happy monday everyone! thank you so much for the enthusiasm, encouragement and the sweet comments! so here are the winners for our first giveaway:
hello friends. this post may be a little long, only because there is so much to tell you. we enjoyed our workshop on sunday so much. having our brunch at the palmerston was so convenient because it was literally a few seconds away from bookhou.
now bookhou i have only seen in pictures, but seeing it in person was just amazing. and it was such a beautiful sunday morning too that the sunlight seemed to make the entire store glow. i loved everything about it: the "gallery feel", the products, arounna's work/craft space, the artwork.
teehee. i've been tagged by q's daydream!
merci buckets! i luuurv surveys. harhar.
What are the last three things you purchased?
fabric, fabric & fabric.
What are the last three songs you downloaded?
songs by lily allen & stars.
What are the last three places you visited?
california (sf, monterrey, l.a), ottawa, quebec.
one day i would like to add european countries to that:
france, u.k, germany, italy, austria spain
What are your three favorite movies?
breakfast at tiffany's, eternal sunshine, gosford park, sabrina (julia ormond one), when harry met sally, annie hall, to name a few.
What are your three favorite possessions.
my sewing machine :), my vintage smith-corona corsair typewriter from john, my moon river 45 record
What three things can you not live without?
COFFEE, my laptop (which is close to dying even if it's only 2 years old), l'amour. cheesy but true. :)
What would be your three wishes?
to be in the same country, city, house one day with john :), to live in france, to be sooooo bilingual and fluent in french that i get a french accent when i speak english. AHAHA.
What three things haven’t you done yet?
live in france.
learn how to swim.
travel everywhere with john.
What are your three favorite dishes?
my bran cereal with bananas, buttery mashed potatoes, grilled vegetable sandwiches.
Which three celebrities would you most like to hang out with?
sigh, if i could only have hung out with audrey hepburn. which we would do in a really classy way.
clive owen. hehe.
and that is all. i can't think of any other celebrities i would like to hang out with.
Name three things that freak you out?
insects, especially earwigs. rodents. sleep paralysis (which happens when i've had too much caffeine or when i'm very stressed).
Name three unusual things you are good at.
hm. i can't do anything unusual. all i know is that i have monkey arms.
according to my sister i'm the best person to go to a concert with. one of her reasons is because i can dance funny without looking weird.
Which three things are you coveting?
anything by philip lim (argh argh argh), long hair (only because my hair is at the ugly growing out stage. i have to grow it for winter because it gets really cold), and the perfect pair of pumps.
Name three bloggers you are tagging.
only if you want to be tagged :)
john
giscelle
rebecca
*
i had a very productive weekend.
saturday i had a meeting for TRENDS. the kickoff event is really soon and i feel unprepared! at least i know what to wear already. hehe.
for those who are wondering what TRENDS is, it's a club that was started by teenaged girls a few years ago. getting tired of all the lewd and revealing clothing that was being made available to teenaged girls, they started this club to revolutionize the fashion world and to help the way girls see themselves, as women of value and of dignity. it's still a tiny organiztion, but it's got chapters in vancouver, montreal, ottawa, and toronto :) and because it's still sort of starting out in Toronto, we need a bit of funding, hence the fundraiser/intro event on Saturday. we thought doing an "everything under $10 event" would be a good way to get girls to come and learn more about TRENDS and raise a bit of money at the same time. i found a lot of clothes that i haven't worn in years. some from club monaco, zara and the gap. i found some jeffrey campbell and aldo flats and lots of purses from aldo. aaaaand...lots of american eagle shirts. muahaha. nothing wrong with american eagle (to some people, anyway) but i went through an insane phase when i bought all things american eagle.
any insane phases YOU went through?
all black? all white? what else?
afterwards i went to fabricland. i am now an official member of fabricland. hehe. which means 25% or 50% discounts on all fabrics. because of this, i was able to buy 3 yards of 3 kinds of fabric, two of which are taffeta (awesomeness) and this lightweight, thin denim, and some lace. i want to make some blair waldorf-esque clothes. hehe.
i also bought more felt for more softies and cards. unfortunately it's not wool felt. i don't know where to get them here in toronto.
i was going to go to the workroom afterwards but felt so tired.
this whole weekend i felt so tired. granted i baked 50+ cupcakes yesterday but it shouldn't make me feel as if i've run a marathon. my muscles hurt and i have no energy.
anyhoo...have a happy monday everyone! i am enjoying hot spring rolls & shortbread cookies (from london! hehe and they are yummy) courtesy of co-workers.
today i searched high and low on etsy for the perfect black pumps, heeled oxfords & heeled loafer type shoes.
the ones that i found were either:
* too pricey or
* well priced, but shipping is killer or
* not my size :(
the last one was always the case.
after work today i went to h&m and zara found that the shoes were either:
* too pricey
* too HIGH.
i'm not a very tall person, but if i were to wear these heels, i will definitely be towering over people. and when i tower over people, for some reason i feel like a guy. hmmm.
i also went looking for fabric.
queen street past spadina has lots of fabric stores. thimble has a nice post on where to shop for fabric in toronto. anyhoo, i went into one and was overwhelmed by all the fabric. the store was practically bursting at the seams (hardeehar). there was a particular linen one that i liked with simple circles outlined in black (it looked almost like it was by echino, which is by the way one of my favorites) but it was $20 per yard. ack.
i don't know why i was being so cheap today. everything was expensive to me, which was weird considering that today was payday.
i'll have to hit up the thrift store again to look for some shoes. the best heels are the ones from thrift stores anyway, since they're neither trendoid nor overpriced. and the heels are just right :)
my lymph nodes are quite swollen and it scared me when i felt the little lumps last night.
according to my sister's soon to be nurse boyfriend, it's a sign that i will be getting sick soon.
yikes.
tomorrow:
* i have another TRENDS meeting to for the kickoff event which will be next week. which means attendance is mandatory, lymph nodes and all.
the kickoff event should be exciting. i'm planning to buy little tags and twine for price tags.
* i will continue my fabric shopping at
1) fabricland. i want to buy some more knits. i made a dress off of wendy mullin's sew u home
stretch, and i have to say that it was so easy to do. i can see myself wearing it again and again. and it is for that reason that i should get cracking with more dresses.
2) the workroom! for more fat quarters
i cannot wait for:
* don giovanni
* my package of japanese fabric from matatabi to arrive
* john :)
so i finally finished off amy's birthday card. it needs improvement, but i was pleased that everyone liked it and didn't see the flaws as my mother did hehe. and i can't wait to start on making a few more as backup birthday cards. i'also planning to make gift tags with the same cupcake.
* to live like this
from here
their pictures together always make me smile because they're oozing and radiating happiness and love for each other. le sigh. it makes me want to hug john.
* these cute vintage looking valises. perhaps for old letters.
from here
* a vintage fan, comme ceci
from here
it won't be living out its purpose in life though (i don't think i'd want it to anyway...its blades look really lethal). if i had one it would sit prettily on my shelf, with the rest of my non-operational things.
this "hobby" of acquiring things solely for aesthetic reasons is something i got from my mother. she once bought a huge, beautiful glass jar (with a wooden lid). in it were the most delicious looking biscotti. we weren't allowed to eat it. it sat for the longest time on our baker's rack. i wonder if, like wine, it improves with time. probably not. i guess this could be said for a lot of things too: bath oils (the ones that come in balls...those always fascinated me. not the balls but the bath oils, hardeehar) in decorative bowls that never hit the bathtub. jars of jelly in the pantry (too pretty and good to use). what else?
my room holds objects of obsoleteness:
* a typewriter sans ribbon (i tracked down a typewriter store in toronto but they have no ribbons specific to my typewriter)
* a teapot that i snagged from the neighborhood thrift store (this was more expensive than the pair of shoes that i bought with it!)
* holga and polaroid cameras (one has never been used, the other is broken. sigh. poor arthur)
* and the newest addition, a cake stand that my aunt purchased for me from a store in niagara on the lake.
hello hello
un petit update
* i graduated. booyah. but i didn't think it was this scary. unless a) you're doing masters/doctorate/teacher's college in the fall or b) you've made the conscious decision to not do anything with your degree...being done school may leave you a bit vulnerable to adults...because like any typical 30+ man or woman, the question that they follow your little "i just graduated" announcement is always: "what are you planning to do now?" and you can tell when they're not satisfied with your reply. i hate it because i don't really know what i want to do...with my undergrad degree that is. i wanted to get into teaching but changed my mind last year. it wouldn't be fair to my teaching charges if their teacher just used teaching as a resort.
* went to the ballet avec alice who i haven't seen since our last gno. it was a lot of fun. like totally immature prepubescent guys
* went to a wedding reception, my first one in years. this one was a chinese one so it had a 10 course meal...of which i only ate 5? i didn't eat the fish, the lobster and of course the vegetables. i ate jellyfish though thinking it was noodles. haha.
* totally had a sex and the city moment avec Brandon (who is not straight by the way), by taking the cab around downtown as if it was manhattan. haha.
* john finally bought his ticket for his every-3-months visit. hehe.
i am happy to say that i got what i wanted ever since i saw it online:
today i made a journal cover (again) for john. this time i added a pocket and a pen holder:
and that is all.teehee.
nehoo...i'm going to be taking 5 classes at the workroom and cannot wait. i'll be learning how to
make a tote
make an a-line skirt
sew up zippered pouches
transform men's dress shirts into a more feminine shirt
and make a pattern of a favorite shirt and try making one just like it (the class is called knock it off)
tomorrow raiya and i finally get to decorate the cookies we baked last week!
(i met bonnie gordon...she's not the friendliest person in the world, i'll have to admit)
and vendredi, sex and the city avec les trois. yes, it wasn't given a good rating, the hype is gone, but who cares.
last movie i saw in the theater was omg...across the universe with john. and that was last october! yikes. and it was the most boring movie in the whole world. it's something that you have to watch all drugged up. like alice in wonderland.
i've been commissioned to make a birthday card. hopefully it turns out well. i'm being paid with cookies. hehe.
i've been anti-social lately. hence the crafting.
here is an attempt at making a more girly card. jolie is pretty for french. i thought it would make a good card for a baby shower. it needs tweaking. 
all the stitches are done by hand...but i won't have to do it anymore because...
i finally got a sewing machine! some people ask for cars or money or whatnot as a graduation present...i asked for a sewing machine. hehe. i've been dying to get one.
defective dresses. hehe.
another girly card. it definitely needs more work. the stitches are all hand sewn once again.
so excited to use them!
