I am Chuck Norris. Clearly.

I consider myself a pretty clean person, but I go through phases where housework seems like the most dreadful chore known to man. Combine that with the fact that I live alone and hardly make any garbage, I don't end up taking the garbage out until it's full -- not a crazy thing.

Well. I started to notice a bit of an influx of unwanted visitors called...fruit flies. Ick. I don't leave food out and didn't see a noticeable source until I went to empty my garbage the other night. And I was attacked. Hundreds of fruit flies surged from the can and swarmed my kitchen.

Disgusting. Soooo disgusting.

Well...what do I do? I go on a fruit fly killing rampage. I had been training for this moment. Our apartment in Azerbaijan had been infested with mosquitoes that first winter and I was an expert at smashing their brains to pulp while they were still flying around unaware. I was especially good at it at 3 AM when I would switch on the light (much to my roommate's delight) and go on a hunt to find that mosquito who was repeatedly dive-bombing my head. Some days we would all keep score to see who was the mosquito killing master. We needed entertainment at times and it was a perfect fit.

Needless to say, I am the Chuck Norris of the fruit fly killing world. But, much to my disdain, the fruit fly numbers didn't seem to be decreasing.

Bring on Google.

First of all I banned my garbage can to my balcony. Mr. Garbage Can was so sad and defenceless but it had to be done.

And then, thanks to WikiHow (quite the little treasure) I devised the following traps...

Numero Uno...

I poured balsamic vinegar in a bowl, put a lovely partially peeled plum in the middle, tightly covered it with saran wrap and poked holes in the saran with a needle. The holes were supposed to allow the fruit flies to get in but, because of their apparent lack of skills, render them unable to escape.


Numero DOS!!

I poured balsamic vinegar (that beautiful liquid), with a bit of dish soap and a drizzle of honey.
No saran wrap required :) The flies are supposed to fly down to taste the balsamic and get caught in the dish soap.

I also sprayed the fruit flies directly with Windex. This does not work. Save your Windex for more philanthropic causes.


And also because I was feeling all creative and smart...

I poured a mixture of honey and dish soap into a dish so that as soon as they touched it they would drown a sweet, bubbly death.


I left them overnight (with the exception of Numero Tres because that was a eureka moment today).


Shall we see how our contenders did??


Numero Uno...

Ahhhh very nice, very nice. Quite impressive I must say.


Numero DOS!!

A little disappointing at first glance. The flies seemed to think it was cooler to hang out on the rim rather than go for a swim (ohhhh look at me rhyme...)

But then...

The watery grave revealed something different. Kudos Numero DOS!!


Numero Tres...

Uh huh...

This is why I don't create how-to websites.


SO moral of the story, my kitchen is almost completely fruit fly free! Now I can chop up food without feeling like I'm about to feed hundreds of tiny mouths.

If anyone has any ideas or advice on this...issue...feel free to share! And I also give you free reign to re-post these pictures as cover photos for Facebook or desktop backgrounds for your computer if you feel the need to share the beauty of domestic pests.


OH! And the lovely link for these ideas can be found here.

Reality Check.

As some or most of you know, I work in an office at a financial firm that deals with insolvency. What is insolvency you ask? So glad you're curious :) When a person is insolvent, they can't pay back the money they owe with the money they're making. Pretty simple and, unfortunately, pretty common. If there's no way a person can deal with their bills, they file for bankruptcy or a consumer proposal: the former which eliminates their debt and the latter in which they pay back a portion.

Coolest subject on the street. I know.

Anyhow, I see files pass through with people owing anywhere from $20,000 to $600,000 -- not including their mortgages. Seeing these numbers (as sad as this sounds) makes me feel pretty good about my current financial situation. I don't have ten credit cards. I don't have collection agencies calling me (though I did get a letter from the library once...). And, I don't lay awake at night with heart palpitations because I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent. Sure I have a visa and a line of credit and a car payment and whatnot...but I throw money at them and it's all good.

One of my best friends came over a couple weeks ago and we started talking about debt. She (and you know who you are ;) ) is a wonder for my generation. Instead of racking up student debt or using credit cards, she worked her way through school and chose to live at home. She will be graduating (very soon, I might add) without a hint of debt. And she's not one of those misers who mooches food and stares at the sidewalk as she walks, looking for loose change dropped from one of those gangstas with sagging pockets. She lives an awesome life...she just does it wisely.

Hmmmm.

That night I sat down with a glass of wine, a notebook and a good dose of reality and started figuring out my debts. Those fun numbers being written down I wrote down my income and expenses.

Hmmmm.

If I kept spending at the same rate, I would find myself in my own office (for a very different reason) within a few years. What fun.

I work in a bankruptcy office and I don't pay attention to my finances. How's that for irony, Alanis Morissette?

So now it comes down to the choice. Do I turn a blind eye to every swipe of the card or do I make productive (albeit possibly painful) steps towards financial freedom, peace of mind and general awesomeness? Do I want to be blocking numbers on my phone in five years or going back to school debt-free?

After meeting with a couple of people at my work, hammering out a budget and watching more episodes of "Til Debt Do Us Part" than I'd care to admit, I finally feel like I have a game plan, and I'm SO excited at the prospect of being in control of my finances.

Because this is what all 22 year-olds do on their day off ;)

I'd love your guys' support, advice, questions and general awesomeness (because you know you have it haha). I'm so glad I'm dealing with this in my early 20's rather than when I'm hundreds of thousands of dollars of debts 20 years down the road.

I shall be posting of my efforts and it may not be pretty. I hope at least it's entertaining.


And thanks to this post, Alanis Morissette is now my Saturday night soundtrack.

Wow...it's crazy to think that my last post is nearly two years old! And oh, how life has changed...

I moved from Azerbaijan to Minnesota, completed my degree and moved from Minnesota to Illinois, couldn't renew my visa and moved from Illinois to British Columbia, moved from a house to a basement suite and, as of tomorrow, am moving into an apartment.

Whew.

It's crazy to think of how fast life moves and how much we learn in such a short period of time. Life is so unexpected and yet I wouldn't have it any other way. I've often asked myself if I would tell my past self what was coming if I had the chance and I always say no. There's something to learn in every experience: the good, the bad and the downright horrifyingly painful. Life doesn't very often happen like we want it to and my life has switched directions more often than I've planned--but isn't variety the spice of life?

All that to say...here's to another chapter.

I've been asked time and time again to start writing once more and I finally am. I hope it's all everyone dreams it to be haha ;)

With wet laundry at my feet, clothes waiting in the dryer, dishes waiting to be washed and a whole life waiting to be packed up, this "first" blog post will be short, BUT there's much more awesomeness to come.

This blog won't be themed because there are WAY too many things running around in my head for me to focus on any one thing because I'd have to have a million separate blogs and, though some of you may love my writing, my full-time job and your excitingly social lives would ultimately cease to exist.

Therefore...

Here's to life. To love. To cooking. To friends. To family.

To watching me take 15 minutes to parallel park on a curve.

And I'm serious about the last one.

People were going to send out a search party because I took so long.


Here is to a new and better beginning.

L'espoir fait vivre.

Recent Cooking Escapades

So, in my attempt to impress my unknown future husband, I decided to work on my cooking skills.

Poached Eggs? Check. Homemade Noodles? Check. Plov (an Azeri rice dish with dried fruit)? Check. Baklava? Amen. Check.

And So It Continues...

Here are a few more from our 4 hour long trip home. When everyone else is sleeping, what do you do? Take pictures of course!

This one is obviously blurry and I love it like that! Taken from our van's window.

Taken in a sit-down restaurant where we stopped for çay (pronounced "chai"), the continent's official drink--aka black tea. I adore colour accent!

Mmmmm contrasts. We all know I like those!

This one reminds me of an African landscape! Also taken from that van window.

Şəki... An Overly Brief Overview

Here are some beauts of the last month. My team took a trip to Şəki (a village in Central Asia), where we saw beautiful mountains, vibrant trees and green green grass. Sigh. Reminded me of Vancouver.... Well... only a little :) 

I found this little wonder outside of an outdoor restaurant. 

I can't get enough of the woods no matter where I go. The colours and textures are amazing!

Taken on the way back to Baku, our "base" city.

Stark contrasts. Love it.

The Way to Begin...

The only way to start a blog right is to start with a picture of peanut butter bars. Obviously.

These are one of the few things that I can actually make and I take great pride in how they turn out perfectly every time! Never mind the fact that I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com!

As you'll find out, I absolutely love taking pictures of food...