Keep it Obscure...

This weekend I'm going to sink into the background and watch.
escape into the darkness.
hide away in a corner.
and let be my thoughts which I can not clearly express....

Photography by Thierry Le Goues

breathe

Molson Mural

Molson Revealed it's 2010 Mosaic Mural to support the Canadian athletes of the Winter Olympics. You can submit your photo here and then once they have put all of the images up, there will be a special message for Team Canada.... A nice way to show that Vancouver (or at least Molson) supports the games! I wonder what the message will be, and who designed it?!?

Images via Molson's Blog

Winter Activites

While I was on my blogging hiatus I came across this great list of Winter Activities from Pure Style Home, which seems quite fitting considering I woke up to snow on my car on yesterday morning. So before winter is over I thought I would follow up and add some ideas of my own to her wonderful list!

Via Ruth

1) Read a book or the newspaper. If you need some inspiration go check out A Cup of Jo since she has posted a couple of times asking what good books are out there.
2) Fix things around the house, or your clothes. You have been wearing your winter clothes for a couple months now, and you must have found some stitching has come undone, there is a hole in your pocket, or over your big toe. If you fix it before the season is out you won't forget about it for the summer. If that sounds too boring you can always watch a movie or listen to a book on tape (wow, sewing and listening to books on tape - I sound old!)

Via Nestled In

3) Get ready for your summer activities. Do you bicycle in the summer? Hike? Run? Play soccer, golf? Well whatever you do, start training now! The Internet has some great resources for sport specific training moves. I did this for the ski season this year, and I can't believe the difference!

4) Do you have a storage area? Do you have boxes in there from years past? You might not think so, but that clutter is putting stress in your life. Take some time to clean it out. It doesn't have to be all in one day (I took 1 month to clean out a closet - just did an hour every other day). The things you will find will make you laugh (or cry) and to be able to either clear it out or put it in a "proper" labelled spot will make you feel way more calm.

5) Change up photos. Do you have photos on display in your house? Do you want to switch them out? Maybe update them with photos from the last year. Now that you have the time, why not update them?

Via Design*Sponge

6)Get ready for birthdays - Spring and summer tend to have a lot of birthdays. For me, it seems like the whole month of May I am just running around trying to find, wrap and give birthday presents. I'm not very good at coming up with present ideas under stress either. I want to take this time in the Winter to think about presents for friends and actually purchase and wrap them so when the time comes I can just whip them out!

7) Go window shopping...especially if the weather is nice, you can take a long walk and check out the store fronts. I love looking at the displays and wondering why they selected those clothes to display and who put that outfit together. It might even give me some ideas for my own wardrobe!

8) Write a letter... it isn't only your grandma who appreciates letters. I'm sure many of your friends would love to have a hand written note from you. Add a photo of something you have done recently and send it off.... I'm sure you'll brighten their day no matter the weather!

9) Take some pictures. Winter, especially if you have snow can be a magical time of year, the lighting is interesting and at oblique angles (see my photo shoot) and the air is crisp and clean. (Hopefully!) Even indoors there are great textures to be had with all the warm willies!

Via Smosch

Love this...

I just thought I would post this, it is an image that has been saved on my computer since I started writing, and I can't bring myself to delete it. I don't know where it's from, but I love the pattern and the teal - grey mix. It has me thinking of fabric patterns.

Canadian Content

I'm back.... and what brought me out of my deep winter slumber? Canadian design! I was catching up on some much needed reading and I came across a post on Design*Sponge about the Interior Design Show in Toronto. The show was sponsored by my favorite magazine - Azure!

I love the light webbing through the slats of wood of this sauna. Work by StudioJunction, check out their website, they do amazing things with wood! Image via Design*Sponge

Via Azure

The entrance way of the Gladstone Hotel via Design*Sponge

Both pieces by ceo & waito, they do stunning things with ceramics. Top image via Design*Sponge and lower image from the ceo & waito website.

I especially loved the work by Vancouverite Jeremy Hatch, who installed a porcelain-cast of ropes, pulleys, skids and wrenches... while much of it broke while being shipped out from BC, he was not disappointed, rather he said it just makes the impractical ensemble all the more poetic. If only I could look at all the downs in my life as poetic...

Image via Design*Sponge

Image from Jeremy Hatch's website

Time Off

Sorry dears, it doesn't seem like a week of photos has restored my energy levels. I believe I am getting hit with some sort of bug going around. I need some time off.


I'll be back soon!

Keep it fun....

I didn't want to mention it, I wanted to ignore the day was even upon us, but alas I'm going to acknowledge tomorrow... Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong, I still don't like the whole idea of Valentine's Day. I find it so serious, dramatic and most often desperately depressing. But this year I want to lighten it up! Forget flowers, forget romantic notes, forget expensive gifts, or lavish jewellery... I'm just going out and doing something I love with someone I love simple as that. So what is it that I am going to do?.. I'm going skiing because I love love it. It's fun, carefree and light hearted - how I think Valentine's Day should be.

Here are some light hearted V-dayesque rooms, with some pink that I can actually stand to look at! (Gasp! I know - I don't like pink either!)

Lip gloss is always fun, and pink is the best lip colour! Via Blueprint Bliss

I love this quilt! I don't know what is so pleasing about it, but I would have it in a guest bedroom in a heartbeat...now all I need is a guest bedroom! My Home Ideas Via A Life's Design

Pops of pink are good. Especially with black and white. Via La Dolce Vita

Pink can be balanced out when paired with calm dull colours such as this grey. I love grey. Via Cote de Texas

Despite the recent pink trend and being around February 14th, this took me a surprisingly long time to compile!... But after looking at these, I admit, I don't totally hate pink, I just won't be painting my walls pink any day soon, especially that pink that is somewhat close to Pepto Bismol pink... and I have seen quite a bit of that lately!

Hope you all have a fun and lovely weekend!

Messy is Beautiful Too

Yup... still not posting anything of substance... I know I'm a bum. Lets just call it my reading week... or photo week. Here are some that make me feel a little less guilty about the disorganization that is my room... and my life. Thanks Roland Bello.

Check out La La Lovely here for more beautiful mess photos...

Photos while you wait...

These... made me smile. Photography by Todd Selby I feel like he is a funny man.

Until the Next Time...

Here are some images from James Merrell to keep you going for the next little while.... I'm going to need longer than I thought to recharge!

Monday Snoozes?

Yes it's Monday... I had the whole weekend to sleep and I have the whole week in front of me... but of course... I am still on weekend time and I have a little bit of the Sunday Snoozes... Wouldn't it be lovely to be curling up here instead of going to grab a coffee?...

Country Living

Via Apartment Therapy via Apartment 34

Sorry for the lack of creative posts my dears. Hopefully a little more in one of these will bring me back for tomorrow!... Until then!

Easy Eco Mondays - Transportation Habits

My work calender has a sustainable tip each month, and I thought I would share... February's focus is on Transportation. This is what it reads:

"Change your habits so that living green isn't a daily task but a natural behaviour. If everyone left their car at home one day a week it would make a huge difference. Biking is good for your health (and possible here in February!!) and the health of the planet. Don't like to ride a bicycle? Try walking, walking just 30 minutes a day has numerous health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, boosting good cholesterol and reducing your risk of a stroke. Share a ride one or two days a week and you'll get to know a neighbour or co-worker better, save fuel and reduce your carbon footprint."

Via Copenhagen Cycle Chic

I think the tip is trying to portray that it only takes minimal extra effort to make a environmentally sustainable transportation decision. The difference between talking about it and actually doing it is small. 10 extra minutes of planning can make your environmental wants a reality...

Check out this guy - he is training for a Marathon by actually running all of his errands! Via TreeHugger

If driving is the only way to work, then try and be more sustainable in other transportation areas, walk to get your groceries, or run errands. I know I am going to take transit more even though it is longer. Today I spent the time on the bus reading instead of trying to dodge poor drivers. I also just remembered that one of my co-workers lives near me, I am going to ask her today if she would like a ride tomorrow. It's the little things that really add up!

Saturdays are for....

Not writing blogs!  Apparently neither are Fridays this week either!  I'm on a bit of a girls weekend, so time has flown by! 

Wouldn't it be lovely to entertain in a setting like this? via Desire to Inspire

I hope you are all having a good weekend too! 

Afraid of the Dark

Does anyone remember that series "Are you Afraid of the Dark?" based on the novels by Sidney Sheldon? Well, I felt like one of the characters in that show last night...and I will fully admit - I am afraid of the dark. I am still asking myself why voluntarily I in went into a forest outside of town at night... (ah what we do for skiing!) And why I let my imagination get the best of me? I'm 25 years old, I should be able to reasonably convince myself that the bogey man doesn't exist! But the forest was eerily, quiet, and full of shadows... Several times I jumped around sure that something was behind me ready to attack! I think this means no more scary movies if I ever want to grow out of my fear of the dark!

Good thing I am not afraid of rooms with a dark pallet!

Martyn Thompson via Designers' Brew

Via Coco + Kelley

Marie Claire Maison via Designers' Brew

Out for Lunch

Today at lunch I did something completely out of character. I got up and just started walking. I wasn't going to get food, or meeting anyone, I just decided to go outside...it was like I was possessed. With my camera in hand I took photos of everything. I tried to keep my focus on taking photos close up, focusing on the texture, and form. I have never taken a photography course before so I had no clue what I was doing... I am sure I looked especially weird, walking around a suburbia office/light industrial area taking close up photos with my mini point and shoot camera! But I didn't care, I crouched down on the road, pointed my lens to the sky and crawled around in a playground until my memory card was full. Please be kind, this is my first random photo session....

(Note: Thinking back on this random act of mine - I realized that it was a culmination of many things - Finding my camera, returning to civilization, realizing that I didn't document my last work assignment very well, commuting to work, the time of year and the sunny skies. Not so random after all!)