{and the winner of the Boutique Karma giveaway is...}

Marie-Ève Ouellet!

Congrats! You win one Mug hugger or Coffee Sleeve of your choice from Boutique Karma. Check your email for more info.

{Oh la la, it’s giveaway time!}

You know the feeling of great accomplishment you get when you find exactly what you're looking for on Etsy? Well, I got it x100 when I found Boutique Karma, this little gem of a shop a couple of months ago. (And bonus, it's local for me, which is even more awesome!)

I bought Aromatherapy Eye Pillow for my mom and my husband (hum yeah, I admit I steal my husband's one each night when he's asleep) and they both love it. Honestly, I'm the kind of girl who's always stressed and needs an hour or two before falling asleep each night and this eye pillow helps me relax. My mom uses it to relieve her sinus pain and headaches. The pillows contain lentils & flaxseed for cold and hot therapy and 1/3 of lavender de Provence. 

I also bought a very cool mug hugger for my brother's girlfriend. Wrap it around your mug, attach it through the handle with a small elastic to a cute vintage button and there you go! "Between two layers of fabric lies a layer of Thermolam batting to keep the beverage a bit warmer (and your hands toasty)! It's perfect for the coffee drinker who likes to hug the sides of the mug to drink rather than the handle."

She also makes lovely coffee sleeves. Gosh I love all the patterns and fabric she uses! Have you looked at them? A coffee cozy makes the world a little greener and it dress up your cup. 

Looooove it. 

Now, let's have fun! Tara from Boutique Karma is offering a Coffee sleeve or a Mug hugger of the winner's choice and a coupon code of 10% off any order to all my blog readers!

Coupon code

During checkout, enter this coupon code to get 10% off: plume

  

Giveaway – How to enter

   1. Become a follower of my blog an leave a comment below to let me know.

   2. Go to Boutique Karma and leave a comment on this post saying which item is your favourite.

*For an additional entry, like Boutique Karma on Facebook.  Don't forget to leave a comment on this post when it's done!

Good luck! I will pick a winner Monday, January 24, through random.org.

{dress up your walls}

I love Kim Vallee's blog and the unique ideas I find there. She posted an article about temporary wallpaper. You can read it here. How cool is that?

{how to cure my christmas blues}

Christmas tree, see ya next December. I loved you. You brightened our evenings and your were an awesome motivation and help in the baby crawling department. 

Oh, shopping, how did I miss you. Our date yesterday was amazing. Spending Christmas money on clothes and shoes is one of the best therapies to cure the Christmas blues I feel each year. With my smiling baby in his stroller, my lovely friend (who is also my cousin and my twin sister…), a full of essentials diaper bag and perfect-for-shopping-flat-boots, we hit the mall. Oh H&M, I love you. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to find nice and affordable clothes when this store didn’t exist here. I remember going to Urban Outfitters but that’s about it. 

I bought cute ballerinas. 

A gorgeous deep blue dress. I’m in love. A shirt dress AND I found the nicest belt to add just a little touch to it. Some camis and pyjamas just because they are actually my best friends. Oh and some cute little things for my niece who’s going to be born in the next days! And I can’t tell ya what I found because hey, my sister-in-law is stalking here! ;-)

On my shopping list, there are still LOTS of things. If you have any idea where I can find nice ones, please share with me. I will browse Etsy for sure but it can be so time consuming. 

I need a camera strap, headbands (to keep my funky post-partum hair in some sort of control), a new pair of jeans (to fit my wider hips and still give me a nice silhouette), white t-shirts (you would think it’s easy to find but no – they are see through, too big, too small, too cheap, too expensive (really, $55?)…) and taupe flat boots. And a new scarf. 

Frack I hate when the paper case stays glued to my cake.

{christmas memories - part 2: the food}

For me, lots of memories are associated with food. Childhood comfort food, my grandma’s soup, my mom’s cookies... Kraft Dinner and sandwiches as a student and all the cooking my husband now does for me. On Christmas Eve 2010, the menu was all mine. Decided by me, cooked by me. Here is it, with the recipes included.

It began with a very simple and festive drink. Cranberry juice, fresh cranberries and sparkling wine. Then, on each plate, I put a printed menu.

Antipasti

---

Chilled Zucchini and Orange Soup

---

Fleur de sel and aged balsamic vinegar filet mignon

&Asian pear and avocado salad

---

Cheeses plate

---

Raspberry Bûche de Noël

Antipasti

The table was set with lots of antipasti. Cantaloupe and honeydew melon with whole peppercorns, prosciutto, salami, grissinis, home-made bruschetta and tapenade, etc. If you're interested in the bruschetta and tapenade recipes, just tell me.

Chilled Zucchini and Orange Soup

The recipe is here: Ricardo Cuisine

I didn’t add the yogurt to the soup as said in step 4. The soup was delicious without it and I decided to just put a big spoon of plain full of fat yogurt on top of the soup just before serving. 

Fleur de sel and aged balsamic vinegar filet mignon

For the filet mignon, it is so very easy. Put coarse salt on an already heated non-adhesive pan, add the filet mignon on top of it and cook on each side. When ready, put fleur de sel on the piece of meat and a little beat of aged balsamic vinegar. Tasty, simple, perfect.

Asian pear and avocado salad 

Dressing: Mix 45 ml of olive oil, 45 ml of dried cranberries, 30 ml of lime juice, 10 ml of honey, 5 ml of jalapeno pepper, 5 ml of Dijon mustard. Add salt and pepper.

Salad: Mix a Boston lettuce with 1 big Asian pear and 1 big Granny Smith apple cut into pieces. Right before serving, add avocado, fleur de sel and the dressing. Done!

For the cheese plate we had a selection of Quebec cheese. Goat, brie, a very stinky one, a one who tasted ‘animal’ and another one I can’t remember. 

The Bûche was perfect and my sister-in-law brought a plate full of cookies and other goodies for the greedier of us. 

And now, I’m hungry.