to hell and back with me

sometimes i just need to purge all of the things that are swirling around in my head and see them in-front of me. thats when they take on shape, have a meaning, and mostly just stop being small anxieties and startle me and re appear throughout the day. 

so here goes...

i'm worried about not having our own apartment and when our friendly welcome will run out. 

i have the feeling that going back to school will being a lot of the 'what am i doing with my life' drama back into my headspace.

i wish i could be happy with my hair but i'm not sure i've ever been. 

faster, easier and cheaper should not define what i eat.

balancing living as two has been harder to grasp for me then for the other one of my two. and that's confusing because i've always thought i would be the better one for that. 

shit!!! the turkey breast isn't in the oven and we are supposed to be eating in an hour. k gotta go. haha

watch the sun rise, run in the shadows

the tag on this dress said $119

i paid 14.99

it was also the most gorgeous day ever to spend driving around in a convertible singing fleetwood mac.

so i did just that. 

a year of mornings

i'm absolutely in love with the idea of capturing lifes simple luxuries. the way the light casts a shadow or plays on the top of leaves. i don't think i sit back and truly enjoy these things enough.  a year of mornings is a book devoted to capturing simple elements that are often overlooked or under-appreciated. 

The morning hours before the hustle and bustle of the day commences is the perfect time to pause and enjoy a sense of renewal and vitality. On the morning of December 7, 2006, Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes each took a digital photo of everyday objects randomly arranged on their kitchen tables and, unbeknownst to one another, uploaded them to the website Flickr.

"A Year of Mornings" collects 236 images—always taken before noon without discussion between the two women – from this uniquely 21st-century artistic collaboration. The intimacy of these photographs—discarded clothing, a view of a snowy day from the window, a table cloth—combined with their striking similarities in color and composition defies the reality of their long-distance collaboration. While clearly kindred spirits, the two women have met in person only once. Their friendship is maintained solely online, sustained by a shared love for moments of serenity, solitude, and peacefulness. The annotated photographs in "A Year of Mornings" radiate an aura of sweetness and light—the promise of a new day.

as i type this i am lounging outside in the gorgeous sunshine with my feet up. the weather is perfect, not humid just warm with the slightest breeze so the air feels fresh. my legs are getting their first dose of sunlight and the sun is positioned to make perfect shadows of trees on the yard. the birds are singing and i can hear the clinking of the first cups of coffee as everyone else wakes up after me. today is going to be beautiful. 

and they have a blog!

easiest banana bread ever

this banana bread turned out so delicious and was super easy. the recipe was shared with me so i will pay it forward and share it with the internet. i doubled the recipe and added a few more bananas that we had laying around going black. 

preheat the oven to 375 and grease the pan. 

dry ingredients: ( i like to mix all the dry ingredients together before adding any of the liquids to cut down on mixing time. i think i read somewhere that the less you mix the batter the fluffier it will be)

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour

wet ingredients:

3 bananas mashed

1 egg

1/3 cup of cooking oil

instructions:

mix it all together, pour it in a greased pan. check after 25 minutes by sticking a knife into the middle to see if it comes out clean. as soon as it does, your good to take it out of the oven. (doubled i think it baked for 50-60 minutes) once the batter is added to the pan* i sprinkled lots of brown sugar on the top and some of the crushed pecans. delicious. 

modifications:

i also added pecans to this batter but in the past i have made it with walnuts, chocolate chips and even with peanut butter added in instead of cooking oil. you can add vanilla extract, nutmeg or all spice if your looking for more flavour. 

if you want to make banana muffins just pour the batter into muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes.

* choose a pan that looks like it is too big for the batter because it will double in size (at least) while it cooks. 

make a tea. eat and enjoy. 

idon'twanttoworktoday.idon'twanttoworktoday.idon'twanttoworktoday.idon'twanttoworktoday.idon'twanttoworktoday.idon'twanttoworktoday.idon'twanttoworktoday.

i'm on my third caffeinated drink today and its       just          not           happening. 

6 bananas mashed

i'm starting to feel better. as in the shards of glass in my throat have now turned into smaller more manageable scrapes. 

in between working and cleaning up the yard we have been busy little bees over here. we have entered some kind of selling mania on ebay and kijiji. see for yourself..

sold!

blue womens frank gehry watch for $125 canadian

playstation one for $46

black womens frank gehry watch for $125

a beat up eyesore of a trailer for $350 and a laptop

we almost sold a pool slide for 50$ but when we were disassembling it, it cracked :(

we have gotten rid of three trailer loads of the wood pile in the backyard that was old barn boards. they are going to look awesome as wide planed tongue and groove hardwood floors. 

still in auction is...

an antique pistol grip shifter currently at $150 canadian

mens black leather frank gehry watch currently at $250 US with 5 days to go

a gunmetal titanium frank gehry watch at $249 canadian

a womens blue leather frank gehry watch at $99 canadian

as well we are looking into upgrading my phone to the black berry curve and selling my instinct.

a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeee

we are seriously considering putting more effort into finding things to sell on ebay. right now we sort of have all this random stuff laying around to get rid of but with summer just around the bend, yard sale season will be in full swing. ceramics, plates, the usual stuff people can't be bothered to sell themselves beyond putting it on a table in their front yard is fair game to turn a profit on. plus this being such an 'elderly community' i feel like there will definitely be some antiques and collectables to be discovered. 

i'm writing this waiting for two bunches of bananas to defrost and then a double batch of homemade banana bread will be rising in the oven and wafting around the house. perfect for this weekend that was forecasted to be gorgeous but now has turned into a grey sky drizzle rain with thunder showers on the way. thumbs down. 

not to end on such a downer, make your own banner from somethings hiding in here, is beyond adorable. 

 

just a teaspoon of sugar helps the medicine go down

this morning i woke up with swollen glads and puffy eyes. it feels like shards of glass in my throat when i swallow. guh. i hate being sick. i just want to curl up in this cozy looking bed and sleep all day and drink peppermint tea until i feel better. 

found these beautiful pictures on loupita. they are putting me in a better mood. 

bath time. xox

room 6

all images are from their website www.room6.com

based out of vancity (i believe) their motto is special things for nice people. how cute. nice people deserve special things. i started this post like three days ago and just haven't had the time to finish it, but i'm pretty sure i stumbled upon this site from poppytalk. 

also! free shipping on orders over $100 in canada.

frank gehry watches for sale

we are trying out this new hip thing called ebay in hopes of making some monies. if your interested in any of the following i would cut you a discount and probably mail you a bunch of outer rad things i have laying around here that haven't been listed yet. incentive, incentive, incentive. 

all of these watches were designed by frank gehry for fossil. they are no longer sold in stores and they only way to buy them is second hand. BUT these watches have been sitting in a bag at my dad house for two years UNTOUCHED and unworn, so today folks i bring you brand spanking new watches that are no longer available in stores. a collectors item, you may say. i also have ONE of the frank gehry collectors tins that i haven't listed with any of the watches. this increases the value of the watch huge and is a pretty cool looking tin (stainless steel with felt inside). make an offer and the tin is yours too.

the coolest thing about these watches is the face. they have a digital screen that reads the time exactly the way you would say it to a person. for example it will say 4 past 8 (instead of 8:04) or quarter past 3 (instead of 3:15). it even says 10 to midnight in writing when it is 11:50. its an awesome conversation starter and in this watch geeks opinion are one of the most interesting watches ever. 

Details:

Frank Gehry's Positive/Negative Watch

Leather Bands and Titanium Face and Clasp

This watch is brand new, never been worn

These watches are no longer available in store

Fossil Tin Included with Purchase

blue leather band, stainless steel watch face. womens. bidding starts at $99.99

black leather band. womens. bidding starts at $99.99

stainless steel band and faceplate. the rarest model if anyone else is a watch nerd like me. (mens)(although the band can be adjusted to be very small) bidding starts at $449.99

black leather, stainless steel face, mens. bidding starts at $449.99 

check out our store if you want to bid, or leave me a comment.

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in other news, i had an on call shift today that was cancelled so project life organization is in full swing. this is the picture that started it all....

this kid is tripping balls

1canoe2

stumbled across these adorable recipe index card holder while i was milling around poppytalk. a splendid website in itself, sort of like a filtered etsy and other handmade goods. 

these cards are from 1canoe2

i would say that majority of the recipes that i try are from the internet. mostly from allrecipes.com it is seriously the best site i have ever found for looking up any kind of creation you can think of. they have an option to search recipes using an ingredients search, which is great for days when you look into your fridge and say what on earth can i make with pasta, butter, carrots and jam? kidding, but i've searched the most random ingredients and have never been disappointed. one of my other favorite things is that people can leave comments on the recipes, rating the finished recipe and telling any changes or substitutions they made. i know whenever i make a recipe out of a cook book i always think if i made this again i wouldn't use so much.... so you benefit from everyone elses mistakes and substitutions. 

speaking of allrecipes, i'm currently waiting impatiently for another 23 minutes until i take this out of the oven and eat up the last of the easter ham. 

pick and pack a picnic pack

we are off to the cottage today to enjoy a picnic lunch, some good tunes and a couple tall cans inbetween raking and burning and raking and raking and burning and raking. 

high of nine with variable cloudiness

its funny how i had three months where i had no job, no time to get up, no constrictions on my schedule and now after four days straight of working i'm SO THANKFUL to have to beautiful day off to enjoy being outside and just lazing around. 

don't worry, i'm not actually bitching about working. yet.  

we have been visiting family a lot in the past few days. i guess because of easter? maybe because we haven't gone grocery shopping in a while. last night we went to visit my dad and my step mom for my dads birthday. my grandma was there and i was reminded just how much i love her to bits. the first thing jay says to me as we get into the car is, 'your grandma really gives me a run for my money on baseball knowledge' haha. she is serious. the night before that we went to my moms for easter dinner and to see my nana. and today we are going to visit one of jays aunts, somewhere north of toronto.

 

tomorrow the plan is to pack a picnic lunch and make our way over to the cottage to put in our time raking the massive yard and cleaning it up for spring. i miss that place so much. being so close this summer to the cottage will be awesome. summer summer tanning summer thats all i can think of right now ahhhhhh its so close!!!

wishing well

from clayswan..32$ 

soooooo sooo so adorable. eating olives with my besties, red wine, on a patio with twinkly lights on a warm summer night. is what these make me thing of. dream of. wish for. 

in other newsy today was the first day of my new job. it went well, money money mooooooney!

somethings hiding in here

i'm not sure where i stumbled across somethings hiding in here but i am so glad that i did. i always get so excited when this duo from philadelphia updates their blog and shares what they have been working on. shauna and stephen have an etsy store that is defiantly worth checking out.

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things i love about their loft:

there is a swing in it

they have reached a perfect craft/live balance

collections, collections and more collections

the handmade headboard with room for guess what? a collection!

it has a homey feeling without being cluttered

one of my favorite projects of theirs was the Your message here project. 

inspired by industrial letter signs, multi colored text, and everyday sayings... we made our own marquee sign out of wood. now the fun part begins, we want to collect your messages to post on the sign. we're not looking for insightful proverbs, but rather ordinary, simple sentiments.

baseball for non sporty girls: part one

i've been with my boyfriend for three years, and throughout that time i have been learning about baseball. i had a small introduction when i was much younger as my grandmother lives for the blue jays and i was sometimes treated to sunday games at the skydome. anyway, in the past few years i have actually come to established a real interest in a SPORT. so here is my way of giving back to a sport that has become more then an excuse to tan in the seats and get ice cream. (but thats not a bad perk)

the non-threatening start to learning about baseball:

RBI: runs batted in, this is important for players stats, not really that important other then they have a better chance to hit the ball further. not really into stats, numbers in general- not really my thing. pass.

DH: designated hitter, this is a position on the team, usually reserved for the biggest burliest guys who you look at and wonder how on earth they play professional sports for a living. i see it as they have to be able to hit the ball further then the rest of the players because their running speed is more like a medium trot to the next base. this players only job is to hit the ball, they don't go out onto the field any other time and as far as i'm concerned there is no excuse why they shouldn't be able to do this everytime. but. they don't. and then they are just fat, slow let downs. 

inning: how far along the game is, one is the start and nine is the end of the game. "it was the bottom of the ninth' means it was the end of the last inning, intensity is usually pretty high at that point. oh and also in the seventh inning the blue jays give you a chance to stand up and stretch and not look like a tool (okay you do kinda look like a tool but at least everyone else does too) my advice is to take this opportunity to get up and get the cramps out of your legs because the last couple innings are always the longest and require your full attention. otherwise you'll be dying to make an excuse to stand up and clap later in the game and some asshole behind you will probably call you out on it.

call to the bullpen: is when the coach calls to where the pitchers are warming up (called the bullben)(no idea why) and will request that the next pitcher in line starts to warm up and get ready to come out and replace the current pitcher. usually means the pitcher is sucking big time, the game is going downhill fast and the coach wants to exert some kind of control over the situation. 

and that concludes todays lesson. stayed tuned for part two. GO JAYS GO

dripstick

i spend a lot of time on the internet. much more then most know. i hardly ever make an appearance on msn and my facebook gets about as much action as my bank account (read: zero). but just because i lurk underneath the typical social networks doesn't mean i don't get around. and nothing makes me happier then a full list of blog updates that have yet to be read. so for anyone who also suffers from a slight internet addiction i am making a promise to you to update more regularly, even if its a small hello, or a picture here and there. and to further your addiction (but mostly to make myself feel better about mine) i will start passing on good websites that i have happened to stumble upon, in hopes something may tickle your feathers. 

and in other internet-ish news if anyone reading would like to advertise on this here blog i would love to hear from you.

i found dripstick from poppytalk's handmade section, which features an assortment of handmade, recycled and upcycled do dads. 

check 'em

Website: www.dripstick.com
Blog: www.dripstick.net
Etsy: www.dripstick.etsy.com
Shop: www.dripstick.com

please 'cuse the random 'close' buttons, these are screen shots and i'm sure the actual work is much better quality and does not include any miscellaneous buttons on it. or maybe it does, butttttt i'm pretty sure it doesn't. 

 

find the matching pair of socks:

answer: its true, NONE of these socks match. proof the dryer really does eat socks. where did they all go?! fml.

in other semi-exciting non-laundry news i found a wicked new product online. AND they have free samples! 

its called idea paint and you can just roll it onto any surface and it turns it into a dry erase board! how cool would this be for labeling jars in the kitchen, storage totes or turning a blah table into a something wickedly customizable. i wonder how big the sample will be? doesn't really matter anything that comes in the mail thats not bills is a thrill. 

once upon a spring day

this beautiful day was not very long ago but now a blanket of snow covers the ground. its a different world out there right now and looking at these pictures just makes me bitter that i have to worry about winter boots and driving conditions again. ohhh canada. 

apologies about the lack of posting in the past week. it was so nice to just play outside feeling the sun warming my face and think about what vegetables i want to grow in the garden. -back to reality, today was a snow day at the local schools.