Please and thank you.

TOPSHOP

 

Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor.

Came up with a list of things that I'll miss about our shoebox home:

1. The "unlimited" supply of utilities (goodbye random cooking/baking spritz and running water...hello candles! I exaggerate. hehe. sort of)

2. Sitting in the bedroom and still being able to look at and chat with the dogre when he's all the way across the house, in the kitchen. though...he claims to not hear me at times, which I think is a lie!

3. Access around the downtown core by foot. Public transportation!? Nooooooo!

4. Saying goodbye to our first home together as husband and wife.

But...I honestly won't miss it all that much. Excited to move! Countdown: 3 days! Keys in hands in: 2! TWO! Come Friday, I'm going to run in and be the first to use the toilet! Already wanting to change the lighting fixtures above our kitchen island to this pendant but it's likely too "heavy" for the space. Poo-poo.

I don't remember if I mentioned this before but Rocky gets very anxious if he sees luggage and cardboard boxes around the house. It's probably because every time they're out, somebody disappears for a long time (i.e. when I spent the summers in Korea or when my brother moved to Vancouver). When we packed up for our honeymoon, he spent every night in our open suitcase, just in case. Now he's doing the same with our moving boxes and luggage pieces. He's also extra grumpy. And no, it's not because I forced him to wear a toupée! By the by, you know you're looney when you think time is well spent touching up the whites of your dog's eyes in Photoshop. And it is!

Also, the super crafty Heidi Kenny creates the cutest things and provided a free printable dirty dozen cheat sheet, available here on her site. Dirty dozen being the fruits and vegetables that the USDA advises you always buy organic because they carry the highest levels of pesticide residues even after washing them. And then there are the items that are okay to buy non-organic. Finally, a visit to my blog has been resourceful to you! Goody.

I'll be without internet access until Sunday morning! Will be suffering serious internet and tv show withdrawal, I'm sure. Bye for now. Remember to hydrate yourself after shedding all those tears for me. In the mean time, how about a warm, feel-good documentary? I lied. Learn about why you should be asking your local farmers or produce sources what they put in their crops. This video may deter you from eating your fruits and vegetables! We live our days unaware that what we so casually flush away is turned to sewage sludge, full of metals, human waste, chemicals, solvents, tampons, condoms, et cetera, and spread onto our lawns, farm lands, and waters...consequently returned back for consumption! If you're only interested in Canada, start at the 18 minute mark.

"Why is this happening to me!?"

So I may become the next Youtube sensation, found under the search "girl craps her pants at major intersection of Yonge and Bloor". Backtrack; I'm having the root canal procedure (along with prep work and temporary crowning on two teeth. costing about $3500) on Friday morning. This means I'll be heavily sedated from Thursday night onwards to ease my anxiety—I'll even be wheelchaired home (I'm a dentophobe so we're going all out and sparing no expenses, as I've opted for the fancifully titled "conscious sedation". believe-you-me, I need this! I've experienced multiple wisdom teeth/root canal procedures gone wrong while fully alert. I clenched my fists, crossed my legs and toes, and had to control myself from shrieking or crying). Enter, potential Youtube fame. I've never been on mood altering medication before and fear the worst behaviour possible...Maybe I'll call the dogre by the name of an old flame, or maybe I'll crap my pants. Or, maybe I'll crap my pants and then ask the dogre, addressing him by the wrong name, to clean me up. Of course, he wouldn't be so cruel to post that up on the internet...But, we're definitely interested in videotaping the aftereffects, as we predict it'll be memorable (and also? we've only used our fancy camcorder three times and we're feeling guilty)! Onto happier things. Like, looking at a photo of the new place!

We had to wear hard hats and steel toed boots for the inspection. Unfortunately, I wore mocs that day and had to stick my bare feet into foreign boots...Disgusting.

The dogre's eldest sister, who was a shopaholic and worked at Aritzia (a dangerous combination), moved to Vancouver last year and returned for a week to attend a wedding. Why do you care? Because, mon friend, after she packed up to return, she then let finn and I raid her leftovers! I'm the happy owner of pre-loved Aritzia pieces (including beautifully gray $200+ jeans), belts, and jewelry. Le sigh. What else, what else...

We changed vets. Our previous vet was incompetent. Example: Rocky chews and licks his paws a lot, which can indicate allergies. We took him and paid $80 for them to do some allergy test but never received a followup. Later, we asked what the results were and the jerk claimed we had never done such a test! Our first impression of the new vet was all sorts of positive. All staff members were professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. They were straightforward with costs and concerns, addressing all of our questions and showing a genuine interest in Rocky. It was very apparent that they were animal lovers! We'll be taking Mia in for a checkup after the move. Oh, and Rocky is a healthy, healthy boy! Next, food.

Miga, a Korean BBQ house, is fairly new and on the pricier side (targeted towards non-Koreans, we think). But, the quality makes up for the the higher price! My belly sang a sweet, sweet love song to my tastebuds all night long. New recipe of the week:

My first attempt at a lemon poppy seed loaf. A success story, really! Recipe here.

For Mother's Day festivities, we had burgers with the cousins, sans the dogre's mom. We had Greek with my mom but it was less impressive so no photo proof here.

This is what happens when the dogre works an evening shift. Random, lonesome dinners consisting of leftovers straight out of the tupperware or a bowl of cubed apples and feta cheese, drizzled in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. In bed. In front of the laptop or book. Tasty, but sad.

As revenge, the dogre has been appointed the role of Box Hunter. Where there are poo-stinky cardboard boxes, there is the dogre! Seastar and Mr. L play x-rated Monopoly.

Looking forward to a mini road trip with my cousin. We'll be checking out antique shops in the countryside. Will post any good finds we score. Hopefully, will not post while medicated and write regrettable things. I've already asked the dogre to hide away phones and computers. Side note, Vampire Diaries is juicier than ever! Cannot wait for the season finale (this Thursday). No more shame! Just pure enjoyment.

I shall leave you with something that made the inner typography lover in me giggle, years before I had chosen such a path. The Font Conference:

First Impressions. / Pre-delivery inspection.

Song: Pulling Our Weight by The Radio Dept.

I was super excited about posting this but after wasting thirty minutes trying to figure out why my video wouldn't import into iMovie and an additional thirty learning how to convert it to something else, I lost steam. So, voila ici, cheesetastic effects. Of course, that doesn't explain my shoddy and shaky filming job...but how dare you judge me! Oh, and you'll notice the watermark up top—that's what you get when you refuse to pay for a program. :(

COUNTDOWN: 18 DAYS

Packing has begun and we're baffled at how many boxes our little casa requires to clear out. The dogre has been frequenting street corners.

I'm inadequate.

We finally have...a POSTAL CODE! Exciting. Oh, post title explanation: Rocky thinks I'm inadequate. Apparently, my commitment to eye crusties wiping is so appallingly lacking that he's learned to wipe them himself. Like a Shiba Inu...

Also, are you aware of his disability? Yes, his tongue is too big and long for his mouth. All you snooty canines of this world really shouldn't take eating so casually for granted!

I love how the Brits call their apartments, flats and their backyards, gardens. I'm going to relentlessly call our itty bitty balcony the gaaarden until you do so as well!

{apartmenttherapy.com}

By the way, if you aren't following The Selby, well, start already! You get to peek inside the fascinating homes of creative individuals.

And check out Present and Correct if you're as big of a stationery fanatic as moi.

Cute cake stands, yes? More pretty things (milkjugs, vases, dishes, etc) here.

{ohjoy.blogs.com}

For $40US, you can fancify your bikes with awesome wooden fenders!

 

From the Montreal etsy shop, red tail fender.

Lastly, you might be tired of my city poster gushing but A Cup of Jo brought new ones to my attention and seeing as how it's my blog and all, well here they are:

 

Originally found here.

I suppose it's time to study for my test now...which is in less than two hours!

Metallic lucite.

I'm struggling with sleep again. I kid you not, for years I have been telling the dogre that I view his abilities to fall asleep immediately, anywhere, as the most enviable super power (well, maybe next to the power to conjure up food on whim, and puppies...and money). So, I've been going to bed later and later until I finally just didn't sleep at all. And let me tell you, my body is not feeling as fresh as it did when I pulled all-nighters in my highschool years. I feel like a zombie. The good that came out of a sleepless night was that I finished an assignment. It's ridiculous but I'm nearing the end of both courses again. Here's the shoe I used—I tickled my own fancy and added a floral pattern on it!

Since I was still up, I worked on the mother's day cards.Roughly traced and re-coloured a cute design I saw over at Rifle Paper Co. But never-you-mind that. Let's dive in to the pretty things we scored over the weekend!

The dogre and finn's friend held a launch party for her newly opened and fantastical shop, Tabula Rasa, of all things beautiful—old, new, and reworked. It was jam packed and us dogre household didn't fail to bring on the socially awkward. Actually, let's backtrack. Before we headed to the shop, we went to one of our happy places, DT Bistro, where I ran into a former coworker. So how awkward am I? Well, look:

  Tyler: What's up?!

     Me: Good.

Good! In any case, it was good running into him, which is rare for me to say, because I'm that person who will cross to the other side of the street and study my shoes rather than make banal chitchat and niceties with you. The dogre is going to harass me now—he was already huffy when he learned that he models. Back to the launch party, it was retardedly packed and all I wanted to do was thrift through the goods! I'd say a fair portion of the items are in a similar price range as Aritzia ($35 tees) while the rest is more attainable for the likes of me. Case in point, voila ici (I wonder if you're tired of this yet), my new twenty dollar purse!

Awesome. So many compartments. We also met the dogre's twin, in mannequin form.

What else, what else...We were suppose to watch How to Train Your Dragon but couldn't part with the fifteen buckaroos each per tickets. So, naturally, I went and spent ninety dollars at Pottery Barn. Very sensible, I am. Don't judge me! It's all part of sprucing the new casa up for when we resell it, you see...Cute LED lanterns, an antique bar tray, and a floral accent place mat for laptopping in bed (the dogre constantly scorned me for overheating it).

I'm envisioning a hearty mix of stripped wood, metal, and lucite pieces. For example, a lucite coffee table, yes please! Eh? You can do one better and offer me a trunk? Please and thank you.

More neat stuff (yes, neat) at Lonny, an online magazine.

The management company is showing our apartment to potential renters and it's such a nuisance. But the place has never looked so pristine. This afternoon, a guy came to check it out with four friends. And I have to say, I was sweaty. Not because they were hot, but because it was a gang of gays (is that offensive at all? hope not. I just love alliteration, as you're well aware) and after some exposure to stereotypical gay men (former coworkers) I've become sensitive to how "observant" they are. I was very nervous about how they felt of my decorating choices and meekly answered any and all questions they threw my way. I would have fed, bathed, and tucked them into bed if they so commanded it. I was in a room full of Anitas, really (inside joke. don't even).

Links, links links (easier than uploading images):

Cool personalized clear tray. Oh so nice.

And bags.

The most beautiful (and expensive) toaster I can only dream of having.

Half the price of this wonderful Burberry utility jacket here.

Hideousness over at j.crew (I can't believe such words came out of my mouth fingers) .

But this chambray shirt encourages me look the other way:

A sweet bracelet.

A cool but overpriced leather bike frame bag.

An illustrator mesh tool god.

A dream.

A great new (to me) inspiration blog.

Lollipops we will (yes, dogre, yes) soon order.

A collaboration of note design studio and abici results in enviable bikes:

And lastly, Rocky hangs with the likes of Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd, and leggy ladies.

Or not...

Le Sigh. Le big freakin' sigh.

Rocky's expression perfectly sums up my mood for this week. Nose flared, lips pursed, and eyes crossed with a touch of despair/exasperation (I might be reading too much into the photo now. just maybe). It's been a tough few days—I lost a loved one on Monday morning. And then I suffered an unnecessary dish washing accident involving the following sequence of events: crashing mug, bloody bathtub, pizza and ginger ale (so that I wouldn't faint?), subway ride (it's called frugality, beech!), the ER, four stitches, lobster (fried rice for me. mm, it was good), and ice cream. 

So, maybe it's because of said events that I was particularly irritable or maybe it's because people were that obnoxious, but I had an awful evening at my class tonight. First of all, the lecturer, though appreciatively enthusiastic and passionate, had such a thick accent that I couldn't understand 85% of what she was saying. Secondly, she was yelling! Really, every friend of mine has heard of my strict indoor-outdoor voice policy and can only applaud me for enduring three hours of ear rapeage. My ears were ringing just ten minutes into the lecture. She was speaking that loudly! And then she was baffled as to why she was losing her voice an hour into the lecture?! So, there I was, seated, ears ringing, stomach aching, head throbbing, and then (unbelievable) I had to add sore jaw to the list! It was so painful that I was unknowingly clenching my teeth in angst. 

Now let's move on to the classmates. Holy bajoly! This one ridiculous lady arrived thirty minutes late, strolling in and interrupting the lecturer mid-sentence with a loud "hi" followed by "I'm late." She then proceeded to noisily settle in and continued to disrupt the class with stupid questions—stupid because she was so busy texting, emailing, and facebooking that she didn't hear the lecturer and would ask unnecessary questions, all with this disgustingly huffy voice and rolling eyes. Oh, and we can't forget the staple set of chatty females. Really, these people in their mid-thirties to late forties were cackling and prattling about. Twice, they were shushed by fellow classmates and eventually quieted by the lecturer. What is it with adult learners? I've never witnessed such frequent displays of disrespectful behaviour among students until I attended these evening classes. Classes filled with grownups with this haughty air of entitlement and rudeness about them. I stormed (hobbled) out in anger when we were dismissed and the dogre found me on the street curb, all deflated and dejected. Sounds like I'm being melodramatic but I seriously curled up on the curb and pouted into the darkness. I may have also sent evil thoughts to certain individuals.

And don't even get me started on occupancy fees for new condo owners. Glad for the weekend and very much looking forward to the end of the dogre's eight-day shift. Okay, this grumpy goose needs to rub some polysporin on her toesies and head to bed now. Fare thee well.

Long ago it must be / Urban Tree Salvage

Pretty cool store. They salvage about 9,000 fallen trees (due to urban development, storm damage, et cetera) each year, preventing the spread of insect infestation and disease to the rest of the tree population. They then make unique furniture pieces out of the rescued material. Also, we're talking about trees within the GTA! Short distance to transport the trees to the facility (so environmentally conscientious!) and as an owner of a piece, you can brag to your guests that your table is Torontonian! Me likey.

{photo credit: urbantreesalvage.com}

Clouds in my coffee / A further look into Jenna Lyons' home

So after learning that the last closet below belongs to Jenna Lyons, creative director of J.Crew, I really wanted to see the rest of her place. Thanks to Habitually Chic and my sleuthy sleuthing (there were tons of sites and images. plus, it's old news. but shh!) I saw more than enough to please my chubby little heart.

Click here for the full set.