I can't get no satis..I mean MOTIVATION!

Halloween is the worst time to try and toe the line when it comes to eating healthy, especially when you are married to a man who's birthday falls on Halloween and he loves mini chocolate bars..... Has there been a steady supply of the little delights in my house? Yes. Have I tried that hard not to eat them? No. This feels like the story of my life right now:

It's a good thing I am trying to be good and stay on a budget because doing any kind of clothes shopping right now would  probably ruin my day. I'm quite happy being blissfully ignorant.

Of course not shopping is a bit of a blog bummer considering that's mostly what I blog about. In the meantime maybe it would be better to blog about eating right and exercising?? Or music and funny stuff online??? Music and funny stuff it is!

Have you heard of Sweet Brown??

 Here's the original news clip:

Sweet Brown's Cold Pop Escape 

And the auto tuned remix that made it so popular...so funny (and darn catchy...you've been warned) :

Sweet Brown - Ain't Nobody Got Time for That 

New tune:

Bruno Mars - Locked Out Of Heaven - did you catch Bruno Mars on SNL last week? Very funny!

Random Instagram pics and an update

 It's been awhile since my last post I know. For whatever reason I have just been finding it hard to think of things to write about. I have been having lots going on in my life so it isn't that....just putting it into words I guess.

 Anyway, I thought the quickest way to bring you up to date would be to go through my Instagram pics  (you can follow me on Instagram...just look for braebrook. FYI, half of the pics are dog related...the other side of my life! ;) ).

My mother heard about raspberry ketones through an episode of Dr Oz. They apparently shrink your fat cells and boost your metabolism. You can learn more here: Raspberry Ketone: Fat-Burner in a Bottle.

I have been taking them for a few days and I find that I do feel like I have more energy. Have you heard of them? Tried them?

Now the most appropriate thing I can think of to follow talking about a fat burning pill would be a nice pic of my Thanksgiving dinner dessert. No bake cheesecake...delicious. Nice and light for after a big turkey dinner too, you can't go wrong. Leave a message in the comment section if you would like the recipe.

This is a pic of my chicken pesto bake. You can find the basis of the recipe here: Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake. It is from the Skinnytaste website which I cook from frequently but with this one I used a store bought pesto sauce, other than that I stuck with the recipe. It was very tasty and the kids loved it too (I made Marshall's without the tomato on top).

I've talked about this mascara before...still my very favourite. No smudge all day long and makes your lashes look long and lovely. It's also incredibly easy to remove.

Took in a dog show with a puppy who had never been shown before and we went best puppy in group and third in the adult group.

And on to best puppy in show!

We went to Qualicum Beach to celebrate my Grandma's husbands 85th birthday and afterwards took the kiddies for a quick visit to Coombs. Here they are playing around in the "Coombs Taxi".

The leaves are changing...so pretty. If I took a pic now you would see a whole lot more colour and many many more leaves on the ground. The upkeep of our backyard in the fall is huge...those pretty leaves just keep falling...

My dahlia's are finally blooming. I planted them way too late in the year (sorry Mom!).

Mr Marshall fell asleep waiting for Ella's ballet class to end. When this happens it means he won't go to bed at night....but it sure is cute at the time. 

And my cat Smith on a soggy rainy day....this is pretty much where he spent the entire day...sleeping on my bed. I was jealous...

And yesterday we had a lovely birthday party to celebrate Chris, Ella and Marshall's birthdays (they are all in the span of two weeks).

So that should bring you up to date a bit. That just leaves the quote (truer words my friend):

And some new tunes:

Serena Ryder - Stompa - she really reminds me of Adele...but with a funkier beat. I just stumbled across this on iTunes.

Passenger - Let Her Go - this was a freebie on iTunes a couple of weeks ago

And I'm really liking Taylor Swift lately. I wasn't that big of a fan before but her new album is going to be good judging from the singles they are releasing. I already posted Begin Again, so here are two more songs I'm liking:

Taylor Swift - Red

Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble - her sound is changing quite a bit, this even has a little dubstep in it.

And finally, I just started watching this new TV show (yes, I'm still addicted to Mad Men...halfway through season 4 now) called Arrow:

Has anyone seen this? There has only been two episodes so far (Wed nights) but I'll be tuning in again. You can watch the trailer here:

Arrow TV Series Trailer 

Thats it for now!

New restaurant review and some songs

 We decided to check out Asiana Pho today. It's a local place here in town that just opened a couple of months ago. Lee's Chicken occupied this particular space in town for years but they recently changed to a brand new location and this new Vietnamese restaurant has taken it's place. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect and trying out new places with little kids can sometimes be hit or miss. This was a hit. The food was really tasty, everything was very fresh and was a very nice change from the local eateries in town. It's nice to have something a little different. The portion sizes were huge so you definitely get your money's worth. Everything that we tried today was very flavourful but not spicy so it was perfect for the kids and we all just shared everything at the table.

The menu is a piece of paper that is set under the glass on the table which I thought was a good idea. It's easy to read and easy to keep clean.

We tried the Bulgogi which was excellent:

We also had a couple of shrimp salad rolls, some miso soup and Vietnamese Pho beef soup:

And beef szechuan noodles:

I didn't have a single complaint about the food, very tasty and very fresh.

The ambiance of the restaurant could have been better. There was no music or anything on in the background so it was very quiet and you could easily hear other people conversations which makes it feel a bit awkward. 

The service was ok. Our server wasn't very knowledgeable about the menu (perhaps she was new??) and didn't seem all that comfortable.

Overall I would definitely go back as the food was so good and they also do take out which is nice.

Now for some tunes!

I'm so so excited about the new James Bond movie coming out next month! I love Daniel Craig as Bond and have been waiting on this one all year. They just released the new theme song done by Adele and I think it's perfect. What do you think??

ADELE - Skyfall  

LOVE Taylor Swift's new single:

Taylor Swift - Begin Again

Looking for a new workout song?

"Don't Stop The Party" - Pitbull ft. TJR 

Have you heard the new AWOLNATION? It's a good one:

AWOLNATION - Kill Your Heroes 

How about one that sounds like a throwback to the 80's?

The Killers "Runaways" 

The leaves are starting to change here and the nights are crisp. Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving weekend planned. :)