Monthly Archives: June 2012

This Week:

15 Friday Jun 2012

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  • On Sunday, Will baked two loaves of whole wheat bread.
  • On Monday, Ziggy pulled the bread off the kitchen table, kept one for himself and generously gave the other loaf to Kingsley.
  • On Tuesday, I started rehearsals.  Hurrah!  The designers have outdone themselves this year – Steampunk and Tim Burton-esque 1950s.  So bloody beautiful.  Ophelia cries black, oily tears that streak down her face.  Haunting.
  • On Wednesday, I drank my third Superfood shake for breakfast.  They are very filling, and I find I don’t need to snack before lunch.  However, I have not yet turned into a superhero.  Maybe it takes more than a few days . . .
  • On Thursday, I rode my bike to rehearsal.  In the rain.  (Note:  Need to buy waterproof biking gear – getting to work and drying your jeans and socks under the hand-dryer in the ladies’ room is not fun)
  • Today, the sun is shining (finally!), I’ve got a good cup of coffee, I’m gainfully employed (yay!), and I’m looking forward to my bike ride to work.  Life is good.

Have a great weekend!

Bonus Post: Father’s Day Special

14 Thursday Jun 2012

Posted by in Thrifty Style & Decor

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I usually only do one post a day during the week, but my friend Angela wanted to know if I’d seen any upcycle ideas for Father’s Day gifts.  In my internet wanderings, a few things have caught my eye.  Here’s three quick and easy projects.  (Disclaimer: not all of them are technically “upcycling,”  but all of them are definitely crafty and fun!)

Click on photo for source

For the coffee-drinking Dad:

Cute little instructable on how to create a coffee sampler pack for Dad.

For the candy-loving Dad:

Dress up an old flower pot and fill it with Dad’s favourite sweets.

For the beer-loving (or rootbeer-loving) Dad:

Awesome (free!) printables for Father’s Day.

Love that Old Book Smell {Upcycle Thursdays}

14 Thursday Jun 2012

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Oh, the dusty, musty aroma of old books.  There’s nothing like it.  When I was a child, the library was my favourite place to be.  My Grade Five teacher, Mrs. Fogal, wrote on my report card that I “consumed books.”  I still do.  I love reading, and I’m a fast reader.

My only reading rule is to read for pure enjoyment.  This doesn’t mean trashy or cheap novels; in fact, I really don’t enjoy most “chick lit” (I tried to read the Shopaholic book series once.  I stopped about three chapters in – the plot was thin, and the main character was a shallow, vapid human being.  Ugh.)  It means that I don’t make myself read something I feel I should read because it’s popular or important or “literature.”  I read Jane Austen and Emily Bronte, but I also read Game of Thrones, and Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games, and non-fiction, historical fiction, and sometimes, I’ll admit it, self-help books (When Panic Attacks by David Burns saved my sanity!)

I haven’t made the leap to an e-reader yet.  I probably will someday, but I just can’t let go of the feel of a book in my hand.  Besides, how would I thumb ahead to sneak a peek at the end of a chapter with an e-reader?  Here’s some things to do with much-loved old books that you desperately need to retire but just don’t have the heart to throw away.

Click on photo for source.

What’s Better than Chocolate?

13 Wednesday Jun 2012

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Nothing, in my opinion.  Unless that chocolate happens to be raw.  I just attended a class on how to make raw chocolate.  I ate three tiny pieces, and I’m just buzzing from the energy.  I can’t even begin to explain the benefits of raw chocolate.  Do yourself a favour and Google it.  Or if you’re in Saskatoon, check out this website for upcoming classes.  Best part?  It’s delicious.  Soooooooo delicious.

photo credit: eatdrinkbetter.com

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Fresh Rhubarb and Ophelia

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

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First day of rehearsal today.

I had a date with Ophelia the other night.  She says a lot of words that I don’t understand, so I made a rhubarb crisp (with some fresh from the garden rhubarb that my friend Jenn gave me – so tart!), and sat down with the Oxford English Dictionary.

Well, sort of.  The free version online, that is.

I really wish the Saskatoon Public Library would offer access to the real dictionary online to library card holders, but I understand that it’s very expensive to do something like that.  Still, the free version is pretty good.  Not nearly as exciting as the real thing, though.  And yes, I get excited over the Oxford English Dictionary.  Who doesn’t?  It’s bloody amazing.

The crisp was delicious, and now I know what Ophelia is saying.  The first step is done – understand on an intellectual basis what’s going on.  Next step, make it live.  Find the why.  To badly quote Picasso, “say it with brushes and paint!”

Eleven things that make me want to move to Paris (for a year)

11 Monday Jun 2012

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1)  Macarons

photo credit: Francois Schnel

2)  The Louvre

photo credit: Dimitry B.

3)  Cafes (especially ones that serve hot spiced wine when it’s chilly outside)

photo credit: Mr. Mystery

5)  Hot chocolate at Angelina’s

6)  Striped shirts

7)  Good coffee that doesn’t come from Starbuck’s

photo credit: gmnonic

8)  Montmartre

photo credit: Ctynui

9)  Bicycles and Flowers

photo credit: ohhappyday.com

10)  Les Puce de Saint Quien Flea Market

photo credit: ParisSharing

11)  This view

Pantry Zen

08 Friday Jun 2012

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It took a little longer than I thought, but I have the pantry mayhem under control.  A lot a paint, a little wallpaper, some purging and reorganizing, and finally, a peaceful pantry.  A pantry that no longer makes me angry every time I open the door.  A pantry where everything has a place, a clearly marked place.

My friend, Jennifer, gave me some great tips, especially when it comes to wrangling Tupperware.  First, she said, make sure there’s a matching lid for every container.  Get rid of anything that doesn’t have a mate.  Then keep the lids together and the containers together.  Since my containers are a jumble of different types, my lids don’t stack very well, so she suggested tossing them in a basket, which is awesome.  As I replace old containers, I will buy a brand that makes lids that snap together, another one of Jennifer’s great tips.

Two new discoveries I made along the way: (1) all out-of-work actors should have a home reno project on the go.  It takes your mind off the fact that you’re not working, gives you something creative to do, and increases your home’s equity so that someday you may be able to retire; and (2)  I LOVE CHALKBOARD PAINT!

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New Obsession {Upcycle Thursdays}

07 Thursday Jun 2012

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Chalkboard paint.

For years I’ve wondered about this stuff.  Does it work?  Does it actually look as cool in real life as it does in photos?  Can I pull it off?  Yes, yes, and yes.

I bought a pint of it for my pantry makeover (see the big reveal in tomorrow’s post!)  I wanted to paint the edges of the shelves in my pantry with chalkboard paint so that I could label them (and easily change the label if I needed to).  Little did I know that I would fall in love with the stuff.

I still have half a pint left.  Here’s some ideas for future projects.

(Click on photos for source)

Love this! Maybe I’ll have to re-do my office next . . .

Great way to wrangle chalk.

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A Sweet Indulgence

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

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My definition of a macaroon as I was growing up was a chocolate coconut cookie thing that my Mom made quite frequently.  We called them haystacks or macaroons. So whenever I heard people professing their love of macarons, I so didn’t understand.

Then I went to Paris during my honeymoon.

I spent many afternoons drooling over the rows of beautiful pastel macarons in the windows of the boulangeries, but too insecure in my knowledge of the French language to actually ask for one (I had learned only a few phrases: “Deux café au lait, s’il vous plait”, “Une baguette, s’il vous plait“, and if I was feeling especially brave or drunk, “Pain au chocolate, s’il vous plait”)

I understand now.  Macarons (not macaroons) are delicious, fluffy indulgences that one must savour because they are expensive, difficult to make, and absolutely delicious.

A tribute to macaroons and macarons.

(Click on the photo for the source and recipe)

Move over chocolate. This recipe combines coconut and fresh raspberries for a new take on the classic “haystack” macaroon.

The French macaron. They are so pretty, and perfect, and pink, and lovely. They make me want to move to Paris, and write bad poetry.

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The Radishes are Up!

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

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I don’t even like radishes, but they’re so satisfying to plant because they’re easy to grow, and they sprout so fast.  It’s almost instant gratification for the gardener, and a little infusion of hope.  If the radishes are growing, then maybe the rest will grow, too.

So my radishes are up, and so are the zucchini, the pumpkins, the butternut squash, the peas, and a few beans.  It’s a bloody miracle.  Every year I think, “This is not going to work.  How can this work?  How can this little seed survive?”

And yet it does.  It survives, it grows, and sometimes, if you’re attentive and a little bit lucky, it even thrives.

My garden row markers. I painted wooden shims with blackboard paint, and labeled them with a white china marker (won’t wash off in the rain).

Teeny, tiny radish sprouts. Hurrah!

Grow! Grow! Grow!

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