Music, what would we do without you?

Music is that thing that makes me feel good at the end of a long week when I want to let loose, makes my commute to work bearable, and can soothe absolutely any mood I am in. As a music enthusiast, I am going to be talking a lot about it on this blog. From my very first Backstreet Boys concert in grade 6, to literally stalking bands in high school, and more recently having acquired a greater appreciation for DJ'ing and its art, music has always been a huge part of my life. Music where I can hear real people playing the instruments, and the artist sounds the same live as on their album, has mostly stolen my heart, but I have interests in a little bit of everything. 

My friend Emma is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate in this sector, and has her own blog dedicated to this love. You can check it out here. She started this amazing little project called WHY MUSIC, and asked people to submit photos sharing an experience and/or why music is so meaningful to them. Go here and check it out! Anyone can make a submission. Here was mine:

I could go on and on about why I personally love music. But more recently in my life, the times that have really stood out for me are from my job. When I was in University, I was doing a lot of work in long-term care. At one particular hospital, I would have conversations with the music therapist there that blew my mind. An experience I witnessed was what my submission was about- working with a lady in her 90's, extremely sick and depressed, and denied participating in any activities we were offering with the patients. She didn't even want one-on-one time with any of us. But she did have sessions with the music therapist. She would listen to songs from her past and play instruments too. At this time she had completely revived, and was actually enjoying herself. This was absolutely amazing to see. 

Another more recent example is in my current work- working with children with autism. These kids have deficits with verbal communication. We have to teach them to talk. But one of the kids I work with knows entire lyrics to his favourite songs, and will halt all negative behaviours when these songs are playing. It is nothing short of amazing to witness and be a part of.

So music always has and always will be a huge part of my life. I am always doing research about new music, and giving everything a listen. In the future I will be sharing artists with you I love, and experiences I have. Feel free to share some music with me too!

For now I will leave you with a playlist of some songs I have been loving lately. Have a listen!

Elephant- Tame Impala
Love Is Greed- Passion Pit
Rome- Phoenix
Ritual Union- Little Dragon
Off To The Races- Lana Del Rey
Yet Again- Grizzly Bear
Something Good Can Work- Two Door Cinema Club
Anything Could Happen- Ellie Goulding
You Are the Ocean and I'm Good At Drowning- Phantogram
Pirate In the Water- Santigold
Shooting Stars- Bag Raiders
The Hours- Beach House
I Look To You- Miami Horror
Nueva Nueva- Think About Life
Sans Soleil- Miike Snow
Safe and Sound- Capital Cities
Time To Wander- Gypsy & the Cat
Somebody To Love Me- Mark Ronson and the Business International

Recipe- Quinoa with Sweet Potatoes and Goat Cheese

Another thing that I absolutely LOVE is cooking. I like to cook as often as possible and luckily enjoy doing so. I'm always looking for new recipes and trying my own things too. I often find a recipe and alter it to whatever I like/have in my fridge at the time. I give full credit for this recipe to my beautiful sister, Lana. THANK YOU for this recipe. It has become a favourite of mine and I just have to share it. This is a quinoa salad, with pretty much all the tastiest ingredients you could ask for all put together in one delicious dish. This can be a meal on its own; containing sweet potatoes, chick peas, goat cheese AND quinoa... you will not be lacking on protein, that's for sure. It could also go alongside fish, chicken... anything that you love to eat really. That's why cooking is amazing.. there are no rules. Just you, your tastebuds, and your imgination.

Here's what you'll need

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes

2 Cups Water or Vegetable Stock

1 Cup Quinoa

4 Green Onions

2 cups chickpeas

½ cup Soft Goat Cheese

¼ cup Fresh Basil

6 TBSP Light Oil of your choice (I used Vegetable Oil)

3 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

To start you want to cook your sweet potatoes. If you have the time, cook them in the oven. Preheat your oven to 425 F. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and cook them with the skin on for about 45 - 60 mins. Then let them cool, peel them, and cut them into 1/2 inch cubes.

If you DON'T have the time, peel your sweet potatoes, cube them, and MICROWAVE them. Put the cubes in a microwave safe dish, and put saran over it (yes, if you were wondering, you can put saran in the microwave. Just don't let it touch your food). I cooked mine for a total of 10 minutes, but I have an extremely old and probably weak microwave, so it might be less for you. I cooked mine for 3 minutes at a time, poking them to see if they were done, and adding more time when necessary.

While your potatoes are cooking, you're going to cook your quinoa. If you are using water, or have a stock that is already made, then you can skip this next step. I'm using a vegetable bouillon, so I boiled 2 cups of water, put my bouillon in, and then set it aside in a different dish.

In that same pot, put 1 tbsp of olive oil in the bottom and put your heat to medium. Pour your quinoa in DRY, and stir the quinoa constantly until you hear some crackling sounds. Be very careful with this step, and don't put your heat up too high or it will burn, and not taste good at all. After you've done that for just a couple minutes, pour in your water or stock. 

Put your heat on high to bring it to a boil, and then immediately turn down to low and put a lid on. If you've never cooked quinoa before, it cooks like rice. You know it's done when all the water is absorbed. Check on it every 5 minutes or so. When all the water is gone, fluff it with a fork.

Chop your green onions and basil, and rinse your chick peas.

Now that all your ingredients are prepared, you want your quinoa and sweet potatoes to cool down. You can definitely add them in hot, and make this a hot dish. I personally prefer it cold, especially because I like the goat cheese to stay crumbled, and not melt. When you don't have a lot of time, you do what you gotta do to speed up the process. Such as placing your ingredients in front of an open window... hahaha. Luckily it was not a typical winter day when I made it this time, so I could do this without freezing anything!

Then combine your quinoa and sweet potatoes with your chick peas, green onions, basil, and crumbled goat cheese. Then pour over your oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. And voila!

Bon appetit!

Pure Vanity

 A few months ago, I was privileged to receive a beautiful vanity from my Grandmother. It was in the house my grandparents inherited from family when I was very young, so the exact age of it is unknown. But it definitely has some years on it, and has aged gracefully. It is so old and gorgeous, as you can see in the picture, it even caves in slightly in the middle (which has apparently been like so for quite some time, but I will eventually fix up to make sure it lasts as long as possible). 

The lamp on the top is attached to it, and the stool is what has been used with it as far back as my Grandmother can remember. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun it is to sit at, along with completing my look every morning. I truly feel like princess, and if time allowed, I would sit at it all day long. I am going to share how I have decorated and organized everything in this delightful piece of furniture I now own. To start off, the standing mirror on the left side is from Winners, and has one regular mirror side, and a magnified side. 

I have 3 pots on there which, YES, are FLOWER POTS! My Mom works at Connon Nurseries in Burlington, Ontario, and when I found out I would be getting this vanity, her and I did a little shopping. My Mom is an amazing artist in her own right with quite an eye, and is always helping me with creative ideas, such as using flower pots for storage- something I wouldn't have thought of on my own. We found these 3 pretty ones we thought would be perfect.

The first one I use to hold eye products- mascara, eyeliners, primers.

The second one I use to hold my brushes, and in the bottom I put pea-sized glass balls I purchased from Michael's to help the brushes stand up straight.

The third one I use to hold lip glosses and lip liners.

This next little organizer, I purchased from Dollarama. It sits in the middle and holds every day face products- foundations, primers, setting spray, and a brush cleanser. 

The vanity also has 4 small drawers. They are the perfect size to fit my little makeup collection. All the plastic organizers are from Dollarama, and I found them in a couple different shapes and sizes.

The organizer on the left of this drawer is also from Dollarama, and is the same material as the one that holds my face products. It has 3 sections, and when I saw it I thought it would be perfect for holding lipsticks.

And last but not least, I thought it would be nice to add something non-storage related, and a little personal decorative touch. This is one of a few owls I have been collecting lately, and thought it really finished off the look I wanted.

If you love the vanity style, or are thinking of a way to create your own vanity, try looking at putting multiple pieces together instead of trying to find one piece. I have seen countless tables and mirrors put together that give the same look, and can be much more affordable. Get a table that is low enough that you can sit at and still see yourself in the mirror. Also make sure it isn't solid in the middle so you have room to slide yourself in. Find a mirror with a frame you love, and rest it on the back of your table, letting it lean against the wall. This will give that illusion of it being one piece. 

Here are a few DIY's I found on Pinterest:

From Living beautifully one DIY step at a time

From Design Cocktail

From Martha Stewart

Painting a piece of old furniture can completely transform it and you have the freedom to pick colours and detailing. Same thing goes for mirrors. Also think of different things you can use for storage, and don't be afraid to check out discount stores. Just like furniture, when you use your creativity, you can make anything look however you please.