Back At 'Cha!

Ok, so it's obviously been a bit of a barren waste land over here for a while. *Pause for tumble weed*. I've sat down to blog a few different times, and each time I just feel uninspired, and unfocused and basically, just blah with a little meh tossed in for good measure.
After everything that's gone on this summer, I just thought I'd give myself a break. But, I was talking to Miss Hollie (of White Elephant fame) today, and I thought I'd pop back here and give it a go.
So, I present to you, life in the last little while.

Iris thinks she's people. Note- this photo is entirely unstaged. (Ok, fine, I put the Star Wars blanket on her...but the rest is real.)

They're filming Robo Cop downtown in Hamilton! I love seeing places I know on the big screen. "Guedes" is fictional, but they made it explode. Awesome.

I ate this. And it was glorious. From The Dirty South Food Truck. More info here.

I can't come up with a clever caption for this. Feel free to help out. #WEFL

I met this little man on Super Crawl. He wins best dog hair award.

Fall is coming, and that means tights are back on the wardrobe menu. SCORE.

More horsin' around. This is Bella.

My friend Romeo.

My Polish friends.

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Ted got a bath. He didn't have fun.

We ate $52 dollar's worth of Taco Bell. It was epic.

The pink hair made a comeback for the Madonna concert.

MADONNA! In box seats. Catered box seats. We live large.

Madge.

As you can see, life has been busy. And BREAKING NEWS! I got a camera. Omg. We can have real, good quality, uniformed size photos on at ten pace. Good stuff.

Come back again soon, I promise I'll keep blogging. 

Woah Nellie

Double J Farms

I've been looking for a summer hobby that involves more than lemonade in my hammock while reading a great book. I mean, that is a great summer activity and all, cheap too. But with all that's been going on in my life lately I really wanted a great, engrossing hobby.
I'm an animal lover, I love to be outside and I'm also completely unsuited for any sort of physical sport more involved then an hour in the gym. I am the worst at sports, organized or solo.  I always have been and I'm ok with that.
I gave it a good ponder, polled some people on the Twitter and decided that I'd take some riding lessons.

My aunt and uncle race horses for a living, so I've spent more then my fair share of time on a farm, but I've never done much riding.  I asked around for some recommendations, and was pointed in the direction of Double J Farms in Freelton.  Rich decided he wanted to join me, so on Monday morning we trucked out to the farm!

Jennifer McIlwraith is the co-owner and operator of the farm and she was amazing. You are responsible to groom and tack your own horse before and after a lesson, and as Rich and I had zero idea what that entailed, she walked us through it and gave us little tips and tricks to make it go more smoothly.  

Rich had a lovely chestnut mare named Bella, and I had a gelding named Jed. He immediately sussed out my newbie status and really made me work at it.
Jennifer took us out and showed us the ropes, and we had a really great first lesson. We worked on steering (do you "steer" a horse? I feel like that may be the wrong term) and Rich got up to a canter on Bella. As I mentioned, Jed made me sing for my supper and after much work, I finally got him up to a trot.

(Lovely velvet vintage riding helmet provided by Jane and Hollie at White Elephant. Because I'm that guy apparently.)

We had a really great day and we have another lesson booked for this upcoming Monday, and hopefully I can outride Rich this time! (I may bribe my horse with an apple or something to get it to like me).

 If you've thought about riding, I definitely recommend Jennifer at Double J Farms. She was so patient and very informative and is definitely passionate about what she's doing.  


(These pictures are officially the worst quality ever. I apologize. I already felt like a huge city girl whipping out my iPhone to take pictures during the lesson, I couldn't bear to bring my camera.)

Bits and Pieces

Last week we were supposed to camping at our favorite spot, Awenda Provincial Park. Mother nature had other plans, unfortunately, and the severe thunderstorm warnings kept us home.
The weather in the area here was nice though, so we took advantage and had a few nice days in and around Hamilton.

1. Beach necessities in my world.

2. Visits from monarchs.

3. These cows didn't want to be my friend.

4. Deer in the forest. She just stood and watched us watching her for the longest time.

5. Great garden space.

6. Pilfered picnics. (Thanks mom & dad)

7. A boa bite. (No, really!)

Be More Bad Ass

The lovely Jana posted this on her blog the other day, and sent me this on a separate occasion and they've both inspired this post. So I guess it's dedicated to her. MWAH.

I know I always preach self love, and being yourself and doing your thing....but sometimes don't you wish you were a little bit more bad ass? Or just a cooler version of your good qualities? I know I do, and I know I'm not alone.  It'd just be so cool to not have to worry about your grownup responsibilities for a bit and just be a totally cool, rockin' chick. My personal version of "bad ass chick" (and yes, that's the technical term) is a 50s/pinup/rockabilly girl, with tons of tatts, eyeliner, great hair and some killer brows.  Add a dash of girly girl in there and you pretty much have my ideal "girl crush".
Embrace your inner bad ass.

For more hilarious insights on the "girl crush", check out this Jenna Marbles video. She's totally a bad ass chick. 

Canadian Design

It's taken me a long time to come to terms with what I'm going to do with my life. It was pretty much expected of me from the moment I stepped foot in a highschool that post secondary education would just follow. I have a degree from Brock University, and a diploma from Centennial College and I had the most amazing post secondary experiences in both places. I will cherish that time for ever, and I wouldn't be who I am without it. 
That said, I'm not an office girl. I'm just not. I've been struggling with this for quite some time, and I think I've mostly come to peace with it. All sorts of outside influences tell you what you "should" do with your life, and a solid, defined "career" is definitely high of the list of life "normals". I've been hired on at The AGH, dividing my time between the new Design Annex on James Street North, and the actual Gallery on King Street. 
I'm also officially an employee at White Elephant! No more intern status. HIYAH! 
So, the places I'm now calling "work" are basically places where I can meet people, and look at beautiful things all day. It's pretty much perfect for me right now, in this moment, and for the person I am in this time. 


I digress though, this post was supposed to be about how amazing Canadian design is! But the reason I know about all of these beautiful things is because of these two fabulous places that employ me. 


Touch The Dutch is a company run by Anneke van Brommel, from Toronto. White Elephant has carried her work since I've started here, and it is so perfectly Canadian. She says that she is reluctant to use such "cliche" imagery in her work, but I think it's what gives it heart. She has a wide range of earrings, brooches and necklaces in all sorts of classic Canadian themes: Terry Fox, tree stumps, lumberjack paraphernalia. Check out her etsy store here, her blog here, or come into White Elephant and see what we have in stock.  

I just discovered the work of Ampersand&Ampersand last night, at the Design Annex and I'm totally smitten. It is a line of graphic print and design by Mark Byk and Kristine Tortora. They do posters, framed prints, custom notecards, as well as totes.  The work is kitchy (in a good way), and bold and touching in a simple wau.

I'm told Kristine is back in Hamilton right now, and Mark is in Toronto.  Come by the Annex to check out their "Lovers and Thieves" series, and my favorite print "Hopes and Dreams".  

Barb Sachs is a clay artist from Dundas and the Shop at the AGH carries her work. She uses slabs of clay to create her animals, and the end result of a hollow, folded, sculptural form. She uses the raku firing process and a variety of glazes that give the animals an interesting, weathered look.

The Canadian government has used her sculptures to give as gifts to visiting dignitaries! Nelson Mandela has one. So that's kind of cool.

I've seen her penguins, polar bears and elephants (I know elephants are very "Canadian" but I love elephants so i'll let it slide) at the gallery, and I've even sold a large penguin already! Her work is so gorgeous, I will definitely need to save my pennies and bring home an animal sometime soon. 

As usual, this post got totally carried away and so I'll have to do a "Canadian Design Part Two" so I can fit in all the rest of the awesome art, jewelry, furniture and design I've come across in my Hamilton travels!