28 years ago today...

Happy Saturday! Today's post is all about celebrating since it was 28 years ago that one charming little red headed kid was brought into the world:

Hooray! In case you didn't recognize me - that child trying on her grandpa's hat was me and although I am much less cute than I was in 1986, I am still just as happy!:

Yay! I've got the perfect Saturday planned including a restful morning (with tea) on the patio, some delicious gluten free eats, downtown shopping and socializing with my surprise visitor Lindsay, and a nice dinner with pals to top it all off (hopefully with ice cream in there)! Woo! Here's to hoping 28 is the best age to be yet! 

Nice Expression Jean...

This is quite possibly the funniest picture I have seen in a long time. I think this one (specifically that facial expression) will haunt Jean for many years to come. Just check out my niece as captured by my brother in law Neal:

Ahahahahhaha! So hilarious (and cute)! That girl sure loves running and I the pigtails really top it off. Hopefully you find it equally funny and it's not just a "Kate is the crazy Aunt showing too many pictures of her niece" moment. Oh dear. What's on the agenda for your Wednesday? Any funny pictures or links to share to perk up the mid week?

Breaking In Sunday

For some reason breaking in shoes has come up in conversation a few times over the last week and when I saw this simple break in method on the Coffee, Light and Sweet blog I thought it might be useful to some of you too!

(source)

The image pretty much sums it up - throw some socks on, slip on the shoes you want to break in, and blow dry/heat up any potentially problem spots! Tada! Sounds excellent if you ask me, but I'm yet to try it out before swearing by this. I find it particularly useful this time of year since although many of my flats don't bother me for the other tights friendly months of the year but throw some heat swollen bare feets in there and ay, there's the rub (yes, that was a terrible Hamlet reference...). Oy. I figure if this doesn't work I can always do the "ziplock bags full of water in your shoes and then throwing them in the freezer" thing (I'm sure that's the technique name right?) to do a little flat summer stretching, but the promise of a 5 minute trick is a bit more appealing! Here's to a blister free summer! How do you break in your shoes? Any tricks for us?

Morning Habits

Despite the fact that most locals here are describing the weather as a terrible wintry "June-urary", I have been loving every warm sunny moment that pops by! Sure they may not be as common as a typical June in Victoria, but sporadic or not - I think they sunny mornings are the best! In fact, warm bright mornings on my patio are my new addiction! Who wouldn't enjoy a quiet morning with this perfectly groomed view?:

It is so awesome to live in a building where I don't have to worry about hours of joint aching yard work but still get to enjoy the greenery! I even get visited by lots of wee little birdies and although you may need to strain to spot him in this shot, even the hummingbirds come to visit!:

I love the warmth of sun on my skin and the early morning rays are kind on my paleness. It has turned into quite the morning ritual - me, a sunny day, and a cup of earl grey. Perfection!

Of all the addictions, I'm happy to say this one has me hooked and each moment I get to relax on the patio feels like a mini vacation! Three cheers for more sunny days and new day off morning rituals! What sort of habits do you have for days off?

June!

Yay! It's June! Another month is upon us and I've got loads of goals! Number one on the list? Crafting - and lately its involved a whole lot of paint mixing on my end:

In fact, I've really been enjoying whipping up some muted tones and I didn't realize how much I love just working with colours! Fraser even took me to Michael's the other day and got me a few new paintbrushes too! What fun! Once I'm done my current painting project, I've got loads of other crafty delights up my sleeve and I'll be filling you in along the way on all my crafty progress! Hooray!

As for other June festivities, we've got Fraser's 32nd bday coming up tomorrow (yes! tomorrow! What an old man!), some specialist appointments for me (yay getting healthier!), and a few projects around the house just in case the crafting somehow manages to not take up any glimpses of spare time.  I've also been giving a lot of thought to wedding plans (*gasp*) and am ever thankful that I am friends with an event planner! So far my wedding thoughts are:

1. No ceremony, no fluffy dress, no frills

2. My guest list needs dramatic cut backs in order to have a venue I'd like

3. This is already more work than I imagined

4. Casual is the way to go on this one - it's a celebration after all! 

and

5. The will be pom poms. (oh yes, lots of pom poms)

Here's to hoping June is one of the best months ever and exceeds any expectations I've set out for myself. I'd also love to point out the charming sponsors for this month and the blog and encourage you to take a peek into those four lovely ladies blogs for some non-kate reading! If you're kicking yourself for missing out on sponsorship (shucks, I read minds don't I?), it's never too late to ad swap! Drop me a line and we'll chat! Also if anyone has handfuls of advice for a "non-reception" type wedding I'm all ears! What are your June plans?

Back from the Highland Games

The Highland Games turned out to be just as lovely as I had hoped and I am so happy I got to go! It was a fun packed day of Scottish celebration and the weather was just perfect! Kilts and sunshine for everyone! Hooray! And oh, the bagpipes:

 

There were loads of activities throughout the day including concerts, whiskey tastings, haggis hurling, kilt races, falcon demonstrations, clan booths, heritage information booths, and pretty much every Scottish thing you could stick in a park in Victoria! What fun! My favourite part of the games was definitely the herding competitions. Nothing like a field full of cute animals to perk up an event right? Those are some talented pups too! Check them out:

 

Okay, so the duck herding was much more entertaining than the sheep (those frisky ducks just loved going off course) and there were two dogs herding them! Adorable!

Second up on my favourites list? The beer garden! No pesky kids to get in the way and finally some seats in the shade. Oh, and plentiful, relatively inexpensive refreshing beverages too! What's not to like? I asked Jim to take a picture of me and I'm sad to say this was the best one of the group:

Haha, oh dear. Being photogenic certainly isn't on my list of life accomplishments but oh well. At least I was substantially slathered with SPF so I managed to stay burn free in all the sunshine! 

Last up on my list of faves? The manly heavy hurling contests on the upper fields! Talk about some beefy men in kilts! I think I have a lot of weight training ahead of me if I ever plan on tossing a caber or shot putting a giant 26 lb stone 40 yards! It was quite stunning to watch though:

Whew! What a weekend! What did you get up to?

Yaaaayyyyy!!!

Looks like going through old blog drafts is more fun than I had thought and I can't believe I didn't blog about this one before. A long time ago Molly from Wild Olive did a post where she admitted how each time she writes "yay" in a post, she secretly (well, not so secretly now) thinks about Kermit's waving his hands in the air enthusiastic "yaaaaayyyyy!"  Priceless. I am one in the same with Molly and also imagine (and often actually say out loud - with hand movements), "Yaaaaayyyyy" all Kermit style when I'm pumped about something. She even made an adorable image to go with it:

Yaaaaayy! I love Kermit, and the muppets, and if you haven't seen it yet, the new muppet movie! What fun! Oh Kermie, I love you. 

What a glamor shot! Today I'm heading to Kelowna with some lovely lady pals for a fun packed day filled with some crafty consignment selling, shopping, and (I'm sure) many Kermit "Yaaaayyyyy!"-worthy moments. Wish us luck! What are your plans for the day? Do you love the muppets as much as I do?

Goats and Engagement.

Last Thursday was quite the day. It started off with some monsoonal rain downpour on my way to work and as my morning went on, the skies cleared and it turned into a beautiful spring day! Once I got off, Fraser and I headed downtown for a celebratory long weekend lunch and a bit of shopping! Hooray! I picked up a jewelry polishing cloth I'd been thinking about for ages (I do have quite the collection of tarnished sliver these days) and enjoyed the scenery. Just check out that gorgeous blooming tree:


Next Fraser took us to the petting zoo at the park in hopes of seeing some alpacas (I do love me some alpaca)! It was great! There were loads of peacocks, baby piggies, silly looking ducks, alpacas (yay), and some adorable baby goats:


And just when I thought the goats couldn't get any cuter, we entered the petting area. How couldn't it be awesome with a sign like this at the gate:


Well as it turned out, that sign was totally necessary because beyond the gate was an entire pen of super cute baby pygmy goats. Aww! They were fluffy, adorable, and extra tiny! They are like the kittens of the goat world! Take a peek at Fraser and one of the cuties:


Eee! Oh it was just the sweetest thing ever - and there were loads of them. Not sold on how small they are? Take a gander at this kid sized herd:


Overload of cuteness! Look at this little scamp handing out on top of his mom:


You should have heard their little baby pygmy goat sounds too - like itty bitty "maaaaaa"s all over the place. I am pretty sure I was hyperventilating in how awesome it was. So much adorable! After calming down a smidge Fraser and I went for a stroll around the rest of the park and soak up the sunny day. Heck even the palm trees were thriving:


Fraser directed me down a little quiet path and when I turned around he was on one knee. In his hand was the most wonderful gold ring and Fraser proposed. I said yes. Okay - so in actuality I was an overwhelmed blubbering mess and I'm sure it was more of a nod than anything audible - but you get the gist. Yay! We're engaged - and have a wonderful new ring to wear on my left hand:


We had been looking at gems together for quite some time and decided that the blue green montana sapphire was totally the way to go. They are interesting and unique and have the longevity and hardness of a sapphire! Fraser ended up finding the cushion cut stone online, drawing out the ring design on paper, and then had it custom made by a pair of English jewelers in town! The sapphire is surrounded by six little diamonds on a white gold strips and the sides have hearts on them:


What a beautiful surprise! I couldn't imagine a more perfect ring for me. I love how it isn't traditional, it won't get caught on my nylons when I put them on, and it isn't overly frilly (but has the little side hearts for a cute and subtle girly touch). I especially love seeing it on my finger as it reminds me how wonderful it is to be engaged to Fraser!


Hooray! Unfortunately I've only had one week to enjoy the engaged life with Fraser since he is off to Kamloops today to start his practicum. Rats. Oh well, at least I have a nice ring to keep me company and one heck of an engagement story. I mean how many engagements involve baby pygmy goats?

Hi Honey.

Well my parents are heading back to Kamloops this morning and it looks like things will be getting mighty lonely around these parts. Fraser is finished with classes for the semester and will be off to Kamloops for his practicum soon - leaving little old me to fend for myself in Victoria. I am extra tempted to get myself my own beast pillow to keep me company (like this one I saw in Pikaland):


I love the colour combination on this guy and can totally imagine coming home to him after work and watching some nice Turner Classic Movies on the couch with him. He looks like a Fred don't you think? Unfortunately there is at least a two month wait for one of these pals in debivanzl's Etsy shop so either I need to make my own or go without. *Ssigh*. Maybe all my alone time will give me ample motivation to get knitting! What do you think? Anyone want to come over and teach me how to make a Fred friend?

Girls Weekend Recap!

So I am a bit belated with this blog post (since my lovely friends left ages ago) but I thought I would do a recap of our fun regardless of the timeline. It was so great of Lindsay, Sarra, Cindy, and Heather to come for a visit during reading break and it reminded me what great and unique friends they all are! Ok - time for the fun details!

Day 1 - The girls arrived early Thursday morning and the extra long weekend started off with an adventure. Lindsay's car mysteriously wouldn't start and despite our attempts (thanks Dad for making sure I always have a tool box and jumper cables in my trunk), it seemed hopeless. (Also - I stole some of these pictures from Sarra's instagram since, as always, I failed at weekend documentation.)


Luckily Sarra had BCAA so we got a free tow to the shop and a sweet loaner van. I really wish I took a picture of the van we got since it was hilarious on its own (complete with super unsafe non locking back seats and duct tape). It was the "Bobby Orr" edition so (obviously) Bobby was a suiting name for such a sweet ride. We did some grocery shopping and after the exhausting trials of car troubles we decided to stay home for the rest of the night. Bring on the junk food, weekend scheduling, and girly gossip!

Day 2 - We decided Friday would be the best day to do most of our shopping (since it wasn't quite weekend yet so downtown would be theoretically a little less busy). We had a slow start of a morning. I had decided earlier in the week that this would be the perfect opportunity to let my hair go curly since I had four lovely long haired knowledgeable ladies to teach me cute ways to put it up! Take a peek at their creation:


It was quite the typical rainy winter day so we layered up and headed out! Despite the wet, it was still a beautiful day - and take a peek at the nice view we had from our parking spot in the parkade:


We spent the majority of the day shopping around downtown and seeing all the delightful hot spots. We even did some drive by parliament viewing:


Day 3 - Saturday was much nicer weather wise so we did a bit more shopping and stopped by Fisherman's Wharf for fish and chips (gluten free!) and some stand by seal watching (somewhat like our drive by site seeing...but standing...):


It was a much nicer stop by the parliament buildings today too:


The ladies were so perfectly well suited to me that we headed back home early for an evening of crafting! Seriously! What could be better? Five girls and limitless creativity:


Cindy and Sarra played around with lots of jewelry making (after a few stops at Beadworld) and Lindsay and Heather were all over the Smoking Lily craft packs of fabric scraps. Look how excitedly Heather cut out that new glasses case:


I mostly just sat and sewed to help them out with their craftiness and boy was it ever a fantastic time! It did however leave the house in a state of disaster:


and left me with a bunch of amazing purchases:


Day 4 - Sunday came all too soon and we decided to go out for breaky at the Blue Fox to finish up the weekend. As always, it was delicious! Just check out the chilli mocha some of the ladies had:


Then just enough time to pack up Lindsay's car (which apparently had nothing wrong with it since it started at the mechanics....) and take one last group shot (thanks Fraser):


Oh what an amazing time with such amazing friends! I think I need to start renting myself out for weekends of crafting. Free accomidation and craft tips in return for some friendly company and hair braiding! Sounds great hey? Well, needless to say, I can't wait for the girls to come back soon! Hooray!

What a weekend!

After an entire week of resting my poor torn ab muscles, I was determined to have a hospital-free fun weekend this time around. We woke up early Saturday morning and went out for breakfast at the Blue Fox. It was delicious as always and didn't even have a long line up to compete with. Yay! On our scenic drive home I found the new location of my favourite yarn shop and a new fabric and notion store to check out in the future! What fun! Then it was back home for some productivity! Okay, so I am still in recovery mode, but Fraser was nice enough to finish making a light box for me:


This light box thing has been a long time coming and I can't believe how quick it was to finally finish up! Fraser did an amazing job and once I get some long sheets of paper for backdrops I will be taking pictures like the pros! Well...hopefully anyways. I have been dying to spiff up my etsy shop item images (especially the button ones) and the nice filtered light from my new light box will be perfect! Any tips for what sort of lights I should use with it? I guess I'll have to experiment to find out.

Next we planned to take a wee trip downtown so Fraser could use some of his xmas gift cards and it started to snow! How exciting! It certainly wasn't cold enough to stick, but the fluffy blistery snow flakes were super fun to watch. Take a peek from our deck:


Yay! We've been told it is supposed to snow even more today (Sunday) and Monday so maybe some of it will hang around this time too! Hooray!

To finish up the day off I sewed up some more avocado felt brooches to list in my etsy shop:


After seeing a picture of my last pin on Sarra's blog I decided it would be fun to make a few more! The first one I made actually turned into a reserved listing so I thought it would be neat to see if the little smiling fruits (are avocados fruit?) would be popular sellers! I even whipped up two more Totoro brooches to list too! Yipee!

Here's to hoping today is just as fabulous as Saturday was! What did you get up to this weekend?

To the Museum!

Last week while my good pal Jim was visiting we took a trip downtown to check out the BC Royal Museum. Leslie (my ever lovin' sis) always tells me how I never seem to take many pictures of myself out doing things so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity! As it turns out, I am pretty unphotogenic and the dim lighting of the museum is not the easiest to take pictures in. Alas - Jim and I had a great time! Here I am on the walk there doing a traditional tourist pose in front of the parliament buildings:


Some very nice old men greeted us when we arrived and told us we had to check out the chubby bird photographs in the National Geographic photography display that was currently going on. How great! I love little chubby birds! Unfortunately I couldn't take any shots of that exhibit, but it was certainly worth the trip! Now onto the rest of the museum...

I quickly realized that I really enjoy the natural history part the best (just like my trip to the natural history museum in LA last May) and the actual "history" part (which was all first nations and early 1900's stuff) is totally not my cup of tea. Oh well, a little something for everyone right? I managed to take a few pictures of the most well light parts of the super awesome natural history floor! If I didn't know any better I would totally think these were actual animals (not taxidermied) in their habitats! Check out mountain lion:


and black bear:


They also had some really cool ocean-like displays (that I didn't get any good images of). I had no idea sea lions could be so enormous! This would be a super fun place to take some biology loving kids since every corner was oozing super fun information! They even had a huge underwater wall with loads of critters to check out!

The most famous of the Royal Museum's displays has to be the woolly mammoth, and for good reason! He is super impressive! I'm totally in love with this picture I took (on my phone too!):


After meandering through the rest of the exhibits (and the whole third floor of actual history stuff) we came back to check out the owls again! I just couldn't stay away! It is so neat to be able to see them all close up! Take a peek at snowy owls:


or how about the super tiny adorableness of barn owls?:


That's pretty much the only picture of Jim I was able to nab, but I do enjoy how it turned out. I really wanted to get a good one of me in front of the owls, but no such luck. In fact, we took about 45 pictures of me by them and this is the best of the bunch. Please note how super creepy the owl glare is behind me:


Watch out! That owl has his eye on you! Hehe. It was certainly a great trip and I cant wait for more museum loving friend to visit so I can take them there! I wonder if baby Jean would appreciate it? What do you think? Are you a museum goer?