Moving Day: Check Out My New Site

I have offically moved to my own site, with my own adress

www.playinggrownup.ca

Hope to see you there !!!

Love Kaydee

Less Expensive Ways To Buy Designer

I'm definitely a sucker for a brand name, well more than a brand name a design house.  I would love to own Chanel, Dior or Alexander McQueen.  But it is not in my foreseeable future to spend thousands of dollars on just one item from a design house.  But I have thought of a few ways to own my coveted brands.

1. Cosmetics- Chanel nail polish runs at around 30 dollars Canadian, Black Pearl could be mine one day

2.Eye Glasses- if you have a medical plan with coverage this is a great way to get an accessory at your works expense.  I keep hoping for distance problems so I can get fancy sunglasses for driving.

3.Scarves-  You can wear jeans and a Gap t-shirt with a designer scarf and people will think the entire outfit it couture.  Its all what people think they see, a scarf normally runs under $150 and is always classic

I'm sure there are more options out there, but these are three easy ones that I plan putting into practice.  Not going to lie I'm pretty excited to own Black Pearl nail polish.

Love Kaydee

YouTube Video: 30 Beauty Tips

I just had a huge sushi dinner to celebrate my friends birthday, and just simple want to go to bed.  But I thought I would share this video with you.

Hope you find it as helpful as I did.

Love Kaydee

Buisness Casual: A New Possibility

I recently came across a reason to maybe wear business casual clothing on occasion.  Its not a reason I can talk about yet, but I'm super excited for the prospects of new classy additions to my wardrobe.

Here is a few ideas of what I think my new additions should look like:

Day Dresses by MICHAEL Michael Kors
Pumps by DKNY

I will definitely update you soon when I know more about maybe some up coming changes for me.  All I can say is that I am really proud of myself for taking a huge leap into the future.  

Keep your fingers crossed that change can be a good thing, even for me!

Love Kaydee

My Top Five Ways I Love To Spend Money

I'm going to be completely honest, I love spending money it really makes me happy.  I love that moment of pulling out my debit card knowing that what ever I wanted is going to be mine.

Here are my top five things I love to buy:

1. Starbucks Chai Latte, its tastes like Christmas in a cup.
2. Nail Polish- a new colour is always full of new ideas
3. Diet Coke- Its my crack, but way cheaper
4. Glossy Magazines-I eat up whatever celeb gossip I can get my hands on
5. Chap Stick-not sure if my lips make their own moisture anymore





I'm sure I could have 30-40 dollars a month if I gave up buying these item (OK with the coke maybe 50), but they make me happy.  I'm a big believer in loving the small things in life, smelling the roses and whatnot.  There are five examples of small things that make my life good.

Love Kaydee

PVR: The Marriage Saver

Well maybe not the marriage saver, and Mr.N pointed out that's a little bit extreme but it definitely help make ours work.  I love T.V. the 8-10pm slot is a huge part of my day, I look forward to my shows every night.  Mr.N loves hockey, the Maple Leafs more specifically and if you aren't aware for at least 7 months of the year they play on average of three games a week.  Each game last 3 hours of prime time T.V. watching, and according to all men it must be watched live for full enjoyment.

When we decided to cohabitate I insisted on having a PVR (digital video recorder), and have never looked back since.  It really is a life saver I always know what is happening on Grey's and Mr.N doesn't miss the 72 instant replays sports media insists on showing.  My mom once gave my Dad an anniversary card that said "the secret to our marriage is separate T.V's".  This was before the PVR, which is so much cheaper than a second flat screen (Mr.N will only buy the best most newest gadgets).

The PVR saves us a fight, so we can save it for who's turn it is for the dishwasher or who cleaned the bunnies cage last.  Anytime you eliminate a chance to fight you help make your marriage that much stronger.

Plus I can save my shows for a cloudy gross Saturday afternoon.

Love Kaydee

Nail Art: Luck Of The Irish

I love St.Patty's day, I see it as a day to celebrate having reddish hair and millions of freckles.  I wore a green scrub top, bright citruses eyeshadow and painted my nails bright green.  Having to see patients all day that's about as festive as I could get.

I used Sally Hansen Instra-Dri Mint Sprint as the base, for the clovers Orly's White Tips, Saly Hansens Gilty Pleasure and China Glazes Four Leaf Clover .  To create the image of the cloves I used Bundle Monster   image plate BM03.  Then for the rainbow on my ring fingers I used my Migi nail art pens, but I wish I had taken more time creating nice clean lines.

Wish I was out drinking green beers with all the other kids, they were actually lined up at 9:30am outside our local Irish pub.  Too bad I have to be a grown girl and get up early for work in the morning, a weeknight glass of wine will have to do. 

Have a safe St. Patty's, and if you painted yourself green DO NOT sit or pass out on your couch (aim for the tub)

Love Kaydee

Nautical Tee's and Dinner

As I said yesterday Nautical's are a huge look for spring, one I wanted to try out.  But I wasn't willing to drop big cash on horizontal stripes.  How many times have we been told to avoid them, since they make us look wider and well fat.  I found the perfect fix for this dilemma, Joe Fresh clothing found at Lablaws, who doesn't love getting dinner and a new top in one trip.

I picked up this gray striped top for a cool 16 dollars, I chose gray since most of my wardrobe has a black base.  I find navy blue a hard colour to match other pieces to since I never wear it.  I chose a tighter top, the loose billowy look is more for skinny tall girls in my opinion.  I'm excited to wear this outfit on a nice crisp spring day.

What would make it absolutely perfect is a black trench with a hood, but a girl can only dream!!

Love Kaydee

What Is My Issue With Change

It took me a very long time to admit that I just simply hate change, I even hate the time change with a strong passion.  But lets be honest who like to force their bodies to wake up an hour earlier than they were the day or week before. 

Something that El said at work today really made me think, my hatred of change is affection my ability to be fashionable or trendy.  It takes me a while to like a new trend and El happily pointed out many examples of this.  I have sworn that I would never wear: jeggings, bubble skirts, Uggs, patterned tights which are all items have have and do enjoyed wearing.  Because of my reluctance to change I miss the boat on alot of trends, the waist belt I have never bought in fear of them going out of style.  If I had bought a nice classic one three years ago, I would still be cinching my clothing today.  Although I want to collect classic pieces that I can wear for a minimum of five years, I shouldn't be afraid to trying new things.

Everyone is saying that the Flatform is going to be the shoe of spring, at first glance I hated them but maybe I should give them a try.  They would make me taller, and should be much more comfy then walking in sky high heals.  Plus they match the nautical looks that is so hot now.  Are these going to be the shoe I hate this year, but the one I am fawning over next year.  One of my new goals is to try more on, you never know what looks good until you have it on.  Also take pictures of yourself before you rip those tags off, what looked good in the store may not look so good on film or a regular mirror.  

I'm sure I could use therapy for my issues with change, until then I will just try on the shoes.


Love Kaydee

P.S. do you love or hate the shoe?

The Scrunchie, Stop The Ugliness

While at my friend T's annual ladies night I went on my usual scrunchie rant.  It always starts off with "no self respecting women would wear a scrunchie anymore"  I had a few glasses of wine so I'm sure my rant went on for longer than I intended.  Soon after my rant I had to pee, due to all the wine and found a very large collection of scrunchies in T's guest bathroom.  I feel like the drunk gods swooped down and stapled my mouth shut since I didn't burst out of that bathroom saying what the F are a million scrunchies doing in there.  It turned out that her mother in law who was at this party and staying with her was the owner of said scrunchie collection.  She even asked T if women no longer wear scrunchies, T claimed only young silly girls in their 20's feel that way.

I also have a co-worker (who will never read this blog) who matches her scrunchies to her scrubs every day.  Monday is pink day, so pink scrubs, pink earrings, and of course a pink sparkly or with things dangling off of it scrunchie.  In 2011 where are these women buying the ever so offensive scrunchie, they should only be used if you are a figure skater or have to be sick and need to pile your hair up quickly.  I feel like they are unhygienic and unattractive, I should really hold a scrunchie burning ceremony (I feel that strong).  If you have friends that enjoy to wear a scrunchie, please do the right thing and tell them.  Or steal them screaming stop the ugliness, stop the ugliness and toss them under a bus.

This is the only clip I can find from Sex and the City about the scrunchie:

If you see the beginning of this episode, she explains why no women should ever wear the offending piece.

Hair elastics, bobby pins and cute head band are definitely in, scrunchies have been out for so long they should be in museums.

Love Kaydee

DIY: Dictionary Picture Frames

I was feeling very restless yesterday, so I decided to put my craft hat on.  I called up my good friend H for a Dollar Store/Chapter date, she is the best person to go to for help with any craft.  I found my inspiration for this project on Apartment Therapy, if you haven't check it out please do its rad.  Also go to their link to check out the dictionary lamp project, since I have no lamp needs I decided to create picture frames.  I have a massive empty wall going up my staircase to my bedroom that I want to create a frame collage on. 

I'm starting with these:

Using classic decoupage technique I covered wooden frames I got at Dolleramma in torn columns of a dictionary I got there as well.  I Plan on varnishing them as well to give a nice shiny surface.  I have this image in my mind of frames covering a wall filled with photo's, mirrors and interesting patterns, maybe even some empty ones.  I'm going to stick with black, white, red and grey as my colour scheme I may even check out an antique shop or two.  This is going to be a long project for me, but this picture from here will give you the idea.

Except picture stairs and many frames of different shapes and colours, but you get the idea.  I find that with digital photography no one does anything with their pictures except post them on FaceBook.  I want to add memories to our house, starting with our wedding that was almost a year ago. 

Can't wait to start my next frame project, I'm thinking red lacquered.

Love Kaydee

Make Your Own Pore Strips

One of my daily go to blogs is BeautyGeeks, and while searching I found this video:

I decided to give this a try for myself, but since I didn't have unflavoured jello in my cupboard I used strawberry.  Once I had the goo on I started worrying that my nose would be stained red (much Koolaid dyed hair as a child) but I was happily surprised that my nose remains a nice skin tone.  This really does work and my skin feels fantastic, I'm thinking about using it as an all over mask.  One hint is make sure you paint it on really thick to help with a nice peal off.  I did mine too thin and I didn't get to see all the dirt that was removed, which is so the fun/gross part, although I sure can feel it.

I love a good homemade remedy to save some of my precious spending money.

Love Kaydee

March Morning In Canada

Although I am super sick of the snow and winter in general, look how pretty my morning was.  I'm lucky to be surrounded by huge trees and old buildings.  The snow was perfect packing snow, I hope kids were out making forts and snowmen.

If only this could have happened in December instead of the middle or March, please send some sun my way.

Love Kaydee

Are You Wishing Your Life Away?

How many weeks do you start off saying, is it Friday yet?  Or I only have two weeks until my vacation, just two weeks to get though.  Or the even bigger I only have X amount of years until retirement, then my life can truly begin.  How much time do we spend wishing our lives away, hoping for the bigger and better in the future.

One of the many reasons I started this blog is I was feeling listless, in need of inspiration, for a reason to be awake on a Tuesday.  Mr.N and I once had a conversation about passions, what did I feel passionate about.  This made me think about what I do with my time, how I want to look back at my life.  So far what I have come up with is the desire to learn to cook and anything involving make-up or nail polish.  If I had a ridiculous amount of money I would list shopping, but that's more of a passion I wish I could have.

My Mom is a hobby collector, always picking up new activities to spend her time doing.  So I was raised believing hobbies are an important part of life.  A co-worker and I were discussing the other day the difference between feeling bored and unfulfilled.  Is when you and your husband start to feel bored and restless the time to start a family.  Maybe your bored because you are unfulfilled in your life, you need to add more substance to it. 

I never want to look back at my life and wish I had done more, I would rather wish I had done less.  I want to be the old lady who has great stories of her adventures.  Isn't there a saying "idle hands are the devils work"? Or something along those lines. 

I want to stop wishing my days away and to try to enjoy at least a little of each one.  I have always been a smell the  roses kind of person, but maybe I should be a grow the roses type. 

Love Kaydee

How Many Hours A Day Do You Clean?

Last night my friends were teasing me for not cleaning something everyday...often.  So all day today I was really curious how much time does an average person spend cleaning each day.  I'm not talking cleaning up after dinner, but really cleaning something.

poll by twiigs.com

I tried to follow FLYLADY's program, but felt overwhelmed, they want to me get up earlier than I have to for cleaning, I think not.  But taking something from them, starting tonight I am going to set a timer for 15min and I'm going to clean.  Mr.N doesn't know, but he is also going to clean for that 15 min and eventually we will get caught up right.  Or at least not feel like lazy slobs, but I would like to point out being a lazy slobs has it advantages like lots of sleeping and eating!

I would love to be able to have people stop by without the "sorry my house looks like a bomb went off" comment before they step in the door.

Love Kaydee

Pancake Tuesday

Whether your religious or not eating pancakes for dinner is just simply fun.  El and I decided to switch it up and have potato pancakes along with my regular just add water Betty Crocker's.

I used my Cuisinart Griddler, one of my favourite appliances to fry our "cakes".  I've cook steak, panini's and of course breakfast on it. 



 Most people clean as they cook, I don't.  I took some pictures to show you what happens to my tiny kitchen when I decided to try something more difficult than Kraft Dinner. 

Two dishwasher loads later (still a couple in the sink), the kitchen is my version of clean.  I'm not sure if there is a cure for my cleanititis, I'm up for suggestions.

The pancakes were delish, and to make up for the bad dinner we went to a Zumba class at my gym.  Although I think calories in were definitely higher than calories burned.

Love Kaydee

P.S. doesn't Bella look hopeful for a dropped pancake

Why We Chose To Rent

OK...so there was a time when all our friends were buying that I was obsessed with MLS and open houses, but buying a house ended up not being for us right now and it turns out that I'm super glad.  So your saying hey crazy girls its always a good idea to buy real estate, and equity wise absolutely your right.  But here are our reasons its just not for right now.

We are house people, not condo people so keep that in mind

-we are not ready for grass, leaves, roofs and plumbing, basically we are more sign the cheque kind of people as opposed to fix it people.  When we do find a house I want to decorate it not renovate it.
-we love living downtown, its the kind of lifestyle we want to live, and the houses we like downtown are way out of our ever gunna happen budget.  I never want to be "house poor", I would rather travel then have the perfect kitchen or bathtub at this point in my life.
-land taxes suck, that money need to go toward debt and lip gloss in that order.
-I can hardly remember to put out the garbage, so garbage day would pass us buy and our bags would stack way above the three or four a single house is allowed to toss.
-did I mention I do not fix anything, I don't even change light bulbs, why do that when I have two men living under my roof.

Quite simply we are just not ready at this point in our lives, and we love love love our rental.  Buying a house is a major responsibility, one that I hope to one day make.  But I no longer feel like I am missing the boat, we are just on a different boat aiming to get on a ship or yacht. 

My dwelling make me happy, and if that ever stops I can just give two months notice and find somewhere new to dwell.

Love Kaydee

My Beautiful Niece

It was my nieces first birthday today, and to celebrate it her parents threw a wonderful tea party.  The best part was watching her eat a huge blueberry cupcake too cute!!!

Iris is the apple of my eye, for her birthday we set up a bank account that every Friday five dollars goes into.  She is going to be my only niece and she deserves the best!!

Love Kaydee

My Time Is 9:30

On weekend mornings I like to wake up around 9:30 (yumm no awful, blaring, jarring alarm) and putt around the house.  No one else is up, not even my dog, I can make myself a tea and just relax.  I look forward to this time all week long, some weeks the thought even gets me though work.  I can read, play with makeup or work on a post without any interruptions or plans. 

I understand why mom's get up at the crack of dawn just for an hour to themselves, me time is very important.  Mr.N is a nigh owl so his time is after I go to bed, he can play video games and guitar without my nagging voice piercing into his head (not a fan of shooter games, yuck).  This is the time I can plan the day, try something new with my hair or just sit and do nothing.  This is why I want to win the lottery, quit work and become the lady of leisure I know I am meant to be.

So for the next half hour I am going to sit at my computer, drink my tea and enjoy my own company.  Some would be surprised to know that I like an hour or so of quiet to myself (I'm a talker), but I really relish in it.  Maybe when I have kids I'll be getting up at the crack of dawn for some me time, but my kids will sleep in right??

Hope you have a time to enjoy being with just you, my time is at 9:30am...

Love Kaydee

Book Club: Oogy

I love to share with people the books that I have read and loved, and I really loved Oogy.  I read this book yesterday, the entire thing, wouldn't put it down if I could help it. 

The book is described on Oogy's own facebook page as:

In 2002, Larry Levin and his twin sons, Dan and Noah, took their terminally ill cat to the Ardmore Animal Hospital outside Philadelphia to have the beloved pet put to sleep. What would begin as a terrible day suddenly got brighter as the ugliest dog they had ever seen- --- one who was missing an ear and had half his face covered in scar tissue --- ran up to them and captured their hearts. The dog had been used as bait for fighting dogs when he was just a few months old. He had been thrown in a cage and left to die until the police rescued him and the staff at Ardmore Animal Hospital saved his life. The Levins, whose sons are themselves adopted, were unable to resist Oogy's charms, and decided to take him home.

Heartwarming and redemptive, Oogy is the story of the people who were determined to rescue this dog against all odds, and of the family who took him home, named him "Oogy" (an affectionate derivative of ugly), and made him one of their own.

But this book was so much more than that to me, it had me laughing and crying throughout the book.  I had to discreetly wipe away a tear while on the bike at the gym.  All I could think about was Bella my own rescue dog while reading this book.  She her self had been horribly abused, her tail half chopped off and left to get incredibly infected.  When she was found by animal alert and taken to the Pound they called All Breed Canine Rescue knowing that she would get the help she needed there.  Her wonderful vet had to remove her entire tail, he created a stump using muscle and extra skin.  Bella is a gentle, kind loving dog who only wants a treat (or ten) and some snuggles.  I could so relate to the Levin's wanting to make sure Oogy was never afraid or in pain again.  I have trouble punishing Bella when she missbehaves because I feel like she has been puniched enough.  Bella had probably never interacted with another dog before she was rescued, and she does have some social issues because of it.  She is a good dog, who deserves our love because she has so much to give.  Because of my reading Oogy she has recieved many more praises, treats and hugs.  This book reminds you that you should love your dog as much as he or she loves you.

I feel madly in love with Oogy, and if you read his book I think you will too.

Love Kaydee

Naitl Art: Image Plates

If you haven't already figured it out I LOVE NAIL POLISH, it's a relatively new hobby/fetish starting on my honeymoon back in June.  I discovered Konad nail plates, which opened me to the world of creative nails.  Since as a teen I spent many years working at McDonald's I was never able to wear polish, so I didn't buy any.  Now I have about 100 bottles, and so want more.  I thought I would show some pictures as to how the nail stamping works.

 I love the clean lines of the stamping, it always looks like a sticker when done right.  I try to always put a dark colour over a light one, you just simply get better results.

 It helps to use a thicker polish, so a good one, I have the best results with OPI, China Glaze and American Aparell.  Migi nail art pens show up the most, but they are hard to find.

 I find that a steady quick scrape works best, you want to avoid double scraping as it leads to premature drying.

 Be quick with the rubber stamp, as the thin polish dries really fast.  It will take you a few tries to get the hang of it, when I first bought the kits I was super frusterated.

Once the image in on the rubber stamper you just roll it onto your nail, again be quick or it will dry before you transfer. 





 I have both Konad and Bundle Monster plates, Konads are the nicest but ten times the price as Monster.  Since I love to be crafty these were a great buy for me, I use them all the time.  Nail art and colour is really growing in popularity, it can really help complete a look.  I am constently getting compliments on my nails, and who doesnt love a good compliment.

Fire me any questions you have, or comment maybe you have a better technique than I do

Love Kaydee

Do You Shop For Quality Or Quantity?

I'm sure quality or quantity is an age old question, or at least that sounds good.  But this question can be for apparel, food or even hygiene products.  Are you a sucker for a sale no matter the brand, or do you stick to what you love no matter the price? 

I feeling like I'm a sucker for both the sale and the brand, so really just a sucker.  An silly example of this is that the other day I stood in RW and Co ready to buy a shirt that was only $4.95.  To be honest this shirt was green, metallic and well ugly, but it was cheep.  I almost bought this shirt trying to justify places I could wear it just because of the sale.  Sing so for the sake of a deal I could currently be wearing a shiny metallic green button down, which by the way was really itchy.

There are some items I will always buy no matter what the price, but they are always food.  Heinz ketchup, Kraft peanut butter and Philadelphia cream cheese to name a few.  I will buy no name brick cheese, but only certain no names I feel very strong about my cheese.

I'm starting to wonder if when it come to clothing I should go for a few quality pieces instead of lots and lots of clothing.  I feel in love with dress at Aritzia and black pumps from Nine West, grand total of 280 before taxes.  Now do I save up for these two quality items or do I trying to get more bang for my buck.  I know everyone is going to say get more or spend less, I know the right answer.  I think I'm going to go quality with the shoes and try to find cheaper dresses.

P.S. when it comes to hygiene please go for quality!

Love Kaydee