It's hard to believe July is already winding down - where has the summer gone?! Here in Nova Scotia it started off with a month-plus of craptastic weather (35 out of 40 consecutive days were rainy, if anybody needs their memories jogged). Luckily things have improved somewhat and we've been getting more sunshine than rain lately. Mother Nature is always a little slow on the uptake around these parts.

Soo, summer is scooting along, but there's still a couple of months of heat left, fingers crossed. Here are some things I have been really enjoying this summer:

1. Bath and Body Works' Coconut Passionfruit fragrance



At the beginning of summer, I was looking for a nice, coconutty shower gel and lotion and this is the one I picked. I love this stuff! It smells summery and clean and not too-too coconut. They aren't going to mistake it for Hawaiian Tropic at the office and assume you're taking off early to hit the beach, let's put it that way. I don't have the spray but I did pick up the shower gel and lotion.

2. Brown cork wedges from Payless



I don't know why I resisted wedges for so long. There's something about some wedge styles that makes the wearer look clunky and uncoordinated and I definitely do not need any help in that department! That being said, I finally picked up a pair of wedges this spring and I'm happy I did. They're a comfortable alternative to heels but they still give you some height. Plus, you're much less likely to get trapped in the cracks on the boardwalk and you don't create divets walking across the lawn.

3. Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches



I looooooooove these. They're actually a decent size, and they taste good, so they're satisfying. Some ice cream sandwiches have 400+ calories!! These are perfect for a hot day dessert. They also offer instant portion control, unlike the tub of Birthday Party ice cream that's slowly but surely dwindling in the freezer right now.

4. Fresh strawberries



I have strawberries every single day in some form. Strawberries on a bagel. Strawberries mixed in yogurt. Strawberries in salads. Strawberry smoothies. GIVE ME MOAR.

5. The Help



I started this book on Monday after finding it at Costco for just $10.99 (it was $18.50 at Chapters...cheapskates take note!) Also, the Costco version doesn't have the ghastly movie cover. Super good read.

6. iTunes Radio



Lately I have been listening to Absolute Radio while I work. It's from the UK so it's fun to listen to them griping about rush hour traffic tie-ups in London when I'm just having my lunch. I have it on right now. I also enjoy the classical stations, which I listen to only because I read somewhere that classical music makes babies smarter.

7. Joe Fresh



Since moving out to BFE my shopping trips are fewer and farther between. Thank goodness for Joe Fresh, which is available at our local supermarket. Sadly, more than 50% of my clothing purchases this year have come from Joe. I don't even care that I've taken to buying outfits at the same place I get eggs and toilet paper. This summer they've had lots of nautical-looking stripes and empire-waist sundresses, both of which work for me. The empire waist is a godsend for almost-six-months-pregnant ladies who refuse to buy maternity clothes, btw. (PS - I have that striped dress. $19!!)

8. Grapefruit Perrier



My friend Victoria served a yummy drink made of grapefruit Perrier and cranberry juice recently and it's gotten me hooked on the stuff. Since alcohol is off the table, flavoured fizzy water is a nice substitute for boozy drinks, has zero calories and is very refreshing on hot days. I have been drinking it mixed with juice, straight up, and with berries thrown in.

9. Big Brother



Love this show...I love this season too. Even the tools like Brenchel.

Those are a few of the things that are keeping me happy this summer, in addition to the obvious ones like sunshine, beach days, barbecues and afternoons on the deck. Feel free to share some of your favourite things this summer. How are you staying cool/sane/happy?

Sometimes I feel like I eat all day long or like I'm constantly putting food in my mouth.

I have a pretty rigid eating routine on work days:

8:00 AM - Breakfast
9:00 AM - Coffee when I get to work
10:00 AM - Snack
12:00 noon - Lunch
3:00 PM - Snack
7:00 PM - Dinner

Is that a lot? I know you're supposed to eat every few hours but sometimes I feel like quite the heff, eating every time I turn around. I don't understand how people can skip breakfast and go all the way to lunch without eating anything. I would actually die. If my little routine gets interrupted (for example, there's a morning meeting and I can't have a snack until 11:00) I get UPSET. The whole day is off. I like my routine. In a chaotic world, it's one of the few things I can control. I like knowing that I can eat a snack at 3:00 regardless of what else is going on.

None of my meals are usually huge - for example, today for breakfast I had a peanut-butter-banana wrap, morning snack was a Special K bar, lunch was a soup and some trail mix and a soy latte. I have an apple for my afternoon snack. Dinner will probably be a stir-fry or leftover noodles and there better be a brownie to top it all off. Maybe that's a lot of food. Maybe it's not.

I almost always bring lunch from home, unless there's a lunch outing with my coworkers or with friends. Usually it's a salad, sandwich, or soup. I have been on quite the soup kick lately - two minutes in the microwave and you're good to go. When it's minus-22 outside, a nice hot soup can be a comfort halfway through the day. If I make a sandwich, it's always either peanut butter/banana, grilled veggie, or turkey, because those are the only kinds of sandwiches worth eating, IMHO. (Unless it's grilled cheese, but you CAN NOT bring a nasty ass soggy cold grilled cheese and eat it hours after grilling). Salads are awesome because you feel all vicarious and healthy eating them, but then you're ready to gnaw your own arm off an hour later. I like to put nuts on them (TWSS) and goat cheese and other proteiny things that probably make my "healthy" salads nutritional disasters.

So now that I've dorked out over food, tell me your eating habits. I want to know if anybody else follows a facist regime when it comes to eating, and also, if you bring your lunch, what do you pack? Gotta go, it's 3:00 apple time!

Let me start off by saying I don't think 'gluttony' should be a deadly sin either. I think these sins are a little overrated in terms of their severity. Let me be your moral compass, children!

I am a bona fide glutton. When I find something I enjoy, I just can't get enough. This is why I gained about 20 pounds after starting a job that included free beer. (I have since lost the weight, thanks).

It's why on Tuesday night, after a long day's work and a four-hour volunteer shift after work, I fell asleep clutching my bulging gut after inhaling half of a large (read: intended for six people) garlic fingers from Boston Pizza.

It's the reason why a couple Easters ago, if you were driving on the highway between New Brunswick and Halifax, you might have spotted half a chocolate bunny on the side of the road. I ATE HALF A POUND OF CHOCOLATE RABBIT BETWEEN SACKVILLE AND OXFORD. I had to throw the rabbit out of the car to keep myself from eating the whole thing, and then, inevitably, dying.

Without further ado, my seven guilty pleasures:

1. Red wine. Particularly pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon.
2. Cheese. I'm not picky.
3. Shows about the Kardashians. I hate them but I want to hang out with them, especially Khloe, she reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.
4. Shows intended for 15-year-olds in general.
5. Snood.
6. Misty Mints.
7. Anything that combines chocolate with salt. Chocolate salty balls notwithstanding.



If you feel like following along with this meme, here's the list of 'sins' and what to post for each:

Day 1 - Pride. Seven great things about yourself.

Day 2 - Envy. Seven things you lack and covet.

Day 3 - Wrath. Seven things that piss you off.

Day 4 - Sloth. Seven things you neglect to do.

Day 5 - Greed. Seven worldly material desires.

Day 6 - Gluttony. Seven guilty pleasures.

Day 7 - Lust. Seven love secrets.

Last week I spotted something in the newspaper that fascinated and disgusted me at the same time. "Oh my God, McDonald's has a Big Mac Snack Wrap!" I shouted throughout the office. No one shared my excitement. One coworker glanced at the print ad as she passed by my desk and commented, "That's revolting."

I have a bit of a "thing" with McDonald's, having worked there after school from grades 10 through 12. I know the secrets and ins and outs of the ordering, and one of my favourite tricks is the mini-Mac...a cheeseburger "dressed" like a Big Mac. It's the perfect food for when you're craving two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, pickles, onions, cheese, on a sesame seed bun, but only have room for ONE all-beef patty plus the above. The snack wrap looked like an even more toned-down version of the mini-Mac wrapped in a cute little tortilla package. Still, the idea of eating a Big Mac out of a tortilla seemed wrong and alien. I was curious, grossed out, and turned on, all at the same time, like a middle school makeout party but with more cholesterol and less hormone-triggered sweating and Lip Smacker application.

I put the Snack Wrap out of my mind and focused on work...but when the weekend rolled around, H2B and I were out running some very important errands* and I was jonesin' for food. "I'm hungryyyyyyyy," I whined.

"Let's get some food. Want to try one of those Big Mac things?" he suggested. This is why I love H2B so much--he can read my mind.

We went to the Dartmouth McDonald's right by the McDonald bridge (COINCIDENCE?? I THINK NOT). "OK, now we have to go inside. We need to get the full McDonald's experience!" I sing-songed. We had the full McDonald's experience all right: standing in a lineup of about 25 riff-raff teenyboppers for 15 minutes. The line didn't budge. H2B suggested drive-thru. I struggled a bit with that.

Here's the thing: I hate drive-thrus. Drive-thrus generally exist at places that serve greasy, fatty, overall bad-for-you food options. They're supposed to be convenient but really it's a testament to human laziness when you can't even park your car, get off your fat ass and walk 30 steps to the restaurant. I hate yelling into a speaker and knowing the kids inside are making fun of me with their headsets** before parroting back my order like some kind of retarded echo. But desperate times call for desperate measures and Mama needed her snack wrap.

The wait to get our food was agonizing. Brutal. "What the fuck can they possibly be ordering!?" I fretted as a couple cars ahead of us got bag after bag after bag of greasy treats and took what felt like forever. "They're taking all the frigging food!"

Finally we made it to the window and the drive-thru bimbo had gone off to make fries or whatever the hell other task they have drive-thru bimbos doing these days and the goddamn snack wraps are sitting there on the counter, in a bag. I could see them. I could probably have reached them if I'd put the car in park, unbuckled my seat belt and crawled halfway through the window like an armed robber. Finally Employee of the Month waddled back to the window and realized she had food to give me and...and...and I had the snack wraps in my grasp. Success!

"NO EATING IN THE CAR!" I barked as H2B tried to peek inside the magical brown paper bag. I drove home at breakneck speeds so we could enjoy our manna from the gods while it was still warm and avoid getting special sauce all over my interior. Wait, what? Anyway, I'll speed this tale up.

The verdict: 10/10. Here's why:
-meat count=half a patty. Totally reasonable for a snack, even if you're trying to eat fairly healthily.
-no onions. Just special sauce, lettuce, pickles, and cheese. MMM!
-the wrapped end makes it easier to eat than a burger.

Mac Snack Wrap gets two very enthustiastic thumbs up from me. Don't be conflicted by the print ad photo, which makes it look a bit like a donair gone all wrong. Run (or drive) to your nearest golden arches and partake in this little gem. You won't regret it!

*Our "errands" consisted of H2B driving around the city while I shifted gears for fun. This is me "learning to drive a standard". The whole foot/clutchy thing is too much but I like the shifting bit. It's kind of a joint effort that way.