It’s a new year.

Normally, I don’t pay much attention to the passing of a year, more than send out a little hope and a prayer that the next one will be a good one.

But this year, I heeded the passing a little more than usual.

I didn’t do anything particularly special – we went to our good friends house and had southern food (biscuits, gravy, black eyed peas and collards! – traditional good luck foods in the south) then played Super Mario Bros Wii, and mercilessly mocked the teeny hoppers on New years Rockin Eve.

But the years passing could palpably be felt. If only because, where so many others claimed to have had a tough, miserable year, I had the best year of my life.

I swam all summer. I made my own beer. I crafted up a storm. I saw my friends on a regular basis. I made new friends. I hung out with my lovely family. I partied. I threw parties. I wore cute oufits. I grew my hair long. Liam learned to make delicious homemade bread. I went to the opera…

I got married!

I went to Paris!

It’s not like we didn’t have any problems, any hardships to bear. Liam did lose his job, afterall.

But somehow, we were able to overcome it all this year in ways both simple and small, and huge and overwhelming.

And I felt last years passing with trepidation. Worry that this new year can’t possibly be as wonderful as the last one.

We are brining our first turkey, and it does look rather pretty (as Nigella’s Christmas cookbook said it would). I’ve never made one before, but since they were on sale, and I got a big honking roasting pan for a wedding present, I figured: why not?

In other less pleasant new, as you could tell from my tweetings, we have Christmas mice! Not as cute as it sounds, I’m afraid.

Thankfully we have a house full of (now) seasoned mouse hunters, and have caught and released all the creatures we’ve found so far.

Also thankfully, they seem to solely be living in our lower kitchen cupboards, which store mostly cookware and well sealed pantry goods.

The little buggers were smart enough to claw through the plaster in the exact right sliver of a spot on the wall, which was not covered in wood, and would give them entrance to our cupboards.

They were not, however, smart enough to choose a house wihout 3 resident cats.

Yesterday, we took a little wedding related day-trip. We went to Guelph to visit the Biltmore hat company – one of the last places in North America still making gentlemen’s hats the old fashioned way, and have been doing so since World War One.

We went to the factory outlet there, and got a pretty good deal on a beautiful little pork-pie for Liam’s wedding ensemble. In case you were wondering (and I just know you were) Liam is a 7 and 1/8 hat size.

While we were there we also tried on various fedoras, trilbys, bowlers, ten-gallons, newsboys, and boaters! Fun!

I’ve been meaning to post a review of my lovely Moop bag for, pretty much ever (I even took pictures – note the Christmas tree in the background).

After a (literally) lifetime long search for the perfect bag, I think I finally found it. It’s the “tote” from Moop.

Most bags these days are way too big, shoddily made, ridiculously bedazzled, horrifying coloured, and slide right off your shoulder. Darn females and their eschewing practicality for fashion!

Anyways, this bag is none of these things. It’s pretty much perfect. Well made, functional and design – as opposed to fashion – oriented. Because it’s practical instead of trendy, I think I’m going to be able to use it for years to come. But it’s stylish too, I think, in a industrial, utilitarian kinda way.

Best of all, it has all these wonderful little organizational pockets on the inside – one for your wallet, one for your cellphone, one for a pen, one for a book, one for a notebook, and a little ring to clip your keys on.

The attention to detail is really quite amazing – all the seams are reinforced, all the hardware is coordinated, the cell phone pocket even fits my iPhone like a glove!

The added practicality of having tote straps in a addition to an over the shoulder strap – well, it’s genius, really. It makes grabbing it on the go super simple, but taking it out for a hike or long day on public transportion just as do-able.

My only recommendation would be that if you get something in the corded canvas, it picks up a bit of cat hair. I got black, and I have kitties with white fur – I should have gotten gray, but I’m digging black these days. So I’ve resigned myself to a lifetime of lint rolling.

Other than that, it’s held up pretty darn well to regular use for the past few months. It still looks brand new (minus the cat hair).

Highly recommended!

I grew catnip in my little deck-top herb garden this summer, and though it is long dead, it still attracts kitties from across the neighborhood.

Our little ones are very territorial though. They hate all other kitty visitors. I am usually alerted to a friend at the back door by crying, screaming, or even occasionally a hiss.

This just makes the whole thing more entertaining for me, of course.

If our small, furry guest looks friendly, I go out to give it a few pats, and maybe even let everyone share a treat (which definitely helps to calm the kitty anxiety – I think this tactic works well for small, furry children as well).

So, yesterday, as we were sitting at the dentist, word started spreading on Twitter that LeVar Burton was hosting a tweetup at a bar in Yorkville.

Since Liam had the afternoon off due to dentistry, we started talking about it – how it might be interesting to go.

Liam was a huge Trekkie as a kid, as were most of his friends growing up in Thunder Bay, so he was all for going. I on the other hand waffled for little while. While I was certainly familiar with Star Trek (though never self identified as a fan) I was definitely a Reading Rainbow fangirl:

If you knew me as a child you know one thing for certain: My nose was in a a book 90 percent of the time. Watching Reading Rainbow made me feel a little more normal about my love of literature.

Suddenly, I realized that the little kindergartner inside of me would pretty much black out at the opportunity to meet one of her heroes. I had to do it.

So we went.

And it was amazing.

LeVar is pretty much one of the kindest, most genuine, most attentive celebrities I’ve ever met. He made time for everyone in the room. I was able to tell him how much I appreciated what he’d created in Reading Rainbow, and he really seemed pleased to hear it.

This all probably sounds silly to most of you, but he pretty much fulfilled a childhood fantasy for me, and I’m still floating around today, on a little bit of a high.

So here’s my advice to you: if you ever get the opportunity to do something you wanted to do as a child, but may have thought you outgrown: don’t think twice, do it! Your inner child will be eternally grateful.

Ok, so I never managed to get those recipes up – and they are coming, I promise, but I have been distracted by my birthday present – which finally got here at the begining of the week, and on which I am writing this very moment.

That thing is, my friends, an iPhone.

Yes, yes I have become one of those people.

To be fair, our contracts had run out, and Liam got a great deal – although I did tell him there was no need for something so extravagant.

But here it is, the precious little thing, and I already love it dearly.

So thank you to my boy. You figured out my hearts desire, even when I myself didn’t know what that was.

Today is the second incarnation of a new holiday here in Ontario: Family day. Which is actually a pretty nice reason to have a holiday. And we have kinda needed a holiday around here. Turns out getting engaged makes you a hot commodity. We haven’t had a weekend to ourselves since before Christmas!

It was my birthday this week, so we actually had a family day yesterday – my mom, dad, brother, sister and her boyfriend came over and we all had delicious exotic takeout (Pakistani curries, kebabs, nan, and handmade kulfi!). Living next to Little India is pretty awesome.

As a birthday present they also did a bit of a revamp to my bathroom – my dad built some much needed shelving (we actually have a place to put towels now!) and replaced a broken light fixture. I sewed up a cute, stripey shower curtain earlier in the week, so it’s starting to get pretty nice in there. Pretty soon I’ll be able to show it off, I think.

This week is going to be a bit of a whirlwind too. We’re throwing ourselves an engagement party, and all our nearest and dearest friends (who happen to live nearby) are going to be showing up on Saturday night – so everything’s gotta be ready for 20-30 people cramming into our little apartment (hence the home-improvement).

We’re also trying to get our “wedsite” up and running – but all we’ve been running into are technical difficulties, unfortunately.

So, in the meantime, I’m posting my little invitation graphic.

I wasn’t sure I’d want, or need a traditional wedding registry.

We’ve been together 6 years, and have accumulated and inherited pretty much everything we need in that time, and it just seemed like an unnecessary extravagance.

But then, after six years things start to get a bit creaky and precarious, you realize the cheap stuff you got from Ikea as a student should more accurately be looked at as a placeholders, than anything with permanence.

In other words: our dishes are chipped, our towels are mismatched and faded, and our cutlery is bent and tarnished.

It’s time to invest in things that don’t come out of a boxed set for under 20 bucks. Things that, ideally weren’t mass-produced in China or for Ikea.

Being able to register for things now is a god-send – I’m old enough and wise enough know what I really need this time around, and what’s actually going to last me. I’ve already done all the research.

I just blow past the “bridal checklists” and overly-helpful, commission-getting salespeople and march right towards what I actually need, zap it with the gun thingy, and onto the registry it goes.

This time, I’m getting white bone china, 18/10 stainless flatware, and Egyptian cotton sheets.

And I don’t feel weird about it. We’ve been together, struggling for so long, it’s going to feel so nice to finally come home to nice things, things we’ll get to use for the rest of our lives together.

I’m happiest that Crate and Barrel has finally come to Canada. I know in the States that registering there is kinda cliche – but man alive! There’s a pretty good reason for that! They have the most awesome, well designed things! They have picked out all the very best, sturdiest, sexiest stuff – OXO gadgets, Marimeko tablecloths, Wustoff Knives, All Clad cookware.

You don’t know what the registry landscape was like before they arrived (just in the nick of time for me, I might add): here in Canada we have one department store (the Bay) with a very staid, very old fashioned selection of items – and that’s pretty much it. Although, I may still register there for sheets and towels, as C&B has a limited selection – and I might like a Hudson’s Bay Point Blanket – which is lovely, and a traditional item for Canadian brides (my own parents have one they received 30 years ago when they were married – and it’s still kicking around in great condition).

Interested in what I registered for? Well, I’m getting dishes called “Halo”, flatware called “Dune”, and a kitchen knife made to Samurai Sword standards.

What? Nerdy? Us? Never…

1. Braved the Snowpocalypse (Snowmaggedon?) to go to my cousins wedding all the way in Welland.

   It was beautiful. Or I assume it was. It took 4 hours to do a 1 hour drive, so we kinda missed the ceremony. We totally rocked the reception though.

2. Avoided the malls like the plague

   Bought or made homemade presents instead.

3. Finished Gears of War II on co-op.

   Sometimes, I like to shoot stuff. This is going to come in handy this year, I think. As stress reliever, I mean.

4. Received my favourite Christmas Present ever: unpasteurized CHEESE!

   Seriously.

   I like cheese. Plus the unpasturized stuff is not really legal here in Ontario. So there’s the added sexy-danger element.

5. Had a nervous breakdown in William Ashely.

   Registries are stressful.

   Bone china? A thousand dollars a place setting? Really? And I need 16 place settings? What?

6. Had an epiphany in Crate and Barrel.

   Registries are wonderful!

   As are stores with beautiful, well designed, edited, reasonably priced house wares (including gorgeous bone china – which is the sturdiest thing you can get, so you should use it for your everyday dishes).

7. Bought Liam new shoes.

   They’re grey checkered high top Vans. They’re pretty cute.

8. Tested out champagne cocktails with friends over New Years.

   Verdict: cheaper is better. Win-win!

9. Built a wedding website.

   Wedsite?

   I dunno. A place on the interweebz to put weddingy crap. It turned out pretty nice. It will launch soon (as soon as Liam puts his copy writing skillz to work and fills in all the blanks).

10. Had poutine.

    Mine was Montreal style with smoked meat, mustard and a pickle. I thought it was pretty good, but I see what people are getting at with the gravy. It had a strong sage flavour, but I like that in a gravy, so I was cool with it.

11. Bought flannel sheets.

    This is a bigger deal than it sounds: Good quality flannel sheets in the winter are one of the best investments you will can make: seriously, they will change, and simultaneously rock your world. Just make sure they aren’t the cheap stiff ones. The soft ones: they are where it’s at.

12. Were taken (for a wonderful engagement present from my sister and her boy) to Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar.

    It was amazing, and not as expensive as you’d think There were four of us, and we had 8 entrees (shared tapas style), 5 deserts, a bottle of wine and it came in under two hundred dollars.

    You can’t do that at the keg – and this was much more special.

    The black cod in particular was awesome – really fresh and wonderful, like it had just come out of the ocean. I was in love with the cheese plate – beautiful local Ontario and Quebec cheeses served with honey comb and these amazing little spiced walnuts. The fries are as good as people say they are – although actually, I think Batifole’s are just a little bit better. Just a little though.

13. Bought two wedding dresses.

    Long story.

14. Decided on a venue.

    A very nice venue indeed.

15. Made it through season one of Dexter.

    Not bad.

    Never thought I’d find a Serial Killer adorable, but, I do, I do.

(Boy, was I busy).

Sorry for the unintended holiday siesta round here, but we’ve been pretty busy wedding planning – thankfully we got a whole lot figured out.

So, I think inspiration boards (though relatively twee) are kinda handy. Just to have the visuals conceptualized and considered. So I’ve mocked one up for our big event, both to keep things coherent for me, and to give you guys a little taste of what’s to come, and what we’ve been up to over the past few weeks.

In order (from top right to bottom left ):

1. Coupe Space

   This is our likely venue. It’s pretty, in an urban, industrial kinda way. We really like the people who own it, and they also do the catering, which is going to be AMAZING. Having good food is pretty much priority number one for me, actually.

2. vintage milk glass

   I have a small collection that I inherited from my grandma, so I figure I might as well use them for floral arrangements. They’re such a beautiful bright white, and come in many interesting shapes and sizes – the contrast between them and brightly coloured flowers is quite nice. They’re going to pop in the lounge space, and make a visual reference to the bright white gallery space beyond it.

3. Olivetti Valentine typewriter

   Liam got me one of these babies for our anniversary a few years back, and it is my all time favourite (everything – typewriter, vintage find, gift, objet). I’m going to stick it out with a pretty, handmade “Rolodex” In lieu of a guest book. This is something I’ve seen in a few weddings recently, but still very appropriate for us (writers, typography fans, and mid-century enthusiasts).

4. birch bark vases

   We love birch trees – who doesn’t really, they’re gorgeous! Beyond being pretty though, they are very iconic of Northern Ontario – where Liam’s from. They’re definitely going to be a bit of a theme.

5. Lovely Design address file

   The “Rolodex” I’d like to use instead of a guest book.

6. Ban.do fascinator

   I want a fascinator, probably with a little birdcage veil. This one is pretty, and close to the right colours, but pricey. I’ll likely make my own instead.

7. my wedding ring by Kate Szabone

   You’ve likely seen this already, but it’s definitely one of my inspirations.

8. my wedding dress by JCrew

   I got it in a pale blue called “air” (so pretty) for less than half off – so for a tenth the price of your average wedding dress – which I am pretty excited about. It’s still in the mail, so fingers crossed it fits! I may embellish it a little with some ribbon, tulle and heirloom costume jewelery.

9. Dara bronze wedges by Re-Mix Vintage Shoes

   I also have some metallic flats in mind (because, well… Liam’s short), but I like these a lot, and think I would wear them again and again once the wedding was over.

10. my colours:

    My mom and sister think I have to many. I don’t really care. I’m gonna make it work.

11. A little illustration by me (note the birch tree and use of colour scheme.)

The planning.

The *dun dun duh!* wedding planning *que scream.*

No.

Really.

I’ve actually been plotting for months already. And as much as I am NOT one of those girls who’s dreamed about being a princess all my life (I’ll pause here for some light vomiting) at the moment I’m actually excited that I get to talk about my plans with people, and not just quietly simmer on the inside with ideas.

Even though I’m 26 and in this day and age that’s kinda young for marriage (or youngish, anyways) believe it or not, through some strange luck, most of my friends are already married, or at least co-habitating. So I’ve already lived vicariously through a lot of their experiences and know what to avoid (seating charts for one – they sound like a quick way to lose your mind – cocktail style reception it is then!).

Last night, we and the family went out for my sisters birthday (we had southern barbecue, because we take our food seriously as a family) and things on one side of the table (the female one of course) inevitably turned to talks of pouffy dresses and fascinators. It was really fun to just be indulgently girly for once, and dream of the possibilities.

On the way out, after dinner, my mom said that all her friends told her that we would end up not speaking by the end of this, and we both remarked on how crazy that is. We may yet end up eating our words, but my mom pretty much pledged to stay out of my way, as I pledged not to get pushed around or be emotionally blackmailed by anyone about our wedding. I wish every girl (and boy) could get together with her mom and have that conversation. Because it’s not worth it otherwise.

I don’t understand what happens to people when they start planning these things, but with the way many family interactions go while planning a wedding, it’s a wonder more people don’t just elope. I’m sooo thankful my parents are actually aware of that, and want me to have a wedding that is about me and my boy, not them and their family and friends. Frankly, it actually makes me a lot more willing to consult them and their opinions, knowing they’re so supportive of mine.

Every year, I write a Christmas list for my mom. It’s usually long so that she has options, and I still end up surprised on Christmas day (In other words: I don’t expect to receive everything on this list, just a handful of choice selections). I like to have a wide price range, with a few books, some useful things, and a few fun entertaining things just for me. This year, I’ve decided to post it here so you can all see what I’m dreaming of this year.

Maybe next year I’ll go back to illustrating all my choices like I did when I was a kid.

Cookbooks:

• Nigella’s Christmas Cookbook

  I love Nigella, and even more so her Christmas recipes.

• Cook’s Country Cookbook

  As I’ve said before, I love regional, American cooking, and the test kitchen/cooks illustrated/cooks country recipes can’t be beat.

• How To Cook Everything OR How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

  I can’t decide. But my sister has the vegetarian one, so maybe I could get the non vegetarian one and
  we could swap.

Kitchen Gadgets/Pie making supplies:

• Emile Henry Butter Bell
  Hand thown Butter Crock

  A French Butter bell/crock/keeper keeps butter fresh and room temperature so you can use it any time for baking or to spread smoothly on toast. I like them in turquoise, red or chartreuse – Le Creuset also makes a nice one, but it doesn’t have to be a specific brand.

• Emille Henry Pie Dish
  Le Creuset Pie Dish

  2 Pie Pans (again, it doesn’t have to be fancy, I’ve seen nice ones at Canadian Tire, these are just examples – something red would be nice though).

• OXO Good Grips Dough Blender

  I hear the OXO one is great – but any will do.

• OXO Good Grips Pastry Scraper

  Again, this one’s OXO, but it can really be whatever.

Crafty Things (although it’s probably a little late for things from Etsy things to ship now)

• Wildhagen Hats

  These are gorgeous handmade hats made by a local designer, and whenever I see someone wander around wearing one of them my breath is pretty much taken away. They make everyone who wears them look epically stylish and adorable. Fellow Toronto blogger Thimble recently purchased one and raved about how wonderful it is, and reminded me that I might like one someday.

• Savor
  Bunnybuttapothecary

  Delicious food themed soaps, lotions and potions from Bunnybuttapothecary and Savor.

• Boy Girl Party Typewriter Necklace

  I’d like to wear my typewriter love around my neck.

• Vintage Bakelite jewelery
  I’m just saying, if you happen to run across the stuff – even new reproductions at H&M or Forever 21 – I really like it.

Gadgets and Entertainment

• Panasonic Retro Headphones

  I must have freakishly small ear canals, because normal ear buds hurt like the dickens – if I can actually manage to get them to stay in my ears. These are much better, and very stylish and make me fondly remember my dad’s puffy old 70′s hi-fi phones. I like the green with the beige band but the whites’ nice too. I’ve actually seen these at Walmart, so I think they’re available all over now.

• De Blob for the Nintendo Wii

  You run around as an anthropomorphic paint blob literally painting a town red. Sounds like fun.

• Batman the Complete Animated Series

  Liam’s never seen it. He obviously had a deprived childhood.

• Sleeping Beauty Two Disc Platinum Edition

  The most artistically stunning of the Disney Fairy Tales, now with tons of double features, to add to my animation library.

Ok, so I know (because you’ve told me) that some of you are at this point are saying “Hey! Get on with it already!”

And in response to that some of you are probably going “What? What’s she on about?”

That, my friends, is a unique, custom made wedding ring set. It’s a rose gold band with a rose cut chocolate diamond (I know, it sounds like a delicious, extravagant truffle, right?). It was created by the awesome (and, importantly, local) Kate Szabone (the picture is hers by the way).

And it’s all mine.

Yeah, I’m engaged.

(I’ll pause here for the chattering and cheers…)

…So how did this happen?

Well folks, we’ve been together (and living together for) 6 years. Those of you who know us well are, in fact, probably not all that surprised. In fact, you’ve probably been treating us like we were married for the last 5 of those years.

So there was no big surprise proposal. I’m personally not a big fan of them, and neither is Liam. So sorry, there’s no cutesy story there.

Instead, we made a mutual decision to do this. Together. It’s the right time for us, we’re really settled, stable at the moment. While we’re in one place long enough to catch our breaths, we figured it might be a good idea to make this thing official – and throwing a party for all our friends and family seems like a good idea too.

I, personally, think that making a mutual decision is respectful, modern and, actually pretty romantic. We love each other, and we don’t like keeping secrets from each other, and we make all our decisions together. So that’s how we got engaged. We made the decision together.

Actually, that’s how we chose that gorgeous ring up there. We designed it together. It took waaaaaay longer than just popping in to Tiffany’s and grabbing a solitaire. It took 2 months, actually (yeah, we’ve known for at least that long – but we wanted to at least have a ring before we told anyone, and while we don’t like keeping secrets from each other, we kinda like having secrets from the world that we share together).

But have you ever seen a more gorgeous ring? I doubt it. We actually got to sit in front of a pile of coloured diamonds and pick out the exact right one together – how awesome is that? Which means my ring is super unique and rare – and matches my hair, and my eyes and my skin. I’ve actually become kinda a vain bride, and spend a lot of time staring at it. Since I got it from a small, local, artisan jeweler who works with conflict free, ethical diamonds, I don’t feel guilty about appreciating my little bit of bling. I’ve never really had nice jewelery before (certainly nothing gold), but I’m glad I waited for the exact right piece. And for all that, it cost way less than you’d think which means we’ve got plenty left for the important stuff in life (which for the record, I happen to think isn’t jewelery).

What else should you know?

Well, we’re aiming for late September. That’s our dating anniversary, and we thought it would be nice to not have to change it.

We’re staying right here in Toronto, probably right here on the east side, likely right on a nearby streetcar line (and how cute and Torontonian would it be to take the streetcar to our own wedding, right?).

And we want all our friends help. If you have a talent we want to exploit it. That’s going to make things much more special for us, and for you too. That might mean we have a half dozen semi-professional photographers wandering around (man, there are a lot of you who are great photographers), but we greatly prefer that to having some stranger involved in our day, and that goes for pretty much everything. If you’re a great DJ, musician, seamstress, artist, chef, writer or crafter extraordinaire (and I know all of you are so creative and talented) consider yourself conscripted to the cause.

Oh, and yeah I’ll be blogging the whole thing. It’s going to be too much fun not to!

Reasons I am happy today:

1. I had vegans over for dinner last night.
2. I have a pile of vegan chocolate-zucchini-masala bread in the fridge (and some in my tummy from breakfast too).
3. I made butterless, chickenless vegan butter chicken last – and it rocked! There are leftovers for lunch!
4. I am working on an album cover for an indie rock band.
5. I have the prettiest vintage dress ever making it’s way to me from Kansas via etsy. As. We. Speak.

So we got back yesterday – that last day of driving is always a real doozy. Going up can seem like a breeze, but no matter how long the drive home is (and admittedly Thunder Bay is 15 hours away from Toronto – that’s a very long drive by anyone’s standards) it always takes way, way too long.

Sooo…More pictures!

This is Liam’s parent’s big doggie (she’s half border collie and half poodle). I think she looks exactly like Sprocket from Fraggle Rock. She doesn’t ever stop moving, and has a serious oral fixation. She’s only trying to tell us about them rascally fraggles though.

We spent much of the week helping to get things ready for a good friend’s wedding on the weekend. These were the crafty little centerpieces – button flowers – I spent a good few hours making dozens of them (they were also the brides bouquet and the grooms boutonniere)..

Besides the buttons, and a gnome theme, there was also a Finland meets Scotland thing going on at this wedding (the groom being of Scottish decent, the bride being of Finnish).

This is one of my favourite shots of the day – a group of ‘Finns’ (denoted by their Nokia boots, fur hats, and ski gear) kidnapped the ‘bride’ (or in this case, the groom, who everyone was calling the bride, since he had the much more expensive outfit on – traditional highland garb doesn’t come cheap).

Nothing to worry about though, simply an old Finnish tradition called “the stealing of the bride”. All the bride had to do was prove herself worthy of marriage to her groom – by answering a bit of trivia about him – and he was returned safe and sound.

Then we broke out a bottle of 12 year scotch and passed it around.

Yeah, it was a pretty good time.

Well, we’re still pretty busy ’round here, especially since we are leaving for a bit of vacation soon (nothing too exciting, just returning to Liam’s hometown for a week to attend one of his oldest friend’s wedding).

We spent the other night on the set of a TV show, which was pretty cool. Even cooler was seeing a good friend, an old friend, take charge and kick ass like the awesome producer she is.

Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that I was just a kid, and now my friends are lawyers, and producers and doctors. It’s weird to know real, live, important grown ups. It means I must be one myself (scary).

Anyway, I might try apprenticing on set in the art department – which has always been one of my (admittedly many) dreams. I even took a course or two in set design.

Talk turned to the completely unglamorous work that goes on behind the scenes of these things, and it was mentioned that one should be prepared to get covered in all manner of messes at this particular shoot.

Of course, only I would turn that conversation into an opportunity to wear a cute outfit… But of course I did.

People are always surprised to find that I have no fear of getting messy – but you can’t do things like art or cooking or gardening without getting a little dirt under your nails, a little flour on your collar and a little paint in your hair.

You just have to prepare yourself for a mess – and that includes wearing proper attire.

So at the moment, I’m dreaming of cute kerchiefs and cuffed coveralls, worn Rosie the Riveter style. Something like this gorgeous little pic from this months Marie Claire (found via Jezebel, of course):

I’ve even found a company that makes adorable coveralls, specifically fitted for women, named after Rosie (which is pretty awesome).

Of course, Bluelines loves a good coverall too, and actually did a more stylish spin on them, turning an old pair into a cute little shirt dress.

Which is probably more the route I’ll take. Particularly the scrounging thrift and surplus stores for a deal part – because I’d rather not get cement, and mud, and wood glue, and paint all over something I paid more than twenty bucks for. It’s kinda the point of wearing coveralls in the first place.

People in this town keep talking about gentrification.

The tendency is to automatically decry it as a very bad thing.

Of course it’s not exactly all that bad. It can actually be a very good thing. There are many areas that could use a little gentrifying here and there. I don’t see what could possibly be wrong with taking a dangerous, decrepit neighborhood and turning it on it’s head. What’s so bad about taking something that’s broken, and fixing it?

That was why, when we moved back to Toronto 3 years ago, we moved to the edge of Parkdale.

It was an up and comer, a place that had potential, but was still rough around the edges.

Artists lived there, it was cheap, it was cool, it was filled with young people, there was lots to see and do – there was always something interesting going on.

Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones who noticed something interesting going on there.

In the two years we lived there, we saw that neighborhood turned on it’s head – and the problem was, it was already gentrified enough when we got there. There was already a Starbucks. There was already some fancy lofts. There was already a Drake hotel. Realtors were just beginning to snap up empty lots to develop into boutique condos.

I think the thing is, there’s a possibility for a neighborhood to go beyond just being gentrified. There’s a possibility for it to just turn into a different version of what it was in the first place – a dangerous place, where you don’t want hang around – let alone live.

Which is why I sighed when I read this article about my old digs – complete with a picture of the nice lady with the cute dog (a fox terrier, just like Asa from the Thin man movies) who ran the vintage furniture store down the street. It pretty much sums up all the reasons we moved away from Parkdale (or Queen West West or as they’re calling it now “Beaconsfield Village” – not that I ever heard it called that when I lived there 9 short months ago – which makes me pretty sure it’s solely a Realtor invention for marketing purposes, just like nearby “Liberty Village”).

We saw it happen. We saw the suburban twits drive down from the suburbs in their SUVs every weekend and turn a friendly, bohemian community into a coked-out, drunken orgy (and I do mean that literally, as there’s now a swingers club on the block). Now that it’s started, there’s pretty much no way of stopping it.

I guess the only hope is that once the condos are built and filled with people, some actual infrastructure starts being developed to prevent the place from going to blight (although I’ve seen brand new condos go to blight before, on the cusp of the last economic downturn).

But, for the moment, it’s a bad scene. The neighborhood has become, once again, a place that’s not very livable.

And even if we occasionally miss some of the vibrancy (and the Black Dog video store) we’re pretty glad we got the hell out of there.

The complete opposite side of town is seeming like a pretty nice place to be, at the moment.

A couple weeks ago we cleaned out my grandfathers house (he died earlier this spring).

I dug these two awesome vintage fans out of the dumpster because I loved their art-deco lines – and you know how I am with beautiful vintage machines (typewriters, alarm clocks, transistor radios…). We plugged them in when we got home and found: they still work! They work so well, we won’t need to get an air conditioner anytime soon. I feel pretty good about rescuing them from becoming landfill.

It’s very hot today, so me and the cats are taking full advantage of them.

The two chairs you see (one danish teak, and one velvet club) are also inheritances. Also pretty awesome.

It’s strange to have had grandparents with such good taste. Stranger still that they’re no longer around.

In my little post on being well-read and well-traveled, and the overabundance of value we’ve put on it (I’ve known people who’ve gotten better marks ’cause they taught English in Japan, and better jobs cause they’ve spent a year in Europe) I mistakenly typed contentious, when I MEANT conscientious. Quite the typo.

Really though, I think if you want to be an interesting person, both are pretty important.

You should have an open mind, yes, you should be a nice person, yes.

But you should also be willing and able to stand your ground, and question others grounds.

There’s nothing wrong with being critical. We (in North America especially) need to get over the fear of being “mean” when we decide to examine something’s merits – and losses.

More than the value of just being honest (which I have gained more loyal friends from being, than lost – at this point, people actually hunt me down because they know I’m going to tell them the truth) none of us will go anywhere, and none of us will succeed if we don’t look our own successes and failures square in the jaw and examine them thoroughly.

After all, if you don’t know how you’ve failed, how are you supposed to understand where those failures came from in the first place? How are you supposed to fix the problem? How are you supposed to make things right?

It should be noted, however, that a careful warts-and-all examination of something, is VERY different from just launching into something’s (or especially someone’s) perceived flaws completely unprovoked.

That actually is just being mean. And it’s usually only done in order to boost one’s own very low self esteem. Try to avoid that.