Too good to be true?

I stopped by the Winners on Spadina today to pick up some black tights for my work holiday party tomorrow night (yes, we're still having a holiday party) and decided to do a quick stop across the street at The Lifestyle Shop as well where they have my Tulip table, or rather, the Cal Dining Table for a crazy low price! OMG!

Hump Day Pick-Me-Up

I got these tulips on the way home last night as a pick-me-up for the slow as snails progression of the last week. Look at them now:

Happy Thought

Today felt like it was NEVER going to end...as does this week. UGH!

Happy thoughts... Thinking of my silly niece and her fascination with electronics makes me happy. Here she is, making a grab for the camera:


She gives you this mischievous look that says, "Look at me, aren't I cute? Don't you want to share your shiny toy with me?"

2 Jane and the freebie!

Hello my lovelies!

Mixko Butterfly Shade

Brazilian Agate Coasters

I discovered 2 Jane via decor8. Click here for the free Mibo 2009 Calendar on their site.

WIP: Study

This is what my den/study looks like right now:

As you can see from the paint chips on the wall, I haven't quite settled on the shade of green I want to paint with, which is why the space still looks like a storage area. I didn't see the point in getting all organized if I'm just going to have to pack stuff up to paint.

This is the first time I've actually sat at my desk to work....I really like the feeling of being tucked away in my little corner office....no windows though. :)

ABCs

My niece's birthday is coming up and I've been thinking about what to get her and I've decided on this adorable set of alphabet prints by Lindsay Brackeen, each piece involves a sketch, handcut new and vintage papers, collage, and hand-embroidered accents:


I was also wondering about what to give Q, my friends G&E's baby boy. He was born prematurely in September and I haven't met him yet. I figured by now, they're probably good with the usual baby stuff of blankies and toys...so I'm feeling the art route is in order. How brilliant is this Q for Quetzal print by Flora Douville:

Other alphabet prints that caught my eye include:

Limited Edition by Stephanie Fizer

Chocolate Alphabet by Marley Ungaro

The Kind Koala Knitted Knickers by Katy Holmes

Animal Alphabet by Decoylab

Alphabet Soup by Calobee

Complete Set of A-Z by Cabbages and Kings

Be still my heart...

...but look at this gorgeous bed by Shawn Lovell:

Getting SMART

I was inspired by Joyce's blog about setting SMART goals - something that's top of mind now that year-end self-appraisals are coming due - so I decided today to enter a couple races in 2009 - the SL 10K in May and the Toronto 10 Miler in July...the end game is to run the Waterfront Half in late September, but I can't commit myself to something so far ahead in advance...I know. I wimped out. But it's a start right?

So now I have to think of a training regimen to get myself into shape. The more I think about it, the more I've come to realize that I'm going to have to commit to working out in the mornings before work because it'll be hard otherwise to carve out the time.

Study in Green+Orange

I've been thinking about my den since before I left for China and was going back and forth on whether or not it should be a guest room or a study. I was leaning towards the former but on my last trip to Ikea, my mother convinced me that it should be a study...so I came home with the 5x5 Expedit and the accompanying desk.

And while browsing online for art today, I came across the 2 for 1 sale over at Blue Ant Studio. I've had my eye on their Alphabet of Design Classics for the last year and finally pulled the trigger on my purchase. My second poster is the Side Eames LCW.

I think I may spend the holidays painting... :)

Study by phoenixc

Opening night at the AGO

I caught up with wL over sushi Friday night and stood in line in the rain to get into the newly-renovated AGO designed my Frank Gehry. I walk by the AGO everyday on my way to work and have always found the spiral stairs that jut out of the southern facade rather odd, but after having climbed the stairs down, I've a new appreciation for them because the view's fantastic!

Here's the view from the inside of the northern facade - it reminds me of a ship's skeleton. In the first picture below, you can see some of the names of the Italian families who donated $10 million for the new sculpture gallery.


The collection isn't entirely new to me so we wandered through rather quickly. I have plans to go back soon in the day to take in the views of the city - preferably in sunlight.

Still here...

So my cousin M and his girlfriend I left Tuesday morning and I've been catching up on my sleep ever since. It was a short visit but it was long too because I've never myself played host to anyone before and I must say, it's rather exhausting!

We spent Friday afternoon at Pacific Mall before meeting the rest of my family for dinner. We spent Saturday wandering along Queen West to Trinity Bellwoods and broke for brunch at Czehoski before heading to the Distillery District to browse. We finished it with a big family dinner back at my mother's with my aunt, uncle and cousins in attendance. We went to Niagara Falls on Sunday so I can tell people back in Amsterdam that she's seen the Falls should they ask, and of course, winetasting in Niagara-on-the-Lake! We finished the night with dinner at Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar - I figured it was a good choice and the food served there is pretty representative of Canadian cuisine - whatever that is! Also, the tapas-style dishes meant we could try lots of different things.

M has a maternal great-aunt here so I dropped him and I off Monday to have lunch with her and did some work while I waited for them to call me back for a pick-up. I had never been to a Pottery Barn before so we spent the rest of the afternoon at Yorkdale. I think I may get this endtable from PB and this rug from Crate and Barrel for my living area. We had dinner their last night here at Foxley since they were asking for Asian Fusion. Yummy blue crab and avocado salad...and black sesame creme brulee!!! Mmmmmm!

And every night, we'd chat until 2 or 3 am so I never well-and-truly-recovered from my hangover Friday morning.

My head...

This is what happens when you agree to host a team offsite on a Thursday afternoon (the Perrier was mixed with Vodka):

I was sooo hungover this morning that I really should have "worked from home" but I had a 10 o'clock meeting that in hindsight, I really didn't need to be at, and threw up not once, but twice at work. So not cool.

2 days and counting...

...before my cousin M and his girlfriend I arrive from Amsterdam via NYC to visit for a long weekend. I'm picking them up from the airport Friday afternoon and am thinking of heading out to Foxley for dinner, and drinks elsewhere afterwards.

The rest of the weekend is going to be fairly relaxed...the only thing they've requested is to go winetasting in Niagara since they remembered all the great wine D, M's brother, brought back when I took him last. I figure we'll do a quick stop at the Falls since I has never been to Canada before, so that's our one nod to the traditional tourist stop.