Window Shopping: Pixiemarket

WARNING: If you just got paid, do not click on this link or you'll have a whole lotta explaining to do young lady!



They've got some seriously cool tops & dresses & a couple of shoes. I want this dress and that bag.

Images: Pixiemarket

Take That!

Protecting the fruits of our labor from *wild life.

We bought a long roll of poultry fence + wire + gardening sticks and built these around our tomato plants...

It's raining rocks!

I swear Sunday's hail storm was a little more eventful than what I managed to capture in these images. We're talkin' a ton of white pebbles falling from the sky. I was so mesmerzied that I almost forgot to take a snapshot... until Hillsy said LIFEFLIX!... quickly ran up to get my camera, but by the time I got these shots most of the ice had already melted.

I haven't seen hail since the 80s or maybe early 90s.

Limonada Suíça

Thanks to my friend RJ, Limonada Suíça (Swiss Lemonade) has become a house staple. RJ, we have been downing condensed milk for the past 2.5 weeks like it's our job.




Folks, you have to give this one a try. Include the peels? You ask. Yep! The peel gives it a little punch, the slight bitterness balances out the sweetness of the condensed milk. I personally used most of the can (not half). I've also tried it more watered down (that time I used the whole can) - and that's also good, not as thick and more of a gulping type of drink. So give it a whirl, experiment a bit and find your favorite way.

Someone's been busy...

Shop update this week!! The Bag o' Jacks are already in the shop...




I'm working on processing the photos for the new garlands (I know I say this all the time, but I really think these are my favorite so far!) so I can post them to the shop this afternoon.




Handprinted and come in a variety of colors and sizes.

Do something good today

Happy Friday everyone!
I wanted to share a special documentary project that my friend Amanda is working on...




RethinkBPD is a documentary, website and social movement that gives voice to estimated 16 million diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Its goal is to promote an informed dialogue about BPD and bear witness to the challenges faced by those most vulnerable and under-served. At its deepest level, RethinkBPD is about revealing possibilities in recovery.

Diagnosed with BPD only two years ago, Amanda has teamed up with PBS and A&E documentary filmmaker, Jesse Sweet to create a documentary on BPD, intending to air on national television with extensive DVD distribution.

I'm trying to help Amanda and Jesse get 500 people to make a tax deductible donation to help produce the film. Won't you please help reach our 500 goal? Any donation, no matter how big or small would help us out incredibly! Check it out at rethinkbpd.com. Hope you are well and talk to you soon!

There are other ways you can help...
* sending emails to your friends, family and acquaintances.
* donating your twitter tweet each day.
* donating your facebook status each day.
* posting a blog about the project and linking it to rethinkbpd.com

Know the wonderful benefits of donating:

* All donations are tax-deductible!
* Receive a free RethinkBPD American Apparel t-shirt with any donation over $50!*
* Any donation over $100 receives a website credit or dedication.
* Any donation over $5,000 receives a film credit or dedication.
* Any donation over $50,000 receives a film producer opening credit.

*When donating over $50 RethinkBPD will email you asking about your shirt size. T-shirts are shipped to the continental US only. See image above t-shirt graphic. (it's a really cool t-shirt!)

Make Believe

... we're going away on a summer holiday. Somewhere far. Do you hear the humming Vespas and the bottom of cute tiny espresso cups hitting their saucers yet?



skirt, wallet, wheelie, notebook, towels for the beach, swimtop

Garden Update

So far we've tried our squash, cubanelle peppers and another pepper variety (can't remember the name of it!). Soooo good! Tasted a lot "greener" compared to our usual supermarket-bought veggies.



We now have a ton of tomatoes growing, one plant has about 20 of them! They're all still green...



After hearing the sad news that our friend's (Melanie and RJ) first riped tomato fell victim to mr. raccoon, we've decided to buy sheets of mesh fencing this weekend in an attempt to secure the fruits of our labor. That's right, a preemptive move - we're learning!!

New Garlands + Refurbished Desk

I added a couple of new paper garlands (1 + 2) to the shop and working on 2-3 more different products... just haven't been able to peel myself off HH blogging duties.


Remember this desk? Well, here's what I ended up doing w/ it. I was thinking about finding different pulls/knobs for it but just like everything else in the house, I guess you could say it's a work in progress.

Bird, Ya killin' Me!

one, two, three, four, five

WILDFLOWER MIX

So excited, I planted some wildflower seeds (similar to this) a couple of months ago and they're finally flowering! I'm not sure if it's too late, but I planted some more this weekend.


Does anyone know what kind of flower this is?

Private Picnic For Two

What a relaxing weekend! We checked out our town's Side Walk Sale & BBQ event on Saturday... bought some lunch from the Crane's and Arturo's stalls and walked down to the park for a mini-picnic. Very bizarre, we practically had the entire park to ourselves.

Smitten I am

I'm so glad to be reunited with Smitten Kitchen... not really sure how I managed to let this one slip off my radar, but no worries I'm back - stuck like glue is more like it. I've been baking blueberry crumble bars for the past 2 months thanks to her and have passed on the recipe to several friends so I thought I'd let the rest of you in on the secret. Blueberries are in full-season right now and you can get them real cheap, so whatcha waitin' for??

Oh Deer!

Look what I spotted... a deer in my neighbor's backyard! Our neighborhood is pretty residential, it's not like my yard sprawls into a forest so I was a little surprised to find him/her lurking around my poor neighbor's veggie patch. Hillsy and I went outside to try and shoo it away so it wouldn't eat their entire patch but it just stared at us acting all mr innocent. Wonder how it got there? How odd would that be, to see deers walking along the sidewalks the way squirrels do? Actually, that would completely freak the crap outta me. I'm sure they're nice enough, but I'm just a big old wuss when it comes to animals.

On the human front...
I'm almost free of the bug, hooray!! TMI alert.... the phlegm has set in, which could only mean good news right? Back me up nurse friends? Oh by the way, I'm not running off to a secluded cabin anytime soon. Got my mojo back, cleaned up the two blogs, vowed to start updating my shop more frequently and trying to subscribe to keep it simple stupid (K.I.S.S. a term that my 8th grade teacher Mrs Shields managed to ingrain in our heads). More on that later!

Orzo Salad

My friend Karen suggested I give this recipe Orzo Salad a try. I ended up making it for a little picnic with friends last week. I marinated the chopped onions in the vinaigrette while I prepared the rest of the dish - my attempt to pickle them. I added feta cheese (cubed), it was so freakin good. My only complaint is that the mint didn't do a good enough job at masking the onion breath (next time I might chop up the onions a little smaller as instructed AND soak them in some water prior to the pickling step). I find that soaking helps with the raw-harsh factor.

Served with roasted veggies...

What's on repeat?

I have this really bad habit of listening to songs/albums on repeat for several days (weeks if it's really good). Here's what's on repeat this week...


I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (I prefer the first version)
by Black Kids

++ I also like Kate Nash's version

Still Night, Still Light
by Au Revoir Simone (you can listen to the whole album for free at lala.com)

Care to share what you're listening to?

PS. I was tweaking the site last night and I inadvertently lost some links, comments, widgets etc. Bare with me as I try to recover them...

Sick Day

Taking it easy today and trying to get rid of this awful bug. My body hurts from sleeping all day/night and my throat feels like I've swallowed razors. C'mon cough, take over already! I hate itchy sore throat. Hope you're having a better week than I am.

A penny for your thoughts

*** Update on Friday's vomit situation (thank you to everyone who left a comment)... so it turns out that the raccoons are not taunting us after all!! It's actually a fungus called Fuligo septica (Thanks for the link S!)

There's a really weird bug going around and guess who caught it? I have a sore throat and it's slowly working it's way to my head - ya know, that cloudy hazy feeling?! So odd, coz I was just thinking... wow, I haven't gotten sick in a while. OH IS THAT RIGHT? BAM! Here you go!

My weekend was a little stressful, work-related stress. I've been working on a big{ish} project for a while now and there's a big chance that it may not happen anymore. I'm not going to go into the details but the whole stress of it prompted me to rethink my work life. Mainly about blogging. Nothing to do with this weekend's events, but lately I've been thinking about it a lot and I'm starting to realize that this world/community, like the corporate world, has parts about it that I can certainly do without. I know, I know - very naive of me to think otherwise. Maybe I'm just meant to live in a secluded cabin (with a garden of course!) Or maybe my head is just cloudy from this damn bug and I'll feel differently about it next week.

Photo: beautiful peacock spotted on a berry picking trip last week

Freakin' gross

Calling all nature experts!!!



What the hell is this??? It's gross and foamy. This is the second time I've spotted this in the front lawn. I suspect that something furry has been vomiting all over our lawn. If I only had one guess....

These guys just can't get over it and have decided to taunt us for the rest of our lives!

Let's go Shopping

1. AG 17 Year Ex-Boyfriend Crop
I SO need this jeans!! Oh why oh why are you so pricey??

2. PEU, Camper
My friend Z has these and they are super ADORABLE!

3. Positivity Project Organic T-Shirt
I'm into Ts lately and this one looks so soft and comfy!

4. Marc by Marc Jacobs Strippy Zippy Tote
What?? I like to pretend that I would be the sort of person that could (+would) have $359.99 dollars to drop on a bag (a cotton bag).

5. Women's Toepaz-Hemp, Simple Shoes
My sister Ces sent me a link to these shoes, $19.50 + organic + free shipping? Can't go wrong. + she says they're super comfy.

Summer Lovin'

I bought a couple of these IKEA lanterns for $4.99 each and plan to hang them from our big maple tree (hook + fishing wire). I also plan to make my own lanterns ...



I scored a couple of good ones from a church rummage sale a few weeks ago. I love that blue one, I may just use it as a vase for my daisies :)

Post Holiday Blues

I always have a hard time getting back into the groove of things after a holiday. I have a tendency to mope around and pretend like I'm doing work when I'm really not. We had so much fun in Montreal - eating, drinking, listening to some really great music and hanging out with a few good friends. Even went to bed early last night AND still couldn't even get my ass up to run this morning and believe me, after this weekend I really needed a good run. There's just something about traveling - whether it's a 5 hour plane ride or a 6 hour drive, I require lots and lots of food to keep me busy. I have to have a constant stream of food/drink or else I go nuts.

Well, hopefully I get out of this funk soon. There's lots of work to be done!!

Mini Break

See you guys on Monday! Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Damn birds

Outwitted by nature again. We draped our blueberry bushes with netting but it was tough to get the netting to close at the very bottom on most of the bushes (next year we'll get larger nets). The tweetlings have discovered the entrance and have now been flying down and entering the bush from the bottom - all day access to our blueberries. I've been running out into the yard like a grumpy old woman with hands flailing yelling hey hey hey get outta there!

Trying to harvest as much as I can so we could at least have some before the bastards eat them all!

Live and learn.