Lisa VM

Wonka Runts

2007-10-12T17:18:00.000-04:00

I've always been a big RUNTS fan - I like all the colours and shapes. I buy them from time to time from Dollarama 'cause they're two for a buck. And they don't contain hydrogenated oils.

This picture shows the original issue Runts - banana, strawberry, cherry, orange, lime. They later scrapped the lime and added blueberry and watermelon (which was too strong a flavor - kind of hit you in the nose somehow). I bought some yesterday and guess what - they changed again! Watermelon and blueberry were ditched for pineapple-it's even a cute pineapple shape. I didn't see cherry either but there is some new red one in the shape of the old watermelon - I don't know what it is (other than the box showing that candy SCUBA diving), maybe kumquat?

The bananas are the hardest ones on the teeth. As teenagers, during a late night get together, a friend was asleep on the couch while we ate all the Runts except the bananas. We'd wake him up with handfuls of banana candies which he then proceeded to dump into his mouth, crunch crunched them down, then went back to sleep. I always think about that when I eat Runts.

COOL

2007-09-14T13:40:00.000-04:00

My blog seems to only get quarterly attention!

We've been seeing a lot of bamboo fibre on the market, especially in socks. One of the properties of bamboo is it's cool hand feel. That got me thinking about one of my favourite chocolate bars -ZERO.
Yes this pic comes from Canadian Delicacies (so if you're reading from a foreign country check it out!). This is the coolest chocolate for some reason - but it's not minty. I think that since it's "cool filled" it would be a great choice for anyone who feels like a loser.

2007-07-09T17:25:00.001-04:00

Just wondering if anyone remembers this drink? I understand they are a bit of a collector's item now. Just not the same as bubble tea...I remember - I drank it!

Garbage Can-dy - Literally

2007-03-18T21:21:00.000-04:00

Here is some Garbage CAN-dy that I bought at Dollarama. It's made by Topps I think, didn't they make Garbage Pail Kids?

I used to love this candy - so portable in the little brightly coloured can that snaps shut. It offered much sugary enjoyment and was like a mini castonette (the shake-a shake-a thing). This plastic can is taller than the one I recall from childhood - I figured it was worth the $1, even just for nostalgia purposes.

The shapes are exactly the same (soup can, shoe, bottle, fish bone-not shown). The candy tasted gross but I ate almost all of it 'cause I'm stupid. It's not how I remember it at all. The old stuff was powdery - and easy to bite, noticably grape, cherry and orange flavored.

This tasted like bitter chemical limon talc and was the consistency of school board chalk. I chose it special and it failed me - or did it? After all, maybe garbarge candy is supposed to taste like garbage. Actually it was made in China - I don't think they indulge in these types of things...

I'm planning on using the hotpink garbage can as a holder for cotton balls to go with my new hotpink manicure set - can anyone say cute?

Fun Dip

2007-03-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

Who likes Fun Dip? I do! But I've always called it Lik-m-aid since I was a kid. So when I found these on the internet I realized why. How my parents ever let me eat the stuff I have no idea. Now that I think about it they didn't - but my young aunts did. Pure sugar. Crazy...

Now it's called Fun Dip and the stick to dip (also made of sugar but more like a sweet-tart) is the Lik-m-aid! I used to think that this stuff was the essence of what all candies were made from - that it was Lik-m-aid who determined what flavors candy grape, orange & cherry were. I think by this point in our lives we've just learned to accept flavors such as purple, orange and red. But these new exotic flavors are throwing us for a loop - is it mango or canteloupe, kiwi or green apple and why is raspberry always blue?

That makes me think of Freezies - I knew that blue was my favorite but never really knew what "flavor" it was. Do you remember the Kisko freezies with the straw? They were so big I had to eat them with an oven mitt they were so cold. They don't make those anymore - at least as far as I know.

I'm off to Florida for a bit of a bachelorette party this week and I will search for some candy to feature here. I will also look for some socks. Maybe I will find some sock candy!

Valentine's Day already?

2007-02-14T16:50:00.000-05:00

Surely it hasn't been that long since I last blogged! I guess I should update the crowd - this year is going to be big...

I am extremely pleased to announce that I am once again designing socks...how lucky am I? After giving up on the fashion industry I was approached by some former colleagues who'd been pulling for me to come join them in a new venture - so exciting!

I'm also getting really excited about my upcoming wedding in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Mine is one of four weddings this year - popular year! Hopefully there will be no funerals...

I was told this was not only going to be a great year for Sagittarians like me but also for Dragons like me! Being only just February I have to say it's pretty true so far!

Once I get going I'll be happy to let you know who will be showcasing (and selling) my designs - oh this so beats the insurance industry (sorry to all my friends there - except you know the deal).

Cartoon Nostalgia

2006-09-19T23:25:00.001-04:00

I want to share with you some of my favorite cartoons from when I was little...Do you remember -

What about -

And my favorite - the inspiration for almost a lifetime of collection giraffes (although I think this guy is a camel) -

Those were the days - when cartoons were drawn by hand. This was art for me; each one was different and from interesting countries other than America (France, Japan, Netherlands).

Hey - at least I didn't mention Today's Special or Read-All-About-It. Oops I just did. There was a giraffe in The Friendly Giant and who could for get H-A-RR-I-G-A-N - It's Harrigan!

Hamburgers at the Cottage

2006-09-09T13:49:00.000-04:00

Here's Matthew at the cottage back in JULY eating a hamburger. But this is no ordinary hamburger because this one is made entirely of marshmallow! Not like your everyday campfire roasting marshmallow but that new gummi/marshmallow confection. It did have that powdery feel though. As a kid, Matt got very excited at the prospect of eating such a candy however after about four or five bites he put it down, never to touch it again. Just goes to show that some things are a bit too much. But that's why I bought it! I've seen hot dogs like this too...

Sorry about the nice panty looking crotch section of the bathing suit hanging in the background. That's the cottage for ya!

Dutch Treats

2006-07-12T21:09:00.000-04:00

It's great to be friends with artists. My friend Karina recently went to Amsterdam (well, in May) so of course I had to ask her to look for some Dutch candy. Growing up part Dutch in Canada means getting a little tired of only Dropees all the time. So I was ecstatic to discover Karina brought back some fun tasty goodies including MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE CANDY which I had the pleasure of trying only once before in my life. It is insanely good - pure sugar - this is the stuff...

Basically it tastes like Lucky Charms marshmallows but it's more than that - it melts in your mouth and could be dangerously addictive.

The first time I ever tried it was at my friend Jessica's house when I was around 13 years old; she had just gone to Holland and brought back candy to share with us all. Since then I have tried to find it at the Dutch stores here with no luck, even my own trip to Holland was unsuccessful. My relatives seemed to have no idea what a marshmallow was - well if I had thought to describe it as 'hard foam' as the package does then I might have had better luck. Yeah, that's the thing, there is a hard version and a soft version and I really liked the hard one. Karina really had no idea about all of this - can we say kindred spirits?

Don't think I only eat candy though - except I will admit it's one of my favourite foods, if it can be considered a food.

No really - check out my lettuce ~

and basil ~

All of which I grew myself and can eat fresh anytime I want! So there you go.

Corn Plastic

2006-06-24T16:14:00.000-04:00

This packaging for my cookies is a "plastic" container made from CORN!

I think it's ingenious.

Although I am very curious to know if it smells like popcorn in the microwave.

Kit Kat

2006-06-12T21:47:00.000-04:00

I love chocolate and candy - I always have. I thought one day I'd grow tired of it but never...and I'm always willing to try new things too. That's why I was amazed and excited when I discovered the most extensive list of KitKat bars from around the world. Check it out for yourself and see all the different kinds. Some of my favourites are:

Kit Kat Chunky Cinnamon — Canada limited edition — Chunky with cinnamon flavored milk chocolate coating (tried it - loved it)

Kit Kat Exotic Hokkaido — Japan limited editon — Hokkaido cheese white chocolate coating, blueberry & passionfruit creme filling in the wafers

Kit Kat Blood Orange — UK, Germany limited edition

I thought Japan would have been the most creative in the flavour department but UK is pretty close - Christmas pudding?

It's About Bloody Time!

2006-06-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

Yes - it's been forever since I've updated the blog - between moving and a fried AC adapter but we finally have high speed internet! I hope that somebody is reading this.

Here's a funny picture of Matthew - Joe's son. I bought these sunglasses for a buck at the St. Vincent's De Paul in Ottawa and everyone loves them. Except I think they're a little prescriptive - they can give you a headache.

Cat Sculpture

2006-02-24T13:01:00.000-05:00

I'm a terrible, terrible blogger. I know there is no quota but once a month isn't always enough - unless you have super slow speed dial up internet like I do. And don't think it's a choice - one of the downsides of living the country life is not being quite on the high tech 'grid'.

I took this picture during my trip to Baltimore in January. I was going to send it exclusively to my friend Karina 'cause I know she'd dig it but thought that it would be better to share it with all you in internet land. I would love to have met the artist, especially since this was in the window of what looked to be a converted old pharmacy. Isn't it just so weird?

Baltimore is a pretty cool place to visit and yes, the crab cakes are great.

One-of-a-Kind

2006-01-30T21:28:00.000-05:00

My friend Vivien gave me this 'Cup of Yarn' for a present and it is just so cool. I think it is a brilliant idea and a great way to captialize on the growing knitting trends. It's such a simple product - one of those things that makes me go "Why didn't I think of that?"

In keeping with the knitting theme her sister Bessi, another friend of mine, passed on these CUTE finger puppets...the giraffe rocks and I'm so glad she has a monkey buddy 'cause he's really cool too. Bessi lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Another cool product idea I saw today came from the Peterborough news which happened to be on my TV this evening. They did a feature about a women who has a business recycling fur coats, mostly family heirloom coats or garments, and turning them into stuffed bears. They were absolutely gorgeous and one-of-a-kind. There is now a 6-month waiting period to have one of these bears made. I think that's a great way to transform a fur. I believe the company is called Needles and Nails. Entrepreneurs...I wonder what my bright idea will be?

Ferris Wheel

2006-01-24T19:09:00.000-05:00

I'd gotten to thinking about Ferris Wheels these days from a book on CD my mom lent me about the World's Fair in 1893, for which the ferris wheel was invented. The picture to the right is one I borrowed from a cool site called 'Closed Canadian Parks' (www.cec.chebucto.org/ClosPark.html).

This Giant Wheel was at Maple Leaf Village in Niagara Falls and is one that I used to go on when I was a kid, probably when I was really young and again when I was a teenager - you know that age where one feels too old and too young at the same time?

I had been searching for info about this wheel to find out where exactly it was sold, although I know it was somewhere in Asia (and that's a huge generalization). A friend of mine is currently in Japan and sent a picture of a giant ferris wheel atop a department store (?) - a large building anyhow!

The best surprise though was to learn that my beloved wheel was manufactured by the Dutch! Having my Dutch roots still firmly planted in Niagara on the Lake that just warms my heart. Apparently they removed that little plaque before they sold the wheel...

Crepe Paper

2006-01-21T10:50:00.000-05:00

I've been neglecting you all - I'm so sorry. But between a really long holiday season, an impromptu trip to Baltimore and a dial-up internet connection blogging wasn't such a priority! HA! Who'd 'a thunk it?

Anyways over the holidays my mom presented me with this and I've been dying to post it ever since. This publication is from 1953 and is chock full of funny-ness. But it's the title that kills me - What would Webster's say? Check it out...

Title aside - check out these pics and look how much crepe paper is used to decorate - the Blueman Group would be proud (you'd know what I mean if you've seen the show).

So those pictures took forever to upload and now I'm out of here. I'll be back soon (hopefully).

Fresh Snow

2005-12-09T18:30:00.000-05:00

It's so beautiful when it snows here in the country. I remember in Toronto when it snowed it seemed nice but all the heat and pollution caused it to blacken and melt and turn to slush and it was just gross.

I took a bunch of pictures today around noon and these two are my favourite. The snow looked so perfect I wanted to capture it; I didn't even want to walk on it so instead I dutifully shovelled a nice section of walk all neat & tidy.

If only I could attach the smell that was in the air as I took these - fireplace wood burning smell, just like you could imagine. These are some of the thrills I take in out here - although it can be boring and barren it's equally beautiful and majestic.

Darth Vader Sleeps Over

2005-11-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

We all thought Darth Vader had finally had enough of the Dark Side. So we decided to invite him to sleep over and show him that it doesn't all have to be darkness and evil and such. He especially loved the Andy Warhol cat pictures on the wall and went crazy for my giraffe collection.

HAHA - Seriously though, this is one of the coolest toys ever. It's the Darth Vader voice changer mask - not only can you make it say Darth Vader's best and creepiest lines, as well as his famous breathing but it actually CHANGES your voice to sound like his. When I was a kid we had to use an electric fan to get that effect.

I have to say, unless you're a super crazy fan, one of the best things about having kids around is getting to play with their toys, and with all these revivals it's actually more fun because we understand these toys. Now we can grow old knowing that we did look cool when we played Star Wars, 'cause in the 80's no one but the actual Darth Vader looked that real.

Ladybugs

2005-11-25T17:11:00.000-05:00

This may not look like much but I'll tell you a little about it. This picture was taken early November, when it was still warm and sunny (now it's the end and snow is everywhere).

Sometimes we leave the door open so the cat can come in on his own. On this particular day the ladybugs decided to follow suit. All those specks are ladybugs and the door was only opened for 3 minutes. Outside was a different story. The entire house was covered with them and if we stood outside for 1 minute we had at least 10 on our clothes. I used to think ladybugs were cute, a sign of good luck, we used to count the little dots on their backs. Now they freak me out. I don't know what causes this to happen - I don't remember any aphid infestations this year. The vacuum became our third hand - and these ladies are stubborn, clingy little things.

This is our cat Neo. He eats bugs but not ladybugs. It's fun to watch him catch flies though. He's a city cat that moved to the country - which do you think he likes better? Well so far he's caught two birds and gets to chase chipmunks so I'm going to guess the country! What a bubba!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2005-11-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

Since it's my birthday today I thought it would be funny to show a picture of me and my cousin from 25 years ago!!! It feels really weird to be able to say that. It's funny how our outfits are quite timeless though the mask dates things a little. Those tights I'm wearing are totally back in style!

Since I'm not working right now it's very nice to have the day off, and spend it with my man any way we like. I do have a job interview on Thursday but I won't sweat that today.

Some notable birthday memories are:
16th - being totally tricked into doing a waitressing job only to find out there was a huge surprise party waiting for me - I was embarrassed because I'd dressed all fancy and not cool
14th - getting suspended from school for one day - my birthday!
11th and 12th - my mom took me and a bunch of my friends shopping at the Toronto Eaton Centre, I still remember the Inglis sign's daily message: It's better to slip with the foot than with the tongue! and Mr. Greenjean's Party Hat dessert
7th (I think) - watching Woody Woodpecker on a film projector my mom rented from the library - it was neat but watching it backwards was better - my oldest school friends probably still remember that!

All of my birthdays have been great and this will be no exception! It's the last year of my twenties and I plan to make the most of it.

Blueman Group

2005-11-21T12:01:00.000-05:00

Here's me and a BLUEMAN. We went to the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto this weekend to see the Blueman Group and it was awesome! I'd never experienced anything like it. Check them out at http://www.blueman.com. We sat in the poncho section but we didn't get goo'd on although there were times where we thought we would and some did.

Look how nice he is putting his arm around me for the picture. I would recommend this show to anyone. It was entertaining, interactive and educational all at the same time. I want to see it again! Thanks Mom & Ian for this amazing gift!

Our House

2005-11-18T00:11:00.000-05:00

Well - I finally set up my blog - and of course I needed something to start it off. For all of you who've never been by here is our place in the country. Actually it's only the bottom right of the house but it's cool all the same. I don't know how much longer we'll be here so I thought it'd make a good first post.