127| peeking, piquing

this weekend was long. and fun. and i want to do it all over again, very soon.

friday afternoon began with a thud and thump, and my father continuing to refuse to give me necessary documents for my taxes. i was not pleased. i don't recall much about friday evening, other than a long, long sleep that bled into saturday morning.

saturday morning we garage saled. or garage bought? i had three marvelous finds. that lovely bowl that i blogged about last week...the green one. i found for only $10. and a remarkable candlelabra. and a stuffed pig. the pig was probably the most meaningful. i had one, named knuckles when i went to europe last year and lost it in italy. so we found a new one and we're calling him Knuckle Junior, or KnuJu for short.

saturday afternoon was a lot of walking and exploring the market, buying new plants and coming home to garden them. we then made pizzas and yum, yum, yum. it was delightful! oh, in between garage sale-ing and gardening there was marvelous brunch. oh so tasty.

sunday was filled with grocery shopping, more gardening, more markets, baking, playing frisbee, eating BBQ and playing cards. i haven't had this much sun in a long time. i feel wonderful. like i said, i didn't really want for this weekend to end.

oh well, some of the goodies will last. including but not limited to these.

124| five-hundred dollars for chairs.

this is a charivari chair. aesthetically, it is one of the prettiest chairs i have ever seen. it holds historic sentiment in much of french canada as a folk custom originating in france whereby the community would clammor about if they didn't approve of the marriage. they would hoist the bride up on to one of these chairs and carry her through the city. should she still make it to her wedding night, they would stand outside the newlyweds room and make lots of noise so as to show disapproval. charivaris still take place to this day, with one recorded in 2008 in atlantic canada with people using more modern noisemakers, this time to show their approval. wikipedia cites a charivari as a "mock-seranade". i just think it's a cool part of north american french history.

however, it turns out that our party rental place has charivari chairs. for $10 a piece. but there's no way i can rationalize spending $500 on chairs. can i? {for the record: i could, but i don't think andrew would go for it}. i need to go see what kind of chairs there are at the venue again.

also, when did i become so concerned with the aesthetics of what my guests are sitting upon? someone?

117| decompressing by doing.

{or: how to have a really, really productive saturday}

today was my last saturday as an undergraduate student. this sounds really weird, and it is a really weird thing to mark, but i've sort of had a schedule for saturdays over the past four years that has involved brunch, grocery shopping, school work and an out of the house activity in the evening.

in light of the really long paper i've been writing, my sleep schedule was thrown off and i went ot bed at six thirty this morning, after falling asleep on the couch around four {thank you to those of you who sent me lovely messages of support and demands for me to go to bed between four and six-thirty}.

my day commenced with andrew's doing the crossword and my trying to remain perfectly silent while he did so. i am not so good at this. but it was a good test for me, and i started thinking of all the things i wanted to do today, given that the weather could not have been nicer if it had tried.

we brunched at jak's, one of my most favourite brunching places, and the patio was open, which was marvelous! we went shopping for him and found the most adorable top for our friend's daughter who is presently obsessed with wonderwoman. we went to bridgehead: i worked for two or three hours plugging in footnotes {over a hundred}, while he went and played catch with a friend {tee hee}. we then came home and i gardened, and gardened and gardened. we are going to have so many beets this year. gardening was followed by picnicking {hamburgers} on the grass in our yard, and then more schoolwork, and then baking.

this might have been one of the busiest days i've had in a long time. but, it's also been one of the most enjoyable!

happy saturday!

111| twirling around the courtyard.

i love the little things in life. i had the most marvelous lunch in ages. i strolled around the market. i went to the paper store, and bought paper for a surprise for andrew's birthday {and an envelope for a job application}. i bought two figs that were juicy and delightful, and a pear that was crunchy and crisp. i bought fizzy water and pumpkin soup that was savoury and satisifed me as much as soup can {which for me, is a lot}.

i wanted desperately to twirl around the courtyard, but my hands were a bit full. so, instead i smile at the sun, and thanked it and walked on. only to find in the next courtyard over a little girl twirling with her doll.

image yoshiko

110| dress to impress.

found. one very lovely, well-priced dress, unique and ideal for the following:

• 3 weddings
• convocation
• countless brunches
• reading under trees.

hurray. now, if only they can special order my size!

109| untitled.

my final day at practicum, and what am i up to? yep. photoshop. playing around with fun pictures of other people`s weddings. or celebrations. because really and true, a wedding is just a big kick-ass celebration that you don`t ever want to forget. and that is what my wedding is going to be.

the more i thought about all of this, the more i realized the importance to me, of being practical. and yet, being fun. but not too frivolous. also, for the record, captions marked with an asterik will be used in our wedding. as in, this is what this puppy is going to look like. {which only raises the question what the whole day will smell, sounds and taste like!}

from top left...

1. invitations from ello there *
2. strawberry jam from martha
3. merit badge, "for tying the knot", leemeszaros
4. bouquet from oncewed by way of tenthousandonly *
5. twig ring set from esdesigns *
6. wedding poster from ello there *
7. photograph from littlecookies
8. pom poms from pomlove * {we will be making our own, thank you}
9. cake from the girl with the most cake * {only uses buttercream. oh. so good}
10. dress from debra mcclinton via real simple
11. cake plate from eddie ross
12. photograph from photosforlife * {while we won`t be using mike the photographer, this is our venue}

106| mallow, marshes

favours are one thing that andrew & i haven't really talked about. well, we've talked about it. we jsut haven't made a decision. i like the idea of giving something, especially with guests coming from out of town. he likes the idea too, but we both find some of the favours we've experienced to be tacky. then again, there are a lot of things about weddings that are tacky.

i came across these this morning though, and thought that they would be most delicious and practical, and easy to make... i just don't like the idea of food as a favour, and i never have. but if i can get around that, this might just be the ticket!

in the meantime, i'm going to be baking all weekend for friends and family, and i can't wait! i promise to take things more slowly this weekend, and actually get a few photos out.

102| walk on the wild side.

i was looking through glam rock music libraries tonight, as i so often do on sunday nights {actually, i'm presenting a working draft of my paper tomorrow}, and came across this character, mr. lou reed. did i know who he was? nope. why not? i'm not sure.

needless to say, i thought velvet underground sucked on principle about two years ago. and then juno came out last year. and then i fell in love. and only now do i realize that this guy is this cool.

on an unrelated note, i decided last night that leonard cohen sounds exactly like my uncle. exactly. bar none.

99| window shopping, butterflies

it seems only appropriate on an up-and-down kind of day to shower you with beautiful butterflies
{or, as i called them when i was little...flutterbys}.

flutter, $15
silver mobile, $58
cupcake stand {i'm a sucker for these}, $44


it's quite possible that i have a case of the fridays. or maybe butterflies were meant to come in small packages. either way, three seems to be my magic number today. happy friday!

93| china, the dinnerware not the country

is it friday yet? let me start off by saying that i have been so inspired by so many pretty things to covet this morning. who the heck introduced me to shoestring? ah, yes. rachel, thank you...*sigh* so many pretty things, where to begin?

right, with last night's great china debate. andrew + i thought we had decided on our china {see above}, but over the past week or so i convinced myself i wasn't sold. i visited the company's website, and discovered that they fall into the "nice, but i question the quality of your product" cateogry of things, and really i don't want china that only lasts five years.

we went back to the place we registered and took a second look. i winced. andrew accepted defeat, and i tried to convince him of a lovely set that had birds on it. if only i were snow white.

it felt a little like wedding dress shopping. everything had to be "just perfect", except that i will be using this china for the next twenty-five or more years. which means that i should be able to:

• dishwash it.
  
• feed a crowd for a variety of different events on it.
  
• not fret too much about my child{ren) carrying it
  
• scrape it with a knife without mortal fears.
  
• dishwash it again.
  
• be able to pull it our for the day that real simple visits our house to do a photoshoot {ha} without panicking that it was completely in style when we received it, but lord does it look kitschy now.
  
• place it in multiple houses without it looking "off".
  
• dishwash it yet again.

i spent the morning on macy's website. why canada does not have a macy's is beyond me. i will in fact be making every effort to stop there when i go to new york. anyway, i have it narrowed down to four, which are below...

top left: martha stewart by wedgwood
top right: red blossom by mikasa
bottom left: gardner street by kate spade
bottom right: june lane by kate spade

so, faithful readers, which do you like the most? why? and do you know of anywhere in ontario that stocks kate spade?

92| levelling up.

i've done it all {almost}. i've blogged from work. i've blogged from my other job. i've blogged from the library. i've been caught tweeting in class. i also had my cellphone go off in class once, two years ago, and it resulted in the professor answering it and embarrassing andrew {who was on the other line} more than me.

now, i am blogging in class. except that lucky for me, class hasn't quite begun. however, this is precisely the reason why i do not bring my laptop to school, unless absolutely necessary. i imagine this will change when i start graduate school. {bonus mark: all graduate students at carleton drink evian. comment.}

anyway. dresses. i really want something whimsical, funny, flirty, feminine and all around pretty for summer. i have two weddings, convocation and a host of other great reasons to wear such a wonderful dress {reading under a tree, for example}. 

the hunt carries on.

91| best dress{ed}.

so, whilst i should be trying to figure out what viscount willingdon said when he inaugurated the carillon, i`m actually mildly more concerned what i will be wearing where i finally graduate from undergrad. and to my cousin`s wedding. and to a friend`s wedding. and hopefully for other fun events.

does anyone have any good leads on dresses? or halfway decent leads on good dresses?

87| girl, why i am.

this morning i faced an outerwear dilemma. like many girls, i covet pretty things. and often times, i choose the pretty over the practical. well, the weather was warm enough for a spring coat, but presently my only spring coat on hand is a yellow gap coat, which--while very lovely--would have been too much bright with my already bright skirt.

i do have another coat, you see. but it is missing about four buttons: three because it was poorly manufactured and i was too lazy to secure the buttons after i bought the coat, and one because i pushed my hands too deep in my pockets and popped a button {which is a tragic event when one is trying to lose weight}.

so, in the end, i opted for the black, oversized blazer that i own for the purpose of interviews only. i felt awkward because it was far too formal for the rest of my outfit, but i sucked it up anyways. also, it's not quite warm enough. whereas, my lovely taupe number without the buttons would have been.

i ran into a girl that i volunteered with this morning and she looked so professional, and so downright put together, especially give that she was working in an internship. it made me feel so very, blah. style envy ensued.

what do i plan about doing about this fair readers? i could buy a new jacket, but that would be well over $150. so, i won't.

i'm thinking i'm going to replace the buttons. perhaps not this weekend, but maybe next week sometime. given that it's a cargo style jacket, that's a lot of buttons. but it will be worth it. i'm also wondering if anyone can make any other suggestions for embellishments. the coat is about thigh length, and has little ruffles around the cuffs. then, i plan on buying an outrageously fabulous nicely patterned, albeit neutral scarf that i can wear with every single jacket in my closet {except maybe my ski jacket}.

{and this, my dears, is what i had writer's block over. yeesh}

85| here comes the sun

it's beautiful right now. and i'm stuck inside the office for another 15 minutes. at which point, i'm giving myself permission to leave early.

do you blame me? it's bright and sunny out, and a marvelously warm day. and i'm wearing my new. spring. clothes.

this calls for a celebration: a quick afternoon of coffee, shopping in the market, and finding trinkets for friends {and family}. i can hardly wait!


image sarahseven

84| come & find a lover {underneath the covers}

guess. what. appeared. in. our. mailbox. yesterday?

invitations.

eeeeee.

i must say andrew + i look mighty cute as owls. i claim i'm the red one because it looks smarter. then again, the blue one looks more indecisive and i *did* spend half an hour debating addressing options {to no avail}.

what'dya think?

81| window shopping. for the kitchen

vesselsandwares, $18

alittlebitkitsch, $20

acerostudio, $28

michellebrussegard, $20 for four

the marvelous thing about these, is that i can justify the purchase of every. single. one.

79| gratitude

because i open up to the world when i'm frustrated/happy/sad/angry/joyful/worried/ashamed {hence this blog/facebook/flickr/twitter} the world found out very quickly my anger and frustration today.

i'm always very surprised and grateful when the world talks back to me. and today was no exception. so, thank you for reminding me that even when it seems like the world is full of jerks, there are nice people abound. and because you helped me realize that even if it's not alright right now, it will be in the long term.

75| ceci n'est pas un trend...

back in second-year communications, we were shown the work "the treachery of images" {la trahison des images, 1928/1929} painted by rene magritte. the work {a drawing of a painting of a pipe} is used to show that images are not actually things, but rather mere representations. wow, i suddenly feel like i got my money's worth in tuition.

"the treachery of images" has been reproduced in popular culture for several decades now, including the simpsons' "ceci n'est pas un couch gag" couch gag and in a handful of video games. but it's becoming more a recent trend...

i think my favourite representation of this can be found here, or here. partly because i'm not a big fan of ties, but at a wedding you have to have a tie. so, andrew might as well wear a non-tie tie.

74| living, et cetera.

since the discovery and subsequent quick disappearing act of domino, i for one have been searching for a magazine to inspire me. let's be honest, i don't think there is much that can replace domino, but it's nice to see some publishers' attempts.

i was walking through the bookstore on my lunch hour, and i thought "nah, the magazines all come out on thursdays, no point in looking today". but apparently, i was wrong, for i came across the most lovely little magazine called living, etc which is based out of britain.

i'm not saying that this is going to win over domino readers, but it certainly beats architectural digest, non? it feels like a nice combination between apartment thearpy and domino. with some british charm thrown in for good measure.

{sadly, the line was so long at the bookstore i'm opting to return later this afternoon.}

credit livingetc

73| arrival, springs.

+11 yesterday. +14 today. so what if it's going back down to +3 tomorrow? it's beautiful outside! i'm wearing the most adorable dress from allison wonderland today {see above}, and yesterday i could actually feel the start of spring on my shoulders!

which brings me to what i was talking about yesterday. things i want to do once spring starts.

• start my garden {see heart-of-light for possible planter solution}
• go shopping on dalhousie street with allyson {where i found the wonderful dress i'm wearing}
• wear flipflops
• drink coffee on the patio of planet coffee
• go out for incredibly long walks, like two or three hours walks through town.
• explore new edinburgh
• read at the arboretum

this is just when it starts. once it gets going, there's no stopping me.