Lack of posting lately as I am busy applying to every job I come across. Not to mention trying to fit in my thesis and sleep between that. In the meantime watch this video. I don’t know why but I really really love it. I doubt Ginuwine ever imagined his song being danced to like this! Also Thom Yorke is from Radiohead in case you didn’t know (I didn’t know, never being much of a radiohead fan).

Happy Wednesday everyone. We’re expecting snow here at the end of the week (again) but for now it still feels like spring and that makes me happy.

///  1. Plie Date shoes by Modcloth /// 2. Porcelain Bangle by The Awesome Project /// 3. Ginger Spicy Dress by Modcloth /// 4. Coral Czech Glass Beads via fivesisters /// 5. Dotted Chambray Boyshirt by Madewell // 6. Vintage Avacado Green Desk Lamp via charliesnet ///

My wishlist for April is light and airy because that’s what I’m craving more than anything these days. The sun is coming out more and the snow is melting in Montreal (though not in my hometowns!). Its almost warm enough to lose SOME layers and maybe consider something other than boots on my feet. Tights can be lighter weight than wool. Shirts can almost be worn without layers under and over. I can feel spring coming in full force and I can’t wait! April has me craving light dresses and chambray, bigger jewelry that doesn’t have to be worn over many sweaters, like bracelets! Delicate crafts, especially more semi-permanent bracelets to add to my collection (hence the beads), and this cute chambray shirt to replace my favourite but ill fitting denim shirt as the best layer around. The lamp is because it still gets dark in the early evenings and it would be nice to be able to see at my desk while I burn the evening to late night oil working on this thesis of mine before it gets too nice out to want to work.

April showers over snow any day. Bring on spring!

Today is my mom’s birthday and I just wanted to send a little shout out to her in celebration of her awesomeness over her years in rotation of the sun.

Thanks mom for being the best damn mom I could ever ask for. Thanks for being steadfast and calm all the time. For your incredible decision making power and selflessness. For your laugh. For being an inspiring artist and crafts person. For taking all your passions and responsibilities head on. For commanding attention without raising your voice. For not being afraid to take risks. For demonstrating that being happy is really important. For doing what you love even if its not a field that’s particularly welcoming to women and single mothers. For loving us all so wholly.

From my perspective, thank you for kick-starting the majority of my hobbies and passions. For trying to understand me even when I don’t make sense to you. For being incredibly supportive of even my most wild ideas. For pushing me to chase my dreams and for only occasionally complaining that those dreams took me so far away from home. Thanks for always sounding happy and excited when I call you. For meeting me at the airport at all times of the day or night and for coming to visit. For encouraging me to travel and try new things. For showing me how to be a tough woman that holds her own and reminding me not to be an island. For editing my university papers even though I cried when you did. For trying to teach me math even though I cried when you did. For putting me in dance so that I would stand half a chance in not inheriting your klutziness (not that dance has eliminated that all together). For showing me how to be tender with people you love. For loving the prairies so much. For “just us girls” moments.

Love you more than I could say. Sending you lots of birthday love. Here’s hoping I can be there for a birthday of yours soon!

I didn’t really keep up with my posting schedule for this month but I do want to keep up with my ‘best of’ posts. The monthly posts are a great way for me to record my goings on for posterity or whatever, and I really love the best of blogs posts because I really love blogs! I don’t have a lot of readership, and some of the blogs I follow don’t either (though I’m sure they all have more than me!), but whether we just read each others’ or if we have thousands of hits a day I really love these blogs and I want to give them the recognition they deserve.

This month I would really like to highlight 2 blogs that have inspired me to get back into blogging as a way to share my day to day and what makes me happy. I think that these were the first 2 blogs I really got into, and started reading daily (or whenever they posted). They both are incredibly honest in their approach to writing, which is refreshing and so so brave. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to put myself out there like they do (either on the web or in real life) but I very much admire their writing. They remind me to not fall into the trap of blogging only about beautiful things but to find beauty in the sharing the hard things too.

Click here to see February’s best of blogs - there are some great blogs on that one that I am still reading daily.

REMINDER: all the photos belong to the blogger they are associated with, click each photo to be taken to their corresponding post.

{click blog logo, or here, to be taken to the site}

/// above photos belong to Ellen, click on each photo to be taken to their source ///

Ellen from Black and White and Loved All Over is one of the first bloggers I started to follow regularly. I really can’t remember right now how I came across her blog but I remember being really really excited about her writing style from the beginning. There are a few blogs I have come across that I loved so much that I read pretty much all their archives like the site was a novel, hers was the first one I did that with. I had no idea that I could get that into the ramblings of a fellow internet user but Ellen proved me that writing and just putting it out there can be so powerful.

These days Ellen is a mother of 2 really really gorgeous girls (pictured above!) and blogs a lot about her experience of motherhood. She is so real and honest about the joys and challenges of motherhood, its refreshing. I haven’t quite found anyone who expresses so well (what I imagine is) the complexities of loving little people so much while simultaneously acknowledging that its a damn hard job. She also blogs about home decor, DIY culture, being a freelance writer, living in Nashville, her husband, and other regular life stuff. I can’t help but having a driving need to visit Nashville and see the beauty of the place she describes with so much love.

I really suggest clicking the links and checking out blackandwhiteandlovedallover. Its a really wonderful space on the internet and I hope she keeps up the writing for a long time (no pressure Ellen, but seriously I would really miss you if you stopped).

Also, she just seems like a cool person, the kind I would enjoy sharing a beer with and rolling our eyes about life’s twists and turns.

{click blog logo, or here, to be taken to the site}

/// above photos belong to Drea, click on each photo to be taken to their source ///

I don’t know why I follow so many mom bloggers…maybe there’s something about being a mom being at home for that first little bit that gets people into it, maybe its a desire to document your child’s life that comes out of parenthood (I’ve seen a fair few dad bloggers too), I don’t know I’m not a mom. Drea from ohdeardrea is another blogger I follow that is also a mother of a really lovely and sweet sounding daughter. I think I found Drea’s blog through Ellen from blackandwhiteandlovedallover (above). She is the second blogger I remember getting into and the second blog that I got so excited about I read nearly all her archives. What made Drea stand out to me at first was that she was (at the time) a single mom blogger. Which is pretty rare, I find, in the blog world and kind of refreshing to see that people are thriving as single, happy parents out there. The other thing I really liked about her blog was how raw it was. She did not hold back at all in talking about her struggles and what was going on for her. Which is also really rare in the blog world where everything is tied up in a neat little bow that was hand crafted and photoshopped. These days she is a little more, I don’t know, restrained in her writing. Which makes complete sense to me because people on the internet can be pretty judgemental. But she still retains an honest voice, and journal quality that makes her really great to read on this side of the screen. The kind of read that makes me feel like struggle and happiness can be tied together and beautiful either way.

Besides being a mother, Drea also writes about being vegan, crafting, cooking/eating/being a foodie (ohmygod the eating that happens in her house!), travel, living in Florida, friends and loved ones, and general life stuff.

Check out ohdeardrea for a some really heartfelt and entertaining blogging, oogle her incredible floral couch, and dream about living in Florida.

Like Ellen, Drea just seems like a really great person that would be fun to go out dancing with.

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And that’s it for March Best of Blogs. Thanks to Ellen and Drea for their permission to use photos from their blogs. I have to admit that its a bit of a thrill to send and get emails from people who’s blogs I really admire.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what your favourite blogs are in the comments! I’m always happy to find new great and inspiring sites to read!

So, here it goes:

A. Age: 30
B. Bed size: a very saggy, very old, second hand queen that I would love to replace SO badly! If money and apartment/bedroom size wasn’t a factor I would get a king size in a second. I love space when I sleep.
C. Chore that you hate: The laundry. Not so much the washing of clothes per se, but the packing up and trekking of them to the laundromat. I HATE hanging out in the laundromat for a few hours, fighting for machines and watching all my bills be turned into quarters and then fed into machines that give me 4mins of drying time for 25cents. Ugh.
D. Dogs: None these days. I would really like a boxer or a pit bull. Mars and I were joking about getting a bull dog and naming it Stickers. At this point we need a little more space and a little more stability before we can make that decision. But man, I would love a dog to bits.
E. Essential start to your day: What Mars calls ‘ipad time’, every morning when I wake up I spend a good 30-45mins laying in bed and reading what’s going on in the world on my ipad. Partially its because I’m a tech addict, but partially its because its a great quiet time moment when I can adjust to being awake and without having to talk to anyone or make decisions. I wake up slowly. After that its coffee.
F. Favorite color: tough call, I would have to say variations of dark red. Though I rarely ever wear it…I’ve been getting into yellows and oranges too, which I used to hate…
G. Gold or Silver: Gold (and silver, not picky)
H. Height: 5″6
I. Instruments you play: I played the flute for 6 years as a kid into high school. Taught myself a bit of guitar. I’m not very good at either.
J. Job title: Master’s student, Teaching Assistant, Professional Job Hunter
K. Kids: None yet, but like the dog I would love to have some when the time is right. Or at least when I’ve found a bit more stability.
L. Live: Montreal. I’ve been here almost 6 years, which is 1 year shy of the longest I’ve been anywhere. It feels nice, but very weird since I’m a still pretty nomadic at heart. I think I’m ready to leave Montreal now but not because I don’t still love it. Mostly because I need a job and a change of scenery.
M. Mother’s name: Lynn (her birthday is tomorrow!)
N. Nicknames: Kee & boobear (mars – amongst MANY others), squirt (dad), sweetheart (mom), K-(insert word) ex: K-money. I don’t have a lot of nicknames, my name is hard to shorten except to Keith, which I refuse to be called.
O. Overnight hospital stays: I think a couple as a baby, other than that none. I narrowly avoided a stay after one of my elbow surgeries. They let me go home for the night and sleep in my own bed as long as I promised to be back by first rounds in the morning. I was so grateful, not only because hospitals are not great places for staying but also because it was my birthday.
P. Pet peeves: people who do more talking than listening, leaving the sponge or dish cloth in the bottom of the sink, open cabinet doors, sleeping in unmade beds
Q. Quote: “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” ― Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968
R. Right or left handed: very very right handed
S. Siblings: such a complicated question for a blended family like mine. I guess the shorthand way to say this is 2 brothers and 2 step-brothers.
U. Underwear: not sure what the question is here. Yes I wear them, every day, usually of the boxer or ladies underwear variety. Never thongs, those things are evil.
V. Vegetable you hate: mushrooms. I can tolerate cooked ones but uncooked ones make me gag (I also hate raisins)
W. What makes you run late: everything/a deep love of being comfortable at home/Mars / the internet
X. X-Rays you’ve had: oh man, lots. Almost all on the 1 elbow I broke and had surgery on. At least, I don’t know, 7 on it? 1 on the other elbow that I fractured years ago. And maybe 1 on my foot? I can’t remember if they just told me I fractured it or if it was double checked with an xray…
Y. Yummy food that you make: anything sweet, I’m a good baker. I’m a master at soups of all kinds. I just won a rib competition so I guess my ribs are excellent, even if it was the first time I ever made them.
Z. Zoo animal: Lions, tigers and otters

In other news, happy April Fools. All of this is real info because I’m bad at and feel bad for doing April Fool’s jokes. I got caught a few times today over facebook. Good ones friends, good ones.

/// quality time in Jarry Park && sun for longer && the last of winter /// Mars and Josie being adorable /// dog parking at Marche Jean Talon /// Consulting the cards /// Spring flowers to brighten grey days ///

I can’t believe its the end of March already! I feel like I just wrote the Best of Feb and Best of Blogs: Feb posts. If this blog is any indication of what my life is like, I pretty much DID just write those posts….March flew by and I have been fighting to keep on track with my life schedule. I didn’t blog as much as I would have liked to unfortunately. It slipped away in a flurry of sewing, applying for jobs, marking, and writing. And a little friend and couple time mixed in.

Here are some highlights:

Life:

/// me lovin my new talent. Is it possible to be a bowling alley shark? /// Mars celebrating yet another spare, he is also better at bowling than pool ///

I think the thing I was the most excited about this month (besides sewing) was the oncoming spring. Winter is not my favourite. At all. I get really depressed with all the grey and I hate trying to get around in the snow. Montreal is a walking/biking city, the transit is decent but ALL of these modes of transport are a pain in the winter. Walking is hard, biking is impossible (for me, some people I know still do it), and transit is packed, hot and often late. Because of all of this I stay home a lot, taking my vitamin D pills and trying to remember times when I could go outside without 18 layers. Spring was in the air early this year, and although we got one last snow storm this month it has been warmer, sunnier and the snow is mostly gone. Which pleases me to no end. Also daylight savings means its lighter in the hours I’m awake, which does wonders for my mood. Saskatchewan has it right with the no daylight savings, its the worst.

2 of my favourite friends have birthdays in March. My platonic wife Corrie lives in Winnipeg so I didn’t get to celebrate her like I want to but my longest friend Felicia moved back to Montreal and we went bowling like a bunch of REALLY COOL 30 year olds. I turned out to be a lot better at bowling than pool and got TONS of strikes! It was a black light, jams from 1999 kind of night and we all danced and sang and cheered on each other for hours. I loved it. More bowling on the menu from now on.

Speaking of birthdays, we had a very belated birthday party for Mars on Corrie’s birthday. Since we were out west for his birthday and he didn’t get to celebrate with friends I wanted to make sure that he was celebrated properly in Montreal. An awesome group of people showed up to our favourite Salvadorian restaurant to eat a ridiculous amount of pupusas, then came back to our place for cake (a flourless chili chocolate cake I should post about), tequila sunrises and late night confessions of childhood crushes (mine was Leonardo Dicaprio). It was really lovely and I think my guy had a nice, if very bemused time. The flowers above are the leftovers from the bouquet I got him in celebration. The next day we went and saw a play about Mahalia Jackson. Which felt fancy and was a nice night out for the two of us.

I went to a few great shows this month, including a jam packed with talent show headlined by Invincible (Detroit) and hometown hero Akua. I got to meet a bunch of really talented people and sway to really great music (including my all time favourite MC who jumped on stage for a track <3).

Other than that it was all job applications, academic articles, marking and sick days on the couch. A classic March.

Crafts:

Sewing away to my heart’s content, which I’m planning a whole separate post for. So far I’ve made 3 dresses and 2 skirts. They turned out really well and I wear them all the time! I love planning up new things and trying to figure out how to make them. I’m still pretty impatient when I sew. I want to wear them immediately! I have to learn how to enjoy the process more, and also iron… I’m pretty proud of myself for not using patterns and still having pretty awesome results. I could use access to a serger though, jersey is kind of hard to sew with a regular machine.

Books:

Still reading White Teeth. BUT I’m almost done!

Recipes:

/// my winning ribs before they were cooked, no after picture. I was too ready to eat a million ribs by the time they were done and forgot to take a photo /// one of my favourite, filling soup recipes from 101 cookbooks. Its especially good when sick like I was a few times this month ///

Mid month a group of friends and us had a rib off, where we all submitted a rack of ribs, ate our faces off and voted. I WON!! It was my first time ever making ribs and I won! I’m pretty damn chuffed with myself for it because I had some stiff competition. Also, I’m not usually the come-in-first type so it did wonders for my ego. Everyone’s were really really good though and the real winner was my stomach! We’ve been organizing chosen-family get togethers pretty often these days and its awesome. I love having amazing people to laugh with and talk about real shit with. Makes life so much sweeter.

And because I’m a firm believer is sharing recipes I’m going to post my Keetha’s 2 Die 4 Dry Rubbed Ribs this week!

In the meantime check out 101 cookbooks for the above soup’s recipe, Red Lentil Soup with Lemon. 101 cookbooks is one of the best cooking sites I know. I have one of Heidi’s books [super natural every day] and its great but you don’t need to buy a book (though I recommend it!) to access her recipes. The 101 cookbooks site is incredible, searchable, and super varied. Her food is healthy, simple, seasonal,and delicious. I really like this soup because its so hearty with the lentil and rice, it has greens and is flavoured with tumeric, cumin and mustard seeds. Add a the suggested spinach, and some yogurt or peppers goat cheese and its basically the best ever.  I ate it for 2 whole days when I was sick this month and it made me feel so much better. I actually made it again yesterday and I’m still loving it.

Music:

I’m still obsessed with songza and have been exploring all sorts of genres. My current favs (besides 90ies), are latin lady MCs, reggae, and bluegrass.

Sidenote:

I’m still trying to figure out good ways to post pictures. Sorry if things are weird. I’m struggling with sizing…

March in a nutshell. I can’t believe its over. April is going to have to be a bang up month so that I can catch up!

I made these Apple Cider Caramels as part of my homemade holidays challenge. My step-dad is a hard guy to buy for but he does love candy because he can’t eat chocolate anymore. They went over well, he was touched I made something for him and happy with the gift. Their fanciness to time ratio is awesome. People are pretty impressed by all the individually wrapped and handmade candies, though I think it took me less than 2 hrs to make and all with common ingredients.

These were straight forward to make, even without investing in a candy thermometer. Mine turned out a little soft so maybe I need to reduce them down a little more next time. They were ridiculously delicious though and much appreciated in my house and my mom’s. Mars was a little sad that I didn’t make any for him so I snuck a few in his stocking.

photos of my everyday lately.

1. some great graffiti that totally speaks to me // 2. neighbourhood near dusk. Check out all the steeples. Montreal is the city of 1,000 churches // 3. Pumped about my lengthening ponytail. Long hair here I come! // 4. A window full of buttons at a shop devoted especially to buttons on St Hubert // 5. Components for my favourite coffee // 6. My living room has been taken over by sewing projects // 7. My favourite photo right now of vintage pop bottles in a nearby cafe window.

NOTE: all the photos belong to the blogger they are associated with, click each photo to be taken to their corresponding post.

click above (or here) to be taken to pencil box

I talked about Katie over at pencil box earlier but only briefly. Her blog is my all time favourite new blog, and up there in my all time favourite ever. I came across her blog the other week when I was searching for something new to read and so was looking through blog recommendations over at a beautiful mess. I waswas instantly hooked. Her photos alone were enough to make me swoon, I’m such a sucker for light and airy photography with good colours. She’s pretty amazing at taking really creative and impressive self portraits too. I need to learn that talent…

After I got past the gorgeousness of the photography I found equally beautiful writing. She writes about the stuff of every day. Whether its raising her kids and their shenanigans, her love life (which is so sweet its almost enviable), projects, inspiration, and daily goings-on she describes it all in a way that’s almost poetic. Also she has incredible style. I’m not ashamed to say that I was so taken with her writing style and positive outlook on life that I read nearly all her archives. It sounds like I’m gushing and I am. She rocks, go read her blog!

Katie is an artist, and not just in photography, she is a lovely painter as well. She lives in Ohio with her 2 kids and fiancee.

click above (or here) to be taken to the site

I found Liz’s blog very recently. In fact it was the inspiration for my recent sewing spree. I spent one whole night reading through the tutorials and posts on this blog and then went out the next day and bought/spent a little too much on a bunch of fabric. Its been 3 days and I’ve already made 2 dresses and a skirt. The tutorials are super easy and straight forward, you don’t need to make a pattern you just need a measuring tape, some scissors, a sewing machine and (in some cases) some clothes to trace. She focuses a lot on thrifted and refashioned fabric and clothes, which I appreciate because that’s where I’m at in terms of what I like to wear (and what I can afford to!). I haven’t tried any of the refashioning tutorials but they are up next on my list! I love refashioning old clothes into new, exciting ones. She has incredible taste in clothing and basically I want to dress like her forever. This means that the tutorials are super and I’ve pinned just about every one. The photos are lovely and Liz styles her creations so well that I can totally see myself wearing them (minus the high heels, I live in snow bound Montreal and that’s dangerous).  If you’re into making your own clothes or want to learn. I highly HIGHLY suggest cotton & curls

Last but not least!

made by andi

Made by Andi is the brand new blog from the creator of Hoakon and Helga bags. While I was devastated when she stopped making her bags to pursue other things in life (only because I hadn’t had the chance to save up enough pennies for one yet) this blog is really promising and I’m excited to see where she takes it.  There are a few DIY’s up, and some info about running your own business (she successfully lived off making her bags for 3 years) which is super inspiring and I’m pumped to learn more about it through her creative business tips. I have a certain soft spot for this blog too because she lives in one of my hometowns (calgary) and I get to see familiar places in her photos. I don’t follow too many canadian blogs, mostly because I haven’t found that many yet, and while that’s not the reason I follow Andi, its definitely fun. She’s still building her blog but I very much recommend reading as she goes because she is a very talented lady and let’s be honest, talented people are awesome.

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Best of Feb for sure here. These are all blogs I imagine reading for a while and all three have made it to the front page of my blog app. I check them first every day. Give them a look and some love because they really deserve it.

What are your favourite blogs?

Here are some highlights:

Life:

Mars and I drove up to Ottawa for the weekend. He took me on a date to a pool hall and we both discovered we are far FAR worse at pool than either of us imagined (and I had no illusions of being a pool shark). It was super funny and I think we scandalized the other patrons by laughing so much…and kissing.

I’ve been working on creating a schedule for myself so that I am in a routine. Working from home is a trap of constantly flexible time and its easy to sleep in really late, get groceries at 9pm, clean the house at 3pm on a wednesday, etc. I’m trying to create a work/life/play schedule that is regular and consistent. I hear that that’s good for me or whatever. Part of this is getting exercise so I started taking myself off to the pool 3 times a week to swim 45mins of laps. Its a nice quiet time where I can kind of zone my brain out and remind my body that as much as I’d like to be hibernating, I’m not that kind of creature. Mars and I have been huge homebodies this month, partly because we’re broke and partly because its winter. We’re both working away on projects, watching a fair bit of netflix and having couch dates. Sometimes its nice to not go out for a while.

Crafts:

With the exception of massive amount of sewing I started on the night of the last day of Feb (and am therefore counting as a March activity). The only thing I think I made this month was the crochet heart mobile for Mars’ Valentine’s day present. Which I mostly made in January anyway. It was a variation of this pattern but I’m not much for following patterns (with the exception of lace, I don’t toy with those patterns!) so I can’t exactly say out to make it. Basically I made a bunch of hearts of different sizes, then made a crocheted top part (based kind of on this collar pattern). I attached the hearts to the top and to each other with crochet chains. That’s it! It took a while to make, partly because I was hiding it from Mars but it was nice to do in front of tv shows at night (I’m not super good at just sitting and watching tv without doing anything else).

Sorry for the fuzzy phone photo, its all I have.

Books:

I’m still reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith on my kobo. I’m going to have to pick up the pace a little if I want to reach my reading goal for the year. I’m enjoying the book but I have been busy with other things (and reading things on the internet). I mostly only read when I’m on the metro.

Photography:

I’ve recently become a huge fan of astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield who is currently in space and is taking absolutely incredible photos of the earth. He posts several a day to his facebook page and I check them every day. They are humbling and beautiful. A daily reminder that the world is a really special place.

Here’s an example from yesterday of the southernmost tip of Canada (click the photo to be taken to the source):

Recipes:

(photo belongs to smitten kitchen. Click to be taken to the site/recipe)

I love soup in the fall/winter and this carrot soup with lemon tahini and crisped chickpeas from smitten kitchen is my new absolute favourite. The lemon tahini is what really makes it. The light lemon flavour and the creaminess of the tahini in the soup is amazing. I had some difficulty with the chickpeas because they kept popping like pop corn in my oven and I was afraid of causing a fire so they didn’t get as crispy as I would have liked them. But still a nice texture. I made it with this flat bread (also from smitten kitchen) instead of pita because its fast and a staple in our house. We eat it a couple of times a week usually.

Music:

I was introduced to songza this past month and have been obsessed with it ever since. Its a curated site of SO many playlists. Basically when I log in it asks me what kind of mood I’m in then suggests playlists that work for that mood. I’ve been discovering lots of new (to me) music in between listening to hours and hours of 90ies jams. I’ve been on songza about a week and have a whole bunch of playlists saved. I think songza is my favourite new music this past month but here are some individual artists that got me toe tapping.

Nerina Pallot

Haim

So long February. Looking forward to March, I can feel the spring in the air….