you are the prize

its going to be a blue ribbon kind of day. heres what I've been working on for the upcoming toque craft fair at the western front! I have made my usual books and cards, and these are my new wearable text based art. I made them from scratch and I love the over the top color and fanfare but the 'awards' are for things like "ok".

If you are in the neighbourhood: western front gallery (vancouver), saturday November 28th 11-5

true vancouver artisans- great variety of local hand made. and I know for a fact there will also be cupcakes for sale...

heres cooking at you kid

my mom pretty much always made home cooked dinners. she worked full time, took care of kids, the house and still made meals ever night for dinner. my dad did too, but his area of expertise was the bbq and pizza night probably once every couple of weeks. And since I have been taking care of myself now for almost as long as my parents took care of me, I really appreciate it more than ever. In the last year I am finding that I am craving meals from the past. domestic inspiration? nostalgic appetite? I wanted to make the things I remembered and loved- but make it better. it started with my moms spaghetti recipe: I loved it the way it was, but feeding your family on a budget and in a town where fresh produce was a foreign concept I thought I might be able to improve it a bit. no can of tomatoes for me- fresh tomatoes. instead of the lump of green pepper- crisp red or orange. safeway special lb of hamburger- grain fed alberta lean beef. I am pleased with myself and although I guess opening a can of tomatoes might take a little less than cleaning and chopping some vegetables, I feel good eating it. Last night I tried another: beef stroganoff. I had never made it before, but it turned out really well. organic beef and 3 types of mushrooms (white, brown and shiitake). like moms, only different.... (I love you mom!)

she's crafty

it is november. my goodness! the school year is ticking along and here we are half way to christmas. I have been feeling particularly domestic these days and wanting to make things. wanting to cook, sew, knit and general crafty. last weekend was very productive: made dinner 2 nights, worked on a new upcoming sculpture/wearable art project, hit the knit shop, sorted materials for book making and compiled the do-do list for an upcoming craft fair and christmas. will keep you posted as things progress...

owl update

update: we called the vet to check on our patient. he's in for observation: he had a concussion, so good thing we took him in! apparently they have had a few reports about owls- they seem to be having trouble on their migration this year! he was also eating (we did not ask) but hope it was a little frisky mouse (sorry mice lovers!)

feathered friend

my work had a cute little guest- we had a baby (or very small) owl banging against our front doors of the building at about 10am... crows were attacking him so our receptionist went out and caught him in a box, and now he is sitting up at reception. people keep coming to check him out... so cute. he seems calm in the box... not flapping around. we have called the SPCA/wildlife people to come and rescue him. we wished we had something to feed him... too bad we can't capture the mice which are such a problem here at the school! we want to keep him. when I was asked to cover the phones, which I often do, today instead I was asked to babysit the owl.

hail ceaser and bring on the whiskey, jack

had a late season camping trip this weekend. it was fabulous! went again with E + M and GK (who are camping superstars). this time we went up towards Harrison. the site was closer to the suburbs, so it was a bit busier, and my heading reflects
a shout out to the campsite rowdies this weekend. there were however no bugs so I guess the annoyances evens out. the weather was perfect. sunny and warm and totally blue, blue skies. our site was on a pretty little lake and there were a couple other parks and lakes very near by so we checked out all of them. the other girls went swimming as well as the lakes were cool yet refreshing. highlights include: setting up in the dark, our curious Whiskey Jacks, visits from toads, no mosquitoes, big fires, Oyama sausages, marshmallows and dark chocolate, all terrain bocce, sunshine, cozy tent, peach lambic, ice cream run, fresh air, naps in the afternoon.

Thank you crew for a lovely time. I am so buying a tent next summer!

what a difference a year makes

just back from a most lovely weekend away visiting miss B in Saskatoon. same weekend last year I helped her move there... this time she is so set up and good to go- beautiful new apartment, wonderful friends, knows all the hot spots and stories behind them.
highlights include: getting hugs at the airport, ms. N arriving too, football, skateshop, pasta dishes, crepes for brunch, breakfast nook, late night nook, girl time, slumber parties, farm land, studio visit, walking lots, river, blue skies, new friends, nice boys, lattes twice a day, party dresses and party girls.

whats cooking hot stuff?

what do we have here? thought I would share one of my favorite recipes and most well received dinners (from my limited repertoire)
its easier than it sounds: chicken and peaches with rosemary wrapped in prosciutto (and a side of roasted yams and potatoes)

what you need (per serving):
chicken breast- skinless and boneless is what I use
1/4 of a fresh peach
2 slices of prosciutto
1 sprig of rosemary

lay out the prosciutto flat. lay the chicken breast in the centre. cut the peach into thin wedge slices and lay them out staggered on top of the chicken. lay a sprig of rosemary on top and then wrap that prosciutto tucking in all those peaches and rosemary. lay it in a pan. if you want the side of yams and potatoes all I do is cut into chunks, toss with olive oil salt and pepper and some more of the rosemary. it can all go in the same pan, and I put it in at about 365oC for about an hour. the peaches keep the chicken a little bit moist despite the long time in the oven and the prosciutto crisps up nicely.

life is a beach... and a mall

I just got back from my summer vacation with ms. f and what a great trip!
we did a circle trip down to the oregon coast and then to Portland... over a week. she and I had a great time and despite knowing each other since kindergarten, this is the longest we'd had a chance to hang out and catch up at one time since high school! we always have a nice time, good conversation and even better shopping luck when we are together. it was also my birthday last saturday so we had a big night out for that.
highlights include: road trip tunes, passport ready, hitting the beach, standing in the ocean, misty days, little red car, Seaside, safeway club cards, hot hot heat, catching up with CR and friends, shopping in the city, outdoor markets, Beavers VS Las Vegas baseball, drinks at new places, roof top patios, departures, new red dress, birthday sushi, drive home.

thank you ms. f and CR for the great vacation!

wisdom from elders

I just got back from a work conference- last year it was in Oregon- which that in itself was great- this year it was in a tiny little BC town. the conference is about computers and Merritt is a depressed and depressing little place, but the school that hosted the event was amazing! the campus is stunning and the atmosphere there was like nothing I have experienced. it is a First Nations school and they really embrace community, tradition, family, history and culture. the Elders even have their own office- so picture a crew of little old ladies and men hanging out at your university. different. the elders put on a welcome feast for us including smoked salmon(smoked right there in a outdoor pit behind the school), moose stew, roast deer, bannock, soap berry juice. as well as drumming, dancing and prayers. one of my workshops was making a cedar bark bracelet with an Elder.

there was also a workshop with an Elder "how to survive in the wilderness", how to make a fire, what to do if you get lost it was funny as he showed us how to make a fire, and then that was about it. one of the big city ladies said what about the other stuff? his answers:

How to survive in the wilderness?: make a fire
What to do if you get lost?: make a fire

wilderness

early June I went on a wonderful camping trip with GK, E and M. I have wanted to go camping for years- growing up in the north camping was pretty usual and we probably went most summers as a family- but when you live in the big city and no one has a car, and big city kids are afraid of the woods, or dirt, or bears you don't get out much.
I have to say, I only realized how completely unprepared I was for this when we started preparing. when you live with your parents of course you have tents and coolers and bug spray! meanwhile I had nothing but the clothes. thanks to the generous support of my brother, my friends brothers, neighbours and friends my gear was pieced together.
we blasted out of town on a friday afternoon and after some last minute food and beer shopping we were on our way east. even though we were still in the lower mainland, it took a few hours to get there. the site we were headed for turned out to be full as we arrived about 9:10pm. this could have been disaster, but there was another site about 30kms up the road.... and we are so glad we went the extra distance! it was like having our own site all to ourselves as I think only 3 or 4 sites were being used out of 48.
E + M cooked up feasts and made morning ceasers to perfection! talking around the camp fire, playing our ipods, playing all-terrain bocce, drinking weird beer, going to bed late, sleeping in, fresh air, good laughs, getting away from it all.
the last night we were sitting around the campfire at about 1am when a huge adult deer wandered into the edge of our camp site! it hung out there just out of sight for a while just listening to us. on the drive home we also encountered a huge bear lumbering down the centre of the dirt road! it was so much fun.

damn birds!

It was a nice Friday morning... I was walking back from the market coffee shop with chai in hand and pastry in the other with 2 coworkers when we got shat on. it appears to be biological from a bird- however it was so bad I thought someone threw up over the edge of the bridge over Granville Island. everywhere. spatter on my pants, globs on my side, shoulder, neck, arms and shit in my hair. also on my pastry, wallet and I assumed in my chai so I had to dump the whole thing. I tried in the office bathroom- but lucky one coworker has a friend who lives near by and we wound up going to her place and I caved and I had to wash my hair. which is also a pain as my hair takes hours to dry and deal with. totally gross.

kagami

years and years ago when I was still in highschool I met this girl at a youth conference and at the end of the week she told me that I reminded her totally of her very good friend- and that the friend was a guy. for me as a 17 year old this was conflicting news. am I a tom boy? do I look like a dude? do I act like a boy?
in the last week I have gone to this new restaurant twice and had the same server both visits. I couldn't really put my finger on it until I left last night. she is the spitting image of one of my ex boyfriends. in looks they have the exact same face, as well I would put money on the same ethnic breakdown. if he had a twin it would be her. she kind of carries herself the same way and has the same mellow and jokey way of talking. I finally get it.

a boat ride to the island

I was over in Victoria on the weekend- I had not been there in a couple of years so it was a nice little get-away. I went over to see my dear friend Ms.F who I have known since kindergarten (which I think is quite the substantial time frame for a friendship of almost 27 years). she is lovely and sweet and listens patiently to my long winded stories. she is also my shopping lucky charm and we often find ourselves on an accidental shopping spree. we also had nice visits with her boyfriend and family and drank a few beers and had many laughs. thanks for the wonderful time! oh yeah, there are Parliament Buildings, beautiful scenery and lots of tourists but we stuck to LOJO.

knit, purl, purl, knit, purl, purl, knit

so I have taken up knitting... again. I know it has recently been the "cool" thing to do, but I was knitting long ago to start. I was taught to knit by my mom when I was a kid, probably around age 9. but despite starting early I was only knitting squares, or rectangles, or long rectangles, and not very well. I started again about 5 years ago... my mom got me started on another long rectangle (scarf) for the boyfriend of the time. lets just say it took me so long that in the process we broke up, got back together a year later, and then broke up again and it was still not done.
currently I have a few coworkers who knit so I got all inspired... for my first project I did a hat- perhaps that sounds ambitious, but suddenly it all kind of made sense! (and the fact that I have all sorts of people knitting around me when I got stuck on the second stitch- which I did)
how come I had only heard of 'knit' and never 'purl'?! I demanded of my mother (yes, there is a difference)

I don't know... but it seems to be working. the picture included is not the first hat, but the third. watch out! I've started early on christmas presents. I have also made a pair of matching slippers. yes, matching! a pair! I have broken the bank already on wool and I seem to be a little ADD about it all and can't resist having 3 things on the go at once.

oh, and how could I forget?

the showgirls. all those feathers and sparkle...and nudity. gotta love them

what happens in vegas...winds up on my blog

just got back from a weekend in las vegas... my first trip there and I went with miss B. its good and crazy and a little- ok a lot overwhelming. we were staying at the mirage on the strip. it was great to experience, and to see and time well spent with miss B. some highlights include:

guest lists and drinks for the ladies. party with a celebrity host. vip treatment. cafe au laits/oles by the pool. wander on the strip. go to venice. go to paris. go to rome. half price martinis. wine bar. old vegas. shrimp cocktails. slots. roulette. losing EVERYTHING. catching up. dressing up. drinking champaign under the stars.

it was a good trip. we did in fact have the same vip treatment as a celeb and have our picture taken by the same photographer- which was all kind of strange (check it out:
http://spyonvegas.com/index.php?query=galleries/recent/view/2448&page=1). we ate lots of nice snacks and appys and drank all the free drinks we wanted. we talked to strangers. we people watched. we explored. we went off the beaten track. don't know that I'll run back there right away, but it was a nice escape for a weekend away. thanks miss B!

lucky 8...

I have always been fascinated with multiple births. I have actually always wanted to have a multiple birth of my own. twins actually run in the family and I believe there are about 6 sets now on my mothers side of the family within my generation. both my grandparents on my mothers side were said to have been from sets of twins. I plan on taking it up a notch and having triplets.
this brings me to the current situation of the octupulets birth in the states. there is currently a lot of controversy: she is single and unemployed. already had 6 kids. lives with her mom. brought upon herself assumed negative attention for the medical profession for in vitro fertilization, and in her first interview so far draws negative attention to herself by obsessively repeating she really loves kids, really loves them, really wanted a lot of kids because its all she ever wanted.
I don't have a problem with having a lot of children, I also don't have a problem doing it on your own because its something you want to do (sans man). I don't have a problem with in vitro fertilization or the prospect of winding up with 8 kids in one miraculous shot.
but does anyone have a problem with the fact that she looks like a plastic surgery attempt of looking like Angela Jolie? thats weird.

aloha

imagine me sitting by the pool with drink in hand tapping away on my laptop. I said imagine. I am currently in the hawaiian islands on a little vacation. so far not totally tropical or relaxing but I am working on it. some thoughts: sand between toes, trade winds, happy hours, the smell of flowers, booze in corner stores, hotel air conditioning...and the best- standing in line behind a beautiful tanned boy and all I can smell is coconut suntan lotion

overheard...

the funniest thing I have heard in a while... said by a woman in her early 50's, recently divorced, talking about her sexy new high heels:

even my church group commented on my come fuck me shoes