On Purses

I admit that I have never really 'got' purses. Or bags. Or clutches. At least not in the same way that my girlfriends get purses. They get legit excited about them and though I don't get it myself, I love to listen to them talk about the new season's bags or compare their latest purchases. Bless them for loving and introducing me to an affordable line like Matt and Nat.

And it's not that I don't own a few bags, purses or even a great evening clutch myself (the clutch was gifted to me by a friend way more fashionable than I), it's just I don't understand the excitement over them. I see the functionality behind certain sizes and styles but really never shared the same love for the bag itself. I do have a favorite travel purse that has great pockets positioned well on the inside...like a great wide pocket for me to stash the passport and the phone and then a large middle section where my wallet, sunglasses, camera and various shit I want to keep close to my body goes, but again, it's about the functionality of that purse. It's about how much that purse can hold and how useful it is for me to access stuff inside of it. It is also the same purse that I think that the majority of girlfriends own, just in different colours that are much more daring that my white.

And I do try to learn from them when they show me a new purse that they got, or how they scored 4 purses on some crazy online end of season sale for like $20 each...it's just that I would never be the one to notice that it was a new purse unless they pointed it out to me or someone else noticed it first.

Maybe this makes me not a very good girl. Maybe. I also don't get shoes either, but purses less so.

But, I think I've hit a turning point! Or maybe this will be a one time moment of understanding...because I got f-cking excited about a purse. Yeah, it happened. Maybe a small step in my life of shopping as a female in the city...but it finally happened. I was browsing J Crew for a pair of pants I saw on the internet and then I came across this blue-purple little gem:

The colour. Man, that colour. But then I looked at the price tag and my heart sank as I debated spending $190 (with tax) on a tiny purse. I just couldn't justify. Not when I had just booked myself a last minute vacation to the Northern California.

But then I found myself thinking about it on my trip to San Francisco. Debated buying it there since the tax is less in California, but the boyfriend gave me a dirty look as I suggested we walk blocks out of our way to find J Crew when all he was thinking about was a mongolian beef breakfast wrap from HRD Coffee Shop. 4 weeks later and I am still thinking about that small blue-purple purse. Then, to my delight, it dropped in price this past weekend to $145...so clearly that meant it had to be right? Clearly.

So I am now the happy owner of the first purse I have truly coveted. The first purse I have been really excited about. Maybe this feeling will never come again but right now, I'm still excited about it. Who knew you could feel this way about a purse?

Olympic Withdrawal

So two days out from the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics and I am already in withdrawal. Gone are the mornings where I got to watch sports for a solid hour before leaving to work and the nights of watching random highlights from the days events.

At least we'll always this gem to come out of the Olympics:



I hope he never becomes smart because there's just too much gold there. I might even consider watching Dancing with the Stars if Ryan Lochte becomes a contestant. Yeah, that's how much I love that video.

I wonder when the sports withdrawal goes away, will the want to buy the Givenchy sunglasses that Kate Middleton wore at the Games go away too? The desire to buy glasses online that I am not able to try on is rather strong right now.

Just read: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A few months ago while out for drinks over a hockey game, I was recommended this book by a friends cousin who swore that it was a great read. It was so good that she said this was her FAVORITE book ever. That's huge to say something is your favorite book. I have put in a ton of thought into what my favorite book is and every so often see if a new one has usurped it's title. At this point, and for the last 15 years, Brave New World has held the title in a stranglehold.

So since I needed something to read while at a work conference up in Kelowna, I borrowed The Book Thief from the library and proceeded to spend my two day conference plugging away at it.

The story is narrated by Death and is about the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl given up to live in foster care outside of Munich during World War II. Death has a witty personality and has quite the soft spot for this wiry girl. Even though her foster parents are introduced as vulgar poor people, by the end of the book you end up loving them so, so much; especially her foster father Hans.

I don't read that many Holocaust set books for several reasons. The first being that after I read Elie Wiesel's Night well I really thought that was enough dark bleak Holocaust lit than I need for the rest of my life. The second and this one being the more influencing on my book decisions of this topic is that through my family in Hungary, we have enough first hand stories. But that is a topic for another post.

But this story was good. It didn't gloss over details of how difficult it was to be poor or what consequences you had to bear if you didn't proclaim your support for the Nazi party. And yet it was cynical enough and had well placed sentimental moments that you didn't feel like the story was too heavy. The pacing of the story was well done and the 'drawings' that were included of the book she received were well placed.

The book was marketed as YA fiction, which I love YA fiction, but based on the writing style it really didn't feel like a young adult novel. I feel like labeling it as YA fiction is doing this book some injustice. I remember coming across this book a few years ago and dismissed it because it was just another YA fiction book about WWII and didn't think it was worth my time. My initial judgement is that YA fiction couldn't possibly do the content or setting justice. That things would be overlooked and details glossed over. This book doesn't do that and to me it was a bad marketing strategy by the publisher to label it as YA fiction.

Was it the best book ever? No, no I don't think so. It was a great read and one that I'm glad I have read it once but as for the best ever, I'm going to have to disagree with my friend's cousin on this one, BNW still wins this one for now.

Strawberry Shortcakes with Rhubarb Compote

This Sunday Stong's had California strawberries pretty cheap so even though I had only intended to pop in for a baguette, of course I ended up buying two boxes of them. And then I saw rhubarb for the first time this season in the produce section, so of course I ended up buying some rhubarb.

I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for Strawberry Shortcakes for the biscuit portion of the shortcake.

I have used this recipe before without any modifications and they have turned out really well every time. This time since it was dessert for just two of us I halved the recipe. The biscuit comes together pretty quick and since it needs time in the fridge prior to baking can be made ahead of time and just popped into the oven when you are ready to bake. The recipe for the stewed rhubarb is below.

Glasses in real life

For the first time last week, I worse glasses out to go watch the game with my girl friends. Now to other people this may not be a big deal, but for as long as I can remember being friends with these girls, I don't think I've ever warn glasses out. Ever. And the thought of wearing it out to somewhere other than the grocery store, to a sports bar no less, would never have crossed my mind previously.

These girls have of course seen me in glasses plenty of times. I've had glasses since I've been in grade 8 and each year that I've had them my vision has gotten worse and worse and the glasses have gotten progressively thicker and thicker. For a few years we were all roommates and they had the pleasure of seeing me in glasses around the house or during mornings after particularly rough nights in which the thought of putting back in my contacts seem like pure torture. Basically for the last 10 years of my life, I have never warn glasses outside of my house.

First Post

Lately I have felt the need to write on topics other than hockey. Over the past few months, even though I write a ton each week, when you write almost exclusively about one topic sometimes you feel the need to just write about something else.

Three years ago today, I wrote by first blog post on blogspot about a Canucks game. It was a scary endeavor to write my first blog post. I literally agonized about it and it took me days before I found the courage to hit 'publish post' for the first time. Now it has become completely natural to write about hockey day after day.

But lately over the past few weeks, maybe months, I have have felt the urge to just write on things other than hockey. And if you know me, I spend most of my free time away from work and hockey playing around with recipes in my kitchen, reading or being active.

So here we are with my first blog post at One Part Food.