LOL

With Valentine's Day this week... I thought I'd post a few things I found funny related to this day.

(But I still get my birthday, right? Or is that canceled too?)

 
(How cute is this?)

Interwebz

Maybe a year or so ago, I heard of this great website; Kiva.org.

This websites allows you to make a loan for as little as $25 to someone starting out in business. Your loan helps the business person establish or grow their business and support and provide for their family. Most of these loans got to third world countries to people who may not be able maintain their business if it weren't for the loans from Kiva.

All people asking for loans are screened by the organization before they are listed on the website. As someone who is interested in giving a loan, you visit the website and look at the profiles of the people applying for a loan. YOU get to pick who you would like to invest in! These are people from around the world, different ages, and a variety of business- such as agricultural, retail or service (ie tailor). You will get updates on how the business you invested in is doing.

The receiver of your loan will work towards paying you back, with a payment rate of over 98%. But like any investment, there is no guarantee that you will get all of your money back. The website has more information on this. When you get your loan paid back to you, you have the option of loaning it to someone else or pulling the money out to spend elsewhere. Or even donating it to the Kiva organization so they can run (100% of your loan goes to the receiver of your loan, none of it goes towards running the organization).

So if you happen to have an extra $25 sitting around and you don't know what to do with consider lending a loan via Kiva. Or, if you would just like to help someone out. Either way- or for more information- visit kiva.org.

Favourite Thing- Good Friends

As I believe I've mentioned, my birthday is next week, February 14th. This is not my favourite thing but information you will need in a bit.

One of my favourite things, and this goes without saying, are my good friends.

I've made the trip home for the weekend and just got home from spending the evening with my friend, whom I have known for close to 20 years. (Does that make us sound old???) We just hung out at her house, but we had a great visit. it's very rare that she and I get to sit and talk, just the two of us. But that's exactly what we did tonight.

While we were hanging out, she told me to stay put as she had something for me. She came back with this:

(It's in the shape of a heart because my birthday is on Valentine's Day...get it?)

She (and her daughter) made me this cake! Yes, the candle is a crayon and yes those are butterfly sprinkles. They even made it from scratch! I was so touched that they would do that for me, especially since she and I had not talked about my birthday or the fact that it was coming up. And the cake? Delicious!

So, to summarize, my favourite thing (s)

1. Good friends
2. Long talks with friends
3. Birthday cakes- bonus for being homemade and double bonus for being in the shape of a heart!

---

---

---

A bonus favourite thing this week:

I follow and am a huge fan of the blog The Kennedys Amongst The Kardashians. About a week ago, they posted an entry about how to make your own monogram desktop (which you can read here). For someone like me who isn't computer/tech savvy, I really appreciated the step-by-step guide. I even made my own, which is now the desktop for my work computer. I'm hoping to make another one for my personal computer as well. Here's the one I've already made:

Summary of my bonus favourite thing(s)

1. The Kennedys Amongst The Kardashians blog
2. Custom made/personal monogram desktop
3. The Lilly print featured in the desktop

Make With Me- Hummus & Avocado with Roasted Tomatoes Sandwich

Hummus & Avocado with Roasted Tomatoes Sandwich


Ingredients:

• 6-8 Slices of bread
• 1/2 cup of hummus
• 3-4 Avocados- halved, pitted & peeled
• 4 plum tomatoes- halved lengthwise, cores and seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper to taste
  

To make:

• Preheat oven to 450
• Place tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut sides up. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over tomatoes. Add salt and pepper for taste
• Roast tomatoes for 25-30 minutes or until tomatoes start to caramelize
• Spread 1/2-1 tablespoon of hummus on a piece of toast
• In a bowl, mash avocado with a fork, ok to have chunks of avocado
• Layer a tomato over the hummus
• Spread avocado over the other piece of toast and place on top of tomatoe
• Enjoy!

Notes:

1. This makes 3-4 sandwiches.
   
2. Can be served with cheese (goat or feta is best) in the sandwich as well.
3. Roasted red pepper can be used in place of tomatoes.