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.