My Parents' Trip to the Caribbean

"Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts." -Unknown

I think my family is hilarious. We all have a good sense of humor...most of the time. I feel like being around family provides an endless supply of comedic material to riff off of, and blog about. This must be why so many comedians talk about their families, and why sitcoms are based on them. I was only home for a few days and writing ideas kept flowing in. "I can blog about this, and this, and this!" This made my mother nervous.

My parents are going on a trip to an undisclosed island in the Caribbean (for sake of privacy from the paparazzi). A couple months ago, my mom tells me that she and my dad are planning a vacay. The fact that I have been to many a beach without them does not so much change the fact that they are going to the tropics without myself. They're pretty excited. Making sure they have nice swimsuits and sandals and other beachwear. But the preparation doesn't stop there. OH NO.

It has become somewhat of a ritual for my family to go tanning before they go on the trip, so they will have achieved a substantial "base tan" if you will,

Things I like: Puffins

Time for a bit of product placement. Or really,just advertising. 
I went to a premiere party for a new web series that's coming out, and because one of the characters in the show loves cereal, they gave us a free box of cereal in our goodie bag. Not just any cereal. Puffins. Not the bird. The cereal. Peanut butter flavour. I was skeptical. It looked healthy and not good. But my first bite changed my opinion forever. Its delicious. I've almost eaten the whole box in three days. (That really doesn't sound that fast...but really a box of cereal should at least last a week, but more likely two.) And when I looked at Barbara's website (http://www.barbarasbakery.com/cereals-puffins/) I saw that there are a variety of Puffin flavours including Peanut Butter Chocolate. WHAT?! Wouldn't last two days. Just wanted to spread the word.

Renos

Yes, this is still my blog. I only did some renovations. Hope you like it! Don't be alarmed if you see more changes down the road. I just wake up some mornings and hate everything. 
That's all for now. More blogs to come shortly.

-Laura

Chicken TV

I'm over at my Aunt and Uncle's house for my Grandma's 90th birthday party and as the evening is drawing to a close, my cousin thoughtfully asks me if we have Rogers Digital Cable. 
"Yeah, I think so," I say. 
"Have you ever seen Channel 208?" he asks. 
"Uh. I dunno." 
"Okay, come here," he smirks as we go into the TV room. He flicks on the television. "Check this out. It's the Swiss Chalet 'Rotisserie Channel'."

(Pause.)

"WHAAAT?! Are you serious?!" (said with an equal amount of shock, unbelief, and glee.)

This is what I saw:

YES! It is actually a 24 hour-a-day channel in which you can watch rotisserie chickens cook.

Laura Makes Carrot Cake

Quite often, before I make a trip home, my dad finds a baking recipe or two for me to try out when I get back. Last week he mentioned that he found an awesome recipe for a carrot cake with coconut frosting in the LCBO Food & Drink magazine, which always has incredible food ideas (http://www.lcbo.com/fooddrink/index.shtml). I'm not usually a big carrot cake kinda gal; It seems like more of a breakfast food to me. But I was intrigued, and the description sounded delectable.
When I got home, I looked at the magazine and the recipe that is called: "Hawaiian Carrot Cake with Coconut Icing". And it looks like this:

Looks nice, right? Let me include the description because its really good:

Coconut and pineapple create a sublime island flavour in this four-tiered beauty. It's as much at home on a fancy dessert spread as it is for a casual cake and coffee get-together. Keep it in mind if you've volunteered to bring a dessert to your next neighbourhood potluck; it's a sturdy traveller.

So I got all the ingredients for this labor intensive recipe and was ready to commence. Carrots were grated, butter was whipped, and after about four hours, the cakes were in the oven and the icing was ready for later assembly. 

New Jersey, Target Lady and Sparkly Nail Polish

Despite Winter rearing her angry head, yet again, I'm actually having a good week. I'm getting ready to go home for the weekend for my lovely Grandmother's 90th birthday party! 90!! Of all the birthdays, Thanksgivings and other holidays that I've missed, I think that this is a pretty significant one to attend. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends, and pooch, Chewbacca. Or as my mom sometimes calls him, my brother.

This past Monday was class 7 of 8 for improv Level 2! And can I tell you, I have actually gone to every class. Pat on the back, Laura.

Yesterday I took a little field trip to New Jersey! I still get excited when I cross the border and get to ride in a nice, coach-like bus. It was one of those times where I genuinely wished I had to travel more than 10 minutes under the river. I like road trips. That will have to be another adventure. I went to Jersey in the first place, to visit a fellow blogger/writer (and now, friend), really only to ask some advice and to question her to death. But it turned out to be not just informative, but completely refreshing and inspiring. Sometimes it just takes someone who can see eye-to-eye with you, and then, from their place of experience to say that they see potential in you. That what I'm doing isn't crazy or a waste of time. Such a relief!

Laura on a Diet

At BaoHaus in the LES.

I love to eat. I really, truly love food. Those of you who know me know this already. Those of you who don't are now caught up.
The last month or so, I've gone a bit crazy with my food cravings, so last week I decided to take control and set up an eating plan for myself.
Throughout the week I did pretty well, avoiding sugar (which makes me CRAZY) and mostly not eating out at all. A friend suggested that I give myself a Free Day each week when I can eat whatever I want. Another friend suggested that I might rethink that, and only give myself a Free Meal because I might undo all the healthy eating choices that I made that week. Of course I listened to the one who gave me a whole day full of delicious eating opportunities!
I had decided to go to Clinton St. Baking Co. on Friday to go get me some pancakes (http://www.clintonstreetbaking.com/). Ever since I went there one Pancake Tuesday, they have been my standard of the best pancakes I've ever eaten.

Spring is Near!

It was an beautiful, spring-like day in New York City yesterday! The weather-people said it would be a high of 68F (that's 20C for the rest of the world), but on my handy dandy Macbook dashboard, it said that it was 76F at the moment I wrote this. i.e. 4:30pm on Friday.
When I had found out earlier this week that the weather was going to be so warm, I made a point of preparing; Grooming, if you will. Winter legs and winter feet should not be unleashed under any circumstances until being primped. And I had decided that I was going to pull out my flip flops and my spring dresses. I lost sleep painting my toe and finger nails Thursday night, though I knew I needed to get up early for an audition the next day. I was committed, people. (Probably committed in the wrong way...now that I think about it. Eh, it was worth it.)

HIATUS

I found this on the back of my Lipton soup box...I found it strangely outdated.

HIATUS:
-suspension: an interruption in the intensity or amount of something
-a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript)
-foramen: a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Thanks, Princeton. What can I say? After karaoke, I spent a good three weeks recovering. I want to keep people on their toes...keep 'em guessing. "Wow, maybe she's off becoming a celebrity in L.A.." "Or maybe she's off raiding tombs in Egypt." "Or maybe she's having a crisis and DOESN'T FEEL LIKE BLOGGING, okay?!!!"

Egypt was incredible, by the way.

Let me update you on my happenings in the last few weeks:
I'm still doing improv, and have joined a team with some wonderful folks. We're working on coming up with a way-cool name...that proves more difficult than you might think.