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.

'

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. 

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! 

You're Ok, You Can Stay

Hi there.

While I did say to myself when I decided to start blogging, that I wasn't going to get all preachy personal, I think that's going to happen today. So get ready. Or just close the window and go on with your day (no, don't really do that. Keep reading!).

In case you didn't know, I am a big fan of Jenna Marbles. I think she's hilarious, and she has a cheeky mixture of vulgarity, sass and tell it like it is. I was lost in a black hole of her videos yesterday and I came across one called "Why Girls Hate Each Other". (It's posted at the end of this post, I didn't want her to steal my thunder.) This is something that really gets under my skin, so I thought I'd just blab about it for a moment and see what you all think.

Basically, I think girls are better than boys. Boys are good too, don't get me wrong, but us girls are so much better. HOWEVER, we spend so much time on silly things that we let the men take things over, and that is just not ok with me.  While I wouldn't consider myself a "feminist" in the traditional sense, I definitely have a large predilection for girl power.  

I've been lucky enough to spend some time at some very girl power filled places in Hamilton, like White Elephant and Cake and Loaf Bakery, and it was brought to my attention recently that a TON of new businesses in Hamilton are girl-centric. (Cannon Coffee, Sweet Ice Snow Cones, Needle Work, Cupcake Diner, I know I'm forgetting some...). That's pretty awesome if you ask me. 

However, it makes me mad/sad that, as women, we spend far too much time on two things that are very negative and detrimental to our ass kicking and taking over the world. 

#1- Worrying about how we look.

I won't get too much into the logistics of all the media, but basically, we are being told that we are not enough as people unless we are thin and tan and pretty and perfect. We waste so much time worrying about our thighs and our hair and how we look in this dress or that bathing suit. I myself have definitely struggled with a major body image issue for years, and at this point, I'm SO SICK OF IT. 

It is such a dirty waste of my fabulous time, and I just want to smash it. 

#2- Worrying about other girls.

Now, I know a lot of fabulous females who have moved past this, and are sweet and nice and accepting of the other fabulous females they come across in life. But I also know a whole lot of ladies who are still carrying around this high school GARBAGE of being mean to other girls just because they happen to have vaginas. (YES THAT'S RIGHT I SAID IT). It's ridiculous, just cut it out and knock it off. We all have amazing skills and beautiful attributes and you just need to stop worrying about that other girl, and be yourself and live your life. 

I could ramble on about this for days and days, but I won't. I just wanted to bring it to your attention, and maybe a small part of you will take it in, and consider it, and it will make your day and your life a little easier. Just do your own thing, I can guarantee it's awesome. And be nice to other girls! They are having just as much trouble as you, even if their hair is nicer or their boobs/waist are bigger/smaller. 

I think you are pretty, and that thing that you do is really awesome, and you should keep doing it.

Now watch this Jenna Marbles video. 

Ps. I'm not drunk. 

Long Weekend Update (get it?)

Just popping into say Happy Victoria Day! (For those of you non-Canadian readers, Victoria Day is the last Monday before May 24th - also known as "May Two-Four"- to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday!) I can't wait for our first summer long weekend.
The weather has been amazing around here this week, and the forecast says it will be continuing into the weekend.  I have so many fun things planned. This weekend is Rich and I's anniversary, five years! How did that happen?
Saturday I'll be working at White Elephant so come by and say hello! There's tons of new stuff in the store. Long weekend present anyone?
Sunday, Rich and I are heading up to Rock Point to spend the day at the beach. It's a bit of an anniversary tradition, weather permitting. If the nice weather holds, we may bring the tent and camp for the night.  We are planning to go out for a nice dinner as well.
My entire family is also patiently waiting on the arrival of my cousin and his (lovely) wife's little bundle of joy. He's due any minute and I cannot wait! Hurry up baby!

So, I'm taking a long weekend hiatus from blogging to enjoy the arrival of summer/love/family! I'll be back Monday or Tuesday with a post about the weekend's activities.
Do you have any long weekend traditions? I'd love to hear them.  Have a good one :)

(Rich and I at my cousin Craig and his wife Caley's wedding in 2010).

Happy 5 year anniversary Rich! You are the best fella any gal could ask for. Dear Marciano dress I wore, you are also awesome. I can't wait to wear you again. 

A is for Accessorize

Accessories are a girl's best friend! One of the lovely ladies I work with said to me the other day "Linds, you always wear so much color" (true fact), "I wish I could wear color, it just doesn't suit me" (FALSE fact). My motto is "everyone can wear color". Nothing makes a dreary Monday better than a lovely yellow dress, or a coral trench coat. A pop of color really says something about you, and I think everyone should step away from the black, especially for spring.

I know not everyone wants to walk around looking like a cartoon character, so you can easily add a pop of color and sparkle to your everyday look with a great pair of earrings, or a fun ring.  I think accessories make an outfit a 10, so I though I'd share what I've been accessorizing with this week to give you some inspiration.  (Honestly though, try some color in your wardrobe. It'll make your world a better place).

Monday

Earrings: Aldo

Sunglasses: DLR (Westdale) 

Necklace: White Elephant, by Stone & Honey. (Also available online here)

Tuesday

Earrings: Le Chateau (people mistake them for vintage all the time)

Necklace: Same as Monday. (It's new and I'm obsessed with it.)

Wednesday

Sunglasses: DLR

Bracelet: Thrifted in London (UK! Woo!)

Necklace: Victoire (From the 2011 Field Trip Pop Up Shop in Hamilton )

Thursday

Earrings: Birthday present from Jana (from Pure)

Bracelets: Recycled glass bead bracelets, present from Rich. From the Distillery District Market, Toronto.

Friday

Earrings: DLR 

Bracelets: Another present from Jana. Because she has amazing taste. (They say "believe in yourself" and "L'amour" which I think is "love always").

Saturday*

Pink Bow (top left): Aldo

Sparkle Flower: Present from my mom

Beige Sparkle Band: Aldo

Lace tie (bottom left): Thrifted

Black Flower Clip: Birthday present made by the fabulous Natalie Rose

Yellow Hair Pin: White Elephant

Red Hair Pin: Ardens (So shameful, but true).

*Ok, I didn't really wear ALL of these hair things on Saturday, but I wanted to include hairbands as accessory options and this picture was so pretty

Sunday

This is a very special accessory, and while I don't usually believe in "special occasion" jewelry, this kind of falls into that category. On Mother's Day I visited my maternal grandmother, and she gave me this necklace as a gift. It used to be her mother's, and it is so special to me to have this. 

So go forth, and accessorize! Be bold, make a statement! Take pictures and share them with me.
[Craving some more accessory goodness? The lovely Jane of White Elephant posted about some they just got into the store today. WHAT A COINCIDENCE.  Check out her awesome poses here.]
I think this accessory goodness may be a new recurring feature here on At Ten Paces. Love it.

(This post made me realize that a ton of my jewelry- costly and not- have been presents, and that makes them even more special and awesome.)

Internet Cruisin'

Another week has come and gone! I hope you all made the most of your week, did some things you needed to do and did some fun and relaxing things too! It's the weekend, thank goodness.
Jane and Hollie are off to Ottawa for a super amazing dress sale at Victoire, and I'm manning the shop this afternoon.
Here's some stuff I found, liked, and though I'd share.  It's sort of a "video edition".
  Happy Weekend!

I love Jenna Marbles, but I know she's not for everyone. This is probably my favorite ever video, so I thought you all needed to see it.  (Note: If you are easily offended you probably won't like will definitely hate this).

I am pretty obsessed with Bon Iver. The last two albums are definitely on my "desert island playlist". I found this cover of "Skinny Love" my favorite song ever, on YouTube and I thought it was just so lovely.  The video is kinda sub-par, but her voice is so great.

Do you think Florence Colgate, below, is beautiful? If you don't or you don't, the answer why is here.  (Note: I do.)

Doors Open Hamilton is next weekend! May 5th and 6th.  Don't miss a chance to see inside some of Hamilton's most historic, most beautiful and most interesting buildings!  

I love old kid's shows from when I was growing up, and I especially love Bugs Bunny cartoons, Sesame Street and The Muppets.  Whenever I'm feeling a little bummed, I can always watch a few old videos and it cheers me right up.  Rich once asked me if I HAD to have any cartoon character tattooed on me, who I would choose and I immediately knew it would be Kermit. Although I know he's not technically a cartoon character, he's still my choice. (Loophole: baby Kermit from Muppet Babies is a cartoon! Ha!).  

So, here's a little Kermit goodness for your kid-at-heart.                                                                                                   

                                       

And finally, 27 dogs that are growing suspicious of you.