how i woke up this morning

You know that feeling when you go to bed knowing that the next morning you have absolutely no obligations and therefore no need for an alarm clock? You know that you'll get to wake up whenever your body tells you to. Isn't that a great feeling?

Yesterday, I went to bed with that very fact in mind.

This morning at 7:00 am , however, I woke up to the crashing sound of my bedside lamp. Annoyed and bleary-eyed, I dutifully got up and cleaned the glass and gave up on the idea of going back to bed. I would just lie there awake - might as well get something done, I figured.

How did my lamp break if I was sound asleep? Well, it wasn't the cat - she came running in to the room, not out, when I woke up. It was me who unwittingly pulled the cord with my pillow.

The problem: this is my lamp (only 4 inches high)and this is my nightstand

To get any decent lighting from the tiny lamp I had to put it on the back board...bad move. Silver lining is I now have an excuse to go to Ikea, the place where dreams come true.

And while I'm on the Ikea subject, I love these. Too bad I have neither place nor need for either...

{ung drill frame}

{hemmes dressing table with mirror}

CRAZY over...

Peter Pauper Press. Stationery, journals, organizers: all things I don't really need, but they're all so pretty, I felt compelled to share. Some of these would make great wall decals.
My favourite:
I also really like

You may recognize some of these from the above banner...yes, I go to Chapters and take pictures of the things I like. It's easier to remember what I like when I need it that way.

saturday's listography

As a lot of the bloggers I read, I have an unrestrained love for lists. I guess that's what a blog is when you get right down to it, so I'm gonna try this thing where I make a list of the little things that make me happy once a week, let's say Saturday...and let's say I call it Saturday's Listography*.

*name is subject to change

It can be part of my whole appreciating-what-I-have state of mind I'm trying to achieve.

Here's my list of things I love about summer

1. the smell of the rain
2. an evening breeze
3. 6am coffee on my balcony
4. BBQs and sangria
5. reading on a terrace on a lazy afternoon
6. tim horton's iced caps
7. thunder storms
8. the sound of the fountain, the people playing tennis and the kids playing in the pool in the park across the street.

fun on the web

Have you checked out Awkward Family Photos.com? It's always good for a laugh and a varying dose of creepiness.

While I'm suggesting things, you should also check out COLOURlovers. Hours and hours of fun with colours...and if playing with colours, palettes, patterns and the like, it's a great source if you're looking to paint or restyle a room or if you're looking for a wedding inspiration board. In fact, I believe that might be the site's primary purpose.
I'm not planning a wedding, nor am I painting a room, but I have so much fun creating palettes from pictures. Here are 2 I came up with from a picture taken in Cuba and a lovely picture of Audrey Hepburn.

who says bigger is better?

Whoever does, this little gem of a nook begs to differ

{via Ikea LIVE}

I know this pic has made its rounds - but look how pretty!

can i live here?

If I could rent out a little piece of cyberspace and live there, I would want to live in sfgirlbybay's blog.

I came across it a while ago, but kept getting distracted with life stuff. But, I stored it in my favourites, knowing I'd be back one day, attention fully riveted.

I'm sure this blog is most people's blog roll, but I enjoy it so much that I had to mention it. The pictures (the author's and others) are all so pretty, inspiring and fresh, the finds and suggestions are great, the writing's fun and the entire site is just...calming - is that weird?

Here are just a couple of pictures that caught my eye

{by sfgirlbybay - sunday in the city}

{slight clutter via sfgirlbybay}

why is a raven like a writing desk?

This is my hat, isn't it cool?
I got it for a costume party last year, and though I didn't technically respect the theme of the party (Disney princesses), it had to be the coolest costume I ever wore - ever.
The other day, I was sitting in my living room and my eyes fell upon my Mad Hatter hat and I asked myself why "In This Style 10/6"?
And so, like any self-respecting iPhone owner, I took to the Internet and found out a couple of things. Apparently there is such a thing called Mad Hatter Day - the 2nd silliest day of the year after April Fool's - celebrated on October 6 in the U.S. and June 10 in the U.K. Get it? 10/6!
This is not where the numbers came from though - quite the opposite in fact, they were picked based on the hat.
Turns out all it is is the hat's tag. The Mad Hatter being a hatter, i.e.: someone who makes hats, had an order to make that hat in that style for 10 shillings and 6 pence. Honestly, now that I know, it seems painfully obvious and I feel like I should known that without looking it up.
Oh well.
Now, if I could just find out why a raven is like a writing desk...

CRAZY over...

this poster

(and the movie at that)

I know it isn't "new", and everyone has already seen it - both movie and poster - a dozen times over, but that's what happens when you like it vintage, I suppose.
I still want it in my home.

joss whedon is king

I like TV.

TV is good.
It's there for you when you're bored, it doesn't mind when you ignore it and it never yells at you, well maybe on occasion.

I guess my appreciation for TV is why people think it's weird when I tell them I don't have satellite, cable or even those weird bunny ear thingies. But don't be fooled, I have my ways and I shamelessly watch hours and hours of my favourite television shows, nonetheless. Fringe, HIMYM, House, M.D., Family Guy, Supernatural, The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Dexter and Lost (but really who doesn't watch Lost?), just to name a few.

My dilemma: all these shows are on hiatus for the summer. What's a TV junkie to do?

The solution to this problem is, and will forever be, Joss Whedon. I've watched Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly more times than I care to admit.

That's why I'm taking a little moment out of my day to talk about the creative genius that is Joss Whedon. And if you, whoever you are, are reading this, I'm going to assume that you feel as though we have something in common - even if you don't, I implore you to check out anything created by Whedon.

Sometimes the guy can't catch a break (thank you for that, Fox), but I have never been disappointed with any of his shows -except for the part where a certain network swoops in and pulls the plug but whatever! over it.

...and that is it for my random thought of the day.

erratic behaviour

Sometimes I hate the weather in this country (Canada, by the way and yes, I talk about the weather a lot), particularly the months with an {r} in them. But anything Mother Nature can dish out in May, June, July or August is fine by me. Hey, the weirder, the better.

Yesterday prevening (thank you, Sheldon Cooper), it went from scorching hot - and dry - to thunder, lightning and... wait for it... HAIL! All the while, with the sun shining its brightest.

The pictures aren't great, and really who cares that it hailed?
I guess I do.

i'm torn

I don't if I should be appalled at this behaviour or amused at how stupid and close-minded people were back then.

One thing I am sure of is that some of those comments are stupid and close-minded and they don't have the excuse of "we just didn't know better back then" (which, by the way, not a very good excuse).

That Volkswagen one...holy moly!

Check out the rest of these ridiculous ads here, if you're not too outraged.

hotter than hell

According to the weather network, it’s 32°C, but feels like 40°. It is blistering hot! And despite the fact that I have awful allergies; skin so pale that I might as well be allergic to the sun; and a computer that overheats and randomly shuts down in this heat, I want to emphasize that I am NOT, in any way, shape or form complaining! I bloody LOVE it!

After a good 9 months - feels that way, anyway - of cold, damp, depressing weather, I have to embrace the sweltering heat in all its sweaty stickiness. The only problem is that I have no inclination to do anything. Today is the last day of my three days off and I’m going stir crazy, but I can’t gather the energy to go anywhere. I wake up, have my coffee on the balcony and try to get some reading in before it’s too hot to do even that, then I hop in the shower and. . . that’s it - that’s all the energy I got, expended on a few mundane tasks. This causes a problem for me. I have the urge to go and do after 2 days of doing nothing and going nowhere. It doesn’t matter where I’m going or what I’m doing, I just feel like that’s what I how it should be. I suppose the only solution is to either change my mind frame so that I can plop around guilt free OR decisively act on my instinct to, as I so eloquently put it, go and do. This vacillating between the two just ain’t cutting it. Video games or coffee shop? Sitting on the balcony or driving to the store? Making inane lists of the random and the silly or making a to do list and actually doing it? As far as choices go, I got it pretty easy.