Hint.

I love my job. However, while I can sometimes get creative, I can rarely get artistic at it.

I have been feeling the urge to do something artsy and creative... So I have starting making a Halloween costume. From scratch. Gotta get an early start so all the layers of paint can dry.

Nail Art.

 This weekend I attended a British-themed party. My Union Jack t-shirt is too small, so I decided to give myself some flag-inspired nail art instead. I was rather impressed with how it all turned out! The Union Jack's on my toe nails were the best :)

The Union flag is too complicated for the other fingers (let alone my right hand... sheesh) so I opted for the simpler St George's and St Andrew's cross' to complete the look.

Shark Week.

Too busy to post this in a timely fashion, but... happy belated 25th anniversary of Shark Week!

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I attended a Shark Week party hosted by Girl Gone Wild Docs, complete with costumes, ocean-related snacks, and a thematic cake by yours truly.

I think I need a smaller icing tip to do writing...

Shark Week is a week-long celebration by the Discovery Channel dedicated to airing television specials themed around sharks as a way of promoting awareness. Shark populations have decreased rapidly over the last century, due to commercial and recreational fishing, and the popularity of shark fin soup, which leads to the horrific practice of finning.

For the unaware, Gordon Ramsay talks about shark fin soup here and exposes the reality of what happens in the industry several Asian countries. Everyone should watch this documentary.

Shark populations are not managed in the same way as other ocean creatures, so it is through increased awareness that policy change occurs. May Shark Week not need another 25 years.

Kelowna.

Fantastic urban art in downtown Kelowna.

Busy, busy, busy!

Last weekend I was in the beautiful Okanagon valley to celebrate Sarah and Landon's wedding. It was an excellent time, and while we were there the girls and I took some time to play tourist and visit with my family.

An adorable, totally personalized cake topper.

Marina.

Mallard duck on the waterfront.

Of course, grapes. Wineries galore!

Sewing.

Oh, pinterest. You make me feel more crafty tendencies than I ever did when I was an artsy child.

The DIY portion of pinterest is a mine field. Certain things look reasonable for the average person to do, others... not so much. Particularly the clothing do-it-yourself pins. Sheesh, how much time do some of you people have?

I have never been a particularly avid sewer. (And never before have I realized that sewer is a homonym of sewer. Eeew) But when this pin proclaimed to be the "easiest skirt in the world" and actually looked a bit cute from the picture, I thought I would check it out.

And folks, it really is that easy.

I spent a bit more time on the seams than this blogger did (I doubled all of them) and had to spend a bit more money on materials than she did (maybe thick elastic is more expensive in Canada? Probably.) and really should have gone with the old "measure twice, cut once" adage, but I am quite impressed with how well my little skirt turned out.

Not a bad first try!

*Disclaimer. It would have been a fast and easy project, if I had not spent a great deal of time fighting with a sewing machine that is older than I am. The good ol' Kenmore my mother received as a wedding present decided to have tension problems half way through the "easiest skirt in the world", which meant I spent a large chunk of time detangling, rewinding the bobbin, re-threading, seam ripping and restarting, and all that good stuff. It took me about an hour, but you could definitely do it in less.

Summer Reading.

I love to read. During the school year, I try not to read too much because I tend to get sucked into books and, unable to put them down, stay up significantly past my bed time.

But, summer! Oh summer. How I love you. In summer, I indulge myself and read all the books I haven't had time to the rest of the year. Since the end of June, I have read books to my hearts content. Some with lots of substance, some entirely frivolous. Some good, some not so good. (I had been particularly looking forward to reading Shadow of the Night, sequel to A Discovery of Witches that I got sucked into in January.)



 

From here.

I shouldn't have to tell you that the Hunger Games trilogy is worth reading, but if I do, you can check out Kate's blog post about it. She sums up my feelings about it pretty clearly (including the part about Katniss being a bit obnoxious at times... maybe it's that I deal with teenage angst too often at work, it annoys me when it slips into my summers?) and I also read Mockingjay in one sitting. A single sitting that ended at 3:30 am when I thought "screw it, I'm not sleeping until I find out what happens."


  

From here.

I also read a fantastic gothic novel called The Shadow of the Wind. It is a thrilling whirlwind of a book, blending past and more past Barcelona with a riveting mystery. It is a spellbinding novel that I would highly recommend!

From here.

When I am in the mood for something light and frivolous, nothing can beat Janet Evanovich. Anything by her pretty much fits the bill of easy, breezy, fun summer reading. Latest on my list was Love in a Nutshell, which is classic Evanovich, in that there is a big lovable dog, quirky supporting characters, a little bit of romance, lots of laughs, and more mayhem than you can shake a stick at.

From here.

Last (on this list) but certainly not least, I highly enjoyed Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. I love Bryson's writing style, and his hilarious account of hiking the Appalachian Trail blends quick, evocative narratives with histories of the region.









Summer's not over yet, but my reading will probably slow down a bit, since August promises to be busier than July. But, I can't think about going back to school yet... my reading list isn't complete yet!

Pickles.

I don't want to brag or anything, but having summers off is the BEST. When else am I going to ever find time to do all the little crafty, creative things I get the urge to do during the rest of the year, but couldn't possibly fit into my schedule?

Lately, pinterest has been an increasing distraction source of inspiration for me. I have decided to actually try out some of these things, instead of just coveting other peoples pins and pictures. (Not to say I intend to try out EVERYTHING I find... just the things I think would be worth my time. And not super expensive.)

Last week I went to the farmer's market to pick up some dill and pickling cukes because I wanted to try out this recipe for homemade pickles. Since they claim to be the "best dill pickles EVER" and require no canning, I thought it would be worth a try. (Two summers ago I made mustard pickles that needed to be canned, and while they turned out awesome, canning was a huge pain in the behind.)

They actually turned out really, really well! Not sure if they quite deserve the title or the capitals, but they were really very tasty. And retained a nice crunch since the brine is added after cooling.

This one's a keeper!

Long weekends.

Perfection.

Somehow, in the marvel of Alberta weather, the August long weekend is always fabulous. And I don't just mean nice weather. It is breath taking.

View from my hammock.

This past weekend was stellar. Hot, calm weather all three days? I mean, come on! Perfect weather to spend out at the lake, waterskiing and floating on the water, or sitting in a hammock. Or, when you positively cannot stand any more sun (as happens a lot for me... the joys of being a pale red head) watching the Olympics and eating blueberries.

Beauty of a sunset.

Beautiful weather, great friends, good food? Heaven on earth.

Cherries.

I was in the grocery store the other day, and felt incredibly inspired while walking past a display of BC cherries. I've never made a cherry pie before, but I recently got some small tart pans with removable bottoms, and visions of mini cherry pies danced in my head (like sugar plums... Only less vague)

The whole process would have been much easier if I had a cherry pitter, but since I don't, and wanted to chop them up anyways, I got in there with a knife and my fingernail and made a giant mess. But also some lovely pie filling.

The making of the pies was so much fun. I decided to also try a lattice top, which is far easier than it looks.

The end result? The most adorable bake goods I have ever made.