Shopping locally & consciously

As is the trend these days, I do my best to shop locally. For food this can be tricky in Vancouver - not because there isn't that option but because that option, in high falutin' Vancouver is a pricey one. But, I have always been more than happy to spend a little more money on food if it's going to be a lot more tasty, so this hasn't been too hard for me to do.

When it comes to everything else in life (or, clothes and stuff) I'm trying to also stick to this rule. With more work comes more money (yay!) and I've decided that extra money isn't going to equal more stuff, but better quality stuff.

I want to share a couple recent purchases here, and I want to share them because I am so super jazzed about both of them!

First!



This beautiful Simcoe braided chunky headband from good night, day.

Tara-Lynn runs this wonderful shop, and if I could buy one of everything in it I would. This headband is fantastically warm and so SO SOFT. I've worn it every chilly day since I got it, and hope to wear it for hundreds more!


How great is this picture? Both this and the first are from Tara-Lynn's flickr


Next!



The Good Girl bag from Erin Templeton. My dad sent me some birthday money this year and told me to buy something good for myself with it. And I did!
I have have slight anxiety over buying purses, I never want to have one that I might see someone else with. This usually leads me to thrifting purses, which definitely works, but they often wear out quickly. So I decided it was high time I got myself a proper bag. Not being of the Coach set, I looked to local designed Erin Templeton and went to her cute shop in Chinatown that I had walked by probably hundreds of times.



I love my purse! It's made from beautifully soft leather, is just big enough for my things but not so big that I'll fill it with crud and it looks really, really cool. I'll use it for years!

This year I've actually gotten most of my Christmas presents from etsy or other thrift stores. I'm trying my best to look for vintage or hand made things. A little easier on the environment and heaps more unique.

Hooray for shopping!! ;)

29 Before 30

Another list inspired by another blog.

My next birthday is my 30th. And while I am determined for it to "not be a big deal", well, we'll see how that goes.
But in the spirit of being a grown up and making goals, I've come up with 29 things I plan to do before I turn 30.


1. Make a quilt

2. Start swimming regularly

3. Make gumbo

4. Make 3 different types of cheese

5. Organize sewing room/work area

6. Learn how to knit

7. Make a piece of clothing for myself

8. Get Horizon training

9. Do my driving test

10. GO to a life drawing class

11. Put photos into photo albums

12. Edit wardrobe to only things I wear & love

13. Do some dyeing with homemade natural dyes

14. Make an embroidery sampler

15. Do a photography project/learn to use all the cameras around me

16. Paint a picture

17. Sew something for Minnie

18. Make mustard

19. Take a train trip

20. Host a themed dinner party

21. Go to Museum of Anthropology

22. Organize spices/pantry

23. Do yoga regularly

24. Finish 'mad women' embroidery project

25. Get into making smoothies

26. Do a daily photo project for at least a month

27. Read 30 books

28. Go to Vancouver Police Museum

29. Go to New Orleans (again!)




The (very, very, hopeful) plan is that I will actually ring in my birthday in New Orleans. With lots of friends, maybe even some family - that would be ideal.

There are some long overdue things on the list *coughDRIVERSLICENSEcough* and some newer interests of mine. A lot of the things on my list are things I've been meaning to do for ages and have bits and pieces in books and documents on here related to them (painting, sampler). I've got such a problem with motivating myself though. So here is a list for all to see! And if I fail, then all will see that too!

But it wouldn't be make believe if you believed in me..

Paper moon photos are one of my favourite things, and this recent post gave me more than I could have hoped for.

I love the variety in the people who are in them, and the variety of moon faces!
This one is probably my favourite one ever (ever).



How could he not have a girl?! That coat!!

Film Friday - Mary!

Miss Mary, a photo by girl and tonic on Flickr.

My "best friend since third grade" extraordinaire. This is a snap from summer 2010 when she came out to visit for two weeks.

We're provinces apart and don't talk as much as we'd like to, but none of that really matters. When we do talk, or get together, it's the easiest thing in the world (and generally includes a lot of giggling).

We've been best friends for 20 years, and I'm sure we'll be best friends for another 20 (and probably another 20 after that, and so on).

Shades of Yellow

November in Vancouver can be tough.
Before moving out here I had numerous people tell me to watch out for the rainy weather, and do my best to stay positive. I'm a pretty positive person, and have never minded rain all that much, so I didn't think I had anything to worry about. And I didn't! Until I finally (it took a couple years) experienced a real Vancouver bout of rain. Good lord.
Rain isn't as exciting here as it can be in Ontario - there's no thunder or lightning.
Just clouds, and rain, rain, rain. And wind.


Grim car garage view chosen to emphasize cruddiness

Weather like this usually keeps me inside. As I get older I seem to be less capable of doing nothing all day, so inside days generally lead to me keeping busy. And most of the time, keeping busy = cooking.

My canning craze from the bountiful days of summer has not slowed much, even if the produce has. So, looking to things in season in fall lead me to one of my favourite veggies - beets!



Specifically these lovely golden beets. I used this Alton Brown recipe as a base (I loved the idea of roasting the beets instead of boiling!). I roasted them with onion, garlic and some sage from my garden (that and thyme are the only things left). I used regular pickling vinegar, but threw extra sage in while bringing it to a boil. I then chopped the beets up, and popped them in jars, to which I had added some mustard seeds, nigella seeds and a few juniper berries.
Et voila!



Another endeavour of mine has included Meyer lemons. I was introduced to these beauties while working at South China Seas. I got to take the odd, almost-bad one home but usually just made them into lemonade or threw them into some gin (which, don't get me wrong, was delicious).
In the last week or two I have noticed that they've become available at "regular" grocery stores, usually in bulk (a bag of 6 or so). Adam decided to pick some up, and since they don't have the longest shelf life I needed to use them up quickish.
I turned to one of my favourite things in the world - lemon curd.
Oh. My. God.
First of all, it's pretty much the easiest thing in the world to make. Whiz everything up in a food processor and then cook it for less than 10 minutes and you're done. It tastes a million times better than any you would buy. And! With the extra floral sweetness of Meyer lemons? Ridiculous.



The jar on the left was full as of Saturday.
The jar on the right is what I did with the rest of my lemons. Another delicacy I was introduced to through SCS was preserved lemons. They're used primarily in Moroccan cooking and often made from Meyer lemons. I actually have never used or tasted them myself, but now is as good a time as any, right?
As of today they're halfway through their sitting period. They've been blanched, cut up, mixed with salt and covered with their own juice. They sit in this mixture for 5 days, after which I'll top up the jar with some olive oil and pop them in the fridge where they should be good for up to a year.

Remember me?

I'm still alive!

Good grief. I really can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted.
It's silly to make excuses, especially since it's exactly what I was talking about last time - work! I just really need to figure out how to balance working full time with doing other things. Like blogging!
And seeing as how my busy work life has taken a little break, at least for today, here I am (finally!).

Of course I still read blogs like crazy, and in doing so learned that November is National Blog Posting Month (or, NaBloPoMo - catchy!). The idea is that you blog every day for a month. Being 21 days in, I'm a little late to the party but what the heck. Since going from a month+ of nothing to a full month would be a bit crazy, a 10 day challenge seems right up my alley.

So! To recap what's been going on (aside from all the work), October was pretty fantastic. It always is, really. Autumn smells, Thanksgiving, my birthday and Hallowe'en all wrapped up in one lovely month. This year we had yet another event - Minnie's birthday! It's October 7th, so of course (of course) we had a dog party. Complete with "pupcakes".




Gorgeous mustard costume courtesy of Devon & Benson

Thanksgiving weekend was lovely, and of course I didn't get any pictures. Turkey dinner went off without a hitch, though.

My birthday was also great, me and Adam went for a delicious dinner at Les Faux Bourgeois, which is conveniently located just around the corner from us. It was our first time there, and I would definitely go back.

And then Hallowe'en! Again, no pictures of my costume (so off the ball). I was Little Red Riding Hood, complete with a wolf pelt I made from some faux fur. I left the pelt at home for Hallowe'en Day and wore my costume to school and successfully hosted my first classroom Hallowe'en party. Fun!

A couple snaps from the party night,


Adam as local promoter extraordinaire, Wendy13





and Hallowe'en proper







And so now it's November. It's rainy most days, frosty some, and dark by 4:30.



I also noticed that in my absence I still gained some followers, so, welcome! :)

October!!

via Anja of clever nettle

Good grief. I can't believe it's October already.
As evidenced by the lack of activity around here, the bulk of September flew by, with me feeling like I've nothing to show for it! Except money.
I mentioned in my last post about a few days work in a library - that was followed by a week and a half in another school. Yesterday was my last day there, and I was sad to leave such a lovely, kind, funny bunch of kids.
I've yet to properly adjust to working full time again, especially teaching. It's so great, I couldn't ask for a job I'd like more, but goddamn it can be exhausting.
But enough of that. It's October!!

October is my favourite month. I love autumn, and it certainly comes into it's own in October. I'm super pumped for Thanksgiving this year - I'll be cooking our dinner on Sunday, and then going to a big potluck one on Monday with friends. Hallowe'en never gets old for me, and I'm pretty sure I've settled on my costume for this year, which really I should get started on soon (it always comes up much faster than I think it will!).
And, most importantly - my birthday! I actually share my birthday with my friend Caitlin, and we're planning some kind of gluttonous food crawl for the day - it will be fantastic.

So here's to a wonderful October - full of good friends, good food, and of course, good fall fashion ;)


Scarves, stripes, camel and navy - some of my fall faves. And those leaves! Anja again.