Canada Day Cupcakes with FREE Printable Flag Template.

Since my sweet hubby will have to celebrate Canada Day here in the States, I decided to have some festivities this coming Sunday to put a smile on his face :) We will be having my family over for lunch anyway so I figured, "Can't go wrong with cupcakes!"

I have so many ideas in mind: red velvet to cream stuffed or swirly red and white icing ideas...but I also have a budget and limited time. And the husband doesn't have a broad taste palet so I decided to go with simple chocolate chips cupcakes with red/white icing topped with Canadian Flags on toothpicks. I Google-searched high and low looking for free printable Canadian Flags but ended up with nothing. So I said it would be quicker to make them myself. And since I didn't find any fairly quick, I am posting them here to share!

**UPDATE** LINK HAS BEEN CORRECTED 7/4/2017

Click HERE to get the FREE printable template for Canada Day Cupcake Flag. Once there, just right click and save!

 (if any troubles with DL, let me know. I may have to tweak it later but for now this will do :)

Unfortunately, my printer wanted to run out of ink and so some of the flags are "Off-color." I say that because I don't' want to call them pink :p

Cupcake Flag Instruction instructions after printing the template above:

 1.) Cut down white line in center of the page.

2.) Then cut out the strips of flags. DON'T cut out each individual flag. You want two flags connected to each other. You will have 14 double flags in all.

3.) See that massive red block awkward block in the middle of the connected flags? That's where you want to fold it in half. Apply glue to back of paper, then wrap it around your toothpick. I made sure the ends opposite of the toothpick lines up, then smooshed the rest together to make it even.

The above pic is the result! Super cute!

Hope it helps! They were super easy and fun to make, decorate with, and enjoy for day!

Montreal Trip, Day 3: Geocaching Adventure in Dorval.

Today we decided to go geocaching in the neighborhoods behind our hotel, which is actually not in Montreal. We are staying in a neighboring area called Dorval and we are very pleased with our choice because it is a very beautiful city. Geocaching give us an opportunity to explore areas that we normally wouldn't be able to see, and the cache hunt here took us to some pretty places. Dorval has several little city parks that are very well maintained and absolutely a pleasant to be in. I wish we had a place like their aquatic Walters Park back home!

I hadn't blogged much about geocaching yet, but it's a new hobby and we are still noobs. With that being said, we didn't find as many caches as I hoped we would. We hunted six, but only found one.

The first cache we hunted was the one we did find. It was tucked away in a little area called Windsor Park. I kinda fell in love with that place.There weren't many people around except for what looked like a man with his wife and he was treasure hunting himself with a metal detector. We looked around, sat on a few different benches and took in the serene scenery. Then we found our first Canadian cache! This was also my first international cache.

Windsor Park - Dorval, QC

After that we tried to find a few more along the shoreline of Lake St. Louis, but no luck. They are there but we are still nooblets. We still had good fun, got some exercise, and got to explore a very pretty place. Here are more of our photos:

Dorval Library and Cultural Center

Lake St. Louis 

Le Monument aux Braves - The Cenotaph - Pine Beach Park - Dorval,QC

And last but not least, as we were walking along on the sidewalk back to our hotel, we were passed from behind by the Google Street View car and cameras! TWICE! So there is no doubt that Google users viewing the Dorval area will more than likely see our backsides. The hubby and I found that extremely amusing and he even tried to photobomb it the second time. So we are looking forward to see if we made the cut on Google Maps Street View!

Montreal Trip, Day 2: Downtown, Rue Sherbrooke, McGill University, and (of course) Graffiti.

Mostly took care of business in regards to the immigration visa and tried to figure out the transportation systems. All the signage is in French but we are managing everything okay. Most people here are bilingual so that helps out a lot.

We made a trip to "Rue Sherbrooke" in Downtown Montreal to take care of the medical exam the hubby was required to take before his interview at the consulate. We were both nervous and it took for what seemed like forever, but it's over and done with. We can relax for a few days now. 

We wandered the neighborhood a bit and had lunch outside at a nice little bistro. There are several beautiful buildings, a couple of which had thick, green vines growing up along the sides to the top of what looked like multi-story buildings. Very pretty. 

This one kept drawing my attention every time we walked by it. It's the Strathcona Music Building at McGill Univeristy. 

We did a bit of shopping (fun shopping and then, ick, grocery shopping). And, of course, we stopped at Tim Horton's twice today. I really wanted to go to Horton's again this evening, but I am trying to learn restraint. Plus it started raining. Things are so hot and dry at home, it's been a while since I have seen a good drench. Wish I could bring it back with me! 

Another thing I've noticed even before I arrived (thanks to Google) is the graffiti. It's anywhere and everywhere and on anything! Here is one I found tucked in an alley behind the Tim Horton's near our hotel:

At first glance I thought it was Pikachu, but as I approached it I realized it was Gir from Invader Zim. He is so cute; my favorite one so far!

If it's not raining tomorrow, we may go geocaching. It will be my first international find! Otherwise, it may just be hanging in the hotel to read or watch more of Canada's Worst Driver or Canada's Worst Handyman. 

Montreal Trip, Day 1. First Order of Business: Tim Hortons

Might as well call it Crack.

After a two-hour car ride with no air conditioning in 100+ degree heat and then boarding 2 stuffy small airplanes, we had traveled for over 9 hours before arriving shortly after 7pm EST at our final destination: Montreal, Quebec, Canada. First order of business after clearing customs: Tim Horton's.

We found my nearest haven of coffee goodness in the airport (of course). The funny thing is, we were directed to it by a simple printout sign taped to the front of an information booth. It was a regular 8.5 x 11 white sheet of paper that read:
 "<--Tim Horton's
<--Taxi"

Kudos for catering to my priorities, Montreal. Score one for you. Apparently everyone else thinks it's important, too, if a homemade sign is needed at the information booth. Not to mention, it was listed above "taxi." I love Canada!

My husband knows exactly how I worked and headed in that direction. It was like a beacon of happiness when I saw that big, red "Tim Horton's" name. And even more better, there was NO LINE (*shocked*). Hubby ordered me an iced capppucinno, or an "Ice Cap" as he calls it. I have been waiting a very long time to get my hands on another one of those- and it was more delicious than I remember!

I've been suppressing my Timmy Ho cravings back home in the U.S. thanks to my sweet, wonderful supplier: my hubby. Every time he went back home to Edmonton he would stock up on cans of their delicious fine ground coffee. His mom is even nice enough to hook me up every now and then.

But this week I can enjoy Tim Horton's in it's natural habitat, and I am happy. Lucky me, there is one only a block from our hotel. Guess where I will be spending most of my money during this trip!

.hack//SIGN "Macha" Cosplay DIY Hat with Kitty Ears

I went ahead and posted a pic and brief summary of the kitty cat ears on cutoutandkeep.net (awesome site by the way) since that's where I found the easy tutorial on how to make them. The original version and tutorial is by "Cat Morley" on the same website. Hers are definately better, but I still got compliments on it.

The hat I made myself using brown felt and the McCalls costume pattern 3789 (Misses'/Men's/Teens/Children's/Boy's and Girl's Witches /Wizards Costumes).

It was my first time making a hat and it was fairly easy except for one step: matching the two pieces together! I piddled with it for days and got so frustrated, but I eventually threw my hands in the air and said, "Screw it!" and sewed it together. It ended up looking good, lol.

I cosplayed Macha at A-kon 21 in Dallas this past June. I still haven't posted pics of the kon yet and I'm sorry! Wedding planning and my getting my kiddo prepared to start school has made me into a busy Queen Bee. But A-kon was fun, as always, and I got to cosplay as "Macha" from .hack//SIGN and "Zoey" from Left for Dead (she was way fun!).

Adventures in "Smalltown" Wal-Mart.

Saturday we decided we wanted to go fishing and all we needed was to get the Canadian boyfriend a license. I should have known better than to go to a smalltown Wal-Mart. BUT..it was on the way to the lake and right beside McD's for a quick Happy Meal.

So in Wal-Mart and three employees after the initial flagdown, I am tossing suggestions out there to help this lady (bless her heart), who is apparently in a higher position than the first two, try to get this license issued. Oh my, the questions that popped out of her mouth, we couldn't help but giggle and snicker. One of her first confused inquiries was, "What's Alberta?" Ok, lol, no big deal. I told her it was a province of Canada. Then she mentioned something about using "CA" as an abbreviation for Canada to use in the state field. I was holding back a huge smile and I told her that it might not work that way.
Then came the big giggle....

Still staring at the license machine, and kind of agitated at this point, she says, "Is Canada a part of the United States?" .....

I looked at the boyfriend and he probably saw the same hysterical yet silent laughing fit he saw in me. I couldn't believe she just asked us that LOL. The other employee standing beside her giggled too and said, "Well, it's attached. On the same continent, but uh, no, it's not."
I told her that the license was no big deal and we could go get it somewhere else, but she begged us to stay because she was determined to figure it out. She made a phone call and whoever it was walked her through it.

I think I let her finish it just for amusement because I SHOULD have went somewhere else. I later found out the boyfriend does qualify for a resident license because he's enrolled full time in college. For someone trained at issuing such licenses, a flag should have went up when I mentioned that. But no. We ended up paying $40 for a non-resident fishing license for a full-year. Next time I'll take my friend's advice: go to Gander Mountain or somewhere a bit more knowledgable.

Needless to say, we got to go fishing anyway and had a blast. We also have a funny story to tell! And the boyfriend will have to make it worth $40 and catch us a lot of dinner. He's off to a good start, tho, considering he caught the only fish for that day.

Portal graffiti is not a lie!

I believe these were on Bridge number 277 in Mill Creek Ravine. The first one I saw was the cake, which was the farthest one (go figure, I am so unobservant). I was like, "Ooh look! The cake is a lie!!" Then I noticed the Companion Cube and said "OMG the cake really IS a lie!" So awesome seeing random Portal graffiti lol. The classic NES controller was awesome too.

1st Weigh-In for June.

www.my-calorie-counter.com/Weight-Loss-Ticker.asp

Not bad, I should say! And take in account that I went on TWO vacations and ate a lot of fast food. ...and The Boyfriend's super sweet, super tasty peanut butter fudge (ooOoOo yummlies).

I tried to keep it somewhat healthy where I could, but not much because I all over some tasties. Especially at Tim Horton's... because I will not be able to have treats from there for a while!! Ok, well, I grabbed Timmy Ho's almost everyday >.> lol

Needless to say, I could have done better. The weight is coming off very slowly, but hey.... I am losing and not gaining and I'm not complaining. And the fact that I managed to lose weight while on vacation makes me feel pretty good too. I did a LOT of walking on those trips: large malls, parks, airports, up and down the non-working A-kon escalators... yeah, I think I worked off some calories there.

So I hope I can try to pick back up where I left off before I went to Edmonton. The only problem is motivation to workout again. Ever since the plane landed back home, I have been depressed and don't seem to be enjoying the things I should be. Pretty much back to the way I was LOL not good. Being away made me really happy. As a matter of fact, I wasn't depressed not one single time when I was in Canada. I know it's because I reeeaallly hate my home town lol. I need to find ways to make the best of things, cuz I'm gonna be here a while.

I hope I can report the same good news in weeks to come!

The A-kon 20 Experience: 20th Anniversary of one of the Longest Running Anime Conventions in the U.S.

A-kon 20 has come and gone, and it sure didn't take long for them to update the website for A-kon 21 (practically the next day.)

I wasn't going to blog about it, but it just doesn't feel right to not make note of something so awesome. Although this years con was kind of uneventful (aside from it's 20th birthday!!!) and all my usual roomies had to drop out due to lack of funds, but it was still a ton of fun!

I wouldn't have been able to go myself if my absolutely WONDERFUL boyfriend hadn't been there to save the day! It was his first year to be able to go, and he heard all the crazy/wonderful/scary stories from me and friends... so he said there was no way he was going out miss out this year. His first true A-kon experience was the pre-reg line.... and he said that was the funnest and best line he had ever been in. Hey.. it's A-kon... crazy stuff happens EVERYWHERE! Thankfully it wasn't the pre-reg hell like we had last year (over 4 hours in line and it was NOT fun!) This time we got there early on Thursday and only had to wait an hour and half... and listen to some cranky teenage she-demon. But she got told off and it was so glorious.

So in a nutshell, here's our A-kon 20 experience:

• I got The Boyfriend addicted to Ramune. SCORE! Next year if my brother goes, I'm sure our hotel room will promise mountains of used Ramune bottles. He also got to sample several Pocky products.
• He won a free Sonic T-shirt at a booth. First try too. Amy won last year. Do I ever win one? No. I win Pocky and only Pocky. Unlucky I am. I shouldn't complain. I used to win free DVDs from the FUNimation Booth.
• Sheraton totally remodeled a ton of stuff. So I'm walking along thinking I know way... BOOM! "What the heck!? There's a wall here!?" Kind of annoying, but I adjusted. Some of it works better than it was before, but I (as well as others apparently) miss some of the old stuff too...like cowboy statue *sobs* He will be missed.
• The rooms are SUPER AWESOME now. Flat screen HDTVs, sweeeeet bathrooms, and better comforters than those crappy things Adams Mark made us sleep under. Stayed in the North tower this year too..that was a first. It was nice elevator-wait-time wise, but the view was of the outside Central Tower wall. I missed the window view!!
• We got the chance to experience Anime Hell this round. It was a love/hate thing. Love most of it, but there is a heavy price for such amusement (i.e., the reindeer castration video... my retinas were pierced and the image is still in my mind...). I will do this again next year.



Canadian Ice Skating in a Kimono. 

• The Boyfriend bought a Yukata while we were there and wore it when he went ice skating at the Plaza (pictured below). At some point someone called him "Jesus on Ice" or something of the like. Another new A-kon Ice Skating category to add along with "Anime on Ice" and "Nerds on Ice."
• I bought a pink wig. It's really cute. Will be put to good use for many A-kons to come.
• Finally got a chance to sit down and watch the Sleeping Samurai Demos and the Kobushi Taiko Drummers. Way awesome and entertaining. Cept when you really have to pee and those drums are making the floor vibrate....
• Attended my first Masquerade Ball ever (I'll post pics later). Raymond wore his awesome white suit with a top hat. He got more compliments than I.
• Freshly exposed to the world of Steampunk costuming and gadgetry. WAY NEAT!
• Was rudely awakened twice in the wee early hours of Sunday morning from an intercom announcement and a fire alarm. Probably some drunken 13-year-old thinking he's gonna be a riot by pissing everyone off by pulling the alarm.

That's all I can remember for now and I'll try to post more pics later. Hopefully all my A-kon buddies will be there next year! And the cosplay this year was really cool; really inspired me to get busy with my coveted Macha costume! We'll just have to see!

Public Service Announcement: The Side Effects of Watching Anime.

I was highly amused by this t-shirt on a girl in the Plaza during A-kon 20, so I sneakily snapped a pic with my cell phone. She was in front of me in the McDonald's line (don't judge, I was craving some serious salt).

If you can't read it, this is what it says:

WARNING!
Watching anime may cause...

• irrational fear of tentacles
• loss of innocence
• fond memories you can't share with family
• shouting of random things
• love of fanservices
• painful withdrawal with discontinued use
• unnatural obsession with checkers
• ANIMEYHEM!

So true so true...

Edmonton, AB - Day 4: Movies and a Walk.

Been a pretty relaxing day so far. We decided before I came to Edmonton that we would go see Terminator Salvation during my visit. And so we did. I quite enjoyed it, way better than the last one. The theater was huge and no rowdy crowd!!  Texarkana theaters seriously need to fix that wild teenage obnoxiousness. Maybe of the town would actually build something for kids to DO than it wouldn't be so bad. Ugh, anyway, I'm not getting on that soap box.

Before the movie started, we walked to a Roots store. I love Ray's Roots shirts, they are soft and nice. I bought myself my own, but little does he know that I'm still gonna wear his. Haha! I'm wearing it now actually!! 

Not much else happened. We went back to the casino for dinner, I also met his grandparents there. Afterwards he took me to MIll Creek Ravine. He bikes there a lot. It was a very beautiful place. We walked and talked and took some pictures. :D

That's our shadows on the bridge :P

Pictures of World Water Park in West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, AB.

World WaterPark inside West Edmonton Mall. It looks like a lot of fun, but I dont go swimming. It is forbidden to see me in any kind of swimwear.

Pictures of Galaxyland in West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, AB.

Galaxyland Amusement Park inside West Edmonton Mall.

Edmonton, AB - Day 3: West Edmonton Mall

I think it's neat that it's almost 10 o'clock in the evening and the sun still hasn't set yet! It will go down soon tho, in about 30 minutes or so.

Today Ray took me to the Casino a short distance from his home and we had breakfast. It was actually my first time in a casino... aside from when I went into Harrah's in Shreveport, but I wasn't old enough to enter and stood outside by the million dollar wall while I waited for some friends. After we ate, he showed me around the place (very pretty wall water features!) and I got to play some slots! Didn't win anything tho. Poo.

Afterwards, we were on a journey to the University of Alberta (again) to find that darn S.U.B. and locate that bookcrossing zone. I wouldn't be so hard up for it if they hadn't mentioned they had manga there. We drove around a bit, but we finally found it. But lo, all the manga was gone. *cry*  But I did manage to grab one book to take back home with me, and I managed to drop 2 off at the zone 

After being stuck in a traffic jam for over 20 minutes, we made our way to West Edmonton Mall, which is the largest mall in the world. We spent a good 5 to 5.5 hours there. Finally got to try Tim Horton's coffee while I was there. What's a coffee lovers visit to Canada worth without trying Tim Horton's!? And lucky me, today they were giving away free small iced coffees  :D So I got one of those and an English Tofee Cappuccino. OMG they were so good! Ray got an Iced Cappa, but he didn't like it much, so I had his too! I was sugared up and caffinated! But I needed it for as much walking as we did. It's official, I'm hooked on Tim Horton's. I'm getting  more tomorrow.

I took lots of pics at West Edmonton Mall. Most are on my Facebook now, but I'll post them here too. But it's late and I'm going to watch Balls of Fury with Ray :P

Gigantic Picnic Basket!

No caption needed.

Sunken Ship