sexy things to look at

I am a visual person, therefore, I love these prints.  Coffee found here.  Sushi found here by me, but originally from here, I think. More great visual thinking here.







And then... oh man, check out this gem [flip the pages!].... fun, fun, fun. In my secret life I'd love to be a graphic designer. Speaking of work, guess what? It's Wednesday and I'm NOT working tonight! yippee!!

landslide.

holy frack man, kids are awesome. And how adorable is their music teacher?? Happy Tuesday.

Sundays are for eating.

[gallery columns="2"]

This afternoon I cooked, I baked, and I did a whole lot of eating.  I made five mini chicken pot pies [for freezing], puréed chickpea soup, and cheddar biscuits.  I love home made biscuits so much.  These were only okay. I tried a new recipe, I can't find my old stand-by. I'd love to be a great baker, but I'm just not.  Good cooker, just not baker.  Mostly they tasted like cheese, flour & butter.  Not a bad thing necessarily... but I'm pretty sure I ate 7 tonight. Seven.

fabric love.

I bought fabric today. Wonderful, fantastic, amazing fabric that makes me really really happy.  Now that I have wheels, I decided to stop into Atlantic Fabrics on my way home from the grocery store.  I haven't been in a while.  I quickly found one bolt that I loved, then realized, wait.. I love ALL of these.  What's going on? I never have such luck.  I overheard a girl behind me saying something about Amy Butler fabrics... I immediately interrupted her [I'm really terrible for doing that AND she was talking on her cell at the time... oops] and said, 'I'm sorry, did you say Amy Butler? Where are they??' She laughed and said 'you're holding all of them'.. A-ha! That explains the love affair. I didn't even know. Needless to say I bought a metre of ALL of them and have decided this will be the JILL QUILT. Because I have a love affair with colour + patterns that makes others cringe.  So this one will be mine.

Oh for cryin' out loud.  I just looked up the fabrics on her website and this new collection is appropriately called love, heart & soul.  meant. to. be.

I also bought sunflowers today.

Also, so loving this song.  On repeat constantly. It was gorgeous live. Literally could not keep my eyes off hands that were drumming. I love it. Okay. That's all for today.

5 faves on Friday ....

+ this website for ... ice cream! so gorgeous. and Kansas City?? hello.

[pretty pictures here]

+ can we talk about calendars? love, love love.

+ this print. because it's ridiculous.

+ what a fun boat!

+ antler love

Happy Weekend! What are your plans?? We're going apple picking on Sunday! Can't wait.

au revoir.

Just returned from driving momma Farris to the airport.  Goodbyes blow.  We've been living far away, all over the world for a good 10 years now... and they don't get easier. I'm glad she's going back to my dad and  her friends and her life there, just wish it wasn't so very far away.  Because really, she's a pretty cool lady.  Check out that picture! [we had a DIY photobooth at the wedding, highly recommend them!].  Anyway, three things made it better today::

1. Iced soy mocha & nutella + banana croissant for breakfast.  Yeah, that's right.  Nutella AND bananas. Bonkers good. Found at the best damn coffee shop around.

2. Hearing this guilty pleasure on the ride home from the airport.  Dancing in my seat ensued and stopped the tears. Serious guilty pleasure, like so much so that for about two weeks when our music situation was scary effed, I was seriously considering dancing down the aisle to this.  Seriously. Should I really be sharing this??? hmmmm.....that's a lot of seriouslys.

3. I get the car until she returns! Yesss. There's no input for my ipod, but the good news is that the tape deck still works.  Tape deck.

let's play.

ahhhh! I love this website, PlanToys. The play house with wind turbines!! The vegetable garden!! Canadian online retailer right here... their prices are not bonkers!

efff man... I'm excited.

autumn begins.

Right now, I am .....

seeing ::  clearly.

hearing ::  the most wonderful and inspiring and fun music I've heard in such a long time.  New music. Old music. The kind of music I love. Music like this, and this, and this. Also, you know I need no excuse for more dancing in my life.

eating ::  so much home-made pizza. more pizza than anyone should ever eat. with every vegetable you can imagine on that dough.  and cheese.

feeling ::  excited. nervous. happy.... that I need more Vitamin C in my life.

thinking ::  that I'm finally coming back to a creative period in my life again.  I've been gone for a little while.  But I'm happy to be coming back.  Life is cyclical.... like technology [ha!]

making ::  I am going to make a full size quilt.  With squares like these, these, these. And also these. And I think I'm going to love it. [all pics from Soule Mama because she's the bomb....for serious].

watching ::  I always want to watch Once in the fall.  I think it's his jacket & scarf, reminds me of fall.  Have you seen Once? If not, watch it immediately.  Seriously.

Change is in the air. Happy Equinox!

I need a leaf picture.  I can't seem to find any of my old pictures, so I'll steal her's for right now.  I need some photo organization.

new reads.

I bought this book today, and so far totally digging it.  How could you not, really. Look at that cover.  I've been reading so much about parenting in the 21st century. Modern parenting.  Relationships, marriage... etc... blogs, books, articles, whatever I can get my hands on. And I'm so reassured,  inspired, optimistic, I'm not sure what the word is.  But whatever it is, it's a good feeling to be reading and hearing the words of men when it comes to parenting, being fathers, being husbands, and being active [and willing] participants in the areas of family life that for so long have been traditionally 'female'. Totally digging that.  I'll try to post as many as I can find... for now this book and this blog are rocking my world.

hard decisions.

Today was hard.  Life decisions are hard.  I've spent the weekend struggling with one, and ultimately, have come to a conclusion.  I've decided to quit my job.  My job of five years.  My job that I love. I really do love it.  And do you know why? Do you know why I'm leaving? Well for a few reasons.  But the biggest one.  Money.  And I hate that.  I really do.  I have the opportunity to teach at a new centre, one of the more progressive and inspirational [for me anyway] centres in the city, one where I will have opportunities for professional growth, stability, and possibly creative writing endeavours in published journals and conferences. You know, the stuff I went to school for. For.. .um... seven years?? yeah.

But when I leave, I will be leaving a group of women who have touched my life. A group of women who nurture, educate, support, and encourage everyone they encounter, everyday.  The type of women who make it a joy to come to work everyday.  Who laugh, and swear, and cry and feel openly and honestly.  The type of women who are shining examples of what a mother is.  The type of mother that I hope to be someday.  The type of women who when your grandfather dies, they send you home with hugs and kisses, food and flowers and tell you not to come back until you. are. ready.

And that is the hard part about my field.  I do what I do because I love it.  Period.  I get paid very little to be an active participant in a community of caring.  And when you enter into that... it's difficult to maintain professionalism in it's natural state.  When your boss wants you to stay, or is afraid that you are going to leave, there's no money for a raise.  So instead, she bakes you cookies.  Or offers you rides home.  Or lets you leave early on a Friday afternoon.  She lets you know that you are valued and appreciated.

And today? Today. Today involved this: listening to a grandmother cry on the phone this afternoon after she found out I wouldn't be her grandsons teacher this year.  A grandmother who has taken in not one, but two grandchildren as her foster children. Who cried not only because I won't be his teacher, but because I won't be a support for her and her family.  Today I also looked into the eyes of a broken, broken man. A man in  his twenties who just found out he is HIV positive.  A man who is a patient at the methadone clinic across the street.  He came to the centre today to apologize for kicking in the window of my classroom on Thursday night.  Kicking in the window, shattering it, and making my classroom un-usable.  He told us his story. And we listened. Today I brought a plate of burnt, left over grilled cheese sandwiches to a group of hungry men outside our centre.  A group of men, and one in particular, who look out for our centre on a daily basis.  Who chase away drug dealers from our front door, who shovel our walkway when it snows.  Who say good morning to our kids everyday when they walk by.  And they got a kick out of being served child-sized grilled cheese sandwiches.  And that made my day.

So this is my job.  It's not my job description.  But it involves my every day with these families and with these children.  And I'm walking away.  And it makes me feel so heavy.  Blargh.

I know it will be okay.  I know it's time for a change for me.  I know this.  I am excited to start somewhere new.  To be inspired, to meet new families, to experience new opportunities. That's cool. But leaving sucks.

Let's leave it with this because it's so good.....

socks knocked off.

If we didn't need a reason to LOVE Etsy even more... check out their head office at Unstitched here! and also more here

high hopes.

find this beautiful book here.

Fall is my most favourite time of year....  the colours, the temperature, the food, pumpkins[!], the transition from warm sleepy summer to crisp autumn afternoons.  I love it.  I had grand plans this year to begin canning, something I’ve always wanted to do but haven’t attempted for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately,  it hasn’t happened this year either.  I had planned to start with salsa… I have the bottles, the big pot, a recipe, 2lbs of tomatoes.  However, having a cold this weekend and feeling generally like crap kept me from the long process of salsa making.  Instead… our 2lbs of tomatoes became a delicious sauce for lasagna.  There’s always next year, right? Maybe there are still things in season for canning... we'll see what I can find at the Farmers Market next weekend. And speaking of that... what do we think of the new building + location of the Halifax Market??

Here is the lasagne, and to toot my own horn, M. referred to it as the best lasagne he's ever had.  It was pretty darn good.  The only thing that could have made it better was homemade pasta sheets.  My bro' got us a pasta machine for a wedding gift and we can't WAIT to use it.... next time.

food for thought.

[image from here]

Friday was annual PARK[ing] Day, unbeknownst to me.  See more great pictures here, and read more here. Looks fun.

i [heart] Halifax.

Reason #1,452 why Halifax is so awesome. Saw this walking by North Park St. & Cogswell today.

nerds.

Guess what's back in ONE week?? That's right... 30 Rock. Season 5.  Oh my love for Liz Lemon.  Can't wait.

robots need love too.

Just came from an evening of hearing fantastic live music... so good for the soul. We saw The Acorn play two years ago in Brussels in a greenhouse turned arts centre from the 1800's. Gorgeous. I thought it would be a hard act to follow.  The only thing that could come close was  seeing them at St. Matthew's church home in Halifax.  I can't imagine where we will see them next time.  I love them.  AND.. two drum sets and a ukulele... gah! heaven.

And speaking of music, this song has been in my head for weeks. I think it's so beautiful.  And funny.

inspiration.

Read more about this amazing project here. Super stoked to the see the final documentary. Also more great resources for teachers.

happy.

Do you know what makes me happy? Mail.  Mail makes me happy.  I love it.  I love receiving it but mostly I love sending it.  I ordered a print from Etsy and it came last week.  I love it so much. It looks like this. Her shop is called Please Be Still. Even better.

hey teachers!

It's back to school time.  Just came across this resource guide to use with the movie Dirt!. Have you seen it??



Click here for resources to use with kids of all ages. Get Dirty!

welcome.

I'm back to blogging! I've missed it so.  This guy will be different from before, no great travels to document here, unfortunately.  Instead, just daily stuff.  Things that I find interesting or worth reading about.  And of course, pretty pictures to look at.  Hope you enjoy.

Oh.. one more thing. The title and the reason behind it. We need more good. Period. Just more good in this world and probably in our daily lives.

ola!

work.in.progress.