Sunday Style

1. Springtime Swallow Hand Tag Set by Oak Hollow Primitives.




2. Heart Gift Tags by Makalewakan



3. Swedish Design Wooden Gift Tags by Makalewakan.



4. Little Red Riding Hood Gift Tags by Crow and Iris.



5. Bohemian Rhapsody Tags by Figure22.



I love Etsy.

This has been keeping me from doing homework all weekend...

Greg Rutter's Definitive List of the 99 Things you Should have Seen on the Internet Unless you are a Loser or Old or Something.

Eloquent.

Boom Goes the Dynamite changed my life. Seriously.

Eat your heart out Sierra!

This week in unconventional art:



And this is Sierra's best documented herding experience:



Honey, you just got taken to school...

ART.

Starved for some participation in ART up here in THE MOST ISOLATED PLACE IN THE WORLD, I joined the church choir. There are about 20ish members, who are all just lovely, and the director, Melinda, has a real sense of humour and reality about what the small group can reasonably accomplish, which, not to sound terribly elitist, is mostly very basic, 4 part block harmony. Sadly, this is a far cry from the 150 member community choir at UVic I used to have the priveledge of singing with. (And an intimidating priveledge at that!) There is something about singing in harmony in the midst of a massive, single-minded group that is nothing short of magical and staggeringly moving.

Melinda has chosen some beautiful charts for Easter and for other future choir exploits. That being said, I just really miss the sound that is produced from a MASSIVE GROUP OF UVic VOICE MAJORS!! *sigh*

A piece by the Oxford Choir, a group I should listen to more often while lying on my living room floor and directing with my fingers after a few glasses of good wine.

Enjoy.

video courtesy of treblechoir99

Llama Sunday

I had the fun opportunity on Sunday to visit my friend Elizabeth's farm. She has llamas!!

It was best therapy I've had in a long while, holding a lamb and kissing a llama.

The Dave...

Amber: When we have kids, what would you like to do as a family?

Dave: hiking.

Amber: What else?

Dave: swimming pool.

Amber: Give me something original.

Dave: Dumpster diving.

Sunday Style

I've been browsing Etsy shops quite often lately and I've been surprised and delighted every time to find so many beautiful items for sale. Of course, I've been sticking to my budget (curses!) but I still enjoy the 'window shopping' as it were. Here are some finds.

1. Clutch purse by Little Ellie called The Lily Clutch in Mist Floral.

2. Wallet by Little Ellie called The Almost Everything Wallet.

3. Chasing Elephants Wallflower reversible Pixie Bag.

4. Green bag with shell buttons by Creations by Eve.

5. Red Daisies Classic Tote by The Craft Pantry.

I'm quite sure we can all tell what season I'm looking forward to...

Unpredictable at best

This is what my street looked like at 10:00 Wednesday morning.

Feast your Eyes, Bitches

This is what I get to come home to.

The Trekkie

For about two months over Christmas, I put Dave through what at first seemed like his slow death by making him watch almost every episode of The Office with me. Once I had seen EVERY episode, he bought me season 3 for Christmas and we enjoyed one more round of reruns, deleted scenes and hilarious Dwight Bobble Head antics. Those were the days.

It seems that Dave decided to have his revenge on me when he downloaded several seasons of Star Trek: the Next Generation, which we have been watching almost every night. At first I protested, wondering what pull the seemingly dorky series could have on him. Now...well, it seems that I like Star Trek. Just like Dave now likes The Office.

I guess we are finally rubbing off on eachother.

Pam Beesly - Dave's favorite character of The Office.











Commander Data - my favorite character of Star Trek.

That's what she said

Dave: Amber, do you want some pineapple?

Amber: Sure *goes in kitchen*

Dave: Here *hands Amber massive hunk of drippy pineapple*

Amber: It's too BIG!

Dave: EAT THE GODDAMN PINEAPPLE!

Amber: ok

Dave: I should have said 'that's what she said'

Amber: what does 'that's what she said' have to do with pineapple?

Dave: When you said, 'it's too big!'

Amber: *chokes on pineapple*

Terrace is your Sunday Style, bitches

Words can't describe the excitement surging through Terrace as the winner of Hockeyville was being announced last night. The energy was palpable and spirits were high as participants headed down to the voting centre, or to their favourite haunt to watch the results.

Mr. Mikes restaurant was full, but you could hear a pin drop as every eye focused on the screen, awaiting the results. I was absolutely terrified, gripping Dave's hand and gritting my teeth.

Of course, when we saw the card with the name of our little town on it, the whole place erupted with cheers and whistles, while people pounded their hands on their tables in celebration.

The moment we left we heard the celebration taking to the streets from the voting centre, people were cheering, everyone was honking their horns and sporting their hockey flags and jerseys.

The voting centre was still packed when we arrived and everyone was smiling and laughing - or weeping with joy. I admit, every time I watch the announcement I get a little weepy. My god! Terrace! I am so proud of you!

Sierra put it best - `We are all acting like we just won the Miss America Pageant!` and I have to say, even in my ponytail and hoodie, I sort of did feel that way. WAY TO GO TERRACE!!

Pins and Needles

The voting period is over. We can no longer do anything to change the course of events, but the entire town is shaking with the anticipation of Hockey Night in Canada tomorrow. After the first period they will be announcing the winner of HOCKEYVILLE and we all think that we're it!!!

Dave and I and some friends will be going to Mr. Mike's tomorrow night to watch them announce the results and rumour has it that the CBC is going to be in town...can't keep anything a secret in Terrace, the sooner you learn that the better.

Voting tallies anyone? Mine was 3000 via my cell phone. I know a lot of people who did better though, so speak up!

Molten Light

My sister, who lives in THE BIG CITY and is in ART SCHOOL, sometimes gets to fill me in on cool new art that she gets to see and I do not because I live in THE MOST ISOLATED PLACE IN THE WORLD.

Most recently she told about a musician/artist named Chad Vangaalen. I'm not sure how to describe him...he has the ability to take a simple, pretty melody and make it eerie and haunting. He is also an animator and does all his own videos and album art - very cool.

This one is my favourite - creepy and beautiful at the same time. A true artist.

Cute with Chris, round 2

I took some time aside to think about the error Chris had made in posting a pic of Sierra and calling her 'Zoe', alongside my horribly bruised ankle. At first I felt excited that my pics had been posted, and on my first submission! However, the more I thought about it, and the more I read the comments, which expressed a certain doubtful quality about Sierra's ability to injure me without the help of drugs or alcohol coursing through my system, the more I felt I had the right to defend my position on the site.

So I sent more stuff.

And it got posted THE SAME DAY I sent it. I'm 2 for 2, bitches.

Sunday Style

I know, I know. Cleaning products are not stylish. But hear me out.
I've been using method cleaners for about 1 year. There are a wide variety of products available from laundry detergent to wood polish and all of them are non-toxic and naturally derived. The bottles and packaging are all made from 100% recycled materials and the cleaners themselves are biodegradable. You won't be breathing in damaging chemicals and all of the products I've tried work like a hot damn.

My mom visited last year and used the Method all-purpose cleaner to take oil off her car and it worked better than the industrial cleaners she had just used at the car wash. How's about them apples?

Website here.

The Clubhouse

Our house is a teensy 980 square feet. A living room, kitchen, bathroom with a washer and dryer inside, and 2 bedrooms, one of which is a sad dumping ground for lack of storage. There is no utility room, mudroom, basement, entryway, storage (not even a hall closet!), or SPACE for Dave and I to relax away from eachother.

Not that we don't like eachother - we do - but when you spend virtually all your at-home time in the same room, it can get a little tense.

Dave had a brainwave. He decided to turn our small garage (our van won't fit through the door) into a hangout room for him and his guy friends. (Not only is this a fabulous idea, but it also frees up our spare room to turn into MY space, which will be the next project).

He's pretty much finished - and the best part? He did it for under $100.00, including paint for the walls and floor, all the furniture, the TV, and even the drumkit! There's a lot to be said for resourcefullness.

More photos here.