I'm missing an hour

I truly don't understand daylight savings time. Not only does Saskatchewan NOT do it and get away with it, it's not the 1800s!! We have lights we can farm by! It's just ridiculous! Quit messing with my life and let me keep my hour! I say we just stop. We all just gang together and just say no.

On that note, My faves!

 Cooking yummy food • Translink • Special K with Red Berries • Snowpants • My Pillow • Beanbag chairs • my post work nap (it's always too short!) • Rainpants • Autumn • Craigslist • Fleece Pyjamas • My amazing selfless thoughtful husband • Looking through old photo albums (oh the memories) • Fish

Goodreads  - This is actually a really cool website I only discovered a couple of weeks ago. Basically you just mark down the books you've read, are reading, and want to read. You can review, track your progress, add friends, and participate in lots of discussions and read other reviews. It's really neat, and if you are as crazy about reading as I am then this website is for you.

The day after DST - Like today! When you notice how much lighter is it outside! Except here...where's it's monsoon season right now..I know I live in RAINcouver...but come ON..it just gets ridiculous sometimes.

I'm extra tired today. I am working all the games this week and I'm still working on the house. Just a little bit left!! I'm so close it's annoying! I just want to sleep!

Zipcar

Perhaps you've noticed the little badge I have on the side bar of this webpage. It's telling you that if you sign up for Zipcar, there's some free driving in it for you and me. What is Zipcar you might ask?

It's AWESOME that's what.

I live in the downtown-ish area of Vancouver (I was right downtown, but have recently moved just outside of downtown) and the transit system in Vancouver is superb. Possibly the best I've ever been on. As a result, it just doesn't make sense to have a car. I had a car until last October when the lease ran out. Even when I had it, I only used it maybe 2 times a month. One to Costco, and one to visit my cousin who lives far away in the land transit forgot.... With insurance being high for a car just sitting on the street, to having to pay for parking permit, to the INSANE price of gas and maintenance,  it was really a no brainer when it came to deciding to keep the car or not.

This is where Zipcar enters. It's basically a car share service without the massive fee upfront. There is a yearly membership fee (and even that can be discounted if you are a student, are with an organization that is set up with them, or live in a specific area) and then you pay per use. Most cars are around $10 an hour, with the hybrid cars being cheaper than that. The best part is, they pay for gas!! Gas in Vancouver is up to $1.30 so I definitely don't miss having a car with those prices.

Toot toot!

It's really great. I usually only need the car for a couple of hours. There are various sizes to choose from, from a Mini Cooper to pickup trucks. It's so easy and there are LOTS of locations in Vancouver. It's also really fun to drive a different car every time!

They even have an iPhone app! You can reserve,

unlock the doors, and honk the car horn!

Another perk is that I can book Zipcars anywhere. So if I head to Seattle, Toronto, San Fran (and more!), I can book a car while I'm there! So much cheaper than renting a car and it's great for the environment. Let's say Zipcar didn't exist, but all the members still wanted a car. They would then probably buy a car. That means minimum 7000 more cars on the road (I'm only basing this stat on the number of Zipcar's Twitter followers. There might be more or less members than that, I have no way of knowing the actual amount). According to Zipcar, one Zipcar takes 15-20 cars off the road and there are over 8000 cars in the Zipcar fleet. So if you extrapolate that, it probably adds up. That's also that many less cars using gas and oil, which is GOOD.

That being said, I really hope they start to roll out more cars in cities across Canada. So far it's just Toronto and Vancouver, but hopefully they can expand soon! (Psst..Ottawa has TERRIBLE transit...just sayin)

So if you're thinking you need a better way to get around town, without wanting all the strings of owning a car, click the little badge on the side! We both win! As the ad says, "It's the car for people who don't want one"

An update on SPUD:
It's so great! But pricey. We found an amazing organic grocery story near our new house that has really cheap prices, so I'm not sure we'll use SPUD again. However, I do recommend it if you find yourself too busy to get out to the store and buy healthy food! They deliver right to your door! I can even hook you up with a discount! Visit their website to find out if the service is available to you!

My Favourite things Monday!

Monday just shows up whether you want it to or not doesn't it?

The plus side is this morning I found an easier way to bike to the bus to get to work, so yay!!

We did some major home work this weekend. We're doing so much I feel like we've BOUGHT the place. But it's looking awesome. This week is the rest of the cleaning and then the furniture and we'll be all settled!! I can't wait!!

Now that I have my tea, let's get to it!

Which font are you? Take this test! I'm Cooper Black Itatlic. Check it out here! (I may or may not have gone directly to my work email signature and changed it to that font....) • Reboot • Yellow painted bedrooms (like my new one!) • Vanilla Rooibos Tea • School uniforms (it just makes life easy) • Ruffles chips with onion dip • Kirkland dried fruit • Tenth Church Kits • British Columbia • Water • Red Dot Campaign • Google maps bike routes • My bike • My kitty cat Zoe •

Praise 106.5 - Ok, so this is a Christian radio station. But the fact is, I HATE the radio. I don't listen to it. I haven't since 1999 and even that might be pushing it. I despise top 40. I hate having to scan the stations constantly trying to find a song I can stand. As a result, I don't listen to the radio. I always have my ipod and car adapter if I'm in a car. However, I've recently discovered this radio station. I never have to change the dial, and I don't have to listen to songs that I either find offensive, pointless, or just plain bad (which is most music on the radio) and it puts me in a really good mood! So I say yay.

I need to get back to working out. I didn't for the past couple weeks because of the move. But I have a brand new area to run around! The plus side is that I have to ride my bike first thing every morning now. That's good! Now to add to it! Today I have to head to second job right after first job. The lack of nap might prevent a run, but I am biking home from second job. I didn't expect to get any work there this week seeing as the team is on a road trip, but I'll take it!

Any of your favourite things you want to share?

My daily happy

Perhaps you aren't one of the 17 million people that have seen this video



That is 10 year old Maria Aragon of Winnipeg. Pretty talented eh?

It's a cover of this song.



(You should really just skip to the 3 minute mark...the first bit doesn't make ANY sense...but it's Lady Gaga so..yeah)

Her amazing voice and talent caught the eye of Lady Gaga herself!



 I love her reaction...and how bewildered she is to be saying "Hi Lady Gaga". Not every day you get to do that.

Anyway, shortly after this video Maria appeared on the Ellen show. She's a really well spoken 10 year old.

Last night was the culmination of all the above when Maria sang a duet with Lady Gaga in Toronto.





I almost cried a couple of times thinking about how happy Maria must be and what an amazing opportunity this was for her. I think it is so great that Lady Gaga took time out of her day, life, concert, to give this girl a chance to be recognized. It's really not often that you see that in Hollywood. Celebs are too busy wrapped up in their own meaningless lives. It's nice to see someone who cares.

I know at first the song was blasted for sounding like at least 5 different other songs, which it does, but that doesn't mean it's still not amazing. I love the message of it, and it's actually really catchy...I  may or may not dance around the kitchen to it.

This brought a ray of sunshine to my early morning exhausted day. I hope it does for you too!

SPUD

I'm so excited! Today is our first SPUD delivery!

What is SPUD you may ask?

Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery! Basically, we log onto the website sometime before our delivery day (Wednesdays!) and choose what we want. Anything from produce to desserts, baking needs, cereals, dairy. Everything! And it's all organic! (or so I understand) The website also lets you know how far your choices have travelled, so it's easy to try and stay local.

We aren't using this as our sole food provider. We will still go to the grocery story for staples and Costco for bigger items, but this is really exciting. Since we moved, we lost our favourite little local produce shop and we have yet to find one in our area, so for now we will give SPUD a try and see how it goes! I'm really exciteed. They will leave the box at your door if you aren't home, like a little surprise gift!!

What's also great is that SPUD is available to pretty much the entire west coast, all the way down to LA! So give it a try! I'll post once we get in to the groove and let you know what I think.

YUM YUM YUM!

In other news, moving went well for the most part. We had GREAT help from a few people. They saved our butts. I also got to drive a big truck! I was pretty good, I'm a great driver. The new place is a disaster. We haven't had much time to unpack yet. I hope to put a dent in it today. We are hampered by the fact that we have to paint, so can't unpack too much, but I shall try! It's a great place and I'm really excited to get it all set up! David has been tweeting photos of the move via Instagram. If you aren't following him on Twitter, you should. He's always posting photos of what we are up to!

I know I missed My Favourite Things Monday this week. I'll make up for it next week I promise!

Used is the best

I just wanted to throw up a quick post about how much I love Craigslist.

In the past month we've found our new home on Craisglist, and almost all the furniture for our new place...for pretty more than half price if we had bought it all new. I'm so excited and can't wait to decorate!!! I've also sold many an item on the website, but right now I'm just so jazzed over all our new finds! It's also super environmentally friendly! We're diverting who knows how much from a dump when people reuse/resell!

Leather couches :D

Help?