Last Week's Likes

Breakfast on the weekend

There is just something special about breakfast on the weekend. You can make it lazily. Breakfast can magically turn into brunch. You can try a new recipe or ingredient. Breakfast can be unhealthy/healthy. You usually enjoy breakfast with others that you love.

Weekend breakfast beats weekday breakfast any day!

This Saturday my mum and I enjoyed: A slice of wholewheat toast slathered in fluffy ricotta cheese topped with two medium poached eggs and garnished with sautéed buttery onions and mushrooms and a sprig of something green. We liked it so much that we did a replay on Sunday morning.

Saturday we garnished it with basil. Sunday we garnished it with cilantro/coriander. I think I prefer basil but both worked well as a garnish.

Saturday's breakfast (garnished with basil)

Teatime at the Yacht Club Barbados

I have been going to the Yacht Club since I was a new born. I have grown up playing on the swing set, frolicking in the sea, playing hide-and-seek in the boathouse, attending sailing camp and tennis lessons after school.

I have now graduated to lolling in the sea, rum punches and afternoon tea.

The one thing that has remained consistent from my tot days to my young twenties (besides the green beach tables, the main clubhouse decor, the bar/kitchen staff, the swing set (I guess the Yacht Club is a pretty consistent place) is tea time! 

A spot of tea with a slice of cinnamon toast with a Bajan Sunset - is not a bad combo my friend! Consequently it is a Last Week's Like: as I do not get there too often.

Generic white china — got to love the simplicity!

Macaroni and Cheese (indulgence)

Last week I indulged big time: I had my all time childhood favourite processed comfort food - KRAFT DINNER.

Mum and I had a lazy Saturday night — stayed in, watched "The Blind Side" and indulged in the tried and true Macaroni and Cheese. This is such a rare occurrence and I loved every minute of it.

Spending the weekend with my mum

When the boys are away the girls will play!

With Dad off sailing mum and I had the weekend to do girly things. We went out for dinner, went to an estate sale, tea at the Yacht Club, movie night in, visited Hunte's Gardens, and had lunch at The Crane hotel with old family friends.

It was a great weekend! 

Mum at Hunte's Gardens

Some helpful links: 

Step by step instructions on How to Poach an Egg without buying any contraptions: HERE

You can find out more information on The Barbados Yacht Club: HERE

You can see reviews on the movie The Blind Side: HERE

Fun Photo Friday

I decided to feature a "fun" photo on Fridays.

It will be a photo that I have taken and it will either be of a creative nature or something random that makes you laugh, smile, say "awww"/"oohhh".

So today I randomly selected a creative photo that had a slightly accidental conception.

When I took this photo I decided to leave the shutter on the camera open (the lens) because it was a low light environment and I had a tripod. I pushed the picture-taking button and at that very moment I had completely forgot at what shutter speed the camera was set. Uh-oh! As soon as I took this photo the little monitor on the camera goes black and I had no way (that I know) of checking this pretty vital bit of manuel picture-taking information. No biggie... right?

So I wait - figure something is happening and the processed photo will eventually pop up on monitor.

Continue waiting.

Begin to inspect finger nails because I am still waiting.

Nothing.

So I pick up my camera, due to impatience and click - the shutter closes and up pops the photo on the monitor.

TAAAA - DAAAA!

I had the shutter open for a whole 30 seconds. No wonder I had time to inspect my nails.

The photo isn't amazing but it is a beautiful mistake. The warm glow and the streaks of light. I like it... a lot.

Hence it is my first "Fun Photo Friday" Photo (now that is a mouthful).

Photo was taken at Timothy Oulton's furniture showroom in Barbados.

ps. It's Friday!!!!

Find out more about leaving your shutter open HERE

Find out more about the Timothy Oulton store and brand HERE

Last Week's Likes

I like structure. I like being somewhat organized. I like consistency.

As a result of the above likes, I have decided to do a post a week (I will be aiming to post it every Monday even though it is now Tuesday) that tells you about some things I liked about the previous week. These likes will be random. They will be in no particular order. They will give you a little insight into me and they will hopefully spark other posts (fingers crossed).

So Last Week's Likes are:

Publishing a blog post
Slightly insignificant but a Week's Like nonetheless. Three months is a long hiatus to take from this little blog, however: "distance makes the heart grow fonder" (I think). So I am back and I am fond of my return.

Beetroot Slaw
I have a soft spot for healthy food and oddly not a soft spot for soft serve ice-cream (it is STRANGE but I am not complaining). Due to my odd tendency to gravitate to healthy food options, I occasionally pop into healthy food stores, endlessly browse through healthy food blogs, and more-than-I-would-like-to-admit I buy random ingredients and stash them in my parents' freezer or pantry with the intention to make/create/discover something healthy.
On this note, last week's discovery and now consequently a Week's Like is a raw beetroot slaw (can't say I was a beet buyer before but now they might just magically appear in the fridge more often).
For the slaw all I did was:
- peel beets
- then grate beets
- then dress beets with some olive oil, lemon juice
- then season beets with salt, pepper, fresh coriander, garlic
- and finally - eat and enjoy beets
It was simple, nutritious, delicious, healthy and cheap! I was inspired by Maria's Toasted Buckwheat and Beetroot Salad over at Scandi Foodie (one of my fav healthy food blogs).

Greenery
Last week I took a few minutes, ventured into my garden and cut myself some green leaves for my bedroom and bathroom. Arranging some greenery in lovely vases and then into living spaces - made me happy. This is something I got to keep up :)

Supporting the Fam
My dad and his brothers sailed in the Mount Gay Rum Round Barbados Race 2012. The lovely crew of the Whistler, a J105 with a bright green spinnaker, sailed spectacularly and placed 2nd in their class. The supporters/spectators/my mum and I followed the boats by land, stopping at different points on the island to watch (not an easy sport to spectate). Our last spectating spot was my favourite. We sat at Tapas where we promptly ordered a bottle of bubbly (the reason is the next like) and were given a complimentary dessert by my very talented friend, Anni.

Prosecco with a Bittersweet Chocolate Tart and homemade Pistachio Ice-Cream!  

New Member of the Family (saving the best for last)
Theodore is the newest member of the Lewis family. He was born on Saturday and I had the pleasure of meeting the little dude on Sunday. I got a cuddle - he is very precious!

Toodles x

2012 - here we go!

Here I am again and this time I am not apologizing for my absence in the last 3 months... simply because I have done a fair bit. So to get back into the blogging groove, I am going to share some of my accomplishments/things-I-did-that-kept-me-away-from-blogging in the last 3 months in no particular order.

I bought a new camera. (BIG DEAL)

I upgraded from my Canon Rebel to a Canon 60D - so far I love it even though it burnt a hole in my pocket. It is easy to use, fun flip around screen, better in low light situations, and there is video (a completely new and exciting area to explore).

My child

I received my second photography award.
I entered two photographs into NIFCA (a local competition) and I received a bronze for my macro (a big picture of something tiny) photograph entitled "Eye of the Storm". Try and guess what the photograph is of (answer at the bottom of the post).

I single handedly hung a gallery wall in my bedroom of B&W photographs.
Eventually I will do a post on how I did this successfully and stress free but below is a little tease of what it looks like.

Old photographs

I had a vacation and enjoyed Christmas.
I smartly took off the three days in between the Christmas long weekend and the New Years long weekend et voila - a mini vacation that lasted a glorious 10 days. This was necessary because Christmas is always a busy time of the year.

I have planned and paid for my next vacation.
I am heading up to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Toronto, Ontario (all in Canada) in February to visit some special people. I am extremely excited and can't wait to dress up in winter clothes (bought some new things to update my university winter wardrobe), do winter things, go to a Canadian grocery store, and go out for fresh seafood dinners.

Me in Ottawa and I want to say this is in 2006

I sold my first photograph.
Actually I sold four of my photographs to a local interior designer - Studio J Designs. It was a last minute job that I grabbed by the reins and ran with it. And bonus - she liked and bought my stuff. Amazing!

One of the photographs I sold :)

I set big-ish goals for 2012... all achievable.
Will let you know what they are when they are completed - not ready to share these yet.

Will blog again soon :P at least that is the plan!

ps. Answer is - the eye of a dead fish on an overcast day.