16.12.09

No. 7

Take 10 classes of yoga at Mandorla to 'aggressively relax' for the holidays. Tomorrow is class number ten.

15.12.09

Daily mantra


Enhance the everyday. Doesn't that make a simple daily mantra? To find beauty, peace or creativity in each day's hours. It is a mantra echoed in the life and work of stylist and creative force Pia Jane Bijkerk (she lives on a houseboat in Amsterdam - how whimsical), and it is one I will try to adopt over the next few weeks as my own life hopefully starts to transition into a new space.
(Photo collage by Pia Jane Bijkerk)

14.12.09

No. 26


Our first Christmas tree as Hub and Wife.

10.12.09

No. 31


Looks like we'll be spending our first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. in the picturesque Eastern Townships of Quebec. I'm excited.

8.12.09

No. 9


Paint my nails a festive colour.

7.12.09

67 Ways to Enjoy the Holidays


Inspired by this Molson Canadian ad, I am putting together my own list of 67 ways to enjoy the holidays:

1. Gaze @ celebrity portraits at the Vanity Fair exhibit @ the ROM (until Jan. 3. 2010).
2. Indulge in buttery perogies @ Granowska's in Roncey.
3. Make my own gift wrap and tags with recycled materials.
4. Skate circles around the Hub @ Harbourfront.
5. Breathe in the tropics @ a local conservatory one afternoon.
6. Do a crossword @ the Red Rocket.
7. Take 10 classes of yoga @ Mandorla Yoga to help 'aggressively relax' for the holidays.
8. Pick up a winter wool sweater @ H&M.
9. Paint my nails a festive colour.
10. Drink hot chocolate and stroll through High Park.

11. Take pictures at all our winter outings.
12. Order in Firenze's when it is too cold to go outside.
13. Drink boozy eggnog with nutmeg.
14. Indulge in the chocolate of Stubbe's on Davenport.
15. Build a snowwoman.
16. Wax and use the cross-country skiis.
17. Read two new books.
18. Go tobogganing.
19. Gear up for snowboarding - new helmut, jacket and boots.
20. Drink good hot chocolate.

21. Eat homemade soup and good bread.
22. Relax, take a swim, steam or sauna at Body Blitz.
23. Two massages - post-party and pre-Christmas.
24. Make a donation with our empties $$ to The Inn of the Good Shepherd.
25. Christmas clipboard art.
26. Our first Christmas tree.
27. New winter stockings from The Bay.
28. A new hair cut.
29. Solstice in Kensington Market.
30. Snowflakes on my tongue.

I need 37 more...

4.12.09

Morning light

Cashmere-wool goodness...and Made in Canada too


Oh goodness. I ordered the 'Morgan' Coat last night from dace in british columbia. I'm tres excited to receive it and more excited to wear it - a cashmere-wool blend in gun metal grey. And it was forty percent off the sale price. Props to Alyson @ Unruly Things the heads up about the sample sale.

3.12.09

Alphabet Posters


Just bought this adorable alphabet poster for the little Rio Star! Designed and printed by Enna and available on Etsy. If this one doesn't suit your fancy, check out the alphabet poster guide on Design Sponge.

2.12.09

On loan


It's December. The year is almost over so I am trying to get in a few substantial and meaningful reads before the New Year. I borrowed John Steinbeck's The Red Pony from the library last week and I am in delighting in its innocence - well at least the first three chapters.

23.11.09

Peace week



This morning I went to the YMCA's Peace Medallion Recipient Breakfast. I went because I helped vet the nominations. I went to see how the Y executes events. I went because I wanted to be inspired by someone - in this case by Ruth Geurts - who is driven by passion for peace in their career. It was a wonderfully positive way to start the week.

Christmas wish list




Poppytalk Handmade's Holiday and Gift-Themed Market opened today and there are some very lovely goodies I'd love to find in my stocking on Christmas morning. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, hub, hub.

From top to bottom:
1. hand-printed fat quarters from repeat.
2. le sac from lines by davis.
3. precious recycled soft wool gloves by dear pony.
4. anything from the letterpress wizards pistachio press.

22.11.09

Christmas countdown


The calendar tells me that Christmas is only five weeks away. The thermometer however, tells a different story. One of climate change and a late November reading of nine degrees c. Sure, I'm not quite ready to done my sleeping bag parka for five months but it's hard to ramp up the holiday mojo when its so temperate outdoors.
(Christmas letterpress blocks via Style Files)

21.11.09

Branches


I'm off to collect branches and other sticks of natural beauty for our Kitchen Party centrepieces. The egg-shaped glass bottles above display birch branches beautifully.
(Photo via Apartment Therapy)

19.11.09

Kitchen Party


Eight days until our Kitchen Party @ St. Lawrence Market to celebrate our European nuptials. Egads! 

18.11.09

Wish list


Seems like bags are on my mind lately. This ruffled linen one would look pretty on my arm, n'est pas? Add it to the wish list. 

13.11.09

Lounging


This is the kind of sofa I could come home to; to watch a movie on a Sunday evening; to read a book on a sunny afternoon; to curl up on, with the hub's head on my lap. 
(Image via Style Files)

Wordy gift idea

Brooke Reynolds of Inchmark posted this lovely - and wordy - gift idea on Design Sponge today. An alphabet stack gift card for someone you know really well. For each letter, you pick a character trait (flattering of course) that best describes that person. Putting this one in the craft trunk. 

8.11.09

Landmarks - Two + Three

Before VIA Rail and the milk run route through London.


Alexander Mackenzie in copper (Riverfront Walkway).


6.11.09

Wish list


If I could splurge today, I would buy this honey brown weekender bag. Sigh. Three hundred dollars better spent on our upcoming party

High five

Friday. The weekend in sight. And I'm at home trying to keep a sore throat at bay. Sigh. But at least the sun is shining in a beautiful fall way.  An early morning at the Farmers' Market tomorrow and little, fun to-dos with the hub. Oh, and high fives are one of my favourite things. 
(Can't remember where I first found this photo...opps!)

5.11.09

Hounds


How precious is this guy? If the hub and I were to expand our family of two to include a pet, if we were pet people, a basset hound would be my top choice. Photographed by Sharon Montrose and available on Etsy
(discovered via unruly things)

A Darn Sarn-inspired Christmas


Okay, I know I am rushing it but this pic always cracks me up. The hub and I, inspired by our Sarnia 'neighbours', did a holiday photo shoot on our balcony last winter. One of the resulting pictures made its way onto the front of our Christmas card; the hub is wearing his $35 Made-in-Winterpeg down parka and his vintage Adidas running shorts (he actually ran a race in those in Melbourne, Aus.), and I bought the lovely green sweater and sparkly pin from a hand-me-down shop. Giggles. 

1.11.09

Landmarks - One


The Chipican (@ the corner of Michigan and Christina in Point Edward).

Goodbye to fall


Clocks were turned back early this morning. It still smells like fall but more leaves are falling and the trees are becoming bare. I'm not ready to done my down sleeping bag jacket for the next five months. Sigh. 

25.10.09

Lovely


A great friend gifted me this lovely retro bathing cap repurposed as a waterproof comestics bag. From Kat Remi in Nova Scotia.

20.10.09

Fall walk through polaroids



A walk along one of Sarnia's nature walkways last fall. 

19.10.09

A long overdue stretch


Tomorrow evening can't come quick enough. I'm ending a long yoga hiatus and taking Stef's Water class tomorrow. While I relished our three week nuptial adventure in Slovenia and Croatia, unfamiliar beds and airplane seats cramp my muscles. 
(Photo via Mandorla Yoga)

Wish list



Sigh. These are just fall lovely for the kitchen. I would love to add these Studiopatro dish towels, napkins and placements to our kitchen. 
(Photos and post via Mint)

17.10.09

Matchbook - Four


Going south for steak?

kraft paper packages


There is nothing like coming home from work to discover a kraft paper package in your mailbox filled with surprises from a good, old friend. Jazz-rama, this one is en route. 

15.10.09

Small indulgence


One of my on-going small indulgences is fragant hand wash and soap. This month it is Daub&Bauble's Mission Fig and Thyme. Best place to indulge? The cosmetics and products section @ Winner's.

12.10.09

Gratitude list


Gobble gobble. Turkeys were stuffed and cranberries cooked. And a gratitude list written to give thanks to all which is wonderful in my life:

1. Miss Rio has been with us for one year
2. I ran my second half-marathon
3. I got a job in Sarnia and have been saving $$$
4. Farmers' markets
5. All of my loving friends
6. Volunteering with Big Bunch
7. Easter weekend in Quebec City
8. Life
9. Monthly Gourmet magazines (before its cancellation)
10. Marrying D in Slovenia

9.10.09

Bounce (in your wedding clothes)




It is always a good time to bounce...even in your wedding clothes!

23.8.09

pop of colour


Another lovely (and cheap) bouquet of flowers from the Farmers' Market. Gracing the new kitchen table top. 

Saturday finds


Detours can be fruitful. The sign advertised a furniture sale. My Sarnia lifeguard Christina and I walked down the gravel drive to a large, three-door barn like garage. We expected some farm house antiques but were awed by the chairs, the cupboards, the hutches, the buffets, the sideboards, the tall boy dressers, the chalkboards, the lamps, the rocking chairs not in shabby shape but rather shabby chic - lovingly stripped, repainted and upholstered where necessary. And the prices. I bought six pine chairs and country-style table for $300. Christina a $250 white French side board and ideas bouncing around in her head how she could too turn her love of refinishing old furniture into a job (just like the two ladies hosting the sale). Oh, and the future husband didn't even balk when I told him I bought it. 

19.8.09

the future husband


Click...The future husband invested in my desire to take good photos. I was reluctant to put aside my old manual for a DSLR but with our upcoming European nuptials, the time was right. My goal is to get up before sunrise on Friday and head out to shoot some farm fields and old barns. 

17.8.09

I'd go to the Silver Screen


Roald Dahl - England's Intrepid and one of my favourite childrens' story book authors - is having his Fantastic Mr. Fox interpreted by another 'intrepid' of sorts - Wes Anderson - for the Silver Screen this fall. 

Watch the trailer here

13.8.09

Thursday night in the Darn Sarn

Sipping a Red Cap, swooning over the replacement 'wedding' dress I just bought @ Banana Republic in London ON. I'm the last woman in the world whom I'd imagine would have to buy two dresses and one custom-made bolero before finally arriving at THE outfit to say 'I do' in. Accompanied by my unexpected Sarnia friend. 

8.8.09

pop of colour



I needed a spirit uplift the other morning. The remedy: a six dollar bouquet of flowers from the farmers' market. How could this pop of colour not make me smile?