11.27.2008

flower


flower, originally uploaded by ohsweetie.

i mean, how cute is this? definitely a welcome distraction to my day.

11.24.2008

castlevania casserole

i made my FIRST casserole tonight! woop! i'm officially a domestic person and definitely a WIFE. hahaha. (again, recipe below). stewart totally helped with chopping and spraying the fat in the pan (his favourite sport i think) and now we're both squirrelled away in our own little computer rooms working on whatever computer-based things we do. he usually downloads music and i blog and troll flickr/ravelry.

i've been trolling etsy for xmas gifties lately and thought i'd share with you a few of my most recent favourites:

> cassette canvas
> dead man's party messenger bag
> kdg holiday handspun (love!!)
> hand embroidered bike bag
> flap hat
> magenta twig earrings from stillbreathing85 (love!)

castlevania casserole

my casserole's ingredients were: 2.5 cups dry rice pasta which you boil, mixed with 1 cup frozen peas (a finethankyou secret i think), 1 sliced/chopped portabella mushroom, 2 cups of left over salmon (from dinner last night), 1.5 cups of heavy cream, 3/4 cups of homemade yoghurt, 1/4 cup pesto.

then the topping was two slices of left over ciabatta bread (from a few nights ago, nice and dry), six cloves of garlic, and 1/2 cup of roasted pepitas. those were totally pulsed to bits in my mini processor and mixed with one egg, a big tablespoon of soft earth balance, and 150grams of grated medium gouda (hard cheese!!).

i then got out our WHITE casserole dish (can casserole be served in anything that isn't white?) and dumped in the first round of ingredients and topped it off with the second round and it's now baking in the oven at 350degrees for probably 45 minutes (i have no idea, i'm winging it here).

it looked delicious. and i'll try to post some pictures on flickr of the finished product.

11.23.2008

"time time time"

colouring with little k
we're watching little k so that not-so-little j can go to derby kid-less. hanging with little k is awesome. she and stewart colour and listen to tom waits (k sings along) while i putter around making vanilla and peach muffins (k's request, recipe below), think about making lunch (vegan grilled cheese and popcorn. yum!), and psych myself up for a week of thesis drawing. my tattoo is still in lots of pain and it hurts to be really mobile. and i'm recovering from exhaustion too, sunday being "sleep in day" and "putter day" things seem to happen at their own pace.

k is singing to herself in the potty. it's pretty adorable.


peach vanilla muffins

little k's peach vanilla muffins.

this recipe assumes you know a little bit about muffin construction. i use a med-sized 12 muffin tin, muffin papers (cups?), and preheat the oven to 375degrees.

round one, one bowl:

2 eggs, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 cup soy milk, vanilla >> mix 'er up

round two, same bowl:

top wet mixture with 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup kamut flour, 1 cup all-purpose (i used all organic) and 1 large pinch of baking powder, 1 small pinch sea salt, 1 small pinch baking soda >> mix lightly

round three, same bowl:

top mixture with 1 cup chopped walnuts and 1.5 cups chopped home-canned peaches and the associated juice (i guess store bought would do too, but maybe organic or natural ones would work best) >> stir

round four, into the muffin tins and into the oven for around 1/2 hour or until they're done.

i haven't tried them yet, but i bet they'll be delicious!!

xo

11.22.2008

i know i know i know

kawaii kore.
i'm posting this everywhere, but i don't care. i love it so much. just one more session of colouring left (!!) and then it's finished (on the front). i LOVE how dark the shading is and am happy that the dark new school wave is a style my whole body will experience over time.

in other fantastic news i submitted my first chapter today and still have a lot of work ahead of me. we're laying low and i'm working on some gloves and we're watching gossip girl. soon some dinner (tortellini) and then we're going to our lovely friend's on quince to fulfill the girl band fantasy ;)

xo

11.18.2008

everybody knows someone like that...



today i was feeling so run down by the bureaucracy at work that i was >thisclose< to throwing in the towel. which isn't what anyone wants. and then two things happened. first i went to a youth-run council meeting and was just invigorated by being around youth! i think that the connections i can make with these young adults is really important for everyone involved and for whatever reason attending that 1 hour meeting and getting not only positive feedback but interest from other people was really amazing. it made me realize that i need constant affirmation from those i work for. which can be troubling, because i would rely on myself for affirmation but the way that they would show their appreciation (if they are) is not the way i would show my appreciation. it feels a lot like, "out of sight, out of mind". maybe i'm being too hard on myself, or being super stressed and paranoid that i might not get the job i thought i was asked to do (!! ?).


second, on my way home i listened to "listen up" by the gossip REALLY LOUD and sang along REALL LOUD. it just made me feel so much better and reminded me where my resistance comes from intrinsically and where my want to do the work i'm doing is burning at it's core. in this video my favourite part is how hott she looks dancing with that pizza.

now, off to gossip girl land!

11.16.2008

the shape of my heart

backstreet boys in pg.
today the pg snb took over a good 1/4 of the shop. it was kind of overwhelming. while there a lovely friend came over with FREE tickets to the backstreet boys concert. and i thought, i had nothing to do! (ha! thesis? clean the house? get some sleep? nah, these aren't important.)

so we went. and it was out of this world. first, this drunk, perfumed, curly haired girl was jumping all over us yelling, "get up!" and grinding into us yelling, "sing along!" and we just laughed!!

then they did a montage of all their old stuff (can anyone else say grade 9?) and i knew all the words. it was pretty weird/fun.

two things threw me off a little, or were "interesting" to say the least.

first, being that there were these two big screens on either side of the stage that not just showed a "filming" of the concert we were witnessing, but also old music videos and footage that looked like it came out of a japanese karaoke bar. a videographer was there, paid, to put that together. the simulacra came immediately to my mind. which was my reality?

then, oh boy, a.j. mclean. once upon a time this boy looked like this and now looks somewhat more like this. a somewhat hairy, portly (he was "bigger" tonight is for sure), completely tattoo'd, jewish, music critic. i guess that's what years of LA and cocaine addiction can do to a man. what pissed me most off about his current look is that the culture i belong to represents that look. facial hair, tattoos, gross-looking clothes. how did some slimy bastard come to hang out in the culture set that i appreciate and STILL BE IN AN AWFUL BOYBAND? i just don't get it. why did we even let him in.

11.15.2008

FO: Hippie-fied thorpe

the thorpe hat is one that i've run across friend's favouriting and queues in the past little while. i love my slouchy hat, but really needed something that would keep me a litter warmer and cover my ears.

i also have had a variety of handspunny yarns lying around, so i yanked them out and put them together into this hippy-like hat. the hippyness throws me off a bit. but it's keeping me warm right now. (there's more pictures over at my flickr if you're interested!)

in other news, dan rogers is now pg's hopefully progressive mayor! it's the first time i've lived in a city where the mayor i've voted for is in charge! wup wup! i'm off to get a pineapple and cheese pizza and cuddle up with stewart. i can't believe the weekend's almost over already.

11.14.2008

rebel yell

a while back i got to "vote" on the upcoming DROPs baby patterns. oddly, only 2 that i chose actually made the cut, but i can't get over how ridiculously cute these babies are. it's sick.

11.13.2008

tra la la

i have this insane energy to get up and work on more thesis drawings, mainly because i don't want to do the dishes, but this is the first time i wanted to be with my laptop since i got off work 5 hours ago so i thought i'd take advantage of it. i checked my email, updated my twitter, checked my gossip girl forums on ravelry (and updated a project), and checked my facebook messages. i didn't do all that other internet stuff i love like checking my bloglines or uploading photos or checking flickr or anything else because i'm so sick of this computer and doing things on it.

i'm not sure i get the promotion i thought i'd get and i'm confused and super stressed about it because i put a lot of work into it and plan to put more in and built really strong relationships in the last week and i'm worried that it might be given to someone else. a friend at the library told me that i have to show them all i can do, but i still don't think they're convinced.

in other notes, i'm not knitting if i'm not at craftereve or stitch n bitch or on national holidays until my thesis is right and done. so i'm going to go work on it and drink lots of water. and then sleep. and begin another day.

it hasn't snowed here yet. it might come tonight. i really can't wait. xo

11.10.2008

freezing!



never in this house have i been comfortable temperature wise. it's always too hot or too cold. and right now i'm freezing. and exhausted. and probably sick. and all in time for a national holiday, read: no work.

but i bought some new shelving and kinda rearranged the kitchen. i feel a little more accomplished for the day. and i finished an order.

woop!

11.09.2008

whirlwind weekend

i'm so tired i might just go climb into bed right now. we were homeward bound this weekend and went out to the semi-coast: terrace. it's about a 6-7 hour drive from PG (depending on the stops you make) and we made good time both ways. i drove something like 1200km this weekend. my car deserves a rest.

one of our stops on the way back to PG today was in kitwanga at the petrocan on the highway. this was one of those times when you are so thankful you found EVERYTHING you were looking for at the convenience store, and more. my finds included these super dark dg fake glasses ($15), old dutch mexican chilli ripple chips (they've been recently resurrected from the vintage junk food realm and are fresh on chip stands everywhere!!!), BANNOCK, orangina, and a salmon sandwich made with LOCALLY CANNED salmon. albeit to say i was dully impressed.

this morning on our way to get the car packed with furniture from my mom's (she's moving!! and she unearthed books of my old journals and zines !! i thought i got rid of them i'm so happy they're only musty but still in our possession!!) we stopped at the ex-artful cup and i took a zillion picture's of j-mac's art in the bathroom. it's been coloured over the last three years, and was mainly done in sharpy.

j-mac is definitely the #1 reason i try to always make it back to terrace. we cuddled, cooked, bombed around town, and had an art party with wonderful foods. it's hard having people you love scattered everywhere. i need to get geographically closer to this one.

alas, mountains. i have no idea which ones these are. but i loved loved loved all the fresh fresh fresh air and snowy peaks.

11.02.2008

as good as i could possibly imagine my life getting, it did, after i met you..

fire tones in my kitchen

i haven't really ever been a fan of mt. eerie. mainly because i never made space in my heart for them. i find that i have all these bands and artists that i love and they just fill my heart but i find it hard to replace any thing in there. as if my heart has no more room to add some other music or book, etc. i guess i could say i'm somewhat "full" culturally. which is ridiculous. but that's definitely how i feel. so, to my happiness mt. eerie joined up with julie doiron. who is officially one of my favourites. i have loved her since back in the days when i got my hands on that purple blue tape at the subpop store and sang my heart out. i'm pretty sure her solo stuff got me through japan, too. their collaborative effort, "Lost Wisdom", is exactly what i've been looking for to fill that "fall's here" void i was feeling. time to put the robyn and the yelle away. it's cuddle up with tea and popcorn and knitting music that's needed.

another wonderful person that's never really made their way into my heart, and i always was in awe of girl of the north country's love of him since i didnt really get it, is ryan adams. i just got my hands on the new ryan adams and the cardinals and immediately got it going in the car. and just love it. yay! i get it now!!

slouchy copy cat hat

today stitch n bitch was really great. it reminded me how much i love my snb and the lovely ladies who come and knit. it gave me hope and energy. i worked on a project that's not only a custom order but the pattern will hopefully be published very soon! in print! and sported my brand new hat made from this pattern.

okay, must run and make popcorn and wait for stewart to get home so we can have dinner! i just started not eating as much wheat again so it's rice every day and he's sick of it. no matter how hard i work it. but i say, bring on the rice! yum!