Free Stuff!! & best meatloaf ever!

Now that I have your attention: FREE STUFF!!....seriously!

As a part of the Globe & Mails' Smart Cookie section, they have an article, Where to find free stuff. A favorite of mine is free samples! We always get too many bills, letters,boring stuff etc. in the mail so why not sign up and get something good for once!

One of my personal favorite free items is the Kraft What's Cooking magazine (link is to the online version). They have really simple and great recipes- using mostly Kraft products which are great because they are accessible, affordable and easy (I like easy, obviously). They also have a feature where you enter ingredients that you have, you select for what meal and they suggest a recipe! So neat!

Also, check out my favorite recipe of all-time, Favorite Meatloaf which primarily relies on a box of Stove Top Stuffing mix- so easy, so good and really yummy! You can also try making it in a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan to make little meat loafs that freeze really well!

Oh and while the meatloaf is cooking, freshen up your ipod with Meatloaf "I would do anything for love", awesome love ballad, and extra Meatloaf in your day, but no more calories!

A country song pour vous!

I am not one for country music. It's not my thing but, on a rare occasion, I find a wonderfully delightful country song, or pseudo-country as I refer to it (therefore it is not a full on country song liking), that I love.

Enter Lady Antebellum I Need You Now. I assure you, as a non-country music fan that this song is amazing! So pretty & sweet- good song to break up some of the other louder and harder songs on the ipod. Oh, plus it helps that they're all fairly smokin hot lol..

So check out the video, hope you enjoy and hope it makes an appearance in your play lists!

p.s. pseudo-country 1, cole 0.

Cleaning out your closet!

It is such a beautiful day here in Halifax today! Although it is only 5 degrees, it feels like 30 since we're just coming off of winter. Ofcourse, nice weather brings about spring cleaning.

I just wanted to share my experience related to spring cleaning- recently I cleaned out my closet (I have way too many clothes that I don;t wear) and brought them to a consignment shop. For those of you not familiar with consignment shops, basically you take your clothes that you don't want and they sell them for you. The standard amount is they keeo 60% and you keep 40% of whatever the item sells for. It's a pretty good deal if you don't wear the clothes and want to make a little bit of money. The shop I deal with, Put me on (Queen Street, Halifax) sets up an account with you and you can periodically check-in to see if your clothes sold. In my contract, I opted to have the clothes donated if they don't sell after a certain period of time ( a few months or so). It is really nice because they then donate your clothes to charitys that they have selected.

So, let the weather inspire you today to clean out your closet! Don't forget about other charities that also accept clothing donations such as The Salvation Army Thrift Store (in Halifax, they have student discount days!) and also the Canadian Diabetes Association who actualyl takes items that you donate (ps they will acutally send a truck to your house to pick stuff up if you arrange it!) and they sell it to Value Village (neat eh?) They also have those big red boxes in the parking lots found at Superstore. For more information on their Clothesline program as it is called, click here.

A little bit overwhelmed by your closet? Here is a site that offers a cool "box method" of how to sort your clothes and figure out what you actually need!

Own a piece of Canadian Parliament!

Over Spring Break, stemming from discussions on giant Canadian flags seen about, a friend tipped me off to an interesting little diddy!

You can actually put your name on a list to receive the flags that are flown on Parliament Hill! I copy and pasted the info below (check out the wait list time: 19 years for the small flag and 27 for the big flag!!!!!!!!!)

Anyways really neat, check it out and perhaps write in if you know what your address will be in 19-27 years :)

Canadian Flag
Add your name to the waiting list for a Canadian flag that has flown on Parliament Hill
To request a flag that has flown on Parliament Hill, you must send a written request with your name, complete home address, telephone number as well as your choice of flag.

The approximate waiting period is currently:

Flag Size Pole requirements Waiting period
Peace Tower flag 230 cm x 460 cm 10.7 m pole 27 years
East Block flag 137.2 cm x 274.3 cm 9.1 m pole 19 years
West Block flag 137.2 cm x 274.3 cm 7.9 m pole 19 years

Our policy is to give only one flag per household. As these flags are paid for by Canadian taxpayers, they are given to residents and are not sent outside of Canada. Should you move before having received your flag, it is your responsibility to notify our office of your change of address so that we may update your file.

To request a flag or to report a change of address, please contact PWGSC by letter, facsimile or e-mail:

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Office of the Minister
18A1, Portage III
11 Laurier Street
Gatineau, QC
K1A 0S5

Fax: 819-953-1908
E-mail: Minister@pwgsc-tpsgc.gc.ca

Wanting the same side of the bed

Immediate annulment of relationship- it just can't work! One of you would have to suffer for t he rest of your life (even if you traded off days, someone is always hating life!).

Oh and the picture above? That's the solution to this if an annulment is too expensive (kidding p.s.)- the cheeseburger bed! There's no side- it's round!

Alright I'm being extreme! So if this is you, perhaps you could focus on making your apartment or house awesome to make up for the lack of sound sleeping by checking out Apartment Therapy, a cool website with ideas and solutions for people in apartments (or houses really).

It has a really cool feature where you can check out other people's houses in some trendy cities in the states. Basically it's my secret favorite thing to do (I'm talking about seeing people's houses at night and seeing what the inside looks like! Admit it, you do too. I'm not the only one)- except this is more socially acceptable and less invasive.

Enjoy peeping and getting ideas :)

Wedding Shower gift (sorry dudes :))

I stumbled upon this blog, First Comes Love, when I was googling a quote and it's a really cute blog, the lady is from Arkansas and also has a shop on etsy. Anywho, she blogged about a really cute idea for a wedding shower. And since I've come to the conclusion that I'm old, and that I am finding myself looking for ideas such as this, I've decided to share it!

Basically you pick one of your favorite recipes and put together a package or a basket that has all the non-perishable ingredients/utensils/instructions etc. so that when they happy couple returns from their honeymoon (probably sans groceries), they have a delicious meal just waiting to be cooked. And, as I know from some of my friends who have gotten married, some newly married women feel domestic and homey once married and love to cook- so this is a really cute idea!

Anyways, Jenn's blog is really cute, you can read about her telling about this present (the ingredient list is further up if you want to make her Deep Dish Spaghetti Pie recipe)

Profession, As Determined By Beard Length

When I need some brainless humor, I frequent Collegehumor.com. Recently I stumbled upon this picture, which was obviously awesome and needed to be shared. So, if you're bored, don't want to think too much and want to laugh, check it out.