It's here!!

Today is the day! It's the release of Do Fun Stuff, which you may remember that I posted about not long ago.
Here - have a listen, read about the cause and the particulars, and then go buy it on iTunes. Let's make some noise!


*edited: I don't know how to make the widget show up for those viewing this in feed readers - so please, click through! you won't regret it!

Everything.

This is what all of my stuff looks like.
It's been waiting for months now to be unpacked.

four days.

Yes, this is an extraordinarily boring post. I'll put a little more effort into the next one, I swear.

And you'd think being newly married in a new city would be exhilirating.

I may have mentioned before that we are currently carless and broke in what is quite possibly the least walkable city in North America. (there are, like, A LOT of hills)

Also, we do not have cable, or access to any of our posessions with the exception of this laptop, our clothes and toiletries, and of a box of DVDs we dug out early on. So what have we been doing so far? you guessed it. So here, just for fun, is a comprehensive list of what the hubs and I have watched since arriving in Newfoundland.

1. Four seasons of How I Met Your Mother.
2. Two seasons of Big Bang Theory (Which, I hate to say it, just might surpass HIMYM in my books for funniest comedy)
3. Four seasons of The O.C. (I never watched the fourth season when it was actually on TV. It was mildly amusing, but nowhere near as epically dramatic as seasons 1-3. You know a show is fizzling when they make an alternate reality episode)
4. X-Men 1, 2, and 3 (I had only seen X3 before, despite owning all the movies, and it's still the best one in my opinion)
5. Rachel Getting Married (beautiful movie, I could watch it over and over and over)
6. 007: Casino Royale
7. She's Out of My League (pretty funny, much better than I expected)

Anyway. The point is, that's a flippin' lot of time to spend staring at a laptop screen. But I am really kind of liking this series thing. And the routine is actually kind of nice - after dinner, after the dog is walked, we snuggle into bed with a cup of tea (or some beer or wine sometimes) and watch a few episodes of something before going to sleep. Candidates to get us through the next couple weeks before moving:

1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Harry Potter 1-6
3. All the existing James Bond movies. How many are there, exactly, anyway? I'm ashamed to admit I've NEVER seen any of the older 007 movies - only those starring Daniel Craig.

And yes, I know that last statement could have me crucified in some social circles. So be it.

Sea Sickness

Octopi freak me out. Not because of the way they look, but because I truly believe that if their lifespans were long enough, they could easily rule the world. Their intelligence in comparison to humans is freaky (I once saw a documentary which equated the intelligence of a two-year-old octopus with a five-year-old human child).

And not only that, but I have a very active imagination. As a child, I had nightmares that Ursula (from the little mermaid) lived in our bathroom toilet and would one day come up the drain and consume me as I did my pee.

So I'm not exactly sure why I've been having trouble getting this Octopus shower curtain from Thomas Paul out of my head. Because I do NOT want it. No, Sirree.

$96 USD at Design Public

And I especially do not want to wrap myself up in those freaky, coldly calculating, exquisitely illustrated tentacles or rub them against my face with this baby alpaca throw.

$350 USD at Design Public

No, definitely not.

Except that I do. In fact, I think I may have some sort of nautical illness. Every time I think about decorating our new living room, I am thinking about navy and stripes and rope and anchors. And wondering where I can get a round mirror that feels like a porthole. I haven't been able to get this print from Banquet off my mind for nearly six months.

Marine Animals Poster, $60 USD

So what do I do? Do I run with it? or is this theme-y bordering on tacky?

Winter Warmies

This will be the first winter since high school that I know, surely and unequivocally, I will experience a buttload of snow. So I will need to be prepared.

Lucky for me, Soia & Kyo (who happen to be Canadian designers) have responded by releasing their cutest collection yet!

I really love the Sherita:

And also the Polina:

Although I would kill to tuck my chin into Lucie's lovely high collar:

Or maybe, for a real winter, I'll need something extra warm and cozy, like Liric:

These are all investment pieces at >$300 each. but for so much pretty and the accompanying quality (I've tried on some S&K coats before and they are heavenly), I think it's worth it.

Dear Dogface:

Dear Luna:
You drive me crazy sometimes. Usually, even. I wish there were a way to communicate with you that I sometimes imagine dropping your leash when we're out on a walk and making out like you've run away from me. Not unlike how I'm sure many mothers - good mothers, reasonable ones - sometimes have fantasies about just leaving their screaming kids in the mall somewhere to be someone else's problem.  Here, I thought you might enjoy a list of all the things you do that make me feel this way.

• The other day, you peed on the floor while I was getting dressed to take you outside for a pee.
• And last week, you pooped on the floor ten minutes after coming inside from a long walk.
• And I really love it when you howl and lunge at other dogs in your vicinity. It's charming. Especially since we both know you only want to play with them, but to everyone else you look like a ferocious maniac.
• On that note, it's also really nice when you trip me up with the leash to try and say hello to people who are afraid of dogs, and yet when someone tries to stop give you pats, you shy away or show no interest.
• And when you tear apart the trashcan while I'm away, that really makes me feel special inside.
• Almost as special as when you roll in cat poo in the backyard or dead, rotting bird/seal/fish at the beach.
• And it's really fun that when someone knocks at the front door, you go so batshit crazy that I have to put you in another room.
• Almost as fun as when you race me up and down the narrow stairs when I'm trying to maneuver up them with a laundry basket.
• Or your stereotypical obsession with mailmen. I understand your need to protect our house, but the neighbors across the street are probably doing okay on their own.

Actually, looking at this list, I'm surprised I haven't sent you running into traffic. (Which, by the way, is another thing you've done to drive me crazy.) Maybe it's something to do with your cute droopy face, or the way you tolerate more poking and prodding and tail-pulling than is possibly reasonable, or the way you come up to me when I'm sitting on the floor and push your whole head into my stomach so that I will scratch your ears and chin. Yes, it's definitely something to do with that.
Love,
Anna

Blurry, yes, but still cute.

Decisions, Decisions.

For our wedding, a few amazing friends from nursing school pooled together and got Kyle and I a gift certificate to Modern Karibou.

We originally planned to use it towards buying the coffee table I blogged about before, but given the temporariness of our situation here, we don't want to acquire any more furniture that we won't be able to take back (remember, we plan to purge and start over.)

And while we could wait to use it until we get home, I am very tempted to use this gift certificate to upgrade our bedding situation. And dammit, we could use a bit of luxury in our lives after these two months sleeping on an air mattress, natch*.

I have been in love with Dwell's draper stripe set for a long, long time.

except then I would have to decide between chinois blue and ash grey, and also if I get the duvet set then will I pine after the sheet set? Will I?

But I also love the airiness, texture and simplicity of the Area Heather set in natural. It would just make everything else around it so dreamy and spalike, no?

Oh, decisions. I think this one might be up to Kyle.

*and yes, I had to look up the appropriate usage of natch on urban dictionary.

Ellenbomb

Today, Ryan at Pacing the Panic Room and all his friends (me included!) are storming Ellen's Degeneres' twitter page in hopes of getting her to let the band Rabbit! play a song from the upcoming album Do Fun Stuff on her show.

  (art by Anna Bond of Rifle Paper co.)

Do Fun Stuff will be available in Itunes on August 30th, and it's a compilation of artists singing great original songs which are for kids, but that adults will like too! But best of all, the album is a charity production, the proceeds of which will benefit kids with an uncommon genetic disorder called Smith-Magenis Syndrome. So if you want to do something amazing today, here's what to do:

Read about SMS here.
Read about Ryan's life with stepson LB all over his blog.
Read about the album (and listen to a couple songs) here.
Read about the twitter bomb here.
Login or Sign up for twitter (I signed up especially to do this!)
Tweet your heart out!

Obsessed

When I first discovered Etsy, I was obsessed with perusing over all the amazing handmade goods. Still am, to a point. But my new obsession: vintage homegoods!

Some favourites:

antique sowerby fern print at Hindsvik (who also write a great blog)

Deer Candleholders at Redtruckdesigns

(can't decide whether I'd leave these brass or spray them a fun colour...)

Mid-1970's Rand McNally Globe at SurrenderDorothy

Coffee/Tea Set at Red Eye Vintage

I think I may need to allot myself a monthly Etsy allowance...

Here's Proof: It don't have to be big to be amazing.

112 square feet of perfect, from Ines' kitchen via AT's the Kitchn.

After this much bad luck with landlords, I could really write a book.

This house (the junky one that we're leaving in two weeks [yay!]) has some kind of water problem. It comes mostly from the basement, but it can be heard through most of the house. it just sounds like running water through the pipes - kind of like the toilet is running. Only it's not.

So the other day, some plumbers showed up unannounced. I was at work, but Kyle was off for the day. They started by taking the toilet out, checking around, then reinstalling it. Nothing. They went downstairs, to the part of the ceiling underneath the toilet, which happens to be inside the kitchen cabinets. The food cabinet. They remove nothing, and start ripping a hole in the ceiling.

Oh, look. black mould. on my food. Thanks, dudes. Mind cleaning that up? No? Well fuck you very much then.

So as it turns out the problem is a leaky/burst water main. Which really is not my problem, because I won't have to live here while the city comes and tears up the street to fix it. Except they're not coming. Because our landlord doesn't plan on doing anything about it. Her own words.

Yeah. I've had some slummy landlords in the past, but this is a big deal! What do I do? Call the city? or just move out of here and leave the problem to someone else?

(PS - I just googled 'burst water main' and was met with a bunch of apocalyptic pictures such as this one:)

 Hmm. growing concern.

UO print shop

Art is a great way to personalize a space, to make it feel lived in, without doing so much as picking up a paintbrush. An unframed art print is also a very portable sort of thing, which means I can mail it back home or bring it with me when the time comes.

The Urban outfitters print shop has an awesome (and inexpensive!) range of prints from independent artists which is always changing. There are two in particular that I really, really want to buy right now.

by Andrea Orlic

by Steph Says Hello

I also saw this awesome idea for hanging unframed art prints today from Ladies & Gentlemen Studio (via apartmenttherapy):

Methinks an idea is forming...

Erotic AND lifesaving? how clever.

Super Sexy Abdominal Thrust from Super Sexy CPR on Vimeo.



Super Sexy CPR from Super Sexy CPR on Vimeo.


Love these videos featuring lingerie from Fortnight in Toronto!

(insert delighted squeals here)

'Need' is a strong word, but....

I think it applies pretty nicely here.
One of many beauties by Melissahappystuff on Etsy.

Pillow talk

Since we are still undecided about how long we want to stay here in St. John's (Read: we want to go hoooomme), Kyle and I have decided not to make any large or long-term furniture purchases here. We want to be able to sell everything we own, pack up the car, and high-tail it outta here.

That said, we want to make our place nice (well, I want to make it nice. I'm partially convinced that Kyle would be perfectly happy with milk crates for tables, a bean bag chair, and a really big TV). I think we could become exponentially happier here (by here, I mean in the new house we move into next month) if we can make it feel like home as much as possible. One of my favourite ways to do this: textiles! Curtains, sheets, throw pillows and blankets.

So here are my Etsy favourites in the throw pillow category.

 

Kainakin, $19

 

Swoonstudio, $35 for two

  

Iviemade, $44

Myadobecottage, $35

 

Myadobecottage, $32

 

TurquoiseTumbleweed, $40

 

ModDiva, $27.95

 

Nenavon, $25

Hmm. Bows, Burlap, Ikat, Suzanni, Marimekko, Chevron. Yes, it would seem I am a sickening trend-follower.