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Q + A: What is your guilty pleasure?

While I have lots of guilty pleasures, for this post I’m focusing on TV. Did you know I love Jersey Shore? Well I do. The drama, the fights, the crazy partying… I love it. I don’t know what I’m going to do with my Thursday nights between 10 – 11 pm now that this season is over. Thankfully I can get my reality TV fix from The Real Housewives (watch them all). I’ll also confess I’m a Big Brother junky too. So much so, I almost applied to be on the show but sadly you have to reside in the US. Boo! I’d do Survivor (though I’m pretty “meh” with this show nowadays) but know I wouldn’t be able to handle the bugs and the consumption of gross things they throw their way.

Oh, and have it been known, I’ve also converted J into a fan of the above, including The Real Housewives. And while I’m confessing here, you know how the Jersey Shore guys announce “It’s T-Shirt Time”? Well, J and I have our own version. It’s called “It’s PJ Time”. We both said it unplanned in unison once and well, now we just gotta do it all the time.

Come on, I know you have one or two. Hand ‘um over!

Photo Credit: MTV

 //  Filed under: Q + A  //  Tagged: life, TV  //  3 Comments

Happy Halloween

Are you all ready for your Halloween festivities? J and I are keeping it easy as we’ve both been exhausted lately. So, all plans were canceled and we are just hanging out at home giving out candy to the kids in our building. There’s only a few so I imagine the majority of the candy will be consumed by us and then live on my butt until next Halloween. Great.

The Morning After

What are you up to tonight? Getting dressed up? Have kids? What are their costumes? Do share…

Photo Credit: paulgalbraith

 //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: life  //  2 Comments

Creative Blocks

I find there are two main sources to creative blocks. The usual and perhaps most dreaded kind being the days (weeks) when you are simply uninspired and have got nothing. Zip. Nadda. Then, there are the days when you have so many creative ideas/thoughts that you are so high on excitement you eventually begin to bounce all over the place. You may get somewhere but slowly you reach a state where you can’t think straight. Before you know it, you begin to feel overwhelmed. Then you begin to doubt things. Then the downward spiral speeds up and you’ve guessed it… creative block rears it’s ugly head.

I found myself dealing with the latter early afternoon. Rather than sit and work through it and likely get nowhere as I so often do, I opted for a healthy doze of fresh air. When I’m in a “creative zone” I often forget to take the time to enjoy the outdoors as I get so lost in what I’m doing. But, as J. had left St. Lawrence Market missing some of our meat order, I decided to walk back down with him and take my camera along.

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As I walked, I found my brain slowing down and just absorbing the beauty of my surroundings. My thoughts began to feel less scrambled and overwhelming. I felt my focus coming back and soon knew exactly what I wanted to do creatively and had pushed aside all the doubt that had crept in. Phew!

Thank you dear outdoors. I need to remember how essential you are to the creative process more often.

 //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: design, life, photography, toronto  //  5 Comments

Saturday

Yesterday was one of those days that was perfect on every level. No plans. Beautiful weather. The freedom to let all your to-do’s fall to the wayside while you just let the day take it’s course. Living in the moment at it’s best.

It started with a yummy breakfast made by J, then a quick trip to pick up some Fall clothes and followed up with another marathon dog walk.  When we set out on these walks we never have plans or intentions to stay out as long as we do. This time 5 hours. Once again, we took the Don Valley trail but instead headed south.

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About an hour into our walk we found a spot that allowed us to hit the creek. Wanting to give the dogs an opportunity to cool off, we headed down. I unfortunately headed down literally… ON MY ARSE. Here’s the proof.

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We carried on regardless.

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James and I have been discussing buying a house. We’ve considered a few areas in Toronto but something tells me we’ll find ourselves in The Beach where James grew up. We always seem to end up there.

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I hope your Saturday was just as relaxing and carefree. What did you get up to?

Happy Sunday.

 //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: dogs, life, love, toronto  //  8 Comments

Q + A: What do you love about Fall?

I’ve said it before that Fall is my favorite season. Here are some of the reasons why…

Fallen Leaves

My first reason is pretty obvious. The turning of the leaves. The color palette or reds, oranges, browns and yellows is so beautiful and refreshing to me. But what I especially love is going for a walk on a sunny Fall day and hearing the crunch of the leaves under my feet.

Bread and apple tart

The smell of apple pie and homemade bread in the oven. Admittedly, I don’t bake like I used to but a few years ago I was obsessed with it. I could always be found in the kitchen on the weekends turning out breads, pies, tarts and any other pastry related item. J has been hearing about my Apple Pie and French Apple Tart since we met 2 (and a bit) years ago but I’m yet to make one. He has however devoured many a loaf of bread. I hope to rediscover my love of baking this Fall/Winter.

good morning Glasgow

Rainy mornings in bed. I woke up to one this morning in fact. I love waking while it’s still darkish out to the sound of the rain as I enjoy the warmth of my bed. As someone that never sleeps in, I can’t help but relish a few extra moments in bed before starting my day. Bliss.

I could go on and on with this post but I’ll end it here. Your turn…

P.S. I realized after starting to write this post that I’ve already asked this question but oh well, who’s counting?

Photo Credits: Adam Polselli, Adrian Midgley, Esteban

 //  Filed under: Q + A  //  Tagged: life, love  //  4 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving

Leaves and Fall Color

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and I’m hosting my first Thanksgiving dinner. Eep! It was sprung on me last minute on Friday. Thankfully, it’s a small party of four so it’s not too overwhelming. Although I should probably figure out what the heck I’m making huh? I bought so much food over the weekend so now I just need to decide on what the dishes will be. Wish me luck, I’ll need it!

I have so much to be thankful this year. It been a wild one so far to say the least. Hopefully what remains of 2010 will be less tumultuous and I’ll gather even more moments to be thankful for. To all my fellow Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving! And if it’s not a Holiday weekend where you are, I hope it was a great one regardless.

We spent so much of the weekend outdoors running errands and spending time with the pups. We are having the most glorious weather in Toronto that being indoors feels just wrong. The cold weather will be here in no time so we are soaking up this weather as much as possible.

What did you all get up to?

Photo Credit: freefotouk

 //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: life  //  1 Comment

Q + A: When did you last have a good cry?

I want to start a new mini-series here on the blog. Every week I’m going to pose a random question that I’ll be answering and you are invited to do so too. Hopefully by sharing a little insight into my life and sometimes bizarre thoughts you’ll get to know me better and vice-versa. Let’s get started.

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The last time I remember crying was a few weeks ago. J and I were soaking up the last bit of warm weather on our patio and having a few drinks (well I was as J doesn’t drink alcohol). Somehow we got onto the topic of my cat, Socks, who passed in the summer of 2008. It’s pretty much a given that whenever Socks is mentioned I’ll turn into a big emotional mess. So yah, that was the last time I cried. I balled like a baby.

She passed within a week or so of me leaving my now ex-husband. We don’t know what happened but we suspect one of the dogs got a little rough with her and as a result she had an heart attack (there was no physical signs to suggest otherwise). I was devastated. I know it was a freak accident but I went through all the motions of the “woulda coulda shoulda” trap. Oh and the guilt, the guilt. Did I give her enough attention once we got the dogs? Perhaps I should of brought her with me when I left? Perhaps the animals all felt the stress of me leaving? If I had not left would I have been able to prevent it? You know the drill.

First of April Dew

Your turn.

Photo Credit: shieldkitten

 //  Filed under: Q + A  //  Tagged: life, random  //  8 Comments

Rainy Days

I love rainy days. Especially when I’m in the comfort of my own home. Yesterday was one of those days and it called for some of my favorite things… tea, tomato soup and good old cheese toasties (grilled cheese).

Rainy Day

Cuppa Tea

Tomato Soup

Cheese Toasties

What brings you comfort on rainy days?

 //  Filed under: Etcetera, Food  //  Tagged: life, random  //  6 Comments

The Goat

In late August, J and I spent the afternoon at Riverdale Farm. It’s just a short walk from my home and such a fab little place to leave the city without actually doing so. Sadly, I didn’t get as many photos as I would of liked (I find shooting in the blazing sun so bloody hard) but I was able to capture J and his new friend, the goat.

The Goat

They spent a good 20 minutes together and they have plans to reunite next month when hopefully I’ll get more pictures.

What about where you live? Have any hidden gems like Riverdale Farm were you can forget the hustle and bustle of city life and escape for a few hours?

 //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: life, random, toronto  //  4 Comments

Telegram

Yesterday J and I cleaned out our storage unit (we live in a condo). While much of it was thrown away, there’s one small item I will always treasure. I was born on the 20th February, 1978 and on the 23rd February, 1978, my Dad’s father, who at the time was out at sea sent this telegram to congratulate them.

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Telegram

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Apparently he was hoping for a boy. Tags (a British term only perhaps?) equals well… penis. Sorry Papa, no tag here. ;)

 //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: family, life, random, telegram  //  4 Comments

Shifting…

All month I have been quietly reflecting on my life and business. We all do it from time to time but often, when we force ourselves to self-reflect, we end up over-analyzing and run towards the first quick fix we can think of. These quick fixes seldom work and before we know it we find ourselves back at square one. It’s a vicious cycle we subject ourselves to and one I realize I have been spinning within for far too long. But, this time around something feels different that I can’t quite put into words just yet. Something shifted.

This shift is so loud and strong that I can no longer tune it out. Something within me wants to expose the realities I need to face and “call bullshit” on the excuses I make as to why I’m resisting change. I no longer want to ignore them. I no longer want to chug along as always and tell myself I’ll deal with my demons at “another time”. I no longer want to hear myself say I’ll do something and then consistently fail to follow through. As we shift into Fall and watch it shed seasons passed to prepare for renewal, it’s time for me to do the same.

October tree

For now, I’ll end the post here as there is so much I want to say and share but will save it for other posts. As I shift within myself, expect to see a shift over here too. I plan on sharing this journey with you and if you are going through something similar, I’d love to hear all about it.

Happy Friday.

Photo Credit: Johnny Lucus

 //  Filed under: Etcetera  //  Tagged: life  //  11 Comments

It has begun…

Well friends, remember that condo re-do I’ve been saying I’ll do forever? It has begun. It all started on Thursday when J was rained out at work and headed home early. Rather than let me work in peace, he dragged me out to IKEA for a shopping spree. Many hours and meatballs (15 for $2.99 = SCORE!) later we exited with some furniture, rugs, frames and other knick knacks.

Before I go any further, it has to be said… I ROCKED the how the heck do you put this together IKEA conundrum. Not J but me! Me! Okay, now I can move on.

Some of you may of seen the basic mood-board I did for the main living area. While some of this changed (not too much but more on this later) the plan I had for the hallway completely changed. While walking through IKEA I spotted this and fell in love.

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TORSBY Sideboard – IKEA

What this photo doesn’t show is the yummy lacquered finish it has. The description says it’s a foil finish but I’ve no clue what that means and lacquered sounds better anyway. So, yes, I changed everything on the fly while at IKEA. The next morning, I whipped together a quick mood-board for the hallway based around my new love.

Hallway Moodboard

First up, things to note…

  1. I realize the pink and yellow look a little bright but they will be used sparingly.
  2. Only the first two items (from left and please ignore scale) in the wall frames will be used. No clue what will go in the third frame.
  3. Also staying… the Live What You Love print (a gift from the lovely designer herself). The Keep Calm and Carry On print (which is available everywhere and owned by most people on the planet in some form) and the ORGEL Table Lamp.
  4. If you’ve been coveting the Zig Zag Rug from West Elm, get it. It’s my second favorite piece (hello my lovely TORSBY Sideboard) in the room and I’m so glad it’s finally out of storage.
  5. More items will be added to the table obviously. Setting up table vignettes is a whole other headache. Oh yah, and obviously I won’t be using the photo of J and I again.
  6. The A and vases are just there is illustrate other materials I’d like to introduce but it’s early days yet so who knows what will happen (see the bitch point on Note 5).

What you don’t see in this board is the picture ledge we picked up from IKEA. The 3 frames will sit would have sat upon them if we didn’t realize AFTER (i.e. we freaking hung it) that there is too much risk of them toppling if the door slams or a certain 3 Huskies come bustling down the hallway as they usually do.

So we now we have to figure out a way to secure the frames to the wall and our whole idea to avoid multiple holes in the wall is up shit creek. You’d think securing them would be intuitive but it isn’t. There’s zip on the back of the frame. See…

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Perhaps J and I are just plain old dumb. It’s entirely possible. We’ve been going non-stop for 4 days and we are frazzled (and I woke up sick today – yah!). That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Oh and the headaches don’t end there. All the painting it done (we also re-did one of the bathrooms) and most stuff is in place (the big stuff) but there is still lots more to do (i.e. small details). So, expect more posts over the coming weeks sharing J and I’s fun times fumbling through this shit. All I can say is I’m thankful I have a army of Keith’s soldiers in the fridge.

My army of Keith Soldiers

I plan on sitting by my door with a Keith’s in hand figuring out the world of interior design while staring at this which is yet to be hung. Another blog post about this particular WTF coming soon.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Cheers.

 //  Filed under: My Home  //  Tagged: dogs, home, home decor, IKEA, interior design, life  //  7 Comments