Dork

Did anyone have dorky hobbies as a kid like stamp collecting?
I certainly did not. Nope. I was not a fanatic about checking the mail in hopes of exotic postcards. I did not pester the post-office ladies for free stamps. I did not spend hours of my life soaking stamps to get them off envelopes - only to see them blow away in the wind. Nor did I rifle through boxes and boxes looking for huckleberry stamp to match my set. I did not learn what countries actually called themselves outside of my English-centric geography class so I could figure out what the heck Magyar was. And I definitely did not have them meticulously organized in huge books.
Nah-uh.

Okay maybe.

Nerdy associations aside, let's look at stamps objectively. What are they but tiny little art exhibitions that you get to attach to letters and send to your friends/family/government agencies?
Some of my favorites were British stamps. Large, perfectly square, and with the little embossed queen's head in the corner.
So when I saw these London 2012 stamps, I had the urge to dig out my collection again.

Whip It

Finally got around to watching Whip It last night. It's been on my to-watch list for too long. I love Ellen Page. And Drew Barrymore... I may be warming up to. Mostly because she had the guts to wear the dress below (McQueen, yes?). Her hair though - I like what the fug girls had to say: "She may think the hair is hilarious but she still has to be the one wearing it." (While Ellen Page wore the most boring funeral/weddingesque LBD ever. Strange.) In any case, I hope she directs more movies like this.


(pic from the socialite life)

Most of all I liked how the movie ended. (need I say spoilers? or is that obvious?) The team doesn't win. She doesn't get rocketed to fame and fortune. She slaps her cheating (?) uncalling boyfriend even though he's cute as hell and who knows if they fix things. And the last scene, she is sitting on a giant pig, looking philosophically off into the future. Dude.

In which I explain some things no one needed explaining

I apologize to anyone who cares that my updating has been so scarce. And that this blog kind of follows my capricious approach to hobbies. One week its Cooking! then Gardening! then Fashion! then Cooking Again! then Art!
I may have inherited my Opa's bipolarness when it comes to such things. For him it manifests more in terms of collecting objects. When I was young it was Clocks! (a WHOLE garage full) then the clocks disappeared, and it was Exercise Machines! then Bikes! then Organs! (the instrument, don't freak out)... currently I think he is on a chair kick, but I'm not sure.
In any case, all of that to say - don't expect consistency from me.

Lately fashion has fell by the wayside as the nicer weather rolled into Vancouver for a week. I knew I had reached a critical moment when I turned down the Fluevog sample sale to go buy rain pants for biking.
Slightly regretting that at the moment...
But I did have a fun afternoon. My roomate Inga and I biked over to Deep Cove and then went kayaking. It was kind of an epic trip, considering neither of us knew where we were going and Dollarton Highway proved a challenge to find.

Deep Cove. Full of Aussies who know how to dress. One girl had the most gorgeous cable knit sweater. Should have snapped a stalker picture.



Squinty-Wool-Hat and her roommate Inga.



Adventure #2 was today, a sojourn to Les Faux Bourgeois on Fraser. We just went to the cafe, but reviews for the restaurant praise it as being better than Paris fare. Me and Laura suspect this was just people name-dropping their fancy Euro credentials, but it could be that good. Further research required.





This last picture is awesome because of the hippie dude and the fat black cat.

Street Stuff

I'm a big fan of random street art and/or amusing notes here and there.
When you walk the same way every day, it's nice to have the mundane broken up by a little bit of creative vandalism / sign writing. Usually these kind of things get painted over pretty fast, so it's also one of my goals to collect pictures of them before they disappear.
Hopefully I can remember to keep my camera with me at all times so this could be a regular feature.



Happy Bats Cinema - (In case you can't read it:"We're going streaking... err.. I mean... we are closed on Monday May 24th")



This is on the wall of the store selling Catholic figurines on Main. The store itself intrigues me. I never see anyone in it, but presumably they have customers...
This stencil has been there for a couple of weeks, so presumably either no one cares or they think it looks rather nice.



This one's brand new - last night or something? It probably won't last long either, because it's on the bank at the corner of Macdonald and Broadway. Creepy baby. Reminds me of those terrible tattoos proud parents get.

garage sales

The only thing better than thrifting is going to garage sales.
It's kind of a family tradition at my house, My mom is the Queen of Lowballing and I hunt down the Good Stuff. I find, she bargains, we leave victorious.
It can take a lot of patience, and you lose your Saturday mornings, but if you keep at it enough it's amazing what kind of things can pop up. Particularly in the vintage/antique department. Even people who know they are selling antiques are often willing to let them go for reasonable prices.
Today I was lucky enough to find something I actually needed - a metal watering can.
The Christmas ornaments and the tin were just bonus - things I know are worth a few bucks but that I will actually put to practical use.

a step

so. very. bored.

green

My garden is growing! These pictures are my second set of window-sill starters - lettuce and bok choi and pansies. Peas and cucumbers and strawberries have been moved outside with general success. Radishes and sunflowers are also going strong... and I'm waiting on the rest. It's turning into quite the project.





As I result of all of this gardening, fashion has been abandoned. Sport shorts, first t-shirt at hand and hiking boots. My new uniform. There's constantly dirt under my nails and blisters on my feet.
But then Woo Vintage moved right next to my work on Main Street. I have found in the last little while that vintage stores on Main Street are very picked over, but Woo Vintage has stock that isn't the same tired plaid shirts and knit pullovers.
I found this neat little broach. Made of leather, it's a lady slipper orchid.

petals

colors by flashbang featuring Repetto shoes

Soft is one of my favorite words. It's one of those onomatopoeic words - the f and the t rustle together and the s is like a brush from a feather duster. And who can resist puppies, knit sweaters, or silk miu miu purses with swallows on them?
Not I.