Reebok Easytone

In much need of a new running shoe, and with much desire of getting in shape, I have decided to get myself one pair of the infamous Easytones. Apparently, Reebok designed these shoes to help women get their bum and legs in a 11-28% better shape just by walking. The shoe displays a unique sole with 3 air bubbles meant to slightly throw you off balance and make you work harder at maintaining your posture while walking. Hmmm.

So I've done some research before buying this shoe and the opinions on whether this shoe works or not are split. I was not able to find one scientific study that would back up Reebok's claims of this "miracle" shoe.

What is my opinion? Well, I can say that when I walk it feels "different". I'm not fighting off with myself to keep my balance and I don't feel like I'm walking on clouds either (like other people have claimed). The shoe offers the expected level of comfort a running shoe is meant to give. ...and if the shoe was to work at all, it would only do so until your body would get used to the "exercise" of walking in these shoes. Just like doing 30 crunches may be hard at first, your results will stagnate if you continue with the same routine forever. In conclusion, I would say, don't get these shoes hoping to see much improvement in your lower body. If you do, however, need a new, cute pair of running shoes, good for walking around in, then go ahead... plus they give you a bit of height too!

My pair is leather. They are the Easytone Reeinspire Lux in the colours white/terra brown/champagne.  They cost me $129.99 CAD. The non-leather ones are about $20 cheaper. On the Reebok's site you can custom make your own pair. 

Lorraine's "Everyday Look" Contest

The lovely Lorraine has organized an amazing contest (once again) and I thought I should give it a go. The winner will be picked randomly and there are LOTS of entries but I'm excited to enter none the less. I've tried to make a video for this contest - because the odds of being picked are better - but I talk waaaaaaaaay too much and I couldn't make it in the 2 minutes time limit.

So this is what I wear on an everyday basis. It's pretty basic but I wake up really early every day and I don't have much time for creativity.



So here it is:

Face:
Cetaphil Daily Moisturizer
Mac's Studio Sculpt Concealer (NC15) - for blemishes
Mac's Select Cover Up (NW 20) - for under eye circles
Mac's Mineralize Skin Finish Natural (Light)
Mac's Fix+
Mac's Prism Blush
Mac's Shimmer (highlighter that came in a Mineralize Skin Finish)




Eyes:
Mac's Blacktrack Fluid Line
Anabelle's Khol Pencil in White
Lancome's Cils Design Pro Mascara




Lips:
Mac's Devrish Lip Pencil
Faces' 357 Fiona Lipstick
Inglot's 172 Lipstick



Lorainne, if you get to see this post, thank you so much for your videos! They're very inspiring and fun to watch!

Berri says "hi" !

Museum

Today we went to the museum! I haven't been to one in a very long time and I was really looking forward to this trip. The museum we went to had a variety of galleries - ancient objects from the Roman Empire, Africa and Asia, Victorian style objects and furniture, an early 90s gallery, various paintings and an exclusive collection of Napoleon Bonaparte's belongings.




Roman coffin








... what I make my boyfrind do =P.








That orange thing is a TV. Can you believe that?




The most compact vanity table (with chair!) I have ever seen.




An acrylic chair with fake roses embedded in it. Very tacky but sorta cute =).





I know this picture doesn't say much but the stairs were the most annoying stairs I have climbed in my life... ever! The steps were long and short - the opposite of what regular steps are. It may seem a breeze to walk up but as ridiculous as this may sound, it was a workout for both the body and the mind!



Napolen's clothes and accessories.




Face mold that was taken on Napoleon after his death.








...and here is one of my dogs, Napoleon =P. He loves to be in pictures.



They always want to play!

Bidz.com

One day I was browsing the net for some jewelery. I think it was a necklace I was looking for. I found this site Bidz.com and the concept of it seemed quite appealing. It is similar to eBay except you don't deal with individual sellers but rather with one company that sells jewelery, watches, sunglasses and other miscellaneous stuff. They post items and people bid for them. Some items run rather cheap, others start at quite high price tags.

Pros:
- variety of items
- new items introduced all the time
- easy to make an account
- easy to bid
- don't lose much if you decide not to buy an item you've won; at most you'll lose the account but you can always make a new one with a different e-mail address
- items are well described and pictured
- items are authentic; they come with a certificate
- good prices
- sometimes they have special offeres such as free shipping or $ off

Cons:
- shipping may take a while; for some items it took over a month to arrive however, my watch came within a couple of days
- sometimes you may pay customs; I don't know what this depends on because it's definitely not based on the value of the item (from what I've realized)
- quoted retail prices may not be accurate


I bought quite a few things from them. Some I've kept and some I've given to my mom. Here are the things I've kept:

The prices below are in US currency.

1. Tiny two tone gold butterfly pendant with genuine diamonds on a gold chain for $15; retail price: $140



2. KREMENTZ bracelet in 925 sterling silver for $58; retail price:$600 ( I found it for $84 on eBay)

3. Lucien Piccard Swiss watch with genuine diamonds, ceramic bracelet and mother of pearl dial for $96; retail price: $675 (I found it on other sites for $200)
I didn't keep its bracelet not because I didn't like it but because it has a limit to how many links you can take out and unfortunately, even with the maximum of links that came off, the watch was still too big on me. I bought a leather strap and now I'm super happy with it.

By the way, I know genuine diamonds sound nice but mine are not top quality. What makes a diamond expensive is the precision with which it is cut. The most expensive diamonds will reflect a lot of light; that's what makes them super brilliant and super expensive.

Have you bough anything from this site and if so, what was your experience like?

Making Pizza

I don't think there are many those who don't enjoy a fresh slice of pizza. I have been trying for ages to make the pizza crust of my dreams - that is a fluffy crust - but it never turned out quite right. A couple of days ago I have run over this bread recipe in one of my cooking books. I think it's a really good recipe and it is super easy to make. It takes a long time to make because... well... bread takes a long time to make. Luckily, you'll probably spend 10 minutes preparing the dough; the rest of the 2 hours involves leaving the dough to rise and baking it. Overall it's not too bad and it's definitely worth it. On top of it, I'm sure your family will be impressed.

Ingredients:
2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
374 g white strong flour/bread flour
50 ml olive oil
extra flour to sprinkle
ice




1. Warm up 80 ml of water. (the water has to be warm not hot)
2. Mix yeast and sugar and add to the warm water.
3. Let the mixture stand for about 10 minutes until bubbles appear.

4. Put 250 g of the flour in a large bowl with two teaspoons salt and make a well in the center.
5. In the well add the yeast mixture, the oil and 230 ml of water.
6. Knead for 5 minutes; the mixture will be quite wet at this stage.
7. Lighly grease a bowl with oil (I just wet a napkin with a bit of oil and wipe it around the inside of the bowl) and put the dough in that bowl; cover the bowl with plastic foil

Tip: It's ideal to place the bowl in a warm place. What I do is turn on the over and leave it on for about 1 minute. After, I turn it off and place the bowl inside. Make sure it's not too hot in the oven; you don't want to bake the dough just yet.

8. After 30 minutes or more your dough will have doubled in size.

9. At this point take it out and knead in the remaining flour. Your dough will deflate back to its original size. Cover the bowl again and place it in the warm place for a second time.
10. The dough will rise again and finito; the process is done!

11. Now it's the fun part! Wipe a large baking tray with oil, sprinkle with flour and slap the dough on. Make sure you don't punch the dough down. You want to keep it as fluffy as possible. Preheat the oven at 415F or 210C. Add the pizza sauce, the toppings and voila! It's ready for the oven.

My pizza is a medium size but I should have spread out the dough a bit more. Keep in mind that the dough will rise a bit a baking. This recipe will make a large pizza.

12. Place the pizza in the middle of the oven. Underneath it place an oven safe bowl filled with ice. Bake for 20 minutes without opening the oven. After the 20 minutes remove the water bowl and bake the pizza for another 10 minutes.



That's it! Bon appetit!

Nail Polish Collection

Most of my nail polishes were purchased online and I pretty much had to guess the way most colours were going to look. I have purchased some nice colours and a few that I totally dislike. Unfortunately, I only found a few of the shades on Google searches. I'm going to post pictures of the colours I own and maybe this post will help somebody someday.


I'm going to categorize the colours as:
- solid (s) for colours that have no shimmer and pretty opaque first applications
- light (l) for colours that have light first applications where you can still see the nail
- shimmer (sh) for colours that have some kind of sparkle
- duochrome (d)





Left to right:
ORLY - Green Apple (s)
China Glaze - For Audrey (s)
China Glaze - Shower Together (s)
China Glaze - Secret Peri-Wink-Le (s)
China Glaze - Agent Lavender(s) -> really pretty shade
ORLY - Bon Bon (l)
OPI - Significant Other Color (s) and (d) ( light purple and fluorescent green -> quite an odd combination; I don't presonally like this colour at all; I alost lost my breath when I pulled this shade out of the mail box)




Left to right:
Sephora - No 6 (s) -> A "Russian Red" type of red
N.Y.C - American Beauty (sh) (with red shimmer)
OPI - Tropical Punch (s)
OPI - Bogota Blackberry (sh) (with red shimmer) -> Pretty for the Holidays
OPI - Jave Mauve-A (s)
China Glaze - Chocodisiac (s)



Left to right:
OPI Nicole - Sheer Fun (l) and (sh) (with pink shimmer) -> awesome for French maniqure
OPI - Italian Love Affair (s) and (sh) (with silver shimmer)
China Glaze - Second-Hand Silk (s) -> an unique purple-pink
Misa - For the Woman with a Secret (s) and (sh) (with gold shimmer)



Left to right:
OPI - The "IT" color (s)
ORLY - Crush on You (s)
ORLY - Secret Admirer (l)
OPI - Coney Island Cotton Candy (l)
OPI - Samoan Sand (l)
OPI - FIJI WeeJee Fawn (s) and (sh) (with silver shimmer) -> It's like a pretty shell colour




Left to right:
REVLON - Ultimate Top Coat -> very nice top coat; I just wish the brush was a little wider
OPI - Alpine Snow (s) -> pure white
China Glaze - Recycle (s)
REVLON - Steel Magic (s) and (d) (dark purple and dark green) ->pretty shade
OPI - Lincon Park After Dark (s) -> nice alternative to black



I will try to add swatches to this post as I change my nail colour.


Coney Island Cotton Candy (4 coats)


China Glaze - Agent Lavender (2 coats)

=)

... so I havent't updated in a long time as my brother came down to visit me and then I started school. Besides, I didn't feel like I have any interesting things to share. Anyway, I sort of abandoned the diet plan as I stared school and had to eat well especially because I commute about 4.5-5 hours a day. I know that sounds a bit much, doesn't it? Well, in the part of the country where I live people are bilingual and I happen to be more anglophone. To go to an English school that has my program I have to do a bit of travelling.

Anyway, I'm on my winter break right now and I start my next semester on the 18th of January which gives me some time to write on my blog.

Super Easy To Make Pie

I have to admit that no matter on what diet I would be on and how badly I would try to loose weight, my day is not complete without dessert... even if in small portions.

I am not an amazing cook but I'm always on the look for good recipes. Although baking is the hardest, in my opinion, as so many things could go wrong, I'm always excited about it.

Anyway, so today I've made a peach-strawberry pie.





Here's the recipe, in case you'll want to try to make something really easy, yet tasty.

PIE PASTRY:
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup Crisco (or a vegetable shortening of your choice... I can't recommend butter or margarine as I've never tried them for this recipe)
1/2 ice cold water

First, add the shortening to the flour and salt. To mix it up you can use a pastry cutter, if you have one, if you don't use a fork or a potato masher. The mixture should have a crumbly appearance. Then, pour the cold water over the mixture and, using your hand, mix it all up. The batter should all come together. Put this mixture into the fridge and make your filling. You can buy pie filling but I feel that making your own is so much better. No chemicals added and you can come up with a zillion flavors.

I've made my PIE FILLING up so the following quantities are approximations.
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 peaches peeled, sliced
10 strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional - if your mixture is too runny, the cornstarch will thicken it)

I put the butter in a pan over medium heat and when it melted I added the fruit slices. After about 5 minutes, when the fruits lost their crunch, I added the sugar and cooked it for about 5 more minutes. When I saw my mixture was too wet, I added the cornstarch and mixed it in fast and in about 10 seconds, I had a ticker consistency.

Now, the pastry can come out of the fridge. Take half of it and lay it over a lightly floured surface and roll it into an approximate circle bigger in circumference than that of the pie pan ( you need the pastry to dress the walls of the pan, not just the bottom). After placing the pie pastry into the pan, add the filling and then roll out the rest of the pastry dough into a lid for your pie. I've done a lattice top but you can just do a simple plain top with a hole in the middle. Attach your lid to the pie.

Bake it in a preheated oven at 425 Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes or until your top has become golden brown. ... and remember, don't open the over for the first 30 minutes! The making of the pie took me less than 30 minutes.

Have fun with it if you try it!

My Two Little Treasures

!!! HEAVY ON PICS !!!


I love my dogs. As a matter of fact, I can say I adore them. It's quite funny but I see them as my little kids.

Their names are Napoleon and Berri. They are two "gigantic" Yorkshires, one of which is chocolate in colour. That's a defect in the gene that gives the pigmentation... just like in humans we have albino people. Yorkshires are supposed to have black and brown fur but my little Napoleon is brown-orange-gray... with brown eyes, paws and nose instead of black.

Although he's the wrong colour, he's such a smart dog. Sometimes I'm even lead to think he might have been human in a previous life. Napoleon was my first dog...ever. My family didn't have dogs nor cats. I had a couple beta fish but they died - as they only live about a year. My parents were strict on cleanisiness and found a pet to be too much trouble. When I finally moved out, I got Napoleon. He was 5 months at the time and since he already had a name that fit his fisty, yet intelligent personality, we decided to carry on with the name given by the breeder.

Here are some pictures of him:

As a baby at 3 months


At 5 months:


Eating some stake:


... and having a sip of tea:



Showing some love:



After the shower:

Now, at one some months:

When Napolen was about 7 months old we decided to get him a friend; part so that he doesn't feel lonely when we're gone, part so that he stops bugging us to play with him all the time and part because we wanted another puppy. We then found Berri, who is such a sweetie. He's the more calm, sensitive dog. He gets easily scared and intimidated and unless you get him pumped, he'll never bother you. Napoleon on the other hand, knows how to press our buttons with his evergy and stubborn personality. Berri has an amazing sense of smell and he's crazy over toys. He's probably not as intelligent as Napoleon, as this orange dog is one of a kind, but Berri is the perfect family dog.

At first, when we got him, he looked like a little alien and was SO different from how Napoleon looked as a puppy. Berri has a big head, HUGE eyes, big ears and very thick, dense fur. That green paper on his ear was to keep his ear upwards. He had it for about a month or so.


His milk teeth:





His first winter:




I love them both and I couldn't pick a favourite. Napoleon and I have a special connecition as he was my first dog but Berri has such a kind heart and I am thankful to have them both.