Because I like you guys so much, I made you all a little present: an animated .gif just for you!

Hope everyone’s having a merry Christmas day.

Hereabouts that means presents and turkey, but maybe thereabouts it means Chinese food and movies, or peace and quiet and a day to yourself. Whatever this day means to you, I hope it’s a good one!

I was lucky enough to get to showcase my game last night at the TIFF Nexus Women in New Media Day. In lieu of my normal business card, I decide to do something special and whipped up this little poster for everyone who came to play it.

A key to who’s who follows:

1. Esther 2. Joan of Arc 3. Queen Elizabeth I 4. Marie Antoinette 5. Jane Austen

6. Ada Lovelace 7. Florence Nightingale 8. Harriet Tubman 9. Louisa May Alcott 10. Marie Curie

11. Gertrude Stein 12. Elinore Roosevelt 13. Dorothy Parker 14. Amelia Earhart 15. Katherine Hepburn

16. Frida Kahlo 17. Mary Blair 18. Hedy Lamar 19. Billie Holiday 20. Julia Child

21. Rosa Parks 22. Yoko Ono 23. Gloria Steinem 24. Debbie Harry 25. Kathleen Hanna

These are some of my personal heroes, so it may not be the most thoroughly representative list, but I may change a few people around and swap a few people based on peoples input and sell a nicely printed version. I’m also thinking of maybe selling little buttons with these ladies on them so you can wear your heroes on your heart or your sleeve.

It would be fun to use them as a sort of identifying mark for recognizing other hip ladies in the wild! Who wouldn’t want to make a friends with a girl wearing a little 8-bit Rosa Parks on her lapel?

Also, check this out: I was on the National a couple weeks ago. Yep. Things have been pretty amazing over here.

Gettin’ back into the groove of things last week, we took a trip to our favourite little place around the corner (they make all their own pastries from scratch – that’s a rare find in a coffee shop).

Liam was working from home, doing some creative work and a change of scenery is always good for the brain meats, we find. Lots of good sketching happened.

Then I got sick with the flu, all weekend, yuck. Poor me.

I guess I was exhausted, but we have a lot to celebrate, as we found out not only do we get to go to Vegas (Liam, on business, me tagging along) but we’re heading to Vancouver after that to visit the plethora (really! plethora!) of friends we have accumulated out there.

Get ready, Vancouverites!

And, on top of all that Liam’s contract was renewed for another year, and six months early at that. Wooooooo to another year and a half of employment!

Happy Captain Picard day, everybody!

Now I bet you’re wondering, how best to celebrate this wonderful holiday?

Well, you should check out the lovely illustrator Rosemary Travale‘s Captain Picard Day blog! She’ll be posting art all week long, including  a little something by yours truly. I’m pretty honoured to be able to participate, as Jean-Luc is definitely my favourite Star Ship Captain.

Gossip girls sketch (by beth maher)

Some little character sketches I did while watching Gossip Girl last night (we’re behind by a few episodes though).

Those gals are just as fun to draw as I had a feeling they’d be. The gloriousness of the costuming goes without saying, but all the wild, flowing hairstyles are pretty great too.

These are the invites, if you haven’t seen them yet. I’m pretty proud of them, actually. And I should be – they were weeks and weeks of work!

Pie? You ask.

Yep, pie. We’re asking all our friends to bring their favourite pie in lieu of desert.

Pie is, I guess, the closest thing we have to a theme for this shindig, along with a collegiate, 30′s, Wodehousian flavour (yes, we’re complex, abstract kinda people).

I’m particularily happy with the way it all came together… our concept being rather complex and abstract and all. All those colours, all those themes, all our ideas, they’re in there somewhere, represented and personified. Which is ideal really – they say an invite should be a hint, a taste of what’s to come.

So hopefully that means that all our hard work will ultimately pay off on the big day, like it did with our invites.

Lookit’ everybody!

It’s our Save the Dates!

The turned out really, really well. Everybody who’s seen them has gone a little ga-ga. I’m a little ga-ga.

How did they come about?

Well, we needed save the dates. They’re not a necessary thing, you can totally just send out invites once and be done with it, but since we have so many guests coming from very far away (Australia and Korea far!) we thought they’d be a nice gesture so people have time to make plans.

Then I realized that half my friends are Graphic Designers and artists. This thing had to look awesome. No pressure or anything.

Well, blame it on me reading too many wedding websites, but I was drooling just a little too much over all the crazy-gorgeous engagement photos I’ve been seeing. I also find them just a little ridiculous. Spending all that money on a bunch of professional photo shoots, a year before you even get to the wedding? Seems a little much to me. But at the same time, a nice photo on a postcard seemed liked the easiest route for a save the date.

So we put together our own professional photo shoot instead. We found cute little vintagey outfits (mostly from our own closets), found an atmospheric – but free – location ( which was admittedly a little tricky in the middle of dreary March – but the loading dock at Liam’s former work worked out surprisingly well), posed cutely and got our sister to press the button on a borrowed DSLR camera.

There’s nothing pro about what we did, except for the polished, editorial-quality results. I think they even get across the vibe we’re going for perfectly – vintage, thirties-era whimsy. Which just proves that there’s no need for a fancy-shmancy photo shoot. All you need is a camera, a location and two people in love (although cute outfits help too!).

Oh, and there’s out-takes. Lot’s of them. Good ones. Expect to see them sometime soon, as well.

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.

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.)

I designed and illustrated an album cover!

It’s been printed and pressed, and the band – a little outfit cleverly named Provincial Parks – is having a party to celebrate – so you should be there. I will be there, anyways. I would like a copy of my work – and the music inside it’s pretty awesome too (sort of a sparkly-shiny indie rock with some poppy undertones) so I’m excited about getting a copy of that as well.

The launch party is at the Mod Club next Saturday. Click through to the Facebook page if you’d like to come along!

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.

There’s this meme that’s been going around, and for once I actually decided to participate because it sounded kinda cool.

Things Of Note in this little portrait:

1. This is an amalgam of my looks from between 15 and 17
2. My sorta dykey haircut. I was going for Audrey Hepburn/Wynona Ryder. I’m not sure I quite got there. I did get asked if I was a lesbian a few times. No.
3. The little sparkley butterfly clip that is holding up my rather awkwardly growing out bangs.
4. My black messenger bag. Which I got from Le Chateau. The only place I shopped. Possible contents include: sparkly nail-polish, sparkly lip-gloss, iridescent eye-shadow, green-tea scented hand lotion, American Vogue, GO bus tickets, a script (from the school musical of course), pens, a small notebook, and some kind of pretentious, hardcover novel from the library (or, let’s be honest here, possibly some Anne Rice if I felt like slumming).
5. My thrift-store, mens, stretchy polyester shirt. I probably underestimated the size of the collar here.
6. The size of my shoes. Large. I liked to balance the width of my pants (wide) with the size of my shoes (clunky).
7. My glasses. They were bright-blue, metal cats-eyes. Totally hot.
8. Lavender. Mauve. Whatever you want to call pale, vomity purple. I loved it then. I can’t stand it now. Go figure.
9. I ate, pretty much like a pig – but I was hella’ skinny. I can not believe how skinny I was. Ten pounds away from Nicole Ritchie skinny. It shocks me to look back in pictures. That twenty (or thirty, or forty) pound college rule is totally for real guys. *Sigh.* I want my old metabolism back.

I’ve been having a good food week. Right now I am sitting here with a (natural) peanut-butter and (concord) grape jelly sandwich and a big, tall glass of chocolate milk. I don’t think it gets more nostalgic than that (*sigh*…grade two… bag lunch… twenty five cents for a carton of the good stuff *sigh*). I bet it’s a meal that people across North America remember and cherish in the same way I remember and cherish it, and that’s sort of neat.

I’ve also been exploring exotic, not so familiar, tastes.

We finally ventured out to little India last week (also known as one block down the street) and bought some spices, paneer (fresh cheese), jellabi (basically funnel cake soaked in syrup), daal (spiced lentils) and the most yummy, fresh, delicious naan (spicy flat bread) and had ourselves an authentic Indian feast!

One of the stores down the street sells samosas at three for a dollar, so I think I’m pretty much sunk. I could eat a bucket of them, and actually I have.

Last night I made a cottage pie, which is something I had in England. It’s basically what we know as Shepard’s pie, but in England a pie with lamb is a Shepard’s pie, and a pie with ground beef is a cottage pie (and it comes smothered in cheddar!). I don’t know what it was about the “Shepard’s” pie I had growing up, but it was not as flavorful as the one I had in England. So I attempted to re-create it.

I cheated and used a lot of “Montreal style” steak spice to season the meat (which is basically just sea salt and cracked black pepper with some cayenne, corriander, dill, garlic, and onion), and it seemed to do the trick in the flavor department. I ran out of corn starch to thicken up the gravy for my stew, so I had to improvise. I thought about what a peasant living in a small cottage might do in my situation. I decided to toss in a few cubed up slices of stale, oatmeal-honey bread into the pot to soak up the stock and it worked like a charm! It thickened my sauce, gave it a richer flavour than starch or flour would have, and bulked it up enough that it could stand up to being covered with mashed potatoes.

For the stew:

• 1 pound ground beef (whatever cut you prefer – nothing too lean though)
• 1 tbsp “Montreal style” steak seasoning (or an equal amt. of a mix of salt, pepper, and your favourite herbs and spices for beef – thyme, rosemary, dill, and coriander being quite good here).
• 2 carrots (diced)
• 2 sticks of celery (diced)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 clove garlic (diced)
• 1 cup beef stock
• 3 slices whole wheat bread (chopped into 1 cm cubes)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

For the mash:

• 2 pounds of potatoes (chopped into 1 inch cubes, un-peeled – potato skin is flavourful and nutrient rich, and you don’t even notice it when it’s mashed)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper

Topping:

• 1/4 cup old/aged cheddar cheese (grated)

1. Steam or boil the potatoes.
2. Saute the meat with the spices and garlic until it is browned. Add in the vegetables and continue to sauté until they soften.
3. Add the sauces, stock and bread to the meat mixture, stirring to make sure the bread absorbs all the liquid and begins to break down and thicken the stock.
4. When the potatoes are fork-soft, drain them, and mash them with the butter and milk, seasoning well with salt and pepper.
5. Layer the meat stew into the bottom of a casserole dish, and then cover evenly with the mashed potatoes. Give the top of the potatoes some texture by using a fork to draw a pattern into the mash (I like a big spiral). Sprinkle the top evenly with the grated cheese.
6. Broil at 400 for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

In the end, my pie came out of the oven golden and crispy on top, and rich and comforting in the middle. It was quite perfect. You should try it! It makes a lot – at least enough to stuff 6 people – or two people 3 times, as the case may be.

There was one blight this week though. The less said about my fish-ball pad-Thai the better alright?

While I’ve been out of commission, I’ve been working on a little website for my friend Vivian (she’s a talented girl, who is a fledgling DJ – among other things). I’m doing it just for fun and I’m totally digging it so far.

Granted, Vivian hasn’t seen this yet, so it might look entirely different by the time it ends up online, but at the moment, I’m pretty happy with it.

Vivian was using a little snail with a record for a shell as her little logo, so I decided to take the motif a step further and go for a whole story-book, woodland DJ motif. She also has a love of Alice in Wonderland, so I integrated a bit of that too. Vivian’s own personal aesthetic tends to lean towards rocker-mod, with lot’s of black and white and red so there’s a bit of a subtle retro, rockin’ influence (most notably in the use of cooper black for the header – and who doesn’t *heart* cooper black!). I, of course, added in a good dose of my own Mary Blair obsession into the mix as well.

My little brother and sister came over to visit last night – one last time in the old ‘hood before we move. I was going to make them dinner, but I was at a loss as to what I would make.

Then we started discussing how the other night we had been watching one of our new favourite shows of the fall: Chuck, and this weeks episode centred around a Chinese restaurant entree called “sizzling shrimp.”

We were intrigued. But alas, we had never eaten such a dish.

So I decided I would do my best and improvise, based on nothing more than a name.

What follows is that improvisation. It is probably nothing like what real sizzling shrimp is like, but it is delicious, it is spicy, it sizzles and it’s tastes vaguely like something you might get at a really good little restaurant in Chinatown.

Sizzling Shrimp

• 1 pound shrimp (raw but peeled or zipper-back)
• 1 tbsp butter (melted)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chilli-garlic sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 lime (zest and juice)
• 2 green onions (chopped)
• salt to taste

1. Toss the shrimp with the butter, oil, chilli-garlic sauce, soy and lime zest. Let the shrimp hang out and and marinate for 10-30 minutes while you pre-heat oven to 400.
2. Place the saucy shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet (you can skewer them – 3-4 per skewer if that makes them easier to handle). Broil for 10-20 minutes, or until the shells of the shrimp are lightly browned, flipping once at the halfway mark.
3. As soon as the shrimp are browned evenly on both sides remove them from the oven and sprinkle a little bit of salt on top, then the green onions on top so they absorb the heat and wilt slightly and then squeeze the juice from the lime onto them.
4. Serve while hot, preferably with retro, classic, Chinese-restaurant-style accompaniments – like fried rice and egg-rolls.

I have been feeling unmotivated (as I occasionally do). Without the spark of life that leads to ideas and work. Granted, things are pretty understandably out of sorts right now – all the things I normally run to in situations like this are getting packed into boxes, and I’m trying to avoid buying or finding any new things, because it’s just more to lug to the other side of town (as it is, I’m trying to eat my way through my pantry just so that I don’t have to bring that with me).

But it made me think about the things that get me going, get me working, get me coming up with new ideas and exploring them.

And so I started writing a list of those things, in lieu of actually being able to have them… And then expanding and expounding on that list… And then the list took on a life of it’s own and became:

creative sparks

Go, check it out. It will probably grow as time goes on (I left out some things – plays and fiction and tv and music – they will find their way on there eventually, but the thing is massive as it is).

I tried to include things that were instrumental in how I approach life, art, the universe and everything – as well as some things I am constantly hearing have helped fellow artists and friends get those friendly lightning bolts of imagination.

I hope it’s helpful to more than just me.

I am still planning on ultimately getting an Eames rocker, but that leaves a need for something a little more appropriate for curling up with a couple kittys and a good book.

So I was wondering…

What do we think of papasan chairs?

1. they are kitschy- in a good way
2. EWWWWW! they are kitschy in a bad, bad way
3. they are so comfortable nothing else matters.
4. crocs are to shoes as (blank) are to chairs (answer=papasans)
5. they are cheap and tacky and belong only in college dorms, basements and incense addled dens of inequity/hippies
6. Usually, they’re not so pretty but they could be cute if *I* worked my magic on one (painted the frame a nice colour – silver? white? turquoise? – and re-covered the cushion in cute fabric and added some adorable throw pillows)
7. whatever makes the kitties and the boyfriend happy, makes me happy

I’m maybe, kinda, sorta leaning towards: sorta kitschy (but I like kitschy) and they also could be cute – with some boyfriend and kitty happiness thrown in for good measure. Keep in mind that I would not be purchasing a new one, but probably procuring a used one for super cheap (from craigslist, likely). Which is happy for the environment!

Before answering, check out this super pretty room I found at Apartment Therapy that utilizes the chair in question in an appropriate and, dare I say it, stylish manner and totally makes it work. I am kinda basing my bedroom around it. I stumbled across the blog of the guy who owns it and it’s worth a look too if you’re into whimsical design and hand drawn type (Yes! Yes. Yes I am).

A week or two ago, my sister came down for a visit with my little brother and we all went out to dinner together. I think I’ve mentioned my brothers strange aversion to all food that isn’t somehow Mexican/Tex-Mex/Central American in origin?

So we went to this little restaurant way down Queen street that I’ve had my eye on for quite some time: Johny Banana. And yes, Johny Banana is a monkey.

What immediately attracted me was the gigantic Mexican wrestler mural on the back wall the quotes from Shakira on the chalkboard, and bossa nova on the speakers. The menu was impressive too – a very wide selection of light fusion cuisine and for desert? Churros accompanied by spicy Aztec hot chocolate. Awesome, right?

To top it all off they also had an extensive (by which I mean HUGE) beverage menu (alcoholic and non), with a bunch of really wacky and intriguing smoothies – like avocado shakes. Liam had this one that had banana, guava and mint in it – SOOOOO good – refreshing and totally unexpected.

I decided we had to recreate it at home right away. But maybe without the guava (too sweet).

Last night I whipped this baby up with some orange juice replacing the guava and I was so impressed with myself. Not only did it taste delightful – but it looked like spring. Pale, pale chartreuse with little flecks of deep green. I’m calling it my “spring is coming” smoothie, because around here the snow is almost gone, and the earth is warming. It’s almost spring!

spring is coming smoothie

• 2 cups orange juice
• 1 banana
• half a cup of vanilla yogurt
• 2 sprigs of fresh mint (make sure to remove the stems!)
• 4 or so cubes of ice

Toss the orange juice, banana, vanilla yogurt into a blender and blend until the mint is barely visable (no more than tiny flecks). Add in the ice, blend once more, and serve garnished with a single mint leaf in each glass.
(makes two big glasses).

I think one of my favourite kinds of weather could best be described as sweater – and soup – weather.

Since the weather outside could indeed be described as such (and Liam was generous enough to share his cold with me) we needed something warm and reviving around here. So I made a huge batch of tortellini minestrone.

Minestrone was pretty much my go-to winter meal when I was in my first few years of university. I lived in a big old house with a bunch of hungry people (including my soon-to be boyfriend), and for not very much money I could whip up LITRES AND LITRES of the stuff.

Pretty much all of the ingredients are things I like to have on hand in my fridge and pantry at all times. I don’t have to make any special shopping trips. Not to mention, this soup lasts for days in the fridge – and for weeks in the freezer – it is one of those rare foods that gets better on the second day. If you know you’re going to have a busy week, it’s the perfect solution. One hour of work, and you’re pretty much fed for the week.

Basically, what I’m saying is, minestrone is something I’ve perfected at this point. It’s sooo easy. And sooo good.

tortellini minestrone

• 1 large can of tomatoes (diced or whole)
• 1 small tin of tomato paste
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 package of frozen spinach (apx. 300 grams – 1 cup)
• 1 package of tortellini (apx. 350 grams – 2 cups – of whichever variety you prefer)
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp of fennel seeds (crushed, or ground)
• 1 small chilli pepper (fresh or dried)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of stock (chicken OR vegetable OR beef – whichever you prefer)
• pepper
• salt

1. Dice the onions, carrots, celery, and red pepper and drain the tomatoes – reserving the juice.
2. In a very large pot, sauté the onions in the olive oil, then add the carrots, then the celery, then the red pepper, then the drained tomatoes, and finally the tomato paste (in that order) . What you want, is for the tomatoes to deepen and darken in colour – from a light orangey red – to a deep burgundy. That means the sugars in the tomatoes have caramelized. Yum!
3. Quickly, before the vegetables start to burn to the bottom of the pot, add in the reserved tomato juice, 2 cups of stock, the frozen spinach, and all the flavourings (bay, fennel, chilli, garlic, salt, pepper) and 2-4 cups of water (depending on how thick you like your soup to be -). Now comes the easy part: turn the heat waaaaay down to low and simmer for 30 min-hour with the lid on. Check it every once and a while and stir it (to make sure the vegetables aren’t sticking on the bottom).
4. 5-10 minutes before serving turn the heat up to medium or so and dump the tortellini and the frozen peas in (add extra water if necessary – the tortellini’s going to soak up a lot of it) – stick around and stir the pot every couple of minutes so the pasta doesn’t stick.
5. Fish out the bay leaf (if you can find it) and serve in big steaming bowls with sprinklings of parmesan and a side of garlic toast.

P.S. Minestrone isn’t really meant to be a set down in stone kinda recipe – What makes it really, authentic Italian is to use up whatever you’ve got lying around. So feel free to throw in any leftover vegetables (sun dried tomatoes, parsnips, fennel, rapini, cauliflower, Italian parsley, whatever!) and even any leftover meats (especially any pork – like bacon, prosciutto, ham or sausage) – even though I kept my version vegetarian.

Am I the only one who’ll kinda miss winter when it’s gone?

I like the blustery weather. I like the fluffy snow.

I like getting bundled up to go outside. I like mittens, and scarves, and toques, and berets, and pea-coats, and parkas.

I like curling up with a book, or some knitting, or sewing, or illustrating while sparkly flakes fall outside.

I like making minestrone, and chilli, and roast beef, and baked ziti, and spaghetti Bolognese.

And I feel like we didn’t get our fair share of winter this year. Granted, I happen to think that Toronto looks especially pretty when it’s “Rosy and Gray” out (as Ron Hawkins put it).

But this year there’s been far too much grey. Not nearly enough fluffy-white-stuff.