Monday Monday

well we're back from the desert and I am so happy that I took today off work to have a day of total vegetation... I can't remember the last time I truly just stopped and relaxed without feeling guilty - but today is all about hanging out at home in my track pants and uggs with my doggies :)

I have a bunch of blog posts to catch up on, a great pile of magazines to browse through and a few mundane tasks (like finally changing my address on my drivers license but all in all, it's a happy happy Monday!

Suddenly needing something sparkly and a glass of vodka

happy friday

The weekend came early for Bryce and I yay! we flew into Tucson, Arizona last night for El Tour de Tucson, a 109 mile bike race that Bryce is crazy enough to compete in... I am just along for the ride (and support crew) but taking lots of photos :) I think I have taken about 50 shots of cactus (or is that cacti?) just like these so far...

have a wonderful weekend!

I wish I could craft all day long...

if I had all the time in the world I would probably buy one of these as they look really fun...

happy birthday bill!

Dear Mr Father-In-Law to be

I hope you have a wonderful happy birthday today! We'll be up to give you birthday wishes in person on Thursday next week :)

Love Kate, Bryce, Cooper and McKenzie!

craigslist gold

Unfortunately, I don't have the space for this gorgeous piece but thought I would share it in case you do. This Lovig design Scandinavian Teak desk is not only beautifully functional as a desk (check out all those great cubbies for organisational bliss) but then it doubles as a table! I love great functional beautiful design... check it out on craigslist here

Getting Swept Up in Design

I'm finally catching the fever for design and have started obsessively looking at home and garden sites, as well as hundreds of books and magazines on the subject. Buying my house was pretty hellish and it's just been over the last few weeks that I've truly felt excited about the upcoming projects for improving our home. I was busy making appointments with window people, furnace people, fence people, etc. when my friend Kathy brought her boyfriend Andre over and he gave me some very good advice. He said he could tell I was starting to get swept up in the excitement of re-doing the entire house, but that I should hold off from making any decisions until I had spent at least 80 to 100 hours researching each project. I was stunned! I wanted so badly to at least do... something, but I realized that he was giving me some very good advice and I actually listened. Now I'm making appointments for quotes and gathering information, but not committing to anything yet. So far, Andre's advice was right on. I've heard some great ideas from people that I hadn't even thought of and can see that my house is going to be fabulous in the end! So, with that said, here are some pictures and a link to a cool green design site for a local company.

sliders with the lot

after my post on aussie hamburgers with the lot, and eating these delicious sliders the other night with Cody and Melita, and then Christina's comment about beetroot I decided it was time to make some home made aussie burgers. so, on Saturday night we had a little celebration for Christina's birthday and I made 'Aussie Sliders with the lot' which was quite the architectural undertaking.

Recipe:

Make mini burger patties out of some ground beef, an egg (to help it stick together) and some mixed herbs and pepper and salt. Barbeque them on the bbq.

Stack the burger patty, cheese, grilled onions, tomato sauce (ketchup), bacon, quarter of a fried egg (this bit was messy), sliced tomato, sliced pickled beetroot, grilled pineapple, and lettuce on the slightly toasted mini burger buns. Stab them with a skewer to keep it from toppling over and eat!

we then followed our mini burgers with mini cakes (it was a mini kinda night)

awww

well I didn't shave him but he is looking less hairy right now... still as cute as ever though :)

blame it on the rain

I am so happy to see these rain water tanks have made it to the USA! and love this great idea for multi-purposing these tanks as a fence. Check out Home Design Find for more information about these rain water tanks.

happy birthday christina ballerina!

Christina and I met in Chicago, in a time in my life where I was in transition and rediscovering myself, and basically having the time of my life - and together we did have the times of our lives in that wonderful city.

We both moved to Chicago around the same time - her for school and me for a holiday from my real life. We have so many fun, crazy, unbelievable stories from the times we had in Chicago but we will never tell... :P

Christina is a wonderfully talented butterfly, and you can see her work here.

I love you lady!

kisses kate

Blog Crush - 52 dinners

I looked up this blog after reading a post from my friend Emily on FB about the insanely delicious pumpkin infused vodka she made over the weekend. I think I may have a new holiday treat to enjoy this year. Here's the recipe (I'll let you know how it turns out)

Pumpkin-infused Vodka
2-3 lb. pie pumpkin
1 liter vodka
1 vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise
2 nutmeg seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
For the simple syrup and cocktail:
2 parts brown sugar
1 part watercream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Slice pumpkin in half, place flesh-side down in a pan filled with an inch of water.
Roast until tender with fork, approximately 35 minutes.
Cool pumpkin in fridge. When ready to handle, scoop meat with spoon into a large, sealable glass jar and muddle with vodka.

Give it a nice shake once a day. Allow infusion to sit for at least one week - although more time is preferable. Two days before straining, add sliced vanilla bean, nutmeg and cinnamon.

The day of, bring water for simple syrup to boil. Add brown sugar, and stir until dissolved. Allow to cool. Add a splash of simple syrup - enough to sweeten the drink but not overpower it. Same goes for the cream.

Serve over ice.

hockey night

Hannah and I went to watch a game of hockey last night, which I must say, I find surprisingly fun! I am not really into watching sports, (or participating in sports for that matter) but hockey is actually an entertaining sport to watch - it's fast, there's lots of action, there's punch-ups, and then there's the 'oooh ahhhh' moments from the crowd...

It's quite amazing to watch those guys maneuver so well on the ice, while holding a stick, dodging each other and hitting a tiny black puck around... the game moves so fast it's really hard to keep up with what's going on... luckily the crowd totally gets into it, so I could tell by their reaction :PI really liked the zambonis and think it would be cool to get to ride on one... we were at the Shark Tank - could you tell???

I do not, however, like the hockey fashions! I guess they keep their heads warm though...

The Leonids are Coming!!

There's a Leonid shower that will be visible in San Jose starting at 11:00 PM on Monday, November 16!! This shower should be amazing if it's not cloudy and light polluted that night, so stay up late and go take a look at this awesome natural event. Here's some awesome infared Japanese video of the 2001 shower: The soothing flute will only make your face rock harder....

happy friday!

I'm not sure if it's the time change (which happened 2 weeks ago) or the fact that these days all seem to blur together with all the things going on in our busy lives, but I am tired - just plain tired... and am so glad it's friday today - my favourite day of the week!

I'm so looking forward to sleeping in this weekend, which has not been happening lately thanks to a certain dachshund puppy who thinks she is a morning person...

I hope you have a wonderful restful weekend!

photo by Christina Lauryn

Bike Party

in case you want something fun to do tonight check this out

front yard inspiration

we're excited that Julie from Julie Orr Design is coming this weekend to help us plan out our garden. we have so many ideas for the spaces, but the hardest part is knowing where to start - and then there's all those parts you don't even think about when planning a garden, like direction of sun, shade and drainage, etc...

here's what we're thinking about doing with the front lawn

we're also thinking some sort of privacy fence, like this one, that would wrap around the corner of the house in front of the front window (about 10 -12 feet away from the house) and join up to the actual fence

this is the style of fence we like (with the spaces for the privacy fence and without for the real fence around the back yard)

and then this is what we're thinking for our mailbox and number plate which would sit in front of the huge tree and have some lights uplighting the numbers.

What do you think?

chairs of the rainbow

I am totally obsessed with chairs right now... trying to find some pieces to add to our mostly boring furniture to give it some character and have been searching for some cool vintage styles on craigslist, but I am really struggling with colours... there are just so many to choose from...

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Hamster on a Piano Eating Popcorn!

Hamster On a Piano Eating Popcorn - watch more funny videos

mmm street meat

ok, so this is random, but I am totally craving street meat today - specifically a spicy italian hotdog with yellow (american style) mustard and lots of tomato sauce (or ketchup as it's known here) and a little bit of relish... yum!

when I was first introduced to street meat in Toronto, you couldn't pay me to eat from one of these little street vendors, serving hotdogs and cold drinks, from a little stall on the side of the road... I mean, how ever was that sanitary??? then one day I gave in, I guess I was hungover or starving or maybe it was because Bryce just kept pestering me to 'try the street meat'... so I finally agreed to taste one bite and then proceeded to eat half his hotdog - I was hooked! the way they slice the sausages and then char them on the grill it really is delicious!

So next time you're in Toronto - try the street meat! :)

photo from andrew bisset here

our little girl is growing up

we're happy to report that little Miss McKenzie is just about potty trained... well she tries her best :)

on Saturday night at 3am I woke to her whining to get out of her crate, so I let her out and she took off down the hallway, round the corner and out through the doggy door. she made it most of the way out the doggy door and her little back feet were resting on the ledge of the cutout in the door and with that she proceeded to pee... she was, in her mind, outside (she is a sausage dog after all) I couldn't say anything, because she really did try hard...

luckily we have no carpet and the wood flooring is due to be refinished with the renovations :)

happy birthday hannah banana!

Hope you have a wonderful day even though it is a Monday and you have to work...

park days

now that daylight savings has ended it gets dark round here at about 6:30pm which totally sucks, and Cooper and McKenzie could not agree more - they miss their park evenings... so we now have park mornings which Cooper is not too thrilled about (being a non-morning person myself, I'm on his side) but once we're all up and at it with frisbee and coffee in hand it's a great way to start the day...

here are some shots I took of them a few weeks ago when we still had park evenings...