Feelin It

I don't know how you could feel anything but love towards MGMT. Jackie included them on her list of favs and seeing their name reminded me of how much I adore their music. I think it's nearly impossible to listen to these tracks and not bop your head and tap your toes. Love it!

MGMT - "Electric Feel" Music Video

What would you classify MGMT as, electro pop maybe?

Mmmmmusique

I promised more new music and here I am just a few days later delivering, lucky you!

My fab friend Jackie is the Queen of Indie and I've asked her to send me a list of band names so that I can update my collection of tunes. She and her man Ian are always at concerts and listening to the up and coming before they rise to the top so I'll be sure to share my new finds with all of you.

Mother Mother is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia which just happens to be the home of three of my most favourite ladies (Jackie being one of them). The band isn't just fabulous by association of location, they have catchy songs that I intend to listen to over and over again. Check them out...

Likey Lykkee Li

I'm smitten. Thanks to Liss from Daydream Lily I have been introduced to a new artist to obsess over. I can finally set Todd Terje aside (at least temporarily). Listening to this lovely Swede's voice gets my creative juices flowing... watch her video below for Little Bit and check out her myspace page to hear a few more of her songs.

Brilliant!

Yesterday I ranted and today I will rave. Last night Mike and I watched a special on the most amazing young man: Stephen Wiltshire. Stephen is a brilliant artist who happens to be autistic; when I say brilliant artist I mean brilliant.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about Stephen's art all day; while out for lunch with Mike I was thinking again about the phenomenal talent Stephen has for drawing from memory (he has been referred to as a human camera) when Mike blurted out: I can't stop thinking about that artist. My point is, this young man is worthy of awe... maybe you have heard of him over the years but Mike and I hadn't.

We have every intention of purchasing a copy of one of Stephen's prints down the road and had no trouble agreeing on the panorama of England which the filming of the documentary circled around.


Grab yourself a glass of vino and be prepared to let your jaw drop. The video is 40 minutes but well worth the time. I think it would be impossible for you to watch this and not be impressed. Let me know what you think!

A Terrific Taste of India

Photo taken and uploaded by Kristian Rasmussen

Tanya left us a box full of lovely edibles when she took off to Russia. One of the treats found in the mix was Gourmantra's boxed Tandoori mix. I followed the simple directions printed on the box and the end result: DELISH. Mike gobbled down his plate of chicken and rice announcing how fantastic the chicken was appx. 8 million times before suggesting this become a weekly meal; it really was fabulous. If you like Indian food you have to give Gourmantra's boxed mixes a shot.

ME! ME! ME!

I won! I won! I WON! I rarely win things so when I slipped over to the ultra lovely Daydream Lily this evening to see what pretty post she had to share today, I was thrilled to see that she had oh so generously drawn an extra international name for her giveaway! J-A-I-M-E. That's me!

I won a copy of the Australian magazine Frankie, a magazine I've coveted for some time now thanks to its mention by so many fabulous Aussie bloggers. I literally squealed when I saw my name.

Thank you so sO SO very much!

Beautiful Paper
Originally uploaded by words & pictures

You know how I love papercutting? Well I'll now add paper twirling (I'm pretty sure that's not the technical name for it) to my list of paper art loves.

Yulia Brodskaya's work is beautiful, don't you think?

Thanks to Black Eiffel (one of my new reads) for sharing these amazing finds.

It'll Make You Giggle

I labeled it 'movies' but technically WEEDS is a TV show. If you haven't seen it you should, it's really funny. I'm not a big comedy girl, I love to laugh but sitcoms and movies rarely do it for me. Maybe it's our warped sense of humor but Mike and I are hooked on Weeds - not the stuff you smoke, the show. A suburban mom turns to dealing to support her two boys, I'll say no more. We're into the second season right now and loving it. Have you seen it? What do you think?

P.S. I Loved It

If you want to watch a movie that will make your heart feel like it's being torn in two you should watch P.S. I Love You. I cried, hard, both times. Maybe I'm just a cheese ball.

Fab Pick of Last Week

These vintage typewriter keys turned wine tags are super cool. There won't be any question of what glass belongs to what guest if you sling these funky charms on goblets at your next shin dig. Visit QA Create to check out what other unique bits typewriter keys have been turned into.

Oh So Sweet Tags

Abigail Halpin has posted a free downloadable pdf for some super sweet gift tags. I have a zillion tags leftover from last year so as tempting as it is to print these off I'm going to save the pdf to print next Christmas. Enjoy!

From Me to You!

I just arrived home from running some errands and it's a winter wonderland out there! Tomorrow morning is guaranteed to be filled with shoveling and I'm kicking myself for not picking up hot chocolate mix when I was at the grocery store earlier. I suppose I'll be hunting for a yummy hot chocolate from scratch recipe later this evening.

My niece is coming over to hang out with her favourite aunt (that would be me) tonight while her mommy and daddy enjoy some grown up fun at a Christmas party. We're going to eat spaghetti, decorate the Christmas tree, bake some cookies and definitely watch High School musical while doing all of the previously mentioned. I'm guessing we'll fit in two viewings and possibly begin the third by the time my brother comes to pick her up. Thankfully I haven't seen the movie yet so it shouldn't be too painful.

While pulling out the decorations for the tree I started thinking that it would be great if I could give all of my readers a gift for Christmas. Then I remembered I'm a student and me giving everyone a gift would actually mean Mike would be giving all of you a gift since he's currently my cash supply and something tells me he might not like the idea as much as I do! Rather than giving you all material gifts I'm going to try to pass along freebies as often as possible during the month of December. The freebie might be a recipe, tutorial, printable or a handmade something to be sent through the post. I'll try to post as often as possible but I'm not promising anything!

My first share of the month is thanks to How About Orange - I know, I know, you're not surprised - who posted the link to this beautiful free printable 2009 calendar at Mibo. Sign up for their newsletter and in return you'll receive the pdf for the calendar. Lovely!

More goodness tomorrow! Stay warm.

This is my favourtie kitchen tool.

I am just as in love with my KitchenAid mixer today as I was in high school when I first discovered her existence. I know that sounds ridiculous but seriously, I love my mixer.


I remember telling my mom that I wanted a KA as a wedding gift when I was still a teen. There was no groom in sight but I had figured that marriage was a sure fire way of getting my hands on the mixer - don't worry Mike, the mixer wasn't my only reason for marrying you. Sure enough I received a KA of my own as a gift from my mom and a few other family members at my wedding shower. Needless to say I was a very happy bride-to-be. I could go on and on about that yummy bits my mixer has helped me create but I think I've said enough, I'm sure you get my point: I love my KA mixer, she is without a doubt my favourite kitchen tool.

Thanks to Handmaiden for this week's "This is..." theme, an opportunity to brag about one's KitchenAid mixer should always be taken seriously.

In Between Trapeze Bars

**Sorry about the 'alien speak' - I have fixed the oops and you should be able to read this post now**

No I have not started circus training, although that would be crazy fun wouldn't it?! I did stumble upon a piece of paper that a former colleague (the first teacher I worked with, a man named Jim who I truly admire) printed off and passed my way many years ago. I think he may have given it to me when I was just beginning to contemplate going back to school to work on my degree, or maybe it was was when I began talking marriage... or maybe... well you'll get the point when you read the words for yourself in just a minute.

I remember vividly reading The Fear of Transformation this for the first time and nodding my head thinking just how accurate it was. I haven't looked at if for years and do not remember when I stuffed it into the space next to my CPU but just a moment ago I tipped a pile of CDs over and while grumbling about having to stick my hand into the unknown I found it once again.
It's a little bit long but worth the read.

Fear of Transformation
From The Essene Book of Days

Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings. I'm either hanging on to a trapeze bar swinging along or, for a few moments in my life, I'm hurtling across space in between trapeze bars.

Most of the time, I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my trapeze-bar-of-the-moment. It carries me along a certain steady rate of swing and I have the feeling that I'm in control of my life. I know most of the right questions and even some of the right answers. But once in a while, as I'm merrily (or not so merrily) swinging along. I look ahead of me into the distance, and what do I see? I see another trapeze bar swinging toward me. It's empty, and I know, in that place that knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it. It is my next step, my growth, my aliveness going to get me. In my heart-of-hearts I know that for me to grow, I must release my grip on the present, well known bar to move to the new one.

Each time it happens to me, I hope (no, I pray) that I won't have to grab the new one. But in my knowing place I know that I must totally release my grasp on my old bar, and for some moment in time hurtle across space before I can grab onto the new bar. Each time I am filled with terror. It doesn't matter that in all my previous hurtles across the void of unknowing, I have always made it. Each time I am afraid I will miss, that I will be crushed on the unseen rocks in the bottomless chasm between the bars. But I do it anyways. Perhaps this is the essence of what the mystics call the faith experience. No guarantees, no net, no insurance policy, but you do it anyways because somehow, to keep hanging onto that old bar is no longer on the list of alternatives. And so for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of "the past is gong, the future is not yet here." It's called transition. I have come to believe that it is the only place that real change occurs. I mean real change, not the pseudo-change that only lasts until the next time my old buttons get punched.

I have noticed that, in our culture, this transition zone is looked upon as a "no-thing", a no-place between places. Sure the old trapeze-bar was real, and that new one coming towards me, I hope that's real too. But the void in between? That's just a scary, confusing, disorienting "nowhere" that must be gotten through as fast as possible. What a waste! I have a sneaking suspicion that the transition zone is the only real thing, and the bars are illusions we dream up to avoid, where the real change, the real growth occurs for us. Whether or not my hunch is true, it remains that the transition zones in our lives are incredibly rich places. They should be honoured, even savored. Yes, with all the pain and fear and feelings of being out-of-control that can (but not necessarily) accompany transitions, they are still the most alive, most growth-filled, passionate, expansive moments in our lives.

And so, transformation of fear may have nothing to do with making fear go away, but rather with giving ourselves permission to "hang-out" in the transition between trapeze bars. Transforming our need to grab that new bar, any bar, is allowing ourselves to dwell in the only place where change really happens. It can be terrifying. It can also be enlightening, in the true sense of the word. Hurtling through the void, we just may learn how to fly.

*****

What do you think?
I think it's funny that I found it today because I'm in between bars right now but finally instead of feeling the intense stress, discomfort and confusion I felt the last time I was in between bars (a 3 year gap filled with full-time work and full-time school) I have given myself "permission to 'hang-out'" and it truly is enlightening... I think I just might be learning to fly.

Bad Turned Good

I arrived home from a long day at school and opened a bill that nearly caused me vomit. It's not that it was unexpected, it's just that the money that I had planned to pay this particularly painful credit card off with has been held by a certain government agency (no names mentioned) for the last month and I was pretty much convinced that they were going to decide against giving me the money. Long story short, I hopped online to check the status of my moolah after groaning over the bill and hallelujah!! What are the chances that today happens to be the day that they finally deposited the money in my bank account?! Honestly, what the? Needless to say I am one happy woman.

It gets better.

When it comes to material things in this world money is certainly high on the top of my list of wonderful things. Take a moment to think this through before you judge!! I didn't say it was number one on my list of important things in life, I said MATERIAL things and in order to gain material goods you generally need money. Second on my list of material fabulousness is food. Technically this would be number one but without the moolah I wouldn't be eating much.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, me going from near barfage to happy happy.
Mike is away all this week on business which leaves me eating on my own. I have no problem eating alone but lately since I don't get home until late and then have a pile of homework to complete it seems that every time I have had an alone meal I end up eating Kraft Dinner. Don't get me wrong, I love KD, it brings back waves of pleasant childhood memories but eating it more than once every couple weeks is not acceptable. I like to savor it and don't want to ruin the experience by overindulging. Point being, I wanted to avoid KD this week so on the way home from school (pre-near vomiting bill opening) I stopped at Zehrs to pick up a few quick meals.
Oh... my... GOD. Someone told me ages ago to try the President's Choice Thai Green Curry Shrimp meal but I didn't listen. What the hell is wrong with me?! I have found my new favourite thing.
In just 6 minutes (5 minute cooking, 1 minute sitting) I had some of the best green curry ever! I loooooooooove green curry, it's one of my top three Thai dishes so imagine my delight in finding the easiest meal on earth in just my flavor! Amazing! Is it low calorie? Not at all but neither is Kraft Dinner so there.

A great start to my week, let's just hope this luck continues.

A New Favourite

If you haven't already read the book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan you need to. Once you get started you'll have a hard time putting this novel down so be sure you have time to spare when you begin. Foot-binding, arranged marriages and the secret written women's language called nu shu are just a few of the reasons this book is worth your time. Not only will you learn a thing or two about rural Chinese culture in the 19th century but you'll fall in love with Lily and Snow Flower, two young girls who are laotong ("old sames"), as you follow them throughout their lives. This fabulous find is now on my list of best reads.

Pearly Whites!

I mentioned a few weeks back that I was given the opportunity to try out Whitening Listerine strips and I had promised to post a week later to let you know what I thought... Whoops! A few weeks have gone already and I nearly forgot to follow-up but here I am, better late than never.

I give the Whitening Listerine strips two thumbs up. Would I recommend them? Sure! Would I use them again myself? Probably not. If I didn't have caps then yes I would use them but since I do I can only apply them on my bottom teeth and those guys are never visible. That being said if I ever have replacement caps put on my top chompers I will definitely consider the strips to brighten my bottom teeth.

If you tend to cover your mouth when you laugh or smile because of stained teeth definitely give Whitening Listerine strips a shot!

My Canadian readers can snag some free samples and coupons for the strips by visiting this link.

This is my favourite children's book.

It's the best book EVER. the end.

Turn it up for Todd Terje!

Turn up the volume on your computer if you want to hear some sweet sounds flowing from your speakers. I've resisted the urge to add a music widget to my blog for some time now because more often than not I'm totally annoyed when I find one on a blog (usually because my volume is up waaay too high and I end up being blasted off my chair thanks to some cheese oozing from my speakers) but I'm currently obsessed with the dj Todd Terje. This obsession stems from the mix you'll hear playing if you would just turn up the volume. It's a suh-weeet mix, really... trust me I've listened to it about a kazillion times in the last month and I'm still not sick of it. That being said, let me know when you're sick of hearing it and I'll throw something new on... maybe.

Speaking of music, the other day I was listening Mozart and wow that is one talented guy. I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous but I've never been a classical music sort of girl and I realize now that's because I had never really listened to it. Two thumbs up for Wolfgang!

Bliggity Blogs

While searching for laptop bag inspiration (I will be receiving my new laptop from my new school next Monday) I stumbled upon the blog Thimble, what a great find! Loads of neat arts and crafts tutorials and it's a Canadian site to boot!

Thimble led me to the Altered Cloth site which is also worth checking out, looks like there are some great projects there too!

I love the fact that one great blog usually leads you to a zillion others!