Runs on Coffee and Cream

I finished the fourth season of Doctor Who today. I still have the Christmas Special to watch before starting season five however. But oh man, the last episode, Journey's End, broke my heart. This season has been my favourite so far and Donna Noble has by far been my favourite companion.


Donna's relationship with the Doctor is wonderful. I love that it's strictly platonic and she's not pining for him. She stands up to him, she talks back to him, she challenges him. And her sass and attitude is great.

All the adventures Donna goes on with the Doctor in this season are amazing and I loved her wardrobe throughout the season too.



You could say Donna is both style and attitude inspiration for me. Seeing her grow as a person and help the Doctor along the way made me fall in love with this show even more during this season.


I'm definitely curious to see where things go after this season because I know the Doctor and companion are changing. I'm hoping the obsession I had with Doctor Who during this season doesn't disappear.

xo Jen

It's sweater weather! It's been cold and snowy and I've been wearing layers every single day! Since moving to an area that typically has a longer Winter and that Winter is crazy cold, I've been slowly buying more and more sweaters. And if last year's Winter is any indication, I will continue to live in sweaters for the next 5 months. These sweaters would be ideal to have in my wardrobe...

So I still feel relatively new to the comic book scene. About six years ago my best friend could not stop raving about the comic, Fables. She was in love with the series and offered to lend me her issues. Well, I quickly found out that I loved comic books and I loved Fables and the magical world of Fabletown. About a year later I met my now husband who had a crazy collection of X-Men comics - we're talking X-Factor, Uncanny, New Mutants, X-Force... everything X-Men! Once he saw the Fables comic book on my bedside table he offered me his X-Men collection to read.

Here I am, five years later, obsessed with the X-Men universe and still reading through Adam's never-ending collection (every comic convention we attend adds more X-Men comics to our collection). But during this time, I've been adding some new comic series to my own collection.

I've been asked numerous times about what comics I'd recommend. Fables was the perfect introduction to comics for me. I had a friend to dissect the story lines with and having some knowledge of the actual 'fables' or stories that the characters were from helped me get into it.

Other than Fables and X-Men, I currently read these series and would recommend them:

Morning Glories 
"Morning Glory Academy is one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country, but something sinister and deadly lurks behind its walls. When six gifted but troubled new students arrive, they find themselves trapped and fighting for their lives as the secrets of the academy reveal themselves!"
This is one of the first series I got into and I'm not caught up anymore but the story is SO good. It messes with your mind and the twists and turns are great.


Runaways
"When six friends discover their parents are all secretly super-villains, they run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives -- vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy."
Another comic a friend got me into. It takes place in the Marvel universe and there's some cameos of famous superheroes. It's a fun read, especially being a Marvel fan.

Ultimate Spider-man
"High school student Peter Parker finds himself the recipient of strange and amazing powers. Bullied by his classmates and targeted by the deadly Green Goblin, he learns that with great power, there must also come great responsibility."
I wanted to try a Spider-man comic but there's so many options and it was intimidating. I decided on the Ultimate series. I'm about 7 books in and I'm enjoying the story and universe. The art style is great and I enjoy Peter Parker in it.

Lumberjanes 
"Jo, April, Mal, Molly and Ripley are five best pals determined to have an awesome summer together...and they're not gonna let any insane quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! Not only is it the second title launching in our new BOOM! Box imprint but LUMBERJANES is one of those punk rock, love-everything-about-it stories that appeals to fans of basically all excellent things."
How many times will I recommend this series to you?!? The eighth issue just came out so it'd be easy to catch up on! It's a great story about friends and adventures.

Rat Queens
"Who are the Rat Queens? A pack of booze-guzzling, death-dealing battle maidens-for-hire, and they're in the business of killing all gods' creatures for profit. It's also a darkly comedic fantasy series starring Hannah the Rockabilly Elven Mage, Violet the Hipster Dwarven Fighter, Dee the Atheist Human Cleric and Betty the Hippy Hobbit Thief. This modern spin on an old school genre is a violent monster-killing epic that is like Buffy meets Tank Girl in a Lord of the Rings world on crack!"
The writing is absolutely fantastic! I laugh out loud reading this comic. The attitude and personality of the ladies of Rat Queens are so fierce and strong.



The Wicked + The Divine 
"Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. The team behind critically thermonuclear floor-fillers Young Avengers and PHONOGRAM reunite to start a new ongoing superhero fantasy with a beautiful oversized issue. Welcome to THE WICKED + THE DIVINE, where gods are the ultimate pop stars. But remember: just because you're immortal, doesn't mean you're going to live forever."
So far the story has been really interesting. But it's the art that gets me in this series. It's gorgeous! All the characters are beautiful!


Ms. Marvel
"The all-new MS. MARVEL, the ground breaking heroine that has become an international sensation! Kamala Khan is just an ordinary girl from Jersey City--until she is suddenly empowered with extraordinary gifts. But who truly is the all-new Ms. Marvel?"
Kamala is a refreshing superhero. I've really been enjoying her story.


*All quotes are from comiXology where all these comics are available in digital format*

I hope you're having a great weekend!
xo Jen

 

Can you believe we're at the half-way mark in November? Christmas will be here so quick! This realization has got my butt in gear and I've started working on Christmas baking, finishing up shopping, and sewing like crazy!

The last couple of years I've made a point of adding a lot of new items to my Etsy shop during the couple of months leading up to Christmas. Currently, there are tons of new items added and I still have more to post! This is just a snippet of them...


And these are a few of my favourite items in my shop:





Since Christmas is around the corner, I want to give everyone a head's up to get their online orders in! Mail becomes slow during this time of year and orders take longer to get to their final destination.

I've always listened to a wide-range of music. I grew up in a household where music was played often and the radio was always on in the car. As an adult I have grown a fondness for music that I can sing along to and either makes me dance or feel happy.

Ingrid Michaelson

Years ago a friend introduced me to Ingrid Michaelson and I was hooked from the first song I heard, 'Be Ok'. Since then I've been a huge fan of hers. Even mine and Adam's song is one of her songs.

For the last couple of months I've been listening to her newest album, 'Lights Out', constantly. It's become my go-to music while I work on the computer or sew. My favourite songs would be Girls Chase Boys and Afterlife.

The entire album can be heard here:


Taylor Swift

My latest music obsession is Taylor Swift's new album, 1989. I got her album the day after it came out and I cannot stop listening to it. I've always been a fan of hers and could listen to her albums on repeat. But this new album is upbeat and more poppy and it's become my soundtrack when I'm cleaning. Dancing around the kitchen while I do dishes or sweep makes chores much better. Currently 'New Romantics' and 'Wonderland' are my favourite tracks.


I'm always looking for music recommendations if you have any!
xo Jen

Lego Batman 2

Lego games have always been more my speed in video games. The levels are fairly straight forward and the fact that I can smash almost everything in the level is super fun. We recently started Lego Batman 2 and this is the first Lego game I've played where the characters speak. It's so good! The voice actors are awesome! We're not done the game yet but I'm sure we'll be finishing it sooner than later because we're both really enjoying it and we're at the point where we're always 'just going to play one more level' until we realize it's past our bedtime.


I hope you have a great night! It's currently snowing out so I'm predicting more Lego Batman in my very near future.
xo Jen

I hope you're having a fantastic weekend! I'm actually off this weekend which is lovely. Spending time with my boys and Mr. and getting things done around the house is exactly what I needed. We're making Christmas plans, working out Christmas gift details, and doing some decorating. 

It blows my mind every time I look at a calendar now. Where has the time gone?! At the rate things are going, it'll be Christmas before I know it! So like I've done the last couple of months, I took some time at the beginning of the month to sit down and figure out what I want to do over the next few weeks before craziness hits and Christmas activities take over every day.

Autumn has pretty much disappeared here and a cold, dark Winter is slowly creeping in. So I want to do some things that'll keep my spirits high and keep out the dark, depressing days.

To-do:

- finish my first cross-stitch project which happens to be a Christmas ornament
- decorate the house for Christmas including putting up our first Christmas tree together
- make mulled apple cider
- have a movie night in with hot chocolate, popcorn and lots of blankets
- have a board game night


Do you have any special plans or traditions for this time of year?
xo Jen

 





It's bittersweet that Autumn is pretty much over and Winter is upon us. But Winter means Christmas so I'm ok with things changing.
xo Jen

I know it's a day late, but Happy Halloween! I hope you had a great day. It was an interesting day here because we had our first snowfall of the season. I woke up early to be at work for 6 a.m. yesterday morning and there was already quite a bit of snow accumulation but it just kept snowing. By the time I got home from work me and Adam had to shovel our driveway and walkway so children could get to our front door.