Lake Huron, I Love You

To combat my jealousy over Glenn spending 2 fabulous weeks eating his way through Italy, I thought I'd treat myself to a mini vacation of my own. Destination: my hometown.

Sarnia and I have had a somewhat tortured relationship over the years {especially the teen years}, but as I grow older my fondness for my hometown grows as well. And Lake Huron? The Greatest of the Lakes.

All of these photos below were taken on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app {love that vintage feel} in my dad's backyard, a.k.a. one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. My dad bought this house from my grandparents who had lived here for at least 25 years before moving to Toronto a few years ago, so I've been lucky enough to have access to this beautiful beach my entire life.

Purple Martin birdhouse. And that land on the horizon? AMERICA!

Ahhhhhh...the lush blues and greens of summer. I plan on many rolls down that hill on my next visit.

God, I love this place. T-minus 27 days until my return, gang in tow, to wreak some Bayfest havoc and I. Can't. Wait.

If I Had $1,000,000: Poster Cabaret

In an attempt to motivate myself to blog more often, I decided to start a new (and first) feature: If I Had $1,000,000. Kind of like the Barenaked Ladies song, but instead of wishing for Kraft Dinner and a monkey, I'll be focusing more on items of the art/design/fashion persuasion. This week: if I had $1,000,000 to spend at Poster Cabaret, here's what I'd get:

{all images courtesy of postercabaret.com}

Nothing like a healthy dose of materialism! But seriously, if you're looking to spruce up your space or just drool over their vast collection of posters, check this site out. And give me a million dollars so I can buy this stuff!

Birthday Bonanza

Guess what? I'm 28 now. Makes me feel kind of old {to anyone older than 28, I know how ridiculous that must seem}, but luckily there was lots of birthday fun this past weekend to distract me. First up: CONAN AT MASSEY HALL!!!!

Proudly displaying my ticket given to me by the best mom ever! Ever since I found out about the show I desperately wanted to go, but since it sold out in about 2 seconds I thought all hope was lost. Luckily my mom rules and she found a way to give me one of the best birthday presents in the universe.

My arm candy for the night. All he had to do for his ticket was look cute.

The man himself! My iPhone doesn't take the best indoor pics, but this is a pretty good representation of how close we were to the man himself. The show was awesome, of course, but ending with 10 minutes of Walker Texas Ranger clips {a Conan masterpiece} was worth the price of admission alone. SO SICK.

Aside from Conan, my birthday weekend was filled with big burgers {not pictured, but oh boy were they good}, hot sun, and cool pals. To celebrate Queen Victoria's birth, this holiday Monday a bunch of us decided to high-five this early summer and head to Toronto Island for some fun in the sun.

The landmark to our secluded spot.

The G Man catching some rays {new nickname, guys?}

Please excuse my terrifyingly white body. And the grapes.

Thumbs up from Speirs! That tiny spire in the distance is indeed the CN Tower. Whoa!

This group of Canadian geese hung out with us all day and entertained us with their territorial squabbles. Guess they weren't welcome on that fancy yacht over there.

Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh summertime. Save our spot for us, Toronto Island - we'll be seeing you again real soon!

A great end to a great birthday weekend. From me and my pal Andre Agassi:

Stay cool!

The Scene

I've been in a bit of a creative funk lately {hence the lack of posting in almost...wait, a month?! oh man}, but after recently re-visiting the amazing opening scene of I Am Cuba I feel like I'm getting my mojo back. This might just be the coolest party scene ever recorded:



This scene is INSANE! If I could hang out at fabulous pool parties in '60s Havana all summer {y'know, minus the political unrest and stuff}, I'd be one happy camper. I'd also settle for a whirlwind tour of Chicago's Art Institute:



Mmmmm... so dreamy. What are your go-tos for inspiration?

Shop 'Til I Drop

Why is it that I always end up spending the most money on myself right before my birthday (May 23, for anyone who wants to lavish me with gifts)? It seems to happen every year, and this one is certainly no exception. I usually consider myself a pretty thrifty gal, but the second I get spring fever I can't seem to control myself. I blame you, Etsy. And more specifically, you, Rebecca!


This hoodie will join the ever-growing collection of replicca designs I own and I have no doubt that it'll be as comfortable and flattering as the rest. Great stuff from a great lady! I highly suggest you check out her shop and snap up one of her one-of-a-kind pieces before they're gone.

My Etsy addiction doesn't stop there. Oh no. I'm also eagerly awaiting the delivery of these babies:


Etsy, you have waaaaaay too many options to fill my gigantic size 10 feet. To top off the madness, this past weekend I dropped {an undisclosed sum} on an impulse buy, which was both thrilling and a bit terrifying for a usual tightwad like me. But come on, check out these sick phones!

Turquoise!!!

If I keep this up I'll be broke by the fall - but I'll look so coooooooooooool.

On a less superficial note, I've been pretty slow to get started on my art journal for Tell Your Story. The self-doubt that usually plagues me when I first start a project is starting to get to me, but I really want to power through and get things moving. I feel like I'm bursting with ideas but I have to make sure I don't let my perfectionism bog me down. I'm hoping to dive into it this weekend and I plan on posting a lot of it here, so watch this space!

What's Your Favorite?

Another list, this time borrowed from the lovely Leigh-Ann at Freckled Nest. In other news, my Tell Your Story art journal course is fast approaching and I can already tell it's gonna be inspiring. Better get my pencils sharpened - class starts Monday!

1. Favorite hobby?


2. Favorite TV show?

3. Favorite restaurant food?


4. Favorite thing to shop for?

5. Favorite animal?

6. Favorite song?

{maybe not my all-time fave, but I sure am feeling this one right now}

7. Favorite word?

8. Recent favorite YouTube video?

9. Favorite movie?


{These are both the best!}

10. Favorite childhood memory?

Sleepovers!

Most images from weheartit. Anything else unaccounted for I stupidly forgot to source.

What are your faves?

Five Things

My pal Rachael recently posted a fun meme on her lovely blog, which I felt inspired to pass along. Here are five weird things you may not know (or want to know) about me...


There are definitely weirder things I could have added, especially involving my OCD-like food tendencies (they get a lot worst than Smarties!), but I suppose these will do. I'll be back later with more normal things, but until then why don't you head on over to Rachael's blog Hello Earth Art and check out her Green Thursday DIY. Great stuff!

Hey Guys, It's Spring!

Hey, so remember those 2 months I didn't blog? Let's forget that ever happened and start fresh. Like spring fresh. Because spring is here, and when the temps are above zero I actually venture outside and wander around town sometimes!

Yesterday, my main squeeze and I tried out the Arepa Cafe, a new spot pretty close to our pad. Well, to be honest he was all about trying it and I was really skeptical (I'm not the most adventurous when it comes to food, but I'm trying!). Good thing I stopped being an idiot and relented, because it was delicious! And the decor (which is almost as important - to me, anyway) was totally my style. Good food, good vibes - and excellent staff, despite this dude's reaction to me taking his picture:

Really nice guy who happened to bust me pointing my phone at him while I thought I was being stealth

I love the look of this place - really open and modern, with brick walls making it feel kind of cozy. Oh yeah, and the food is SO GOOD. I'm definitely no foodie and I'm still not sure what an arepa actually is, but the inside has burrito-like stuff (mine had beef, cheese, avocado and tomato) sandwiched with 2 thick cornmeal-like patties. Oh man, I'm the worst at describing food. Here's what mine looked like:

I probably should've taken a picture with it open-faced

Here's Glenn tearing into his soup, which was also delicious:


Expect a lot more pictures of us eating food, because now that I've become addicted to the awesome iPhone photography apps I've downloaded (ShakeItPhoto and Hipstamatic) I actually like taking pictures again. Kind of sad that the digital camera I've owned for years will remain dusty and unused, but such is life. Maybe in 10 or 20 years low-megapixel digital cameras will become cool again like the recent Polaroid craze, but until then I'm sticking with the phone.

Until next time...


Enjoy this beautiful spring weather with a refreshing can of Coke!

January = Worst Month Ever

Ugh, so far 2010 really sucks. I wanted to blog, I really did, but January totally kicked my ass. I wish I could say my absence is just the result of a bad case of the mid-winter blues, but unfortunately it was due to a family illness.

I've been so incredibly lucky to grow up with all of my grandparents in my life, but now my (maternal) grandma is in the hospital and things aren't looking too good. I haven't been able to see her because she's in Green Bay with the rest of my family, which is damn tough to get to quickly from Toronto. I'm still hoping she'll pull through, but I've made my peace with the fact that she might not. Whatever happens, my thoughts and prayers are with her.

Less depressing posts to follow, but in the meantime...

I love you, Grandma!

Post-Holiday Hangover: Welcome to 2010!

{all images from weheartit}

Man, 2010. I'm not much of a resolution-maker - love coming up with them, hate sticking to them - but this time I've got one to publicly declare: post more on this blog! Oh, and also: take more photos. So that's two!

Not that I accomplished much during my holidays (unless you count long bouts of eating, sleeping, and TV watching as accomplishments), but there were some flickers of inspiration here and there I wanted to take a few snaps of and blog about. Unfortunately, I'm a tool and didn't carry a camera/hijack one of my relatives', so I have absolutely no photo documentation of my holidays. However, my resolution to take more photos in 2010 will be much, much easier now that I have this:

{source}

That's right, I am now an iPhone owner! I'm soooo in love with it, a love that will hopefully endure a huge spike in my monthly phone bill. I have a feeling it'll all be worth it, though, because there doesn't seem to be anything this thing can't do. Web browsing? Check. Applications that will make me lazier than I already am? Check. Multiple prop usages? Check. It even has a level. A GODDAMN LEVEL! Welcome to the future.

So now that I'll always have a camera at the ready, here's hoping I actually use it and find more inspiration in my everyday life. Speaking of inspiring, have you guys seen Fantastic Mr. Fox? Wowee is it ever great! The story, the voices, the colors, the detail - I want to live in every frame of this movie!

The color scheme is so rich and autumnal and I want to wrap myself up in it. I think the colors sum up why I like this so much more than Where The Wild Things Are. The colors (and everything else) in Fantastic Mr. Fox are fun, vibrant, and alive while the palette in Where The Wild Things Are is dull, dark, and depressing. Sorry to any Wild Things lovers, but I was really disappointed in that film. Good thing I listened to my brilliant friends' recommendations and gave this one a chance.

I can't even imagine how much time went into creating all the tiny details in a single scene of this movie, let alone the entire thing. Come on, look how tiny these guys are:




I feel like the painstaking detail that goes into work like this would be right up my alley, but maybe not the stress and carpal tunnel that probably go along with it.

Aside from all its visual splendor, the characters themselves were just so damn adorable. I'm definitely not a warm and fuzzy person by nature (get me near a cat and you'll see), but these little guys are some of the cutest creatures I've ever seen. Just delightful!

{all Fantastic Mr. Fox images from weheartit}

Here's to a Fantastic 2010!