Back from the Motherland!

Despite initial misgivings about literally spending 24/7 of the last 2 weeks with my family, I had a fantastic time! This was only the third time we've ever gone on vacation together since my parents owned a grocery store and had to work holidays too so it was a real blessing that now that we have our own lives and are (almost) all in our 30s, we can travel together as a family and not kill each other. :)

We arrived back early Sunday morning and I have been unpacking and doing laundry pretty much non-stop ever since. There's a semblance of order now that everything is mostly put away. My sister is actually in town with Piglet for an all-company meeting until Friday so I'll probably be back and forth to my mom's between now and then.

I have a ton of photos to sift through and will post them as soon as I can. In the meantime, here're a few teasers...

Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai

Bicycles for rent, Hangzhou

Summer Palace, Beijing

15 hours...

So I'm sort of packed. Sort of, because I have to re-pack my things into a larger bag that I'm sharing with my brother. Surprisingly, all my things fit into my expanded carry-on and backpack. I didn't think I would be able to do it, but then again, it's still warm where we're going: 11 days in China beginning with Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuzhen, Hangzhou, Xian and ending in Beijing.

We'll have 3 days after the tour to split between Hong Kong and Shenzhen where my grandmother lives. I figure there will be one dedicated shopping day in HK and I've got a list that I've been adding to whenever I remember things...like the new ipod nano in purple, design magazines that I can't get in Toronto, new sunglasses, and maybe a ceiling fixture?? My mother thinks I might find something in China because so much of what we see in North America is made there anyway. We'll see.

Better get ready for bed....in about 11 hours, my brother and I board a plane for a 15+ hour flight to Hong Kong where we'll be reunited with my mother, sister, her fiance and our little piglet to get on another plane to Shanghai.

Free Day

My boss stopped by my desk for a status update on the last-minute urgent project that dropped into my lap Thursday and to give me a free day off my first Monday back to recover from jetlag because I've been working so hard recently.

Super-nice of him...but I think there might have been a touch of guilt in there because he and a couple other guys on the team are off golfing this afternoon thanks to the free passes they got for the Big Kahuna's private club in the Muskokas. I don't golf, but I think I'd rather have a free day off to spend however I wish...like maybe a visit to the new West Elm....??

Guest Quarters

My cousin M and his girlfriend I are FINALLY coming for a visit next month and will be staying with me so I have been thinking a lot about my den and how I'm going to furnish it. This will be I's first visit to Canada so I'd love for it to be lots of fun. Granted, they're only going to be here for 4 days, but you can pack a lot into 4 days!!

I've been browsing daybed options for awhile now and am thinking West Elm's circle-cutout daybed would be alright, although the overlapping squares daybed would have been better to go with with Ikea's Expedit which is what I had planned for the adjacent elevation. Or would that be too many squares?? Anyway, it's moot anyway since I'm thinking a scheme in red and black for this room and that particular daybed is only available in white....


According to their website, the Toronto store is opening on the 16th!!! I will have to check it out as soon as I'm back!

5 more sleeps...

I haven't written much about my trip to China but that's only because it seemed so far away. But now I'm only 5 sleeps away to spending 15+ hours on a direct flight to Hong Kong where my family and I will be starting our 11 day tour of some of China's greatest hits, including the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, the Great Wall and the palaces in Beijing.

I've spent all weekend sick at home with the flu or something which is crappy in the short term but good in the grand scheme of things because I'd rather get it out of my system now rather than be sick on the trip. The bummer is that I had to sleep through Nuit Blanche this weekend which I was rather looking forward to. Oh well.

Knickers on the Wall

The original ink and acrylic prints I picked up a few weekends ago are finally framed and hung in my bathroom thanks to my friend, N, who's moved back for good after living 9+ years in the US. They're so adorable I can't help but stand and stare at them with a silly grin on my face. :)

I would have had these cuties up sooner but because they were already matted in 8x8 white, I had to order the size especially online through Frames-Direct.com - my Ikea stand-by, Ribba, was the wrong dimension and I wasn't about to pay to have them matted again when the quality of the existing matte was so good.

Project Blinkenlights

I walked through Nathan Phillips Square on my way home from yoga last night and noticed that the windows were all lit up in seemingly random patterns....until the letters L, O, V, E lit up the glass. I guessed that it was some kind of dry run for Nuit Blanche and turns out I was right.

Stereoscope by the Berlin-based trio, Project Blinkenlights uses every single window of city hall and a grid-work of multiple light sources to create a unified light show that can be activated by smart phones and control mechanisms at the site itself.

Egg Salad

I made egg salad for dinner tonight because I had 14 eggs in my fridge that I have to finish before I leave for China next Friday, plus celery and a red pepper. I know, 14 eggs is an odd number but I got them at Costco.

Anyway, I must say that the egg salad tasted better than I remembered and it might be the baba ghanouj I added to finish off the tub in my fridge. YUMMY!

CARPET!

I'm happy to report that it's dust pan alley no more!!!!!! Yes, that sentence warrants 6 exclamation points because carpet in the hall = less dust in my suite! :)

For the record, these are Flor carpet tiles (I saw the boxes as the installers were laying them on my way out this weekend):

Dandelion Light

I stopped in at the Winners on Laird today just to take a look because you never know what you'll find and what I found was this lovely light which is currently lighting up the far corner of my den-cum-storage-room:

Crab Fritatta

I thought cooking for one would be a chore but it's allowed me the freedom to experiment because I don't have to worry about someone else's judgement. If it sucks, no one knows but me. So here's the omelette I made for breakfast this morning made of odds and ends in my fridge: crab meat, red peppers, onions, basil, cheese and herbs....and I must say that it was yum. :)

Want this

I walk by the FCUK on Queen to and from work and have had my eye on this adorable peacoat - the one in the window is best described as light grey and that's the one I tried on today. It's so girly and pretty on!

Unfortunately, it's quite light so I don't think it's good beyond the fall season...but it's so very lovely on! If only I didn't have a dining table and chairs to buy!!! And interestingly enough, the price in CAD is actually less then USD!!

Queen & Soho @ 5:45pm

Pretty Mug

This is silly but I've had my eye on this mug at Second Cup ever since I first saw it...probably around Valentine's, but I refused to pay full price for it on principle - $9.95 for a pretty mug just seemed wrong in the grand scheme of things.

So I waited for it to go on sale at this one location but it never did...and then they closed up shop and I forgot about it. On a jaunt out for my afternoon coffee today, I spied it on the shelf for 30% off! So yay for pretty mugs!

Trees

I've been wondering a while now about how I'm going to fill this wall above my TV:

I thought perhaps a couple of Lack shelves from Ikea in white, but what would I put on them? It'd be just another excuse to buy more things to collect dust...not that that's a bad thing - buying more things that is, dust sucks - it could be a good place to display prints or pictures, after all...Alternatively, I was thinking decals...more specifically, tree decals, so I've browsed etsy off and on looking for potential candidates.

This tree by kiskastyledecor was an early contender since it fills the wall, but not if I still want to somehow work shelves in.

This tall tree with leaves blowing in the wind in Dali Decals' shop is quite fantastic but it's too wide. I do love the movement suggested in the design though...

Which brings me to Single Stone Studios' oh-so-pretty Cherry Blossom Branch with Birds.

I can pick my own colours from this palette and have been pondering which two for the last few hours....given that I've used shades of brown, green, white/cream and purple throughout my suite, I was thinking the branches in brown and the birds in lime, olive or lilac given that this is what it looks like on the opposite wall:

What say you?

Dust Pan Alley

Here's a view of my hall - throughout the week I've seen them prep the walls - a couple days ago a guy was sanding them down and as a result, there was a lovely cloud of dust that accompanied me into my suite. The one noticable addition was that the plates with our suite numbers were installed yesterday!

Beautiful Day

I woke up this morning and went for a run and am so glad I did because I feel so good! I headed down towards Harbourfront and it was the perfect weather - partly cloudy with just a touch of a breeze off the water. I ran for 50 min which is unusual since I'm usually good for maybe 15 min before the first stitch teases me but none of that today. I kept up a steady, comfortable pace and probably could have gone longer but decided to circle back after hitting the Power Plant.

I am really loving how close everything is - I ran through the Toronto Music Garden where it seems free classical concerts are held in the summer so I have that to look forward too, not to mention the close proximity to the Harbourfront Centre where the International Festival of Authors is held annually and there are various reading events through the year. So glad I'm finally downtown!

Andre Petterson

Tress

This work of art currently on display at Bau-Xi Gallery caught my eye a couple weekends ago and I finally stepped in for a look-see today on my way home from work. It's a mixed-media piece by Andre Petterson and it's stunning. I love the movement and energy of this piece, and the dancer's fishnets.

Petterson has a whole dancers series and you can see more of it here - some are energetic, others are moody and even slightly eerie...but all of it amazing.

These are my favourites from his other series:

Blue Snow

Conspectus Red

Weekend Finds!!

I spent the weekend hanging out in my neighbourhood. My original plan was to head out to the Queen West Antiques Centre after running a few errands but I stumbled upon the perfect little teak dresser for my hall at Red Indian Art Deco on Queen West. Here it is, in place:

I don't know why, but all the light switches are placed about 3' off the floor in my condo and this little dresser at 34" just hits the bottom of the switch. How perfect is that?! I'm now looking for the perfect mirror - something tall and Venetian perhaps - to place above it...or would that be too much of a juxtaposition?

I also found this lovely vintage Art Deco-style set for cream & sugar made by Medicine Hat Potteries in Alberta:

I walked as far as Trinity-Bellwoods Park where I came across the Queen West Art Crawl where I bought these 3 original ink and acrylic prints by Alison Mackenna which I think will be perfect for my bathroom. I just need to buy the frames now.


And these are the adorable coasters I picked up in Chinatown:

Now, I must clean.

LOL!

via A Cup of Jo

"He has long hair..."

So, I went out for drinks tonight with a friend from work who I'm really glad I met. She started less then 2 months ago but she's the kind of personality that's outgoing and warm and funny - the kind of person I wish I could be if I weren't so shy around people I didn't know. We were sitting in a meeting with her manager last week, getting into business when she turned to me and asked if I was seeing anyone because there was someone she wanted me to meet. No joke. Thank goodness AF, her manager, and I have a pretty friendly relationship because I would have been mortified otherwise.

Anyway, long story short, I met him tonight at one of the many trendy nightspots that singles often frequent in my neighbourhood and he was everything that she said he was - good looking, tall, suave - yes, suave, which, to my mind has a bit of a sleazy connotation which wouldn't be a long way off since he is a sales account exec but he's saved the ick factor because he seems genuinely considerate and tight with his younger sister, who is friends with my friend.

I have no idea if he knew what was up...but he seemed like a good guy, and if he wanted to get together with me one on one, I wouldn't be averse to it...but I can't say I'm overwhelmingly interested. I think it's the suaveness...he's a little too...slick for me. He picked up the tab for all his sister's friends, including me, which was very generous, but he just seems a little too polished. And to think that I thought that that was what I was looking for in a guy! Hmm.

Happy Birthday to Me

It's weird to think that another year has past...the birthday blues haven't hit as hard as they usually have...maybe because I've been too busy settling in to my place to think too much about turning 32. Jeez. I'm 32.

So what's changed in the last year?

* I'm an aunt to an adorable Piglet who has brought me and my sister closer then we have been since our father died;
* I ran my first 10K;
* I managed someone for the first time and have decided I don't think I like managing people...;
* I worked on a few big projects that recently launched and it's rather exciting to see the concept become reality...now we'll have to see if they're financially successful and as I modelled them;
* My grandfather is gone; and
* I've set up my own home and am slowly getting used to living alone - something I've never done before having always had roommates in school.

Hmm...in reviewing this list, there's not much romance - and I've decided that that's something I'm going to have to make an effort towards. I used to think that my friends would be enough...but I'm beginning to see now that everyone has coupled off that Mom is right...it really is important to have a partner and companion in life. Let's see what this new year will bring...

Fringe

Did you watch it? Holy moly, was it ever good! I wasn't planning on it but I had it on in the background for company - I never understood why my mom had the TV on when she was home alone and didn't even watch it, but I get it now - anyway, it was freakin' amazing and I just may be hooked now.

I want this...

I saw this headline about the "funnest" ipod ever and of course I had to read the article and when I checked out the apple website, my heart skipped a bit because how happy and pretty are these gorgeous colours!?

I've got my eye on the indigo one...but I also like the pink, green and orange ones too...one for every mood...? :)

The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World

After skipping out on my run yesterday because of the wet weather, I broke my fast and then met S&W in line to rush for the screening of Weijun Chen's The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World at TIFF. This documentary is about the Guiness-certified West Lake Restaurant in Changsha, Hunan, China - it seats five thousand and employs about 1000 people, including 300 chefs.

The excess struck me - I can't remember who it was in the film that said it - but the comment was about how in the 60s, 70s and 80s, there was no food - my Grandfather left China for South America to work so that he could send money back to feed his family - and now there's plenty and the Chinese love to show it.

Qin Linzi, the restaurant owner, also reminded me a bit of my mother for her strength and perserverance. She rose above a difficult childhood and divorce and worked to ensure that she could care for her family - my mother, newly-widowed, took over the running of the business she and my father started, led a team of almost 20 workers and rose me and my sisters on her own. I'd love to watch this with her to see what she thinks.

Good Intentions

I woke up this morning around 8 with the plan to go for a run, my first run in I'm-too-embarrassed-to-say-how-long because I've been preoccupied with packing, moving and settling in. But today, I was going to turn over a new leaf.

Before going to bed last night, I mapped a 4.5K route from my new place, heading towards Trinity-Bellwoods and back and even checked the weather forecast online - no mention of rain! So how disappointed was I when I pulled up my blinds this morning to find rainy grey skies? I am a fairweather runner. Always have been. And I don't run in the rain. So I'll clean for my workout instead.

Surprise....

...today, but not the good kind.

My cousin M messaged me on MSN in the last 30 minutes of work and within a minute of that, his brother D messaged me as well, which was lovely and unexpected, particularly as they are 6 hours ahead in Amsterdam. They didn't have good news to share.

My grandfather died today in Shenzhen and I don't know what to feel. They had both received a call from my uncle just 30 minutes before messaging me and as I hadn't heard from my mother, I didn't know if she knew yet. I called my sister to find out if she had heard anything but Mom hadn't called her, and I didn't want to call while I was still at work in case Mom was crying because I'd probably start crying too.

So I packed up, left work and called home as soon as I was out of the elevator....but no answer. I kept calling and when my mother finally reached me, she was seemingly calm and matter-of-fact...she was going to leave for Hong Kong this Friday and is leaving as scheduled, but instead of celebrating a homecoming, she'll be preparing for a funeral.

I'm sad that my grandfather won't be there when we go for our family trip next month. It's now too late for Piglet to meet her great-grandfather, not that she would likely remember, but at least she'd have the photos...if I think about it, I think I'll cry...and I don't think I want to cry right now.

CB & WE in TO!!

I knew that Crate & Barrel was coming to Toronto - and I've been waiting impatiently for their first store to open at Yorkdale later this month - but what I didn't know was that West Elm is coming too, to the Liberty Village neighbourhood not too far from me, as reported in October's Style at Home! I've long had my eye on their goodies, like this lovely branch table:

And their Parson's Desk:

But what I think I may end up getting is their Overlapping Squares Daybed for my den:


Can't wait!!

Mi Casa

I've spent the weekend labouring away, shopping for things on my never-ending list of things to buy (it just occured to me yesterday that I need a can opener!), packing stuff up at mom's to unpack and organizing them in mine. It's still rather a bit of a mess as you can see from the lovely vignette below:

Despite the disorder, the mirror and lamps make me happy just looking at them - imagine the disorder away.

My comfy couch dressed with the bed pillows I picked up in Vancouver is an island oasis in my space:

All that's missing are the end tables and lamps...which I've yet to set up. I've got a few other ideas in mind, like Ikea's Andrea rug in purple, and maybe a clear glass coffee table like Structube's Visio coffee table...but I think I'll wait until after I'm back from China because hopefully by then construction inside the building will be complete and the dustbin that is the interior will be a distant memory.

And here's the bathroom, mostly organized:


I'm thinking about colour on the walls because it seems really white...but that's way down on the priority list behind my Tulip table and dining chairs.

So far so good...

I cooked for the first time in my new place tonight with groceries I picked up on the way home in Chinatown and it felt good. I opened up a bottle of wine, half-listened to the news and made rigatoni.

I haven't been spending much time here with my sister visiting with Piglet, but since she left today, I'll be able to give settling in my focused attention. The last couple trips home to my mother's I've loaded up my car with bags and boxes of stuff. A good half of my wardrobe is still uptown, including just about all my shoes, my bag collection and all of my fall/winter wardrobe. It's a long weekend thought and I fully expect to have most of my wardrobe moved down.

My pantry is also rather sad but I figure I can see to that this weekend too. Soon...very soon...I will be done and then my mind will quiet down and I'll have fewer things to add to my running list of to-dos. :)

Finally, the dressers

My dressers were delivered this evening and I was so looking forward to spending the night unpacking my clothes and feeling more settled but it wasn't to be. The paint job still isn't as perfect as I would like it to be and I can accept the explanation about the pores of the wood being very open and the curves of the drawers making it difficult to paint with the spray gun. But what's unacceptable is the mess of paint specks and drips that is the inside of the drawers because they obviously didn't cover the open drawers. GRRR!

Instead of just lining the drawers, as I had originally intended, I now have to thoroughly clean them...From the looks of some of the drawers, I may have to scour some of them. Double GRRRRR!

Converted

I'm not a bath person but after taking a shower last night and making an awful mess because I don't yet have a shower curtain rod and therefore no shower curtain, I decided tonight was the perfect time to give my deep soaker tub a try....and you know what? I think I may just be a convert to baths...maybe at least once a week - particularly after I get myself one of those little bath pillows to rest my head against!

Still feeling warm and perhaps a little drowsy...time for bed!

Feels like home

I don't know what I would do without my family. Despite the grumbling from my siblings - actually, just my brother - and a bit of stress and frustration on my part and my Uncle's because I didn't have everything on hand for installation this afternoon (he's the tool guy with the mad skillz) everyone pulled together: My sister and brother put together the last couple Malms which are now lined up across from my bookcases, my mother finished putting my kitchen in order and saw to organizing the cardboard and packing materials, and I helped my Uncle install the hotel towel rack in my bathroom and one of the Rubbermaid Customizable Closet kits (the pre-installed hardware in the closet is beyond crappy.)

What's missing now are my dressers. I moved my summer wardrobe down today and until my dressers arrive (hopefully tomorrow!) I will be living out of bags.

Pictures to come...

Family Wedding

My cousin C, who is my father's oldest brother's middle child got married today and we attended the wedding reception. Since my father's death, we haven't been close with my father's side...to say we're estranged seems rather strong...we just don't keep in touch.

Anyway, I wasn't exactly dreading the reception tonight, but I wasn't looking forward to it either. Despite the indifference, I had a really good time: my sister, brother, Piglet and I sat with my cousins TM, D, TH and their spouses and children. We caught up and I met an Uncle, my father's cousin's husband from Maryland who I don't recall ever meeting. He is retired from the Library of Congress and is working on a family tree, which I think is the coolest thing ever. I've always wanted to know more about my family but have never made any moves towards that end...I gave Uncle R. my email address and look forward to hearing from him soon about the work in progress. :)

Connected!

I'm getting settled in very slowly. My couch was delivered Thursday and it's so comfortable! I spent much of that day cleaning - lined my cupboards and put away my dishes and swept and mopped. With construction still ongoing through to October, I suspect I'll be cleaning just about every day if I want to avoid dust building up.

My appointment to hook-up my cable, phone and internet was early yesterday morning so I slept in my place for the first time Thursday night. I overlook a gas station (for now anyway) that fronts onto a busy street and could hear the sounds of the city all around, which is something I'll have to get used to again after living in the quiet suburbs the last 20+ years.

Now that I'm connected again, I feel less isolated. I'm presently sitting on my couch half-watching the US play Spain in Olympic basketball thinking I should head out to pick up some lunch since my fridge is depressingly empty...

Moving Day

Today was the day and we got off to a late start. I was still packing this morning since Piglet and watching the Olympics last night were quite the distraction. We picked up the truck around 10:30 and headed back home to pack some more. After a quick lunch, we began loading up the truck which only took an hour - good thing since we had to make a stop to pick up my dressers at the refinishers, which didn't move in with me today because the paint job wasn't acceptable.

There were obvious drip spots and I was given a reasonable explanation about the fact that the dressers were going from a dark finish with a reddish undertone to the extreme of a stark white, so, as a result they had to put multiple layers on because the red bled through, blah blah blah. Keeping my fingers crossed that when next I see them, they'll be as near perfect as possible.

We got to my place around 3pm and the building manager who had my key was nowhere to be found. We waited around for at least half an hour before he decided to show himself so by the time we moved everything in, it was nearly dinner time. None of the items identified on my pre-delivery inspection were attended to and I wonder if they will be within the 30 days since 11 of the 14 units on my floor appear to be incomplete.

The one bright spot is that I met the neighbour to my right and he is cute! AND he has an accent. :)

2 sleeps and counting...

My sister and the Piglet have arrived and needless to say there was no packing tonight. Since I'm moving from my mother's house into my own place, I have the luxury of moving over in phases...and while it's a bit inconvenient because I'll likely be running back and forth with things over the next little while, it's also less stressful because I don't have to move everything in one fell swoop...for some reason, the image of the slow peeling off of a bandage comes to mind...oh well.

Spending QT

It's my last weekend at home and since the reprise of the opening ceremonies on Friday night, I've been spending a lot of time in front of the TV with my family watching the Olympics. With 2 TVs per person in our household, it's safe to say that it's a pretty rare occasion for us to share a couch but the Beijing Olympics has brought us together....though I could probably do with less of my mother's constant commentary. :)

Aside from watching lots of Olympics, I spent yesterday playing personal shopper for my brother who's looking for a suit, and spent part of the afternoon with my mother picking up the new TV I bought and a trio of 4-drawer Malm dressers at Ikea which will flank one side of my dining area.

I didn't get as much packing done as I would have liked this weekend and with my sister and Piglet arriving tomorrow afternoon, I'm not sure how much more I'll get done over the next 2 evenings, but it's not the end of the world. It just means that things will be transitioning over in waves.

Consequences and Every Eye

I'm late posting about the 2 latest Persephone Books to be added to my 2008 list: Consequences by EM Delafield (No. 13) and Every Eye by Isobel English (No. 18).

Consequences was rather frustrating to read because I found the heroine, Alex, so awkward and neurotic, but at the same time, much as I hate to admit it, there was a part of me that identified with her because, like me, she's the eldest of 3 with a younger sister and brother. And, like me, she feels that she knows best - but I suppose that's true of any older sibling.

There were many cringe-worthy moments because Alex so desperately wanted to be liked...and she reminded me a bit of Muriel in Muriel's Wedding...which was such a hit and touted as a hopeful "feel-good" movie but I felt was annoyance because Muriel struck me as pathetic.

From the website:

EM Delafield is best-known as the author of The Diary of a Provincial Lady (1930). But her favourite among her books was Consequences (1919), the deeply-felt novel she wrote about the plight of girls given no opportunities apart from marriage.

Alex Clare is awkward and oversensitive and gets everything wrong; she refuses to marry the only young man who 'offers' and believes there is nothing left for her but to enter a convent. But that is not quite the end of her tragic story. Nor was it for EM Delafield, who also entered a convent for a year; but in her case she was able to find freedom through working as a VAD in an army hospital, 'which was emancipation of the most delirious kind. It was occupation, it was self-respect.'

Every Eye was short and sweet, though I can't say it's a story that will stay with me, and for that reason I will leave you with the description from Persephone's site:

Isobel English, the pseudonym of June Braybrooke (1920-94), wrote little but what she published was of outstanding quality. 'Sometimes, but not often, a novel comes along which makes the rest of what one has to review seem commonplace. Such a novel is Every Eye,' John Betjeman said in the Daily Telegraph on its first publication.

This 1956 novel is about a girl growing up to what could have been unhappiness but for her marriage to a carefree young(er) man. As she travels south by train to Ibiza she surveys her past life and unravels a mystery. Hence The Tablet's comment: 'This novel is a marvellous discovery. You will want to reread it immediately in the light of its astonishing final paragraph.' Muriel Spark wrote: 'The late Isobel English was an exceptionally talented young novelist of the mid-1950s. Every Eye is one of her most successful and sensitively written books, a romantic yet unsentimental story of a young woman's intricate relationships of family and love, intensely evocative of the period, remarkable in its observations of place and character.' And Anita Brookner called Every Eye 'a lucidly written account of various kinds of confusion and a valuable lesson in where to look for freedom.'

There's something about him....

Our 2009 Ikea catalog was delivered this weekend and I've been flipping through it pretty much non-stop ever since. The new collection is supported by a quirky television ad and I was wondering why the male dancer looked so familiar to me. And after searching YouTube posts of So You Think You Can Dance (I'm a HUGE fan!) tonight, I found my answer! His name is Robert Muraine and he was on the show!!



And here he is in the full-length commercial:

Buggy Simcoe Day

I went for a hike on this lovely Simcoe Day with a few mandarin classmates and their families at Glen Major Forest and Walker Woods in Uxbridge and was eaten alive by mosquitoes - at one point, all I could hear was the constant buzzing around my head....which in hindsight, makes me wonder if it's the hairspray my stylist put in my hair to hold the curls she gave me for the wedding. I hadn't yet washed my hair and that explains a lot because I have 5 bites and they're all above my shoulders!

On the plus side, to avoid the bugs, I picked up the pace in the middle of our 3 hour hike and got quite the cardio work-out.


Plus, we snacked on wild raspberries we happened upon along the trail and crossed paths with teeny-tiny frogs.

Keep Calm & Eat Cake in the kitchen

I was browsing through my etsy favourites last night and bought a couple of prints from BluLima's shop. I'd had my eye on these two prints for a little while now - Keep Calm is produced by several other sellers but I like Sharon's colours and the dimensions of her prints.

I think Eat Cake is perfect for a bright pop of colour in my kitchen...but looking at the photo above, I wonder if the wall by the microwave is wide enough...hmm...maybe framed atop the counter?


Sharon is super-nice and is throwing a Buy One Get One sale on through to the end of the week, so pop on over for a look.

View from my balcony

My pre-delivery inspection was yesterday and for the most part, it went well, if you call well the fact that all the doors were banged up a bit along the edges so I wonder how "touching up" will make them good as new again.

The bigger issue is the floors. The hardwood looked off...it didn't at all resemble the Walnut that I had upgraded too...in fact...it looked like cheap laminate. So I'm waiting for confirmation about whether or not the floor that was installed was what I had paid for...I was supposed to get a call back today, and when I didn't hear from them this morning, I called in the afternoon to follow-up and got the voicemail. I suppose they'd taken off for the long weekend. So now I wait until Tuesday - rather impatiently. Grrr.

Oh. And I confirmed as well that the new development currently on sale just south of me will be blocking my view above come 2012...so once they hit the 60% sales target, they can break ground and I'm guessing I won't be enjoying my balcony very much since it'll be dusty and loud out there. Lovely. Feeling a bit bummed about moving now. sigh.