Food Addict

Hello Friends, I have decided to do a second Figure Competition this fall, and so that means just a few short weeks until I shift back to a competition diet.  It's obviously very controlled in terms of macros (protein, fat and carbs).  I have enjoyed the freedom of the last few months, mostly eating healthy but some 'cheats' in there too!  It's been a mental struggle for me to put on the weight my trainer assigned in order to build muscle and mass before dieting down again.  It sounds odd but I actually function better on a controlled diet.  Chicken and fish are the staples and so I am on mission to collect as many 'legal' chicken recipes as possible in order to keep my palate happy over the next few months.  I'm cooking this one up right now, (it smells amazing!) I saw a version of it on Pinterest, and thought it would be an easy way to add some flavour and convenience to the weeks of chicken meals that lay ahead. It's pretty simple...Rub a 9X13

Hello Friends! Many of you are my 'friends' on facebook and so you may know that I set out, sometime ago, to build a coffee table.  I stumbled across a picture and decided I could do it myself! Here's is the inspiration... My daughter and I went on the hunt for a pallet...Treehouse furniture had a stack of them out back.  We went in and asked nicely if we could have one..."help yourself!" was the response!  Perfect...FREE!  Then on to a glass shop right around the corner.  He offered me a round piece of tempered glass that had been ordered in the wrong size.  It's width was perfect for my pallet...$25, cash! At Rona, I picked up four castors (two straight, two swivel) and the appropriate hardware. $90. Now, I was going for a distressed look...but the pallets that were actually distressed by time and the elements were a bit too flimsy.  Wood was split, some panels were missing.  I opted for a sturdy looking pallet. At home I had some bl

Hello Friends! It's been a while, thank you for all of your emails and messages encouraging me to get back at this.  Life has been busy since last fall.  Two jobs, a figure competition and basically not a spare moment to just 'be'.  That wasn't working for me, so through some re-arrangement I've found the time and space for my 'creativity' to take root and blossom once again. Re-purposing is a concept introduced to me by my Mother.  Taking old 'things', ugly, tattered or discarded and finding a new way to use them.  I have discovered it takes a lot of elbow grease in some cases, and there have been more than a few casualties (ie. my gel nails) but the passion it has awakened in me is far more gratifying than beautiful hands. Many of the projects I undertake are available for sale at Influence (at very reasonable prices I might add!) Sunny Yellow Side Tables $29 each One of the best parts of this journey is the time I share with my young