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Sweets are so bad but so good.
My aunt is not supposed to eat many sweets, but when she was here on vacation with my brother, she insisted that she have a lot. She said she was on vacation, so she wanted to live it up. Part of me wanted to allow her that luxury, but the other part of me wanted her to take it easy. What would you do in that situation?
;;;
Speaking of sweets - our apartment complex is having a Bake Sale to raise money for a local shelter, and I am one of the "bakers", so I am trying to come up with some fun desserts to make that will hopefully sell. Any suggestions?
Here are some of my recent baking endeavors.
For the recipes to these, meet me after the jump...
My younger brother and aunt came to stay with us for 4 days last week. So for the two days before they came, Brian and I were busy making sure that our place looked perfect for their arrival.
My brother is 21 and has Down Syndrome. I have such a soft spot for him, I really adore him, he has such unconditional love. And the things he says crack me up! We were at a market that has a live band on the weekends, and my brother noticed that the drummer was female. Apparently he'd never seen a female drummer before, he was shocked. He tugged at my sleeve and pointed. "What?! Women can play the drums?!!!"
We took my brother and aunt to a cute French Brasserie in the antiques section of town, and after eating a lovely meal of Moules Frites (my favorite), we were crossing the street back to the car, when all of a sudden I felt a stabbing pain in the ball of my foot. I looked down, and I had stepped on a screw. A rusty old screw that had probably come from one of the neighboring antique shops. OUCH!!!!
So off we went to the ER to spend the majority of that afternoon waiting for xrays and the screw extraction.
Other than the screw incident, it was a great few days. :)
A bird had made itself a nest under an awning outside our apartment building the other week. I had seen it fly about gathering things for days. One day, I went to take a close-up peek while it was out finding more things, and realized that the little bird was decorating her nest.
I guess we all like to decorate in some way - some people like things simple and clean, just a few statement pieces here and there, while others like collections - with shelves and shelves of pretties to display.
I had posted recently about how cross-stitch was becoming popular again and came upon this darling shop - Ruggles Stitch.
Owner, Alexia, has an adorable collection of wall-hangings to decorate your nest. With lovely cross-stitched sentiments, and cursive typewriter quotes, her store is the perfect stop for something a little different to decorate your home.
Alexia is inspired by the city of Chicago and all that it has to offer. She also draws inspiration from being in love, her friends, a good book, and of course her cursive typewriter (I want one!!!). Along with soaking herself in inspiration and cross-stitching, she also enjoys watching episodes of Arrested Development, spending time with her family, shopping on Etsy, and planning her wedding (so exciting!!).
Her first Etsy endeavor was listing just one item. It was a needlepoint piece that looked like notebook paper that she'd put in a hoop and stitched "Do you know how much I love you?" on it. It sold immediately, and Alexia was excited that a guy had bought it to give to his girlfriend. It was a great feeling to know that something she loved to make was something that someone wanted to buy and give to someone to show love. That is her favorite thing about her art.
Alexia loves to see people enjoying her pieces, and she is giving one lucky reader one of her creations! To enter, please leave a comment here telling me something that gives you great fulfillment, and also let me know which of the last three hoops pictured you'd like if you won. I will announce the winner next week.
(PS. The winner of the Spunk by CM giveaway is Sharon. Congrats!)
This weekend Brian, some friends and I went beach camping. It was the first time I'd been camping since the end of high school, so it had been a long time coming!
When I think of camping, I think of movies like The English patient where they set up their tents in the sand (although in that movie, it was the desert), and have packed for months, or even years worth of 'camping'. But their type of camping was a lot more luxurious than regular camping. I guess it's because that's where they lived for years on end. While I do like the idea of camping, long-term camping does not appeal to me.
Our little weekend getaway was a lot of fun. It was beautiful to hear the sound of the waves crashing at night, and to be able to see the sun rise at the top of the morning. And then the simple camping food - brats cooked over a fire, s'mores carefully assembled and devoured, bacon and toasted rolls in the morning... I love the simplicity of camping.
Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE vacationing in lovely hotels and lush resorts, but I do also like the contrast of camping. What about you? Are you into camping?
I don't really wear much jewelry in winter.
All my bracelets get covered up with bulky long sleeved coats, and my necklaces hidden behind woolen scarves. So not only do the birds and flowers come out in Spring, so does more of my jewelry.
Carla Marcey has teamed up with her boyfriend to create a great store for lots of spring jewelry called Spunk by CM. I like a lot of color in my jewelry, and Carla's store is definitely filled with vibrant Springtime color.
The hustle and hustle of city life is a big inspiration for the Spunk by CM creative duo. They admire the fast-paced lifestyle and the structure of city life, and yet also appreciate the independence and freedom of nature. Together, nature and the city inspire them to create pieces that are a fusion of the two worlds. Contrasting colors, materials and sizes are all ways that they achieve this juxtaposition on their jewelry. Living in Toronto means that they have access to the multiculturalism of the city, and yet be not too far from the peace and serenity of the natural world.
The variety of Toronto excites Carla. She loves that she can experience what she calls a "global vacation" in the span of one day. She can experience Korean Bibimbap (one of my favorites), Greek Souvlaki, French Crepes, Chinese Dim Sum, Indian Chicken Biryani and an Italian Cannoli all in one day
Aside from creating jewelry and exploring the international culture of Toronto, Carla likes to surround herself in other forms of art. She enjoys visiting museums and galleries of all different sizes and backgrounds. She also loves to bake. It isn't rare for her to be baking cookies at 1am to quench a sudden cookie craving.
Carla is generously giving away a necklace to one lucky reader. You will win a Swarofski Pearl Necklace in your choice of color (peach, pink or blue). To enter, please leave a comment here telling me which color you'd like if you won, and also what some of your favorite international cultures to explore are. I will announce the winner next week.
(PS. The winner of the Simon & Ruby giveaway is Leigh).
Braids, beads, flowers, feathers, effortless, organic...
These are all things that I think of when I think of Bohemian Chic.
I love the soft and natural femininity behind Bohemian style. It's pretty without the prissy. A store that I really think has captured Bohemian style well is Simon and Ruby. Lindsay has such a beautiful and raw collection of jewelry, I love her range of gorgeous pieces that look so effortless and natural.
Lindsay's work is inspired by traveling. A lot of her collections are based on the various journeys that she has been on. She likes to adopt color palettes and styles from different places she has experienced, and even derives ideas from old postcards that she has collected. Along with traveling, photography is also a passion that she pursues. She likes the idea that with photography, you can create your own world. Lindsay is also grateful for books. Reading is third only to her family and her art.
A recent trip to Ireland renewed Lindsay's passion for green. Although she loves all colors, the prominent colors in her life are olive green, burnt oranges and greys.
Lindsay is generously giving away a pair of earrings to one of you guys. To enter, please leave a comment here letting me know which of the last three pictured earrings you would like if you won, and also let me know where was the last place that you traveled to that really inspired you. I will announce the winner next week.
(PS. The winner of the RetroNaNa giveaway is Mekkan).
I was stood up for the first time in my life the other week...
.........
I was meeting up for coffee with an acquaintance in the morning, and I got up early to make sure to get there on time. When I got there it was fairly busy, so I took a table straight away and kept my eye on the door. After about 15 minutes, a man came up to me and asked if he could take the other chair at my table, and I told him that I was waiting for someone.
After leaving a message and texting the gal I was supposed to meet, I never heard back. By then it was half an hour late and I was a little annoyed that I hadn't at least received a text message from her or anything like that. But then I got a little worried that something bad had happened.
The man that had asked for my other chair kept looking over to see when my "date" would arrive, and I was embarrassed, and didn't want him to think that I'd lied to him about my expected company - I ended up going outside and waiting in my car for another ten minutes.
So this got me thinking. What is the etiquette for meeting with someone who has seemingly forgotten about your coffee date? How long is the right amount of time to wait (especially since the other person has made no effort to contact you, and hasn't responded to texts or messages that you leave)?
Grandmas always seem to have one of those drawers.
The drawer filled with bits of lace, pearly buttons, pastel ribbons, and other cheery doodads.
If grandmas were to ever open a shop selling those mini treasures, it would look exactly like RetroNaNa.
Jessie's store is a darling collection of every little detail you could imagine. Buttons, lace, ribbons, fabric, embellishments - just a gorgeous collection of those bits and pieces you'd expect to find in your grandma's drawer.
Jessie is inspired by being surrounded by strangers in the middle of a busy street - soaking in their energy and watching what they do. Living in China, Jessie is constantly learning new things and being inspired. She told me that even trips to the post office are interesting - especially watching how local post office workers go about packaging a 10 foot pole of hairy crabs! And in addition to people, she is also inspired a lot by bettering herself. Jessie constantly pushes herself to the brink so she can see what she is truly capable of. She feels that it's a great achievement to be able to conquer herself and celebrate her strengths and be compassionate to her weaknesses.
Along with making her lovely buttons and collecting for her store, Jessie loves to collect vintage bags. She is always on Google and Etsy looking for the perfect addition to her growing vintage bag family.
Jessie is giving one lucky reader the chance to win a set of her Newspaper Words fabric buttons. Aren't they cute? To enter, leave a comment here telling me what kinds of little doodads your grandma (or anyone else you know) keeps in their little treasure drawer. I will announce the winner next week.
(PS. The winner of the Heartfelt By Aviva giveaway is Nicole Egerer.)
