the day's adventures

on this, the last day of my four day weekend, my buddy rudy and i went on a 2 hour walkabout in our fair city, to take pictures of the new spring blooms, and to find a new copy of watership down cuz the one we rented yesterday skipped a bunch.  

in place of this, we found these:

we also saw this beautiful blue brownstone:

and some other treasures:

rudy enjoyed it, although she got a wee bit nackered toward the end :)

oh and i almost forgot, i got new glasses on friday! (which was one of the things on my 33 things list).  

old eyes:

new eyes:

which ones do you like the best?

dame dolly

the great Dolly Parton never stops. now she's written the music and lyrics for a broadway musical of 9 to 5, which opened in new york last week. musically, i'm partial to Dolly's early days, but there's no denying that this woman is a living legend! i've always wanted to make the trip to Dollywood. what a hoot that would be! here are two wondrous pieces of art inspired by the muse herself:

embroidery by Jenny Hart

Manna From Dolly by Matt Dorfman

happy easter!

video good vendredi

it's video vendredi - easter style! here is the first 10 minutes of one of the best animated films ever made and my childhood favourite by far: Watership Down.  if you haven't seen it, you must rectify this as soon as possible, and if you have the time, read the book too!

i love the smell of poodlebreath

i had originally meant to include this in my easter etsy post below, but i was so struck by this seller's wares, that i had to give her a post all her own. here is an exquisite porcelain pendant and an extraordinary wall hanging by poodlebreath. do visit her shop, as everything therein is equally amazing! and while you're at it, check out her awesome blog.

spring hats

i found these gorgeous photos of 'spring hats' over at the Life photo archive. the bottom one is my favourite!

look what the easter bunny made

tomorrow is the beginning of a much needed four day weekend for me, and i've lots of things planned, like spring cleaning, family dinners and a visit to the science centre with my love! anyhow, it's likely that i won't have much time to write in the next four days, so i thought i'd post a little easter nod now...

here are some of my favourite easter-ish/spring-y things from etsy:

tiny twig hair pins from 4thesparrowsnest
infant beanie from mybellabows
bunnies adrift gocco print from argylewhale
frosted chocolate bunny cake earings from yummiecharms
hope springs eternal ceramic egg from palomasnest
pink bunny marmalade ring from corybethy

flowers of the orient

often in my travels, i like to photograph the local flora. these are a few of my favorites.

travel tuesdee - cabin fever

i know that spring is trying desperately to crawl out from under winter's blanket, and i should really be thinking of sunshine and flowers and things, and once i do my cleanin' this weekend i'll feel much better, but today i'm feeling all groggy n hermit-y and if winter ain't leavin', then i wanna be here instead:

spring playlist

i'm about to do some heavy duty spring cleaning this weekend; rid myself of all the things i never use (or never even realized i had); lighten my load and make room for newness!

Now, besides all the necessary cleaning implements, what is the most important element of a truly thorough spring cleaning endeavour? That's right, a solid playlist. One that keeps the body moving through the task at hand. One that makes you whistle while you work.

So i bin lookin' through my itunes, trying to compose such a list, and i'm finding, much to my dismay, that i'm a wee bit sick of much of my inventory; that my list seems to be lacking a certain umpff. It's here that i appeal to you, reader: help me out here, would ya? Any suggestions for some new (or old) tunes to spice up my weekend wash-up? i'd be ever so grateful for any ideas! xo

one of a kind

Hope everyone had a magnificent weekend! Mine was grand, which almost makes up for the freezing rain that greeted me this morning. boo.


On Saturday i visited the one of a kind show here in toronto and was astounded by the wealth of creativity and craftsmanship.

Below are two crummy dont-do-it-justice photos of the gorgeous dress i bought from Mandala Designs by Mandy Armstrong. Just about everything at the booth was delicious. Had i a larger pocket book, i might have walked away with the whole collection. Mandy is one of many incredible designers whose work is available at Fresh Collective (only the most amazing designer run store in Toronto).

And here are some more of my favourites from the show that i shoulda woulda coulda bought:

Funky jewelry from Kari Lynn Bianchi, who by the way, was so friendly and adorable i wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home with me.

Strikingly beautiful paintings by Stephen Gillberry

Birdy fascinators and pretty little clutches from House of Hsueh

Wonderful paintings and sculpture, full of soft, warm whimsy from Gosia

...and perhaps my favourite booth of all, that of Lee Meszaros, whose wares were so full of joy and positivity that my eyes actually welled up as i browsed. These hand-painted & embroidered merit badges, available on her etsy site and at goodEGG Industries, are even lovlier in person, and the artist herself seemed equally as lovley!

for pushing the envelope

for going out on a limb...and this one is my favourite:

for having meat on your bones

oh, and i also loved this little baby bowling shirt from Kid Brother:

slow n steady

a moment of sloth zen:

some incredible sloth art:

fabulous print available on etsy from Berkley Illustration

gorgeous painting by Jenny Keith Hughes

awesome portrait from welcome to the doghouse

peripheral elvis - big mama & big joe

as you may have heard rumour, i am an elvis fan. i'm an elvis fan of mammoth proportions, tattooed and all, and wedded to my husband on the hallowed grounds of graceland itself. yet, oddly enough, i don't tend to write about the king much here on my blog. the main reason for this is that elvis' image is extraordinarily protected. as quickly as i might post a video or photo of the legend himself, the powers that be will snatch them away. i've already twice replaced the video i posted on the first day of spring.
so this morning i have decided to post a couple of peripheral elvis references for video vendredi...
the first is what i believe to be one of very few examples of an original recording that is actually far superior to the later elvis version: Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton's Hound Dog. the song was written specifically for Willie Mae by Leiber & Stoller, and as you can hear, the original lyrics make far more sense than the tweaked version that E did. don't get me wrong, i think elvis is one of the most sublimely talented human beings ever to have lived, but this song was meant for Big Mama, and man does she do it so much more justice.


now let me draw your attention to a funny little story about lyrics. below is a recording of Big Joe Turner singing Shake, Rattle n Roll. in his version of the song, the lyrics are dripping with sexual inuendos, most of which had been sanitized by the time the song got through Bill Haley & the Comets and on to Elvis. but what cracks me up is that the censors somehow overlooked a particular verse which remains in all versions:

"i'm like a one-eyed cat, peepin' in a seafood store
i'm gonna look at you 'til you ain't no child no more"

ha HAAAAA! that's some filthy stuff! love it. too funny.

50s ephemera

vieilles annonces has a flickr site teaming with spectacular found photos from the 40s and 50s. go have a look around!

my other daughter

is it legal to marry a chair? ima look into it...

30s inspired art deco arm chair from armani/casa (via retro to go)