Year: 2014

blood oranges, cara cara oranges, pink grapefruit // grinnin’ // Sally Hansen in Mint Sorbet // super cool pins from The Disaster Life // lemonade, peach & strawberry smoothie // clouds & clouds // signs of spring // lil ginger // these are all gonna be bluebells // snackin’

A great snack for babies is Cheerios*. I mean everyone knows that, babies & toddlers are given Cheerios all the time. Just plain ol’ Cheerios can get a little boring so I like to mix them with lil cereal puffs and crackers, like goldfish or bunnies or whatever is cheap.

This snack mix (which I keep in a fancy pink ice bucket on my counter) is great because it is actually a double snack: babies will eat it sitting in their high chairs, but they’ll also throw it everywhere and after you get them out they’ll eat it off the floor (before you get all judgey like EW YOU LET YOUR BABY EAT OFF THE FLOOR I want you to remember for a second that babies will pick up everything they find on the floor and put it in their mouth so why not make some of that everything food? and I’m pretty sure it helps to build a healthy immune system). This also functions as a snack for dogs.

*or a giant club pack of store-brand toasted oaty-os

things I want to accomplish this weekend…

• put the tv up on the bedroom wall! I bought a bracket for it ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS AGO, I really need to get this done
• get my nails filled
• retouch my hair
• finish the tree/mountain/cloud sewing projects I’m working on so I can photograph them properly and get them up on etsy!

just woke up // toesies // the former changing table is now her toy shelf // lil blueberry muffin loaf // what Gwen wore: top, Joe Fresh (I undid the knot); leggings, Old Navy; boots made by me // the aforementioned boots, all finished with snaps and everything // latest project // baby was here // choco-nose // blue mood // Quo by Orly in Night Sky // mountains-cloud-trees // helping

This morning Gwen threw up for the first time in her life. Like not just baby spit up, actual semi-digested food barf. In spite of the grossness, here are some blessings:

– she was wearing leggings with really stained knees that when I put them on her I thought “I should really soak these in some OxyClean”
– even though she was wearing her lil baby friend’s cardigan she didn’t get any throw up on it
– she was standing on the linoleum NOT the carpet when it happened
– there were also no toys or books nearby so nothihng got splattered with puke
– she doesn’t actually seem to be sick, I think she just had too much bouncy fun
– Taylor was still awake to clean up the floor while I cleaned up the baby

See? #barfblessed

The last of the month, a time to update on my new year’s goals! My last update was January 31st.

1. Putting my laundry away: still doing this. I also rearranged some of my drawers so things fit better, and started going through my tank tops (90% of what I wear is tank tops) and tossing the raggedy ones. Maybe next I’ll get rid of all my leggings with holes in the crotch? LOL YA RITE.

2. Growing out my hair: STILL GROWING. I think that once it gets a bit longer (like in six months or so) it’ll be long enough to have bangs again. If I have bangs then I won’t have to grow out the front of my hair, and I’ll be able to tie the rest back earlier, without having to use a thousand bobby pins and clips to capture all the short front pieces. I figure six months from now, the end of the summer is the perfect time to cut bangs. It’s still so short that if I cut them now I’d probably look like a disheveled Romulan or something. No one needs that.

When I was trying to decide between bangs-or-no bangs I found these two pictures from just before I cut bangs and just after.


I found it very inspiring because these are from just 3 years ago (the bangs pic was actually taken February 28th, 2011), and look at how short Taylor’s hair was then! And mine is longer now than his was then, so in just 2 1/2 years I’ll have hair as stupidly long as his is now. Seriously, he’s like a Disney princess with his long perfect hair. I keep checking it for split ends so I can force him to cut it but it’s just too healthy! UGH, MEN.

3. Stop eating potato chips during the week: I had potato chips once on a weekend, and idk, they weren’t that great. I haven’t craved them since. I’M FINALLY FREE YOU GUYS. I kind of feel like I should quit some other kind of unhealthy food now but idk what.

4. Be consistent with wearing sunscreen (especially on my feet): still pretty irrelevant, I’ve been wearing my little slip-on shoes sometimes but not for any extended periods of time. ACtually I had to throw away my fave little slip-ons because they finally had too many holes, and switch to the back-up pair, which are black and I don’t like them as much. RIP, favourite little shoes.

to continue the flashback Friday-ness of this post, here’s Georgie & her lil friend Lucy the Pug as tween dogs:

Have a good weekend, everyone!

the snow on Saturday // new boots (see below for details) // dressing up in my shirt // Sadie’s disguise // little monster // bundled up (this may seem like overkill but she fell over in horrible mud & slush 1000+ times) // speckled dog // a snowy walk // crocus babies // the path // Wingdust in I Ain’t No Angel (see below for details) // the faces of dinner, 1 2 3 // a patient scavenger // tiny toes // the lion returns

idk about you, but this month has been d r a g g i n g for me. It’s weird because I had two 4-day weeks (when I took a day off sick & the week of Family Day) and somehow those seemed to make the month longer. It makes no sense! I am so ready for February to be over, once my birthday and Valentine’s Day have past it’s like what is even the point of this month???

It’s Monday morning as I type this and it’s been snowing for the past 48 hours AT LEAST. It was snowing when I woke up on Saturday and it’s still snowing now. The weird thing is there’s barely any snow on the ground; it started sticking a little yesterday but there isn’t really any more snow on the ground now than there was then? Who knows; maybe today it’ll REALLY start sticking. Good thing I didn’t throw away my handy DO NOT SALT THE STAIRS sign (I wonder if anyone will actually read it though).

If you follow me on instagram you might have seen the genesis of Gwen’s new boots. I got this gorgeous, buttery-soft dark brown leather in a bag of scraps a few months ago and as soon as I saw it I knew it had to be made into boots. On Wednesday night I started drafting a pattern and made a wearable fleece (like a wearable muslin in dressmaking but out of fleece and also it’s a boot, so it functions as a slipper or bootliner, although I only made one so to really be wearable I’d need to make a second). On Thursday I scanned and enlarged the pattern (it was a little small, like it worked as a fleece but leather is less forgiving), and worked out how to make the boots able to open on one side and accommodate some sort of fastening apparatus to make them easier to get on and off. In the afternoon I cut out all the pieces and in the evening I started sewing; I got everything done except attaching the soles, which I did on Friday.

After considering using velcro, elastic and/or some sort of buttons I decided the best way to fasten the boots would be with snaps. I figured they would be the most durable and also I wouldn’t have to sew any more leather because by the time I finished the boots my hands were MURDERED. On Saturday morning I picked up a little snaps & snap setter kit at Michaels, but when I got it home I realized the leather of the boots was too thin to use those snaps. It was pretty disappointing because I really wanted to finish the boots, but the too-big snaps were a nickel finish and I actually wanted an antique brass so I guess it’s for the best? I found snaps online and ordered two different smaller sizes, as well as some that are shaped like cute teddy bear faces because WHY NOT. Oh and a bag of fifty neon pink dome rivets because DOUBLE WHY NOT I mean it was $3.50 + $1 shipping. I was also very tempted to buy some sides of metallic leather in pink and green and turquoise but I didn’t and tbh I think I should be commended for my self control here.

The pattern I came up with is pretty simple- I re-used the sole & vamp pieces from my scallop moccasins (without the scallop) and made a two-piece pattern for the shaft (that is the part of the boot that goes up the leg fyi). It was pretty easy to make although DEFINITELY more sewing than the moccs, although I did enlarge the pattern significantly so that also contributed. It was kind of a learning experience as there are a few things I would change if I were to make another pair (the way I sewed the vamp to the front of the shaft and the seam up the back of the shaft) but for a first attempt I’d saw they are a huge success (or will be, if I ever get THOSE DAMN SNAPS). Gwen has been very happy to wear them around the house without the snaps, plus put them on her hands and chew them.

If I do perfect the pattern I might put up a diy for these, and I’m also planning on making a video (FUN) showing my handsewing leather technique, since one of the most common questions I get about my moccs diy is “DO YOU SERIOUSLY SEW THESE BY HAND LIKE OMG HOW??????

I’ve now had these fake nails for a month and I’m really happy with them. I barely even remember what it was like to have sad, weak, brittle, peel-y nails that disintegrated if you looked at them funny. I had them filled again on Saturday and the white tips redone, although I painted them that day so I could have skipped that part. I came up with a plan in January to turn all my polishes backwards in the shelf and anything that was still backwards in six months would get the ol’ heave-ho, so I’m determined to use all my faves at least once. This week I tried the second of my Wingdust polishes, I Ain’t No Angel and I seriously can’t recommend this indie brand enough. Again, the polish is gorgeous, with tons of multi-size glitters that are easy to get out of the bottle and onto your nail- no weird digging around in the bottle & dabbing glitters on technique required. The polish dries quickly and is opaque after two coats.

a couple links for this cruddy Monday:

Sara M Lyons did some AMAZING Beyonce nail decals for Emerging Thoughts, you can preorder them here.

The Disaster Life collaborated with Stay Home Club to make t-shirts, prints, totes and patches, and she’s also doing a giveaway on instagram if you like to win things.

I finally listed my black & white gem sticker set, you can see all my stickers here.

Finally, check out this SERIOUSLY amazing Palentine’s Day party, featuring a custom banner by yours truly.

beautiful sky // always running somewhere // a tiny smile// Elke, abandoned // good ol’ Honey Paws // my funny-haired Valentine // Gwen’s Valentine outfit, top from Joe Fresh & leggings from Old Navy // I sort of went overboard on the heart-shaped food for Valentine’s Day // am I a lion? // out for a walk in her green Newt Suit // new stickers that I haven’t put up for sale yet (although the full-colour version is available) // hello, kitty // baby eats: cereal& crackers for snack // it’s cold outside but it’s cozy in here // Quo by Orly in Twinkle Twinkle + Essie in A Cut Above // seriously, help me put my lion suit!

Gwen is really in to dress-up recently. She is obsessed (OBSESSED) with the lion costume and insists on wearing it pretty much all the time. She’ll take any clothing item she finds lying around (or plucks from the laundry hamper) and drape it around her shoulders like a shawl, and she’s very good at putting hats (or hat-like objects, baskets, etc) on her head.

She has some baby friends that she plays with now, and it’s so rewarding seeing her interact with them. When she first met another baby she actually thought she was a dog and would pat her on the head and put toys in her mouth. Now they actually PLAY, either with toys or, more often than not, chasing each other around the house and screaming with laughter. It’s one of my favourite things to watch, they just have so much fun.

I’m finally finally finally starting to get better after over a month and a half of this terrible cold. My sinuses have cleared up enough to allow me to be able to tell when the baby has a dirty diaper. Perhaps a mixed blessing? Anyway now I just need to be rid of this STUPID ENDLESS COUGH. Gwen is also improving. Her nose is much less runny and I assume her ear infection has cleared up. I really hope so because getting antibiotics in her 3 times a day was worse than giving medication to a cat.

trying to get over the gate // I bought these little powdered donuts for a Flowers in the Attic viewing with some friends but I was too sick so I had to cancel, I guess I’ll have to eat them all myself // Georgie & Harley trying to convince my neighbor to let Harley off the leash so they could wrassle // my other neighbor’s cat watched from the roof, disapprovingly // cool baby at lunch // baby eats: rotini carbonara // always always always making “What Is The Point” banners, I think these are my 3rd-best sellers // always nice to see that I’ve managed to keep my pathetic hydrangea alive // after years of my trying & failing to cultivate it, the moss is finally coming back in my “””garden””” (more like garbage-den tbh)

I think a witch has put a hex on me. No, really. I just keep stupidly injuring myself/being injured in the stupidest ways through no fault of my own. First I leaned my arm on that little plastic toy bowl while it was supporting all my weight PLUS the baby, then I dropped that huge block of wood on my foot. The whole slipping in mud & crash-landing on gravel while pranking incident happened, and then this weekend my cat jumped into my lap while I was wearing a short dress and jammed all her claws into my thigh and I screamed and woke Taylor up. PLUS I’ve had this shitty cold for SIX WEEKS and everyone else who had it already got better but I have a sinus infection still!

WHAT THE HELL, UNIVERSE. CUT THE SHIT.

Ever since I watched the Evgeni Plushenko “Pony” video last night I’ve had that stuck in my head, and I’m reminded of the time I made some reference to it to Taylor and he was like “I’m not familiar.” It was literally this, except he was Ann & I was Tom. Some other funny things about Taylor:

Once we were watching one of the Harry Potter movies and he called Voldemort “That Ralph Fiennes-lookin’ motherfucker.” THAT IS RALPH FIENNES OMG.

When we watched Magic Mike (HIS PICK, BTW) afterwards he was like “That was like some…. Steven Soderbergh movie!” Guess what, IT IS A STEVEN SODERBERGH MOVIE.

He also claims to have never heard Ignition (Remix) OR know the words to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Idk about him, you guys.

I want to take a minute to thank everyone who bought a pack of the Symmichi stickers Sym designed. I told her she could have 100% of the money and as predicted, she’s spending it on lip gloss and sour gummi candies. On Friday she bought herself a bag of sour gummi worms and saved all the red & blue striped ones for me. For about 1 minute I was all mushy about it because they are my favourites but then she told me she doesn’t like that colour. TWEENS. No but really, she’s just about the coolest kid in the world, and so funnyyyyyyyy omg. Hanging out with her is great.

morning light // perched on the pouffe // blue sky & alders // digging through the dress-up box // the scene of last weeks prank: the compost bin I was hiding behind is just to the left of the picnic table, and when I finally fell I was almost at the bench on the right, so you can imagine how far I flailed // out for a stroll // walk-in clinic exam room mirror selfie // ginger ale & lozenges forever and ever amen

I was finally able to go to the doctor this morning and YAY I have a sinus & ear infection, which is exactly what I thought. I actually felt a bit better when I woke up but I guess all the otc meds I took last night must not have worn off yet because I felt steadily worse as the morning wore on. Since I had to take Gwen with me anyway I decided to have her checked out as well and she also has an ear infection which is GREAT JUST GREAT. Her second in six months, I guess she’s going to be as ear infection-prone as Sym was as a small child. Did you know that if an ear infection is bad enough it can rupture the eardrum and all the pus that was locked away will come streaming and/or oozing out over the course of several days? I do, because it happened to Sym, MULTIPLE TIMES. Ugh, I hope it doesn’t happen to Gwen, it’s so horrible :/

Anyway now that I’ve talked about pus let’s end this post with some positivity…
– a very sweet & generous friend sent me the money it would have cost me to take today off
– it’s gorgeous out, cold but sunny
– all the bras I ordered came in the mail today and actually fit
– even with an ear infection, Gwen is sweet and fun to be around
– it’s my birthday 🙂

blue sky // when she carries her toy in her mouth like this Taylor & I are always reminded of The Cremaster Cycle, which is weird & disturbing // so grown up // playing doggie games with Georgie // tippy-toes // little snacks // flying // I finally finished rehanging the globe lights in my dining room, reserving judgement until I can see how they look lit up at night // my old bear Floppy + a ghost kitty + a Nara Yoshitomo postcard // yellow & green // sniffin’ around // singing to me the song of her people

Well now that the dust (and scabs, ugh) have settled from my pranking adventure I am OVER IT. Like yesterday morning if you asked me if given the chance, would I do that prank again I would have said yes, but today? HELL NO. Everything hurrrrrrrrrrts you guys, and it sucks. My hands are so stiff and sore that I couldn’t even peel a mandarin orange for Gwen’s breakfast this morning, and you know how easy those are to peel! I have also developed this weird pain in the side of my abdomen which I’m not sure is from crashing down on that side or if I just coughed so hard I pulled a muscle, which is totally plausible because I’m still sick as hell. Good grief what a disaster.

Seeing as how it’s the last day of the month I thought I’d do a little update on how I’m doing with my goals, and the answer is GREAT. I’m doing awesome, and I’m not even being sarcastic.

1. Putting my laundry away: I have totally been doing this, and I’ve been making Taylor do it too so our bedroom is like, 75% less piles of clothes now. As a weird bonus, being so ~on top~ of laundry has somehow also extended to being ~on top~ of the dishes, amazing.

2. Growing out my hair: well I haven’t cut it all off yet. I actually have a hair appointment tomorrow but I’m only getting the back cut where it is looking shaggy & mullet-y and bad and keeping all my hard-won length in the front. I conceivably COULD cut it all short since my natural colour roots are long enough but then it’d take the next six months to get back to the point I’m at now, so NOPE.

3. Stop eating potato chips during the week: I HAVEN’T HAD ANY POTATO CHIPS AT ALL. NOT ONE. FOR A WHOLE MONTH.

4. Be consistent with wearing sunscreen (especially on my feet): still totally irrelevant since I basically haven’t gone outside during daylight hours and when I have I’ve worn boots & a parka (but when I have gone out my regular facial moisturizer is SPF30).

Sooooo basically so far I AM THE BEST AT GOALS. At least for January, I’m reserving judgement on my prospects for February.

warning: contains a gross & graphic image of dirt & blood & shredded skin

If you watch the show New Girl, you may be familiar with the character Winston and his love of pranks. Winston enjoys pranks but he’s really bad at them in that he always goes too small, or way, WAY too big.

I’m very similar, in that I love pranks but I’m bad at them. The problem is partly that I can’t keep it together and I start laughing and ruin my own prank, and partly I’M A FUCKING IDIOT.

Last night Taylor was taking the dogs for a walk. We always use the same dog walking route so after I took the food scraps* out I decided to meet up with him. Originally I planned to just run up and get the dogs all excited, but when I saw where they were on the path I decided it was the perfect opportunity for a prank.

The park opposite has a path that runs between the fenced dog park and the fenced schoolyard. On the dog park side of the path there are some community garden plots, and at the east end the community gardeners have built a small shed to keep tools, a picnic table, and a large compost bin. I decided to crouch down and hide behind the compost bin and when Taylor got close, jump out and scare him by screaming. THE PERFECT PRANK, since he was far enough from my hiding place that my giggling wouldn’t give me away.

I crouched down really low and waited, peeking around the corner of the bin. When Georgie & Kichou came into view I sprung out, screaming like a banshee. AND THIS IS WHERE EVERYTHING WHEN WRONG. You see, what I didn’t realize (because it was dark and I’m an idiot) is that I was standing in slippery mud. When I lunged forward from my crouched position my feet slid out from under me and my banshee screaming soon turned into real screaming of the “OH SHIT” variety. Taylor was scared for like one second and then he was just baffled as I flailed my way towards the path, pinwheeling my arms and trying to regain my balance. I could have just let myself fall but I didn’t want to get gross compost-adjacent mud all over my nice North Face parka, so I kept going.

I feel like I got lower and lower to the ground as I flailed and slipped and pinwheeled and eventually I just crash landed on the path. THE GRAVEL PATH. I skidded all the way across it on my hands and elbows and one hip and it was all very spectacular. As soon as I came to a stop I rolled over and started laughing because it was SO FUCKING FUNNY like omg what a boneheaded move.

I figured my hands would be skinned but when I held them up they were not just skinned but shredded, embedded with gross dirt & rocks and bleeding pretty spectacularly. I actually thought I might have to go get stitches in one of the cuts, it was pretty deep, and I was definitely looking forward to explaining to the emergency room personnel how I’d done it (It was a prank!). Taylor helped me up and cut the dog walk short because I obviously couldn’t be trusted the walk home on my own get my keys out of my coat pocket with my blood-hands.

pranks!

When we got back to the house I washed my hands and thankfully the bleeding had stopped (so no stitches needed) but I had to scrub them to get the filth out and also pick off some of the mangled, unsalvageable skin shreds. Gross, painful, not fun. I also managed to skin one elbow (through my parka, somehow?) and this morning my hip is super sore. It hasn’t bruised yet but I think it will as it seems to have a huge goose egg on it (which is not something I realized one could get in places other than one’s head).

I still think it was an excellent prank and very funny, just maybe not the best execution.

*Vancouver started a food scraps recycling program last summer and I was ALL ABOUT IT until my house became infested with fruit flies. I quit using my food scraps bin for months (shh don’t tell the mayor) until I realized I could keep it in the freezer and it would remain bug free. DUH.

it’s Dougal’s birthday today, he is ten years old! // baby eats: croissant, cheese & tomatoes // I found this tiny leaf skeleton in my living room // new nails new life, acrylics done by Leon & Anna at Fantasy Nails // apparently 2014 is the Year of the ADORABLE BABBY PONY :3 // I started making smoothies again // everyone wants hugs

In December when I was decorating for Christmas I put up a string of globe lights in the dining room (you can find these in a lot of places but they are cheapest BY FAR at Target, I actually had Sym’s dad pick them up for me when he was in the US a while ago, like pre-Target Canada). I loved it so much I decided to keep it up after the holidays, but I needed to change the way I hung it so I didn’t have an extension cord hanging down the middle of wall where babies could grab it. I decided to run the cord up the corner of the dining room wall since there are shelves in the corner with an outlet behind them, out of reach of baby hands.

I also had some cable management plastic channel thingers (I believe that is the scientific term) that Taylor bought probably a hundred million years ago to manage all the cables under his desk, but then never did. I figured running those up the wall with the extension cord inside them would help the whole thing to look tidier, plus if I want I can paint them to match the wall (currently they are white).

It was a brilliant plan, and I have it all set up and ready for the lights (I just need to put up some more hooks to hang the light string in the new way) buuuuuuut while I was doing all that Gwen managed to get a box of Kleenex off my desk and HILARITY ENSUED. I wonder what babies are thinking when they do stuff like pull every single tissue out of a box and pile them in drifts around themselves, are they like “Oh nice, a white square. I’ll just pull this white square out of the white square holder and- hang on a tick! What is this? ANOTHER white square??? I’ll just pull it out of the white square holder and- hang on a tick! What is this? ANOTHER white square???” aaaaaand repeat one million times. BABIES, right?

She’s also recently made her way into the bathroom and unspooled an entire roll of toilet paper, and into the foyer where she unspooled an entire roll of dog poop bags. She also figured out how to open the drawers in the entertainment stand and stole all the remote controls. I had to steal childlocks from the kitchen cupboards to secure the drawers and when she figured that out she emptied the cupboard where I keep my filing cabinet full of work papers and receipts. Thankfully I’d already ordered an extra-long retractable baby gate to go between the edge of the cupboards and the kitchen island, and an extra set of hooks for the other side of the island so I can put my hallway-blocking gate across that space. Let me tell you, it’s been a HUGE relief being able to block the baby out of the kitchen when I’m cooking, or loading the dishwasher, or doing anything where I don’t want a toddler pinching me on the backs of my knees (once she did it while I was cutting tomatoes and I jumped and stabbed myself in the finger). Seriously if you have a stupid, open-plan apartment where you can’t use traditional baby gates to keep little ones out of places they shouldn’t go then I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY recommend these.