Happy love day

I kind of love Valentine's Day. For me, something about it harkens back to elementary school, when the best part of the day was rocking your favourite red/pink/heart themed sweatsuit and handing out valentine cards to your classmates. Things have changed a bit since then, of course, but I have to admit that I'm still wearing a pink shirt to work today. Old habits die hard!

Tonight, the fella is taking me out to a really delicious Mexican restaurant for dinner. We don't usually do the present thing for Valentine's Day, but I have a sweet card for him that I plan to fill with a mushy love letter.

Wherever you're spending it - and whomever you're spending it with - I hope you're having a great Valentine's Day!

New year, fresh start

I'm turning over a new blog leaf, readers. As you can tell, I've been a little light on the posting -- a whirlwind house purchase, a move and the holidays have kept me busy. But this year, I'm determined to finally get serious about the ol'blog. Because, really, what's the point of having a blog if you never post?

As well as relinquishing my "worst blogger on the planet" crown, here are a few other things I'd like to tackle this year. 

Learn a new piece on the piano.  
Now that we're in a new house and finally have space for it, we're getting a piano! I used to play growing up, but haven't given the piano any regular attention in years. If I can have one piece memorized by the end of the year, I'll feel pretty darn good about myself. 

Experiment with food
We have a big, beautiful kitchen in the new house -- and I want to use it! I'd love to make some cheese (possibly using the kit I wrote about here). I'd like to try and branch out to other meats that I seldom prepare, like lamb and duck. I'd also like to try making my own condiments, especially ketchup.

Walk everywhere possible.  
Our new house is close to everything. I can walk to shops, the farmer's market, work, the movies...and I intend to. Driving everywhere is for sissies!

Start a regular yoga practice.
Every year, I always make some sort of health-related resolution (Go to the gym twice a week! Lose 10 pounds!) but I never stick to them. This year, I'm hoping that by setting a more abstract goal that I'll actually be able to pull it off. There's a studio that's only about 3 blocks away from the new house (see? I can walk EVERYWHERE!) and I'm hoping to work some yoga into my routine.

Make our house a home.
This one is a given. We have spent about 2 weeks in the new house, and I. LOVE. IT. I'm having a hard time stopping myself from walking around the house spinning and singing with my arms outstretched. Sort of like this:

But I digress. Though the bones of the house are practically perfect, there are a million little additions, changes and tweaks that I'd like to make. I'm hoping to get everything on my extensive to-do list done by the end of the year.

There you have it, folks. My goals for 2012, proclaimed for all to see on the interweb. What about you? Any new years' resolutions?

Prayer after Eating

I have taken in the light

that quickened eye and leaf.

May my brain be bright with praise

of what I eat, in the brief blaze

of motion and thought.

May I be worthy of my meat.

                                                                           -Wendell Berry

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Two years ago...

...this is what I was doing. What a fun, heartfelt, emotional, whirlwind day.

Wishing my fella a happy second anniversary! xoxo

Reflections on home

Well, dear readers - it's been awhile. (Or should I say reader...Hi Mom!)

I took a bit of a blog hiatus this spring, as you may have already guessed. It was a busy and stressful time -- in March, my fella and I moved back to our hometown into an apartment that's pretty rough around the edges in a not-so-great neighbourhood. It was a particularly tough move because we left behind a beautiful, well-cared-for apartment in a quiet Toronto neighbourhood. We chose this route because it has allowed us to save a TON of cash to buy a place of our own (which we hope to be able to do by the end of the year).

But even though our new place will benefit us in the long run, it has taken awhile for me to feel comfortable and settled. I like to have a home that provides a bit of sanctuary (which is probably one of the reasons why I put so much care and effort into making our living space as homey and beautiful as I can). Moving into a place with a crummy bathroom and zero counterspace and a thousand little flaws just gave me this icky, mopey feeling -- like I had no refuge from the big, bad world.

Now that a few months have passed, I'm starting to feel more relaxed. We've painted, cleaned, and disguised as many imperfections as we can. This will never be my dream apartment and I will be happy to move into a place of our own as soon as we can -- but at least I finally feel like we can be comfortable here over the next few months.

My fella and I just got back from our first vacation since moving into our new apartment -- a wonderful camping trip in northern Ontario. We spent four blissful days reading, hiking, swimming and sitting on the beach. It was just the escape we both needed. But on the way back, I was surprised at how much I was looking forward to being home -- even a home with a crummy bathroom and zero counter space.

I'll leave you with a few snaps of our trip. Isn't Ontario beautiful in the summer?

Yarn-spiration

One of the inevitabilities of living a crafty life is that is comes with a lot of baggage. (Literally, not emotionally). I have a healthy collection of yarn, fabric, sewing machines, knitting needles, books, and various tools that I can whip out at a moment's notice.

The trouble is, all of these wonderful things need to be stored somewhere. As someone who is currently settling in to a new apartment, it can be tough to figure out where to put all of this STUFF. (My silly husband actually suggested I pare down my fabric stash before the move. Ha!)

That's why I was super jazzed to come across this image this morning:

Photo from wise craft

I love this idea, found at the new-to-me blog wise craft. She originally found it via Living Etc and executed the idea with a big vase from Ikea.I love that it's a storage idea that leans more towards art than utility.

Practical, simple, and beautiful. Perfect.

Champagne birthday

Today -- the 28th -- I'm turning 28.  I feel like that makes my birthday extra special this year.

I have been spoiled rotten by friends and family all weekend -- including a homemade dinner of pulled pork and french onion soup at my parents' house. The meal was capped off with the delicious Boston Cream cake you see above. (Thanks Mom!)

I've taken the day off work and plan to relax, watch movies, cuddle with my cats and have a sushi dinner with my fella tonight. Heaven!

Wanty

Behold the newest object of my desire: a 3-foot-high orange ampersand.

                                     

Why would I want a giant "&" symbol, you ask? I have no idea. But if it weren't $125 plus shipping, it would be mine in a heartbeat. Methinks a little DIYing may be in order. 

For those of you who can afford this beauty, you can find it here.

Moccasins!

Guys. I just signed up for a make-your-own moccasin class. And I'm SUPER pumped.

The class takes place during two Saturdays in March at the workroom, a beautiful sewing studio/fabric shop in Parkdale. (It's run by Karyn, one of my fave bloggers whose photos have made several appearances on this blog -- including the one above).

I have been dying to take one of the workroom's classes for ages, but the timing never seemed to work out.  Well, my friends, the stars have finally aligned. So, not only do I get to take a class at the workroom, but I'll end up with an adorable pair of moccasins. I've never sewn with leather before, nor have I ever sewn anything for my feet. Exciting things all around!

I will keep you posted on my progress once the class starts. One of the best things about it is that I get to take home the commercial pattern - meaning I can make moccasins again and again, if I so choose. Now I just have to contain my moccasin excitement (mocca-citement?) for another few weeks...

Yarn bombed!

I was out for sushi dinner with friends on Sunday night and spotted this:



A yarn bomb!

There's been a movement in my hometown over the past few months to decorate a downtown street with yarn. The idea is to brighten up a sterile city space and make the landscape a little more friendly and colourful. I loved this tree so much that I made a special trip on my lunch break today to take a picture of it for my Project 365.

And how is Project 365 going, you ask? Well, it's been going swimmingly so far. I've been pretty obsessed with my camera over the past few days and have been trying to mentally document all of the pictures I can take over the next year. The real challenge will be to keep things going when my enthusiasm wanes three months down the road.

If you're interested, check out my 365 progress on Flickr!

Project 365

I hope you all had Merry Christmasses and that Santa was good to you! My fella and I treated ourselves to a new SLR camera for our mutual Christmas present, and I am VERY excited about it. In fact, I have decided to beef up my photography skills by taking one photo a day for the entire year (known around the blogosphere as Project 365).

I'm not hoping to achieve feats of great artistic genius with these photos. All I want to do is challenge myself to do something creative every day, to learn how to use my camera better, and document little slices of life. By the end of the year, all I'm hoping for is a cool collection of interesting shapshots.

I'm still getting the hang of my new camera and haven't uploaded any of my photos yet -- so in the meantime, here are some snaps that have caught my eye on Flickr recently. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Pretty vignette from one of my favourite Toronto bloggers - Karyn at Make Something

A sweet appliqued tea towel from Angelina 79

Another shot from Karyn at Make Something. I like this one because it was taken at the coffee shop around the corner from my house (called - you guessed it - Hula Girl).

Cross-stitched ornament from Lena Corwin

Rachelredlips' beautiful version of the men's shirt from Collete Patterns. I got this pattern for my fella for Christmas and he wants his in black and white gingham too.

An adorable mitten garland by jbonikowski. This is on my must-make list for next Christmas!

PS - I feel like I should name my camera. I have a habit of naming inanimate objects that I have a special attachment to (I named my wedding dress Evelyn, and my KitchenAid mixer is named Beatrice...because she beats things).  Any suggestions for my new camera??  Ruby? Stella? Sanchez?

Object crush

You know what's awesome?

Plate racks.

Bet you didn't expect me to say that.

 



I'm officially on the lookout for a plate rack. I just think they're so charming and pretty.

Are you listening, Santa??

Elections and side tables

I have had a bit of a nutsy week. I've been covering the municipal election for my newspaper, which means all I've had time for are the essentials (working, sleeping, bathing, making sure my cats don't die of starvation) while the non-essentials (laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning my house, cuddling with my cats) have fallen by the wayside. Elections are like Christmas for reporters -- fun, exciting, all-consuming, totally exhausting, and often requiring interaction with difficult people (whether it's your crazy drunken aunt or wheedling politicians). But I digress.

However, I did manage to get something done last weekend. A few weeks ago, I saw this little guy sitting all alone on the sidewalk, waiting for a kind person like me to adopt him:

It was covered in ugly chipped brown paint, but it was sturdy and cute. And best of all, free!

I have a habit of picking up furniture off the street and painting it white (and I have two other side tables to prove it). One of these days, I'll go crazy and paint something turquoise or electric yellow, but white is simple, crisp, and goes with everything. It also means I won't have to repaint if I choose to move it into another area of my house.

It now lives happily in a previously dark corner of my living room (hence the somewhat crappy pic. A new camera is #1 on my Christmas list).

A match made in heaven.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ahh, Thanksgiving. Time for family, delicious food, reflecting on the good things in life...and beautiful table-settings.

I get a perverse sense of satisfaction from fancy table settings. I love the way china and crystal can elevate a meal to a real EVENT, you know? It just makes me feel so happy and contented to eat at a beautifully set table.

My fella and I celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents this year, so I got to set the table. My Mom had prepared some amazing elements -- the vases and flowers, gourds, mini Indian corn, pumpkins, leaves -- and I put it all together. I love the way the reds and golds go with the green in the china and napkins. (Freaky side note: my parents and my husband's parents have the EXACT SAME china pattern). 

My mom has this cool trick when it comes to preserving fall leaves for occasions like this. She puts them between two sheets of wax paper (waxed side on the inside) and irons them. This coats the leaves in a thin layer of wax, which prevents them from changing colour and gives them a tiny bit of a sheen.

Also, how cool is this circular vase? I love how the daisies make a little ring around the pumpkin.

I'll leave you with a gratuitous (and mouthwatering) shot of our turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!



Knitted Facelift

Look what's happening just down the road from my city! A local artist has  turned this:

Into this:

 ("After" images poached from one of my favourite blogs, Love it a Lot.)

This installation, on display until Monday in Cambridge, Ontario,  is punnily called "Knit camBridge." Hundreds and hundreds of people donated their knitting to turn this bridge into a cozy piece of art.

Here's a little snippet about the project from the Knit camBridge website:

This project was developed to include all levels of knitters, from novice to expert with the hope that it will stir creativity within seasoned knitters and be the foundation to attract a new generation of knitters. The contributions to this artistic community collaboration are key to its success. One person alone would struggle with a project of this magnitude but joined together we can create an amazing piece of art that will include a kaleidoscope of textures, colours and individually.  

This is so awesome for so many reasons. If you're in the area this weekend, you should definitely check it out.