The first step was to finally design a logo for myself. I was starting to feel like a shoemaker with no shoes. I also decided to move the entire site into WordPress instead of just the blog so I could display my work samples similar to a blog post rather than trying to squish all the details on one page. I had also designed the site mockups to be responsive and mobile friendly.

Initially, I used a very basic, bare bones theme and customized it by creating a child theme. But after creating a couple custom post types and templates and a couple headaches later, it seemed a better idea to just write my own theme. So it was back to the drawing board and a lot of reading through the WordPress Codex. Also, as I was building it out, I just didn’t like how the footer looked once it was on an actual web page and went back to the designs and made significant changes to the footer area and as well as other smaller design tweaks many, many times.

Most of my experience has been with front-end development so it took some time to get used to writing PHP and doing stuff with databases. I spent an hour thinking that I was doing something wrong when I was moving the database from my local environment to the live site and it turned out to be just the wrong password. Womp womp.

I was getting really tired of my previous site; everytime I looked at it I wanted to puke. So even though this site isn’t as done as I’d like it to be, I decided it was time to launch it and add enhancements later. If I didn’t do it soon, I’d probably start itching to redesign it again!

I used to hate-hate-hate cooking but love-love-love eating so I would just make quick easy recipes.  But now, I’ve learned to enjoy not just the eating part but the cooking part too.  So I took it upon myself to make all these dishes from scratch.  The hardest part was trying to coordinate the oven time and trying to make sure everything was done and still warm at the same time.  I decided to just prepare everything first, then rotate them in and out of the oven and saved the dessert for last.

Various chicken and potato delights fighting for space in the oven.

Apple and peach dumplings, next in line.

First out of the oven: nachos, mini pizzas and potato skins.

More potato skins, with maple bacon.

Chicken fingers!

Roasted sweet potatoes

Honey garlic chicken wings

Turkey chili and sour cream to go with the nachos

Paper plates.  I keeps it classy like that.

All of these recipes can be found here: http://delicious.com/stacks/view/KZTUqT

In other blog news, I’ve been working at Teehan+Lax since January and recently contributed to the company blog and wrote a piece about my views on being a woman in web development, aptly titled, “That’s what she said: thoughts from a female dev.”

The blog post led to an opportunity for me to get involved with a new group in Toronto called Ladies Learning Code which is “a collective of women working to empower everyone to feel comfortable learning basic, beginner-friendly technical skills in a social, collaborative way.”

The first workshop ran yesterday (Intro to JavaScript) and it was quite a success! Pearl Chen led the workshop and I volunteered to do a lightning talk about responsive web design and to be a mentor. This was the first time I’ve done any type of public speaking so I was totally nervous! Anyway, Jon Lim was kind enough to film it. Check it out!

I’ve also moved into my new condo in April, finally after 3 years. When I first bought it, it wasn’t even a hole in the ground yet so it’s been a long time coming. I’m in the Junction now and I’m loving the neighborhood. What foodie wouldn’t enjoy living in an area that has Mexican, Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, pizza restaurants (and more) within a few blocks? See for yourself: http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/n/39/junction

I also have a new site, tinktoons.com, to add to my roster of freelance projects.

I guess that’s about it. Hopefully it won’t be another 7 months until the next blog post!

Back in 2006, when I was completing my web design studies, the final project was to create a website for a real client.  The instructor had us make a bid for which project we wanted and explain why we were suitable for that client.  When I saw that there was a cupcake shop called The Cupcakery, I was all over it and managed to snag it. Lucky for me because she was so great to work with and is still a client now.

This weekend I re-did the image gallery, added categories and updated the images.  I had to optimize and re-size all 80 images and I swear by the time I was done, I could taste the frosting.  Good thing for me, I don’t live near St. Clair W. or else I’d be there all the time.  Although there was a point where I was going about once a month…

However, it’s been awhile so maybe it’s time for a visit.  These pics are calling me.

Photo source: http://thecupcakeryTO.com

The over the knee boots (Steve Madden) are still sexy even though they are flat.  I said I wouldn’t buy anymore boots after that purchase but then I saw this military style hotness that is the Guess boots in Vegas and couldn’t resist.  I paid $189US for them and was starting to feel some buyer’s remorse until I saw that the exact same style was $250 in Canada!  But I love the ribbed knit detail on the side, the shape of the toe and the grooved sole.  I love them so much, sometimes I just walk around in them at home for fun!

According to their website:

“Inspired by the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, Harlem celebrates the joy of Toronto’s cultural diversity and the art of entertaining. It is a rebirth of creativity in Food, Art, Music, and Cocktails.”

I usually go to the east location on Richmond St. but when I heard they opened a location on Queen West AND they added chicken n’ waffles to the menu, I had to check it out.

The Harlem East location finally added the chicken n’ waffles to the menu which was good for me since I prefer that location better.  Just as a note for those who may be checking out Harlem for the first time, the food preparation is not always the same.

Cornbread

Mac-n-Cheese

I still love it though because no matter the variation, it’s always tasty.  I’ve been to the restaurant more times than I can remember.   Here’s a few more items I’ve tried (that I have pictures of).

Sweet potato biscuits

BBQ wings

I also recommend the chicken or catfish lafayette, jerk meatloaf and the ribs.  And don’t forget about the sweet potato pancakes available during their weekend brunch!

I guess I made my love of shoes pretty clear. Check out the card the girls at work made for me. Soooo cute and sweet!