Fuzzy Runners?

Recently I bought a pair of 'runners' that said they had non marking soles, but when I turned them over they had a fuzzy/flocked bottom. "Gee that's strange", I thought, "won't that just wear off when I walk on the street?"

Turns out the fuzzy sole has nothing to do with non-marking, it has more to do with taxes and duty - read this article here. Pretty sneeky isn't it??

Q: What kind of running shoes are made from banana skins? A: Slippers. 

Things from Portland

Here are some of the items Jp brought back for me from his trip to Portland, Oregon (I still can't believe it's only a 5 hour drive from Vancouver-always thought it was farther):

1) This book bag from the well-known and very large Powell's Books:

He said he would've needed about 4 days in that store - which is pretty crazy when most people can do Disneyland in three!

2) Fabulously delicious coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

We did not save any of this, we drank it while it was fresh and tasty and boy howdy was it good! Holler Mountain was the coffee we had, roasted only 4 days prior.

3) He told me this was a Honey Badger, but I know it's a Wolverine:

If you're not familiar with a Honey Badger, then you must watch this informative video:

And just as a point of curiousity, when I googled "Wolverine" the majority of the searches turned up Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and hardly anything for the actually animal. My how things change over time don't they? 

4) And see this cast iron skillet? It's actually only 2 inches across

 - it's a spoon rest, isn't it cute?

It's actually from Cabela's which is in Washington state. Just seeing if you're still with me. 

5) And then a whole bunch of treats  - like Chex Mix because we don't have as many flavours here as there are available in the US and big bags of chips for cheap!

The same goes for Baked Beans, and peanut butter: 

Lineman Bag

This is really cool. Jp and the kid recently took a trip to Portland and found this bag for me in their travels:

It's extra cool for me as my dad was a lineman for the railway in his late teens/early twenties. When we were kids, every now and again he'd bust out his spurs and climb a tree or pole - either to show us his skills or to do some major tree trimming. You'd think our dad walked on water - we were all in awe at how fast and easily he could shimmy up and down. In fact I remember one time when a neighbour watched him for a bit and wanted to try. My dad suited him up and up he went. He only got about 10' up before he was quivering and came back down. I guess my dad made it look pretty easy.

I bet if my mom saw this bag she'd want one too. Check out this catalog for other products.

Okay so I hadn't finished shopping as I said in my last post - there were a couple of people I wanted to get things for -one was a little stocking stuffer for all the girls in my dance glass. That was kinda hard because I needed at least 8 items and I'm not exactly rich - it took days of hunting for something that wasn't too cheap but was still a cute little item and I needed to find multiples of them so just when I'd find something I'd realize they didn't have enough of them... I ended up finding a little box on a ribbon that looked like an ornament but had chocolate bells inside. I passed them out at the end of class and they seemed thrilled -Mission Accomplished.

I did get a couple more rows knit on my ripple/wave scarf - here's a quick snapshot of the progress.

It'll look better once it's finished and 

I've blocked it (that gets it wet and stretches it out) 

Continuing on our James Bond movie watching, we're now up to Licence to Kill (1989) with Timothy Dalton. While watching the Living Daylights (1987), the first movie with Timothy Dalton, I could see why many fans didn't like him that much but then I also didn't like that movie very much. Licence to Kill was actually pretty good. Being a bit of a Pierce Brosnan fan I'm kinda looking forward to Golden Eye(1995).

Winter in Vancouver isn't so fun. Oh sure it's mild and all that but we go for days with grey skies. I'd much rather have -19 degrees celsius and bright blue skies with the sun shining than have +8 degrees and the grey skies. And it's not the rain that gets me (lots of people complain about the rain) - for me, it's the darkness. All the lights have to be on in the house all day because it's dark. And some days it's been so dark my Christmas lights on dawn/dusk timers go off at 2:30 in the afternoon! See? It's not just me that thinks it's too dark, the electronic sensors do too!

So.. why am I telling you this, only because if you have the same type of weather, you'll appreciate this pick-me-up:

See that happy dish? That was our dinner last night  - Pina Colada Shrimp and Rice. YUM. It's shrimp and pineapple and coconut and yellow peppers and green onions. Not only is it yummy but it helps put a little summer into winter! Try it, you might like it!

Done!

7:30 Sunday night and I am finished all the gifts I wanted to make that needed to be mailed. Now anything I start making is either for someone locally, something for my shop or something for me.

And speaking of my shop - two good things happened to me last week. One, a friend of mine with 5500 friends promo'd me on her facebook page. That's nice exposure. I am very grateful. And second, I received an invitation to join EtsyBABY which is an exclusive group that promotes shops specializing in baby items. Being part of EtsyBaby gives me more exposure to my shop and they profile items and promote their members, as well, it's not so easy to get in so getting an invitation is a good thing. I am very grateful and very excited. As soon as I wrap and mail my out-of-town gifts tomorrow, I will start working on my MustHaveThat Etsy store (see right side bar for the link) and figure out a game plan. I have some very good advice to follow from my Number 1 fan - my brother and from Leonie Dawson who offers several how-to business course and planners etc  - so  definitely have my work cut out for me.

 I am very pleased to have completely my hand-made Christmas gifts "on schedule" and look forward to some 'free' time. I say free in quotes, because it's really stuff that I should put first but always struggle with as I always let the minutia of daily life get in the way. If ever I had a resolution that would be it. To make time for creative time NO MATTER WHAT. Which is kinda what I did to finish this last project, I neglected some housework and cut back on the baking/cooking as I had to get that last gift done.

I have also finished shopping  - unless I have forgotten someone - so I am feeling positive about the next 2 weeks.

How about you? Do you celebrate Christmas? 

Are you on schedule for gifts and preparations? 

Costco Hot Dogs

Jp's been spending some extra time with our nephew lately and so the other day he picked the nephew and The Kidd and started driving, he never tells us where we're going and The Kidd knows not to guess, but when he pulled into the Costco parking lot the nephew thought they were going shopping. Wrong. The were going for the hot dogs and sundaes, and after their meal they got up to leave and the nephew says "did we just come here to eat?" and The Kidd said "yup, get used to it" LOL.

Jp likes dancing to the beat of his own drum! His son is used to dad doing things a bit differently. And I think he likes it too.

I guess most people don't got to Costco just for dinner? 
Have you? 

Photo credit: link here

Office Supply Roundup!

If you like office supplies as much as I do, check out this compilation - but don't blame me if your credit card bill goes through the roof this month!!!

And, if you get some of these beautifully designed items, will you be more inclined to sit at your desk and get your taxes done?

So - what will it be?

A new stapler? Pencil holder? Labels? Notebook?

All of the above?

What's your weakness?

My Favourite Computer Accessory

I know it doesn't look like much. It isn't. It's a keyboard. But it's not any keyboard, it's Apple's Bluetooth keyboard and it makes typing on my iPhone or iPad so much easier and faster. I used to get frustrated with the iPhone because I'd get words typed wrong and it's hard to hold that slippery little thing and type fast all at the same time, and I guess my fingers are bigger than most people and blah, blah, blah.

But with the keyboard - I just start typing and the device reacts and it's fast and efficient and makes it so much easier to reply or send messages. Consider this my product review and endorsement! It's my favourite computer accessory. What's yours?

Say "cheese"

For all you foodies out there, you've heard time and again about how important good ingredients are so let me tell you about a very special place called the Golden Ears CheeseWorks in Maple Ridge  - oh my goodness!!!

So very delicious. Beautiful and scrumptious cultured butter, smooth flavour Quark, mild Gouda. We picked up a baguette (if we had time, I would have made the bread) and had butter and cheese and bread for dinner. Yum-my!!!

Besides the beautiful store and property and the terrific products on their shelves is the staff - family members helping to run the business. Sadly it's been a long time since I've met a passionate business person but boy does it make a difference. It's enjoyable (and lucrative for them) to be in the presence of people passionate about what they do and it shows in the quality of their products.

Another delicious destination to add to our regular shopping circuit!

Mini Vacation 2012

I'm back from a mini-vacation - 3 days in downtown Vancouver - it's been a while since we've had the time to leisurely stroll through the various areas so we started on West 4th and Broadway and over then next two days walked  Robson Street, Pacific Centre, Harbour Centre, Sinclair Centre, Gastown, Davie Street. It was interesting to see how much has changed over the years and semi-shocking to see so many vacant retail units there were, especially in the malls.

Harbour Centre from our balcony

Looking down from our balcony

We also took the SeaBus to North Vancouver and toured around the Lonsdale Quay where we  found some yummy places for dinner. We actually had other plans for dinner but it looked and smelled so good we couldn't resist! We started with a very fresh prawn cocktail at Screaming Mimi's and then had some brisket with mashed potatoes and gravy at Sharky's Chop House. Mmm MMmmm. I finished with a bubble tea and bought some fresh chocolate chip cookies for a late night hotel snack.

Fresh Fish and Seafood at the Quay

At breakfast there was some yummy dark coloured cheese in my omelet, intrigued we asked the server about it and she sent the chef over with a sample - it was Guinness Cheddar and boy was it delicious, especially melted in an omelet! Have you had it?

Then later while sitting in the Mexician restaurant, La Casita in Gastown, I accidentally made eye contact with a woman walking by - well she started yelling about "why couldn't you just leave it alone? You know his face was burnt! Why couldn't you leave it alone?" and on and on. She yelled at me through the window of the restaurant and then went around to the front and opened the door and yelled at me some more, then spied a bottle of hot sauce on a nearby table and squirted it in my direction. As soon as I realized my mistake of being caught looking at her, I didn't look at her or in her direction again.  It's one of those things that you can't undo once it's been started. I had my back to the door when she came in the restaurant but I just sat there and did not turn around as I didn't want to agitate her any more. I just kept an eye on the restaurant staff to see if I needed to duck or anything. Since no one else did anything about it(I guess they managed not to make eye contact), she soon moved on as quickly as she came - like a big ol' hot sauce spraying gust of wind!

We lucked out by having sun for the first two days, but then we were hit with snow/rain which made for a very chilly walk back to our hotel. It's a good thing we had a late checkout  - I had time to take a warm bath and change into dry/warm clothes before heading home.

The gas fireplace is the main heat source in our house so we turned it off while we were away, but because of this and because we don't have a furnace our house was down to 13 degrees C when we came home. Brr. That takes a while to heat back up again. Thank goodness for our  mattress heater.

Eco had a great time at the neighbours and now we're back to life as it always is - doing laundry and cooking and cleaning and working.... (sigh) it's good to be home.

5 Bags Full

With all the talk of clutter clearing these days, many people admit that they feel so much better once it's all done and over with, and I have to agree. With the help of Jp, I went through everything in my closet, tried everything on, showed it to him and looked at in a full length mirror and did our own version of "What Not to Wear"  discarding FIVE  bags of clothes!

Here they are:

I wanted to quit when I finished my shirts/blouses, he encouraged me to continue.
I wanted to quite when I finished pants/skirts, but he encouraged me to continue.
He helped me bag them up and I took them to the thrift store the next day so there was no going back.  I couldn't have done it alone. If you have to do this type of project - I encourage you to get a helper. You've seen all those shows, many of us need someone to support us in our end goal as it's easy to want to change the rules part way through.

My clothes are no longer crammed together making everything wrinkly. And now I can find everything and know that everything fits and looks decent on me. I truly am happy with less choices but I still have lots of clothes!

And we've learned a lesson  - most of the clothes came from three stores (!) and I bought many without trying them on, or too quickly. So when it's time to buy I must try it on and I must really, really, really like it - no more "it's all right" clothes.

Stationery

I don't know if this still occurs today, but years ago when I worked in offices, it was often quite a thrill amongst the girls when the stationery catalogue arrived. Some girls just love office supplies - I have no idea why (and I'm one of them).

There are definitely some great pieces out there, but many come from US companies and by the time they arrive in Canada the costs can be quite high - I once ended up paying something like $70 extra for shipping/duty/customs etc for a binder and some notebooks from a US supplies - which made it super expensive and prohibited me from cross-border shopping these types of products again (unless I was there in person). Over the past couple of years, I've only 'pretend shopped' at places like the Container Store or Russell + Hazel.

So I was thrilled today to get an email that the Canadian office supply company Staples was now carrying Martha Stewart Office products. Usually I don't really like paying extra for celebrity  products -but there are some great pieces in this collection and they aren't that expensive, especially since the nearest supply store is less than 5k away! Check it out, my friends! Also included in her collection, the hottest pattern in home decor  - shagreen!!! This is a pattern that mimics shark or stingray skin and it's showing up everywhere!!!!

Time to empty my little piggy bank and pretty up my office space!

Costco Shopping Adventure

Raise your hand if you've gone into Costco for something very specific and then left, $200 later, and still don't have the item.

(raises hand)

yeah, that's what I though....

I'm doing better, thanks

Thanks to some great counselling sessions with my brother, and doing some 'home study" I am feeling better. I went to my doctor to find out if some of the things I was feeling were physiological, physical or what. He did requisition some tests for me to get.

Also we had a gas technician come by our house and look at our gas fireplace - because we were getting carbon build-up on the outside of the unit. He said that we most likely were also getting carbon monoxide escaping. That's also scary and may have been the cause of some of my winter headaches. He's coming back in a few days to fully clean up and get 'er nice and efficient for next winter. One more thing off the list. 

We also buzzed into Vancouver on Saturday and did some shopping at Mountain Equipment Co-Op as I was looking for a new rain jacket ( we sure need that these days). On the way home we stopped for Japanese food. I've been eating sushi for 20+ years but had stopped lately because the food in the last couple of restaurants we had been to had no flavour. Have you noticed that too? So instead, we had been enjoying the local Vietnamese restaurant which has wonderful, flavourful food. Anyway this restaurant  was very good. So good I can't wait to go back. And there was plenty of food for the price as well.  

So all in all, I'm trying to stay positive, and to stay present and not let work things get to me. I'm doing more yoga and working more on my dance. Being physical really seems to help . And,thanks for your support and care, I so much appreciate it. I hope you had a great weekend too. 

Last Week's Yarn Purchases

Last Friday I went to the Abbotsford Fibreswest show and picked up a few skeins of wool. I decided I'd either knit socks or use patterns from One Skein Wonders - Luxury Yarn or One Skein Wonders - Sock Yarn especially because right now I just want quick, short knitting projects.

Here's what I bought:

Malbrigo (already gave it away so I don't know more details), Araucania Ranco Multy,
Madelinetosh Sock - Iceburg, Online Super Sock Yarn

Madeline Tosh Sock Yarn - Moss, Aslan Trends - Royal Alpaca -Palm, 

Malabrigo Lace Baby Merino-Green 203, Malabrigo Uruguay Superwash Merino Sock 

Ancient Threads Farm - Sockittomme, Aslan Trends - Royal Alpaca, 

Malabrigo - Silky Merino - Forest 470. 

As you can see, I've already wound some of them into cakes so I can get started right away. And yes, I gave up on the "2010 Craft Challenge" of not buying any new yarns.

And while we're taking about shopping, I also acquired this purse last week. I wanted something a little more spring-like instead of my black leather purse:

It's made out of hemp, I bought it on Etsy, it usually looks taupe, but more frequently is seems to be on the purplish side. Believe it or not, the yarn in the top photo second from the left looks quite good with it, so I think I'll be making a light scarf or shawl to wear with this purse.

Next I hope you'll be able to follow along as I knit up these fabulous yarns!

Daiso Fun

Yesterday I drove Jp to the Vancouver Airport but as we drove, it became obvious that I was not going to turn around and jump into the long line-ups, if you're familiar with Vancouver then you will understand that I wasn't too eager to be part of this: Hwy 99 backed up from the Oak Street Bridge to the tunnel.

So I hit Yaohan Centre and Daiso (sorry Carol and Cynthia).

The main reason was to get some little lunch boxes/bento boxes for my brother. You see every Wednesday he caters lunch to my sister-in-law and her staff at the office. He's always coming up with some creative ideas including buzzing a loaf of warm bread up the office on his scooter. We thought it would be fun to get some little Japanese lunch boxes, so I picked him up a selection of boxes and bags and other little ornaments, and sauce containers etc. I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it all up for the post, but perhaps he'll share a finished lunch photo with us.

Here are some of the items I picked up for myself:

I can't speak Japanese and I totally respect people who can speak/read/write more than one language but I very much enjoy the translations on the packages, how about these:
- Useful cute pattern sticker
- Sewing sweet holiday - what shall we make?
- Funny Stamp. What a cute & fun shape. The design of this shape is as bellows. Please it never licks and do not put it in the mouth though ink is harmless.
- This item is an eraser. Pay attention never children put it into the mouth
- Do not put sharp stuff into it,it may cause breakage. If got dirty, hand-wash it with neutral detergents and dry well. Avoid using drying machine. Spread out and dry well in the shade.
- Only use for writing instrument. The dropping or throwing of pen may cause ink leakage. Avoid ink contact with clothing - hard removal and causes of discoloration.

Nothing too hilarious, but still fun, no? 

Bizarre Bazaar

So yesterday I headed into Vancouver for a bazaar  I wanted to check out. First I was very disappointed to see it was in such a tiny hall. Man I drove for almost an hour and a half for 10 vendors - that sucked.

Then most vendors didn't have prices on their items so I had to constantly wait my turn and then say "how much? how much?". But the worst was the fact that many vendors didn't know how to talk to more than one person at at time. In fact, in one shop's section, the proprietor was so busy finding the perfect outfit for another customer that she pushed me out of the way not once, but twice. After the second time, I stopped looking and moved on to other sellers.

I ended up buying from a seller that had everything well marked and had lots of helpers that made the purchasing easy and that I could communicate with. People let me tell you that these items were not cheap - they wanted a lot of money for their products, but they almost seemed like they didn't want to part with them! I'm sure some of them will blame the buyers or the venue or the advertising on why they weren't successful but really they had only themselves to blame.

Oh well, I still found some great items and one of the booths so I suppose the big trip was worth it after all.

Gift Ideas

July is Birthday month around here, but I certainly wouldn't give this to any of my friends - check out this idea Gift-A-Hint.

So you like the person enough to give them a gift; but you don't like them enough to give them something nice? Hmm, what do you think?Am I missing the point? Help me......

A Story

So I'm at Safeway in the express lane around 9pm on Wednesday night. I put my few items from my basket on the belt behind a big buff guy who's next to go through the cashier. As she's processing his stuff a young 20-ish girl swoops in front of me. First I assume she's with the guy - they looked like they belonged together, so I don't think anything of it. Then because she's got her back to me and is leaning towards the cashier, I think she just wants a price check on a pair of glasses which were in her hand. Then she tells the cashier that my goods which are about to be run through aren't hers, so I think she's either wanting a price check or she's a Safeway store employee who quickly needs to run something through the cashier.

Nope.

She was actually purchasing 3 items! I asked the cashier when she had left if the girl worked at the store, and the cashier confirmed she had never seen the girl and an employee should not do that.

So yep, you guessed it.

She just brazenly butted in front of me and bought stuff. My mind went through a gamut of emotions and I tried to be Zen about it. And maybe those who are used to shopping in the big cities are used to this kind of stuff. But this was a new one for me in this little town, on a quiet weekday night at a sleepy little grocery store.

After I finish typing this I will let this story go from my mind, but I just wanted to tell the story and prepare you so you are not surprised by this kind of behaviour as I was.

Jeans Day

I guess my husband got tired of looking at my ass in saggy-ass jeans, so we when we ended up in a store selling them - guess what happened? Oh, you don't know? Okay I'll tell you - I tried on about 30 pairs of jeans and ended up buying 8. I know 8 pairs of jeans - but darn it if I'm going to go through all that work putting them on and taking them off, then I might as well just buy them! The good news was that I'm down a size - that's why so many of my jeans looked baggy! Yay! The bad news is the chunk-o-dough I spent. I'm going to try to forget about that and just enjoy not having frumpy jeans! Yay me!