Monday Market #3

My apologies for missing Monday Market last week. But I am back with an adorable jewelry shop. This week's Etsy store is IMCreations! IMCreations sells tons of unique scrabble tile pendants, one of which I own.

IMCreations also has a great promotion: buy 2 get 1 free; buy 4 get 2 free; buy 6 get 3 free.

This is the damask pendant I own from IMCreations.

I also love these pendants...

Love

Sweet Meadow

Rustic Piano

Ohm Lotus

Check out IMCreations for tons of awesome pendants!

That's all for now!

My Attempt at a Cookie-Cake-Pie

A while ago, I found a Cookie-Cake-Pie online and I thought it looked super awesome. You can find the original Cookie-Cake-Pie here, at the CakeSpy.

Last night I made Cookie-Cake-Pie Tarts. I took the lazy way out, and used store bought pie crust, cookie dough, cake mix, and icing. You could homemake any or all of the layers.

So, without further ado, I present the Cookie-Cake-Pie tart.

First, I used a store bought pie crust and cut it into circles to fit into a muffin pan.

Then I baked the pie crusts for only a few minutes at 450. Just enough to start them baking.

Once then were slightly baked, I took them out of the oven and layered in some chocolate chip cookie dough.

After the layer of cookie dough, I mixed up the cake mix and poured cake mix in the muffin tins.

Then, I baked the Cookie-Cake-Pie tarts at 350 per the instructions on the cake mix box. I took them out of the muffin tin to help them cool quicker so I could ice them.

Here they are, all iced and sprinkled.

And this is what they look like on the inside. A little taste of pie, a little taste of cookie, a little taste of cake, and a little taste of icing. And they are good. I kinda can't stop eating them.

So there you have it! A little taste of yummy in a Cookie-Cake-Pie tart.

Monday Market #2

Well, it is another Monday, and here I am with another Etsy store recommendation! This week I am featuring an awesome Organic Spa: SpaGoddess!

I haven't purchased anything for SpaGoddess yet, but I have my eye on their Shower Steamers. Shower Steamers are balls of essential oils, perfect for an aromatic shower. They Shower Steamers come in four scents: Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Juicy Citrus, and Lavender.

I also love the Body Scrubs that SpaGoddess has to offer. For $12 you can get a sampler pack of 3! I think my three would be Enchanted Forest, Empress Vanilla, and Double Love!

Finally, Spa Goddess has an awesome sampler pack for $22. This is my top pick this week! The Spa Goddess Grab Bag is an great way to sample a bunch of different products for one low price. It reminds me of the Surprise Bags I used to buy at the corner store for $1... only better!

Now, my music recommendations for the day are "Love Your Love The Most" by Eric Church and "Who'll Stop The Rain" by Courtney Jaye (originally by CCR, but so much nicer by Courtney)

That is all for now. Happy Shopping!

Worst Blogger EVER!

Hello Followers!

I apologize for not posting all week. After my awesome introduction of the Monday Market feature, my brain fizzled and I had no clue what to say.

I am also going to admit that my reading of Pride and Prejudice has fizzled. I am still reading it, but my book recommendations/reviews might not be a weekly feature. So far, I am enjoying Pride and Prejudice and I am hoping to finish it by this time next week! So stay tuned for that.

I feel like this week has been a major fail. I worked Monday to make up for taking Sunday off, so I didn't get my Monday off. It totally threw my week off. I had to work 3 days in a row and I was over tired from not getting much sleep last weekend at my family holiday gathering. I had yesterday and today off, but I didn't get anything done that I wanted to - except laundry. I didn't get my tree up; I didn't get my Christmas shopping done; I didn't get my Christmas lights out; I didn't do any of the cleaning I needed to do; I didn't get groceries. But, I am pushing all that stuff to Monday/Tuesday. For a change of pace, I have Tuesday off this week and I am working Thursday. So, I only have to work 2 days then I get 2 more days off.

Also, I realized that I haven't been keeping up with my music recs, so here we go (with a few extra for good measure):

"People Are Crazy" by Billy Currington

"Fireflies" by Owl City

"Free To Be Me" by Francesca Battistelli

"Wild at Heart" by Gloriana

What is everyone's plans for the weekend?

Monday Market

Well, I had a lovely, holiday filled weekend. I spent time with extended family, ate a ton, played games, and enjoyed the first viewing of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation of the season. All-in-all, a lovely weekend.

I am also plugging away at Pride and Prejudice. I am afraid I might have bitten off more than I can chew for my first Friday Fiction, but we shall find out for sure in a few days!

In other news, I am excited to introduce a new weekly feature to This is my one small step. Monday Market. Every Monday, I am going to start your week off right by featuring a different Etsy shop. For my first shop, I am going to feature Britgal Designs!

Britgal Designs uses awesome fabrics and makes environmentally friendly lunch bags, sandwich bags, pillow covers, and tea/coffee cosys. This pillow is so lovely!

I have one of the lunch bags from Britgal and I think it is awesome. A Perfect fit for cutlery and a Tupperware container. I think Britgal offers a great selection, perfect for the hardworking, environmentally conscience (Brit)gal.

Here is a picture of me opening my lunch bag on my birthday. Excuse my expression, I am actually really happy about this gift!

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

New Friday Feature!

I know it is only Thursday, but I am excited to announce the introduction of a new Friday feature here at This is My One Small Step: Friday Fiction.

Every Friday, I will feature a new book that I have just read. I will give a review on it and you all are welcome to follow along with me and join in discussions about the book with me.

My hope is that this will get people discussing different books and also that it will get me back into reading a book a week again. As an English major, I was reading books all the time in university, but now I have sorta stopped.

So, without further ado, I present the first book of the This is My One Small Step Friday Fiction... Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen!

I just got this last night, and I am going to read it this week and next week I will give you my thoughts on the book.

So, please, follow along my Friday Fiction journeys! Stay tuned next Friday to read my thoughts on P&P and to see my next FF selection.

P.S. Please comment with book recommendations! I am willing to read anything once!

Happy Holidays?

So, am I the only one that thinks the holidays just crept up on us? Christmas is just 32 days away. Yesterday was the Santa Claus parade in town. People have started putting up Christmas decorations. Starbucks has their holiday beverages available (which, btw, Peppermint Mocha is amazing!) and their holiday cups in stock . Next weekend I am going to my first holiday gathering. How did this happen? Wasn't it just last weekend that it was July and I was just starting back to work?

I am not sure if it is because the weather in Ontario has been so lovely and we haven't even seen a flurry, but this just seems so hard to believe. So, because Christmas has gotten so close, I have decided to start my Christmas shopping tomorrow! I love Christmas shopping, finding something that a loved one is going to LOVE, being sneaky about finding out what people want, knowing what mom got dad and what dad got mom and not being able to share the secrets. Finding the perfect gift for someone is one of my favourite things about the holidays.

This year, I am going to try to spend less and be more environmentally friendly with my Christmas celebrations. Do you all have any tips for money saving at Christmas? What (if anything) are you doing to be more environmentally friendly this holiday season? Any tips or tricks that you wanna share, please feel free to leave a comment!

Now, on a final note, my musical recommendations for the day are "Christmas Day" by Dido and "Valley Winter Song" by Fountains of Wayne.

Chocolate and alcohol? Yes, please.

My 25th birthday was a few weeks ago and my loving husband spoiled me. One of the things he did was make me a lovely dinner with dessert. The dessert he made was this yummy mixed drink called "Chocolate Kiss". It was so yummy, that I am sharing the recipe with you all.

Chocolate Kiss
Ingredients:
1/2 ounce Creme de Cacao
1/2 ounce Frangelico liqueur
1/2 ounce vodka
6 ounces vanilla ice cream

Preparations:
Combine liquor with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, blend with ice and garnish with chocolate sprinkles.

Makes 1 Love Drink.

He found the recipe online on this website http://www.lovingyou.com/. It seems this site has all kinds of romantic recipes and tips. Definitely check it out.

So, since this post has a love theme, my song recommendations for today are "You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson and "Thing for You" by Jann Arden. Both are cute love songs that have special meaning for Rob and I. Enjoy!

P.S. Don't forget to vote in the poll for what you want to see on my blog! If there is anything else you want to see that isn't in the poll, please comment and let me know!

Cute commercial

So, I am tired from 2 long ass days working but I wanted to share one of my new favourite TV commercials with you. It is the new American Express one. I think it is so cute and clever.



Also, I hope you guys vote in my current poll about what you want to see on my blog. I am thinking that because my blog title is inspired by music, I will have song recommendations at the end of every post. So, today I am going to recommend "All of My Days" by Alexi Murdoch, from the film Away We Go and "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch from the film Ladder 49. Both of these songs are lovely and Alexi has a great sound. Enjoy!

Sorry I was MIA all weekend

So, I work eleven hours a day, four days a week. I work Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 9am-8pm and when I get home I feel like doing nothing and vegging in front of the TV and hopefully eating dinner. So, I apologize for not blogging all weekend. But, I am so pumped about having this blog. I took pictures on the weekend to post on here.

First, here I am on Friday after buying new jeans (which I desperately needed) and I purse (which I really didn't need but desperately wanted). I am enjoying a coconut bubble tea with lychee jelly. Yum!

Here is my new purse. It is awesome for holding all the crap I take to work with me. The only thing that doesn't fit is my lunch bag...

And, because it is cleaning day, here are my top 3 "songs to clean to" of the day:

Kelly Clarkson - I do not hook up

Darius Rucker - Alright

Christina Aguilera - Figher

What songs get you moving when you just want to relax?

Welcome!

I am trying this blogging thing again. I had a blog a few months ago when I was job hunting and I enjoyed updating it. Now, I have a job and I have stopped updating that one. But I am back, with a new blog. I know I should have a theme of some sort, but I am not sure what form this blog will take right now.

I do want to take the time to introduce myself though. My name is Stephanie, and I just turned 25. I am married to an amazing man and we have 2 cats and no kids. Right now, I am working customer service in a call centre to help pay the bills; but, I am keeping my ear to the ground hoping to hear about new opportunities. I love fashion and shopping (maybe a little too much); everyday I am trying to be more environmentally friendly; I would love to be able to travel and live in Europe (maybe one day); and I am eagerly awaiting the day my husband and I can afford to buy a home and start a family.

For now, this blog with chronicle my everyday adventures, be a place for me to share pictures and recipes, and to vent.

Oh yes, one more thing. I want to give a shout out to the band Great Big Sea for giving me the inspiration for my blog title. If you don't know them, they are awesome - check them out here! And check out "Walk on the Moon", the song of my blog here.