spring

The snow has melted, and it's finally starting to feel like spring around here. The light is that perfect warm weather light that I miss so much in the winter.

Even though I'm in the middle of exams (yay procrastination!) I decided I needed a new top for summer, so I spent my Saturday afternoon sewing myself a button up tank with some fabric in my stash.  Now, if only I could find some good linen jersey in Montreal....

twenty-five

Well, I turned 25 this week.  It's a strange age for me to adjust to - I just really thought I'd be more of a grown-up by now.  Being a first year surrounded by 19 year olds, still not really having a ton of work experience, living with roommates, it all seems very...like I'm not ready to be this old.

Eh, what can you do?  I made this awesome cake, will celebrate at my favourite bar with friends, and skipped out on a day of schoolwork.  It was also the first day of spring and the first International Happiness Day, which is a pretty awesome day to get to celebrate extra hard.  Hope this never ending winter is treating everyone well!

an 8am photo shoot

 We are not morning people in this house.  Not at all.  Not even a little bit.  You will find us eating breakfast at 3pm on the weekends.  And this is exactly what happens when I'm rushing off to work at 8 and just before leaving the house run back into the bedroom, shake Seb and tell him to get up, make him put enough clothes on to come outside with me, and force him to take photos.

I know I should have anticipated it, and there is still time for everything important (including before bed beer and star trek once in a while), but I am not knitting these days!  It took me two months to finish this toque!  But I did and here it is!  And here is me on a very early morning, because this was the only light time I was free with a photographer in the last couple weeks.  I wish the background were in focus, because it snowed last night and stuck to the trees, and every little thing was white this morning.

But folks, midterms are over, Seb and I are headed to New York next week, and life is good.  Now we just need sunshine to melt all this snow.

cold

 This January cold snap is COLD.  The temperature here has been hanging out around -40 (that's Celsius or Fahrenheit), and my 45 minute walk to school hasn't been so much fun. On the other hand, it made Igloofest, the outdoor club/festival here, that much more intense.  We bundled up, packed a flask, and refused to stop dancing, because it was the only way to keep warm.

Hope everyone else is staying warm!

melaque

This Christmas I joined my extended family in Mexico before heading back to Montreal.  It was so nice to spend time with family I don't see often anymore, and I love hanging out with my aunts, uncles, cousins + their babies.  Mexico was wonderful, lots of adventure and delicious eating.  

I picked up the most beautiful rug - hand dyed, spindled, and woven by one family.  They were even telling me about all the plants and bugs they collect to make their amazing dyes.

I'm feeling ready to go back to school now, rested and with barely a sunburn.

a wet, coastal christmas

 I've just returned home from a whirlwind three weeks.  I had an all too short visit to the island where I was overfed and drank many cups of tea in good company, then headed to the mountains to ski.  I haven't skied in years, and I'm glad I didn't completely forget.

Some of the things I miss most about the coast, other than the people, are all the shades of grey and my childhood Christmas decorations (our tree is covered in dried star fish and sand dollars we've collected off the beach, decorated toilet rolls, laminated school photos, and reindeer made from clothes pegs).

christmas gifts and crafts

 As much as I love Christmas, I'm also not one to kill myself over it.  I love to give gifts, but sometimes they just don't happen.  This year I decided to make a few little things, personalised for each family member, but something that I could make a few of in one go.  So I made monogrammed totes from leftover vintage fabric, and rice hotpacks using some leftover linen and using Sashiko embroidery to try and fancy things up a bit.

The only gifts I've bought this year I'll share here, because they are both from local companies that I would love to support further.  The first is that amazing maple syrup jug.  She makes the most beautiful ceramics, and was charming in person! 

I'm a sucker for both tea, and anything that smells like a forest.  This tea is made from fir tree shoots and black elder berries.  It tastes AMAZING and is apparently full of vitamins.  There is a reasonable chance I'll actually just drink it all myself.

I should add that I'm also gifting a sweater that I've only just started knitting...hope it's done in time!