NaBloWriMo: whoops...

Well, I started off NaBloWriMo with a bang, full of intent and determination, ready to go...and then I went on a trip. It's not that I forgot, I just ran out of time each day. But, that's changing now! I've been in Ottawa for the past few days, so to catch up, I'll be blogging about my mini-break with my mother and some of the great spots we've been since arriving!

Here's a little snap of some crazy-looking clouds from my flight Wednesday evening as I headed off west to chase the sunset. 

Stay tuned!

It's that time of year again...

NaBloWriMo time! National Blog Writing Month is the time of year when I put my blogging skills to the test. When I see if I can actually blog once a day, every day, for an entire month. I did it last year and while it was a struggle at times, I made it. So, I want to try it again this year. Blogging is something I really enjoy but struggle with, due to work, personal, life in general. But, NaBloWriMo (based off of NaNoWriMo) forces me to dedicate myself to my writing and to the upkeep of my blog.

You can expect a lot of random entries about the oddest little thoughts that pop into my head, as well as some longer, more thought-out posts. Sometimes all I'll have time for is a quick musing over a photo I've taken and posted on Instagram, and others might be a bit more in depth. It's going to be a mixed bag, but that's kind of the fun of NaBloWriMo!

So, here we go, off to the races. Entry #1 = DONE. Hope you enjoy this month-long journey with me!

The Foodie Files

I've been thinking for quite some time about what else I want to talk about on my blog. I've long discussed my love of travel and I've talked about my adventures in recipe testing, but something I've been playing around with in my mind is finally coming to fruition.

As someone who loves food and dining out, I've been lucky enough to try a number of restaurants in and around St. John's. With the Newfoundland food scene really having taken off over the past few years, there is a diverse selection of restaurants out there, offering all sorts of food. I thought it was time I added my thoughts on restaurants around town. Will anyone read them? Maybe. Will anyone care? Maybe not. Is it an excuse to dine out? ...Maybe again. But as someone who is curious about food and how flavours blend together, and as someone who is always looking to try out the next big thing in town, why not??

That's why I'm going to really launch the Foodie Files part of my blog. While I'll still talk about recipe successes or favourite cupcake shops, I'm going to begin writing about my experiences with restaurants around town - my favourite dishes, apps that are must-tries, desserts that are to die for and so on. As someone with food allergies and sensitivities, I also think I'll bring a bit of a fresh perspective when it come to dining out, and the must-ask questions that one should bring up when dining out with a food sensitivity.

So stay tuned, the first Foodie File is coming up soon. Watch this space!

2015: A Year in Review

It's that time of year again - my annual year in review. I've done this a few times since I started blogging and I like doing it because it forces me to reflect on the past 12 months and take in all that's changed in my life. So, let's go:




- I hit the big 3-0 this year and celebrated with family and friends in style with a fancy pink and gold sparkle party. The glitzy glam night was exactly how I wanted to enter into my next decade. 






- I spent some time in the hospital and had emergency gall bladder surgery! What a whirlwind three weeks that was. As painful as the experience was, I know I'm much better off now that the ordeal is finally over. 







- My wonderful brother married the love of his life and I finally gained a sister. The wedding was one of the most beautiful I've ever been to and I was so honoured to be involved as a bridesmaid. 

- Some of my girlfriends and I began a monthly brunch club, where we tried different restaurants around the city. It was so good to have a regular date with friends, to catch up over delicious food and of course, obligatory mimosas. We love brunch club!!

- After a hectic first half of year with work and surgeries, I finally took a vacation in August and went back to my second home, Toronto for a week of friends, food and familiar haunts. It was so good to be back and to get the city into my blood again. 

- I celebrated the ten year anniversary of the term that changed my life. I've mentioned time and time again in the blog how my experience in Harlow changed my life. During the autumn, I remembered where I'd been on a particular day or what I'd been doing during a certain period of time. It's hard to believe ten years has passed since I was with this group of people. 

- I took another last minute trip to Toronto in December, this time meeting up with my folks and taking my mother to a taping of one of my favourite television shows, The Social. We had a great time! 

- I also popped outside of Toronto and spent a weekend with two of my favourite gals, shopping and visiting wineries in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. Lots of laughs were had those couple of days! 

- I enjoyed a magical Christmas break packed with brunches, lunches, coffees and parties with friends from home and friends from away. It's always a whirlwind time of year, but it's always so good. 

So there you have it. 2015 is in the books. It was a good year with me turning 30 and my brother's beautiful wedding, but I have a feeling there's big things to come next year. 

I usually like to come up with some kind of motto or quote to live by for the upcoming year. This year, the one I'm really feeling is one I've used before and even blogged about recently during my #NaBloWriMo challenge. "More fun, less fear" is what's going to push me through into 2016 and stay with me throughout the next 12 months. Let's see how it goes. 

Here's to new beginnings, new experiences, fresh perspectives. 

Welcome 2016: more fun, less fear!

Whoops...

So I know I said I'd blog every day this month, but sometimes, life just gets in the way. Let's see if I can get caught up again and get all 30 entries in before November 30!

NaBloWriMo, here we go!

In the writing world, November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, where participants spend the month of November writing a novel. Even though I know every year that October is always followed by November, it always catches me off guard and I never have an idea for a novel prepared. 

This time three years ago, caught in the same cycle of forgetting about it until it's too late, I undertook a blogging challenge instead. For every day in November of 2012, I wrote a blog entry. Some were long with a bunch of pictures while others were only a couple of sentences. Regardless of how tired I was or of how blank on what to write I was, I wrote an entry every. single. day. And you know what? It was hard! But, I did it and I felt a little bit better for it. 

So, after a few failed attempts at restarting my blogging, I thought that this would be a good way of trying to get back into it. Instead of NaNoWriMo though, this month is going to be NaBloWriMo - National Blog Writing Month. Apparently I'm not the only person who's tried this before - there's even a hashtag on Twitter about it! It's kind of nice to know that I'm not the only one who's going to be attempting this. 

Okay. One down, 29 to go! Wish me luck! 

2014: The Year in Review

2014. What a year. It was a year full of big changes for myself, my family and my friends. Some changes were amazing and came in the form of new jobs, new living situations and new relationships. Others came in the form of illness and disappointments. Looking back on the past twelve months, I can say without hesitation that it's been one of the most eventful years of my life.

This year was definitely the Year of Weddings for me. With half a dozen close friends getting married over the past twelve months, and me standing or participating in some way in almost all of those weddings, to say I'm a bit wedding'd out is fairly accurate. Still, I'm so grateful to all of those friends for asking me to be part of their special days in some form or another.

Weddings weren't the only events that took place this year, though. Let's take a look back at some of the highlights of my 2014:



- Being bridesmaid for a close friend in her glamourous Toronto wedding in February. A long weekend in Toronto is always enjoyable, but when it includes a spectacular wedding of a favourite friend, it doesn't get much better than that. It was fabulous!

- Moving into a gorgeous new apartment with a spectacular view of St. John's. Though this is a small city, living in the east end instead of the centre or downtown areas of town has been a big adjustment for me. Still, it does have its perks - I can see the ocean from my window and have a beautiful view of Signal Hill!







- Taking off on a spur of the moment long weekend to our nation's capital to visit family and friends and escape the island for a few days. Sometimes, the best trips come out of the blue with very little planning. This wouldn't be the only time I did that this year...






- Helping my best friend of 25 years plan her beautiful garden wedding, and stand by her side as her maid of honour. As I'd said to Meg on her wedding day: we've been through a lot, and through it all, we've grown up together and shared each other's biggest and littlest moments. I was truly honoured to be with her as she went from Ms. to Mrs.






- Escaping to Europe on another spur of the moment trip for two weeks with a good friend. As I'd said before, sometimes the best trips come unexpectedly. We experienced the simple things in life: good food, somewhat good wine, lots of history and loads of beautiful scenery. Italy and France, I'd missed you.






- Finally returning to where I left my heart almost a decade ago: London. Breathing in that crisp, English air and feeling the rush of that beautiful city was magical. I felt a constant hum of excitement pulsing through me every day I was there. I know I'll be back again soon.







- Celebrating a different kind of Christmas in my new home. Instead of going to my folks' house, they came to mine, where we've enjoyed making new traditions.





As I said before, 2014 really was one of the most eventful years of my life. Lots of changes came my way, both positive and negative. But overall, it was a really great year. As 2014 comes to a close, I look towards 2015 and what it will hold: a big wedding for my family, a big birthday for me (30! Yikes!) and more challenges ahead, both personally and professionally. But that's okay. I'm ready for it all. I'm going to face 30 head on and take whatever else comes in stride. 

Welcome, 2015! It's time to be fierce.

It's been a while...

Almost two years, to be exact. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it!

So long, old look.

You may notice things look a little less...pink around here. Yep. I decided that for the new year, I'd give this blog a new look. It's undergone a serious face lift. Out with the pink, in with the gold. (Though, I think there's still some pink lurking around somewhere. I can't get rid of all of it, it's pretty much in my blood.)

I've been really into gold lately - gold jewelry, gold nail polish, gold decorative pieces around my home...so it seemed somewhat fitting to infuse my online home with a bit of gold. I'm really liking the look, and I hope you like it too!

Hello, new look.

I took some time away from blogging the past couple of years due to my offline life getting busy and lots of changes happening. Now that things have levelled out a bit, I've decided that 2015 would be a good time to take it up again. New year, renewed blogging commitment. I'm not promising to blog every single day, or even every single week, but we'll see if I can pump out a few posts a month. Let's start slow, folks. I've gotta ease myself back into this. :)

I've also decided to change my blogging topics a bit - there will be less PR posts and more lifestyle/home decor/foodie posts. The Newfoundland food scene has really picked up in the past few years and I really enjoy going out and trying new restaurants, so look for some resto reviews in the coming months. As I said above, home decor is also something I'm going to be exploring on the blog. I'm still a big fan of Pinterest and have taken to trying some DIY pins I've found, so you can look forward to entries on some simple, DIY projects.

Thanks for sticking with me, and for coming back and checking things out. I hope you'll come back and see what I have in store for this little blog!

2012: The Year in Review

It's that time of year again - the ol' Year in Review. Time to take a look at the past 12 months and all the good (and maybe not so good) things that happened in my life.

My first impression of 2012 was that it wasn't exactly what I'd hoped it would be; but then, things rarely go the way you hope or plan them to. So while I first thought of 2012 as kind of disappointing, reflecting on the past 366 days (it was a leap year, remember?) has shown me that there was a lot of good in the year, and I have much to be thankful for. Let's take a look, shall we?

- Beginning a transatlantic cooking adventure with a best friend living across the pond that has taught us a number of new recipes and to be thankful for ever-evolving forms of communication that keeps us connected while living on opposite sides of the world.

- Celebrating my Champagne Birthday in my former home, Toronto. A weekend filled with my favourite things in one of my favourite places!




- Having laser surgery and saying goodbye to glasses for good! Our 17 year relationship finally came to an end, and I am thankful every day for my perfect vision.

- Taking off to the Sunshine State for a week in April with my family, our first family vacation in about 12 years!

- Going to Montreal with three of my best friends for a wild bachelorette weekend in July! It was time well spent for the four of us, who hadn't been all together since the previous Christmas.

- Getting to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings, and being a part of her special day when she married her very best friend.




- Undertaking a blogging challenge in the month of November that tested my blogging skills and my patience!





- Enjoying the most relaxing Christmas I've had in years with family and friends, better than any gift that could be bought from a store.




I remember this time last year, I was really excited for 2011 to be over and for 2012 to begin, because I had a lot of plans for this year. I'd said I wanted to make my champagne birthday the most memorable of all, and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday than doing exactly what I'd wanted to do - spend it in Toronto doing all my favourite things. My trip to Florida with my family was a fantastic week filled with shopping, sunning and quality family time.

The bachelorette weekend in Montreal was definitely one of the more memorable experiences myself and the girls have had in our friendship, but the icing on the cake was definitely standing in A's wedding. Moments before we walked down the aisle, the four of us stood in a circle and marveled at how far we've come over the past seven years, and how much has changed for the better in our lives. It was a magical day and I'm so thankful I was part of it.

So, I guess when I think about all these lovely thing that happened this past year, I can say that while it didn't exactly happen the way I'd planned, 2012 still held wonderful things for me. It was a really good year, but I have a sneaky feeling 2013 holds something even better.

Last year, I shared my favourite Mark Twain quote: "Twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So sail away from the safe harbour. Explore. Dream. Discover." And while those words are ones I try to live by every day, this year, I have a new quote that I'm going to live by, and it's one you may have already seen around the internet. It's called The Holstee Manifesto, and it's pictured below.

This is my life. I'm planning to live it as best I can and to the fullest extent. Happy New Year! Here's to 2013: My Break Out Year!

Blogging Detox...

After a month long blogging challenge, I felt a bit drained and had to take a little break from The Elizabeth Files. I have to say though, even though there were times when I dreaded having to write a new entry, I actually really enjoyed the challenge and would consider doing it again in the future.

But, after taking a couple of weeks off, I'm back at it! With the Christmas season upon us, I have lots of new things to talk about, including my venture into wine-making, as I mentioned last month. Plus, as December is drawing to a close, it'll soon be time for the annual Year in Review. I feel that once you do something three times in a row, it becomes a tradition. So, as this will be the third year for the Year in Review, it is now officially a tradition. That will come in a couple weeks time. I'll also have to do a review of how my New Years resolutions went. Lots to blog about!

Check back soon!

Blogging Challenge = Complete!

Today is the last day of November and that means it's the last day of my blogging challenge! All month long I've been blogging once a day, every day. There were days when I almost didn't make it; had no idea what to write about; almost completely forgot to write; but, I made it to November 30th with an entry every day. I'm proud that I was able to stick with it, even through the times when I almost said "I don't wanna blog today, I don't have time, I'm too tired, blah blah blah." It's been tough, but it's finally finished! Thanks for sticking with me, and we'll see how long it takes me to write another entry. :) Might be sooner than I think!

Personal Goal? Check.

This year, being the Year of Elizabeth (Again), I made a few resolutions to try and make this my best year yet. I wrote them up in a lovely little blog post for you all to see, and I've been working hard to keeping those resolutions. But I also made another resolution to myself that I didn't share with you.

I've admired friends of mine who are also bloggers for their dedication to their blogs and how they've managed to stick with blogging on a regular basis. It was something I wanted to do as well, and so this year, along with my four listed resolutions that I intended to keep, I also made a fifth one that I kept to myself. I wanted to blog at least once a week for the entire year, so I would have at least fifty-two entries by the end of 2012. It might seem like a strange resolution, but I wanted to challenge myself.

I started off pretty good, and managed to keep up with my once-a-week blogging until around April, when work got busy and my personal life went out the window. I kept meaning to blog, but I just didn't have the time to sit down and think out an entry. So I put it off and put it off, promising myself I'd get back on track the next week.

Summer turned to Fall and I only had one entry a month for about four months straight, so when I counted up how many entries I'd had for the year, I was less than halfway to my target of fifty-two and it was almost November. I was disappointed I'd let it go on for so long, but then, I heard about NaNoWriMo.

As I'd said in my entry at the beginning on November, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, and while I didn't want to write a novel, it did give me the idea to write a blog entry every day for the month. Not only would it be a great way to challenge my blogging and writing skills, but it would take me up to my goal of fifty-two entries for the year.

Yesterday I'm happy to say, was my fifty-second entry of the year. It was a little accomplishment that I'm actually pretty proud of. I managed to hit my target, and with this entry, I'm surpassing it. There's still one more day left to November, and one more month left to 2012, so let's see what number I can hit by the end of the Year of Elizabeth. :)

The 10k Mark

Last night as I was posting my latest entry about Alias, I noticed that the counter at the bottom of the page had hit 10,000 views. It might not seem like a big deal, and really, it isn't. But for me, it felt like a little accomplishment. (Sad? Maybe. Do I care? Not really.)

I originally started this blog about three years ago for school. In my Humber College PR program, one of our courses was a social media course, and we had to sign up for Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and create a blog. While I don't use my Youtube account anymore, I tweet almost daily and LinkedIn is one of the websites I visit first when I turn my computer on in the mornings at work.

This blog has undergone a few changes over the years, and there have been months when I haven't written an entry at all, but I've managed to keep it chugging along somehow. I know some people are much more dedicated with their blogs, and have tens of thousands of visitors an oodles of entries, but that's not mine, and that doesn't matter to me. I'm proud of the variety of entries I've written over the past few years and the bits and pieces of my life I've shared. I'm looking forward to becoming more comfortable with blogging over time, and looking forward to seeing what direction it'll take me in next.

These are a few of my favourite things

Not having enough time to write a proper entry, I'm going to cheat a bit and write a quick little one with pictures of some of my favourite things I've found on Pinterest. Recipes, quotes, funny pictures, clothes, you name it. Maybe they're some of your favourite things too?

Have a great Saturday night!

Pizza at Piatto

One thing I really liked doing in Toronto while I lived there was exploring new restaurants around the city, and now that I live in St. John's again, I've been doing that here as well. Last night, I went to Piatto Pizzeria & Enoteca with one of my best friends for some delicious traditional Neapolitan pizza. 

I've dined at Piatto a few times before and thoroughly enjoyed it, and last night's meal was no different. I had a delicious Caesar salad and the Americana pizza, which is simply cheese and pepperoni, but coming from this scrumptious pizzeria it was anything but ordinary. To finish the meal off, C and I had the delicious beverages below: cappuccinos with biscotti flavoured Bailey's steamed into the milk, and dark chocolate shavings on top, with a side of biscotti. So good!

It was so great to see my wonderful friend and catch up on our lives again before she headed back to Ontario. I miss her very much and am looking forward to Christmas when we'll be reunited with the other girls again. Hurry up, Christmas! :)

Election Night.

I'm sitting in my living room watching CNN right now and all the USA election coverage. I know I'm just one of hundreds of millions of people watching this all around the world, and if I'm to believe the media, it's going to be a close race between Obama and Romney.

While this is my entry for November 7th and by the time it's posted, we'll know who the president of the United States of America is, for the moment we're still left wondering if Barack Obama will win a second term, or if Mitt Romney and the Republicans (almost sounds like a band name...) will be leading the most powerful country in the world from now on.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how close the results really are. Until tomorrow.

Transatlantic Tastes - Homemade Tomato Soup and Deconstructed Grilled Cheese

N and I were Skyping a few weeks ago and decided we needed to get cooking again. Transatlantic Tastes has been on hiatus for too long and we missed it! So, last weekend, we "got together" (via good ol' Skype) to whip up a delicious meal.

As it's now autumn and the leaves are changing and the weather's growing cooler, there's nothing like a delicious bowl of soup to warm you right up. That's why, when we were trying to pick our next recipe to try, I thought we should do something completely different from what we've done in the past: soup.

There are lots of different kinds of soup, but I picked one that is a personal favourite of mine: good ol' classic tomato. Jamie says this recipe is really simple, and he's not kidding - it's so simple. With an ingredient list that's comprised of all foods that you'd most likely already have in your fridge or pantry, whipping up a pot of this scrumptious soup can make anyone feel like an accomplished chef.

Along with the soup, I decided to make a grilled cheese sandwich, because nothing goes better with tomato soup than grilled cheese. Though again, I didn't want to do the traditional grilled cheese with the two slices of manufactured white bread and the processed cheese slice. Instead, I bought some freshly baked Italian style ciabatta bread and some fancy aged cheddar cheese and broiled it in the oven. The result was amazingly tasty!

This soup was so good, I invited my parents and brother over for dinner the next day to enjoy it, and they cleaned the pot out! And I loved making it so much, I made it again later in the week with the rest of ingredients I had in the fridge, and it was even better the second time. I've now divided it up into separate containers and this delicious meal will be great to take with me to work over the next couple of weeks.



Seriously, do yourself a favour and go make this soup. You'll impress yourself and any of your culinary critics. And let me know how it turns out!

The holiday season is upon us....sort of

Okay, so I know I said a few days ago that I was hopping on the Christmas bandwagon early this season, but when I was standing in Shoppers Drug Mart yesterday and, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" started playing, I couldn't help but burst out, "seriously?! Already?!"

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Christmas, but I don't start decorating on November 1st, unlike someone I know...

Anyway, one thing I couldn't resist today though, was the holiday menu at Starbucks. As one of my best friends is in town for the week, we decided to get together for brunch and catch up, so we headed downtown and started the holiday season off right with some delicious hot beverages from one of our favourite coffee shops.

The two treats I look forward to most from Starbucks during this festive season are the Peppermint Mocha and the Holiday Gingerbread Loaf. To me, they signify the start of the Christmas season. So while I might not be able to tolerate listening to Christmas music just yet, easing into the season with two of my two guilty pleasures is just fine with me.

And so it begins...

Today is the first day of November. Now that Halloween is over, I know a lot of people whose countdown to Christmas has officially begun, and this year, I have to admit, I'm getting excited early. I usually try to hold off on Christmas excitement until the first of December, but for some reason, I'm getting on the bandwagon early. It might have something to do with the fact that I've just seen a tweet from Starbucks Canada telling me their delicious Peppermint Mocha is back in season...yum.

Anyway, the first of November also signifies something else. November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. I know a couple of people who have taken part in this in the past, and I always thought it was a neat idea, but since it's now November and I don't have a story idea, I've decided to take on a different, but somewhat similar challenge for myself:

Instead of writing a part of a novel every day, I'm going to write a blog post every day. It's a big challenge for me, because as you can see, I haven't been as active in blogging as I was earlier in the year. But, now that 2012 is winding down, I want to put a final push on and finish the year off with a flourish!

So. Every day in November, I'll blog about something. It might be a longer entry about Transatlantic Tastes, or my favourite place to get coffee in the city, or it might even just be a short, simple musing about something or other. Regardless, I will blog. Every. Single. Day. of this month.

Wish me luck!! (I think I'm gonna need it...ha!)

You Write How You Speak or You Speak How You Write?

A few weeks ago, one of my co-workers and I were having a conversation about something and I was telling her a story. I have no idea what the story was about, but when I was finished, she was looking at me kind of funny, and after a pause, said, "Have you noticed that you talk the way you blog?" And I replied, "...what? What do you mean?" She said, "The way you speak is exactly the same way that you write your blog."

So that got me thinking. And then it got me re-reading some of my blog entries. But I didn't have to read much, because I already knew that what she'd said was true.

My good friend Sara, author of Gravitas & Giggles, coincidentally wrote a blog post similar to this a little while ago, and I happened across it earlier this week when I was writing my Recommended Reads Part 2 post. Sara really put it perfectly when she said her ears are her editors, and I think mine are the same.

As I write a blog entry, I can hear myself saying the words in my head, the same way I'd say them out loud. It's exactly the way I would say them if you and I were having a conversation. Heck, I'm doing it right now!

I guess I write the way I write (and speak) because I like my writing to be pretty simple. When I write a blog entry, it's usually for my own enjoyment, but I'm also thinking of the possibility that someone else is going to read it, and I want it to be an easy, enjoyable experience for them as well. I don't want them to have to tax their brain and wonder what a certain word means. So I keep it plain and simple.

When you work in communications and a large part of your work is written, you're always thinking about the flow of your writing. Whenever I write something, my brain is editing it at the same time, to make sure that what I'm trying to say makes sense in the best possible way. When it comes to blogging, I end up applying the same techniques. The PR girl in me crosses over into many other parts of my life, apparently!

So, fellow bloggers, what about your blogging styles? Do you find you do the same thing, or something similar? Are your ears your editors, as Sara said? Let me know!