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1. The Furies Beast Slim Noh Tee, I really love everything about this; 2. byCORPUS Mixed-Stitch Cardigan, this is also available in black, which I might like more, idk; 3. BDG Baggy Tweed Short, to wear with some thick tights and my new, not-yet-received boots PRE-EMPTIVE EDIT THEY WERE JUST DELIVERED/POST-EMPTIVE EDIT I CAN’T EVEN GET THEM ON MY FEET UGH WTH >:/; 4. Gap Always Skinny Cords, because I’m sick of jeans; 5. Aldo Beveal Ballet Flats, I DESPERATELY need a new pair of black flats, my old ones barely even qualify as shoes anymore; 6. BDG Rugby Stripe Sweater Dress; 7. BDG Trouser Short two pairs of tweedy shorts??? I know, so silly but I don’t know which I like better. These are longer but the other ones are darker. Decisions! 8. Gap Oversized Double-Layer T, likely in black AND heather grey; 9. Kimchi Blue Trouser Sweatpant, some people have an aversion to “sweatpants fashion.” I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE.

In other shopping news, I need some new brassieres, and since the Gap now ships in Canada I was like “Oh yay! Maybe they have some nice, plain, simple t-shirt bras like I like!” (I don’t like frilly lacey rhinestone-encrusted patterned bras with bows and crap). Anyway I quickly perused the bra section and found lots of nice, plain, simple t-shirt bras like I like, in colours like grey and black and white people nude. I was all happy until I realized the actually only make one kind of bra in my size.

Nursing bras.

Nursing bras.

NURSING BRAS WHAT THE HECK. I’m super irritated. My chest isn’t even THAT enormous! It’s like, average big. Why can’t I just find some nice, simple, plain t-shirt bras in colours like grey and black and white people nude that aren’t frilly lacey rhinestone-encrusted patterned with bows and crap and also aren’t like, $50 per boob? Bonus points for convertible straps and I can wear them with a tank top and the entire thing doesn’t show at the neckline/armholes. WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT???

The Gatecrasher, 65/104; Remainder, 66/104; How Did You Get This Number, 67/104

In the past couple weeks more than one person has asked me if the “#/104” was some sort of obscure rating system- if you didn’t know it’s the number that book is out of the 104 I plan to read this year. I’ve adding a 104 Books page at the top where I’ve put a running list of all the books I’ve read so far and a little blurb about the goal, so hopefully this should clarify things!

Today is the first day of school for Sym. Or rather, it was the first day, since as it turned out all we had to do was check her name off a the new students list (she’s at a different school this year). We were home by 9:30, haha.

She picked out a first day of school outfit even though it wasn’t a REAL day of school. It was cloudy and cold this morning and she looked fall-appropriate in her coat, dress (yes, that’s a dress) and tights. Now it’s sunny and hot outside so I guess it’s good she wasn’t there all day or she would have sweltered her face off. Which I did already, pushing the dang double stroller back up the hill from her new school. I am not looking forward to going down there and back every afternoon, but at least I’ll be getting a fantastic workout, haha.

In a few weeks Georgie will be starting school as well, and it can’t come soon enough. She sort of fell into an obedience vortex this summer- there were no puppy classes at all and she was too young for the basic obedience. It sucks that we couldn’t do this earlier, because let me tell you, she has become quite willful. I haven’t been able to take her to the dog park since on our last visit on Saturday morning, she escaped and took off! By the way, THANKS A LOT, Vancouver Parks Department, for installing a fence at the dog park with bars so widely spaced that little puppies can slip right through them. Luckily the farmer’s market was on so the street was closed but I was secretly FREAKING OUT that she’d run up to the end of the block and get hit by a car. Then, last night she refused to come get her leash on to go for a walk, but when I opened the door to check the weather she snuck past me and ran off into the backyard. It’s fenced, but the gate at the front has a gap under it big enough for her to get out, and it was quite late/dark, so more terror of puppy loss ensued.

She hasn’t learned to “come” when she’s called yet (this is my fault, I know) and when she pulls her escapes it’s like a fun game where she wants to be chased, so you sort of have to a) wait for her to come to you or b) trick her into coming to you with a stick or toy or something. She is especially loathe to let me catch her, so I have to get Taylor and random strangers to help me. I’ve been working really hard to try to teach her to come but it’s hard because the other dogs always want to know what I’m doing so they come over and it distracts her, and if I crate them they start moaning and it distracts her. Even Claire wanders over and get in the way! The humans in my life are also no help, since if I’m at one end of the room saying “Georgie, COME!” and then Taylor or Sym or one of the daycare kids starts saying it from the other side of the room… well obviously it confuses her little puppy brain! I also get very frustrated and start sweating and itching after only a few minutes. To tell the truth I’m getting frustrated and itchy just typing this out so I guess I’ll stop.

Messy house? Last night of the long weekend? Crummy cold rainy weather? So what who cares. Every time I turn around this one is doing something cute, or silly, or naughty but also still cute. She looks at me with her squinky eyes and puffy ears and everything is good.

I don’t know why Taylor and I developed this weird fixation with baking a pie (tbh it was probably when we were watching Twin Peaks). We kept putting it off though, since neither of us had ever baked one before and it seemed complicated (crust and filling? what is this?). After picking up some blackberries at the farmer’s market last weekend I decided it was time to finally have at it, so I picked a recipe to bungle and got lots of advice from some very smart ladies, especially one amazing woman who facebook messaged me detailed crust instructions as long as my arm.

The filling was easily- well, except for the part about peeling, coring and slicing SIX apples. The recipe called for 2 1/2 lbs of them, which is what we used, but it seemed like an absurd amount! I had to mix this up in the biggest bowl in my house and I didn’t even end up using it all- it literally WOULD NOT FIT in the pie plate!

As you can see, I was much more apprehensive about the pastry. Everyone drilled into my head DON’T LET THE BUTTER (or in this case, half butter half shortening) MELT! DON’T ROLL IT OUT TOO MUCH! DON’T DO ANYTHING EXCEPT FOLLOW THESE PRECISE INSTRUCTIONS OR YOU WILL FAIL AT FLAKINESS!!! It was very nerve-wracking, and I think I was so worried about the state of the butter/shortening that I didn’t put enough water in. Oops.

The bottom crust turned out alright (please note my supercool apron), but the top tore to shreds when I tried to move it to the pie. I ended up using the scraps to patch up the gaps, using eggwash and a fork. The result:

FRANKENPIE! I also cut a jaunty little star out of the top, lol. Next came the endless waiting for it to bake- I had NO IDEA a pie could take so long! Cakes take less than half an hour, what’s your damage, pie? This was especially annoying since we didn’t know whether the end result would be a) hideous yet delicious, or b) hideous and also inedible.

Well, we have the hideous down. I like the part where I completely missed with the eggwash, haha. But who cares! We made a pie!

It was distinctly lacking in structural integrity. But what this?

Flakiness?! WHY YES IT IS. Additionally, this pie was, in fact, delicious. Even the world’s surliest child enjoyed it.

Really, she enjoyed it. You just can’t tell in photographs. Anyway, Taylor and I consider this attempt at baking a success, and the fact that there is only 1/3 of the pie left is a testament to the deliciousness.

VALUABLE PIE LESSONS:
1. Baking pie takes eight billion years. It would have been better to make the pastry beforehand and leave it in the fridge overnight.
2. Maybe use a little more water in the pastry next time so it doesn’t fall to pieces when you are trying to move it.
3. Did I mention it takes a long time? Be sure to allow for that. I was going to make brown sugar pork chops and roasted potatoes for dinner but I had to rethink that when I realized the pie wouldn’t be out of the oven until six o’clock.

… so I fell in a sinkhole yesterday.

No really. Not my pathetic melancholy mood, an ACTUAL sinkhole. I was just standing in the yard, talking to one of my clients when I shifted my weight from my right foot to my left and WHOOSH. Suddenly I was knee-deep in the earth.

The best part is this is the second time this has happened this summer. Okay, last time I didn’t fall in, I knew that area was unstable and prone to sinkholing (it had collapsed and been filled in several times already in recent years), and when my neighbor left a hose running basically right in that spot for three hours I figured it might happen again. I was just probing the ground with my toe when it happened that time, and it wasn’t totally unexpected, but this time? Let me tell you, suddenly falling INTO the ground is very confusing and unsettling. I guess I should have realized the torrential rains the day before would have washed away all the dirt and concrete they dumped in there last time.

In non-being-swallowed-up-by-the-blackness-of-the-earth news, yesterday my birthday present for Taylor FINALLY arrived.

Of course, his birthday was last Wednesday so I wasn’t exactly thrilled. I bought them on ebay, but I won the auction on July 16th, seven weeks ago. I knew the shoes would take time to customize but I figured a month and a half would be enough time for them to be finished and shipped. GUESS I WAS WRONG. But wait- it gets better! On Saturday, August 7th the seller sent me a message apologizing for the delay and saying the shoes would be shipped “early next week,” so like, the 9th or 10th, right? WRONG. When the shoes STILL hadn’t arrived by Taylor’s birthday I sent the seller a message asking if/when they’d been shipped, and the next day he wrote back saying after he got my message he stayed up all night finishing the shoes and sent them UPS that morning. WAIT. WHAT? So when he messaged me on the 7th to say he would ship them, not only did he NOT ship them, HE DIDN’T EVEN FINISH THEM??? He also had the audacity to toss a whiny remark into his message about how it cost him extra to send them UPS, oh gee SO SORRY YOU HAD TO INCONVENIENCE YOURSELF LIKE THIS YOU POOR MAN. Maybe he should have finished and shipped them when he said he was going to! Anyway the shoes are great but I’m pretty disappointed by the seller’s lies, excuses and delays. This doesn’t sound like positive feedback territory to me!

But let’s not dwell on negative, sour-grapey things like flaky ebay sellers and the crumbling yard. Instead, PUPPIES!

I took Georgie out for a long walk early this morning. I’ve been so exhausted and drained this week (new client who only speaks French = lots of extra, hard work and no breaks) that I’ve been dragging myself out of bed at 7:30 and taking her around the block super-quick before I open at 7:45, so it was nice to have the time for a real walk, although I’m not sure I want to get up at 5:30 every day. It was calm and peaceful out, hardly anyone around and the sun just peeking over the buildings. The air is cool and crisp and even though it isn’t raining today I was glad I wore my new Lululemon pants and jacket over my leggings and a t-shirt (oh and the reason it stopped raining last night is because I went and bought those pants and that jacket, so YOU’RE WELCOME Vancouver).

While I was walking I was thinking about all the lovely things I’d like to do today, but can’t. I’d like to crawl back into my cozy bed for a few more hours, and maybe when Taylor got home I could doze beside him. I’d like to take better advantage of this gorgeous early autumn morning by taking the dog for a stroll along the Seawall or through Stanley Park. I’d like to pop over to the gym for a quick workout and then, re-energized, do a really good job of cleaning my apartment. I’d like to find a new book to read and curl up on the couch with a mug of tea and my kindle. I’d like to spend the afternoon working on my self-portrait or sewing some little toys for Symphony. I’d like to have the time to properly shop for groceries and try some new and delicious recipe for dinner or finally make that pie I keep talking about.

Today, I would just like my days to be my own. Or maybe just this day.

Holy smokes did I make a delicious dinner last night! Even Symphony, who is as picky an eater as I am, tried everything, which is amazing. I think I was able to strike a balance between food kids like AND food adults like.

clockwise from top left:
•rice (brown & white mixed half & half with a little bit of lime salt for deliciousness and nutritionability)
•fresh cut green & purple salsa (green zebra tomatoes, purple pepper, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, salt & pepper)
•grilled corn (I did it on a George Foreman grill, which took FOREVER but it was so good it was worth it)
•spicy chili lime chicken (lime juice & chili pepper flakes- they come in a little shaker with the pizza we always order and we never use them)
•mini cucumber stars (Sym helped with these. She also tested everything to make sure it wasn’t poisonous)
•tortilla

Taylor kind of made a weird food-pouch with his tortilla, Sym had me help her make a wrap (which we ended up having to take the chicken out of because it was too spicy for her) and I just tore my food apart like a wild animal because I was STARVING and everything was delicious! There are some leftovers and I’m excited to have them for lunch today!

After dinner Symphony had the SUPER GENIUS idea of making s’mores. Now, I know there are some s’mores purists out there who think that if you don’t make them over a campfire they don’t taste good, but those people are basically crazy. These couldn’t have been yummier.

Stack a graham cracker + chocolate + mini marshmallows, put under broiler for a minute- you have to watch them to make sure they don’t get too scorched. The chocolate looks solid but guess what?

IT ISN’T. After you take them out squish a second graham cracker over them and you have perfection!

We all ended up smeared in chocolate and I may have sent Symphony to her grandparents’ house today with marshmallow in her hair. Oops. But WORTH IT.

It’s wet. It’s wet and cold and rainy and when I took Georgie for a walk this morning we both got soaked. It’s only supposed to be rainy for two days and then the sun is back, but the air has been all crisp and chilly for the past week so I’m now in FULL FALL MODE. The other day I ordered my new fall boots: Frye Engineers. I’m going to wear the heck out of these!

Of course, those boots aren’t going to be much use when the rains REALLY start. I currently have some black and white Lacoste rainboots I bought last year, but they’ve started rubbing and chafing my ankles really badly so I might have to get new ones. Honestly I have NO IDEA how I used to survive Vancouver’s rainy season without proper boots! Anyway I’m thinking of getting a pair of Hunter boots, everybody I know who has them LOVES them. The question is: short or tall?

Another totally stylish item I’m looking into is RAIN PANTS. I ask that parents bring them for their kids (although almost no one ever does, argh) and I’m really sick of slogging around in soggy denim so I figure it’s time I start practicing what I preach. I looked at the Mountain Equipment Co-op site but didn’t see anything I liked- the only pair that seemed close to what I was interested in were $165 and had TERRIBLE reviews. Apparently the water resistance isn’t that resistant and the fabric is like a dog hair magnet! Forget that! Instead I’m looking at the Lululemon Community Pant and heck, while I’m at it I might as well get an Everyday Yoga Jacket as well.

The pants have good reviews (some from people who own dogs so hair magnetism won’t be an issue) and aren’t TOTALLY uncool looking. I actually have a similar (and great) Lululemon jacket already, but it’s a) BRIGHT BLUE omg lol how do I own this? and b) probably too small by now. My internet shopping fingers are itching to order these right now but the Lululemon store is like, four blocks from my house, so I think I can hold off until after work when I can go try them on.

Symphony got home last night after spending a whole week at her dad’s. I saw her every day when she came up with her dad to pick up Dougal but I still really missed her! It was weird not having her around. Tomorrow I get to start missing her again because she’s going to be at her grandparents’ house until Saturday, and next Tuesday is the first day of school. Where did this summer go?