I did my nails by myself, the first time I did something fancy on my own with my nails.
It’s different. What do you think? Do you like them?
It’s a combination of L’Oreal 109, Orange you Jealous combined with L’Oreal 370, Eiffel for you.
The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg: Book Review
As you know, I have been reading The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg on my Kobo reader. I purchased the book at Chapters Indigo.ca.
This story occurs in the tight knit community of Fjällbacka in Coastal Sweden. Fjällbacka used to be a small fishing village but it is becoming a summer tourist destination.
Through the course of the novel, we try to solve the murder of Alexandra Wijkner, a discrete young woman with a houseful of secrets. In fact, the entire community of Fjällbacka is replete with secrets and untold truths. Through the course of this very well layered story, we encounter rich characters such as a misogynistic police captain who’s been exiled to the backwater area to finish his career, a journalist-novelist Erica Falk who is fighting to keep her childhood home, a police detective getting over a nasty divorce and initiating a budding romance, a sister ravaged by jealousy and a very secretive young woman in the murder victim. Best of all, I loved to read about the village of Fjällbacka which becomes a character of its own.
The book is very fast paced while being extremely smart and layered.
I loved every page of this book, every plot twist. This is a great story by a skilled storyteller. My next read is The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg.
Synopsis
After the sudden death of her parents, author Erica Falck returns to her childhood home in the small west coast community of Fjällbacka. When Alex Wijkner, one of Erica’s childhood friends, is found murdered, she is drawn into a web of deception, lies and hidden secrets. Something that happened 25 years earlier still casts its ugly shadow over Alex and the people around her. At first reluctantly, but then with ever growing curiosity, Erica decides to find out who is willing to take such drastic measures in order to prevent old truths from coming out. At the same time she has to deal with personal problems, a budding romance and the feeling that, at the age of 35, she doesn’t really know what she wants to do with her life…
With Children, Persist, Persist, Persist
I’m not a traditional mom. I’m awesome in certain things but my husband plays the mommy role in certain instances.
However, my message here is about persistence. I love to read. Books are an important source of information, they are fun, they allow one to slip into an imaginary world and it’s how I’m able to deal with some of the stresses in life. My kids, both of them, were not keen on reading. As a matter of fact, they wanted to avoid it at all cost. I explained the benefits: it makes French and English classes a breeze, it expands your vocabulary, it allows your imagination to be set free. But this fell on deaf ears.
But, every time they came home with a bad grade (or what I deem to be an insufficiently good grade), I would insist this would never have happened if they got into the habit of reading. I have been saying the same thing for years.I did not think I was getting through.
But I was.
Ben started by reading comic books with almost no words. I was not happy but I did not complain. Ok, to be honest, I complained a little. But I bought him some Geronimo Stilton books. One per week. He read them all. We read them together and eventually, he read them alone.
Eventually, he read the Wimpy Kid books. I suggested he move on to the Nate books. He did not like the English version but soon got used to it. When he’s bored, I would suggest he could read a book.
And now, he’s reading Jules Verne. The level of language in that book is tremendously rich and some of the expressions are quite dated. We read it partially together, he reads it alone as well. He asked me if he could take the book to school because there were some free periods where he might have time to read. It’s a huge undertaking for an 11-year old. But he’s doing it of his own free will. He’s choosing to read Jules Verne.
Because I persisted, I never gave up and I did not allow myself to get discouraged. And we’re talking about a very active young man, not prone to sitting and reading. With Jules Verne, I insisted on the fact that he was the father of modern science fiction.
With my daughter, she always wants new stuff. Buy me a new shirt, Buy me a new skirt, a new dress. Buy, Buy, Buy! I said no. But I will buy you a new book. She gets scared by the size of a book. It can’t be too big. She reads by spurts. She’s read two big books in the past two weeks but, then, she might be tempted not to read further for a while. But I’ll keep at it. Like the ocean to the coast. She’ll want something new. I’ll offer to take her to the bookstore, we’ll take the time for her to find books that she wants to read and she’ll read the books. Emilie read the Drama book in less than a day.
The same persistence allowed us to stick to our routine of vegetarian Thursdays and fish Monday nights. The fish is not limited to fish sticks. So, my message to you, fellow parents is: do not give up. Even if it seems like you’re talking to a wall. With kids, the walls have ears. And the more about you talk about the benefits i.e. fish as brain food, vegetarian day as a relief day for the planet due to the high carbon footprint of protein, books to make school easier. The key is to suggest and to let them think it was their idea. That they came to this idea on their own and that you had nothing to do with it.
At supper time, I will typically discuss the book I am reading or an article I read in the paper. Now, the kids have even started perusing the morning paper. For example, following the Boston Marathon, they followed the events leading to the arrest quite closely.
I’m far from a perfect mother. But, somethings are extremely important to me, and for these things I stick to my guns and I refuse to back down. My kids will thank me for that one day.
Did you get your kids interested in books? Which books did you use?
Boschendal Chardonnay: A white wine for the BBQ (Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing)
I love white wine. It’s easier to drink than red wine. I sometimes get a bit drowsy with red wine.
I know my friend Catherine Gagliano prefers white wine as well. But in BBQ season, the season of the burger and the red meat, white wine seems less of a perfect fit. La Presse recommended the Boschendal Chardonnay from South Africa as a dry white wine that could be married with grilled meats. It was one of their Vin du Samedi Recommendation. Karine Duplessis Piché is the columnist that recommends a new wine every week.
It’s the first article I look for in my Saturday morning paper. I make sure to have a pair of scissors and I cut out the Saturday Wine Picks column every week. I paste it on our wish list board.
You see, as a family, everyone can put something they want to try on the wish list board. It can be an activity, a restaurant, a wine, a trip they want to take, whatever. If you post it on the wish list board, it will be considered and if you put it on the calendar as well, it’ll happen. Obviously, it needs to be possible, affordable and feasible. My son dreams of visiting the Lost City of Atlantis but that city is lost ergo even if he writes it into the calendar, it ain’t gonna happen.
My contributions to the board are varied. But this was one I wanted to try. It had made its way on the board and on the calendar.
I tasted notes of pear, hazelnuts and coconuts in the wine. You could also taste the oak. I tend to prefer wines which were fermented in oak barrels. It was a very bold wine. A very surprising combination in a white wine. The color of the wine was also quite daffodil like almost bright yellow.
In Quebec, the SAQ robs us in terms of the cost of a bottle of wine. The bottle cost us $16.95. It’s $16.00 at the LCBO. It’s about $14.00 in the UK and 11$ in the US.
We paired this wine with steak drizzled with pesto sauce and combined it with grilled green and yellow squash ribbons.
I adored the wine with a sharp piece of aged cheddar, it was absolute perfection.
A note however, the Producer found the wine a little too sharp for his taste. So if you like timid white wines, this huge charismatic white is not for you. It’s a red dressed in a beautiful white dress. When you strip away the adornment and focus on the flavors, you will feel the acidity and the character of the wine.
If you’re having friends over that do not like white wines, this might be just the ticket to make them see whites in an entirely different light.
Tumbleweed, Introducing Lily-May Dubois
Hello,
My name is Lily-May Dubois.
I am the future heroine of the Tumbleweed novel.
My author, Marie-Claude Perras, felt the title Tumbleweed: The Resilience of a Rebel, Book 1 was such a big title that she truncated it.
I am a survivalist. I’m part of the survivalist network.
This means I believe a major crisis will eventually occur and we need sufficient resources to be self-sufficient.
I stock dried foods for such an occasion. You would envy me my pantry if only you could see it.
I’m 15 years old. I run track and field for my high school. I’m a bit odd.
My date of birth is May 22, 2020.
As I write to you now, we are in 2035.
Can you even guess what the planet looks like in 2035?
I would tell you but my author would find a way to kill me quickly in the novel and I intend on surviving the book. It would not make sense for a survivalist to die? Do you not agree? Whenever I write to you, it’ll be about the stuff that interests me as a 15-year old girl and also, as a survivalist.
For the time being, I’m happy to be introduced to all of the Cooksploratrice community which is the place where I was born. It is out of the cooksploratrice blog that the idea for my character took root. It’s my original home. This is also where the novel will come out first. Some of you might even be lucky enough to read the novel as it takes root. I know that Benjamin and the Producer have already read snippets.
Sometimes, I will even allow other characters to stop by. I’m the star so I intend to keep the eyeballs on me. (LOL) I’m not this way in the book though. But, here, in my birthplace, I expect the glory to go to me. My author might think my brother John-James is pretty cool and might want to introduce you to him as well. But I’ll fight this for a while. I want you all to get to know me, to love me for me before you meet Mr. Football God, John James.
A New Way To Read The Cooksploratrice Blog
I discuss my blog frequently with The Producer or Gregster. He has been dissatisfied of late. He would like my blog to resemble The Londoner and other blogs which are broken up into sections. Word Press.com has a limitation. You can add more pages to your blog but they are meant for static content. So, I cannot create pages for the topics mentioned above.
As you know, I frequently write about different topics: food, culture, life and happiness, travel and world. Initially, I used to write only about food. Though this was a fun challenge, I got bored eventually. The blog grew organically to encompass more topics. But that does not mean you want to read everything I write nor should you have to. But I sure love it when you do.
To free you from all my entries and to circumvent the Word Press.com page limitation, , I have flagged all my posts into categories. I initially had 129 categories for the 300 odd entries posted to date. I have re-categorized the posts based on: food, culture, life and happiness, travel and world. I spent the whole day doing this, just for you (and to get the Producer to help remap the layout of my blog)
So, if you’re like the Producer and Gregster, you read everything I write, then you stick to the top page and no worries for you.
If, instead you’re like Gibran, and you prefer to read about food and happiness, well then, you will select these categories. Well, for Gibran, it’s two categories: Food & wine-drinks as well as Life & Happiness. I put a category cloud to the right of the screen (only works on laptop and PC, the side label is not visible on the iPad version.) You will be taken to content pertaining to only these categories. You select one category at a time and this does not work when you follow me. You will receive all the entries via email.
If you’re like Claudette and you want to hear about what’s happening with me, Ben, Emilie and Greg, Life and Happiness is the category for you.
If you’re like the drunken cyclest and all the other wine enthusiasts that follow my blog despite my low level of expertise with wine, Food & wine-drinks is the category for you.
If you want to know where I’ve been, which countries I’ve visited, what my thoughts on the planet are, you want to read Travel and World most of all.
If you’re intrigued by which books, shows, movies I’m reading, watching, seeing, Culture & Technology is where you want to go.
If you want a sneak peak at Tumbleweed, the project for a novel I have, then Tumbleweed-Book is the section for you.
Hopefully, you will enjoy the possibility of selecting your content.
I am interested in many things, but some of you might read my content for specific things and the categories is my humble way of heading in that direction despite Word Press.com. The categories are: Food & Wine-Drinks, Tumbleweed-Book, Culture & Technology, Life & Happiness.
Let me know what you think of the freedom of choice I am giving you.
p.s.: for those of you that read whatever I have to write about, whichever concept gets into my pretty little mind, I thank you for your loyalty. You’re my favorite audience. Hopefully, you’ll also want to read Tumbleweed.
I took a few steps!
Finally, progress.
I took a few steps with my cast.
I was able to walk a little.
The electricity seems to be working.
A-M-E-N to the Exogen machine
Wear a Happy Necklace Around your Neck!
As a resulf of a comment from Gibran on my poll to readers, I remembered that I would frequently write about happiness. Especially after having read the book the Happiness Project. And even in Singapore, I wrote about the happiness survey. And how the cost of living was so high and the expectations on kids were tremendous and how all this was effectively blocking happiness.
The Happy planet index uses global data on life expectancy, experienced well-being and Ecological Footprint to calculate this. Argentina, Mexico and Chili rate the highest. (Source: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/data/)
There is also a concept of gross national happiness where happiness is defined as:
1.Economic Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of economic metrics such as consumer debt, average income to consumer price index ratio and income distribution
2.Environmental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of environmental metrics such as pollution, noise and traffic
3.Physical Wellness: Indicated via statistical measurement of physical health metrics such as severe illnesses
4.Mental Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of mental health metrics such as usage of antidepressants and rise or decline of psychotherapy patients
5.Workplace Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of labor metrics such as jobless claims, job change, workplace complaints and lawsuits
6.Social Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of social metrics such as discrimination, safety, divorce rates, complaints of domestic conflicts and family lawsuits, public lawsuits, crime rates
7.Political Wellness: Indicated via direct survey and statistical measurement of political metrics such as the quality of local democracy, individual freedom, and foreign conflicts. (Source: http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/)
Here are the Gross Happiness Index results: Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands scored highest. But, Canada scored fifth! Yeah for Canada. Uncle Sam scored 8.
Forbes magazine also published an Article about the 2011 Legatum Prosperity Index. (source: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mef45ejmi/the-worlds-happiest-and-saddest-countries-2/) Norway, Denmark, Australia, New-Zealand and Sweden scored the highest.
Key contributors to happiness are: freedom of expression, high gross national income, steady employment, family stability, national safety, freedom from corruption. But, let’s put all this dry logic aside. For the moment, let’s assume we’re all employed, safe and well fed.
In truth, in life, we make our own happiness by appreciating moments that make us smile. For every smile you make in a day, you build a pearl of happiness. This pearl gets added to the others and forms a necklace and this necklace is contagious. Soon, everybody will wear a happy necklace around their necks. A smile will return to you tenfold.
Here are some of the things that make me smile.
Cuddling. I’m a huge cuddler. I love to cuddle with Emilie (my daughter) watching I love Lucy reruns. I love cuddling with Ben (my son) as we read Jules Vernes’s “Voyage au Centre de la terre”. I love cuddling next to the producer watching Castle and Hawaï 5.0.
Writing. Whenever I write a new entry on my blog, I smile. Everytime I write something, on the blog or for my book “Tumbleweed: The Resilience of a Rebel” I smile. It makes me happy. This is also true when I take a picture which I know I will use for my blog. Or when I plan an activity I will write about in my blog.
My swing. I have a swing in my backyard. I love to laze around on my swing.
Cooking. When I cook something new, I have fun. It is fun to imagine people’s reaction to the new taste, the new flavor combination.
Chrysanthemum Tea. It’s pure sunshine for the soul.
Playing Boccie in my mom’s backyard.
Swimming and playing in the water with Ben.
Winning at cards.
Winning at Boggle or Scrabble.
Wearing a new shirt.
Rubbing Buddha’s belly. I collect Buddha’s and I love to rub their bellies even if I am Christian. But in truth, I love to rub any belly I can get my hands on. My kids, my hubby, etc.
Listening to Michael Bubble, Frank Sinatra, Adele and Serge Gainsbourg.
Taking a bath.
Finding something cool on Pinterest and pinning it to a board.
Learning something new.
Saying a joke that makes people laugh (most of the time, my jokes fall flat)
Drinking a good glass of wine.
Having a heated debate about something.
Opening a new notebook and writing the first entry
Seeing a movie at the theater
Not doing something I’m supposed to do (rebellion)
Splurging on something I don’t need
Yellow flowers
Making my family smile
Eating anything green
These are some of my pearls of happiness. What are yours? Let’s build a Happiness Bridge.
What do the Treatments Feel Like? Toe Static
Everyday, now, my routine will be the same.
I will do two exogen treatments daily for the first month and then reduce it down to once a way when I return to work.
If you remember, Exogen is the light pulsed ultrasound bone Healing system produced by Smith & Nephew that I am using to allow my foot to heal and to prevent the need for surgery. I started the first day of a 4-Month treatment yesterday. My last day will be August 30, 2013.
Exogen Machine
The first treatment is at 10 Am and my second treatment is at 07h30 PM. Though there is no proven chemical benefit to doing it twice daily, it does not hurt to try.
I want to make sure this works.
I want the collagen in my foot bone to cause cells to multiply exponentially.
The machine feels very very light (I feel almost nothing) except for a slight tingling in my toes. It is very similar to the feeling of a balloon that one would rub against your hair until your hair is electrified. I have toe static.
Static in hair…akin to Static in my toes from Exogen machine
According to the documentation, this tingling is a positive sign as it means electricity is occurring in my bone which means my chances of success are quite good.
After the treatment, my toes keep tingling for a few hours. This is a very good omen.
Most of all, I remain extremely positive and hopeful.
I hope, Hope, Hope this works
Which Topics Do You Hate to Read About On Cooksploratrice.com?
I’ve always find that if you ask the same question from different angles, you might get different results.
So, which topics do you dislike to read about on cooksploratrice.com?
I’ve asked for your favorite selection and now, I would like to see what your least favorite are.
This is not to say that I will stop writing about a topic you dislike but I might split the blog so that you can access your favorite topics more easily and disregard your least favorite ones automatically.
I want to make my blog a space where you, the reader, become completely comfortable. This is important to me. So, if you have feedback to give, please give it now. It could be about the layout, the look, the topics, the quality of the pictures, etc. It’s a free space for you to provide (preferably constructive) feedback.
