A day at the beach.

We had such a nice day at Spanish Banks today... the sun was out, it was still pretty cold, but so rejuvinating! Henry is down for the count... he ran and ran and ran!
There were tons of people out kite sufing. Looked too cold for me, but they were having a blast! I'm off to Toronto for the One of a Kind show this week. Booth L-25 if you're there!

Could it be...

SPRING? Really? Finally?
Oh, its been such a nasty year of weather. Vancouver has never had so much snow, and it's been cold and gross. I went for a walk the other day and was so delighted to see these lovely green buds exploding out of these bushes, so I know, Spring is on it's way. I'm just waiting for my favourites... the Cherry Blossom!

New ACEO's

I was feeling creative last night. I had a custom order to do, and it forced me to get off my new laptop for a couple of hours, which was great! I'm making up for lost time in having to fight to get on a computer... now I finally have my very own!

David Sedaris

Where have you been all my life David Sedaris? I've heard about him for years and was always intrigued, but not enough to seek out his books. I'm usually a fiction gal, so essays weren't really my bag.
Well, I stand corrected. I was reading The New Yorker a few months ago, and happened upon one of his stories from When You are Engulfed in Flames. It spurred me on to buy one of his books, so I chose Naked, maybe for the title? I reserved Flames from the library and consumed it in short order... I'm not sure if his stories are all 100% true, but I don't care. They are so funny and entertaining it just doesn't matter!

Caramel Praline Cheescake

I made this delicious cheesecake for my aunts going away dinner on the weekend. It is a fantastic and easy cake to make... and eat! I know those look like Malteezers on the top, but they are actually Junior Caramels that I cut in half, then placed on the cheescake while it was still warm to they would melt and stick to the cake.
I've made many a cheescake in my day... this is one of the best!
1 1/4 c. graham crumbs
1/4 c. melted butter
34 Caramels
3 tbsp. milk
1 c. chopped pecans
3 packages (250 gram packs)cream cheese
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla3 eggs
*Combine crumbs and butter. Press into bottom of a 9" springform pan.
*Melt caramels with milk in saucepan on low heat, stir until smooth. Stir in pecans and pour over crust.
*Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on med. until well blended. Add eggs one at a time, mix just until blended. Pour batter over caramel mixture.
*Bake at 350 degrees for 45050 minutes or until center is almost set.
*Cool, then chill 4 hours (at least)
*Garnish top with cut in half Junior Caramels. Wait until about 5 minutes after its come out of the oven.
*Enjoy!

A place to rest your head.

Henry loves sleeping on objects. The remote control, books, and now... running shoes! Lucky for him they are new and not stinky. Having said that, he'd probably like them better if there WERE stinky, you know, being a dog and all. The grossest stinky thing he ever rolled around in was a nasty dead bird when we camping a few years ago. Maggots... and...all.

Vampires

So we saw Twilight a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say... I loved it. I know it didn't get the best reviews and the book purists were dissapointed, but I haven't read the books so I didn't have anything to compare it to. I said to W afterwards that if I were 15, this movie would have been my Pretty in Pink (my essential teen movie that defined my high school experience.) I love unrequited love, and combined with teen angst and vampires, it is the perfect teen movie.
Now having said all of that, we saw another Vampire movie last night called Let the Right One In. It's Swedish with subtitles, and apparently (according to the reviews) it is everything Twilight tried to be. I liked this one for totally different reasons. I LOVE foreign films, and this one was so dark and macabre compared to Twilight. It was also about love, but a v-e-r-y different kind of love. It was sad and scary (but not too scary... I can't handle slasher movies any more!) but had a strangly happy ending. If you can find it, rent it!

The Village Taphouse

We went here for dinner on Sunday night for Sean's birthday. I love this beer tasting option they have where you can choose 3 beers from their menu and try a few different ones. The food was pretty good too, it's owned by the Cactus Club people, so the menu is pretty similar. The bonus... if there's a Canucks game on, the entire restaurant gets a (very weak) shot if Alex Burrows scores. Not sure why he's the man, but a free shot's a free shot! I had a good time watching my mother in law try to sip it rather than shoot it back!
P.S. Don't ask about the man behind the menu....

Mac & Cheese Masterpiece

This was our dinner last Friday night.... we don't eat any pasta or bread during the week, so the weekends are usually carborific! I don't really have a recipe per se... I just cook the pasta and make the cheese sauce in what I think is a good quantity. I use Velveeta (I know, I know!) and old white cheddar, probably a 60/40 ratio respectively... add a little milk, cayenne, paprika and and dry mustard.
I then cut up a tomato into small bits and mix it in, pour the whole kit and caboodle into the baking dish, sprinkle it with fine bread crumds and drizzled butter and throw it under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Say what you will about Velveeta, but it makes the perfect mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches. When I want comfort food... nothing else will do!

The House of Sand and Fog

I just finished this book last night. It's a heartbreaking story for everyone involved, and the ending shows no mercy for any of the characters.
The way the author wrote the Iranian colonel and his wife's way of speaking English(as a second language) was amazing. He must have had to do a lot of research on how difficult it is to learn English to make it so believable.
I'll never look at an immigrant 7-11 worker in the same way either... the colonel was a high level, well paid Iranian army colonel before the fall of Iran, and upon coming to America he had to take menial jobs to support his family, yet still carry on the facade to his friends and family that he was doing an important job and keeping up the lifestyle that they could be proud of. That was why he was hanging on so tightly to the house (that he had bought from the county on auction), so he could free himself from the shame. Kathy Nicolo wanted to hang onto her house (that she had lost because of a beaurocratic snafu) for much the same reason. She was living a lie that she was still married, happy and not abusing drugs or alcohol. She was desperate to get her house back so she wouldn't have to admit to her family that she had screwed up again.
Read this book. It was moving, sad and hard to read, but I loved every minute of it.

Oh yeah, I saw the movie a few years ago. Sad and depressing as well... but I liked the book better. Way more depth in the characters, especially Lester Burdon, the police officer who left his wife for Kathy)

Oh Napoleon

I have a confession to make.
I dance like this in the privacy of my own home... frequently. I just laughed my ass off the first time I saw this!
This movie is just so funny on so many levels. The chickens talons, the tator tots, the sweet jumps... what's not to love? And this dance was just the icing on the cake. I needs to get me some Napoleon Dynamite boots and I'm all set!

Oh Sherrie

This video takes me right back to Grade 7. Jay Clennan had given me a gold necklace with a green stone in it and asked me to "go around". Oh my gosh, I said yes, of course! We went and saw Footloose with a bunch of kids who were also "going around". Well, a couple of these couples were practically doing it in the theatre, and it freaked my little 12 year old self out, so on Monday I sent Jay Clennan his necklace back in a piece of loose leaf paper in Science class and broke it off with him. Mom, you would have been proud!

Beautiful new ledger papers!

I bought these beautiful vintage ledger pages from a fellow Etsy seller, Arteology! Her shop is a wonderful treasure trove... These pages are all from the late 1800's, and have such beautiful handwriting, what has happened to that kind of penmanship?
Click on the post title if you'd like to visit her shop!

The Time in Between

I'm afraid my blog is becoming a bit book obsessed. People keep asking me when I find the time to read. Well, I guess the answer to that is that I *make* the time, and it's not really much of an effort! I read in the bathtub, I read during my lunch, I read for about 45 min. before bed, and if the book is really good.... I'll even turn the TV off to read some more. Yes, that is amazing, because I am a self proclaimed TV addict.
This book was a loan and recommendation from my Mom. It was a really interesting subject for me as I love reading about other cultures, and this one takes place in Vietnam. It's about a man who fought for America in the Vietnam war and revisited it 30 years later to try and sort out his feelings about the the war and what had taken place there. He goes missing, and 2 of his children go there to try and find out what happened to him. I won't tell you any more than that, but I think it's well worth a read.
Thanks Mom!

Bad Dog and it's %&*$ snowing in March!

So yesterday I went out to get a few groceries. I came home and didn't put the plywood back over where our gate used to be (it fell off from the cold during the great freeze of Xmas 2008)and was boiling hot from the walk up the hill, so I left the door open. Big. Mistake.

I put the groceries on the counter, then noticed the floor needed sweeping so I went to get the broom. I had cooked some chicken before I went out and was putting it in a bowl to put in the fridge when I thought "Henry might like a little treat", so I went to call him and *nothing*.

I looked in the bathroom. Nothing. I looked in the bedroom. Nothing. Holy crap, I'm starting to panic now. Started yelling for him to come and get a treat. Nothing. Then I ran outside and saw the gate and went shrieking his name down the path to the street. People must have thought I was nutso.

There he was, standing in the middle of the sidewalk where he normally goes to do his business (he goes on the grass, not the sidewalk silly!)just staring at me. I was so mad, and so relieved. I was shaking for 1/2 an hour after that!

The thing is, I've never thought he would take off like that, it's quite bizarre! I'm thinking it was the broom that set him off. He's scared of it, but I thought he'd gotten better, the poor little freak! I'm so glad he's OK, but I'm still a little mad at him. Hello, he wouldn't last very long out there in the SNOW! In March! Spring??? Where are you???

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

What a great read this was! The movie was one of my favourites when I saw it years ago, so when I saw the book at the good old Sally Anne I had to pick it up! It's a story about friends, family, love and racism in the deep south in the 1930's. The story is told in flashbacks by Ninny Threadgoode who is in a nursing home, and it seamlessly weaves together the past and the present.
The book focuses a bit more on Ruth and Idgies romantic relationship, whereas the movie kind of glossed over it. This is a love story, and though there is tragedy and loss, I was left with a feeling of hope.

Wasp's Nest

I found this wasp's nest on the Pink Dogwood tree last fall when all of the leaves fell off of it. I'm always amazed by how strong these nests are, yet so fragile at the same time. Remember, they're made out of paper! And in rainy Vancouver I'm surprised they'd survive at all.

One of a Kind Show!

Joanne and I were featured on the One of a Kind Blog yesterday! It's a great show in Toronto, for anyone who isn't familiar with it. Thye also do shows in Vancouver, Chicago, and new this year, New York City!
Click on the post title to check it out!

New art and new blog!

I have a new(ish) blog that I'm posting a new artist and their work every day. I am so inspired by other people and their journey's in art, and I love to share my discoveries with the world, so check it out! It's called Cre8ive Juice and you can see it if you click on the post title, or the link on the sidebar.