November Favourites

Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto, booted out of office - This is my favourite thing to happen in November... possibly all year. I'm terrified it's too good to be true. Ford's appealing the decision, and as much as I hate to admit it, I think there's a fair chance he'll be in office for at least the duration of his term (as a result of the appeal, or by vote when he runs again). Right-wingers are right-wingers, whether their candidate makes a fool of himself and our city or not, and they'll vote for Ford again. So depressing. Still, yay! At least he's fired for a little while.

Chai Tea - I am loving chai tea for three reasons this month: 1) I'm extra tired and chai tea is my favourite form of caffeine, 2) It's getting colder outside and chai tea is my go-to comfort drink, and 3) Chase bought us a kettle (I used to heat my water in the microwave, but now, in my new place, I blow a fuse if I try). Chai tea (masala chai) is black tea flavoured with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, cardamon, and sometimes other spices that make it taste like Christmas (anise, nutmeg, allspice, etc.). Technically, "chai" means "tea" in a million different countries, so saying "chai tea" is kind of redundant, but in Ontario (or at least, where I'm from), you order a "chai tea" to differentiate between other types of tea that don't have the delicious spices I mentioned above, or to differentiate between different types of chai beverages (for example, a tea vs. a latte). ANYWAY, I'm not picky about my chai. It all tastes pretty good. I have been trying to get through my supply at home, so I've been drinking a lot of Twinings by default, plus some Lipton Chai Tea (which is really nice, actually), some Tetley Chai Tea (the regular and the vanilla bean), some President's Choice Chocolate Chai (delicious!), and Tim Horton's Chai Tea. Actually, reading over this list, I've come to realize that 1) I have a lot of tea, and 2) I am kind of a chai tea whore.

Bonne Bell Lip Blush in Calming Vanilla Chai - Looooooove this lip gloss. The colour is nice. It's not sticky. It smells and tastes delicious. What's not to like?

Tampons - Oh my god, you guys! Tampons!! I mean, I'd rather go period-less for the rest of my life, but if I've got to bleed, I am so glad that tampons exist.

Body Shop Body Butter - Once I discovered that Body Shop Body Butter doesn't make me break out into hives like most other scented lotions, I became a woman obsessed. I like that it doesn't seem to aggravate my eczema; I like the way it feels on my skin; I like that I can dip my fingers into the pot rather than fumble with a bottle when my hands are full of lotion.  I had to abandon the raspberry scented body butter because Chase hates it and my dad said it burns the back of his throat when I wear it, but I successfully made my way through one of the mini shea scented pots and I'm almost done a mini coconut one without any complaints from the peanut gallery (in fairness, I got the raspberry one as a gift and it's not a scent I would have picked for myself).

Hank Green on My Drunk Kitchen - I am so glad this happened! Maybe it was his proximity to Hannah, Grace and Mamrie, because he didn't do or say anything in particular that made me squee, but Hank was cute in this video. It was the first time I thought "Hmm... maybe Hank is the hotter brother". I mean, I thought it for a second. Sorry, Hank. John is, like, #1 on my Guilt Free Three. Thanks to this video, Hank might be #2.