WEEK ELEVEN: KINDLE + BOOKS

TORONTO I MISSED YOU!

It's great to be back in the smoggy city! On Friday, we packed up the car, made the 8 hour trek north (with cat + dog in tow) and have the entire week to catch up with family and friends. To survive the car ride, Andrew and I have a few AUDIO BOOKS queued up (many thanks to our AUDIBLE membership which is super-fantastic). (INTERESTING FACT: audio books are the only thing keeping the cassette tape from extinction). In addition, this past Christmas I was gifted an AMAZON KINDLE which is what I've chosen to post about today as I HEART KINDLE.

If you haven't checked one out yet or if you're a 'purist' at heart (my smart literary sister) and have a hard time parting with real paper---I DARE YOU TO ORDER ONE! My reasons for loving the KINDLE are many. They are extremely lightweight so for those of you who read at night SAY GOODBYE to awkward book holding, strained hands, aching shoulders or the worst, reading on your stomach (but who actually does this for more than two seconds). The KINDLE holds over 800 e-books so it's compact for TRAVEL so BRING AN EXTRA PAIR OF SHOES as you won't lose half of your luggage space hauling multiple titles through customs. And, the best part, YOU READ FASTER (okay, maybe this is just me). I can roll through books at a pretty significant clip now with the impressive glare-resistant screen and page turning features. 

SO CONSIDER GETTING ONE ~ I LOVE MINE!

So with my plug---if you're out there Amazon, I'm happy to be a spokesperson :)---I'm also on the hunt for new authors and good reads so please POST A FEW TITLES OF YOUR OWN. Below, my quick + dirty list of READS from the past SIX MONTH + a few oldies but goodies. 

2011 READING LIST + A FEW FAVS:

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Wroblewski)

The Guernsey Literary + Potatoe Pie Society (Shaffer/Barrows)

The Imperial Cruise (Bradley) **via Andrew

Girl With The... Series (Larsson)

Hunger Games...Series (Collins)

Sarah's Key (De Rosnay)

Ape House (Gruen)

Book of Awesome (Pasrichi) *grew up with Neil; go and buy it!
The Help (Stockett)
A Red Herring Without Mustard (Bradley)

Room (Donoghue)
Life (Richards)

Glass Castle (Walls)

Complicated Kindness (Toews)
Prisoner of Tehran (Nemat)
The Birth House (McKay)
Push (Sapphire)

HAPPY READING!
DON'T FORGET ~ TAKE A TITLE; LEAVE A TITLE--->

WEEK TEN: SLACKING + FAVOURITE BLOGS

As I'm sure my wide fan base has noticed (HA!--note sarcasm), I've been slacking with posting. SORRY GUYS! I've been busy refurbishing a set of six antique chairs for our living room which I hope to have pictures of soon.

VACATION~We're headed NORTH! Packing up the animals next week for a trip back to Toronto but I hope to have my next project up (along with our very cool new dining room table compliments of Crate + Barrel) in early April.

To wet your whistle this week, I thought I would share a few of my FAVOURITE BLOGS. Most of my ideas for projects come from sifting through the daily pics/commentary on these sites. So, if you have 15 minutes to kill at work today or at home this weekend, try visiting a few of these. GLEAN SOME INSPIRATION FOR A NEW PROJECT OR DINNER IDEA!

RIGHT CLICK TO OPEN IN NEW WINDOW---->
DESIGN + COOL FINDS:
Apartment Therapy
Haute Nature
Design Sponge
Inhabitat
Fubiz
Modern Cottage
Grass Roots Modern
Design Milk
Sweet Spot
P.S. I Made This


RIGHT CLICK TO OPEN IN NEW WINDOW---->
FOODIE:
Delicious Days
101 Cookbooks
Smitten Kitchen
Gluten-Free Goddess
Orangette
Amateur Gourmet
Pinch My Salt

Also, CONTEST WINNERS FROM WEEK #8---->SEE THE FINAL PROJECT!!

WEEK EIGHT: LOVING CROSSFIT

I know you've been tempted by those late night fitness info-mercials. I've been sucked in myself. I've done P90X, I've tried INSANITY and as advertised, they're actually LEGIT workouts--->or at least, I believe them to be. Actually, INSANITY is pretty ridiculous!

To tell you the truth, I love the fact that fitness is trendy! Who hasn't plateaued at the gym or been bored with the stand-by workout routine that you've been doing for a decade? I often need a change from the grind of the gym and quite frankly, I'm getting too old (As Bobby Orr says "...easy on the knees!") to do the crazy long runs I used to do back in the day.

So here's my latest fad that's actually had some staying power--->CROSSFIT. I'm sure many of you have heard of it, but if you haven't, check it out! I've been intriqued: the work-outs are short, it's never the same thing twice, you're dead by the end and it's competitive (you record your times to beat later). To boot, you're pounding the weights so intensely that you don't even realize you've banged out a cardio component too!

Paul Assaiante (winningest coach in College sports EVER) visited campus the other day and went on and on about cross-training and mixing it up so that the body doesn't plateau--he actually used the words "muscle confusion" which makes me laugh. Regarless, we all know that training has become a science--->optimizing results and being as efficient in doing so is key, hence the hunt for the plateau-less workout. My point about Assaiante is that he confirms that this isn't new stuff but clearly it's something that top programs do and, do well.

Alright, enough blubbering. CHECK OUT CROSSFIT---I've attached a few links. There's three places in Toronto and shockingly there's even one in my hood only 15 minutes away. CrossFit gyms are traditionally warehouse-like in appearance and use some pretty rudimentary equipement but you can adapt most of the work-outs to any gym setting or even in the privacy of your own home.

Here's my advice if you're intriqued--->Sample a few posted work-outs from these sites and see if you're a fan!

P.S. CONGRATS TO DANI + KIM FOR WINNING LAST WEEK'S GIVE-AWAY!!

RIGHT CLICK TO OPEN IN NEW WINDOW---->
CROSSFIT SITES:
CrossFit Work-Out Of The Day
CrossFit: Great Barrington
CrossFit: Toronto

OTHER SITES:
Outside Online: 2011 Health + Fitness Report
Blog: Straight Dope
CrossFit Zone Diet (via CF Journal, May '04)