Good Morning.

This morning's first glimpse of Winnipeg (albeit of the hotel parking lot and the Pembina Hwy) has given me the inexplicable urge to burst out singing "Good Morning Baltimore"

Beat.

This semester is bringing me down! Too much to do, not enough time to do it in. Understandably, blogging isn't always at the top of the priority list when I am just trying to recoupe after a long day. More likely to drink tea and watch Doctor Who while browsing Pinterest.

This weekend, I am forced to relax, as I am on my way to Winnipeg to celebrate Carol and Neil's wedding!

Currently, I am sitting in EIA, admiring the awesome living wall. I haven't been through YEG since coming back from Australia, so this is the first time I have seen it. Too cool!

Life of a Teacher.

I have been spending too much time here.

Happy First Friday everyone!

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.