entangled, and since Book Depository had it for only $6.58 I decided to just order and see for myself. Right now that novel's up a few dollars, but worth keeping an eye because their prices sometimes fluctuate. 

I think she's got such a gorgeous signature actually, really lovely.

Two wonderful signed books courtesy of author Jessica Martinez, who I follow on Twitter, to celebrate the cover reveal of her third novel, The Vow. I only recently read Martinez's first book, Virtuosity, but I really enjoyed her honest contemporary YA and insight into the world of classical violin, so I'm excited to own a copy. She also sent along her second novel, The Space Between Us which is a story about sisters and secrets, and apparently the second half takes place in Canada, which makes it automatically awesome. Now that I own it, I'll definitely have to read it soon. Can't wait! Thanks so much Jessica! 

Combine these goodies with the fact that I finished a draft of my novel, and managed to get a beta back on it in the same week– which didn't totally tear it to shreds– and that's a pretty happy way to end the week. 

Happy reading, happy writing, happy weekend, everyone.