28.7.10

Illustration Fridays

Ever heard of Illustration Friday? It's a website where every week, participants are invited to illustrate a new word, phrase, or idea. You have to upload a link to your illustration before each Friday of every week. This week's word was "double". Since it's my first contribution to the site, I had trouble picking exactly how I'd illustrate the concept. There are so many ways... the obvious first came to mind - double decker bus, double decker sandwich, twins, seeing double...
...double headed monster...
...double peanut...
...rolling a double......seeing your "double", i.e. reflection......double scoop......and, probably what I'll need this Friday.

I enjoyed this little exercise - I think I'll make a habit of it.

Sure, I'll work here...


This is pretty close to what I want my home office to look like, maybe with a little less clutter and more shelves. But it's darn close, and cute.

21.7.10

Deep Breaths

In the midst of this period of self discovery (i.e. freaking out about what to do next), it's important to take a few step backs, a few deep breaths, and enjoy the scenery... the view from my balcony last night (and pretty much every night) is amazing. It reminds me that even though I'm a little "unsettled" right now, I'm still in a very beautiful place.

20.7.10

DIY Rustic Cake Stand

My sister Kate is getting married next June.Her wonderful fiance owns a wilderness school. He and Kate are one of the most interesting couples I know. Take this, he hand carved her ring out of the deer antler he hunted by bow and arrow. I'll take it a step further - he also hand-made the bow and arrow that he used during the hunt, and carried the arrows in a deer hide carrier (also hand-made). Everything they do is as close to nature as possible. It's no wonder they want a rustic (but romantic) country wedding.

I'm helping Kate plan the affair and couldn't be more excited! Here's what we'll be doing for the cake stands, compliments of the creative team at Once Wed...

Go here for the DIY step-by-step instructions.




The Hive - Home of the Ritzy Bee

I've been a long time fan of the Ritzy Bee, but when I discovered this is where they house their business, I got even more excited about what they do. Check out Washington-based 'The Hive at 1511'. I love love love the idea of a "design house". The Hive is home to Ritzy Bee Events, SIMPLESONG Design, and Kate Headley photography. If I worked in this creative space, I think I'd be humming "zippity doo da" to myself every minute of every day.

So-balicious

Within a 5 second Google Search for a soba noodle salad, I stumbled upon this recipe. It's not too heavy (but is enough to fill you up), fresh with flavour (with mangoes and fresh herbs, straight from my balcony garden) and the best part - easy! It's the perfect summer salad. Leave it to Martha (& her talented creative team) to come up with this dish.
Asian Soba Noodle Salad - Serves 6

Ingredients
* 1/4 cup rice-wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
* 2 teaspoons tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
* 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
* 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
* 2 pinches cayenne pepper
* 4 tablespoons safflower oil
* 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* 12 ounces soba noodles (not 100 percent soba)
* 1 green mango, peeled and julienned
* 1 large red pepper, stemmed, seeded, cored, and julienned
* 1 medium carrot, julienned
* 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
* 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint
* 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
* Lime wedges, for serving

Directions
1. In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, ginger, tamari, fish sauce, lime juice, and cayenne pepper. Slowly whisk in oils until well combined; season with salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.
2. Fill a medium pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add soba noodles and cook according to the package directions, until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Transfer noodles to a large bowl and add mango, red pepper, carrot, scallions, mint, and basil. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine.
4. Drizzle with dressing; you may not need to use all the dressing. Serve salad with lime wedges.

19.7.10

Bizarro


Did anyone else in Ottawa notice how bizarro the sky was last week? I was lucky enough to be sitting out on my balcony with my Canon when the sun was setting. Eerie.

Backing & Forthing

For those of you who know me well, you know I've been doing a lot of backing and forthing about where I want to go, how I want to do it, and when. In the past few weeks, I've been doing a lot of reading, hoping to pick up tidbits of inspiration that will make my decisions easier. But, the more I read, the more I realize that nothing can make the decision for me. Whatever I decide to do is bound only by the limitations I set upon myself. A couple of my favourite tidbits from Zen & the Art of Making a Living:

"Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves."
- Rainer Maria Rilke

"You can't depend on your judgment when your imagination is out of focus."
- Mark Twain

"Don't listen to friends when the Friend inside you says, 'do this'."
- Gandhi

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."
-Ambrose Redmoon

"The heart has its reasons that the mind knows nothing of."
-Blaise Pascal

15.7.10

Patience, please

If you haven't noticed, I've been playing with the html. Be patient with me. I'm learning. It's all part of my master plan. Changes coming soon!

9.7.10

Sunday

On Sunday I'm going to take some time to get back on track with things. May was such a busy month that I had no time to think, just do. June was a little less busy, which gave me time to recover from May. I find that the busier you are, the more you get done. I have nothing on my plate this Sunday, which gives me the time I need to refresh this idea, dust off the resume, do a bit of soul searching, oh, and lie on the floor of my apartment in sweltering heat. It's +40 degrees in the city and has been all week. Without A/C that's a problem.

I'm dreaming of the lake...