Uptown 17th : The Big Cheese

Ever just crave poutine....or perogies? How about both?

The Big Cheese Poutinerie on 17th ave SW can give it to you.

This is one of those hole in the wall spots that is perfect for your lunch break, or for 2am post bar feasting, and I've enjoyed it for both those reasons. They've got like 30 odd flavours on the menu, sorted into what kind of meat your getting with all that cheese and gravey (or veggie options too!) along with a special each month.

On special, that I was sure to come back for again before the month was out, is the Perogy Poutine, Cheese Curds and Gravy, plus caramelized onions, bacon bits and sour cream....oh and whole perogies fried up fresh as well!

 Turns out I wasn't the only one coming back for it, because they added it to the regular menu. (Which is maybe a good thing cause it's amazing...and maybe bad, because I haven't tried any other flavours since).

Anyways you can see what I pigged out on for lunch today....sooo much goodness in one small paper box.

If you love poutine, I challenge you to find a better place in this city to get it, or with friendlier staff. Big Cheese, you have a special place in my heart...and in my stomach!

August 2012 Recap

Wow I can't believe summer already over. This morning I woke up to find the temperature outside was a brisk 6 degrees, and when I was home in the Soo last weekend, about 10% of the trees had already turned their leaves. While fall is possibly my favourite season (as I was telling the boy this morning, nothing beats the smells of fall) this has been a great summer, and August has been an exciting month for my little old blog. So let's take a look back why don't we?

This August saw me hitting a whopping 25 followers on GFC, which I am very proud of, thank you very much; as well as over 5000 page views (equally as much as I'd had since I started on this blog over a year ago). I also had my most post happy month, with this one being number 22!

I made some major changes round here, rearranging my layout a couple times to include things like social networking icons on the left and button swaps on the right (if you're interested, send me an email).

On to my favourite posts in Aug!


I ran in Calgary's Spartan Race with the Boy, and received the most page view ever from a reddit bump!

I reflected back on my childhood, inspired by Hasbro's return of the Furby.

Sarah and I went down to YYC Taste the Trucks 2, and I stuffed my face in the sunshine.

And speaking of delicious food, I finally had breakfast at Galaxy Diner, after nearly a full year of living right around the corner.

Anyways, I hope your August's were just as eventful! Now I get to start looking forward to Sept, to welcoming new (foolish) grad students to Calgary (why would you have voluntarily signed yourself up for this), to taking my final Graduate class, to finishing my research proposal once and for all, to another round of begging the government for money, and to enjoying myself as much as I can before winter sets in.

~Cheers,
   Sara

Sparked My Pinterest 02

While I patiently wait for a Picaboo album to load so I can order it with a living social voucher... I thought I'd share with you all another edition of Sparked My Pinterest.

Stuff to Make - a quilt is on my bucket list this year, and this one is so easy!

Source: imperfecthomemaking.com via Sara on Pinterest

Items to Buy - These soaps remind me of my friend Steph... so much fun!

Source: etsy.com via Sara on Pinterest

Things to Wear - fall is coming, and this looks like exactly what I want to be wearing

Source: tallgirltales.tumblr.com via Sara on Pinterest

Eventually - not that this would be anytime in the near future, but these feathers in the place of a veil, perfect!

Source: honestlywtf.com via Sara on Pinterest

Come and Pin along with me!

Button, Button, Who's got the Button

If you look over to the right side of the screen, you'll notice there's a new side bar there.

And what might be on it? Well, Up at the top you'll find a link to my featured Great Canadian Bloggers Page.

If you stopped by on Friday, then you know that Nicole from Gypsy in Jasper was my first featured Canadian Blogger!

And what's underneath it, why my first button swap partner, Kit from What a Peach!


Are you interested in swapping buttons with me? If you are send me and email!


~~~

In other news, my trip back to Ontario was great this weekend, but now I'm kinda glad to be spending the next nearly 2 months not flying anyways, and working my ass off in the lab!

A-Z post...these are fun!

Sometimes it's just fun to do one of these silly things. This one came to me via Miss Indie's blog. Enjoy!

A= Available - Nope! he's a lucky man!

B= Best Friend - My mom, even tho we fight like the two Italian women we are sometimes.

C= Cake or pie - Cake but not chocolate.

D= Drink of choice - Coke when I'm being bad (right now) otherwise water from the fridge.

E= Essential item you use everyday - blackberry.... it lives within a meter of me at all times.

F= Favorite color - Teal/turquoise...I died the ends of my hair that colour.

G= Gummy bears or worms - the gummy worms with the sugar coating.

H= Hometown - Sault Ste. Marie, Ont (but I was born in Orangeville)

I= Indulgences - reading fantasy novels until late into the night.

J= January or February - February...my birthday!

K= Kids and Names - No kids yet.

L= Life is incomplete without? - Family, the one thing I hate so much about living away from the Soo, being away from my giant family.

M= Marriage date - Sometime in the future...maybe a winter wedding?

N= Number of siblings - 1 younger brother.

O= Oranges or apples - apples...but I have to cut them with a knife into wedges.

P= Phobias or Fears - tonnes... afraid to drown would be the biggest one.

Q= Favorite Quote - 'Sit tight, take hold, thunder road' and I got it tattooed on.

R= Reason to smile - Jenna Marbles (huge girl crush here)

S= Season - Fall, I love the smell of leaves decomposing.

T= Tag 3 or 4 people - you're it! but we're playing toilet tag!

U= Unknown fact about me - Sometimes I get afraid of the dark in my own apartment at night.

V= Vegetable you don't like - Can't think of one, veggies are good, especially grilled.

W= Worst habit - Nit pick my skin sometimes.

X= X-rays - Most recently...lungs for a cough that lasted months a couple years ago.

Y= Your favorite food - Perogies! making my own is on my to-do list. (done!)

Z= Zodiac Sign - Aquarius... we have our own song.

Great Canadian Bloggers - Gypsy in Jasper

For my very first featured Great Canadian Blogger, I'd like to introduce you all to:

Nicole, the lovely lady behind Gypsy in Jasper.

While I've been following her blog for quite a while now, this week, I took the opportunity to get to know Nicole a little better by asking her some questions.

How long have you been blogging for? 

• Since January of 2011.

Describe your blog in 12 words or less.

• Rants, ramblings and outfits of a wandering vagabond currently living in Jasper. 

What are some of your favourite posts?

• On being an old lady (I totally agreed with Nicole here, a Wednesday hangover is the last thing I want)
• A plea to cat lady bloggers (I lol'd hard when I read this one, but then I don't have a cat)
• Outfit post blooper reel (all the pictures that don't quite make the cut)
• Thankful Tuesdays: the body edition (very honest, awesome and empowering)

What's your day job?

•  I'm a small town reporter/photographer for a newspaper.

How do you incorporate blogging into your busy schedule?

• I usually blog in the evenings. I'll admit that sometimes I don't want to, but I generally force myself to sit down and write for half an hour to an hour. I don't like to commit too many hours to my blog because I feel like that takes away from my time living and experiencing things that I can then blog about. To make blogging six times a week manageable, sometimes, when I'm really inspired, I set aside an evening to pump out a few posts and then I can just take it easy and ride those out for awhile.

Do you eat maple syrup with something that's not pancakes/waffles?

• Well, this is still waffles, but we make fried chicken and waffles, which I eat with maple syrup, sriracha and ketchup! Yum!

What inspires you most to continue to produce awesome content for your blog?

• For me, it's a way to document what I'm doing at that very moment. I used to be an avid journal writer when I was kid, but somewhere down the line (once my life was actually exciting enough to document), I lost the motivation to write for myself. So having a blog is a great way to keep a record of what I'm up to, while also meeting new people. I have to say, the people who read and comment on my blog are a great source of encouragement and inspiration. Without them I may have quit months ago!

What Canadian stereotype would you say closest applies to you?

• Probably friendly, hospitable and accommodating. Here's a story to prove it: In 2010, I moved to Yellowknife, NWT, which is a bit intimidating when you're a southerner who has never experience -40 C. Once I got my bearings, I made it my mission to be a one-woman welcome wagon for any new reporters who came to work at my paper. I did it because I wanted to make sure those people didn't feel lonely in this remote, new place and I also wanted to ensure that when they left the North, whether it was within months or years, they would remember it fondly. Basically, I just want everyone to have a good time and feel welcome wherever they go.

If you could live anywhere else in the world (apart from Canada) where would it be?

• That's a tough question for me because for the last few years I've made it mission to work and live in every province and territory in Canada. So really, I never even consider living outside of this beautiful country of ours. I guess, if you really twisted my arm, I'd probably say Holland because both of my parents are Dutch immigrants, so going to Holland would be a great way to reconnect with my extended family.

What YouTube video or Internet meme makes you laugh the hardest?

• Haha. I love this question because I am always way behind on YouTube videos and memes. I seriously don't give them the time of day. If I had to chose one, though, it would be the "Hey Girl" meme with Ryan Gosling. I just love seeing feminism making its way into pop culture.

Anything else you'd like to say?

•  Yes! Of course there is. I'd like to say thank-you to Sara for choosing me as a Great Canadian Blogger. I am so honoured. I don't know that I'm great, but I am definitely Canadian and proud of it.

Thanks so much Nicole for agreeing to be my first featured Great Canadian Blogger! I had a tonne of fun putting together these questions and hearing your answers! 

The Campaign : Laughed until I had tears in my eyess.

Last night the boy and I bbq'd a super tasty dinner (chicken breast with asparagus risotto stuffed grilled red peppers and spinach and strawberry salad) and then went out for a Tuesday cheep night movie.

We saw the Campaign, since in features two of my favourite funny men, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis (seriously every time I see him walking a tiny dog, my whole world gets happier).

This was definitely a hit, I'd highly recommend it. Chuck full of improvised one liners that get a laugh every time, good old fashioned slap stick chuckles, and some real wit at the expense of politicians everywhere.

And I won't spoil it for you, but the maid may have been the funniest part in my opinion, although the Huggins family dinner was out of control (way better than even the trailer lead me to believe).