Ahhh, Vacation Rocks

I love going on vacation. It's always stressful leading up to it, wrapping up all the loose ends before leaving, but once I leave I let everything go. We've gone down to FT Myers, FL a few times, but everytime it gets better. Maybe I'm just getting older and appreciating the peace, quite and space. Either way this was a great vacation. I love the bird life, the warm gulf, and the fact that I have the beach to myself. Below are some pictures of our beach walk from the condo to "downtown" Fort Myers Beach, which our friends affectionately call the Bhutan Death March.

Around TO

The other weekend Oskar and I walked out to Queen West to get brunch at Sadie's Diner, own of my favourite Huevos Rancheros spots. On our walk home we passed by the skaters, town hall(the ufo building), and the eaton centre for a little shopping. It's so important to get outside and appreciate nature even if the weather is cr*p.

Etsy Love

I found these adorable little concrete planters on Etsy. I've always been a fan of succulents. They are so beautiful and low maintenance. Since I'm far from a green thumb, but love plants they are a perfect match for me. I can imagine putting 3 or 4 around my office desk to remind me that there is life beyond those 4 walls.

Another Goodie

I must share Modcloth with you. I have yet to buy, but I love window shopping. Below are some of the purchases that are on my mind. Maybe if I make my lunch for work for the next weeks and scrape together my loonies I can buy 1 or 2.

A New Fave

I never was a big dress person, cause I associated them with begin to "girly girl" which I was not. But I love hop the fence and have embrace "the dress". All you have to do is put it on then throw on a necklace and your on your way to work. So much easier then having all these seperates.

So I'm always on the hunt for reasonable dresses. I just found a great site called Ruche. There stuff is not high quality material, but they have stylish pieces for a great price. I always read the user reviews before potential purchase to figure out if this the right piece for me. Below are some of my favorite dresses. I love bold patterns and feminine florals.

Current Obsession: Seared Tuna

This is one of the easiest, if not the easiest recipe that I have ever made. I love fast easy recipes that pay off big in the flavour (yes I spelled it the Canadian way) department. I don't bake and hate to be precious when cooking so I like recipes that are forgiving, and this one is very forgiving. I regularly go on Epicurious and my "recipe box" is overflowing with recipes that I hope to make one day.

But this one spoke to me. It was quick, easy, healthy, got 4 forks (which is the highest rating) and 100% of people would make it again, which basically means it didn't get one bad review and a lot of people did review it. I'm not a big tuna person, I'm much more of a salmon lover, however my husband loves it so I decided that if I'm gonna go tuna, I might as well go on my own terms. I highly recommend this recipe and so does Marcus Samuelsson, so it's good. After all that build up here's the recipe. And it made me a lover of Tuna, and I guess a better Canadian since I heavy-handed the maple syrup.

Ingredients:
* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons maple syrup (see Tip)
* Juice of 1 lime
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* Four 6-ounce tuna fillets
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 4 cilantro sprigs

Prep:
1. Whisk together the mustard, maple syrup, lime juice, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Set aside.

2. Season the tuna on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add the tuna and cook for 30 seconds on each side.

3. Remove from the pan and brush both sides of the tuna with the maple-mustard glaze. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with the cilantro. Serve with the pear-potato salad.

All things Anthro

Anthropolgie that is. I have loved them from a far, and a bit closer when they have sales on. If I could decorate my apartment exactly like the store, I don't think I would ever leave home. I love the way the store smells, looks, and makes me feel as though I have traveled the world even though I was in Cleveland Ohio. I took this snap shot on my phone of the beautiful paper dress that was being sewed together as I shopped.



And Big Big news, though I'm about a week late on the up take. Anthropologie launched their new wedding dress line BHLDN. After viewing their dresses I asked my husband if we could renew our vows.




And my final Anthro news, well 2 year old news, which I just learned about. Is this show on Sundance that launched in 2009 about the Head Shopper at Anthro. He basically traveled the world and shopped for the stores! Wow, that's the life for me.

Oh and I lied. 2 new Anthropologies opened in London, England and they are grand. I wish I could jump the pond to see them in person. One of them even has a green wall. I would love love love to have one of those in my bedroom and my office for that matter. Then I would have healthy air all day.